It was already late into the evening when Remus woke up to find himself on the settee. He opened his eyes slowly. His head was throbbing, and he could hear a slight ringing in his ears. It was times like these when Remus would lose patience with his condition. He hated everything leading up to it as much as the recuperation afterwards. Can't I just get it the hell over with? he thought to himself.

Ever so carefully, Remus leaned up against the cushions and looked around the dark living room. There was a light shining from the kitchen. If he listened closely, he thought he could hear Sirius' voice from down the hallway, although he hadn't the slightest idea who he could be talking to. Buckbeak, perhaps? Closing his eyes slightly from the pain in his head, Remus groped for his cane on the floor where he had dropped it earlier. He took his time standing up before making his way down the hallway.

Remus' head began to spin, and he stopped and took a deep breath. He didn't want to think about it, but this wasn't normal. He was used to the headaches and the ringing in his ears, but he couldn't remember ever feeling like this. Remus couldn't pinpoint exactly what was different, but it made him uneasy and apprehensive.

This month, Sirius was making his potion. It was much less expensive, they'd decided, and Remus had easier access to it. It had been Sirius' idea to begin with, but when he began to realize how difficult the potion was, he started to reconsider. When they had been younger, Sirius had been a solid enough potion maker, but that was a long time ago, and he wasn't sure of himself anymore. Remus had persuaded him to continue. He knew Sirius' potion-making skills were perfectly adequate for the Wolfsbane Potion. And if he were completely honest with himself, he felt some humiliation in someone else's paying to have the expensive potion made, even Sirius.

But Remus couldn't imagine that anything had gone wrong. Making the potion for this past month had really been a team effort for the two of them. Remus had always been worthless at potion making, but he was familiar enough with this specific one, and he enjoyed watching Sirius make it. Everything seemed to have gone smoothly. In fact, Remus convinced himself, these dizzy spells weren't that uncommon. He started to recall quite a few times during school when they had occurred.

With that firmly set in his mind, he continued down the hall and stepped in front of the doorway to the kitchen. Sirius stood over the large cauldron that was currently sitting in the sink. He was poring over the large potions book that held the directions for the potion. With his hair tied back from his face, Sirius was muttering under his breath and repeating the exact ingredients of the potion for probably the twenty-fifth time that day. Remus didn't interrupt him. He didn't want to talk right now, so he remained silent in the doorway. Besides, he liked to watch Sirius work.

Remus couldn't help but feel a little guilty, though, when he saw how much effort and time Sirius was putting into it. This was all because of him. Sirius would just call him a prat whenever he mentioned it, but Remus still felt guilty. The amount of love and care Sirius was putting into this… Remus didn't feel he deserved it all.

"Now I just need his hair…" He heard Sirius mutter, and he stepped forward at the same time Sirius turned around, and the two nearly collided.

"Shit! Merlin, Remus!" Sirius exclaimed, jumping in surprise. "I didn't see you."

"Sorry about that," Remus said, shifting his weight on his cane. He squinted in the harsh light of the kitchen. "How are things?"

Sirius took a deep breath, brushing a lock of hair away from his face. "Very well, Moony," he said confidently, glancing back at the cauldron. "I'm pretty sure everything's in order. I just need a hair."

Remus reached up with his free hand to pull out a hair, but Sirius stepped forward and pushed his hands out of the way. "I've got it, don't worry about it," Sirius said, reaching up and making quite a show of running his fingers through Remus' greying hair before taking a hair. He kissed Remus's temple before turning back around to the cauldron. Sirius then ladled the last of the potion into a goblet. He carefully pulled the last wolf hair out of a small bag, twisted it with Remus's hair, and then added it to the potion. Remus and Sirius both watched as it began to hiss and smoke. Remus gave an involuntary shudder, and Sirius squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.

Picking up the goblet, Sirius offered it to Remus. "Cheers, love."

Remus just sighed and downed the last of the potion. His head began to spin again and he reached out for the counter to steady himself. Sirius grabbed goblet from him and put his arms around him.

"You alright?" Sirius asked, not even trying to hide his concern.

Remus rested against Sirius' body and nodded. He was silent for a moment with his head resting on Sirius' shoulder. "God, Sirius," he murmured after some time, "I'm so bloody tired of all this."

Sirius didn't know what to say to this, so he just held him a little closer and whispered, "I know. I'm sorry."

Remus stepped back and sighed. "Don't be, Padfoot. I'll be fine." He then turned, and walked across the kitchen into the front bedroom. Sirius was close behind him, casting a nervous, anxious look.

"Sirius, I'm fine!" Remus said somewhat irritably. But then, another dizzy spell came over him, and his whole body began to tremble. He gasped, and Sirius held onto his arm.

"Something's wrong, isn't it, Moony," Sirius said, his voice panicky and worried.

Remus couldn't disguise it anymore. He nodded, and then let out a cry as a sharp pain traveled up his spine. Remus fell onto Sirius and gripped his arms so tightly he winced. His whole body was trembling and shaking, and his eyes were starting to roll wildly in his head. "S-Sirius, you have to – you have to go."

"No, Remus, I can't! I'll be here, Remus –"

"Go!" Remus growled, pushing Sirius away roughly, "You have to get out of here! The potion" His back was starting to bend, and hair was growing on his lengthening head. Sirius could hear the bones in Remus' body breaking and snapping beneath torn and ripping muscles.

"Remus, I won't –"

"Get out of here!" Remus shouted, his eyes wild with panic and with the wolf rising up inside of him. But Sirius refused to move. All he could do was stand there, his hands tightly around Remus' arms, as he watched the worst transformation Remus had ever had. As the change took over his body, Remus' clothes were ripped from his shoulders. He reared back with his arms and claws flailing. Remus had almost disappeared into the wolf, and he lunged forward into Sirius, catching him unawares in a flurry of claws and teeth. Sirius staggered backwards into the wall of the corridor. As he hit the floor, he turned into the large, shaggy dog. Before the werewolf could attack again, Padfoot had pushed Moony to the ground with his large paws. The wolf fought back, throwing the dog against the table, knocking it over. Stunned, Sirius returned to human form as he hit the ground, and before he could transform again, Remus attacked.

The pull of the moon must have been strong. That, mixed with the faulty potion, made Moony nearly impossible to manage. With a whimper, Padfoot retreated. The wolf began pacing the floor as if trying to find a way out. Frustrated, he began to attack at his own body. The werewolf howled as his teeth ripped at his own flesh. Then Padfoot rallied and lunged at him, barking and biting. It was enough to draw Moony's attention back to him. The werewolf roared and howled, claws and teeth slashing the air, and Padfoot willingly took the brunt of the attack. Doorframes splintered and furniture overturned as the two canines snarled and bit at each other.

The fight continued on and off into the early morning hours, when Padfoot could no longer control the wolf and slinked off behind the shabby chair by the fireplace to lick his wounds. The werewolf, tired of his prey, tore his way through the back door and bolted into the stand of trees behind the cottage in search of fresh quarry.