'Werewolves: Lycanthropy from Greek lykoi "wolf" anthropos "man". In other words people who turn into wolves or vice versa; werewolves. While wolves are the most common "were" form in Europe shape changers into other animals have also appeared in other cultures so the "Lycanthrope" term has been incorrectly used to mean any person-beast shape-changer.'

'Nothing... I've read over this a thousand times... why can't I find anything? This is a magical school – you'd think I'd find something useful...' Remus ran a hand through his sandy hair and closed the book he was looking at. Remus suddenly winced at the pain in his side. His hand immediately moved to the place where he was bitten. He rubbed his side with inane hopes of making the pain go away. 'God I have to find something soon...'

Remus had been looking for any kind of information about his condition. He wasn't the only one – both Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey were desperately trying to find any shred of information to help him. It seemed that the past two transformations were becoming harder to overcome. They were more painful than before, and he seemed to develop a harsher attitude, and generally become a completely altered person a few days before and after the transformation.

Remus shook his head and sighed as he placed all the books he had taken out back into their rightful places. He remembered that Dumbledore had requested he came to see him that night – to inform Remus if he had found anything, which would help him. Remus slowly made his way to Dumbledore's office, and when he entered – he found Dumbledore sitting at his desk with his hands lightly clasped with one another and looking directly at him with a smile on his thin lips.

"Good Evening, Remus."

Remus smiled and took a seat next to the desk. "Good evening Professor. Have you found anything?"

"I have."

Remus's eyes brightened as he sat up. "Really?!"

"Indeed – I've been searching some of the oldest books I have in my possession," He motioned to the book sitting underneath his hands. "And using the information both you and Poppy have provided me with – I have concluded, that it appears that the werewolf side of you," The paintings in his office took in sharp breaths and scowled down at Remus. "Is trying to become more prominent."

Remus sat back and looked at the floor. He ran a hand through his hair and rested his head on a fist. "So... what does that mean...?"

"It means, Remus... that if we do not act now, then you may forever be lost to us as the person I see before me. You may well become a full werewolf if you are not treated."

"Is there anyway to treat it?"

"That is the part that I am not quite sure of yet." As he spoke, Madam Pomfrey stepped into his office. "Ahh, there you are-"

Remus looked to his side and smiled in greeting towards Madam Pomfrey. She took her seat and waited for Dumbledore to continue.

Dumbledore turned his attention to Remus. "Remus, have you chosen a mate?"

Remus looked at Dumbledore and furrowed his eyebrows. "Mate?"

"Yes, the person whom you have become bonded to – the person you will live the rest of your life with."

"Well... no, I don't think so..."

"You don't think you have?"

"Well... no."

"Haven't you been with Sirius Black?"

Remus's eyes became large as he stared at Dumbledore. 'How did he know?' "I... err..."

"How long have you been together?"

"Umm..." Remus recoiled into his seat his cheeks began to burn and he spoke quietly. "Since the second week of school..."

"Have you consummated the relationship?" Madam Pomfrey spoke up softly. Remus bowed his head lower and crossed his arms.

"We must know, Remus – in order to help you dear boy." Dumbledore smiled kindly over his half moon glasses.

"...No."

Dumbledore nodded and waved Madam Pomfrey to his side of the desk. She shuffled behind Remus and stood beside Dumbledore, reading the place on the page he had pointed to. After a short amount of time, he spoke once he had noticed she was finished reading.

"Can you do this?"

"I can... but I'll need time and the proper ingredients."

"The ingredients I can and will gladly provide for you – you need not worry about that. Though, we need it before the next full moon in-"

"12 days." Remus spoke quietly as he picked at a string hanging from his pants.

"Thank-you," Dumbledore smiled. "12 days. Can you do it?"

"I can certainly try to be best of my ability."

"Thank-you Poppy." Dumbledore placed a marker on the page and closed the book handing it to her. "Please start work on it straight away."

"I shall." She smiled and nodded, taking the book from Dumbledore's hands, holding it close to her bosom as she walked through the door.

"Good... now, Remus – I must ask you a very important question."

"Sure..." Remus looked up and brushed the hair out of his eyes.

"Have you been experiencing any type of pain that you haven't experienced before?"

"Yes... sometimes I'll feel sharp pains in my side-" Remus motioned and pressed lightly to his side.

"Where you were bitten...?"

"Er... Yes, and also I feel a dull throbbing pain in my lower back most of the time. But what does that have to do with anything?"

Dumbledore placed his wand to his head and transferred a silvery thought to the pensieve sitting on his desk. "It has everything to do with it, Remus. Absolutely everything."

Remus decided to not further question him on that subject, and kicked at the rug covering the ground, straightening the turned up edge as he spoke. "Professor Dumbledore... what did you ask Madam Pomfrey to do?"

"You'll find out in 12 days time. For now, it's late. Both you and I need our rest. Please return to your tower, I'll alert you immediately if anything else comes up." Dumbledore smiled and came around his desk and placed a warm hand on Remus's shoulder. He moved swiftly as he guided Remus towards the door.

"Professor Dumbledore?" Remus turned and looked into light blue eyes.

"Yes?"

"Why did you ask about... Sirius and I? How... how did you know?"

"I asked about yourself and Sirius simply because Madam Pomfrey has told me you've been mumbling in your sleep while in her care. She told me you were mumbling about Sirius... I had held off asking you if it was true or not – until I found that book."

"But... why did you refer to him as my mate?"

"Remus, as a werewolf – you are immediately different from everyone else. You are different because when you fall in love with someone, be it male or female – the werewolf side of you subconsciously chooses that person to be with for the rest of your lives. Therefore creating a powerful bond between yourself and that person. For you, that person is Sirius Black. Remus, that you have found that person and that he returns that love is not something that is so often heard of."

Remus looked down and smiled at the thought of Sirius. "So... I'm bonded to Sirius for as long as we live, because we love eachother?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes."

"Can... can that bond be broken?"

Dumbledore put his hands into the sleeves of his flowing robes as he spoke quietly. "It can be broken, Remus... but only by death. Even then it is not always fully broken. The love you may still feel for him exists still. You cannot simply decide one day that you do not want to love Sirius anymore. It does not work that way. You see, werewolves mate for life. They choose a 'suitable' partner, and connect themselves to that person for as long as they reside on this earth – in rare cases, they are still connected when the werewolves mate has died, or they both remain connected even in the death."

Remus looked down and thought for a moment. "Then why did Madam Pomfrey ask if we had... consummated the relationship?" Remus crossed his arms, and looked up flipping the hair out of his eyes as he spoke.

Dumbledore took in a deep breath and placed a hand on Remus's shoulder. "She asked to find out if Sirius and yourself held more than the prolix bond. She asked because we needed to know that particular part of information to go about helping you."

Remus noticed that Dumbledore was skirting the issue at hand. Remus smiled and nodded. "Oh... Goodnight then."

"Goodnight." Dumbledore smiled kindly and opened the door, letting Remus leave.

James and Sirius sat in the Gryffindor common room bent over a piece of parchment scribbling down what seemed to be thousands of notes and pictures. Remus stood at the portrait door smiling at his friends, cautiously walking towards his lover with a smile on his face. He stood behind Sirius for a moment listening, until he wrapped his arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

"What are you two planning?"

Sirius smiled as he looked up, and caught Remus's lips in a quick hello kiss before returning to the parchment. "We're planning our latest prank."

"Who on?"

"Why, Snape and Malfoy of course!" James smiled as he drew an oddly shaped object. "See this?" James pointed to a small black figure with a hooked nose. "This is Snape, and this..." He pointed to another small black figure with light hair. "Is Malfoy."

"Wow... amazing prank boys." Remus smiled as he took a seat beside Sirius.

James made a face. "I'm not finished yet!"

"Right... sorry – continue." Remus hand found Sirius's thigh and rested it there with a smile on his full lips.

"Anyways, this is Snape and this is Malfoy, we're going to lure them into this place here," James pointed to a large room on the Marauders map that was lying open beside them. "Cast this on them," he pointed to a scribbling of words. "And shove them into here," this time he pointed to the main entrance to the school. "It'll be perfect!"

Remus smiled. "But James, how are you going to lure them into that room?"

"That's what we need your help for." Sirius grinned at Remus.

"Ooh no, I am not going to help you turn Malfoy and Snape into-"

Remus watched as James jumped up and moved to put his hand over Remus's mouth, but Sirius had beaten him to it. "SHHH!!!!!" They both scolded him at the same time.0

"Don't say it aloud!" Sirius' azure eyes were wide as he spoke. "Don't ruin it!"

Remus smiled as he licked the backside of Sirius's hand. Sirius made a face and took his hand away from Remus's face wiping it on his hands. "Fine, I won't ruin it. But I won't help either. Ask Peter."

"Peter?"

"Yes... the boy sitting over there with... Oooh...who's she?" Remus smiled as he craned his head over the chair blocking his view so he could catch a glimpse of the pretty brunette girl sitting beside Peter.

"That's Laura... his new 'friend'." James rolled his eyes.

"Reealllyy?" Remus smiled and leaned back in towards James and Sirius. "Anyway, ask him to help you."

"We've already asked him." Sirius sighed.

"He said that he didn't want to get into trouble." James rolled his eyes.

"We assured him that he wouldn't get caught,"

James looked over at Sirius. "Or get in trouble."

"But he still refused."

Remus eyed the boys. "That's just weird, you finishing each other's sentences. I think you've been together far too long."

James and Sirius smiled widely. "You think?" They both spoke at the same time. All three boys broke into laughter. Once it had died down, and James was looking at the parchment, Sirius leant closer towards Remus.

"Please help us?" He placed a tender kiss on Remus's neck. "Please..." He kissed him again. "Please..." Another kiss directed closer to his ear. "Please...?"

Remus rolled his head back as he was kissed and sighed, closing his eyes. He looked at the ceiling as he spoke. "Siri... you know it's not something I like, or want to do." He rolled his neck back, so that his chin was nearly touching his chest. "But... since you put it that way... I suppose I have no choice but to say yes."

"Ahh! Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!" Sirius threw his arms around his boyfriend smiling widely. "James! James! He's going to do it!"

James looked up from the parchment smiling. "Excellent! You won't regret this, I promise!"

"Yeah, yeah... I'm going up to bed." Remus stood up and Sirius's hand caught his.

"I'll be there in a minute okay?"

Remus nodded and bid goodnight to James and walked towards the stairway shaking his head. 'I can't believe I agreed to help them...'

"I can't believe you agreed to help them, Remus." Lily was standing in the stairway with her arms crossed, a playful scowl spread across her face. Her hair was tied up in a loose bun, with stray red hairs framing her pale face. She looked breathtakingly gorgeous at that moment, and Remus decided that if he weren't gay – he would have been tempted to ravish her into the early hours of the morning.

"Ahh... but I couldn't help it, Lily." Remus closed in on her and stood on the step just below the one she was on.

"Sirius and James have you wrapped around their little fingers." Lily uncrossed her arms.

Remus looked down and smiled as he sighed. "I know, I know... but if I didn't do it-"

"I know, I know." Lily laughed and wrapped her arms around Remus's neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist hugging her tight as he took in her scent. She smelled of vanilla and some kind of flower. "Goodnight Remus, sleep well." She smiled as he kissed her cheek.

"Night, Lily."

"Hitting on my girlfriend are you?" James came up behind Remus laughing.

"Hitting on my boyfriend are you?" Sirius came up behind Remus and placed a protective arm around his slender waist.

Lily and Remus smiled. "Of course we were." They spoke together, much like Sirius and James had done just a moment before. The four friends exchanged goodnights as they made their way to the dorms. James stopped off at the showers, Lily in her room.

"So... what did Dumbledore say?"

Remus took off his shirt and threw it into his trunk. "He found something that has the potential to help me..." he turned around and put his hands on his hips. "But won't tell me what it is." Remus frowned.

"Oh... how long do you have to wait until you find out?"

"12 days."

"The next full moon? Why so long?"

"Well... Madam Pomfrey has to make whatever it is."

Sirius sat on his bed as he took off his pants. He sat in his boxers for a moment before pulling his pajama pants out of his bedside table. "So is it like a potion or something do you think?"

Remus sat down directly across from Sirius and pulled his shirt over his head. "I don't know – neither Dumbledore or Madam Pomfrey was really specific about it. But since it needs to be made – maybe it is a potion of some sort."

Sirius nodded and walked towards Remus, lying down on his bed with his feet dangling off the edge. "I see... did they say anything else?"

Remus lifted his legs up and sat cross-legged beside Sirius's torso. "Yeah... they told me that... err... this is going to sound bizarre to you."

Sirius propped himself up on his elbows. "Nothing sounds weird to me."

"Well..." Remus smiled slowly. "They told me that I've chosen you as my mate."

"Mate?"

"I said the same thing... what it means... is that the wolf side of me has chosen you as a 'suitable' person to be with, thereby bonding us to eachother."

Sirius sat up and brought his knees up, wrapping his arms around them. "So you're telling me that we're bonded for life because you've chosen me to be your mate? And nothing can change that?"

"Well... death has the potential to break the bond. But yeah... that – and apparently we share a 'prolix bond'."

"'Prolix bond'?"

"Yeah... it's like a word bond between us, meaning that we've pledged our love to one another. I suppose the next step is the... err... sexual part of the relationship that entirely binds us to eachother."

Sirius sat back and looked into Remus's eyes smiling. "So when we have sex the bond will be what, complete or something?"

Remus nodded and smiled. "I guess so. You don't think this is strange, do you?"

Sirius leaned closer to Remus and kissed him softly. "No."

"Are you sure? You don't mind being bonded to me for life?"

"Yes I'm sure, and no, I don't mind being bonded to you for the rest of my life."

Remus smiled and kissed Sirius again. "I was afraid that you would be weirded out about it."

"Nah. I think it's awesome that I've found the person I'm supposed to spend life with at 17."

Remus laughed and hugged Sirius tightly. He looked up and smiled at James who was rubbing his unruly hair with a towel.

"What's up lovebirds?"

"I've just found out that Moony and I have been bonded for life." Sirius smiled proudly and stood up.

"Bonded? Kinky."

Remus laughed and threw his covers back lying down in his bed. "Not like that James. It just means that we get to spend the rest of our lives together and stuff."

James stopped rubbing his hair and threw his towel on the ground by his trunk. "Mmm... sounds tragically romantic."

Sirius smiled and leaned over to kiss Remus goodnight after James had turned around. "Goodnight, Remy – Love you."

Remus returned the kiss gratefully. "Night, Siri – Love you too."

Sirius smiled and walked over to his bed, pulling his covers over his body. He turned on his side to face Remus. Remus remained on his back and closed his eyes – the covers pulled up to his chin. Sirius yawned and closed his eyes, welcoming the dreams that awaited him.