Serenity looked out over the lake to watch the moon fading into sight above the Forbidden Forest. It was a beautiful night. She air was slightly chilled, but Ren didn't want to move yet. The stars twinkled one by one across the grey canvas and Ren charted each one of them.

Ren had decided to get back to her regular routine. If she was to teach here then the occupants of the castle would have to get used to her ways, otherwise there would be things that she would have to give up in order to maintain an appearance. Ren wasn't prepared to do that, she had earned the right to do as she pleased and right now she pleased to get back into training. She wasn't going back to those days of locking herself in the dungeons.

She had switched her Edwardian bodice for a sports bra, white v-neck and her favourite grey jersey sweats. She managed to locate her running shoes in her gun case of all places and took off around the grounds of Hogwarts just as the day was waning into twilight. She had run three times around the grounds and as darkness truly began to kick in she began her Yoga routine on the shore of the Great Lake. It was her final meditation that had zoned her out. As all her energies aligned and stabilised her aura she began to feel a little overcome by recent events, as if the adrenaline of all of these days had flooded her body in one shot. She came out of the meditation feeling spiritually cleansed but monumentally stoned, a natural high that was difficult to achieve. She just sat there, leaning slightly forward, hands clasped around toes, cross-legged, her head on one side as she tried to feel the shifting into night.

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Albus had spotted the lone runner on her first circuit, after watching a third pass, he knew that it could only be Serenity and watched to see how long she would continue. He hoped that the exercise and fresh air would help to work out any problems that had reared up by returning to Hogwarts. He was pleasantly surprised to see her head to the shore of the lake and begin to practice an ancient art, if she doing this properly then he really had little to worry about with her. He was amazed at how far Serenity had come from the bitter confused man that he remembered; perhaps becoming a woman had been a good thing to happen. Sometimes the force of life intervened and provided an accident which proved to be positively life-changing.

Albus began to grow slightly concerned as he realised that her meditation had finished and she had not moved for at least fifteen minutes. He wondered whether she was upset or whether she truly had mastered this ancient art. If she had and had become caught up in her meditation, then it could be equally dangerous if she could not find her way back. He had just resolved to go down and retrieve his friend when he noticed that he was not the only one to have noticed the woman's static nature.

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Remus approached Ren cautiously, unsure if he was intruding into an intensely personal moment. When he realised that her stare was unfocused, he recognised the effects of meditation high, he had only seen it once before. He was rather shocked that Serenity had seemingly developed Shaman level trances and wondered if she accessed visions in this state. He carefully squatted down behind her and wrapped the fleecy blanket around her shoulders, overlapping it at the front and drawing her cold body into his arms, warming her. He slid his legs around hers, enclosing her in his body heat. He couldn't tell how much time passed as he waited for her to come back to earth, he noticed the slight movement of her chin and tightened his arms around her, alerting her to his presence.

"Are you done?"

"Mmmm. How long have you been here?"

"A while. It's been relaxing. I didn't want you to freeze while you were off wandering. Do you do this a lot?"

"Usually every evening. It has not usually progressed this far though, it was somewhat extreme."

"You don't usually reach the upper plateau?"

"You know Yogic meditation?"

"I've done a little research on it, purely from a third party perspective. Do you know how rare what you just achieved is?"

"Mmm. It's not often one's relaxation can call up a cuddle from a werewolf."

She giggled softly and laid back into his arms. Remus reassured himself that she was just relaxed beyond normal and took full advantage of the lowered drawbridge. Carefully standing so as to disturb her as little as possible, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her back towards the castle. As he looked up he could have sword he saw lights twinkling in the Headmaster's window, but it was soon gone and he put it down to reflections of the moon.

Figuring that Serenity would rather awake in her own bed and that being in her quarters would lend her an extra power in the situation and make her less likely to bolt, he headed for the dungeons. The portrait guarding her chambers swung aside at the sight of them and he gently floated her through to her bedchamber.

As their faces came close together as he laid her down, he was amazed when she reached up and pulled him into a kiss. He became immersed in the golden power that he could feel rolling off her as he succumbed to her scent and taste. Slowly he took control of himself and the kiss and pulled back a little, catching her dark brown eyes with his bright blue ones.

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

In answer she slid her jersey top off her shoulders and pulled the t-shirt over her head, tossing it absently onto the floor. She calmly slid her fingers along the buttons on his shirt, the fabric receding before her touch. Pressing her breasts against his chest, she caught his lip between her own, sucked once and leaned back to look into his eyes.

"You know who I am Remus and you are still here. The reason I was so furious about the whole shrieking shack thing was because I was attracted to you, I never let it go because that it pissed me off so much. I knew that you weren't gay and that made it even worse. I'm not saying that I've been in love with you since school or anything extreme like that, but the fantasy of you in my bed is not a new one. I want you to stay, you don't seem inclined to leave, so…"

Remus needed no more encouragement. He leapt forwards, tumbling Ren to the bed with a growl and quickly rid them of the rest of their clothes. Ren began laughing as Remus took the Alpha male role a little too seriously, it took the situation into the hilarious zone that accompanies successful sex and set the playful tone of the rest of the evening.

Remus' smile anchored itself to his heart when she curled into him in the afterglow and wound her arms around his body. He was sure she must be able to hear his heartbeat, with her head resting on his chest. He was sure that it must sound twice as loud as a normal heart, one which was not suddenly spiritually content and surprised about it.