WARNING: Graphic wound description ahead - read at your own risk - if you think this may trigger you, don't read
The wolf howled under the light of the waning moon. It'd had control for the past 6 hours; had the freedom to do as it wished. But now, with the moon leaving its apex, the humans' strength has returned enough to force the wolf into submission. Well, thought the wolf; not if I can help it.
There was only five minutes left until moonrise - when the suppression would happen - if the wolf couldn't hold the human back. And yet, every full moon, the wolf had tried to repress the change, and every full moon it had failed. Not this time. Today would be the exception, and the wolf would gain the freedom it'd long deserved, whenever it wanted. And perhaps, just maybe, it'd get to go after some real prey. Finally able to feel the crunch of bones, the slip of sinew over teeth, and taste the leaking vein juice. It was beyond frustration to have the means to satisfy its craving so close only to be stopped by that ridiculous dog that always seemed to be present. And yet, the wolf thought with a feral grin, he wasn't present now. Maybe that would be the key to staying free.
If there was a way for the wolf to stay out - it'd find it. And if there wasn't; the wolf would make sure that the human knew it wasn't happy about the matter.
Despite being prevented from snacking, the first moons the wolf had been present for had been worse; loneliness was something the wolf felt keenly. That being said, the fact that the dog wasn't present now allowed the wolf a freedom he'd scarcely felt. This freedom would allow the wolf to attempt something it hadn't before attempted on a noteworthy scale.
So, as the moon sank and the sun rose in tandem; the wolf, failing to find an alternate escape from the sun, fought like hell. It began to claw at its body, in the hope that maybe if returning was painful then the human wouldn't want to return, enabling the wolf to retain control of it forever. However, the wolf had tried this before and had not had much luck. Maybe if the wolf upped the intensity, it would work.
The wolf sank his claws deeper than he ever had before and clamped his teeth around whatever his mouth could reach. It ignored the red sticky stuff that poured out from between his teeth and over its claws. No… fingers. Releasing its jaw to howl one final time, the wolf cursed the humans' existence as it was forced back into its prison for another eternity-long month; its plan yet again in tatters.
Sirius practically sprinted to the Apparation point. It hadn't mattered how much he'd begged, or bartered with Moody; he hadn't been able to get out of the shift on the night of the full moon. Sirius didn't know who to be more annoyed at; himself for actually going through with it and not just calling in sick, or Moody for not giving him the chance to be there for Remus.
He used the anger he felt at the unjust universe to propel him into the void of apparation, stumbling on landing as a result. Throwing open the gate with one hand, he retrieved his stowed wand with the other and slipped through their wards. Sirius darted into the house, noting thankfully that the cellar door was still in one piece, as were the extra charms that sat heavily over the top of the wood. But the sharp metallic smell drifting under the door suggested that not everything went to plan. He hurriedly chanted the incantation of a more complicated version of the unlocking spell and shouldered the door open. It was five minutes after sunrise, so Sirius was reasonably confident that the wolf had morphed back into Remus. Still, if not, he was ready to shift into Padfoot. The dog form was useful in preventing the wolf's escape.
"Remus?" he asked, glancing quickly around the room.
There was no reply. A body lay terrifyingly still in the corner of the room; illuminated by the dawnlight pouring through the window that stretched the length of the cellar.
In less than three strides, Sirius was crouched at his side. He rapidly ran his wand in a complicated motion over Remus' body.
"Remus?" he called again, his wand now spitting out the diagnosis in puffs of smoke words.
"Remus? Open your eyes, love."
Remus groaned almost indecipherably.
Sirius frowned, the diagnosis wasn't good. Remus was losing a lot of blood. He needed healing, and fast.
"I'm just going to try to heal a few of the really bad ones, Rem, then we'll get you upstairs in bed," Sirius said. He hated that he couldn't make him comfortable straight away but knowing that losing that much blood didn't leave him many options in the short term. While blood could easily be replaced by a potion; its use would require the wounds to be closed first.
So, as quickly as he could, he pointed his wand at a particularly nasty, oozing cut and chanted an incantation that would hopefully knit the severed layers of skin back together. Similar treatment of six equally deep lacerations followed.
Sirius shuddered, his head drooping slightly. This kind of intense, deep healing took a lot of magic and energy from the caster. And whilst usually happy to deal with the payment magic demanded from him, Sirius wished he could push the consequences back an hour or two because right now, Remus needed him.
He climbed to his feet with Remus in his arms. The magic required to lift the unconscious werewolf would have had more of a toll on his already weary body then the effort of physically lifting him.
Sirius stumbled up out of the cellar and up the second set of stairs onto the first floor. It was at times like these that he was glad Harry was at Hogwarts. What Sirius really didn't need right now was his 11-year-old godson coming out of his room to witness his godfather hauling his butt naked husband up the stairs - whilst both looked like they'd both been on the receiving end of a massacre.
After what seemed like forever, Sirius got them through the doors of their bedroom and gently placed Remus down on the bedsheets. Already knackered, he sat down on the chair beside the bed (strategically placed the day before) and began to sluggishly heal the worst of the minor wounds that came with turning into a werewolf and back in the course of an evening. Then gently, whilst monitoring the healing of the cuts and assessing whether the bruises needed further attention, Sirius used the sponge and water sitting in a bowl on the nightstand to slowly remove the thin layer of blood that coated Remus' skin. The process wouldn't remove all of it like a siphoning charm would but it was more comfortable for Remus and used no magic, which was preferable for Sirius on a full moon night. Besides, the first thing Remus would want to do when he was lucid would be to have a bath; so 100% cleanliness wasn't the goal.
Sirius slouched in his chair and dropped his wand on the nearby bedside table. Giving in to the wave of relaxation that washed over him, he dropped his head onto the back of the seat and slept.
When he awoke, it was to the sound of running water. His head shot up, instantly alert and regretting not making it to the bed before falling asleep. Sirius was getting far too old for nonsense like falling asleep in chairs (not that he'd admit that to anyone).
He took in the room before him, everything was the same as he'd left it when he'd fallen asleep with one glaring exception; Remus wasn't where he'd left him.
Upon closer inspection, the slightly worse for wear sheets were also missing. If Sirius looked closely enough at the laundry basket, he could just about make out the duvet cover sticking out the top.
Sirius clambered to his feet (once again regretting his choice of sleeping location) and grabbed his wand from where he'd left it. He followed the sound of running water to their ensuite where he found very pale and shaky looking Remus sitting on the closed toilet lid. (Still completely starkers, Sirius' brain didn't fail to note)
"I do wish you'd woken me, love; you shouldn't be moving so much after a bad moon. Let me look after you," Sirius said, sticking his wand behind his ear and approaching his lover.
Remus rolled his eyes - bravely making an attempt at nonchalance.
"I'm fine, Pads. I'm perfectly capable of running myself a bath."
Sirius' raised an eyebrow delicately.
"Perfectly capable, huh? Rem, you almost died last night. You lost so much blood I'm surprised you made it to the bathroom successfully without fainting. Speaking of," Sirius reached into the cabinet over the sink for a blood replenishing potion and handed it to Remus to drink. "On any other morning of the month, yes you're more than capable of having a bath, but today, after last night - you're not."
Remus' jaw tightened. Sirius groaned internally, he'd said the wrong thing again.
"Moons, I didn't mean to invalidate you or your sense of worth. I'm just worried that next time you won't be successful, or that you'll slip and fall or fall asleep in the bath and drown or I haven't healed a cut properly, and you bleed to death or something like that," Sirius ignored the smirk on Remus' face. "I know it's unlikely Rem, but it could still happen. I don't know what I'd do without you."
Remus' pout softened slightly. Sirius took that as an invitation to continue speaking and crouched next to him.
Taking his hand, Sirius continued, "Moons, I love you. I would do anything, short of harming Harry for you. You've done so much for me - saved me a thousand times over. Please let me do this for you," he paused and stared into Remus' eyes, "You don't need to save yourself, you have me."
Remus looked down at their joined hands before glancing back up at him from beneath his eyelashes shyly.
"Okay," he responded quietly.
Sirius smiled softly and released Remus' hands, "Bath time?"
Remus nodded, wincing slightly.
Padfoot swiftly turned the taps off and assessed the water temperature with his baby finger. It was perfect, and after a quick jab of his wand in the baths vague direction, the water would stay that way.
"Are you okay to get in or do you want to fly?"
Remus laughed.
"And how do you propose to make me fly? I didn't think broomsticks were made to be ridden starkers."
Sirius waggled his eyebrows, "Why would you think that, Moons? I'll have you know they're-"
"Pads, no… you didn't. Please tell me you didn't."
"I had blisters for a week…"
"Why didn't you go to Pomfrey?" Remus asked, pulling a face.
"And tell her what? That a partner has been a bit… overenthusiastic?" Sirius snorted.
Remus laughed and winced.
Sirius sobered up immediately - humour would come later when he didn't have a hurting Moony on his hands. He still needed to take another in-depth look at the wounds from last night.
"Okay, let's get you in before we both die of old age. Levitation charm or by hand?"
Remus considered for a second before choosing the latter. With a lot of careful manoeuvring and with excessive amounts of hovering on Sirius' behalf, they finally got the werewolf in the bath.
Remus relaxed against the edge of the bathtub, resting his head on his arm and peering at Sirius inquisitively. Sirius grabbed his wand from behind his ear.
"Are you not joining me?" Remus asked quietly, his eyebrows pulled together.
Sirius paused. He'd been about to cast another diagnostic spell, but upon his husbands' question reconsidered. There was no reason cuddling couldn't take place at the same time.
He smiled at Remus, nodded and stuffed his wand behind his ear for the second time in the space of ten minutes.
Removing his clothes was a fast process, as was casting a quick cleaning charm to remove any excess dirt.
"Budge up," Sirius chuckled, manoeuvering so he was sitting behind Remus.
The water, comfortably warm, was very relaxing in comparison to the chair he'd spent the early morning in. He struggled to concentrate as the warmth from the bath seeped into him, enhancing the lingering lethargy. Remus relaxed back onto him, resting his head on Sirius' chest.
Padfoot smiled sleepily. Assuming everything was healing correctly, everything was going to be alright. It was a whole month until the next full moon. A whole twenty-something days before the hell that was a full moon. On top of that, it was almost December which meant Harry would be home soon; and with Harry came the inevitable resumption of the house-wide prank war.
"Should probably start planning the big… celebration for when Harry gets back, Moons."
"Mmmm…" Remus muttered sleepily, his eyes closed.
Sirius made a mental note to bring it up later when Remus was feeling more up to conversation. He grabbed his wand out from behind his ear and waved it over Remus' torso. The werewolf, half asleep, didn't protest at the slight change in movement this caused.
Sirius smiled softly; everything was healing as well as could be expected. Although some would still require extra magic from him over the coming days. That was fine, Sirius thought; after all, it was his job to save Moony.
Can't seem to leave this little universe alone xD I hope you enjoyed - let me know if there's anything, in particular, you would like to see? (Peach97 - your suggestion is under construction xD)
This wasn't beta read so if you spotted any glaring errors please don't hesitate to let me know - I won't bite your hand off, I promise.
Have an excellent week xx