Disclaimer: I would own Harry Potter…if it was opposite day.

Chapter 8

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Harry had taken to glancing up at the small window set high in the wall every few seconds. But he shouldn't have bothered. The moment the moon broke free from it's cloud cover he knew it, could feel it all the way through to his bones.

He felt Remus stiffen and he jerked to curl in on himself with a gasp, not expecting the sharp pain.

Back in the village parents froze in surprise as the violent ghosts that had haunted the Shrieking Shack years ago made a reappearance. Horrible howls and screams filled the night air and more than one wizard and witch locked and warded their homes, wondering why the ghosts had decided to return.

Remus had held onto his shoulder for as long as he could before his own transformation became to cumbersome and he was forced to let go as he fell to his hands and knees. He grit his teeth in pain, doing fairly well not to cry out. He was more thankful than ever for the effects of the wolfsbane potion that helped him keep a clear mind and numbed some of the pain.

But his heart wrenched as he listened to Harry scream and spasm nearby, the pain in full force. He was able to watch as the intelligence left the boys eyes and the wolf took over.

After what seemed a lifetime Remus shakily got to his paws and waited for the last of the dizziness to fade. He let out a slow breath and shook out his fur, feeling a little more alive every moment.

But his attention was drawn quickly to a shivering ball of black fur where he could hear a soft whimpering.

Harry! Remus padded over quickly and whined back to let the cub know he was there before nudging him with a paw that dwarfed the younger wolfs head. As he patiently prodded and nudged the cub into uncurling the professor in him mused about how interesting it was that Harry's form was truly that of a young wolf cub. He'd actually shrunk with the change.

As the cub uncurled and blinked up at him Remus couldn't help but be taken in by his startling features. Inky black fur with some lighter grey black markings around the cubs face and throat, that only served to make his already bright gold wolf eyes seem to glow.

The cub looked at him for a moment before burying his face into his chest with a frightened whimper. If he'd been able to he would have chuckled a bit at the simply adorable cub in front of him. Oh he couldn't wait until Harry was able to see himself and how cute he looked!

Remus took to his feet them with a huff and set about teaching the cub how to walk around in his new form. He didn't envy the aches Harry was sure to feel in the morning, but he couldn't help but have fun once his cub got the hang of walking and started play fighting with him.

It was no contest as all he had to do was rest a leg on the small thing to pin him, but still fun. In fact he couldn't remember ever having had such a relaxing full moon before.

All too soon he'd tired the young wolf out and his cub was trying not to fall asleep, but his head kept dipping lower and lower to the floor each second that passed.

So shaking his head at the stubborn nature of his cub, in both forms it seemed, he gently picked him up in his mouth and moved them both to the bed to sleep out the rest of the night.

He waited until the cub was deeply asleep before tugging one of the discarded robes over the small bundle to save them some embarrassment in the morning before falling asleep himself.

Miles away a certain bushy haired young witch was sitting up late with a book. Hermione glanced at the window at the full bright moon and winced in guilt, her imagination conjuring up all kinds of dismal scenes to torture her. Even more determined she looked back to the thick leather tome in front of her. The Animagus spell was the most complicated bit of transfiguration she'd ever seen, but she was determined to figure it out. She'd never forgive herself if she didn't do at least this.

Birds greeted the day with a song outside the Shack, and Remus rolled over with a groan. He glared up at the window, wanting nothing more than to go find those birds and eat them for waking him up.

With a sigh he rubbed his face and sat up, blinking blearily around the room. His gaze fell on Harry, curled up on the end of the bed under a robe and deeply asleep. With any luck he'd sleep for a while more and recover. With a sad smile Remus brushed his fingers over black hair once before getting up to search for his robe.

Once he was somewhat decent he unlocked the door and stumbled down the stairs towards the kitchen and some waiting coffee with pain potions. Yes, that sounded nice. He should probably just mix the two together and be done with it.

But his plans to recover were cut short as a low growl filled the kitchen and he froze recognizing that growl. He could feel the color drain from his face quickly and he took a shallow, shaky breath in before turning to meet mad eyes.

"…what have you done."

A/Ns: I'm terrible at holding off on chapters. Once it's written it's posted. I have a half moment of "I should wait a week." But then I cave.

So! IMPORTANT! First of all we hit double digits for reviews! Yay! Not gunna lie, reviews are like crack to me.

Reader AZ: You'll just have to wait and see!

Jim3846: Thank you! And actually I have fun coming up with new ways to do the disclaimer.

To answer HellionRoss' question about romance in this story. Yes I expect there will be some, but it's not the focus. As for with who…Idunno*shrug*. HOWEVER: If there is a certain person you all would be interested in seeing hook up feel free to let me know. But if you do give me a few really good reasons why they should be together.

"Because they're hot together." or "They're together in the books." or (merlin help you) "I don't care so long as it's yaoi!1!" is not an acceptable answer. Be creative! This is your chance to directly influence this story!