I'm procrastinating from getting my work done, but hey, the Marauders are far more interesting than writing up a Supreme Court case brief. Anyway, still on the theme track. The song for this one was Papercut by Linkin Park. Enjoy.

Audrie

The moon was enslaving him once again. He huddled on the floor, trying to hold off his alter ego, but he could feel him coming, his menacing footsteps coming closer. His eyes narrowed as the muddled dark forms of ruined furniture sharpened in my sight. Sounds morphed, revealing more of their essence; his ears arrowed in on the scratching of rat claws in the next room over. A stag snorted. Then the smells came. The lingering smell of potions, cologne, leather, wood.

The blood was roiling through his veins, his appendages lengthening, his fingers curling into claws. No! his mind yelled. No! Be human. Think! I am human. But nothing stopped the transformation. He felt myself growing and then blackness…and howling.

Hunger. Hunt. Large, medium, small prey? The werewolf's head swiveled around as a door clicked and three animals emerged. The werewolf's lips curled back in a growl and it hunched, ready to spring. The other animals held still, only the rat quivering in fear.

Familiar scent.Pack. The stag stepped forward, keeping its head level. No attack. It stopped just before werewolf and snorted. Friends? The stag nodded at the brief depth that spiraled through the werewolf's eyes. Not prey.

The dog trotted up, braced its paws against the werewolf, and licked its face. Safe. The stag trotted to a doorway and waited. After a moment, the dog dropped away and followed the stag. The rat scampered to the two beasts. Follow.

The werewolf trotted after them. Pack.

Remus awoke on something soft. His nose felt numb with the lack of smell. He opened his eyes and everything seemed dim.

"Feeling okay?" James's voice sounded dull and flat to his ears.

Remus turned toward his friend and smiled. "Yeah, thanks."

"No problem," replied Sirius, plopping onto Remus's bed in the hospital wing. He yanked a bar of chocolate from Remus's bedside table and tore the wrapping off of it before shoving as much as he could into his mouth. "Mmm starffin," he announced through the mass of chocolate. Peter had already helped himself to some of the chocolate.

"How was I last night?" Remus ventured, glancing at all of his friends. Some mornings James and Sirius winced at the bruises they'd received trying to keep control of him, but they always insisted that a little pain was worth keeping their friend sane.

Sirius grinned. "Since you didn't find a girl werewolf, I can't really tell you. But you'll bring a whole new meaning to wild animal sex."

Remus blushed and James rolled his eyes. "That's just gross," protested Peter through his own mouthful of chocolate.

Sirius shook his hair out of his eyes and smirked. "You can blame Moony for that; he asked."

"No, we can blame your perverted mind," Remus retorted. He pushed himself up until he was sitting upright. "I don't think I want you on my bed."

"I'm not getting in it," Sirius replied sweetly. "OWWW!" he cried as James cuffed him in the ear.

"You were fine, Moony. Not a single bruise," James assured his friend, seemlessly ignoring his best friend's glare. "You better rest up; you still look exhausted. We'll see you later."

Sirius leapt off of the bed. "Yeah, we better get going before Madam Pomfrey shows up. Catch you later, mate."

Peter scrambled off the bed and followed his friends down the row of beds. "See ya later, Moony! Thanks for the chocolate. Oh, by the way, we got a surprise for you," he called over his shoulder.

"Wormtail you weren't supposed to tell! He might figure it out now," protested James.

"I'm so—," the door cut Peter off.

Remus smiled. They were his friends; the connection to humanity that kept him from being a monster. He owed them so much and they never even realized it.