Word Count: 469

Challenges: L9: Space Room: Moon / Easter Egg, Abstract Day 5: Mary Macdonald

Same Place, Same Time?

The moon shone above, full and round and bright in the dark sky. There weren't many stars around, the pollution too dense for them to show, even out in the middle of nowhere, where they'd Apparated too for safety.

Mary was nervous.

It was the first time she was doing this, and she glanced over at Remus, who smiled tiredly at her.

"It's almost time," he murmured softly. "You should probably change now, just to be on the safe side."

Mary swallowed and nodded her head. She closed her eyes as she always did for the change, and then she felt her body shifting. Becoming an animal—even after doing so multiple times—was the oddest sensation. She could feel her whole body changing, and yet it didn't hurt. It just felt… strange.

Opening her eyes to vision that was far better than her usual, human eyes, she let out a joyful yip, just as Remus started to change. She crouched, ready for the wolf. Her head rested on her front paws, even as her fluffy tail waved in the air, her back legs prepped and ready for her to leap.

Being a fox was the most fun she'd ever had.

It was hard though, to see her friend in pain. Even in her animal form she could see that his shift—unwilling, unlike her own—was painful. His clothes were destroyed in the moments it took for him to become the hulking wolf he'd told her about. Seeing it was unlike being told about it, but she found that she wasn't scared.

The wolf howled, long and high, and then turned it's snout in her direction. That was all the invitation she needed.

She lept.

…

When Remus woke up in the middle of the field, it was with a fox curled around his torso. He smiled to himself, despite the aches left from the transformation. Stroking a gentle hand over the fox's back, he murmured, "Mary?"

Sharp, green eyes looked up at him, as she blinked lazily. Remus chuckled as she moved and stretched out her front paws leisurely before, in a second or two, he was looking at the human version of his friend.

"Morning," she said, her cheeks flushed as she averted her gaze from his naked skin. Remus looked down and then felt his own cheeks heat up. He hastily conjured clothes for himself—he'd never been great at it, but they'd last until he Apparated home—and dressed, before he stood up to join her.

"Thank you," he said softly. "Thank you for spending the evening keeping me… level headed."

Mary's lips tilted up as she turned back to look at him. "Anytime. I had a lot of fun."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Same time, next full moon, right?"

Remus grinned, feeling more alive than he had in… too long. "Right."