p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="center"Dec. 28sup style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 0;"th/sup, 1993 (full moon)/p
hr style="margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; border-style: solid; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; width: 359.25px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.12px; background-color: #ffffff;" /
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"To know how the current situation had arisen one must first understand what had come to pass. For Remus Lupin that was figuring out why Seren was currently passed out in a pile of snow and how long she had been there./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He'd merely been out for a bit of a walk to stretch his aching bones and muscles when he'd seen what he initially thought was just one of the many creatures that inhabited the ground until he'd gotten closer and felt a stone sink in his stomach. As he got closer he gingerly reached out to shake her awake but recoiled when he felt how hot her skin was./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Seren?" she was burning up but her skin looked pallid, "Seren can you hear me?" there was a soft groan and he hesitated to move her in case she was hurt. The least likely scenario given everyone was still gone for the holidays. He pulled off his coat and carefully wrapped it around her as he scooped her up./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No…" her body shook as he lifted her out of the snow drift, "You can't stay out here, you'll die." She groaned again curling into him as he carried her back into the castle, "'s hot…" of course it was hot who knew how bad her fever was. He could take her to madame Pomfrey but if this was another werewolf thing she would only be able to do so much./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""How long were you outside?" he had to keep her focused, "Seren?" he lightly shook her, waking her up again, "Talk to me, how long were you outside?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""dunno…where am I?" he picked up the pace, deciding to let Pomfrey see to her after all. He nudged the door to the infirmary open and hurried in, "Poppy?!" the elderly matron stepped out of the back room, "What's all this commotion about?" seeing the young woman in his arms she motioned for him to set her on one of the beds./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Where did you find her?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""She was outside, but she couldn't tell me how long I think she has delirium from the fever." He carefully brushed some wet hair from her face. The warm air from the castle melted any lingering frost but it did little to return color to her skin. Lupin watched frantic as Poppy rummaged through her potions store coming back with a few things./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""It's a full moon tonight." He already knew that. He'd imagined she'd have found herself in his room as she did every month for transformations, it had become ritualistic now. She'd show up and they'd have a normal conversation over tea and whatever food the House elf Teeky had brought, enjoy one another's company and then share the same space until both reverted back the next morning./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Finding her out in the snow was not./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""normally I'd suggest she stay for observation, but as you know full well, I am not equipped to handle sick werewolves, but I can give you what she'll need for the night and then you can report back to me tomorrow when you're feeling up to it. he took the potions from Poppy, looking back at the fitful girl on the cot, careful as he lifted her back into his arms and unable to help the soft smile as she curled back into him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""you smell good…" he merely looked down at her wondering if this was the fever before he continued on the way to his office/bedroom. "Shh." His voice was soothing as he cast a silent spell to open the office door. "I'm going to set you down in one of the armchairs and get you some blanket's, is that alright?" he chuckled as she whined at being set down, quickly flicking his wand at the fireplace as he disappeared into the hidden back bedroom, returning quickly with some spare blankets./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Nooooo." She tried to fight him away as he moved her, trying to wrap her in a blanket so she could sweat the fever out. "Seren, stop…fighting…" she toppled out of the chair and onto the floor and he merely stared down at her, "don't want it. 's too hot." Hoisting her back off the floor he gently set her back in the chair, checking for any injuries before wrapping her in the blanket again which she once again quickly threw off, her eyes flashing gold in annoyance./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Oh./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""you're not sick, are you?" she shook her head in a daze and curled further into the chair, "Why were you out in the snow?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""'s cold." He rose an eyebrow at her response, trying to get more than just the short answers she seemed to be willing to give. "Seren, this is serious. You could have died out there!" he snapped, immediately regretting the decision when her eyes flickered tiredly over to him, "Didn't…wanna bother you…with it." his frown only deepened, "You wouldn't be bothering me. What makes you think you'd be bothering me?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Busy…" her head lolled to the side a bit looking towards his desk, his lesson plans for next term were scattered across the desk. She must have seen them the other night when she'd stopped by to give him his gift. Carefully he lifted her out of the armchair, taking a seat in it and placing her on his lap so she could curl up again, running his fingers through her hair as he so often did./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You smell like chimney smoke and cedar…" looking down at her noticing she seemed completely at peace. Her eyes were closed, her head was tucked against his chest, and her breathing seemed even. "What do I smell like?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He wasn't sure how to answer, staring down at her as she seemed to doze in and out of consciousness. The idea of answering her question was absurd and yet the need to be honest pulled at him. "You smell like…a warm summer day…sort of."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Sort of?" he knew what she smelled like and it was a scent that often left him feeling on the verge of drunk, "You smell like lilacs and warm Vanilla." Her lips tugged into a gentle smile, "A warm summer day…and a cool summer night." She seemed to have dozed off again and he felt another small tug at her words. The perfect pair and yet somehow completely opposite./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The calm atmosphere of the room had lulled Lupin into a deep sleep of his own because when he woke again Seren was still curled into him but she had pulled one of the blankets over their bodies. "Hey." Noticing the sweat pearling on her skin he lightly shook her awake, drawing a soft moan and stirring something inside of him, "Come on, love, we should get the worst part of tonight out of the way." Begrudgingly Seren uncurled herself so he could get up. "We can spend the rest of the night just lying around, but you and I both know the Wolfsbane helps."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Seren gave a small nod, this transformation was going to be difficult with the new circumstance of her being in a heat cycle as a now bonded female. Remus passed her the vial of wolfsbane and she quickly downed it, gagging at the taste. Remus watched her sympathetically as he downed his and set the empty potions vial on his desk./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm…" she was suddenly lifted off the ground, trying to fight the instinct to curl back into him, "What are you doing?" he didn't give her an answer as he carried her back into the bedroom, "Remus?" he noticed her seemingly timid nature today and perhaps it was the fact she'd spent who knows how long outside or the fact she was struggling to reign in her more carnal needs, he didn't know. But he'd told her they could just spend the day laying in and so that's what they were going to do./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Her eyes watched as he set her gently on the bed, giving her a stern look, "Stay." tilting her head to the side a bit in response, the similarity between her and a puppy made him chuckle as curious green eyes followed him before he disappeared with a change of clothes into the bathroom, re-emerging moments later in a loose fitted t-shirt and sleep pants./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You'll want to get out of those clothes, I don't want you to actually get sick." She looked somewhat self-conscious, "I've seen you naked before, why are you suddenly so timid?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""That was…I mean…" the last time she had been in a heat cycle she had been quite aggressive and he'd had to restrain her just to get her to take the Wolfsbane, but this time she seemed docile. The pink he loved so much was back. "You were the one who…" she trailed off again "The one who…what?" he once again motioned for her to remove the wet clothes./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Well…you're the one who bit first." Remus fixed her with a confused stare as he tried to process what that meant as Seren carefully peeled the damp clothes off, leaving her sitting in her bra and underwear. The piece seemed to finally click into place./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You've been reading?" she gave another small nod, shifting so she sat a bit closer, "Does being closer help?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""A bit." She had seemed at peace curled up with him earlier. "Listen, I don't want you to ever think you're bothering me, understand? Yes I have duties to attend to as a professor, but my door is always open to you."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I don't want to be in the way." She felt his fingers thread through her hair, giving it a soft tug. "You're not in the way. And don't even think about apologizing." It was her worst habit, and one he had been working on. Remus lupin was hopelessly stubborn and he knew he had to work on it, but being what he was…what they were, had been nothing but a problem./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Do you have a hair pulling kink?" the question caught him off guard and he stared at her in surprise, "What?" it was clear she hadn't been just trying to get a rise out of him given her tone was innocent, "Well…you always tug on my hair when I do something that bothers you, you don't have to answer if you don't want to…it was just an observation." He kept his fingers in her hair, trailing them down gently to rest at the back of her neck./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Does it bother you?" she shook her head lightly, "No…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Do you…" he paused, catching the familiar blush again, "It's not like you're hurting me…and I've had worse done…a-as you've seen." She finished quickly, fidgeting with her hands in her lap./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Th-that's not to say I like pain or anything! I just…" Remus chuckled, giving her hair another soft tug, "I mostly started tugging on your hair to tease you, I guess it just became a habit." His mind briefly flickered to one of their previous transformations./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I don't mind."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You can relax a bit you know?" she looked at him, giving a small nod, "Sor…er, I'm just tired, and I'm still really warm, but it's more bearable than last time." There was a soft hand on her back and she wondered what he was doing as his other hand rested on her shoulder, urging her to lay down as he got up and went to the other side of the bed, slipping under the covers./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""If being close helps, then—" she felt his arms snake around her waist, pulling her closer, "Do you want the blankets over you?" she shook her head, snuggling close to him, enjoying the calming mixture of Smoke and Cedar./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""is there anything else you need?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Not right now." His smile returned when she rolled onto her other side, tucking her head under his chin, "Are you going to get some more sleep?" there was a soft tickling sensation as she nodded. Her hair brushing against the small amount of exposed skin served only to make him more aware of their current situation and his own inner wolf kept reminding him how easy she would be to overpower her. He did his best to ignore it. he wouldn't force anything on her./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was mere minutes before she was out again and he quickly followed her./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"When Remus next awoke Seren was still tucked against his chest, the only difference was that at some point she must have pulled the blankets over her and now looked slightly pained as more sweat beaded on her skin. Gently he tugged the top sheet up and wiped it away, trying his best to be careful so as not to wake her when a soft groan slipped past her rosy lips. There wasn't much he could do to alleviate her estrus cycle, Male werewolves only struggled with it once a year after they reached full maturity./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She'd only just reached maturity when she'd been taken, when those who served under Voldemort had raped, tortured and abused her for amusement because they saw her as lesser. It still astounded him she had chosen to trust him to quickly, he wouldn't have blamed her one bit if she'd rid herself of him and disappeared from the inn. Perhaps it was loyalty or it was the fact she knew they were the same during her stay at St. Mungo's./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No…don't." he frowned as she became fitful, her hands digging into the fabric of his shirt, "Shh. No one is going to hurt you." he murmured as he moved the sheet down to wipe some sweat from her neck, she seemed to relax as he wrapped the sheet back around her. Looking towards the window he'd noticed it was getting dark. As gently as he was able he retracted his arm so he could tug his shirt off before it got ruined, the pants he didn't care much about as they were old./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Remus?" she turned her head up ever so slightly as he repositioned himself, his shirt discarded in a heap on the floor,/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm right here. Was there something you needed?" once again she shook her head, snuggling back into him as he wrapped and arm around her waist. "Seren?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hmm?" he'd had the feeling she wasn't being entirely truthful, one of the perks of the mating bite, "I need you to be honest with me."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm fine, I promise."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You're sweating, and your skin still feels like fire. Now, I'm going to ask again. Do you need anything?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I don't want you to get in trouble…or feel obligated…" she mumbled, "Your job is already hard enough."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""There you go again, worrying about me." he nestled his face into her hair, placing a soft kiss atop her head, "You worry enough about me, I'll be alright…been dealing with it…for four years."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Four?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What do you mean you've been dealing with it four years?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""My birthday." She whispered, "It was back in October."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""October, why didn't you say anything? Don't tell me it was because you didn't want to bother me, either."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No, just didn't think it was important…never really did anything after I started coming to Hogwarts." Remus merely hummed in response. "Well, perhaps on new year's eve you can make a late birthday wish. They say it's the perfect day for it. But stop dodging around the question."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I don't need anything, really." He couldn't push the matter if she didn't ask it of him, and she was correct in stating if they pushed their relationship further it could create some problems, but the staff knew and surprisingly still, Dumbledore had encouraged it, probably under the premise she understood next to nothing about herself despite being born a werewolf./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The room was relatively dark now, the faint hints of a sunset still dancing on the walls. Watching her roll over on the bed again his eyes trailed down to her back where he'd previously seen scarring, gently pulling the bedding down so he could look at it. He'd initially thought they were just jagged lines until he'd turned his head, but she had quickly covered them with the shirt she'd been wearing./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He gently traced over the lines, realizing what it said now and frowning in disgust, the Jagged scar spelled out the word span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"'mongrel'/span down the center of her back. A sure fire way to mark her for what she was./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"His joints were starting to ache and he knew the transformation was coming./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As the moon finally rose he felt his bones stretch, crack and reposition themselves, watching as Seren's body did the same./p
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p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="center"December 29sup style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 0;"th/sup, 1993./p
hr style="margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; border-style: solid; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; width: 359.25px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.12px; background-color: #ffffff;" /
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The familiar smell of Lilacs and vanilla greeted him the next morning, a scent he didn't think he'd ever get tired of as he stared down at the sleeping face beside him, this was the first transformation that they'd shared since August where they didn't have to go their separate ways the next morning. Gently he repositioned himself so he could hold her a bit closer, re-wrapping his arms around her and smiling softly as she nuzzled her head under his chin./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm still here." There was a soft sigh of contentment as he stroked her hair, "Good morning."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Morning." The two of them just laid in bed in silence and he'd wondered briefly if Seren had drifted back off to sleep until he felt a soft kiss on his cheek. "What was that for?" she looked up with a tired smile, "Because I wanted to." Remus couldn't help but chuckle at her, leaning down to catch her lips in a soft kiss, which she softly returned, bringing her hand up to cup his cheek and deepening the kiss./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""This is a pleasant surprise." He looked down into her eyes, "Sorry…I mean…um—" he silenced her with another soft kiss, bringing one of his hand from her waist to her hair, tangling his fingers in the dark tresses as he lightly bit her bottom lip asking for entrance, sighing happily as she gave in./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Breaking the kiss, he rested his forehead against her's. Her usually rosy lips were slightly more red and swollen and her cheeks were flushed with the usual tinge of soft pink. "I love you." he felt her fingers lightly drag across his skin, sending a shiver down his spine as they softly tangled in his hair, giving a soft tug and drawing a playful look, "Now who has a hair pulling kink?" he laughed as the blush deepened and he leaned down for another kiss, trailing from her lips to her neck where he bit over the slowly fading mate mark before finally trailing down to her collar bone./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Seren could feel the familiar heat pool between her legs and let out a soft whine, "Remus." He pulled back, staring down at her with a look of adoration, "Is something wrong?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No, nothing's wrong, it's just I'm still…you know." There was a brief period of silence, "Th-that's not to say I don't want to go further with the mating ritual, but…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I won't push that unless it's something you ask for. I will wait as long as it takes for you to be absolutely comfortable with the idea." She pulled him back down for anther quick kiss, "Thank you." he kissed the tip of her nose before pulling back./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He wanted to address the scar on her back but he did not want to ruin the peaceful moment. Beyond that he knew her internship with the Ministry for Auror training would begin next term and there was a sinking feeling in his stomach that they would not be kind nor receptive to a werewolf being in their midst. He was snapped back to reality when he felt her try to pull away from him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""And where are you going?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I was going to make som tea?" he tugged her back against him, "No. I'll go make tea. You stay and rest." She looked like she was going to protest but he gave her a firm look, "Yes, sir." He stilled, halfway to sitting up. The way she had said that sent another shiver down his spine. Realizing what she'd just said Seren watched him with wide eyes, "I…uh, um…I-I-I didn't mean it like…I-I mean…" there was a look in his eyes that she was unfamiliar with as he stood./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We could play that game." She swallowed nervously at the sudden shift to his voice, noting the gravelly tone was back. "W-what?" the mischievous look only grew as he headed for the door and disappeared into the main office leaving a very confused young witch alone in his bedroom./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What game?" she whispered to the now empty room./p
hr style="margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; border-style: solid; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; width: 359.25px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.12px; background-color: #ffffff;" /
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"To know how the current situation had arisen one must first understand what had come to pass. For Remus Lupin that was figuring out why Seren was currently passed out in a pile of snow and how long she had been there./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He'd merely been out for a bit of a walk to stretch his aching bones and muscles when he'd seen what he initially thought was just one of the many creatures that inhabited the ground until he'd gotten closer and felt a stone sink in his stomach. As he got closer he gingerly reached out to shake her awake but recoiled when he felt how hot her skin was./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Seren?" she was burning up but her skin looked pallid, "Seren can you hear me?" there was a soft groan and he hesitated to move her in case she was hurt. The least likely scenario given everyone was still gone for the holidays. He pulled off his coat and carefully wrapped it around her as he scooped her up./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No…" her body shook as he lifted her out of the snow drift, "You can't stay out here, you'll die." She groaned again curling into him as he carried her back into the castle, "'s hot…" of course it was hot who knew how bad her fever was. He could take her to madame Pomfrey but if this was another werewolf thing she would only be able to do so much./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""How long were you outside?" he had to keep her focused, "Seren?" he lightly shook her, waking her up again, "Talk to me, how long were you outside?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""dunno…where am I?" he picked up the pace, deciding to let Pomfrey see to her after all. He nudged the door to the infirmary open and hurried in, "Poppy?!" the elderly matron stepped out of the back room, "What's all this commotion about?" seeing the young woman in his arms she motioned for him to set her on one of the beds./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Where did you find her?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""She was outside, but she couldn't tell me how long I think she has delirium from the fever." He carefully brushed some wet hair from her face. The warm air from the castle melted any lingering frost but it did little to return color to her skin. Lupin watched frantic as Poppy rummaged through her potions store coming back with a few things./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""It's a full moon tonight." He already knew that. He'd imagined she'd have found herself in his room as she did every month for transformations, it had become ritualistic now. She'd show up and they'd have a normal conversation over tea and whatever food the House elf Teeky had brought, enjoy one another's company and then share the same space until both reverted back the next morning./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Finding her out in the snow was not./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""normally I'd suggest she stay for observation, but as you know full well, I am not equipped to handle sick werewolves, but I can give you what she'll need for the night and then you can report back to me tomorrow when you're feeling up to it. he took the potions from Poppy, looking back at the fitful girl on the cot, careful as he lifted her back into his arms and unable to help the soft smile as she curled back into him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""you smell good…" he merely looked down at her wondering if this was the fever before he continued on the way to his office/bedroom. "Shh." His voice was soothing as he cast a silent spell to open the office door. "I'm going to set you down in one of the armchairs and get you some blanket's, is that alright?" he chuckled as she whined at being set down, quickly flicking his wand at the fireplace as he disappeared into the hidden back bedroom, returning quickly with some spare blankets./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Nooooo." She tried to fight him away as he moved her, trying to wrap her in a blanket so she could sweat the fever out. "Seren, stop…fighting…" she toppled out of the chair and onto the floor and he merely stared down at her, "don't want it. 's too hot." Hoisting her back off the floor he gently set her back in the chair, checking for any injuries before wrapping her in the blanket again which she once again quickly threw off, her eyes flashing gold in annoyance./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Oh./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""you're not sick, are you?" she shook her head in a daze and curled further into the chair, "Why were you out in the snow?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""'s cold." He rose an eyebrow at her response, trying to get more than just the short answers she seemed to be willing to give. "Seren, this is serious. You could have died out there!" he snapped, immediately regretting the decision when her eyes flickered tiredly over to him, "Didn't…wanna bother you…with it." his frown only deepened, "You wouldn't be bothering me. What makes you think you'd be bothering me?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Busy…" her head lolled to the side a bit looking towards his desk, his lesson plans for next term were scattered across the desk. She must have seen them the other night when she'd stopped by to give him his gift. Carefully he lifted her out of the armchair, taking a seat in it and placing her on his lap so she could curl up again, running his fingers through her hair as he so often did./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You smell like chimney smoke and cedar…" looking down at her noticing she seemed completely at peace. Her eyes were closed, her head was tucked against his chest, and her breathing seemed even. "What do I smell like?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He wasn't sure how to answer, staring down at her as she seemed to doze in and out of consciousness. The idea of answering her question was absurd and yet the need to be honest pulled at him. "You smell like…a warm summer day…sort of."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Sort of?" he knew what she smelled like and it was a scent that often left him feeling on the verge of drunk, "You smell like lilacs and warm Vanilla." Her lips tugged into a gentle smile, "A warm summer day…and a cool summer night." She seemed to have dozed off again and he felt another small tug at her words. The perfect pair and yet somehow completely opposite./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The calm atmosphere of the room had lulled Lupin into a deep sleep of his own because when he woke again Seren was still curled into him but she had pulled one of the blankets over their bodies. "Hey." Noticing the sweat pearling on her skin he lightly shook her awake, drawing a soft moan and stirring something inside of him, "Come on, love, we should get the worst part of tonight out of the way." Begrudgingly Seren uncurled herself so he could get up. "We can spend the rest of the night just lying around, but you and I both know the Wolfsbane helps."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Seren gave a small nod, this transformation was going to be difficult with the new circumstance of her being in a heat cycle as a now bonded female. Remus passed her the vial of wolfsbane and she quickly downed it, gagging at the taste. Remus watched her sympathetically as he downed his and set the empty potions vial on his desk./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm…" she was suddenly lifted off the ground, trying to fight the instinct to curl back into him, "What are you doing?" he didn't give her an answer as he carried her back into the bedroom, "Remus?" he noticed her seemingly timid nature today and perhaps it was the fact she'd spent who knows how long outside or the fact she was struggling to reign in her more carnal needs, he didn't know. But he'd told her they could just spend the day laying in and so that's what they were going to do./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Her eyes watched as he set her gently on the bed, giving her a stern look, "Stay." tilting her head to the side a bit in response, the similarity between her and a puppy made him chuckle as curious green eyes followed him before he disappeared with a change of clothes into the bathroom, re-emerging moments later in a loose fitted t-shirt and sleep pants./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You'll want to get out of those clothes, I don't want you to actually get sick." She looked somewhat self-conscious, "I've seen you naked before, why are you suddenly so timid?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""That was…I mean…" the last time she had been in a heat cycle she had been quite aggressive and he'd had to restrain her just to get her to take the Wolfsbane, but this time she seemed docile. The pink he loved so much was back. "You were the one who…" she trailed off again "The one who…what?" he once again motioned for her to remove the wet clothes./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Well…you're the one who bit first." Remus fixed her with a confused stare as he tried to process what that meant as Seren carefully peeled the damp clothes off, leaving her sitting in her bra and underwear. The piece seemed to finally click into place./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You've been reading?" she gave another small nod, shifting so she sat a bit closer, "Does being closer help?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""A bit." She had seemed at peace curled up with him earlier. "Listen, I don't want you to ever think you're bothering me, understand? Yes I have duties to attend to as a professor, but my door is always open to you."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I don't want to be in the way." She felt his fingers thread through her hair, giving it a soft tug. "You're not in the way. And don't even think about apologizing." It was her worst habit, and one he had been working on. Remus lupin was hopelessly stubborn and he knew he had to work on it, but being what he was…what they were, had been nothing but a problem./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Do you have a hair pulling kink?" the question caught him off guard and he stared at her in surprise, "What?" it was clear she hadn't been just trying to get a rise out of him given her tone was innocent, "Well…you always tug on my hair when I do something that bothers you, you don't have to answer if you don't want to…it was just an observation." He kept his fingers in her hair, trailing them down gently to rest at the back of her neck./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Does it bother you?" she shook her head lightly, "No…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Do you…" he paused, catching the familiar blush again, "It's not like you're hurting me…and I've had worse done…a-as you've seen." She finished quickly, fidgeting with her hands in her lap./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Th-that's not to say I like pain or anything! I just…" Remus chuckled, giving her hair another soft tug, "I mostly started tugging on your hair to tease you, I guess it just became a habit." His mind briefly flickered to one of their previous transformations./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I don't mind."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You can relax a bit you know?" she looked at him, giving a small nod, "Sor…er, I'm just tired, and I'm still really warm, but it's more bearable than last time." There was a soft hand on her back and she wondered what he was doing as his other hand rested on her shoulder, urging her to lay down as he got up and went to the other side of the bed, slipping under the covers./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""If being close helps, then—" she felt his arms snake around her waist, pulling her closer, "Do you want the blankets over you?" she shook her head, snuggling close to him, enjoying the calming mixture of Smoke and Cedar./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""is there anything else you need?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Not right now." His smile returned when she rolled onto her other side, tucking her head under his chin, "Are you going to get some more sleep?" there was a soft tickling sensation as she nodded. Her hair brushing against the small amount of exposed skin served only to make him more aware of their current situation and his own inner wolf kept reminding him how easy she would be to overpower her. He did his best to ignore it. he wouldn't force anything on her./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was mere minutes before she was out again and he quickly followed her./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"When Remus next awoke Seren was still tucked against his chest, the only difference was that at some point she must have pulled the blankets over her and now looked slightly pained as more sweat beaded on her skin. Gently he tugged the top sheet up and wiped it away, trying his best to be careful so as not to wake her when a soft groan slipped past her rosy lips. There wasn't much he could do to alleviate her estrus cycle, Male werewolves only struggled with it once a year after they reached full maturity./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She'd only just reached maturity when she'd been taken, when those who served under Voldemort had raped, tortured and abused her for amusement because they saw her as lesser. It still astounded him she had chosen to trust him to quickly, he wouldn't have blamed her one bit if she'd rid herself of him and disappeared from the inn. Perhaps it was loyalty or it was the fact she knew they were the same during her stay at St. Mungo's./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No…don't." he frowned as she became fitful, her hands digging into the fabric of his shirt, "Shh. No one is going to hurt you." he murmured as he moved the sheet down to wipe some sweat from her neck, she seemed to relax as he wrapped the sheet back around her. Looking towards the window he'd noticed it was getting dark. As gently as he was able he retracted his arm so he could tug his shirt off before it got ruined, the pants he didn't care much about as they were old./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Remus?" she turned her head up ever so slightly as he repositioned himself, his shirt discarded in a heap on the floor,/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm right here. Was there something you needed?" once again she shook her head, snuggling back into him as he wrapped and arm around her waist. "Seren?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hmm?" he'd had the feeling she wasn't being entirely truthful, one of the perks of the mating bite, "I need you to be honest with me."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm fine, I promise."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You're sweating, and your skin still feels like fire. Now, I'm going to ask again. Do you need anything?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I don't want you to get in trouble…or feel obligated…" she mumbled, "Your job is already hard enough."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""There you go again, worrying about me." he nestled his face into her hair, placing a soft kiss atop her head, "You worry enough about me, I'll be alright…been dealing with it…for four years."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Four?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What do you mean you've been dealing with it four years?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""My birthday." She whispered, "It was back in October."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""October, why didn't you say anything? Don't tell me it was because you didn't want to bother me, either."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No, just didn't think it was important…never really did anything after I started coming to Hogwarts." Remus merely hummed in response. "Well, perhaps on new year's eve you can make a late birthday wish. They say it's the perfect day for it. But stop dodging around the question."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I don't need anything, really." He couldn't push the matter if she didn't ask it of him, and she was correct in stating if they pushed their relationship further it could create some problems, but the staff knew and surprisingly still, Dumbledore had encouraged it, probably under the premise she understood next to nothing about herself despite being born a werewolf./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The room was relatively dark now, the faint hints of a sunset still dancing on the walls. Watching her roll over on the bed again his eyes trailed down to her back where he'd previously seen scarring, gently pulling the bedding down so he could look at it. He'd initially thought they were just jagged lines until he'd turned his head, but she had quickly covered them with the shirt she'd been wearing./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He gently traced over the lines, realizing what it said now and frowning in disgust, the Jagged scar spelled out the word span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"'mongrel'/span down the center of her back. A sure fire way to mark her for what she was./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"His joints were starting to ache and he knew the transformation was coming./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As the moon finally rose he felt his bones stretch, crack and reposition themselves, watching as Seren's body did the same./p
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p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="center"December 29sup style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 0;"th/sup, 1993./p
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p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The familiar smell of Lilacs and vanilla greeted him the next morning, a scent he didn't think he'd ever get tired of as he stared down at the sleeping face beside him, this was the first transformation that they'd shared since August where they didn't have to go their separate ways the next morning. Gently he repositioned himself so he could hold her a bit closer, re-wrapping his arms around her and smiling softly as she nuzzled her head under his chin./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm still here." There was a soft sigh of contentment as he stroked her hair, "Good morning."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Morning." The two of them just laid in bed in silence and he'd wondered briefly if Seren had drifted back off to sleep until he felt a soft kiss on his cheek. "What was that for?" she looked up with a tired smile, "Because I wanted to." Remus couldn't help but chuckle at her, leaning down to catch her lips in a soft kiss, which she softly returned, bringing her hand up to cup his cheek and deepening the kiss./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""This is a pleasant surprise." He looked down into her eyes, "Sorry…I mean…um—" he silenced her with another soft kiss, bringing one of his hand from her waist to her hair, tangling his fingers in the dark tresses as he lightly bit her bottom lip asking for entrance, sighing happily as she gave in./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Breaking the kiss, he rested his forehead against her's. Her usually rosy lips were slightly more red and swollen and her cheeks were flushed with the usual tinge of soft pink. "I love you." he felt her fingers lightly drag across his skin, sending a shiver down his spine as they softly tangled in his hair, giving a soft tug and drawing a playful look, "Now who has a hair pulling kink?" he laughed as the blush deepened and he leaned down for another kiss, trailing from her lips to her neck where he bit over the slowly fading mate mark before finally trailing down to her collar bone./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Seren could feel the familiar heat pool between her legs and let out a soft whine, "Remus." He pulled back, staring down at her with a look of adoration, "Is something wrong?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No, nothing's wrong, it's just I'm still…you know." There was a brief period of silence, "Th-that's not to say I don't want to go further with the mating ritual, but…"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I won't push that unless it's something you ask for. I will wait as long as it takes for you to be absolutely comfortable with the idea." She pulled him back down for anther quick kiss, "Thank you." he kissed the tip of her nose before pulling back./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He wanted to address the scar on her back but he did not want to ruin the peaceful moment. Beyond that he knew her internship with the Ministry for Auror training would begin next term and there was a sinking feeling in his stomach that they would not be kind nor receptive to a werewolf being in their midst. He was snapped back to reality when he felt her try to pull away from him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""And where are you going?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I was going to make som tea?" he tugged her back against him, "No. I'll go make tea. You stay and rest." She looked like she was going to protest but he gave her a firm look, "Yes, sir." He stilled, halfway to sitting up. The way she had said that sent another shiver down his spine. Realizing what she'd just said Seren watched him with wide eyes, "I…uh, um…I-I-I didn't mean it like…I-I mean…" there was a look in his eyes that she was unfamiliar with as he stood./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We could play that game." She swallowed nervously at the sudden shift to his voice, noting the gravelly tone was back. "W-what?" the mischievous look only grew as he headed for the door and disappeared into the main office leaving a very confused young witch alone in his bedroom./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What game?" she whispered to the now empty room./p
