Teddy prowled the small hospital room, irritated by the smells and unable to escape. The window had several protection spells on it that had ignored his insistent battering. Instead, he could only snarl at the full moon overhead. Its light a reminder that he had many more hours before he would be free of the wolf and the woman at the far end of the room. She unsettled the wolf and, if he was being honest, himself as well. Her frozen body stank of magic. Magic too heavy and unnatural to be anything but unsettling.

...

His leg was cut open and bleeding. It burned with blinding pain as the rite potion worked itself deeper into the wound. The wolf roared in him, ready to be free, to attack anyone who would dare do this to them. The full moon was nearly two weeks away but it felt like he was on the cusp of a transformation. He fought the wolf and the change with everything he had. He was sure that if he let either win it would eat his humanity whole.

...

"I can't do this. I can't do this. Just make it stop," Lilith whispered, her head pressed against his chest.

"It is over," he said as he rocked her. " Just a little longer. You were strong. Almost there."

She looked up at him and her brown eyes were dead. Claw marks appeared on her skin and blood oozed out to stain his hands.

He scrambled up away from her body. "Lilith! No..."

Someone grabbed his shoulder. He reflexively tried to arm-bar them, but they slipped out of his grasp. Teddy scrambled to his feet and came face-to-face with Hasan. Hasan's eyes gleamed bright with concern from his dark face. Teddy tried to calm his breathing and scanned the area for possible danger.

"You were talking in your sleep," Hasan whispered.

Teddy ran a sluggish hand through his hair. "Thanks."

Ever since they had been to Lilith's cottage, Teddy had had these recurring dreams (or maybe nightmares). They were just replays of old memories, with the odd splash of horror that his brain liked to mix in. He shook himself, trying to shake off the memories like a dog would shake off water.

They were staking out the same place as the night before. Teddy had lost their only lead in the smuggler case and they had no better options at the moment. They had taken refuge in the gardening shack again - taking turns at catnapping through the night. So far, it was almost as quiet as his times in the Forbidden Forest.

Hasan nodded in response to Teddy's thanks. "You okay?" Hasan asked.

Teddy shrugged. "Old stuff."

It was a semi-regular occurrence for Hasan to wake Teddy up from a nightmare. The first one had actually been when they had barely met as fellow Auror students. Hasan hadn't asked much then. Hasan had shrugged it off like it wasn't a big deal, just like he had tonight. That unspoken kindness might have the start of their friendship.

Now Hasan just watched him, waiting to see if Teddy would say anything else. The implicit implication obvious between them that Hasan would be more than willing to listen.

Teddy couldn't completely stave off his own desire to talk about the unsettling nightmares. "I guess seeing the victim stirred it up," he said honestly. "You remember Lilly, my old girlfriend?"

Hasan inhaled sharply, "Yeah?"

"The victim was really like her. It makes me remember all the times I was a bollocks boyfriend. I'll dream of her and her face will become bloody and dead like the way we saw her- the victim that night."

"That is really fucked up, Teddy."

Teddy laughed without much humor. "Yeah, I suppose it is." His nightmare still clung to him, steeping melancholy into his bones. He shivered, not looking forward to whatever other nightmares this night had in store. "In any case," Teddy said. "I can't sleep after that. How about I just start the next shift now?"

Hasan gave him another once-over and then agreed. Hasan started prepping his own bedroll and Teddy gazed out at the darkness, waiting for the gauze of sleep to leave his brain. Instead, the nightmares tried to wrap themselves around him again.

Teddy pressed his hand against the cool metal of the shed, hoping it would wake him up. His mind searched for another topic to talk about to distract him. He and Hasan had already discussed everything they had both found at Lilith's home. Hasan agreed with Teddy's theories for the most part. He had found the remnants of a redirection charm. It explained why Lilith's body hadn't been found right away despite the werewolves' sensitive noses.

"Did you know Jones and Collins are considered the better Auror team?" Teddy asked quietly when Hasan lay down to sleep.

"Hmm..." Hasan said sleepily.

"We are the better Auror team."

"Arguably," Hasan said, irritating Teddy with his neutrality.

"Don't you find it insulting that Jones and Collins got pulled into this case? That we weren't considered good enough on our own?"

There was a pause in the darkness. "Don't spend so much of your energy worrying what everyone's opinions are. There are much more important things to be than the top Auror team."

Teddy grunted. He didn't want philosophy. He just wanted to gripe about Harry and the rest of the Aurors and not think about his nightmares. However, he got the hint and let Hasan fall asleep in peace.