This chapter moves quickly, sorry about that.
Remus' POV
I pulled my quilt up to my chin and sniffled. Tonight was the full moon and I felt horrible.
"Come on, mate," James sighed, "Eat the soup."
"No," I groaned.
"I slaved over this. Manually. Eat the freaking soup," He snapped.
"Fine!" I growled as I sat up in my bed. I ate a few spoonfuls of the soup before I leaned over and threw it all up.
"That better have been the moon, not my soup," James frowned and handed me a handkerchief. Suddenly, the door swung open and Brenna stomped in with Peter on her heals.
"I tried to stop her," Peter stammered.
"Why'd you say anything?" James glared.
"I told her he was studying!" Peter protested.
"Can you guys give us a minute?" I sighed.
James and Peter groaned and filed out of the dorm, shutting the door behind them.
"I came because I remembered your reaction when I mentioned the moon, so I wanted to check on you," Brenna said, sitting on the end of my bed.
"Like what you see?" I joked to lighten the mood. I was terrified of Brenna finding out I was a werewolf but there was nothing I could do now that she put two and two together.
"Why didn't you tell me?" She glared.
"How does one bring up lycanthropy in a conversation?" I frowned.
She pushed her bangs out of her eyes and stared at me from under her eyelashes. Her golden eyes were locked on mine.
"You thought I wound be afraid, didn't you?" She smirked as if she was amused by the thought.
"Slightly," I shrugged.
"You obviously don't know as much about me as you thought you did," She scoffed.
"I know your favorite color is blue, your favorite magical creatures are Thestrals, but you won't tell me how you can see them-," I rattled off until she held a thin hand up to silence me.
"Okay, I get it," She sighed and I coughed violently into my shoulder.
"Where do you... change at?" Brenna asked lightly.
"There is a room under the Whomping Willow that I go to so I don't hurt anyone."
"You go all alone?" She frowned.
"Peter, Sirius, and James are all animagi. They stay with me," I smiled weakly.
"It's settle then," She announced and jumped up from my side.
"What's settled?" I asked.
"I'm going to be there with you," She replied.
I stared at her in amazement and horror. "You can't do that Brenna. I'll hurt you."
"I'll become an animagus then," She snapped, "but I'm coming with you."
I blinked up at her, all the hurt in my body disappearing for a moment. "Why do you care?"
"Because you're my friend Remus," She said firmly. "Friends are there for each other."
Brenna's POV
Becoming an animagus was a long and very difficult process. There were many parts to my transformation, the worst one being when I had to hold a mandrake leaf in my mouth for an entire month. They taste horrible, by the way. But after three months of agonizing practice, I mastered the skill.
"Go on then, let's see it!" Sirius mused.
"We're waiting for Remus to get here!" I snapped. "I did this for him." Remus had gone through seven transformations since I found out about him being a werewolf and it was horrible not being able to stay with him through it. He always re-emerged bloody and torn and it broke my heart to see my best friend in pain. We'd gotten closer and closer over the past three months and my hard work had finally paid off.
"I'm here!" Remus called as he reached the bottom of the hill and hid something behind his back. "I'm here."
"Great timing," Peter snorted.
"Come on then!" James smiled. I took a deep breath and concentrated on changing forms. Before I knew it, I was even shorter than normal.
"A fox," Sirius chuckled, "How fitting."
"Brilliant," James clapped.
"Welcome to the club," Peter smiled. I looked to Remus and swished my tail. He stared at me with a grin plastered across his face. I changed back into my human form and bowed as everyone clapped. Remus wrapped his arms around me and I laughed.
"Thank you," He whispered. I pulled away from him and he handed me a small box.
"You didn't tell me you were proposing, mate!" Peter laughed.
"Shut up," Remus chuckled as I removed the delicate ribbon from the box. Inside, there was a locket. I looked up at Remus and his eyes sparkled, urging me to look inside it. I clicked it open to find a small moving photograph of Remus and I from two months ago.
He'd taken me ice skating for my birthday and he had Peter take the picture for us. I was neatly falling over and Remus had me around the waist, laughing. I smiled and threw my arms around his neck.
"I love it."
"This is all very touching," Sirius scoffed, "but we better get back to the castle before we get caught out here."
We hiked back up to the castle, everyone laughing at fox jokes that James came up with. Remus walked by my side and glanced down at me every few steps. I tugged on his sleeve and we let the boys get ahead of us so they were out of earshot.
"The next full moon in next week," Remus said thoughtfully, "I'm glad you'll be there."
"Me too," I smiled. We continued up the hill in awkward silence until Remus groaned loudly.
"What is it?" I asked as I whirled around to face him, trekking backwards. Instead of replying, he grabbed my arms and pulled me into his chest. He bowed his head and his lips met mine. I stood frozen for a few moments, unsure of what to do. Then, slowly, I relaxed and followed his lead. His lips were soft and tasted like chocolate as they pressed against mine. He pulled away from me and I stared at him in shock.
"I've been wanting to do that for ages," He said breathlessly.
