Behind Blue Eyes

4. Wolfsbane

SIRIUS
As we reached the High Table, more and more professors' eyes fell on us. Not that I stared them back, but...I felt their glares. I peeked at Remus, who was simply determined to speak to Professor Gleason. This was the lycanthropy expert. He was one, himself. I never knew where he went on full moon nights, though. When I'm out there with Remus, I never once spotted another werewolf.

"Excuse me, Professor; I'm sorry, it's an emergency. Please, I need it." Remus checked his watch, then looked up again, nearly pleading.

It. It was Wolfsbane.

"Very well. Come with me, Remus. Good evening, Sirius."

He was trying to shrug me off. I wasn't that easy to get rid of, and he knew that. "Forgive me, sir, but I would really rather come. I'm a good friend, see." A hint of freshness in my voice shown through.

"Very well," the man exclaimed forcefully. He was pretty easygoing, so I knew I could get myself to tag along.

I have this protective urge when I am around Remus. It bothered me a lot, really, enraged me, that Professor Gleason wanted to separate the two of us. I was his best friend, for crying out loud. Besides, I can do what I want.

We followed Gleason through the Great Hall, down a couple corridors, and then finally to his office. He rummaged through a drawer full of jars, and then pulled out a bluish potion, one that was enclosed in a small bottle. It looked like an individual, where Remus would be able to take the whole thing. Gleason silently handed Remus the glass bottle, pulled out an identical potion for himself, and then clinked his own to that of Remus. I watched. They each popped the cork off, then plugged their noses and swallowed the potion with one gulp.

"What does it taste like, Rem?" I offered to take the bottles from the both of them, then tossed them to the rubbish.

He looked at me with a sour face. "Raw egg, perhaps. The white of it." He wiped his mouth. "I've got to get outside, then. I'll see you two later."

"I got a Bertie Botts raw egg, once. I tossed my cookies for the next hour or so," I chimed in. "Let me walk you out."

"I'm fine," Remus ran his fingers through his ruffled hair. "You go get dessert. Thank you, Professor." We both exited the office, which smelled of fresh basil.

"I wasn't asking. Come on, now. Follow me, I know an exit."

* * * * *

The moon was out, but its light hadn't shone yet. The sun was still going down, and I was sitting beside Remus out in the forest. It was a peaceful night, as many of the forest's creatures could sense the full moon coming, and therefore would run off. Even the centaurs. "What does it feel like?"

Remus sighed, barely audibly. He hadn't made eye contact with me since we left the castle. "Have you ever...tried that strategy before you sleep? Where you tense every muscle in your body to try to relax yourself?"

I nodded.

"It goes further than that, though. I...mutate. Things change. It feels like I grow new limbs, and then they push out the old ones. It's like the new tooth process. The baby tooth is forced out, where a bigger, stronger one takes over."

"Does it hurt you?"

He was wordless. He didn't want me to know it hurt him. "It's better that it hurts me, rather than me hurting someone else. Like you."

"Hey..." I put an arm around him, getting closer. I didn't know if it was the right thing to do, but it felt good. Safe. "Remus...I need you to know something. You do not deserve this. It's not fair that Greyback banged you up that one night. And I can't have you thinking that it's better that it hurts you. If you are hurt, I'm hurting too. There is no situation where something is better if you're hurt. Got me?"

Remus swallowed, then finally looked into my eyes. "I need you to know something too," he was just about at a whisper. "But I don't think I have enough strength within me to get myself to tell you."

I close my eyes, placing my hand gently at the top of his head. I move his head to my shoulder. "Remus..." I stopped talking, as a crevice of moonlight shone on his face. "Oh, erm..."

He immediately backs off me and begins to undress before he rips his clothing. I watch his eyes begin to change.