The Girl Who Cried Wolf || Remus Lupin

CHAPTER FIVE

The day of the first Hogsmeade trip had started badly.

Before she even made it to the bathroom that morning blood had been trailing down her legs. Thankfully, the rest of the girls in her dorm were down at breakfast or were still asleep so they couldn't laugh at her as she waddled quickly to reach her sanitary products. To make matters worse, the full moon was tonight.

This meant she had two fun little 'time of months.'

And they just happened to fall on the same day.

As if cramps weren't bad enough.

'Turn that frown upside down, Astrid, it's our first Hogsmeade trip!' Mary squealed excitedly, applying her makeup in the mirror as Astrid came back from the bathroom, a frown etched deep into her face.

'My bloody period came,' she snapped, not 'turning her frown upside down.'

'Guess that pun was intended,' Lily joined in the conversation, brushing her ginger hair out of her face as she climbed out of bed. 'Merlin, why did no one wake me up?'

'Because we know what you're like in the mornings,' Marlene groaned, mirroring Lily's action as she too had just woken up.

'You know, I was actually just about to send James in,' Astrid spoke to the redhead, stroking her chin as though she was in deep thought.

'NO!'

Astrid's smirk was quickly wiped from her face as she felt a mysterious force start squeezing and twisting her insides around. She almost doubled over and Mary looked at her worriedly, 'you should really get something from Madame Pomfrey if it's that bad.'

'Fine but I still need to get dressed first,' Astrid groaned and started pulling clothes out of her suitcase, finally settling on wearing a jumper tucked into a mini-skirt with tights, trying to emulate something she had seen in muggle magazines while staying warm at the same time.

When Madame Pomfrey came face to face with her, her face grew with worry. 'Oh, hello Astrid, I suppose you have some questions about what will happen later tonight?'

'No actually, I was wondering if you had anything for cramps?' With that Madame Pomfrey's look of worry eased up and she nodded, going over to her cabinets filled with medicines.

'I can either give you a Draught of Peace or a Pepperup Potion, it depends whether you want steam dribbling out of your ears for a few hours or not, pet.' She held up the two liquids in each hand. Astrid immediately reached for the Draught of Peace and downed it.

'Let's hope this'll help them pass, we never know, it might even help with tonight...'

'Hey, sis, you almost look as bad as Remus!' Sirius greeted her as he gestured to said boy, who looked as though he hadn't slept in years and was as white as a ghost.

'I'll ignore that comment,' she replied grumpily then walked to Remus, nudging him lightly in the side, 'you okay, Rem?'

'Hmm.. what? Yeah 'm fine...' He rubbed his eyes as he spoke to the girl who rolled her eyes in response.

'Sure you are.'

'Anyways, where shall we go first? Zonko's or Honeydukes?' James butted in, trying to wrap an arm around Lily who swiftly rejected him by slapping him on the arm.

'Definitely Zonko's, Remus and Astrid look like they need cheering up,' Marlene began, 'also we're going to the Three Broomsticks for Butterbeers later on.'

By the time later on came around and the group made it to the Three Broomsticks, Remus and Astrid's mood hadn't improved at all.

In fact, it only seemed to be worse.

The two were nearly leaning on each other for support they were so tired and Astrid's makeup couldn't even cover the dark circles that matched Remus' own. 'Merlin, we know Remus is grumpy because he's sick but what's wrong with you, Astrid?'

'Just tired.' She replied gruffly, taking another sip of her butterbeer, resulting in a white moustache forming on her face, almost blending into her pallor.

'I thought Madame Pomfrey gave you a Draught of Peace,' Mary spoke up from her usual spot beside Peter.

Astrid nodded, 'she did. Didn't work.'

'Clearly not,' Sirius scoffed as he reached out and wiped the beer moustache away from her lips. Astrid groaned and slapped his hand away moodily.

'I'm actually feeling not too good right now,' Astrid stood up, 'I'll go.'

'I'll come with you,' Remus stood up and made eye contact with the marauders, widening them a little to subtly tell them it's a full moon. James let out a little 'ah' but then exclaimed a goodbye before trying to wrap his arm around Lily again.

Astrid and Remus didn't miss the loud wolf whistle from Sirius as the cold air hit their faces, it would be sunset soon and neither of them wanted to be around eachother when the full moon came out. They didn't want to hurt each other because they cared each other more than they cared to admit.

'So...' Remus tried to awkwardly conversation, 'are you alright? You seem pretty down today?'

'Yeah, my period just came at the worst time possible,' Astrid groaned out before she realised what she actually said.

Their cheeks both reddened at the same time.

'Well... I hope you feel better,' Remus stuttered out and the silence continued.

After a while Astrid got sick of this and asked her own question, 'what about you? No offence but you're looking quite under the weather today, Rem?'

'Yeah, I'm feeling quite ill but I'm used to it at this point.'

'Yeah, you do get sick a lot.'

After they had reached the castle they parted ways, preparing for the full moon in their own ways.

Astrid almost missed reached the Whomping Willow by the time she began to feel her bones crack and her body start to reshape into that of a beast. She dove under the tree into the passage way with little time to spare as she moaned in pain.

There was another person.

And they looked oddly familiar.

But Astrid couldn't make them out in the blur of tears that clouded her vision as the pain of reforming into a wolf hurt more and more. The boy, she assumed, who shared the room with her was going through the same pain.

Remus wasn't even remotely aware there was anyone else with him until he turned around in wolf form to see another wolf standing right next to him. If he had been able to think comprehensive thoughts when did see the other wolf, he would've been just as confused as his wolf which drove him to slashing his claws into himself.

Astrid was doing the same, if she thought her first time was awful, this was even worse. Her claws ripping through her skin felt like someone was holding a hot poker to her.

After a while silence filled the room as the two werewolves finally looked at each other in eyes. At first they were both hesistant, scratching at each other here and there before they seemed to get along well, playfighting through the night.

What Astrid thought would be the worst night possible had become slightly more bearable.

When the two wolves had grown tired of wrecking the Shrieking Shack further than it already was they settled on the small bed in the corner. Astrid curled up, cuddling into Remus' warm brown further, that reminded her of the boys eyes, even in her unconscious state, much like she did when she was human.

Both had the best sleep they had ever had on a full moon, despite Astrid's limited experiences of them.

Their peaceful sleep might turn to shock and horror in the morning.