the_debt_of_time

His chest tightening painfully as he gawked in horror at his best friend's arm. "M-
Mia?"
"One moment," Mia muttered, licking the corner edge of her mouth in
concentration as she stared at the text in front of her. "Remus, these last ones aren't Old
Norse. You can tell by the phonetic—What's going on?"
Remus gestured down at her arm, feeling like he was ready to be sick. "Mia, what
is that?"
She looked down, her attention on the parchment until he gripped her arm and
tilted it toward her. "Shit."
Remus gaped at her in shock. She did not look surprised in the slightest. "Shit? You
say 'shit'? You don't start screaming because suddenly a word—that word—appears on
your flesh out of thin air?"
His voice had drawn attention, and Madam Pince glared at the pair.
Mia tossed the old witch an apologetic glance before grabbing Remus's hand and
tugging him back down into his seat. He had not even realised he was standing, having
jumped away from her as though she were cursed.
"You weren't supposed to see it. No one was. On my birthday, how horrible is that?
How did I not even know the day that it happened?"
"Do you want to clue me in on this?" Remus growled loudly, growing more
concerned with every passing moment that Mia was not panicking.
Madam Pince cleared her throat and threw them both a nasty glare.
"I.. ." Mia began and then sighed. "Remus, remember how I used to tell you and
Sirius to learn Occlumency? Did you ever?"
"No," he confessed.
"Remus!" Mia hissed in disappointment. "I've been telling you boys for years, and
not even you could bother trying to learn a very helpful skill? We're at war, for crying out
loud!
"I don't need to, Mia," Remus clarified. "I'm a werewolf."
She stared up at him. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"If a Legilimens tried to get into my head, all they'd hear is Moony," he said,
awkwardly turning so that he was no longer gaping at her arm. "Unless they speak wolf,
they wouldn't get much out of him."