the_debt_of_time

"But we put it in backward!" the two said at the same time, leaning on one another
as they burst into laughter.
"Hey!" Remus shouted. "Can we reminisce about Peter's miseries later? The bloody
potion she gave me... it kept me there!"
Sirius blinked, confused. "Kept you where?"
"Kept me.. ." Remus sighed and collapsed onto the large sofa; he could smell her
scent all over it. "It kept me present. I was there, in control. For the most part."
"I don't understand," James said as he moved over and took a seat next to him.
Sirius leant against the empty fireplace, arms crossed over his chest, one foot crossed over
the other.
"When I transform, I become the wolf," Remus explained. "The wolf takes over
completely. I'm still there, but it's like watching from behind the scenes while someone else
takes control of my body. I barely remember anything each month because it's like I'm not
even really present, but last night I was there."
He looked up at his friends, who both stared at him with wide, interested eyes. "Last
night was.. ." Remus's voice trailed away as he remembered.
He had been taken out to the Whomping Willow as usual and had turned back to
see Mia smiling at him from the doorway of the castle, a hopeful look in her eyes that made
him feel genuinely nervous. She had not told him any more about the potion the rest of
the week but still forced him to drink the nasty stuff each day leading up to the full moon,
including that night.
Slipping beneath the willow, Remus made the stressful walk to the Shrieking Shack.
Once there, he fell into his usual routine of undressing and taking in slow, deep breaths as
the moon began to rise.
His skin had itched badly, and it felt like he needed to scratch it all the way down
to the bones. A heat washed over his body, and he could feel the blood pumping through
his veins, throbbing as it flooded his head, toppling him to the ground where his knees
buckled and the shift began to take place. Pain. Always pain. Excruciating pain as his bones
shifted, elongating until some of them broke, only to heal themselves back in place
moments later. His muscles tore, adjusted, and repaired themselves, and the skin of his
back split open to accommodate the shape of his secondary form. Fur, both soft and