coarse, pushed its way through his skin, and his face elongated into a snout at the same
time as his hands fell to the ground heavily, shifting into large paws.
Normally, the wolf would have taken over, searching for a way out—searching for
something to kill, something to tear at, and—lately—something to take, to claim, to fuck.
Of course, trapped in the Shrieking Shack, there was nothing and no one, at which
point the wolf would usually turn his frustrations on himself. It had been horrifying over
the years to watch from behind the eyes of the creature as its desires changed. It had been
one of the reasons Remus insisted on not getting too physical with Mia. He worried that
one day the wolf would take over completely and there would be nothing Remus could do
to stop him from hurting her.
But last night... the wolf was in the back and Remus at the front.
He had sat there in the shack, smelling the air and looking around, waiting for the
wolf to begin tearing into his own flesh angrily when attempts to escape failed—but
nothing happened. He had stood up on his hind legs, stretching to look through the cracks
in a boarded-up window where he gazed up at the moon that still called to but did not
dominate him.
"I was fully in control," Remus admitted quietly, reverently. "I mean, I transformed
and everything like normal, but it was like I could see with my own eyes and move
willingly."
"Merlin," James whispered, shocked by the revelation. "And Mia―"
"I need to know where she is, Prongs," Remus said, looking up at his friend
desperately.
"She left early with Evans for the train," James answered immediately. "We stuck
around to wait for you."
"Well, I'm here now." Remus leapt from the sofa and made for the portrait hole
quickly. "Let's go!"
Lily helped some of the first years with their luggage, purposely trying to get the
attention of the current prefects and Head Boy and Girl as though their opinions mattered
on who would become prefects the following year.