"You shouldn't have come here so soon after transforming," Diana told Remus, glancing outside her window from where the two of them laid on her bed, under the covers and in each other's arms. The sun had just begun to rise in the horizon, the full moon slowly disappearing as the morning emerged.

"I couldn't wait any longer. I had to talk to you," he said, the dark bags under his eyes barely noticeable now that his face was covered with fresh wounds. "The thought of you being upset with me... I... I felt too guilty to wait a second longer."

Diana sighed. "I mean, I was upset, but... I still knew you were only saying all that because of the full moon."

"What I said was still hurtful, full moon or not,"  Remus said earnestly, playing with Diana's long, curly hair as she was resting her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah, but you still must've gone through a lot of pain to Apparate here right after transforming. You haven't even healed your wounds yet."

Remus raised his hand to his face and gently touched the big scratch that ran across his cheek to see if he was still bleeding or not. When he retrieved his hand, he saw a faint blood on his fingertips and grimaced.

"I'd never seen you with so many wounds and scratches," Diana said worriedly, glancing down at his hands. "It must've been a rough full moon this month."

"It's not a big deal. I always hurt myself more when —" Remus stopped himself before he could bring up his friends' names.

They were unregistered Animagi. If somebody from the Ministry found out about them, they could easily get locked up in Azkaban for a few months. Besides, this wasn't his secret to tell. Just like how his friends would never tell Remus's secret to anyone, Remus would never tell anyone theirs. That was the Marauder's code.

"— when I'm not at Hogwarts," he completed the sentence. It was true enough.

"Where do you transform back at home?" Diana asked.

"I used to transform in my own bedroom when I was a kid. My dad had placed many protection charms to keep me locked inside. But now that I've grown older, I've also become stronger. The charms can't hold me back anymore. So for a few years now, whenever I'm home and can't transform in the Shrieking Shack, my dad drives me to a forest with my mother's car, a few hours before dusk."

"Where's this forest? Is it close to your house?"

"Not really." He shook his head lightly. "It's actually far away from any human town. I stay locked inside a wooden cabin in the forest throughout the night."

"I see..." Diana's voice trailed off. Each time she thought about the life Remus had to live since he'd been five years old, her heart clenched in pain.

"I just had an idea," Remus started after a short pause of silence, grabbing her attention again. "How about this: one week before each full moon, we avoid seeing each other completely."

Diana laughed. "What?"

"It makes sense!" he said with a little chuckle. "I get crazy im the few days before a full moon and I always do something I'll regret later. So maybe we could avoid talking to each other altogether during this time, so this way I won't say anything to hurt you."

"Well, not all full moons are the same. You don't get angry every time. Some months you get depressed, some months unbearably hyperactive. And need I remind you of the last full moon when you couldn't keep your hands off me?" Diana arched a brow up at him meaningfully, smirking slyly.

"Oh, no. Please don't remind me." Remus laughed and turned red, hiding his face in his hands from embarrassment. "I don't know what had gotten into me."

Diana laughed at how shy he was. "All I'm saying is that you won't always get mad and say something hurtful. Besides," she grinned again, "I won't mind if every now and then you turn into the horny-wolf you did last time."

"God! Stop saying that!" Remus laughed even harder, his face as red as a tomato now.

"Why not? It was fun!"

Remus's laughter slowly faded away, replaced by a mischievous grin as he hoisted himself up on one elbow to look at her. "So you're saying that you liked it when I was rough with you?"

It was Diana's turn to blush this time, avoiding his eyes. "I mean... I'm not opposed to it."

Remus smiled, reaching out his hand and gently moving a strand of her golden hair and placing it behind her ear, his eyes devouring her.

"I'll take that as a yes," he whispered, and then, before Diana could even get the chance to speak, he leaned his face forward and crushed his lips against hers.

She found her every other thought blur into nothingness as she closed her eyes and kissed him back. He gently pushed her down against the mattress and she sank into the bed as he climbed on top of her, deepening the kiss.

She felt the kiss becoming harder, deeper; not passionate like the times before, but more urgent. She felt breathless against him, but she wrapped her arms around his neck to bring her down and closer to her, even though no space was left between the two of them.

Diana suddenly felt a sense of emptiness when his lips left hers, but her lips parted lightly to let out a small gasp when he began to kiss down her jawline and all the way to her neck. She ran her hands through his soft brown hair, biting her bottom lip to stop herself from making a sound when she felt him sucking at the skin right bellow her collarbone.

But Diana suddenly came back to her senses when Remus winced in pain and slightly pulled back.

"Are you okay?" she quickly asked in worry, afraid that she had pulled at his hair too hard without even realizing it herself.

It was only then, however, that she saw a bloodstain appearing on his blue T-shirt.

"It's fine," Remus muttered distractedly, leaning in to kiss her again, but Diana stopped him as she sat up on the bed.

"You're bleeding," she said breathlessly before reaching out for the hem of his shirt, and Remus didn't resist when she pulled it off him.

Her eyes widened in horror at the sight of him, clapping a hand to her mouth from shock; his chest was covered in deep wounds and wild scratches, bloodstains going all the way down his abdomen.

"Merlin's beard..." she whispered to herself, her face crumbling.

"It's not a big deal —" Remus tried to say, but Diana had already gotten off the bed.

She took her wand up from the nightstand and pulled out the drawer, taking a few clean and white cloths from inside it.

"It is a big deal, Remus. You're badly hurt," she said severely, sitting back on the edge of the bed beside him. "But luckily for you, I've been practicing a lot of good healing spells in the past few months."

Remus blinked down at her, watching as she conjured water onto the cloths to soak them. "You... you did?"

"Of course. I thought it might become useful for you," she said earnestly. "Now lean back, will you? I need to clean the bloodstains before healing the wounds."

Obeying, Remus leaned his back against the bed's headboard without saying a word, his eyes fixed on her. Remus felt himself blush when she softly leaned in and began to run the cloth across his chest and slowly made its way down to his abdomen.

He wanted to tell her that he could cleanse the bloodstains himself and that she didn't have to do this part for him, but something stopped him from saying anything. He didn't want her to stop.

Remus tried not to let the disappointment show on his face when Diana finally pulled back, tossing the cloths on her nightstand before grabbing her wand again.

"Okay, this might sting a little," she said quietly, and then, with great care, she began to cast the charms and slowly heal the wounds that ran deep across his chest.

Remus was no stranger to healing charms and the itchy feeling it left behind on him. Diana was certainly not as good as Madam Pomfrey, but he couldn't help but be impressed by how she had learnt all this in only a few months.

"All right. Done," Diana said at last, letting out her breath as she pulled back. "But just a little warning: I don't know how strong I performed the charm, so it might start bleeding again after you Apparate. So I suggest you stay here for a bit longer. It's only five a.m. now, and my mother won't wake up for another four hours. You need to rest."

Remus nodded, smiling. "Thank you." He then leaned in to kiss her again, but she pulled back, giving him a look.

"Resting doesn't include snogging!" she scolded him, making him laugh.

"Mean." Remus pouted playfully before dropping himself down on the mattress.

Letting out a chuckle, Diana laid down beside him as well. He looked even more tired and worn-out up close. He'd had a long and difficult night.

And so, she drew herself closer to him on the bed, closing her eyes as he wrapped an arm around her, holding her tight until they both fell asleep.

***

Diana hadn't slept this peacefully in her entire life. Throughout the last few months, she had nightmares almost every night. But as it seemed, something about sleeping beside Remus and staying safe in his arms drove all those nightmares away.

But the peacefulness was short-lasting and was bound to end when a harsh knock at her door woke Diana up sharply.

Diana shot up into a sitting position on her bed, glancing outside the window and seeing that sun was fully out now. Suddenly, the horrifying realization hit her that they had lost track of time and had slept in.

"Diana! Diana!" her mother's angry and impatient voice rang from behind the closed door of her bedroom.