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Wolf and All

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Febuwhump Prompt - Caged

Prompt - ‘The secrets we hide will always come out in the end, we just have to hope that love is enough."

For months you had watched silently, listening to the excuses, the lies. You smiled and nodded, showing no signs of distrust, no signs that you knew every word was a lie. You still stayed close to him, let him hold you in his arms, cuddled him in front of the fireplace as you laughed along with him, with his friends and listened to them all lie.

Remus Lupin was lying and you were determined to figure out what he was hiding.

Your first thought had gone to another girl. Remus was suspicious, sneaking away multiple times a day looking stressed, agitated, before coming back relaxed and calmer. You thought he was seeing somebody else but that theory was pushed away quickly because even though he was lying to you, you knew deep down that wasn’t the type of person that Remus Lupin was.

It turns out other theories were harder to come by, when one’s boyfriend was being sneaky it usually was because of another person but now you had to try and piece together another reason for the lies.

You remembered the excuses he’d used, most of them generic like he was tired or he had homework. You note how some days he really did seem more tired than usual, a tiredness that couldn’t quite be fixed with sleep, a tiredness that you could feel in every movement. You watched as he winced, how when you cuddled into him sometimes he tried to hide grimaces and hisses of pain.

Try as you might, you couldn’t come up with any plausible theories that could lead to the lying and the sneaking around, the fresh scars and quiet suffering. You ran through more scenarios than you could count trying to find something that seemed likely but couldn’t figure anything out.

Today you’d had enough.

From the moment you’d entered the common room Remus had been short tempered, snapping at you over nothing and stalking out of the common room. You hardly heard from him for the rest of the day, just continued to watch him carefully, watched how his shoulders stayed tense, watched as he glared and snapped at anybody who dared speak to him, watched him be the complete opposite of his usual self.

Something was wrong and you were done watching silently from the background. You and Remus had been together for two years, friends for even longer, and yet he didn’t trust you with whatever secret he was hiding. You shook your head as you stirred your potion, eyes focused on Remus as you decided enough was enough.

That night at dinner you sat a few seats away on the opposite side of him, making yourself look busy as you played with the food on your plate, waiting for Remus’ next move. He stayed where he was though, picking at the food on his plate and glaring around the Great Hall.

His eyes locked on yours and the glare didn’t soften instead he glared at you before he turned away, leaving you feeling angry yourself, knowing you hadn’t done anything to warrant the cold, silent treatment. You knew it wasn’t just you he was being uncharacteristically angry towards but you didn’t care, it wasn’t continuing.

You watched as Remus stood up with the three other boys all making their way out of the Great Hall and gave it a few seconds before you stood too, following behind them but keeping your distance, wanting to see where they were going. Pretty quickly you realised that they were just heading back to the common room and rolled your eyes, knowing that it was when Remus went off alone you needed to be alert.

So you sat in a corner of the common room, watching the boys take the spaces in front of the fireplace, the other three laughing and joking as Remus scowled down at a book.

It was hours later and the common room was mostly empty. You glanced over the top of your book and saw the boys shooting you worried and slightly impatient glances as the sun began to set outside the windows. You didn’t say anything though, trying to make it seem like you were too absorbed in your book to notice any moves they made but none of them moved.

James and Sirius looked away from you and over at each other, seemingly having a silent conversation before Sirius made his way over to you, sitting on the arm of your chair and pulling the book from your hand.

“Good book?” He asked and you looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. “It’s getting late,” he said as casually as he could, giving you no time to answer as he gestured towards the stairs, “you should head to bed.”

“And since when are you so concerned with my sleeping hours?” You asked him, trying to sound bored and uninterested.

“Forgive me for wanting to make sure you get your beauty sleep.” He chuckled and you noted the way it seemed slightly forced as he looked out of the window before turning to you again and standing from the chair, holding a hand out for you with a grin.

You rolled your eyes at him but let yourself be pulled up from the chair, waving over at James and Peter on the sofas and resisted the urge to roll your eyes as Remus continued to glare down at the book. You let Sirius lead you towards the stairs, bidding you goodnight and not turning away until you’d rounded the corner.

“You should head out.” Sirius said, causing your eyebrows to knit together questioningly, keeping your back to the wall as you listened to them, “See you in the morning.”

You didn’t hear Remus reply but you did hear the portrait door open and close.

“You think she knows?” You heard James ask quietly as the boys made their way over to the stairs, turning towards the boy’s dormitory.

“She knows something’s wrong; we just have to help him make sure his secret stays a secret.” Sirius said and you frowned as their door shut, cutting off anything else.

You hurried back down the stairs and out of the portrait door, only a few seconds had passed since Remus left the common room and you smiled as you saw him round the corner, following after him but being sure to keep your distance.

It wasn’t long before Remus stopped at the front doors of the castle, Madam Pomfrey stood waiting for and gave him a soft, reassuring smile as she held the door open for him, gently patting his shoulder as he walked out.

You felt your confusion grow as you managed to squeeze your way through the closing door, easily avoiding being seen by the darkening sky as you continued to follow them. You watched in slight amazement as the Whomping Willow came to a sudden halt and watched as Remus and Madam Pomfrey disappeared through a secret entrance.

You had two options right now, continue following them and risk the tree becoming active again or turn around and go back to the common room. With a deep breath you darted across the grass, waiting for the moment branches started swinging again but somehow you managed to make your way through the secret entrance before you heard movement from outside.

A huff of relief left you and you followed the light you could see in the distance from Madam Pomfrey’s wand, completely and utterly confused as to why Remus had been brought to what looked like an old house, dust surrounding the different surfaces and planks of wood hung dangerously from the walls, looking like it would fall apart with only a soft breeze.

Despite your confusion you followed the two of them into one of the rooms, panicking as they both stopped and quickly hid yourself behind some boxes in the room, listening as Madam Pomfrey spoke.

“Now dear, I’ll be back first thing in the morning,” she told him and you felt your eyebrows knit together, the morning?

A few more words were traded between them before Madam Pomfrey left the room, the wards magically sealing as she left, locking you and Remus in the room together.

You peeked through the boxes and saw Remus begin to strip out of his uniform before he sat heavily on the bed, seemingly waiting for something.

What in Merlin’s name is going on? You thought to yourself but were pulled out of your head when Remus let out a cry of pain. You peeked through the boxes again and saw him hunched over, watching as his limbs seemed to stretch, bones poking out of his skin as he continued crying out.

The cries seemed to turn into growls and howls as you watched his back arch unnaturally before he pushed himself off the bed, landing on the dusty floor and as quickly as he had started it was over and you were left staring in horror at the creature on the floor.

I just caged myself in a room with a werewolf, you thought to yourself as fear ran through your body, you holding your breath, desperate not to make a single noise to attract the wolf’s attention to you.

Thankfully the wolf stayed hunched on the floor, the transition taking a lot of energy out of him but then he lifted his head sharply, looking around the room as he let out a few loud sniffs and you closed your eyes, hand resting on your mouth in an attempt to smother any noises.

You heard him walk around, paws echoing around the silent room as the sounds got closer and closer to you. You felt your breathing speed up, still desperately trying to silence yourself as tears slipped down cheeks and cursing yourself for not letting Remus keep his secrets.

You kept your eyes close but felt your heart stop as you felt breath against your face, fear coursed through your body as you prepared yourself for what was about to happen, preparing yourself for the absolute worse.

A violent flinch spread throughout your entire body when you felt the wolf nuzzle his snout against your cheek before a tongue came out to lick at it, wiping the tears away only for them to be replaced a second later.

When the wolf let out a whine you forced your eyes open, a terrified gasp leaving you as you saw the wolf right in front of you but he just whined again, butting his head against yours with more force.

“R-remus?” You managed to stutter out, voice barely above a whisper and you could feel your heart in your throat but the wolf just lowered his face, nuzzling into your neck but paused as you tensed up, waiting for his teeth to sink into the skin.

The wolf whined again before pulling back and lay down in a pile of long limbs, almost seeming grumpy. You stared down at him for a moment before you lifted your hand, watching how the wolf was instantly on alert, lifting his head up eagerly as he watched you lowered it, leaning up himself so that your hand rested on his snout.

“Remus?” You asked again, this time your voice was more steady, slightly louder as you looked down at him. You ran your hand across his snout, rubbing the soft skin and watched as the wolf lay his head back down, this time resting on your thigh.

You stared down at him, feeling too many emotions run through you as you watched the wolf close its eyes, watched as it dozed off against you. You didn’t know too much about werewolves, didn’t know much more than a bite from them was life ruining, but you did know that they weren’t supposed to behave like supernatural overgrown puppies.

Suddenly though everything seemed to make sense, the fresh and healed scars, the winces, the angry outbursts…everything just made sense.

Your boyfriend was a werewolf.

As the night went on you found yourself relaxing, the wolf apparently deciding the best way to spend the full moon trapped inside was to sleep against you. He had long since moved from his position on your thigh and nudged at you until you moved, taking his robe in your teeth to pull you across the room. You had watched as he nosed at the  dusty pillows until they fell on the floor and pushed you down so you were laying against them, from there he had curled up around you and fell back to sleep.

Despite the wolf’s uncharacteristic response to you, you didn’t plan on falling asleep in the same room as him but eventually you ended up doing just that, fingers slowly coming to a stop as they ran through the hair on his back and eyes falling shut.

The next thing you knew Remus was shaking you awake, pale faced and looking seconds away from throwing up. You didn’t even have a second to comprehend what was happening as he was launched into a scared rant.

“What in the world were you thinking?” He began, already moving away from you and pacing the length of the room, despite that though you couldn’t help but smile as he looked more refreshed than he had in days. “Do you have any idea of what could have happened last night? Any idea of how much danger you had been in? I could have killed you, Y/N, I could have bit you!”

You tried to speak but Remus wasn’t looking at you, he continued to walk up and down, shaking his head as he let his thoughts run wild.

“Was this a joke to you? Did you want me to hurt you? I couldn’t have lived with myself if I woke up this morning to find you dead on the floor because of me, to find you with a bite mark because of me.”

As Remus continued to stress over the what if’s you stood up and made your way over to him, stopping him in his tracks and wrapping your arms around his shoulder, letting your fingers play with the hair on the back of his head.

“You’re ok,” You murmured, pulling his head down and resting your foreheads together, “you’re ok, I’m ok. Nobody was bitten, nobody is dead. I know now it was dangerous but believe me I didn’t know.”

“What were you thinking?” He asked you, wide, guilty eyes filled with tears.

“I was worried about you,” You told him simply, “You were so angry at everybody, angry at me. You haven’t been sleeping, you’re in pain and the scars…I knew something was wrong and you weren’t going to tell me so I followed you.”

“I could have hurt you.” He murmured, lifting a hand to cup your cheek, brushing his thumb against your skin.

“But you didn’t.” You assured him and you watched him shut his eyes, a single tear making its way down his cheek.

“I’m so sorry,” He said, so quietly that despite how close you were you almost missed it, “I’ll leave you alone, I promise.”

“What are you talking about?” You asked him, eyebrows pulling together in confusion.

“Don’t make this harder, Y/N/N, we both know that you don’t want to be with a werewolf. I always knew this day would come, I had just hoped we had more time.” Remus whispered, eyes still closed and missing the way your face turned from confused to offended.

“You think I’d leave you over this?” You asked, the tone of your voice had him opening his eyes and seeing the look of disbelief on your face. “Remus, I love you, wolf and all.”

Remus stared at you in shock, looking down at you for a long moment before his face shifted into a look of his own disbelief.

“Wolf and all?” He asked you after opening and closing his mouth but having no words come out.

“Wolf and all.” You confirmed, smiling up at him.

Remus let out a wet laugh as more tears ran down his face and he crashed his lips against yours in an uncoordinated kiss, his finger sliding up and gripping your hair as you tightened your own grip around his neck, kissing back just as messily.

The two of you pulled away when you heard the sound of footsteps walking up to the door. You stared at Remus with wide eyes and he gestured for you to hide but then stopped you with a hand on yours, pulling you in for a softer gentler kiss, completely unbelieving that he had gotten so lucky as to have you in his life.

“I love you too.” He whispered, loving the way your eyes lit up at the words despite hearing them a thousand times before you turned to hide, fully intending to continue what he had started later.

_________

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Hammer's finally out of prison, and he wants nothing more than to make the Avengers suffer. Even if his qualms lie mostly with Romanoff and Stark, he still hates all of those goody-two-shoes!

TW: piranhas, attempted murder, murder, kidnapping, major character deaths, minor language

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my plot.

@febuwhump

@febuwhump prompt: truth serum

entry for Other Relationship/Free Day (spikexjulia) for @bebopcrew

***

"Just like that... sing for me..."

The request tore at her heart yet still provoked a faint smile to tug at her lips.

Pain medication had always worked like a truth serum on Spike. It was something Julia was at times grateful for but usually resented though she'd never admit that to anyone else.

Knowing the impact you had on another person was a heady prospect. It made her spirit soar, wild and free and delighted, but it also dragged her conscious thoughts down down down to a place of dark fears and the agony of knowing that there could be nothing between them no matter how they might dream of it.

This was not the first time Spike had shown up at her door, bloodied and bruised and battered.

Sometimes she wondered if he purposefully let himself get hurt just to wind up in her care.

It was such a ridiculous risk to take. The syndicate had dozens of doctors on the take - an entire team of scientists that Spike himself had horrible familiarity with, in fact. He didn't need to put both of them in the spotlight by collapsing into her arms as often as he did.

Then again... it was a fairly inconspicuous way to ensure he got to spend hours if not days in just her presence. Convalescing under her watchful eye and tender care... leading her further and further astray from the untouchable femme fatale she had always strove to be.

Her role in the syndicate was not to change bandages or administer medicines to ailing agents of destruction.

Spike knew her job just like she knew his. For the longest time it hadn't bothered him - or at least he hadn't let anyone know if it did. For the longest time he had stayed at an appropriate distance and had gazed at her with respectful eyes and had been the person Vicious trusted above all others.

Certainly above Julia herself. Vicious knew her job too, of course. Knew how well she could perform and how easily she could convince others of her affection and her loyalty.

She had been drawn to the mystery of the man. Impressed by his self-control and intrigued by the past he refused to reveal. His quest for power had aligned quite well with her own desire to ascend the ranks of the Red Dragons.

Never had she thought for a moment that she might be sidetracked from their mutual goal. Never had she thought she might find herself bogged down in feelings and trapped in a situation that had no easy way out and no happy ending.

Loving Spike would be a mistake. It was a path full of peril and pain.

And yet... the adoration in his eyes - both of them, the real and the fake...

The caress of his voice when it was just the two of them, his tone alone implying such impure thoughts and intentions...

Even the arrogance of the man, assuming they could be something behind closed doors, making her believe that there might be more to life than ruling a criminal organization.

She was undeniably smitten. Perhaps already doomed by the quickening of her heartbeat and the heat pooling in her belly at the notion of following this dangerous urge... of diving into something unknown and unpredictable and unsustainable with this cocky man.

There would be time for worries. There would be endless hours of anxiety, no doubt. Regrets to reap in the future.

For now she let herself give in to his charm. For now she would let herself have a moment of peace in his company. For now, for him, she would sing like the caged bird she truly was.