This is the last chapter! Thank you so much for reading and sticking with it until the end, it really means a lot!

There is sexual content in this chapter, be warned.

Remus was a bit reluctant to get intimate with me after his show of dominance on the full moon. After we woke up from our nap, I caught him tracing over the bruises on my neck again. It didn't matter how many times I swore it didn't hurt, he refused to forget about it. He also swore he'd never let me come with him again, and it didn't seem like he was going to budge.

It hurt my feelings so I was crabbier than usual the entire four days before Christmas. I even slept in my own bed away from him, opening my presents alone in my dorm. I left his unopened at the foot of my bed because I was feeling particularly petty and stayed in my room instead of going to breakfast. My curiosity got the better of me and I opened his present to find a book.

How to Date a Werewolf: A Guide for those with a Taste for Wild Men

I snorted at the ridiculousness of his present and opened the cover to find a letter inside. I pulled out the folded paper, something shiny falling into my lap. I picked up a ring with a silver band and a milky blue stone set in the middle. It was beautiful and fit me perfectly when I slid it onto my finger.

Thea,

The ring is moonstone. It's supposed to be harness the power of the moon and protect those who wear it from dark forces. I hope you also see the humor in the present. It was beautiful and reminded me of you because I hardly feel the pull of the moon when you're with me.

The last full moon was scary, I felt so connected to you I didn't know how to handle it. I did some research about it and found out werewolves are sort of like wolves when it comes to romance. They find one person (wolf) and they can't focus on anyone else, and that makes sense considering there hasn't been a single girl to hold my attention for four years now other than you.

It's not nearly as serious as mating for life, I'm a bit more human than that. Moony, as you so playfully coined the wolf, wants everyone to know you're his -you included. That was why I reacted so dominantly when you tried to leave the bed that night. He fed off my own insecurities of you finding someone else who you wanted to be with, the way you said you were falling in love with me when I told you I loved you. I know it isn't fair and it's selfish, I was just a little disappointed. I understand now that you're falling, not uninterested. I just had a head start, ya know?

I wanted to tell you all this in person, but you're not talking to me and I don't blame you. I'm afraid to let you get close, I don't want Moony to take over again. He tends to come out when I'm with you, it seems the both of us adore you. I can't bear to see you with bruises from him ever again, it's too much.

With so much love it hurts,

Remus

I sat in my bed staring at the parchment for what felt like hours. He was so freakin' amazing it hurt, I didn't deserve him. I felt bad for hurting him when I didn't say I loved him back, but I didn't want to lie. I wasn't in love with him yet, but I was so bloody close. Maybe the part of me that was still afraid to be close to him after what happened to me in the greenhouse all those months ago was keeping me from getting there.

With the ring securely on my finger, I made my way to Gryffindor Tower. A kid was coming out so I didn't even have to sneak in and piss off the Fat Lady today. I hurried upstairs to see Remus still sleeping with his pile of unopened presents at the foot of his bed, what a nerd. Who didn't wake up early on Christmas morning? I was still in my nightgown without a bra on for crying out loud.

He was lying on his back so it was easy to crawl over and straddle him. I pressed kisses up his neck to his ear and whispered, "Wake up, silly wolf. It's Christmas."

His hands flew up to my waist as he jolted awake, eyes flashing up to my face. "Thea?"

"You've made a mistake, lovey," I teased, taking his hands in mine and holding them out to the side playfully. "Now that I know how romantic you are, I'm going to be expecting grand gestures every time you mess up."

I watched his expression go from resigned to devastatingly beautiful in a second flat. His hair was messy and his eyes were sleepy, but his smile was blinding. He ran his hands up my back and pulled me down to kiss my lips, making me thump his chest grumpily.

"You forcibly cleansed my mouth before I could kiss you!" I whined, sitting back up on his hips and pointing my wand at his mouth. "Fair is fair, dirty wolf."

"Oh, I think that's a nickname I like," he grinned, pulling me back down for a kiss after I dropped my wand by his hips.

Eventually, we broke apart and he started opening his presents. I leaned back against his headboard with him laying against my chest as he ripped the paper open. He clucked his tongue when he opened a present from his mother, revealing the sequel to the book I read him the night before the full moon.

"Did you owl my mother?" he asked, a twinkle in his eyes. When I nodded sheepishly, he craned his neck up and kissed me awkwardly. "You're something else, Vix."

I rolled my eyes and ran my fingers through his messy hair as he opened the rest of his things. Once everything was opened and stacked neatly by his bed, he turned his attention to me. He started kissing me instead of messing with his things, his lips held more heat than they did previously.

"It seems my last present is still wrapped," he said, kissing my neck as he slid his hand under my nightgown. He rubbed the skin of my inner thigh and told me, "I've been a very good boy, I think I deserve a little more."

"Someone's greedy this morning," I teased, tilting my head back to give him more skin to kiss.

He pulled the gown off me and had me underneath him in seconds, kissing my skin when I gripped him through his pants. The groan that left his mouth was so sexy. This was him uninhibited and I loved it, he never lost control like this unless he was alone with me in his bed. The man prided himself on his control, the control he so easily gave to me when he was human. Him as a wolf was a different story.

"What's so funny?" he asked, releasing my nipple with a wet pop.

"Moony is so dominant, but Remus practically eats from the palm of my hand," I giggled, running my fingers through his fringe and giving it a tug. "Just like that."

"What can I say?" he asked, tugging my knickers off and disappearing between my thighs. "I have a very sexy girlfriend, it's hard to control myself."

My snort was cut short when his lips wrapped around my clit, giving it a firm suck. I knotted my fingers in his hair again and directed him where I wanted. We'd done this a few times since the first and he was unfairly good at it, but I wasn't complaining,

When I felt my belly tightening, he increased the pace of his fingers and helped me through my orgasm. Instead of coming up to kiss me, he kept licking and I whimpered. His eyes flashed up to me, asking if he needed to stop as his tongue paused. I shook my head and he eagerly dove back in, making me cum twice more in quick procession.

"Baby, no more!" I whined after the third one. "I can't do anymore, it hurts."

He stopped immediately and kissed back up my body, his lips landing on mine. Once I'd come back down to Earth, I flipped him onto his back and slipped his pants off. Just like I figured, he was jutting out and dripping at the tip -my favorite.

A sudden urge rushed through me and I knew exactly what I wanted. "Rem, can I try something?"

He sobered quickly and forced me to look up at him. "I don't want you to do that. I'm fine."

"You're throbbing, love," I replied, giving him a squeeze to prove my point. "Plus, all boys want blow jobs. I don't think they've ever turned one down in the history of ever."

He brushed off my attempt at be nonchalant and kept talking. "I'm not saying I don't want one, I'm saying I don't want you to do it."

I stiffened at that and felt rejection coursing through me, releasing him and pulling my hands to my chest. He immediately realized what he'd done and started speaking frantically with my hand gripped tightly in his.

"That's not what I meant, Thea! I don't want anyone else to either," he spluttered. "I just don't want you to do something that makes you uncomfortable."

"Let's make a deal, yeah? I'll start out slow, ease myself into it," I told him, biting my bottom lip nervoulsy when I continued, "I'll stop and it'll be fine. I don't want this to have this strong of a hold over me anymore. You're my boyfriend and I want to suck you off."

My hand had snuck back to playing with his tip, but he slapped it out of the way and gripped the base of his dick tight. "You cannot, and I repeat, cannot say things like that. I will cum on the spot."

I laughed and kissed him, spreading them down his chest to pause on his hipbone. I sucked a mark into it to allow myself a few seconds to gather my courage. His thumb stroked my cheek lovingly and gave me a surge of bravery so I kissed the rest of the way down to the thatch of sandy brown curls at his base.

"I'm okay right now," I told him, giving a checkup because I knew he was curious. "This is fine, you're not them and this is okay. You love me and want me regardless of if I do this."

His eyes were blazing, but he controlled himself enough to answer me. "Yes, princess. I love you no matter what decision you make."

I closed my eyes and took a breath, sticking my tongue out and kitten licking his tip. The taste wasn't great, but this was okay. His hand was still holding my face while the other sat on the bed, no one was forcing me to do this. I was doing this because I was safe and wanted to make him feel good. With that in mind, I parted my lips and took his head into my mouth.

"T, fuck," he breathed. "I'm not going to last long at all, princess."

I sank down a little lower and lifted back up, sucking a bit as I went. He liked that and let out a whimper that sounded like my name so I went a lower. I went down until I gagged a little bit, figuring that was good enough. I stroked the part I couldn't take with my hand, the other resting on his thigh.

"Ease up on the teeth, love," he whispered, eyes watching me. "Wait, that's good. A little bit of teeth is good."

I laughed, but it sounded wet and weird with him still in my mouth. I kept moving up and down, grateful I had a boyfriend who made me feel so safe and eased me into something that scared me. I was lost in my thoughts when he gripped my shoulder in warning. I lifted off just in time for him to cum, splattering his belly with a few strokes from me.

"Come up here," he panted, pulling me up to him and locking his lips with mine. "You are brilliant, fuck. I'm so proud of you."

I slapped his chest and rolled onto my side with my head on his arm. He lazily waved his wand over himself and me, cleaning us up so we could take a nap before lunch.

James owled Remus a few days before New Year's inviting him and I to the party his parents were throwing. The six of us, the Marauders plus me and Lily, were going to be up in James' room while the adults were downstairs. How he roped Lily into coming was beyond me, but I was impressed.

I got ready in the boys' dorm with Remus kissing on my neck the entire time. It was going to suck going back to sleeping in separate beds. Being by myself those few days when we were fighting was awful, I couldn't even think about spending weeks or months without him. I'd just finished my lipstick when he started nibbling on my earlobe teasingly.

We'd only gotten closer since Christmas, barely spending time apart. I'd gone down on him a couple time since then and got more comfortable with it every time. The two of us made our way down to Hogsmeade to Floo to James' house together. I was wearing my warmest cloak, but the snow still soaked through my shoes and the cold sunk into my bones.

Like he read my mind, Remus pulled me closer to his side. "See? Always so cold, princess."

I stuck my tongue out him but stayed close, taking as much of his heat as possible. We used the Floo in The Three Broomsticks to find James waiting for us with Sirius beside him. I sat beside him on the couch and started spouting off questions after I gave their house elf my coat and thanked her. I didn't miss the way she blushed profusely and scurried away, almost tripping over the leg of the coffee table.

"How did you get Lily Potter to come to your New Year's Eve party?" I asked, silencing Sirius' questions of why Remus was so smiley. When he opened his mouth to ask again, I flashed my eyes over to him and said, "I sucked his dick. Now shut up. Spill it, Potter."

He started talking about his grand scheme and Sirius held up his hand for a high five from Remus. He looked at me for permission and I nodded with a sigh. He slapped it and grinned, male pride pouring off him in waves and making me roll my eyes. James had just finished his story when Lily appeared with Peter coming in soon after her. At least they weren't here for that pathetic display.

We all made our way up to James' room, charmed to be bigger so we'd all fit comfortably. He produced a bottle of champagne and I giggled. Of course, it wouldn't be a Marauder party without contraband alcohol. We drank it out of crystal glasses that cost more than my house, catching up with each other happily as the clock ticked down the new year.

When the countdown reached double digits, I looked over at Remus. He was talking with Peter about something, but his eyes were focused on me. I was about to move closer to him when Sirius started whining about not having anyone to kiss during the countdown.

"You up for the challenge, Hathaway?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows at me. Then he saw Remus watching me and offered, "Kiss us both, babe?"

I glanced over at Lily to see her smiling already at our encounter. The countdown was in single digits when I leaned over and the two of us kissed when the countdown hit one. We pulled away, laughing at the surprised looks on all the boys' faces.

"What? I figured you'd kiss each other," I teased, making Lily laugh and slap my palm with hers this time.

"That was hot!" Peter exclaimed, making James and Remus both glare at him. "What? You don't agree?"

That time they were mysteriously quiet. It wasn't even really a kiss, we just pressed our lips together. Jesus, boys were so easy. Finally, we all went back to normal and drank more champagne, Remus pulling me over to his lap during a lull in our conversations.

"What if I wanted you as my New Years' kiss?" he pouted, the alcohol making his face flush and his filter a little less strict.

"You get to kiss me anytime, not just tonight," I laughed, leaning forward and kissing him happily. "Plus, I saw how jealous you were when Sirius said that and I know you weren't jealous of Lily."

He sighed and kissed me once more but on the forehead this time, rubbing his nose against mine. "You're right, but I want to be the only lips you kiss."

"Done."

I hate that there's no Lacey/Thea friendship in the final chapters, but this just felt like a good place to end it. Everyone's happy and comfortable where they are in life, I didn't want to mess it up.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!