"Merry Christmas," Remus extended his hand in greeting.

The patient didn't accept it.  Instead he snarled, "I don't see what there is to be merry about."

"Well for one thing, it isn't a full moon…"

"Why you…" he cut him off, "You're worse than Weasley over there.  Get out of my sight or I'll bite you.  I swear I will."  He rose up in his bed.

Remus didn't lose his calm.  Instead he said, "Go right ahead if it'll make you feel any better.  As I was saying…"

"You do know what happens when you get bitten by a werewolf, right?" questioned the patient.

"Do I ever!  How could I ever forget?" Remus responded thinking back to the time he had been bitten, so many years earlier.

"But you don't care if I bite you?" The patient was now visibly confused.

"No, of course not."

"You wouldn't mind being a werewolf?"

"Huh?  Oh that's what you're worried about.  Sir, I've been a werewolf for ages.  You don't have to worry about biting me if it'll help you get your frustration out.  Now a I was saying…"

"You're a werewolf?"

"Yes, of course.  Now as I was saying…"

"So Weasley wasn't lying to me…"

"Certainly not, dreadful thing to lie about.  Would have been a very cruel joke to play on a person.  The Weasleys are close friends of mine and I've never known them to be cruel people.  Now getting back to what I was saying…"

"How can you be so happy?"

"Well that's what I've been trying to tell you all along.  The mere fact that it's not a full moon is something to be happy about.  Why I remember, a few years back, Christmas fell on a full moon.  It was awfully lonely.  At least with Wolfsbane Potion, the transformations are no longer painful and I don't need to worry about hurting anyone.  You get used to it after awhile.  It's really not that bad."