This is my first completed Harry Potter fanfic, and it's Lupin-centric. It's short, random, and awkward for both characters :)

If there was anything besides the obvious consequences of being a werewolf that Remus hated, it was definitely the boredom of the day after. Whenever he already felt well-rested, or when he couldn't sleep anymore, and the Marauders were in class, there was absolutely nothing to do. There were rarely any patients during the day, and the few that showed up did so with minor ailments; headaches, stomachaches, nervous breakdowns. They all would be fixed up in a heartbeat with a wave of the wand or a gulp of a potion. All of them ignored him, of course. He was just that sickly kid that was friends with James Potter and Sirius Black.

That day, there'd been little for Madam Pomfrey to heal. A scratch here, a bruise there… And exhaustion certainly hadn't overcome him. He'd found that, since his friends learned to become Animagi, he was less tired and hurt after his transformations, which was great, except for the part in which he sat in his bed without doing anything. After he'd woken up from his nap at about midday, he found the traditional sight of the Hospital Wing; rows of empty beds, a murmur of noise from students rushing to classes, and Madam Pomfrey walking around in her office, peeking to check on him once every so often. Sighing, as if he had expected any different, he reached for his wand, and played with it for about ten minutes, when Madam Pomfrey came forward to give him a bit of a pain potion. His bones and muscles were always sore after changing so abruptly.

Then, an unexpected sight made them both turn around.

A girl, one he recognized as a Ravenclaw first year, walked in. That wasn't the 'unexpected' part, though. She was crying, tears and snot making everything below her puffy, scared eyes, look shiny. Her skin was blotched with red spots, which suggested she'd already been bawling for a while now. She was sobbing loud, childish sobs, her arms wrapped around her stomach. Her skirt was oddly positioned; the zipper was open, placed promptly on the front of her body. Her shirt was tucked in the front and one side, the rest sticking out.

"Oh, dear, what happened to you?" Pomfrey asked, almost throwing him the rest of the potion in her haste to reach the little girl.

The girl looked at Remus timidly, motioned for the mediwitch to come closer, and whispered something frightfully into her ear. Madam Pomfrey stood back up, gave her a sympathetic smile, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I-It hurts too." Remus was surprised at how sorry she felt for the girl, with her eyes shiny with tears. "Right here." She tapped below her bellybutton with her outstretched hand, and Remus suddenly had an idea of what her affliction might be, having seen a fair share of it. Very appropriately for a boy his age, he looked away with a slight color in his face. Unfortunately for him, it was painfully obvious next to his pale complexion. Pomfrey caught sight of his face and held back a laugh, but turned to the terrified girl quickly.

"Come, I'll give you something in here." She led the girl to a bed far from his, guiding her by the shoulder, the girl still sobbing, although less now that she'd seen her easily flustered Hospital Wing mistress was relaxed. They drew the curtains, and Remus could hear Pomfrey talking to the girl. He only heard single words and small phrases, but it was enough for him to confirm his suspicions. "…egg..." "…if there's no baby…" "…bleed…" "…every month…" If possible, he colored even more, feeling silly that he was. This was something he had dealt with. For Merlin's sake, the girls in his years were fifteen and sixteen years old. His aunt would've probably said that "it was as common as a cough."

After a bit of quiet questions and answers, something that sounded mysteriously like a bag being ripped open, and more questions and answers, the curtains drew open and a sympathetic Madam Pomfrey and an embarrassed Ravenclaw first year walked out. The girl looked shaken, but definitely past the point of tears and oddly positioned skirts. In fact, she smiled lightly at him when she saw him looking at her, and he gave her a reassuring smile. Pomfrey looked at her warmly and said:

"I'm going to get you a couple potions. You can lie down for a while if you want."

She nodded, making her way to a nearby bed. Now that he looked at her, the girl certainly did look exhausted. Her eyelids looked thick and heavy, drying tears still leaving their mark on her reddened cheeks, her nose bearing the traces of dried snot. She walked by dragging her feet, which was one of the ultimate signs of tiredness. He wondered if her condition was as tiring as his. He recalled, almost too clearly, his first transformation had been, by far, the worst. It was funny yet eerie how alike being a werewolf and a woman was. He guessed it was part of the curse. Eternal embarrassment or something of that sort. She gave a look at him, indecisive and still partly frightened, and sat down on the bed beside him.

Giving her yet another reassuring smile, he asked: "Feeling better now?"

She blushed, swinging her feet to rest on the bed. "Yeah. I… I'm alright. I was being silly." She laughed, with part of the innocence he thought she'd lost in the last few minutes. "I'm Emily, what's your name?" Instead of making any motions to shake his hand, she sunk her head into a pillow, only offering him a sideways glance.

"Remus. Nice to meet you, Emily." He smiled at Madam Pomfrey when she arrived with two potions on a tray, glancing at his own but deciding against taking it, knowing the girl would leave soon enough. Emily took the potion, and thanked Pomfrey in such an emotion-filled way that he could swear he saw the older woman blushing. Slowly, the girl took the first potion 'for the jitters', and she looked so delighted by the time she finished it, Remus was actually jealous of her for a second. Emily then proceeded to gulp down the second potion, and he looked at him curiously, as if a funny thought had occurred to her.

"Wha-wha-what are you here for, anyway?" She asked, a yawn cutting through the first word. Slowly her eyes began to close, and she rested her head on her arms, curling into a fetal position.

"Let's just say, a very different time of the month." He chuckled lightly, throwing his own head back into his pillow.

"Hm?"

"Nothing, just go to sleep."