Remus Lupin awoke in the hospital wing after a particularly tough night in the Shrieking Shack to a slant of midday light across the stone floor. He gently sat up in the bed that he had frequented over the past two years, attempting, in vain, to ignore the ache in his bones caused by his monthly transfigurations. While taking account of the new scars that adorned his body, Remus thought of the suspicious looks received from his friends in the Gryffindor house when he excused his upcoming absence with the excuse of a dying grandmother.

"Didn't your grandmother die last year Remus?" James Potter's words continued to echo in his head. Why wasn't I more careful? I should have known that they would have remembered that excuse. He continued to think to himself as the light gradually shifted further across the floor. The shuffling of a young Madame Pomfrey was enough to call Remus back from the deep recesses of his mind where his darkest secret had taken resident.

"Good morning Madame Pomfrey," Remus spoke softly, avoiding any unnecessary movement of his bruised ribs.

"Good afternoon Mr. Lupin," she corrected with a small chuckle. A smile adorned her rounded face, but it did little to hide the sadness of the young boy's suffering that was evident in her eyes. "It's time for your dose of Murtlap Essence." The boy reflexively shrank back from the kind nurse at the mere mention of the horrid substance. He forced the cruel liquid down his throat while simultaneously fighting the gagging that threatened to send it back up.

The first time he had taken the foul potion he had given in to the need to remove it from his body. Remus had learned the hard way that taking Murtlap Essence a second time far surpassed the misery of the first. Remembering this scarring experience from his first experience in the hospital wing as a timid first year, he swallowed the remaining dose and lunged for the glass of water that always inhabited the table beside his cot. The boy quickly consumed the water in the hope that it would ride his tortured mouth of the vile taste.

With a quick flick of her wand and a whisper of Aguamenti, Madame Pomfrey easily refilled Remus's empty glass. "You are free to leave whenever you feel ready to Mr. Lupin," she stated as she turned to aid an ill student who lay on a nearby cot before the boy had a chance to respond. She's probably just busy this morning, he thought to himself. Or, a darker side of him mused, she's disgusted by me, of what I am.

Filled with self-loathing, Remus placed the glass back on the table. Upon doing so the boy became aware of a single bar of chocolate, with a small note placed tenderly on top, adjacent to the glass. He had never before received a gift of any kind during his times in the hospital wing. The boy hesitantly seized the note and brought it to eye level. I hope this helps, the note said in a sloppy cursive scrawl.

It must have been Madame Pomfrey, he reasoned, it had to be. It couldn't be anyone else. No one else could know. Temporarily calming his anxiety, Remus reached for the chocolate bar and took a look at the wrapper which had "Cadbury Chocolate" printed neatly across it. He split the candy open, broke off a small corner and placed it in his mouth. The chocolate quickly melted, filling his taste buds with its sweet and savory flavor. Madame Pomfrey was right, it did help, Remus reflected.

He carefully wrapped up the remaining chocolate and pulled himself together, preparing himself for the questions that would surely come from his classmates. The boy took once last sip of water, straightened the bedding on the cot, and collected the chocolate bar. His footsteps echoed as he ambled across the stone floor, coming to a pause at the young nurse's office.

"Thank you Madame Pomfrey, especially for the chocolate bar," Remus spoke quietly as the nurse looked up from her work.

"You're very welcome Mr. Lupin, but I'm afraid the chocolate was not from me," she replied with only a short glance up. "Have a nice day."

"You too," he replied with his mind racing. If it wasn't Madame Pomfrey, who could have left me the chocolate and the note? The question filled his mind as he journeyed back to the welcoming Gryffindor common room. And even more, he continued to muse, who knows of my secret? These questions consumed so much of his thought that the boy did not realize where he was until he reached the fat lady.

"Password?" the painted woman demanded, dragging Remus from his contemplations.

"Flibbertigibbet," he uttered and stepped through the opening to the faces of his closest friends.

"How's your grandmother doing Remus?" Sirius questioned as he threw a friendly arm around the boy's shoulders.

"She seems like she's doing a bit better, but it's difficult to tell. The healers say that we just have to wait and see."

"Well at least it seems like she's looking up," James said with a smile from his place next to Peter by the fire.

"Yeah," Remus replied, his friends bringing a smile to his face. Well maybe I should just wait to see if someone brings up the chocolate instead of spilling my secret to the wrong person. It was probably meant for someone else anyway and it was accidently left next to my cot, he assured himself. With these thoughts, Remus took a place beside Sirius, James and Peter, and easily returned to his normal life. Well as normal of a life as a werewolf can expect.