Under the light of the rising sun after a full moon, a twelve-year-old boy could be seen staggering out of what was now nicknamed "The Shrieking Shack." The boy was disheveled, wearing worn and ripped clothes that hung off of his thin, ragged frame. His light brown hair, which gave the impression that its color could fade in an instant, was matted down with sweat on his forehead. His face was marred with scratches and bruises, much like the rest of his body. His eyes were tired and they reflected a pain that is not so common to find in most twelve-year-old boys. He lifted his weary gaze from the snow-dusted ground and saw Madame Pomfrey rushing over to him. She always came on these mornings. She supposed that some people might be repulsed by his situation, but to her, he was just a boy. A boy, who was sick, scared and needed to be helped. She reached him just as he collapsed onto the cold ground, too exhausted to go any further. She picked him up with the help of a levitating charm and turned around back towards the castle. She looked down at his young yet dreadfully solemn face, and brushed his dirty hair off of his forehead, only revealing more injuries from the previous night.

"Oh Remus, you poor thing." She whispered before she quickened her pace. The sooner she got him inside, the better.

Remus slowly opened his eyes, straining against the harsh light of the infirmary. He sat up gingerly and looked down at himself to survey the damage of the prior night. All of the major wounds had been healed leaving only a faint soreness. He touched his face and only felt a couple scratches and bruises. He felt enormous gratitude for Madame Pomfrey and then collapsed back down onto the bed in exhaustion. This was usual, he wouldn't feel completely well again for a few days, but this didn't matter to Remus. He was always happiest on the days after his transition. On these days, the looming pressure of the next full moon felt far away, and as long as he didn't dwell on the last full moon, he felt that he could be normal for once. He closed his eyes just as he heard footsteps and voices approaching the infirmary door.

"A-are you sure about this? I mean skipping class?" said one of the voices outside, nervously.

" C'mon Peter! We're not gonna get caught, and if we did, what could they really do to us?" Another voice exclaimed loudly without any attempt at discretion, almost as if he was daring someone to find and challenge them.

"Sirius, sh!" Peter whispered frantically. Remus smiled as he could just picture Peter flailing his arms in a panic trying to rein Sirius in as Sirius just continued whatever it is he was doing with an arrogant smile. As the footsteps neared the entrance, he heard the last voice, James.

"Alright, quiet down guys. You're going to give Peter a stroke. And don't worry; we're just missing potions. No big deal." The towering doors then banged open as James Potter casually walked in, followed by Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. Remus sat up again and smiled at them. He still couldn't quite believe that he had made actual friends. They won't be so friendly once they find out what you are, added a doubting voice in Remus' head that he did his best to ignore. Remus' friends always visited him when he was in the infirmary and while Remus was beyond grateful of this, in fact he was quite astonished that they made the effort every time, he hated lying to them time and time again. They were all under the impression that Remus had some kind of illness that flared up once in a while. He couldn't help but wonder how long this lie would last.

"Remus." James nodded to him fondly as he slouched against the wall next to his bed.

"Still alive then, mate?" Sirius joked before jumping on to the foot of the bed and making himself comfortable.

"It appears so." Remus responded, smiling at Sirius and attempting to wretch his foot out of where Sirius had landed on top of it. Peter stood awkwardly next to the nightstand and looked down worriedly at Remus. Remus had assured the three of them that his "illness" was in no way life threatening, but for some reason Peter had never believed him and always seemed to be afraid that Remus was going to drop dead every time he wound up in the infirmary. Peter opened his mouth to say something but Remus cut him off with an exasperated smile,

"Before you ask Peter; no I am not dying, nor will I be dying in the foreseeable future. So stop looking so scared please." Peter smiled back apologetically and plopped down on the floor. Remus looked around warmly at his group of visitors.

"So, skipping potions eh?" He said with a grin, " Whose idea was that?" He looked expectantly at Sirius. Sirius leaned back and raised his arms in defense.

"Don't look at me. This was all James," He replied with mock severity as James laughed in the background. "I would never even dream of skipping a class"

"Oh right, of course you wouldn't, my sincerest apologies. " Remus replied sarcastically. Sirius pretended to look wounded by his comment, when James said

"Come now, we all know who coerced us into breaking one of our dear school rules. It was Peter, of course!" The whole group, even Peter, started laughing at the absurdity of the statement and the longer they laughed, the more riotous they became. Eventually the sound alerted Madame Pomfrey to their presence. She bustled into the room and shouted disapprovingly,

"Pettigrew, Potter, Black! Remus needs rest and if I'm not mistaken, you three should be in potions at this moment!"

"We just wanted to make sure our friend here was alright, we were—"

"Oh spare me, Mr. Potter." Madame Pomfrey said sharply as she ushered them out of the room. "Just get to class. That means immediately Mr. Black!" She said, anticipating the fact that he might just wander the halls for the remainder of the class. As they left, they turned around and waved back to Remus encouragingly one last time, before the heavy doors banged shut leaving them on the other side and Remus alone once more.