A/N - trigger for depression/mental health issues.
Tuesday night again. Remus was supposed to be patrolling the corridors, but he decided to keep grading instead. He got out the Marauder map and tapped it "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good." The map came to life Welcome back Moony said the map. Remus looked at the map to see if anyone was in the corridors or a spare classroom. He noticed that there were three students out of bed and in the corridors – Eulalie and Octavia were back in the History of Magic classroom again, and Harry Potter was in the broom cupboard by himself. Remus decided to give them all some time. He wanted to see who Harry was waiting for before he went to grab them, and he wanted to give the girls some time to get up to no good. Remus busied himself with his marking and decided that he would head out after he had marked four essays.
After the fourth essay was marked, Remus glanced over at the map again. Eulalie and Octavia were still in the History of Magic classroom and Harry was still by himself in the broom cupboard. Remus pocketed the map and left the classroom. He decided to head to the classroom first. He knocked on the door then counted to three before he opened the door, turning the lights on with the flick of his wand. "Ok Eulalie and Octavia, time to head back to the Hufflepuff common room," the girls both looked away as they walked out of the room. Remus decided it was about time that the fifth years learnt the silencing charm, and maybe the sixth years could learn the disillusionment charm so the girls no longer needed to sneak around the corridors.
Remus then took out the map again and had a look. Harry was still in the broom cupboard by himself. He headed over to the broom cupboard and knocked on it, "Harry, I know you're in there, it's me, Professor Lupin." Harry didn't say anything in response, so Remus opened the door and whispered "Lumos" to his wand to light the cupboard. He couldn't see Harry, he must be wearing his cloak "Harry, the map is telling me you're in here, take off the cloak please." He slowly noticed Harry's head appear. Remus squatted down next to Harry. He noticed that Harry looked dreadful, his eyes were puffy, like he'd been crying. He put his hand on what he hoped was Harry's shoulder "Harry, why are you here in a broom cupboard?" Harry just looked at him. "Ok Harry, stand up, let's go my office and have a chat over a cup of hot chocolate." Harry obliged and stood up, Remus grabbed his elbow and placed the hood of his invisibility cloak on his head to cover him again. Remus slowly walked Harry to his office with a hand on the boy's shoulder. Once Harry was in the office, Remus shut the door and asked Harry to remove his cloak. Suddenly Harry appeared. Remus conjured 2 large mugs of hot chocolate and dug in his draw for some chocolate. He handed Harry a row of chocolate and told him to eat. Harry looked down at the chocolate and said "Professor, why is chocolate your solution to everything?"
Remus smiled and just sat down opposite Harry. "Harry, I'm concerned that I found you alone in the broom cupboard. What's going on?"
Harry burst into tears "I just finished seeing Mr Valdemar, the psychologist. It's just brought up so many things. I guess it's good I can actually feel something now. Before I saw him, earlier in the day, I just felt numb. I couldn't feel anything." He said while wiping tears from his face. Remus grabbed a box of tissues and put them in front of Harry.
"Oh Harry," Remus got up out of his seat and gave Harry a big bear hug, pulling him close to him. He could feel Harry's tears damp against his shirt. Remus held him for some time until he felt the crying stop.
"Harry, is there anything in particular that has triggered this?" asked Remus, breaking the hug.
"I don't know, Professor. I just wish sometimes that my life was more normal. Like Ron or Hermione's life," replied Harry looking down.
Remus wished Harry knew more about his life. Then Harry would realise that Remus was the perfect person to understand how different his life was.
"Harry, I understand why you would want a normal life. Sometimes we always want to take what we see is the easy road. But I need you to know that Ron and Hermione don't exactly have an easy life either," offered Remus. Harry just looked at him. "Harry, you know I'm always here to chat with if you need it. Any time of the day or night." But just not during the full moon, thought Remus.
Harry nodded silently. Remus gave Harry another hug. This time when they broke the hug, he saw the corners of Harry's mouth move a little.
Remus motioned to Harry to drink some of the hot chocolate. Harry drank, feeling the warmth move down to his toes.
"I was marking your essay on Vampires before I found you, Harry. You've definitely got a gift for Defence against the dark arts, Harry. Your essay is the best I've read yet."
Harry gave what Remus was sure was a little smile.
"I like going to defence lessons this year. They're actually useful," replied Harry.
Remus smiled back at Harry. "How are you feeling now, Harry?"
"Mmmm a bit better" he replied.
"Think you can go back to the Gryffindor common room? It's quite late," asked Remus.
"Yes," replied Harry.
"C'mon Harry, I'll walk you back to the fat lady, put your cloak back on and we can go together," replied Remus.
Remus walked Harry back to the fat lady and bid him goodbye when he got there. "Harry, I want to see you again on the weekend. Let's go for a walk by the Black Lake."
"I look forward to it, Professor," replied Harry.