"Remus? Are you awake? Ah, good. How are you feeling?"
"Much better today," said Remus as the matron checked his wounds.
"Good, the wounds seem to healing okay, but I'm not letting you leave until you're well enough to eat something. We wouldn't want you fainting again."
Remus went red and mumbled something into his night shirt about not normally fainting.
"You were over-exerting yourself Remus," said Madam Pomfrey seriously, "I don't want to hear of you being so silly again, understand?"
"Yes Madam Pomfrey," said Remus.
"Now, eat this and then Professor McGonagall would like to have a word with you."
Oh no. Remus had spent every waking hour dreading this since he first woke up in the Hospital wing on Saturday. How much trouble would he be in? Would they write to his parents? Would he be expelled? He heart was thumping so hard he could feel it in his throat. His stomach clenched and he hoped he was not going to be sick, he decided he had better not eat the plate of food Madam Pomfrey had left him just in case. After a few minutes the door to the Hospital Wing opened and in walked his Head of House. Remus sat up straighter in bed, thinking absurdly that she would chastise him for his pyjamas being too messy.
"Hello Mr Lupin," she said, drawing up a chair by the side of his bed, "how are you feeling today."
"Very-well-thank-you," said Remus automatically.
"There's no need to be worried Mr Lupin," said Professor McGonagall kindly, "you are not in any serious trouble."
"I'm so sorry Professor, I didn't… well I… I've got no excuse for what I did, I'm really sorry."
"The joke you and your friends decided to play was immature and while it may not have seemed serious to you as it did not harm anyone I expect Hogwarts students, and particularly those from my House, to conduct themselves in a considerate and respectful manner at all times."
"Yes Professor, I'm sorry."
"Your apology is accepted Mr Lupin," said Professor McGonagall, "I have however taken five points from each from Gryffindor from you and Messrs Potter, Pettigrew and Black. We are now in third place behind Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. I will be expecting you and your friends to be working hard in class to make up for your lost points."
"Yes Professor, I will."
"Good. Though I must say that you certainly have been working very well in my lessons, and it may interest you to know that I have had many teachers saying reporting similar things. You have the right attitude Mr Lupin, I would warn you, however on being lead into things by others. Especially," she added, "when you know that you are not well. I'm sure Madam Pomfrey has already told you this Remus but now that you're at Hogwarts, though we will offer you all the support we can, you will have to start taking more responsibility for your own wellbeing. It's good that you're making friends, but you must remember sometimes to take a step back and think before following what everyone else is doing. Whether it is a moral decision you need to make, or simply a judgement on whether or not you are fit for whatever the proposed activity is, you need to take the time to make it yourself and then stick to it. Do not allow others, even, and in fact most especially, your friends, to cajole you into doing things you think, for whatever reason, you ought not to be doing."
"Yes Professor," said Remus, wondering how she knew that he had not been strong willed enough to resist James, Sirius and Peter's persuasions.
"If it seems like I am being harsh with you Remus, then I promise you it is for your own good," said Professor McGonagall, and Remus was surprised to hear her use his first name, "you shall also have to serve a detention for the stunt you and your friends pulled on Saturday. Now, I am sure you will have work to catch up on from the lessons you've missed. So what I propose is that when you report to my office for your detention, which we shall provisionally schedule for Wednesday at half past four in the afternoon, you bring along some work to do and you can work on it in silence for an hour. I feel that would be a better use of both of our times than polishing trophies or writing lines."
"Thank you Professor," said Remus.
"Of course, I will be on hand in your detention, so if there is any work you are struggling with I would advise you to bring that so that you can ask for help. Transfiguration is of course my area of expertise, though I am sure I would be able to help you with your other subjects as well, or at the very least, point you in the right direction."
"Yes Professor, thank you."
"Good," said Professor McGonagall, "now, since we are having this discussion Mr Lupin, I wanted to ask you how things are going, generally I mean. Are you settling in okay? Are you keeping up with all your work? It is clear you are making friends, but how are you getting along with the other students in general?"
"Everything's fine Professor," said Remus.
"If that is the case then I am glad to hear it," said Professor McGonagall, "but I want you to know that my office is always open should you need to talk about any problems you are having. Part of taking responsibility for your own wellbeing is knowing when that responsibility is too much to bear on your own. So if there is anything you would like to ask me, even if it may seem silly, you might as well do it now. I promise you there is no such thing as a silly question."
Remus was about to repeat his last response again, but then something that had been brewing at the bottom of his mind for quite some while now came bubbling up to the surface, and before he knew it was overflowing out of his mouth.
"How do I lie to people Professor? How do I hide what I am from them? How can I make excuses to get out of things that don't just make them asks hundred more questions I have to make up answers to?"
Professor McGonagall sighed.
"I'm sorry to have to tell you this Remus," she said, "people as young as you should not have to lie, lying corrupts innocence, not because it is inherently 'bad' but because it makes one view the world through suspicious and paranoid eyes. I do not want to corrupt what remains of your innocence like that Remus, but it is clear that in your situation you have no choice but to start seeing the world through the harsh, judging eyes of an adult. The first thing I will say is this, keep things simple, don't overcomplicate and don't over explain. Try to paint a picture which people will complete themselves so that you don't have to go through filling in all the intricacies of it. It may seem tempting to pad stories out to make them more believable, but then you will have to remember all the extra details you have put in and be extra careful not contradict yourself later. It's far easier to stick with stories which are easy to remember. This month your friends saw you faint, so you really have no other option than to say that you were ill. But as we don't want people to think that you are getting ill too often I would try to make other excuses to leave your friends before you reach the point where you are clearly visibly ill. I would suggest that you say you have to go home for some reason or another, a wedding, a funeral, visiting a sick relative… if anyone should ask one of the teachers about your absence they'll all know the real reason and confirm your story. I hope what I've said has been of some help to you Remus, as I say, it is cruel that you must learn how to lie so quickly, but you are right in that it is also crucial that no one finds out about your lycanthropy."
"Thank you Professor," said Remus, "I'll make up a different story next time. And I'll come to Madam Pomfrey earlier, I promise, I've learnt my lesson."
"Good," smiled Professor McGonagall, "I think that will be all then. Get well soon Mr Lupin."
Remus thanked his Head of House again and she left the Hospital Wing.
Well, that had gone better than expected, thought Remus, he was still here at least, and not only that but McGonagall seemed to be going out of her way to help him, both with his schoolwork and with lying. Her speech about innocence had been rather unexpected though, and Remus was still puzzling over quite what she'd meant when Madam Pomfrey returned and gave him a rather forceful reminder about the plate of food which had been left untouched on his bedside table. Remus ate as much as he could manage, he really did want to get out of here as soon as possible. He wanted to get back to his lessons, and, as McGonagall kept calling them, his friends.