The meeting with Madam Pomfrey had been set up for the following day. Dumbledore had owled Remus during dinner to say that he would unfortunately be meeting the woman alone, since Dumbledore would be away from the castle for a few days. Remus's anxiety at meeting this lady in the first place increased considerably at the thought of explaining his situation to her by himself.

Along with this anxiety, Remus was feeling restless anyway. A full moon was coming up in two days' time, and he was already starting to feel the effects. His senses were heightened, and Hogwarts was a noisy place at the best of times; the overwhelming sensory overloads he experienced were difficult to handle. Lily pointed out that he seemed very tetchy: in the Great Hall, with all the nonsensical chatter surrounding him, instead of eating he simply glared at his plate with his hands curled into fists, covering his ears. He usually had a rather calm disposition and a slow burning temper, but in the days leading up to the full moon, it wasn't uncommon for him to feel the urge to smash something up.

The night before his meeting with Madam Pomfrey was a bad one. He couldn't sleep at all, worried as he was about someone he didn't know having control of his entire future. If she didn't accept him, what was he supposed to do? Tell Dumbledore? Dumbledore could still force her to do her job, but if she was even slightly reluctant, she could end up putting him in danger.

Not only that, but Remus soon realised that Dumbledore had hardly given him any information about what he was supposed to do on the full moon. He barely even knew where the Whomping Willow was, let alone how to get there undetected. He'd have to pluck up the courage to ask him, but it was really cutting it fine, he thought.

Remus had to skip lunch again, but he wasn't particularly hungry anyway. The walk from the Great Hall to the hospital wing wasn't too far, but for Remus it felt much longer. His heartbeat was audible and it made him feel self-conscious, even though he knew no one else could hear it. When he finally reached the door of the wing, he took a second to knock. He didn't even know what this woman looked like.

The door swung open, and there stood a rather thin woman in a very nurse-like uniform, a cap covering her short white hair, curled into tight ringlets. She smiled down at Remus, a nice smile, a warm smile. Not an ounce of fear or hesitation on her face at all. Remus allowed himself to relax ever so slightly.

"Come in, dear, my office is just round the back," she began, her voice prim and proper, yet with a noticeable gentle edge to it. "We can sit in there. Luckily the place is empty at the moment, since there doesn't tend to be many injuries in the first week of term. The calm before the storm I call it." Remus was ushered into a little room filled with bottles of colourful potions, and a rather small desk with two chairs surrounding it. Madam Pomfrey pulled out one of the chairs and indicated that Remus was to sit down. He obeyed. Madam Pomfrey sat down opposite, taking a breath from all of her chatter. Her chatter was by no means nervous, though. It was friendly, and much to his relief, Remus couldn't help but begin to trust her.

"Now," she began. "We have a lot to talk about, don't we?" Remus nodded. "What would you like to start with?"

"Oh, um..." he wanted to start with how he was going to transition, because despite his nervousness, he couldn't help but be incredibly excited. But he wanted to get to know her more before he fully trusted her with that. "I suppose... my lycanthropy?"

"Of course," she smiled again. He was beginning to really like her smile. "There's not too much to discuss. I'm afraid there's no potion I can give you to help, though I'm sure you're already aware of that." Remus nodded. If there had been even a semblance of a potion, his father would have jumped on it immediately. "Really, all I can do is check you over after every full moon for any injuries and cure them."

"Okay."

"However, I am also in charge of taking you to the Whomping Willow every month, you know, guiding you there and calming that blasted tree down." Remus smiled, though more in relief than anything. That was one question ticked off his list, and he was very glad he didn't have to deal with the full moon alone. He'd never done it alone before, his parents had always been there with him, and he couldn't help but be rather thankful that he wouldn't be spending the full moon with Dumbledore. It wasn't that he didn't like the man; he had a lot to thank him for, but that was the point. Remus was rather intimidated by him, and that was the last thing he needed when he was focusing on transforming. Madam Pomfrey on the other hand seemed like a much calmer presence, maternal almost. Remus needed that.

"Will you be there in the morning as well?" He asked awkwardly, hating how much of a child the question made him sound, but he couldn't stop himself.

"Of course. I'll be there to lead you back to the hospital wing. The only time you'll be alone on the full moon will be the time you're in your wolf form. I'll be there for the rest of it."

"Thank you." Remus was undoubtedly grateful, and was even ready to talk about the other topic of conversation that they were here for. He wished all people were like Madam Pomfrey.

Madam Pomfrey stood up and walked over to a cabinet of potions. Remus didn't know if this was a cue for him to talk.

"So, um..." he started, trying to broach the subject of his transitioning, but having his sentence running away from him before he could think it through. "I'm a boy..." It sounded so stupid, but he was inexplicably flustered. The whole subject matter made him flustered. Madam Pomfrey sat back down and placed a vial of clear-looking potion onto the desk.

"Yes," she affirmed. "I know. But unfortunately your body doesn't, so we're going to do something about that." Remus suppressed a grin. Her statement was so blunt and determined, and exactly what he needed to hear.

"How?" He asked, eager for her to continue.

"See this potion?" Remus nodded, looking again at the water-like substance. "It's called Morfosis, and this..." she smiled again, a wide smile that suggested some good news. "Will essentially make you go through male puberty instead of female puberty." Remus sat up straight. He had been expecting something good, but this already went way beyond.

"Really?" He tried hard to stop himself from crying out in surprise, so as a result, his voice ended up as a whisper. Madam Pomfrey nodded.

"It's a very recent concoction, but it's perfectly safe. Believe me, we wouldn't be giving it to you if it wasn't. It essentially replaces your female hormones with male ones. Simple transfiguration, really." It sounded too good to be true.

"What's the catch?" Remus asked, his go-to question whenever something good happened. Madam Pomfrey slightly hesitated, which wasn't a good sign.

"The catch is... as it stands... you'll have to take this every week for the rest of your life." Remus deflated. It wasn't too bad a catch, considering the results it would give him, but the finality of the rest of his life was so daunting that he couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed.

"What if it runs out?" He asked. "Who makes more? I've already had two potions classes and I was terrible at them." He was talking nervously now, but it was true. He'd been one of the worst in the class. He'd followed the recipe as closely as he could, and had even asked help from Lily who seemed to have a certain knack for potions, but he'd still ended up with a potion much darker and gloopier than anyone else's.

Madam Pomfrey laughed.

"Of course you're not going to be brewing the potion yourself, sweetheart, we have a potions master for that."

"Oh." Of course, thought Remus. Stupid thing to say. But wait... "You mean Professor Slughorn?" Madam Pomfrey nodded. "He has to know too?" Remus had met Slughorn a total of two times, and while the man seemed decent enough, Remus wasn't exactly dying to come out to him as transgender— a term that he and his parents had only recently discovered, and which Remus was still trying to get used to. It was a big secret, but by this rate, half the castle would know before Halloween.

"He doesn't have to know who it's for if you don't want him to," said Madam Pomfrey.

"Really? He won't ask?"

"Perhaps, but that doesn't mean I have to answer." Remus thought for a moment.

"I'd prefer that," he stated. Madam Pomfrey nodded her affirmation. "When do I start taking the potion?"

"Well, we wanted to wait perhaps a year before taking it, although we can shorten that time if we feel you're ready."

"A year? Why can't I take it now? I'm ready now."

"It's too early at the moment, for a number of reasons. We want you to be settled at Hogwarts, we want you to have a good schedule going with the full moon, we want you to be ready, we want your parents to be ready. So, you see, now isn't quite the right time." Remus nodded, though he wasn't convinced. If he had it now he wouldn't have to worry about anything. He was impatient. He wanted the potion, but he stopped himself from arguing, if only because he wanted to remain on Madam Pomfrey's good side. He just settled with working out how to convince Madam Pomfrey to reduce the year long wait.

"And is that all I need?" he continued. "The potion? Will it stop my chest from growing?"

"That depends," she replied. "If your chest has already started to grow by the time you take it, then the potion won't be able to make your chest flat again I'm afraid."

"Oh... but there are other ways you can make it flat, right?"

"We can shrink it, yes, until it's flat, but the spell will have to be maintained regularly. I can do that for you, so you don't have to worry." He didn't think that sounded as comforting as she thought it did.

"Okay..." he said, rather reluctantly. "And if I get my period, will the potion stop it?"

"It should, but not immediately. It may take around six months."

"Oh... It's all quite... complicated." Remus was no longer feeling as elated as before. There were rather a lot of catches and it all felt so exhausting. He sort of wished that the full moon was his only worry.

"It sounds it, yes, but it's more simple in practice. And I doubt this will be our last conversation on it, so if anything's worrying you, even in the slightest, you can always come here and discuss it with me." 'I'll be here a lot then' thought Remus, with a vague cynicism. "Now, this is all well and good, but I will also have to discuss everything with your parents, and I shall need their permission to continue."

"Oh yeah... I forgot."

"I'll do my best, Mr Lupin, but I can't promise anything."

"I know." He just hoped his father wouldn't screw it all up for him.

"Do you have any other questions?" she asked. He probably did, but his mind was already going at around a mile a minute— it had been for the last ten minutes— so he wasn't able to focus on formulating any more questions.

"Not at the moment," he replied.

"Well, if you think of any, you know where I am." Remus nodded. "And I shall owl you before and after the meeting with your parents." Remus nodded again; he didn't really know what else to do. Madam Pomfrey turned her gaze to a clock above Remus's head. "Merlin, look at the time. You'll be late for class. Have you eaten?"

"Yes, Miss." Remus thought it best to lie in case she forced some food down him. He still wasn't very hungry, which was rare leading up to the full moon, but he currently had too much to worry about.

"Then, unless you have any more questions, I suggest we wrap this meeting up." She looked at him expectantly.

"That's alright, I should go now." He stood up, knowing full well he wouldn't be concentrating at all for the remainder of his classes. He had other things to think about. He wanted to get everything in his mind ordered to make it less overwhelming for him, but his mind wasn't really allowing that.

Potion... Slughorn brewing it... six months?... period... chest... full moon coming up and the clock is too loud... tick tick... Merlin it was annoying.

Remus needed to leave.

"Thank you," he said as he reached the doorway. "I appreciate everything you're doing." He hoped he didn't sound disingenuous, because he really was very grateful.

"Not a problem, dear." Once again she gave him that warm smile, and despite everything, he was glad he could trust at least one person here.

Dear Mr Lupin,

I'm happy to say that the meeting with your parents went well. However, they were not able able to make a decision immediately and have decided to spend a few days thinking it over. I expect they'll want to discuss everything with you as well, and then we'll decide exactly how to move forward.

All the best,

Madame Pomfrey.

His parents had owled him as well, just after Madam Pomfrey he assumed, though their letters had arrived at the same time. They said they wouldn't discuss anything until after the full moon, so that he could focus on it, and that he shouldn't worry: they just wanted to talk.

But he did worry, of course, because what did they want to talk about? What if they wanted to go down the route of simple transfiguration instead of the potion? More hassle, and less permanence. Two things he didn't want.

The day of the full moon was always terrible. Remus was tense, jumpy, easily annoyed and susceptible to lashing out.

"Are you going to the library again today?" Lily asked him before lunch.

"What's it to you?" he snapped back.

"I wanted to come, too."

"I'm not going to the bloody library." Lily looked at him steadily, confused.

"Are you alright? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just stop talking!" and he marched off, leaving Lily standing in the corridor behind him. Another thing he'd have to feel guilty about tomorrow, no doubt.

Classes ended at four. As it was September, it started to get dark rather early and Dumbledore wanted him out of the castle by six. Remus excused himself at quarter past five, to no one in particular, since he'd been avoiding everyone anyway, and made the journey to the hospital wing. He avoided looking out of any windows, not wanting to catch sight of the moon. His back was aching, his hands were already clawing at his skin, lightly of course, causing no damage, but he couldn't stop his fingers from repetitively bending and unbending. His ears picked up every tiny noise, every heartbeat, every breath, every footstep. It drove Remus mad.

He reached the hospital wing, where Madam Pomfrey was waiting for him.

"All set?" She asked, in a mysteriously low voice. Remus nodded. "I have a few patients," she continued, which explained the voice. "But they're asleep. Shouldn't wake up until tomorrow. That being said, I can't leave them for too long, just in case." Remus didn't care. He wanted to hurry up and leave. Madam Pomfrey seemed to share the sentiment as she quickly led him out of the room.

They had to go the long way, which meant less people and more corridors, making Remus more and more restless with every step he took. Thankfully, they didn't end up running into anyone, and managed to reach the grounds unnoticed. The cool outside air on Remus's itchy skin calmed him down ever so slightly. He certainly felt less claustrophobic.

"The tree is just down there," Madam Pomfrey informed, and Remus caught sight of the branches poking out from behind a corner of the school building. "Stand back while I make sure it's calm. Don't want you getting caught by those nasty branches." She went ahead of him, and as she neared the tree, the branches began lashing out. Amongst Remus's feelings of tetchiness and irritation, accentuated by the now visible full moon, he felt a slight spark of concern. Those branches looked like they could do some real damage.

All at once, the branches stopped, and the tree was still. Madam Pomfrey materialised and beckoned him to follow.

"Now," she began, stopping him just outside a large hole in the tree's trunk. "This is the entrance to the tunnel. It's all one way, so don't worry about getting lost. Just a five minute walk, you'll find yourself in the Shrieking Shack, and then you're free to transform safely. Do you want me to come with you through the tunnel?"

"No. I can do it." Remus was anxious to get going and didn't want Madam Pomfrey holding him up. Besides, he didn't know how much longer he could last in his human form, and he had no desire to put Madam Pompfrey in any danger.

She saw him off, and Remus walked quickly through the tunnel, already feeling the beginnings of his transformation. His entire body was itching all over as fur began to grow. His legs and back screamed in agony as they started to stretch out and bend. His face was morphing into its wolf-like features, and he could even feel his eyes changing. It was painful, it was horrible. The only slight comfort for him was that he hardly remembered much the next day, though it did cause his consequential injuries to come as a slight shock when he saw them, even after six years.

By the time he'd reached the Shrieking Shack, he'd already transformed. He didn't remember anything after that.