Madam Pomfrey was there when he woke up. He was very disorientated at first, not knowing at all where he was. He was lying on some musty wooden floorboards, and dust was trapped in the strips of sunlight peaking through a cracked and grimy window. Something eventually stirred in his memory: The Shrieking Shack. He must have been in the Shrieking Shack.

The next thing he noticed was some sort of of blanket lying on top of him, covering his body instead of his clothes which were undeniably ripped to shreds.

"Good morning, love." He looked in the direction of the voice. Madam Pomfrey was kneeling before him. "I've brought you a change of clothes." She held up the neat pile of white and blue material that was resting on her lap. "Are you hurt?" Remus fought to clear the fog in his head, making everything feel saturated. Was he hurt? As if answering the question, parts of his body began to sting. His chest, his ankle, his arms. He had cuts all over, and possibly a sprain. Nothing out of the ordinary. He nodded his head. "Are you able to get changed by yourself? Then I can help you to the hospital wing. It's early, so no one's awake yet."

"I can get changed." His voice was rough, cracked, almost inaudible. He was thirsty.

"Okay then, I'll be right outside the door if you need anything." She stepped out of the room as Remus pulled off the blanket. He inspected his cuts. They weren't too deep, nor were they bleeding too much, but the red stained his skin, making it look much worse than it was. Still seated, he picked up the change of clothes left beside him. They were a pair of pale blue and white pyjamas, and they were very soft. He slipped on the shirt, wincing slightly as the material came into contact with the open wounds on his torso. He then gingerly stood up, trying his weight on his ankle. It hurt, but it didn't buckle. Just a minor sprain. He could walk at least.

He finished changing and went to meet Madam Pomfrey outside.

"Do you need any help, dear?" she asked as soon as she saw him.

"No, I'm alright, thanks." Her wand was lit and Remus could finally get a good look at the tunnel. There wasn't much to see, it was mainly just a highway of twisted roots and dirt, and it was shorter than Remus had remembered. It wasn't long before they emerged into the crisp autumn air and early morning sunlight. The journey back to the hospital wing was longer, and the more he walked on his ankle, the more it started to hurt. He had to hide his slight limp, not wanting Madam Pomfrey to make a fuss.

The hospital wing was not empty, but thankfully, the few patients that were there were fast asleep, and so didn't notice them entering. Madam Pomfrey led him to the bed at the end of the wing and closed the curtains around it as he sunk into the covers. It was even softer than his bed in his dorm room, and he wondered if a charm had been put upon it.

Now that Madam Pomfrey had resumed her role as nurse, she became much more strict. Remus's shirt needed to come off so she could fix his cuts; his ankle was sprained and she reprimanded him for walking on it.

"Am I going back to class today?" he asked, buttoning his shirt back up.

"Absolutely not," Madam Pomfrey replied. "You need your rest. You can return tomorrow, but today I want to see you sleeping, young man."

Remus was sure he wouldn't be able to sleep, what with everything that had happened. It had been his first transformation at Hogwarts after all: there was way too much to think about. But the strain that transforming had on his body always left him shattered, and he simply couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. He soon fell into a dreamless sleep.

When he eventually woke, he wasn't surprised to find that it was almost getting dark outside. He usually slept this long after a full moon, though he never felt quite refreshed afterwards. He'd missed dinner, but a plate had been left on his bedside table, kept warm with a charm, and a goblet of pumpkin juice to go with it. He was glad to see that his dinner mostly consisted of meat. The days surrounding the full moon always left him with a craving for it, to the point where he struggled to eat anything else, especially vegetables, which all just tasted like bland leaves during the full moon. He didn't take long to finish his dinner, starving as he was, and Madam Pomfrey soon popped through the curtains to clear up, and to tell him off for eating too fast, which he didn't feel guilty about at all, but he thanked her nonetheless.

Madam Pomfrey decided he might as well spend the night, and tomorrow he could return to classes. He was glad about that, as he wasn't particularly keen on showing up to the dorm room and have questions thrown at him about where he'd been. He could deal with that tomorrow. For now, he just wanted to go back to sleep.

At breakfast the following day, after Remus had been discharged from the hospital wing, Lily caught up to him and gave him the homework he had missed, which he was very grateful for, surprised as he was that she had cared enough to remember. He tried to get started on some of it at the table, but his classmates were rather rowdy that morning, and there was too much of a risk of someone spilling juice all over his books, so he conceded to making a start during lunch. He'd simply have to struggle a little for the morning lessons.

"Where were you yesterday?" Lily asked, predictably.

"Just at the hospital wing," he replied without hesitation. "I was... ill."

"Oh, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine now, thanks." Lily nodded and returned to a conversation she was having with Mary MacDonald, so Remus started up a discussion with Owain Williams to pass the time. Just before breakfast ended, however, Lily asked if he wanted to catch up on his homework in the library with her, since she was thinking of going at lunchtime. Naturally, he agreed. He certainly enjoyed her company, and she could help him with the stuff he'd missed anyway.

So at lunchtime, after he'd eaten, Remus met up with Lily just outside the Great Hall and they walked the distance to the library, and it was nice. They chatted a lot, and Remus got to hear more about Lily, and Lily more about him. They both found out that they had a mutual love for Doctor Who, which they watched on their TV sets at home. Remus said his mother had asked his dad for a TV way back when TVs were only first starting to be produced for the public, because his grandmother had wanted to watch the coronation.

"That's why my dad bought the TV too!" exclaimed Lily. "There wasn't much else to do at home, so I watched TV a lot or read books. I started watching Doctor Who when I was five."

"I was a bit older, but that means we both missed the earliest episodes. It's easy to catch up on, though, I've got a load of old tapes." The rest of the conversation was spent comparing the Daleks to the Cybermen, until they had to sit down and focus on their homework, Lily helping Remus catch up with various spell incantations and wand movements. He was relieved to find that he hadn't missed too much, and he was familiar with everything he'd missed anyway, so his homework went by quite quickly. With Lily, it didn't feel much like a chore at all. The lunch period was over before he knew it.

Remus was hoping to finally have a normal Hogwarts schedule, because so far his first week had been filled with meetings, a full moon and a rather long stay in the hospital wing. He was eager to just be able to concentrate on his classes, but it wasn't quite over yet. He still had to talk to his parents.

McGonagall allowed him to use her office after school to talk to them in the fireplace. McGonagall, he had found out, had been well informed of the entire situation before even Madam Pomfrey. She was the one whe sent out the letters after all (which meant that it was her who had first referred to Remus as Mr. Lupin; a thought that inadvertently made him start to like her). So far, he had only really seen the stern side of McGonagall, but he was soon introduced to the helpful, caring side of her. When he had returned to class after the full moon, she had pulled him aside when the lesson had ended and told him he'd done a good job today.

"I'm very impressed by your commitment considering everything that you're dealing with," she said, offering him a very rare smile. He honestly didn't know how to respond except to say a quiet thank you and leave.

She left her office to allow him privacy, and he waited for the clock to strike five, which was when his parents were supposed to meet him. 'Meet'… it all sounded so formal. The clock had barely finished its last chime when the flames in the fireplace suddenly turned green and the faces of his parents appeared. His dad was always very punctual.

"S'mae, cariad!" greeted his mother. "How are you?" Remus couldn't help but be excited to see her despite his nervousness over the coming conversation. His father greeted him with a smile too, which made him feel a slight spark of confidence.

"I'm alright. You?"

"Same as always, but it's pretty lonely without you," said Hope.

"How was the full moon?" asked Lyall, anxiously.

"It was alright," replied Remus. "I mean, nothing went wrong." The full moon was the full moon. There wasn't much to say about it except to assure his parents that no one had spotted him.

"So no one saw you?"

"No, dad."

"And you were okay afterwards? Madam Pomfrey looked after you alright?" That was his mother.

"Yes, she was lovely. Can we talk about the other thing now." Remus was very much impatient.

"Yes, alright. We just wanted to make sure you're okay," said Lyall.

"I'm fine. I promise."

"Good." Lyall cleared his throat. "So, as you know, we talked to Madam Pomfrey," he began, but Remus couldn't help but interrupt.

"Yeah, I know. Are you going to let me take the morfosis potion?" He didn't care for any kind of beating around the bush. He wanted an answer, and he wanted the answer to be yes.

"Slow down, cariad, we're getting to that. It's important that we don't rush this," said Hope. Remus mentally sighed, but his father spoke up before he could say anything.

"Listen, son." Son. Surely that was a good sign. Especially coming from his father. "We're not going to stop you from transitioning. Obviously we want you to, and we wouldn't send you to Hogwarts if you couldn't." Remus could feel a 'but' and he braced himself for it.

"But... we want to take it slowly. As your mother says, we don't want to rush into anything." Remus was pretty sick of people telling him not to rush, as if he was ever going to change his mind. Then again, if that was the only catch, and his parents were still going to let him take the potion, he supposed it could have been worse.

"Fine," he agreed. "But Madam Pomfrey said I had to wait a year for the potion. Does it have to be that long?"

"That's the maximum amount of time that we all agreed on," said Lyall.

"But it can always be shortened," continued Hope. "Depending on how things go." Lyall nodded. "And, Remus... you definitely want to do this, don't you?" Remus looked at her incredulously, not really expecting a question like that from his mother.

"Of course I do, why wouldn't I?" After everything they had all gone through, she wasn't about to get cold feet now, was she? When it really mattered?

"No I know, it's just... it's such a big step."

"Yeah and that's good." Hope finally smiled at him, any hesitation on her face disappearing.

"You're right, it is good. We're proud of you, Remus."

"Oh... Thank you." Remus wasn't very good with compliments, but it made him happy nonetheless.

"Now, remember, Remus," his father began. "If anything happens, anything at all, you tell us immediately—"

"Dad, I know—"

"I'm reminding you. Hogwarts is seven years, son, it's important you stay safe. You mustn't let your guard down, not even for a second."

"I know."

"I agree with your father," said Hope. "But don't let it stop you from making friends. That Lily girl you talk about sounds lovely." She raised her eyebrows in a way that Remus was not in the mood for.

"Mum, please. Lily and I barely know each other."

"Well then get to know her, it's about time you had a friend." Remus glanced at the clock and saw that it was nearly half past five.

"I'm going to miss dinner," he said, not wanting to miss another night in the Great Hall with his classmates.

"Alright, we'll let you go," said Lyall. "But just quickly: we are going to be having more conversations about this, so don't worry. If you change your mind— which you won't," he added, seeing Remus about to interject. "There'll be plenty of time for you to tell us."

"Right. I know. I'm not gonna change my mind though." Lyall nodded, and the three of them began their goodbyes.

"Stay safe, bach," said Hope, as the flames in the fireplace started to die down, and the faces of his parents disappeared.

Remus stood up, stretched his legs, and left the room, heading for the Great Hall. A weight had lifted from his shoulders, and while the timing of taking the potion wasn't ideal, the point was, he was allowed to transition. Not only that, but he'd finally got through all the meetings with teachers and parents and nurses for the foreseeable future, which meant that his time at Hogwarts was finally— properly— beginning.