Both his parents were there to wave him off on the train back to Hogwarts, his mum making a bit of a scene with the hugs and the kisses.

"Mam, you'll be seeing me again in a few weeks." For two months no less, he thought, squirming away from his mother's embrace.

"Just stay safe, cariad." She kissed him on the cheek one last time before letting him go. Lyall handed him Arianrhod's cage.

"Don't get into any trouble," he said, accompanied by his usual gesture of ruffling Remus's hair, which Remus usually liked; it felt like a very father-son gesture to him. Right now, though, it just irritated him, and he quickly made his way towards the door of the nearest carriage before they could keep him any longer. He hopped onto the train just as a disembodied whistle marked its exit from the platform. Remus waved to his parents until the train entered the tunnel, and then went off to find Jethro.

Remus chose not to tell anyone about his parents splitting up (and he did see it as them splitting up, regardless of whether they wanted to put a label on it or not). He didn't think it was anyone's business, nor did he want to talk about it. So when he arrived at the Great Hall in time for dinner, he declined giving up any real answers to James and Sirius's questions.

"So you're not in trouble?" asked Sirius, taking a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

"No. James was right, they just missed me."

"We missed you," said James. "You didn't even write."

"I wasn't gone that long."

"So? We were worried," continued Sirius.

"Sorry." Remus took a bite out of his piece of bread, his apology sounding just as empty as it felt. "I'll be sure to write all summer."

"You better," Sirius concluded, although his voice immediately quietened at the mention of summer. Remus knew he wasn't looking forward to it, and he wished he could do something about it, but he didn't think now was a good time to invite Sirius to stay with him in Wales, what with everything being up in the air right now. In fact, he didn't think that there would ever be a good time to invite Sirius— or anyone for that matter— back to his home, unless Sirius was willing to travel backwards and forwards between Wales and London... . Actually, he probably would be considering the alternative, but Remus wasn't.

Remus soon settled back into the familiar group of boys, although half-term had brought around some slight shifts in the dynamics, what with everyone being stuck together in a school for two weeks without lessons. Peter was almost exclusively hanging around with James and Sirius now. According to James, the three of them had pulled a prank on Nearly Headless Nick, by essentially tormenting him with a haunting of their own. Constantly following him around, hidden out of sight, making noises here and there to annoy him, and running away as soon as he got too close to discovering them. They had done it for the entire half-term, and it had brought them closer together to say the least. Remus was sad he'd missed it.

"You haven't," said Peter. "He hasn't caught us yet."

"Yeah, you can annoy him whenever you get the chance," continued James. "It's funny, I think we've actually got him a little spooked, and he's a ghost!"

As for Owain, he was spending more time with Jethro— Tobin following around trying not to feel left out— and curiously, Lily and the other girls. Remus regularly came across Owain hanging out under the tree with Lily, Mary and Marlene.

So the Gryffindor first years had finally split off into proper groups, intertwining when wanted, but altogether separate.

The only change in this was when Remus was in the hospital wing, and Tobin became his main visitor, which was saying something considering that James, Sirius and Peter visited as often as they could. But Tobin was there during the night after the full moon, whether there deliberately or not, he always visited. He'd so far taken the werewolf thing in his stride. He read books about it, and got angry when he came across blatantly ignorant articles, and he brought Remus chocolate after finding out that it made him feel better after transforming.

Remus had to admit that it was rather nice, a relief in fact, to finally have someone to confide in. Even if he didn't spend much time with Tobin outside of the full moon, the time he did spend with him felt quite important, like he didn't have to hide.

As for the rest of the month, Remus spent a significant amount of time in the hospital wing, which affected his studies somewhat (although his friends always brought his homework to keep him caught up, and his teachers were a little more lenient with any late essays), but he was adamant not to let anyone else find out about his lycanthropy. Most of the time he had the excuse of taking his morfosis potion, or having his chest flattened; despite the fact that the potion had stopped his chest from growing anymore, the spell that Madam Pomfrey used to flatten it wore off after a few weeks and it went back to how it was before he took the potion. It was a bit of a nuisance, but it added another trip to the hospital wing, so he hadn't yet branched the subject of trying the binder again. That being said, Madam Pomfrey had suggested he have the binder with him to put on when the spell wore off, but so far Remus hadn't needed to use it, because it wasn't hard to just go to the hospital wing at the first opportunity. But it was an option at least, and his chest stayed flat.

For at least a week, things felt like they were finally settled. His dysphoria wasn't so prominent as to cause him to think about it every waking moment, he was having fun with his friends and he didn't have to worry about a full moon yet.

And then, a week before the holidays began, he got his period.

"It's because you're still on a low dose," explained Madam Pomfrey when Remus turned up to the hospital wing, panic-stricken. "Your body's still adapting to the change, so I'm afraid this sort of stuff is going to happen for the time being." Remus didn't like the sound of that. He had so far been under the impression that, minor a few inconveniences here and there, his problems would largely be solved once he took the morfosis potion. But the way he had felt this morning when he noticed he was bleeding was enough to make him realise that perhaps his problems were only just beginning, or at least, he was wrong to put all of his faith in one little potion.

He couldn't remember feeling so bad, but the appearance of something so... female in his opinion, made him doubt his entire transition. Had the potion stopped working? Did it not work at all? His thoughts flew around his head at a mile a minute, almost entirely incomprehensible but certainly all negative. He felt helpless. Scared. He couldn't think of a more crushing reminder that his body was wrong, that it would apparently always be wrong no matter how much magic was thrown at it, than this.

Remus didn't go to Madam Pomfrey right away. He couldn't. He just sat in a locked stall of the boys' bathroom and cried. For the first time since he'd been at Hogwarts, he felt like he didn't truly belong in here. He felt he should be in the girls' bathroom, despite the thought making him cry even harder. But his dysphoria was unmanageable at the moment and he couldn't help but be acutely aware of everything he hated about his body. His stupid chest that wouldn't stay flat, his cracked voice that he was worried would never be deep enough, his acne that seemed to be the only proper change caused by the potion, his hair that grew too fast, and the rest of the hair on his body that didn't grow at all. His face, his arms, his chest, were all as hairless as a baby and he was too skinny. No muscle. And now he was bleeding.

He felt like a tomboy. He didn't want to feel like a tomboy. He didn't want to feel like a little girl with a short haircut and boys' clothes on. He just wanted to feel like himself.

He banged his arm on the side of the cubicle, his anger coming out in a burst of aggression, not even caring if anyone heard. He was too upset to care. He'd always felt uncomfortable in his body, but right now, he didn't think he could even look at himself in the mirror without breaking down into fresh tears.

So he didn't. It took him around ten minutes to compose himself enough to leave. He splashed some water on his face from the sinks to cover up his now red and blotchy face, but he purposefully avoided the reflection in front of him. He just wanted to see Madam Pomfrey and hope that she would be able to solve everything bad that was now happening to him with a wave of her wand, or another potion, or just anything. Anything was better than nothing, surely.

"Can't you give me a higher dose?" he asked. He really didn't like the idea of leaving the hospital wing without something that would put an immediate stop to his period, but he was beginning to think that was too much of a long shot, judging by Madam Pomfrey's lack of action.

"It's much too soon," she replied, as sympathetically as she could— not that this was any sort of consolation to how Remus was currently feeling. "Your body's still adjusting to this dose. I think we need to at least wait until the end of the summer holidays before even considering a higher dose."

"Two months!" Did that mean two more periods? Probably even more if she was only willing to consider the idea of a higher dose. Not only that, but would the higher dose even work? Merlin, he could barely get through his first period without wanting to cry at any given moment. Any more and he didn't know what he'd do. He didn't even want to think about what he'd do, but he couldn't imagine it would be anything good. Madam Pomfrey seemed to read his mind.

"Your period may stop naturally without the need of a higher dose," she offered, which made him suppress a grimace. Dysphoria aside, he didn't like talking about periods at all; just the word made him uncomfortable, and her suggestion that it "may" stop held little compensation.

"Yeah, and it might not." He'd have to tell his parents as well. His mother would make such a fuss, and he'd feel even more self-conscious in front of his father, if that were even possible.

"I know, and I'm sorry. But I promise, it's only temporary." Remus tried not to scoff, but every one of her condolences just felt like empty words. Remus felt like shit, and unless she could put a stop to it right here right now, he'd be feeling like shit for the foreseeable future.

All she was able to give him were products to stop any leaking (he'd thrown out the ones his mother had given him after he started taking the potion, something he now desperately regretted), and a remedy to help with any pain from cramps. With a very subdued thank you, he left the room feeling even worse than he had when he'd arrived.

The end of term was busy, busier than it had ever been. The whole school was packing, plans were being made, and belongings were going missing on an hourly basis. It felt like everyone had suddenly become louder over the last few days. Everyone was shouting across the tables, shouting in the corridors, shouting outside in the lake, swimming and splashing around under the beaming sun as if holidays had already started.

James and Sirius wanted to go out with a bang— quite literally. They had been planning an end of year prank with Remus and Peter for almost a month now. Sirius had originally wanted anything involving fireworks; a massive display in the Great Hall perhaps, but their magic wasn't good enough for that. In fact, their plans were hardly out of their draft stages at all because there hadn't been time. There had been exams to focus on, important ones to determine whether the first years would be able to move up into second year, or whether they would have to re-do year one. Luckily though, they all managed to pass, some more so than others, even Remus— who really hadn't been feeling up to it. So they gave up on any plans altogether and decided to do whatever they wanted to do, whatever felt right in the moment.

Which is why, a few days before they all left to go home, the Sorting Hat was found, very angry and humiliated, on the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw in the Ravenclaw common room (a much more impressive feat than it sounded, which had the whole school talking about it, since no one knew where the Sorting Hat lived when it wasn't sitting on a stool in the Great Hall. Not only that, but the Sorting Hat was still fast asleep when it was found, and the hat was loud; whoever had stolen it was lucky the alarm hadn't been raised by the hat itself). Naturally, rumours began to fly around over who had done it, the common consensus being that it must have been some seventh year Ravenclaws who were leaving Hogwarts that year. But Remus, James, Sirius and Peter were so proud of their accomplishment that they were barely able to hide their involvement, and soon the school was buzzing with the news that a couple of first years were the culprits.

Most people didn't believe them, thinking they were just claiming the achievement for attention, but they didn't care.

"It's actually cooler," claimed James. "Rumours always turn into legends after all."

Those who did believe them— mainly their own classmates— high-fived them wherever they went, and with enough people not believing them, it meant they couldn't get into trouble. There wasn't enough evidence. They did get called into McGonagall's office for questioning, but none of them fessed up, nor told on the others, and they got away scot-free.

The boys were instead content in the knowledge that they were the only ones who could have pulled it off, whether the school knew it or not. Remus knew where the Sorting Hat lived because he'd spotted it in Dumbledore's office, as well as knowing the password to the office itself (he bluffed when the others asked him how he knew this, saying that he had to see Dumbledore when he first arrived about missing classes. "Because I'm ill a lot," he added for good measure, despite the fact that they were already well aware. Luckily for him, though, they didn't question his rather flimsy reason). They were then able to sneak in at night under James's invisibility cloak, shielding them from the portraits of headmasters in the office. As for the Sorting Hat itself, they simply got lucky on the fact that it was a heavy enough sleeper to not notice its own kidnapping.

It also turned out that Sirius was good at riddles. So when the door of the Ravenclaw tower posed them the question "imagine you are in a dark room. How do you get out?" It was Sirius who finally answered "stop imagining" very bluntly, and by his later confession, completely accidentally: "I was trying to be funny. Didn't know the door was funny as well."

Peter had been the one to put the hat on Rowena's statue. Sirius and Remus had linked their arms together, one hand on the other's wrist and vice versa, to give Peter a platform to stand on.

"Hurry up, my wrist's going to break," muttered Sirius out of the corner of his mouth. Peter finally stepped down, and the four boys stood back to admire their handiwork, before James lifted up his invisibility cloak and threw it over all four of them. They made their way back to their dorm room, unnoticed by anyone and holding in their laughter for the entire journey until they were safely back into the Gryffindor common room.

The subsequent elation from the prank did a fair bit to cheer Remus up, who had so far been miserable. His period had only lasted two days and it wasn't very heavy— a side effect from the potion of course— but it wasn't so much the period itself that got him down (although it was a real hassle), it was more what it meant, what it represented, and its constant reminder hanging over his head. It did nothing for his mood.

Not to mention the upcoming two months that he'd have to spend with his parents, going from house to house (not that a room in the Leaky Cauldron could really be considered a house) and listening to them both slag each other off.

Sirius, too, was not looking forward to the looming holidays that he was forced to spend with his family. He never did tell them about the last time he'd stayed with them for the holidays, but considering he hadn't even been allowed to send them letters, it couldn't have been good. All Remus knew was that the next time he'd see Sirius, the boy would be accompanied by his little brother Regulus, who'd be starting first year in September. Sirius didn't appear to know whether or not he was excited by this prospect, so Remus didn't know either.

"I know it's bad to say, because mother and father will hate him, but I hope he isn't in Slytherin," was all Sirius said on the matter, inadvertently revealing his parents' reaction to him getting sorted into Gryffindor, which Remus suddenly realised he'd never actually mentioned before.

Remus was all packed, ready to go to Hogsmeade station with the rest of his class. Madam Pomfrey had provided him with enough vials of morfosis to last him through the holidays, accompanied with strict instructions not to be tempted to take more than his allotted dose.

"Because I won't be sending you any more if you do," she warned. Remus agreed, as long as she promised to start considering allowing him to take a higher dose when the holidays were over. They shook on it.

The station was packed, the noise levels from the students were almost certainly reaching Hogsmeade village. James had to shout at them to make himself heard.

"THERE'S AN EMPTY CARRIAGE NEAR THE END!" he yelled, perhaps a little too loudly, but then... that was just James. "IF WE HURRY WE CAN BAG IT!"

Remus, Sirius, James and Peter squeezed their way through the wall of students, running after each other down the corridor in an attempt to reserve what looked to be the only empty compartment left. James got there first, then Sirius, then Remus and Peter bringing up the rear. They were panting heavily with the exhaustion of running at full speed with heavy trunks and owl cages in hand. What was most important, though, was that they managed to get the last compartment. They fell onto the seats, grinning, still trying to catch their breath before they attempted to lift their luggage onto the overhead racks.

For a while, as the train left the station and made its way through the sprawling countryside, it was just the four of them. Sharing sweets and anecdotes about what they would be getting up to on holiday. Sirius didn't participate so much on that specific topic, and simply listened instead, doing a good job at hiding his jealousy at not having anything to say about his own holidays. Remus talked about Wales, and how they'd probably be visiting his grandparents, and maybe— if he was lucky— they'd go down to the beach.

"There's a lot of beaches near Gwynedd. Borth-y-Gest is a good one. Or Llandanwg." In truth, Remus had no idea what he'd be doing for the holidays. He was just saying what they used to do, before his parents had decided to split. Sirius chuckled.

"Welsh names sound so funny," he said. Remus laughed along, although he was starting to grow tired of people giggling at the Welsh pronunciations. It was getting old now.

James said his grandparents were visiting from India.

"Way too hot to go there this time of the year, so they usually come to us. It's fun, we celebrate Independence Day and Janmashthami and other stuff together. Plus, we live in Scotland so there's loads of places to visit, like Loch Lomond."

"I've been to Edinburgh castle," offered Peter. He was travelling to Blackpool this summer, his family's usual holiday destination apparently.

"I thought that was a muggle place," said Remus. He knew Blackpool was one of the most popular holiday destinations in England, but it was filled with funfairs and rock candy and lights along the boardwalk. It wasn't exactly a place that wizards would consider fun, and he knew most of Peter's family were pureblood.

"What, wizards can't enjoy Ferris wheels as well?" he replied, but shook his head. "Nah, there's a wizarding village there as well near the beach. It's nice. I have cousins there."

Sirius just smiled and nodded along, asking questions here and there, but clearly hoping that someone would soon change the subject. Luckily for him, he didn't have to wait long, as their compartment door opened and Owain and Jethro asked if they could sit down, followed closely by Tobin and, unexpectedly, Marlene McKinnon, who was apparently now a best friend of Owain's, a development they hadn't even noticed. Sirius tried to draw them into a conversation about Quidditch, or the second year curriculum, anything that wasn't holiday plans, but eventually the conversation led back to summer. It was impossible for it not to.

Owain was staying in Wales as well, and he talked excitedly about celebrating the summer solstice. His family were pagan, quite common for wizarding families. He talked about it sometimes, and how he thought it was stupid that the term wizard and witch had become gendered when the two meant completely different things. He asked everyone what they considered themselves to be, and the boys all said wizards and the girls all said witches, completely proving his point. He said that they were wrong, and that they were all wizards unless they specifically practiced witchcraft like he did (Marlene, also pagan, was a witch). Incidentally, Owain considered himself to be a witch, and he hated anyone calling him a wizard.

While Remus knew that Owain was technically right, he still couldn't let go of the idea that wizards were boys and witches were girls. Even if Remus did practice witchcraft like Owain (which he didn't), he didn't think he'd ever call himself a witch. He just didn't like the connotations.

Tobin was staying at home, and didn't think he'd be up to much. He said his family never had enough money to go on holidays so they just had fun in their own house.

"We have barbecues and stuff in the garden, and sometimes we take a day trip to the beach."

Jethro and Marlene were the only two who were actually spending the holidays in a different country. Jethro had family in France, so he'd be spending time in Normandy, which was the closest part of France to England, so it wouldn't take long to get there. He talked about the ferry ride over, something that finally peaked Sirius's interest what with it being an unfamiliar form of muggle travel to him.

"Ferries are slow," Jethro explained. "But they're quite comfortable. They used to freak me out when I was a kid. I watched that Titanic film and I thought we'd hit an iceberg. No one thought to tell me that there aren't any icebergs in the English Channel." Sirius was then interested in the Titanic, which Jethro took upon himself to explain.

"There was a film on it in 1958. It was this massive ship that was supposed to be unsinkable but it sank and thousands of people died—" as Jethro was talking to Sirius, Marlene was talking about going to Ireland for the holidays, although she was interrupted by Lily entering.

Lily, as usual, was doing her usual trick of slipping from one friend group to the other. She'd left Severus to go off and find some of his friends from Slytherin while she went off to find Marlene and the others. She sat down beside Marlene, and quickly entered the conversation with her own holiday plans, Sirius no longer caring as he was too involved in the story of the Titanic.

Lily was staying at home as well, much to her sister's annoyance.

"Petunia always likes to go away somewhere so she can tell all her friends about it," explained Lily. "She'll probably lie anyway and say we went to London or something." Lily lived in Scotland, which sparked the interest of James, and for once they had found some proper common ground.

"Ever been to the outer Hebrides?" She asked him. "I have a grandfather there, on one of the islands that isn't uninhabitable. Isle of Harris."

"No, but I've been to the inner Hebrides. Isle of Skye, specifically." The two then launched into a conversation about the Hebrides, so now it seemed there were about three separate conversations going on, but Remus enjoyed it. It was fun. Active.

He wasn't looking forward to spending two months without his friends.