Boys Will Be Bugs

Chapter 7: Transformation

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."