Remus' head was aching and he felt cold and tired. He usually stayed in bed the day of the full moon, but this time he didn't. If he wouldn't go to class, everyone would wonder why, and at the moment, Remus didn't feel like answering to that question. Things surely were different at Hogwarts and of course there were things he didn't like, but still, he really loved the castle and the corridors, the students and the teachers and all the wonderful classes.

He sat at the Gryffindor table, eating lunch together with his friends Sirius Black and James Potter who were looking at Remus, both with slightly worried expressions on their faces.

'Are you sure you shouldn't go to Madam Pomfrey?' James asked, playing with his spoon in his cereals. 'You do look very pale...'

'Yeah, you look ill, mate,' Sirius flicked in. 'I think you should go to Mad-'

'I'm fine,' Remus cut off. He knew he sounded angry and he knew that his friend only wanted his best, but Remus couldn't help getting annoyed with them, he was just so tired. They didn't understand anyway.

'Ok...' James put down his spoon and stood up. 'Shall we go to transfiguration then?'

They all got their things and started to make their way to transfiguration.

There were already a group of people waiting outside the classroom, one if them Lily. She was talking with a girl called Dorcas Meadowes, whose teeth would suit a horse, but when she saw Remus she said something to the girl and walked over to him, ignoring James' "Pleasure seeing you here, Evans" completely.

'Hello, Remus,' she said and smiled warmly, as she always did. 'How are you? You look slightly... pale.'

'Wow, how very observant of you to notice,' Remus snapped. 'You're only the... let me think... hundredth person to say that today. I know I'm pale. So what?'

Lily frowned slightly.

'Why are you so angry? Are you sure you're Ok?'

'Yes, Lily! I don't need anyone else asking whether I'm Ok. I'm fine! Splendid!'

'God, Remus, I was only asking,'Lily muttered and turned away with her nose in the air.

Remus knew that he had acted wrong. He had been unfair, maybe even mean, but right now, he didn't care. He just wanted to rest. At home he had always stayed in bed the day of the full moon, but now things were different.

'Mr. Lupin.'

Remus turned around quickly. McGonagall stood behind him, looking just as stern as always.

'Mr. Lupin, I would like you to follow me to the headmaster's office. The rest of you,' she looked at the other students. (Maybe especially at James, Sirius and Peter) 'No. Chaos.
Come Lupin.'

Remus blushed slightly, bowing his head. He knew everyone was staring at him and he wished he had James invisibility cloak.

McGonagall didn't say anything as they walked. Remus appreciated that he didn't have to tell her that he already knew that he was pale and that he was absolutely fine.

They stopped in front of a golden gargoyle. Remus looked at professor McGonagall, wondering why they stopped.

'Chocolate frog,' the professor said, and just as Remus started to wonder whether she wasn't completely sane, the gargoyle jumped aside and showed a spiral staircase.

'There you go,' she said. 'The headmaster is waiting for you.'

Remus nodded, took a deep breath and walked up the staircase. He was nervous. He had never been to the headmaster's office before, and even though he was quite sure what professor Dumbledore wanted to talk about, he was afraid that something had gone wrong. What if it was all a mistake. What if Remus would have to go home again?

Remus nocked the door at the top of the staircase.

'Come in,' said a voice from the other side of the door.

Remus took yet another deep breath and walked inside.

The office was wonderful. It was filled with weird little noises and next to the fireplace stood a silver instrument on a spindle legged table, sending out puffs of smoke. The room itself was circular and beautiful. Along the walls were either bookshelves or portraits.
Behind a big wooden desk sat the headmaster, smiling at Remus.

'Hello, Remus,' professor Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling. 'Please sit down.'

Remus sat down in the chair in front of the desk and looked down on his hands nervously.

'As I'm sure you are aware of, it's full moon tonight, and that's why I wanted you to come to my office. I simply wanted to make sure that you know how we're going to make it all work out fine.'

Remus nodded and forced himself to look at Dumbledore's face.

'When the clock turns half past seven, you are supposed to meet Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing. Then you two will go to the shrieking shack via a secret passage. You will stay the night there, and when it's morning, madam Pomfrey will pick you up again. Does that feel alright with you?'

'Yes, sir,' Remus said quietly and nodded slightly.

Dumbledore looked at Remus over his spectacles. A mixture between pity, sadness and warmth in his eyes.

'Remus,' he said and smiled slightly. 'You do know that you don't have to be in class today. I think you should rest today. And the same goes for tomorrow. If you feel that you need to rest, I absolutely agree.'

'Thanks, sir,' Remus said, 'but I'm fine.'

'Then you may go.'

At a quarter to eight Remus was left by Madam Pomfrey in a room with a bed, quite similar to the ones in the Gryffindor tower, a table with a chair and a small couch. She told him to get him at eight the following morning.

Remus sat down on the bed and looked around the room. He felt so tired. He just wanted to sleep, but the full moon would come any moment. Remus sighed. Charming place, he thought. The place he would spend his full moons for the following seven years.

The he felt his fingers hurt; the first sign of the transformation. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see the fur that would appear on his fingers.

He let out a scream as he felt the monster inside him come closer and closer to the surface. The it took over completely.

Remus woke up in the morning. Everything was sort of blurry. As though his walk back to the castle and up to the hospital wing together with madam Pomfrey was a dream. What a weird dream.

'Mr. Lupin.'

Remus looked up. Everything was clear again. Madam Pomfrey had give him some sort of potion. His arm hurt. His back hurt. His head hurt. In fact, Remus whole body hurt.

'Mr. Lupin, you are allowed to leave now, if you want to, though if you want to you can stay.'

'I want to leave,' Remus said quickly and sat up. Sitting up hurt.

'Then I advice you to go to your dormitory and have some sleep.'

'Sure,' Remus said. You wish, he thought. No way he was going to bed, he was going strait to class.

Madam Pomfrey nodded and walked across the room to her office.

Remus changed to the clothes laying at the end of the bed. And then stood up from the bed. Standing up hurt.

Then he walked towards the potions classroom where the rest the class should be by now.
He entered the classroom.

'Why, hello there, Lupin,' professor Slughorn said delightfully and looked slightly surprised at Remus. 'We've already started, we're brewing ever curing potions, but you can work with Mr. Potter.' Slughorn lowered his voice, 'I think he could do with a little bit of help.'

Remus nodded and walked over to James, whose potion didn't look anything like the recipe.

'Hi,' he mumbled, not looking at James and starting to cut up the rattails.

'Where have you been?' James asked. 'You weren't in the dorm yesterday evening, and we couldn't find you at breakfast.'

'I was... er... I just went home quickly. My mum's very ill.'

'I'm sorry to hear that,' James muttered and looked up at at Remus. His eyes grew wider as he saw the scratches on Remus face. Remus wished James would stop staring.

'Merlin Remus!' James gasped. 'What's happened to you?'

Remus looked down and blushed a deep color of red. 'I fell,' he mumbled.

'You fell?' James looked skeptically at Remus.

'Yes, I fell.'

'Ok... when I fall I usually don't get my face all scratched up like that. Where did you fall?'

'I... fell in a bush.'

'You fell in a bush?'

'With thorns.'

'I see. Do you fall in bushes often?'

'No. Or... well, it happens.'

'I don't think I've ever fallen in a bush.'

'Well I have.'

'I see that.'

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