Mischief Managed Year One: Mayhem of the Moon

Chapter Nine- The Ups and Downs of Day One

.................................................

Remus had been up at the crack of dawn, hardly able to sleep due to nerves and excitement over his classes tomorrow. He also had ulterior motives, as he didn't quite trust any of the other boys to respect his privacy enough. So he showered and got dressed before they could even think of opening their eyes. He had gotten ready quickly and went undisturbed. He had slipped out of the dorm, leaving the others to the mercy of James' very loud snoring.

Then he noticed that he almost had a whole hour before breakfast started. Realizing there were no explicit rules permitting him from leaving his dorm in the morning, he left the deserted common room and walked through the halls that seemed much more pleasant today. Despite his terrible dream last night he was feeling oddly hopeful about today. He spent some time studying the paintings he had neglected yesterday, then figured out where the library was.

He had never seen so many books in his life. Remus spent the last half hour of his free time exploring the calming library, empty of all people. Then he hurried to the Great Hall for breakfast, only to be stopped by none other than Headmaster Dumbledore himself. Remus stiffened, wondering if he was going to be expelled for last night, though even with that fear he still felt a sense of calmness around Dumbledore he wasn't used to feeling around adults. Instead of expelling Remus right off the bat the old wizard simply smiled at him.

"How are you enjoying Hogwarts, Remus?"

"Fine, sir," he responded quickly, hardly thinking if this was true or not. He had learned pretty early on that when adults asked questions they wanted specific answers, not the truth. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at him.

"And your roommates?"

"Also fine, sir."

"Yes, I imagine it will be," Dumbledore responded quietly, seemingly more to himself than the child in front of him. His smile widened and he looked closely at Remus again.

"Our matron Madam Pomfrey would like to meet your acquaintance when you have time. She will be the one to help you with your...condition every month." Even though Dumbledore had looked furtively around before finishing in a low voice, Remus looked around quickly as well and still felt a pang of panic, despite no one being in earshot.

"I'll go see her now, sir."

"That's not necessary unless you want to. And you don't need to call me sir. Headmaster or even Professor Dumbledore will do just fine." His headmaster was showing Remus such unnatural kindness that he was beginning to feel choked up again.

"I..I think I'd feel better doing it now sir...er Professor Dumbledore?" he ventured nervously, trying to figure out if this was really ok. He still wasn't quite sure he had the right to call anyone professor, as he was pretty sure he'd be expelled before he fully became a student.

"Remember, Remus, you have just as much of a right to be here as anyone else. And don't worry too much about the rules. If we expelled every student for testing the rules we'd have no students left," Dumbledore chuckled, eyes twinkling mischievously, the knowing kind glint in them making Remus go cold.

He had suspected Dumbledore could read him somehow. But he couldn't actually read his thoughts, right? He felt that would be very intrusive. Then he blushed, realizing if Dumbledore could read his thoughts he would have realized Remus was judging him which he really had no right to do. However, if Dumbledore was reading his thoughts, he gave no acknowledgment of it.

"Well, you best hurry off. We wouldn't want you skipping breakfast on your first day," came his playful reply to dismiss Remus.

Remus nodded and hurried off to the hospital wing, glad he had a general idea of where it was. It took a little trial and error but eventually, he found his way there. He found there were two large doors made mostly of a sort of foggy glass that allowed him to see blurs in the hospital wing but little else. He shifted, not wanting to bother the matron if she was busy. He couldn't find it in himself to knock, and to walk in without doing so was simply out of the question.