A/N: I wrote this for a challenge on the forums. It had to answer at least three of the following questions: What happened to her? Why did she become a nurse? Who did she love? What did she do? How many kids has she cured? What sort of illnesses? When was it worst? Has she ever regretted it? What was her childhood like? And it had to take place before Harry comes to Hogwarts.
Just before start of term my second year working at Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore called me to his office. Although I had no reason to believe I was in trouble, I began to feel some of my old student fears. I timidly walked down the hall and nearly whispered the password, “Gummy worms.”
However, when I entered the office, Professor Dumbledore’s warm smile chased away all my apprehension at once. “Poppy!” he said brightly. “I have something to discuss with you. Please sit down.”
As I sat, I looked around the familiar office. Most of the portraits were sleeping, but an old witch took one look at me and shrieked, “Albus, I thought you’d have graduated that troublemaker by now! Granted, it’s been some time. . . .”
“Go back to sleep, Ursula,” Dumbledore chided, smiling as I blushed and squirmed. “Poppy is our school nurse now.”
“What did you need to speak with me about, Professor?” I asked, starting to get uncomfortable as more portraits awoke and looked at me with raised eyebrows.
“Well, as you are our school nurse, I have a rather delicate assignment for you.”
“Yes, Professor?”
“This year, Remus Lupin is starting at Hogwarts. He is a werewolf.”
“Oh!” I exclaimed. “A werewolf? Are you sure that it’s quite safe for him to be here, Professor? With all of the other students, I mean?”
“He’s only dangerous once a month, Poppy, and this is what I wanted to discuss with you. We are in the process of making a“sanctuary, you might say, for him to be in when his transformations come on. I’m going to put you in charge of escorting him there and back, making sure everything’s secure.”
“A-all right, Professor,” I stuttered, looking anxiously at Ursula, who had been muttering louder and louder throughout the interview. “If you say so.” I stood up. If that was all he had to say, I rather desired to leave.
“I say so,” Dumbledore replied. He smiled at my urgency to get out of Ursula’s presence. “Enjoy your year at Hogwarts, Poppy.”
“Thank you, Professor!” I cried as I fled.
Once I was safely away from the headmaster’s office, I took a deep breath, shook my head, and started to laugh. I’d rather hoped Ursula had forgotten the time when, waiting for Professor Dumbledore, I’d lost my temper and somehow transfigured her nose into a banana (to this day, I couldn’t figure out how I’d done it). Apparently, she hadn’t forgotten, though as she said it had been a long time since I’d been in Dumbledore’s office for troublemaking, nor had she forgiven me. Oh, well. Not much I could do about that now.
My thoughts turned to the young werewolf. The poor thing, having such a burden on him. It was a burden on me to have to take care of him. What if something went wrong? I couldn’t bear it if someone got hurt and I couldn’t do something about it. I sighed and went to go find Jon. He’d want to hear the news.
***
On the second day of school, I was summoned to Dumbledore’s office again. This time I knew what it was for, and the only nervousness I felt concerned that little boy. What would a young werewolf be like?
As soon as I got there, my attention was riveted on a pair of big brown eyes in a pale face, staring back at me. The boy’s light brown hair was cut short and neatly, and I couldn’t help but notice how small he looked, almost engulfed by the chintz armchair he was sitting in.
“Hi!” I said after a moment. “I’m Pop“er . . . Madam Pomfrey.”
A smile lit up the pale face. “Popper Madam Pomfrey?”
“Well, um . . .” I could feel myself blushing.
“My name’s Remus,” he said, offering a hand to shake.
“Nice to meet you,” I replied, ignoring my embarrassment.
“Madam Pomfrey is in charge of your transformation arrangements.”
I jumped. I’d forgotten about Professor Dumbledore. Over his shoulder Ursula thumbed her nose at me (I suppressed the urge to stick my tongue out back).
“Shall we go down, see what’s in store for you?” Dumbledore continued.
“I’d like that,” I said, “considering I don’t know what’s about either. But let’s hurry“I’ve got Elaine Drumzel with an apple on top of her head, some fool thought he’d play William Tell and stuck it on there when she wasn’t looking (not a Permanent Sticking Charm, thank goodness) and poor Martin Wexler ate a Bouncing Bean or two, his friends dared him to swallow them whole. I’ve already given him some Impedimenta Potion, but he’ll be needing more soon or those beans might just pound their way right out of his stomach.”
“Busy already, Poppy?” Dumbledore said.
I declined telling him how busy I’d really been, what with indigestion, falling out of portrait holes, and other first-day accidents, not to mention foolish behavior, and simply nodded.
“We’ll hurry, won’t we?” Remus said, looking a little nervously at Professor Dumbledore. You had to admit, he was a striking figure and a little intimidating, especially to one so small as Remus.
Professor Dumbledore led us down the Hogwarts grounds to a new tree I hadn’t really looked at before. It was waving rather menacingly and seemed about ready to attack when Professor Dumbledore conjured a long stick and pressed a particularly knobby knot and the tree froze.
“This is the Whomping Willow,” he explained. “It’s planted over a tunnel that leads to Hogsmeade, to a house there that I think will suit your needs quite nicely, Remus. Shall we continue?”
I looked askance at the tree but followed Professor Dumbledore through the roots. I could just see the accidents that would come from students playing too near that tree“if I didn’t have to patch them up, I’d be tempted to play with it myself.
When we arrived at the house, Dumbledore showed me how to lock the tunnel so that Remus couldn’t escape. Of course, the whole house was very protected, so everyone would be safe. I nodded.
“Well, that’s about all there is to it. Questions, either of you? Well, Poppy, you’d better get back to the infirmary to deal with your poor vegetation-challenged patients. And Remus, you should probably get back to Gryffindor Tower. Full moon is in two weeks.”