. Uncle Remus and the very confused Cub
Cordelia was in her Uncle Moony’s bathroom about to take a shower, she had been with him for two days now and they’d had so much fun. Uncle Remus gave her a room, and after he had apologized that it wasn’t much, he had finally opened the door, Cordelia knew that memory would be pressed in her head forever.
“It’s not much cub but it’s your own room and at least the door fully closes.” Remus weakly jokes, opening the door slowly. Cordelia gasps with a shocked smile. The room was the size of her bedroom at the Dursleys but was better. The room had light creme walls, a quilt on the bed that was patchworked, and a Gryffindor throw blanket that was handmade on the end of the bed. Uncle Remus had hung photos of Cordelia and Him, Cordelia and her parents, and much more on the walls and framed her favorite photo of her and her dad; putting it on her bedside table.
“Uncle Remmy this is amazing, thank you so much.” Cordelia gives him a tight hug, pressing her face into his robes.
Shaking herself out of the memory, she quickly gets ready to go to the bathroom and starts to situate herself on the toilet. Humming a bit of ‘Queen’ to herself, as she gets ready to do her business, she lets out a scream at the sight of blood on her underpants. She glances down at it in a panic, trying to think of all the logical explanations for why this would be happening.
“Cub!” Remus knocks on the door interrupting her pacing, he had heard her from the kitchen and was instantly worried about her. “What’s wrong, are you hurt?” He panics after not getting an immediate response.
“Uncle Remmy... There’s blood.” Cordelia stutters, trying to frantically wipe it away, thinking she must’ve cut herself when she was riding her broom or something.
“Blood..” Remus trails off concerned before he sighs, thinking that the day James, Sirius, and him were dreading was finally here. “Cub is there blood in uh, possibly your – ah, underpants.” Remus stutters uncertainly, not knowing where this was going.
“Yes–How’d you know?” Cordelia questions confused, wondering if her Uncle was somehow an expert mind-reader through the door.
“Go into the bottom draw after your shower and grab the box that’s marked “Cori’s products” and read the directions then meet me downstairs,” Remus instructs, trying to mentally prepare for the conversation that’s about to happen. “Don’t worry, you are okay and aren’t in danger,” Remus assures her, knowing that she had a flair for the dramatics, just like her father. His face was still burning in the thought of what he’d have to tell her.
“Was your shower okay?” Remus questions as Cordelia walks downstairs, in a comfy outfit walking uncertainly and confused. After a hesitant nod from his goddaughter, he motions for her to sit on the couch, where a cup of Hot-Cocoa was waiting on the Coffee Table. “We need to have a little talk cub,” Remus starts.
“Is this about the blood?” Cordelia assumes, glancing unsurely at the couch as she sits. Remus nods, blushing slightly and scratching the back of his neck.
“Yes cub,” Remus confirms before clearing his throat. “You see, you are at an age where your body is starting to go through changes, and one of these causes you to have your monthly period, do you know what that is?” Remus starts his little speech, glancing at her to see if she’s following.
“Aunt Petunia mentions periods and something called tampons.” Cordelia nods, unsure of where this was going. “She yells at Uncle Vernon and me more during those weeks.” She adds on, flinching slightly at the memory.
“Well in health classes, did they ever talk about puberty?” Remus questions, trying to get a baseline of where Cordelia’s knowledge level of this was.
“No, I was absent that week,” Cordelia mutters, remembering the real reason why she was, not that Remus would ever know about it. Remus sighs, getting ready for the conversation.
“Cori love, you uh are becoming an um young woman now and you need to know that with that comes certain….grievances.” Remus stutters through the beginning of the paragraph he memorized from the books Lily got all of them when she found out Cordelia was a girl. “The bleeding is coming from your uh uterus..” Remus trails off, noticing Cordelia’s slightly confused look. He decides to forgo the book and uses his medical knowledge to explain periods to the younger girl.
“So I’m going to bleed out of my…vagina,” Cordelia whispers the last word as if it was equivalent to Voldemort himself. “Every month?” She looks at Remus with horror in her eyes, not believing that this is happening.
“Yes, it’s called your period or monthly cycle,” Remus informs her, glad not to be talking about his cub’s body parts anymore. Cordelia tilts her head to the side, doe eyes staring Remus down concerned, making him look unnerved.
“I’m turning into a werewolf?” She questions panicked. Remus chokes on the sip of hot cocoa he took, spraying it all over his lap and swearing at the heat. He flicks his wand cleaning it up before turning to Cordelia with a look of disbelief on his face.
“Where in the name of Merlin did you get that idea?” He exclaims in shock, glancing at confused Cordelia.
“You’re a werewolf with a monthly cycle, and you call it your monthly cycle,” Cordelia starts in a tone similar to when she explains basic knowledge to Ron. “You eat lots of chocolate, have mood swings and you are in constant pain. You occasionally experience nausea and some months are easier than others..” Cordelia trails off, listing all the similarities between their monthly afflictions.
“While those are indeed a lot of similarities..” Remus trails off, trying not to picture what Cordelia was describing. “They are only similarities, I promise you are not going to turn into a werewolf every month, it’s a different type of monthly affliction,” Remus promises to a very much relieved-looking, Cordelia.
“So no offense, but I won’t turn into a werewolf the week of my period?” Cordelia confirms, looking one step away from writing anything down.
“Correct Cub, you won’t turn into a werewolf,” Remus assures her before clearing his throat. “Now let’s talk about different ways to deal with your period.” Remus segways, wanting to get off the topic of his own monthly problem. “Pads are a muggle product, you put one on earlier.” Remus points out, causing Cordelia to now understand what the box meant. “You also have a wizarding version that basically vanishes the um blood as you wear it, and keeps everything uh nice and fresh.” Remus awkwardly shows her the ones he bought for her. “There are also options to help with the uh— cramping, headaches, and other symptoms of a period like potions or muggle pain relief medication,” Remus tells her, giving her a box with stuff. “Now that’s all the information about your period, so you and I are going to relax with a movie, and our cocoa and I will get you a heat pack for your tummy okay?” Remus stands up, going to refill their cups. Cordelia smiles weakly at him as he leaves the room, feeling grateful for her Uncle Remus and how much he cares.
“I love you, Uncle Remus.”Cordelia smiles at him once he sets her cocoa down along with a bag of popcorn. He smiles, kissing her forehead and placing a heat pack on her along with a blanket.
“I love you to the moon and back Cub,” Remus responds, sitting next to Cordelia to comfort her, feeling very successful in his first and (hopefully last) period talk.