Kiss the Teacher || Remus Lupin x Reader

5

You kill time in Snape's classroom until the start of the Halloween feast. You decide to get ahead on grading papers, so you sit down at your small, makeshift desk in Snape's office and get to work while he works on who knows what in the other room. The silence isn't a bad thing: after all, you aren't very much in the mood for talking right now.

Though, you must admit, half of you wants to confront Snape on what potion he made for Remus, and what Remus's illness could possibly be, but the other half of you is saying not to encroach on Remus's privacy like that. You want Remus to come clean on his own behalf. But the desire to know what he's hiding is incredibly strong...

"Miss Y/L/N."

You jump at Snape's voice, nearly knocking over your bottle of ink. You set down your quill and look up at him as he stands in the doorway, his eyes narrowed slightly as he gazes at you.

"Have you gotten any work done in here, or have you been merely staring at that essay for the last hour?"

You clear your throat as you shift uncomfortably in your chair. It is true that you had let your thoughts get the better of you, but you had gotten some work done. You point to a stack of parchment, which is considerably smaller than the pile you have yet to grade.

"I got all of these graded, sir, so far." When he raises an eyebrow at you, you continue: "They'll all be finished by Monday, I promise."

"I'm sure they will," he drawls, turning away, his dark robes swishing as he does so, "but it's time for the feast, so come along."

You follow him wordlessly out, and the two of you walk in silence to the Great Hall. You take your usual seat next to Remus, who's already seated and talking excitedly with Flitwick. He turns to offer you a smile of greeting before turning back to his conversation. Snape begins a quiet conversation with McGonagall, so you're left to eat quietly, gazing around at the students and decorations.

After a few minutes, you hear your name, so you turn towards Remus.

"Did I do something earlier?" he asks, quietly, his voice barely audible above the chatter of the students. "You seemed off when you left. If I did anything wrong, I apologize-"

"No, no, Remus," you interrupt, just as quietly, "I apologize for being a bit cold, I just..." You trail off, not sure exactly what to say.

"Go on," Remus encourages, leaning closer.

You purse your lips as you look him over, deciding what to say.

"I was, um, a bit... thrown off, I suppose, after my talk with Harry..." You lean closer as well, lowering your voice even more so that Snape doesn't hear as you say, "I was under the impression that, um, you were refusing help with your, uh, condition after we spoke about it, so after I heard that Severus is helping you..."

You had been avoiding eye contact with him, and so after you finish, you look up at him. You're surprised to see that he has a sort of deer-in-headlights look on his face.

"What?" you prompt him.

He simply shakes his head, glancing past you for a second, undoubtedly at Snape. That irritates you - what secret could they possibly be sharing that you're being kept in the dark from?

"It's... it's really a difficult potion, and-"

"So you doubt my abilities?" you retort.

Remus sets his jaw, and it's the first time that you've ever seen him look cross, especially towards you. You can tell that he's trying to maintain his composure regardless.

"That's not it at all, Y/N," he says, "Severus and Dumbledore had already made an arrangement upon my arrival, and it's being handled perfectly well. I promise you, you don't need to be concerned-"