The Stars and Forbidden Cigarettes | Professor Remus Lupin

The Storm

"I expected better from you, Miss Castill, especially given the tumultuous times," McGonagall says, disappointed. Reverie hangs her head down.

McGonagall sighs, "Four nights of detention then, with Professor Lupin, with whom you are familiar, I understand?"

Reverie's head snaps up. "Familiar?"

"Mr. Filch gave me the impression that he offered to go to you outside and escort you back?"

Reverie internally relaxes. "Oh, yes. He's my Defense Against the Dark Arts professor." If Lupin had divulged even a fraction of what she had said to him, she is sure that four nights of detention would pale in comparison to whatever punishment McGonagall would give her. Now come to think of it, she is surprised he hasn't.

"Very well. Starting Thursday evening," McGonagall says with finality and gets up from her chair.

Reverie sputters, "I understand, but Professor, Thursday the Prefects meet for the beginning-of-term. I can't possibly miss my first meeting as a Prefect."

"I will inform the Head Boy and Girl, Miss Castill. Now, it's much too late for you to be out of your common room. Off you go."

When she exits the classroom, Filch is no longer outside, and Reverie is silently appreciative of the few minutes alone. She walks down the hallways slowly, her footsteps echoing off of the stone walls. Most of the men and women in the paintings surrounding her are asleep, and the common room is empty when she wakes up the Fat Lady and climbs through the portrait hole. After the day she's had, she's finally been given some peace and quiet, and she sits on the velvet couch in front of the fire, pulls out the book her grandmother had given her before she left home, and opened to page one.

"The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it says, and she begins reading. The last thing she remembers reading was Gatsby soaked from the rain and standing at Nick's doorstep, when she jolts awake by the sound of thunder. Her eyes open and are met with a flash of light, and she turns to look at the grandfather clock against the wall: 5 a.m. She'd fallen asleep.

She closes the book on her lap and gets up. Before this year, she would've ran from the quiet and solitude, but looking into the faces she'd known for so long makes everything feel like nothing had changed, when everything had changed. Nevertheless, she heads to the dormitory.

Classes, lunch, and dinner pass rather quickly on Tuesday, and she was grateful for the reprieve from Lupin.

The storm becomes only drizzle on Wednesday, and her and Oliver's last Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson together of the week comes more quickly than they would've preferred. As they step into class and take their seats, Lupin continues their lesson on nonverbal spells from Monday, but he doesn't look at Reverie once. Regardless of whether or not her hand is raised, she is as good as invisible, and when the hourglass bottoms out, Lupin makes a purpose to not linger for a second longer and leaves with the rest of the class.

Thursday comes, and with it, another stronger storm, but Reverie determines to not let it detract from her day, as not only does she have detention this evening, but it is also the day of her first N.E.W.T. level class with Lupin, first period.

That morning, she enters class first through the already open door and takes her seat in the front row. As Lupin opens the door to his office and begins descending, the other six students file in and take their own seats, and only when he is fully down the stairs does he look up to meet Reverie's daring eyes from the front row and falters. Reverie smiles, and after his widening eyes blink, he begins the lesson, resuming his practice from the day before of ignoring both her and the hand she shoots into the air in response to his questions entirely. Nevertheless, while she works, he watches her and realizes his days of reading people are long gone, and he is suddenly exceedingly curious to discover the quality of her work, in hopes that it will justify his disdain towards her.