Kiss the Teacher || Remus Lupin x Reader

18

After you put on your pants and Remus pulls on a sweater, the two of you head to the Great Hall to meet the rest of the staff. You may still be half-asleep, but your mind is racing with questions. How the hell did Black get into the castle again, and this time, not only into the Gryffindor common room, but Harry's room? Before she left, McGonagall assured you that everyone was alright, just that Ron is shaken up a bit, because he was the one who saw Black, who was apparently standing over Ron's bed with a knife.

You and Remus approach the group, coming up to stand between Flitwick and Snape. Everyone looks equally as concerned and tired as you feel, all still dressed in their nightclothes, as well.

"We'll split up, and for the sake of time, everyone will cover the same areas that they did last time Black broke in. We'll meet back here afterwards," Dumbledore says, looking around at the group. You look up at Remus; last time, the two of you were together, covering the fourth floor, which also happened to be when he confessed to you that he's a werewolf.

You and Remus silently make your way up the stairs to the fourth floor, starting down the long corridor.

"He's most likely already out of the castle by this point," Remus says, stopping suddenly in his tracks. He turns and starts walking out on the balcony, peering over the ledge. You follow him, not quite sure what he's thinking. You're certainly not dressed for the weather in your sweatpants and Remus's t-shirt, so you step closer to Remus, shivering, as you look out over the grounds yourself. It's still dark out, so you can't see much, besides some animal by the edge of the Forbidden Forest. A dog, maybe?

When you look up at Remus, you swear that he looks considerably more pale than he was before, but then again, maybe it's just the lighting.

"How do you think he's getting past the dementors?" you ask, simply because it's something you've thought about, but you can't seem to figure it out. After all, that's the whole reason they're here: to catch Sirius Black. And if they can't even do that, twice now, why can't Dumbledore just finally get rid of them?

"I don't know," Remus snaps, much to your surprise. You watch as he turns, avoiding your eyes as he walks back into the corridor. Did you miss something?

"I wasn't... I wasn't trying to accuse you of anything," you say, quietly, once you join Remus back in the corridor, "It was just a question that I've been thinking about myself."

He sighs, sounding somewhat defeated, looking over at you.

"I know, I just... I'm sorry," he says, clearly exasperated, "I suppose I'm just finally tired of Severus finding every opportunity to point fingers at me. But I know you didn't mean it like that."

You cross the gap that separates the two of you and wrap your arms around his waist, leaning your head against him. He wraps his arms around your shoulders, kissing the top of your head. You wish there was something you could do, but you suspect that the only thing that would make everything better would be Black finally being caught, which is apparently much harder than everyone thought it was going to be.

You just can't wrap your mind around it. After all, everyone knows what he looks like, thanks to the posters with his face on it everywhere you look. So how the hell has he not been found yet?

"We're not getting very much done," you say, pulling away from Remus just enough to be able to look up at him. A small smile appears on his face, but there's still a very distant look in his eyes.

"Like I said, he's definitely out of the castle by now. He most likely left the moment Ron woke up."

"About that," you say, pulling away so that the two of you can continue slowly down the corridor, "I find that odd. Why was he over Ron's bed, and not Harry's?"

Remus puts his hands in his pants pockets, appearing deep in thought. When he doesn't reply, you continue, thinking out loud.

"It just doesn't make any sense. And I can't imagine how terrifying it must have been for Ron, to wake up and see that. Right after his rat goes missing, too, which he's already upset about. I can't imagine what that would feel like, for the pet you've had for twelve years to go missing." You had talked to Harry one day after class, after noticing very obvious tension between him, Ron, and Hermione. He had explained the whole situation with Hermione telling McGonagall about Harry's Firebolt and getting it taken away, which of course, he'd eventually gotten it back, but within the last few days, Ron's rat had gone missing, and the boys both thought that Hermione's cat had killed it, so they weren't on speaking terms.

And now, the mass murderer that's on the loose shows up in their room, as the cherry on top.

"What did you say?" Remus says abruptly.

You look over at him, raising your eyebrows. "Which part?"

There's a weird look on his face, somewhere between confusion and panic, but you can't possibly imagine why.

"The part about Ron's rat. How long did he have it?"

"Oh," you say, carefully watching Remus's expression as you repeat what you said, "The family had him for twelve years, I guess, which is weird, I know. I don't know what they've been feeding him to make him live for nearly four times the average life expectancy for a rat, but... What?"

Your attempt at a joke fails as you see Remus purse his lips tightly and turn his face away from you, the gears clearly turning in his head. You can't figure out what the hell is going on with him, but you hope that he'll tell you, sooner than later.

"Nothing," he says, his voice strained, "You're just... You're right. That is weird."

As you reach the end of the corridor, the topic is dropped, but you know that this is going to be consuming your thoughts until you get answers from Remus. What about a possibly dead rat could shake him up so much?

You don't speak again until you reach the Great Hall. The only person back is Snape, who's standing outside the Hall, his eyebrow quirking when he sees the two of you approaching.

"No sign of him," you say.

"Hm." Snape keeps his eyes trained on Remus, but Remus's expression is completely unreadable now, any of the previous stress or confusion on his face gone. You couldn't possibly be more lost than you are right now.

Soon enough, the rest of the staff arrives, nobody else having seen anything either, just as you were expecting. You part ways then, you and Remus starting back towards his room. He's still silent, but you don't push it, no matter how curious and confused you are at his behavior.

All you say is, "Are you alright?" as the two of you climb back into bed for the few hours that you still have until breakfast. You doubt that you'll be able to fall back asleep with all that's on your mind, but there's not much else to do. Especially now that Remus is clearly somewhere else, far away from you.

"Yeah," he says, offering you a tight-lipped smile as he holds his arm out to you, "There's just a lot on my mind, with tonight and the full moon being soon, but I'm alright. Are you?"

Well, for one, you're confused, to say the very least. You cuddle against him, his arm wrapping around you, as you let your mind replay the events of the night. You decide to just follow his lead and go the easy route, so you simply say:

"Yeah, I'm alright."