A Love Without Time (Remus Lupin)

Thirty-One.

*September 1st, 1993*

I was lucky enough to be given a job at Hogwarts teaching Astronomy when my twins were 5 years old. Dumbledore reached out and said they ended a new Astronomy Professor, and that my children could live in the castle with me. I bought a tiny house in Hogsmeade that we live in during the Summer Holidays, and when my kids were 11 they started as Students at Hogwarts.

My son Bradley took after his Uncle Archie and my mother and was sorted into Hufflepuff House. My daughter Lyanna took after both her parents and was sorted into Gryffindor House, alongside her friend Ron Weasley. I stayed great friends with Molly Weasley. During the Summer Holidays my kids sometimes spend a few days at the Burrow and they all hang out. Given that our kids are so close in age, they become great friends very fast.

I have taught all seven of the Weasley children during my time as a Professor at Hogwarts, and they've been some of my favorite students. The older three boys, Bill, Charlie, and Percy were all very bright and respectful students, always getting top marks. Charlie was the Gryffindor Quidditch Team Captain and he played Seeker when he was here, like he told me he wanted to when we first met. All three of them were Gryffindor prefects. Bill even went on to become Head Boy, and Molly told me how excited she was that Percy was made Head Boy this year as well.

Fred and George were always a handful, but they were great students. Very bright for their age. Honestly I think they act out because they're bored because they're too smart for some of the stuff they have to do in classes. They never get into too much trouble though, they know where to draw the line so they don't get kicked out.

Ron is very sweet, but he is riddled with Anxiety. He is smart like his brothers, but I know he feels pressure to be even better than they are. I wish he didn't do that to himself. If he didn't care, he'd be a much better student. He pressures himself and it makes him mess up a lot of the time. And Ginny is also a delight. She's a little spitfire like her mum, but I wouldn't expect any less being raised by Molly and having the amount of older brothers she does.

Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom made their way to Hogwarts the same year that Ron and my twins started. I recognized Harry the second that he walked into the Great Hall. He looked exactly like James, but he had Lily's eyes. He was so adorable, and very sweet and kind. He did get into Mischief, but honestly compared to his father the boy was a saint.

I didn't tell him that I knew his parents right away but I did when he got hurt at the very end of his first year. He took on a version of Lord Voldemort that had attached itself to the back of the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor's head. I visited him in the Hospital Wing and I told him I knew his parents and he asked me all kinds of questions about them that I gladly answered. It had been ten years since James and Lily had died. It was time that I talked about them.

This summer wasn't exactly my favorite summer that I've ever had. My old pal turned traitor Sirius Black has become the first person to ever escape Azkaban Prison. They don't know how he did it, we just know that he did and that he hasn't been caught. The Ministry has taken extra precautions to keep all of the students safe while at Hogwarts.

Before the students arrived for the start of the school year, Professor McGonagall told me to follow her, so I did. I told my kids to sit at their house tables and I followed McGonagall to her office. Madam Pomfrey was there with chocolate. The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher had written to the school to tell us that Harry had fainted on the Hogwarts Express in the presence of a Dementor that was looking for Sirius Black.

I ushered him into the office about 20 minutes later, where Madam Pomfrey was offering him chocolate, but he said that Professor Lupin had already given him a good amount on the train. I turned to look at McGonagall when he said Professor Lupin. He couldn't mean Remus Lupin. Minerva nodded at me then brought her eyes to Harry again.

Madam Pomfrey was very pleased to hear that it sounded like we finally had a Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor that knew his remedies. McGonagall then asked me to escort Harry to the Great Hall while she had a different conversation with Gryffindor student Hermione Granger. He told me how nice Professor Lupin was on our walk there, it made my stomach flip.

I now understood why no one told me what the name of the new Professor was. My mind was elsewhere. I should have done something nice with my hair. I would have if I had known. Maybe even put on a little bit of make up. Oh goodness what am I saying? Remus and I were ancient history. Working together wasn't going to change that.

When I entered the Great Hall, the sorting was over. I saw Remus sitting next to Severus. He looked to see who had entered the Great Hall and he cracked a small smile then he looked back at Severus and continued talking to him. He looked more rugged than he did when we were teens. His hair was even graying on the sides already. He had lines on his face. Deep, prominent lines. This was certainly an aged version of him, but it was him nonetheless. I couldn't believe that no one told me. I knew the new teacher was a werewolf, but I never suspected Remus.

I walked with Harry until he was sitting with Ron. I noticed Lyanna was sitting with Fred and George Weasley and their friend Lee Jordan. I smiled at it as I passed them. The Weasley twins have always taken my daughter and their only sister under their wing. They're the best of friends and they are so close with each other. I love to watch their friendship.

Remus looked at me as sat next to Hagrid on the other side of the table. "Did you know that Remus was the new Professor?" I asked him.

"Course I did," he boasted, "Dumbledore thought it would be a bit awkward if you knew. He asked us to keep it quiet."

I sighed. Of course he did. Sometimes, as much of a genius as he is, Dumbledore has some bad judgment.

At the end of dinner, as the staff began to clear out, I had to walk past Remus and Severus. "Hi Ellie," Remus greeted me, I stopped and did my best to smile.

"Remus," I said while I smiled and nodded. Then I walked off.

The next few days I didn't talk to Remus. I only ever saw him at meals, that was it. It didn't bother me. The last time I saw him was at my brother's funeral, and that was eleven year ago now. I spent most of my days in the staff room preparing for my classes. I liked the lighting better here than I did in my office sometimes. On the third day of school, I was joined by Remus.

"Oh," says Remus, as he enters the staff room. He stops in his tracks, looking at me. He had a stoic look on his face. "I'm sorry," he says, "I didn't realize that you were in here, Eloise."

"It is the Staff Room, Remus," I remind him and I close my book and I look at him, crossing my left leg over the right. "You know you don't have to avoid me. It's alright. We work together and we shouldn't hide from one another. We were friends, once upon a time."

He has a small smile on his face as he says, "More then friends as I recall. Nevertheless, since you're here, would you mind helping me? I'm going to have my very first third year class try and get rid of a Bogart."

"A Bogart, really? Is it here already?" I ask, standing now.

"Yes," he nods, "It's in that cupboard over there. If you wouldn't mind, I just want to make sure everything will go alright before I have the students take it on."

"Alright," I say, "let me at it."

"Still headstrong, I see," he says, a proud looking smirk on his face. "You know the spell?"

"Yes," I assure him, nodding.

He nods and opens the cupboard, and the white ball exits, and I look directly at it, letting it find me. It gets closer to me, and I ready my wand, ready to take it on. But before I can think of anything, it changes into a horrific sight. Lily, dead on the ground. I could tell it was her, even though her red hair was covering her face. I knew it was here.

"Riddikulus!" I shouted and the Bogart just changed into another dead figure. This time it was Matt and Marlene, or it was my kids, I couldn't tell through my tears. I shouted it again and instead of changing into something comical it turned into another dead person, this time it was Harry. I could tell it was Harry and not James because of the lightning bolt scar on his forehead. The sight of dead Harry Potter made me tear up even more.

"Riddikulus!" I shouted again, this time it turned into Remus, dead on the ground. I looked up at Remus, and I am now crying. "I'm sorry," I say, my voice cracking.

"It's alright, Eloise," he says, and then he stands in front of the Bogart and it turns into a full moon and he turns it into a balloon. It flies around the room before going back into the cupboard. He is now standing in front of me. "I'm sorry I asked you to do that. If I had known - "

"I didn't even know," I admit to him. "It's been years and I didn't realize that it still affects me like that."

"You care about them," he says, placing a hand onto my shoulder.

"You were the last one. You saw that, I know you did."

"It's alright," he says, keeping as calm as he could. "Bogarts can take any fear you have if it is strong enough. Obviously your fear is losing the ones you hold close to you. Granted I don't understand why I was there, but deep down you must still have some kind of close connection to me." He looks over to the cupboard and then he rubs his eyes as if he suddenly got a painful headache. He pulled a handkerchief out of one of his pockets and handed it to me, "here, dry your eyes, it was just a boggart."

"It was just a Bogart," I repeated as I wiped my eyes free of tears.

"I've been wanting to ask you about Harry," he said, and it sounded like he was dying to ask.

"What about him?" I ask.

"What's he like?"

"He's like both of them," I say, smiling. "He's got Lily's kind hearted nature, but he gets into a lot of mischief. Ron Weasley is his right hand man. They're best friends."

He smiles at that news, I know memories were pouring back for him right now. "He sounds wonderful."

"He is," I say, nodding, "I told him all about his parents at the end of his first year. I helped Hagrid put together a photo album for Harry so he could have some photos of them because he didn't even know what they looked like until he came here. Petunia never allowed him to ask anything about his parents. She told him they died in a car crash." I started to tear up again, "He didn't know he was a Wizard until he got his Hogwarts letter."

"He's here now, and that's what matters. He's where he's supposed to be with people who care about him."

I smiled and nodded again, "He is."

_____________________
Here's part 31!

Did you guess they'd end up working together?

Did you expect that?

I tried to make it obvious, but I'm not sure if I did.

-Emily Winchester.