Remus Lupin (wolfprofessor) wrote in flyleaves, @ 2014-06-07 21:15:00 |
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It had been a trying week. While Remus was hardly one to confess to limits, he knew his better than most, and it seemed like this world had been doing its best to wear him out from the day he arrived. If it wasn't one thing, it was another: it was Atticus Finch begging him to fill in and read Matilda a bedtime story, or Miss Taggart bursting in at three in the morning with some half-mad (and inevitably brilliant) solution to a persisting problem, or it was Schmendrick's magic going haywire in an outside book 'verse, requiring him to drop whatever he was doing and attend to it at once. He might well have quit by now and returned to teaching at Hogwarts, where his fellow faculty were decidedly less lethal to his health, were it not for Albus Dumbledore:
Oh my, yes, Professor Lupin comes very highly recommended—very highly recommended indeed. It pains me to have to part with him, but I do believe it is his particular skills and compassions your organization will require in the coming days. Just bring him back all in one piece.
All, of course, followed by a conspiring wink behind a half-moon spectacle. Remus eased back in his chair now with spell book draped across his face, muffling a not-altogether-human growl of frustration. While he could generally be found in an excellent mood most days (and, admittedly, this job was proving his second great love only to teaching), Schmendrick had come rushing in earlier in a whirl of cap and cowl, shouting that he required 'time-off' to see to a personal matter. It was several days yet to a full moon, to which Remus would also require 'time-off', but there was no denying the magician what he wanted without skirting the bounds of his own secret, so Remus had agreed to the arrangement and taken on the other's cases for the time-being.
While his appearance deteriorated, his other senses tended to sharpen around this time of month, which is why he was able to hear the footfalls outside his office door before the knock came. Remus removed the book and raked a hand through his hair, trying to appear at least a little more presentable, though he assumed it was a lost cause.
"Come in," he bid his visitor, with a little more warmth than he felt; when he saw who it was, however, his mood improved significantly. "Miss Swan, what a wonderful surprise. It's nice to see you out and about."