Author's Note: For the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition, Season Two/Round Nine, as Captain for the Caerphilly Catapults, substituting for Keeper of the Caerphilly Catapults, writing Remus and Tonks in a school situation. Also, for the If You Dare Challenge, prompt 458. My Job.
Remus Lupin and the Back to School Fiasco
(AU – Remus and Tonks live, and when Remus is again teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, Tonks wants to help.)
"Yes, there are some strange policies in place this year…" Remus mused.
"It all looks like mumbo-jumbo to me," Tonks said, and dropped a large pile of papers onto the desk. They went flying everywhere, and she sheepishly used a spell to put them back in place. Not that much of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom was in place yet—but it would be, soon.
"It is mumbo-jumbo," Remus assured her. "But it's very important mumbo-jumbo."
"So, in English, what does it say?" Tonks asked.
"Everyone's teaching will be observed and we have to turn in lesson plans and paperwork and grade papers…."
"That sounds normal."
"It is, they're just… my least favorite parts of teaching," he sighed.
"Well, what's your favorite part of teaching?"
"Teaching."
"That would make sense," she smirked. "Is there anything else too horrible?"
"Well, they're insisting we all put up an evil Muggle contraption…."
"Evil?" asked Tonks.
"Quite evil," Remus continued seriously. "The most evil teaching contraption ever created."
"What is it?"
"I believe the Muggles call it… a bulletin board."
xx
"I've got this!" Tonks assured him from the top of the step-ladder.
"Mmhmm," said Remus, as Tonks almost toppled to the floor.
It had been four days since Tonks had insisted on tackling the atrocity that was a bulletin board, and after much drawing and cutting and gluing and glitter-adding, most of the elements were on the floor outside the classroom.
"Just pass me the good stapler," she said.
"The one you stole out of the Charms classroom?"
"Yes, that one."
Remus levitated the stapler up to her, and she took it with another levitation spell from there. Tonks insisted on using the step-ladder to be able to more properly see the top of the bulletin board, but Remus didn't see why it mattered so much and was more concerned about her falling on her head.
Tonks used a spell to make the stapler staple the dark blue paper up to the wall. Then the border with the pictures of fireworks. Then the large, teal bubble letters. Then the big drawings of fireworks, which exploded within their pieces of paper.
"Almost done," Tonks said, sounding quite satisfied. "Now we just need your class lists, and we'll be able to finish." She hopped down from the ladder, almost fell again, and Remus caught her.
Well, finished with the bulletin board, at least; Remus had been doing everything else for his classroom, like the dreaded lesson plans, and there was still so much more to do….
xx
After many more changes to the class lists, Remus finally had a final version that he could give to Tonks.
"Time to make the little fireworks," she said.
"What exactly are we doing?"
"We'll make a bunch of cut-out fireworks with all the kids' names on one, and then they'll float around. There'll be about thirty in the frame of the bulletin board at a time. And you know, spells, they'll float in and out on their own, and the kids will always want to see theirs up there and—it'll be magical."
"All right," he said, and just as cheerfully added, "Good luck with all two-hundred forty fireworks," before looking back at the paperwork.
xx
Tonks finished the fireworks at night, and was eager to affix them to the bulletin board the next day. A few teachers passing by stopped to watch the dust devil of fake fireworks tumbling across the hall outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, and Tonks chasing said dust devil down.
Remus failed to hide a smile, and, as promised, said nothing, simply flicked his wand to stop the chaos flying down the hallway.
Tonks huffed out a breath and gathered the fireworks back up. "I don't know why they started spinning like that," she muttered. After the initial attempt, however, she quickly and easily got the fireworks with the Defense students' names to stick to the bulletin board, and float in and out of the frame, under the letters:
HOGWARTS, DEFENDED BY…
xx
When the students came back to Hogwarts, back to its proper glory, they were enthralled with all of the new bulletin boards. There was Professor Sprout's, with a paper tree that grew new paper leaves, and Professor Trelawney's, with a crystal ball that showed a prediction of fun in Divination that school year.
But many people loved Professor Lupin's and Tonks', because it reminded them of the brave students (many among them) who had defended Hogwarts, and of how good it was for Hogwarts to be back to its good old self, something worthy of celebrating.
(And Tonks was always there, it seemed that whenever she wasn't with Teddy or at the Auror office, she was with Remus wherever he was "doing teacherly things", as she said.)
"So, what'll the next bulletin board be?" Remus asked her, as they were supposed to change bulletin boards every month.
"Well, I was thinking…."
They went over many ideas sitting by Teddy's crib, and as he fell asleep, Remus said, "And one day, we'll con our child into doing the bulletin board for us."
"Indeed," said Tonks.
END