House: Slytherin
Category : Drabble
Prompt : [Character] Professor Remus J Lupin
Word Count : 320
Remus had never wanted to teach. He still didn't. But Dumbledore had come to him with an offer he couldn't refuse - an unlimited supply of Wolfsbane, a warm bed and a decent salary - and Remus was once again on his way to Hogwarts.
When he arrived, he made his way to the Great Hall, seated himself at the Head Table and watched as the students filed in, happy and carefree. When it was time to eat, he managed to bring his fork to his mouth without showing how starved he was and without shaking. Much.
But when he finally reached his private quarters, the room carefully locked and silenced, he felt himself begin to crumble. It was too much. The walls of the castle were built of memories, each breeze whispered inside jokes into his ear and it hurt so much. The tears were warm on his sallow cheeks as they fell, and he thought of all those he had lost.
James… Remus wondered how hard it would be to stop himself from calling Harry by his father's name. They were almost identical, if not for those eyes…
Lily… She was the one Remus saw when he stared into Harry's bottle green eyes, and the pain was too much to bear. Lily had been so good, so pure, and now she was gone.
Peter… Remus thought of all the times he had taken his friends for granted, of all the times he hadn't realised how incredible they were.
Sirius… No, he wasn't dead. He should be, Remus thought, but the words sounded wrong. Even after all this time, Remus couldn't hate him. Sirius was a part of him, and Remus was too empty a man to afford to lose that. So, he tried to forget instead, and even though he knew it was little more than an exercise in futility, he couldn't think of anything better he had to do.