This story is written for The House Competition by Moonlight Forgotten (Year 2).
Round 6
House: Gryffindor
Year: 4
Drabble
Prompt: Professor Remus J Lupin
Words: 425
Professor Remus Lupin sat at his desk, marking the papers of his third years. He reached one with a familiar penmanship. It was Harry Potter's paper and it gave him nostalgia how similar Harry's penmanship was to his father's. They did their bs, ds, ps and fs the same. Having Harry in his life had brought mixed feelings in Remus. A part of him felt guilty that he hadn't made the effort to reach to the boy in almost 12 years. James would certainly have been expecting him to look out for his son. On the other hand, Harry's presence was a great source of comfort for him. It was as if he had the comfort of James back again. Harry gave him the same friendly look, and the same look of concern.
Remus did want to reach out to Harry, but his life was in a mess after James and Peter's deaths. He had just lost two of his best friends and found out one of his best friends was a traitor. It took a humongous toll on him. He had to get far away. He began working odd jobs as he couldn't find one with his werewolf condition. With his unstable life and insecurity with being a werewolf, he couldn't reach out to Harry. Dumbledore had tracked Remus down last summer and assured him he would be fine as an employed professor at Hogwarts. He had to endure Severus Snape whom he never really liked despite disapproving of James and Sirius' behavior towards him. This made him have mixed feelings of dislike and guilt in regards to Severus Snape. But Remus was glad that he was finally in Harry's life and able to look out for him.
But he hated himself for being a coward. He knew Sirius was an animagus and that was how he was getting into the castle. However, he didn't have the heart or the guts to confess to Dumbledore that he had betrayed his trust and kindness all those years ago. He felt ashamed for it whenever he looked at himself in the mirror but he simply couldn't muster up the courage to confess what he and his friends had done all those years ago. Nevertheless, Remus had vowed not to let Sirius harm a hair on Harry's head. James was one of his best friends and was the only one who completely trusted in him despite the suspicion on him during the war. He would honor James' memory by protecting Harry and would readily die doing so.