Disclaimer: These are not my characters, nor my world.

Getting There Is Getting By

By A. R. Taloff

Chapter I: I'm Going to Get There

Remus pulled books out from the boxes they had been packed in and shelved them carefully. Once before he had placed the books on these same shelves. After emptying the box, he wiped his hands on his trousers and glance about the room, nodding. "Well, I'm home, I suppose."

Checking his watch, he pulled out a bit of chocolate and popped it in his mouth. Chewing thoughtfully, he smiled, walking to his desk to review his syllabus for Defense Against the Dark Arts, levels one through seven.

When he had received a letter from Professor McGonagall two months before, he had been surprised to read that she was offering him the D.A.D.A. position again. Tonks had written back a few weeks later with a congratulatory message, and he was happy to hear that she and Kingsley were getting along fine whilst tailing Harry, Hermione, and Ron.

He grinned at a picture of them in a goofy hug, smiling and muttering as they scuffled over some popcorn. It perched on the shelf above his desk, the only photograph to take up residence in his rooms. Blowing a bit of his shaggy hair out of his face with a sigh, he shook his head, thanking Merlin that he and Tonks were figured out.

Tonks had told him she loved him like a brother. When Sirius had died, she needed something more, and Remus had provided it; a loving relationship, cuddling, and yes, sex. After a couple months, though, the feelings had worn out. What healing that had needed to be done was finished, and Tonks had apologized for any pain she might cause.

It had hurt, just a bit, when she'd told him she wasn't happy with the relationship anymore – it was a response anyone would have to being told that they were no longer of immediate interest. At the same time though, Remus had realized it was a blessing. Tonks was too nomadic for his homebody tastes, and he was too steadfast for her capricious attitude. Instead of complementing, they clashed. Now, three months after the fact, Remus felt better about the situation on the whole.

To be quite honest, he got the impression Nymphadora was happier too.

Here he was though, providing a service to the school, without worry that students' parents would become angered or that he'd be discovered. It pleased him greatly that he would be able to teach again, specifically, to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. He had known that Severus had taught the students last term, and he frowned.

Now I that /I had been shocking. Severus had killed Dumbledore in a move that had laid everything bare; the act alone caused farther reaching ripples than even the Order knew what to do with. Still reeling from the force of Snape's betrayal, the Order had faltered, but was slowly regaining strength.

Now it was partially in Remus's hands to train the students to protect themselves and each other, and no amount of knowledge was too minimal, none too simple. Anything could be used in the fight against the Dark Lord. Quiet knocking came on his chamber door, and he barely had time to register the sound through the haze of thoughts before the door opened. A head of long, thick blonde hair came into view, long before Remus could see the person…a girl, to be precise.

She stumbled over a trunk and gave it a look, as though wondering why it chose to be in her way. As she picked her way through the rest of the empty trunks and boxes, Remus took stock of her.

Something about her seemed very familiar. He must've known her from when he taught here before, though he wasn't entirely sure. She was dressed in a pair of patchwork jeans, a multi-colored knit sweater that was rather form fitting, with a hood, and neon green sneakers; a wand was tucked into her back pocket. After mastering the room gauntlet, she brushed her hands off on her jeans and glanced around with a satisfied sigh. Meeting his eyes with her own silver blue ones, she smiled.

"I see you are here, Professor, and I was wondering if I may ask about adding Defense Against the Dark Arts to my schedule? Professor Flitwick said that I should push myself more and I realized that I had enjoyed you as a Professor when you were here previously, so I thought to add it. Here are my O.W.L. scores." She handed him her grade sheet, eyes watching his reaction.

He opened it, then flickered a look at them and then her wand. "You should never put your wand in your back pocket. I've heard that many a good wizard has lost an errant buttock to such a mistake," he said, utterly serious.

The girl merely shrugged and pulled it from the disagreeable place and set it behind her ear, which made Remus chuckle.

Glancing at her sheet with intent, he found her scores to be exemplary, and he had more than enough room in his class besides, as most of her year mates had done atrociously. How had she managed such a letter in it

"I see no reason to withhold you from the class." He turned and set down her grade sheet before opening the ledger to scrawl her name. Luna Lovegood. Why did that name ring bells?

The girl plowed forward. "That brings me to my next query. Where are the books for the class? The librarian would not even talk to me about them," Luna said with a sigh, as though the whole concept of someone being annoyed was too trying to even bother with.

Remus chuckled again. "Madam Pince is very angry with me, actually, as I had very little time to get my book list to the Headmistress and her, so they had to be ordered late. As it is, they are hard to find, but I have a few personal copies. I would rather not irritate her further with a request to find yet another, so you may borrow one of mine." Walking around a box on the floor, he reached over and grabbed a worn, leather bound book from a shelf, and turned to hand her it.

Luna smiled, pleased. "That was very nice of you. I'll take care of it, promise!" With that, she was dashing through the obstacle course again and out the door, leaving Remus shaking his head at her.

Remus watched the classroom as they went through simple exercises. He was attempting to evaluate their skills in order to decide what they needed to be taught this term. Luna Lovegood and Ginny Weasley were paired together and seemed to have finished the trial run. They were now finding quicker, more efficient ways of getting through the tests.

He watched as Luna reached over to the boy next to her and pointed out how to do something right. The boy, Euan Abercrombie, looked put out and went back to practicing as he did before, completely ignoring what advice she had given. Luna was left with a strange look on her face, something akin to mild apathy and confusion. Shrugging, she turned back to Ginny and they began talking in hushed tones.

Ginny was a conundrum. Last term, she had been seeing Harry, though Lupin had learned that was no longer the case.

Unfortunately, Ginny had taken the break up entirely differently than Remus could have imagined the smiling and bright girl would do. Her hair, still termagant red, was cropped rather short, and she wore dark eyeliner and lipstick. She rarely looked as serious as her make-up implied, but she also seemed very forced, something he'd never seen from her.

At first glance she and Luna seemed to be quite a contrast, though upon further examination they were more alike than it seemed. Both were excellent students, taking on a full load of classes and managing them well from what the Professors said. Both were on the quiet side, and Professors Flitwick and McGonagall both attested to their higher levels of maturity. What concerned Remus, however, was his discovery that both seemed to know more than the rest of the class added together. He found himself wishing that the other students hadn't been so ill trained.

After a quick check of the time, he waved his wand, and the lights flickered, stopping the tests. He began rounds to test each student individually, hoping that it wouldn't take the rest of the period.

Luna and Ginny walked down the hall, mostly in silence. Occasionally something would roll off their tongues, but generally they were noiseless as they traversed the hall from Defense Against the Dark Arts to the dining hall.

Luna knew that she had a lot on her mind, and took it at face value that Ginny did as well. They seemed to be that way more and more as of late, not talking to each other much in public, but sneaking into each other's dormitories under the cloak of night to talk to each other. Both were seen together nearly constantly, though observers would be hard pressed to say that either looked entirely friendly towards the other.

Luna's dreamy look covered her less than dreamy thoughts up quite well. Though most of her thoughts dwelled on her classes, there were other, darker things she pondered as well.

Glancing at Ginny's heavily made up face, Luna sighed before looking back to the staircase in front of her. It was almost strange, their sudden jump to close friends. Luna admitted that it was probably not only the desire to talk to someone who truly understood what they faced and also knew that other facets of their different and separate lives were tainted by it. Voldemort and his entourage had insinuated themselves deep into the Wizarding world, causing good and pure things to rot away. Specifically, Ginny's relationship with Harry, and Luna's relationship with her father.

Both were marked by the changes that working against the Dark Lord could bring. Ginny and Harry had broken up, from what Luna understood, because Harry didn't want Ginny involved. Luna's father believed that the Dark Lord was a conspiracy that truly was the elitist intellects masquerading underneath disguise to keep the average wizard down.

Luna had gone from dreamer to coherent thinker in an abrupt shift, and couldn't figure out where she really stood. Her father had always been a great thinker in her eyes, creative, believing in things that should be believed in. Now his words merely fueled her anger, and every time he mentioned his own ideas about Voldemort, he antagonized her further. She hadn't told him about the fight. Hadn't said a word, and now she was happy she hadn't. If Luna had, her father would say she had been brainwashed, as he frequently told her Harry had been. It wasn't that he was so very wrong. It was that, years ago, if she hadn't known Harry or been there, she would've hung on every word as though it was a glistening jewel. That stung more than she could ever truly admit.

How many instances had there been, one could ask, that she had allowed herself to be misled entirely? Were there more? Thoughts of this nature kept her up later than they should have, darkening the doorstep of her mind and playing havoc with her ideals.

She supposed, as she and Ginny sat down, fixing themselves plates with the food laid out on the tables, that was the reason why they got along. Both of their belief structures had been shaken up a bit. Ginny had been as sad on the outside as Luna felt on the inside, and unfortunately, was taking a different route than Luna did to deal with the sudden changes.

Luna had caught her necking with a prefect one night, and two nights before then, had found her in a compromising position with yet another boy. Both times Luna had fled the scene, leaving Ginny to crawl into her bed at late hours and silently cry on Luna's shoulder for no reason that she seemed able to voice.

Luna picked at her food, aware that her rumbling stomach was unimpressed with her disinterested display. Taking a bite calmed it to a degree, and she took another four before she could no longer stand to sit there and eat. She left the table and went back to her Common Room to study for Divination.

The halls were dark at night, and Luna found them to be soothing to a fault. As long as you stayed out of Mrs. Norris's range of interest, no one caught you. Ginny had taken them for a silent yet companionable walk a few weeks after school resumed, and now, three months into the term, Luna continued to take advantage of the silent walkways.

Curling up in one particular windowsill, she pulled her slippered feet close to her body and snaked her hands into her sleeves. Sighing softly, she stared out into the night and allowed her mind to wander.

Her classes were going well, even Defense Against the Dark Arts, which had worried her. Professor Lupin seemed to never know what to do with Ginny and her. Her anxiousness when he asked her and Ginny why they knew so much wasn't too hard to deal with, but still was unnerving. When she had voiced her qualms to Ginny, the redhead just shrugged and said that Lupin would no sooner ask when the next moon was.That comment had puzzled Luna, but she took the statement at face value and tried to push those nerve-wracking thoughts out of her mind.

Luna sighed, blowing a lock of hair up for a moment, only to have it fall back over her eyes. Letting one hand back out of her sleeve, she twirled a finger around of the two long braids she'd plaited her hair into. She was going to stay here for winter break.

The decision hadn't been one made by her, but instead had been made by circumstance. She had visited home during the last school break and found her father gloating about a new expose on Harry Potter as Lord Voldemort, and how the mysterious 'death' of Dumbledore hadn't been truly a death, but merely a ruse.

It had been then finally, that Luna had lost her quietly honed patience, and told him how stupid he sounded.

Needless to say her father had found her outburst, along with the following argument they got into, rude and disrespectful. To put an end to it, he had asked her to return to Hogwarts and not come back until she saw clearly the lies that distinguished her life.

Making a low growling noise in her throat at the memory, she shook her head. Lies, indeed. Truths, more like. If only he would just listen to me… Maybe … "Maybe nothing, Luna," she whispered softly.

The sound of a throat clearing in the midst of her mental discussion made her jump and press herself against the very cold windowpane. Then, feeling the jolting freeze against the small of her back, she jerked away from it to the floor, where she slipped and fell unceremoniously onto her bum.

"Oooh…ouch." She got up on her knees and rubbed her posterior gingerly. Damn that hurt…

A soft chuckle echoed throughout the room and Luna looked up to see a hand reaching to assist her. Gripping it tightly, she pulled herself up to her feet, wincing at the slight pain. Glancing at the person who helped her, she grumbled a quick thank you before taking a second look.

Wide eyed, she stammered, "P-P-Professor Lupin!" Looking around she hazarded an excuse. "I, um, was, uh…sleepwalking." The excuse ended with a mumble, as she was quite sure that sleepwalking would not explain anything other than her own idiocy.

He snickered and shook his head, his white teeth gleaming with a smile. "I'll not tell, though why are you out?"

Luna looked up, gauging his reaction. "Just thinking…really. Having a moment to myself, if you will. I can't sleep often anyway, so I come here to take a minute and sit in silence."

He lifted a brow and moved closer to where she stood. "You didn't seem worried that you would be found."

Biting her lip, she waved a hand in a blasé manner. "Mrs. Norris doesn't come by here, and I'm not doing anything bad, just thinking. There is no strange graffiti in this passageway and I have no inclination to break windows or write strange, innocuous phrases in the frost."

Professor Lupin smiled softly. "Ah."

Blinking, Luna stared at his profile and almost matched his smile, before she realized that she was intruding on his personal time. "I'm sorry, you obviously were out, intent on pacing or thinking or whatnot. I'll leave you this space, it is quite nice, truly…" She smiled at him then, a fleeting, quick moment of upturned lips.

He turned and shook his head. "No, it was my intrusion on your time, please excuse me for it, I didn't mean to kick you away from it."

"It's all right, it's about time to get back for Gin –" Luna clamped her mouth shut, annoyed that she had almost let out that she and Ginny snuck into each others' beds. "Ginny said that I should get back before midnight, so at least I can pretend to get some rest."

The Professor arched a brow in a manner that she construed to mean he surely thought she was lying entirely. "You are doing very well in class, by the way, Luna."

Luna suddenly felt very hot under his compliment. It was mildly strange and an utterly foreign feeling indeed. "Thank you, sir. The classwork is challenging to be sure, and I like the subject quite well."

Leaning against the windowsill, he crossed his arms over his chest. "I'd say you would make a good Auror, but I have noticed you are not enrolled in Potions."

She felt herself relax a little. "I don't seem to have the interest to keep at a potion. There is always something else to think about, something different I could be doing at that moment. I am impressed that I passed as well as I did." Luna shrugged, and added, "Besides, there is always a chance I could poison myself or the recipient. I'd rather not have to live with the guilt." Grinning a little, she noticed he shared her smile.

The silence stretched out between them, their smiles fading. Luna felt the tension heighten, suddenly aware that something had changed imperceptibly. Wracking her brain for a topic, lest things change more, she found one and asked about the woman – Tonks? that he had been with last term.

That seemed to make him uncomfortable. "She and I are no longer attached. It seems that we were not meant for a lengthy relationship."

"Oh," Luna said, finding that his eyes on her made I her /I uncomfortable. "I'm sorry?"

Professor Lupin chuckled then, a warm and rich sound. "There is nothing to apologize for and we're happier now, so asking was not bad form."

He cleared his throat softly and pushed off the wall. "There are a few books that I'd like to lend you for further study in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Your quick learning is quite impressive, and since you like the subject, I wouldn't mind letting you read them for more in depth information," Professor Lupin said, a smile once again upon his face.

Luna looked up, her eyes wide. "Thank you, I think I'd like that. I think I'm going to go for the evening. I hope you sleep well, sir." She turned quickly and swiftly walked away, trying to ignore how his smile made her feel.

A/N: I'd like to thank M for beta-ing, it was definitely a delight. Other thanks include James, who sent me the song that is driving this piece, Getting There is Getting By, by Punchline. Check it out sometime. Hoped you enjoyed.