Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine, nor will it ever be.
A/N: This came to me while I was writing a scene for His Greatest Mistake…damn plot bunnies won't leave me alone. :) Enjoy and R&R as always!
June 21, 1993
Remus' salvation had come in the benevolent form of Albus Dumbledore.
Just as he had provided Remus with an education, the headmaster also offered him a position at Hogwarts, teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts.
He was not sure what to think.
Remus now owed everything that he had to Dumbledore: an education, friends, his health and now, a job when no one else would take him.
Indebted to the old man twice in his lifetime.
There was gratitude mixed in with the bitterness, and the knowledge tasted chalky in his mouth.
Gloomily, Remus contemplated a lifetime of favors for Dumbledore. He'd have to do whatever the headmaster asked him to do, now. There was no way Remus could refuse to perform any task—no matter how big it was.
This rather unfortunate sense of duty was how Remus had come to join the Order fifteen years ago.
"Remus, my dear boy," Dumbledore said, his eyes smiling as usual. He waved Remus to a chair in front of his desk. "It's a pleasure to see you. Have you been busy of late?"
Remus shrugged, unhappily aware of the contrast between Dumbledore's splendid blue and gold robes, and his own ragged black ones.
He'd been unable to find a position; his excellent grades and glowing recommendations were not cause enough for employers to hire him. It was a painfully ironic reminder that all of his hard work was for nothing because of prejudiced laws and frightened bigots.
It was just because he was a werewolf.
Remus had toiled and studied and excelled only to grab a job as a storekeeper in a dodgy part of Diagon Alley, something that anyone could do. The meager stipend that he earned was not even enough for him to rent his own flat, so he roomed with James and Lily, an uncomfortable situation that would only be exacerbated when they married.
He was really not in the mood for whatever cryptic words of advice that Dumbledore had for him.
"I have a request for you," the man said instead, folding his long fingers into a tipi.
"Yes?" said Remus warily.
"Well, it's more like a question." Dumbledore paused, his electric blue eyes poring into Remus, probing his darkest secrets. "What do you know about Lord Voldemort?"
He shrugged, aware that Dumbledore was watching him closely. "Not much. Nothing at all, actually."
"You are aware of the growing disappearances around the country, yes?"
"I suppose." He frowned. "Is Voldemort connected to those?"
"We believe so."
Remus carefully noted his use of the word 'we'.
"Who is--?"
"All in good time," said Dumbledore affably, sidestepping the unfinished question with practiced ease. "Now. What do you know about You-Know-Who?"
Remus rolled his eyes. "Just what I read in the Daily Prophet. I think it's complete rubbish."
"Oh?" Dumbledore looked mildly interested.
"Yeah. Supposedly he's this Dark Lord who rivals Grindelwald."
"What if I told you that the newspapers were telling the truth, for once? What if Voldemort and You-Know-Who are the same person?"
The session had culminated with Dumbledore's request for him to join the Order of the Phoenix, and as they say, the rest was history.
Flames flickered in front of his eyes as he brooded by the fireplace, contemplating Dumbledore's magnanimous offer.
He'd been well aware of the happenings at Hogwarts; the difficulty of procuring a teacher, the rumors that the job was jinxed.
He was well aware that the only reason why Dumbledore had crawling to him was because there was no one left.
Remus was the only man standing.
Again.
Would he really ask me if there were more qualified candidates? Remus asked himself, draining his teacup with the air of a weary campaigner.
Of course not, sneered his cynical counterpart, sounding an awful lot like an angry Severus Snape.
Oh, Merlin. Snape.
Dumbledore had told him that Snivellus was at Hogwarts as well, though Remus what not sure what the man taught.
How-to-look-like-a-Greasy-Git-101?
Remus shook his head wearily at his still rather juvenile sense of humor. It was the one thing he hadn't lost, after all these years.
But he was being uncharitable.
Snape was going to make him Wolfsbane; he would be safe on the full moon for the first time in thirty-four years.
That alone was enough to make him begin packing his bags now.
Remus rose and slowly walked to the kitchen, weighing the empty mug in one hand.
He wanted nothing more to take that job.
For the money. For the security. For the companionship.
For Harry.
James and Lily's son was now in his third year of Hogwarts, progressing well, according to Dumbledore, and stirring up more trouble with two friends than James did with three.
This idea made him smile, and Remus pulled out a quill and parchment, sitting down heavily at his battered kitchen table, still horribly indecisive.
Do you want to do this?
Yes. No.
A dark haired boy flashed before his eyes, grinning proudly at him as he ruffled up his hair and played with a Snitch.
Remus chuckled lowly, already knowing his answer.
"Dear Professor Dumbledore, I would be delighted to accept your offer…"