A/N: This is my first Harry Potter fic. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I'm just going to say this once at the beginning of this story... I do not in any way own any of the characters or the world of Harry Potter.

Meant to Be

Chapter 1

Tonks is bored. The feast is almost over and everyone is waiting for Dumbledore to dismiss them. Her best girl friends Mary and Alana are moaning about how their boyfriends didn't write over the summer and Tonks has long since stopped paying attention. She hasn't gone out with a guy since Oliver Wood in third year… And even that doesn't really count as it lasted barely a week before they decided to just be good friends again. Still, she couldn't look him in the eye for a month after that fiasco. It's not that she's not interested in dating, there's just never been anyone she felt a deeper connection to.

As her eyes wander around the great hall, she is drawn to the new Defence against the Darks Arts professor. What was it Dumbledore had introduced him as? Oh yes… Professor R.J Lupin. She rolled some names starting with R around in her head… Rodger… Rick… Ronald? No, none of them seemed to fit the man who was at the moment engaging in polite conversation with the professor next to him, despite the exhaustion Tonks could sense he carried. Suddenly he turns around and looks directly at Tonks, as if he could feel her eyes on him. Their eyes lock and neither are able to break away. Heart pumping furiously at being caught, Tonks is powerless to break contact until a hand grabs her shoulder and shakes her.

"Tonks!" repeats Mary, her friend and the Hufflepuff prefect.

"Wha.." says Tonks confused, breaking her eyes from the mysterious professor and turning to face Mary, "Sorry, what did you say?"

"I was just going to ask whether you wanted any more treacle tart but now I want to know more about your crush on the new hot professor," says Mary giggling.

Blushing furiously, Tonks says, "I don't know what you're talking about."

However, Mary's words make her think about Lupin's appearance. She definitely agrees that he's cute, despite the odd lines and scars that marred his otherwise youthful face. His sandy brown hair hangs carelessly over his face, and Tonks could feel the warmth and kindness in his eyes despite the distance between them. His robes were rather shabby, and patched in places. Tonks was puzzled as to what would make it hard for an evidently talented wizard to struggle keeping a job, or whether it was just that he didn't worry about material possessions.

"Come on," says Mary winking, "I saw that intense stare between the two of you, and he's still watching you you know.

Tonks grabs her friend so she's facing away from the professor, "Stop looking at him!" She exclaims, "He'll know we're talking about him."

As it turns out, Tonks was saved anyway by Dumbledore bidding them all goodnight. She hurried out of the great hall with her friends, so as to not be tempted to peek back at Lupin again. Later that night, Tonks fell asleep to thoughts of the mysterious new professor at Hogwarts.

Lupin wearily tries to concentrate on the conversation he is having with the arithmatics professor. The full moon was a few nights ago so he still feels tired, and the encounter with the dementors on the train didn't help. His thoughts stray to Harry, whom he has long desired to meet. His heart yearns for the boy who has seen too much darkness already in his life. He sees so much of James and Lily in the boy despite only talking to him for a short while. The courage he showed in the aftermath of the dementor attack, so true of both of his old friends, as well as the stubbornness which reminds him so much of Lily. And of course there is his appearance. He had heard descriptions of course, but nothing compares to seeing him with his own eyes. Remus could have sworn he had travelled back twenty years to when he was a third year, and was seeing James in front of him. And yet his eyes, such a vivid green, could only be Lilly's. Saddness weighs down on him at the painful memories the boy evokes, as well as guilt from knowing that is the reason why he has never sought Harry out before.

Suddenly he feels a prickling at the back of his head, as though someone is watching him. He turns around and his eyes automatically latch on to another pair belonging to a girl with bright pink spiky hair at the back of the Hufflepuff table… clearly a seventh year then. Her heart-shaped face makes her seem younger than that, or perhaps it's the innocence he sees in her eyes - something that he hasn't seen in too long. Something about her makes it impossible to break away, and though it was probably only a few seconds, it seemed longer before her friend eventually breaks the contact between them.

Flustered he turns back around only to find Professor Vector already having moved on and gossiping to another teacher. Remus lets his eyes rest once more upon the girl with bright pink hair. He finds himself praying that she will be in his NEWT level Defense class, so he can discover more about this intriguing girl. However, he quickly snaps back into reality realising that what he is thinking is completely inappropriate. He is a teacher, and a werewolf one at that. He must keep his distance.

Remus is thankful when Dumbledore finally sends everyone to bed, including the teachers. However, despite no longer being in the same room as the young Hufflepuff, he is unable to stop his thoughts straying to her anymore then he could his eyes back in the Great Hall. Hating himself for it, Remus falls asleep eagerly awaiting his seventh years whom he has before lunch the next day.

Thanks for reading. Please leave a review and let me know what you thought!