Lara Graham had never had a crush on a teacher before. She had thought it foolish the way girls had simpered over Lockhart last year, and her friend Rebecca's inexcusable attraction to Snape was just sickening and wrong.
"I'm not claiming he's a nice man; I just think there's something very sexy about him in a dark, mysterious way!" was the repeated argument they'd had at least 5 times a week since third year. She had always maintained he was a far better alternative to the young wizards they knew – argued especially vociferously when such specimens were present.
True enough, Lara had never been too drawn to any of the boys at the school either, and did see the merits of an older man. Yet she never supposed for a minute she would fall for one, least of all a teacher.
But she hadn't counted on Remus Lupin entering into her life. The ever-respectable and increasingly fantastic Lupin; who she would fall utterly and foolishly in love with.
For better or worse.
Returning for her sixth year at Hogwarts, Lara was painfully aware she was going to have to pull her finger out at last. Her OWL exams had not been anywhere near as successful as they should have been for one reason or the other, and now that the preparation for NEWTs was to begin she knew she was going to have to buck up her ideas. Especially if she was to come out of her education with anything close to what she deserved.
These thoughts were still going through her head at 90 miles per hour as the students assembled for the start-of-term Feast, and she was only dragged away from them when Dumbledore stood up to address the assembled hordes. She had loved his speeches since First Year, but this year's had a darker tone, what with the escape of Sirius Black and its connotations. That was just her luck. Just when she needed cheering up she was given even more to worry about.
What did spark her interest however was the announcement of two new teachers. Firstly there was a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher – naturally, after Lockhart was both revealed as a fraud and got tangled up in one of Potter's misadventures in the same day. Also, Gamekeeper Hagrid was taking over Care of Magical Creatures. Fair enough, she thought. As this was not a subject that she was taking, the news was not particularly relevant, but she had always been fond of Hagrid and he did look well chuffed.
Professor Lupin however was all new - and a greatly intriguing character. He appeared very pleasant; a tall, quiet-looking man who at distance looked much older than his strong presence would suggest. She noted that he had a nice smile, but looked a bit rough around the edges, in his worn robes and scruffy greying hair. It was hard to figure him out, as she was so fond of doing, but there was plenty of time for that. Joining in with the spatter of applause, she continued to watch him as faces around her lit up with the excitement of food arriving. It made her chuckle to notice him smirking at Professor Snape, causing the Potions Master to scowl, sit up straighter in his high-backed chair and pointedly turn away. 'History' she decided to herself with her own smirk, taking a mental note to keep watch on that situation. Eventually, following Lupin's lead, she returned her attention to the people around her, discussing casually the summer's events with Becs and Simon, sat opposite her.
"I was barely allowed out of the house after it happened!" Rebecca said with a scowl. "Mum was all, 'Sirius Black this, mass murderer that! I don't see what all the fuss is about. I mean, he's not gonna come for us is he?! Besides, he's pretty damn hot too…" She broke off at this point to turn at look wistfully at Snape. Lara followed her dreamy gaze, amused to see that the object of her friend's affections was still casting the odd look of loathing down the table towards Professor Lupin. She pretended to scoff at Rebecca's suggestion about Black, but as much as she hated agreeing with her friend, he really did have potential.
Being Muggle born she had very little exposure to his story, but from the pictures she had seen she imagined he would have been very handsome prior to his imprisonment in Azkaban. Almost in a rock star kind of way, she thought, imagining a poster of him on her wall: unruly beard gone and replaced by rugged stubble… and with freshly cut hair and a bit more meat on his bones… and grinning… She stopped her train of thought. There she went again, drifting into her own little world. Dragging herself back to conversation, which had now turned to Prefect duties, she wished she had continued on her daydreams.
She remembered the equivalent of this conversation last year; the excitement of her closest friends at being chosen as Prefects, their embarrassment when they realised she hadn't… Of course Lara never expected to receive a badge in the post, what with the way her mind was set up. It wasn't surprising to her that the bossy if overly idealistic Becs had received one though, or that the intellectual, sensible Simon had.
"Well done guys," she had smiled, before joking that they better not get ideas above their station and start bossing her about. They still weren't entirely sure that she didn't mind being left out of this elite club, but at least were openly talking about their jobs now. The conversation remained more jovial until the end of dinner when her pals had to rush off to see to the Ravenclaw first years.
She didn't mind walking to her dormitory alone, and did so humming to herself contentedly, stopping only to say hello to the popular fifth year Cedric Diggory, who was ushering the Hufflepuff first years towards their own common room. He was one of the few boys she ever saw anything in at the school and returned her greetings warmly.
She reached her room before any of the others, and sat looking out of the window at the lake. The grounds were beautiful by moonlight, and she had a fantastic view from the top of the tower. The reflection of the crescent moon shimmered and rippled on the surface of the lake, as large bat-like birds skimmed across it.
Reflecting on one of her favourite sights, Lara sighed with the ease of her situation. Whatever might be ahead in the coming year, right now it didn't matter. She was home.