A/N: Remember, in PoA, when Hermione pointed to Lupin's case, which read 'in peeling, faded letters' Professor R. J. Lupin? I always wondered why that was, I mean, he had only just gotted accepted as a teacher. But then I thought he must have wanted to be a teacher, and James and co. got him the case to boost his confidence. It kind of made me cry, Lupin finally getting to fulfil his dream, then he goes up to the attic and gets down the case, but there's no-one to celebrate with him.

Professor R. J. Lupin

He had always wanted to be a professor.

Even when he was in Kindergarten – muggle, as his mother wanted him to get the experience – the other boys wanted to be firemen and racecar drivers, and he had, when asked, responded enthusiastically: I want to be a teacher.

All too soon, the dream was ripped away from him. He knew he could never be Professor Lupin.

Years later, when he cracked the wax seal, his heart leaped in his chest. Maybe…

Ȥ

Professor R. J. Lupin. That was his name, now.

Dumbledore had swept in and told him he was to be the Defense Professor, then swept out again.

Remus would have thought it was a joke, but it was, well, Dumbledore. Still, if it was a joke, it was a poor one.

He climbed up the rickety ladder and into the attic, for the first time in… well, since Hallow'een, 1981. It was dark in up there, but Remus didn't need light to find the old, old case. His fingers ran over eh familiar words.

Professor R. J. Lupin.

James had bought it for him, on his seventeenth birthday. When he had protested that a werewolf would never be allowed to teach, James had just given him an oddly serious look and said: One day, Moony, you will be. And you'll want to be ready.

A single tear rolled down his cheek.

Ȥ

He was on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters once more. All around him owls screeched, children ran, trying to get good spots on the train, mothers sniffed into their handkerchiefs, and trunks were whizzing by.

He was an island in a sea of chaos.

No child to hug for him, no friends to greet, just him and the old, old case.

Professor R. J. Lupin.

He went to the very end of the train, to the compartment he always shared with his friends. He fell asleep, curled into a ball.

Ȥ

He woke to the feel of a deathly cold, of misery and pain. There were children in the compartment with him, but it was far too dim to make them out.

The lights flickered. He saw the boy seated across from him clearly.

James?