Romulus Canis and the Unexpected Love
I do not own HP nor do I make any money off of this.
A/N: According to the timeline on the HP Lexicon, Dumbledore doesn't become Headmaster until 1955 but I'm tweaking it for my own amusement.
Remus John Lupin was not a happy man. He was currently who knew where after being hit by some unknown spell in the Department of Mysteries. After a few minutes of looking around, he realized he was at Hogwarts. But there was something not quite right; the Whomping Willow was nowhere in sight and it had either been destroyed, or he had traveled back in time to before it was planted just prior to his first year. 'Well I won't know for sure unless I go up to the school and see if anyone can tell me what the date is.' So he picked himself up, and began walking towards the school.
Albus Dumbledore, the recently instated Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, sat in his office trying to figure out what had disturbed the wards. It wasn't anything dangerous from what the wards were telling him, but it was always better to be safe rather than sorry. He quickly strode out of his office, determined to see just what had appeared on Hogwarts grounds.
Remus' acute hearing picked up someone walking towards him at a brisk pace. He stopped when they became visible just over the top of the hill. 'Why does that person look familiar to me?' He stayed where he was as the figure got closer and Remus almost gasped. 'That looks like a younger version of Albus. Hell, for all I know it could be a younger version of Albus.' He snapped out of his musings when the younger Albus began speaking.
"Greetings good sir, my name is Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. May I ask what you are doing here?"
Remus took a deep breath and began to explain his predicament. "Well sir it's like this. I was hit with an unknown spell and I believe that I've been sent back in time. Could you please enlighten me as to the date?"
"Why certainly, it is July 3rd 1930. You say you've gone back in time?"
Remus sighed. "It appears so. I'm from the year 1995. Do you know of any possible way that I could get home sir?"
"No my good sir, I don't believe that I do. But you are welcome to come up to the school with me and we can see as to what can be done about your situation. By the way, I don't believe I caught your name."
"Romulus Canis sir," Remus popped out the first thing that he could think of. He didn't want to give out his real name, seeing as how he didn't know if it would mess with the timeline or not. He followed Albus when the man motioned him up towards the school. He took this time to study this younger version of the grandfatherly man he knew in his own time. This Dumbledore had deep auburn hair that reached his shoulder blades, blue eyes, and a five-o-clock shadow that looked rather good on him. His voice was not as hoarse as it was in his time, but it was deep and rich, like the chocolates his papa had brought home a lot.
Meanwhile, Albus was pondering the young man behind him. He was a mystery, and he so did enjoy a mystery. He also enjoyed the challenge that helping a time traveler fit in would be. He began running various options through his mind, but he rejected each one. He guessed they would just have to wait until they got up to the school and could look at the situation from all angles.
After they had reached the office, the two had sat down and began discussing the situation in more depth. Albus decided it was better if he didn't know anything about the world in Romulus' time, so that topic remained untouched.
"Have you ever taught before Romulus?" The two had decided to be on a first name basis.
"Yes I have actually. Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"Did you have any subjects in school that you were particularly good at besides DADA? Charms, or maybe Arithmancy?"
"Yes, I was quite good at Charms, but of the two I'd say that Arithmancy was my favorite."
"Well we have an opening for the Arithmancy position. Would you be interested?"
'Romulus' sighed. "I am but there is something you should know about me first. I am not safe around the full moon. I was bitten by a werewolf as a child and have been cursed with the affliction ever since."
Albus leaned back in his chair, fingers stroking the light stubble on his face while he thought. "Well there are some rooms in the dungeons that you can lock yourself in or if you'd prefer something a little less claustrophobic then you could always use one of the abandoned classrooms in the Southern tower. The full moon is one week from today so we have enough time to prepare."
"Are you saying you'd be willing to hire me sir?"
"Why of course. I don't see how being a werewolf would affect your teaching abilities. We will have to keep your condition a secret of course, but the school nurse, Madame Combs will have to be informed so that she can tend to any injuries you sustain. Does that sound good to you Romulus?"
'Romulus' thought about it for a minute and then agreed that it did sound like a good idea. Albus then called for a house elf to set up a room for him whilst they ate dinner in Albus' private quarters. The two began discussing the upcoming school year, favorite books, bits and pieces of their childhoods and their school days. The two were quite surprised a few hours later when they were interrupted by the elves coming to say that Romulus' room was finished; they hadn't realized the time had been passing so quickly.
After being shown to his room and transfiguring some nightclothes, Romulus climbed into bed, utterly exhausted. He had no idea what this little adventure would bring but he did know one thing; this was certainly going to be one hell of a ride.