Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.
Remus stood alone in his office, emptying his drawer into a tatty suitcase, throwing away scrap sheets of unneeded paper. He heard light footsteps growing closer to his office, and a soft voice floating dreamily through the door.
"Professor? Are you there?"
He recognised the voice as belonging to one of his second year pupils. He had heard it rather often over the year, as it had often interrupted his lessons to provide bizarre arguments to his methods of dealing with dark creatures. One memorable time had brought the idea that every grindylow held within a core of pure evil waiting to be unleashed when some innocent, ignorant person gave to it almond brittle.
"Luna?" He looked up towards her with slight concern. "Is everything alright?"
She was hugging a plain brown, cloth bag to her chest, and her long hair hung in a loose ponytail.
"Oh, yes," she said. "I'm fine. I thought you might want some of my Senal Tymene."
Remus had no idea what she was talking about. "I'm sorry, your what?"
Luna's eyes widened a little in shock. "Oh, haven't you heard of it? It's excellent for werewolves. Daddy once wrote an article on it."
Remus blinked at her. He was getting lost, as he always eventually found himself with the young girl. He could find nothing to say but a simple, "Oh?"
Luna nodded, smiling faintly. "Daddy got it for me last year when dark hairs grew all over my arms," she told him, opening her bag and rummaging through its contents. "But it turned out that somebody had just put a jinx on my pyjamas."
Remus would have told her he was sorry, but she was holding out to him a large, garishly decorated tin in front of him. "Thank you Luna, really, but I don't wish to take your things." Luna did not move. "I'll be fine without it, I promise."
"Oh no, I really don't need it," Luna said, thrusting it closer to him; Remus instinctively flinched backwards. "I would have given it to you months ago if I'd known." She forced it into his arms, and he was surprised by its lightness.
"Well, then," Remus said awkwardly, his voice muffled by the tin. He put it down. Thank you. I'm certain it will be useful."
She smiled at him softly and glanced quickly around the room. "You're leaving," she said simply.
"Yes." Remus nodded. "Certain… recent events have meant it would be inappropriate for me to continue teaching here."
Luna gazed up at him softly. "People don't like that you're a werewolf. I've heard the Slytherins talking about it. They weren't very nice about you."
Remus was sure he didn't want to know what they had been saying, so he didn't ask. He simply nodded.
"Well, I thought you were an excellent teacher," she told him, not looking at him but instead examining the contents of her bag. "It's funny what bothers people. Everybody ignored it when Daddy found out that our last teacher was a very big smuggler of pixie venom, which I think is much worse."
Remus smiled in reply.
"Anyway," Luna said. "I've got to go. I'm packing early. Daddy and I are going are going to look for Crumple Horned Snorkacks in Norway. A friend of his says she thinks she saw one there and we both want to check straight away." She closed her bag. "So goodbye!"
"Goodbye Luna. Thank you again for the…" He checked the label. "Senal Tymene." He smiled at her with genuine kindness.
She smiled back and then immediately left, half skipping as she left the room.
Remus looked at the gift on his desk. He had no idea what he was meant to do with it (he wondered for a moment if there were instructions on the back) or if it was even safe, but as he inspected the illustration of a serene looking wolf with a large daisy perched on its head he could not help but smile.
Author's Note: Yay, another pointless piece of nonsense stuff! But it was fun to write, so oh well.
Thanks for reading, and I would really love for somebody to review. I'm happy to hear what you have to say, as long as it isn't just flaming. Which, by the way, doesn't at all mean I can't take criticism. I can. Just... I would love some reviews. Thank you.