It pervaded his thoughts quite distractedly, more often than ever, just how strange it felt that Remus Lupin was a married man. He'd barely ever considered himself a man at all, but even as he watched her working alongside Ron Weasley, trying to show him the curse they'd been practicing, her light smile and kind reassurance; all he truly hoped was that he could be a worthy enough one for such a wonderful woman. And that was the thought, wasn't it? That despite the fact that they were only playing house, it felt like home to him. She felt like home.

"Professor Lupin?"

Hermione Granger's hand shot up in the air just before the end of class. Remus looked up from his desk, Morgana from her place on the other side of the room now looking after a Slytherin girl's work.

"Yes, Miss Granger," he said. She shook her head, smiling a little awkwardly. Morgana smiled a bit, straightening up so she could see Hermione from across the room.

"Yes?" she said.

"Professor, I was wondering when we'd receive back our essays," she asked, though Morgana could tell her curiosity was only the surface emotion on display.

"Essays? You're not the homework type," Remus turned to her, also curious. Morgana smiled a bit wider, though it seemed incredibly strained.

"During our absence, dear, Professor Snape found it to be especially prudent to teach a subject not on our curriculum and assign an essay for it, which I will be giving all students full points for even if they did not find the time in their busy, busy schedules to complete it," she stated firmly, drawing Hermione back into her chair with the too pleasant smile focusing back on her.

"What was the essay on?" he asked Hermione, knowing he wasn't going to get anything out of Morgana by the strained look on her face.

"Werewolves, sir," Hermione answered quietly. His eyebrows perked up for a moment and he laughed.

"Is that so? Well, I suppose you'll all be adequately prepared for your OWLs in two years on that subject, then. Everyone, have a good holiday!"

The students rose up and bounded from class quickly, though Harry lingered as he often did.

"Harry, will the Sunday after Hogsmeade work for you, for those extra lessons? I'll be a bit late on some business myself but you'll have my much more capable half," she asked after the boy bent over his notes jotting down a last bit of information. He looked up at her with a small, unconvincing smile.

"That'd be fine, Professor. Thank you both for taking the time," he said, finishing his notes and quickly stowing the last of his possessions into his bag, including his wand.

"Never do that," Morgana said sharply, Remus jolted from the seat he'd just taken and drew his wand as though Sirius Black had just entered through the doorway. Harry froze, staring at her quite bewildered.

"Always have your wand on you. Always ready. Ante victoriam. Paratos esse," she continued in the same tone, her eyes squared in on him intensely. He looked for a moment at Remus, who had inadvertently been a prime example of her words; he stowed his wand back into his inner robe pocket, watching her.

"What does that mean?" Harry asked.

"It's the Auror code of ethics. Before victory, be ready. She doesn't mean any harm by it," Remus added quickly. Morgana straightened up a bit, looking away from Harry, who grabbed his wand and mimicked Remus.

"Dumbledore told us a bit about what you've been through the last couple of years here. I just want you to know that, though we are here to protect you, all of you, you need to be as ready as we are to protect yourself," she said. Harry thought for a moment, then nodded.

"You're right. Thank you, Professors. Have a good holiday," he said, throwing his bag over his shoulder and leaving quickly.

"Everything alright?" Remus asked as soon as they were alone.

"I just saw something. I wasn't looking, it jumped out at me. That boy carries the weight of the world on his shoulders and he's just a child. He's so scared, but at the same time so brave. There's a battle going on in him every second. It's very overwhelming," she replied, leaning back on a desk.

"Exactly why we'll do all we can to help him," he answered. She nodded, far off in thought.