Hey folks. Sorry, I would've had this up yesterday except the site had gone crazy on my browser, so I couldn't do anything with it. So here's chapter 7. Enjoy, and don't hesitate to review.


Moonchild

Chapter 7

Luna

It really hadn't been that bad, Luna thought as she navigated the halls to the Transfiguration classroom. I mean…well, he tried, at least. She turned a corner and saw the classroom door standing open.

"Good morning, Miss Lovegood," said Lupin when she entered. "I wanted to apologize for the foot we got off on that first day. I realize I was a bit brisk."

"It's alright, Professor," she said. "You don't have to apologize to me."

"I know," he sighed, "but I want to. It's tough, you know? Not having ever been a teacher before and now having to know how to do it all of a sudden, and then with Remus having taught here before as well…I understand he was very well-liked among the students. Not only do I have to live up to Minerva as Transfiguration teacher, but then there's living up to the name 'Lupin' as well."

"I imagine that would be difficult," Luna admitted.

"Well…here comes the rest of them," Lupin said. "I hate to cut this short but it looks like I have to teach. Come by my office for tea sometime."

The next hour was spent working again on Vanishing spells. Luna had trouble concentrating, and although her spell work was fine, her focus kept being interrupted by thoughts of how down Seleneo had been earlier. When Lupin dismissed class, she approached his desk.

"Professor," she said, "how soon can I cash in on that tea?"

"Let me see," Lupin said, and started rifling through parchments until he found what he was looking for. "Ok, here we are…I've got planning periods tomorrow at 12.30 until one, and then from 2.45 until 3.15. Do either of those sound agreeable?"

"Pencil me in for 2.45," said Luna.

"Alright," said Lupin, reaching for his quill. "I'll mark it right now so I don't forget."

Luna's tea appointment with Professor Lupin came sooner than she had expected. The hours between now and Transfiguration the day before had disappeared in a rush between eating in the Great Hall and being inundated with homework. Worst of all, she hadn't even seen Seleneo in passing since the Charms class he had subbed for.

"Come in," she heard Lupin call from inside when she knocked on the office door. The inside of the office was very different than what she had expected. It looked more like a sitting room than an office, with a sofa and two armchairs surrounding a coffee table near the fireplace, with an office desk sitting discreetly in the corner. A large portrait of Merlin hung on the wall opposite the fireplace, and long green and silver banners hung on the walls. On the mantelpiece were several black-and-white photographs of two boys who each kept trying to push the other out of the frame, and in the middle was a much larger photograph of Remus Lupin.

"Luna, good to see you," said the professor as she stepped inside. "How do you take it?"

"Crème and sugar, if that's alright," she said.

"No problem at all," replied Lupin. "I'm just a sugar person, myself, but I always keep crème on hand for instances like these." He poured the additives into one cup that was already filled and stirred it before setting it down in front of her on the table.

"So, what can I do for you?" asked the professor.

"Well…" Luna began, letting her voice trail off. She had gotten distracted by the décor of the office. "Professor, were you a Slytherin when you were here?"

"I was, in fact," admitted Lupin. "Remus never mentioned me to his Gryffindor friends, and that's fine. I wouldn't have expected him to. I was a few years ahead of him, anyhow. But yes, I was a Slytherin, and I'm a bit more proud of that now that Voldemort's out of the picture. We're not all bad, you know."

She considered this for a moment before saying, "Those pictures on the mantle, are they you and your brother?"

"You don't miss anything, do you?" Lupin chuckled. "Yes, that's us. Never got on all that well, Remus and I, but that's how it is sometimes I suppose. Of course, looking back I see that most of the problems between us were my fault…I wish I could go back and change it, but the past is the past and there's no use dwelling on it."

"You miss him though, don't you?" she probed.

"Of course I do!" Lupin said vehemently. "I loved my brother dearly. I just wish I'd done a better job of showing it. That's why it's so difficult, you know? It's my understanding that all the students here loved him, except the Slytherins of course, but that was probably more out of principle than anything else. So I have his reputation to live up to, and in a way it's like if I don't live up to it, I won't be able to make amends. I'm not sure if that even makes sense or not."

"Some of the better things in life don't," Luna said.

Lupin studied her for a moment. "That's a wise thing to say," he said finally. "Wiser than most things I'll ever say, probably." He took a drink from his cup. "Enough of my troubles, though. I set this time apart for you. So what can I do for you?"

"Well, it's…" Luna tried to find the words for what she was feeling at the moment. "Have you ever been in a situation where you cared for someone, and you wanted to help them but didn't know how?"

"I believe I'm in one of those situations right now," Lupin said, "but I believe I have an idea of what you're talking about. This wouldn't happen to be about Seleneo Moonchild, would it?"

"Yes!" Luna exclaimed. "How did you know?"

"He was in here yesterday evening," Lupin explained. "Said he wanted to go ahead and do Saturday's lesson last night, and also to see if he could get some advice. He talked about you quite a bit, if you can believe it."

"Did he?" If Luna's feelings had been churning before, it was nothing compared to now.

"Yes he did," Lupin said, "and I imagine he's on your mind right now, as well. Listen, you don't have to say anything, and you don't have to act on what I'm about to say, either. I don't want to see you get hurt, or any of my students for that matter, but one of the worst things in life is living with the question 'What if'. For years I've lived with it myself. What if I'd treated Remus better when we were young? Would he still be alive? What if I'd fought next to him against Voldemort instead of hiding? Maybe his son would have had his own father to raise him. All these things, I wonder…what if? Now, as I said, do with that what you will, but above all, do what you think is right."

"I'd better go," Luna said, setting down her half-finished cup. "If I hang around any longer I'll be late for Professor Jones' class."

"Well in that case, yes I think you'd better had," said Lupin. "Just remember, the universe has a way of working things out. Everything will turn out the way it's meant to."

"Thanks, Professor," said Luna. She retrieved her schoolbag from the floor and headed out of the office.

Do what I think is right, Luna thought to herself on the way to Defense Against the Dark Arts. I can do that.