Round 12 of the Quidditch League Competition.

Team: Falmouth Falcons

Position: Chaser 2

Round Prompt: You'll be writing about two characters in a colleagues relationship

McGonagall and Remus

5. (food) Strawberry

8. (Dialogue) "Move away from the door and let me at him!"

14. (word) Fix

Word count: 1910

Beta's: Aima D. Duragon; Flye; GeekMom13

Minerva McGonagall readied herself to discover who the new DADA professor would be this year. After the unspeakably bad choice of Gilderoy Lockhart, and poor Quirinius' 'accident,' she couldn't help but feel a little anxious.

Adjusting her glasses and holding her head up high she walked into Dumbledore's office fully prepared for the news. She nodded to Snape in greeting, he had returned to Hogwarts at the same time she had to prepare for another bunch of new students. Her attention drifted to Sprout who must have just returned and approached her. They only managed a short catch up before Dumbledore addressed them.

"Thank you for coming. As you are all aware we are down one professor this year. Fortunately, I have found a replacement," he started before pausing unnecessarily. His eyes twinkled as some of the professors looked around. "He has not arrived yet and will be here when the students arrive tomorrow."

How unorthodox. Most Professors arrive a week before the students, occasionally, arriving the day before hadn't been questions, but on the same day?

"Who is it?" she inquired.

"A former student. I believe you all remember Remus Lupin?"

A low growl ignited from Snape - everybody knew they didn't get along during their school years. "You are going to allow him to teach?"

McGonagall saw the pure hatred on her colleague's face, even after all these years he hadn't changed his mind on his former classmates. Whilst she wasn't overjoyed with the idea of one of the former pranksters returning, Remus had always been the least of the four evils...

Remus' pranks, however, weren't the only issue regarding his student years. Remus was a werewolf, and whilst she grew fond of him during his time at Hogwarts, it still came with a level of danger. The wolf reflected that and he was monitored closely to ensure he was safely away from the other students during the full moon.

Now that he was an adult it would be harder to monitor him without seeming untrusting or prejudiced. Perhaps teaching wasn't the best profession for him, but she knew Dumbledore was more trusting and liked giving second chances. She just hoped things didn't go as bad as they did for the last two years. She hated seeing students in harm's way.

Minerva McGonagall had to admit that it wasn't as awkward having Remus, a former student, become a professor as it was when Severus had become one. It had been years since she saw the latest addition to the staff; however, it hadn't been long after he finished school that Severus had returned. It took some adapting to not treat the raven-haired boy like a student but rather a colleague. Thankfully, Remus was easier - he wasn't the same boy she knew, but rather a man. That didn't erase everything she knew about him though.

"Remus Lupin," she greeted after the feast.

His face turned into a smile as he turned his attention to her. "Professor McGonagall. How have you been?"

"Very well. You look well."

"Thank you. It's been a good few days," he replied as he maintained his smile.

Minerva noticed that he did look very put together and it was satisfying to see. She always worried about her students after they left - some more than others. "I never knew you were interested in teaching."

Remus seemed to contemplate this question for a while before replying. "I didn't think much about careers when I was in school; they didn't seem attainable for me." He glanced down before continuing, as if what he said was wrong or a big secret. "Staying with friends seemed more important than venturing out into the real world. Especially with the war in full force upon graduation."

She nodded understandingly. His excuses made sense, but she also knew the underlying reason he didn't look into careers. Seeing him coming back to Hogwarts must have been hard for him, having a constant job and being here without his old friends would not be easy. But she knew he had it in him, he had a kind heart and that was essential for teaching. "If you ever needed anything, my office is always open."

He smiled genuinely. "Thank you, Professor."

Whilst it would be common practice to correct him to call her Minerva, it didn't feel like the right time; besides, not all professors called her Minerva. "Of course, Professor."

Remus looked mildly surprised at that, either from not expecting it or hearing her teasing tone, but either way, he looked happy as they parted ways. Her eyes followed him as she walked out - there were three weeks until the full moon.

Minerva's general concern had been proven when Remus hadn't been able to fulfill all of his duties. She was pleased that he gave himself plenty of time to get away from the students and to a safe and secure location before his transformations. He had grown up with a level of responsibility - it did mean she didn't have to follow his movements as much as she expected. Being able to trust him to remove himself made it easier to accept him as a good professor. She knew he had the potential, and now was starting to see him being able to fit in here. Unfortunately, being unable to attend classes and teach the students was almost the same as not taking the job seriously. She had not expected his werewolf problem to affect that part of his job.

Though she knew Snape's offer to cover his class wasn't filled with good intentions, she was glad that he had stepped up regardless. It wasn't common to cover another professor's class, especially with short notice.

Minerva knew that it wasn't really Remus' fault that he missed the class, it was always due to an especially harsh transformation. She couldn't help but think that he should have gotten used to them after so many years - but it wasn't something she had first hand experience with, no matter how many times she heard that werewolves and animagus' were a lot alike.

Remus didn't have the choice to change, she could chose when she wanted to. If there was a fix for Remus' problem, she knew the young man would take it in a heartbeat. It was something that had been researched for years with very little luck. Fixing his problem, or curing it, just wasn't an option.

It was hard to ignore the negatives, even when Dumbledore first mentioned Remus starting as an eleven-year-old student.

Had it been another, less-reliable, student who had been bitten, McGonagall knew that he would have been expelled for something out of his control. But Remus had never caused an incident.

Unfortunately, he hadn't shown the same dedication to teaching with all his missed classes, even if it couldn't always be helped.

Minerva lifted a freshly picked strawberry from Sprout's collection and popped it into her mouth. She didn't have a sweet-tooth, but enjoyed her colleague's splendid grown fruits on occasions. They were always sweeter than she remembered when she was a child. She looked up at her office door when somebody knocked. Looking at the time she wondered if she'd have to give one of her Gryffindors a detention or not. "Come in."

The door opened slowly, revealing a tired-looking Remus. "Good evening, Professor. I hope I'm not disturbing you."

"Of course you're not. Come. Sit."

Remus followed her instructions but left the door ajar. She waved her wand to close it.

"How can I help you?"

"I wanted to thank you for coming to the last transformation."

She couldn't help but be surprised. "You remember?"

He nodded. "I do."

Minerva hadn't expected him to remember her showing up. She had been one of the professors who took him to and from the shack during his first few years at Hogwarts when he was a child. She wanted to understand his situation more as an adult and instead of growing use to the wolf, it seemed the wolf had begun to be a bigger issue.

She had always shadowed his journey to the willow until he graduated, even after he had assured her that it was unnecessary. Just as she had when he was a student.

Minerva followed Remus as he approached the hidden passage.

She could hear the shouting from inside the shack - the voices seemed far too young for Remus. As she snuck up to the door, she could see Remus talking with his back to the door, and the telltale stripes of an Azkaban uniform swaying in and out of view in front of him.

She could clearly hear Miss Granger declaring her protection for another person who stood out of view. Deciding she should intervene - after all, Sirius was a wanted prisoner and he was putting her students lives in jeopardy - she changed back into her human form.

A rustling behind her caused her to turn her attention away from what was happening. "Snape," she verbalised quietly.

"Move away from the door and let me at him!" he bit out once he was close enough for her to hear without alerting the others of his presence.

Everybody knew the hate he had for Remus and Sirius, she didn't want it to cloud his judgement. "I can handle it."

He shook his head. "You're more valuable as an animagus."

A valid argument. He slipped past her before she had time to respond, but decided to trust him and transformed back into her animagus form.

Minerva should have jumped up then and stopped everything when Severus was blasted into the spare bed. However, things began to calm down. During the discussion amongst the two former students and three current, she briefly checked Severus over, glad and disappointed to go unnoticed by the other occupants in the room.

Peter killed Lily and James? That was an unexpected discovery.

Once they were left alone, she quickly casted 'Rennervate' to revive Severus before following them. It appeared that Remus had forgotten what night it was.

It was a difficult decision to not intervene when the moonlight hit Remus and he began to transform. The pain on his face was heartbreaking, until all that made him him washed away slowly into the monster he hated. But Severus had managed to protect the students.

Minerva did make the decision to follow Remus - well, werewolf Remus - after he had fought with Sirius. She trusted Severus to protect the students, even if he didn't like them, and needed to ensure that her fellow professor did not harm anybody. She knew he wouldn't be able to forgive himself.

Staying out all night as a cat and interacting with a werewolf was exhausting. She didn't know how Sirius, James, and Peter did so frequently during their Hogwarts years - then again, they were younger.

Seeing the full transformation with her eyes had been an experience which opened up her understanding of what he was going through. She hadn't even had the presence of mind to react, luckily Severus had stepped in front of the children after he transformed and seemed to lose himself.

The fact that he continued to go on and was able to treat others with utter compassion was amazing. Especially due to how many people hated him simply for something beyond his control. It was now that she really saw him as just another colleague.

"Biscuit?" she offered, holding out a plate for him.

Thank you for reading!