Veronica woke with a start at the sound of a knock on her door. Had she overslept on her first day?! She quickly threw on a dressing gown over her pyjamas and sped over to the door. As she opened it, she looked up to see Remus standing infront of her, already dressed and prepared for the day.
"Ah, good morning, Vera." He said with a small smile.
"Remus! Have I overslept? I'm so sorry, I swear I'm usually better about being awake on time, I just-" Veronica rambled.
"No, no, that's not it at all. In fact, we have almost an hour and a half before breakfast even starts. I was actually hoping we could take a few moments to go over our first week's curriculum, and then I could escort you to breakfast if you like?" He suggested.
Veronica let out a small sigh of relief, before smiling warmly. "Of course. Just let me get ready and I'll be right out, yeah?"
"Take your time. I'll be right outside in the office." He assured her.
Veronica shut the door and scurried around, grabbing clothes for the day. She hurriedly bathed herself and got dressed, deciding to wear one of her nicer dresses for the first day of teaching. After making sure her hair and minimal makeup looked acceptable, she stepped out of her room amd into the office where Remus sat waiting at his desk.
He looked up at her and stood, a warm smile spread across his face. "You look lovely. Are you ready for today?"
"Thank you. " she said, as a light blush spread across her cheeks. "I think I'm ready. Or, rather, I hope I am. To be quite honest, I don't know what I'm doing here." She admit, walking over to lean on his desk.
Remus stood in front of her and grasped her hands in his. "Well, obviously Dumbledore thought you were capable of doing this job, or he wouldn't have asked you to do it. Plus, as a permanent assistant professor, you'll be a good source of stability for the students should someone else be the professor in the future. They could use a familiar figure in this class to help them feel more comfortable." He assured her.
"But I couldn't even handle the bloody dementor on the train. How can you be so sure I'm capable of helping teach others how to do things that I couldn't do when the time came to do it? " she countered.
"Darling, you have more reason than most to be affected by dementors. Your past is not one I would wish upon anyone. I know you felt helpless in the moment, but we were all caught off guard. You were focused on keeping Harry safe, and you made a snap decision. You're a very capable and talented witch, and I have no doubts that should a situation like that rise again, you'll be able to handle it." Remus said, placing a gentle hand on her cheek.
Veronica looked up at him and saw the sincerity in his eyes. If he believed in her, maybe she could do it after all.
"You have a lot of faith in me Remus. Let's hope I can prove you right. Now let's go over the lesson plan for the week." She said, squeezing the hand that still held her own.
His smile grew, and he walked around the desk and pulled out a few papers that had a basic rundown of the week's curriculum. First and second years were doing basic spells. Third and fourth were working on boggarts. Fifth was more advanced spells. Sixth and seventh were wandless magic and patronus charms. It seemed like a pretty straightforward schedule, and it would be nice to see the students learn something from someone who knew what they were doing.
"What do you think? Do you like it?" Remus asked.
"Like it? I think its brilliant. They're going to love this class. It's about time we got someone competent to teach this class." She admit.
Lupin let out a small chuckle and put the papers in order before turning to Veronica. "Right, well, we'll see how competent I am after we've dealt with the first, sixth, and seventh years today. And tonight, I want to work with a boggart with you. I'm aware you've encountered one before, but I've got one in the form of a dementor that I'd like to teach with. Perhaps we can get a fully formed patronus?" He suggested.
Sbe had tried to create a full patronus for years, but to no avail. She just never had strong enough memories. Perhaps Remus could help her with that. "Sounds perfect." She agreed.
He held out his arm for her to tale and nodded. "Excellent. Now, let's hurry of to breakfast. I'm sure your brother will be wanting to see you before classes."
She smiled widely and took his arm, her eyes glistening with nerves and excitement. "Lead us on, Professor."