Monday, 25 April 1977

Lena groaned as she waited outside the greenhouse. She was initially pleased that her career advice session with Professor Sprout was during her History of Magic class. Who wouldn't be? They didn't have to hear Binns drone on and on about things that happened centuries before.

But now Lena was worried. What if she missed something important and got behind? What if there was a pop quiz that was being passed out that Binns wouldn't let her retake it and she got a T on it as a result? What if Binn suddenly became interesting?

Of course, those worries were small in comparison to her other fears. She was dreading the career advice session. It wasn't because she was afraid of Sprout. Despite her sweet demeanor she presented, Lena and every other Hufflepuff student knew not to cross Pomona Sprout. Students from other houses wrote her off much too quickly and without any good reason other than she didn't send shivers down your spine unlike other professors. She was a formidable witch even though she didn't always show it. Lena was absolutely certain that Sprout could dispose of a body easily and destroy all the evidence with her vast knowledge of Herbology. But no, Lena was not afraid of Sprout. She was one of the loveliest professors Lena had ever met.

Lena didn't dread the career advice session because it meant she was nearing adulthood, that she would have to work hard for the rest of her life. Lena wasn't scared of hard work. Lena was always working hard. Yes, hard work sometimes overwhelmed her but it never really scared her.

Work was something people had to do and had to accept. Not work in the sense of finding a job and making money. No, it was more work in the sense of trying. Working on your relationships with other people, whether that meant strengthening them or severing them. Working on understanding people better and what they were thinking without the exchange of words. Working on how to become a better person for yourself and others.

No, Lena Pettigrew was not afraid of work.

What Lena was afraid of was the result of this meeting. She believed that the inevitable result of the meeting was that Sprout would tell her that no one would ever hire and that she might as well just stop trying. She didn't like the idea of not being wanted. Who would hire someone who had dyslexia and, as a result, took twice as long to do tasks that weren't even always completed properly? The answer: no one.

Lena wasn't the only one person with those fears. She had often heard her parents whisper about their concerns about Lena finding a job after Hogwarts. They went through numerous career options for her between themselves without telling her. She overheard them of course. The ruled out jobs like Auror and Healer based on her likelihood to achieve the O.W.L.S. and N.E.W.T.S. the positions required. And any job in the Ministry seemed like a poor option. With the amount of paperwork it required, Lena would be drowning in a sea of words she would be unable to decipher. It wasn't like she could work at Gringotts either. She was always mixing up her fives and fours, her threes and eights, her sixes and nines. And she couldn't teach. She knew she would never be about to teach someone well and make them understand concepts that seemed rather useless. She certainly didn't want to be put in the ranks of horrible professors with the likes of Binns. Maybe she'd be able to work as a shopkeeper or something. It wasn't the job her parents envisioned for her, but she'd probably be able to do it.

Lena had never met anyone else with dyslexia in her life. At least she had never met anyone who had told her that they had dyslexia. She didn't know how people like her obtained jobs or maintained their positions. Lena wished she had someone to talk to about it. Lena had once spoken to Peter about her worries about getting a job and how she'd provide for herself. Like always, he cheered her up with his nonchalance of the seriousness of the matter. "You've got three options as I see it. You can marry rich, you can live with me but as my maid of course, or you could become a rockstar. I'm personally rooting for rockstar." "But I can't sing," she remembered saying. "Yeah, but neither can Melody River and she's doing great." His lack of worry washed away her worry for a time. The worry always came back though. She had considered asking Remus about it but she thought against it. While they were in similar positions abouts job prospects after Hogwarts, they were in them for different reasons. Remus was incredibly intelligent and Lena had no doubt that he had the capacity for any job he wanted to do. Just no one would give him one because they were all a bunch of prejudiced gits with no understanding of him or werewolves. Lena, on the other hand, was in the position Remus was in because of her dyslexia. The main difference between Remus and Lena was that Remus' lycanthropy would not affect his ability to perform his job while Lena's dyslexia would.

Lena's mind was still racing as the door to the greenhouse opened and Zoë walked out.

"How'd it go?" Lena asked.

"Good. Apparently I have the aptitude for a great potioneer. Good luck in there. It'll go great. I'm sure of it."

"Thanks, Zo. I'll see you later."

Lena took a deep breath and walked into the greenhouse. Lena loved the greenhouse. It was a place of peace and life with its silence and flora. Silence could be such a wonderful thing. It let people focus. It left people to their own thoughts. And Lena loved the colors from the plants that adorned the greenhouse. There were countless shades of a variety of colors. Lena was sure that there weren't names for all those shades, at least not ones that could do their beauty justice.

It was strange how she could feel like a nervous mess in one of the most peaceful places at Hogwarts. Her palms were sweaty and she felt a bit unsteady.

Lena sat down across from Sprout who pushed all the pamphlets in front of her sideways, away from Lena. Lena didn't take this as a good sign.

"Tea?" Sprout asked as she poured herself a cup. It was Earl Grey.

"Yes, please," Lena said, a bit shakier than she wanted to.

Sprout smiled and poured Lena a cup. The cup shook in Lena's trembling hands as she raised it to her lips.

"Calm down, Lena." Sprout was more personal than usual. Maybe it was because she was about to crush the small amount of hope Lena had. "There's nothing to be nervous about. This isn't supposed to frighten you. This is supposed to help you."

"I know. It's just… I don't know what to expect."

"No one ever does."

Lena nodded and helped herself to a biscuit that was in a tin.

"Now, Lena, do you have any idea of what you want to do after Hogwarts?"

And then Lena felt like a fool and couldn't stop the tears from falling into her cup of tea.

She didn't want to look like an idiot who couldn't control their emotions and who cried at the drop of a pin. That wasn't her. Or maybe it was.

"I don't know! No one's going to hire me! I can't do anything!" Lena sobbed, turning the peaceful place into one of hysteria. She couldn't find the words to convey her despair and fears.

Sprout said nothing and let Lena cry. She waited for her sobs to stop. Lena remained red in the face and blotchy. Her breathing was heavy.

"Lena, there are less traditional job options out there," Sprout said with all the kindness one would expect from a Hufflepuff. "Ones that don't depend on how many O.W.L.S. or N.E.W.T.S. you have. Not everyone has to take a desk job and work a typical nine to five."

"But I only know about the nine to five ones!"

Sprout let out a laugh. "I know. That's why I put the pamphlets over there. You already know everything that's in them."

"Oh."

"You're very bright, Lena. Your grades just don't always show it and that's not your fault."

Lena nodded.

"But employers of traditional jobs may not see it that way," Sprout continued.

Lena bit her quivering lip.

"What do you suggest I do?"

"Do something that uses your talents."

"My talents?"

"Yes, your talents."

"Um, what are my talents?"

Sprout blinked.

Lena blinked back.

"I've heard you're quite the artist."

"You have?"

"Yes," Sprout hummed. "I've often had to shush Mr. Lupin in my class. He was going on and on the other day about what a talented artist you are and how you capture the smallest of details and stay true to the subject."

"Remus talks about me?" Lena said, slightly giddy all of the sudden.

"We are supposed to be talking about your job options, not Mr. Lupin," Sprout said, with an eyebrow raised.

"Sorry." But you brought Remus up, not me.

"Do you have a sketchbook I can take a look at?"

Lena nodded and took it out of her rucksack. She opened it and blushed. She flipped the page. And then she flipped it again. And again. And again. And again.

She really didn't want Sprout to see all of her drawings of Remus.

Lena passed the sketchbook to Sprout. Lena watched as Sprout flipped through the pages Lena had drawn. Images of Lena's friends and family, countless flowers and landscapes, towering edifices and structures flashed across Sprout's eyes as she flipped through the pages. She smiled.

"I see Mr. Lupin wasn't exaggerating," Sprout said as she closed the sketchbook and handed it back to Lena. "You're very talented, Lena."

"Thank you," Lena mumbled. She was sure she was blushing, not that Sprout could see it. Her skin was already red from crying.

"There are lots of jobs that you could get after Hogwarts. You could work as a courtroom sketch artist or as an illustrator for books or a cartoonist. I know that many people in academia, like those in the fields of history or herbology, hire artists to sketch for them when they go on expeditions or travels. The Museum of Magical History is always looking for artists to work for them so they can sketch artefacts or any of the ruins they find. The artists often parlay that into something more, too."

"So I can get a job after school? I won't be jobless?"

"That's right."

Lena let out a sigh of relief. "Ummm, what should I do now?"

"Well, I would keep a portfolio of your work so you can show it to future employers. Maybe expand into other mediums to get some new experience? And keep up the grades. I've seen a lot of improvement in them recently. And study for your O.W.L.S."

Lena nodded. "Okay. I can do that."

"I know you can."

Lena looked away briefly. "Um, sorry for crying by the way."

"No need to be sorry. We've all got to cry sometimes."

"Are you alright, Lena?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, why?" she asked as they sat together in the library. They were studying for History of Magic and Transfiguration.

"It's just you're looking a bit pink."

Lena bit her lip. She had hoped the blotchiness from her crying earlier would have disappeared."

"It's nothing. I had a bit of a cry earlier. I was freaking out over nothing really."

"What happened?" he asked, concern evident in his voice.

It made Lena smile.

"I had my career advice session with Sprout earlier. I went a bit mental about it during the session because I didn't know what I was going to do— could do, I guess— after school. She calmed me down and brought up a bunch of stuff that I hadn't thought about before."

"What did she talk about?"

"Well, she said I can look into less mainstream jobs where my dyslexia doesn't matter. She said my art skills could come into use and I could do something with that."

Remus smiled and squeezed Lena's hand. "That's great."

"I know!" she said excitedly. "And you can do the same."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Lena, the most artistic thing I've ever drawn is stick figures."

Lena rolled her eyes. "As wonderful as they probably were, that's not what I meant."

"What did you mean, then?"

"Well, I know you've said that you were worried about jobs after Hogwarts too so maybe you could look at less mainstream ones as well. I mean you can do something with writing. You're a great writer."

"I'm not."

"You are. You could write under a pseudonym or something. Or be a lobbyist. Or you could…"

Lena continued as Remus thought to himself. He appreciated Lena's encouragement and how much she tried to help. He really did. He just knew that nothing would come out of the jobs she had just mentioned. He didn't have the heart to tell her that though.

McGonagall had told him about less traditional possibilities when he had his own career advice session the year before. He looked into the options she had given them. His father had looked into them. And Remus could take the risk and apply and disclose that he was a werewolf and hope that his possible employer would overlook it. He had to disclose it to the possible employer. The Werewolf Registry would notify the employer if he didn't. The likelihood of his status of a werewolf being overlooked was nearly nonexistent and Remus knew the second that someone he didn't trust discovered he was a werewolf, everyone in the wizarding world would know. Remus did not want to have to live with that stigma or for that stigma to affect the people he loved and cared about.

"They all sound great, Lena. I'll definitely look into them," he said.

"I still think you'd be a great professor, though," Lena said with a grin and kissed his cheek.

Remus smiled.