1The week went by without problem. The boys attended all their classes and after school soccer practice without incident. It seemed as if Snape had lost interest in them but they still took their friends advice and spoke with Franklin Rothschild concerning their situation. But their normalcy wouldn't last.
"Where's Mrs. Launders?" Harry asked after finding his seat and sitting down. Mrs. Launders was their English teacher.
Ron shrugged and sat down in the seat beside his friend. "Who cares?" He didn't care for the English teachers and he wasn't alone. Half the student body hated Mrs. Launders. She was mean, crude, unfair and always cranky. There wasn't a day that didn't go by that Ron and/or Harry managed to tick her off by doing the littlest thing. Sometimes it was intentional but most of the time, it wasn't. "I hope we get Bob." He blew a bubble with his gum and cracked it loudly.
Harry smirked and shook his head. "Bob isn't around anymore, remember? Some Freshman got him fired last year. Told her parents that he wasn't teaching the appropriate material for the class. So the school canned him. Pity, he was a great guy." Bob was a substitute teacher that everyone loved. He was nice, funny, easy to get along with and never raised his voice. He didn't need to. Everyone paid attention when he was teaching and never gave him a reason to scream or shout. "I don't recognize the teacher, do you?" He motioned with his head towards the man that just entered the room.
Blinking, Ron turned his attention to the front of the room and stopped chewing his gum. He was quiet for a moment as he eyed the man. He wasn't much to look at it. Thin, sickly looking with sandy brown hair that was streaked with gray. He was wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and a red sweat shirt that had a faded logo on the front that couldn't be made out. "I haven't seen him before."
Staring, Harry watched the man write his name on the black board and a made a face when the chalk screeched. He seemed familiar but Harry was certain that he never saw him before in his life."Lupin? What kinda name is that?" He mumbled after reading the shaky letters on the board. The man looked nice enough. He had a kind face and the lightest blue eyes that Harry had ever seen. He looked away only when the object of his attention locked eyes with him.
"He can't be any worse than Mrs. Launders or even Snape." Ron added and resumed his bubble blowing. "Maybe he's French or something? They have funny names."
"Ya, maybe." Harry looked down at his notebook and sighed. He wanted all his regular teachers back. He wanted everything to go back the way they were before Snape suddenly appeared and screwed everything up. Now, both he and Ron, had to be on constant guard. Suddenly, he felt very tired.
Ron eyed his friend with a frown. Harry seemed depressed lately. He barely laughed anymore. It just wasn't fair. Harry told him all about the Dursley's and the way they treated him. Now, the same people that placed him with those monsters, were back in their lives. Snape may have backed off but he was still teaching Physics and it didn't seem like he was leaving anytime soon. Why couldn't they be left alone? They weren't hurting anybody. And for the past five years they did a pretty good job staying alive. They worked hard and now their hard work was being threatened. Now there was a black cloud hanging over them. Suddenly the gum in his mouth took on a bitter taste and he was forced to spit it out. He took it and stuck it on the bottom side of the desk. He then turned his attention back to the front of the room where Mr. Lupin was already beginning their lesson. With a sigh, he slipped off into a daydream.