Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns everything except the characters I made up (obviously) :]] Please enjoy!

They stepped out into the blustery evening. The last few leaves of the season were falling to the ground and the air was beginning to smell less like fall and more like winter. Elizabeth went to step into the coffee shop that was next to Liberman's, but Remus shook his head.

"I know a better place," he said, "Come on I'll show you." He stepped off the curb and she followed, wondering where they could be going. They walked in silence. It was so easy to make conversation in the quiet ease of the bookshop but now that they were out here in the open everything suddenly seemed very formal and awkward.

Remus felt it too. He wondered vaguely if he had made a mistake asking Elizabeth out to coffee. He didn't want to ruin their easy friendship by giving her the wrong impression. Did he like her? Yes. Maybe too much. Probably more than she liked him. Could he date her? No absolutely not. He had made up his mind years ago that he would never date anyone. Never get married. Never have kids. He wanted it, certainly, but it was selfish. He could never inflict that kind of horror, of danger, of social suicide on anyone else no matter how much he cared for her. But he could have coffee right? He could have coffee with a beautiful woman without it being a date. They could just be friends. He cast around for something to say. Something to talk about. Anything. She broke the silence first.

"So where are we going Remus?" She asked.

"It's a little place called The Coffee Corner. Wait till you try it. They have the best blueberry scones you'll ever eat. Seriously they're amazing." She laughed.

"I like scones," she said.

"You'll love these," he assured her. The coffee shop was just around the corner now. Its lit windows shone like a jack-o-lantern in the night, looking warm and inviting. Remus held the door for her and they stepped inside. Inside it smelled like freshly brewed coffee, baking cookies, and cinnamon. She inhaled deeply and smiled.

"I like it already," she said. He smiled too and held his hand out for her coat.

"May I?"

"Such a gentleman." She responded, handing him her coat.

"You approve?" he asked. It wasn't really a question.

"How could I not?" she answered.

"Then let me buy you a scone and some coffee."

When they had their drinks and were sitting everything seemed more natural.

"You know I teach not that far from here." Elizabeth told Remus taking a sip of her drink.

"Oh that's right. I forgot you're a teacher." She grimaced a little.

"What's that face for?" He asked her.

"Oh nothing. It's just harder than I thought it was going to be, you know? Don't get me wrong, I love teaching, it's just that the kids are hard to deal with sometimes. Actually it's not always the kids. The parents are kind of a pain too. It's like, if I tell you your kid has been mouthing off in class I want you to do something about it! The other day I called this one mom to tell her that her son drew foul things on the board during recess and she had the audacity to tell me that it was my fault."

"How on earth is that your fault?" Remus asked.

"I don't know! All I know is that I'm standing there on the phone listening to her rant at me about how I don't know what I'm doing and if her son is misbehaving than I need to deal with it and all this stuff. And meanwhile I wanted to tell her that her nephew spent all of recess hiding behind trash cans trying to escape the kids that bully him but will she listen? No of course not." She took a deep breath and then smiled.

"Okay. I'm done ranting." He laughed.

"It's okay. I like listening." He took a sip of his coffee. "So tell me about this kid that's being bullied. Should I be concerned for him?" She thought about it for a minute.

"I don't know. I don't think so. It's really just petty rivalry between cousins I think. You should see this poor kid Harry though. He looks like a refugee camp victim. He really does. He's all skin and bones and he wears all his cousin's horrible hand me downs. And he has this terrible scar on his forehead too." She sighed and swirled her coffee around in her mug.

"Sounds like you really care about this kid," Remus observed.

"Honestly I mostly feel bad for him. He doesn't have any parents or friends or anything. I think he must be really lonely all the time."

"He doesn't have parents?" Remus asked incredulously.

"No. Apparently they died in a car accident when he was a baby. Poor kid's lived with his aunt and uncle ever since."

"That's sad."

They both sat in silence for a while. Remus was still thinking about the poor orphan kid when Elizabeth broke the silence.

"You work in a bookstore, maybe you can help me."

"With what?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I'm trying to find a book we can all read together as a class. We were doing James and the Giant Peach but we finished it. Now we need a new book."

"I'm sorry. You were reading what?"

"James and the Giant Peach. By Roald Dahl. You've never read it?" She seemed surprised.

"I've never even heard of it."

"Not going to lie, I'm kind of shocked. It's really popular." He shook his head and looked slightly sheepish.

"My parents weren't really into, I don't know, mainstream books growing up." He offered as an explanation. "It sounds good though. You know, one of my best friends growing up was named James."

"Really?" She smiled. "Do you guys still keep in touch?" She could tell right away that the answer was no. His whole face fell and he suddenly looked very grave.

"No. He, uh, he and his wife passed away about nine years ago." She reached out to touch his hand.

"I'm so sorry Remus, I didn't mean to, I mean I didn't…"

"You didn't know." He finished for her. "It's fine, I don't, I mean, it was a long time ago."

"What happened?" She questioned, "If you don't mind me asking."

"I don't," he said and then froze. What could he tell her? He couldn't tell her the real story. Just the thought of doing so was laughable. Besides how do you explain the terror of Voldemort, Sirius's betrayal, Peter's murder, and Harry's shocking survival, all in a quiet coffee shop?

"A fire." He said finally. "They burned to death in a house fire while they were sleeping."

She gasped and her hand jumped in front of her mouth.

"That's horrible!" She exclaimed. "I'm so sorry."

"Thanks." He twitched the corners of his mouth into what tried to be a smile and tried to change the subject.

"So anyway, enough about my life. This kid at school. The one who's being bullied. What did you say his name was?" He took a sip of his coffee.

"Oh it's Harry." She answered. "Harry Potter." Remus choked.

AN: I'd love to know what you guys think so far. Any advice of compliments would be most appreciated! I really like the relationship between Elizabeth and Remus but I feel like the story is supposed to be about Harry so I should go back to him. Thoughts?