A/N: Thanks everybody who has read, reviewed, and put this story in your favourites and alerts! I really, really appreciate it. I'm sorry, I've haven't had a lot of time to do up the chapter, but it's here now!
In response to megblue: No, I am not "What's Your Name, Pup?" 's author. -laughs- I have read the fic though, it's quite cute.
To nelly: I've realised you reviewed twice! :X So sorry for keeping you waiting!
Remus might have had a great time with the children, but he couldn't say he particularly enjoyed his meals with the adults.
His initial plans had been to sit at the furthest end of the table so he could eat alone. Unfortunately, before he could even sit down, he was called to sit at the front by Fenrir. Hushed murmuring flicked through the table. A disgruntled growl emitted from the head of the table, followed by a roar so loud it could only belong to Fenrir.
Remus strode to the front of the table with his hands in his pockets, his head to the ground. His hair obscured most of his face, but he could still feel the werewolves staring at him as he walked by them. They were whispering to each other through cupped ears about him, he could sense that. As he stood by his seat on the right of Fenrir, he was rewarded with a vicious death glare from its former occupant, Fenrir's right hand werewolf. His face coloured and he took a step back instinctively.
"Sorry," he muttered.
The werewolf opened his mouth to snap a snarky remark into his face. However, Fenrir silenced him with a simple grunt, and hauled Remus into the seat with a single strong hand. Remus wished terribly he could melt into the ground. It seemed that everybody's attention, from Fenrir to the werewolf at the furthest end of the table, was fixated on him and him alone. It was overwhelming, uncomfortable, and unsettling.
From this incident onwards, Remus never spent more than fifteen minutes at the table.
Remus was usually pretty worn out by the time he started the lessons with the children, but their smiles and eagerness to learn had a magical ability to perk him up even on his worst days. In fact, the lessons were what he looked forward to every day. Especially when he had spent the previous night scribbling hasty letters to the Order to report on the activities of the werewolves, and the meals when Fenrir would pile food on his plate whilst the other werewolves would watch on in obvious jealousy.
At times, Remus would get a queer feeling that the generous gifting of food had nothing to do with "building that ratty body up" as Fenrir had commented bluntly, but that Fenrir simply wanted him to spend more time at the table. But, of course, as usual, he kept that thought to himself. Merlin knows what Fenrir would do if he could hear me think such a ludricious thought. And what the Order would have to say about this!
I am not harbouring any amiable feelings for that brute, Remus comforted himself, it's just the lunacy of the full moon.
The coming of the full moon was definitely making a great impact on all in the pack, including the children. Today, they were restless and fidgeting in their seats, as if constrained by invisible buckles. Remus himself felt a little giddy and queasy, but life with the humans had taught him to tame the wolf inside him.
"Class, if I could just have your attention for a little while today," he announced, holding up his wand, "We're going to learn how to cast Wingardium Leviosa today."
The children reached forward and snatched their wands off their desks, looking up expectantly at him. They seemed to be calmer now, save for the occasional shuffle of shoe on the grubby floor.
"Good. Now, watch my wand hand very carefully..."
Suddenly, all the children got off their seats noisily and bowed deeply to an area behind Remus. Remus raised his eyebrows in confusion, and swung around, colliding with a heavily built figure behind him.
"Alpha-!"
Bow, bow in apology, you stupid idiot!
Remus frantically bowed several times towards Fenrir. Each time felt like he was putting his head on the gullotine board. Fenrir watched on in sheer amusement, before grunting in acceptance. Casually, he settled himself on the teacher's chair and stacked his legs atop the table, arms crossed over his chest. He signalled for Remus to continue the lesson.
"Okay, everybody, pay close attention to my wand hand," Remus said, with much less confidence than before. Fenrir's eyes were flicking back and forth continuously between Remus and the dirt on his bootlaces. Remus wondered quietly if Fenrir enjoyed putting him in constricting situations. Having him as an observer of the lesson was one of the last things that Remus wanted.
Slowly, Remus waved his wand. The children kept their eyes focused on it, whilst tracing the air in vaguely similar patterns with their own. He repeated this exercise many more times, before deciding to call the students one by one up to the teacher's table to try to levitate the feather.
The first boy looked as if he was about to cry at the sight of Fenrir. His legs could barely support him as he walked towards the table, held in the hand by Remus. He was quivering like a leaf as Fenrir flashed him a toothy grin and observed his progress.
"Wing-wing-gar-"
The boy stammered uncontrollably, his wand hand shaking, before bursting into frightened tears. Remus hastily got on his knees and patted him on his back, using his sleeve to wipe his face.
"Don't cry, don't- why don't we return to your table instead? Would that be better?"
Fenrir scowled darkly and slammed his fist against the table, snarling. The rest of the children instinctively stared down at their shoes.
"Remus, you bring that little snivelling kid right back here."
Remus looked back over his shoulder, feeling just as frightened as the children, of Fenrir.
"Alpha, it is my fault, don't punish him, please."
Some of the children whimpered softly at their teacher's defiance of the Alpha's orders. Fenrir looked at Remus in a hard manner, before growling in a disgruntled manner and swirling the chair so that he faced the board. Remus didn't know if that meant that he would be dealt with severely later, but all he did know was that he wanted to wrap up this lesson as quickly as possible.
That incident took a toll on Remus's patience. He moved around at a faster pace, wanting to make a quick exit to his room. He simply held the children's wrists and showed them the movement of the charm, not even bothering to check if they understood, or to even make eye contact with them. After that, he would allow them to have one attempt at levitating the feather. Then, he would pay no regard to whether that attempt was a success or failure. He would simply grab the feather and head to the next child.
The children seemed indifferent, even supportive of Remus's style of teaching today. They too, he could tell, wanted to get as far away from the seething Fenrir as possible. Later, out of the corner of his eye, Remus thought he saw Fenrir stride towards the door. He felt himself relax a little, and didn't understand why the children still seemed as tense as ever.
He understood why, when he reached the last "student".
He could hardly get his fingers around the thick wrist, which most certainly did not feel like a child's. He felt his stomach plummet as he lifted his eyes to look at its owner.
"Well, aren't you going to teach me? I did learn the incantation, after all," Fenrir smirked.
Remus' grip on his wrist slackened considerably. In return, Fenrir made a swift movement and grabbed his wrist instead.
"Class dismissed," he snarled to the children. The children sprinted out of the classroom, relieving the pair of the many pairs of wary eyes.
As the last child exited the classroom, Fenrir pulled Remus down, close to him. Their noses were less than centimetres apart. Remus pondered what would happen if he happened to sneeze now. He could feel himself blushing, and hoped as hell that the dim lighting of the classroom covered his face. Fenrir traced Remus' bottom lip with an inquisitive finger, watching his eyes for any reaction carefully.
"The full moon's tomorrow," he said lazily, "Since you're here, I'm sure we'll have quite a bit of fun tomorrow."
Fun?
Fenrir leant in even closer to him. Remus could almost smell his breath, and he was rather thankful that it did not smell of rotting carcasses and other foul things, like he thought it would.
He then pulled Remus back to a standing postion, and went for the door.
"The Dark Lord has ordered a hunt tomorrow," he said, "I want you to join me and the rest of the adults."
With that, he started to walk away. Remus couldn't help but feel more than a little disappointed. For a second, he was sure...
He chased after Fenrir down the narrow corridor. The larger werewolf heard his frantic footsteps and turned around, an odd, wide smile on his face.
"Alpha, you...you mean, that's all?" he said out loud, before he could stop himself.
Fenrir's brows knotted in confusion. Remus mentally slapped himself for acting like a moron yet again. That question didn't even make any sense. However, Fenrir's face cleared up after a while. It was as if he understood Remus' question. Grinning, he took two steps towards Remus, eyeing him with amusement, his head cocked to the side.
"Well, what else do you want, Remus?"
A/N: Thank you so much for reading this story. It would be nice if you can take a bit of time to drop a short review!