What If

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.



Sorry for disappearing for a little while. Here is the next chapter and I hope you like it!





Enjoy



IIIIIIIII



Chapter 3: Stirring the Pot



IIIIIIIII



Breakfast was going to hell.



Fast.



Neville had just sat at the teachers table it seemed. He yawned loudly as he turned to see that Lupin looked like he had gotten less sleep then the teen. Arthur was next to sit down and looked as if he hadn’t gotten any sleep at all and once again Arthur was avoiding Lupin’s gaze. Neville groaned a bit to himself before he looked over to Snape’s seat to see the man wasn’t there.



Maybe Hermione had already caught him?



There was a loud banging sound as the doors to the Great Hall burst open. Snape was walking quickly towards the teacher’s table, his robes billowing threateningly behind him as his lips were thinned in a thin frown. So as far as Neville could tell, and he had been quite accustomed to Snape’s facial expressions either someone just botched a very important potion of his and he was pissed, or someone had done something else and he was pissed.



Neville turned to see McGonagall stand in clear disturbance. The Great Hall suddenly quieted as a short woman followed closely behind Snape. She had curly blonde hair, penciled in eyebrows and lips redder than the apples on each of the tables. She wore a green dress and was followed closely by another blond who looked almost as pissed as Snape was.



McGonagall left her seat and went down to meet Snape. “What is going on Severus?”



“I was hoping you would be able to tell me.” He said dryly as he turned so that McGonagall got a full view of the woman who had entered after Snape.



“Why Minerva, it had been so lo-”



“I believe you were banned from Hogwarts Rita.” McGonagall said curtly causing some of the students to snicker as Rita smiled brightly.



“I was when Albus was headmaster, bless his soul, but after a small discussion with the governors of Hogwarts…” Rita pointed to the aggravated blonde who was standing reluctantly beside her.



Neville turned his head to get a better look and his eyes went wide as he recognized none other than Draco Malfoy. He had heard the blond had been recommended as a governor by both Harry and McGonagall but he hadn’t thought the blond would actually become one.



Not after all those trials against his family.



“The governors, though by only one vote I might add, decided that member’s of the Daily Prophet staff should be allowed inside Hogwarts, the Headmaster, or mistress in this case.” Draco gave McGonagall a smirk, “Is allowed to assign someone to watch the member in order to make sure no over zealous reporter disrupts class.”



“This is ridiculous.” McGonagall sighed as she glared at Rita. “And who do you need to interview, if that is what you actually do, this time?”



“I refuse.” Snape said before Rita could say anything. “And I still have a right to do that, so there is no reason for Ms. Skeeter to stay here.”



“Why Severus!” Skeeter fumed as she looked at Draco for help but the blond only inspected his nails boredly.



“I’ll watch her.”



The voice rang through the Great Hall with such clarity that all the students went silent. The teachers all turned so see Hermione grinning as she stared at Rita Skeeter. Rita however looked appalled at the idea, McGonagall as if seeing Rita’s reaction smirked.



“Ms. Granger will be in charge of you then.”



“Oh look at the time!” Rita made a fake high pitch laugh as she tapped Draco’s arm. The blond moved his arm away in disgust as if something filthy had just tried to latch one to him as Rita continued. “I have a previous engagement, but I assure you I will be back.”



“And I will be more than happy to help you then too.” Hermione and Rita eyed each other quickly before the blonde turned and made her way out of the Great Hall. Draco turned to say something to Snape but caught himself and quickly turned and followed after the woman.



The students started whispering excitedly amongst themselves as Snape and Hermione took a seat. McGonagall eyed the doors one more time as if daring them to let another unwanted guest to enter when they opened again.



It was Rita now almost skipping as she made her way to McGonagall.



“I’ll take it, I’ll let the filthy little mu- I mean Ms. Granger be my guide. There are just some stories I can deprive my readers of.”



“And what story would that be?”



“Harry Potter’s first visit back to Hogwarts since the war.” Rita smiled brightly, revealing her three golden teeth as McGonagall looked startled, her face turning to the doors to see Draco and Harry walking into the Great Hall, followed by Ron.



The sudden silence in the air was amazing.



Neville shivered as he looked over to see Arthur give his son a small wave. The teachers were silent however as Harry made his way to McGonagall.



“Harry.” McGonagall’s voice sounded happy and confused as she eyed the young man in front of her.



“I actually need to talk to Lupin.” Harry’s voice sounded strained as he eyed the older man behind McGonagall. “Something’s happened.”



IIIIIIIIIIII



Neville watched as Arthur walked from one side of the greenhouse to the other. Normally the man would have been in his class preparing his next lesson or getting some extra sleep since he did not have a class first thing on Tuesdays but instead the redhead had decided to walk off his stress in Neville’s first class.



The students were distracted by the older teacher as they all watched him pace back and forth. Neville sighed as he made a coughing sound that forced his students back to the project at hand.



They were supposed to label which plants were dangerous and which ones weren’t out of the ones that were in the middle of the huge desk.



When Neville thought that the students were preoccupied enough he walked over the Arthur who had now made his way over to the new window Neville had installed yesterday. He had stopped and was staring at the castle before he turned to Neville as the smaller sandy haired teen stood beside him.



“Do you have any idea what could have happened?” Arthur’s voice was soft as he sighed and looked back at the castle.



“You could find out if you went in there.” Neville stated as Arthur looked back at him with a defeated expression.



“I can’t believe Harry came back just to deliver bad news, it couldn’t be Teddy could it?” Arthur bit on one of his fingers before he started pacing again.



“The only way to tell is if you go up there.” Neville tried to sound encouraging as he glared at one of his students trying to whisper to their friend, they caught Neville’s gaze and quickly went silent and pretending to write some stuff down.



“I can’t go in there.” Arthur stated matter of factly before he jumped. “Ron!”



Arthur was out of there quicker than Neville would have thought the man capable of moving. Neville went over to the window to see Ron being met by his father out on the grass. Neville could hear his students move, more than likely trying to see what was going on; he turned and eyed them as they all looked at him expectantly.



“Why is Harry Potter here?” A girl voiced out as all the students stared at him.



“I don’t know.” Neville answered truthfully before the door to the greenhouse swung open, slamming against the wall behind it. Arthur ran in looking pale as he looked at Neville and grabbed the young man. “We need to go.”



“I have class!” Neville declared as he was suddenly pulled out of his classroom. They barely made it two steps before Ron had stopped his father.



“Stop freaking out and let me explain!” The redhead grabbed his father by the shoulders and took a deep breath. “It isn’t Teddy.”



Arthur stared at his son almost disbelievingly as Neville was able to get free from Arthur’s grasp. He looked over at Ron who was smirking at his dad.



“You need to calm down dad. Reacting to things like that can’t be good for your age.” There was a loud smack as Arthur hit his younger son over the head now frowning at the boy.



“I think I know what is and isn’t good for wizards my age.”



“I’m going back to class.” Neville stated tiredly as he turned and left Ron and Arthur alone, maybe the older Weasley would let Ron explain what happened now.



But what had happened?



“So Lupin’s son is okay?” The girl from earlier looked relieved.



“That’s Professor Lupin and yes, Teddy is fine.” Neville took a seat at the front of his table as he motioned for his students to continue working.



But if Teddy was okay…then why had Harry returned to Hogwarts?



IIIIIIIIIIIII



Lupin stared at the hospital bed in front him.



Andromeda’s lifeless form lied there as if she was sleeping, her dark brown hair flowing around her as if she was a fairy tale princess. He turned to look at the nurse who was now shutting the door to give him some time with the now deceased woman.



They had never seen eye to eye in most things, Andromeda had pretty much hated him from the moment Tonks had brought him over before the wedding. They had fought over so many things that when Tonks died they didn’t know what to say to each other anymore. He placed his hand over her now lifeless one and felt something build up uncomfortably in his chest.



He should have gone over to her house for tea more often.



“You would think as clean as you kept that house there would be nothing to trip over.” Lupin smiled slightly before biting on his tongue. “You….you….”



He looked up at the ceiling before taking a deep breath. “You were the closest thing to a relative I have had in a long time. You took care of Teddy, made sure that he had everything I couldn’t give him…and while it was more than likely because of Nymphadora that you did this…..thank you.”



Then suddenly door to the room swung open with such power dented the wall behind it. A blond woman stared around frantically before her eyes met Lupin’s, her eyes then falling on the body beside him. A nurse had run up behind her and started yelling at her on how to act in a hospital before the woman turned, her eyes leering dangerously.



“I can do whatever I please, my husband has made enough donations to this hole you consider a hospital.” The nurse shut up then and huffed off leaving Lupin and the woman alone.



“Narcissa…..” Lupin’s hand stayed on Andromeda’s as he looked at the blond before him.



She was still as beautiful as ever, her blond hair full of life as her eyes looked at him piercingly. It was a look Andromeda used to give him whenever he used fowl language with Teddy in the room.



“I have come to see my sister.” She stated curtly, not able to hide the shudder in her voice as she eyed Andromeda’s body once more.



Lupin moved away at that second and moved to the other side of the room to give Narcissa space to go over to her sister’s bed. The last time he had seen Narcissa Malfoy she had still be a Black, still at Hogwarts and happy to be in her seventh year while Lupin had only been in his second.



“Mother?” A low voice called out as another blond entered the room holding onto two very nice jackets, as if he had taken her jacket but decided the closet in this place hadn’t been good enough and just decided to carry them with him.



“Here Draco.” Narcissa said softly as he patted Andromeda’s hair lovingly, Draco walked over to his mother, paused when he saw Lupin and gave the werewolf a confused look before he stood beside his mother. “This is my sister Andromeda, your Aunt.”



Draco stared at the motionless body his mother was introducing him to before he rubbed his mother’s back softly in a comforting motion. The room was silent and Lupin suddenly felt like he might be intruding on something before he caught the sight of something in the hallway.



“Daddy!” A loud painful cry echoed into the room as a small figure ran into Lupin’s arms. Teddy was sobbing so hard that his little body was trembling as he grasped onto his father. “Grandma wouldn’t wake up!”



“Shhh.” Lupin started rocking his son as the boy continued to cry in his father’s shoulders. The graying man turned to leave the room to give the other two people more privacy as he tried to take care of his son before a voice stopped him.



“That’s her grandchild?” Narcissa looked surprised as if she hadn’t known the Andromeda had a grandchild but as Lupin thought about it, she probably didn’t.



There had only been announcement about his marriage to Tonks in the paper but when Teddy had been born there had been no time for that. The wizarding world was in a war. And of course Andromeda wouldn’t have told the family that she had been cut off from for her marriage, even after the war the older woman refused to listen about any current news relating to her relatives. Lupin looked torn as he continued to rock his son, but Narcissa now had silent tears trailing her cheeks as she stared at the child in his arms.



“Yes.” He stated as he patted his quieting son on his back. “Teddy?”



Teddy looked at his father as he continued sniffing, his hair now brown and matted as if fell on the boys face. Teddy turned to look at Narcissa, he looked back at his father as the tears continued down his cheeks. “Is she going to make grandma better?”



Lupin gave his son a pained expression as he held onto the boy tighter. Narcissa seemed to fighting with herself as she stared at the boy before Draco moved towards Lupin and held out his hands to Teddy. Teddy looked at him as if trying to recognize the man before he turned to his father, Lupin gave Draco a look.



“I think I should take him to get something to drink.” Teddy leaned forward as he let Draco hold onto him, “I promise not to go too far.”



Lupin watched the blond take his son away in some surprise before he turned to Narcissa who was now looking like she might break down any second. He didn’t know what to do so he did the first thing that came to mind as he made his way to her and placed a hand on her shoulder in a friendly sentiment.



Lupin briefly wondered if Draco had left because the teen hadn’t wanted to see his mother break down like this or if he knew she wouldn’t be able to with him in the room.



Draco came back about an hour later with a sleeping Teddy on his shoulders as he yawned a bit himself, apparently he had been sitting in the waiting room the whole time while he had gotten water for Teddy.



Lupin sighed as he took his son from the blond teen who then helped his mother put on her jacket. They were about to leave the room when Narcissa turned to Lupin. “Do you know where they plan to bury her?”



“Next to her daughter and husband I am sure.” He stated sadly as he followed them out of the room.



Narcissa just nodded in understanding as her son took her to a fireplace so they could floo home. As Lupin made his way out to the lobby he saw Harry waiting for him in one of the chairs.



“Thank you.” Lupin’s voice felt hoarse even though they hadn’t talked that much in the room and Harry just nodded.



“I’m glad I was there….for Teddy.” Harry sighed as he stood up and rubbed the sleeping toddler’s back. “I’m sorry Lupin…”



Lupin just nodded as he made his way through the busy streets of London, following after Harry. After he had been told what happened he had sent a message to McGonagall asking her if she could get Snape to do his classes for the next few days so that he could make the proper funeral preparations.



Snape had responded to his surprise, reminding the werewolf to that he would need to start taking wolfsbane as soon as he got back.



IIIIIIIIIII



Neville stared at the rain that was rolling down the window of his greenhouse. It had to be pouring outside on his Saturday off, but Neville found it hard to be that upset over it.



Lupin had gone to bury his mother-in-law, and the weather seemed to fit the mood of the castle recently.



After Lupin had returned from his trip to London with Teddy he explained to everyone about what had happened. Teddy was now going to be staying at Hogwarts with him, while Harry had said that he would be more than willing to care of the toddler, Neville felt that Lupin just wanted to keep his son as close as possible for a while.



Rita Skeeter had left with the school unscathed as Hermione had kept such an good eye on the reporter that there was nothing about Harry, Lupin, or even Hogwarts in the next paper but Neville got the feeling that she would be coming back.



Arthur had tried to approach Lupin after his meeting with all of the teachers but the werewolf had just turned and walked away. Neville had thought that maybe it was for the best, but after he saw Arthur’s face as the redhead watched the werewolf walk away the Herbology teacher couldn’t help but sympathize.



Snape had been doing a good job of avoiding him too.



Neville sighed as he moved away from the window and looked at the plants he had been working on breeding. It was more aconite since Neville knew the full moon was coming and Snape would more than likely need more of this and if not, then it was always better safe than sorry.



As if thinking about the potions master had become a summoning charm there was a soft knock on the green room door and Snape walked in, waved his wand over his wet cloths thoroughly drying them before he turned to see Neville watching him.



“I came here for-” Snape stopped as he looked at the flowers in front of Neville. “Aconite.”



Neville smirked at that as he took a step back from the plants to let Snape inspect them and made his way to another table to water some more of the plants he had been growing. Neville briefly wondered if he would be able to splice the extra Aconite with another plant but was interrupted as he turned to look at Snape.



The man was eyeing the plants with such attention to detail Neville wondered if the older man had always done this. He sighed as he watched the other man pick up another plant with such delicacy; this however was noticed by Snape who turned to look at him.



“I believe you are drowning your Corly flowers.” Neville turned to see that he had indeed poured almost the whole watering can over his flowers and quickly threw the pan to the ground as he moved around their soil to move the water to other plants.



Satisfied that he had saved the flowers he turned and wiped his forehead with his sleeve and smiled slightly at Snape. “Sorry about that.”



Neville made his way beside Snape and stood beside the older man while looking at the plants that Snape had been inspecting. He moved some of them around before he turned his head slightly to look at Snape who was staring at him. “So they meet your expectations?”



Snape smirked as he continued to stare at Neville. “They are increasingly exceeding my expectations.”



Neville blushed as he turned back to face the plants as he had to remind himself that Snape had been talking about the plants. He had been talking about the plants right?



“I wonder…” Snape caught Neville’s attention as the light haired teen turned to face the man next to him. Snape brought his hand up and slowly touched the side of Neville’s cheek causing the teen the blush deeper. “Is your problem that you have a crush on me?”



That was news to Neville.



He had a crush on Snape? He stared at the hook nosed man who stared back blankly, his cold hands caressing lightly against the teen’s tan cheek. He leaned against the touch and felt himself relax as Snape’s thumb rubbed his cheek. Is that why he wasn’t scared of the older man anymore? Is that why he kept finding himself thinking of the pale man even during his classes when he should be watching his spiteful students more closely?



He had a crush on Snape.



And surprisingly enough for Neville, it didn’t come to that much of a surprise as he lifted his own hand and placed it over Snape’s as he stared into the cold black eyes that seemed to be studying him.



“And you?” Neville tried to sound confident as he asked the question but as he flushed harder he found himself doubting his abilities in this kind of situation.



Snape’s hand left Neville’s cheek as the older man turned and picked up some of the plants. The older man sighed as he looked over at the younger man and shook his head. “You are too young.”



The door to the green house shut before Neville was able to have a proper reaction to that as he ran to the door and swung it open only to be pelted by the hard rain on the outside of the green house. He tried to squint into the darkness of the night but was unable to see anything and shut the door back in anger.



What the hell did that mean?



IIIIIIIIII



Lupin groaned as he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling of his room. He could feel his head pounding as he turned over so see his son had crawled into bed with him in the middle of the night. Lupin smiled slightly as he ruffled his son’s still brown hair and looked over on the calendar to see a red circle marking this Sunday.



There was a small tap at his door as he sighed and slid out of his bed, grabbing a robe from the floor as he placed it around himself and opened his door to reveal Snape holding a cup of a slightly smoking substance in it.



“This time already?” Lupin smiled bitterly as he took the cup and held onto his nose as he jugged it as quickly as possible; making a face of disgust as he swallowed and handed it back to Snape.



“As if I would believe you could forget.” Snape said nonchalantly as he turned to leave.



“Thank you, Severus.” Lupin’s voice was tired as he said it but he was sure the dark haired man got the message as the potion’s master turned and gave the werewolf a small nod before he continued to his next location.



Lupin turned around again and smiled as his son had started to suck on his thumb. Lupin walked back over to the bed and lifted the blankets up so that he could cover the child up before he turned and headed towards the shower.



At least it was Sunday.



As Lupin made his way into the Great Hall with his son holding his hand while trying to cover a yawn with the other an image he had never thought he would see met his eyes at the teacher’s table.



Arthur Weasley was blushing as Rita Skeeter fluttered her eyelashes at him with a knowing smirk.



Rita Skeeter was back?



Snape and McGonagall seemed to find the scene to be disgusting as they both had full plates that hadn’t been touched. Neville and Hermione seemed to be angry at something as they both jabbed there food and glared at their plates, both making an effort to not look up at the woman. Krum seemed to be the only one who was just as confused as Lupin was as he frowned at everyone around him.



Lupin felt something twist in his gut as Rita placed her well manicured hand against Arthur’s chest and laughed shrilly at something the redhead might have said. Arthur smiled with encouragement from this and continued his story as he animatedly used his fork and spoon as a prop for what ever they were talk about.



Lupin took his seat next to Snape and turned to the dark haired teacher as he pulled his son up on his lap. “What is going on?”



“Revolting, isn’t it?” Snape stated as he pushed his plate away, “She seems to be trying to charm her way into our school.”



“Is it working?” Lupin stared at Arthur who caught his eye but then ignored it and continued with his story.



“Who knows, the Weasley family is known for being rather thick.”



“Well that was rude.”



“The rudest thing I have heard in a while.” A cheery voice agreed as they both made their way to either side of Snape’s chair causing the older man to roll his eyes.



“Fred? George?” Arthur stood up at the site of his sons and made his way around the table, making sure to go around the back so that he wouldn’t pass Lupin as he smiled at his sons. “What brings you here?”



“Urgent news from Hogsmeade.”



“Did you hear him call our family thick?” Fred pointed at Snape with fake disdain. “Still hasn’t been able to take that broomstick out of his a-”



“Urgent was it?” Arthur interrupted as the twin’s smiled.



“Okay…we lied.” George confessed as he looked at his twin. “We actually need to talk to you about something.”



Arthur paled a little before his sons started waving their hands as if trying to calm him down.



“It isn’t anything serious! Let’s go outside and we can talk about it but don’t worry!” Fred grabbed his father’s arm as George smirked at his father’s response and pushed the older man out of the Great Hall.



Lupin watched them go before he turned his attention back to Rita who was now eyeing him with interest. He handed his son some toast as he pretended to ignore her as she pulled her seat around the table to that now she was next to him.



“Remus was it?” She smiled, showing her three gold teeth as Hermione jabbed at something else on her plate causing a breaking noise as she broke the plate.



“Professor Lupin.” Lupin corrected as he sipped his tea before handing his son the cup. Teddy tried to drink too much and spilled on himself. Lupin laughed at this and grabbed a napkin and dabbing at it.



Rita made a disgusted look as if she found children to be repulsive until she saw Lupin looking at her and smiled. “I am just trying to get to know some of the teacher’s around here.”



“Well I believe you know all there is to know about me Rita.” Lupin added knowingly as his son finished his second piece of toast and yawned, “After all, it was you who wrote that long article about my employment here under Albus.”



Rita’s smile did falter a little at that. “Yes, I did, didn’t I?”



“You did.” Lupin stated as he noticed the smirk on both Snape’s and Hermione’s faces and he stood up and grabbed his son’s hand as the toddler started to leave the table.



“See you at lunch Remus.” McGonagall added smugly as she took a sip of her pumpkin juice while Rita frowned at his departure.



Lupin made his way out of the Great Hall to see Fred and George walking towards the entrance of the school fighting with each other in a whisper. He paused a moment ignoring how Teddy pulled on his arm as he eyed the twins before he opened his mouth and called out to them.



Both the twins stopped and looked over at who had the audacity to interrupt their conversation but after seeing it was Lupin they both smiled.



“Where did your father go?” Lupin pulled Teddy off the ground after the toddler wouldn’t stop pulling on his hand and started to pat the boy on the back. The twin’s looked at each other as if trying to communicate silently before looking at Lupin sheepishly.



“You might want to give him a chance..”



“To be alone for a little bit. We kind of..”



“Gave him some pretty big news so he might just need….”



“Some time to think.” Fred finished he sighed and messed with the back of his hair.



“Am I allowed to ask?” Lupin looked at them quizzically as they looked back at each other before shrugging and turning to Lupin.



“This is a secret between us, our father and you. No one else got it?” George looked dead serious about it and Lupin nodded in agreement.



“Ginny eloped.”



IIIIIIIIII



Neville glared at Snape as he watched the dark haired man leave the Great Hall before Hermione stood and followed the wizard leaving Neville, McGonagall and Rita Skeeter at the breakfast table.



Rita frowned at McGonagall before smiling at Neville.



“I don’t care about what ever you are writing.” He stated flatly as she frowned at him.



“You make sure that your teachers have proper manners don’t you Minerva?” Rita scoffed as McGonagall ignored her and continued drinking her punch.



“Professor Longbottom?” A small girl called Alley came up to the table as she looked at him a bit worried. “I think someone broke into your green house.”



“Oh goody!” Rita stated as Neville took off through the Great Hall ignoring her call for him to slow down. He made his way outside to find that the green houses appeared to be absolutely fine.



He pulled out his wand and went inside to find nothing different as he looked around carefully before sighing. He placed his hand over his raving heart before he turned to see Rita running towards him with a smile before he shook his head.



“Must have just left the front door open.” He called out so that she wouldn’t hurt herself running in her heels before he turned around and locked the door. He took a few steps towards the castle before some dark shadow caught his attention on the third floor and he got an idea and took of towards it.



He was panting by the time he caught up to Hermione who was now relentlessly yelling at Snape as they turned the corner.



“Just answer some of my questions and this will be all over with!” She growled as she turned to see Neville.



“I do not feel I owe any more explanations as to what really happened those last few years.” He stated as he was about to turn away before Neville spoke up.



“I think you do owe some of us an explanation.” He stated challengingly as he looked at Snape who seemed to just notice him there. “I think you owe all of the students who had to put up with you an explanation.”



Snape frowned at that before he looked at Hermione who seemed shocked at Neville before she turned to Snape in agreement.



“I think you owe me an explanation.” Neville stated as he realized Snape probably wanted to disagree with that. “I was forced to grow up because of you, no matter how young I am or may look, you still stole parts of my childhood that I will never be able to get back.”



“Is that so?” Snape’s voice was cold and Neville had to fight back the urge to shudder and he looked into the dark eyes.



“Yes.”



The word was such a simple word for Neville to say but he had never felt as if it held that much weight in his life. As soon as the word left his mouth he felt an empty emotion fill his stomach as Snape nodded slowly at Hermione.



“Fine then, I will do your interview.”



“Thank you!” Hermione exclaimed before she turned to Neville and mouthed a thank you towards him before she followed Snape most likely to his office.



Neville didn’t know how he had suddenly come up with the idea but when he had seen Snape’s form moving from the grounds he had suddenly felt that if he told Snape that, the teacher would do the interview. Neville took in an air of relief as he realized he was still standing in the hall way.



He looked out the windows to see McGonagall and Rita walking around the school grounds before he sighed and placed his head against the cool glass. He took another breath of air before his attention went back to his green house.



Why had that girl thought that someone had broken in?



He took his time as he made his way over to the green houses before he heard it. A student was screaming from inside and Neville ran to the classroom and kicked the door open to reveal two of his students hanging upside down from the ceiling as they were kicking and screaming, both of them had lost their wands on the ground as they cried about how they were too young to die.



Neville felt the laughter bubble up from within his chest as his student’s looked at him as if he was mad.



So they had broken in here and got caught in one of Neville’s protection charms. It was just too rich. He rose his wand up in the air and let them down with a hard thud on the ground before he sighed and looked at what they had been trying to get too.



But it looked like they were trying to get at the Alihosty.



“Why were you guys in here?” He said darkly as he looked at the two student who were looking at the ground. “Did someone tell you to come in here?”



“We heard that you had plants that would give people the ability to breath under water.” The smaller of the two blurted out. “And I wanted to get to see the merpeople.”



“Shut up.” The older kid stated as he tried to cover the smaller one’s mouth.



“And you were just going to try every plant I had in here until you found it I guess?” Neville held up the pieced of the plant that they had ripped up before they were lifted into the air. When the children didn’t look him in the face he growled forcing them to look up. “If you had eaten this, you would have in so much pain as if you were under the Cruciartus curse.”



The bigger child paled at this and looked back at the ground.



“I want you both to your head of house and 50 points from Ravenclaw for trying to steal from a teacher.” Neville gripped the bridge of his nose. “And I will talk about this to Professor Flitwick and we both will come up with a proper punishment for the both of you. Now go.”



Both of the kids left quickly as Neville kicked a watering can on the ground.



“Need help on your locking charms?” A friendly voice piped up but Neville glared at him.



“Arthur….I really don’t need this.” And then Neville turned and left the green house, leaving a very confused and worried Weasley behind him.



IIIIIIIIIII



Krum might not be the brightest person at the school but he wasn’t dumb. He knew he was good at two things, those being Quidditch and Transfigurations. Hermione had said that he was good at many other things too but that didn’t really count because they were dating.



Okay Krum counted it anyway.



He stared at the people around him at the dinner table and wondered briefly if he had been missing something earlier as he had been at the Quidditch field for most of the day making sure the Hufflepuff team got a good work out.



He had been first to arrive to dinner that day before he was joined by a sour looking Rita Skeeter and a smug looking McGonagall. That was an easy equation to solve since he knew both of the women loathed each other but when Arthur walked into the Great Hall looking like someone had died. Krum had tried to question the man as to what was wrong but he just smiled and changed the topic.



Rita had said something about writing a biography but he highly doubted it was for McGonagall. If he could remember what he had heard some of the students talking about then didn’t she declare she was writing one about Snape this morning?



Then why wasn’t she chasing Snape down like Hermione was? It was that thought that made Krum remember one thing about most of Rita Skeeter’s books.



They were primarily fiction.



Rita seemed to be in a better mood now that Arthur was there, she kept making flirty gestures towards him that would cause him to blush but Krum could still tell the red head’s thought were some where else. Lupin had come in next and at the site of Rita and Arthur obviously flirting seemed to have ticked him off. His son came in running after him as he tensely walked to the table and threw a glare at Arthur that didn’t notice.



Did Lupin have a crush on Rita?



Krum quickly threw away that idea as he sat back and watch the student’s file in. It wasn’t long before Neville showed up looking thoroughly upset at something, the teen had said something towards Arthur only to have the redhead blow him off with a wave of the hand as Arthur continued to talk to Rita.



Neville didn’t seem to know how to react to this as he took his seat and looked over at the other side of the table. Krum turned to see that Neville was looking at the one empty seat at the other end and turned to ask who Neville was waiting for before Hermione came into the Great Hall.



Her eyes were red as if she had just been crying which cause Krum great unease. He stood up and pulled out her seat for her as he tried to ask her what had happened. She told him not to worry though he knew that he was going to until she explained herself. She sighed and Neville gave her a worried glance but she just shook her head.



It took Krum a second to realize that Snape was the only teacher missing as the food appeared and they started to eat. Neville kept staring at Snape’s seat and so did Rita whenever Arthur wasn’t paying attention to her.



Between Arthur ignoring Neville and Lupin, Snape being missing, Lupin looking pissed, and Hermione looking like she just cried her heart out Krum was able to come to the conclusion that this wasn’t going to be a good week. Neville had gotten up to talk to Flitwick whenever the Charms teacher had finished their dinner, they had left together before Rita declared that she had to head home, Arthur left with her claiming he would walk her to the door. This act seemed to piss Lupin off even further which startled Krum before the werewolf and his son left the Great Hall. McGonagall and Slughorn both mumbled something about needing a drink as everyone else slowly left.



Hermione hadn’t eaten much that meal as she looked up at Krum and sighed. He helped her out of her chair before they left the Great Hall together, by what Krum gathered by her topic of conversation it seemed she finally got her interview, and Krum was happy for her about that.



They parted ways at the stairs since their rooms were in different parts and Krum gave her a kiss goodbye before they separated.



He turned the hall to see Arthur Weasley returned from the school entrance with red lipstick on his cheek. The older man seemed to be flushed as he looked like he had just gotten attacked. Arthur gave Krum a small wave before he started to climb the stairs numbly and Krum just sighed.



This was going to be long week and Krum was beginning to think that he should have stayed professional a little while longer.



IIIIIIIIII



Lupin felt like crap. He had a headache, he had finally gotten Teddy to bed, and he still had several tests he needed to grade before he was further behind that he already was. He growled as he sat behind the desk and ran his hands through his graying hair as he tried to concentrate on the essays in front of him.



He could hear foot steps walking across the hall that sounded louder than they actually were. He sighed as he stood up and decided to tell whoever was up they needed to go to bed and deduct points from whatever house they were from only to find the last thing he needed on his mind at the moment walking by with lipstick on his cheek.



He growled catching Arthur’s attention as the red head froze. They both stared at each other before Arthur Weasley did the one thing Lupin hated the most.



He ran away.



Lupin was tired.



Lupin was pissed.



And Lupin was a very, very fast runner. He grabbed Arthur by the arm and practically threw the older man into the nearest wall. Arthur hissed as his body hit before Lupin was on him, the werewolf trapped Arthur in by placing his hands on the wall on either side of Arthur’s head. Arthur turned his head away with a frown before Lupin grabbed his chin and faced him forward.



“What is your deal?”



Lupin’s words were cold, he felt Arthur tense around him and he could smell the man’s uneasiness pool off of him. He took a deep breath as he closed his eyes and waited for a reply.



“I don’t kno-”



Lupin slammed his fists against the wall by Arthur; shutting the man up as he laughed bitterly. Lupin moved his bruised knuckles against the wall until he was able to flatten his hands against the cold surface. He placed his head on Arthur’s shoulder as he took a few deep breaths and told himself to calm down.



“Remus…..I’m sorry.”



Arthur’s words were soft in his ear as Lupin stood up straight to look in those blue eyes. Arthur looked at Lupin for a bit before he looked at the ground and Lupin grabbed his chin again, this time gently as he slowly moved Arthur’s face up to look at him. They stared at each other for a long second before Lupin pressed his lips against Arthur’s only slightly before pulling back.



“I am in love with you.”



Arthur tensed at the confession as the werewolf moved his hands to Arthur’s cheeks and forced the older man to look him in the eyes.



“I am in love with you. I can’t stop thinking about you and the fact that I can smell that woman on you makes me want to hurt her.”



Arthur trembled a bit as he opened his mouth to say something but as nothing came out Lupin continued. He stroked Arthur’s cheeks before his hands moved to Arthur’s neck.



“I dream about that night we had together.” Lupin’s hand traveled from Arthur’s neck down the front of the older wizard’s body. “What it felt like to touch you, to taste you, to be in you.”



Arthur’s face flushed at this as he moved his hands around his body as if to cover himself from the younger wizard. He looked away from Lupin and swallowed before he turned to the younger man and said as clearly as he could while his body was shaking.



“I’m too old.”



“I don’t care.”



Arthur broke from Lupin’s grasp and started to walk briskly away but the werewolf followed closely behind him. Lupin grabbed one of Arthur’s hands causing the redhead to face him again.



“You could do so much better than me.”



“I don’t want to.”



Arthur tore his hand away as he tried to walk faster and turned the next corridor. Lupin grabbed Arthur around the waist enjoying how the older man fit against him as Arthur gasped as if he was having trouble breathing.



“I don’t want this.”



“I know you do.”



Arthur pulled himself away from Lupin as he walked further, he turned only to be shoved into the wall one more time as he made a pained expression towards Lupin. His face was flush was his chest was rising and falling with great difficulty as his eyes glistened a bit.



“My children-”



“Would love you regardless of who you were with.”



Arthur choked at that and turned only to have the front of his body pressed into the wall as Lupin pressed against him. Lupin kissed the back of his neck as Arthur finally broke and made a suffering sob as his body started to shake horribly.



“They would probably love having you in the family.” Arthur sniffed bitterly as he tried to contain himself. Lupin backed off a bit giving him air to breath before he turned and started at Lupin.



“Remus, I can’t…”



“Can’t or won’t?” Lupin grabbed one of Arthur’s hands when the redhead looked like he was about to walk away again. “Arthur, I am not giving up on you.”



“You should.” Arthur sighed as he laughed at himself before he took a few steps back even though Lupin was still holding onto this hand. “Let me go, Remus, please.”



Lupin shook his head as he raised Arthur’s hand and kissed it gingerly. Arthur made a small noise as the werewolf pressed his face against if before he kissed Arthur’s palm.



Then suddenly there was a loud thud as the curtains they were next to suddenly fluttered to reveal Neville and Snape lying on the ground, both groaning as they had just fallen. Neville was on top of the older man as if he had just shoved Snape too hard and had accidentally fallen with him.



Neville opened his eyes to stare into the shocked face of Arthur before the redhead slipped his hand out of Lupin’s grasp and with one last torn look towards Lupin, he turned and left them alone.



Lupin felt himself tremble at the silent rejection before he turned on the two intruders. He opened his mouth to say something but shut it quickly and with a growl turned and went in the other direction.



Neville looked down at Snape with a pissed expression as the potion’s master glared boredly back before Neville got up and left the dark haired man on the ground.



If anyone had passed around that corridor around that time would have heard a string of curse words before the potion’s master got up and made his way back to the dungeon.



Monday was going to suck.



IIIIIIIIII





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