we are a low word count, any level of experience rp set in harry's 3rd year at hogwarts. students and adults alike are welcome! given we are set fairly early in the series, everything that happens from this point on will be up to us! perhaps sirius black will be cleared and peter arrested, or perhaps something darker lurks in the shadows...
Two weeks had passed, and Remus had been gathering information about Willow Fey, almost obsessively. One might think he was a stalker – given he researched the kid’s family and was watching him when he interacted with his little sister. He heard a few rumors around the school about the two and their relationship and boy, that was not good for Remus to hear. The overprotective brother was coming out too much for him to follow Tonks’s advice for any longer. This far and no further! And so, Remus had sent a note to Willow Fey this morning before classes started to meet him in the dada classroom, after classes finished for the day, as he wanted to talk to him about something.
Remus was just tidying up the room from his classes earlier today, they had practiced fighting off a boggart and most of his students seemed to be having fun, which really helped his self-esteem in how well he was teaching his students. He always had wanted to be loved and have friends and people who cared about him, and now he had several students who seemed to adore him as a teacher, even if a few of them seemed to dislike him for the run-down attire he wore, given he wasn’t the most financially stable person in the world. But honestly, if that was the problem they had with him, that was fine, as it wasn’t anything actually related to how he was teaching.
Regardless, he had settled in and was off to a good start this year. He knew the position was cursed, but he didn’t expect to be here for more than he was needed. At least until Sirius was caught or someone found out about his affliction. Given how fast apparently some of Rose’s classmates found out, and the fact they were related (though that was also another secret to keep), he wasn’t sure how long he would be able to be here. But while he was here, he was going to do his best, and protect his sister even if she didn’t want to be protected.
Willow didn't get what the note was about. He was a bit tense. Was he going to scold him about his secret spell invention? Had he somewhat got wind of what he had planned? Hopefully, he was just going to congratulate him for his excellent performance in DADA.
Willow, opened the door to the DADA classroom and walked in as if he had done nothing wrong. Which he hadn't, not yet anyway. Then he said:
"Hello Professor. You wanted to see me? If this is about my Boggart..." Willow said. It could have been he had some concerns after seeing the nature of his boggart. Did he think that he might fall into dark magic?
Remus held up a hand when Willow mentioned the Boggart. He actually smiled and shook his head. Of course, the reason he asked for him here, was well, something most people would not be able to predict given Rose hid her affiliation with his family taking her mother’s name instead of their father’s. Still, the boggart had made Remus wonder, why was this boy so afraid of turning dark? Was he not too young to think of things like that? Of course, Remus’s own boggart was the moon showing he was afraid of turning into a wolf and hurting someone. While that was interesting and gave him a little more insight into the young Slytherin, he wasn’t going to punish anyone for what they feared – that would be unprofessional and make it feel unsafe in his classroom.
“Nothing of the sort, Mr. Fey.” Remus set a stack of books down and walked over to stand in front of Willow and offering him a seat in one of the desks, taking one just across from it so he could look at the boy when he spoke. “Everyone fears what they fear for a reason. It isn’t my place to pry, even as a professor. However, it is my job to watch over my students and make sure they are doing well. Normally, I do not interfere with the personal lives of others, but this is a rather special case. It is regarding your relationship with Rose Hunter.”
He takes in a deep breath and stares at the young man with a very serious look in his normally comforting eyes. “Have the two of you had a falling out? She seems to be ignoring you for some reason. Did you break her heart? Did you use her? Did she break your heart? On the train you two seemed to be getting along swimmingly. If not, what are you intentions with her?”
Willow felt a bit overwhelmed. He flooded him with a torrent of questions. All of which, in his mind, seemed irrational.
"I don't know why haven't seen her either. But I didn't use her. Professor, she's three years older then me. How would that work? I only tried to be her friend. I don't know why she's avoiding me." Willow said, letting his gaze fall as he thought about it for a minute.
"Unless you said something? You did say she was too old for me back on the train." Willow said. Maybe it was Lupin's fault. Willow had liked the guy, but maybe that was a mistake. Hurting himself was bad enough but if he made Rose suffer...
Willow felt himself grow tense. He calmed himself by focusing on his breathing. Willow didn't know everything yet. It was foolish to act before thinking. He had to hear it all.
Just friends. And then the kid turned it on him. Okay, yes, Remus had upset her on the train, but that was before the attack on the train and he hadn’t really spoken to her since. Therefore, it could not be his fault. Either way, it was better that she left this kid alone, but something that he said struck him.
Just friends. Remus sighed and looked at the boy, shaking his head. “No, I have not said anything to her since before the attack. She has not yet had to have my class. If your intentions are to just be her friend, then you need to make it clear. You need to tell her that and not string her along. Don’t play games with her heart. You are too young for her, and I will be watching to make sure you don’t hurt her.”
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a chocolate bar offering it to Willow. “It will help calm your nerves. I can see that you are tense. I don’t mean to be harsh, but if you know what is good for you, you will stay away from Rose Hunter. I’m not saying this as your professor.”
“I knew her mother when I was younger, you see?” Well that wasn’t exactly a lie, it was just withholding the fact his father married her mother and had Rose with her. Even still, at least it would help explain to Willow why he was focusing on Rose. “I was asked to watch over her while we both are here.” Well, he asked himself to watch over her, so that was also not technically a lie. “Don’t break her heart. There’s a lot about her you do not know, so don’t get into anything intense – until you know everything, and you are not just playing around with her for fun. She isn’t a toy to played with, or a pawn to be toyed with. If you have any motives other than to be just friends, you should drop the idea immediately.”
It was then Willow realized that the man he was talking to was an idiot.
Sure he may be a professor, but he had no idea how to communicate with other people. How to understand them. He was saying the most vicious, hurtful things imaginable to him. Disregarding his thoughts and her feelings to paint her as just some sort of damsel he needed to save. Like he was some monster.
"How do you know it's me toying with her? Because your a family friend? Look at this objectively, isn't it the obvious thing to assume that she is taking advantage of me? How about you talk to her before you interrogate me. And I resent the fact that you would assume that I would be toying with her. Manipulating her just for the fun of it? Is that the kind of person you think I am? You don't even know me." Willow said.
"What is your plan? Keep everyone away from her? Keep her in a tower that no one can reach? That would make her more unhappy than anything I could do to her. With all do respect Professor, I don't need your chocolate nor do I need your advice or warnings. I don't know who you really are to her. Her dad, her uncle...her lover. It doesn't make a difference to me because you aren't acting like you love her. Your acting like she is a favorite toy you don't want the other kids to break." He said. Once he started, he couldn't stop. He was so angry. He shouldn't be talking this way to a professor, but he couldn't help it.
"I won't break her heart. It's not mine to break. Can you say the same about yourself?" Willow said, he wasn't even looking at Lupin anymore. He was facing the door now. He wanted to leave. Coming here had been a mistake.
Remus remained calm with an even look, though when he suggested lover, he was… well shocked. He blinked a couple of times at the suggestion and then just made a very confused look. Pinching the bridge of his nose he continued to hold the chocolate bar out just in case Willow changed his mind.
“First of all, she’s sixteen. I’m thirty-three. I’m not old enough to be her father, nor her lover,” Just saying that made him feel a little bit gross because she was his little sister! Where did this kid get that from? Stop it, Remus, this is only going badly because you’re letting your emotions get in the way of logic. Instead of using emotional logic, he needed to find some other way to explain what he wanted and why it made a lot of sense for the both of them. All of them. Rose, Willow, and Remus himself.
“I don’t plan to lock her away keep everyone from her. Not everyone, no. But you are too young for her. You’re only thirteen and she is almost an adult. It’s not good for either of your mental health. You still need time to be a kid, and she needs to be looking towards her future. You are right, I do not know you, but it is always possible you could be someone like that. Can you blame me for worrying? Think about it this way, regardless of your intentions, you care what happens to her. If she started hanging out with… someone who was teaching her dark arts and manipulating her to support… Sirius Black, let’s say. You’re worried for her, but she won’t listen to you. What would you do?”
He didn’t understand the logic with Willow’s last statement. She was already breaking his heart by not being careful with her secret, but it wasn’t her heart to break, yet it still was breaking. The more he talked to this kid, the more worried he was getting. The fact he got so angry at the insinuation, the fact he was turning this on him instead of owning up to the fact that it was wrong to be with a sixteen-year-old when you were thirteen and not seeing anything at all how it could worry someone… it made Remus feel like he was hiding something.
“I’m not intending to treat her like an object. I’m just trying to look after her mental health when she refuses to look after it herself. Someone has to care.”
Lupin was incredibly presumptuous. Again he claimed to understand the nature of there relationship. When he couldn't. Willow didn't understand it himself.
"You seem to lack faith in her. Again you assume I'm some sort of monster while simultaneously saying I need time to be a kid. That's a contradiction. And I've never been a kid. I hadn't had the time. My parents had just gone through a war in which they had to fight many of their schoolmates. I was practically born with that knowledge. From the second I walked through that door, I knew one of my classmates that I was laughing or joking around with today, could end up a dark wizard in a few years. Being a Slytherin whose parents were on the right side of the war is a training course in paranoia. Being cautious is wise, but not being suffocating. This kind of behavior is more likely to drive her into the arms of a dark wizard, not away from them." Willow said, he had calmed down somewhat, but he still felt on edge.
"From what I've seen of her she seems perfectly stable. Again, I have no relationship with her as of now. Isolation does not lead to strong mental health. I must ask again why, you insisted on seeing me first instead of the person you claim to be protecting? Seems backwards to me Professor." Willow said.
It was becoming more apparent how immature this young man was, taking his words and twisting them to suit his own view. Then again, Remus knew that it could also be blamed on himself for not making himself clear enough. He took in a deep breath and formulated his response, thinking through the words a bit more carefully before he chose to speak, unlike the emotionally charged words from before.
“I am not assuming anything. I am covering every base possible because I do not know you. Despite these last two weeks and with myself learning about your classmates, you are one of the few I have very little understanding on. You could be some sort of ‘monster’, you could be a perfectly find young man, but in either case I have told you what would happen depending on which you are. You should either stop playing with Rose Hunter or be a kid more. No matter what your history, Willow, you need time to grow up. They fought their schoolmates so you could have a normal and happy life.”
He shook his head, setting the chocolate bar on a desk in front of him so Willow could take it if he ever decided he wanted to. “In my experience, the lack of caring causes one to be driven to dark wizards. I grew up when You-Know-Who was at the height of his power, I fought in the war. There was a young man, a Slytherin, much like yourself, who was bullied by my fellow classmates, but he did not seem to want to be part of You-Know-Who’s movement, and even seemed to care deeply for a muggleborn. I stood by and did nothing, fearing my classmates would dislike me – I was a coward, so I just stood by and did nothing. In the end, that Slytherin joined You-Know-Who. It was only when Albus Dumbledore showed him care and understanding that he switched sides.” Of course, he was talking about Severus, though he didn’t know the full story behind why Dumbledore trusted him so much – he trusted Severus because Dumbledore did and he didn’t question that at all. Severus’s word was as good at Dumbledore’s to him. Also, Remus thought Severus only cared for Lily as a friend, as anyone with eyes could see that they had been fairly close before the slip up at school.
“I know how Rose can be, that’s why I haven’t talked to her about it specifically.” Though thanks to the calendar, Remus remembers talking to her a bit about him, after that… day with Tonks a week ago. “Isolation may not be what you view as the best, but in my view, as someone who has practiced it, it does wonders for your mental health.” Remus. You’re clinically depressed. How can you say it does wonders for your mental health?
"A safe and normal life? That's a luxury for the innocent. My house has too much blood on it's hands. Besides, that sounds exceedingly boring. My mother is an Auror and I'm my mother's son. What should I grow up to be? A bureaucrat? Have a bunch of kids with a nice pureblood witch and never set more than twenty miles outside Manor Fey again? That's not me." Willow said, his voice was calm, but he was expressing some passion here.
"Albus Dumbledore is a great man. His wisdom is why my mother and father go through the war. Your story contradicts with your follow up. This Slytherin was hurting and you did nothing. I haven't known her for long but I think Rose is hurting too. I can't lose her. You should understand that more than anyone." Willow said. He was hurting too and he needed Rose's help as much as she needed his.
"Isolation does? Really. That hasn't been my experience." Willow said. Sometimes he felt like he was drowning. He dreamed that sometimes. That he was being swallowed up by a sea of green and silver, good and evil, pride and shame. He kept trying to push through, to make it to the shore. But however close he got he would be pulled away. Sometimes he was just fingertips away.
One day he would reach that shore, and even Lupin would be applauding him.
“Do what makes you happy, that’s what. Why do you think they fought, Willow? So that you could continue to fight? After you complete whatever your goal is, would you rather everyone who benefits from it… fight more? Have a rough life because you can’t be happy with what you already have? With what many people sacrificed their lives for you to have? By… not accepting the peace that was fought and never settling for anything, then… you disgrace their sacrifices.”
Wow Remus, good job being a hypocrite. Then again, did they really fight for werewolves to be accepted or just for muggleborns…? Either way, his voice was also calm still, but one could tell he was frustrated. James and Lily died so they could live in peace and this boy didn’t seem to care – at least that’s what Remus was getting from this. Remus himself was content, despite being depressed about it all and self-deprecating, with how the world was at least right now. Maybe in the future werewolves would be accepted, but for now, he was fine. He was fine with being hated and jumping from job to job because Voldemort was gone. Things were peaceful.
“I did do nothing for the man. However, you do not seem to understand: I am showing Rose care and understanding. I’m not just standing by while someone possibly could hurt her. That’s why I’m talking to you. If I did nothing, I’d just let it happen and not care if you broke her heart. Again, it’s a big if, as I don’t know you as I’ve stated before.” Remus was saying this last part because Willow seemed to think that Remus just assumed he was a monster and that was that. He didn’t want to offend the boy as he knew he could be a perfectly fine young man, but there was always a chance he was using her and that was what he was trying to prevent here.
“Well you’re very young. I’ve lived double your age and longer. In time you’ll see… if you grow to care and love for people and then you lose them, it hurts more than anything else in the entire world. It’s better to isolate yourself than to feel that constant pain. You’re too young to understand it. Perhaps when you’re older you’ll look back and you’ll see I was right.”
