Chapter Text
remus lupin had no clue what to expect.
it was his first year of teaching at this university, and he has no experience in teaching bored teens and young adults.
to be fair, he should be one of those bored young adults, but instead, he is an anxious young adult that is about to teach english literature in a very notorious and well-known university, hogwarts.
remus was pretty sure the only reason he actually got hired was because he was good friends, as sad as this sounds, with the headmaster. headmaster dumbledore wasn’t exactly “young”, but he had enough twinkle in his eye for people to second think his age.
his best and only friend, lily evans, also attends hogwarts and he was sure that she pitched in a good word for him.
walking down the long, majestic hallways was a pure dream. he never grew up in money and wealth, and even just getting a small ice cream snack seemed like the best thing in the world for him.
being in hogwarts, teaching in hogwarts, being paid by hogwarts is so mind blowing and miraculous that sometimes, remus had to pinch himself to make sure it wasn’t all a dream.
no one was in the hallways since most everyone had classes at this time. remus had already talked to the headmaster, as well as some of the other professors. he rather liked minerva, she was respectable, stern, but at the same time fair. all the other teachers were alright, though not really his age (as expected).
remus walked quite briskly, trying to get to his assigned classroom before classes ended, so he wouldn’t be caught into the clutches of the crowd. unfortunately, it seemed that his class was on the other side of the university, and classes ended just about…
now.
doors burst open, and out came crowds of students, happy or sad, angry or calm, they all surrounded him like a tidal wave.
remus was only twenty-one years old. he graduated early and set out to become a professor. being a twenty-one-year-old professor meant that a lot of his students would be older than himself. as well as bigger.
he wasn’t exactly proud of his height. at a whopping five foot six, it would be an understatement to say he was short.
once the students flooded the hallways, he couldn’t see anything. heads and shoulders blocked his view, bodies blocked his way, it was chaos.
remus tried so desperately to get through, but nothing seemed to work. until he felt a hand grip his cotton sweater and pull him back.
not only was remus short, but also skinny. there was definitely no meat in his bones, so dragging him was an easy feat. an incredibly easy feat.
he flailed around for a second, trying to balance himself. once he saw a mass of red hair, he practically slumped in relief.
lily.
“lily thank the lord you’re here,” remus embraced his friend warmly, burrowing his head in her hair. he could feel the vibrations of her giggle as she wrapped her arms around him as well.
“well, what kind of friend would i be if i wasn’t here?” she released the hug, beaming at him. he grinned back down at her. remus hadn’t even realized that there was company until he heard a light cough behind him.
“oi mate, what do you think you’re doing hugging my girlfriend huh?” a very tall and broad guy came into view. at first, remus thought “holy shit i’m dead”, but then he thought…
“boyfriend? you have a boyfriend and you didn’t tell me?” remus asked lily in an offended voice.
“well, i was going to tell you, but then you said you got a job here, so i decided to just tell you here in person… please don’t be mad?” lily sheepishly smiled. remus shook his head fondly.
“i’d never be mad at you.” he gave her a warm smile. another cough was heard from the intimidating boy.
back to thinking "holy shit i’m dead.”
right before remus was about to flinch, he realized something.
“i’m a professor. i can tell him off. because i. am. a. professor.”
remus spun around, looked up and straight into the brown-eyed boy. for a second, remus studied him. black wire-rimmed glasses, messy dark brown hair, disheveled look; a natural playboy.
“yes? is there something i can help you with?” remus asked in a polite tone. the boy seemed taken back a bit but returned full force.
“i asked, what do you think you’re doing hugging my girlfriend?” the boy growled at remus, but the result was not exactly how the boy had planned.
“is there something wrong with embracing an old friend of mine?”
“well… no… but i’d like you to keep your hands off her!” the boy raised his voice, shoving his finger in front of remus’ face. remus was unperturbed.
“as a professor, i can assure you that any romantic relationship is banned between me and a student.”
“as a… as a what?”
“as a professor.”
the boy stared at him for a bit, looking him up and down (mostly just down) with wide eyes.
“no way are you a professor.”
“actually, yes i am. i’m teaching english literature this year.” the boy seemed even more shocked.
his mouth opened and closed, opened and closed, “…oh…er…”
lily let out a giggle, quickly covering her hands in front of her mouth to try to catch it, however, her attempt was fruitless.
the boy turned on her, “you knew?!?”
lily giggles again, “of course i knew james, remus here is my best friend. and i’d like you to treat him respectfully as a friend and professor please.”
the boy, james, stared at her, then remus, then back at her.
“what’s even happening?” james’ voice cracked a bit at the end.
“not a clue,” with that, remus continued walking down the hallway, even though he was pretty sure that this was the complete wrong hallway to walk down.
but then again, remus doesn’t have a clue about anything today.
especially not what to expect.
especially not where all the classrooms were.
especially not that lily had a boyfriend (a very rude and playboy-like one at that).
and especially, especially what was happening when a very handsome boy started hanging out with him.
but then again, remus doesn’t have a clue about anything, and maybe he doesn’t need one.