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Bill was late for class. This was very unlike her but with finals coming up and her sleep schedule out of whack, she slept through all four of her alarms and woke up with three minutes to book it across campus anxious about being late for her favorite class. Remus Lupin was her favorite professor and her advisor. He didn’t take on many students to advise due to his health, but Bill was top of her class and certainly the top student in the English department.
She made it - only five minutes late - and she clumsily stumbled into an empty seat in the back. She heard Lupin stumble a bit in his sentence, back turned to the class as he wrote on the blackboard and she hoped her distracting entrance wasn't the reason for the stutter. As quietly as she could manage, she fell into the seat and started furiously unpacking her backpack, but she felt a nudge to her arm. A wet nose was pressed to her skin belonging to Padfoot, Professor Lupin’s dog, who often took refuge in the back of the class for a snooze. Anytime Padfoot was present meant that Professor Lupin was having a rough day.
Padfoot huffed in appreciation as Bill gave him a scratch behind the ear. His tail thumped once and he stood, circling a few times in place before settling down closer to her desk. He laid his head on his front paws and closed his eyes, going back to sleep. Bill looked back up at the board to piece together whatever she missed.
On the first day of term, every first day of term she had with him, Professor Lupin briefly discussed his health - that he suffers with an autoimmune disease and will often have to miss class, but he will never miss assignments or grading. True to his word, when he missed class, he would still give the students more reading and, the next time he saw them, a quiz to make sure they did the assignment. More often than not, though, he would come to class looking a bit ill and press on. On those days, he brought Padfoot, his massive black shaggy mutt, who intimidated some, but Bill thought he gave off more of a calming presence. Padfoot wasn’t a service dog, but in her mind, he sure acted like one. Professor Lupin always seemed a bit better off with him there.
When she first met Professor Lupin’s partner, she was on her way to his office hours with her planned schedule clutched in her hands. Next term’s scheduling was coming up and she was nervous about taking on senior level courses in the first term of her sophomore year, but Lupin was encouraging her to challenge herself and well - she never had a teacher, or an adult for that matter, believe in her before.
She pulled open the door to the English hearth, an open space with tables for studying and couches for lounging with offices surrounding it, and stopped short when she saw an unfamiliar figure in Professor Lupin’s doorway. It was a tall man, a bit shorter than Lupin, dressed in dark wash jeans, large black boots, and a leather jacket. His hair was long, shiny, and dark, tied back in a loose bun at the nape of his neck. He had a few tattoos peeking up his collar, but she couldn’t make out what they were. He had a black streak of something across his cheek just beneath the apple of his cheeks.
As she stepped around to the couch, dropping her bag to wait for her turn, she caught sight of Professor Lupin standing right in front of the man, extremely close. His cheeks were bright red and he was smiling, but fighting off a grin. They both spoke quietly and then Lupin reached out a hand to his upper arm and gave it a squeeze. He looked past the stranger and caught eyes with Bill. He blinked and the stranger turned to follow his gaze.
“Bill,” her professor said, smiling politely. “Here for office hours?”
“Yes, sir,” she replied, standing up abruptly and fiddling with the strap of her bag. “If that’s okay-”
“You’re Bill?” the stranger asked with a smirk. “Jesus, Remus doesn’t shut up about how clever you are.”
“Sirius,” Lupin muttered warningly.
“Oh,” Bill breathed, feeling her cheeks flush.
“She should know she’s your favorite student,” the man, Sirius, tutted at her professor. He stepped forward and shook her hand. “He grades your papers first,” he added with a wink.
Professor Lupin crossed the room quickly, clasping a hand on Sirius’ shoulder with a heavy sigh. “Bill, this is Sirius Black, my insufferable partner.”
“Insufferable, eh?” Sirius asked with a smile. “You’re just mad I know all your secrets, Moony,” he turned back to Bill and whispered, quite loudly, “he’s a big old softy. Don’t let him make you think otherwise.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Bill said genuinely. She didn’t know Professor Lupin had a partner and honestly, seeing any teacher with a personal life felt odd, but it was nice to know that he had someone. Although Sirius Black was the complete opposite of what she was expecting, if she had to think about it.
The next time she saw Sirius Black was around midterms during her junior year. Professor Lupin had looked awful in class that morning, pale with sunken eyes. He sat at his desk the whole class, not getting up as he normally did when teaching - pacing the classroom back and forth with excited energy.
Bill was crossing the quad field heading back to her dorm to swap out her morning books for her afternoon ones when she saw Sirius Black standing in front of the Music building with Professor Lupin. One hand was clutching his partner’s and the other was holding a container of what looked like soup and their heads were ducked, talking quietly. Sirius seemed to be frustrated, whispering harshly, eyes pleading. Lupin just looked exhausted, even worse than when she saw him a few hours ago.
“Just come home and rest, you stubborn bastard,” she heard Sirius groan as she approached. “You can’t be doing a good job anyway if you feel as awful as you look.”
“Cheers,” Professor Lupin said, voice breathy. He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. “I have two more classes and then I’ll be home. I can handle it.”
Sirius huffed out a bitter laugh. “At least let Padfoot join you.”
“No,” Lupin replied quickly. “I don’t need Padfoot. Go back to work, Sirius.”
“You’re doing too much, Remus,” Sirius argued. “You always push yourself and it just gets worse. You have to-”
Bill didn’t hear the rest of that conversation, but from the little she knew about her professor outside of class, she had to agree with Sirius Black.
The last time she saw Sirius Black was after graduation. She wandered the sea of caps and gowns under the large tent in the quad, hugging friends and taking photos with her diploma and family. She caught sight of Professor Lupin in the back of the tent, dressed in his large velvety gown and bonnet. Beside him was Sirius Black, dressed in a smart-looking suit, his head thrown back in a loud laugh. Lupin was smiling along with him, eyes focused on only him.
She approached them shyly, giving an awkward wave. “Hi, Professor.”
“Bill!” Lupin beamed. “Congratulations.”
“Cheers,” she smiled, waving her diploma a bit.
“Congrats,” Sirius echoed. “Remus tells me you’re off to graduate school next, is that right?”
“Oxford,” Lupin appended quickly.
“Bloody brilliant,” his partner’s eyes widened.
“I-yes, thank you,” Bill confirmed with a smile and a blush. “Honestly, I couldn’t have done it without your help, Professor Lupin. I just wanted to thank you for everything.”
“Nonsense, Bill,” he tutted, waving a hand dismissively. “You’re the brightest student I’ve ever had the pleasure to teach. I’ll be very sad to see you go, but please keep in touch.”
“He means that, you know,” Sirius added with a smile.
“I will,” Bill promised, in awe at her professor’s praise. He was always soft-spoken and rarely gave out feedback that wasn’t carefully constructed. While he always gave her constructive notes on her assignments or academic pursuits, she only ever heard these genuine unfiltered moments when he was around his partner. She was grateful for all of his help, for encouraging her when she never felt encouraged by others. She was excited to pursue a career in academia and hopefully pass on that mentorship she received onto the next student who desperately needed it.