"i know life well enough to know you can't count on things staying around or standing still, no matter how much you want them to. you can't stop people from dying. you can't stop them from going away. you can't stop yourself from going away either."...
'how evergreen our group of friends, don't think we'll say that word again'- champagne problems
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Remus sighed quietly to himself, tired eyes wandering around the empty classroom. He had plenty of papers sitting neatly on the end of his desk, waiting to be checked. They could wait a few days, no harm in that. Instead he propped his feet up on his desk, leaning back slowly into his seat. Mondays were always the most tiring, but with the impending full moon, Remus was entirely exhausted.
As he sunk further into his chair, chewing slowly on his bar of chocolate, he considered the whereabouts of a certain missing student. He'd been keeping the map locked tightly in the left draw of his desk, but didn't quite have the energy to reach across and pull it out.
"Alohomora," Remus grunted, sluggishly lifting his wand, "Accio, map."
Surprisingly, he caught the flying parchment with little effort. Unfolding his own handiwork, he watched as the ink spilled across the page, and for a moment, he felt like a teenager again, reading the title with a small grin.
The nostalgia soon wore off, and he searched for one name in particular, his eyes finally landing beside the sketch of the tree by the Black Lake, his old hiding spot.
Remus chuckled lightly, folding the map up and tucking it in his pocket. Although his bones ached, he hauled himself out of his seat, wincing a little as he reached for a coat. Taking an extra deep breath (and an extra bar of chocolate) the professor headed out of the classroom, only to nearly collide with a certainly large-nosed professor.
"Ah, Severus. Good to see you." Remus grimaced, his deadpan delivery not quite supporting his words. Snape just looked the scarred man up and down, a smoking goblet in hand. "Could you leave that on my desk, I'll be back in a moment."
The potions professor simply nodded, sliding into the classroom without a word. Not wishing to make any more small talk with his old classmate, Remus went on his way, ignoring the slight pounding of his head. He made his way through the corridors, exchanging small pleasantries with passing students and professors alike.
He'd had his reservations when Dumbledore asked him to return to Hogwarts after all these years, and after everything that had happened since the last time he set foot in the castle, he was more than tempted to decline. But something changed his mind, and he was glad of it.
As Remus neared the lake, he frowned as he scoured the shore, expecting to see the redhead sitting behind the tree. Pulling the map out again, he did one last search before consulting it.
On the parchment, their names were right beside each other, yet the girl was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps the map was broken?
As he turned to walk away, a small pebble rolled across the bank. His head snapped to where it came from, eyebrows furrowed. That was until he noticed a small imprint in the grass below the tree. Remus sighed, shaking his head with a grin on his face as he reached forward, grasping onto the fabric and tugging it away, revealing an absent-faced Ophelia.
