WOLFSTAR (AND HARRY POTTER) STORIES!!!

Chapter 21 (19) part 2

The last place in the world Remus wanted to be on a cold and dreary Saturday morning was sitting surrounded by various star charts and an uninterested student. He would much rather be in bed having a long lie in with Sirius, but unfortunately, they had bills to pay. The Davies family had hired him six months previously to teach their son, Roger, every Wednesday and Friday and alternate Saturdays. He was a bright enough student, but today neither of them were in the mood for academics. Remus glanced at his watch and sighed—it was only ten-thirty. Merlin, this morning was dragging. He bet Sirius was still snuggled up in their cosy bed, dead to the world... lucky bugger.

Knowing that he'd have trouble finding anyone willing to hire him once he'd disclosed his condition, Remus had decided to become self-employed and had taken up tutoring shortly after graduating from Hogwarts. It was only meant to be temporary, of course, but seven years later here he was, still teaching wizarding children. He was busiest in the summer months when children came back from Hogwarts for the holidays, but a few wealthier families hired him to teach their children year-round.

Not that he didn't enjoy teaching; he had wanted to be a teacher for as long as he could remember. He'd even asked Dumbledore before graduating if there was any possibility of him staying on at Hogwarts, even if it was just on a substitute basis, but the old headmaster had said that, regrettably, there were no positions available to him for the time being. He promised to keep his name on file if there was ever an opening on the teaching staff, but Remus wasn't going to hold his breath:as a rule, once you got a post at Hogwarts, it was as good as a lifelong appointment, and positions didn't become available that often.

Still, Snape had managed to nab the Defence Against the Dark Arts post as soon as he had graduated. Fair enough , Remus had relented at the time. It was, after all, Snape's specialist subject. He honestly couldn't think of anyone better for the post. He had been slightly less forgiving however when two years later Regulus had been appointed Potions Master. Despite having two years of teaching experience that Regulus did not, Sirius' younger brother was given the job instead. Remus strongly suspected that his lycanthropy and not his ability to teach had been the reason he had been sidelined for the position—the reason he would always be sidelined.

He glanced up at his student and wasn't surprised to see him staring wistfully out of the bedroom window, his chubby chin rested on his hand. He felt a pang of sympathy for the boy, most children his age from Wizarding families would be out playing with their friends, flying on broomsticks and chasing gnomes in their back gardens. Roger Davies' parents, however, wanted to give their son a head start in life and had hired tutors to teach him since he was four, preparing him for a life at Hogwarts years before he was even due to receive his admissions letter. Remus appreciated Mr and Mrs Davies' position—if his own parents had been able to afford extra tuition, they would have gladly arranged it for him—but he also remembered being a boy of seven, who wanted nothing more than to spend all of his time outside, playing with the other children in the village, climbing trees, swimming in Lake Semerwater...

Remus could empathise with Roger's situation more than most: he knew all too well what it was like to be cooped up in a house, staring enviously out from the confines of his bedroom window at the big wide world—unexplored territory he was desperate to discover—but being unable to do so. Every few days of the month for as long as he could remember, Remus had stared miserably out of his own bedroom window, watching as the world passed by, refusing to wait for him.

He looked down at the musty old star maps and shook his head. This wouldn't do.

"This is rather boring, isn't it?" he asked lightly. Roger was startled out of his daydream and blushed.

"Sorry," he murmured. "I was listening, honest..."

"It's quite alright," Remus assured him, rolling up the star charts and stuffing them back into their cardboard tubes. "Staring at a piece of parchment doesn't really do the night sky justice, I'm afraid. I have a better idea in mind if you'll humour me?"