Ad Infinitum (Remus Lupin X Reader)

XXVIII • Veritas

XXVIII • Veritas  • The Truth

"You won't believe what he made us do," one of the students exclaimed as they crossed the threshold into the classroom. "Look at this! Two rolls of parchment!"

"We don't even know anything about werewolves," another student said.

"He was just covering. How come he gave us homework?"

"Yeah, and you should have seen the way he was talking to us!"

"Did you tell Professor Snape that we haven't covered werewolves yet?" Remus asked with a frown.

"He wouldn't listen. Can you believe it? Two rolls of parchment!"

"Hm," Remus said with a small smile growing on his face. "Well, I'll talk to Professor Snape. You don't have to do the essay."

"Oh no," Hermione said. "I've already finished it."

"I'll look over it if you'd like, Hermione," I said and she nodded eagerly, fishing it out of her bag.

"How come you didn't cover the class, Miss Y/L/N?" Dean Thomas asked, still looking incredibly troubled at the idea of Snape's class even though the assignment had been omitted.

"I wish I could have been here," I said and took Hermione's paper. "It sounds as though you all suffered gravely." I fought back the smile that was threatening to grow on my face. "I was in Massachusetts visiting family."

"Please don't leave ever again," a student said. I laughed.

"We'll see," I said and brought Hermione's paper to my desk.

"I'm very sorry you found the class to be so terrible," Remus said, amusement clear on his face. "We'll pretend it never happened and continue on as usual."

I watched as the students begrudgingly settled down; their desire to complain more was obvious on their faces. I sat down at my desk and began to read over Hermione's essay with the intention of handing it back before class was over.

"Miss Y/L/N," Remus said suddenly, "are you busy?"

"Uh, no, why?"

"Can you help me?" he asked.

"Sure," I said and set my quill down.

"I'd like to split the class in half for discussion," he said. "This half-" he gestured to the students on the left- "will be with me and the others will be with Miss Y/L/N. Any questions before we break off? Alright. Muffliato."

I frowned and tried to begin the discussion with some difficulty. Usually, Remus would tell me before class if I was to lead a discussion so that I could prepare. I racked my brain for ideas about vampires and ultimately decided to begin the discussion by asking about the physical appearance of vampires. While the students began to discuss, I pulled out my textbook and flipped through it for more ideas.

"How about the skin, Neville?" I asked as I reached the chapter about vampires. "Anything that stands out that you can remember?"

"It's pale," he answered slowly, as if he was unsure.

"Exactly. Just like Professor Lupin after he's been sick," I said, smiling as the students began to giggle.

"And like Snape," someone added. I pretended I didn't hear, trying to bite back my smile.

"And their diet?" I asked. "Lavender?"

"Blood," she said.

"Just blood?" I asked.

"Well, no, but they prefer blood. They also eat blood-flavored things," she said.

"Perfect, Lavender. Have any of you been to Honeydukes?" I asked, watching the students nod their heads. "Next time you find yourself down there, you'll be able to find blood-flavored lollipops."