Which Witch? Harry Potter

001.

ONE.
Sidelines

"Couldn't you just Apparate to Hogwarts?" Riley Jane asked. "Or, the fireplaces must be connected to the Floo Network, right? Well, no, they live at Hogwarts, don't they? The professors? I've actually never thought about that. Do you think they have houses, Dad? Or has Dumbledore just been sleeping on a desk for the past two hundred years?"

Remus glanced at Riley Jane with a look.

"Sorry. Too far."

Her father carried his daughter's trunk as they climbed aboard the Hogwarts Express. He'd been staying silent, letting Riley Jane ramble off on her own, which she wasn't too miffed by. Remus was the only person she could talk to, so she was glad to know he was at least listening.

"No, you can't Apparate in or out of Hogwarts," Remus answered. "No, Hogwarts is not connected to the Floo Network. And I'm sure the professors have their own living situations, although I'm not sure what they are. I wouldn't advise you to go asking around about it, though."

They found an empty compartment, and her father held the door open for Riley Jane as she walked in. He entered right after.

As he examined the space, his eyes went... elsewhere. Riley Jane noticed the change in the atmosphere, like Remus was recalling a bad dream. If it was anyone else, this tension would've gone unnoticed, but Riley Jane had always been better than most at reading people. She spotted how his eyes scanned letters that were engraved on the compartment's walls.

M, W, P, & P!

Remus quickly looked away.

"I just decided to ride the Express to see if anything's changed," her father answered vaguely. "I think I'll be taking a nap, okay?"

Riley Jane figured that was the most she would be getting out of him. Don't get her wrong—Riley Jane thought her father was great. As great as a father could be when he had a child he didn't really ever ask for, that was. But he was mysterious beyond belief.

Even to his daughter, Remus Lupin was an enigma. Sometimes he made her understand why others created stories about Riley Jane so often (with the amount of scars on Riley Jane's body, it was inevitable for rumors to fly). It must have been curiosity, really, because Riley Jane had been left the same way about who her father truly was for quite some time.

She couldn't really blame him. Riley Jane was an enigma herself. They were unknowable to each other, and unknowable to themselves.

So Riley Jane just nodded. "Alright."

In Remus's defense, he looked ill and exhausted. Riley Jane had been charting the moon phases ever since she found out about her father's condition—the full moon was tonight. She frowned at the thought of what he had to do once a month.

At the very least, Remus did deserve a nap.

Outside of his... furrier issues, Riley Jane was sure he'd behave unusually regardless. She hadn't seen her father act like his normal self since Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban. Ever since the news of his breakout was released, Riley Jane wanted to ask if Remus knew Sirius personally—she calculated that they were close in age—but her father was always such a closed-off person. If she was being honest, she was lucky he even told her about his lycanthropy.