Remus Lupin and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Chapter 35: One Monster, Two Monster

By the time Monday rolled around, he was as recovered as he ever would be, energy back up and pain ignorable--the deep bite mark on his arm was healing slowly but surely, enough that it only twinged sharply when in use instead of just throbbing all of the time. It was glitteringly sunny over a light dusting of fresh snow, cutting the late January bite into something that almost had a pleasant edge. But instead of taking a walk over the grounds as he longed to do now that he knew his joints wouldn't dump him somewhere unfortunate without warning, he made his way up to his classroom, magically-lightened boggart trunk in hand to set up before Thora arrived. The 2 days in bed and the rest of the week and weekend stuck indoors catching up on missed classwork had him gazing longingly out each window he passed, soaking in the brief sunlight like some sort of summer starved plant. Alas, prior commitments. Thora seemed a pleasant enough girl and he was always pleased to get to know his students as more than a name on a page, so, despite the unfortunate circumstances, he was sure the morning would be agreeable enough.

He had the floor cleared, chairs and desks neatly stacked against the sides of the room by the time she poked her head around the door jam. "Hullo."

Glancing over his shoulder from setting the case in the approximate middle of the room, he smiled at her, "Good morning, Thora, right on time."

He felt her draw close behind him, watching him wave his wand to undo the magical fastens while leaving the physical locks still firmly sealed. "Why are we here and not on the 7th floor?" she asked, curiously.

That surprised a short laugh out of him and he rose to his feet, hands on his knees. "Good question. Partly for the fact that we only need a bigger space when there's a whole class worth of people lining up to take the boggart on. But, also, partly because I don't want to have to walk that far, do you?"

She gave a short chuckle of her own and shrugged, tossing her bag onto a desk against the wall. "Not really."

"I'm glad this is satisfactory for all parties, then. Save, perhaps, our unfortunate boggart, here. Feeling alright?"

Eyes locked on the case, she shrugged again, uneasily. Her fingers picked at the hem of her sleeves. "Nervous, I guess. I've been trying to guess this whole time what it might be and I don't really know which one I would prefer, y'know?"

His eyebrows raised in mild surprise and said, "Oh? I had thought you knew." Declining to continue felt the least invasive, but they both felt the implied 'and that's why you elected to have a private lesson.'

It was hard to tell against her dark cheeks, but Remus got the impression that she flushed a bit as she shifted from foot to foot. "Uh, no, I just...I don't do well, er, performing in front of others, y'know? I get real...I just get real anxious and I didn't want...."

As she trailed off he held up a hand and shook his head, trying to negate whatever discomfort his question had caused, "Whatever your reasoning is fine with me, Thora, like I said, I'm not going to ask for justification. I shouldn't have assumed, so I apologize."

"Nah, 's alright. Just didn't wanna have a fit in front of the whole class or anything." She glanced around at him and shot him a small, sheepish grin, "In front of you is fine, though, I suppose."

He smiled as gently as he could and said, "I'm here to help keep you safe, so whatever happens will be kept in the strictest confidence, Thora. Is there anything in specific you're worried about?"

"Not really, just the whole, uh, worst fear thing. Not looking forward to that," she said in a tone of humor veiling real discomfort. Her fingers kept picking at her sleeves, plucking nervously.

"Understandable," he nodded. "But necessary--to be able to know and control your greatest fear, to use that power to transform it into something that is not only harmless but laughable is an invaluable skill. There are many adult witches and wizards who struggle with it. Do you want to talk about what it might be?"