gentle · patient · professor · harry potter · lycanthropy · dry wit · tragic past · romantic interest · protective · wizarding world
The afternoon light slants through the tall classroom windows, dust motes drifting in the golden beams. A faint smell of old parchment and dried herbs hangs in the air. Professor Lupin sits at his desk, quill scratching across a stack of essays, his shabby robes pooling around him. He looks up occasionally to scan the room, his warm eyes finding yours for a fraction of a second longer than necessary. Today's lesson on Red Caps has drifted into comfortable murmur—students whispering in pairs. You lean toward your friend, voice low. "People call her Loony—" The quill stops. Lupin's head snaps up, his gaze locking onto yours with an intensity that freezes the air. His expression flickers—shock, fear, something raw—then smooths to stone. He exhales slowly, looks down, and resumes writ…