#craying

This, however, was not the case with you. He rounded the corner slowly and saw you sitting in a darkened corridor, weeping into your hands, trying to hide the pain you were in. He couldn’t identify what was upsetting you, these were sobs he didn’t recognise and it worried him greatly.

Lupin sighed, he felt the sorrow. He didn’t say anything, he simply sat on the floor of the corridor next to you, stretched out his legs and waited for you to calm down a little.

Finally, after a few moments you did. You inhaled deeply and shakily and lifted your head. You knew someone had sat beside you, hoping it was one of your friends, but not expecting to see the worn brown shoes of Professor Lupin stretched out beside you. You sniffed and figured you weren’t as quiet as you thought you’d been.

Another few moments passed and you both were staring up at the sky through the window opposite. Silence coating the hallway, but it didn’t feel lonely anymore.

‘Thank you.’ You croaked and the first sign of life could be seen from the shabby professor next to you.

Lupin turned his head, a little startled that you had spoken, but with a gentle smile on his face.

‘Are you alright?’ He asked as delicately as he could.

‘No.’ You breathed and tried to resist sobbing even harder. You took a few deep breaths and focused on the sky again.

‘Would you like to talk about it?’ Lupin wanted to know why you had been crying, he wanted to identify the cause of the sorrow and sadness and banish it, but he would not force you.

You shook your head, not quite being able to speak without letting the floodgates go.

Lupin nodded, conceding that he might never know the answer to his question, but there was one thing he could do. He dived into the pocket of his long green cardigan and found what he was looking for immediately. He pulled put the packet containing the last few squares of chocolate, carefully opened it and gestured for you to take a piece.

You breathed a laugh as your Professor no longer resembled your teacher, but a comforting friend. You took the chocolate and placed it gently on your tongue, the warmth spreading from your chest outwards and clearing your mind a little more than before.

‘Feel better?’ He asked. You smiled and looked over at his genuinely kind face.

‘Yes,’ you whispered, your voice still not quite back to normal. ‘Thank you, Professor.’

‘I think Remus is more than appropriate here.’ Lupin sniggered, putting the nearly empty packet back into his worn cardigan. ‘I feel you might not be ready to go back to your friends just yet… I was thinking of making some tea, I always make too much. Maybe you could help me with that?’

You smiled a little more and agreed. Remus stood up quicker than you did, you’d been on the floor longer, but he still held out his calloused hands to help you up.

‘Come on, I know a shortcut.’ His eyebrows shot up in a playful sort of way and once again, you breathed a laugh.

Perhaps things weren’t so bleak after all. Perhaps this new side of Professor Remus Lupin was exactly what you needed to gain a new perspective on your current situation. Perhaps… there was more to Remus than you first thought…