FicWad

                SHE DOESN'T KNOW what sets it off, she had known all morning, the whispers of Professor Lupin being a werewolf had followed her around all morning. The older students that knew about her werewolf attack had given her leering smiles and some had even howled at her much to Neville and her other friend's confusion. Aurelia told herself that she would still treat Professor Lupin the same because he was just too kind, and not just to her but to everyone. But, somehow she still saw her. That werewolf that attacked her.

                She had just been entering the Great Hall and Lupin had just been leaving, he bumped into her and it knocked her off of her feet because she more like a feather than a person, and somebody had howled — probably Bulstrode, she's a petty bitch who was still pissed about that chess game — and suddenly she felt like she was there again.

                Her breath catches in her throat and her eyes widen in horror and she chokes out: "W — w — werewolf."

                The fear in Aurelia's eyes breaks Professor Lupin's heart "Miss. Black, I'm —"

                "No! Get — Get a — away from me," She exclaims, stumbling backwards.

                Most of the students in the Great Hall have abandoned their breakfast to either gawk at their Professor who happens to be a werewolf or watch the drama unfolding before them. Some had even gone as far to howl at him which had put Aurelia further on edge — she can't stand the sound of howling.

                Tears blur her vision, she doesn't see Professor Lupin but that werewolf who attacked her. That ecstatic blonde-haired woman with the dishevelled hair and the mad glint in her eyes invades Aurelia's mind and it's just like she's back in that forest.

                "Get — Get away from me, werewolf," She exclaims.

                From behind her, Neville gasps in surprise. Dean and Seamus share looks of disappointment. This is the most Malfoy thing she's ever done since like ever.

                The crunch of the leaves, the painful cries of the woman as she transforms is all Aurelia can hear. Aurelia trips over her own two feet trying to get away from Professor Lupin who in Aurelia's mind isn't really Professor Lupin.

                He bends down, speaking softly: "Miss. Black, you are safe, you are at Hogwarts. You are not in danger."

                She squeezes her eyes shut, the woman's getting closer.

                "Miss. Black, listen to me . . . You are not in danger."

                She's getting even closer, Aurelia can hear her pained breathing clearly, she can hear the shifting of her bones as she transforms into a werewolf.

                Draco pushes his way through the gathering crowd and leans next to her "Lia? Asterope, come on."

                Aurelia pays no attention to him, her eyes are focused on something just behind Professor Lupin.

                She's right in front of her. Nobody else is freaking out, why aren't they freaking out? There's a woman about to turn into a werewolf and she's so close Aurelia can feel her breathing on her face. Aurelia whimpers as the werewolf opens her jaws and —

                "Asterope, it's okay, you're in Hogwarts," Draco says quietly.

                The werewolf raises her paw but she doesn't strike Aurelia. Draco shakes Aurelia earning a scolding remark from Professor Lupin. He glares at the professor then turns back to Aurelia "C'mon, Asterope! Oh, for Merlin's sake, snap out of it!"

                Aurelia whines and tries to move away from the werewolf but something is holding her in her place. She struggles in Draco's hold. Neville realises something very wrong is happening to Aurelia, it's not what he thinks. He leans down next to her and asks: "Ari, are you al —"

                "Stay out of this, Longbottom," Draco snarls, pushing him away from Aurelia.

                He turns back to her, "Seriously, Lia, it's not real . . . Here!"

                Draco remembers the tricks his father had used on her, they had worked most of the time, he pulls his wand from his pocket, saying: "Orchideous!" and a bouquet of brightly coloured flowers burst from the tip of his wand and he holds them in out in front of Aurelia's face.

                "Look at the flowers, Lia," Draco instructs but she stares right past them for a few seconds so he, impatient and with a reputation to uphold, grabs her one hands and brings them up to touch the flowers "Look at the flowers, Asterope."

                Aurelia blinks, her fingers graze over the flowers and then her eyes widen. A gasp leaves her lips and she squeezes the flower petals, tearing them. She realises that she's in the Great Hall, she had never left . . . Aurelia has these moments a lot where she slips back into that moment and she thinks it's happening over again, but it's never happened at Hogwarts before. She looks around the Great Hall, her face turns bright red. Her guts twist painfully and she's overcome with dread.

                "Fuck," She mutters under her breath. Stupid, so bloody stupid! She scolds herself. How could she possibly think that there was a werewolf there when just seconds before she had been going to eat with her friends in the Great Hall. What the fuck is wrong with you, she questions internally as she gathers up the courage to look up. 

                She looks to Neville then to Dean and Seamus, Dean is glaring at her. Her heart races, oh no, her hair turns a dull grey. She had never had one of these at Hogwarts before and none of her friends know about the werewolf that had attacked her. They probably think she's being prejudiced towards him or something. She needs to get out of here, many people are staring at her like she's some kind of freak, she needs to get away.

                Professor Lupin helps her up "Come along, Miss. Black, I'll take you to see Madam Pomfrey."

                Aurelia doesn't want to see Madam Pomfrey, she doesn't want to go anywhere near the hospital wing; Professor Lupin leads her out of the Great Hall.

                As she exits the the Great Hall, feeling as though she's doing a walk of shame, she hears Draco snarling "What are you staring at?! Don't you have anything better to do?"

                "I don't need to go to the Hospital Wing," Aurelia whines as she follows Lupin down the corridor. She keeps her head down low to avoid other passing students, it wouldn't take long for word to spread about her strange behaviour in the Great Hall which was just fantastic.

                "You should for a Calming Draught," Lupin says worriedly.

                "I am calm," Aurelia says and when Lupin gives her a pointed look she says, "I will be calm, and I don't need a Calming Draught. I promise."

                "Well . . . I don't feel right letting you go to Hogsmeade after that . . . I wouldn't want it to happen again . . . You might need a Calming Draught if it happens again and you'd be so far away . . ." Lupin trails off and he straightens out his tie as he clears his throat, "Sorry . . . I'm overstepping and I'm not even your professor anymore . . . Sorry, I forgot."

                But, Aurelia doesn't mind his concern even if it's more concern than a professor should give. It makes her feel loved, it reminds her of how her her father would act on his good days, when he wasn't acting like she was the bane of his existence; Aurelia missed that warm feeling.

                "It's alright," Aurelia says, not understanding why Remus is apologising for being a good person, "I wasn't going to Hogsmeade anyway . . . Neville can't go, so I stay with him."

                "That's very kind of you, Miss. Black," Lupin says giving Aurelia a warm smile, "You can get a Calming Draught from Pomfey and then you meet up with him, spend a this nice afternoon with him."

                "I'd rather perish," Aurelia says bluntly.

                Surprisingly, Remus laughs "You are so much like your mother."

                Aurelia gives him a weird look "You knew my mum?"

                Remus' eyes go wide as though he said something he shouldn't have "Well, yes — no, but — well, not well . . . I didn't know your mother well, she was much older than me but I seen her around the school halls a bit, she'd come by to scold Sirius a lot, it was . . . funny really considering she was more like him than she'd ever admit. I heard her make those comments a few times, Sirius made them all the time too . . . It must run in the family."

                Aurelia knows he's joking and she should laugh but all that comes out is "Well, thank Merlin! At least insanity and psychotic breakdowns aren't the only think I'll inherit!"

                There's an awkward pause where Professor Lupin stares at Aurelia with mild concern and she smiles sheepishly at him.

                "Ha ha ha, that was a joke," Aurelia says with an unconvincing laugh, "I was joking, I'm totally not worried about becoming like my crazy family, it's fine! You can laugh, ha ha ha, see I'm laughing."

                "It was very funny, Miss Black," Lupin says in an unconvincing  voice but he smiles at her so he's not that bothered by it, "Would you care to join me in my office, we can have some tea and chocolate . . . Just until you calm down and — and only if you want to."

                Sure," Aurelia beams a bit surprised that Lupin would want her around especially after how she treated him, "But, don't tell Professor Binns, he might get sad that I'm having tea with another professor."

                Lupin gives her a bewildered look "You have tea with Binns?! How — how does that even work?"

                "Well, it's mostly me who has the tea."




⭐️




                "DO YOU HAVE to resign," Aurelia wonders, breaking apart her chocolate bar. He had just told her that he was leaving Hogwarts now that everyone knows about his furry little problem as he had called it before quickly correcting himself. Aurelia thought it was funny, it was a strange way to refer to being a fucking vicious werewolf. In fact it made it sound like Lupin had a problem with a much smaller animal, like a cat or a bunny.

                Aurelia, although terrified by the fact he's a werewolf, doesn't want him to leave. She does enjoy him as a teacher and as a person as well, she knows he can't help what he is. He has always been so kind to her, and in the past year she has come to view him as a father. That fact that he's a werewolf doesn't change much, she had just be caught off guard, werewolves still terrify her to this day. But Remus, himself, doesn't terrify her. And even if she didn't trust him like she did, she'd still get over it because Lupin was the best DADA teacher they've had since she started and she'd rather have a werewolf professor rather than another Lockhart.

                Professor Lupin swallows the bite of chocolate he had been chewing and says: "I'm afraid I must, Miss. Black."

                "No, sir!" She protests, "Can't you continue to teach?!"

                "I don't think many parents will want a werewolf teaching their children."

                "Fuck them," Aurelia says aggressively.

                "Language," He scolds, glancing up from the Marauder's Map on his desk, she rolls her eyes.

                "Dutch them," She rephrases her previous comment in a sarcastic tone, he gives her a dry look.

                "What, you told me 'Language.' and Dutch is a language, professor," She counters, sweetly.

                "I meant — never mind," He sighs and she grins victorious.

                Her grin quickly turns into a frown as he places yet another thing in his trunk "Please, can't you stay? I'll give you more chocolate bars," she begs.

                "You've already given me two hundred of them," Professor Lupin laughs softly as he shakes his head.

                "Two hundred and seven," Aurelia corrects, "And I still have more. So, please stay?"

                "This is for the best, Miss Black."

                "I didn't mean to — to do . . . That," Aurelia whispers, "Please don't leave because of that . . . Please, sir."

                "Miss. Black, I'm not solely leaving because of that. I know you didn't mean to do that, it's nothing you can control so please don't feel bad about it," Professor Lupin says, "I'm leaving because it will cause too many problems if I'm to stay."

                "What about — what about Professor Black, you know, she'll be real sad if you leave! You have to stay, she's so much nicer when you're around!"

                Lupin laughs and shakes his head "I'm sure you'll be more upset by my leaving than Lyra will be. I see Lyra nearly every other week outside of Hogwarts."

                Aurelia pouts "I will be terribly sad if you leave, you wouldn't want me to cry now would you, sir? Please, pretty please stay."

                Maybe, Aurelia's a little full of herself but she swears she sees Lupin almost give in, his shoulders slump and his face softens but then he says:

                "I'm sorry, my dear, but I really can't."

                Aurelia attempts to argue further but she's interrupted by a knock on the door, they look over their shoulders to find Harry standing in the doorway.

                Harry looks surprised to see Aurelia there "Is Professor Lupin here," he wonders as he glances around the room. Professor Lupin had just ducked down to grab something.

            Aurelia wonders if he had witnessed her outburst in the Great Hall. She swallows thickly, feeling panicked yet again, he might be angry with her like her friends seem to be.

                "I saw you coming —" Professor Lupin begins to say as he stands up.

                "Where wolf," She blurts out.

                "Yes, he's a werewolf but that's not —"

                "There wolf," Aurelia blurts out again, pointing at Professor Lupin.

                "Miss Black, you are worse than Sirius was when he was your age," Professor Lupin groans but there's a fond smile on his scarred face.

                "Ah, yes that's what every girl loves to hear, that she's just like a mass-murderer," Aurelia says sarcastically.

                "Actually, Blue. Your father's innocent," Harry tells her.

                She stares at him, frustration bubbling in the pit of her stomach. Sirius isn't her father. If one more person calls her 'Black's daughter' she's going to scream. Seamus Finnigan just had to go and start that joke about her being Sirius' secret daughter. Though, she reminds herself, it's still a step up from his on-going 'Aurelia's Bellatrix's daughter!' joke. Aurelia's lucky that it had been the Sirius joke that caught on and not the other.

                "He's innocent?"

                Harry nods "Oh, yes, Sirius is innocent. It was Peter Pettigrew that did everything Sirius was accused of. I figured since he's your dad and all, you had the right to know. And we helped him escape last night, I'm sure he'll be in contact with you soon."

                "He's not my dad, Harry," Aurelia replies, still processing the fact that Sirius is innocent, someone from her family besides the Tonks had turned out good, "Although, knowing this, I kind of wish he was . . ."

                "He's not?"

                "No, those were just rumors that Seamus spread around to get a rise out of me, like the one where Bellabitch Leshithead was my mother, imagine if she was and Sirius was my father as well, do you know how incesty that would be?! Not that the most noble and ancient house of Black would be against it." Aurelia explains and then snorts, "Yikes, that'd be a whole bloody mess —"

                "He's really not your father?"

                "Nope, there's no chance at all he's my father."

                A minute passes before Harry mutters "Oh," looking very confused, "Well, uh, don't tell anyone that we helped a supposed murderer escape."

                "Oh, damn, that would've been a great conversation starter. Thanks for ruining my fun, Harold." Aurelia quips, "O' course I'm not going to tell anyone, why would I ever bring that up in any conversation?!"

                "My name isn't, Harold!" Harry says, giving her a funny look although he doesn't know why he bothers to correct her as she never listens to him.

                "It's Harold in my book," She says.

                Harry sighs then turns to Professor Lupin who is watching the two teens, clearly amused.

                "I just saw Hagrid," Harry says after deciding to ignore Aurelia and turn to Lupin, "And he said you'd resigned. It's not true, is it?"

                "I'm afraid it is," Professor Lupin replies, opening his desk drawers and taking out the contents.

                "Why," Harry asks, "The Ministry of Magic don't think you were helping Sirius, do they?"

                Professor Lupin crosses over to the door and closes it behind Harry "No. Professor Dumbledore managed to convince Fudge that I was trying to save your lives. That was the final straw for Severus. I think the loss of the Order of Merlin hit him hard. So he — er — accidentally let slip that I am a werewolf this morning at breakfast."

                "Accidentally," Aurelia scoffs, "Accidentally, my ass."

                "You're not leaving just because of that," Harry exclaims, earning a wryly smile from the professor.

                "This time tomorrow, the owls will start arriving from parents . . . They will not want a werewolf teaching their children, Harry. And after last night, I see their point. I could have bitten any of you . . . That must never happen again."

                "You're the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had," Harry cries, "Don't go!"

                "My point exactly!" Aurelia pipes in.

                Harry and Aurelia give him nearly identical pleading smiles as they look at Lupin, who regards them warily but he doesn't budge, he remains set on leaving and packing his stuff.

                "From what the headmaster told me this morning, you saved a lot of lives last night, Harry. If I'm proud of anything I've done this year, it's how much you've learned . . . Tell me about your Patronus," Professor Lupin says, changing the subject which earns an annoyed huff from Aurelia.

                "How d'you know about that," Harry wonders.

                "What else could have driven the Dementors back,"

                "You produced a Patronus, wow, that's totally wicked," Aurelia says, looking at Harry in amazement, he nods and tells the story of how he had produced his Patronus.

                She had produced her Patronus too, Aurelia had learned about the spell from Maeve years ago and when Professor Lupin had offered to teach her how to conjure one after she had been attacked by the Dementors and Aurelia had eagerly accepted his help. It had taken her two attempts to conjure her Patronus and it had been a corporeal one but it had only lasted two seconds. The memory she had used to conjure it had been of her Aunt Bellatrix and the moment the realisation that her happiest memory consisted of the person who had tortured her best friend's parents, the guilt hit her hard and it had disappeared. It had been a hummingbird. Aurelia hasn't attempted to conjure her Patronus since then.

                When Harry had finished his story, Professor Lupin smiles "Yes, your father was always a stag when he transformed. You guessed right... That's why we called him, Prongs." Professor Lupin tells Harry, throwing his last few books into his case, he closes the desk drawers and turns to look at Harry, "Here — I brought this from the Shrieking Shack last night," and hands Harry back his Invisibility Cloak.

                "Oh, you've got a Invisibility cloak too," Aurelia asks and Harry nods, "Wow, those are super rare, my mum and dad bought me one for my eighth birthday it's the most expensive thing they've ever bought me, Draco pitched a fit because he didn't get one as well . . . I didn't think the Muggles you live with would let you keep one."

                Harry laughs "They don't know about it — did Malfoy cry when you got one and he didn't?"

                Aurelia laughs as well "You bloody well know he did. Sobbed, screamed and threw himself on the ground. He put on the whole show, it was quite entertaining."

                "And. . ." Professor Lupin hesitates then holds out the Marauder's Map, "I am no longer your teacher, so I don't feel guilty about giving you back this as well. It's no use to me, and I daresay you, Ron, and Hermione will find uses for it."

                Harry takes the the map and grins "You told me Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Foxtrot, and Prongs would've wanted to lure me out of school. . . You said they'd have thought it was funny."

                "And so we would have," Professor Lupin replies, now reaching down to close his case, Aurelia's confused as to who they're talking about, "I have no hesitation in saying that James would have been highly disappointed if his son had never found any of the secret passages out of the castle."

                There's a knock on the door and Harry hastily stuffs the Marauder's Map and the invisibility cloak into his pocket. It's Professor Dumbledore, he doesn't look surprised to see Harry and Aurelia there "Your carriage is at the gates, Remus," he announces.

                "Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Lupin says, picking up his old suitcase and the empty Grindylow tank.

                "Well, goodbye, Harry, Aurelia," he adds and he gives the two third years a warm smile, "It has been a real pleasure teaching you. I feel sure we'll meet again some time. Headmaster, there is no need to see me to the gates, I can manage."

                "Goodbye, then, Remus." Professor Dumbledore says soberly and Professor Lupin shifts the Grindylow tank slightly so that they could shake hands.

                Then, with a final nod to Harry and Aurelia, Professor Lupin leaves the office. Aurelia excuses herself shortly after, she doesn't like being around Professor Dumbledore. It's not that she doesn't dislike him per se, it's that she doesn't like the vibes he gives off. She especially doesn't like how he looks at her, it's like he knows something about her that not even she knows and it gives her the heebie-jeebies. 




⭐️




                NEVILLE'S WORRIED ABOUT Aurelia as he typically is. But then again, he worries about anything, whether there's reason to worry or not. Dean and Seamus suggest that her reaction is due to the fact that she still holds a little prejudice in her heart but Neville can't help but think there's something more to it than that. That hadn't been hatred in her eyes but unmistakable horror. It's rare that he sees Aurelia look so fearful and vulnerable, she's usually very confident. He tries to think up reasons as to why she had reacted the way she had.

                Up until today Aurelia had adored Professor Lupin even when he made her face her Boggart despite the fact she asked him not to. He told to her to at least give it a try and if she couldn't face the — oh.

                Werewolf, her Boggart had turned into a werewolf and Professor Lupin looked like he was ready to jump out of his skin while also looking ready to jump in between her and the Boggart. Oh, Neville thinks, now that makes sense. He remembers that Aurelia had cried, not unusual as she cries a lot for everything, but he remembers that despite the fact she looked like she was going to faint, she had managed to fight off her Boggart. She was just so brave like that.

                He turns to Dean and Seamus and exclaims: "She's afraid of werewolves! Re — remember, her Boggart's a werewolf!"

                "Oh," Dean and Seamus both gasp in realisation.

                The two boys are just about to head to Hogsmeade with the other students, Neville can't go because of the whole password fiasco and even if he could he much rather wait here for Aurelia to come back to the Great Hall so he can make sure she's alright.

                "Well, that sure makes sense," Dean says, he no longer looks angry with Aurelia. He wonders how they forgot about that because it had been a pretty eventful day, Aurelia had been so shaken up before and after the Boggart lesson, so badly that she went to the Hospital Wing and apparently she was late for potions which earned her two detentions from Snape.

                Seamus nods "Yeah, how could we forget that? . . . Are you sure you don't want us to stay behind with you, we really don't mind?"

                Seamus' Irish accent is so thick and even though Neville has known him for three years, he still has trouble understanding what he says. Which is quite odd since he happens to understand Aurelia's Scottish accent perfectly.

                "Do you want us to stay with you," Dean supplies, seeing the confused look on Neville's face.

                "Oh! Er, no. . . I'm fine, really."

                The two hesitate.

                "I'm fine, I'm gonna wait for Aurelia, she'll be back soon."

                Dean nods his and turns to leave with the others for Hogsmeade, while he isn't looking Seamus makes kissy faces at him until Dean comes back to grab him by the hand and drag him out of the great hall. In return Neville makes kissy faces at him while Seamus is led out of the Great Hall by Dean; Seamus flips him off.

                Neville patiently waits for Aurelia to come back to the Great Hall, he knows she will because she hasn't eaten anything yet and she never misses a meal unless she's really sick; Aurelia especially doesn't skip breakfast. He busies himself with Aurelia's copy of To Kill a Mockingbird, Neville doesn't understand the book but he likes to read it because she loves it so much, though he prefers it when Aurelia does it because she reads it in a funny southern accent that makes the book far more enjoyable.

                Finally, Aurelia returns to the Great Hall, she silently takes a seat across from Neville, so silent that he almost doesn't notice her.

                "Oh! Ari, you — you're back," He says, putting the book down to give her his full attention.

                She nods, for some reason she looks like a child that knows they're about to get the scolding of a lifetime.

                "I'm sorry," She mumbles, running her hands up and down her skirt, her palms are super sweaty because what if Neville doesn't want to be her friend anymore. What if she has to tell him what happened with the werewolf years ago, she doesn't know why she hadn't told him or any of her other friends but she always got too scared to tell them if she even thought about it. Even now, her throat is closing up and her eyes are burning.

                "Why are you apologising," He wonders.

                "I shouldn't have done that . . . I was —"

                "That's not your fault, Ari," He cuts her off, "You shouldn't apologise for that. You were just scared, you couldn't help it."

                "You . . . You don't think I'm a freak," Aurelia asks as she chews on her lower lip.

                Neville shakes his head vigorously "No! I would never, you're not a freak."

                Aurelia sighs, relieved. She smiles at him, the last thing Aurelia would want is for Neville to think she's a freak.

                "Why are you so afraid of werewolves," He asks, it had been the last things he expected her Boggart to be, he thought it might've been the fear of rejection or maybe the Malfoys.

                Aurelia licks her lips nervously and shrugs her shoulders "I'm not sure, they've just always scared me."

                Aurelia knows one day she's going to tell him, she's going to have to tell all of her friends at one point. She reckons, as she chews on her now bloody lip, that she can't hide the scars and the incidents she has forever. One day, she'll tell them but today is not that day.

                She's lying and Aurelia never lies to him but he's noticed that when she's lied to others she licks her lips or scrunches up her little nose. Neville doesn't understand why she'd lie to him about something like this. What would there be to lie about, it's just being scared of something? This is confusing.

                "What are you reading," Aurelia asks in an attempt to change the subject, picking up the book off the table.

                "To Kill a Mockingbird," Neville replies, he decides not to press the matter any further in fear of upsetting Aurelia.

                She smiles "Do you want me to read to you?"

                He nods.

                She flips open to the bookmarked page and begins to read in a southern accent: ". . . Little Chuck Little got his feet "Let him go, ma'am." he said, "He's a mean one, a hard-down mean one. . ."