Meeting an old Friend~(Oliver)

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Remus was glad that his rather exhausting day was over for now. He hadn’t been sleeping well lately, so being up so early this morning had only exhausted the werewolf more. The day had been taken up with various Order based business, a few small odd jobs here and there, plus Remus just wanting to get some time himself. Having returned an hour ago, Remus had made his way up to his room in The Leaky Cauldron. The room was small but suited Remus fine; he was never fussy when it came to those sorts of things anyway. Sure, the room was cheap but Remus really could care less these days. That was the one big disadvantage that came with his condition; Remus had always found it difficult to find any sort of job. Sometimes the situation had gotten to Remus but now he had simply learnt to deal with it as part of his lifestyle. Werewolves had always been frowned upon in Wizarding society; it was simply due to prejudice attitude that had developed with it over the years.

The sound of the busy pub beneath him was muffled due to the floorboards that were in between. Remus did occasionally catch the rare conversation or two, along with the various arguments that happened downstairs. The werewolf was now rummaging around in his belongings on the search for some important pieces of parchment. Tonight was the night that he and Oliver were to meet and speak about things that had been mentioned over their letters. Remus had been rather curious of what the young wizard had to say, he seemed eager to help in these dark times. The werewolf had been debating on speaking about The Order to Oliver, they needed more members and all the help they could get at this time after all. Frowning, Remus stood up slowly and moved over to another small box in the corner of his room before rummaging around inside of that too. Upon finding a pile of parchment, he pulled it all out slowly and placed it down on his large wooden desk. Remus began to flick through each piece as he started to check if it was all the correct paperwork.

What was the paperwork? Remus had kept note of a lot of the various things the Order had been doing, just in case things were needed. A photo suddenly caught his attention, which in turn Remus gently pulled out of the pile and glanced over. A small smile came to his lips as his blue eyes looked over the photo, stopping for a moment he went over and sat down on his bed. The bed creaked softly as he sat down but his attention was still on the photo. Instantly he recognised it as an old group photo from back in his school days. Himself, James and Sirius were all waving back at him happily, the background he recognised as the Black Lake from Hogwarts itself. The photo filled Remus with a mixture of joy and sorrow as he looked back to his friends. Upon realising a small section had been burnt out of it, Remus sighed and placed the photo beside him. Yes, he had been angry at what Peter had done to them. But in fact it had been Sirius who out of anger had burnt a hole in the photo. The werewolf had understood his reasons and privately had agreed with his friend at that moment in time.

Checking his watch quickly, Remus soon realised what time it was and so quickly stood. He went to place the photo back on the table, pulled his jumper on and left the room. The last thing he wanted was to be late to his meeting with Oliver. Oliver was someone Remus had always enjoyed teaching, the young man had always seemed intelligent and friendly to Remus. Tonight, Remus had gone for a casual look of a simple pair of jeans, a white shirt and his blue jumper to top off the look. Once down inside of the pub area, Remus quickly made his way over towards a free table by the door. That way when Oliver entered he could see him easily. Taking a seat at the small table, Remus glanced around in case Oliver had already arrived. After a few moments, he decided that he was perhaps a little early but that didn’t matter. If the conversation did turn serious then they could always have a private chat up in his room. Naturally, the last thing Remus wanted was for the world to hear about The Order and their plans.

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All this meetings he had agreed on recently seemed to make Oliver’s life far more busy than it ever had been, even with Quidditch training off his back now. Was that how it was like to be social? To have friends outside your obsession with one certain thing? It was only two years since he left Hogwarts where he had constantly been surrounded by a mass of people, and already he seemed to have forgotten how it felt like to make use of this and spend time with acquaintances and friends. He hadn’t exactly been a hermit, but he still hadn’t had many contacts outside Puddlemere United and later Pride of Portree and now he had cut all ties with those people due to leaving rather unexpectedly, he found himself looking back on the people he had neglected after Hogwarts. Maybe that was a fault he shouldn’t continue to make in the future: Being so radical with burning bridges behind himself, once he had crossed them. He had wanted to lie low a little and then slowly make contact with his old team mates again, but what had happened in Diagon Alley recently had made him reconsider that tactic. He just didn’t know anymore… all he knew was that he was done with being alone with his broom for the rest of his life.

So now he once again was retying old knots, meeting up with a rather interesting choice of acquaintance some would say. Remus Lupin, former DADA professor and werewolf. Some students and especially their parents had been quite outraged and indignant to learn they had been living in the close vicinity of a werewolf for a year, but gladly neither Oliver’s family nor he himself had ever felt too shocked about it. It could give you a peculiar feeling sometimes, to think of what COULD have happened, but the sheer fact that nothing HAD happened should be enough for them to calm down. For Oliver, he wasn’t meeting up now with a werewolf called Remus Lupin, he was meeting up with an old teacher and good advisor who so happened to be a werewolf, but that did have nothing to do with their meeting.

No, this meeting was about something far more vague, something Oliver couldn’t even place himself, and so he was even more glad Mr. Lupin – it was still odd not to say Professor anymore, but he guessed that wouldn’t be good – had agreed on talking to him about this vague ideas and sentiments. He had felt kind of stupid writing this first letter towards the older man, and it should maybe be considered as quite the confession of failure that he could have thought of no one else from the top of his head than a former teacher who could be Merlin knew where by now. He had initially considered talking to Dumbledore, but the Headmaster made himself scarce these days, and then Oliver also didn’t want to give the impression he wasn’t satisfied with his new job. He WAS… he just wanted to do something… more, something that gave him the feeling he was doing his share to keep the darkness at bay.

He walked the short distance until he was out of Hogwarts’ security shield that prevented people from apparating in and out, then apparated into the side street that housed the Leaky Cauldron, only for magical eyes to see. He would have liked Flying far better of course, but that would have been ludicrous for the distance he had to cover until London. Entering the pub, his eyes scanned the room until they settled on the familiar figure of Remus Lupin, sitting at a table right next to the door. Oliver couldn’t quite decide if the man looked too well or not. He remembered how haggard the man had looked sometimes during his teaching times, but then in hindsight that must have always matched up with the full moon. When had been the last full moon? Oliver honestly couldn’t tell. Clearing his throat a little awkwardly, he tread closer towards the table and bowed his head. “Good evening, Sir! I’m so glad you agreed on this meeting.”

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Remus had found himself lost in his thoughts again, not something that was unusual with him. He was sat at the small wooden table, his eyes focused on the wall opposite him in silent fascination. The only visible moment was his blue eyes flicking over the wall silently. Remus found himself doing this a lot lately, just sitting here and getting lost in his thoughts. A lot was on his mind as of lately, many things had happened over the last few months so it would seem. A feeling of guilt was building up in his stomach as he continued to think. Maybe he should stop avoiding her? Avoiding Dora was only making things worse right? The werewolf frowned and shook his head lightly, as if trying to shake away the thought. No, he was avoiding her for a good reason and Remus knew very well why that reason was. Moving his hand up to his hair, Remus ran a hand through his thinning greying hair lightly, before placing back down on the table. The habit having become a sign of his frustration that was the only way Remus could explain why he found himself doing it over and over again.

A voice filling his ears was what pulled Remus away from his thoughts. His blue eyes flicking away from the wall to instead look at the young man before him. The werewolf slowly stood with a smile playing on his lips as he did, then held a hand out for Oliver. “Hello Oliver, lovely to see you again.” Remus replied politely as he looked over Oliver lightly, then back up to his face again. “Please take a seat.” The older man gestured to the chair opposite him before taking a seat again. Remus chuckled softly as Wood cleared his throat; he sensed that the young man was slightly nervous. “Not a problem Oliver. I do ask one thing though, if matters get a little more serious. Then we shall retreat to my room upstairs. You never know who could be listening these days.” Remus added as he looked around the pub cautiously, and then back to Oliver again. “How have you been?” The werewolf enjoyed catching up with old friends and even more his old students. He felt a sense of accomplishment when it came to students wanting to seek advice; Remus enjoyed sharing advice and helping out others when he could.

Moving forward slightly, Remus placed his hands together and gave Oliver a serious look. “ Actually just to be on the safe side.” Raising his hand, Remus waved it lightly before casting a silencing charm over the both of them. “ I have heard some news around these parts lately, apparently Death Eaters are now starting to blend in with the rest of us. So, precautions are always needed.” The werewolf explained simply, his tone serious as he spoke. Clearing his own throat softly, Remus kept his attention on Oliver. “Now. You mentioned in your letter, that you wanted to fight the current darkness that is upon us. If so, how much are you willing to risk to ensure that?” The older man asked seriously, as he looked over Oliver’s face. “I will not lie to you, the risks are heavy and dangerous. Death Eaters are around every corner and Voldemort will not stop until his duty has been done.” Remus explained further, he was not afraid to say the Dark Lord’s name though he was slightly hesitant to mention it.

“Risks are to be made in order for a light to reach the darkness.” The werewolf kept his tone firm and to the point, his hand moving as he spoke. “Dark times are upon us, as you know.” Remus added before he reached for the newspaper that had been placed down on his table earlier on that day. “Have you heard of the news lately?” The older man asked as he gently slid the newspaper across to Wood, and then tapped the first big headline across it. “Awful isn’t it?” Remus said with a soft sigh as he shook his head, his tone changing to a slightly softer one as he spoke. Looking up, Remus glanced around the pub briefly before looking back to Oliver. “Would you mind if we spoke about this in a more private place?” Remus asked as he slowly stood from the table again, ignoring a strange look a wizard was casting at him from the back of the pub. “If you could please follow me Oliver.” Remus asked politely as he gestured with his hand for the other man to follow him.

“ I was thinking of retreating to my room.” Remus led Oliver towards the staircase that led up to the main rooms of the Leaky Cauldron. Once upstairs, he turned right and made his way down towards his room, unlocked it and entered the room. “Come in and make yourself at home. Please excuse the mess.” The older man felt a light blush of embarrassment come to his cheeks as he entered. Once inside, he cast another silencing charm over the room before rummaging around in search of some papers. “I actually wanted to show you something.” Remus explained further as he placed a box down on the floor beside his desk, then waved his hand lightly, which in turn caused them to magically start reordering themselves. A few minutes passed, before Remus turned back to Oliver with some pieces of parchment in hand. “Now. The information of which I am about to share is to be kept between us, is that understood? No, word of this meeting shall be shared beyond this room.” The werewolf wanted to make his point quite clear before he began going on about the next topic of choice. The Order of the Phoenix.