Lupin's True Love Returns

April 19, 1996

Veronica followed the students from her classroom. They scurried down the stairs as Veronica followed at a much slower pace. She stepped into the front office.

"Hey, Betty." Veronica raised a hand in greeting to the secretary.

"Good afternoon, Veronica." Betty climbed to her feet. "Another letter came today."

"Good. I guess that means Beck has already seen it?" Veronica watched Betty nod as she took the mail from her box. "Not such a terrible idea to have all my mail delivered here."

"The odd thing was it must have dropped from the box because I had to get it up off the floor." Betty leaned against the desk.

Veronica looked at the envelope. There was no postmark or even a stamp. She turned it over and saw a crest in a bit of green wax. The crest was a shield with a lion, raven, badger, and snake gathered around a large H. "Was that the only odd thing about it that you noticed?"

"Yeah. Why?" Betty looked at the envelope.

"No reason. I'm going to head back to my classroom if anyone needs me." Veronica shuffled through the mail. "Oh great."

"What?" Betty sank back into her chair.

"Nothing." Veronica crumpled the letter in her hand. "I'm out of here."

"See you later." Betty turned back to her computer.

Veronica climbed the stairs and entered her classroom. She went to her desk and sank into her seat. She slowly smoothed out the crumpled envelope. She tossed it onto her desk as a knock sounded on the door. "Come in."

"Ms. Croft." A young boy stepped into the classroom.

"Mr. Roberts, what brings you here?"

Billy Roberts sank into a desk. "I need to talk to someone." He rummaged through his bag and pulled out a letter.

"Allow me to lock the door." Veronica moved to the door and flipped the lock into place. "We wouldn't want to be interrupted." Veronica moved back to her desk. "What do you need to talk about?"

"I got this letter last month." Billy handed the letter to Veronica. "Mom told me some stuff since then but I want to talk to someone else about it. And after what we all saw today, I figured that you would be the ideal person."

Veronica's grey eyes skimmed over the letter. "Do you have the envelope?" Billy handed it to Veronica. "Hmmm." Veronica stared at the crest on the back of the envelope. It was the same as the one on her letter. She picked up her letter and looked between the two. "You seem to think that I can help you."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Billy, I don't know what to say." Veronica placed the letters on her desk.

Billy removed a stick from his bag. "Mom said to always keep this with me. She said that I might need it."

Veronica stared in horror at the stick. "That's a wand."

"Yes, ma'am."

"May I see it?"

Billy nodded and Veronica picked up the wand. Red sparks shot from the end. She waved it in the air and the letter floated to the ceiling.

"Wow!" Billy stared as Veronica floated the letter to his desk. "That's cool. How did you do that?"

"Billy, I'm not sure I know what you want me to say but I think you should go to this school and give it a chance." Veronica laid the wand onto Billy's desk. "Just don't torture people because you think you can. Just treat people with the respect and dignity that you want to be treated with." Veronica placed a hand on Billy's shoulder. "I also think you need to talk to you mother about this and your fears."

Billy picked up his wand and his letter and shoved them into his bag. "Yes, ma'am." Billy started to the door and turned around. "I want you to know that my mom has already taught me one charm. It's called the Stunning Charm. I was going to use it on you today to stop your attack until I saw that jet of light shoot from the palm of your hand."

"Thank you for your honesty, Billy. I'm not sure what is going on but I'm fairly sure we may be meeting again." Veronica unlocked the door and Billy stepped into the hallway. "Remember what I said, Billy. Just be yourself."

Billy hugged Veronica. "Thank you, Ms. Croft."

"You're welcome." Veronica watched as Billy went down the stairs. "Time for me to find out what is in those letters." Veronica closed the door and made her way to her desk.

She picked up the crumpled letter and opened it. Her hands trembled slightly as she read:

Veronica,

My darling sister, if you are reading this, then Lily and I are dead. I hope and pray that Harry survived. Sirius was going to be our Secret Keeper but he convinced us to use Peter instead. If anything has happened to us, don't blame Sirius. It's all Peter's fault. Voldemort is after us. All because of a prophecy that was made before Harry's birth.

Please return to England soon. You must return and fulfill your destiny. Protect your godson with your life. He will be the one who can destroy Voldemort but YOU must help him. Remus and Sirius will help you as they always have. Never forget that we all love you, little sister.

I love you!!!

James Potter

Prongs

Veronica hung her head as a tear tracked its way down her cheek. She slowly opened the other letter. She smiled softly as she read:

Ms. V. L. Croft,

As Headmaster of Hogwarts School, I find myself in need of a teacher who is qualified to teach students between the ages of eleven and eighteen. You must also be able to handle classes that range in size from as few as ten students to as many as twenty students. You must also have a sizeable knowledge of History, which is important to many of our classes. If you are interested in the position, please arrive at the pub called the Leaky Cauldron in London on the afternoon of the 9^th day of May this year. The Leaky Cauldron is on Charing Cross Road between the bookstore and the fruit market. Please ask for Mr. Holden. He will conduct the interview.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster

Veronica placed the letter onto her desk. She picked up her pen and placed the letters to one side. She began to read one of the History papers on her desk.