Everything to Lose

Chapter Two

The day they would be boarding the Hogwarts Express arrived sooner than Harry had thought it would. Platform Nine and Three Quarters was bustling with young wizards and witches, hauling their carts of books and animals. Adding to the noise of the crowd was the loud hooting of owls and the occasional screeching of a cat. Mrs. Weasley had followed them onto the platform, and was fussing over each of them in turn, straightening Ginny's hair, and wiping smudges off of the boys' faces with spit and a handkerchief. She turned to Ron.

"Now, Ron, dear," she spoke firmly, "Look after your little sister for me, alright? Make sure she doesn't get into any trouble."

Ginny rolled her eyes, but Ron nodded. "Of course, mum."

"And Harry," she turned to him, "Look after all my children, alright? Make sure Fred and George don't get themselves expelled with those jokes of theirs."

Harry smiled and nodded as Fred and George started complaining. She quieted them by leaning forward and kissing their cheeks. She suddenly turned very serious.

"Do be careful," she said quietly, tears suddenly visible in her eyes, "and...have a good year."

They finally all got away and lugged their carts to the train. Ron sighed.

"I don't know what's with Mum," he apologized. "She's usually not this sensitive about goodbyes."

"I bet I know," Harry said quietly, as they waded through the crowd. "She's worried, now that Voldemort is walking free."

Ron grimaced again. "I know its troubling you, but can we please not talk about him, at least not until we get to Hogwarts?"

Harry apologized and agreed. As they were about to get on the train, he noticed someone in the crowd. He nudged Ron.

"Hey...who's that?"

Ron turned and instantly saw who he was talking about. The young girl stuck out like a sore thumb in the crowd. She was wearing strange, velvety black robes that fit her slender figure perfectly. Her long, red hair glistened golden in the sun and bounced lightly against her shoulders. She looked to be very attractive...until she turned their way, and they got a good look at her face. Harry frowned in surprise. Her face was thin and pale, and her nose seemed a bit too long. There were shadows under eyes that would have normally glittered a bright hazel color, had they not been glaring all around her. When she gazed his way, he instantly turned back around, hoping she hadn't seen him staring.

"She looks...a bit angry," Ron spoke, seeming unable to think of any good qualities to comment on.

"Who is she?" Harry asked, as they got onboard. "She can't be a first year; she looks no older than us. I don't recognize her."

Ron shrugged as they started looking for some seats. "If you ask me, she looks like she would get along just splendidly with Draco."

They saw many of their classmates along the way, including Neville Longbottom, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil(who both giggled when they saw Ron), Dean Thomas, the annoying Collin and his younger brother, Dennis Creevy, and finally Cho Chang. Harry was blushing so furiously that he barely said three words to her, and these were greatly stuttered. They finally spotted Hermione up ahead, who squealed when she saw them. Ron frowned suspiciously as she raced up to them, practically jumping up and down in excitement.

"Um, Hermione," he raised an eyebrow, "Have you been assigned homework, already?"

She was too happy to get mad at him. "I found the perfect compartment for us! Come and see; quickly!"

Harry thought finding an empty compartment was nothing to get that thrilled about, but he only shrugged and followed her anyway. The room was at the very back, and the doors were closed. She stopped before the doors and turned to face them with one last smile.

"Before I let you in, I just wanted to tell you ahead of time that you're welcome."

Ron sighed. "Just open the bloody doors already!"

She turned around to do just that. Then, in unison, the two young wizards gasped loudly.

"Professor Lupin!"

Indeed, sitting all alone and leaning against the window was their beloved former DADA teacher, Professor Remus Lupin. Just as they had found him in the compartment their third year, he was now sound asleep, and even snoring.

"Professor Lupin, wake up!" Ron cried, but Lupin didn't even stir. He frowned. "Blimey! He looks terrible!"

His hair seemed to have even more gray spots in it, and his face looked to have aged more than just one year. It was lined in more places. Even his robes were a bit more shabby than they had been before, which was really saying something.

"Maybe we shouldn't wake him," Harry said uneasily. "He looks exhausted."

Ron agreed, but Hermione certainly didn't. She sighed in exasperation.

"You two are just scared, that's all! I'll wake him up."

And that she did, but not in a normal way. Completely letting go, she threw her arms around him in a big hug, clearly happy to see the teacher after all that had happened recently. Well, it did do the trick. Lupin awoke with a startled jump, his eyes popping open. He looked utterly and completely terrified. When he realized it was only Hermione who had her arms flung around his neck quite tightly, he relaxed and patted her back.

"You've gotten stronger, I believe, Hermione," he grunted against her death grip. She instantly broke away and blushed slightly. He smiled. " I like your hair, by the way." As she reddened even more, he turned to Ron and arched an eyebrow. "And Ron Weasley, hello. Run into any spiders lately?"

Ron smiled slightly and shook his head. His worst fear was spiders and Lupin knew it. When he had been teaching at the school, he had taught them defense against a boggart, which changed into whatever they feared most. Of course, it turned into a gigantic spider for Ron, but he had quickly made its legs disappear with the shout of the word "Riddikulus!"

Lupin then turned to Harry, and his smile turned slightly sad. He reached out to place a hand on his shoulder and squeeze it gently. "Harry," he breathed, gazing at him strangely, "You look even more like your father than the last time I saw you."

Harry looked away uneasily. He knew Lupin had been best friends with his father back during their time at Hogwarts, just as Sirius had been. He only wished he could have known his father half as well as they had.

"How are you?" Lupin asked in heartfelt concern. Of course, he had to know what had happened at their fourth year at Hogwarts. Harry put on a fake smile.

"Couldn't be better," he lied, then quickly changed the subject. "What are you doing here?"

He removed his hand and sat back, the smile turning slightly grim. "It was supposed to be a surprise, but I guess there's no harm in telling you three now. I'm returning to my old job at Hogwarts."

Their faces lit up happily. He held up a hand. "Its only for this one year, though. With...everything that has happened lately, Headmaster Dumbledore wants his students to be prepared to face anything pertaining to the dark arts. I suppose I was the best he could find to teach you all that."

"Well, of course! We learned more from your class than we did from any other Defense against the Dark Arts class at Hogwarts," Hermione exclaimed.

"I don't know, you seemed to have been madly in love with Gilderoy Lockhart's class," Ron said pointedly, a smile playing on his lips.

She sent him a nasty look. Harry ignored them and looked at Lupin thoughtfully.

"But, sir," he began, "it won't bother you that you're...well, that every once and a while you're still..."

"A werewolf?" Lupin sighed softly. "Yes, Harry, it will always bother me...but Albus doesn't see that it's a problem. He convinced me to come back, so..." He shrugged. "Well, he really is a great man."

They went silent for a long, awkward moment. What else could they say? So much had happened to them since Lupin had left, but all three were suddenly too nervous to bring any of it up. Harry was dying to know what Lupin had been doing, and he also wanted to ask about Sirius. Dumbledore had told him to lie low at his friend's house for a while. Luckily, however, the new professor finally broke the silence.

"So," he grinned, sitting back, "how was your summer vacation?"

Harry never had the chance to bring up his dream, even if he had wanted to. Between Hermione going on and on about the Quidditch match and Ron complaining jealously that the game had been no big deal, there was no shutting them up for the rest of the journey.