theshabbiestofmen | ic contact;

And thank god neither of us are that any longer.

[The worst years! Although that could be taken a little oddly, he thinks, given they're cuddled up together-- and so he adds:]

In any case: Sirius was always far too charming by half with those things. If he was ever lovesick, I never caught wind of it.

And yet I still had boys being idiots around me, flirting and proposing and making total prats of themselves. I'd like to think that most of them grow up, though.

[ Ah, well, she settles against him all the same, ignoring memories of Dorian and Gilgamesh and focussing on him instead. ]

I only know a little bit of Sirius when he was younger, honestly, thanks to you. He did seem quite... Charming, to everyone, not just someone he might have fancied. It must have been a part of who he was.

Oh, yes.

[He murmurs that softly. He shouldn't think about Sirius, really, because that got him into trouble before-- but it's so easy to talk about him.]

Even to his friends. I think it was part of him, honestly, one of those things he really didn't know how to turn off. I swear I skived off at least half a hundred essays because he charmed me.

That sounds a lot like Harry. You should have seen me in my first year - the very idea of breaking the rules was terrifying, and by fifth I was lying to teachers and luring them into the Forbidden Forest to be kidnapped by centuar.

[ Hermione smiles all the same, shaking her head and shifting, making herself more comfortable and squeezing Remus' hand. For the first time in weeks she feels like she's at home here on the fleet and she knows it's his company, even if she is more foreign to him than he is to her. ]

He really - [ was ] - is charming. It's one of the things I remember best.

Sorry-- you did what to one of your teachers?

She deserved it! She refused to teach us anything practical about Defence Against the Dark Arts, rounded us up and threatened to use truth potion on Harry against his will! It wasn't my fault she offended the centaurs - I just wanted to get her away from her office so the others could contact Sirius.

[ Huff. ]

She was a vile, evil, nasty little woman.

[Another awful little fact from the war. Though the fact things get so bad the second time round that even Hogwarts is effected-- Remus' smile goes a little forced.]

Well. Suppose you showed her.

Our track record of teachers in Defence wasn't amazing, other than you. We had a man who carried a part of Voldemort, a liar who wiped people's memories, a polyjuiced Death Eater, Umbridge, Professor Snape... And I wasn't there for seventh year.

[ She sighs. ]

The position was cursed - literally.

Bloody hell-- by whom!

Who do you think?

[ She shakes her head. ]

We were lucky to have you in third year. You really were the best teacher.

It just seems an oddly petty thing for him to do.

[Whatever! The future is weird!]

Still. Glad to know I actually do have a chance as a teacher.

I think he wanted the job - or he wanted to be inside Hogwarts somehow. Some of the most important objects he'd ever touched were there, artefacts of sorts.

[ Because there is no way Hermione is going to tell Remus all the things she knows about Horcruxes - especially not after the books she forced herself to read. ]

You were an excellent teacher, Remus, I promise. Both at Hogwarts and in the Drabwurld.

[Well, that makes a bit more sense, albeit still really weird. Of all the atrocities Remus attributed to Voldemort, fucking around with people's jobs is . . . well. It's weird, and he's not going to think about it. Instead:]

What did I teach there? In Drabwurld, I mean.

[He knows so little about that place.]

The magic from home, mostly. You asked for a library filled with books to help teach others, and you and I together were working to try and gather wands so people could learn.

[ She closes her eyes, smiling for a moment. ]

It was in a tower in the Citadel, rising high and spacious, a lot like the Defence office at Hogwarts. There were more books than I think you imagined there would be, and loads of room for all the students that might want to learn - and there were a handful, all of them our friends. It was really... Nice.

[It sounds fantastic, honestly. Like every dream he'd ever had about his future coming to life.]

I wonder if we could do that here. I mean, it'd have to be different, but-- there's so many different forms of magic here. I can't be the only one interested in learning and teaching them all.

I don't see why not. There are people here that have their own kinds of magic and abilities, right? That's what it was like in the Drabwurld. None of them will have wands, though, unless we can find some at the next station.

[ She frowns, considering for a moment. ]

We could try wandless magic, but it'd be incredibly difficult...

I'm learning more wandless magic, actually--

[He lifts his left hand, showing it off-- there's a length of string looped around his wrist, with little knots all along it.]

One of my shipmates, Loki, he's teaching me-- his first lesson is concentration, but I'm definitely getting better.

That's amazing!

[ Hermione leans forward to watch his hand, beaming, practically ear to ear. ]

I had to get a good grasp of it in the Drabwurld, seeing as sometimes I had a sword and not a wand. Do you think Loki would let me talk to him too?

He's a bit . . .

[How does he say this politely.]

Twisty? And has an awful ego. But he'd probably teach you, if you asked nicely. And he does know quite a bit, unfortunately.

I'm very good at asking nicely and, besides, I might be able to teach him a few things.

[ She learned a lot in the Drabwurld, after all, and she pauses to consider, settling more comfortably against Remus. ]

I'll see if he'll be alright with a trade or something. Whoever brought me here took most of my stuff, even the things in my Extendable bag, so I don't really have much to offer right now.

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