His Eyes Bore Greatness ☆ Hermione × Male Reader

[3.3] New Professor

Word Count: 4804 words.

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The morning and the journey to the train station was quite the chaos. You lost all track of time and were mostly out of it if you were honest. You remember Mrs. Weasley hug and kiss, but before you know it, you kept turning your head to find an empty compartment. Everywhere you look, each compartment was filled and packed. 

At some point you saw Neville stuck between two other Gryffindor, then you saw Erika sitting down beside a very odd-looking girl with her odd pair of jewelry. It seems like girls tend to bat their eyes at you and smiles with tinted cheeks, and every time they do, Hermione would scoff behind you, reminding you to keep going. You set off down the corridor, looking for an empty compartment, but all were full except for the one at the very end of the train.

This had only one occupant, a man sitting fast asleep next to the window. You sat down from across the sleeping adult as Harry, Ron, and Hermione checked on the threshold. The Hogwarts Express was usually reserved for students, and they had never seen an adult there before, except for the witch who pushed the food cart. 

The stranger was wearing an extremely shabby set of wizard's robes that had been darned in several places. He looked ill and exhausted. Though quite young, his light brown hair was flecked with gray.

"Who d'you reckon he is?" Ron hissed as they sat down and slid the door shut, taking the seats farthest away from the window. 

"Professor R. J. Lupin," whispered Hermione at once. 

"How d'you know that?"  

"It's on his case," You replied to Ron this time as Harry sat beside the sleeping professor. 

"Wonder what he teaches?" said Ron, frowning at Professor Lupin's pallid profile.

"That's obvious," whispered Hermione. "There's only one vacancy, isn't there? Defense Against the Dark Arts." 

"Well, I hope he's up to it," said Ron doubtfully. "He looks like one good hex would finish him off, doesn't he? Anyway..." He turned to Harry. "What were you going to tell us?"

Respecting your wishes, Harry explained all about Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's argument and the warning Mr. Weasley had just given him but leaving your name out of it. When he'd finished, Ron looked thunderstruck, and Hermione had her hands over her mouth. She finally lowered them to say, "Sirius Black escaped to come after you? Oh, Harry . . . you'll have to be really, really careful. Don't go looking for trouble, Harry —" 

"I don't go looking for trouble," said Harry, nettled. "Trouble usually finds me." You told her a quick thank you through your eyes as Harry nod. 

"How thick would Harry have to be, to go looking for a nutter who wants to kill him?" said Ron shakily. 

They were taking the news worse than Harry had expected. Both Ron and Hermione seemed to be much more frightened of Black than he was.

"No one knows how he got out of Azkaban," said Ron uncomfortably. "No one's ever done it before. And he was a top-security prisoner too."

But they'll catch him, won't they?" said Hermione earnestly. "I mean, they've got all the Muggles looking out for him too..."  

"It'be hard for him to move around, as long as we don't stray too far, we should be fine." You tried to assure Hermione besides you, but you can tell it does not really help. 

"What's that noise?" said Ron suddenly. 

A faint, tinny sort of whistle was coming from somewhere. They looked all around the compartment.