Mischief Managed Year One: Mayhem of the Moon

Chapter Two- A Very Weird Wizard

TWs: Mentions of Neglect

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He woke with a start, kicking off his blankets and making his bed with a sort of frantic frenzy. This same frenzy led to him rushing downstairs, where his father sat eating breakfast. The two Lupins looked at each other momentarily. Then his father turned to the newspaper and Remus self consciously slipped into the shower, determined to be presentable.

Then he cleaned more, as his father had to work until 3 p.m. Remus first set about getting the mound of his and his father's dirty clothes into the washing machine. Unfortunately, being as panicked as he was, he had foolishly made the load far too big which had resulted in a mess of 'All' detergent oozing out of the door. He really hoped he hadn't broken the machine entirely and was too afraid to check, leaving the soggy clothes put for now. Remus then had to clean the mess of soap suds. While wiping the floor he continued to scrub the tiles all the way into the kitchen. Tired from all his scrubbing Remus had then taken a break. Only he ended up wasting hours trying to recreate the scones that his mum would always set out for those rare guests they sometimes had. But Remus had never been very good at baking, and the black smoke escaping the oven was a disastrous reminder of that fact. Luckily Remus had turned off the oven before an actual fire had started and figured leaving the burnt black balls inside would be safer than throwing out the evidence. Remus decided it was best to give up entirely on refreshments for Dumbledore. Instead, he swept and vacuumed, only having a little difficulty in pushing the clunky old Hoover.

Despite his many mishaps Remus had managed to stay distracted and busy cleaning all day and most likely had not broken anything in the process. Once he deemed himself finished cleaning, he realized he was all sweaty and needed another shower. Half an hour later, since he had decided to clean while he was in the shower, Remus sat on the couch. He fidgeted with his clothes as he sat, worried the crumpled outfit he was in because all the other laundry was still soaking would not make a good impression on the headmaster of Hogwarts. In fact, it was very likely Dumbledore would take one look at him and simply walk away. Remus tried not to think like that as he caught himself fluffing the pillow for the fifteenth time. Remus wondered where his father could be.

At 3 p.m. he began to really worry. Dumbledore was due to come at 3:30 p.m., and Remus wasn't looking forward to being caught alone with one of the most powerful wizards in the world, who may or may not know his secret. Then there was a loud POP! Remus jumped to his feet like a soldier, standing stiffly as the green flames roared to life in the hardly used fireplace and an elderly-looking wizard ducked out of the fire with a chuckle.

"Good morning! My, what a lovely home!"

His voice was warm and gentle and he had a white fluffy beard. Dumbledore had electric blue eyes that twinkled with mischief and joy, reminding Remus a lot of his mum's eyes. He smiled politely, despite the nerves that had been rising all morning.

He examined the older wizard closely despite feeling nervous, quickly taking in the half-moon spectacles perched almost lopsided on a slightly crooked nose. Dumbledore's thick beard almost fell to his waist and looked remarkably like freshly fallen snow. All and all Remus found himself oddly at ease with this kind-looking wizard, whose somewhat outrageous purple and pink robes seemed to somehow fit the quirky headmaster perfectly.

"Good afternoon, Headmaster Dumbledore, sir. It's a pleasure," he said, offering his hand forward when he finally managed to stop staring. It's not like Dumbledore looked weird, well, he did, but that's not why Remus was staring. It was just...that he looked...looked so much like a wizard!

Remus's mum was a Muggle and his father always dressed like one, due to the fact his morning job was at a Muggle zoo and his wizarding job came after. Still, despite the initial shock, he had managed to address Dumbledore with the same polite composure he learned from his father.