Title: Fish in an Aquarium
Author: Kait
Rating: G
Pairing: Remus/Sirius (sorta...)
Summary: that they had only opened up / like gills for them
Notes: Written for the contrelamontre poetry line challenge. The line is the summary ::points:: and the full poem can be found here.


Fish in an Aquarium

It was one of the most captivating experiences of his life.

And that was saying a lot for Remus Lupin. He had quite a few indescribably captivating experiences in his life. He had fallen in love, he had seen a war won, he had held a newborn child, he had been to the top of the Eiffel Tower, he had seen freshly matured fairies emerge from their cocoons. All of these events were incredibly meaningful and awe-inspiring, at least, to him. But this... this was completely different.

Every word he said was being absorbed by the small gathering of students around him that had pressed closer as he spoke. He knew from his own school days that the classes usually scattered throughout the classroom, but these sixteen students were crammed into the first two rows, hanging on every syllable that was leaving his mouth with a grip as tight as the grindylow he was describing.

Not all his classes were like this, of course. The Slytherins tended to ignore and taunt him, most likely due to the less than flattering comments their head of house let slip. But still, these students right here... these third year Gryffindors... they were thoroughly in awe of his abilities. They didn't know or care that he was a werewolf, or the ex-lover of Sirius Black or the ex-best friend of James and Lily Potter. They only cared that he cared about them. That he had fascinating knowledge to impart on them. That he had a sense of humor. That he knew what he was talking about and loved what he was doing.

And that was it, right there. He loved what he was doing. Teaching. He loved the looks on all their faces, he loved the extra effort they put into their homework. He loved the comments he heard in the hallway, about how his classes were the best and he was the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher they'd ever had. He loved that they loved what they were learning. Most of all he loved that while he was teaching he could be someone else. He didn't have to be Remus Lupin who's heart had been broken more times than he could count, Remus Lupin who's headaches got worse with each increase of coverage for the search for Sirius Black, Remus Lupin who people were afraid to touch on the street, Remus Lupin who wasn't worth anything to anyone. He didn't have to think about his desire to feel Sirius' hands on his back one more time, about the love that made his heart swell in memory of a time when it was reciprocated, about the betrayal that had ripped his life apart, about the pain he had felt every day for the past twelve years, about the promises a devestatingly handsome young boy had whispered into his hair under a waning moon.

He allowed himself a small smile as he assigned homework for the weekend. Soon they would depart, leaving for their next class and he would retreat to his office and refuse to let himself look at the photo album in the bottom of his trunk. They would revert to being rambunctious teenagers and he would revert to being an exhausted broken hearted werewolf. But for now, for this moment, they were his guppies and his words were the water that sustained them.

-end-