the_debt_of_time

At some point, Remus had actually fallen asleep, soothed by the sound of Mia—
No. Hermione's voice as she read aloud from The Essential Defence Against the Dark Arts, the
book he had chosen to assign his class for the year.
A short while later, Remus awoke, keeping his eyes shut as he heard an altercation
happening inside the compartment. He turned his head a bit, cracking his eyelids just
enough to make out some outlines and colours. Three boys stood in the doorway of the
compartment, one with white-blond hair. Oh great, he thought to himself. Not only would
he have to deal with Harry—who was apparently being stalked by Sirius Black—his past-
future ex-girlfriend and her ugly cat, but Remus had forgotten that Lucius Malfoy somehow
managed to procreate.
When Ron stood up to face off against the young Slytherin, the cat's basket fell to
the floor with a loud THUNK and Remus snorted, drawing attention to himself.
"Who's that?" Lucius's son asked.
"New teacher," Harry replied as he rose from his seat to join his friend. "What were
you saying, Malfoy?"
The blond seemed to take Remus's presence into account before acknowledging his
cronies. "C'mon," he muttered resentfully and then disappeared.
Harry and Ron sat down again, Ron massaging his knuckles. "I'm not going to take
any crap from Malfoy this year," he said angrily. "I mean it. If he makes one more crack
about my family, I'm going to get hold of his head and―"
"Ron," Hermione interrupted, pointing at Remus, "be careful."
Remus let the corners of his mouth turn up. She was so different now. The witch
he had known growing up had not been worried about getting in trouble at all. She had
once punched Snape in the face right in front of McGonagall simply because he had said
something offensive about Sirius. She had hit him again at the beginning of seventh year
when he said something rude about her mother. Having this look into Mia's past only
endeared the witch to him more. She was—is—so innocent, he thought.
He relaxed against the window and once again let sleep overtake him.
He awoke later when the train jolted to a stop and, without warning, all the lamps
went out, plunging them into darkness. Remus's eyes opened immediately, and he sat up,