Diagon Alley.
The long cobblestone street was packed with the most tempting wizarding shops you could ever imagine.
Right now it was buzzing. Witches and wizards everywhere, total chaos in the best way.
"To Gringotts," Sean said, his voice cutting through the November wind that whipped down the alley.
"Got it," Lupin nodded.
He was wearing an absolutely ancient set of wizard robes, patched in half a dozen places. In one hand he carried a beat-up suitcase with a half-peeled label that read "R.J. Lupin." The thing was held together with so many ropes it looked one sneeze away from exploding.
"Mr. Lupin, do you keep your suitcase packed like that so you can move at a moment's notice?" Sean asked, sounding genuinely curious as they walked through the noisy crowd.
"Has anyone ever told you your observational skills are terrifying?" Lupin said with a tired but warm chuckle.
He still remembered how this kid had described his wand down to the exact inch.
"Professor Dumbledore and Professor Tela have mentioned it," Sean answered.
Lupin let out a soft laugh—he hadn't actually been asking a question.
The small laugh seemed to lift some of the exhaustion from his face.
"Yeah… for a—" he hesitated, then gave a faint, strained smile, "—werewolf, never really having a permanent address is pretty normal."
Another gust of cold wind hit. Lupin pulled his threadbare robes tighter around himself. With those patched clothes and that battered case, he stuck out like a sore thumb in Diagon Alley—even if he didn't notice it himself, the sideways glances from other wizards made it obvious.
"I'm advancing you your first month's pay," Sean said. "You should really get yourself some decent robes. And, Mr. Lupin, your suitcase is about to fall apart."
They passed a noisy little goblin on the street. Sean flicked his wand forward, and the cracks in Lupin's suitcase sealed themselves like they'd never been there. The ropes wriggled, melted, and became part of the case again.
Lupin's eyes sharpened. "That's… impressive Transfiguration."
He was getting more curious by the second—who was this kid? And advancing wages…?
"What if I just take the money and disappear?" Lupin asked with a teasing smile. "That wasn't in the contract."
Sean shrugged. "Then I hope the next time I see you, you're not freezing your butt off, Mr. Lupin. Scottish weather is always cold and damp."
He turned toward the huge white marble front of Gringotts. "I need to grab a few things. If you're not planning to run, you can wait here."
Lupin stood there stunned for a long moment. He'd never met a kid like this.
Sean came back from the vaults with a seriously heavy bag of Galleons—he'd filled the Undetectable Extension pouch Dumbledore had given him to the brim.
His vault was about to get upgraded too. A goblin named Griphook really wanted to move it down to the dragon-guarded section. Sean said no for now—he didn't have time to oversee the transfer—so they scheduled it for Christmas break.
"Here's your advance, Mr. Lupin."
Sean tossed him a clinking pouch. The weight of all those Galleons made Lupin feel like he'd just conned a child.
"This—"
"No arguments," Sean cut in, eyeing the patched robes. "A manager who looks like he crawled out of a dumpster is bad for business. The bookshop will have the attic cleared out soon for living space, and you'll be staying there, working till closing every day."
Sean sighed dramatically. Man, I've become the evil boss.
"I understand," Lupin said quietly.
He stopped looking at the bustling street. For a second it felt like he'd been pulled out of the crowd completely. A complicated rush of emotions slammed around in his chest, leaving him a little dazed.
For the first time in forever, he had somewhere to land.
"For now, you can stay at the Leaky Cauldron," Sean continued. "Oh, and you'll need an owl so we can keep in touch."
With that, they crossed the street toward the Magical Menagerie.
The shop was tiny, cages stacked to the ceiling, the air thick with animal smells and nonstop screeching, hissing, and hooting.
While Lupin picked out an owl, Sean examined the bottle of Veritaserum in his hand. He'd brought a recording badge so he could interrogate himself later.
The Leaky Cauldron, second floor.
Sean and Lupin followed Tom, the hunched, toothless landlord, up a nice wooden staircase to a door with the brass number 14.
It was Sean's first time seeing the upstairs rooms. Honestly? Not bad at all.
Comfy-looking bed, polished oak furniture, and a crackling fire in the fireplace that made the whole room feel cozy.
"Drop your stuff. We've gotta get back to Hogsmeade, Mr. Lupin."
Lupin set the suitcase beside the wardrobe. For some reason old Tom trusted the kid instantly—he hadn't even asked for payment upfront, just handed over the key.
A pouch that acted suspiciously like a Niffler reluctantly spat out a few Galleons. Tom pocketed them with a huge grin. "Mr. Green, always a pleasure. Come back anytime!"
Lupin was starting to think he'd fallen way behind the times. This kid seemed famous in Diagon Alley.
"I own a couple shops here," Sean explained, reading the look on Lupin's face.
"Kid's got it all figured out already," Lupin said with a wry smile. "All right—grab my hand."
He watched Sean down a weird potion that apparently made Apparition less awful. Lupin had never seen anything like it.
Sean disappeared with a crack, and Green's Bookshop in Hogsmeade officially had its new manager.
Under the huge holly tree draped in blue and turquoise ribbons, Lupin stood for a long time staring in the direction the boy had gone.
Snowflakes drifted down. The chimneys of the Three Broomsticks puffed steam like an old steam engine.
The kid's footprints were already half-covered by fresh snow, but even walking alone he had this quiet, I don't know, presence. Maybe it was the perfectly cut robes, maybe the face that a bunch of little witches kept sneaking glances at.
Whatever it was, Lupin would admit it: this was one seriously unusual wizard.
That night at the Leaky Cauldron, Lupin kept zoning out.
Outside the window the sky shifted from deep velvet blue to cold gray, then to a rosy pink streaked with gold.
He sat by the glass, still feeling like none of this was real. He had a well-paid job. He had a place to stay.
Brand-new days had just shown up out of nowhere.
"What a weird, incredible day," he muttered to himself with a tired smile, then fell into bed.
He slept better than he had in years.