Dumbledore hadn't pressured him to agree, which made Lupin glad.
But the matter still unsettled him, keeping him awake late into the night.
He lay in the wooden hut with his hands folded behind his head, staring at the ceiling in the moonlight.
It was the only smooth plank in the whole house.
Four crude pictures had been drawn on it: a wagging dog on the left, a leaping rat on the right, and in the middle, a wolf curled up on the ground beside a rather sturdy stag with its head held high.
The four animals, which had nothing in common, weren't at odds with one another as they would have been in real life.
They had been drawn together in perfect harmony, each with a smile on its face.
Looking closely, he could see a line of small writing beneath each animal. It read:
Wormtail, Moony, Padfoot, Prongs.
"It's been nearly thirteen years."
Lupin murmured to himself. Then he found he really couldn't sleep.
After staring at the ceiling for a long while, he couldn't resist getting up and casting an Illumination Charm. He rummaged through his trunk, then took out paper and a pen:
Dear Headmaster,
I don't know if this is the right decision, but ever since I heard your proposal, I've been unable to settle down.
I had so many happy times at Hogwarts. They're memories I still treasure deeply and could never forget.
Though I'm afraid I might hurt those children, there's still someone there I want to see.
So I've decided to go and see. If I can live up to your trust and be of help to him, all the better.
But I still hope you'll consider this carefully. If there's someone else who would be more suitable...
Lupin wrote a