"Will? Is Hogwarts on holiday?" Lupin smiled.
Lupin looked completely different now. He wore a neat uniform, his once-messy light brown hair was carefully combed, and glasses rested on his nose. He had the air of a scholar.
He looked less like a bookshop employee than an academic.
Lupin was delighted to see Will.
It was this boy who had talked him out of continuing to wander and persuaded him to take a job at the bookshop instead. Lupin had only meant to give it a try, but he had quickly settled in and proved good at the work.
He had been an excellent student at Hogwarts, loved learning and reading, and had even served as Head Boy. With his abilities, he had quickly adapted to working in a bookshop.
He remembered where every category of books was shelved and could find whatever a customer needed straight away.
Lupin was knowledgeable and gentle-mannered. He also carried a melancholy born of years of rejection and anguish over what he was.
He had studied at Hogwarts in his youth, fought against Voldemort, and later wandered from place to place. Those experiences lent him an air of mystery and world-weariness.
The mysterious, melancholy, world-weary British gentleman soon won over his coworkers and customers alike.
He did not even need to work late on full-moon nights. Within a few months, he had become manager of Green's Bookshop, which meant he could approve his own leave. Everything was moving in a wonderful direction.
Oh, and Green's Bookshop was a chain. Its real owner was Mrs. Green, a charming widow who had inherited a large fortune from her late husband.
Surely Lupin's promotion was due entirely to his talent for the job.
Whatever the reason, his life kept getting better.
Lupin showed Will around the shop.