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Friday, 1.1.1999 / Sirius


I wake up exactly the same a few short hours later. I listen closer to the sound that woke me and start to smile. It's coming from my little daughter who babbles happily in her cot. Merlin, this is the sweetest thing I've ever heard. I wonder if we just missed that with Harry, or if he didn't do that at all. But it sounds so incredibly cute that I have to kiss Remus awake and when he looks up, I nod to Seraina's room.

"Shhh... listen!" I whisper.

As long as she sounds so content we just lie there and listen. Remus starts to smile.

"She's so sweet," he whispers back.

I only nod. It's these little things that make our children precious to us. I suppose it's the same for all other devoted parents. After a while Remus and I get up silently and tip-toe over to Seraina's room. We've closed the connecting door again, so she'll have her room for herself. When we turn on the light we find her, lying on her back and playing with her teddy and still babbling. The moment she sees our faces she starts to grin, throws the teddy away and stretches out her arms. I bend down to lift her up.

"Good morning, my love! You look chipper today, Seraina. A very happy new year to you! That's your first, do you know that?"

She squeals happily and wants to be hugged by her Papa, too. Remus takes her from me and kisses her, too.

"Hello, my love. Did you sleep well? It's still a bit early, come, we'll take you with us."

Remus frees Seraina from the sleeping bag and takes her over to our bedroom. He slips back under the warm duvet, placing her next to himself. I follow swiftly and now we enjoy our very awake daughter for a while. She lifts her feet up and pulls them up to her mouth to suck on her toes. Then she lets them go again, wriggles around and finally turns around and lands on her stomach. Now she starts exploring and grabs my long hair.

"Ouch! Not so hard, Seraina!" I protest.

Remus gently gets her hands out of my hair and I sit up quickly to braid it loosely and fix it. If she still pulls on the braids it won't hurt so much now. After about half an hour I say:

"I think, I'm going to take a bath..."

"You could take Seraina in for a while. She smells like she needs it," Remus says.

"Sure. Will you bring her in a while?"

"Yes, I will. Need to clean her a bit before. You're not exactly smelling like roses, my love."

Seraina grins. I get out of the bed and pull my dressing gown on, tie the sash and go down to prepare the bath, while Remus takes care of our daughter. I'm lounging comfortably in the hot water, when Remus brings Seraina into the bathroom. The baby is completely naked already. She squeals of pleasure when I hold her in the water. That's of course until I start washing her hair, but for the rest she enjoys to sit on my belly, held up by my thighs. We splash lightly in the water and I tickle her. For Christmas we got both children an amber necklace, which is supposed to help babies teething. She looks really cute only wearing this. She pats my chest, where there's a thin film of water and watches in delight as the water splashes away. I hand her a sponge, which she takes to her mouth first.

"Ewww... Seraina, that sponge is for washing!" I say.

She just smiles and tries to bite off some of the sponge. I have to take it away from her mouth about five more times. Then a flash of light disturbs us and Remus grins.

"That looked too funny!" he remarks.

And goes on to take a few more photos of a happy Seraina, climbing around on Daddy and splashing water at both her Daddy and her Papa. After a while Remus puts the camera away and asks:

"Would you mind for me to bring you Denny, too?" he asks.

"No, not at all, bring him down."

"Thanks. Saves one bath..."

Only a couple of minutes later he comes in with our son and gently places him in the water. I hold both children until he's prepared a big soft towel for Seraina. I watch, while he spells her hair dry and gently packs her into the towel. She cries a bit because she doesn't want to get out of the water yet.

"Hey, don't cry, love, you can't stay in there forever! Off we go, getting dressed!"



Remus


I go back upstairs to get Seraina dressed. I put her down on the changing table, pick up a nappy and unfold the towel. She's mostly dry, so I do the rest with a spell, then push the nappy underneath her. I'm spreading baby lotion over her body, then put a bit of baby powder between her legs and pull the nappy closed. That's followed by her long sleeved body, a pair of socks, rompers over a baby sweater and finally the booties. I quickly brush her hair, which starts to grow slowly. She pushes up and I catch her, both of us laughing. I'm going downstairs and call for Dobby.

"Yes, master Lupin?"

"Can you watch Seraina for a while, Dobby? I want to go and take a quick shower."

"Of course, master Lupin."

I give him Seraina and go into the bathroom, where Sirius is still playing contentedly with Denny.

"I'm just taking a quick shower, then I'll take Denny from you, okay?"

"Fine, just take your time!"

While I wash myself I can hear repeated squeals of joy from Denny. Those two seem to like the water. That gives me the idea that some beach summer holiday might be a good idea for the next year. When I leave the shower I'm drying myself with a quick spell and pull the robe back on, then I pick up Denny. I summon his towel, pack him up and carry him up to his room to get dressed. That accomplished I brush his silky black hair and lift him up again.

"Let's go for breakfast then, love, I'm just getting dressed first."

I take him over to our bedroom and put him on the carpet. I don't take long to get dressed in sweatpants, t-shirt, warm socks and a jumper. I'm quite hungry now. Sirius has finally left the bath and comes into the bedroom to get dressed, too. I wait with Dennis on my arm. Once Sirius is finished we go down to breakfast. Dobby and Winky have managed to cook breakfast and look after Seraina. Sirius picks her up and we go over to the living room. I'm pulling my wand to start a fire in the fireplace. Dobby brings the bottles for the babies and the breakfast for us. I hold Denny on my lap while I'm letting him drink his bottle empty. He's very hungry and suckles happily. Seraina is just as busy; after all she's been up almost an hour longer than Dennis. My son holds the bottle almost alone now. He looks up into my eyes while he suckles.

"Such a big boy you're already, my sweet."

I'm looking at him, too. He lifts up one of his little hands to put it on mine. Every day we get more response from our children and every day it's a new miracle for me.

It doesn't take our two hungry babes long to gobble up their bottles. We put them into their high chairs and give them a teaspoon to play with while we start to get to our own breakfast. We take our time and don't really expect anyone else to be up before about ten o'clock.



Hermione


It's brightest daylight outside, when I wake up. I stretch and notice I've got a headache. Oops! That was too much yesterday! We've been happily drinking Champagne until there was none left. Since the Patils have brought about three cases we got a pretty amount of that.

I turn and look at Harry, who's still fast asleep. I look across him to the bedside clock and find out it's close to noon. Yawning, I start to caress my husband until he wakes up with a groan. He lifts his head from the pillow and forces his eyes open, but closes them again immediately.

"Too bright," he moans.

"No - too much Champagne, my love," I correct.

"How come you sound so chipper then?" he asks into his pillow.

"I'm not. Just keeping myself alive..." I mumble.

My mouth feels dry. The smell of my own breath turns me off and my stomach grumbles. Ewww... not my style at all, but somehow I didn't care last night. We did have to celebrate Parvati's and Draco's engagement, now didn't we? That definitely justifies drinking a bit too much, I'm telling myself.

Harry is asleep again. Well, I let him. I'm awake now and get up slowly, but my head still hurts. I'm pulling my socks on and then fasten my dressing gown. When I reach the bath and look into the mirror, it shrieks:

"What the hell have you been drinking?"

"Just a bit too much Champagne. And let me tell you that it was excellent stuff!"

"That's not what you look like... better get some hangover potion!"

Hangover potion! Great idea, but do we have any? I brush my teeth first, to get rid of the bad taste in my mouth. Then I brush my hair and gather it in a pony tail. Finally I go down through the kitchen, where I ask Winky:

"Hello Winky. Do we have some hangover potion in the house?"

She grins and points to the living room.

"It's on the table, Madam!"

"Good. Thank you, Winky! Happy new year, by the way... and can you bring me coffee for breakfast today?" I mumble.

When I reach the dining table I can see that the whole party mess has already been cleared and that there are the breakfast placements ready for us when we come down. The idea of food makes my stomach lurch even more. I'm sure that I can't eat anything. Sirius, Remus, Lily and James sit on the sofas and armchairs and the twins nap in their play-pen. Ginny and Ernie sit at the table and look the way I feel.

"Good morning, Hermione! Happy new year!" Sirius calls.

I groan. He grins. And the rest of them grin, too. What's up with them? Oh yes, they went to bed early enough to avoid all the Champagne. Oww... Ginny looks up and points to the bottle containing the potion. I step up to the table.

"Hi all... how much does it take?"

"Luckily just a small glass... let me pour it for you," Ginny explains.

"Thanks!"

I'm sinking down on my chair. Winky brings my coffee, a glass full of orange juice and a small plate with two croissants. I take the glass from Ginny, empty it and almost spit it right out again.

"Eww, that stuff is vile!" I cry out.

Now everyone in the room just breaks out laughing. Not very sensitive, you guys! I'm feeling awful and you laugh!

"Poor 'Mione!" Sirius remarks, "Your first hangover or what?"

"As far as I remember, yes..." I mumble and pick up the coffee to get rid of the awful taste of the potion.

"About what I did, too, Hermione, and it even helped," Ginny says with a grin.

The potion helps! Within five minutes I'm feeling a lot better and decide to drink the orange juice and eat my croissants.

"Harry still asleep?" Ernie asks.

"Yes, I hardly got two words out of him before he was unconscious again."

"We've all had a bit too much."

"A bit? You guys managed to empty the whole stock! Someone will have to take the stuff to the glass recycling next week," Remus mocks.

From the back I can see Blaise doddering into the room. He's been as inebriated as all of us and still shakes. He's the next candidate for the potion.

In the course of the early afternoon we're all up and all go through the potion and only when dinner time comes around we're all mostly well again to think of eating. James, Remus and Sirius have a whole afternoon of making fun of us and laughing themselves silly. When we sit down at the dinner table, Remus grins and says:

"Oh boy, that was fun! You guys go through what we have overcome for a while now. And boy, am I glad it's so..."

Vaidyanathan agrees. He and Shannah only got up very late, too, though and will depart after dinner.



James


That was fun! We've all gone through these drinking binges once or twice - oh well, I know, many more times than that - and it's a bit fun to watch the youngsters going through that hangover age now. I'm a bit sad that I can't take in anything anymore. Seeing them all get tipsy and not being able to do the same was a bit hard. But today we got all the opportunities to tease them about it. Harry only turned up at four in the afternoon! Looked like shit, too.

I have to say that by their age we've had had a couple of hangovers already. And were able to quite hold our liquor, too. So they're actually very disciplined.



Monday, 4.1.1999 / Justin


Last night we apparated back to our room at the Aurors Headquarters. We left right after Remus, Sirius and the twins have returned to Hogwarts. It was bloody cold in the room and the first thing we did was cast a warming charm and then we hopped into bed and cuddled.

The alarm goes off at six thirty like every morning. We're getting up and take a shower, rush down to the canteen to grab a quick breakfast and assemble with the other trainees in the gym to get about our morning workout. The training lasts two hours, then we have an hour to get showered, dressed and go back to the classroom. Today it's strategy and it's the very thing at which Ron is brilliant, while I'm more the one with the better grasp on putting together puzzles and solving riddles. Ron is also very good with the logic. I listen to the lecture, but somehow I have to say that strategy seems to be a natural gift and if you don't have it, you will never really get a good grip of it. I'm at a loss when it's about planning more than the next move. I'm not doing that badly at chess, but I'm usually not more than two or at the maximum three moves ahead, while Ron can hold on to a strategy with six or more moves easily.

After lunch we're back to the physical training. Hand to hand combat is not first priority, so we only have it every third week for an afternoon session. All other afternoons are either running, obstacle courses and spell casting while running and twice a week it's an afternoon full of duelling. We have special attachments to our wands to make them ineffective for the curses, our sparring partner will just feel a short sting and a red spot will show on their training robes to show that they've been hit. This way we know that the curses would have hit home and worked. If a curse is used and nothing shows it's either a miss or the curse hasn't been cast correctly. This is a very good way to train the defensive and offensive spells we need, we know we've cast them correctly and they still don't harm our sparring partners. We do have some real duels now and then, but mostly the training is to improve our agility in casting spells fast and in short order. Kingsley is leading many of those training sessions.

Whatever I expected from the Auror training I'm very pleased to find it's so diverse. There's the part that really makes use of our intellectual capacities and then there's the physical part and both have about the same emphasis. We also get extra classes in brewing certain potions, mainly healing potions and in advanced transfiguration.

After such a day Ron and I usually join our six classmates for dinner at the canteen, a bit of chatting and then it's off to bed. We don't have much in terms of homework here, the tests are hands on, we are questioned about the lectures and that's that. The training is taking until summer, then we'll be joining the Auror squad for a year in training and after that we're paired up with someone to form a team.

Our jobs go far beyond hunting dark wizards. Actually it's a very exclusive group who's still busy finding the last hidden Death Eaters. We have lots of different duties, there's the guard duties in some wizarding places, there are research bits, regular police work in cases of crimes, observation of suspects, duty at court sessions, patrolling at Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade and lots more.

"I really can't wait until we get to the really practical part and we get to accompany trained Aurors," Jeannie, one of our group, says during dinner.

"Me too! Though the whole fitness training stuff is great I'm really more interested in the actual work," Ron confirms.

"Even if it will be lots of paperwork at the office, Ron?" Jeannie teases.

"That will probably be the rather boring part, but I see the necessity."



Saturday, 30.1.1999 / Sirius


It's another Quidditch match we want to go and see, so we've decided to stay at Hogwarts over the weekend. The larger part of the gang is around to come and watch the Harpies playing against the Falmouth Falcons. It's a home game for the Harpies, so woe to the Falcons! The match starts at one in the afternoon. We pack the twins into the carriers and put the slings into a bag, because if they are ready to nap they're better off in the slings. Minerva is coming along as is James together with Lily. A really great outing! We're all in high spirits. We have one of the boxes at the side of the stadium, enough space for about thirty people. There's a lot of butterbeer and even more warming charms. It's a crisp and clear winter day.

There's a lot of noise in the stadium, lots of cheering for the Harpies even before the match starts. Our box fills with several other spectators. We've occupied the best seats though, as we came a bit early. Remus and I have placed the twins in the slings now, where they take their afternoon nap. Hermione has cast a silencing charm over the slings, so they have a lot less noise.

The game starts. Alicia plays in Angelina's place, because the coach had decided that the Falcons' usual dirty play would endanger her baby too much and Angelina has gladly left her spot to her old classmate. She's third reserve for this game only.

Fred and George, who are with us today, cheer Alicia whenever she comes fairly close to our area.

Even though Alicia is usually only a reserve player she fits into the plays very well. Christine McAllister is still the center, according to Harry that has been Angelina's spot in the Gryffindor team, so when McAllister retires it will probably become Angelina's spot again. Alicia fits her role as left Chaser perfectly, as she has a mean throw with her left hand. Her passes are so precise that McAllister has an easy time of feinting the Falcons Keeper and scores many a goal this way. Dana O'Leary serves as a great diversion for the beaters who often can't see which of the ladies has the Quaffle and thus guess the wrong one, as Dana is a great actor. Whether she has the Quaffle or not, she always looks like she does and goes straight for the goals so the Beaters have to occupy themselves with her and send the Bludgers after her. In the meantime Christine and Alicia score. We grin about that tactic, which has distracted the Falcons Beaters about six or seven times already.

Madeline Coltrane plays a heroic game. She saves a lot of goals and doesn't seem to be too happy with her two Beaters. They're told off in two or three time-outs.

The Seekers are very uneven though. Aggie Morgan is simply amazing. She's such a great flyer and while the Snitch is elusive for a long time she doesn't get distracted. She's feinted the Falcons Seeker several times already, twice I'm sure she's seen the Snitch but hasn't been able to get there before her opponent, so she has feinted him to get the Snitch out of the way for another while.

Meanwhile we get to see a load of goals. The standings are 190:70 when the lights are turned on at four because it starts to get darker. The Falcons can still win the game if they catch the Snitch. Aggie's flying circles around the Falcons Seeker though and not even the rough interventions of the Beaters can keep her off the Snitch once she's spotted it.

"I can see the Snitch," Harry says calmly.

"Where?" Remus asks, shifting Denny on his other arm and following Harry's glance. "Ah! Yes, I do, too... it's quite far, I wonder if Aggie prefers to keep Jolliot away or if she's attacking it..."

"She'll drift there slowly, like she's still searching, if she sees it - she's seen it!"

We watch how Aggie darts a careful glance around for Jolliot, the Falcons Seeker and quietly moves into the direction of the Snitch. Now that Harry has shown it to us, we can see it, too. It's quietly sailing in the centre of the field on several metres above the ground. Aggie is quite far ahead of Jolliot, she just has to keep the Beaters' attention away from herself. Alicia causes a distraction, when she notices what Aggie is up to, so in the last moment Aggie dives and catches the Snitch easily. The whistle sounds and she comes out of the dive holding the little ball in the air. The Harpies win 340:70. The stadium explodes with cheers and both of our children start to cry of fright. I hold Seraina close.

"Don't be afraid, darling, it's just that the people are happy the game has ended and our favourite team has won!"

After a short while Seraina calms down. Minerva gets up in front of me and turns to us.

"How about a nice dinner in the Three Broomsticks? I've ordered a parlour from Rosmerta..."

"That's a delicious idea!" says Hermione.

We all agree. Soon we're in the throng of people who seek their way out of the stadium and to the Apparition points. We're a party of fifteen and the children. Fred and George go and meet Angelina and Alicia in the locker rooms and bring them along to the Three Broomsticks. When we get there, Rosmerta leads us to one of the larger private rooms, where the table is already set. She adjusts it to the number of the party.

"Do you have some high chairs for children, Rosmerta?" Remus asks.

"They're in use already, I'm afraid..."

"Well, let me handle that then... we'll turn the chairs back afterwards, okay?" I say.

She's okay with that and I transfigure two chairs into high chairs for our little ones.

"Oh, they're cute! How old are they, Professor?" Rosmerta coos.

"Nine months."

"What do they eat?"

"We have bottles for them, don't worry. They're also nipping a bit of something from our plates already."

We all sit down and are served today's regular dinner menu soon after that. It tastes very nice and we enjoy the food with a lively conversation about the match, tactics and lots of other Quidditch related subjects for a while before we turn to other topics.

"By the way, next week you can talk to several candidates for your assistants," Minerva tells Remus and me.

"Oh, that's going to be interesting," Remus says.

"I'm sure, some of them should do quite well, Albus and the Governors have made a pre-choice and you get three candidates to test."

"I suggest Tuesday morning, as I have all second through fourth years on that day..." Remus says.

"Good. Would you give me the material you're working on with the students, so that the candidates can do a test lesson based on it?"

"I'll do that as soon as I'll be back at Hogwarts," Remus promises.

"When would it be good for you, Sirius?"

"Tuesday morning and afternoon. I have a first and second year class in the morning and a third year class in the afternoon."

"Fine. My subject will be on Friday, could you kindly put your classes on study periods on that day and come join us? I think it's you who will have to work together with the Transfiguration assistant, so you should have a say in it. And for Potions we'll have two more candidates for the upper forms. You'll need to test them as well, but next week. And it will be something to find out who will work together the best."

"That's fine with me, Minerva. I'm really looking forward to work with the older students more intensively."

"In your best discipline, too. You'll do fine, I'm sure."

After that we turn to other subjects. Seraina and Denny are both asleep on two armchairs now, which we have charmed so they can't fall down. We're staying at the pub until fairly late, then Minerva, Remus and I pick up the twins and return to Hogwarts on our brooms, while the others apparate to their respective homes.



Tuesday, 2.2.1999 / Remus


The day starts off well. The twins are still asleep when Sirius and I have to leave, so Winky takes over and we shuffle over to the Great Hall for breakfast. Albus and Minerva come into the Great Hall, accompanied by several of the candidates for the new assistant teacher's jobs. We're all called into the small room behind the teacher's table, where Albus presents the candidates to the respective subjects. Filius has two of them today, I have all three of them, because today is my main second through fourth year day.

"Remus, this is Geoffrey Fancot, this is Kate Calverleigh, and this is Millicent Hunter. All of them have received the material for two of your classes of today. I put them into your able hands now. - This is Professor Remus Lupin, our current Defence teacher, who you'll assist in teaching the younger students."

I shake hands with all of them. Besides the candidates there are two School Governors for each of us who will also sit in the classes to observe.

I ask my three candidates:

"Who has the second years material?"

"I have," Fancot and Hunter say.

"Okay, my first and third lesson are second years, so you'll have to tell me who wants to go first..."

Fancot and Hunter share a glance, then Hunter says:

"I'll do it."

"Great. I'll guide you to my office now, on the way I'll show you all the classroom, so you can wait for your turn in my office."

Sirius comes along with his three candidates as well. They all know Hogwarts from their own school days, so it's no problem showing them the way. We both leave the waiting candidates in the office and move with the ones who are to teach to our respective classrooms.

"Your class this morning is the Gryffindor/Slytherin second years class, Miss Hunter. They are usually a bit difficult, just don't let them intimidate you. Watch out for Mariah Malfoy and Violet Parkinson. Those two have quite an evil mouth and need to be kept on the ground."

We get to the classroom, where most of the students are already there. I wait for the stragglers and look at the watch, when two of the Slytherins come in late.

"I'm truly sorry, but that will be ten points from Slytherin for your tardiness, Swithin and Robert. - Now, today your teacher will be Miss Hunter. She's continuing where we left off last Friday."

I take a seat on a chair at the back of the class next to the two governors and take notes. Miss Hunter braces herself and greets the class. Today's lecture for the second years is about vampires. We're going over the history for a good part. She seems a bit insecure in the beginning, but gains confidence as she notices that she is able to keep up the interest of the class. The two governors and I take notes during the class and exchange the one or the other glance. At the end of the lesson we dismiss the class and I take Miss Hunter back to the office. The next one is Kate Calverleigh, who has the material for a third and a fourth year lesson. I take her back to the classroom, where the governors and I watch her work with the Gryffindor/Slytherin third years. Again we all take notes.

We stay back in the classroom to compare our notes about the two young women's teaching styles for a moment. Both governors thought that Calverleigh has done better. After the break it's Fancot's turn and he works with the Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff second years. He stays on for the Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff third years in the next period, then it's Calverleigh who takes the second round with the Gryffindor/Slytherin fourth years. In the afternoon Hunter comes back to teach the Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff fourth years. While the candidates assemble, one of the governors informs them:

"That will be all for today, thank you all very much for your cooperation, you'll be informed in the next week about our final choice."

They all mumble thank yous and goodbyes and leave the castle.

I have to talk with the two governors for the rest of the afternoon. We sit in my office and discuss the three candidates. After going through the finer points we get to the overall performances.

"I have to say, I was quite impressed about Miss Calverleigh's knowledge and how she was capable of passing it on to the students," says old Mr. Campbell, a man who must have been a school governor for the last eighty or so years.

"I'd have to agree with that. I think she was doing the best of all three. Miss Hunter was too insecure and I'm not at all sure that she had all her facts straight," said Mrs Mandeville, who is a lot younger than her colleague.

"What about Mr. Fancot?" I ask.

"What do you think, Professor?" Mr. Campbell asks back.

"A bit raw. Miss Calverleigh seems to have her facts straight, but she didn't have the classes in her hands very firmly. Some of those classes need that. I suppose she could be trained though. Mr. Fancot was a bit arrogant in my humble opinion. Miss Hunter will make for a good teacher one day, but I think she's too young. She's only finished Hogwarts three years ago."

"I agree with you. So you think, you'd like us to choose Miss Calverleigh?"

I look over my notes again. She actually has the smallest amount of remarks of all three of them and I take that as a good sign. I nod and ask the two governors:

"Yes, I think, she'd be the best of the three. - They have all three been informed about my condition, haven't they?"

"Yes, they have. In the case of the Defence teacher we made it a point only to pick candidates who said they'd have no problem working together with a werewolf," Mrs Mandeville declares.

"Good. Not that we do make a choice and the candidate runs out of Hogwarts screaming..." I say with a grin.

"Don't worry, Professor Lupin. There may still be many who think it highly questionable that you hold your position, but I've heard that you are doing a wonderful job here. I've also heard about your talents as a Charms teacher," Mr. Campbell says with a smile.

"It was great to teach several subjects, but then I really had an extraordinary class then. A very talented group and a good mix. So it was easy to be successful."

"Oh, someone who teaches sixth years that one of them is able to invent a by now already almost indispensable device in her sixth year must have some talent! Filius Flitwick couldn't stop praising your work."

"Thank you, sir, I'm pretty proud on that one! Hermione Granger-Potter is certainly one of the most talented witches of our days, but I pushed her a bit with this one. I grouped all others in her class in teams of four and made her work on her assignment alone, because she's been so far ahead of the others."

We all get up and go down to the Great Hall for dinner, after which there will be a teacher's meeting for all the teachers who had candidates to test today. That's Sirius and I only, because Filius and Edith didn't have all of their candidates today. We meet with Albus and Minerva in the conference room. Everyone takes a seat and we discuss the three candidates one more time shortly. Albus and Minerva add their impressions of the people from their interviews with them and a choice is made. For Defence it will be Kate Calverleigh and for Potions it will be Waldo Hawkridge, who has so far worked as a pharmacist.

It's been an awfully long day and the governors keep blabbing on, but Sirius and I get up:

"I'm sorry and we don't want to be disrespectful, but we'd like to retire. We haven't seen our little children all day, so we'd like to be at least there to take them to bed," Sirius explains.

"Yes, yes, please don't let us keep you, Professors!" one of the governors replies.

"Thank you, Madam! Goodnight to all of you!"

We both hurry down to our flat and get there just in time to take the children to bed. Winky is very glad that we're back.

"They is getting a bit cranky and wants to see you, sirs!" she says.

"We've been held up all day, we just got away a moment ago. Sorry Winky, you go and have a good night now, okay?" I apologise.

"Thank you, Professor Lupin!"

"Good night, Winky!"

We take the little ones to bed. It's routine by now and we love the routine to watch them sleeping for a while before we go back to the living room, to do some of our remaining work.



Friday, 5.2.1999 / Sirius


Minerva asks me to assign study lessons for my Friday classes and attend her Transfiguration classes with the applicants for the Transfigurations job. She's so nice to let me help with the choice, but of course it's me who will have to work with the future assistant teacher. There are three who made it to the final tests, again two women and a man. Penelope Clearwater, Horatia Winwood and Torquil Pennymore. Minerva, two members of the Hogwarts Board of Governors and myself are sitting in the back of the class watching how the three work through two lessons each. Miss Clearwater comes into the class with us all and calmly starts the lesson in a confident manner. She is very soft spoken, doesn't drone, has a witty way of talking and going about the lesson. Minerva asked her to do one lesson leaning more on theory and another with more practical work. She does both in a very impressive manner. I look at her credentials. Ravenclaw prefect in her fifth through sixth year, one of the victims of the basilisk in Harry's second year, when she was hit together with Hermione. Always in the top five in her year. Head girl together with head boy Percy Weasley - oh, now I know where I've heard her name before! She must have been that girl who was Percy's girlfriend. In any case Minerva and I exchange glances and nod. There are not very many notes on my parchpad.

The next is Horatia Winwood, who's quite good as well, but nowhere as convincing as Miss Clearwater. She actually makes a pretty horrible mistake, notices it and corrects it, but it's happened and it's a few points off her performance. Finally we watch Mr. Pennymore, who doesn't do badly either, but when we go over our notes, Minerva and I fully agree that we liked Miss Clearwater most. The governors agree that she did her job very well.

I smile. I think I'll like that young woman. She's worked for the Ministry for a while, but since she's broken up with Percy she'll be glad to work somewhere else.

I know that the tests with the future assistant Charms and Herbology teachers have taken place through the week. Albus has called for a staff meeting tomorrow, so we can't go to the Sunnegg over the weekend.



Saturday, 6.2.1999 / Sirius


We are woken very early by more baby babbling than ever. The Extendable Ears let us listen to both of our children happily entertaining themselves in their rooms. We just cuddle in our bed until one of them starts to get a bit cranky. Remus gets up and goes to pick up Denny, who usually isn't as patient as his sister. I get up and fetch Seraina soon after though. When I step up to her cot she's standing upright, holding herself on the wooden bars and grins.

"Dada! Dada!" she calls.

My baby has called me for the first time!!! I can't believe it, it's so wonderful!

"Hello, my little sweetheart! You've called me! Say that again, love, please!"

"Dada!"

I think I have never heard a sweeter word before. With that first 'dada' I feel her becoming more real than ever. She's just nine months old and babbles her first word. I take off her sleeping bag, change her nappy and wash her, then get her dressed. We meet Remus and Denny again in our bedroom, where Denny already suckles on his bottle. Remus has brought Seraina's as well and I pick it up, warm it for her and sit down on the bed to let her suckle, too.

"Remus, she said 'dada' the moment she saw me!"

Remus grins.

"She's been doing that babbling every morning lately, Siri!"

"Yep, but today she definitely meant it as 'Daddy', didn't you, sweetheart?"

Seraina keeps sucking hungrily.

"You're just the sweetest little creature in the world, my love! Yes, that's what you are. At least until you start on your mischief making... mmm, the stuff's still so nice?"

Both children empty their bottles. I know that once we're at the breakfast table they'll take another sip of warm chocolate and chew on some bread rinds to sooth their pushing teeth. Remus leaves me with both children on the bed and goes to take his shower and get dressed. The bed is charmed so that the children can't fall out. They crawl around on it and happily play hide and seek with me. I pull up the blankets and vanish and they squeal until I come back out again, when they start to grin and laugh. They also love to cuddle with Padfoot. I'm not sure whether they already understand, that Padfoot and Daddy are the same, but they do like the dog, in spite of its bearlike size.

Once Remus is back in the bedroom he takes the twins out to the living room and I get my go at the bathroom. I go through the routine quickly and put on some jeans, a t-shirt and cover myself with soft woollen robes, nice and warm. I fix a belt around them. Then we go to breakfast. Albus has called the meeting for eleven o'clock, so we have ample time to lounge around in the Great Hall and talk with our colleagues.

We all gather in the conference room shortly before eleven. Every teacher has been invited to the meeting, even those teachers who get no assistant. The team will be slightly larger next year, but the room is more than big enough. Albus waits until the whole staff is present, even Filch and Poppy Pomfrey.

"Good, we're assembled," Albus quietly says and closes the door with a wave of his wand.

I look around the table: Carla Vector, who teaches Arithmancy. Sybil Trelawney, Divination. Quentin Smith, Muggle Studies. Edith Sprout, Herbology. Hjalmar Nilsson, who's almost as old as his subject Ancient Runes. Filius Flitwick, Charms. Rubeus Hagrid, Care of Magical Creatures. Minerva McGonagall, Transfigurations. Claire Sinistra, Astronomy. Rolanda Hooch, Flying and Quidditch. John Binns, History of Magic, Remus and myself.

I have no idea how these people worked over all those years, and I'm very glad we'll have assistants next year. I do think that the teaching quality will only improve with this solution. Albus starts the meeting:

"This is a full staff meeting for reasons that most of you don't know about yet. I have handed in my resignation from my position as headmaster of Hogwarts to the end of this school year to finally go into retirement. With the fall of the Dark Lord and our cleaning work mostly finished I feel that I'm not that needed anymore. These are now the official statements from the Board of Governors to be conveyed to the staff:

Headmaster Albus Dumbledore retires to the end of the summer term of 1999. He will be succeeded by Madam Minerva McGonagall. The new Deputy Headmaster or Headmistress is to be determined by her and will be approved by the Board of Governors.

The following new assistant teachers will be added to the existing staff of teachers as from September 1st 1999:

Charms: Clancy Malvern (Hufflepuff class 1987)
Defence: Kate Calverleigh (Huffflepuff class 1986)
Herbology: Neville Longbottom (Gryffindor class 1998)
Potions: first to fourth years: Waldo Hawkridge (Slytherin class 1983)
Transfigurations: Penelope Clearwater (Ravenclaw class 1994)

Professor Sirius Black will change from the position as Potions master to Transfigurations.

The new Potions mistress or master is to be evaluated in the next week and shall be announced to the staff upon appointment.

That's it from the governors."

We all applaud the nominations. This will be quite an enlargement of the regular staff. Of course there's a lot of space around the teacher's table, so that won't be a problem. There are enough empty offices and classrooms available, we'll just have to rush through the castle and find the best suited ones.

"I'll pass the arena to Minerva now."

Albus takes a seat, Minerva gets up from hers and looks around:

"I'm looking for my Deputy now, so I can train the person for their new position early on. My preferred choice would be you, Filius, or Remus. I give you the first choice, Filius."

"Oh, Minerva, you're too kind and I'd love to do it, but look at me, I'm much too old! And as much as I love my work here I'm looking forward to have it a bit easier. I was actually considering retirement like Albus, but now that my workload is reduced so nicely I'll stay on for a while. But for those reasons I'm sorry, I'm turning your offer down," Filius replies.

Then he beams at Remus:

"You'll be much better off with Remus! He'll do just fine!"

Minerva accepts with a smile and turns to Remus:

"Remus? Will you do me the favour and become Deputy Headmaster?"

Remus blushes deeply! Gods, he's always so modest. Come on, love, you won't turn that offer down! He takes a deep breath, then looks at Minerva and says:

"I accept your offer, Minerva. Always considering that the school governors won't cry 'outrage' of course."

Everyone along the table laughs or grins at least. With the resignation of Snape no one is left on the staff who doesn't like Remus. Except for Filch, of course, but he doesn't count and he hates me with the same passion he despises Remus. Meaning that he doesn't despise Remus because he's a werewolf, or not as much, but because he's been part of the Marauders, Filch's all time worst enemies ever. I think, that apart from us four only the Weasley twins have caused as much damage in that school.

"You'll hear of their decision as soon as they've made it, Remus. Thank you. Now there's something else I'd like to announce and that's monthly team meetings. I know we've had the teacher's conferences before the beginning of the term, but I'd like to hold a shorter meeting once a month to go through the departments. They will be held every fourth Friday afternoon after classes."

We take note of that. She outlines a bit of her plans and that she'd like to start a regular switch of the houses that would be taught together. I think this is a very good idea. If we switch them every year they will learn to know all students of their year much better through the seven years, because they will be together with all other houses at least twice in that time frame.

"Now there's still one thing, and that's one that pains me a bit. Since I'm moving up to become Headmistress, my position as Head of Gryffindor house will be available as well. We have the rule that first priority gets a teacher of a core subject if one is available. That will be either Remus or Sirius. Which of you should it be?"

I point to Remus immediately and he points at me at the same time.

"Remus!" I add.

"Sirius!" he says at the same time.

There's laughter around the table. And someone shakes his head. Old Hjalmar remarks:

"Oh dear! One of the worst mischief makers this school has ever seen and head of his house!"

More laughter, but Minerva wants a solution. Remus insists:

"I'll have enough to do as your Deputy, Minerva. I know how much you did! We could share that work between us if Sirius becomes head of house."

"Fine with me, Remus. Sirius?"

"Well, if you dare entrusting me with the Gryffindors, I'll gladly take over..."

"Very well. I'll have an eye on you, Sirius!" she accepts with a smile.

"I bet, you will! I'll try my best!" I promise.

"Good, that's all anyone can ask."

After that we're through with the meeting. I get up and approach Edith:

"I'm so pleased to hear that Neville will join the staff, Edith! He'll do great, I'm sure."

"Yes, of the three applicants he was the shyest, but he definitely has the best hand and the most profound knowledge of the subject. He'll be joining me in my classes from next month to gain a bit more confidence in teaching. He knows his stuff so well, that's all he still needs to learn."

"That's great, I'm really looking forward to see him on the staff."

While we drift out, everyone congratulates Remus, but he remains reserved:

"Just let's wait what the governors have to say to that nomination! I don't believe I'll get it before I see it in written from them."

"Aw, come on, Remus, you don't think they'll turn you down! You're one of the most popular and sound teachers this school has seen in the past few decades. I'm quite sure the students put you in the same class as Filius!" Carla says.

"Thanks for the flowers, Carla. You're not half bad yourself, you know! You would do very well, too, so if they won't have me, I'm quite sure Minerva will ask you."

"I didn't want it, she's asked me already..." she says and grins.

"Oh, I don't believe it," Remus gasps. "Now I wonder who else she's already asked..." he adds.

"Me and Edith. We talked about it over tea actually. You know that we regularly meet among us ladies. Mostly Poppy, Rolanda, Minerva and myself. Last week Edith found time to join us and we talked about it. She did ask me, but I declined and Edith told her not to even ask her. She feels to old, too, like Filius. She's really the oldest among us after Filius and Hjalmar. I think, Hjalmar must be as old as Filius, if not older..."

We laugh, even Hjalmar, who's heard it.

"Actually I'm two years older than Filius, Carla. But you young ones..."

We grin.

"I don't think you should give up already, Hjalmar, I liked your teaching - and your subject," Remus remarks.

"You did quite well with your students over there in Switzerland, I've heard," Hjalmar compliments Remus.

"Oh, thank you. I always did have a flair for the Runes. Some of the students were already quite good at it, too," Remus says.

"I was sorry to have lost Hermione Granger, Padma Patil and Amanda Brocklehurst. Good students, all of them and what a pleasure to teach them."

"Something I can only confirm! We've had wonderful three years with them. Only two with Mandy, but she's moved back into the house when she left Hogwarts and lives with us again," I tell him.

"Oh, did she? I've heard you've had a bit of a run-in with her parents," Hjalmar remembers.

"I wouldn't call it quite that. Just a difference of opinion. Much to the Brocklehursts' dismay Mandy shared our view and not theirs. They didn't exactly trust Remus and me," I say.

"I see. Well, I knew you both as students - well enough, and I'd only mistrust you for your sense of mischief! Though I probably was like most of the wizarding world believing you were guilty, Sirius. Just glad we were all wrong and sorry that you paid the price for that."

We all head over to the Great Hall for lunch. Then Remus and I are free to do what we want. We return to our flat and come just right to put our twins to bed for their nap. That gives us a moment for ourselves, which we use for a nice little snog. But we're disturbed in the middle of it by the entrance of Lily and James.

"Hey guys! If you're not coming to us, we're looking after you!" Lily says cheerfully. "Oops, are we interrupting something?"

Remus sighs.

"Nothing major in any case. We never know how much time we have with the twins' afternoon nap."

"What's been holding you up here?" James wants to know.

"A staff meeting," Remus says.

"Oh. Something important?"

"Pretty much. Albus gave us the official results of who will be the new assistant teachers and officially informed us about his retirement and that Minerva will replace him," I reply casually.

"Oh, that's pretty important! We knew about Albus, but what about the replacement of Minerva as Deputy?" Lily asks immediately.

"Probably Remus. Depends on the School Governors of course, but if they give their consent, he'll be not only the first werewolf to ever attend Hogwarts and teaching here, but he'll of course be the first one who gets a leading position in the staff!" I say proudly.

"Oh, shut up, Padfoot! I don't really believe that they'll accept. Minerva asked Carla Vector first, then Filius, so I was only third choice."

"Hm. Might have been that she wanted Carla, but I'm quite sure she had you in mind all the while, because you two are really a great team. She's always had a soft spot for you!" James declares.

"Quite what I've thought, too!"

I'm so proud of Remus! Merlin, he deserves every good career he can make. Deputy headmaster is practically just the preliminary to becoming Headmaster. I don't know of any Deputy who hasn't become headmaster or headmistress in all of the Hogwarts history. I'd love to return to Grimmauld Place just to tell that awful portrait of my mother's about that development and to see her lose it!

Then something hits me. I will have to return there once, because we need to go through all the papers of my family. I'll take a notary with me, I could actually ask Mrs Winter to accompany me when I open all the drawers in there. There must be several Gringotts keys and a load of papers back from my parents which should once be looked over. I groan inwardly, recognising another mountain of work.

"Hey, and shouldn't there be a new head of Gryffindor house as well?" Lily inquires.

"Yes, that honour was laid on my shoulders," I confirm with a grin.

"Yay! Go, Padfoot! That's just too much fun! Now you can be sure I'll come and mess up a bit here and there!"

"Hey, you'll only get me in trouble! Remember that any mischief of our brand will fall back on me now! And I'll have to deduct house points!"

"Shit! Forgot about that. Sigh! Hey, how about going through some more of those memories of yours?" James asks.



Remus


Sirius doesn't look too happy about that, but James is right, we should continue. The sooner we do it the sooner he'll be through. Then it will be my turn. Unfortunately Sirius points at me and says:

"You know, we could go through Remus' for a change."

Oh shucks! Caught!

"That's true. You've kept suspiciously quiet, Moony!"

"Well, it's not going to be much fun..."

But they are relentless and even Lily thinks it would be good to go through mine now.

"From your birth to the start of your second year. Like Sirius..."

"Alright."

I put my wand to my head and think the incantation for the spell, then I start to pick the memories and place them in the Pensieve. About ten or twelve come for the first year of my life. Once no more strands come forth I lower my wand and we call for Winky to watch out for the twins while we're in the Pensieve. Then we prod and finally touch the memories and all get drawn inside.



James


We're landing in a cute nursery, where Mrs Lupin picks up a crying baby Remus from his crib to feed him. Dear me, he's tiny. She coos, holds him up for a while to calm him down, then she sits down on a rocking chair and nurses him. I throw a glance at Sirius. Even after only a minute or two he gets teary eyes. He puts his arm around Remus and holds him close. Judging from my memories of Harry I'd say Remus must have been a few months old.

The memory ends, but the next one is just as cute. It's Mr. Lupin who holds his son in the baby bathtub. The baby is washed gently and then dried and dressed just as gently, all accompanied by soft loving words. Merlin what a difference to what we saw in Sirius' Pensieve! Again my heart goes right out to Padfoot for all he's been through.

"Heavens, what a cute little one you were, Moony! And now I see Seraina in you..." Siri remarks.

"I'm totally shocked to see just how she's like I was as a baby. I do have my baby photos, but it's something entirely different to see this, isn't it?"

"It is."

The next memory is a family gathering, somewhere not at the Lupin home, maybe it's Remus' Swiss relatives. Next to his parents there are about eight or ten other adults and maybe five or six other children.

Remus grins and explains:

"Well, who do we have here? There's Tante Hélène and Oncle Rodolphe Droz. They have two children, Fritz and Johan. Oncle Rodolphe was my mothers oldest sibling. At this point Fritz was about six, Johan three. Then that's my grand-parents, Jeanne and François Droz. My parents as you can see, my aunt Jeannette and her husband Julius Ritter. She's the second oldest and married the first of the five siblings. Her children are Babette, she's the oldest in my generation, at this point about twelve, her brother Otto is nine and her younger sister Melina is still a baby. She's actually two months younger than I am. And then there's my Oncle Didier Droz, still unmarried at that time, my aunt Carine and her husband Hans Zehnder and their daughter Céline, at that time about a year old. I think, Carine was pregnant with her second then. And what you see here is a rather small gathering. In the end there were twelve children in my generation."

"Can you imagine that much family, Lily?"

"We didn't have that much to meet in any case. And I think my parents liked it that way."

"And I have no idea how it feels to have siblings," I say.

"I do. And for me it wasn't a pleasant experience. To see all these kids there though..." Sirius says with a dreamy expression.

He's quite right. The children, at least the five who can be on their own, are mostly guided by the oldest, Babette, but they all mingle around and seem to be totally happy and carefree. There's a large table in a garden, it's summer and Remus smiles.

"Must have been my grandmother's birthday, that was always celebrated in the big garden of her house near Tavannes, that's a small town in the Jura. Lovely area, we all absolutely loved to go there for that birthday. As it was in summer we almost always enjoyed ourselves immensely," Remus explains.

We're pulled out from the memory after a while. The next one shows a proud little Remus who's managed to crawl for the first time.

"Why, look at our little man! You're so tiny and you're already crawling, sweetheart! Well done!" Mr. Lupin commends the baby.

Then he picks the boy up and sits down to look at a baby book with him. It's just a few pictures on some fabric pieces sewed together. Remus seems to enjoy it though and grabs the bits, twists them in his tiny hands and grins.

"You're supposed to look at them, you know..." says Mr. Lupin, but he laughs.

Again the memory moves on. It's of Remus' first steps and then another memory with some people comes up, but this time little Remus hides his head in Daddy's shoulders. He's shy already. He only seems to be opening up immediately with family members he already knows. Mr. Lupin holds the baby tightly on his arm though, doesn't push Remus. Mrs Lupin takes over and when Remus changes from his father to his mother we get a chance to see his eyes. They're almost the same colour as Seraina's, but Remus' are more forest green. And they're huge eyes! He rubs them with his tiny fists.

"You're going for your nap, my little man. You're so tired," Mrs Lupin says and carries Remus to his room, which now contains a larger cot.

The baby is laid down, gets a small stuffed monkey to hug and pulls it up to cover his face with it. Mrs Lupin smiles.

"Sleep well, my love! Maman will be back to take you up for tea..."

With that the memory shifts to what's obviously Remus' first birthday and a little party. I'm amazed to see my parents - and myself! there, but then I remember that at one point our fathers had worked in the same department.

"Wow, Remus! I didn't know that I've met you back then..."

"Neither did I! That's a fun discovery!"

We watch how the little boy gets his first birthday presents. Everyone is in high spirits, there are several other wizarding families around, all with small children. Baby Remus is a sparkling, cheerful little lad, delightfully shy and bold at the same time.

The final memory shows us another time when Remus sits on his father's lap and looks at a book. This time it's already one of those well known standards in the wizarding children's book realm, 'Dragon Cookie finds a job'. Contrary to the first time Remus is really looking at the pictures, already with that typical curious Remus expression we learned to know so well at Hogwarts.

We come back out, all smiles. That was delightful. Remus gets the memories into his dictaquill and then he empties the Pensieve to store the next few memories inside. We see more typical happy family memories and I detect unshed tears not only in Sirius', but also in Remus' own eyes. At one point, Remus remarks:

"I've spoiled all that, you know! I really messed things up..."

"But it's not your fault that the wolf bit you, Remus!" Lily protests.

"Well, yes, it is, for a bit... but we're not there yet."

Remus' third birthday is again a very cheerful affair. He's still shy and sometimes hides behind his Mum or his Dad. But as soon as he's alone with his parents, there's the little imp that is firmly planted inside of Remus. He grins and laughs and talks of the things he got for his birthday.

One of the next memories shows him reading his first books. And there's that delight that shows on his face to this day when he's reading something. It won't matter what kind of material he reads, if it's something that gets his interest, then he looks delighted. The dark green eyes sparkle and shine. Another memory shows him outside in the garden of the small house the Lupins own. It's right on the edge of a forest and the little imp in Remus leads the boy right inside of that forest.

In several of the next memories we watch as Remus discovers the forest and explores it, sometimes with some other children who live a little further up the road. They seem to have a lot of fun together, laugh a lot, play hide and seek and look for berries to pick and eat.

In one memory I can see Mrs Lupin with Remus in the forest. Both of them have a box with them to collect herbs. She shows him the kind of herbs he is to pick and Remus walks, looking around, spotting the plants. If he sees one that his mother has shown him he calls her. If it's one of the herbs she wants, she carefully cuts it and puts it in one of the boxes.

It looks like there's only sunshine and happiness in Remus' early childhood. We know only too well that it will end soon and abruptly. Remus puts his wand to his head to pick up the terrifying memories of the bite and all that followed. He looks stricken, but I know it's a good thing to share this with us. He starts to place the strings inside of the Pensieve. Sirius, Lily and I watch with baited breath, how terrible will it be?



Sirius


Remus' fourth year starts off with another lovely birthday party. His parents don't ever have to say a loud word, as Remus is the sweetest child one can imagine. Merlin, I want to go and hug him, he's so cute! Every adult meeting his parents and little Remus remarks how cute and well behaved the boy is. We can see that the little family frequently visits their relatives scattered over Switzerland and that Remus learns both, French and German through them. Methinks, Mrs Lupin helps a bit with the Polyglot potion, but once Remus understands the languages she makes him read in the new language as well as speak it with her.

There's a summer vacation in a wizarding beach resort in southern France. Little Remus runs along the beach and squeals of delight about the waves rolling in and he is even more pleased when his father takes him out in the water. The sun bleaches his honey coloured hair lighter blond and he has a really lovely tan.

The next memory shows the family back in England. Remus reads. A lot. And everywhere, on his bed, at his little desk, on the balcony on the upper floor of the house, on the porch swing, in the garden, under several trees, on one or two of the trees, on a clearing in the forest. Again and again we see him drawn into the forest, but Mrs Lupin lets him go, because she knows he knows the forest well.

Until that fateful evening. The Lupins eat dinner, then Remus asks politely if he's allowed to play in the garden for another while. Both his parents allow it, but remind him that they would call him back inside for his bedtime.

"Yes, yes!" he calls and off he runs.

Straight out of the garden and along the edge of the forest. It's still light, so he's not afraid to go inside. An hour or so passes and we watch the little one work on building a little farm with twigs, acorns and fir cones. He's totally lost in his playing, until he hears his father calling him inside. Remus doesn't move an inch at first, just continues. But then he notices his father coming after him.

"Just you wait, you little imp! I'll get you!" Mr. Lupin jokes.

Remus runs off, back to the edge of the forest, where he can hide in the high grass and the shrubbery. Mr. and Mrs Lupin follow him, they've seen Remus' bright red robes. And then Mr. Lupin freezes to ice and we hear the growl that Remus hears. We can see Remus hiding in the high grass, but the wolf has his scent and pounces. Remus screams, both parents cry out in anguish and Mr. Lupin starts to run, throwing stunners at the wolf from far, not caring, whether he hits Remus as well, just trying to get the wolf away from his son. He and Mrs Lupin manage to actually stun the wolf, but when they reach Remus, the damage is done. Remus is unconscious and bleeds from two terrible bites, one on his left shoulder and another on his upper left arm. The blood is spilling over the bright red robes. A quick look at her son tells Mrs Lupin, that he's still very much alive.

"We have to get him to St. Mungo's, I need to treat him there, Quintus, and quick!"

Mr. Lupin doesn't discuss, he creates a Portkey for his wife and his son and says:

"You go first, I'll follow as soon as I've taken care of this one here!"

"Yes, love, I'm off!"

Mrs Lupin and Remus vanish.

The next memory shows us the hospital bed in which Remus wakes up. Mr. Lupin sits next to him and watches his unconscious little son. It looks like Remus has a fever, because his little forehead is very red. When he finally wakes up he seems to be in pain, because he starts to cry almost immediately.

"Hello, my little man," Mr. Lupin says tenderly.

"Papa! It hurts!" Remus cries.

"Yes, I know, but the wounds have only just been healed, love. It's going to stop soon."

"What was that?" Remus asks after he's calmed down a bit.

"That was a wolf, Remus."

"But we don't have any wolves in the forest, do we?"

'Clever boy...' I think.

"No, Remus, we don't - this was a werewolf."

"A - werewolf? What's a werewolf?"

It is the painful moment when Mr. Lupin has to explain what a werewolf is and that Remus is one as well because of the bite.

"A werewolf is a person who is forced to transform into a wolf on the night of the full moon, Remus. That person remains to be a wolf for that whole night, from moonrise until moonset."

"Isn't that terrible?" Remus asks.

"Yes, Remus, that is terrible. What is even sadder is that this werewolf has bitten you and therefore he's made you one as well."

Remus doesn't seem to understand at first, but Mr. Lupin explains it again:

"No one is born as a werewolf, Remus, people need to be bitten by a werewolf to become one. In most cases the victim dies, but all those who survive such an attack are werewolves themselves from on that day. I'm sorry, my son. You will be transforming into a wolf on the next full moon night and then on every full moon night for the rest of your life."

Remus has listened to this explanation with wide eyes. Already there's a lightly golden shimmer in the forest green and now the tears start to flow. He cries, because he feels that something really bad has happened to him.

In the next memory Remus is still at St. Mungo's. He's all alone though and looks very downcast. Gone is the bright, sunny little boy that we saw just a few moments ago. Already I detect the saddened face of the boy I was to meet six years later at the Sorting ceremony at Hogwarts. A face that has aged far beyond its real age. It's so very painful to watch. I pull Remus close to me and quickly kiss him.

Then there's the memory that is worse than anything else. Remus is awake, but none of the three adults in the room notices. They are standing a bit away from his bed. One seems to be a healer and the other two are Quintus and Fanny Lupin, Remus' parents. Remus must have just woken up and even though they speak in hushed tones, he hears them perfectly well.

"...you're a healer yourself, Fanny! You should know what terrible things await it. Really, the best thing would be for you two to have it put down. It'll be out of its misery and you can start over with a family."

"HOW dare you saying something like this, Francis? HOW dare you treat my little boy like a sick 'animal'? And just HOW dare you talking of my son as an 'it'? Never, do you hear me? NEVER even say something like this in a whisper! What if it would have been your own child? Would you 'put it down'? You really disgust me, Francis!" Mrs Lupin hisses.

"You must be out of your mind to even hush something like that, Healer Henson. This is our son you're speaking of. A child not even five years old! A victim of a terrible condition for which he really can't be blamed. We're taking him home right now."

Mr. Lupin starts to gather all the things that surround Remus' bed in a bag, wakes his son and gets him dressed. Mrs Lupin levitates the small bag of Remus' things and Mr. Lupin lifts up the boy, who looks so tiny and frail.

"If you don't have him at least registered within the next three days I'm going to send the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures after you!"

"Oh, don't worry, he will be registered. He'll learn to live with it and he'll learn to laugh again. Because he'll always have someone who loves him. Even if there will be more people who say such atrocious things like the ones you've just said."

With that, both Lupins disapparate to their home. Quintus carries Remus up to his bedroom and gently sets him down on the big bed again. He summons a fresh pyjama and undresses Remus again to put him in the fresh pyjama. The look in Remus' eyes is even worse now that he's heard the conversation. He's still swallowing hard.

"Papa, what did Healer Henson mean before?" Remus asks all of a sudden.

Quintus sits down next to his son. He closes his eyes and bites his lips for a moment. A gesture I so well recognise from Remus, now I know where he's got it from. Then he looks down on Remus, pushes some of his locks out of his face and sighs.

"He meant something awful, Remus. He wanted to have you killed so you wouldn't have to live through the transformations."

"Killed?"

"Yes. Killed. That means taking your life away, Remus. You'd be dead. There's no one who could force us to do something like that luckily. It's bad enough that you had to go through all this and that you are now a werewolf. You will never have an easy life, Remus, there will always be a majority of people who condemn you for what you are. Because the wolf that's inside of you now is not a friendly dog. It's a raging beast, exactly like the one that bit you. We will have to lock you into a safe room on the night of the full moon and that's going to be terrible. It will hurt you, too. But we'll be with you, both your Maman and myself, love, we love you and would never allow anyone to take your life simply for being the victim of a werewolf."

"I didn't listen to you and Maman yesterday..." Remus says in a tiny voice.

"I know. But you couldn't know what the consequences could be, you didn't know it was a full moon. And you couldn't know that there would be a werewolf. I certainly knew nothing about one in the area."

"Papa, what happened to the wolf?"

"He transformed back in the Ministry detention for rogue werewolves the morning after. I'm afraid he was punished with a sentence to Azkaban, love. He shouldn't have been outside. He should have looked for a closed shelter to transform. The moment he had your scent you were lost, little one. I couldn't get to you fast enough."

"I hid..." Remus says and the tears spill again.

"Yes, love, but still. This is too much of a punishment for a simple game you played. Or you thought you played. - Now there's another consequence, Remus, and that will not be very nice either. We must register you at the Werewolf Registry. The Ministry will always know that you are a werewolf. You don't have to tell anyone though. And I suggest that you better not, because people will only mistreat you if they know. Most of them think all werewolves are out to only kill and eat the humans. So they could send you away and sometimes they will do that - and in rude ways and with rude words."

It's a miracle Remus can sleep after all of that. And right in the next memory he gets a first dose of what waits for him. Quintus takes him to the Werewolf Registry the next day. Mrs Lupin is with him. They have to wait in line of two other werewolves who have to return to renew their registration. When Mr. Lupin finally steps up to the desk, he tells the clerk:

"This is a new registration, Horace."

"Oh, hello there, Quintus - what! The child that was bitten is yours? I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's happened, there's nothing that we can do to have it undone. This is Remus. He'll be five in two months."

"Hello Remus. We'll have to note down a couple of things. I give you this form to fill in. Quills are over there."

"Okay. Come, little one."

Remus follows his father over to a small counter, where Mr. Lupin starts to go over the form. He fills in all the relevant information and hands it back to Horace.

"I'll open the case number and you'll have a copy of that, Quintus. He has to return every two years for the renewal of his registration. He'll get a summoning letter for that. If he doesn't show up or has a very good reason we go and look for him. In the next few days your house will be checked and you better get one room in the basement that can detain him during his transformations. Here's a list of all requirements. We have to be informed about every relocation of your family. And here's general information of anything concerning werewolves."

Quintus sighs.

"Thank you, Horace. This is a nightmare, but I guess we will learn to live with it."

"It will be hard though. At least you don't intend to chuck him out like so many other parents."

"We certainly won't do anything of that sort. He's a child, for Merlin's sake."

"Still - he's a Dark Creature now. At least technically, not everyone becomes a Dark Creature. But let me warn you, the wizarding society has a lot they can say against werewolves. You'll have some of those things in the information book that I've just given you."

With that Remus and his parents are free to leave. Remus is taken home, but Mr. Lupin goes out to the Diagon Alley and buys some special ice cream for himself and Remus to take home.

Physically Remus recovers well and seemingly very quickly. Soon he wants to play with his friends again, but he has to listen to them all screaming and crying for him to go away, because they don't want to be eaten.

"Go away, werewolf! We don't want to play with you! You are going to kill us!" one boy shouts.

"No, I won't! Why should I? You're my friends!"

"No, we aren't! Not anymore. My Mum has forbidden me to play with you, go away!" screams another boy.

Remus is standing in the middle of the path, looking at them running away, one turning around and throwing a stone at Remus. The lost look in his face is probably one of the worst things I've ever seen about him. He's standing still, but the mother of one of his former playmates comes out of a house and screams at him to leave the place and never come close to her son again. The tears start to flow again, but silently, he just ducks that stone, turns around and walks home, lower lip between his teeth, tears in his eyes. Only when he reaches his mother he starts to cry into her robes. She sighs and holds him tightly. This is only the first of a few such encounters, each one will leave her son a few more invisible scars.

I'm still holding Remus tightly. To witness this was at least as awful as to see what my parents did to me. This innocent little boy who can't hurt a fly and to see adults treat him like he'd be the ultimate killer. It's heartbreaking.



Lily


Merlin, I just want to scream back at that woman! She wasn't that far from that forest, it could have been her own child who could have been hit, didn't she understand the hurt in this little child?

The next memory is one of his first transformation. I brace myself, because this is going to be gut wrenching, I'm sure. We will see the transformation through Remus' eyes.

"I'm not sure I want you to see this," he says.

"You can't go through this alone, love, we stay with you. Right here," Sirius insists.

James and I also feel the need to witness this.

It's already close to sunset, when the Lupins take Remus down to the cellar, where they have prepared one relatively small room for Remus. They've enlarged it magically for a good bit. Once again Mr. Lupin explains to Remus what will happen to him:

"I'm sorry for what you will have to go through now, Remus. Also we only know the thing that will happen to you, but we don't know how it will happen to you. It must be painful though and we won't be able to be with you to hold you through that pain. We will have to protect ourselves, because the wolf that's now in you will not care that we love you, if it can get to us it will bite or kill us. Even as small as you still are. We will have to leave you alone through this night. We'll be there for you in the morning, Remus, we'll get you out of that cellar once the day has dawned and the moon has set."

Both parents hug and kiss the little boy one more time. Then Remus holds up his head and walks inside of that cellar. His father has set up candles which are floating up as close to the ceiling as they can to give him some light. As soon as Remus is inside we can see the door being closed and hear the bolts shoot and the heavy beam laid in front of the door. Remus sits down on the thick mattress laid out for him. It's covered with blankets. But Remus doesn't stay there for long. He's moving and pacing along the otherwise empty room. Finally the transformation starts. Remus screams when his body starts to be bent and pulled and formed to another shape. The process takes a good five minutes and he screams non-stop, but at the end his scream has become the howl of the wolf. Merlin, it's awful to watch. I'm only more thankful that today Remus has an Animagus form which allows him to transform painlessly before the moon rises.

The wolf is out. He looks beautiful, all light brown. But this is a ferocious beast, not the gentle wolf we get to see these days who curls up happily in front of the fire, this could be truly the monster people say it is if left to run free. Remus stands on four legs, still a bit unsure, but the wolf is angry and rages, he howls, starts to run into the door, into the walls and sniffs for human scents. Smelling them, but not able to reach them the wolf seems to get even angrier and starts biting and scratching himself.

"Anyone who thinks werewolves are just evil should see this once!" I exclaim.

"It might only convince some of them more, Lily," Sirius says tiredly.

I know he's defended Remus so often, so often! And equally often people have been dropping him for his love. Sirius is as much of an outcast as Remus. Or was. Not only for being the white sheep among the Blacks, but also for his loyalty to his lover, a werewolf. I know I was one to accuse him of never being able to have a lasting relationship because he was so shallow. Well, in the meantime I've learned my lesson about his ability to feel!

The wolf treats Remus awfully. He races around the cellar, scratches and bites himself again and again. We don't have to see the whole thing though, at some point Remus has lost consciousness and when we see the next memory he's lying in his bed, wounds healed, but he's still deathly pale and tired. Mrs Lupin sits next to him and checks him up, then helps him to sit and feeds him a broth.

"T'as faim, mon chou?" (Are you hungry, my cabbage - the latter being a tender word used in French for someone loved) she asks him gently.

He shakes his head and sinks back into the pillows, then grabs his careworn stuffed monkey and holds it tightly.

"Maman, je voulais mon singe avec moi..." (Mum, I wanted my monkey with me)

"Non, mon petit, je ne te le donnerai pas pour tes transformations, tu vas le crever! Et puis ton singe ne serait plus là! C'est mieux de le garder ici, t'attendant quand tu reviens le matin, crois moi." (No, my little one, I'm not giving it to you for your transformations, you'd tear it! And then it would be gone. It will be better for your monkey to wait here for you when you come back in the morning, believe me.)

Remus sighs. What a beautiful child he is.

In the next few memories we see more of that beauty. Remus becomes a very graceful child. He withdraws, only talks when his parents talk to him, but he loves to sit on his father's or mother's lap and hear them read stories for him. When they can't do that he reads himself, curled to a tiny ball on his bed or in the corner of a sofa. Sometimes he's to be found in his father's big armchair. He's easy to overlook though and once Mr. Lupin almost sits down on the little one. He pulls Remus out of the corner, sits down and lifts his son on his lap.

"Now why do you hide in that little corner there, Remus?"

"It smells like you in the armchair," Remus mumbles.

"It smells like me? You can smell that?"

"Yes. Everyone smells different."

"Interesting. - Tell me, when you heard that conversation at St. Mungo's after you were bitten - did you hear us loud or normal or only a little?" Mr. Lupin wonders.

"Normal. Like I hear you now."

"Ah yes. That means you have the senses of the wolf, Remus. You can smell and hear much better than we normal humans."

Again there's another memory, this time of Remus' fifth birthday. It's taking place in a new surrounding and Remus doesn't feel at home yet, that much is clear. He's all alone with his parents. By right he ought to be off to school by now, but he's not been accepted into Hogsmeade Primary like Sirius and James. It's a lonely birthday, but both, Quintus and Fanny try to make it as nice for him as they can.

After that we see a blur of memories about healers in the vain hope to find a cure for Remus. There are many who promise they can cure him, but after one of them nearly kills Remus instead, the Lupins give up. In another memory we can see how his parents take him to Switzerland. They move into a small farmhouse close to a village. It's a very friendly place. Once they have made themselves comfortable they get the visit of Carine, Mrs Lupin's sister and their three children, Céline, a year older, Yves, a few months younger and Sabine, two years younger than Remus. Carine knows what has happened to Remus.

In this memory it's summer again, so it must be before Remus turns six. Remus is extremely shy in the meantime. He takes a while to open up to Yves, who doesn't seem to be encumbered by werewolf prejudices. Once Carine has left with her children, Remus asks his mother:

"Does Yves not know that I'm a werewolf, Maman?"

"Yes, he does know, Remus. But he won't be mean to you for it. That's why we came here, you will be able to go to Muggle school here and our wizarding relatives here don't look down on you."

"I'll go to school?" Remus asks with eyes opened wide.

Mrs Lupin smiles.

"Yes, Remus. We'll go to see someone at the local authorities to see if you can start school next spring. This will be a year before the other children start here, but I think you're advanced in reading and writing, so you'll be tested to see how far advanced and then they will assign you a class. We'll tell them that you have an illness that goes with the full moon and that you will miss classes once a month."

"But isn't that like lying, Maman?"

"Not exactly. We're just not telling them the whole truth. They are Muggles, love, they wouldn't believe us anyway. Your father and I will teach you in the things magical children learn."

"I won't go to Hogwarts, no?" he asks.

"I don't think so. Armando Dippet, the headmaster, is a very prejudiced man, Remus, he'd rather kill you than let you into the school. We won't even try Beauxbatons, we know they will snob just as badly. There's no use promising you something that most probably won't happen, little one, as much as it hurts us."

"It's alright, Maman, I know..."

But Remus' sad little face is really horrible to see. It only brightens up in the next memory, which takes place at the school authorities where a nice elderly lady looks at Remus and tests him for his abilities. She looks up to Mrs Lupin.

"Madame Lupin, your son is very advanced for his age. He reads very well and his writing is like he was nine years old."

"I know. He learned to read when he was three. So, do you think he could go to school in spring?"

"Oh, I'm certain about that. He is small of size, but he's as advanced in speaking as he's in reading and writing. A very bright child you have there. In fact, he could go right now, but I would suggest we hold him back until next spring to start with a new first year class. He could go to the nursery school though."

"I know, but I'd love to keep him at home for the few months until spring. His illness shouldn't be a problem, except that he'll miss a day or two of classes once a month. This is an incurable condition unfortunately and it makes him feel awful, but it's not something deadly, so he'll just have to live with it. We will notify his teacher about his absences though."

"Good, that's all it takes. As long as he can follow the lessons I don't see a problem there. Poor dear! That must be awful for you, Remus."

"It's not nice. I hate it," he declares.

"But there's nothing we can do about it. He looks very beaten up every time, but that's just a side occurrence," Mrs Lupin explains.

"I'll study a bit harder," Remus promises.

"That's the spirit, young man! You'll be a pleasure to teach with this attitude!"

Remus and Mrs Lupin walk back to their house. Remus skips on the way, holding his mothers hand and a bit of the old cheerfulness returns.

We come back out of the Pensieve. In a way this was as hard to watch as were Padfoot's childhood memories. Somehow I think those two were really meant for each other. Seeing them today, especially with their children, is awesome. Remus never looks tired anymore. Sirius has completely lost the haunted Azkaban look and has filled out in all the right places. They're a very good-looking couple. And Remus has overcome his being a werewolf as best as was possible and is facing a career here at the school. I do wonder if his example will be helping other werewolves.

It's already too late for the dinner at the Great Hall. Remus goes to the kitchen and starts to fix a quick spaghetti dinner, but Winky throws him out and tells him he'd better go and take over the children for a while.