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2.8.1998 / Sirius


Well, they're off to their honeymoon our lovebirds. We are taking care of Helen and George to see them off with another Portkey and also help Barb and Housi back to the room we've given them in our apartment. Hermione has cleared it from the clothes she's worn this morning. I take the opportunity to check on Seraina and Denny. Both are sleeping soundly. I've seen a bit of red cheeks on Seraina this afternoon and didn't know if that's from the heat, so I'll check her now and see she still has them. I'll have to show that to Poppy tomorrow and ask what could be wrong. Seraina did seem a bit whiny today but since it didn't hinder her from emptying her bottle to the last drop I wasn't too worried.

I return to the courtyard and look for Remus. He's talking with Parvati and Padma. When I close up he asks:

"Everything okay?"

"Yes, they're both sleeping. Off to bed for us?"

"I think so. They'll demand our full attention again in the morning."

"You can sleep in, love, the full moon is all too soon..."

"Thank you, love. - Well, goodnight to you lovely people then. We need our sleep these days."

The twins both laugh and wish us a good night, too.

"We'll be off soon anyway."

"Get home safely."

We both vanish back to our chambers. The bedroom looks nice now. Huge four poster! I love that kind of bed so much. The old castle is fairly draughty and there's not much to do against that apart from covering much of the walls with tapestries and paintings. Our bedroom has quite a few tapestries, but there's also a portrait of an elderly wizard who seems to have his nose buried in his book. So far he's never yet looked up, but tonight he looks straight at us and I recognise my Uncle Alphard!

"Goodness gracious, Uncle Alphard!" I cry out.

"Good evening, lads. Now that took you long enough to recognise me, Sirius!"

"Well, you might have opened your mouth earlier on, Uncle Alphard! How did you get in here?"

"Oh, I asked Filch to bring me here when I heard the talk of you lads coming to teach here. Congratulations, by the way."

"Thanks. Also thanks for baffling the rest of the Black bunch by leaving your earthly possessions to me! They were rather displeased, because your money was the only thing that made you acceptable in their eyes. I wasn't liked any better by them for it..." I remark.

He snickers though.

"You didn't need their respect, Sirius. You were too good for them anyway. Phineas throws his scathing looks at me every time we meet somewhere here. But you've got the chance to better this family now! Delightful little lad you got there."

"Thanks. We're off to bed now, if you don't mind..."

"I'll be out of here..."

I turn to Remus who finally starts to undress and take off my own robes. We take a quick hop into the bathroom and then go to bed. Since there's a talking portrait in the room we decide to draw the curtains closed. I mean, I really liked the old codger who's been my father's much hated younger brother, one out of two of them and two sisters, but I don't think he needs to take part in my sex life. Once it has become known among the remaining Blacks that I have a son they started howling because they now lost the chance to inherit the Black wealth completely. And I have to say I'm very pleased about that. Nevertheless Remus and I will replace the portrait into the living room. He'll certainly not like us less for that.



20.8.1998 / Remus


I wish Sirius a good night and he vanishes upstairs. Seraina shows the first signs of teething and I expect her to wake Siri a few times during the night.

I'm enjoying the rest of the evening with a puzzle we've started on the coffee table. All of a sudden I feel the presence of someone in the room and almost at the same time I hear two soft voices calling out:

"Remus!"

"Moony!"

I look up and my eyes widen.

"James! Lily! No, this can't be real! You're dead!" I cry out, but I can feel my heart pounding.

This can't be real, this can't be real! But they are. We start talking when I bring Sirius down, then Harry and Hermione turn up and it gets very late until we finally go to bed. Which doesn't mean we actually find rest. Sirius climbs into bed next to me and I pull him into a hug. He buries his face in my shoulder and I can feel tears. After a while he can't hold back and I can hear him actually sob. I just hold him and caress his back. For him this experience is the hardest. I know that his tears are both happy and sad at the same time. They have become ghosts. We both know that people become ghosts mostly when they have unfinished business on earth, but what was theirs? Raising their son? To spend so much time when they thought they were there for only a couple of days sounds very strange.

But oh, they are back in a form that we can talk to them and it's just like a hole in our hearts has been filled where they were missed for so many years. Like Sirius' and my life are whole again. And this without a fifth wheel on the wagon. It takes a long time to find sleep tonight.



21.8.1998 / Remus


Another long day of talking and explaining. We're all still very excited. Dobby and Winky serve us breakfast and are introduced to James and Lily. They are both thrilled that Harry's parents have turned up this way.

We aren't only thrilled, we're ecstatic. Who would have expected something like that? Besides, I find it strange, because I know that Professor Binns for example just stood up the morning after he died and found himself to be a ghost. And Nearly Headless Nick was the same - as soon as that not so great beheading was over he was a ghost. I'll have to dig to the sources of this becoming a ghost. What was special about James and Lily's becoming a ghost? Maybe it has to do with them being murdered. I think I'll have some fun with finding out which of the Hogwarts ghosts have been victims of murder and if they have gone through something similar. When I ask them they now feel time passing just as we do.

They are looking translucent now, just like the other ghosts I know. But still they can pick up things and hold them. If we touch them it's like touching air though. On the other hand they can hug each other and feel solid. Hm. Strange business. Ghosts don't seem to be like other ghosts sometimes. Then I remember that Binns picks up books and parchments etc in class and even carries them through the walls! Another mystery. I wouldn't want James or Lily carry one of our children through the walls! Must make sure to mention it before James finds it a funny way of moving through the house.

It's brilliant to have them here. I wonder if they can come up to Hogwarts with us. They've already tried and found they can still use magic. But James can't transform anymore of course. Now we're sitting at the breakfast table. It's after nine and we usually have a late breakfast during the break as we then go without lunch and have an early dinner. Sirius and I have planned to take the babies out to the public bath for a lazy afternoon. They can nap under the trees and we'll have a bit of fun in the water.



James


I'd never thought I'd feel this happy being dead. I don't feel any different, at least not when it comes to hugging and being with Lily. We feel each other like we've felt each other alive! Okay, we go right through the others now it seems. Funny feeling of becoming translucent for them overnight! But who cares. We're reunited, the four best friends! Now I know why I always had a tiny bit of resentment for Peter. I was arrogant enough to like his adoration, because it does make one feel nice if someone is there to admire every little thing one does. Though sometimes I thought it was sickening and exaggerated. But if you're fifteen...

It was a shock to see my grown son! I mean, there he was a baby of only fifteen months who I put down for his nap or changed his nappies and fed him bottles and the next day I see him a grown married man! I'm only 21! And I'll be 21 forever now. Okay, so that's not the worst of prospects, but imagine the feeling of seeing your son only three years younger than yourself!

He's wonderful! And powerful. And still so quiet and kind. My first impression was that there was my mirror image, but there was nothing, absolutely nothing of my personality in him. And not too much of Lily either. He's been formed by a very hard childhood as it seems and I'll make sure to haunt my sister- and brother-in-law for a good long while! Harry doesn't want us to, but that's not something he can keep us from doing! It's not like they know how to appeal at the Ministry to have us banned. And we can easily see that Siri and Remy can't do it either, though I'm sure both would love to! Harry himself just looks ahead and he's right to do that.

What a wonderful daughter-in-law we have! She's brilliant, kind, witty and loves him to bits. That much we were able to see last night. They're now coming down the stairs together and grin happily to see us.

"Good morning, everyone," Hermione says, takes a place at the table and Harry moves along the bench to join her.

"Morning. What are your plans for today?" Lily asks.

"I think, Padfoot and Moony want to go swimming. We will join them. - Who else is home?" Harry asks.

"Ron and Justin. They were home a lot later than everyone else. And I think Ernie and Ginny. Morag is visiting her parents," Remus says.

"Mandy and Neville are working... Draco went to Diagon Alley yesterday, said something about spying for a building for their new company. Did you know that the fun-park has a name now?" Sirius continues.

Of course, Lily and I don't have an idea who all those people are, but we're probably going to learn about them in the near future, so we listen attentively.

"No! When did they come up with one?" Harry asks.

"A couple of days ago, just before you came back from your honeymoon. It's going to be called Dragon's Tales. Draco, Blaise and the twins went through several Muggle fun-parks like the Disney parks and the Europa-Park in Germany and some other water based parks to gather more ideas. They're on the lookout for the best possible location in Britain or in France now. That's going to be the difficult part though," Sirius explains.

"Quite a good name. So it's not only going to be wizarding enhanced water slides?"

"No. Which is why Draco would like it to be in the French Alps. You know how much he liked skiing, he thought it would be great to have some ski resorts close..." Remus says and laughs.

Harry and Hermione grin, too. Then they turn around to greet two young men coming down the stairs. They stare at us, quite baffled it seems. Remus looks up, too, smiles and tells them:

"Come on, sit down. You've seen ghosts before after all. - James, Lily, these are Ron Weasley and Justin Finch-Fletchley. And Justin, Ron, these are Harry's parents. They turned up here yesterday and it was quite a shock for us to see them as ghosts. Meet James and Lily Potter!"

Ron grins and Justin's smile grows wider, too. Ron sits down on what seems to be his usual spot, then turns to us to say:

"Pleased to meet you Mrs and Mr. Potter! Harry must be very happy to have met you finally!"

"Please do call us James and Lily! Otherwise we feel bloody old! And I'm pleased to meet you, too. Harry said you're close friends?" I protest.

"I should hope so. We've been friends since we've met on the Hogwarts Express. Thanks to him I've run through some pretty atrocious adventures though..."

I can't really laugh. They did sound atrocious to me!

"I've heard about those. Thank you for standing at Harry's side, Ron!"

"Not that it was difficult to do that! He's a great guy."

"Why, thank you, mate," Harry says.

In the course of the day we learn that Sirius has managed to teach several people to become an Animagus and I'm pleasantly shocked one of them is Remus. He shows me his wolf and Lily gasps next to me. Wow, he's magnificent! I remember him well from all the full moon nights we roamed the Forbidden Forest together, but Lily hasn't ever seen him of course. Now she gets up and crouches in front of him, embracing him.

"You look beautiful, Remus! I've always been fascinated by wolves..."

"We have another one who changes into a wolf here, Lily. Hermione makes for a beautiful one as well," Sirius says.

"Wow! Will you let me see it, Hermione?" Lily asks.

"Sure. Once I get up I'll be glad to."

"And what are you, Harry? I don't think they've left you out..." I say.

"No, they didn't. The whole class became Animagi! I'm a fairly plain dog..."

"Plain? You're a border collie, they're anything but plain, love!" Hermione protests.

I grin. A dog! That's cute. And Hermione says he looks like a border collie. They're fun dogs. Maybe there's more mischief in my son than I thought. Ron transforms into a fox and Justin into a cat.

"But just wait until you see Ginny! She's probably the most magnificent of all of us. She's a golden eagle!" Justin exclaims.

"Wow! Can she fly?" I ask.

"Can she fly? And how! We've been skiing again last Christmas break and she flew up to the highest parts of the mountains to try the thermals. It must have looked amazing!" Ron says.

I look over at Sirius who seems to be pretty smug. I don't think there were ever that many Animagi at the same time. He has to have done a magnificent job.

Obviously it's not a good idea to go with them to a public Muggle bath, so Lily and I stay at the house and talk with the young people who have stayed also. Later in the afternoon others come in. Two of them are identical twins. They look very much like Vaidyanathan Patil and it turns out they're his daughters. They're nice girls, one of them a Ravenclaw, the other a Gryffindor. And through them I find out that Draco, the friend they've been talking about at the breakfast table is Lucius Malfoy's son. I'm a bit shocked that anyone could befriend a Malfoy, but they assure me he's distanced himself from his parents. Narcissa Malfoy is Sirius' cousin, so he's related to Draco. I learn that both his parents are in Azkaban.

"Well, that's most probably where they belong..." I mutter.

"Did you know them?" Parvati asks.

"Only too well. We always knew Lucius was a Death Eater, but we could never convince the Ministry. Not even Crouch would believe it."

"Well, they got off in any case. Seems they were acquitted after claiming that they were under Imperius," Padma tells us.

"Ha, bloody ha! Those two were able to throw off the Imperius without the slightest problem! How could anyone believe such a lie?"

"No idea. I was still a baby back then..."

"It's still so strange to think of this as 'back then' for us. For us it was less than a week ago!" Lily remarks.

"Must be a horrible feeling!"

Later a happy bunch of people barges back into the house. Sirius and Remus are back with the babies and the kids who went along with them. After dinner the young people mostly go out as it's a Friday. Once it's a bit more quiet and the twins are sleeping in their nursery we can talk again. Lily and I still have large gaps of knowledge, so they tell us some more of what interests us.

"So what are you going to do now that you have finished teaching them?" Lily asks.

"Albus wants us back at Hogwarts. So in ten days we're moving there for the school year. Of course we do plan to spend some weekends here, we've grown too fond of the place to just leave it. We'll certainly also come for the Christmas break and all the summer breaks."

"He wants you back to teach? That's great!" I exclaim.

"Yes, Siri will teach Potions and I'll teach Defence Against the Dark Arts again."

"Potions? You were good at the subject, but it's certainly not your best, Padfoot," I wonder.

"No, it's not, but after Voldemort had been killed Snape didn't need the protection of the castle anymore and wanted to quit. He's doing some research now. Arabella Figg has covered for him in the past year and I'll take over from now. I actually enjoyed teaching Potions a lot, it's really an interesting subject. As long as Minerva is still there she'll be the Transfigurations teacher..."

"Ah, I see. - Snivellus must have been an awful teacher!" I say.

"He is a dreadful person. Would have been an excellent teacher even, if his personal bias didn't stand in the way. So he treated even very talented non-Slytherins lousy. The kids all had an excellent basis when I started teaching them. They had the necessary discipline to avoid most accidents. Neville of course was extremely anxious because he'd been put down by Snape most often. I've been able to convince him that he was very well able to brew potions and now he's not a bad brewer."

Remus tells Lily and me about the Boggart and Neville's greatest fear. Lily is a bit shocked, but both of us have to laugh.

"Well, there wasn't much I could do. He was so afraid of Snape that his Boggart actually became Severus! How should I make him ridiculous enough that even a frightened Neville would find him funny? So I packed him into Mrs Longbottom's clothes. It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life, but Severus has glared daggers at me for weeks. And the Wolfsbane potion was pretty ugly to drink as such, but he managed to make it even worse! I think it irked him even more that I never complained. Took a lot though..."

"Wolfsbane potion?" I ask, confused.

What potion is he talking about? He wouldn't in his right mind drink anything containing wolfsbane, now would he?

"It's a potion to keep the wolf at bay when I transform. I keep my own mind and I'm pretty harmless then. Of course if I nipped someone and drew blood I'd still curse them. But I don't feel any bloodlust, not even much lust to hunt. Siri, Hermione and Ginny take turns in brewing it for me now. It's such a complex potion that there aren't very many people able to make it. But our brilliant Hermione has managed to make it a bit more bearable."

Oh! Now there's an improvement. That may be the reason why Remus looks so much better. He's still slim but he's put on the weight he should have and he really looks fine.



29.8.1998 / Remus


Everything is packed. We're moving all of our personal stuff we will need to Hogwarts. I've bought a laptop and another cell phone, since we have Ginny's ingenious spell to make them work at Hogwarts. We'll keep both at our rooms, not the office, so it won't become too well known that such things can be used. This way we'll be in e-mail contact with the gang. My books are copied and minimised and I have brought them up to their new home in the past few days. We've filled our wardrobe at Hogwarts with new clothes, mostly robes, but several sets of comfortable Muggle clothes as well. Now we'll just travel there and bring the twins, James and Lily along. We're due at the Headmaster's office at two thirty. Both babies are napping in the slings we carry them in. Of course we have the pram, but to travel with a Portkey it's easier to hold them close.

We get there on time and Albus greets us, then he discovers James and Lily and of course that causes a series of explanations. Minerva is there, too, and she's almost crying of happiness to see Lily and James again.

All of a sudden we hear a noise from one of the portraits. It's Phineas Nigellus of course. Albus has once told me that Phineas is one of the most active portraits, always on the run somewhere. He must have just arrived back in his portrait when he sees Sirius with a baby.

"What is my good-for-nothing great-great-grandson doing here again?" he asks baffled.

"Phineas, you do remember that he will teach Potions here now, don't you?" Albus asks him.

"Ah yes, I forgot. Haven't seen him since what? About two years?"

"That's possible - he's never been up here since then in that case."

"I'm not missing you any, Phineas, and you know that..." Sirius mumbles.

He's loosening the sling as Seraina starts to wake up. Then he summons the bottle to warm it and feed our daughter. I look at Phineas and notice he's staring daggers.

"Oh yes, Phineas, meet my daughter Seraina and my son Dennis," Sirius says happily.

"Err... somehow I didn't expect you to have children - have you adopted?"

"No. They're ours. They share the birth-mother, but Dennis is my son and Seraina is Remus' daughter."

"So you did your duty after all... at least one thing you could do as you had to."

"Only that's not the reason why we have them. We have them because we longed to have a family. And they won't hear the pureblood rubbish my old folks tried to hammer in my head. They'll grow up learning about love, friendship, trust and fun. So there!"

I can feel Denny waking up. It's time to loosen the knot that ties the sling on my shoulder and release Denny from the hold that presses him to my chest. He does like it, because he's close and held tightly. But once he's awake he starts to protest against the confinement. Until he sees his food coming. Then he graces me with one of his beautiful smiles and a few noises that tell me of his happiness that food is coming his way. He starts to suckle eagerly and in no time empties his bottle.

"Well, I think that was all we needed to talk about right now. You surely want to go and take care of your little ones," Albus says.

"We'd be glad to. They've slept, but now they won't be happy to just sit still."

"Very well. I hear you've brought Winky along with you?"

"Yes, she's doing very well with the babies and she likes to serve the children. I think she's finally over the Crouches," I say.

"That's very fine. It will be nice to see them grow up!"

Albus smiles and when Minerva asks I give her Denny who behaves very well on her arm.

"They're so sweet, it's going to be very hard to be strict with them," she says.

"You mean, it's easier with a bunch of wild eleven year olds?"

"Absolutely. I usually don't know them before they get here and then it's fairly easy to be detached and steely. But knowing them from so small..."

She sighs. We all laugh, because we know what a softie she is deep down. Phineas speaks up again and asks:

"Can I have a closer look at your heir, Sirius?"

"Sure!"

Minerva steps closer to the portrait and Phineas looks at the baby. Then he notices:

"Well, he at least looks like a Black."

"He should."

"Not that you care, but is his mother at least a pure-blood?"

Sirius rolls his eyes.

"As it happens, yes, she is. It's not been one of the credentials we asked for though. I think she's fifth generation, but who cares!"

Phineas doesn't comment. I'm taking Denny back on my arms and we leave the office. James and Lily stay on for a while and Albus promises them to show them the way to our flat.

We enjoy a quiet rest of the afternoon in front of our living room under the arcades of the courtyard. It's warm enough and the babies are on a warm thick quilt, lightly covered with a blanket. Sirius is going over some of his lesson plans and I'm reading. It's totally quiet, as we're the only ones who's rooms go on this courtyard. As long as it's warm we're going to enjoy it, as it's so peaceful.

The twins take another nap before dinner. Then it's time to go to the Great Hall, where the rest of the staff turns up one by one. They are all happy to see the twins again and the babies get cuddled by several people. I'm glad they are accepting this very gracefully. But I do make a stop at Sybill trying to predict their future.

"I don't think we need to know that, Sybill, and I'd be thankful if you'd kept those predictions to yourself."

It sounds rude and it's meant to be rude, because I want to stop her once and for all. If she does that every time she sees my children they'll be scarred for life!

Poppy looks me over and says:

"Remus, you look fine, but very tired! What's wrong?"

"I'm sure you know the thing, Poppy, it's called 'teething'..." I reply.

"Oh yes, I can see why you are tired... there's nothing doing but waiting until they're all out," she says with sympathy in her voice.

"We've figured that out. Seraina has her first two teeth out, she seems to be taking a break, but Denny's having a hard time right now. Not much sleep during much of the night. Why is it that those blasted teeth grow most actively during the night?"

"I have no idea, but I remember that I wondered about the exact same thing three times when we had ours. You will get by. All parents do eventually. I have something I can give you to rub on their gums. It's a paste."

"Only we get very little rest, because they're two of them. Winky helps a lot, but still... thanks for your offer, I'll come by and get it."

"I know. They calm down best with Daddy, don't they?"

"Exactly."



1.9.1998 / Remus


The last three nights before the start of the school year have not been more quiet. We have to spend a good long time with our little ones and even though we can take them on the rocking chairs we're not getting a lot of sleep.

Today we help with what last moment work has to be done while waiting for the students to arrive. The sixth and seventh years still know me, but the rest of the students only know me as an occasional visitor. I'm a bit worried, but not too much. The first week for me will be the same from first through to seventh year. They will get to speak about werewolves with me. Of course they will all have to accept it, but some will probably rebel. And they all know about it.

We arrive at the Great Hall while the Entrance Hall fills with the returning students. Sirius and I make our way through the throngs. Many of the students actually greet me politely, especially the Creevey brothers. Both are as cheerful as ever. I smile at them.

"Hello, Professor Lupin!" Colin calls.

"Hello there, Colin! How are you?"

"Fine, thanks! I'm happy to be back. Though it's my last year now."

"I can see you've been made prefect!"

"Yes. Dennis has a badge, too! He's in fifth year now."

We move to the Great Hall and Sirius and I walk through to the teachers' table. We're sitting at the end close to the door to the small chamber behind the teachers' table. Hagrid will join us here a little later and also Filius Flitwick and Professor Sprout.

I look out as the students fill the hall and leave the front of their house tables free for their new house mates. Once everyone is seated, Minerva brings the stool and the hat and then leaves to go and gather the students from the room on the other side of the Entrance Hall while Hagrid comes through the gap between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables to sit down at his place next to Sirius. We watch as a long line of first years is led through the same gap by Minerva. Goodness, they're all tiny! All of them look either excited, a bit anxious or downright frightened.

"63 firs' years! I don' think as we had that many in twenty years," Hagrid remarks.

The Sorting is going to last forever. I listen to the names and look at the children who move from the long row in front of our table to the stool to be sorted:

"Ainsville, Kathleen," Minerva calls the first one.

Kathleen is sent to Ravenclaw. Antonov Drusilla is sent to Slytherin. Archer Frank becomes a Ravenclaw again. We applaud all of them. I look over to Professor Vector who is the new head of Slytherin house. She's the only Slytherin teacher left right now. But I know her to be a similar character as Minerva, quite strict and unbiased. I liked her as a teacher. I think she will be good for the house. She welcomes each of her new students with a special wave of her hands.

The 63 students spread over the four houses and I can see that the others in the Great Hall are getting a bit eager to finally get some food.

Steinman Stephanie becomes a Gryffindor. Stevenson, Alix follows her to the Gryffindor table, Svenson Frederik joins the Hufflepuff table. Tucker Tabitha is the seventh girl in this Gryffindor year. Underhill Michael becomes a Ravenclaw. Verbena George and Georgina are again Gryffindors. Weasley Kevin and Weasley Robin both go to Gryffindor as well. I wonder which of Arthur and Molly's relatives their parents are. I suppose I'll learn it some time soon. Finally the last student, Zwicky Mark, goes to Hufflepuff and the Sorting is over.

Albus gets up, welcomes the new and returning students and calls for the food. I'm looking over the tables in front of us. We're closest to the Gryffindor table. There seem to be quite a lot more students than at the other end of the hall. Slytherin has received eleven new students while there are eighteen in Gryffindor. Eighteen! In our year we were eight! All of a sudden I wonder what has become of the three girls who were in our year besides Lily. The two Weasleys and the Verbena twins already seem to get along well with each other. They sit together and chat animatedly.

Then I concentrate on our own conversations. Filius looks happy.

"Fifteen new Ravenclaws. This is an unusually strong year! We usually don't get more than eight or ten students in our house," he remarks.

"That's good then! We'll have larger classes though," Sirius says.

"We will be swamped! We get the Slytherins and Gryffindors in one class and the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs in the other. But we can't manage otherwise. It would just be too many lessons."

"I know. That's almost thirty students in each of them. But they will work in teams anyway, so I'm sure I'll get along..."

"Is your new classroom big enough to fit them all inside?" Filius asks.

"Yes. Up to thirty can brew comfortably and if need be we can squeeze one more per row inside," Sirius replies.

"Good. Otherwise we can always magically enlarge the room."

All too soon the food has been cleared from the tables and Albus gets up for his usual short speech.

"Again, welcome to a new school year at Hogwarts! We have the pleasure to welcome two new teachers in our faculty. Some of you will still remember Professor Remus J. Lupin, who has been teaching here five years ago. He returns to his position as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher."

I stand up and I'm quite astonished that I'm getting a sound applause from all house tables. Wow... I smile at them and sit down again.

"Since Professor Snape left us a year ago and Professor Figg felt too old to stay longer than a year we had to find a new Potions professor. Which we did in the person of Professor Sirius Black," Albus says.

Sirius shows himself and gets a hearty applause from the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw table and a bit more shy from the Hufflepuff table. The Slytherins seem to be very indifferent.

"And finally since Professor Figg has left us we also needed to find a new head of Slytherin house. This will be Professor Vector," Dumbledore tells the students.

This time the whole house table offers an applause for their new head of house. After the announcements Albus dismisses everyone to their houses. We slowly move out of the Hall after the students. We watch them going up and down their ways and go past the marble staircase to reach our rooms on the ground floor. When we get there Winky is carrying Denny around. Sirius takes over and tells Winky:

"You're to be back tomorrow morning at seven thirty, Winky, okay?"

"I is coming then, Professor Black."

"Fine. Thank you very much, Winky."

She vanishes with a crack. Sirius goes back to the nursery and sits down with the baby, rocking and soothing it. Denny finds his sleep again and Sirius can put him back in his crib. We'll have to replace those soon with larger beds for the twins. Sirius pulls the door almost closed and joins me in the living room. I'm going over tomorrow's schedule. Sirius will not be the only one with large classes. We're all in the same boat. The amount of lessons we have to teach otherwise would just be too much. As it is we now have fourteen classes. Defence, Potions, Charms and Transfiguration make for two periods every week in the first three years and three periods in the four remaining years. Overlooking this I notice that it was no wonder we've been through with the materials so quickly in Switzerland, seeing as we had twice the amount of time to teach. My schedule looks pretty full now!

I'm starting off with a double lesson with the fifth year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. No special preparations because I'm talking about werewolves in the first period and shields in the second. Then three more repetitions of the werewolf speech for the sixth year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs and the fourth and first years Gryffindors and Slytherins. In the afternoon the same speech for the sixth and then the fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins. Second period for the sixth years will be about blood magic.

The next full moon is on Sunday night. I'll probably be a bit late on Monday. I don't think I manage to reach the first class, so the Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff seventh years get to sleep in a bit. I'll remind the prefects tomorrow to inform them.

We go to bed early. There's no use wasting time to sleep, since we're probably up several times during the night.



2.9.1998 / Sirius


Denny has been a very kind boy - I only had to get up twice. That tooth seems to move now. I can feel it just under the rim of his gums. He's frantically biting on anything he can get between his gums. When I get up at seven I quickly take a shower and then get dressed, before I look into the nursery. Winky has already taken up position and snoozes in one of the rocking chairs. I spread a blanket over her. Maybe that's why we haven't been awoken more than two times. She must have come in after that second time. Both children are still fast asleep. I sigh and turn around to go out of the room. I pull the door almost close. Remus looks at me and I tell him they're still sleeping.

"Good. We'd better go..."

We walk over to the Great Hall. Some students are up already and I see that Minerva has the piles of schedules for the students ready. Each has a plan with the location of our two new classrooms and our office attached.

Minerva passes the piles to those prefects who are already in the Great Hall. Then she comes up to the teacher's table and wishes us a good morning.

"Ready, Sirius?" she asks.

"Quite. Though my schedule quite frightens me..."

She laughs.

"I can see that - you've only had a single class and didn't work the whole week long."

"It's going to be a bit hard in the beginning. And I've got to really concentrate on the different years. But I think I've prepared myself well."

"Good! I wish you an excellent start!"

"Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. Fourth years. Should be okay," I say.

Still I feel my heart beat quite strongly when I finish my breakfast with a look over the Daily Prophet's front page and the Quidditch results. It's eight fifteen when Remus and I get up, throw one last look over the students who seem to discuss their schedules. We climb up the stairs to the fifth floor, where our office is to pick up our things. Both our schedules are pinned up on the backside of the door.



Remus


I won't see much of the office during the morning and I collect all the material I need for the next five periods. Since I only have one lesson where I actually teach something actively I only have the books I need to cover the shields.

I go down to my classroom and find that there are already several students. I have the rosters for all four classes I see this morning and look at it. Eight Ravenclaws and ten Hufflepuffs in this class. They start to come in as soon as I unlock the classroom door.

"Good morning," I say.

"Good morning, Professor Lupin," two of the girls say.

Once inside I place my briefcase on the table. I take the roster out and watch the students come inside. All of them stare, because the room is a bit more modern than what they are used to see. I flick my wand at the lamps above and immediately the room is flooded with the typical bright light of the halogen lamps. All eighteen students are seated, I close the door with my wand and repeat:

"Good morning, class!"

"Good morning, Professor Lupin!" they repeat.

"I'd like to get to know you and will go through the roster, okay?"

They nod and I call each and every student by name and look at them to memorise their faces. Then I lean back against my table and start:

"Before we start with your actual Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons I would like to talk to you about werewolves. You all know why I want to do this, don't you?"

Some students look a bit puzzled, so maybe they don't all know. One Hufflepuff girl finally lifts her hand.

"Melba?"

"I've heard that you are one..." she whispers and hardly dares looking at me.

"That's right. - Now. You've been brave enough to reply, Melba, would you have the courage to tell me that you whispered your answer because you are afraid of me?"

She shakes her head.

"No, not because I'm afraid of you... because I didn't want to hurt you..."

Wow!

"That's a very kind thing to say, Melba, thank you! I can tell you all that you have no need to be afraid of me. It has taken me years to accept the fact that I am a werewolf. I was bitten, when I was still a small child and my parents thought I would die, but I survived. So I've grown up with this affliction and it hasn't been easy. Who among you all knew already that you would have a teacher who's a werewolf?"

Thirteen hands go up. I nod.

"And whose parents have not been concerned about that?"

Only three hands are now visible. I'm not astonished of course.

"Can you tell me what their concerns were?" I ask them.

I pick a boy who sits almost in front of me.

"They were afraid you'd attack us," he said.

"Do you think I will do anything like that?" I ask.

"I don't know," he admits.

"Let's look at this from another point of view. What do you know about when werewolves would attack humans?" I ask.

"When they are wolves?" a Ravenclaw girl asks back.

"Right. And when are they wolves?"

"At night?" another girl, a Hufflepuff again.

I grin. Ideas they have...

"What night?" I ask her.

"I don't know..." she admits, like the boy before.

"Well, what did your parents ever tell you about when werewolves are actually in their wolf form?"

Now I get a series of replies and only one of them mentions the full moon night. It's another Ravenclaw girl who seems to be a prefect. I stop the suggestions and ask her:

"Valerie has it right. The night of the full moon is when werewolves transform into the wolf. Only on this night are we indeed very, very dangerous. Most of us see that we will be locked up somewhere so we do not endanger anyone. The Ministry actually has several shelters, only those are more like really ugly prison cells, so not many of my kind even consider using them."

"But you do?" a Hufflepuff boy asks.

"No. I don't need to."

"But you do transform, don't you?"

"Yes, I do transform. I don't need to lock myself up though because I get the Wolfsbane potion, which doesn't prevent my transformation, but it prevents the wolf from taking over my personality and my mind. I'm a harmless wolf with my human mind."

I continue to ask them questions about what they know and hold them the truth against. It takes a while but I notice they relax slowly but surely and by the end of the lesson they are pretty calm.

"Prefects, could you please inform your seventh year housemates that they can cancel their Defence lesson on Monday morning. It's the first lesson after the full moon and even though I'll sleep through most of it, it takes a while to come back from the transformation, so I'll miss that class."

They nod and take a note. Then I plunge right into the first subject to treat in their fifth year.



Sirius


There is already a gaggle of students waiting when I reach my classroom. I quickly press a small kiss on Remus' cheek and move on, opening my classroom with my wand and flick on the light.

"In you go!" I order the students.

They move inside and take in the bright look of their new Potions classroom. After the dungeons this must seem like a ballroom for them, because their faces light up when they see it. I expect seventeen students in the class. Once they're all inside I tell them:

"Good morning, everyone! You'll be working in pairs, so I suggest you place yourself with the partners you prefer. Since you're an uneven number there's one group of three..."

I watch as they group themselves. Then they look at me expectantly and I start by taking the roster, looking at each student as they reply to my call. Nine Ravenclaws, six boys, three girls, eight Hufflepuffs, four boys and four girls.

"Well. Thank you. We'll go into several different potions this year. The first one is going to be a typical wound closing solution. Now before we start I'd like to state the rules in this classroom, which I expect you to observe strictly, because you all know that accidents in Potions are always a bit more dangerous than elsewhere. First rule - fairness. You are helping yourself if you help others. Second rule - neatness. I want you to clean up after yourselves and everything you've cut up or spilled. Third rule - if you speak with each other, which I allow, then do so in hushed voices so you won't disturb others. Fourth rule - you share. Anything. When you work in pairs you should change in your duties, so everyone gets enough routine to create potions on their own. Then you will stick to everything Professor Snape ever taught you about measuring and weighing and timing - it's one of the vital parts of brewing successful potions. As you can see I've made a list of these rules on the board over there. Got that?"

They look a bit intimidated but I think they've got it.

"Good. Then I'd just like to mention that accidents CAN happen and I'm not going to explode on top of your cauldron if it happens. I'm pretty sure we can get along with each other without being nasty, eh?"

Then I send the recipe for today's potion to the board next to me and lecture them a bit about the ingredients. I use the same method I used at the Sunnegg and ask them questions. They're to read up about the potion in their textbook and start when they are ready.

"All ingredients for this potion are in the storeroom at the back there. Once you're ready you can gather what you need. If you find questions to ask during your reading just ask."

They get to work. I walk through the class. They look at me surreptitiously but slowly they start asking questions and the tension dies down. After a while the first groups start to the storeroom to gather their ingredients. Now I have to watch out that I get all their possible mistakes. I notice it's harder since here I actually have to follow the strict schedule or I won't get through or my students will be too late elsewhere. These fourth years work quietly and with diligence, which is a joy to watch, so the last group is almost done by the time I have set them. The others have finished and their potions look mostly right. I get a sample of each potion with the names and class of the students. I send them to a small crate where I collect them and set them a short essay about the bit they had to read for the next week. I enter the homework assignment into my class journal and watch them as they clean up their workspace. Now I have a more difficult group, Gryffindor and Slytherin fifth years. There are ten Gryffindors in this class and six Slytherins.

It's a lecture class, so I while I lecture them about the properties of certain ingredients I also question them to check that they have taken the notes they should and that they have memorised a good part of what I say. I hand out my usual amount of house points for correct answers and find no need to deduct any at all. The kids are quite well behaved.

After the fifth years the seventh years march into the classroom. They are a bit harder to control I notice, but I have the list of those students who are on probation for their entire remaining time at Hogwarts and I notice that one glance at said list is enough to keep the Slytherins in check. The Gryffindors are Ginny's old class. They must be a bit envious, that Ginny has actually finished her school time already and that she has been able to cut one whole year. There are still eight students in this class in Gryffindor. Ginny is not the only absent one, on my class list are two names with a cross behind. Both died in the Christmas break of their fifth year in a raid of some Death Eaters in their neighbourhood in Hogsmeade.

Another lecture class. The period is over pretty quickly and I go back to my office for the last one before lunch. Remus comes in after his last lesson and we take a few moments for a few kisses.

"How's it been?" he asks.

"Quite okay, thank you. Ask me again at the end of the week..."

He smiles. I brush some strands of hair out of his face and kiss him again. He leans into the kiss and holds me tight. And then I notice how little time we've had for such intimacies since the twins have come into our lives. We usually just fall into our beds at night, wanting nothing but a few precious hours of sleep. Thus I can hardly remember the last time we made love. I feel my body react to his kisses. And break away from one with regrets.

"Not enough time, love..." I mumble.

"I know. But I'm missing you so badly. And I need you!"

"Same here. There will be a time when the twins have all their teeth and start sleeping through the night, love..."

He grins now. And says:

"Yes, but then there will be something else. Oh well, that's too bad. We'll get opportunities again..."

"Lunch? I'm hungry..."

"Yes, me too... I've just spent two lessons keeping Gryffindors and Slytherins apart."

"That bad?"

"Well, not too bad. The first years were easy to keep focused. It was their first Defence lesson after all. But the fourth years were trying to be pretty nasty with each other. So I had to deduct a few house points."

"Aww..."

We leave our office and go down the stairs to the Great Hall. Most of the students are already tucking in nicely. We find our places at the table and take a seat. Filius asks me how the morning went. I tell him and then Remus says:

"I have only three lessons this afternoon and you have four, don't you?"

"Yes."

"I'll go to our flat directly after class, okay?"

"Okay. I'll come by after class as well. Just take everything back to the office."

"Good."

"I miss the twins..."

"Me too. Which is why I want to go back right after class."

Lunch is over in no time and I head up to our office where I can make a decent espresso, which I take with me to the classroom, where I expect the third year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. They are very polite children who work most properly and I have great fun with them. Another double lesson with the sixth year Gryffindors and Slytherins awaits me after them, but it passes quite decently. I'm packing my stuff together, take everything up to my office and drop it on my desk. Then I head down to our rooms.

I find Remus with the twins in the living room, where the babies are lying on their thick blanket. He has suspended a mobile above them and they watch it. He's just sitting there watching the children. I go to our bedroom, take off my formal robes and slip into a pair of sweatpants and a jumper, then I sit down behind Remus and pull him into my arms.

"Hey love!" I whisper.

He lays his head on my shoulder and turns his face to look at me and I kiss him tenderly. Gosh, he's just the most beautiful man I've ever met. No one can beat these loving amber eyes.

"Poppy came by just a moment ago, she's brought me something for the twins when they teeth again," he says.

"Oh, good! What did Winky say? Was everything okay?"

"She says so. I feel like I've abandoned them, love..."

"You didn't. We're here for them as much as we can, sweetheart."

"I know in my brain, but unfortunately my heart tells me something else."

I kiss him. He responds by breaking the kiss, turning around, so that he sits between my spread legs with his legs over my thighs. Then he closes up and kisses me back. I smile. Right now the twins are happy and we have a bit of time for a bit of snogging.



23.9.1998 / Sirius


We've been tired constantly for the past five months. I think if there were only one baby it would be a bit easier and it might sleep through the night by now, but we have two and as soon as one starts to wail we're up in a dash to sooth it as quick as we can, because if one starts it usually wakes the other...

The only solution is probably to give them both their own room already now. We have wanted to wait, because we thought they'd probably want to be together. The whole shared the womb stuff. They do like to be together, but if they feel their teeth they cry and then they wake each other. So tonight we're taking Seraina's crib and dresser out to the other room and then we'll decorate it as the second nursery. That of course is fun.

Three weeks into the term I'm getting my routine for the classes. Most of them are actually quite fun, but there's homework to grade and tests and that's a lot more than I've been used to so far. I think I'm also spending much more free time working on such things. I'm very glad that I've taught the fifth through seventh year potions before, so those are no problem as I have them documented and prepared. I'm just doing research to bring in some other potions for a change. First year is a lot more lectures than practice. I'm teaching them the proper treatment of ingredients and how to do exact measuring. The first years are really nice to teach, they're all so open and curious.

By now I've also got through to most of those students who have been deathly afraid of Severus Snape's teaching style. The second years are easy, because they've been started off by Arabella. The third years up are all different. They seem to have relaxed a bit with Arabella's fair treatment, but the older ones still bear the marks of Snape. He's made almost all of them tremble, I really don't understand why. He's done an excellent job with the basic training of their skills, but why did he have to intimidate them that badly?

Lunch time. I'm meeting Remus and we drop our stuff at our office before going down to the Great Hall for lunch. During the meal we talk about everything that's going on. I look out over all of those children who now have a chance to grow up happily with no more worries than their next Quidditch match or their next test. It makes me smile to see them all chatting mindlessly. It so reminds me of our schooldays here. When I close my eyes for a short moment I can see it all again. James making eyes at Lily. Remus, his nose buried in a book, myself trying to coax him to eat more or to talk to us. And Peter, sucking up to James. The last image I don't need, but back then Peter was a friend, we would all have laid our hands in the fire for him.

"Lost in thoughts, Padfoot?" Remus asks softly next to me.

I smile.

"Can't but when I look over those kids," I reply.

"Don't dwell, Padfoot! It cannot heal if you dwell... rather think of James and Lily being with us often now."

It's true of course. The two of them are taking up residence here and at the Sunnegg very nicely. It's fun when one of them or both turn up in the classroom.