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Wednesday, 4.11.1998 / Hermione



Full moon tonight. I've called Remus on the Commumirror and he says the weather is dry, if a bit cold, so I told him, I'd come up for a run in the forest tonight if he wants me to. He said he'd be pleased. So now I'll be going up to Hogwarts right after lectures and Harry wants to come along, too.

Our last lecture of the day is a History lecture about the foundation of the International Confederation of Wizards, a very interesting bit. Marc Marais, one of our classmates calls to me at the end:

"Hey, Hermione, are you guys coming with us? We're planning on a drink at the Leaky Cauldron right now..."

"Sorry! We're heading up to Hogwarts right now for a moonlight romp with our favourite werewolf..." I say with a cheeky grin.

"What? You'll end up being killed, you idiot!" Marc shouts.

"Nope. First of all he's under the influence of the Wolfsbane potion and then I can turn myself into a form he wouldn't even attack if he weren't..."

He stares at me, puzzled.

"An animal," I explain.

"You dare turning yourself into an animal? But how do you spell yourself back?"

"Like this!"

I quickly transform and some of the people around us scream, because obviously they think I'm a werewolf, too. I come back and hold up my hands.

"It's my Animagus form, I'm not a werewolf myself. I can transform into the wolf anytime. Harry's a dog."

"Well, there's an interesting thing. The famous Potters are both Animagi! Is there anything you guys can't do?" Marc asks.

"Lots. We've been trained by an Animagus, so it was a bit easier to learn. But now we have to go, sorry! Some other time!"

Harry and I wave our hands and apparate away to Hogsmeade. We've taken our brooms along, in small size to fit into our briefcases. All we have to do is enlarge them again and then we've shortened the way to the school to about five minutes. We dismount in front of the main door and head inside. On the way to Remus' and Sirius' flat we meet Minerva.

"Hermione! Harry! How nice to see you!" she says, looking pleased.

"Hello, Minerva. It's nice, to see you, too! You're looking well..." I reply.

"I am well. Apart from the fact that our esteemed headmaster thinks of retirement. He says he's getting too old for this!"

"Oh, that's sad. Did he mention a date already?"

"Unfortunately. End of the school year. He says he'd still like to have something of his house in Cornwall."

"Oh dear! So you're preparing yourself to become headmistress?" Harry asks.

"I'm not sure, but it looks like it. It means we'll be looking for a new potions teacher the third year in a row. Two of them even, as we plan to separate upper and lower forms and get two teachers for the core subjects."

"That means you'll plan to shift Sirius from Potions to Transfiguration?" I ask.

"Of course! He's a genius! He easily beats me AND Albus, and that means something. I want to give him the upper forms."

"Great! Does he know already?"

"Yes. Actually I'm just coming from telling him. You'll find him in a pretty good mood," Minerva says and looks fairly smug.

Harry and I laugh and say:

"Good. We plan on a moonlight run in the forest and some frolicking with Remus!"

"They'll be happy about that. Remus is doing very well. He'll also take over the upper forms in Defence."

"I'm so glad to hear he's well. They finally have the kind of life together they should have had so long ago," Harry remarks.

"Definitely. - Well, I'll have to hurry along. We're pretty busy these days!"

"Have a nice evening, Minerva! We'll see you..."

"Same to you! And enjoy your romp in the forest. Darn it, if I don't join you at some point!"

Harry and I have to laugh and wink.

"Why don't you? They wouldn't mind!"

"Too many dogs! Definitely too many canines!" Minerva states theatrically, snickers and rushes off.

As soon as we're entering the 'Carnal Canines' home they pull us inside of the living room and tell us the news. Sirius is really pleased. He likes Potions, but if he has the choice he does prefer Transfiguration, so he's very happy with his prospects.

"And only the fifth through seventh years. They get a lesson more per week, but still, that's only twelve classes if we return to teaching each house on its own. Or even only six if we keep up teaching two houses together! We'll have a lot more time to do more serious lesson preparing, grading and of course we'll be able to do more with our children!" Sirius tells us.

"Hey, that's really good! I think it was about time, you hardly had any time to do anything... I used to wonder how the teachers got through all of their work when I was at Hogwarts," Harry exclaims.

Before we go out we have to look at the little ones. Remus and Sirius put one of them on each of our arms, then Sirius calls Winky and asks her to get dinner for us to the flat. We eat together with the twins in their high chairs, but both of them are getting very tired. Remus looks at the clock on the mantle and says:

"Sorry, love, I have to transform..."

"That's perfectly alright, love, just wait for us to put the little ones to bed, okay?"

"Of course."

Remus picks Seraina up, kisses her on the cheeks and says:

"Sleep very well, my sweet one! I can't take you to bed tonight, but I'll be back tomorrow! Good night, love!"

Then he repeats the procedure with Denny. After that he transforms and Sirius lets the babies give him a rub over the back. Harry takes Seraina, Sirius holds Denny and I just tag along with them to wish the little ones a good night, too. While Sirius and Harry put them to bed I return to the living room and take off my outer clothes, because they get fairly rumpled during the time I'm in my wolf form. I transform and yip at Remus, who starts to sniff me and gives me signals of his alpha status. I give him a wolfish grin. Hey! As soon as you're a wolf you think you can become a bloody macho? No, sir!

After a while Sirius and Harry come out of the children's rooms. Winky is coming back and she'll stay with the children until we return. Sirius leads us out of the castle. There are still a lot of the students in the halls, as it's not even eight o'clock yet, but they don't seem to fear Remus. Some of them even wish us a good time!

Once outside, Sirius and Harry transform as well and we take the way over to Hagrid's cabin. He's still out it seems, as there are no lights. We meet him on his way back from the forest.

"Thought I ought not to stay in the forest... it's the full moon and there's others 'n Remus out there!" he says.

I transform back to say hello. He pulls me in his usual tight embrace and says:

"You're one 'ell of a wolf, Hermione! So you decided to come and have a bit of a run with the Professors?"

"Yeah. I was looking forward to having some fun out there with them for a while now! Since it's dry tonight we thought we'd both come up."

"Have fun then, all of you! Though not many people would say it's fun goin' in there!"

Sirius gives a bark, Remus smirks a wolf smirk and Harry barks his bright border collie bark. I grin and wish Hagrid a good night.

"If you hear some howling, it's probably us having a howling good time," I say.

He grins, waves, takes Fang by the collar, because the boar hound would probably love to join us in our romp and pulls him back to his cabin. I transform back, because I'm starting to freeze already and once in my pelt I'm feeling right warm again. This is an amazing thing, I really love that feeling of having a fur. It's almost water proof, I really have to be in the water for a long time, before it gets through to my skin. And if I come out, all I need to do is shake the water out and I'll dry in a very short time.

We break into a lope and follow Moony, who leads us inside of the forest. It's fun, though the pads on my paws are still a bit soft, so I feel more of the ground than Moony or Padfoot, who are used to it. We communicate in the most minimal ways now. We can only understand each other through the sound of our barks or whines, through body signals, licking or sniffing each other. It's still a learning process for Harry and I. Both of us haven't transformed all too often lately, but we don't have a problem holding the form and holding up with Padfoot and Moony. I'm thinking that our alter forms should have a name as well. We should have fun finding names for our Animagi.

I'm musing a bit about that, while we are passing through a very dark part of the forest. Even my ability to see at night and my good sense of smell don't help me much. Remus has reduced the tempo. He's turned to the west soon after we entered the forest and leads us in an extended circle around Hogwarts. Now we've turned north and he keeps that direction for a long time. After an hour we finally reach a fairly large clearing and I soon see why it's so large. It contains a small lake, not much bigger than a large pond. We reach it where the forest ends just on the edge of the water. Remus points his nose over to the other shore. A herd of unicorns! They are really beautiful, all of them blindingly white, about seven grown and two young ones, who are not yet so white. Gosh, I still think they're the most beautiful creatures out there! They have noticed us of course, there's nothing they don't notice. They are sniffing, but don't seem to think we're after them, so they keep drinking water from the pond. We tiptoe around the pond to the other side and cross the clearing a bit away from the unicorns. They just turn their heads and look after us, but don't move one inch. I sigh. It's always amazing to see one of them, but a whole herd? Wonderful!

It seems like Remus wants us to see as many of the forest's magical inhabitants as possible, as we get to see a number of them in the next few hours. Moony is very alert and perks his ears in every direction. We reach another clearing and decide to take a break. After drinking from a small brook we slump down on the soft mossy ground. Padfoot is lying next to Moony with his head on Moony's back. Moony has his on his front paws and looks at us. Harry looks the most tired. His legs are a bit shorter, so he's done more running. I can only hope that Moony knows where we are, because I certainly have no idea! Sirius transforms back to say:

"We're quite a bit to the north of the castle, but to get back we'll cut it shorter than the large circle we made to get here. Moony and I know well where we are, so don't worry. Are you okay, Harry?"

Harry nods with his head. He's stopped panting now, so we give him a while longer to rest up, Sirius transforms back and after a while we start on the way back. I don't know how long we've been out, but it must have been several hours. I'm feeling fitter than ever before. I flex my muscles under the fur and think of the ache I'd have to expect in the morning.



Harry


This is really fun and it's been a great experience. I've seen the Forbidden Forest in a completely different light for once. It seems that when one's an animal or a magical creature of some sorts one has nothing to fear in here. But I'm glad that Sirius says we're returning now. I'm really getting tired and my somewhat shorter legs have to do more work than their longer ones.

The wolves are magnificent! To see Moony in his 'natural habitat' as a wolf is simply amazing. He's so strong and knows exactly where we are and how to get to another place and yet another. He must have been in here quite often.

Another two hours later we finally see the castle again. We get inside, after Sirius has opened the main door and trot through the corridor to the Black-Lupin quarters. And just before we can turn the corner to get there we have to be spotted by Filch. Sirius transforms and tells him it's us. Filch blanches (Remus is a werewolf after all) and backs out quicker than I thought him able to. I send a bark after him and Sirius looks down to me with a grin.

Finally we get to their flat, where we transform back. Remus alone has to wait until moonset, so he goes straight to the soft rug in front of the fireplace and rolls himself into a tight ball. Sirius offers Hermione the shower. She accepts, picks up her robes and vanishes for a quarter of an hour. I flop down on the sofa.

"You've been great, both of you, Harry!" Sirius says.

"Yeah, but now I'm dead on my feet! We've decided to skip tomorrow's, err... today's morning lecture for sure. We'll see how we feel for the afternoon."

He grins.

"Have you seen the time, then?"

I've seen it. It's almost four in the morning. Which means we've been out for almost eight hours. Sirius offers me a glass of whisky and while we slowly drink it, he says:

"We've run about 55 miles. Remus at his best makes almost fifteen miles per hour, I'm too heavy for that, I get to about twelve. That's quite a bit more than you could do as a human. A normal human that is, I'm not talking about those nutters who manage the Marathon in just above an hour or two or whatever their record is."

"No wonder I'm so out of breath! I don't think I've ever been on my legs so long. And we've been constantly loping along. I didn't even notice, but I'm so much smaller and lighter that I can run much easier as a dog. 55 miles??? I never knew that the Forbidden Forest was that large!"

"Plus you have four paws! That's a hell of a difference. And that forest is even a lot larger. But we've run a whole circle and not in a direct line."

"True."

"Did you like the experience?" he asks.

"Absolutely!"

All of a sudden Dad turns up. He grins and asks Sirius, nodding in my direction:

"So, how did the youngling hold up?"

"Just fine, Dad!" I scoff.

"Yes, he did. As did Hermione. They'll have some aching muscles tomorrow though!"

"Probably. And how did you like the forest? Scary, isn't it?" Dad asks on.

"Actually I've just been thinking about that when we turned back. I thought it must have to do with the fact that we're animals, because I didn't think it scary at all."

Hermione returns from the bath, looking like she's spent the evening at the dancing club rather than romping through a vast forest. I smile at her.

"Gosh, you're lovely, sweetheart!"

She grins, bends down to peck me on the cheeks, then pinches her nose and says:

"You're not right now, Mr Potter, go and wash up!"

I get up, grinning, and go to the shower.



James


I wish I could have joined them! I'm missing those moonlight romps so much! They've come back only moments ago, Remus already sleeps on the rug. Sirius sits next to him in sweat pants and an old jumper and Remus has put his head on his mate's thigh. Sirius strokes tenderly over the wolf's back, scratches him behind his ears and I think, this must be bliss for Remus. This potion really must be a gift from heaven for him. Never before would we have been able to be with him like this, and it made him so sad. I can see he presses himself to Sirius, who turns to him and whispers:

"You led us wonderfully tonight, love! We'll hop into bed right now, okay?"

Remus whines a little.

When Harry returns from the shower, he and Hermione get up and wish us a good night. Or what's left of it.

"That was great, Remus! Thanks for being such a good guide! I'll recommend you..."

We all laugh, Remus lifts his head and yawns visibly. Hermione just bends down to give him a scratch behind the ears.

"See you soon, dears!"

Sirius gets up and goes to the bathroom, while Moony trots to the bedroom. I look up to the portrait of Sirius' uncle. He's snoozing on his chair, the book in his lap. I envy them. Even the people in the portraits can sleep, we ghosts can't.

That's something I'm missing, actually. I can't sleep, we don't feel any of the human urges like hunger, thirst etc, we just are. Sometimes that's a bit frustrating and it's hard to occupy our times. Right now I decide to return to the Sunnegg to be with Lily. Everyone who's supposed to be home seems to be there and it's absolutely quiet in the house. I find Lily in the front room, reading.

"Hello, love!" she calls softly.

"Hey there, sweetie..."

"They went right to bed. Apparated up even, because they were so tired," she tells me.

I grin.

"Sirius says they've been doing about 55 miles! I'd be dead after that, even as a stag!"

"Wow! That's a lot."

"Mhm. - Listen, love, I've been thinking about how we could haunt your darned sister! She needs to be punished at least a bit for what she did to Harry!"

"I'm all ears, love. Tell me!"

"Well, we could start easy. Just a bit of howling, invisible," I start.

"Oh, the old standards, you mean? Like rattling chains and so?"

"They will fall for that perfectly!" I confirm.

She grins a little.

"Yes, that's a good start. When?"

"Tonight. Midnight."

"I can't wait!"

That's my wife!



Thursday, 5.11.1998 / Lily



Harry and Hermione didn't even come down for breakfast this morning. They slept right through until lunch and when we finally get to see them, Hermione whines about her aching muscles. I have to smile. She isn't a sportive one, so for her it's amazing to have run so long!

"I think, my muscles would ache, too, if I'd have run 55 miles in one go," I remark.

She turns to Harry.

"We've run 55 miles???"

"That's what Sirius said. About that much, it could have been more or less," Harry confirms.

Hermione looks like she wants to crawl right back into bed. She looks at her hands and shows them to me. Her fingers are quite red.

"Now I understand, why my finger tips are so hard!" she says.

Harry grins.

"The wolf didn't mind the running at all! You've been very playful yesterday. Did you enjoy it as much as I did?"

"Oh yes! It was great. Very impressive, too. Do we do that again?"

"If they'll have us..."

The two eat their lunch with Morag and then apparate away to their afternoon lectures. James and I spend our time playing some chess and the wizarding Trivial Pursuit that Harry, Morag, Ron and Justin made. Morag joins us after a while.

"I can't study anymore. I'm done with the homework anyway..."

We keep playing until some of the gang come home for dinner. Then the time crawls slowly by. Finally we reach midnight. James and I apparate to Little Whinging, make ourselves invisible and rush to Privet Drive. All the lights in Number Four are already extinct but one. James apparates inside there, comes back and says:

"It's Dudley's room."

"Ah! So he's home, too... okay, howling through the house right after midnight..."

"Then rattling on some furniture and some chains and finally vanish," James finishes my sentence.

"Yep."

We wait until midnight passes, then apparate inside, where we start swishing through the house and howl with hollow voices. I have a hard time keeping my laughter back. It only takes about five minutes until all three Dursleys come flying out of their rooms, looking terrified. Vernon, who looks like a whale, starts to swear though.

"That's some of the boy's freaks, I'll bet!"

"But we don't see anyone..." Dudley says with a trembling voice.

James rushes right through Dudley, into his room and back, howling all the while. Dudley screams, then Petunia starts to scream as well. Vernon almost explodes, he's so mad. But there's not much he can do, no gun would help, since we're ghosts. Finally neither James nor I can hold back our laughter, so we laugh with a terrifying voice and vanish back to Sunnegg. We both laugh ourselves silly.

"And now?" I ask, once I compose myself.

"I'd say now we're going to repeat that for a week or so, then we step up. We need to let them suffer a bit, after all they made Harry suffer for years! Can you believe that Dudley is even fatter than his father?"

"Hardly. To be so young and so fat must be awful!"

"Let's sneak in at them and see what they're talking about at breakfast," James suggests.

"Okay. Let's stalk them for a while. We might find out what they fear most..."

"Probably that the neighbours learn more about their strange relatives..."

"I bet they don't think we're relatives. I'd bet that Petunia was relieved to hear we're dead..."

A sad thought. She's my sister after all. But what a jerk of a sister. When we arrive at their place in the early morning we can just see her starting breakfast, still looking rather pale from the shock the night before. She puts the breakfast on the table when Vernon comes in, looking just as frightened.

"Do you think it'll come back?" he asks Petunia.

"How should I know? All I know is that it's probably that blasted boy! If only we had been successful of keeping him out of that dreadful... school!" Petunia hisses.

"Well, he's YOUR nephew! You have the weirdness in your family it seems!"

"And what's that supposed to mean? Lily was the only one in my family, as far as I know! And the boy, obviously. Luckily she was killed, or there would have been even more brats like him."

I could kill her on the spot! How can she talk like that? Harry was but a toddler when he came in her care! Care! As if she'd have cared for him, I'm sure she changed Dudley's nappies three times as often as Harry's and she's probably hardly fed my son either.

"I was only wondering how he could have bought all the stuff he got! We never gave him money..." Vernon says.

"Probably on charity..." Petunia muses.

"But then they're rather gracious, I've seen those clothes - they were first class material."

Petunia shrugs her shoulders and Vernon vanishes behind his paper. All of a sudden I can see to my horror, that Vernon's cup of tea lifts into the air, floats over his head, dips... and empties the whole content over his head. James!!! Petunia hasn't seen it and shrieks, even louder than Vernon screams.

"Petunia! Are you out of your mind?" he shouts.

"I haven't done anything! What's wrong all of a sudden?" she cries.

I feel James next to me and box his arm. I can feel him snicker. Vernon has jumped up and looks down on himself.

"Now I need to get dressed all fresh! I'll be late for the office!"

He storms out of the kitchen and Petunia starts looking around, goes to the windows and peeks out, but of course she can't see anything. We always keep out of the range where she could feel us. She's shaking her head now.

In the next few days more little 'accidents' happen, like Dudley's trousers that get ripped open when he bends down to put the key in the hole of his car. Then he falls through two missing steps in the staircase and finally his bathwater turns to a block of ice once he's sitting inside. James almost howls with laughter at that one. Petunia has a few problems herself. She tries to wash the windows, but they get soiled with footprints from a dog every time she goes over them with the washrag. Next she gets attacked by her vacuum cleaner. Her cooking starts to lack in skill as well, and sometimes things that look and smell perfectly well, taste like soap or petrol.

By the end of two weeks they're close to a nervous breakdown. That's when we finally show ourselves.

"The past two weeks were for what you did to Harry, you monsters!" I say and turn myself visible.

All of the Dursleys start screaming. James comes out as well and when they finally register that we must be ghosts, their screaming gets even louder.

"Oh yes, we've come back and we're ghosts. We know how you treated our son, who was an innocent little child when he came to you, but you nevertheless thought you had the right to abuse him!"

They are unable to say a word. James finally tells them that they can never expect to be free of our antics now, they'll never know when our next attack would be coming and that they can't even run away.

"You can go wherever you want, we'll find you and haunt you!" James cackles.

Then we apparate away.



Friday, 20.11.1998 / Remus


Today's morning mail brings a letter for Sirius. He starts to smile, pulls it from the envelope and reads it. Then he puts it away and turns to me:

"Remind me that I'll have to tell you something, love..."

"Why not now?"

"Needs more time than we have right now."

"Okay."

My curiosity - and my jealousy - has been aroused. What's in that letter? I'm wondering about that the whole morning, thinking he'd tell me about it at lunch, but he still postpones it. Finally, after the last lessons, both of us have only two, he pulls me down to our flat. Seemingly I don't have to remind him. He just tells me that we should get back to the Sunnegg first, then he'll tell me. As soon as we're there and a bit more comfortable, I nail him down in the small living room.

"So what was this?" I prompt.

"Well, seeing as we'll have a lot less teaching next year, I started to think of some things. Mainly about the fact, that I've only repressed my Azkaban issues and never really worked them out. After those three very happy years with you I think I'm ready to face the ghosts."

I nod. Finally he admits it. Though he'd been very successful in repressing the horrors that should still haunt him they're clearly not gone for good. I'm glad he knows that he's still got those issues. I wait for him to continue.

"I'm not handing myself over to a shrink. I'm convinced that this would only dig out everything and make me more miserable than before. I don't want to do more damage than help. But I want to go about it and revisit those memories. I decided to write my auto-biography."

I gasp.

"Then I thought I would like to do this together with you. So you write yours, I write mine and both of us together fill the parts we spent together... I contacted an editor and asked him if he'd think such a book would be sold. He JUMPED to it! The letter I got this morning is the offer the publishing house makes us."

He pulls the letter out of his pocket and hands it over to me. I open it slowly and read:

"Dear Professor Black,

According to our negotiations our publishing house offers you the following conditions for the joint auto-biography of you and Professor Lupin:

-- 5000 Galleons for the manuscript, 15% of the proceeds for every book sold. No deadline. The book will be no less than 300 pages. You provide photos. Again according to your wishes there will be no ghost-writer, you will write the book yourselves. --

If these terms and conditions suit you and Professor Lupin, please send your reply by return owl. Remember that we would be most interested and pleased in publishing such a book, which would certainly find a very large audience.

Sincerely

Kevin C. Brixton
Chief Editor Magipublications Co."

I look up to Sirius. My head swirls. I feel a bit trapped, to be honest. If I decline this then he won't finally attack his issues. But I really hate doing this, I'm sure. There are already too many people who know I'm a werewolf.

"Can I think this over?" I ask.

"Naturally."

"What will you do if I decline?" I ask.

"Do my own. But I want you to do it, Remus! Not only would it turn out just fine, it would do you as good as it will do me. You have some of those ghosts to attack, too, you know..."

That's what I was afraid he'd say. And he's right of course.



Sirius


I can see how his brain starts working. I know he hates this. But I still hope he'll agree, because it would be good for both of us. I can see the title already. "The Infamous Couple - The Trials and Tribulations of Sirius Black & Remus J. Lupin". But I'm not pestering him. I know if I do that he'll just dig in his heels and be stubborn. The facts are there in the letter in his hands, it's up to him now.

We turn to play with the twins. Denny starts to push himself around when he's on his belly. It goes backwards most of the time, but he's looking all proud when he manages to push himself around. Seraina watches him and looks astonished at what he can do. They are almost seven months old now and can sit well by now. Of course there are already several photos of them on our mantelpieces at Hogwarts as well as here in our living room. We try to catch as many pictures of them as we can, as they change so much and so quickly. By now Seraina has seven teeth and starts on her last incisor while I have the impression that the first canine starts to come out also. Denny is still a bit behind, he has the lower four and the upper middle incisors. We're already brushing them a little, but only with water, so if they swallow they don't get any toothpaste down their throats. We're pretty happy and proud, because apart from their problems with the teething they haven't been ill one single day so far. Both of them have a whole range of sounds by now which we can clearly understand. And both already have a very clear way of showing how much they like certain people. The whole gang at the Sunnegg gets outstretched arms and wide grins and smiles as greetings. The same goes for some of the teachers. They definitely love Poppy, Edith and Minerva. Filius always gets a smile, too.

Playing with the children takes shape beyond lifting them up and swirling them around or tickling them. They can now aim very well when they want to grab things. Their eyes have improved and both are following something that we show them by turning their heads and looking after the thing, mostly a rattle or a little ball. We have started to give them some solid food, but only mashed apples or bananas so far. We'll move on to little bits of cooked veggies soon for lunch.

Besides our work our children are definitely the centre of our lives right now. There's nothing more important and we gladly postpone our sexual relationship if we think the twins need us more. In spite of their teething they sleep through the night now. We put them down into their cots after eight in the evening and normally they hardly move until the early morning, but after their early breakfast they usually go to sleep again for another hour or two. Remus and I usually use the time from their early breakfast to the time we need to get up for our love-making. Both of us love it in the morning, we always consider it a perfect start to the day. I know that this will change again as soon as the twins start to get out of their cots and come to our bed, which we expect as soon as they start to crawl and get more independent.



Morag


Friday again and Sirius, Remus and the twins are coming to Sunnegg. They're most happy that they can spend most of the weekends at home. Both look content and it seems that Sirius is slowly but surely adjusting to the workload. He doesn't look as tired anymore. Maybe it also has something to do with the fact, that the twins are sleeping better and give them time to recuperate now.

I'm seeing Nicole tonight. We've slowly established a solid relationship and I'm always happy to hop over to her for some help with my schoolwork or a cup of tea or just a chat. I'm not saying no to the sex either. Claudine has got used to us. They've entrusted me with a key now and when I apparate I always land in front of the door to their flat. They're the only ones on their floor, so I don't have to be afraid to meet other people.

My schoolwork is going quite well. I'm good at the languages and of course history is no problem at all, but I need Nicole's help with the maths. Figures aren't really my thing. But I need them to pass the exams.

I have established a daily routine. I'm so glad that I don't have to care about cooking and housekeeping. Dobby spoils me to bits anyway, because the others are usually gone during lunch. Sometimes Parvati is around, because she is already working shifts at the hospital, still in nursing, but that means she's at home at more unusual times. So I'm working from nine to lunch and after lunch I'm working for another three hours. This way I get by pretty well, because the amount of work is calculated so a fully working person could get through it working only on evenings and weekends. My weekends remain mostly free. Once a month I'm going to the school's central in Zürich for the Saturday lessons with teachers. I'm doing quite well for now. Of course it's only the beginning yet.



Mandy


Friday! I'm finishing today's work. There wasn't much. Seven werewolves who had to come for their registry. They have to come by every two years for that. Since I've started work in September I've met a good number of the werewolves in England. I've even been able to get through to them, that I'm not another of those people who work there and hate them. The people I don't know yet already come into my office with friendlier faces than in the beginning. I suppose they've been told by other werewolves that someone moved into the office who has some understanding for them. One of my jobs is the registry itself, another is to travel around and contact those people who suffer from lycanthropy to see how I can help them.

When I started out I went through many of the available information here at the registry and found out that every year there are about five to ten new cases. I have files for 238 werewolves, ages from 8 to 89. I've gone through those files one by one and when I have time I visit those werewolves who didn't have to come by for the two yearly registration yet. The eight year old is a girl. She has been registered as a new case only six months ago and the parents have kept her. When I announce my visit they aren't too happy, it seems.

So today I'm picking up the smallish folder about Case # 5838666 and visit the person who is behind that number: Natasha Bender, eight years old, lives with her parents Bert and Nadine Bender at Hayforth Cottage somewhere in Wiltshire. I knock on their door shortly after lunch. Not only Mrs Bender is there, but Mr Bender, too, which pleases me.

"Hello, my name is Mandy Brocklehurst, I'm here from the Werewolf Registry and Support Unit."

Mr Bender looks me over, then opens the door wide and beckons me inside:

"Good afternoon. Do come in, Miss Brocklehurst!"

He helps me out of my cloak and guides me into the family room, which looks friendly and well worn. Both of Natasha's parents are magical folk. When I sit down they call Natasha inside and I introduce myself again.

"Hello, Natasha! I'm your new caseworker at the Werewolf Registry. Call me Mandy, please!"

We shake hands, then she sits down next to her mother. She's clearly afraid of what's going to happen to her now. Her parents look at me rather suspiciously, too, but I quickly soothe them:

"I'm just making the rounds introducing myself. I'm new at the Registry and I'd like to know the people I am to work with from now on. Of course I could just wait until it's their turn to come and register again, but I thought it would be nicer to make the round and introduce myself."

"Oh, that's fine then. - Would you like some tea, Miss Brocklehurst?" Mrs Bender offers.

"That would be very welcome, thank you, madam!"

Then I turn to Natasha and start asking her about her transformations. Mr Bender tells me that she's getting the wolfsbane potion and that she's transforming in a specially prepared room in the basement. I ask Natasha:

"How can you drink the potion? It's terribly nasty stuff, isn't it?"

"Yes! The first time I vomited and had to take it again."

"Who brews it for you?" I ask.

"Mum. She owns an apothecary."

"Oh, that's good then, because I can give her a tip to make it better. I have a friend who alternately brews the potion for our former teacher, Professor Lupin, who's now teaching at Hogwarts again, and she found out that all it takes is a bit of Muggle artificial sweetener, to improve the potion dramatically."

"Hogwarts has a werewolf on the teaching staff?" Mr Bender asks, baffled.

"Oh yes. Professor Lupin was bitten when he was five. He attended Hogwarts and later studied at Avalon Academy. He's the Defence against the Dark Arts teacher. Much loved by most of the students."

"I didn't know that. He attended Hogwarts, too?"

"Yes, he did. No one knew, only his dorm mates and a few choice others. And of course the teachers. Remus has a very clean record and he was one of the first to take the wolfsbane potion on a regular basis."

"Do you think, that Natasha will be able to attend Hogwarts, too, then?" he asks hopefully.

"I noticed she is the only child younger than eleven years since Remus. I'm quite sure she will be getting her letter, because Professor Dumbledore will certainly give her the same chance that Remus received. It will be up to you if you want to go there openly as a werewolf or if you want to keep it a secret and only tell a choice circle of people."

"Oh, now I'm very relieved. The people at the Registry who were there before you were quite adamant that they wouldn't expose the other students to a werewolf among them."

I'm getting angry.

"And all the while they knew perfectly well that Remus Lupin would be back at Hogwarts from on September of this year! This is awful! Remus was teaching there for the first time when I was in my third year, then he left for a year and after that he taught a group of students at a safe house in Switzerland for three years. I was there for two years of those three. I went back to Hogwarts for my last year. All I can say is that we all loved him not only as a teacher, but as a friend and father figure. I will certainly help you to go to Hogwarts, Natasha."

"Thank you, Mandy. I'd really like to go. I'm quite alone here and if it weren't for my younger brother I'd have no one to play. My sister left for Hogwarts this year."

"You'll join her there! I'll check it with Professor Dumbledore. He's one of the nicest people I've ever met and even if he will probably have left Hogwarts by the time you start, it will be Professor McGonagall who follows as headmistress and she thinks much the same as he does. Remus is a very close friend of hers."

After that the visit becomes very pleasurable. I don't even return to the office afterwards, I'm going straight home. Natasha asks me:

"Where do you live, Mandy?"

"I'm actually still living at that farmhouse in Switzerland, Natasha. Or I'm living there again. It's beautiful there and I'd miss it a lot. In fact I'm returning there now."

"You're apparating from Switzerland to London every day?" Mr Bender asks me.

"Yes, I do. I'm already quite used to it."

"Good for you then. It was a pleasure to meet you. Maybe there's some hope for our child after all. There was someone who actually told us it would be best to just kill her!"

"I know. I've read the report and I've heard the same from Remus. It's really awful!"

I'm saying goodbye and apparate back to the Sunnegg. Tonight I'll be out back in London to meet my boyfriend, who I have yet to present to my extended family. I know they're all curious, but I think I'm not ready to share him just yet. I'm meeting Jason for dinner at a wizarding restaurant in Diagon Alley, so I can apparate there, which gives me ample time for a shower and to get dressed. Then I still have a bit of time to chat with my friends before I leave. I'm hearing the latest from Hogwarts, from St. Mungo's and how Morag's schoolwork is doing. Shortly before seven I apparate out to the Diagon Alley. It's fairly cold by now and I'm pulling my cloak tightly around me. Jason meets me in front of the restaurant. We embrace and I kiss him, happy to see him again. We'll not linger after dinner, we'll go right to his place. Jason works at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, as a lawyer for the prosecution. He's had a lot of work these past few years, but he says it's back to getting better again. Mmm, another kiss, please! That's it, love! We step inside of the restaurant and a waitress shows us a table. Once we're sitting he says in a very low voice:

"Fudge is finally clearing out of his office, Mandy! It will be all over the news tomorrow, he's leaving by the end of the year."

"Wow! Finally! That's at least fifteen years too late."

"Some say so. But back then they didn't have an alternative, Dumbledore didn't want the post and the only other one who wanted it was Lucius Malfoy. Fudge was by far the lesser evil, especially since he listened to Albus."

I nod. Then I ask:

"And now? Are there any rumours as to who will be appointed?"

"I think, Bones has a good chance. It's up to the full Wizengamot to elect the new Minister. Those who want to run for it have to apply there."

"Bones would be good, I think," I say.

"Yes, she would be. She's got a very good grip on the MLE. In fact we'd be in complete disorder if it weren't for her."

"That's going to cause a little chain reaction to replace the next person if she's leaving, eh?"

A waitress elf offers us the menus and asks what we'd like to drink. We order some white wine and I order some water along with the wine.

"Yes, of course there will be a bit of a movement - a new head, then a new deputy etc."

"Will you apply?"

"For what? Minister? I'm not out of my mind, love!"

I laugh.

"Of course not, silly, I know you wouldn't! I mean for the deputy head of the MLE."

He grins.

"Yes, I think I will. Besides it's good to at least attempt, but I'm quite serious. I'd still do my own work, which I like for the most part. Joanne McGovern gets to be the head, that's for sure, but the deputy will be a bit more difficult. There are two others in my position who could do the job."

"I wish you luck then..."

"You're my good luck charm, love," he says, grinning again.

"I love you, too."

We order our dinner and just as we get served I see my parents entering the restaurant. Luckily they're with some friends. Still I groan a bit.

"What's up, Mandy?" Jason asks.

"My parents just came in."

"Oh." He understands. He knows I'm not too fond of them at the moment.

"That reminds me... when will you finally think I'll be eligible to be presented to your adopted family?"

"Do you want that?" I ask back.

"Yes, I think so. They sound like a delightful bunch."

"Then soon. Next weekend okay?"

"Sure!"

I'm not looking around for my parents and only when they pass us they recognise me. Mum comes to the table immediately and I have to get up and greet her. I can't just ignore her without causing a scene. I'm introducing Jason.

"Mum, please meet Jason Taylor, he's working as a lawyer at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Jason, this is my Mum."

They shake hands and Mum gives Jason the once over, which he bears with an indulging smile.

"I don't want to keep you from enjoying your dinner, I see you've just been served. Have a nice evening," Mum says and follows Dad and their friends.

Once they're out of earshot I sigh:

"Phew. That went well..."

"Quick and easy in any case. I can see you're rather cool with each other."

"Polite distance, you could say. They've been very uncivil to Remus. Something I can't stand!"

"There was no need to be, was there?"

"Of course not. Once you'll meet him you'll notice that he's one of the nicest people you can meet! He's never been anything but polite and friendly to them, but they treat him like he'd be scum. For no other reason than the one night every month he transforms into the wolf."

"That's awful. I mean, I don't know any werewolves, though I'll probably meet some, seeing that you work at the Registry, but I would expect that there are people among them I'd like to meet and others I'd despise, just like among any other group of people."

"Which is exactly the way to approach them. Most of the ones I've met so far are just as okay as any other people. Some have been less than friendly, but given the treatment they get that's really no wonder. I hope that I'll bring them around though."

We enjoy our dinner undisturbed and talk all the while. There's lots to discuss. Jason is twelve years older than I, but I don't give a damn about that, he's nice, friendly, good looking, too, intelligent and witty. At Hogwarts he's been in Ravenclaw, too, so there's familiar things to talk about, too. After dinner we settle the bill and apparate to his house. He has a nice cottage type house in Kent. He offers more coffee and a very good brandy and grins, because I accept both with pleasure.

"You really like brandy?" he asks.

"Prefer a good Cognac, but I suppose we've been spoiled by Remus and Sirius."

"Cognac it is then..."

He summons a bottle and the larger glasses and in no time I'm gently swaying the glass and lower my nose inside, to get a good whiff of the contents. The bouquet has unfolded in the glass and I am pleased with the scent. I take a little sip and turn it around in my mouth.

"Mm, very nice stuff."

"I should hope so! It's twelve years old Cognac. How come you have a taste for that, you're just 18!"

I grin.

"Well, in Switzerland they're not so touchy when it comes to alcohol. Not that the kids there drink lots of it, no more than elsewhere I think, but Remus and Sirius helped us develop a taste for the more exclusive sorts. The quality stuff so to speak. In terms of wines and liquors. We were allowed small amounts, so we learned to enjoy this with care."

"Reasonable guys, these two, I'd say. No wonder your parents disliked them."

"Oh, they had no idea about that part! They knew we were allowed a glass of wine occasionally. I don't think they minded that. All in all they just minded that we were in the hands of a werewolf and an ex convict. Never mind that said ex convict was imprisoned without having committed a crime."

The evening gets late. We move on to chess and later, much later, to the bedroom.



Thursday, 26.11.1998 / Remus


After the last lesson Sirius and I get dressed in our warm cloaks and tell Winky we'll be back before dinner, we have to go to Hogsmeade for a shopping trip. We take the brooms and reach our destination after several minutes. It's cold, but we have rather a bit more of that for a short time than a tiny bit warmer for a long time. We reach Dervish and Banges. This is a fairly large department kind of store. We ask for Pensieves and are directed to the second floor. Both of us buy one. They're lovely little basins. We pay for them, then go the way back to the castle. When we reach our flat again, we put both Pensieves on the coffee table. Sirius quickly turns his another colour, so we wouldn't place memories in the wrong one.

"Okay, so you think it would be best to just place memories in there to look at them again from another angle and then write them down..." I ask.

"Yes. Let's read the description of how this is supposed to work."

With the Pensieves we received a small booklet, which I read now. It gives me the spell I need to think to get hold of the thoughts I want to place in the Pensieve. It also tells me that I can put an unlimited amount of memories inside. I test it, think the spell and hold my wand to my temple, then slowly pull it away. A silvery thread-like something seems to be stuck to it and I carefully transport it to the Pensieve where it drops from the wand. Sirius watches and asks:

"May I look at it?"

I grin.

"Sure."

"Will you come along?"

"If you really want to..."

He takes my hand and we both touch the swirling thing in the Pensieve and get sucked inside. Sirius recognises the memory immediately. It's the day James told us that Lily had finally listened to his pleas and promised to go out with him.

>> Sirius is lounging on my bed, while I'm finishing off an essay. He's treating me with lots of little nice strokes over my back and I'm leaning on him. This peaceful moment gets interrupted when the door gets thrown open with a big bang and James barges in, crying:

"HEY GUYS! Sing hallelujah for me, she finally said YES!"

Sirius jumps out of my bed and starts a victory dance with James, both singing very loud and very off key and I grin, while Peter, who's followed James a bit more slowly, comes in and closes the door, joining them in their dance.

"That's really great, mate! I'm sure you'd be good together," Sirius says and pulls James in a hug.

"Thanks, mate! I'm so glad she finally agreed to give it a try. Saturday is the day, cross all your fingers for me, okay?"

"We will, James, because you'll need it," I promise, still grinning.

Then I have finally finished my homework. The four of us decide to go for dinner and of course we're going down all together, James and Peter ahead of us, Sirius and I hand in hand right behind and where we have the space we go all four in a row and make our presence known quite prominently. We reach the Great Hall and sit down on our usual places. It's the end of our sixth year and we're all pretty happy.>Then I see Sirius lying on the floor of a very dark room, hardly breathing. He looks broken, so beaten and I realise it must have been at his parent's house. The door opens and his father enters, throwing a cold look down on his son and asking in an even frostier tone:

"So, did you have enough? Are you going to behave? You are to join the Dark Lord's ranks in a few hours, you'd better get up now!"

When Sirius doesn't move, his father tries to use the Enervate spell, with little effect. Still, Sirius pulls himself up and says:

"I'm not joining those Death Eaters! You can't make me!"

"I'll teach you to talk back, Sirius Black! Crucio!"

For two minutes Sirius is put under the terrible curse. I squeeze his hands as we watch him writhe and scream. Then his father leaves and locks the door from the outside. Now Sirius gets active. He picks his wand from his trunk, which seems to be still packed. He must have only just returned from Hogwarts. Sirius picks up his alarm clock, whispers: "Portus!", taps the clock with his wand while he grabs his trunk and the next moment he's vanished. He lands just inside the door of the Potters' house on the outskirts of London. Then he faints.