From the Eyes of the Werewolf

Chapter Twenty-Five

A Sirius Encounter

Remus sipped his tea as he gazed out of the window at the garden. It had truly been a peaceful two days of vacation. With all that was going on at school, it was so comforting to be in his own home in familiar surroundings. He'd been delighted to see Katie again, as well, and rather touched that she'd been tending the garden so carefully in his absence. It was absolutely breathtaking, for the flowers were in bloom and their soft scent filled the air with a delicious reminder of spring. Remus drew a deep and satisfying breath. Then, deciding that he should probably get something done today, Remus turned away from the window reluctantly.

Katie would be over later in the afternoon, but there were a few things he needed to do before then. Even though it had been nice not having to think constantly about the situation with Sirius Black, Remus knew he needed to focus some effort and time into thinking about a possible plan for catching him. And now that he had secured the Marauder's Map, it would be much simpler to do so, for if Sirius came even remotely close to the school, his name would show up on the map plain as day.

Remus knew what needed to be done - he needed to focus on Sirius as a whole - his past, his personality, his strengths, and his weaknesses. The best way to do this, Remus decided, was to face him. Of course Remus couldn't really face Sirius, but he could at least look at his face. After Sirius had been sent to Azkaban, Remus had, in a fit of rage and despair, destroyed most of the pictures of his schoolmates. But a few years ago, when he got a letter from Hagrid asking for pictures of James and Lily for a gift he was making for Harry, Remus found his mother's photo album and it was filled with pictures of himself and James and Peter...and Sirius. Remus had considered very carefully what pictures he should send to Hagrid for Harry, and in the end decided that his parents' wedding picture was an important one that Harry deserved to have, even though Sirius was plainly displayed in the background. Someday, Harry would know what role Sirius had played in his parents' deaths, and he deserved the chance to see for himself the man who'd destroyed his family. Remus had sent the picture to Hagrid, along with several others.

Remus went into his study and pulled out the old photo album filled with wizard pictures of his family from years past. Not really looking forward to the unpleasant task before him, he paged slowly through the book, laughing at his young image playing with his parents, but he knew he was just delaying the inevitable. He flipped to the latter portion of the book where there were a few photos from his days at Hogwarts. He gazed at the pictures of the smiling faces and concentrated very hard on the dark haired, impish looking youth that was Sirius.

The old questions came freely, for they were the questions Remus had asked many times. But now, with Harry at risk, he felt a new sense of urgency. If he could just understand...why did Sirius do this? How did he succumb to Voldemort? How did he manage to keep all of this a secret from the rest of them? And then the even more important questions started coming to mind. How was he getting into Hogwarts? Was he in contact with Voldemort? How could anyone stop him?

Suddenly, a clatter came from below. It was a distant sound, but Remus had excellent hearing and knew instantly that it came from the cellar. He waited a moment to hear if it would happen again and sure enough, his suspicion was confirmed; something was going on down there. Closing the book, Remus got up and headed for the stairs down to the cellar, curious. Perhaps a stray cat had wondered in? The clatter came a few more times and seemed to be growing stronger the closer Remus came to it. Without hesitation, he descended the stairs to have a look at what was causing the commotion.

"Lumos," he muttered, taking out his wand. The dark room lit up, and Remus' breath caught in his throat.

It was Sirius.

Heart beginning to race, Remus took a few steps closer to the figure in the shadows. What would he say? What would he do? Should he call for the Ministry to come and arrest Sirius? Should he wait and hear what Sirius had to say? It just made almost no sense to Remus that Sirius would even dare come here. And for the first time in his life, Remus was afraid to actually see the man who had once been his friend.

Sirius hardly even looked like the man Remus knew in his youth--the full, smiling face in all the pictures in his mother's album. Sirius' face was gaunt and a haunted look filled his eyes. His clothes were torn and ragged. His hair hung about his shoulders, adding to the frightening look of this one time friend. Neither man spoke for a good long time. They just stared at each other. Then Remus decided to make the first move. "Sirius," he said as calmly as he could.

"Remus," came the raspy reply.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to thank you." His voice was low and piercing.

"Thank me? For what?"

"For leaving Hogwarts."

"Leaving? I didn't quit if that's what you mean. I'm only here - "

Sirius interrupted him with an eerie smile. "Oh, I know you didn't quit. But you did leave for a few days, and a few days was all I needed."

"I don't understand. Needed for what?"

"To finish the job my Master was unable to accomplish." The look on Sirius' face was sinister, sending a chill up Remus' spine.

"Harry. You...no...you didn't..." Remus was at a loss for words. Surely Sirius hadn't managed to reach Harry. Not with Dumbledore there to protect him!

"I was worried that you would figure out a way to stop me, but to my pleasure, you kept my little secret and never told a soul that I was an unregistered Animagi. So when I was able to determine that you - and half the school, might I add - was gone for the holiday...well...it was rather easy to reach Harry."

Remus shook his head. "No, I don't believe you. Dumbledore would never - "

"Dumbledore is no match for Voldemort! Dumbledore places too much value on trust and kindness and honor! Dumbledore trusted you and look where it got him! Because you didn't want to admit to having betrayed his trust, I was able to finally put an end to the Potter line. Ironic don't you think?"

Remus lunged towards him, whipping out his wand as he charged full of rage. Sirius quickly held up a finger and said, "I wouldn't if I were you. For it wasn't only Harry that I was able to reach."

Remus froze. "What are you talking about?"

With a low laugh that mocked Remus, he said, "I'm talking about a certain female who has become the desired companion of one very careless werewolf."

Remus' heart skipped a beat.

"She's quite beautiful. Does she know that you are a monster?"

Blood beginning to boil, Remus growled, "Shut up!"

"Come, come, Moony. Is that any way to treat an old friend?"

"You are no friend of mine. What did you do to Katie?"

"Nothing...yet. She's perfectly safe for now. But you see, I need your help in reaching my Master safely. With all the commotion at Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic has doubled their efforts in searching for me. So I come to you for safe passage out of the country. Once I have joined my Master, I'll tell you where Katie is."

"Never!"

"Then I'm afraid she will die."

He couldn't hold back a moment longer. With a wrath he had never known before, Remus charged at Sirius. He leapt into the air with a cry of anger. "NOOOOO!" he shouted, but Sirius simply threw his head back and laughed - a dark, merciless laugh that Remus had never heard before.

"REMUS!" Katie shouted from the stairs.

Sirius shifted his attention from Remus and headed right at Katie. As he did, he changed from his sinister form into that of a child. The child held up an empty goblet and looked very pale. He started choking and gasping for breath, all the time reaching out to Katie for help.

"Riddikulus!" she said with a flourish from her wand. The child immediately began laughing and playing and frolicking about the room. Katie grabbed up one of the many empty boxes from the corner and covered the child with it, hiding him from view.

Remus panted from the other side of the cellar. "It was a boggart?"

"Yes."

Closing his eyes, Remus shook his head. "How could I have been so deceived? I should have known." He sat down on the floor, looking defeated.

Katie walked over to him slowly. "That's part of why boggarts are so frightening. We're never certain what's real and what's not."

"It usually changes into the moon," Remus confessed. "This is the first time that I can remember it not changing into the moon."

"That man..." Katie started, "That was Sirius Black, wasn't it?"

"Yes." Dear God - how do I explain this to her?

"It's no wonder you're fearful of him right now. An escaped murderer on the loose, breaking into Hogwarts. You and the staff have been forced to deal with him all year."

Remus kept his eyes downcast, not daring to look at her. "Twice he's broken into the castle." He rubbed his eyes. "I just don't know how to stop him."

"Do you know what he wants?" asked Katie taking a seat on the steps.

"Most of the staff and the Ministry of Magic thinks he is after Harry - but I'm just not sure."

Katie thought for a moment. Shaking her head she said, "Poor Harry. It must be difficult for one so young to have to deal with such things as he has had to." Remus simply nodded in agreement. "What is he like?" she asked.

Startled, Remus looked up at her. "Harry?" With a small chuckle, and without thinking, he quickly said, "He's very much like his father."

Katie stared back at him as he realized exactly what he had said. Carelessly, he had opened the door to a discussion about James, and Katie was certain to pick up on it. "Did you know Harry's father very well?"

With a sigh Remus said, "Yes. He was a very dear friend."

"And Sirius Black?" she asked hesitantly. "Did you know him as well?"

"No," he said with shortness to his voice that was unusual. "If I had known Sirius, I would have seen through his charade and possibly stopped him from doing what he did to my friends."

Katie placed a hand on Remus' shoulder. "Oh, Remus. You don't believe that what happened all those years ago is your fault?"

"Isn't it?"

She looked at him with sadness in her eyes. "Remus - no."

"Anyway, it doesn't really matter anymore. It's in the past - and you can't change the past." He ran a hand through his hair and stood up. "But I most certainly can do something now to avoid history repeating itself." With a new determination, Remus ascended the stairs and headed back into his study.

***

Katie came around the corner from the kitchen to find Remus looking out the window, his suitcase on the floor next to him. He could feel her eyes on him even though he had his back to her. Leaving once was hard enough. But leaving twice - God give me strength!

She took a few tentative steps closer to him. "You're off again, are you?"

"Yes," he said over his shoulder.

"I hope all goes well with your exams."

Remus turned around to find her smiling at him. He chuckled at the comment. Katie had planted a rather interesting suggestion in his mind the other day about how to go about testing his students. Since each class had to prove they could actually perform certain spells and manage their way around various obstacles, she suggested that Remus throw everything he could at them and see how they manage from task to task.

"I'm sure it will be the most unusual test the students have ever taken. Thank you for suggesting it."

"My pleasure." They stood quietly for a moment in the uncomfortable silence. Nervously Katie asked, "Will you be home over the summer?" Her tone changed to that of a tease. "Or will I be forced to tend to your garden in the heat by myself?"

He smiled. "I'm hoping to be home over the summer, yes. It all depends on whether I'm invited back next year or not."

"I'm positive Dumbledore will ask you to return. Why would he not?"

Maybe because I've been deceiving him in the most unprofessional way for several years. "We'll see. I hope he asks me to stay on as I'm rather fond of the students."

Again a silence fell over them. Not wanting to delay the inevitable any longer, Remus clapped his hands together and said, "Well, I'd best get going."

Katie nodded. She stepped closer to him and slowly wrapped her arms around him to give him a hug good-bye. Remus embraced her in return and hoped that she couldn't feel his heart pounding away in his chest, for simply being close to her was almost more than he could bear.

She pulled back from him and very carefully went up on her tiptoes so her face could reach his. Gently, she placed a kiss on his cheek, sending a shiver throughout Remus' body. Her lips lingered against his skin, and Remus felt it was the nearest to heaven he would ever reach. Slowly she pulled away, bringing her eyes to meet his in a tender moment. Her face was so very close to his that Remus felt as if he might explode if he didn't kiss her. His nose brushed up against hers, and he closed his eyes imagining what it must feel like to taste her mouth against his. His pulse was rapidly reaching a point where he found it difficult to resist her.

If I don't leave now, then I don't think I ever will. As much as I want this to happen, I cannot allow it to. She needs so much more than what I can give her.

"I have to go," he said in a whisper.

"I know," she said, still holding onto him.

Remus brought his hands up to her shoulders and gently pushed her away from him. He could see that she was fighting back tears in her exquisite dark eyes. Unable to stand the thought of Katie in tears, Remus gave a smile and ran his hand down the side of her face. "Look at it this way, with me out of the way you'll have plenty of time plant all of my flowers for fall."

She laughed and shook her head at him. "I expect you to come and do that yourself! What do I look like? Your personal gardener?"

"No, you look like my dear friend."

After another pause, Remus bent down to pick up his suitcase. He gave another smile and nod, and said, "I'll see you at the end of term." Before he lost his will power, he Apparated back into Hogsmeade.