Hunting The Traitor

Crisis

Albus Dumbledore leaned back into his chair with a sigh. Absent-mindly he ran a hand through his long white beard while his other hand petted Fawkes the phoenix. After Remus and Richard Lupin had left, the bird had sensed his friend's distress and had flown next to him onto the headmaster's desk.

Dumbledore had been very concerned about Remus after he had gained the news of the deaths and Sirius' betrayal, he had known how strong the bond between the friends had been. The death of three close friends was always a hard blow, no matter for whom, but in this case the deaths had been caused by the betrayal of another. The betrayal of somebody whom Remus had considered a friend as well.

The news that Remus had nearly not survived the first full moon night after Halloween had not come unexpected, yet Dumbledore had known that this was something only Remus could help. There was no way to soothe the wolf's rage other than by his host's mind. And Remus' mind had been far from emotionally calm ever since his friends had died.

But today, only an hour ago, a completely different Remus had sat in front of his desk. A collected young man who had, despite the little time that had passed since his visit at Harry's place, seemed to have spent a lot of serious thoughts on the matter of guardianship. Remus had appeared to be calm, at least on the outside, and most of all he had seemed determined to do anything to achieve his goal. It seemed that true to his words, he had found something he deemed worth living for again.

Albus Dumbledore sighed.

If only it was something easier than to gain than custody for Harry.

After Voldemort's downfall, nobody had doubted Dumbledore's decision to leave Harry with his relatives. Truly, Minerva had uttered her concern about the muggle relatives of Harry, but nobody who really had the power to overrule Dumbledore's decision had shown any interest to do so. The Ministry had been at an uproar, Aurors and Unspeakables desperately trying to get the situation back under control, to catch the last of Voldemort's supporters while at the same time trying to hinder their own people from exposing their existence to the muggles by careless celebrations.

Minister Fudge, newly elected only a couple of months earlier and hopelessly overtaxed by the situation, had completely relied on the judgement of his advisors and had merely nodded when Dumbledore had told him where Harry had been brought to.

Had he really made a mistake by leaving Harry with his relatives?

Minerva had told him that they were 'muggles of the worst kind', but then again the deputy headmistress had been under a lot of stress during the previous days and Dumbledore himself had not had the nerves to listen to her doubts.

Minerva might not have realized it, but that Halloween night had brought the older wizard close to his emotional limits as well.

And when Hagrid had finally arrived, a fairly distressed little baby in his arms, it had been the most natural decision to leave him in the care of a family who had a small child of their own.

They had waited until Harry had calmed down, the long journey from Godric's Hollow via portkey and floo-powder had upset him without ends, and then they had left him with the Dursleys.

Albus Dumbledore had truly believed that his letter would explain everything.

But he didn't doubt Remus' words, the young werewolf had never been one to over-exaggerate things. If Harry really was neglected by his relatives, then they needed to take him out there before the neglect might turn into abuse one day.

And with Remus as a guardian the child would definitely grow up close to the memory of his deceased parents than with his aunt and uncle anyway.

The problem was that, other than when Harry had been brought to his relatives, taking him away from them again was not all that easy.

There was for one the matter of protection. Dumbledore knew that the Ministry would not be too keen on protecting Harry from the Death Eaters and Voldemort, they believed the Dark Lord to be gone for good. Nothing Dumbledore had said had been able to convince Fudge otherwise, but if Harry really left his relatives' household protection would be a serious matter.

Remus would have to take up his job at the university again, without a secure financial background he would not have a chance to get the custody.

But that was not the biggest problem.

If Remus was no werewolf, then Dumbledore had no doubt he's eventually gain custody over Harry, no matter that he had not been appointed his legal guardian by Harry's parents.

But it was a fact that Remus Lupin was a werewolf, and that made matters slightly more difficult. The Ministry guidelines stated quite clearly that werewolves weren't allowed to have children on their own as well as they were denied permission to adopt children. The first regulation resulted out of the fear that lycanthropy might spread via the bloodline, the second was in Dumbledore's opinion nothing but harassment. But that was the law and if he wanted to help Remus then it was necessary that they discovered the loophole in this law. It had to be somewhere.

And, judging from the distant expression in Richard's eyes, Remus' father already had an idea whom he would ask for help. Dumbledore had seen him hesitate slightly, and if Dumbledore's guess was right it would definitely be difficult to convince that person to help Remus. But it was worth a try.

Albus Dumbledore got up from his chair and walked over towards the fireplace in his office. Time to pay some old friends at the Ministry a visit, he decided.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Janus was just setting the breakfast table when the doorbell rang.

The previous night had been fairly uneventful. Upon Remus' suggestion, Janus had checked on Harry a couple of times after the boy had gone to bed, but there had been no indication that his nightmares had returned. Not that this helped anything to ease Janus' mind, not in the least. The strange similarities between Harry's dreams and the attacks that had taken place had kept him from sleeping himself for nearly the entire night. It was too close to be coincident, but then again Janus didn't know what exactly he could do about it anyway.

Harry definitely wasn't a seer, that much was for sure. Seeing abilities showed quite early in the development of a child, Harry would be the first seer to show them at the age of seven and never before. But if it wasn't this, what else could cause the boy to dream about attacks that really took place?

Janus had not dared to ask Harry about his dreams directly, he would ask Remus for more details later and then he would talk to Lucas when he returned to the Ministry. His partner for now nearly eight years probably knew him better than anybody else in the world, and Lucas definitely wouldn't laugh about him or question his sanity when he brought up a connection between the dreams of a child and Death Eater attacks. And Lucas had seen the attack sides himself, and though the Ministry was still trying to cover it all up, the two Unspeakables shared the belief that there was no other explanation for them than Death Eater activities. He could trust Lucas with an idea like this, and if his partner was convinced that there was something behind it, then they could look for a solution together.

This somewhat easing thought had only come when dawn had been close, and so Janus had not been able to gather much sleep during the night. Nevertheless he had forced himself to get up at half past seven, he had no intention to keep on sleeping while Harry was causing havoc in the house. The child was always up early and he had an energy level with which it was hard to keep up.

But Janus wasn't in a cheerful mood that morning, and the unexpected ringing of the doorbell didn't improve this.

Slightly intrigued by the question who would be able to approach the door without setting off the alarms, Janus made his way into the front hall.

There were various wards around Remus' house that set off an alarm if anybody approached it closer than five hundred metres. There were only few people whom the wards recognized and those people were so close to the family that they entered without ringing the doorbell.

Janus drew his wand and kept it firmly in his right hand while he stepped beside the door. At that moment, the bell rang again.

"Who is there?"

"Aurelia Sanders, Ministry of Magic, Department of Family Regulations and Social Affairs. I'm here for the check up visit."

Janus frowned. He knew that the Ministry performed regular checkups on custody cases, and on Remus' case especially, but as far as he knew those check ups were preceded by a notification. Why had there not been any notification that there would be a check up today? This was strange.

"I need a confirmation of your identity, please."

"Sure."

A moment later, an identity card materialized on the small table next to the door. Janus picked up the card and had a closer look at it. It looked like an official Ministry identification card which confirmed the information the woman in front of the door had given.

Janus took his wand and waved it across the card, saying the incarnation of a revealing charm. The letters on the ID wavered a little and after a moment the official Ministry of Magic authenticity seal appeared. Janus sighed and nodded, the ID was not faked.

His wand still in his hand, he opened the front door to reveal an elderly witch of maybe fifty years who smiled at him politely. It seemed that she didn't mind his delay in opening the door at all.

Janus checked he face with the photo on the ID and then handed the small card back to her. His eyes never left the ID and he was only completely convinced of her identity when she took it and put it back into her pocked without anything happening. Had the woman been somebody else disguised as Aurelia Sanders, the ID would have changed its colour upon her touch.

Janus inwardly smiled. Sometimes the Ministry was too paranoid for its own good, but today he didn't really mind.

He looked up at the woman who had noted what he had been doing and gave him a look Janus couldn't quite place right now. She looked almost content with his distrust for her.

"Good Morning Mrs. Sanders. I apologize for my mistrust, but I'm afraid it was necessary."

The older witch only smiled.

"Don't apologize for being careful. My employers probably would have wanted me to hex the door open after a minute, but from everything Remus has told me I understand his concern about security measures. But now that my identity is confirmed, would you mind telling me who exactly you are and in what relation you stand to Mr. Lupin?"

"Of course. I'm Janus Lupin, Remus Lupin's older brother. I'm taking care of Harry until Remus comes back."

Mrs. Sanders opened a folder she had been holding under her arm, took out a sheet of parchment and checked something. Then she nodded.

"That would be Janus Frederick Lupin, born May 19^th 1956 in Egerton, Kent?"

Janus grimaced as he was for the second time in twenty four hours reminded of his hated middle-name, but nodded.

"Correct. But I'd be pleased if you could leave that 'Frederick' part out in the future. Why don't you come in?"

Mrs. Sanders wrote something onto the parchment and then allowed Janus to gesture her into the house and then further into the kitchen. She sat down at the table.

"Can I offer you a cup of tea?"

"Yes, thank you very much."

Janus put a cup of tea in front of her, then sat down on the other side of the table and gave the caseworker a quizzical look.

"Mrs. Sanders, as far as I know the regular check ups are notified days ahead. How come that you are here now, I have not been informed that a check up would take place today."

Mrs. Sanders smiled and took a sip of her tea.

"You don't know about the irregular check ups?"

Seeing Janus' puzzled expression, she laughed shortly.

"Usually, those aren't supposed to take place in cases of adoption or guardianship unless there is reason to believe that the child is neglected or abused."

"Wait, wait, wait. You don't want to tell me that anybody suspects Remus of mistreating Harry? How can you believe that, that's stupid. He positively adores the child!"

Mrs. Sanders rose her hand in a calming gesture.

"I didn't say that, Mr. Lupin. You just didn't let me finish. Nobody suspects Remus of mistreating Harry. The Ministry merely saw fit to perform irregular check ups on this household because of his lycanthropy. They've been taking place ever since Harry has come here, I'm surprised that you don't know about them.

As you might know, Remus' case has been the first case in more than hundred years in which a werewolf has been given custody for a child. They've been quite worried that something out of the ordinary might happen, and that puts it mildly.

So, once every two months, I come here without previous notification to see if things are going alright. In other words, I fill out my forms and then spend an hour or two drinking tea with your brother."

Mrs. Sanders laughed heartily, then her expression sobered and she looked at him from deep brown eyes. The look in her eyes only underlined the honesty in her voice.

"Mr. Lupin, I know your brother for nearly four years now. I know perfectly well that he treats Harry alright, that he would never harm him and that he poses no threat to him as long as he's not here during full moon. But the Ministry won't let go of the idea that those check ups are necessary, so they keep on sending me here."

She shrugged her shoulders.

"And to be bluntly honest, I have no problem getting paid for drinking tea with such a charming young man as your brother is one. It's rather refreshing, compared to what I get to see in other households.

By the way, where is Remus?"

Now it was Janus' turn to raise a puzzled eyebrow.

"Why Mrs. Sanders, it's been full moon last night. Surely you know that?"

Aurelia Sanders flipped open her notebook, leafed through the pages and hit her forehead with the palm of her hand.

"My, I think I'm slowly getting old. Full moon, I should have known that. Well, all the better. Then I can call this visit an 'exceptional case investigation', seeing as I controlled the arrangements during Remus' absence. That should spare him another of those visits for the next couple of months."

She shot Janus a grin, eyes sparkling mischievously. It made her face look years younger.

"And where is the charming young man who is the reason for all this?"

Janus took a sip of his tea and grimaced.

"He should be still in his room. The little monster has been sulking all evening, because Remus forbid him to go flying in the rain. And I had to deal with the consequences...

But he should be up soon, I was just about making breakfast when you came. Do you want to join us?"

Mrs. Sanders shook her head.

"No thank you, I'll stick with my tea. I've already had breakfast before I came here. And I won't be bothering you for too long, so don't worry about me."

Janus was just about to get upstairs to wake Harry when the sound of a hippogriff herd came thrashing down the stairs. He turned to Mrs. Sanders and grimaced once more.

"It seems the little bundle of joy has finally decided to get up."

Moments later, Harry came into the kitchen, still in his pyjamas and with his trademark unruly hair. He flashed his uncle a grin and then noticed the second person in the kitchen.

"Miss Aurelia! What are you doing here?"

"Good morning to you, Harry. I thought I'd drop by and say hello."

Harry nodded and sat down on his chair.

"But Remus is not here, he's with grandpa."

Mrs. Sanders nodded.

"So I've been told. But that's no reason why I shouldn't come and visit you Harry, don't you think?"

Harry cocked his head and smiled shyly.

"Now, what have you been up to since I visited last? Did you have a nice birthday?"
Harry's face brightened up immediately.

"Oh, it was great! We've been in London all day Miss Aurelia. In muggle London! And we've been to the zoo, and had a picnic, and we've been going with this underground-thing the muggles use. And I got lots and loads of presents!"

Mrs. Sanders smiled while Janus had to suppress his laughter at Harry's constant use of the name 'Miss Aurelia'.

"You liked your presents?"

Harry nodded feverishly.

"I got a broom, Miss Aurelia. A real broom, all for myself! And I'll be learning how to fly, and to play Quidditch. In a team, because Remus said he'd get a stroke if Uncle Janus taught me."

His small face suddenly frowned in confusion and he turned to Janus.

"Uncle Janus, what is a stroke?"

Mrs. Sanders laughed at Janus' lost face. How on earth should he explain that to the small boy?

"Harry, Remus just wanted to say that he didn't want me to teach you. He would be too concerned for you if I taught you."

"Why?"

Janus laughed.

"Because, little one, because your godfather thinks that my flying is a little too risky, especially for such a small boy like you."

Harry put his hands on his hips in protest.

"I'm not a small boy! I'm already seven, and I'll be eight soon!"

Janus raised his hands in defeat.

"Alright, alright. Nearly eight years old, how could I have forgotten that? And now eat your breakfast before the cereal gets all mushy."

"May I show Miss Aurelia my broom, Uncle Janus? May I?"

The older man fondly smiled down at the little boy. Harry had put up his best 'lost puppy' expression, fully well knowing that it nearly always worked to get him what he wanted. Janus ruffled Harry's hair affectionately.

"If Mrs. Sanders had enough time to wait until you've finished your breakfast, cleaned yourself up, brushed your teeth and gotten dressed then yes, you may show her your broom."

His green-brown eyes suddenly sparkled mischievously.

"And as it doesn't rain anymore, maybe I'll let you fly around a little. Would be a shame not to let you fly properly before that flying teacher drills all those lessons into you. But only if you finally start eating your breakfast."

It is unnecessary to mention that Harry's bowl of cereal and his glass of pumpkin juice were empty in record time.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Excerpt from the Ministry regulations concerning case A14022/XD1982:

Case of Guardianship for Harry James Potter; Custody given to Remus J. Lupin on October 16^th, 1982 under the following restrictions:

[...]

§ 15: As it is common in all cases of guardianship, the Ministry of Magic, Department of Family Regulation and Social Affairs will perform monthly check-ups on the household of the guardian and the child in question.

Caseworkers will be controlling the living arrangements and the treatment of the child in question.

Notifications of those control visits will be delivered up to three days prior.

In case that the custodian cannot keep the appointed date, notification explaining the reasons has to be sent to the caseworker not less than twenty four hours before the appointed date.

§ 15a: In addition to he monthly control visits, the Ministry of Magic, Department of Family Regulation and Social Affairs reserve the right to perform check-up visits in irregular intervals that follow the same purpose than those described in §15.

Those visits will not be notified beforehand.

[...]

Please note that any violation of the above restrictions will immediately lead to investigation and re-evaluation of the Case of Guardianship.

Signed:

Cornelius S. Fudge, Minister of Magic

London, October 19^th, 1982.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

With much hesitation, Richard Lupin eventually rung the doorbell of the flat he stood in front of. For the last twenty minutes, he had been standing in the hallway of the apartment-house, debating over and over again whether or not to do what he had come here for.

It would not be easy to convince him, that much Richard was aware of. But he also knew that without his help, Remus' case would be far more difficult to bring through in front of the Ministry.

If there was anybody Richard knew who was aware of intern Ministry procedures and the weaknesses in their restrictions, if there was anybody who knew the right people to ask for help and the right strings to pull, then it was him.

Again, Richard was dimly aware of the little nagging voice inside of his head, the voice that told him how he was about to once more put the wellbeing of his younger son over the one of his eldest, but he could not help it. After all, he had only come here to ask for help, the final decision, the decision that could very well cost him his job if he wasn't careful enough, would be up to the other himself.

So Richard eventually stuck out his arm and rung the doorbell. He head voices talking behind the door, then approaching footsteps and moments later a young, ginger haired woman was standing in front of him. Richard tried to remember the name of the woman of the week, but no matter how hard he searched, he could not recall it. Then again it most probably wasn't still the same woman that had been Janus' girlfriend by the time he had last seen his son.

"Yes?"

"Good morning. I'm Richard Lupin. Is my son at home?"

The woman nodded and opened the door a little further. Richard took this as an invitation to step into the flat, so he did. The woman closed the door behind him and as Richard looked around, Janus stepped out of the kitchen.

"Baby, who's...?"
When he saw his father, his face immediately hardened. He had not forgotten their last encounter a couple of weeks ago and whatever reason Richard had come here for, it better be a good one.

Crossing his arms in front of his chest, Janus leaned against the doorframe.

"What do you want?"

Had his bearing not already carried the message that he was not overjoyed to see his father again, his voice would have completed the job. It was completely drained of emotion, matter of fact and hard. Richard sighed. This would be even harder than he had imagined it to be.

"I wanted to talk to you, Janus."

His son raised an eyebrow, the only reaction Richard's answer provoked.

"I don't know what we could possibly have to talk about. You're wasting your time, good bye."

Janus pushed away from the doorframe and went back into the kitchen without as much as another glance at his father. But if he expected Richard to give up that easily, he had underestimated his father's stubbornness. Richard didn't even think about leaving the flat, instead he followed his son into the kitchen.

"Didn't I tell you to leave? There is nothing left to talk about, you made that perfectly clear when you threw me out a couple of weeks ago."

"Janus, please listen to me before you throw me out."

"Why should I? Did you listen to me before you threw me out?"

Janus angrily pulled a chair from the table and sat down, still not looking at Richard.

"Yes, I did. If you remember, I actually threw you out because of what you said. And I'm here because I don't want to leave things the way they were back then. I just want to talk to you, I'm just asking you to listen to me for a couple of minutes."

The woman who had opened the door for Richard now joined them in the kitchen, oblivious to the fact that this was supposed to be a private conversation. Surely there had been no possibility for her to miss the tension between father and son, and Richard didn't really understand why she sought their presence instead of leaving them alone.

While Janus was still contemplating whether or not to give his father a chance to tell what he wanted, he followed Richard's glance towards the woman who was leaning on the kitchen counter and had started polishing her nails. He sighed.

"Sarah, do me a favour and leave us alone for a while. Why don't you go visit one of your friends and...do whatever it is you do when you go out."

The woman, Sarah, Richard corrected himself, didn't seem too pleased that Janus quite bluntly told her to leave, but he wasn't about to complain. If she'd start sulking about it, then it was not his problem. Besides he really doubted that she would last any longer than all of Janus' other affairs.

Sarah left the kitchen, rummaged around in the hall for some moments until the sound of the front door signalled that she had finally left. Janus looked at his father.

"I hope you realize that she'll be a real pain in the ass because of that. You'd better have a good reason for all this. Well, you wanted to talk to me - I'm listening."

He leaned back in his chair and again crossed his arms in front of his chest. Richard didn't miss the deflecting gesture.

"As I said, I don't want things between us to be the way they were left then. I shouldn't have lost control like that, I shouldn't have slapped you. I'm sorry for it and I can only hope that you accept my apology."

Having said this, Richard looked into his son's eyes to see his reaction. Again, all he received was a raised eyebrow.

"Janus?"

His son let out a harsh laugh.

"That's it?"

"What do you mean?"

"That's why you came here? After nearly two months? To say 'I shouldn't have slapped you, I'm sorry'? A bit poor, don't you think?"

Richard sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Janus definitely had inherited his mother's stubbornness, not that his son would ever admit that, of course.

"What do you want to hear, Janus? I can only say that I'm sorry. I really am. I am not sorry that I didn't let you say those things about Remus, but I'm sorry for the way I reacted. I should have reacted differently. All I'm asking from you is to try and understand what kind of situation I was in. It's not been easy, Janus, not with Remus in such a state. I was on the edge, I had reached the limit of what I could take in emotionally. What you said was the final spark that made me explode. Slapping you was immature and it was something I would have never imagined myself to be able to. I completely overreacted and I wanted to apologize, there's nothing more I can do about it now."

Janus only shook his head.

"You didn't only slap me. Do you really think that was what makes me so angry? You literally threw me out of the family, you told me you didn't want me there anymore. And you expect me to just forget about that?"

"It might be hard for you to understand that, but I meant what I said."

Janus jumped off his chair in fury.

"And then pray why exactly are you still sitting here?"

"Janus, sit down please. Hear me out."

Reluctantly, Janus did sit down. His father had long ago earned his respect, though he had never told him directly, and though he was walking on thin ice here Janus was willing to at least listen to his father's explanation.

Richard buried his face in his hands and frantically searched for the right words. He had no doubt that Janus would throw him out of the flat and his life for good if he said something wrong now, and that was a chance Richard didn't want to risk. Not only because of Remus. Truly, Remus and his wish to take Harry in was a reason why he had sought out Janus, but it was just one reason amongst many others. Truth be told, he didn't want to exclude his elder son from the family, he didn't want to finalize the gap that had built up between them throughout the years.

"I was serious when I said that I don't want to hear you talking like that about your brother. I still am serious about it. I don't want to hear you calling him a creature, a monster, to hear you say that he can't be trusted because he has a dark side. I can't stand it because I know that you're not right about it, and I hate that it forces me to take Remus' side.

I don't want to take sides anymore Janus, I'm completely and utterly fed up with it.

I know that after Remus got bitten, I've made mistake after mistake when it came to you. I didn't pay you enough attention, I didn't care about your problems in the extend you would have earned. It's too much to even remember it all, and it all comes down to the fact that I've not been there for you as much as you would have needed me.

There are so many mistakes I've made and I can hardly hope that you forgive me all of them. But those have been my mistakes. Don't blame Remus or his condition for it.

I can't fight the urge to protect Remus from such accusations. People have always shunned him for something he has no control over and I tried my best to defend him. I still do. I'm taking his side because I know that such accusations are completely wrong and without any reason, whether it is some stranger that says those things or whether it is you. I do so because I know that without that reassurance he'll eventually start believing that he's a monster himself. And that is something I cannot let happen.

But there comes the point when it all gets too much, and I've reached that point. I can't go on like that, I don't want to take sides between my two sons anymore. It only increases the fact that you feel neglected, that you think I care more about Remus than I care about you.

Which is wrong.

You might not believe me, but I don't love you any less than I do love Remus. I just didn't show you often enough. Another fault to add to my list.

I don't want to have you leave my life Janus. I want you in my life, as a part of my family. But if you really believe those things you said all those weeks ago, if you're not willing to stop talking about your brother like that, then I can only repeat that you better stay out of our life. Especially since I still don't think that you believe those things you say."

After Richard had said this, for a long time neither of the two men spoke. Richard didn't even dare to look into his son's eyes, afraid of what he would see there. He eventually lifted his head when Janus spoke again.

"What do you expect me to do now? Perform a happy dance because you finally apologized for what should have been obvious for ages by now? Be glad that you give me another chance? Let me tell you something: you don't give me a chance here, you don't give me any choice. It's either play happy family with you and Remus or forget about it completely and live a life of my own. You've done it again, dad. You've already chosen Remus and now you only offer me the chance to accept that choice. That's not exactly fair."

Richard sighed.

"Were the situation any different, we might not have this conversation. But you have to understand that Remus needs me, now more than ever. I just can't leave him on his own now, not after all that has happened."

"But you can leave me on my own, that's what you mean?"

"I don't want to make that choice, Janus."

"But you could."

Richard stared out of the window for some moments before he focussed his gaze on Janus again.

"I could make that choice, yes. I don't know if I could live with it, but for Remus' sake I'd be able to try.

Janus, I know that when Remus became a werewolf, your whole life was thrown upside down as well. I know that you've anchored all your anger about the friends that suddenly didn't want to have anything to do with you, about the fact that we had to move so often, about the fact that your mother left us, I know that you've anchored all this anger in Remus' lycanthropy. Somewhere along the way you've stopped seeing him as your little brother and only saw the wolf from that moment on. I've let that happen.

I know that you might not see any reason why you should help Remus now, but I know that this is what Remus needs now. He doesn't only need me, he needs you as well. I know that you cared deeply for him before all this happened and I can't believe that all this has changed.

All I'm asking you for is another chance. A chance I have not earned, I know, but I'm not asking for it for my own sake. I'm asking for it for Remus' sake. He's never done you any wrong, don't let him down now. At least not because you're angry with me."

For some long minutes, silence settled over the kitchen and Janus stared at his father from intense green-brown eyes. He and his father might not be as close as Janus would have liked them to be, but nevertheless he could read him. They had not seen each other ever since Richard had thrown Janus out of the house, and during those weeks Richard had changed. He looked older, more tired, nearly exhausted. His face was sunk in and he seemed to have lost quite some weight. Also, there were lines in his face that had not been there weeks ago. Richard seemed to have aged a couple of years during slightly more than a month.

"How bad is it?"

The question came out of the blue, Janus had not even planned to ask it aloud. It had been something he had inwardly started to wonder about.

He didn't need to elaborate the question, Richard knew what Janus was talking about. He sighed.

"I don't want you to come back because you pity him. We can manage."

"You don't look like you manage. That bad, eh?"

Again, Richard locked his eyes with Janus'. He had expected them to look mocking, to tease the answer out of him, but there was only interest in them. Not concern, not pity, only a clinical interest in the state of the affairs. Maybe this scared Richard even more. How had it been possible that Janus had developed so far away from without him noticing?

"It's getting better. He seems to have found something that keeps him up now, something he wants to fight for. Which is good because I don't want to have another full moon like the last one. He nearly died, literally tore himself to pieces. It's been a close call."

The expression in Janus' eyes didn't change, it remained one of pure clinical interest. Slowly, he nodded.

"I accept your apology. But don't make the mistake and expect me to come back and play happy family with Remus. I can't do that, not after all those years. If you say he needs my help to pull through then I'll do my best and try, but don't expect me to change over night.

Remus and I aren't close and we'll probably never be. If you're willing to accept that, then I'm willing to watch what I say in the future."

Richard nodded. He knew that he could not get more out of his son now.

"I didn't expect you to turn 180 degrees. I don't want you to become somebody completely different. I'm only asking you to make one step towards your brother. If he falls back into his previous state once again, I don't know if I'll be strong enough to catch him alone.

Thank you Janus, it really means a lot to me that you're ready to give it a try."

Richard got up from his chair and made his way towards the door. He turned around once more when Janus called him.

"What exactly is it that Remus wants to fight for?"

Richard came to a halt and debated whether or not to spill the beans right here and then. But then again, Janus would find out sooner or later.

"He wants to get custody for Harry."

Janus only stared at his father, who once more turned around and left the flat. When Janus heard the door shut behind Richard, he slowly shook his head and then began to laugh.

He laughed long and hard, tears streaming down his face between the hysterical laughing sounds and he still laughed long after Richard had left.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Aurelia Sanders left the flat not long after she had arrived. Usually, she took her check ups on Remus as an opportunity to sit down for a cup of tea with him and talk about all the world and his wife.

But unfortunately, Remus had not been home today and so she left far earlier than she had expected, the finished report in her folder. As usual, it contained not a single negative remark about the circumstances in which Harry lived.

When Aurelia had come for her very first check up visit in the Lupin-Potter household, she had not quite known what to expect. She had never met a werewolf before, and for sure she had been prejudiced. Who in the wizarding world was not? All the more astonished had she been that the Ministry had eventually given the custody for nobody less but Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, to a registered lycanthrope. She had not considered it a wise decision and had been determined to find out each and every flaw in the household. After all, the small saviour of the wizarding world had not earned to be raised in such a risky environment.

Finally meeting Remus J. Lupin had been the weirdest thing she had ever experienced in her entire life.

Throughout her career at the Department for Family Regulations, she had performed an uncountable number of control visits, and most of the parents and guardians greeted her with utmost detest. She was used to be treated as the scapegoat for their failures and to be treated as such. Every family she visited tried to hide all signs of insecurity and did their best to appear perfect in front of her.

Not Remus J. Lupin.

The man had been so downright honest with her right from the start that Aurelia had had to fight the urge to constantly shake her head in disbelief.

Little Harry had been fast asleep in his room, taking his afternoon nap when she arrived. There was nothing in the room she could possibly complain about. And from the content way Harry was sleeping there, neither could he.

Aurelia had been more than surprised that Remus openly admitted his lacking experience with childcare and that he sometimes didn't know how to handle the child when he was crying without seemingly any reason at all.

They had sat down for a tea and had talked for more than an hour, only interrupted once when Harry started to cry upstairs and Remus hurried out of the room without hesitation.

Aurelia had left the house after another hour, more puzzled than ever before in her life. She had not changed her mind completely during the visit, but she had decided to give Remus Lupin a fair chance. She'd have a close eye on the boy's development during the next couple of months and if the boy was developing fine in this environment, then she'd be the last to deny him this only because his guardian was a werewolf.

It had proven to be one of the best decisions in her entire career. Remus had been able to fulfil all the high expectations she had put in him and Harry positively loved his guardian. There was such a close relationship between those two that Aurelia could not imagine any better guardian for him.

And though her reports had told exactly this, the Ministry had not agreed to stop the regular and irregular controls. But as long as Aurelia was the one to be send on those visits, she didn't complain.

She and Remus by now got along very well and saw those routine visits rather as an opportunity to chat about various things. Of course she had witnessed fights between Remus and Harry, she had seen the boy sulk or cry, but that was perfectly normal in any family. No, by now she was convinced that Remus was the right person to raise the child and nobody else.

A smile spread across her face when she thought back to the beaming smile on Harry's face when he had shown her his new broom before she had left. His 'uncle' had even allowed him to fly a little in the garden, after he had sworn Aurelia to secrecy. He knew perfectly well that Remus would throw a fit if the boy had flown without his supervision. Sometimes Remus was close to being over-protective.

Finally, Aurelia reached the edge of the anti-apparition field around the house and apparated back to the Ministry. Another completely positive report to put into the files.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

The next morning, Janus Lupin entered the office he shared with his partner Lucas Spalding at the Department of Mysteries.

Remus had come back home shortly after lunch the day before, and after he had told him about Aurelia Sanders' visit, Janus had left. Though he didn't have to come back to work before the next day, he desperately needed to catch up with some sleep. He had not gotten enough during the night, his brooding had kept him from it for most of the time.

So he had dropped home for another couple of hours, had spent some time pleasure with his baby girl and had had ten hours of undisturbed sleep. The next day would become hard, Janus knew that. The investigations on the attacks were still going on and neither his superiors nor Lucas had been very pleased when he had taken the day off.

But then again they hardly dared to criticize his decision. There were many things one could say about Janus Lupin and not all of them were positive. But during his four and a half years in the Department of Mysteries, Janus had managed something that took others the bigger part of their career. He had gained respect.

Janus Lupin was never predictable. He was powerful, intelligent and if he was faced with a mystery, no matter how unsolvable it appeared to be, he would not let go until he had found the solution. In times it was hard to get along with him, when an idea had formed in his mind then there was nothing in the world that could hinder him to follow his instincts. Lucas constantly complained that one day he'd get them both either killed or fired because of that. His disregard for rules and regulations was already legendary.

When Janus entered the office, Lucas only looked up shortly. Any other person would have thought nothing of that look, but Janus knew Lucas better than to ignore it. It had been a glare.

So Janus flopped down in his chair, crossed his hands behind his head and shot his partner and friend a grin.

"Had a nice day, Luke?"

Lucas didn't answer the jest, at least not verbally. Instead, he grabbed paperweight from his desk and threw it into the direction of his partner. Janus ducked quickly and avoided a collision with his head by mere inches. The paperweight dropped at the wall behind him and left a quite visible dent.

Janus straightened himself and looked at the damage.

"One could think that with all the taxes we pay the Ministry would be able to afford decent material for their facilities, don't you agree?"

That was the moment when Lucas exploded. He jumped from his chair and build himself up in front of Janus' desk in what everybody except from Janus would have considered a very threatening position.

"If you know what's good for you you'd better shut up immediately! We've got two dead wizarding families to investigate, tons of paperwork to finish and you decide that this is the best moment to take a day off! I'm thoroughly pissed off at the moment and you'd better not provoke me any further, because otherwise I'll do something I might regret."

He stormed back towards his desk, then turned again as if he had forgotten something.

"And don't call me Luke!"

He fell back into his chair and pulled out another file from the huge stack on his desk without sparing his partner another glance.

"Hey, I'm here now, alright. I've only been gone for a couple of hours, I didn't know that the Department can't run without me."

Lucas threw the files back onto his desk.

"Don't even start with this arrogant attitude on me. Just tell me why I always get stuck with the paperwork? Why do I always have to find official explanations for your behaviour, why it's always me who has to give Fudge reasons why he shouldn't fire us on the spot."

Janus raised his hands in a calming gesture.

"Hey, I didn't do anything lately. And it's not true that I load all the paperwork on you, I always thought you enjoyed it."

Lucas raised an eyebrow.

"Enjoy it? I'm still trying to find an explanation why exactly that guy two weeks ago somehow broke his jaw in the interrogation room. They know it had been intact by the time he had been brought here."

Janus smiled.

"That's easy. Tell them he ran into the door in an escape attempt."
"He was bound to the interrogation chair, Janus. I don't think they will believe that."

Janus only shrugged.

"Then tell them he doubled over and fell with the chair. Or just tell them the truth and write that he's not been cooperative."

Lucas hit his forehead with his palm.

"Of course, why have I not thought about that! I just write that he refused to answer your questions, which was his right, that he asked for a lawyer, which was his right, and that he refused to take Veritaserum, which was his right, and that after all this you got fed up with his lack of cooperation and knocked him out cold. Of course, that's the explanation, thank you so much Janus."

Janus shook his head and opened one of the files on his own desk.

"You know Luke, cynicism so doesn't suit you. You're still young, you should embrace life as a whole with all the small wonders that come along with it."

"Janus?"

"Hmm?"

"Do me a favour."

"Anything."

"Shut the fuck up and finish those reports."

Janus only shook his head again but did as he was told. They worked in silence for some minutes, until Janus came across a file that confused him somewhat.

"Lucas?"

"What's wrong now?"
"Why are the files of the recent attacks marked to be closed?"
Lucas sighed.

"Fudge personally ordered them to be. We should have guessed that he'd try to hush it up as much as possible. He wants the files to be closed by tomorrow and he's already decided that the investigation results declare them a random act of a small group of attackers. That's why I wanted to have another look at them and copy as much as I can find. They also closed the attack sides, no way we can get in there again."

Lucas decided that it would be better for his mental health if he simply ignored the string of curses that followed this revelation. He knew just as well as Janus did that every sign indicated an organized and well planned attack, not a random outlet of malice. Both had seen the Dark Mark, both had seen the bodies of the victims. This had not been a maniac running amok, this had been a well-planned, well-aimed Death Eater attack.

Janus suddenly remembered that he had planned to tell Lucas about Harry's dreams and ask him for his opinion, but before he could open his mouth, their secretary Maggie opened the door.

"Information has just come in that something has happened at a Ministry facility, your presence is required. A portkey has been left for you at the desk in the Entry Hall."

Janus looked at his partner and frowned. Forgetting about all previous teasing, both checked their wands and left the office, letting professionalism take over. They knew it was of no use to ask Maggie which facility they were send to, such information was never included in the request calls for Unspeakables. They would find an indication of the degree of urgency with their portkey.

They directly went into the entrance hall where they gave their IDs to the wizard behind the counter. Once their identity was checked, the wizard handed them a muggle football magazine with a small sticker on the front. The sticker was red.

Janus looked at Lucas and both drew their wands before they grabbed the magazine. Red meant casualties, situation not declared secure, possibility of hostile attack. Red meant not good.

The wizard behind the counter gave them the countdown.

"Fifteen seconds. Good luck."

Both men got a secure hold on the portkey and shortly afterwards they felt the tuck behind their navel that indicated they were on their way.

They materialized and immediately got into defence position, each covering the back to the other. There were few people Janus Lupin trusted and only one person he entrusted with his life without hesitation. This person was Lucas.

"Lupin, Spalding, finally."

When they heard the voice of Mundungus Fletcher, both men relaxed a little. Not enough to put their wands back, but enough to take a look at their surroundings. Janus head Lucas draw a sharp breath when he realized where they were. Behind them, the sea was waving against rock, above them some desperate gulls flew circles and cried. And in front of them, a rocky fortress rose from the equally rocky surface. A fortress whose entrance was normally closely guarded but now was completely empty.

They were in the front yard of Azkaban.

Janus turned around and looked at Fletcher. The Auror met his gaze and held it for a long moment. He didn't say anything, but the look in his eyes told Janus everything he needed to know.

"Raided."

Mundungus Fletcher nodded.