Hunting The Traitor

Moony

Remus woke up the next morning because his bed was shaking.

His eyes still closed, Remus frowned. His bed didn't normally shake, that much he knew even though his sleep-fogged brain refused to work properly so shortly after waking up.

Slowly, he opened one eye and took a look around the room that came into focus after blinking once or twice.

Remus didn't recognize the room, and immediately his other eye shut open and he leaned himself up onto his elbows.

His eyes scanned the room, and as his gaze settled on the Hogwarts crest stitched into the curtains of the four-poster he was lying in, the memory of the previous night's events returned.

Janus' alarms had been set off and he had brought Harry into the safety of Hogwarts. And though it had only been Lucas who had triggered the wards, something Remus intended to talk about with his brother once he got home, he and Harry had stayed at the castle.

They were in one of the guest suites of Hogwarts.

And his bed was still shaking.

With a sigh, Remus turned around to his left where his godson was supposed to be lying. A pair of bright green eyes under a mop of unruly black hair hopped up and down in front of him, and Harry's mouth shot him a wide grin which showed his two missing front teeth in all their glory.

The face of his godson kept on hopping up and down in front of his eyes while Harry was jumping on the mattress.

Remus groaned.

It was too early for something like that.

"Good morning, Remus."

Harry's voice sounded far too cheerful for such an unholy hour.

"Morning."

Ignoring Remus' rather grumpy voice, Harry shot him another toothless grin. One of his upper and one of his lower front teeth had recently fallen out and now gave his face a rather odd look when he smiled widely.

He once more jumped up from the mattress, into the air, and launched himself full force on top of Remus, his arms and knees bent to balance the impact.

"Ouch!"

Remus' face twisted painfully as his godson's sharp joints dug into his chest and stomach with the impact of all his light weight. But he was awake within an instant. Rubbing his aching ribs with his hands, he shot Harry a mock glare.

"You know pup, you ought to have a weapon's licence for those elbows. They're sharp."

Harry just smiled and cuddled closer to Remus, hugging his arms around his neck and burying his face in Remus' nightshirt.

"Sleep well, pup?"

Harry nodded and looked up, his eyes wide with curiosity and excitement.

"You gonna show me the castle today, Remus? The secret passages? And Hagrid's hut? Are we going to visit Hagrid? Please?"

Remus laughed at his godson's eagerness and cuddled him close again, scratching the morning stubble on his cheek against Harry's face on purpose.

Harry giggled and pulled back.

"You're itchy."

Remus laughed.

"Itchy?"

Harry nodded, and upon seeing the look on Remus' face, scooted away from his godfather. He knew that grin on Remus' face, and he knew what it implied for him. Remus eyed him with a predatory look.
"You're ticklish, Harry?"

Harry shook his head and tried to crawl as close to the edge of the huge bed as possible, never taking his eyes off of Remus.

"You're not ticklish?"

Again, Harry shook his head and tried to jump off the bed.

But Remus reacted too fast for the seven year old to escape and within moments he had jumped bolt upright, had leaped across the bed and had his godson pinned underneath him.

The boy was struggling against Remus' hold, but his godfather was too strong for him.

"Not ticklish, no?"

Without waiting for an answer, Remus pulled up Harry's pyjama top and started tickling his sides mercilessly. Harry squirmed under Remus' arms, but could not hold back the giggles that were escaping his mouth.

"Stop...Remus...stop!"

"Not ticklish, no? I think you were lying, young man."

Harry laughed and squirmed even more strongly. Remus took a deep breath and bent down over Harry, using the one means that had so far never failed in making Harry laugh. He blew a raspberry onto Harry's stomach.

The child squealed, but Remus continued his assault without mercy.

"Stop...please, Remus."

"You want to admit that you're ticklish?"

Harry nodded, his eyes screwed shut.
"Yes...ticklish...yes, stop Remus. Please."

Hearing his godson's confession, Remus stopped his attack and grinned down at Harry. The child was still giggling slightly between his panting breaths and his face was flushed. With the sleeve of his pyjama he wiped away a laughing tear from his cheek.

"That's what you get for waking me up like that, pup."

Remus grinned and ran a hand along his chin.

"Now, I'm going to take a shower and make myself less 'itchy' before we get down to breakfast."

"Can we visit Mindy in the kitchens for breakfast?"

Remus rolled his eyes. He should have known that leaving Harry with the house elfs would have its consequences, knowing the creatures' liking for children they had surely been over the moon with excitement when Harry had turned up last evening.

"If you're washed up and dressed by the time I come out of the shower then yes, we'll visit Mindy before we leave."

With this, Remus got up from the bed and went into the adjourning bathroom, longing for a long and hot shower.

He left the bathroom door unlocked so that Harry could come in and wash himself up, then he took off his nightshirt and went behind the curtain to shower.

A long hot shower was definitely something he had needed after a day like the previous. After a couple of minutes, he heard Harry come into the bathroom, followed by the sound of water splashing into the sink.

Remus listened attentively, a smile playing around his lips. And - just as he had thought - minutes later he heard Harry sneaking towards the bathroom door again.

"Harry, I'm sure you'd not forget brushing your teeth, especially not after that chocolate feast you had yesterday evening."

A loud sigh was all Remus received as an answer, and moments later he could hear the water running again and the sound of a toothbrush in use.

Remus smiled. Sometimes he knew the little one all too well.

Fifteen minutes, a shaving spell and an unsuccessful attempt to comb Harry's hair later, both Remus and Harry were dressed and ready to leave for breakfast.

Harry impatiently tucked at Remus' hand.

"Do we go to the kitchens now? Do we visit Mindy?"

Remus sighed and allowed Harry to pull him out of the door.

"We'll visit Mindy before we leave, but first we'll have breakfast and say goodbye to Professor Dumbledore."

Harry didn't look to excited about this, so Remus quickly decided to change the topic. He stopped in the middle of the staircase, already nearly down in the entrance hall, and looked around as if he had never been in this particular place before.

"Now my, I seem to have forgotten the way to the Great Hall, can you imagine that?"

Remus knew fully well that the Great Hall and Dumbledore's office (and from this day on the kitchens, he added as a mental note) were the only places in the castle Harry had been in often enough to remember their location.

Harry stared at his godfather, thought for a moment, then frowned his nose.
'Caught in the act', Remus thought, suspecting the child to see through his little act immediately. But if Harry did, he didn't show it. He merely grabbed Remus' hand and dragged him into the corridor to their left.

"This way, Remus."

They ran along the corridor, through a door at their left, past the antechamber, into the Great Hall - and straight into Albus Dumbledore who had just been about to leave the room.

Their wild run came to an abrupt halt and Remus grinned sheepishly at his former headmaster. The older man smiled gently at the two newcomers.

"Ah, good morning Harry, Remus. I see you're already full of energy at such an early hour."

Harry said nothing to the older wizard, so Remus attempted to explain their mad chase, inwardly feeling like a student caught in an attempted prank again.

"Good morning Albus. You see...the way to the Great Hall must have slipped my mind, but fortunately Harry remembered."

Surprisingly agile for his age, Dumbledore bent down to eye level with the seven year old child. Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled mischievously.

"Now young Harry, it seems you already know the castle quite well."

Again, Harry frowned his nose.

"Remus didn't forget the way, he just said he had."

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure Harry. Remus isn't the youngest anymore, and old people tend to forget things."

For the second time in less than twenty-four hours, Remus did the unthinkable and glared in a scolding way at his old headmaster and mentor. Harry only stared between the two men, his mouth wide open.

Remus decided to ignore him for the moment.

"Albus, thank you again for your hospitality."

Dumbledore raised his hands.

"Nothing to thank me for, Remus. It's always a pleasure to have young Harry and you in the castle."

"It's been our pleasure, Albus. Especially since Harry seems to have discovered his liking for house elfs.

We'll have to make another visit down in the kitchens before we leave."

Dumbledore's eyes sparkled again.

"I trust you remember the way down into the kitchens?"

Remus laughed.

"There are some things I guess I'll never forget. Though I might be getting old, as some people did observe."

The older wizard chuckled.

"Enjoy your breakfast, Remus. And if you see your brother, please tell him that I'd like to talk to him about those wards around your house."

"I will Albus. Good bye."

"Good bye Remus. And if there's ever something suspicious happening again, you're free to come here. I'll have another portkey prepared and sent to you."

"Thank you."

Dumbledore smiled down at Harry.
"Good bye Harry."

The small boy smiled up at him, showing his missing front teeth in a very wide grin.

"Bye professor."

Dumbledore turned towards the door, leaving the younger man and the child no their way to breakfast.

Harry had reached for Remus' hand again and looked up at his godfather in a very severe way.

The old wizard smiled as he heard Harry speak again.

"Remus, are you really old?"

Dumbledore chuckled and hurried towards the staircase to escape his former student's wrath. The stone walls, however, transported the rest of the conversation clearly audible towards his ears.

"No Harry, I'm not old. I'm older than you, but a lot younger than Professor Dumbledore."

A pause.

"Remus, how old are you?"

"Nearly twenty-eight."

Another pause, this time slightly longer.

"Remus, that is old."

"Albus!"

The old wizard chuckled and quickly hurried up the stairs before Remus could realize that he was still close by.

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

Fudge looked thunderstruck after Dumbledore's announcement, an expressionnly matched by the look of sheer disbelief on Remus' face. For some long moments, all occupants of the room did nothing but stare at the old wizard, who held his firm blue-eyed gaze fixed on the still gaping Minister of Magic.

After what seemed like a little eternity, Fudge had himself under enough control again to speak.

"Albus, you can't be serious about this."

Still not taking his eyes off him, Dumbledore just nodded.

"Believe me Cornelius, I am serious about it. As serious as I could be."

"But...but...", Fudge spluttered, "he's...I mean, he's...you know..."

Dumbledore just raised his eyebrows.

"A werewolf you want to say? Yes, I'm aware of that. But he's also a person who has my utmost faith, and he is the one I believe to be the best guardian possible for Harry."

For the first time since Dumbledore had begun playing his cards, Remus spoke up again.

"Professor, could I talk to you for a moment? Outside?"

Turning to Fudge again, Dumbledore gave a small smile.

"I believe a little break would be in order Cornelius, wouldn't it? I'm sure Mr. Nichols, Mrs. Smith and you have a lot to talk about."

Swallowing hard, Fudge nodded.

"Of course. We interrupt this hearing for ten minutes."

Dumbledore got up from his chair and moved towards the door which Remus held open. After a short moment of hesitation, Janus and Richard followed them outside. Not so much because they wanted to overhear Remus' conversation with Dumbledore, Richard guessed that it was a rather private discussion his son intended, but they definitely didn't want to remain in a room with Fudge at the moment.

The Minister of Magic looked as if he was ready to explode any minute, uneasily flipping through the folders in front of him, only stopping to glare deadly daggers at Nichols and Smith.

Once the door was closed, Richard pulled his older son down the corridor towards the coffee dispenser, away from Remus and Dumbledore to give them some privacy.

While they went away, Remus turned to face his former headmaster.

"Professor, I really don't think it's a wise idea to do that."

Dumbledore looked at him, his eyes and face not betraying what was going on inside of his mind.

"Remus, believe me that I'm very well aware of the consequences."

But Remus only shook his head.

"No Professor, with all due respect, but I think you're not. I've known about that paragraph in the werewolf regulations, I've known about it all along. But there is a reason why I never took into consideration to make use of it in the custody case.

Professor, even if the paragraph would allow blood-relatives to take the role of the guarantor, I would not have wanted Dad or Janus to do that for me. I wouldn't because I could not live with the thought that they'd get thrown into Azkaban if I only slipped once.

Don't you understand? I don't necessarily need to bite somebody or do anything else during a full moon night, it would be enough if I break a single law in my human form to get the guarantor into really big trouble.

You'd be pawning your life for me, Professor. Your life. If I commit a crime, or even if I only get accused of having committed a crime it could mean a long-term imprisonment in Azkaban for you. I couldn't live knowing that every mistake I make could cause you such harm. I'm not worth it."

Remus felt as if the blue eyes of the old man in front of him were seeing right through his determined facial expression, directly into his mind.

Dumbledore might appear to the unobservant watcher to be nothing more than an old man, somewhat quirky and even a little fragile. But at this moment, as he was piercing through Remus' defences with nothing but his gaze, the werewolf not for the first time realized what a powerful person was standing in front of him. And not for the first time he asked himself whether Dumbledore could read minds.

"Don't you agree that Harry's wellbeing would be worth it?"

Remus thought for a long moment. Then he shook his head.

"You know that there is nothing I want more than taking Harry out of this poor excuse of a home. But if that means you pawning your life for my actions, I don't think it's a step I'd be willing to take."

Dumbledore shook his head and his expression saddened a little.

"Remus, it pains me to see how little trust and faith you have in yourself."

"Professor, you know that I don't trust myself. There's just too much that could happen, I don't have any control over myself once the full moon is up. And even during the time before that one night a month I can feel the wolf pulling. I'm in a constant struggle to keep control over my mind, and there are times when it's hard for me not to lose my temper. I don't think it's a good idea to drag you into that danger as well."

Dumbledore sat down on one of the chairs that stood in the long corridor.

"Tell me Remus, when have you ever lost that struggle? When have you ever lost control over yourself and allowed the wolf to take over? Have you ever done something that should cause me not to trust you and your self-restraint?"

Remus fell into a chair opposite to his former headmaster and looked at him with a pained expression.

"I nearly killed Severus Snape, I don't think that you have forgotten that. I for one never did."

Dumbledore raised a hand and gestured him to stop.

"I don't think that this could count as evidence against your self-restraint, as it was not your doing that caused this incident. It was solely to blame on Sirius Black and on Severus' own disregard for the explicit rules concerning the Whomping Willow at that time.

It had nothing to do with you abusing the faith I have put and still put into you."

Remus only shook his head.

The older wizard didn't know it, still didn't know it, but Remus indeed had abused Dumbledore's trust. He had thrown away all precaution, had no longer considered what a great gift his headmaster had graced him with when he had allowed the young werewolf to gain a magical education. Remus had betrayed the older man's trust at the moment when he had allowed his friends to become illegal animagi, and he had carried forth this breach of trust every time he had left the Shrieking Shack during full moon nights. He had endangered the lives of others in his youthful optimism, in the unjustified belief that nothing would happen.

He had not earned to be trusted by Dumbledore ever since he had first acted against the restrictions that should protect him and others. And yet he had never found the courage to entrust the wise old man with this failure of his.

Dumbledore still trusted him, though there was no reason for him to do that. And here he was now, offering to pawn his own life for Remus, oblivious to the fact that he had already been betrayed deeply.

And even now, Remus didn't find the courage to admit it. How could he tell Dumbledore, and how could he tell him now, straight after he had offered him to sacrifice that much? What impression would it make on Minister Fudge if Dumbledore would take his offer back just like he had made it, because he had had to realize that a werewolf indeed could never be trusted.

Could he really allow himself to ruin Dumbledore's reputation in the eyes of the Minister of Magic?

Sensing that the younger man in front of him was going through an inner struggle, though what kind of inner struggle he could not really tell, Dumbledore leaned forward in the narrow corridor and put his hands on Remus' knees. Remus looked up, his amber eyes telling without words about his confusion and concern. Something was bothering him, something that kept him from willingly accepting the fact that he was indeed trusted, and worth that trust.

"Remus, believe me that I have spent great many thoughts on that matter before I came here and made that offer today. I was hoping that it would not be necessary at all, that the Ministry caseworkers would allow you a fair chance in your hearings. But I was wrong.

As wrong as I might have been when I decided to give Harry into the care of his relatives. But it's not a wrong that can't be undone anymore, and I'm willing to correct this mistake of mine.

And through the past months, I had the chance to observe how you are feeling about all this. I had feared that the initial idea to gain custody for Harry was just a means for you to get over the hurt of your losses. Again - I was wrong.

I'm convinced that your are both willing and able to offer Harry a better home to grow up in than the one he is currently living in.

I would not offer this to anybody, Remus. I can only repeat that I trust you. I think I have gotten to know you well enough during your time at school and even after that. Because you were no ordinary student, because there was always an eye to keep on you, looking out whether your lycanthropy affected you farther than we all thought.

You have never once disappointed my faith in you, on the contrary everything you have done and achieved ever since you came to Hogwarts has only confirmed me that it was no mistake to put my faith in you.

You would never willingly and consciously do anything to breach my trust or to make me doubt my choice, I am convinced of that.

And that is reason enough for me to offer me as your guarantor. I am aware of the possible consequences and I'm willing to do it. There is nothing you further need to worry about."

Dumbledore gave Remus some moments to allow his words to sink in. The younger man ran his hands through his hair in a gesture of frustration.

His thoughts were still circling around the fact that despite everything Dumbledore might be thinking, he was not worth his trust. Not after he had abused it already.

But then, Remus didn't really know why, something Janus had said to him a couple of months ago came to his mind. Something he had asked him after Nichols had turned down his first petition.

'Remus, are you doing this for yourself, or are you doing this for Harry?'

Again, he didn't like to admit it, but Janus was still right about this. If he were doing it for his own reputation, Remus would not hesitate a second to turn down Dumbledore's offer. But fact remained that he wasn't doing this for himself. He was doing it for Harry, and he owed James' and Lily's son to do anything he could think of to grant him a better start into life.

Remus looked up.

"I wish you had told me about this before we came here today."

Dumbledore smiled.

"Would you have come at all in that case?"

A small smile tucked at the corners of Remus' lips.

"Probably not."

"You see?"

Dumbledore looked at the clock on the wall and got up.

"I think we'd better go inside again before the Minister thinks we have decided to leave."

Remus nodded and rose from his chair as well. He looked at Dumbledore intensely.

"Thank you Professor. I can't thank you enough for doing this."

Dumbledore just smiled.

"You're perfectly welcome, Remus. Let's get back in, shall we?"

He opened the door for Remus and allowed him to step in first. Janus and Richard were just about to come back from the coffee dispenser and together the four men re-entered the office to complete the hearing.

Minister Fudge didn't seem to have calmed down at all during the past minutes. He was still glaring dangerously at the two caseworkers beside him. Nichols was pale in the face, and Smith didn't look much better. Remus guessed that the Minister had let his anger about being outwitted by Dumbledore out on them while he, Dumbledore and his family had been outside. Well, he could not care less.

Fudge looked up as they sat back down onto their chairs.

"Do you still consider that ridiculous idea of offering yourself as a guarantor for a werewolf?"

Behind himself, Remus could hear his father breathe in sharply. Richard had never appreciated if somebody had talked about his son as if he was no human at all, but today Remus really hoped that his brother would be able to calm him down before he said something he might have regretted.

They really didn't need to irate Fudge any further than he already was.

Dumbledore must have been thinking along the same lines, for his answer was very calm and controlled.

"I do indeed, Cornelius."

Fudge stared hard at him, then he shot Remus a look of absolute and complete loathing before he focussed his eyes on the files again.

"Rest assured that we will check the legality of what you propose thoroughly before making a decision. After all, it's Harry Potter we're speaking about, I would not want to place him in a risky environment without any legal basis at all.

I just hope that you have truly made up your mind about all this, Albus, though I seriously doubt it.

You'll hear from us as soon as we've gone through the laws and regulations once more, Lupin."

With this, Fudge nodded at them and got up from his chair, leaving the room with Nichols and Smith in tow.

Dumbledore smiled at Remus who had a look of utter disbelief in his eyes again.

"That's been it?"

Dumbledore shrugged.

"I guess. At least for today."

Janus interrupted.

"What did he mean, 'they'll check the legality' of it again? They're searching for a way to decline the petition, once and for all, aren't they?"

Dumbledore nodded. Seeing that Janus wanted to continue, he raised a hand.

"But they won't find anything. Not without breaking the laws themselves. Don't worry about this, I've checked everything myself quite thoroughly before I came here. There is no loophole they could use, no other law they could bring into play. It might take them another couple of weeks, but in the end they'll have to grant the petition."

Remus looked up.

"That means we've done it?"

Dumbledore turned his eyes on Remus and couldn't help but smile.

"If nothing unforeseen happens, then yes, they can't do anything but grant you custody over Harry."

Remus bit his lower lip and didn't even feel his father put a hand onto his shoulder in silent congratulations. After all those months, he had not really believed that this day would finally come. But now it was as close as it had never been before.

Only a couple of weeks more, and then he'd finally have Harry home with him.

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

Moony was pacing. Literally.

Remus Lupin would, if asked, have been the first to confirm that the wolf was always a part of his personality, of his mind, no matter what phase the moon was currently in.

And normally Moony was more or less successfully fighting for the control of Remus' mind, but throughout the years he had gotten used to being fought into the background for most of the month.

The next full moon was still one and a half weeks away, a time during which Moony was normally caged somewhere deep in the back of Remus' mind.

But not today.

Moony had control over his human's mind like he normally only had shortly before the monthly transformation. Something was not right, Moony could feel that.

Something was about to happen, something was not the way it was supposed to be. Moony could smell it. Anticipation was in the air. Something was different tonight.

The last time he had felt like this had been...

Remus sighed and made his way from the living room into the kitchen. Inwardly, he was scolding himself that he had allowed the wolf to surface so strongly. He had even been pacing on the rug in front of the fireplace, mimicking the urges of his canine self in his own actions.

He forced himself to think about something else, anything to take his mind away from the thoughts that would inevitably come if he allowed himself to continue the chain of thought he had begun before.

But what could have possibly upset him like that? Why was he so restless tonight, why did Moony try to enter his mind like he normally only did hours before the moon rose?

He had felt quite restless after Harry and he had returned from Hogwarts five days ago, his thoughts whirling around the question why his brother had felt the need to set up additional wards around his house.

Remus knew that Harry was still a potential target for those who were supporting Voldemort, wherever he had gone to six years ago. But why wards that were triggered by the Dark Mark? There had been no Death Eater activities for the last years, so why did Janus feel the need to protect him and Harry against them now?

And what had worried Remus even more had been the revelation about Lucas' Dark Mark and the circumstances under which he had received it. Remus had tried to talk to his brother about it once more the day after they had come back, but Janus had refused to answer.

Once more, he had taken his position as an Unspeakable and his prohibition to talk about anything job-related with outsiders as his excuse, but it had not been easy for Remus to get rid of the leaden weight in his stomach that occurred whenever he thought about all this.

But nevertheless, he had not been upset enough during those past days that Moony could surface so strongly. Not once.

The wolf had begun its pull this afternoon, after Janus had fetched Harry from school and had brought him into the store. They had gone home together, but after Remus had once more tried to pursue the topic of the additional wards around his house, Janus had quickly left and had gone home. Ever since then, Moony had started to pull, getting stronger and stronger by the minute.

And for the first time in long years, Remus had the feeling that he didn't know his inner wolf well enough to tell its reasons for this behaviour. He was at a loss of explanations for it.

He only knew that Moony's pacing brought up memories Remus would have loved to forget.

Remus filed the water kettle and boiled it with a well-practiced wave of his wand. While he prepared his tea with automatically carried out actions, he couldn't help but allow the wolf to finish his thoughts.

...seventy moons ago. More than seventy times the moon had come and waned again since Moony had last felt this restless and excited when full moon had still been so far away.

Seventy moons ago, Moony had not understood yet. He had not understood yet the full impact of what had happened to him. Of what had happened to them.

Seventy months ago, Moony's pack had died. The only pack Moony had ever known. Oh, not all of them were dead, but the stag was gone and so was the rat. They were dead, but the wolf's favourite had not died. It had taken Moony a long time to understand that the dog was worse than dead.

Long months of restless longing later had Moony finally understood: his pack was gone, he'd never see, hear, feel or smell any of them again.

During those months of realization Moony had been just as restless, he'd tried to pace away the anticipation so see his pack mates again. He had not believed then, had not wanted to believe, that he would never see any of them again.

But why did Moony behave like this, especially right now? Remus thought of himself that he understood the wolf after so many years, but he didn't understand Moony's current behaviour.

Why did he behave as if he was restlessly waiting for his pack mates? As if his pack mates were near? His pack mates were dead, and Moony knew that. He had learned it the hard way.

It had been hard and painful for Moony to learn, but his pack mates were gone. The were out of his reach and they would never return. Never again would they run under the full moon together.

Worst of all the dog. His favourite. Padfoot. His mate.

But something was not right tonight, Moony could feel it, could smell it so strong in the air that he was surprised his human self didn't seem to feel it as well.

All of his instincts were heightened, every alarm bell inside of him was ringing.

Maybe something was wrong with the last member of his pack. Had something happened to the pup?

Remus sighed and put down his cup of tea. He should have known that it would come to this, that the wolf would think along these lines.

And now Moony wouldn't let go until he had been shown that the pup was alright.

With another deep sigh, Remus got up from his chair and walked over towards the staircase in the hall. Remus could smell that nobody had been here ever since he had brought Harry to bed, there was no trace of any intruder in the air. Remus already wanted to turn around again, but Moony wasn't pacified so easily.

'The pup', he screamed, 'look after the pup. Go and see if the pup is alright.'

Remus sighed deeply and rolled his eyes, but he knew that he'd better follow Moony's instincts or it would not let go of him all evening. He climbed the stairs to the upper floor and opened the second door to the right. One look inside the room confirmed that everything was alright. The window was closed and the small form on the bed was breathing evenly, obviously fast asleep.

The pup was alright, Moony could smell it. It was lying in its bed, and taking in a deep breath Moony found that there was no other smell in the room than his own and that of the pup when it was content and peacefully asleep. Nothing had dared to attack the pup tonight, not even one of the nightmares it still suffered under from time to time.

Though the wolf wasn't pacified, he now at least knew that his restlessness was not caused by the pup being in danger. Nobody had come near his most precious pack-member.

For some long moments, Remus stood next to Harry's bed and watched his seven year old godson sleep.

He gently tucked some loose strands of hair out of Harry's eyes, revealing the lightning shaped scar on his forehead. The scar that still connected him to the night in which he had lost everything, just like Remus and Moony had lost everything that night.

And just like the huge scar on his right shoulder branded Remus as an outcast, especially without his pack, did the lightning shaped scar mark his godson and outsider. He might be considered a hero, the golden boy, saviour of the wizarding world, but an outsider he was nevertheless. An outsider who needed to be protected from the long shadow that his own fame threw upon him.

Remus pulled up the discarded blanket and tucked Harry in. A kiss on the forehead and a whispered 'Good night, pup' later he turned around and left the room again.

He went downstairs to at least try and get some of his work finished. Tomorrow he had a meeting with his former Professor at university, and he still needed to file out some catalogues and reference works.

Moony was getting more and more excited as they went downstairs again. He felt a presence he had not felt for many moons, a presence he had thought impossible ever to feel again. And it wasn't even full moon.

Remus stepped into his study and stopped dead in his tracks. The room wasn't illuminated except from the faint moon- and starlight that fell through the window, but Remus didn't need to see what was going on to know that something here was not right. On the contrary, something was awfully wrong.

Moony was howling in joy because of the presence he felt. A presence Remus now felt too, but he knew that it could not be true. Could it?

Remus turned towards the wall on his right, but before he cold even draw his wand he was interrupted.

Moony howled as he heard the voice of his old pack mate again. How long had it been since he had last heard this voice, since his human self had laughed about a joke it had made, since he had last heard his human self talk with it until dawn had risen? When had he last heard this voice speak encouraging and consoling words before and after he had once more taken over his human host's mind?

But something was wrong, somehow his pack mate's voice now didn't sound encouraging and friendly at all. It had a menacing quality Moony had never heard it hold before.

Moony flinched and howled in pain when he realized that his pack mate's intention this time wasn't to help, but to harm.

His pack mate's cold voice said just one word, one word that made Moony's world collapse once more in the blink of an eye.

His pack mate's voice said 'Crucio'.

Without a chance to react or to defend himself, Remus fell to the floor and screamed in pain.