The Final Battle

The Day After

Remus hurried back into his chambers, trying not to let his anger show to the few people he met on his way. It had taken him a lot of self-restraint to remain calm while talking to Harry, when the full moon pulled at him he was walking on a very thin line between calmness and fury. And the stubborn boy had nearly made him give in to the fury and try to shake some sense into him. Once or twice during their conversation Remus had even felt the wolf surfacing, screaming into his mind to make the boy see reason. That was why it wasn't advisable to argue with him around full moon, his wolf mostly got the better of him then.

Remus had only ever met one person who could be just as stubborn as Harry, and that was the person the boy still refused to talk to.

Still fuming, Remus reached his rooms and flung the doors open. Sirius, who had been sitting in a chair in front of the fireplace, had spun around and pulled out his wand at the sound of the slamming door. Even though his name had been cleared for nearly a year now, the years on flight had left their marks in Sirius' behaviour and still provoked him to react like an escaped convict from time to time. Once, during the Christmas holidays, Remus had unfortunately been the receiving end of a curse from the startled Sirius. He had merely closed the refrigerator door with a sudden sound, he had not thought about it twice. But Sirius had been so lost in the newspaper he had been reading that he had not acknowledged Remus' presence in the room. At the sound of the door slammed shut, he had spun around and shot a full body bind onto the 'intruder'. Remus had fallen to the ground and had received a nasty gash where his head had hit the counter.

He had been quite angry at that time, even though he could understand where that overwhelming urge for self defence stemmed from, and though Sirius had apologized and sworn that it would never happen again, Remus had promised himself not to startle his friend anymore. It was an act of self-protection.

But now he had forgotten about it, and seeing Sirius with his wand raised at him, a curse already on the lips, he scolded himself that he had allowed Harry to upset him like that. Remus shook his head while Sirius sighed and put away the wand again.

"Lucky you hesitated this time, or I'd have another scar in my collection."

Sirius didn't answer to the jest, but merely stared at his old friend.

"You don't look too good. What happened, did you have a little encounter with everybody's favourite Slytherin?"

Remus only shook his head and made his way towards the bedroom, but Sirius didn't give up that easily, Remus should have known that. In mid-way he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. Sighing, Remus turned around, only to see a genuinely concerned Sirius standing in front of him.

"Now, what's up? First you leave without telling me what you're doing, though it was quite obvious that you were up to something, and now you come back and look as if you had duelled with the Devil himself. Care to tell me what really went on?"

Remus just shook his head and allowed himself to fall quite unceremoniously into an armchair next to the fireplace.

"Well, you're quite right about one thing. I feel as if I had duelled the Devil himself, honestly."

"So you did meet that slimy git Snape on your way here, didn't you?"

Again, Remus only shook his head.

"No, actually I didn't meet Severus on my way here. I went to talk to Harry before the fracas tonight possibly starts. And believe me, it surely is easier to convince Severus to wash his hair than to have a reasonable conversation with your godson."

Sirius let himself fall onto the sofa in front of Remus and stared at his friend.

"What did you do?"

"Locked myself with him in the DADA classroom and told him that I wouldn't let him out before he told me what was going on with him."

Sirius laughed harshly.

"Oh really, as if that would work. You knew that the boy is stubborn as hell."

Remus nodded pensively. He was fighting an inner struggle as to what he should tell Sirius from his conversation with Harry.

"Oh yes, stubborn he is, but I merely didn't give in. And if he had not started talking, we would possibly have sat there until Voldemort himself had started searching for him."

Now Sirius raised a curious eyebrow.

"You mean he actually talked to you?"

"More like shouted, but yes. Wasn't pretty, I can tell you. If I didn't know better, I'd say he's your son. Just as stubborn and hot-tempered, really."

Sirius now sat on the edge of the couch, clearly curious as to what his godson had told Remus about the reasons for his behaviour.

"And? What did he say?"

Remus realized that holding back the truth from his old friend wouldn't work this time, and maybe it was for the best that Sirius finally knew what was going on. He sighed.

"To sum it up? From what he said and even more from what he shouted, I guess that ever since he's woken up he has started blaming you for what happened to Lily and James. He thinks that you're to blame for the fact that he doesn't have a family anymore."

The reason why Remus had hesitated to tell Sirius about this was that he knew exactly how Sirius would react to that revelation. James' and Lily's death was a blame Sirius was more than willing to take, and Remus wasn't fairly sure whether he himself was ready for another round of self pity on Sirius' behalf. But in the end it was Sirius' right to know, and if somebody knew how to talk Harry out of that idiotic idea, then maybe it was his godfather himself. Now he doubted that it had been such a hell of a good idea. Sirius sat in front of him, opening and closing his mouth like a fish, clearly searching for the right words.

"He...what??? But...why...and now?"

Remus shrugged his shoulders.

"I really don't know Sirius. I still am convinced that something happened while he was asleep, something he didn't tell anybody about. And that's the outcome. He has withdrawn far into himself, and somehow he thinks he knows everything about the situation back then and that he has the right to judge over everybody's behaviour, especially yours. I really don't know Sirius, I don't know what to do. I tried everything I could think of to talk some sense into him, but I don't think it worked. He's so convinced of the idea that you're the one to blame, he won't let go off it."

Seeing the expression on his best friend's face, Remus quickly became even more serious.

"And don't even start it, Padfoot, don't even start it. I swear, if I hear one word along the line of 'maybe he's right' from you, I'll hex you from here to next Tuesday without thinking twice about it. Now is not the time to wallow yourself in self-pity, that won't help anybody. Least of all yourself."

Sirius sighed and shook his head, clearly not convinced of what his friend had told him.

"But we have another problem at hand."

Sirius looked up expectantly.

"What?"

"I overheard Ron and Hermione this morning. They plan not to leave the castle in case something happens tonight."

Sirius shrugged his shoulders.

"And? Dumbledore has got the Marauder's Map, even if they use the invisibility cloak, they'll show up on the map and we'll be able to send them away along with the others."

Remus shook his head.

"I still don't like it. They won't be leaving easily, and if we are attacked we won't have enough time to have a reasonable discussion with them."
"So what do you suggest?"

Remus got up to his feet again and determinedly walked towards the door.

"I'll have a quick talk with Albus and then I'll have another talk with Ron and Hermione. Do you want to come along? A distraction might do you wonders, it's no use if you just ponder on your problems. And maybe Harry has used his time to think about what I told him..."

Sirius quickly got to his feet at the prospect of a calmed-down Harry and followed Remus out of the door.

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

After Remus had stormed out of the DADA classroom, Harry had continued staring out of the window for a couple of minutes. Truly, Remus had been angry, furious even. Harry could tell that with some practice from the latest holidays. But he had been far from being calm himself. Did it really never stop? Would everybody continue just like this, telling him what was right and what was wrong, telling him what to think and never allowing him to make up his own mind about things?

It was true, Remus had known his parents while they had been still alive, and probably he knew what they had thought then. But he had seen them, had lived with them just recently. He knew very well that Sirius and Remus were wrong if they thought that his parents would forgive Sirius his cowardice so easily. He knew that especially his father didn't want him to take Sirius as a role model, he knew that James was highly disappointed by his former best friend.

And now Remus came and tried to tell him that he knew better and that Harry - just as usual - knew nothing at all. But not this time! No way! Harry had been ready to give in and talk to his godfather before Remus had started playing teacher again, but not now. Those two really thought that they knew anything, didn't they?

Angrily, Harry got up from his chair and left the room, slamming the door shut behind himself. Nobody was there to hear it, but Harry didn't care at the moment. All he wanted was to find something to let his anger out on, and why not chose a door?

"Oh---Rotty---Rotty---Potty---!"

Or - Harry thought - why not chose Peeves?

A malicious grin on his face, Harry pulled out his wand and thought about a good hex or curse for the annoying Poltergeist.

Peeves opened his mouth again, another insult already on his lips, when Harry raised his wand and shouted:

"Stupefy!"

Not very inventive, but it did its job nevertheless.

Of course Harry knew that the stunning curse wouldn't last long against a Poltergeist, but somehow it gave him at least a satisfied feeling in his stomach that there had been something he could do against that unnerving ghost.

With a grin on his face, Harry made his way down the staircases towards the Great Hall. Peeves would be even more of an annoyance after the stunning spell had worn off, but at the moment Harry couldn't care less about it. maybe he didn't even live to see tomorrow at all, so why should he still care about the hurt pride of a Poltergeist?

Harry started whistling a tune he had heard on the radio during his holidays, and with a swing in his step he entered the Great Hall and made his way towards the Gryffindor table where Ron and Hermione were already waiting for him.

The Great Hall was unusually quiet this evening. Though most of the students had come at the same time, because nobody really wanted to wander the castle alone, hardly anybody spoke. Everybody in the room was tense and nervous, a fact that also applied to the teachers.

Flitwick's voice was even more squeaky than usual, McGonagall's lips were pressed together even more tightly, Snape was even more pale and one look at Remus showed him clearly tat the moon was already pulling very hard on him, a fact Harry had not noticed earlier on during their conversation.

Shaking his head, Harry sat down next to Ron and helped himself to some dinner. If he had to face the Dark Lord tonight, he surely wouldn't do it on an empty stomach. The thought of how little he actually cared about what he was to confront that night nearly made Harry laugh. But it was true, he couldn't care less about what would happen to him anymore. What had Hagrid said? What comes, does come and there's no way that we can prevent it. Something along these lines, at least.

Ron and Hermione shot him curious looks, obviously his absence and now his reappearance with a somewhat mad smile on his lips had done nothing to ease their minds.

"Where have you been, Harry?"

Ron finally blurted out. Harry grinned painfully.

"I've taken a walk around the castle, but Remus thought it would be a wise idea to give me a last lecture about how I am allowed to behave and what I am allowed to think. He locked me in the DADA classroom and refused to let me out, that's why I've been away so long."

Hermione just shot him a curious look.

"And what did you two talk about?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders.

"Nothing important, really. Let's talk about something less tense, there's enough tension in this room to last for a lifetime. What have you two been up to this afternoon?"

Ron and Hermione shrugged their shoulders.

"Well, Hermione has been in the library, as usual. I guess she wanted to pay it a last visit, in case the castle isn't there anymore tomorrow. I on the other hand have been thinking about a way to stay in the castle tonight."

Harry shook his head.

"Listen Ron, as glad as I am that you two don't want to leave me alone, but please listen to me. It's of no use if you stay here and endanger yourself on my behalf. And Dumbledore won't let you, he asked me to hand over the Marauder's Map, so you won't have any chance to stay unnoticed anyway. Just do me a favour and leave when we get attacked. I'd be more at ease to know that you're safe."

Hermione slowly nodded, seeing the reason in Harry's words, but Ron shook his head feverishly.

"No way I'm going to leave you here alone, I thought you knew that. If Dumbledore wants to send me away with the others, he'll have to find me and make me leave."

Harry smiled but now it was Hermione's turn to shake her head in protest.

"Ron, maybe Harry is right. I mean, when the castle gets attacked, they'll have more important things to do than waste their time in searching for us. Maybe we should leave with the others, though I hate that idea just as much as you do."

Ron merely kept on shaking his head, indicating tht there was nothing that could convince him of leaving his best friend alone in time of need.

They were interrupted, however, when Dumbledore rose from his seat after the meal.

"Just a short notice for everybody before you leave. As you all know, the possibility that we'll be attacked tonight remains. I once again advice you to keep the rules for this night in mind. The teachers and I have agreed that no student is allowed to leave his or her common room after nine o'clock, this should make an evacuation easier if needed. The corridors will be patrolled by teachers; the prefects and Head Boy and Head Girl meet with the teachers after dinner in the staff room, please.

That is all, you may leave now."

Dumbledore sat down again, and Ron, Harry and Hermione were just about getting up and leaving the Great Hall together with their classmates, when Dumbledore's voice held them back.

"Miss Granger, Misters Weasley and Potter, a word if you don't mind."

The three teens looked at each other, but as everybody didn't seem to have an explanation for this, they simply followed the headmaster into the antechamber of the Great Hall. Not very surprisingly, Sirius and Remus were already waiting for them.

"Professor? You wanted to speak to us?"

Dumbledore smiled, his blue eyes sparkling somewhat mischievously behind his half moon glasses.

"Yes Ms. Granger, indeed. Now, word has reached my ears that you and Mr. Weasley refuse to leave the castle tonight, even in case that we get attacked. Is that true?"

Hermione blushed and looked at the floor while Ron glared daggers at Remus. This morning, Hermione and Ron had met him in the DADA corridor and just like Ron had guessed he must have overheard parts of their conversation from the door to his classroom. Blasted keen werewolf hearing!

Ron shook his head. He had thought that Remus, no especially Remus, had an understanding for what leaving the castle meant for him and Hermione. From everything he had heard about the Marauders, none of them would have abandoned their friends either. Hermione started to speak, but Ron interrupted her.

"Professor, we didn't..."

"Yes Professor, we won't leave Harry behind. Maybe there won't be much for us to do, but I don't want to leave the castle, not knowing whether my friend is still alive when I return. You will have to catch me and drag me out of the castle to make me leave."

While saying this, Ron kept on glaring openly at Remus, who didn't flinch but caught Ron's furious gaze and returned it calmly.

Hermione drew a shocked breath of air, but Dumbledore merely continued looking at Ron with the same sparkle in his eyes.

"I'm afraid that we won't have much time for a game of hide-and-seek in case we get attacked tonight. That's why I asked you to come here, in fact.

Remus and Sirius have told me countless times that it is hardly possible to separate the three of you in times of need, but only now I realize how right they were about this. So I have a bargain for you.

If we get attacked tonight, you won't have to leave with your housemates. I allow you to stay at the castle, but under certain conditions:

Sirius will fetch the three of you in your Common Room and then will guide you into the Great Hall. No walking around on your own.

Minerva will floo to the Ministry for reinforcements and the Great Hall will become the temporary infirmary during the attack. This is where you, Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley, will stay during the attack. You won't leave the Great Hall, under no circumstances, is that understood? Madam Pomfrey can surely need some helping hands when things get tough."

Ron and Hermione nodded, though Ron still seemed quite reluctant about this.

"So we won't be able to stay with Harry?"

Dumbledore shook his head.

"Mr. Weasley, under no circumstances will I allow you to stay at Harry's side during the entire ordeal. Other than being another pair of under aged wizards to watch, the two of you would make the perfect bait or pawn for the Dark Lord. No, you will stay inside of the castle, all the time, inside of the Great Hall to be precise."

Both nodded.

"Okay."

Ron still wasn't convinced, but he realized that there was nothing he could do to get more out of the headmaster.

Dumbledore meanwhile turned towards Harry.

"You Mr. Potter will stay in the castle just as well, until you hear something different from me. Under no circumstances will you leave Sirius' side."

Harry groaned and rolled his eyes.

"And what if he leaves the castle?"

"He won't leave the castle unless circumstances leave him no other choice. In that case, you do what I just told you - stay close to him, don't leave his sight and listen to what he tells you. And under no circumstances you'll go and seek out the Dark Lord yourself, no matter what happens. Is that understood?"

Harry nodded, but again rolled his eyes. He could guess quite clearly why Dumbledore wanted to force him to stay close to Sirius, but the idea annoyed him without ends. For some moments, Dumbledore locked his gaze with Harry's, then he smiled and clapped his hands.

"Now that his is cleared, I'd advise you to go to Gryffindor Tower and try to grab some sleep. Good night."

"Good night."

The three chorused in unison and turned to leave the room. For a short moment, Harry and Sirius looked at each other, but just when Sirius started to say something, Harry quickly looked away and stepped towards the door.

The three Gryffindors made their way back into their common room in silence. Just when they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, Ron broke the somewhat uncomfortable silence.

"Well, that was better than we expected, wasn't it?"

Hermione nodded and gave the password while Harry only snorted mockingly.

"Yeah, for you maybe. You're not forced to stick to Sirius for the entire evening. Let alone search out Voldemort, of which I still don't know how Dumbledore wants to achieve it."

Hermione shook her head while Ron still flinched at the sound of Voldemort's name.

"Well, I think that there are worse things than to stay at Sirius' side. At least now I won't be that concerned about your safety anymore, Harry."

Harry just shook his head and made his way towards the staircase.

"Whatever. I think I'll go to bed now, better grab some sleep while I still can. Good night Ron, Hermione."

He nodded at his two friends who returned his good night greetings, and then made his way upstairs into his dormitory.

Harry was fairly sure that he wouldn't get any sleep that night, but lying in bed and at least trying to get some seemed to be more reasonable than staying up and worrying.

Downstairs in the Common Room, Ron and Hermione remained for some minutes more, both struggling to find the right words for what was going on inside of their minds. Ron stared at his friend somewhat strangely for some moments, before he nodded at her and turned towards the staircase.

"Night Herm."

She nodded back.

"Night Ron."

Some things didn't need many words to express.

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

That all had been yesterday evening.

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

Now it was morning, dawn rose over Hogwarts. Under the unmoving form of the Whomping Willow stood the likewise unmoving form of Remus J. Lupin and stared at the sight that lay in front of him. From time to time he shook his head, the only sign indicating that he had not turned into stone.

Remus could not believe what he saw on the grounds of Hogwarts. For some long minutes, he merely stared at what he saw, trying to make sense of it. Something here was dreadfully wrong, it all felt wrong.

He had to go, he had to find Dumbledore and Sirius. Maybe they had an explanation for what had happened that night. Or rather - for what had not happened.

Remus himself could come up with some explanations on his own, but he refused to let his mind ponder on any of them now. They were all far too upsetting, and each of them rather posed more questions than really answering them.

As fast as his feet would carry him, Remus ran across the grounds and into the castle. He didn't meet anybody on his way, everything was quiet. As he ran through the dark castle, Remus couldn't help but feel as if he was the only person left at Hogwarts. Nothing moved, no voices could be heard and not even one of the ghosts or Peeves made an appearance. None of this helped to brighten his mood or calm his worries, of course.

Panting, Remus reached the stone gargoyle in front of Dumbledore's office, only to realize that this was where his journey ended. The headmaster had changed the password yesterday, he knew as much. What he didn't know was the new password. Dumbledore's liking for sweets was widely known, so Remus guessed he had changed it into something that could not be bought at Honeydukes this time. But what? Randomly, Remus tried some sweets (despite better knowledge) as well as the names of some former headmasters and famous wizards and witches. Nothing happened.

Remus leaned on the stonewall next to the gargoyle and thought hard. Dumbledore must have chosen a password that would make it impossible for any Death Eater who might enter the castle to get into his office and bring down the wards around the castle. But what could be the safest password, something no Death Eater would never try to use?

Remus had to smile. Dumbledore's sense of humour sometimes really was weird, but this time it appeared to provide the best solution possible. Of course, the only word most Death Eaters were far too afraid to utter aloud was

"Voldemort".

Immediately, the gargoyle moved aside and Remus ran up the spiral staircase behind it as fast as his feet would carry him. When he reached the wooden door, he was panting again and the room around him began to spin a little. He raised a hand and knocked, then leaned heavily onto the wooden doorframe and waited for an answer.

"Come in."

Hesitating shortly, Remus opened the door and entered the room. Albus was standing behind his desk, and in the chairs in front of it Hermes Wielding and three Ministry Aurors were seated. McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick and Sirius sat on sofas and chairs at the wall.

The moment Remus opened the doors, everybody in the room started staring at him. Looking down on himself, Remus realized that he indeed gave a strange impression. He wore his oldest robes and pants, his hair was untidy and there surely were deep shadows under his eyes making him look ill. Besides, he was panting hard and feeling as if he would collapse any moment.

Sirius immediately jumped to his feet and helped Remus onto the next sofa while Dumbledore turned towards the fireplace and spoke to somebody. Then he poured some tea into a mug and handed it to Sirius who had sat down next to Remus.

Remus wanted to take the mug himself, but only then did he realize that he was shivering far too much to hold the cup steady. Sirius was just about to spread a blanket across his shoulders when Madam Pomfrey came bursting into the room and immediately started checking Remus over.

Dumbledore smiled somewhat sheepishly, it was the first time that Remus saw him like that.

"I'm so sorry if you were worried Remus. I'm afraid that we completely forgot to look after you this morning. Last night's events were quite...strange and unexpected, to put it mildly."

Remus tried to sit up despite Madam Pomfrey's efforts to check on him and despite Sirius' attempts to make him drink the warm tea. All the fussing about him as if he was invalid made him feel embarrassed, especially since it not only happened in front of Dumbledore, but also in front of some staff members, Snape included, the Minister of Magic and three Aurors. Not to mention that this whole ordeal had interrupted the conversation that had been going on before he arrived. Finally, Remus managed to sit up again and looked around.

McGonagall was involved in a whispered discussion with Flitwick while Snape seemed to be gleeful about Remus' distress. Hermes and Dumbledore were watching him with a mixture of concern and amusement while the three Aurors just stared at him.

Remus shrugged away Madam Pomfrey's hand and tried to catch Dumbledore's gaze.

"Albus, what happened last night?"

Dumbledore smiled tiredly and shook his head.

"We were just discussing it, Remus. Last night...nothing happened."

Remus leaned back against the sofa and stared at his former headmaster in disbelief.

"What do you mean, 'nothing'?"

Dumbledore just shrugged.

"What I say. Nothing happened. There was no attack, neither on Hogwarts, nor on the Ministry or any other place, be it magical or muggle. Hermes just arrived to discuss the possible meaning behind this."

Remus shook his head and tried to find a deeper meaning behind everything he had seen since he had left the tunnel this morning and had found the Hogwarts grounds in exactly the same way than they had been the evening before. Ever since then, his instincts had begun to run amok, something seemed to scream 'not right' inside of him. Something was wrong, full moon had been the ideal time for an attack on Hogwarts, he had no explanation why Voldemort would let such a possibility pass away unused.

Dumbledore watched him with a somewhat bemused expression.

"Believe me Remus, when I say that we've been thinking along the same lines. It has been the ideal opportunity, why did Voldemort let it pass? But I'm afraid that neither of us had an answer for it."

For the first time, one of the Ministry Aurors spoke.

"Why don't we ask the werewolf here himself what You-Know-Who told him and his kin? I thought that providing such information was the reason why he was allowed to stay here."

Remus felt Sirius tense beside him at those words and immediately put an arm across his stomach to prevent him from jumping at the Auror and beating him into a bloody pulp. He was no child anymore and this was no Slytherin who had made a nasty remark. Remus was an adult now and he had learned to stand up on his own behalf long ago, something Sirius often refused to see.

With a saccharine sweet smile towards the Auror, Remus began.

"Believe me, Auror...", he looked at the name tag on the Auror's uniform, "Auror Waylans, if there was something like a 'shared werewolf conscience', and I had received some information from Voldemort", he stressed the Dark Lord's name and gladly realized that the Auror flinched at that, "then you'd be the first to know. Until then, I'm afraid that you'll have to make your own investigations. I believe that's what you're paid for, isn't it?"

"Besides", Dumbledore could be heard from behind his desk, "Remus is one of the teachers here at the castle and one of the few people into whom I lay absolute trust. If you have a problem with that or see the need to comment on his condition again, I'm afraid that I have to ask you to leave the castle.

Now, if we could please return to the matter at hand."

Dumbledore gave Remus a short smile, but the other man didn't really notice. He was still occupied with hindering Sirius form hexing the Auror on the spot. Wielding shot Remus an apologetic glance which was returned with a short smile.

"So you want to say that you don't have any explanations either."

Dumbledore shook his head.

"I'm afraid we don't. If he wanted to use the werewolves against Hogwarts, then yesterday night would have been the perfect opportunity. There's so much time to be prepared until the next full moon, risking that doesn't sound like Voldemort at all. The only explanation I got is that he won't use the werewolves against Hogwarts, and then an attack is possible every day."

Remus nodded slowly and tried to process the new pieces of information. Finally, he looked up.

"Then it would be best to leave all additional wards in place and to keep up the evacuation plans. There's hardly more we can do about it."

Dumbledore nodded.

"That is the conclusion we came to, yes."

Snape had been listening to the conversation in silence, though it had been hard for him to hide his obvious amusement. First about Remus' little discomfort but later about the werewolf's anger towards the Auror. He knew exactly that it was a very stupid idea to insult him because of what he was, especially this close to the full moon and with Dumbledore and Black around. But now he thought it would be wise to keep rational about the future dealing with the situation.

"Headmaster, what about the students that were sent home?"

Dumbledore sighed.

"Ah yes. I'll have owls sent out to them this morning. I think it would be wise to call them back this weekend, so that school can resume on Monday. We will let the parents know about the additional security means in the castle and that it's necessary for the children's education to return here. I think we can provide a somewhat safe castle for them."

The teachers and Wielding nodded in agreement and rose. The Aurors had already left the room while Dumbledore once more called for the attention of the Minister.

"Hermes?"

Wielding turned around and gave Dumbledore a questioning look.

"Yes Albus?"

"How many Auror units could you provide us with in case we get attacked?"

Wielding sat back and thought for a moment. Finally, he looked up.

"At the moment all Auror units are on constant alert. If anything happens, I can provide you with three to five units immediately, then depending on whether there are any other attacks, another five within the next twenty minutes. If there are no further attacks, I could send up to twenty units within half an hour."
Dumbledore calculated for a moment.

"That means sixty to hundred Aurors immediately, another hundred within twenty minutes and four hundred maximum."

"In case that no other attacks happen the same night, yes."

Hermes nodded. Dumbledore thought for a moment, then smiled at the Minister.

"I hope it won't be necessary, but thank you nevertheless, Hermes. I just hope that not all Aurors have such an attitude problem like Mr. Waylans."

Wielding shook his head.

"Auror Waylans will have to overcome his attitude problem if he doesn't want to scrub the toilets in the Auror education centre for the next year, I'll make sure about that. Good bye Albus."

Dumbledore smiled.

"Good bye, Hermes."

Both men nodded at each other and Hermes turned towards the door. On his way out, he stopped in front of Remus and smiled at him. Both men knew each other form one or two random meetings during the last couple of weeks, but not any closer. Not close enough that some basic issues were cleared between them, Wielding decided.

"Mr. Lupin, I am sorry about Mr. Waylan's behaviour and I apologize for it. It's embarrassing to admit this, but I'm afraid that it will take a lot more time to get all the prejudice out of our Ministry."
Remus shook his head and returned the smile.

"You're not responsible for your Auror's attitude. And believe me, I'm used to hear worse."

"The fact that it is like that doesn't mean that it should be like it is. Until next time, Mr. Lupin. Good bye Madam Pomfrey, Sirius."

The nurse and Sirius nodded at the Minister and Hermes left the office. Madam Pomfrey let out a sigh of relief.

"Finally. Now Remus, please lie back while I check on you. It's still astonishing how little you care about your own health, all of you."

She added the last part with a stern look at Sirius. Remus sighed and allowed Madam Pomfrey to check on him, though he knew very well that he was fine, probably only needed some hours of sleep. But he still strictly refused to let Sirius help him drink the tea.

"Sirius, I'm no invalid. I think I can manage to drink a cup of tea myself, thank you very much."

Sirius groaned something in response but handed the cup over to Remus, who by now managed to hold it steadily. Madam Pomfrey ended her check up after some minutes, declaring Remus healthy and only in the need of some rest. With a nod at the headmaster, she was gone again.

The three remaining men in the office looked at each other for some moments, before Remus broke the silence and asked what had been on his mind the entire morning.

"And what is the unofficial explanation for this?"

Dumbledore managed a weak smile and sat down in one of the recently vacated chairs.

"I'm afraid that it's very much like the official version of the story. I have no explanation for Voldemort's decision not to strike, only that he has planned something even more malicious than sending Dementors, werewolves and Death Eaters against the castle. And what that could be, I don't even want to imagine."

Sirius nodded.

"And as much effort we put into it, we've not been able to discover any trace of Death Eaters all over the country. They seem to be hiding, and they seem to be hiding very well. There's nothing the Ministry can do at the moment."

"So we're back to sit and wait, aren't we?"

"I'm afraid we are, Remus. I'm afraid we are."

All three men got lost in their thoughts for some more moments, until Sirius got up and declared that it was time for Remus to get to bed. For once, Remus didn't argue with his friend.

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

Valeria Salenin was upset. No, that was an understatement, she was furious. She just came back from a meeting with the master and his 'servant' Wormtail. Until then, she had not met him, had only heard stories that despite the fact that he had brought Voldemort back to England and nursed him up, he was a coward and a hypocrite, but she had refused to believe that Voldemort would allow somebody like that to work so close to him.

She had been wrong.

Valeria could not believe why her master allowed this man to occupy the place at his side, a place she herself felt predestined to take. Sure, the Dark Lord used Wormtail as a mean to let his anger out on, but nevertheless he was always present. And now this man should work together with her forces, because 'he knew a thing or two about the topic from his time at school'. Ha! Had it not been such a sad situation, Valeria would have laughed out loud. If anybody knew something about her forces, then it was her and the guards. After all, she had been the one to brew the potion and the guards had - well, guarded the forced. Of what use could that balding, fat man that currently struggled to keep up with her pace in order not to get lost in the dungeon system, be of any use for her? She really didn't envy the guard she had chosen as his partner.

Valeria came to a halt in front of the door that was the entry to the guards quarters. She opened the door and waited outside until the guards came out. They didn't lose much time to do so, knowing fully well that nothing was worth provoking the mistress' anger. So the eleven guards lined up along the wall and watched her with dull eyes. Not a sound disturbed the tense silence in the corridor except from Wormtail's panting beside her. She tried to ignore it, even though her wand hand itched to do some Cruciatus. But this had to wait for later, the master didn't like it if his plans were carried out with delay.

"We move tonight!"

Valeria bellowed. Wormtail flinched at the loud, echoing sound her voice produced in the corridor.

"Our master has told me that our plans will finally be carried out tonight. You know the procedure, I hope everybody remembers his role. You will pair up in twos, male with female. Each group will take one stable, everything is prepared for the group apparition. I'd advice you not to lose a single one of your charges, otherwise the consequences will be dire. Do not remove the wards and magical bonds until further notice. Now leave for your stables and wait for my signal to apparate."

The ten guards bowed and immediately hurried off to prepare for their tasks. They didn't show any sign of excitement, but what was to expect from people in their positions? It was hardly possible that all of them would survive that night, and excitement only resulted in mistakes. And mistakes were something Valeria Salenin didn't tolerate.

Valeria turned towards Wormtail and the remaining guard.

"Wormtail, this man is your partner for tonight. The Lord told me that he already informed you about the arrangement. He's there to watch your back and to remove every obstacle that could stand in your way. You're expected to work together, so don't leave each other's sight. That's all, I expect you in front of the Manor in half an hour, we'll apparate together. The guard knows the way out."
Without as much as a nod, Valeria turned around and walked into a passage Wormtail had not realized it was there. He turned towards the guard.

"So, you're the one I'm teaming up with tonight."
The guard nodded and started walking down the corridor. Knowing that he would be lost in this maze without the other, Wormtail walked next to him.

"Not very talkative, are we?"

The guard looked at him, never slowing his pace, then returned to staring ahead and shook his head.

"Talking just diverts from the task at hand."

He finally said. His voice was hoarse, as if he had not used his vocal chords in quite some time. Wormtail nodded.

"Yeah, you're right about that. I just want this to get started, I know that Dumbledore isn't prepared for such a strike, especially not now. And believe me, I know what I'm talking about. I knew him quite well when I was at school, and during that time I got a very good insight into what we will play with tonight. It somehow was my idea, you know? And the Dark Lord relies on my judgement in that matter. If we and our army strike successfully tonight, he'll reward me. I'm the key person in this attack."

The guard didn't really listen to Wormtail's ramblings. He was not interested in what the man had to say, he had his orders from Valeria and he would carry them out. And from everything that the small conscious part of his mind knew, the man was not telling the truth about himself and his role. Not that he cared. He had to watch Wormtail, kill everybody that got in his way and hinder Wormtail from doing something stupid himself. Besides that, he didn't care.

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

Walden McNair was not a very happy man. Everybody who knew him would have confirmed that immediately.

But not only did he refuse to be a happy man in general, because he thought that happy people just tried to cover up their faults and insecurities, right now he refused to be happy because it would have driven him mad. Literally.

During the last couple of weeks, Walden McNair had turned from an involuntarily unhappy man a voluntary unhappy man, and that was because he was chief guard in an old Manor with the dungeons full of Dementors. How anybody could stand the presence of those creatures would for ever remain a riddle to him. The first weeks had already been hard, though the Dementors had agreed to leave the guards alone, but during the last couple of days they had become restless. They were starved, they needed human emotions to feed from, and finally McNair had agreed to capture a group of homeless muggles to feed to the Dementors. The danger that the creatures could attack his guards had become too big, and finally the Dark Lord had given his agreement to that action.

But McNair got the feeling that this recent human prey had only upset the Dementors even more. He sighed. At least it would be over that night. He only had to stand their presence a couple of hours longer, and in the end the reward for his faithfulness would pay off the last weeks.

He had just apparated back from a meeting with the Dark Lord and had received his instructions. The last step had finally come, and though it was the most dangerous step, there was no turning back now. The Dementors had agreed to restrain from attacking the Death Eaters that apparated them to their destination, but only after the Dark Lord himself had spoken to them. McNair just hoped that they would stick to their promise. He didn't trust them, but what other choice did he have in that matter?

He entered the main room of the Manor in which all of his Death Eaters were already waiting for him. They were a small unit, only ten people, but that was enough for what they were supposed to do.

McNair nodded at them in greeting.

"The Lord has told me that we move tonight. In five hours, we'll apparate the Dementors to the destination we talked about, it's hidden in the Forbidden Forest. There we meet with Valeria Salenin and her famous secret army. We'll receive further instructions there. I expect everything to go as planned, I don't intend to stand in for any of your failures. That's it, we meet in four and a half hours back here again."

With another nod, Walden McNair had left the room. He headed back into his private quarters to ponder once again on the prize of unhappiness.

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

Three days had passed since the full moon night, and the tension in the castle had not lifted, not even a little. The students that had gone home had arrived back at the castle on Sunday morning, and every morning and evening, Dumbledore reminded the students about the security precautions and emergency plans. It was obvious that the insecurity which Voldemort's actions (or the lack of actions) had only increased, each teacher's face reflected it.

Lessons would start again tomorrow, at least this proposed some kind of distraction from the fact that nobody in the castle was sure about what would happen next.

Because the students were very reluctant to walk alone around the castle, mealtimes were very crowded because nearly all the students came in large groups into the Great Hall. On a normal Sunday, most students turned up some time after ten o' clock, some students skipped breakfast completely and turned up for an early lunch at twelve or sneaked into the kitchens between the ordinary mealtimes. This morning however, the entire student's body had eaten breakfast between ten and eleven, lunch between one and two in the afternoon, and right now at half past six most students had already finished their dinner and were back on their way into the common rooms. Only some very daring students had announced that they wanted to check on the library before retiring, to prepare for the start of lessons. That was something Hermione had been talking about the entire evening.

She, Ron and Harry were amongst the few Gryffindors that were still in the Great Hall having dinner. Other than them, only some Ravenclaws and Slytherins were there, as well as Snape and McGonagall.

"I really have to go to the library later on, I have to catch up in Charms and Transfiguration."

Ron only rolled his eyes.

"Really Hermione, what on earth do you have to catch upon to? Lessons have been cancelled for nearly the entire week, nobody has done as much as open a book during that time. Not to mention that you are already on top of every class."

"And that's where I want to stay, but I can't if I'm not prepared for the lessons. Really Ron, if you and Harry would just pay a little more attention to your studies, then I'd be more at ease."

Harry laughed and raised his hands in defeat.

"No Hermione, leave me out of it. You know that I'm hopeless, so don't try to change me. It's far too late for that."

Hermione shook her head and muttered something about it never being to late to start a reasonable attitude, when Ron's and Harry's attention was distracted. Turning around, she saw Remus come into the Great Hall and walk towards the teacher's table to grab some dinner.

When he arrived there and was about to take the seat next to Snape, she already wanted to look away, but then something caught her eye. Remus stumbled and nearly fell over, as if he had been hit by something. Only his grip on the back of Snape's chair held him upright.

Both men started talking, but they were too far away for the teens to hear.

With a curious gaze, Hermione turned around.

"Now, what was that?"

Harry and Ron shrugged their shoulders.

"I don't know", Harry said, "but I don't think that Remus stumbled."

On the teacher's table, Snape gave Remus an equally puzzled stare.

"Lupin, are you alright?"

Remus managed a small grin, then shook his head to get rid of the dizziness and sat down.

"Did you poison my Wolfsbane, Severus?"

Snape laughed harshly and shook his head.

"If I wanted to poison you Lupin, I'd want you to know that you were poisoned. I wouldn't brew something that took effects days later. So, what's up with you, maybe you should go and see Madam Pomfrey."

Remus shook his head.

"No, I don't think that it's something that Poppy could do anything about it. I just felt dizzy, just as if...I don't know, it's hard to describe. It felt as if the wolf was pulling, as if it wanted to get out. Not unlike before a transformation, only stronger and differently."

Snape grimaced in disgust and moved away from Remus.

"If you're about to transform now, out of what reason ever, you'd better get away from me!"
Remus smirked.

"I won't transform Severus, don't worry. That would feel different."

This statement didn't help to calm Severus down, not in the least, but nevertheless he continued eating. Minerva only shot a curious glance at her colleagues.

The moment Remus was about to put some food onto the plates, the lights in the Great Hall suddenly began to flutter and the temperature seemed to sink down. The spoon fell from Remus' hand, but nobody paid any attention to the sound of breaking china. The three teachers immediately sprang to their feet and drew their wands while some of the students started to scream. The dizziness in Remus' head returned and this time he clearly felt the wolf pulling to get out. He knew that it was impossible for him to transform now, just as well as the wolf was aware of that fact. But what could provoke his canine self to act like it did now? Remus somehow felt that he should know the answer, but right now he couldn't find it.

Suddenly, Dumbledore's voice could be heard, magically amplified so that he could be heard everywhere in the castle.

"The Students are to go to the nearest meeting point immediately. Don't panic, but walk straight to the nearest meeting point. The teachers there will tell you the further proceedings and apparate you out of the castle as soon as the danger draws nearer. Just follow their instructions and none of you will be in danger. The remaining teachers meet me in the Great Hall immediately."

Remus sighed and wished he knew what was going on outside, on the castle grounds. What attacked them, and why did Voldemort chose to attack right now?

He didn't have time to ponder on these thoughts, anyway. After making sure that the Gryffindors remained calm, he left Harry, Ron and Hermione at the table and guided the rest of them over to where Snape had assembled the few Slytherins. McGonagall left the Great Hall and made her way to the next fireplace to floo to the Ministry immediately. Remus turned towards the Hufflepuffs, and with the calmest of voices told them that they weren't in immediate danger. He left them on one side of the Great Hall together with the remaining students in the Hands of Irma Sprout who had just come into the Hall. She would be the one to apparate the students out from here.

Only moments later, the doors flung open again, and Dumbledore entered, followed by a red-faced Sirius and Madam Pomfrey. Behind the nurse, infirmary supplies were floating into the Great Hall and automatically beginning to line themselves up. With a couple of wand-waves, the nurse changed the Great Hall into a temporary hospital while Madam Sprout led the children into the ante-chamber for the apparition.

When Sirius saw that his charges were safely in the Great Hall and he didn't have to fetch them in Gryffindor Tower, he left the Great Hall once again. Harry inwardly smiled. So much about 'stick to Sirius, no matter what happens'.

Dumbledore had pulled out the Marauder's Map and checked it carefully. A short smile showed at the corners of his lips, then he once more pointed his wand at his throat and announced:

"All students have reached the meeting points. The teachers can start the apparition in five minutes, the anti apparition ward will be down for two minutes. That should be enough to apparate the students into safety and return to the castle. After this, the teachers are to report in the Great Hall."

Hermione, Ron and Harry were surprised at how calm the teachers remained. Madam Pomfrey kept on setting up beds and tables with supplies, Dumbledore checked on the Marauder's Map that nobody apparated into the castle while the wards were down, Snape, Remus and McGonagall, who had just returned, stood next to him and talked in low voices.

After a couple of minutes, Dumbledore sighed in relief. Obviously, the students had been apparated out safely and the wards were back in place. One after another, the teachers came into the Great Hall and made their way up towards Dumbledore, ignoring the three Gryffindors completely. Even Hagrid didn't as much as nod into their direction.

All the while, the lights had continued to flutter and the room had become increasingly colder. Everybody in the room knew what that meant, and they were prepared for Dementors. Minerva had been assured that at least six Auror units would arrive on the edge of the castle ground immediately, and more were to follow.

What nobody was prepared for however, was the news Sirius brought.

After only a couple of minutes, that seemed like hours to Harry and his friends, he came back into the Great Hall. His face was white like a tablecloth and his jaw was set determinedly. He immediately went over towards Dumbledore, and Harry could see that his hands were clenched into fists at his side. Whatever Sirius had to tell Dumbledore, it surely wasn't very pleasant.

Dumbledore and Remus looked up when Sirius reached the teacher's table, Remus immediately noticed his friend's distress. After so many years, he could read Sirius body language with ease.

"What is it, Sirius?"

Sirius sighed deeply.

"I've just taken a look outside. The wards seem to be intact until now, and there are Dementors coming out of the Forbidden Forest. I guess you all already knew as much. But there's something more."

Remus realized that his hands were damp with sweat and his heart was beating at least twice as fast as normal. What could possibly upset Sirius like that?

"What else, Sirius?"

Sirius locked his gaze with Remus'.

"Werewolves."