Post OotP - Lupin is coming to terms with the losses in his life and struggling to continue with his role within The Order. He has more trouble than he thought when a mysterious ailment plagues him and makes him a danger to those in the Order. Circumstances change the war gets a lot worse. After a series of events Lupin and Hermione find that all was not as it seemed nor who it seemed to be, and they grow much closer, more than seemed possible.

There was nothing feral about his face, nothing wolfish, but there was something haunted about that face, something that said it had seen and felt too much. The grey flecks in his hair emphasised the belief that there was too much lost, and framed it.

“I daresay those kids are still in bed, well, apart from Hermione, who’s probably finishing washing up as we speak whilst reading a few chapters of a book!” She smiled and then laughed when she noticed the book beside Lupin. He followed the direction of her eyes, saw the book, and looked a little embarrassed. “Nothing wrong with that. It's the sign of a determined mind,” Lupin picked the book up and held it; he ignored the one raised eyebrow look he was getting from Tonks.

Remus Lupin entered Grimmauld Place; it was dark, quiet, and almost deserted....