Remus Lupin gazed at the stack of papers on his desk. It was much too late for any respectable professor to be starting his grading, he thought, but sat at his desk all the same, searching through the mess for a lantern. The only light in the room was the half moon. It was a clear night and the half visible cosmic body filled the professor with both dread and relief. Lighting the old lantern with a flick of his wand he heard a whimper, like an injured animal. It hadn't come in through the window. Whatever had made the sound was very close. Lantern in on hand, pointed wand in the other, Remus slowly swept the office.

In the corner the shuttering Bogart wardrobe made with the wall a black mound shifted. And as Remus slowly approached, the pool of lantern light advancing with him, he realized it was breathing; shakily, with a raspy uneven rhythm.

When the black dog raised its head Lupin jumped almost a foot backwards in surprise. But setting the lantern on the floor, the demeanour of a war-hardened wizard quickly took over.

"Don't move." Lupin's hand was steady, pointed at the mangy animal. "Twitch and I'll end you. I will."

Right before his eyes the animagus transformed, a man spilling outwards from the corner so that he lay on his back, eyes half open, breathing still raspy. With the dirty hair, sallow face, and clothes which were barely more than rags this man looked very different than the Sirius he had known. It was so unmistakeably his best friend however, that for a second Lupin stood frozen. It had been so long

"Hey, Remus," the criminal croaked, as if it pained him to speak. "Long time no see."

Lupin realized then that he was clutching his stomach, blood bubbling up through his fingers. He was very injured, not going anywhere.

"I'm turning you in." By some miracle Lupin managed to keep his voice emotionless.

"Please," Sirius whispered. "I wouldn't have done this to you. I wouldn't have dragged you in but I had no other option. You're all I have left."

"You betrayed James and Lily, killed Peter, if you honestly think I'd still consider you a friend you've gone even madder than I thought."

"After all we went through together I expected a little more faith. Or at least I did..." He paused to take a deep, shuttering breath "...at the beginning. You may have abandoned me then, but I understand, I don't blame you. Just now that I'm here please—for old time's sake—just listen. I didn't do it. I was framed!" It was like he was trying to increase volume but could not get enough air in his lungs. "I never could have. God, I couldn't have. I loved them."

There was a glaze in his dark eyes and he stared until Lupin looked away.

"Before I can hear a word you're saying I'm going to need proof." As Remus spoke the words burned his throat.

He couldn't let himself even think, even hope. Sirius's hands, where they had been covering his wound, began to slip, and he shuttered as if from cold.

"Hey!" Lupin kicked him in the shoulder. "Hey! Don't you dare pass out, not now."

He got down on his knees, grabbing the shabby man under the arms, trying to hold him upright.

"It was Wormtail," Sirius hissed, through gritted teeth. "The little rat's not dead. He's here..." Sirius gripped Lupin's arm, fingers digging in so hard it started to hurt. "Remus, he's here in the castle. He's here..."

As Sirius Black slipped into unconsciousness Lupin found himself in a rather difficult position. On one hand, if his friend was innocent he could not turn him over to the dementors, but on the other Sirius could be tricking him, using their past to his advantage. Either for good or for bad, Lupin did not have time to think. A decision was made for him when a loud crash resounded from what sounded like directly outside his classroom.

Being found with a wanted fugitive was probably not very good for his career, and it wasn't like Sirius was going to escape. Place under his desk. Cover in jackets. A quick attention diversion charm. Lupin did it all on instinct before darting from his office. Out in the hall he almost ran head long into Professor Snape who only acknowledged him with a grunt before continuing to run. His black cloak billowed out behind him as he barrelled down the darkened corridor. Lupin gave chase as well, lighting the end of the wand, though it warranted a round of complaints from the sleeping portraits he passed.

Sliding around the next corner they came face to face with Harry Potter himself clutching a brown rat to his chest. On the floor a rather ugly orange cat hissed, tail puffed up in a way that would have been quite comical, had Lupin not been preoccupied with other things.

"Mister. Potter." Severus paused after each word, drawing himself up to his full height, obviously taking pleasure in the fear he instilled in the thirteen year old boy. "Do you mind explaining to me what exactly you're doing wandering the corridors at this hour?"

Harry clutched the rat to his chest, casting a look at Lupin as if begging for help. "This is Ron's rat. I couldn't just let him get eaten, could I?"

"Give it here." Snape held out his hands. "This is clear negligence, and behaviour indicating an unfit animal owner."

Harry hesitated, looking again at Lupin, but eventually placed the struggling rodent in Snape's palm. The dark haired man dropped it into one of the deep pockets of his cloak before turning his attention back to the boy.

"Severus, do you really think that's necessary?" Lupin tried, fighting to hide the deep seeded dislike that the other man obviously shared.

"I'm saving the poor animal, Remus," he shot back, seeming not to have tried at all to hide the hatred in his voice. "To me the unnecessary death of a pet is a tragedy. We do what we can, as intelligent creatures, to protect them from the predators that would do them harm."

He gave a sweeping gesture that started with the cat on the floor but ended, not at all accidentally, on Lupin himself.

"I'm going to hang onto it, and if I ever see fit to return it to the Weasley boy I will."

The rat could just barely be seen squirming deep inside the folds of the black cloth.

"Potter..." Snape said. "Empty your pockets."

Remus's heart went out to James's son, stuck to face the wrath of Severus, but as Snape's college there was very little he could do. It was beyond obvious that the man was taking out his grudge against James on the boy and that made Lupin angry. Hadn't the poor child been through enough?

"Potter..."

Harry withdrew something from the pocket of his sweater. No... it couldn't be.

"It's just a piece of parchment, sir."

Snape pointed his wand at what Lupin knew now must be the map and said, "reveal your secrets."

Just as expected it showed the preprogrammed joke message, which Snape forced poor Harry to read aloud.

"Mr Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business.
Mr Prongs agrees with Mr Moony and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git.
Mr Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a Professor.
Mr Wormtail bids Professor Snape good day, and advises him to wash his hair, the slime-ball."

So ridiculous was the situation that Lupin knew he would have laughed, had the current situation not been what it was. Instead it felt like a punch to the gut, a reminder of how happy he'd used to be, and of the best years of his life. They were all gone now, all of them but the traitor he had left under his desk.

"Remus. Professor Lupin!" Snape had been speaking to him.

"Uh, sorry. What?"

"I was just saying how it is probably best for our defence against the dark arts teacher to investigate an artifact of such devious origin."

"Oh." Remus couldn't believe it. Was the git really going to hand it over to him? "I'm sure it's not, clearly just a piece of paper enchanted to insult anyone who tries to use it. But just in case... I better take it to my office to investigate fully."

When the slime-ball of a professor had gone on his way, not before dropping an illdisguised werewolf joke of course, Lupin spoke to Harry.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good," he said, bringing the familiar object to life, and all the emotions and memories that came with it.

There was astonishment in Harry's green eyes. He had obviously not put the pieces together yet. Mooney... Prongs...

"I don't know how you got a hold of this map, but I'm astounded you didn't turn it in. Imagine this in the hands of Sirius Black." The words were out before he could stop them. What a hypocrite he was.

The boy bowed his head. "The map doesn't even work sometimes."

"What do you mean? The map is never wrong."

"Well, I saw someone on it I know is dead."

"Who?"

Lupin crushed the sides of the map in his hands. It felt as if his stomach had dropped to his knees and he heard Harry's next words before he even said them.

"Peter Pettigrew."

He didn't remember what he said to Harry next, or sending him off to his dorm. All he remembered was the guilt that hit him like a wave, drowning him as he ran back towards the man he'd left bleeding out on his office floor.