The Gryffindor and Slytherin third years were walking to their favorite lesson. Well, not exactly everyone's favorite lesson. Draco Malfoy and his goons were always criticizing professor Lupin and his way of teaching. The rest of the group rather liked the new professor, he was by far the best teacher in the school.

Once everyone was in the classroom, professor Lupin came out of his office in his shabby clothes. He was not really old, he was just in his early thirties, but he did have already some gray stripes in his brown hair. This appearance didn't bother anyone, but for Malfoy, whose father was wealthy and overly well-clothed, it was reason enough not to respect the professor. And Lupin somehow kept being friendly towards Malfoy, no matter how rude he was. Surely he must be fed up with Draco some time, the class thought. But Lupin never gave anyone detention or even a scolding. Always polite, that man.

'Right, class, please take your essays from the last lesson about the Dugbogs and give them to me,' Lupin said and almost everyone started to hand over their essays to the professor. Almost everyone. Draco Malfoy was still sitting on his chair, not bothering to do anything.

'Mr. Malfoy?' Lupin asked. 'Could you please give me your essay?'

Draco didn't even look up when the professor called his name. Lupin walked over to Draco's table and stood there for a few seconds.

'Mr. Malfoy? Did you hear my question?' Lupin asked gently.

Draco still didn't look at him, but he did say something now. 'No, I can't.' His tone was very rude and the class was certain of the fact that Lupin was not going to take it this time. Any other teacher would have given Malfoy detention by now. But Lupin kept smiling as though he didn't hear the rudeness in Malfoy's voice.

'And why is that?' he asked.

'Because I didn't do my homework.'

'Do you really think you are a special person who doesn't need to do his homework for my class? That is where you are wrong, Malfoy,' Lupin said. He was still gently, but his smile was gone and the class noticed that he didn't address Draco with Mr. anymore.

'I don't think I really need these lessons. Especially not from you. Why on earth do you think you know anything about the Dark Arts?' Draco said, still not looking to the professor. The class held his breath, Lupin's face was now changing. They hadn't seen this look before. Lupin never went angry with students.

'Do you think I don't know anything about the Dark Arts? You are wrong again boy.'

'Well, seeing your clothes, you are homeless as well. So pardon me for assuming that you are not capable of teaching us anything, professor. Have you even ever gone to school?'

Now Lupin was getting angry. The class could tell it from the look on his face.

'I really don't want to go in discussion with you, Malfoy. I expect you to hand over that essay first thing tomorrow, or I'll…'

'Or you'll what?' Malfoy said loudly, though he was still not looking his professor in the eyes.

'I don't like your tone at all, Malfoy, and look at me when I am talking to you!' Lupin said, all the softness in his voice gone now.

'My father works on the ministry, you know? When I tell him what a bad teacher you are, he'll make sure you get expelled.'

The class knew that Malfoy was bluffing. His father was mighty indeed, but expelling a teacher was still in the hands of Dumbledore. Lupin clenched his teeth and his voice went really low and dangerously.

'He can certainly try. Let me tell you this, Malfoy. I am capable of teaching you something about the Dark Arts, even though I am not a filthy Death Eater like your father. Only twelve years ago, I was fighting against the Dark Arts and successfully it was. I knew your father and he'll certainly remember me. And he is never going to win this. He may have fooled the entire ministry, but he'll never fool the ones who know who he really is.'

'How dare you speak about my father like that!' Malfoy said, standing up.

'Sit down, Malfoy, now.'

Draco didn't sit down and signed to his goons, Crabbe and Goyle, that they had to stand up as well. Crabbe and Goyle stood behind Draco and looked very dangerously. Lupin, however, wasn't really intimidated at all somehow.

'I said, sit down. Now,' he said again, but the three remained standing.

'Right. Detention, all three of you, for the next two months, starting this evening at eight o'clock in my office. Get out. Don't show your face here again today,' Lupin said and he walked back to his own desk. The rest of the class was watching in awe to their favorite professor who had just become even more popular. Draco Malfoy was after all the most hated student in the school. But Draco did not leave. When Lupin turned around and saw Draco still standing there, he picked up his wand.

'I have had enough of this, Malfoy. Leave this classroom right now, or I will force you to leave.'

'You're not allowed to use magic against us as a punishment,' Draco dared the professor.

'Try me. I am warning you, Malfoy, don't you mess me around,' Lupin said, raising his wand a little.

Draco finally realized that he was not going to win this. He couldn't really count on any help from his two stupid friends, they were too stupid to even hold a wand. He wasn't really sure if he could fight a teacher. Lupin looked like a wanderer, yes, but if it was true what he just told Draco, he was a pretty good wizard, and Draco was just a third year. But… if he could not stand a chance against Lupin, than he knew someone who did. His potions professor, Severus Snape.

'' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' ''

'Are you serious, Mr. Malfoy?' Snape said, a little bit shocked.

'Please, sir, please talk to him! He was just being so rude to me and I don't feel safe anymore!' Draco pleaded with his best acting skills. He knew that Snape didn't like Lupin either, he didn't know why, though. All he had to do was just adding some more fuel to the fire. Therefore he had to act like Lupin was the one who was mistreating him.

'What exactly did he say?' Snape asked.

'He was just insulting me and my family and I think he doesn't like me because I am a Slytherin. He always prefers the Gryffindors, having been one himself. He especially likes that Potter boy, God knows why. Then suddenly he told me to leave and he threatened with his wand to hex me! Why did he do that, professor? He was just bullying me because he knew I could never stand a chance against him!'

'That is cruel indeed, Mr. Malfoy,' Snape said and there was some kind of glistering in his eyes.

'Please, sir, talk to him! I am sure you can reason him, you are after all the best professor here,' Malfoy concluded, just to give Snape the impression that he was important and that he was the only one who could help.

'Right, right, I will have a talk with him. I was already looking forward to a little talk with Mr. Lupin anyway,' Snape said, clearly happy.

'Why is that, sir?' Malfoy asked.

'Just something personal, don't worry about that. Good, I think I will talk to him right now. And, just for your own good, stay out of this.'

'Yes, of course, professor. Thank you,' Malfoy said and he left the office. He immediately left for his dormitory. He couldn't wait to tell the rest of his Slytherin mates about this. He really hoped that Lupin would finally be scared away by Snape. What he didn't know, was that Lupin and Snape did know each other from when they were young. And that would change the matter.

'' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' ''

Remus Lupin was sitting in office, reading the essays all his students handed in today. All his students, except for Draco Malfoy. God, he hated that kid. He reminded him of his father, Lucius Malfoy. Remus didn't regret a word of what he said about Draco's father in the classroom, it was the truth, and the truth will always out. Lucius had always been a bully and an evil man. When Remus was in his first year together with his friends, Lucius was a Head Boy. He was of course supposed to be fair and he had to treat all the students as equals, but Lucius being Lucius, he always punished the Gryffindors for anything he could punish them for. Not that Remus always had been a fair Head Boy, six years later, he was always turning a blind eye when his friends were busy with their mischief, being a part of that mischief himself.

Deep in thoughts, he didn't hear that someone was knocking on his door. The person knocked a second time and this time Remus woke up from his thoughts.

'Come in!' he said loudly.

The person who came into his office was probably the last person Remus wanted to see at that moment. Severus Snape had never been a good friend of the Marauders. Nevertheless, Remus was prepared to move on and to forget the past, but Snape didn't seem so forgivable. Since the time they had been colleagues, Snape had only shot Remus a few glares whenever he saw him. But Snape mainly desperately tried to avoid Remus.

'Severus,' Remus said with a forced smile. 'To what do I owe this pleasure?'

'Don't pretend you don't know, Lupin. You know why I am here. I want to talk to you about your attitude towards your class,' Snape said.

'Please sit down,' Remus offered, but Snape just refused to do anything Remus said. 'Alright, if you prefer standing here…'

'Listen, Lupin, I am not here for a social call. I really don't want to be here, believe me. I just wanted to tell you that you should treat the students better and also equally.'

'What are you talking about, Severus?'

'You have always been an arrogant boy and you have changed nothing. The way you are favoring the Gryffindor students, especially that no-good Potter boy…. Just as arrogant and useless as his father. Mr. Malfoy came to me and he told me how unfair you were treating him,' Snape said, glaring to Remus.

'I was being nice at him at first, but Malfoy didn't hand me the essay and he was being disrespectful, so I gave him detention. Is that so bad?'

'You were telling lies about his father and you were threatening him with your wand. You really are the same as thirteen years ago. You are nothing but a pathetic jerk!'

'That is why you are here, isn't it? You don't care about how I treat my students, you just want to bring up your miserable past and make me pay for it! You just can't let it go and you are using Malfoy's accusations as a poor excuse!' Remus said the last words with extra force so that Snape took a step back.

'This has got nothing to do with me! I don't think you are speaking bad about Potter's father in class, do you? That stupid, arrogant nobody who was accidentally good at Quidditch and…'

Remus rose up from his chair and walked to Snape.

'You stop right there! Don't you dare to speak about James like that! He was a good man and so is Harry, I believe in that,' Remus said forcefully, he was losing his temper a little bit.

'Easy, Lupin, is it getting full moon? You can't control yourself, can you? I can't believe that Dumbledore hired you for the job,' Snape sneered.

'You can tell Malfoy that he can go to hell. And so can you. I expect him to be here in my office at eight o'clock, and if he doesn't show up by then, I'll make his life in class not too pleasant for him,' Remus answered, ignoring Snape's insults.

'Do you really think you can make threats like that, Lupin?' Snape said, his eyes hardening.

'I think I can, Snivellus.'

Hearing his old nickname, Snape couldn't hold in his anger anymore. He went for Remus, grabbed him by his collar and smashed him to the wall.

'Don't you speak that name ever again, or you'll regret it!' Snape shouted.

'I'm warning you, Snape,' Remus said, his voice dangerously soft, not feeling intimidated in the slightest by the fact that he was forced against the wall. 'Let go of me, or I might hurt you.'

'You are not in the position to make threats here, Lupin,' Snape said, but his face went a little bit paler. He knew that Remus was a werewolf and that he would certainly win a fight when it came to that. Although Remus was in his human form, he still had an enormous strength in his arms if he let the wolf out.

'You don't want to make me angry, Snape,' Remus said and he let out a low growl. For a moment there was a flash of yellow in his eyes.

Snape's hold weakened, but he didn't let go of Remus. 'First you will promise me to leave me alone and not to be disrespectful towards Mr. Malfoy anymore,' Snape said confidentially.

'Why? Are you afraid of your little Death Eater friend? Lucius Malfoy? You are a coward, Snape. You have always had been,' Remus sneered. He was hardly ever this mean to anyone, but in this position, he thought it would be fun to tease Snape a little bit. Oh no, it would be fun to frighten him until he pissed in his pants. Remus laughed at the thought and decided that that was what he was going to do. Snape would never dare to look him in the eyes again.

'I am serious, Lupin. Promise me, or I will…'

'You will what, Snape? You will beat me? Kick me? Punch me? Go ahead, I would love to see you try… Go ahead then! You really are a coward,' Remus dared Snape. He had to keep this attitude and he had to use the werewolf in him to scare Snape off. Snape was frightened of him, he could tell it.

'You are just trying to anger me. Not a smart thing to do, you filthy beast! You just want to make me think that you are not afraid of me, because I have the upper hand!' Snape said forcefully, but Remus could see the fear in his eyes. Besides, he could smell the fear. Another benefit of being a werewolf.

Remus now grabbed Snape's hands and smashed the man to the ground with all his might. Snape quickly got to his feet and backed off. Remus let out another growl. Of course, he never intended to hurt someone, he would never attack someone, but Snape didn't have to know that.

'What did you just call me, Snivellus?' Remus asked with a dangerously soft voice. 'Do you even dare to say that again to me?'

Remus walked slowly towards Snape, who was backing off even more until he was against the wall with his back. Snape didn't dare to respond to the fact that Remus had just called him Snivellus again.

'God, you are a coward, really. Are you frightened, Snape? Please insult me or my friends again, I will take a lot of pleasure out of beating you up with a reason… You pathetic, unreliable coward!'

'I am not afraid of you!' Snape shouted, but they both know that that was a lie.

'And you are a lying bastard! If you are not frightened, then why don't you face me? Why are you with your back against the wall?' Remus said, now with his face only a few inches away from Snape's face. Remus now grabbed Snape by his collar. He felt Snape's heart pounding as a maniac in his chest.

'G- get y-your h-h-hands off me o-or I will t-tell Dumbledore! He'll fire you!' Snape said, his last words a little bit more forcefully.

'Oh, no, I don't think you will go to Dumbledore, because I don't think Dumbledore will believe any of your stupid stories. I am a trusted member of the Order, you, on the other hand, are a frightened, dirty rat who just thinks of his own good! As far as I am concerned, you could still be a Death Eater!'

Remus's eyes were now flashing with anger and Snape was sweating all over his face.

'And if you dare to bother me again in my office, I might just accidentally tear you in a few little pieces, and you know that I mean that quite literally.'

Snape was now making some weird noises out of fright.

'So, I suggest you go back to your dungeons, where you belong, and don't you ever bother me again. And be a little bit nicer to James's son. Is that understood?' Remus said softly, tightening his grip on Snape which made him wince.

Another weird noise.

'I asked you something!' Remus now shouted, throwing Snape against the wall again.

'Y-yes! P-please let g-go of me!' Snape begged with a little voice.

'I didn't hear you!' Remus said, making Snape almost cry. Yes, he was definitely pissing in his pants right now.

'P-please!' Snape begged again. 'I-I won't b-bother y-you again and I w-will b-be nice to P-p-potter!'

Remus let go of Snape without another word and Snape quickly ran out of the office. Probably too ashamed of being so scared in front of his old school-enemy.

'' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' ''

The next few days, Snape was trying to forget about his unpleasant meeting with Remus Lupin. He wasn't going to his office ever again, that was certain. Snape decided to be a little bit more civilized towards Harry Potter, just because he didn't want another conversation with that werewolf. How dare that filthy half breed make threats like that? It was unfair. And Snape was definitely not going to be nice towards that arrogant Potter boy, no, he decided to ignore that boy as much as possible. Instead, he was going to focus on Neville Longbottom. He knew that that lad was afraid of him and since Neville was terrible at brewing potions, Snape had a very good reason to snap at him instead of Potter.

'Longbottom! You really don't have any brains in that big head of yours, do you?' Snape sneered as he walked over to where Neville was desperately trying to give his potion the right color.

'I-I am so s-sorry, sir, really,' the boy said with a little voice. His eyes were wide open when he looked at the potion master.

'I've told you twice, twice, that you needed to add the asphodel after you had added the Flobberworms. Are you really that stupid?' Snape said with an evil glistering in his eyes.

Neville kept his mouth shut and stared to the ground. He really didn't like professor Snape.

'I don't understand why your grandmother still wants you at her house! You are a terrible, dumb nobody who even can't produce a simple potion!' Snape snapped and that was when the other Gryffindors started to talk to stick up for Neville.

'That is unfair, professor, Neville is not dumb and he certainly isn't terrible!' Hermione said indignantly.

'Shut up, Granger, that will be ten points from Gryffindor because of your big mouth!'

'Hermione is right, sir, you shouldn't treat Neville like this!'

'No one gave you permission to open your mouth, Potter, so shut up unless you want me to take twenty more points from Gryffindor!' Snape shouted to Harry. He suddenly had totally forgotten about the promises he made to Lupin. Why the hell would he listen to a werewolf, just because he was threatening to hurt me? It were all empty words. Nothing more. Potter would never tell Lupin about his way of teaching. Lupin would never find out about how Snape treated Potter in class.

'I don't need permission to open my mouth when you are…' Harry begun, but Snape interrupted him.

'You are just like your father! You have no respect for anyone! When I tell you to shut your mouth, you will. That's twenty points from Gryffindor and let that be a lesson,' Snape said loudly and then he walked back to his own desk again. He noticed that Neville was crying and he laughed about the whole scene. Hermione was trying to comfort Neville without much success. It felt great to have this kind of power in class. It felt even greater to have this kind of power over Gryffindors. He could now finally pay them back for what they had done to him all those years ago. Of course that wasn't the fault of Longbottom or Granger or even Potter, but he didn't like them. He especially didn't like Potter, he was too much like his father. That arrogant prat.

'' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' ''

The next lesson of the third years was Defense Against the Dark Arts. After their potion class, the students were really relieved to finally have a good lesson. Today they were going to study Boggarts and professor Lupin had promised them to take care of a real Boggart so that the students could try to defeat it. They all entered the class excitedly, except for Malfoy of course, and they just wanted to sit down when professor Lupin came out of his office and entered the classroom.

'No need to sit down, please stay where you are!' Lupin said and with a flick of his wand the chairs and tables disappeared. All that was left was a big wardrobe.

'Right, in this wardrobe is a Boggart. Boggarts like to hide in dark places. Nobody knows what Boggarts really look like, because they will become your worst fear as soon as you see them. Now there is a simple spell to defeat a Boggart. They can't stand laughter, so all you have to do is to turn the Boggart in something funny which will make you laugh. Neville, would you please come here?' Lupin asked.

Neville looked very worried, but he eventually decided to walk to the wardrobe.

'Good, Neville, would you please tell us what your worst fear is?' Lupin asked gently.

'P-professor S-snape, sir,' Neville said quietly.

'Ah, of course, he is a scary man…,' Lupin said, but his reassuring smile faded a little away. 'Well, you live with your grandmother, right?'

'Y-yes, but I don't want that thing to change into my grandmother,' Neville said now looking very terrified.

'Don't worry, it won't. Here is what you have to do, when you see the Boggart in the form of professor Snape, you must think of your grandmother clothes and then you say the spell "Riddikulus". Can you do that?' Lupin said.

Neville gave an almost invisible nod and the professor then opened the wardrobe with his wand. Suddenly professor Snape stood in the middle of the classroom, walking towards Neville. The Boggart looked very threatening and Neville took several steps back. Lupin just watched at the boy's reaction, wondering why he was so terrified for professor Snape.

'Concentrate, Neville! It is not real!' Lupin said loudly, but Neville was only looking at the Boggart, trembling on his feet. Then suddenly he seemed to regain his strength and he shouted: 'Riddikulus!'

The Boggart-Snape was suddenly dressed in a long dress and a very weird hat. The whole class was now laughing and the fake Snape was only looking very confused. Well, not exactly everyone was laughing, Draco Malfoy was looking at the scenery, wondering what the real professor Snape would think of this.

After everyone had tried the spell on the Boggart, Neville gave the creature the deathblow and the Boggart disappeared.

'That's it for today, thank you everyone, and ten points for Neville because he dealt with the Boggart twice. Please make an essay about chapter four and hand it over next week. You can go now,' Lupin said to the class. Everyone gathered his stuff and went out of the classroom.

'Neville, could I talk to you for a second?' Lupin asked.

Neville looked a little bit suspiciously, but then he walked over to Lupin's desk.

'I wondered if there was something you wanted to tell me. I saw your reaction when that Boggart came out of the wardrobe in the form of professor Snape. It is not right for a student to be afraid of his teacher, you know?' Lupin said and he looked at Neville carefully.

'I-I uhm… No, sir, there is nothing,' Neville said, but his expression said otherwise.

'Please tell me what is bothering you, I can help you. You can't fool me for one second, did professor Snape do something to you?' Lupin tried again.

'N-no, sir,' Neville answered, but the professor saw that he was only getting more and more nervous.

'Please, sit down, do you want some tea?' he asked gently.

Neville nodded and he sat down. Professor Lupin tapped to a kettle of water and suddenly it was boiling. He poured some tea in a cup for the boy and handed it over. Then he sat down himself.

'Now, tell me what is going on, I won't let you go until I have an answer,' Lupin said and he looked at the boy. He was not looking sternly, although his voice sounded strict.

'Well, okay then. I have always been afraid for professor Snape and last weeks it is only getting worse. I am terrible at making potions and I am so afraid of doing something wrong around him. He only tells me every time how terrible I am and I am losing so much house points during the lessons. It is the same in Transfiguration class, but professor McGonagall doesn't treat me unfair. Harry and Hermione always try to stick up for me, but that only makes it worse!' Neville said, almost crying. The tears were in his eyes.

Lupin looked at the boy for a few seconds. Snape had really gone too far. Again. Even after his promise towards him. Wasn't he clear enough? Did Snape really think that he could just pick on another student when he had to be a little more civilized towards Harry?

'I am so sorry for you, Neville. But you must know, this has got nothing to do with you. I wasn't great at potions myself, but that doesn't make me a less person. You've got to remember that you have other great qualities, no matter what professor Snape says,' Lupin said gently.

'But why does he treat me like this? I have never done anything wrong besides ruining my potions time after time,' Neville said, still looking worried.

'Professor Snape likes to have someone to pick on, it makes him feel superior. But it is not right, certainly not towards a student. I knew him from when we were at school together. I was in Gryffindor and he was in Slytherin, of course. And if it makes you feel any better, I never liked him either, so I completely understand how you are feeling. I don't want to go into details, that is something between professor Snape and me,' Lupin said.

Neville cheered a little bit up at the thought that he wasn't the only one who had problems with professor Snape. Of course, the rest of the Gryffindors didn't like him either, but they had never spoken bad about the professor. Maybe the rest of his class was afraid of him as well.

'Thank you, professor. And thank you for the tea. I really feel better now,' Neville said, smiling a little bit. 'I shall remember what you said, sir.'

'I hope you do, I see you next lesson, Neville,' Lupin said, smiling back.

'Yes, sir, see you!'

With that, Neville picked up his books and walked out of the classroom, leaving professor Lupin behind alone. Lupin thought about what the boy had told him. It seemed like Snape needed another conversation with him to realize that he was not allowed to treat the poor students so badly.

'' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' ''

Drcao was in professor Snape's office, he had just told everything about the lesson with the Boggart from professor Lupin. Snape was pacing up and down his office, clearly angry. That bastard was just making a fool out of him right in front of everyone. He had done this deliberately, that was certain. Draco watched his favorite teacher carefully.

'You are not going to take this, are you, professor?' Draco said, hoping that Snape would give him a satisfying answer. Draco was still furious about the fact that that tatty looking Defense teacher had given him detention for the next two months. He hoped that Snape would finally go mad at Lupin so that Lupin would go away from this school.

'Of course I won't take this, when something like this happens again, I will tell Lupin what I think about him. This is a cowardly action from his side,' Snape said through gritted teeth.

'What do you mean, when something like this happens again? Do you mean that you are just going to ignore what he did, professor?' Draco asked indignantly, not quite believing his ears. Normally, Snape would have gone directly to someone who was making a fool out of him to make him pay for that. Normally he would scare the living daylights out of someone like that.

'For now, yes, I think it is wise to ignore him. But that doesn't mean I will accept something like this the next time,' Snape said, still looking furious. He didn't want to talk to Lupin about this, though. Their last conversation was not very pleasant and he rather avoided his colleague.

'Professor, may I ask you something?'

'Of course, Mr. Malfoy.'

'Why are you refusing to talk to professor Lupin?'

'I am not, I just don't think that talking to him will solve anything.'

'So, do you think he won't listen to you?'

'I think I know him better than you do, Mr. Malfoy, so please don't stick your nose in business were it doesn't belong,' Snape said.

'Do you know professor Lupin then?' Draco insisted.

'Yes, yes, unfortunately. He and his friends were always pranking around, creating disorder, wandering around the castle at night, God knows why…'

Draco was silent for a moment. That was why Snape hated Lupin, because of his past. That was only great, if Snape didn't like Lupin at all, then he would definitely want to get rid of him… Draco's only task was to make Snape hate the other teacher even more and then…

Draco wasn't able to think about what he had to do to make Snape hate Lupin, because someone was knocking on the door of the office. Without waiting for an invitation to come in, professor Remus Lupin came into the office, looking rather angry.

'Malfoy, get out, now!' he said furiously to Draco. Draco only looked confused. He was not about to leave, especially not now.

'I was in a conversation with professor Snape, professor,' Draco said with as much disrespect and sarcasm as he could bring in his voice.

'Excuse me? Leave the office, Malfoy. I don't like to repeat myself again,' Lupin said, shooting a glare.

Draco looked for help by the other professor, but Snape didn't seem to do anything to keep Draco in his office. He didn't seem to have the intention to do anything at all. Not wanting to have more detention than he already had, Draco turned and left the office, silently laughing about the fact that those two were now in the same room. This time, professor Snape would certainly tell Lupin what he thought about the man and hopefully Lupin would disappear soon after.

'' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' ''

'Why are you here?' Snape asked impatiently.

'You know why I am here. And don't try to deny, just tell me you won't do it anymore,' Remus answered.

'Excuse me? You are the one that needs to apologize! You told that Longbottom boy to change that Boggart-me into a woman. Right in front of the whole class! Do you think I am happy with that?' Snape snapped.

'It was not my fault that the Boggart turned into you. The question is why all of this had happened in first place. Why did that Boggart turn into you? Why is Neville so afraid of you?'

'Because the boy is not able to handle anything. He is weak,' Snape stated.

'No, he is not weak. I think he is afraid of you because of how you are treating him.'

'That's a lie and would you now please leave before I hex you?' Snape said, grabbing his wand. If Lupin came any closer, he would be ready for him. He would use his wand before that werewolf could even move his feet.

'You are going to hex me?' Remus sneered, taking a step closer.

'I mean it! Back off, werewolf!' Snape shouted, aiming his wand at Remus. Snape was not prepared for a quicker attack from Lupin's side, however. Remus took his wand out very quickly and shouted: 'Expelliarmus!'

Snape's wand flew out of his hand and landed somewhere in the corner of his office. Remus put his wand away and remained in place.

'Neville told me otherwise,' Remus continued, as though the whole disarming-scene had never found place. 'I talked about the lesson with him for a couple of minutes, and the boy was really terrified of you. Now it is not right for a student to be terrified of his teacher. He also told me why he was so afraid of you, but I think you already know why that is.'

'You have no proof of anything,' Snape said confidentially, but he looked nervous now he didn't have a wand anymore to defend himself.

'Neville's words are all the proof I need. Who do you think I would believe, you or Neville? I want you to promise me that you not only treat Harry well, but also the rest of your students, that includes Neville.'

'That boy is a disaster! I'd like to see you try to teach that boy something!'

'It would help when you didn't shout at him or tell him that he is the worst student in history. You are supposed to support him and that is exactly what you are going to do!' Remus said, looking threatening.

Snape's eyes were going to the corner of the office where his wand was.

'Don't even think about it,' Remus said, knowing what Snape was thinking.

'You can go to hell, Lupin. You have no power of me and I first want your apologies for making a fool out of me!' Snape said a lot more brave than he really felt.

'You are not going to win this, Snivellus, so just give me your word and I will leave,' Lupin said, coming a little closer to Snape.

'Well, beat me up again than, go on! It is cowardly and you know that! I can't defend myself now. If you were a real man, you would give me back my wand. Oh, wait, you are not a real man. You are a dirty monster!' Snape said loudly.

Remus grabbed Snape's throat and pressed him against the wall.

'You are right, I am a monster. And you don't want to make me act like a monster, do you? The wolf within is much too powerful for your liking,' Remus said softly.

'Dumbledore was wrong about you, you are not to be trusted!'

'How do you know?' Remus said, tightening his grip around Snape's throat.

'Because he believes that you would never hurt anyone deliberately! He thinks that you are a normal person and that you can control your anger!' Snape spat.

'So you believe that I actually am able to harm you? You think that I feel the urge to bite you? You don't know me, Severus, and you don't know how it is to be a wolf. I have suffered a lot more than most of the people here at school. I had to wound myself in my werewolf form just so that I didn't harm anyone else! But yes, sometimes, when I am very angry, I really feel the urge to bite the one that made me angry,' Remus said, his eyes never leaving Snape's.

'And have you ever in human form?' Snape asked very nervously.

'No, not until now. But you are very close. I can hear your blood in your body, I can feel your fear. I can smell your blood. But believe me, you don't really look tasty. Maybe that is why I haven't tore you up into little pieces.'

Snape winced and grabbed Remus's arms, trying to get them of his throat. But Remus wouldn't let go of him, not now he was so close to make Snape being terrified of him the rest of his life. Of course Remus would never bite anyone, especially not that dirty Snape. But Snape didn't have to know that he didn't have the intention to actually harm someone.

'Get your hands of me, please!' Snape said, still trying to get rid of the strong arms.

'Do I hear you begging me to let you go, Snivellus? Are you really that desperate that you are starting to beg me?' Remus teased, his hands not loosening their grip.

'Of course not! I would never beg you for anything!' Snape said, sounding scared.

'So you are not afraid of me?' Remus teased.

'No, I am not,' Snape said stubbornly.

'Maybe I have to change something then. Clearly I am not convincing enough,' Remus said, his voice very low and threatening. 'Do you want me to show you how I act when I am really angry, Severus?' Remus said, showing his teeth at the last word he spoke.

'N-no, I-I think you s-should just go,' Snape said, trembling on his feet.

'Yes, I will go, when you have made your promise to me,' Remus said, now a little bit calmer.

'Never! I would never promise you anything! It makes you feel powerful and you don't deserve that might!' Snape yelled.

'You are really stupid, Snape, I would never have thought that you were this stupid,' Remus said, raising his voice a little bit and then suddenly a fist hit his jaw. Snape had managed to throw out a punch in Remus's face which made Remus let go of Snape's throat immediately out of surprise.

'Take that you filthy bastard!' Snape said, thinking that the werewolf was in pain now.

'You really think you can cause me any pain? I have known much more pain than this, Snape. You hit like a little girl,' Remus dared Snape and Snape threw out another punch, now right in Remus's stomach. But Remus almost didn't move, he didn't double over, that is. With the force of the puch, however, he did take a step back.

'Shouldn't have done that, Snivellus, shouldn't have done that…' Remus said as he walked towards Snape again who was suddenly paralyzed be the fact that he couldn't hurt Remus with his punches.

Remus grabbed Snape's collar with one hand and with his other hand he made a fist and started to punch Snape in the stomach. Snape doubled over and started to cough. Then Remus threw him onto the floor and started to hit Snape's face.

'Stop! Please stop!' Snape shouted, knowing that he couldn't do anything else to make him stop.

Remus stopped indeed and picked Snape up from the floor and forced him against the wall once again.

'What was that, Snape?' he asked.

'I told you to stop,' Snape said, not looking Remus in the eyes.

'No, you asked me to stop,' Remus said softly and he looked at Snape. The man was not looking him in the eyes, he realized. But Snape had to look in his eyes, then he would see the yellow glistering in it. He would see the wolf reflecting in his eyes. He would scare him off that way. 'Look me in the eyes, Snape!' he ordered, tightening his grip on Snape's collar. Snape did so and Remus saw the fear in his eyes.

'You think you can boss me around, just because you are stronger, but I will never take orders from an animal like you!' Snape said. That was not true. He felt terrified as hell.

'You just did, Severus, you are looking me in the eyes,' Remus said in Snape's ear. Snape felt Remus breathing against his skin, suddenly his ear felt very vulnerable so close to Remus's teeth.

'Just give it up, give it up and I will leave you with all your skin perfectly intact… I promise you… But first you will make your promise to me,' Remus whispered , still close to Snape's ear.

'Alright, alright! I-I p-promise! Just l-leave m-me alone, okay?' Snape said.

'What do you promise, Severus dear?' Remus asked threatening, seeing that Snape had goosebumps in neck.

'I-I'll never s-scare the s-students off again! I promise! I-I'll t-treat them f-fair and I w-won't tell them ever a-again that they are t-terrible,' Snape said, his whole body shaking.

Remus let go of Snape and took a step back.

'Good, I hope you are keeping your word. If not… well… you know. I think I must be going by now, have a good day, Snivellus,' Remus said and with that, he left the office.

'' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' ''

Once outside the office, leaving a shocked professor Snape behind, he found Draco in the corridor. That little snake was eavesdropping!

'Mr. Malfoy? What are you doing here?' Remus asked as calmly as he could. He had to make sure that Malfoy was not going to tell anyone about this.

'I-I am sorry, professor, I was looking for s-something a-and I-I….' Draco began, not sure of how his professor would react. He heard the whole conversation between him and professor Snape, and he wasn't sure if Lupin knew that.

'You were eavesdropping, weren't you?' Lupin asked sternly, though his eyes were friendly, surprisingly. He did know then, great.

'Y-yes, I-I am so s-sorry, sir, it w-won't h-happen again!' Draco tried.

'Why are you so nervous?' Lupin asked, trying to find out how much the boy knew.

'I am not nervous, I am just…' Draco began, but he couldn't think of something he was beside being nervous 'It's okay, please follow me to my office,' Lupin said and Draco followed him nervously. Remus wanted to know how much Malfoy had heard, if he knew too much about his conversation with Snape, than he might go to Dumbledore and then he would get fired. If Dumbledore would hear about his threats against Snape, then he would question Remus' humanity and self-control. In his office, Remus offered Malfoy a chair and Draco sat down.

'Do you want some tea?' Remus asked gently, offering him a cup with tea.

'Yes, please,' Draco said, looking a bit pale.

'I want to know what you heard when you were standing in front of professor Snape's office. Don't be scared, I won't hurt you. Please just tell me what you have heard exactly,' Remus said.

'Please, I don't want to be here, I need to do my homework and some other stuff,' Draco said hopefully. He wanted to tell his father as soon as possible about professor Lupin, but he wasn't going to tell Lupin about that. This man was dangerous and he was still acting as though he was a very friendly uncle or something with whom you could talk with a cup of tea.

'It won't take much of your time. Drink your tea,' Remus offered.

Draco did as he was told, not wanting to be in a discussion with a werewolf, that could be very dangerous. He knew that werewolves could be dangerous, even in there human form. They were not always capable of keeping their emotions in control. But his eyes were still looking friendly, how was that possible? A werewolf is always evil and violent, isn't it? Professor Lupin was always so calm and gently, no wonder that no one knew about his other side. It did explain a lot, though. Now it was clear why he was wearing shabby clothes and why he was missing classes. But why was he always so calm and friendly?

'Now I am asking you again, Mr. Malfoy, what did you hear?' Remus tried again. What Draco didn't know was that the professor had put some Veritaserum in his cup of tea.

'I have heard your argument. You were talking about the way professor Snape was treating Longbottom and then I heard that you became angry with professor Snape. I heard some threats and then professor Snape called you a monster and an animal and then I realized that you must be a werewolf. Professor Snape sounded very frightened and then he made some kind of promise and then you came out of the office,' Draco said, quickly putting his hands in front of his mouth, shocked about what he just said.

'I am sorry you had to hear that. How do you feel about me being a werewolf?' Remus asked, showing true concern.

'Hearing the way you were threatening professor Snape, I don't think it is right that you are teaching us. You are dangerous and I will tell my father about this,' Draco said, again realizing that he had said too much. When he had heard himself talking, he quickly stood up. But professor Lupin reacted and held him down forcefully.

'You don't have to be scared, Malfoy, I won't hurt you. I won't hurt anybody. Not even professor Snape,' Remus said gently.

'You sounded like you wanted to hurt professor Snape, though,' Draco said, trying to walk away.

'No, that was just acting. Really, I am not dangerous, only during the full moons,' Remus said. He couldn't let Malfoy go now, that would be too risky. Of course he would go to his father, no matter what he said to reassure the boy. He had to clean his memory, not too much, just for the last couple of hours so that the young Malfoy wouldn't remember any of this. Remus decided to use this opportunity to ask Malfoy one more thing. It was of course illegal to use Veritaserum on students, so this might be his only chance.

'Tell me, Mr. Malfoy, is your father still a Death Eater?' Remus asked curiously.

'Yes, he is. He is still waiting for the return of the Dark Lord, and he said that he was sure that he would return very soon,' Draco said, getting more and more nervous. He didn't want to tell this about his father. How on earth did professor Lupin know that his father was still a Death Eater?

'And do you know if he has contact with other Death Eaters?'

'Not really. He works at the ministry, so I suspect that he has some contacts there as well. But the only ones I really know about are the parents of Crabbe and Goyle, they sometimes come in our Manor and then they talk mostly about the plans of the Dark Lord and how he might return.'

'Thank you, Malfoy.'

'Can I please go now?' Malfoy asked, looking pale and anxious.

'No, you can't. I am sorry, but you must understand that I can't let you go with all this knowledge. I will erase your memory for just the last couple of hours, so you don't remember any of this. Then you can go,' Remus said calmly, still holding Malfoy down.

'No! You can't do that! That is illegal!'

'So what your father does is legal? Life is not always fair and life is certainly not always based on little school rules and ministry laws. It won't hurt and you won't remember any of this when I am done,' Remus said and he picked up his wand.

'No, please… I won't tell anyone!'

'I don't believe that, Malfoy. In that sense, you are just the same as your father.'

Remus pointed his wand at Draco and mumbled: 'Amnesia.'

Draco's eyes first looked very shocked, but then they seemed to relax once more. Remus put his wand away and let go of Draco.

'How are you feeling, Mr. Malfoy?' Remus asked quietly.

'Professor Lupin? What am I doing here?' Draco asked confused.

'You were having class here and you just fainted suddenly. Don't you remember then?'

'No. I don't. Last thing I remember was breakfast.'

'I suggest you go to your dormitory to have some rest. I think you can need some sleep,' Remus suggested, giving the young Malfoy a sly smile.

Draco nodded, thanked the professor for the first time in his life, and walked out of the classroom, thinking of what a nice man professor Lupin really was.

Remus watched the boy walking out of his classroom and smiled in himself. Well, he won't be a problem anymore. Snape was certainly not going to say anything, he was too cowardly. And besides, the Order now had some more information about Lucius Malfoy. You never know when that would be information of some importance.