If this goes to plan I'm hoping to do each chapter (maybe) from a different character's point of view, so they won't all be told like this. Similarly each character will have a fairly different story to tell as they all go on different adventures. Feel free to request a character who's point of view to tell the story from, they should be fairly relevant to where the story is at although they will all pretty much to fit together somewhere along the lines. This first chapter is about Remus therefore told from his point of view. Please bare in mind I may include a couple of pairings and such that you might not like/agree with. If this is the case please remember not all chapters will be about a certain pairing, or necessarily any pairing at all. I hope you enjoy it though, please let me know what you think!

Chapter 1

One Hectic Morning

Awakening from his slumber Remus realised he had almost missed his stop, if his nap had overrun five minutes later he'd soon of completely passed Kings Cross Station and be on his way god knows where. Upon meeting other wizards unfamiliar with muggle transport he prided himself on knowing the London bus route stop for stop, all up until Kings Cross. Anywhere after that was irrelevant to him and therefore he did not find it useful to memorise the stops beyond. He frequently reminded himself he should take it upon him to learn them, however he found it tedious to corrupt his brain with stops he was sure he would never need to know. It was at times like this when he almost slept through his final destination he regretted this decision.

Neatly folding his muggle newspaper and setting it down on the spare seat next to him he hauled his suitcase off of the floor and pulled the handle up. He continued to wheel his case down the aisle and off of the bus; today's stories of politicians playing up and governments going mad whirling around in his brain. He liked familiarising himself with current muggle events, no matter how boring and irrelevant Sirius had told him they were. Remus missed Sirius. His laugh, the kind of laugh that made everyone in the room either join in or fear what prank had been pulled on them and was now the source of the hilarity - usually the latter. Sirius had always been the mischievious kind, Remus recalled one Halloween sneaking out of the boys' dormitory with him and down to the Slytherin common room where, after getting in using the password Dennis Basset has naively told them in a game of Truth or Dare (how Sirius discovered most pupil's secrets), they had set lose three dozen cornish pixies and compelled them to sing Happy Birthday repeatedly until told otherwise by Sirius himself. Remus chuckled to himself. That had been a good night.

"Oi!" Remus was suddenly ripped out of the memory by a sharp, high pitched squeal. Turning to his left he discovered the source of the voice.

"Geraldine!" Remus smiled, somewhat awkwardly. "Neva, in my entire life 'ave I been as outraged as I am today!" She continued to yell even as she approached him. Her cockney accent piercing Remus's sensitive ears and causing a couple of passing muggles to glance over. Remus looked at her, confused.

"My birthday!" She went on, realising the man she was talking to was not going to catch on any time soon. "The one day a year I am supposed to be the one in charge, the one day a year it's me that gets fussed ova, and where 'ave you been, on a bloody BUS!" she said the word with such disgust and anguish it was clear, even to a muggle she disapproved of Remus's decision to take muggle transport. His eyes darting around, painfully searching for someone nearby to come to his rescue and interrupt their -so far one sided- conversation. But he had no luck, instead he rubbed his temples with one hand and mumbled something about being 'called into work'.

"Work? Work!" The angry woman screamed, she did not disremind Remus of Bellatrix LeStrange. The mangled dark hair, the pale white skin and the shriek she never failed to let out when she spoke. "You work in a school you idiot, what could they possibly want with you in the middle of the Summer holidays!" It was only then Remus realised the flaw in his excuse. It was time to step it up, his train left in ten minutes and he needed to be on it if he was going to make it in time. The truth would take him too long, he decided, instead he fobbed his ex girlfriend off with some rushed story of a burst pipe. She was not cleverer than she looked, so bought the lie and before she had time to retort Remus was racing across the road and into the station.

Geraldine and Remus had split on good terms after a two year relationship. Good terms ofcourse for Geraldine was she did not order to have her ex other half confunded and sent to Azkaban for a crime she compelled him to confess to. She had been so obsessed with Remus that after he left her to 'focus on his career' she had him come every year to her Birthday Ball simply so she could flaunt her latest boyfriend in front of him. Remus did not mind this as once a year he got to eat glorious food and laugh at his pathetic ex all in return for spending a couple of measly hours in her family's mansion. At the end of the night he would slip three slices of cake into his pocket and make a sarcastic remark about Geraldine's dress before disappearing into the night. Despite this the woman still persisted to invite him every year, desperately hoping it would be that particular year Remus realised his 'true feelings' and came running back into her arms. It could not be any clearer that Remus had never really had any feelings for the witch and was simply with her because Sirius fancied her and he enjoyed taunting him by describing their long nights together, none of which actually happened due to the fact he found her utterly replusive. He thought it was rather ironic that Sirius met his end under the hands of a woman that could of been her double, he wondered if that was why he didn't struggle when Bellatrix attacked him, could he of just been imagining Geraldine? Remus wondered if he should of explained any of this to her, after all, it hadn't even been one year since... No. He had enough to do today without telling his ex girlfriend about his best friend being killed. He would write her a letter. Maybe. For now he just had to focus on getting to the castle.

The train made the sound he had come to recognise from a mile away. He remembered when he first heard the excited whistle as the train pulled out of the station and began the seemingly never ending journey to Hogwarts. It was only when he first arrived, freshly dressed in his new robes, Sirius on his left still in his home clothes - he had been determined not to get dressed until the very last minute- James sitting opposite fiddling excitedly with his collar, that he didn't feel ready enough. He remembered wishing the journey was longer, another ten minutes perhaps. He felt he needed more time to prepare for what he should expect. Should he get his hopes up or should he pretend not to care? After all, he didn't want to seem to eager, that was James's job. But before he knew it was was being hurrily pushed into a crowded boat and shuffled through those magnificent doors. He had never looked back after that. Hogwarts was his home and he knew it, he had known it, for many years. Returning now felt so good, like coming home after a holiday abroad. It had only been a little over two years since Remus taught Defence Against The Dark Arts to Harry and his friends, yet it seemed like a lifetime ago. He hadn't seen any of them since Sirius's death. They had gone back to school and he had returned too the muggle world, seldom coming out of his apartment in the day time and occasionally acting as a go between from the Order to the Ministry. He pictured Harry's face and was quickly met with a fleeting image of James. He pictured Harry's scar, his glasses. He wondered if Harry still wore his glasses. What was he doing ofcourse Harry still wore his glasses he's Harry Potter for God's sake! His thoughts quickly broadened to the other students. Ron, Harry's best friend. Ron was a joker. He reminded Remus a lot of Sirius, in a slightly dopey way. Ron lacked the intellegence Sirius had, the intellegence Sirius needed in order to pull the stunts he did.

He pulled the letter from his pocket. He had rolled it up and carefully tied the parchment with the gold ribbon it had come wrapped in. Opening it up and smiling at the sheer precision it had been written in, he reread it for a good fourth time, checking there was nothing he'd missed.

Dear Professor Lupin,

I know you don't teach at Hogwarts anymore however I thought it intrusive to call you by your first name. Perhaps Professor was childish, maybe Sir would of been more profound. Sorry for my informality and having to rush this letter but I have Ancient Runes in five minutes and if I'm late again I fear I may be told to cut down the amount of classes I'm talking which is totally barbaric as I am perfectly capable of taking twelve. Anyway enough of my rambling, as you might know Harry's birthday is fast approaching. I know it's two months away however I thought it best to inform you and make sure you don't have any prior plans. Ronald and I are arranging a gathering, a party if you don't mind, and I know he'd be thrilled to have you there. We are hoping Dumbledore will allow us to have the Room of Requirement as the venue, however if he disapproves we will let you know the altered arrangements. If you don't hear anything further, assume that we've been granted permission to have it from 8pm on July 31st.

Also, please do not mention any of this to Harry as we're attempting to surprise him. That is if Ronald can keep his mouth shut for longer than it takes him to chew his food.

Hope to see you there!

Hermione Granger x

Remus found himself grinning from ear to ear. He pictured Hermione rushing to write the letter in her dormitory before rushing off to her class. She never failed to astound him with the amount of effort she put into her schoolwork. Despite her superior attitude to classes, Hermione reminded him somewhat of himself at her age, even now perhaps. He may not have shown the same commitment to lessons but when he wanted something, to learn something or achieve something, he committed to it 100%. He put his mind to retaining his... condition in the same way Hermione put her mind to school work and, apparently letter writing too! He remembered the first time he had met her, on this very train. Infact, hang on a minute. He stood up to check the number on the cabin before flopping back down into his seat. Yes, it had been, in this very cabin! He was a little surprised by this and wondered whether it meant something, a sign perhaps. He read the penultimate line again. Hope to see you there. Had she written that on all the invitations, yes. Yes she must of. But what if she hadn't? What if-

He was, for the second time today, ripped clean out of his thoughts by a voice acknowledging him.

"Professor!" He was momentarily stunned for he though he was the only one on the train. Who else would be travelling to Hogwarts today, unless-

Lupin's eyes widened and he felt his whole body go rigid. He was not greeted by the girl he had just been reminiscing meeting. No, he was met with a much older looking young woman. The girl standing in the doorway was dressed in muggle clothes as was he, she wore loose fitting jeans and a pale blue satin blouse, only the top button undone. Her hair was pulled into a messy bun, it looked darker than he remembered, with a few strands falling upon her perfectly formed face. He immediately jumped up, a little too fast perhaps, as his head hit the ceiling with a bang. The next thing he knew he was on the floor, a girl's voice softly calling his name. He recognised it as the voice that had addressed him not a second before. Atleast, he thought it hadn't been a second.

Opening his eyes he was immediately met by the girl he had just totally embarrassed himself in front of.

"Thank God you're alive!" Hermione beamed "I would of hated to be the one to explain to him you'd missed his birthday because you were dead!"

Ofcourse it had only been a few months since Remus had seen Hermione, yet something was different about her. He couldn't put his finger on it.

"What happened?" Remus went to get up of the floor but Hermione gently prevented him but putting her hand on his chest. "Don't try to get up, we've still got a few minutes before we get there." Her voice flowed through him like a warm breeze. He looked up at her and immediately shook himself from his stupor. Dismissing Hermione's words Remus hopped to his feet and brushed himself down. Asserting himself, he sat back down opposite the girl who had just made sure he was alright, he felt he should thank her but was too embarrassed. Instead he just asked her what she was doing on the train. Had she been at Kings Cross too?

"No no," she stopped him mid sentence. "I apparated onto the train to check who was coming. I found Mr and Mrs Weasley chatting in the end carriage and Lucius Malfoy mumbling something to himself three cabins down. I'm not entirely sure why he's on here because I certainly didn't invite him to Harry's birthday. And then I found you!"

"Now Miss Granger you didn't think I'd miss out on a party did you?"

"Well I must admit I wasn't all that sure you'd want to I mean, what with everything that's happened in the last year..."

"You don't have to tread on eggshells with me Miss Granger. I'm a werewolf not a chihuahua." He thought he saw a little smile cross Hermione's mouth.

"Sirius is gone, I've come to terms with that. I can only hope Harry has done the same."

"Well that's just the thing," she looked apprehensive about what she was about to say. "Harry hasn't really been... himself lately Professor." Remus gave her a look as if to tell her to go on. "He's been. Well... Harry's been being a bit of an ass lately." Remus was intregued, yet he had to grin at Hermione's view on her friend's behaviour. Hermione went on to explain to Remus how Harry had been playing up a lot since the death of his godfather. Skipping classes, casting spells on other pupils. Nothing serious ofcourse, just harmless jinxes, but nevertheless Hermione was worried. Worried that these jinxes may progress to something more dangerous and how she was unsure of how to help Harry out of the dark place he was in. That was partly, she explained, why she'd invited him. Remus was the closest connection Harry had, after Sirius, to his mother and father. It was upon being reminded of this that Remus felt a little guilty for abandoning him so soon after the incident. However another thing Hermione said plagued on his mind perhaps a little more than it should of. That was partly why she'd invited him. Partly? Could there of been another factor which told Hermione to write to him. He would have to ponder this later, he figured, as the whistle had just blown signalling the train was pulling into the station.

They had arrived.