The Curse of the Full Moon.

Remus stared at the newspaper, shaking. He didn't know how to feel. Notorious Criminal, Sirius Black, escapes Azkaban, the headline read. Remus didn't want to think about what he would do if he came face-to-face with the man. His best friend, the one who had stood by him despite the disease that was running through his veins. His first love, the first one to love him back in that way and wasn't ashamed to say so. The boy, the man, that always knew how to make him smile no matter what had just happened or how much pain he was in. The boy who had told a secret that led to the murder of two of his other best friends and almost their young son – of whom James had made Sirius Godfather. The boy who had personally murdered Remus' only other friend along with several muggles and had laughed.

It was his fault that Remus would never see James, Lily, or Peter again. It was his fault that Harry had been raised as a muggle orphan. It was his fault that Remus had spent the last 144 full moons entirely alone. They say there's a fine line between love and hate, and that goes both ways. Yes, Remus had loved Sirius once, more than he had thought possible, but the same was true for the amount of hate that coursed through his veins right now.

This didn't stop the memories though, especially as he readied himself to go back to Hogwarts again, and he constantly thought about the hundreds of happy memories he'd had with the three (four when he included Lily) of them. It was only going to get worse when he taught in the classroom where he once sat with his friends, laughed with his friends, learned with his friends. How he would get through the first week without breaking down, he didn't know. Especially when he would be teaching Harry, who Dumbledore had said looked exactly like James had, but with Lily's eyes. How could he live with that constant reminder of two of his closest friends?

But Sirius' escape had made Remus even more determined to go. He had to look after Harry, especially now that Sirius was out and rumoured to be seeking Harry out to kill him. Remus wasn't sure if this was true, but he had thought that Sirius would be incapable of selling out his best friends, especially the one that had put a roof over his head when his family refused.

A month later, Remus was sat on the Hogwarts express in the compartment that he had always shared with his friends, with his head on the window and his eyes closed, listening to the ever-familiar sounds around him.

"Come on, everywhere else is full." A female voice said and three steps of footsteps entered the compartment. Remus kept his eyes closed, pretending to sleep as he remembered sitting here with his friends, full of excitement for another year at Hogwarts.

"Arthur said that Sirius Black might be looking for me." Said one of the voices after a couple of minutes of fairly ordinary conversation. Remus' heart began to beat faster at the sound. Could it be? Had James' son chosen to sit in the same compartment that he was?

His eyes flickered open, trying to be inconspicuous, and immediately saw the boy who sat across from him. He closed them quickly again but used the image in his mind to decide. Yes. The boy was the spitting image of James, even to the fact that he needed glasses and had incredibly untidy hear.

He wanted to speak, say something, introduce himself. But what would he say? 'Hi Harry, I knew you when you were a baby. I was best friends with your parents in school as well as the man who caused their death. Sorry I haven't reached out before now but I didn't want to embarrass you with having to know me. See, I'm a werewolf and you have enough problems.'

No. Remus said nothing. He didn't move until he felt another being enter the compartment, filling it with cold sadness. Remus had had a lot of time over the past few years to battle these bad thoughts and was getting quite good at it now. He knew how to deal with a Dementor but the three thirteen-year olds around him didn't. He stood up and pulled out his wand.

"None of us are hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks!" He shouted.

He summoned his happiest memory and let it fill him. For a moment he forgot that Sirius was a mass-murderer who killed his friends. He forgot all of the bad things that he had done thirteen years ago and just thought of him. He thought of the first time he'd said "I love you.". He thought of him at the first time they'd kissed. Remus had been nervous, sure that Sirius didn't feel the same way; that he fancied one of Lily's friends, Marlene. But he had kissed him instead and neither had stopped smiling for hours afterwards. He let these thoughts fill his brain, his soul, his entire being before channelling it out through his wands and shouting the incantation.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" The Dementor was pushed backwards by the wolf that had erupted from his wand and forced out of the compartment. He turned around and saw Harry laid on the floor, his friends beside him. A moment later he awoke, although the lights had returned and the Dementors were no longer on the train.

"How are you feeling, Harry?" Remus asked him.

"Who was screaming? I heard a woman screaming?" He asked, looking slightly bewildered, his two friends shared a look.

"No one was screaming Harry…" The girl replied.

Remus pulled a bar of chocolate out of his pocket and handed it to him.

"Here. Eat, you'll feel better." He told Harry. "I'm going to speak to the driver, make sure we're going to make no more unscheduled stops." He stepped out, leaving the tree teenagers staring out at him confusedly.

In reality, Remus knew that there was no point in speaking to the driver but he had to leave. He could feel the tears pricking at his eyes as he remembered the thoughts he'd had, the memories he'd mustered. It was his fault! How could he save him from what was widely thought to be a fate worse than death?

Remus was upset, confused, he wished that everything would go back to normal. But normal had not been possible for almost twelve years, and he knew it never would again.

Ok, a short chapter to start us off. I'm loving the ideas I have for this fic so, providing I find the time to write, this should be good. Let me know what you think of this chapter and if you think I'm wasting my time. See you all next time! – Chescaannie xx