Chapter 1

Remus stood before a large mansion that towered above him. It stood in the heart of Cotswold Manor and its sprawling grounds were hundreds of acres of the lush English countryside. The mansion itself had pure white walls that were built from sparkling marble, which had stood solid for centuries with the help of thick enchantments. Tall windows glinted with the marble in the sunlight from high above and let the sunshine gently grace the interior. Formal gardens skirted the mansion and led down to a languid river with a wilder copse encircling the edges of the property. The manor was also very grand in both style and setting, almost seemingly reflecting the owners of the house.

Be calm…calm…Remus told himself over and over again. Remember what you're here for…yes, he was here for a purpose and a very definite life-changing purpose at that. Remus ran his hair through his golden hair, which was now damp with perspiration. You couldn't apparate inside the grounds; therefore Remus had walked quite a while in the summer sun to get to the mansion. After raking a few extra strands of plastered hair off his forehead, he loosened his collar and extended a hand to knock with the serpentine doorknocker that was winking under the glaring light. That was when he realised that the door-knocker was of polished, sparkling silver and withdrew his hand with a hiss issuing from his lips.

He should have paid more attention, Remus scowled at himself for the careless mistake. If he had touched that silver, he would have suffered a heavy burn and coming here would have been useless if he was to leave for St. Mungos and miss the chance of seeing Mr. Black. He squinted his amber eyes at the doorknocker, but surely it couldn't be real silver? He spent just a few minutes trying to determine whether it would be real, pure silver, but then Remus knew it was better to be safe than sorry. He just used his fist to rap it sharply on the heavy oak doors. He could hear his knock reverberate loudly inside the mansion and tensed for any sound of footsteps.

Soon, there was a patter of small feet and the oak doors opened by themselves as a wispy figure, wearing a smart suit stood in the entrance, blocking Remus's view of the interior of the mansion. Remus immediately grew nervous at the sombre look on the ghost's face.

"Hi," Remus began tentatively, "I'm here to see Mr. Black,"

The ghost stared at Remus as if he was sizing him up for something and this only made the young wizard even more strained.

The ghost's focus flickered to some shabby patches in Remus's robes but only briefly. It coughed delicately, "And you would be sir?"

"Remus Lupin," Remus said promptly.

The ghost slightly nodded his head, "Is Master Black expecting your presence, Mr Lupin?" he asked politely in a baritone.

"Not…quite," Remus adequately put because he didn't think he should really go into much detail with this ghost, whatever its business in this mansion was.

"I am very sorry to inform Mr Lupin that Master Black is just preparing to leave for town. If you make a prior engagement with master, then I am sure you can call upon him another time." The ghost replied mistily.

Remus's body slightly sagged. It was an issue that had to be resolved as soon as possible and Remus didn't know when he would have the time to contact Mr Black prior and arrange a meeting without the issue growing out of hand.

Remus hesitated for a while, a slight frown gracing his fine features as he started biting his lower lip, "It's urgent." He said, although he knew very well it would not have made a difference.

The ghost, now that Remus looked at it carefully was a very old and wizen one and indeed spoke with fatigue, "I'm afraid that - "

"What's urgent?" a light voice interrupted the ghost and Remus looked through the ghost's translucent body to see a tall man, impressively dressed, advancing towards the doorway whilst pulling on a pair of white gloves.

"Master," The ghost turns around to give him a deep bow but the man just waved it aside and the ghost took it as a cue to leave it to the man. The ghost disappeared and Remus was forced to look at the man that he had been dreading yet wanting to meet.

As his wide eyes drank in those familiar pair of eyes set above a slim and straight nose and lips that with the slight manipulation could curve into a delicate smirk, one word escaped Remus's mouth.

"Sirius…?"

"Mr. Black," the man corrected then stared at Remus quizzically with startling silver eyes before flipping his ridiculously long black hair over his shoulder, "And who would you be?" he asked cuttingly.

Remus remembered his purpose there and recovered himself slightly from the shock, "Remus…Remus Lupin." He introduced himself faintly.

The young man's silver eyes now glittered with something like recognition, "Oh…you were the Gryffindor prefect?"

Remus nodded his head. But when Sirius stopped scrutinising Remus and spoke again, it had seemed like he had quashed all signs of recognition, "So, Mr Lupin. What would your business here be?"

"I was told, you were leaving for town." Remus countered prudently.

Sirius started taking off his gloves, "If it's urgent Mr Lupin, I can spare you the afternoon."

The fair-haired youth sighed in relief, "yes, it's urgent."

Sirius nodded, "Yes, I heard as much," he smartly turned around, "Banot? Show Mr Lupin to the eastern study…" he paused to turn around look at Remus, "Excuse me for a moment." Then he sauntered to the right and disappeared from Remus's vision.

Remus sighed, Sirius had even cancelled going out to town to listen to what he had to say. He had better make it worth it or he knew he would regret it.

The ghost called Banot had appeared by his side in an instant. "This way," he said, leading the guest up a flight of steps and down an aisle to the left. Then with two turns to the right and once again to the left was a dark mahogany door of the eastern study. The mansion's ceilings were fifteen feet high, at least, capping walls being covered in dark wood panelling and crimson silk. Remus thought he had glimpsed a ballroom and a drawing room on the way to the study and when he had glanced inside the drawing room there had been a brass and crystal chandelier so huge that it had dwarfed the chairs and sofas groups that had been clustered in the room into small miniatures. It was getting difficult to hide his awe at the size and grandeur of the place.

When the enchanted door opened and Remus made his way inside, he realised that the furniture in the study was also exquisite: heavy, richly carved antiques that bore not the slightest sign of wear. There was also an ornate hearth with a blue fire burning off a pleasantly cool air, to combat the stuffy summer warmth and a large mahogany bookshelf lined one entire wall of the small study. It looked disappointingly ordinary, apart from the fact that the books would occasionally rearrange themselves. Banot offered Remus a seat and the young wizard sank into the comfortable chair with relief.

After a few minutes after Banot left, Remus only had a brief moment to walk over to the mahogany bookshelf and trace a hand down the spines of the book.

"Found anything to your interest?" Sirius's light voice interrupted him from reaching out and pulling one out to read.

Remus recovered remarkably from the surprise. When he turned around, Sirius was at his desk. He was only simply dressed in loose pants and a shirt, his tie was loosened considerably and the top few buttons undone. It contrasted too much to the handsome outfit he had on a few moments before. Sirius pulled irritated yet deft fingers to loosen the tie even more as he leaned on his desk.

"Yes, ahh actually." Remus tried to answer Sirius's question without trying to show his shock of seeing how many books based on dark arts were cunningly hidden in seemingly plain covers.

Sirius smirked, "Well, let's get straight to the point shall we? What is your urgent business with me?"

Remus cleared his throat and walked towards Sirius, his amber eyes alight in determination, "You can't push the Act of Werewolf Identification into the Ministry of magic." He said firmly.

Sirius had poured himself a glass of Scotch and was whirling it around, slightly amused.

"It's absurd. Werewolves shouldn't be required to have identification tags, constantly on display to the public. Don't you know what this would do? Unemployment, tension between werewolves and common wizarding population and nobody would carry it out."

"Mr Lupin," Sirius said coldly, "The employers should be and would be required to be fully conscious of employing a werewolf. A dark creature that could murder without control…it is life endangering. Unemployment, I cannot help much with. As for the tension between werewolves and common wizarding population, there has always been tension and always would be. It would be optimistic to the point of foolishness if you think that that tension would ever disappear. Besides, law is law…people would be made to carry it out."

Remus steeled himself, "Werewolves may be dark creatures but that is only for a brief period of time. They are human."

Sirius smiled eerily, "The public has the right to know who they are dealing with and decide for themselves whether they are in danger."

"Average people…" Remus pushed on, "those are who werewolves are and are only subject to discrimination and exclusion because of…people like you!"

Remus had expected such indifference but now dealing with it face-to-face, it was so hard to keep his anger down. Didn't he know that it was painful enough to deal with normal people right now without his help with further excluding and discriminating?

Sirius drained his glass and offered Remus some but Remus didn't turn his determined eyes off him. Sirius shrugged, "And why do you care so much, Mr Lupin?"

Remus stalked up to Sirius and slammed a hand down onto his desk, he knew Sirius had already guessed it and Remus wasn't denying that it was dangerous to reveal to him this kind of information but, truly – he needed to get his point across.

It was in his registration anyway…it was all there and always would be…besides, somehow, even though the situation to the naked eye would seem in favour of Sirius…Remus knew he would come through because somehow, there was no motivation or passion in those silver eyes…just blank, blank…coldness.

Silver eyes…with a jolt, Remus suddenly remembered why he unconsciously kept flinching when seeing Sirius's eyes. Silver…the colour he was afraid of most and would try to avoid the most…Sirius had those pair of eyes.

"I'm a werewolf…and" Remus tried to keep his voice even, "Do I look like a beast or a human?"

Sirius sat himself down on top of his desk and sat cross-legged. He propped his elbows onto his thighs and stared at Remus for just a second, "Human…but it depends when I see you again. At full moon, I would say a beast."

Remus sighed, not so easy…

"I know it is hard for you to understand because you perhaps in your entire life would never had been isolated nor excluded but, injustice like this shouldn't happen. I speak on behalf of everyone, you must not hand that," he indicated to a cabinet, "into the Ministry of Magic."

"If it's truly injustice, the Ministry would take care of it," Sirius said dismissively.

Remus bit his lip to try and calm his anger, which was about to explode. How he had to deal with this spoilt boy was beyond his reasoning.

"You know you have a lot of influence on the Ministry, Mr Black. Otherwise I would not have come all this way to see you. This shouldn't be done…and I know, deep down you perhaps know too."

Sirius lifted his head to glare at Remus. Those silver eyes froze Remus's anger in its track. There were minutes of silence only broken by the ticking of a clock.

"Exclusion and isolation huh?" Sirius smirked, "You don't want to be judged Mr Lupin, but you stand there calmly and try to judge me. Do you think I would do as you say when you are so contradicting?'

Remus sighed, "Sorry, I was wrong." It was his turn to glare daggers at Sirius and surprisingly there was a flicker of something that flashed in his empty eyes that made him appear a split second less arrogant.

"It was a waste of time to visit here, it would have been easier to go visit the Ministry itself." Remus's face hardened and he turned around to leave, although he knew too clearly that he wouldn't be able to find his way out of this mansion without a map.

"It wasn't me," Sirius suddenly said good-naturedly.

Remus turned around, his hand just about to reach for the doorknob.

Sirius started shuffling pieces of parchment that had been sprawling higgledy-piggledy on his desk. When he saw that he had Remus's attention, he gave a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"I just knew it would be something my father would have approved, and right now…for me, to get his approval is of utmost importance." Sirius quipped.

"Your father? Mr Orion Black?"

"Yes…because see Mr Lupin, whilst seeing me was of your utmost importance…my goal now, is to inherit the Black family fortune."

Remus was stunned. He did not know why Sirius was telling him this; well… truthfully, Remus had not even known that 'Mr. Black' who was to push such a discriminating act through to the ministry had been his peer Sirius. He did not have a good reply so he managed, rather lamely, "Haven't you already inherited the fortune due to your father's unfortunate death?"

Sirius reached for a quill, "If you knew my father Mr Lupin. You would not say such things. He left a will that had certain conditions for me to achieve if I was to inherit the fortune. There were many who would do anything for his money Mr Lupin…and he used that to his full advantage. He left my younger brother's and also my uncle Cygnus's name on the will as well, to see who fulfilled the conditions first and would become the true heir of the Black family."

"What…conditions?"

"I'm afraid that is confidential Mr Lupin. But Cygnus only had three daughters of which one ran away with a muggle-born. Andromeda, you knew her didn't you?" Sirius's silver eyes narrowed.

"Yes…a little," Remus admitted.

"With the help of the media, Cygnus's reputation and that household had struggled since, with stretched financial problems…because of Andromeda. Although right now, he intends to wed his other two daughters to the Lestranges and the Malfoys to solve that problem."

What a way to refer to his own uncle and cousins, Remus thought distantly.

Sirius poured himself another glass of toxic liquid. "And I need to never let my younger brother lay hands on my father's money…for personal reasons. The Werewolf Identification was only something I knew would bring myself closer to fulfilling his conditions…what do you think Mr Lupin?"

The question was so abrupt that for a moment, Remus was mute. "Mr. Black, I think you would have had a lot of help from people who would want you to inherit such fortune. For example, your mother, she is well and good I believe. They would have been able to let you achieve your goal in another way, not one in which a group of people are to be further isolated."

Sirius stared up at him with cold eyes, "My mother? Regulus's mother…you forget Mr Lupin. When I turned eighteen years of age, this mansion magically became warded to me, therefore I was allowed to send her to a small house, 12th of Grimmauld place but she would never rest until she has her revenge on me for," he scoffed, "exiling her,"

Sirius stood up and dropped the quill he had been examining, "Besides Mr Lupin…I trust no one, it is best to find love and peace within yourself. That is the key to success I believe."

Remus glanced at the clock and found that he had stayed a little too long, "As pleasant as our conversation was…if it does not benefit me, I would like to take my leave. I thank you for your time."

He felt Sirius's cold hand on his wrist that pulled him back into the study.

"Would you like to work for me?" Sirius suddenly asked huskily.

Remus turned around, startled.

"In exchange for the destruction of that proposal…would you work for me?"

Remus hesitated, so this was what Sirius had had in mind. A bargain…

"I know you're smart," Sirius smirked, "You can help me…"

Remus realised that Sirius was leaning heavily onto him, "Besides, I know how hard it is to become employed if you're a werewolf. Trust me, your pay won't be that great but for that proposal…I had the inkling that you would do anything."

"I…can get a teaching place at Hogwarts," Remus countered sharply.

Sirius chuckled, "And how long would that last Mr Lupin?"

Remus bit his lip…he had a point.

Sirius looked like a glittering snake, "I would employ you to be my manager of General affairs."

"What affairs?"

"Well, this house…for example. Those house elves only know how to cook and clean, they can't manage anything. I have gardeners and maids but I do not have time or energy to deal with them. You can also help me with my office work and towards my goal to inherit the fortune…I could make you my butler but Banot's been with this mansion for centuries…"

Remus couldn't believe what he was hearing, it sounded almost as if Sirius wanted him to be his slave.

Sirius smirked, "You would also have to come and live in here. Kiann Hall, I mean."

Remus's eyes widened in shock.

"It's no big deal Mr Lupin. We have a lot of rooms and there is also a joint one to mine…"

"I…can't do all this just for that proposal," Remus managed to say, rapidly regaining his cool.

"Oh? What else do you want Mr Lupin?"

"Your definite promise that Werewolves would also not be classified as 'beasts'. There should be no debate about it whatsoever."

Sirius looked arrogant as he looked through his lashes at Remus, "Is that all Mr Lupin?" he asked dangerously soft.

"I…I'll think about it…and get back to you as soon as possible."

Sirius leaned back in his leather chair and turned his attention back to his desk, "Oh, if you were to become my employee, you would address me as Master Black or sir."

Remus knew definitely that sir was much preferable to Master Black.

"We could also make an unbreakable vow of our contract Mr Lupin," Sirius also added, he sure was a suspicious man.

Remus stared at Sirius's handsome face and tried to decide whether he could trust him or not, "No…I'll…trust you,"

It was unfair; Remus knew only too well how Sirius had said the exact opposite lines a few minutes ago.

Sirius smiled faintly, "Banot will escort you out. I want your answer in two days other the proposal gets filed."

Remus didn't know how and why he was considering for such an outrageous job but he ended up just nodding as the ghost appeared beside him, gesturing towards the door.

Two days…two days to think about it…

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