A Past Reborn
By Angua27

Here is the second installment (dundundun) of Angua's angsty story. Angst! Angst! Angst! Isn't that a cool word? Maybe I should write angsty stories just so I can say ANGST!!!! *phew* Anyway, r/r.

Chapter 2

The three of them found their seats in Transfiguration. Ron kept looking around if he could to see if he could find the new student. He was still searching at the end of class as if one of the students may have spontaneously transfigured into Sylvan. Hermione was shooting him superior looks.
"I told you," she said grinning. "Just because he's Professor Lupin's son doesn't mean he has to be a Gryffindor."
"What day is it?" Harry asked.
"Tuesday, Potions is next."
"Wonderful," Harry muttered.
As they walked into Potions, they were met with Draco's drawling voice.
"Hey Lupin, need help with that cauldron?" There was a burst of laughter from the Slytherins.
"That's awful," snapped Hermione. "His first day and they're already teasing him. He must have just missed Transfiguration. It's a shame too. At least he wouldn't be alone in Potions then. But it's okay because - "
"Hermione," said Ron carefully. "I don't think Malfoy's teasing him."
"No," a silky voice cut through the laughter. "I think I can handle it."
"Hey! Stop it! My grandma bought me that for this year."
Hermione turned the corner to see Neville leaping around near a young, very good-looking, young man. Sylvan Lupin was mumbling a spell that was quickly turning Neville's cauldron into what looked something like the modern art Hermione had seen in Muggle museums.
"Hey," shouted Hermione. "Leave him alone."
Sylvan turned around and gave her a glare that would have made You-Know-Who himself cower. Hermione lost her nerve and looked away. Sylvan took a step for her, but was stopped when Professor Snape entered the room.
"Granger, Potter, Weasley, Longbottom, and ... hmm ... Lupin in your seats now. 30 points from Gryffindor. Lupin see me after class."
"Not fair!" Hermione gasped.
"Since when was Snape ever fair? Besides, did you really expect him to take points from his own house?" Harry asked glaring at Snape.
"Well Hermione, you were right," Ron sighed taking out his scales.
"Yeah," she mumbled. "Too bad."

* * *

Sylvan Lupin waited while everyone else filed out of the classroom. He stood in front of Snape's desk with an air of impatience few dared show in front of the Potions master.
Snape looked at him as though he were a new specimen of frog.
"Mr. Lupin, I have no love of your father and though your placement in my house shows you have some backbone, I will not treat you as though belong her, because you don't."
"I promise I can make your life miserable Professor. I came from a school that was much like this one. I didn't come here because my mother died. She died two years ago. They sent me here because Faerun couldn't handle me. You may have the other students groveling at your feet, but I promise your, if you keep acting like a spoiled child, I will make this year your last at Hogwarts."
"Listen boy, you have no idea where I've been and what I can - "
"You're a spy," Sylvan stated.
"What?!"
"I did my homework before I came here and I can bring absolutely everyone in this school down. Including you. Including Dumbledore. Including Harry Potter. If you cooperate with me, I can help you. If you don't, perhaps one day there will be a whisper in the Dark Lord's ear that his spy is simply a double-crosser."
Snape stared incredulously at him.
"You couldn't."
Sylvan smiled, which only succeeded in making him look like a jackal with its prey in sight. "Think about it. And don't mess with me Snape, I own you."

* * *

Professor Lupin stared out at his Defense Against Dark Arts class. The students were putting their books away. He glanced at his lesson plan and cleared his throat.
"Thursday we will be moving away from pookas and begin studying a new subject," he announced. "Werewolves."
All movement in the room ceased and every eye turned to him.
"Well you have to learn sometime and I suppose I'm the best teacher you could have for the subject." He shuffled his papers. "Well, don't you all have a class to get to?"
Slowly the class rose and filed out the door.
"Why do you think he's suddenly decided to teach about werewolves?" Harry asked once they were all in the hallway.
Ron shrugged.
"Think about it," Hermione explained. "Suddenly his mysterious son shows up and he must be a werewolf too."
"And he's evil!" exclaimed Ron, catching on.
"Ron, he's not evil," Hermione chided. "He's just in Slytherin."
"Same thing."
"But anyway," added Harry. "He's not looking exactly stable so we're learning about werewolves."
"And how to stop them," Ron said. "Just in case he is evil, which is true. Then Professor Lupin won't get in trouble for not teaching us to at least defend ourselves."
"Well," Harry started awkwardly. "If Lupin thinks Sylvan's dangerous, there must be something to it."
"Yeah, I wonder ... " Hermione began.
"You wonder what?"
"How bad he must be for Lupin to think we really might need to protect ourselves. Harry I think we'll need your father's Invisibility Cloak. We're going to do some investigating."

* * *

"My father got me this from Knockturn Alley," Malfoy gloated loudly showing Crabbe and Goyle a withered hand with a candle nestled in the palm.
Sylvan looked away and continued working on his Charms homework.
"It's called the hand of glory. My father wasn't going to get it, I saw it ages ago, but I talked him into it. He's in a good mood with You-Know-Who back in control again. He's really close to him, you know. He'll probably be right next to the Dark Lord when he kills Potter."
There was movement across the room that Draco didn't even have time to notice until his head hit the table behind him. Crabbe and Goyle were on their feet, but even they wouldn't advance on Sylvan.
"How dare you," he hissed. "How dare you think you're so great just because of your father. Well, let me tell you, your father isn't fit to be spit upon by Lord Voldemort." Malfoy cringed. "Look, even you turn away. You can't stand to hear the master's name." He released Malfoy who hit the ground. Farther away from his attacker, Malfoy gained courage.
"How do you know anything about... Voldemort. Your father's a mudblood lover."
"I know more about the Dark Arts than even Snape can hope to know. If Remus wants to go and join Dumbledore, it's not my problem. He will see the truth in the end - they all will. And so will you and your father. The only reason he uses you Malfoys is because you have the gits at the Ministry under your thumb. But soon that will change because he will return and control them himself." He smiled placidly and retreated to the boys' dorm.
Draco stormed out the entrance and three others followed silently, making their way back to Gryffindor tower under the cover of the invisibility cloak.

* * *

"Did you hear him?" Hermione gasped as they threw off the cloak.
Ron nodded, wide-eyed.
"I can't believe it. We have to tell Dumbledore."
"How can someone that young be a death eater?" Ron mused.
"Voldemort doesn't care. I'm sure he's glad to get a kid to join him," Harry answered.
"And we don't know anything about his mother," Hermione added.
"We'll stop him; I'm sure of it," Harry said firmly.
Ron and Hermione nodded their heads and began plotting.

* * *

Thursday morning was Potions again. Hermione was keeping a close eye on Sylvan, determined to find something she could run to Professor Dumbledore with without admitting they had snuck into another house's common room.
Professor Snape was even more cruel than usual. He took 20 points from Seamus just for looking at him wrong. Sylvan didn't do anything the whole period, instead he made Malfoy mix his potion for him. Professor Snape didn't say a word to Sylvan although he did keep shouting searing glances his way. It seemed everyone was intimidated by the new student.
Hermione was staring so intently at Sylvan she missed pouring her powdered pooka hoof into her potion. Snape snapped and took another 25 points as well as giving her detention. She was still fuming when they finished Care of Magical Creatures and didn't cheer up through lunch.
Ron and Harry hoped that Defense Against Dark Arts would cheer her up, and they were finally rewarded. Professor Lupin walked into a silent room. Everyone was excited to hear today's lesson.
"I thought I knew everything there was to know about werewolves," he started. "But I spent some time in the library last weekend and I found that I was terribly mistaken. Lycanthropy - which is the word for werewolfism - is a disease at its root. It also varies between each person that contracts it. Some werewolves change into just wolves, some change into wolfmen, and some can change into both. There are werewolves that can shift whenever they choose, although most are affected at least a little bit by the moon. Muggles that have lycanthropy often gain a little magical ability as well and some witches and wizards find their powers amplified. There are lycanthropes who can keep their minds when they change and some do not.
"Being a werewolf can be a great disability, or only a minor nuisance. It can even be an advantage, almost like being an animagus."
He paused as a hesitant hand rose from the back of the room.
"Yes?"
"What sort of werewolf are you?" Harry could barely hear the question it was spoken so fast. He recognized the student as a quiet Ravenclaw girl, but he couldn't remember her name.
Professor Lupin smiled. "I turn into a wolf at the full moon. I suppose I get the raw deal. I do not have any special abilities and I need to take the wolfsbane potion in order to control myself," he gestured to an empty goblet on his desk and cringed. "Horrible stuff."
Some of the tension that had been present since the beginning of class ebbed. The next hour was spent discussing the ways to kill a werewolf and some of the laws concerning the growing equal rights movement.
Hermione seemed much better at the end of class.
"I didn't realize there was such an awareness of the oppression of werewolves," she said earnestly. "I think I'll send the agency an owl to see how I can get involved."
Ron rolled his eyes at Harry. They both remembered all too well Hermione's campaign for house elves only two years ago, but luckily she was distracted by Sylvan hurrying down the hallway.
"Wonder what..." Ron started, but was practically knocked over by Snae who appeared to be following Sylvan.
"Do you think Snape's giving Sylvan the wolfsbane potion?" Ron asked.
"Didn't you hear Professor Lupin? He may not even need it," Harry answered. "When is the next full moon anyway?"
"Tonight," said Hermione. "So I think we better find something to tell Professor Dumbledore soon.

* * *

More soon!