It was a dark room. Inside the room was one long table with one empty chair on his side, and three occupied chairs on the other. Two officers in blue robes stood by the door they had just come in, guarding it in case he tried to flee, he guessed. There was one other door in the room to the left.

"Lupin here to see you, Kingsley. Right on time too." Tonks said passing the table and taking a place by the other door. She had address a tall, dark man seated in the center seat.

"Thank you, Tonks. Take a seat, Mr. Lupin," he said solemnly.

Remus sat down. This must be Kingsley Shaklebolt, the head of the investigation who had issued the summons to come to the ministry.

Seated on either side of Shaklebolt were two others; one stern looking man with a beard, and on the other side was a woman who Remus recognized immediately.

"Thank you for coming here today, Mr. Lupin. Did you have any trouble getting down here?"

"No," Remus said, hoping his voice didn't reflect his anxiety.

"Well, let us begin then," Shaklebolt said nodding to the man in his right, who tapped a quill with his wand and it sprang to life and paused above a roll of parchment. "Interrogation of Remus John Lupin on the escape of the mass murderer Sirius Black from Azkaban prison. Date: Friday, July 30th 1993. Interrogator, Kingsley Shaklebolt. Also in attendance are Markus Fumble: Auror, acting as scribe, and Nymphadora Tonks: Auror in training."

Remus looked up at Tonks to see her roll her eyes at hearing her name. She noticed him watching and they shared a small smile.

"Security; Magical Law Enforcement Office: Stella Perkins and Hamish MacKenzie," Shaklebolt continued quickly.

"Hem, hem," coughed the woman on Shaklebolt's other side.

"And," he said with an exasperated sigh, "Representative of the Minister of Magic: Dolores Umbridge." Shaklebolt shared a glance with the auror next to him. Remus got the impression that they didn't want her there; he had something in common with them then.

"Mr. Lupin," Shaklebolt continued. "You have been summoned here today to discuss your association with recently escaped prisoner Sirius Black. Will you tell us-"

"Hem, hem," Umbridge coughed again.

"Yes, Dolores?" Shaklebolt couldn't hide the annoyance in his voice.

"I was wondering if you received my memo this morning, Shaklebolt."

"I did," he replied shortly.

"Then you will remember that I recommended the use of veritaserum with this suspect. I think we ought to see to that before we begin."

"I don't think that will be necessary," Shaklebolt replied, but Umbridge fidgeted in her chair. She wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"You have read this-" she paused giving Remus a dirty look, "man's file, have you not?"

"Of course I have," Shaklebolt replied, the annoyance in his voice grower more noticeable.

"Then you will recall that this man is, is a werewolf," she said disgustedly.

Remus expected nothing less from this woman. He knew who she was alright. All werewolves knew who she was. Earlier that year this Umbridge woman had drafted some anti-werewolf legislation which made it nearly impossible for Remus to find work. Remus was used to that kind of hate. But for some reason unknown to him, he did glance back up at the young auror, Tonks. She had been slouching against the wall, looking down at the floor, but her attention was caught by the word "werewolf". She was looking at him now, but not with the same eyes as Umbridge. Umbridge's eyes were full of hate, but Tonks' seemed almost more curious, maybe even compassionate.

"Werewolves are notorious for their disregard for wizard law," Umbridge continued. "I believe, and I'm sure the Minister would agree, that this man ought to be questioned under veritaserum. I have some just here." She took a small vial out of her purse.

"Thank you for your input, Dolores, but we only use veritaserum if we have reason to believe that the suspect may be lying to us. Being a werewolf doesn't automatically make you a liar." Remus felt a sudden respect for Shaklebolt. "So, if you will kindly remain quiet, I will continue with my questioning of the suspect." Shaklebolt had said the word "quiet" with such force that Umbridge seemed quite taken aback. She seemed too frightened of Shaklebolt to talk back, so instead she pulled out a little clipboard and began to write ferociously.

"Wait just a moment, Shaklebolt," said the auror Fumble. "I agree that this man may not be inclined to lie because he is a werewolf, but Sirius Black is a very dangerous wizard, and I feel we owe it to the wizarding community to take every precaution in handling this case."

Shaklebolt considered this for some time. With a sigh, he turned to Remus again. "Do you have any objections to taking veritaserum?"

Of course Remus had an objection. Sirius Black may have betrayed the Potters, but Remus wasn't willing to tell the truth about him just yet. There was something deep inside of him that doubted Sirius had actually betrayed them, and was responsible for the deaths of all those muggles too. Of course the evidence was against him, but there was a nagging question in the back of Remus' mind. Why would Sirius have done that to James? Why would he have joined the dark wizards he hated all his life? From this place deep inside him, Remus harbored loyalty for the Sirius he used to know. But in this moment, what other choice did he have?

"I have no objections," he lied.