Right, I know Remus seemed OOC in the last chapter. I would assume that the fact that he has anger issues can seem OOC for some readers.

Remember that the years between the Potters deaths, and him teaching in Harry's third year are unknown.

I just imagine him having had it tough. He just lost all his friends so quickly. Apart from his parents, he doesn't really have anyone, and he's desperate to at least prove Sirius' innocence. I just see him as being less in control than he's ever been, that means losing his temper, and being quiet and withdrawn. Maybe even depressed. He may snap sometimes, and push people away, but he's still our lovely Remus inside.

I do see why some people might not agree with it, and if you don't, I can totally understand. Everyone has their own image of what Remus was like during these years. He will become our Remus again, so just give the story a chance :)

With Hermione and Ginny, they've just suffered for two years, they would be think and ill looking, but they are eager to start changing everything.

I hope you enjoy this chapter.

I own nothing.


The next morning, Remus was seated in the Great Hall at a table placed in the middle of the room. He was reminded of the holidays he spent at school, whilst his parents were away searching for a cure. He frowned, as he remembered how Sirius, James and sometimes Peter would stay too, and he'd have his friends to celebrate Christmas with. Today he found himself sitting alone. Never again would the four of them be together, but maybe, just maybe him and Sirius could be. He would have one of his friends back. He wouldn't have to be alone anymore.

He looked around the hall. The last time he had been there was when he attended Hogwarts. He hadn't returned, except to Dumbledore's office to beg him for help with Sirius. He had never entered any other parts of the castle either, he had no reason to, and he knew that it would just further remind him how alone he truly was. It felt strange being in the Great Hall again, it brought back so many memories. He could almost hear the noise of the students, and almost picture their table with his friends around it.

He snapped out of his daydream, as he heard the doors open, and watched the girls walk in. The brunette - Hermione, he thought to himself, took the seat next to him, and Ginny sitting one seat further down. Both girls were dressed in white school shirts and trousers, with sweaters which bore the Gryffindor house crest on them.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked, not quite sure what else to say, and they nodded.

"It was the best sleep we've had in over two years," Ginny replied.

"Three for me," Hermione added. They both smiled politely at him, and he tried to return the smile. He could see by their faces that they were exhausted and wondered if they really did sleep.

"When was the last time you ate?" he asked, after a couple of minutes silence, having noticed the way their clothes hung from their bodies.

"You mean before last night?" Hermione asked. "Well, two days before that, we were snuck some food, but that was barely anything. Before that, it had been a few days."

Remus raised his eyebrows. "Was that a regular occurrence?"

"Being starved? Yes, they fed us just enough to keep us alive, no more," Ginny replied, her voice struggling to remain steady.

"For the whole two years?" Remus asked, appalled.

"For me it was two, for Hermione, longer," Ginny answered.

"Yeah, we were on the run for a year, me, Ron and Harry had to be very careful, we didn't have much gold with us, and I wasn't going to take advantage and start stealing things. What about you, when was the last time you ate?" Hermione asked Remus.

Remus stared at her. "I eat," he answered, a stony expression covering his face.

"I don't believe that," she responded. "I can see it all in your face, Remus. You're thin - too thin. I know for a fact that you're blaming it on your transformations, but we both know that the transformations have never caused that. You also are lacking sleep, and you're clearly pushing yourself, I can see it on your face. You seem to have a temper, which Sirius or anyone else has never mentioned. In fact, you were always the opposite. I don't like seeing you like this," Hermione stated, calmly.

"Well, it's not your concern," he snapped, and narrowed his eyes at her smile.

"You say that, but I'm making it my concern. Just because you push everyone else away, it doesn't mean I'm going anywhere. You mean a lot to me in the future... or my world or whatever, and I don't have much intention of leaving."

"Don't pretend to know me, I might be nothing like your Remus," he snarled.

"I won't pretend to know this version of you, because the you I know is from my world, an older you who was even more broken. But still we stuck with him, being his friend, hoping to fix him as the world just got harder and harder. I didn't know him until he was my Professor at Hogwarts, therefore I have no idea what he was like at this age. My Remus died to save my life, and I'm going to save yours, starting with a potion to make your transformations easier... and as for you being nothing like our Remus - I can't picture a world where Remus Lupin isn't loyal, kind and brave."

Remus took a moment to collect his thoughts. He wasn't used to people having anything nice to say about him, well... not used to strangers saying these things. His parents, the Headmaster, McGonagall, Poppy, they were always kind, but the majority of people were cruel.

"My... transformations? How do you know?" He finally queried.

"I know everything, Moony. I've known since I was thirteen. We didn't care then, and we don't care now. Please learn to keep a hold on your temper, and I'll make the potion. It won't stop the transformations, but the pain won't be so bad, and you'll be able to keep your mind during them."

Remus looked at her, his eyes wide and the guarded look slipping from his face. Hermione could see her Remus underneath, his eyes full of hope. He struggled to put the mask back in place.

"I'm sorry about my temper, I'm not usually like this," he said, his voice going slightly softer, and she smiled at him. "I just have trouble pulling the wolf in."

Hermione nodded. "It's understandable, I mean it has been a tough few years for you, I imagine. You've had to somehow make it in the real world, and the only thing that was keeping you going was your friends. I'm positive in my world you said that you lived with Sirius, so you've lost everything, I don't like seeing you so hurt, I want to help fix this world, make things right. I want to give you back as much as possible. I can't give you James, or Lily, but I can get you Sirius. I can make your life bearable again. I swear I'll do everything I can to help you."

"You don't have to -" Remus began.

"But I want to," Hermione interrupted. You died for me in my world, and I can just tell that you are the same man, only younger. You haven't gone through the hardships he has, and with Sirius free, you won't have to."

Remus thought about her words. He wanted to trust her, to believe that she was telling the truth, that she could change things, but could he trust someone else? If he trusted her and accepted the friendship she was so willingly offering, could he risk that he would lose her too? It wasn't good for him to have new friends, he thought, thinking about how rare it was for someone to willingly become friends with a werewolf, as he watched the doors open.

When he spotted who had come in, he jumped up and quickly walked over, helping to support the frail and ill woman, who was leaning heavily on the man accompanying her.

"Mum, Dad," he greeted, kissing his Mum on the cheek, and walking her to her seat. "Did you go up and speak with Dumbledore?"

"Yes, he explained about the mirror, and how you saved these girls lives. I'm very proud of you," his mother replied, her voice soft, as smiling at her son. She took the seat facing Hermione, and John sat facing Remus.

"I would normally give you both a hug, but I'm quite worn out from the journey," Hope said, smiling at the girls. "I'm Hope, and this is my husband John."

"It's lovely to meet you," Hermione and Ginny both replied, before introducing themselves.

Hope turned her attention to her handbag, searching for her potions.

"If you don't mind me asking..." Hermione whispered to Remus.

"Dragon Pox," Remus mumbled.

Hermione nudged Ginny to get her attention, before turning back to Remus. "Do you know the cure that is around now was improved by Dumbledore in the future?" She said, quietly. "It just so happens that Ginny knows how to make it up as she was training with Madam Pomfrey to become a Healer. It's not one-hundred percent effective, but it has a eighty-nine Percent success rate, over the fifty-two Percent that this one has."

"Fifty-one, actually," Remus mumbled, correcting her before his eyes shot to hers. "Wait, eighty-nine?"

Remus stared at her, not sure whether to believe her. He wanted her to be telling the truth more than anything.

"Can you get us into the potions lab today? I know you don't trust us, but I'm sure we can earn your trust. We'll free Sirius, we'll provide your mum with a more effective cure, and I'll get you the potion to help ease your transformations. There isn't a cure for you, Remus, but imagine transforming and still being Remus inside your head, instead of Moony?"

"It... would be great," Remus admitted, his voice soft, and Hermione found that he sounded more like her own Remus, his voice was soft like his, rather than with the hard edge she had heard since the previous day.

Hope started to bubble inside him. "You're setting yourself up to exhaust yourself though. I don't think that would be good to your recovery, so maybe once you free Sirius, and help my mum, you should rest a bit, my transformation potion can wait until you've recovered, and I'd like to help with it."

"You can help, but right now I have another chance to fix things. I can't just sit back now, we have so much to do first. Two years ago I watched all my friends die, my best friends were killed, and the man I love. I spent two years not being allowed to die, because there was certainly nothing to live for. Now I have the chance to save them all, to bring Sirius back from Azkaban, to save you, Harry, Ron, everyone really. I can stop Voldemort before he goes after Harry at eleven years old, so Harry can have a more normal childhood. I need Sirius free so he can take Harry away from the Dursleys, those foul evil people... the bruises he used to come to school with, I used to be the one to heal him and fix his glasses, and -"

"Bruises?" Remus whispered.

"Yes, I think we might have a few years before it starts, but we can't take Harry away from there until the threat of Voldemort and the Death Eaters is completely gone. We can, however, scare the shit out of the Dursleys."

Remus smirked. Scaring the Dursleys sounded like a lot of fun. He thought back to the way Hermione spoke about Harry, the softness of her voice as he was mentioned. "In your world, were you and Harry..." he asked, curiously.

Hermione shook her head. "Together? No of course not. Harry and Ron were my best friends, they were like brothers to me, nothing more. They saved me from a fully grown troll in our first year, and that was the least of what we've been through together. We've broken into the Ministry twice, and even broken into Gringotts disguised as Bellatrix Lestrange..." Hermione frowned at the memory, and her hand went to her arm and she started scratching at it, hard.

Remus watched her for a moment, before remembering the word he saw carved into her arm the previous evening. He reached out to stop her, but Ginny's hand was already on her arm, pulling it away.

"What I'm saying is that I need to fix all this. We can fix this world, and I don't want to sit around whilst I can make changes. Sirius is priority, he's innocent. We'll free him today, and do something about your mum."

Although they had been talking softly and quietly, John and Hope had caught most of the conversation. They might not have seemed like they were listening, but they were paying close attention to what was happening.

"I just want to point out there is still a chance that the cure might not work, but it's more likely to work than the one she would be taking now."

"I understand that, even if it were a one Percent chance, it would be something," he replied, softly.

They shared a quick look before they heard the doors open again, and watched Dumbledore, Madame Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall and the Weasleys walk in. The group approached the table and quickly sat down. The Weasleys stared at Ginny in shock.

"I've explained the circumstances of the mirror bringing you here," Dumbledore said. "Arthur, Molly, this is Ginevra. If you had a daughter in this world, this is who she would have become."

"It's Ginny for short," Ginny said, staring at the younger version of her parents.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "I have had someone fall through the mirror before, causing me to research it. The Mirror has allowed Hermione and Ginny through, and they can remain here, as long as they can tie themselves to this world."

"How does that happen, Albus?" John asked, looking at the girl who was sneaking glances at his oblivious son, and the other girl who were staring at the couple next to him.

"They both saw the person who would tie them to the world. One of them was Remus, and the other was Sirius. Both Remus and Sirius would need to be around the girls, to help them fix into this world. Remus might be able to help both, since he pulled them both through, but eventually, Ginny will need Sirius around her."

"What happens if they don't?" Hope whispered.

"The girls will fade from this world, and return to their own."

Remus looked up. "They can't go back, they were in chains, I saw Hermione get tortured. Voldemort wins the war. I'll do what I can to help," he said urgently. He may not trust the girls yet, but there was no way he was going to return them to Voldemort and let them suffer anymore. Even if they weren't able to free Sirius, or come up with the promised potions, he would still not allow them to return to their world.

Dumbledore nodded. "Of course we don't want them to return," he said. "But that is down to you, and when Sirius has been freed, down to him too."

"Sirius would help too, I'm sure of it," Remus added.

"The girls can take our guest room," Hope said. "That way they will be near Remus, and you mentioned they will free Sirius? Well, Sirius can share Remus' room."

"Thank you Mrs Lupin," Ginny said, and Hermione repeated the same words, Hope and John smiled at the tired looking girls.

"Ladies, can you tell us what proof you have of Sirius' innocence?"

Hermione nodded. "Professor, you can look inside my head, I'll let my walls down. I'll show you exactly what happened the day we found out."

He stared at her, and his eyes widened as she pushed the memory of the Shrieking Shack to the front of her mind, and the comments about how Scabbers had been in Ron's family for years.

He pulled away.

Remus had never seen the headmaster look shocked before, clearly the Weasleys and Lupins hadn't either, judging by their expressions.

"That would be more than enough to free Sirius, certainly," Dumbledore told the girls, before turning to the Weasleys. "Molly, Arthur, after breakfast I would like your help on something. It's not dangerous, but you'll be helping free an innocent man from Azkaban. When we leave here, not a word is to be uttered about Sirius, it could affect everything. Especially when we reach your home."

The couple nodded, completely confused.

"I will speak to Fudge and see what he will do about a trial soon," Dumbledore added.

"Today," Ginny insisted. "We both know your influence over Fudge, and we need Sirius free, because we only want to tell our story once, and that would require the Order, including Kingsley Shaklebolt and the Weasleys, who were only part of the second Order."

Dumbledore watched them for a moment. "Understood, I'll get a trial today, after I collect the proof that Sirius is innocent."

"What did you show him?" Remus asked, unable to wait any longer.

"We're sorry, we can't tell you, you honestly won't believe us," Ginny said.

"You'll find out later, and when the Order is together, I'll show you the same memory I just showed the Headmaster."

Remus frowned, but didn't reply.

"Before I forget, we had these cleaned for you," Ginny interrupted, holding up a package, and she passed it to Hermione, who gave it to Remus.

"It's your robe and jumper from yesterday. The state we were in, we thought it best we put them into the laundry. It was really nice of you to let us wear them."

"Remus is very well-mannered, that's how we raised him," John said, from the other side of the table, and Hermione smiled at him.

"I know, I remember Remus from our world."

"Was your Remus the same as ours?" Hope asked, and Hermione nodded slightly.

"Our Remus was our former Professor at Hogwarts and a valuable member of the Order. He stopped Ginny from going through the veil after Sirius at the Ministry when we broke in, which saved her life, and he got us away from the final battle when everyone else had died. There were eight of us left, and in the end he died to save me."

The Lupin's stared at her for a moment, as she struggled to get her words together.

"He was so broken, though he hid it very well. I suspect he would have completely given up on life if it wasn't for getting Sirius back, and helping Harry, he dealt with the prejudice and ignored how all the fools looked at him. He was a brilliant man. He just wouldn't allow himself anything in life that could make him happy."

Hope watched her, and the way she looked at Remus. "How much older was Remus?" She asked.

"Twenty years," Hermione whispered. She shared a look with Ginny that the rest of the table didn't understand.

As John went to ask her another question, the food appeared on the table distracting everyone.

Remus looked at the girl next to him, the way she spoke about the other him, as though he was a very important man, when he was just a werewolf, alone, uncared for, unloved. But he found everything that had happened from the moment they arrived, had eased his anger somewhat, and he felt more himself than he had in so long. The thought that his mother being cured, Sirius being freed, and himself having easier transformations made his head spin.

"I'll fix up the guest room tonight for you both," he said, serving some food onto his plate. It was the least he could do. "If there's anything you need, let me know."

Hermione beamed at him and he gave an unsure smile back. He took in her face. She was pale, gaunt. It was clear she hadn't eaten properly in a long time, and her body was shaking slightly. But none of that hid how beautiful she was, and he could see the hope that he was feeling, mirrored in her eyes.

He turned away, piling food onto his plate, and watched as her hand shook as she tried to serve something up for herself.

He looked at Ginny, who was looking quite shaky too. He took Ginny's plate, swapping it with his own, and then quickly filling Hermione's before filling the empty plate in front of him. He done the same with the drinks.

"When was the last time you had regular meals?" Molly asked Ginny.

"For me, it was probably the day before the final battle, so over two years ago. For Hermione, it was..."

"Over three years. We were on the run, trying to find a way to stop Voldemort, and there wasn't much food available to us," Hermione said, her hands shaking slightly as she started to eat.

The rest of the meal went in silence. Remus had never seen anyone eat as fast as they did, it was clear the girls were starved.

Finally they stopped eating, and they looked exhausted.

"Did you get any sleep?" Arthur asked, and the girls nodded. "It's the first proper sleep we've had in two years," Ginny said, smiling at him. The four parents on the side of the table looked at the girls sadly. Hope and Molly were already making plans in their heads to help the pair of them.

Once the food was cleared, Dumbledore stood up.

"Hope, John, if you wait here for my return, we'll all go to the Ministry together."

Madam Pomfrey jumped in quickly, her face full of disapproval. "Ladies, your health isn't good enough for you to leave the castle yet, you shouldn't even be down here, but I relented because of this meeting, but you need to return afterwards."

Hermione shook her head. "Thank you for your concern, Madam Pomfrey, but we're not going to lay around the hospital wing. We'll follow your orders and be careful, we'll eat, we'll take the necessary potions, but we're not going to sit around."

Madam Pomfrey opened her mouth to argue.

"All we'll be doing is watching Sirius' trial, and then returning back here to the castle," Ginny informed her, and she reluctantly nodded, before returning to the hospital wing.

...oOo...

Remus followed the girls down to the Potions room, where he took down the wards on their request. They walked in, and Remus helped them with the armfuls of ingrediants they were bringing from the potions storeroom.

"What do you need me to do?" Remus asked.

Hermione shook her head. "You're best off helping Ginny, her potion isn't as complicated, and I've heard all about your potions skills," she teased.

Remus felt a smile pull at his lips. "I'll have you know that I make up for that in other areas," he replied, with a wink, and Hermione let out a slight laugh, before turning back to her cauldron. Remus couldn't believe that he had just attempted to flirt with the girl. Maybe it was something to do with the fact that whatever the Headmaster had seen confirmed there was proof that Sirius was innocent, or maybe that Dumbledore himself was collecting that evidence, or even that they were making potions to help both him and his mother.

All he knew was that the darkness that had dragged him down, had lightened significantly and he felt so hopeful. He felt like today was the start of a new part of his life. A happier part.

An hour later, they stepped back from the potions, Ginny had set hers to boil a little while before, and helped Hermione.

Remus looked at the bubbling sludge, and pulled a face. "It smells awful," he said.

"Tastes worse."

"Can't you make it taste good?" He asked.

Ginny shook her head. "Can't add anything, sorry," she said, "you were the one who told us that."

"Remus, can you set wards around these cauldrons and then on the doors?"

Remus nodded, and started to do the wards, before leading the girls back to the Great Hall.

The Lupins looked up from their seats when the three came back in.

"Where did you get off to?" John asked his son.

"Hermione knows about a potion that'll help ease the transformation. It should help me keep my own mind, even though I'll still become a wolf," he said.

"It'll take a week to make though," Hermione added.

The Lupins looked at each other sadly. "So there isn't a cure in your time?"

Ginny shook her head.

"I would suggest before you waste money on something that might seem as though it would help, to come to me first. The other Remus told me everything you tried, and I can tell you if you've done it before, so you know not to waste your time and money on something that will become a dead end."

The Lupin's nodded. "At least the potion is around. When was it invented?"

"I believe it was in 1988," Hermione replied after a moment.

John was about to ask for more information about the potion, when a Phoenix Patronus appeared, asking the group to head to the Ministry for Sirius' trial.

John stood, and helped his wife up, and walked to Dumbledore's office, Remus walking in front.

"Remus, could you do us a favour?" Ginny asked, and he nodded.

"We'd look a bit odd in the school uniforms, could you transfigure these into something more suitable - jeans and t-shirts perhaps?"

Remus nodded and focused, and after a minute, Ginny was in some loose jeans and a white t-shirt. After a glance at her arm, he lengthened the sleeves, and turned to Hermione.

"Just... not bellbottoms," she requested. "What about some tight jeans, boots and a plain black top?"

With a quick flick of his wand, her outfit was just that. She took a step and wobbled on the heels.

"Oh, sorry," he said, waving it again, turning her boots into flat boots. She grinned. "This is more like it," she smiled.

The Lupin's caught up, and Hope smiled at the girls. "You both look very nice, now lets go get Sirius."

They made their way up to the office, and to the fireplace. Within minutes they were all standing in the Ministry, where Molly rushed over, looking pale.

"I'll take you to the room, we've been here ages as Dumbledore talked the Minister into giving Sirius Black a trial. I just can't believe it - in my home too!"

They went downstairs in silence, and were led to the room just in time, as Hermione could feel her happiness fade away. She quickly moved to the seats with the best view, and started shaking. Remus took a seat, and the girls sat either side of him.

The Lupins and Molly took the seats behind, Arthur following in soon afterwards.

After a moment, Remus felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned to look back at his mum, who was nodding her head at the girls. He turned to look at them, to see they were shaking more than at breakfast, as the Dementors were coming in. Hermione's head was bowed, and he done the only thing he could think of.

He pulled out a bar of chocolate and broke large chunks off, giving bits to the girls. "Eat it, it'll help," he said, softly, and Hermione let out a giggle. He looked confused. "It's not the first time I've heard you say that," she explained, with a smile. He nervously returned the smile, and looked back at the couple of Dementors entering the chamber.

Hermione let out a small whimper, and Remus carefully took one of each of their hands in his own.

After a moment, flanked by two Aurors, Sirius Black was led into the court room.


Review please :)

Remember, the girls have just been tortured and starved for two years, after watching their friends die and losing the war. I just see that they aren't the strong Ginny and Hermione that we know, but they want to be. They are going to need to recover, and get to know the new Remus, and stuff. They'll be themselves once they recover.

Also they don't want to sit around and do nothing, they spent two years locked up, they want to be back doing something, preferably something to do with magic. They don't have their wands (obviously they'd need new ones since Voldemort would have rid them of their wands two years ago), and I think that making the potions as they wait on news about Sirius would be realistic... Right?

Hopefully the next part of the story won't take so long to update :)

Also, I think this could have gone a lot better. I've been working on this since the day of the last update and this is the best I can do for this chapter. The rest will go a lot smoother, so give this a chance :)