Thank you all very much for the review love. Just a warning, I'm moving this weekend, so the next update may be a few days. Thanks again for reading.

The boys had finally awakened, and Minerva was starting to remember why she had only had the one child.

Dudley was screaming at the top of his lungs and refused to be comforted. Harry, on the other hand, was sitting quietly in the middle of the floor, staring into the distance. The slightest touch caused him to shiver and move quickly away. Not even Remus had been able to get the boy to show any signs of life. And nobody had felt like eating anything, with the predictable result that tempers were getting a little frayed. Particularly when a certain somebody refused to use the boys' new names…

"REMUS LUPIN, IN CASE YOU'VE FORGOTTEN, HIS NAME IS JAMES! IF I DIDN'T KNOW BETTER, I'D SAY YOU WERE TRYING TO GET THEM DISCOVERED!"

Remus was somewhat quieter, but only because he was already hoarse. "I'D LIKE TO KNOW HOW YOU PROPOSE I REASSURE HIM WHEN I'M USING A NAME HE HAS NO IDEA BELONGS TO HIM! AND FOR YOUR INFORMATION, I HAVE QUITE A BIT OF INTEREST IN KEEPING THESE BOYS WELL HIDDEN! AND WHILE WE'RE ON THAT…OH, GREAT, YOU'VE MANAGED TO SET HARRY OFF NOW!"

"I SET HIM OFF? YOU WERE THE ONE SHOUTING WHEN HE STARTED CRYING!"

Remus slammed his fist on the table as he opened his mouth to retort, but all that came out was a yelp of pain. There had been a fork right where he had struck the tabletop. Shock on both sides suddenly gave way to rather hysterical laughter. Clinging weakly to the wall, Minerva wiped tears out of her eyes.

"Come on, I think we'd all feel a little better if we had…" she paused to look up at the clock, "supper."

Remus blinked. "It's that late already? Tell you what, I'll cook and you tell me the menu." He sniffed. "And while we're on the subject, I think there's a nappy that needs changing."

"Deal. But I'd like to know how cooking relates to diaper-changing."

Minerva tuned his blithe answer out in favor of watching the boys. Remus was stepping over to the stove and had pulled his wand out. Neither boy seemed able to take their eyes off of him, and Harry was looking rather pale…

"Remus, put your wand away, now!"

He jumped. "Why, what's wrong?"

She nodded at the two motionless figures. "They're afraid. I think they're remembering the attackers."

Remus hissed through his teeth and quickly hid his wand. "Great. If I ever get my hands on those…erm, blokes I'll…never mind, I can't say it in present company." He took a deep breath and visibly calmed himself. "All right, guess it's time to show you all how to cook the Muggle way. What do you have that's simple?"

Minerva turned and started going through her pantry. "There's always macaroni and cheese. Not high cuisine, but Harr…oops, I mean, James and Terry ought to like it. Aha! Got a few eggs. Don't werewolves need more protein than most people?"

Remus nodded absently while starting a pan of water boiling. Both boys had calmed down somewhat and Terry was examining a rather large imp hole in the baseboard. James suddenly toddled over to Minerva and grabbed her around the legs. She scooped him up and fussed with his hair, relieved that the boy was still capable of trust. A foul odor wafted into the air and she winced. Time to change that nappie.

Two weeks later, Minerva stood in the middle of the Shrieking Shack and made a mental note to have Albus put some insulation in it. While things were fine now, it would be bloody miserable come wintertime. And from the looks of things, they would be using it quite a bit in the years to come…

James and Terry sat in the middle of the floor looking about in bewilderment. Neither seemed quite sure just what they were doing in this place, though both seemed rather impressed by a practically destroyed table nearby. James was now running his fingers over some of the more striking tooth marks and Terry was trying to separate a splintered dowel from the one table-leg it was still attached to.

Minerva sighed and wished that she had been able to persuade Remus to join them. Still, he had had some rather convincing arguments against it, chiefly that there was no way to know in advance how he might react to two wolf cubs, and didn't want to take the chance thathe might kill them. Further, as he had pointed out, while Animagi were immune to a werewolf's bites, it was probably still a good idea to get the boys used to her while they remained small enough to not be able to do much damage. He had then refused comment on how he had come by that last bit of advice.

Terry had stopped breaking the dowel and was starting to shiver. James, while still determinedly attempting to climb a ruined bookshelf, wasn't looking much better. She walked over and plucked the boy up, then sat down next to Terry.

The moon wasn't visible from inside the shack, but she found that she had a pretty good idea of where it was anyway. Both boys were trembling and whimpering a little in fear. It grew worse as the moon neared the horizon, and then suddenly both of them arched back in a great muscle spasm. Fur sprouted at nightmare speed and there were audible cracks as bones and muscles reshaped themselves. All she could do was hold them and try to let them know that someone was there. And then it was over.

Minerva hastily put down both wolf cubs and changed into her cat form. It was none too soon, both James and Terry were starting to stir. The first thing she did was to look them over. While both glamours had survived the transformation, they look decidedly out of place on a pair of wolf cubs. Minerva sighed and resolved to research another that would work during the full moon. Other than that, though…

Both pups had hair the same color as they did in their new identities. Terry's dark fur looked rather good on him. However, James looked rather odd with blonde fur and an apparent patch of human skin on his forehead where his scar should be. Oh well, it wasn't like anyone was going to be disturbing them tonight, anyway. And next moon she'd be more prepared. Looked like the Shrieking Shack was about to regain its reputation for being haunted.

There was a shrill yelp as James seized Terry's tail and tried to drag him backwards. A second later, James found Terry snapping at his front paw. The two pups rolled over and over on the floor. Cat instincts rose within Minerva and she didn't try to suppress them. She crouched down, snuck a little closer, then pounced on the pair. Within seconds, there was a three-way mock battle going.

Minerva hadn't known what to expect, butnothing her imagination had conjured up came close to this. Neither boy seemed interested in fighting or attacking, they just wanted to play. It seemed that the other stuff was something that they grew into. Or maybe it was caused by the social isolation that a werewolf almost always underwent. It was something to ask Poppy about, anyway. But in the meantime, there was a perfectly good tail that needed pouncing on. So she obliged.