Remus rubbed his eyes tiredly. It was the day after the full moon and he was exhausted. Not that they were doing much. He was sat with Sirius and Alex, staring into the depths of the fire and listening to the wireless. Alex was scolding Sirius for getting his head cut open on his case, and Remus let their voices wash over him, a memory of Lily scolding James for something similar drifting in front of his eyes. He smiled slightly at the memory and then froze as Alex and Sirius' voices stopped suddenly. He opened his eyes to see the two of them rummaging through Sirius' case files, obviously looking for something.

They obviously found it because Harry's voice suddenly filled the room, sounding panicked and rushed.

"Harry! What's wrong?" Sirius asked, concern already clouding his voice. They'd spoken to Harry only yesterday, and the only reason for him to contact them was that something had happened.

Sirius walked over to where Remus was sat, and settled next to him so they could both see Harry. He looked awfully pale and shaken. He immediately launched into his story about the snake and duelling club. "Hermione says its really bad because it's what Slytherin was known for, and now the whole school's going to think I'm his great grandson or something"

"No one's going to think that Harry. You're not even in his house" Remus reassured him, well aware that it probably wouldn't work in calming him down. It didn't.

"But I nearly was! The hat wanted to put me in Slytherin, but I asked it not to" Harry protested, a whinge appearing in his voice. Remus blinked. Harry had never told them that before. He looked at Sirius for wisdom. Sirius was already speaking.

"It suggested Slytherin for me too. My entire family have been in Slytherin. It changed its mind soon enough though, when I told it I didn't like Slytherin"

Remus caught a glimpse of Harry looking shocked before he turned to look at Sirius. He saw Alex doing the same and knew that she was thinking the same thing as him. Sirius had never mentioned that before either. That partly explained why he'd been such a wreck that first night.

"Really?"

Sirius smiled slightly. "The hat takes your choice into account. It doesn't matter how you start, but how you finish is what's really important. Being able to talk to snakes means nothing about the person you are. It doesn't change how much I love you"

Harry smiled at Sirius' words and then turned to look at Alex. "Just because Slytherin was a parseltongue, doesn't mean he was the only wizard to be in history"

"But he's the only one that anyone knows about" Harry said dejectedly. Remus looked away. That wasn't exactly true, but there was no need to upset Harry further. "What do I do now?"

Remus smiled reassuringly. "I don't think there's anything you can do about it. Just like Sirius can't sing. You just have to work out how to use it to your advantage"

"But it's not to my advantage! People are starting to think that I'm the one that's attacking people!"

Sirius sighed. "But you're not, and we know that. Everyone that knows you knows that its complete rubbish. Just remember that. And remember that you've only got a few days left before Christmas. It won't seem so bad then"

Dumbledore frowned at Sirius. "We are doing everything we can to ensure the safety of the students"

Sirius scoffed. "Obviously not. Two students and a ghost have been attacked and you're none the wiser to what's doing it. You're all too busy blaming Harry for being the wrong place at the wrong time"

Dumbledore's eyes turned cold. "I don't appreciate what you're implying. There are enough precautions in place that will ensure all of the students safety while we investigate what is attacking students"

Remus shot a silencing glare at Sirius and spoke. "Do you have any idea what it might be?"

"I have my suspicions, but I would prefer to gather more evidence before divulging anything"

"Why is Harry involved?" Sirius asked, not even bothering to conceal his irritation. "This isn't anything to do with Voldemort, is it?"

Dumbledore's face took on a closed expression. "I do not believe so. My sources tell me he's still in Albania. Harry is involved purely because he can speak parseltongue and the students have decided that it makes him the Heir of Slytherin"

Remus sighed. He and Sirius had been called in to speak to the headmaster when Harry had found another two victims. Harry had been a nervous mess when the two of them had got there, sure that he was being accused. After they all assured him countless times that it was not the case he had eventually brightened and gone off with Alex and Kura. As soon as he had left, Sirius had turned to Dumbledore and demanded that he explain everything that was going on. Hence the argument that the two of them were having with angry glares.

"Can you guarantee the safety of all of the students?" Sirius asked, the snap evident in his voice that he normally reserved for interrogation.

Dumbledore hesitated for maybe a second before he gave them a confirmation. Remus narrowed his eyes at him. Sirius obviously thought along the same lines. "Having to think about it is answer enough. Harry's not safe here. I'm taking him home"

Remus turned to him in shock. "I don't think he'd ever forgive you. He gets the train home tomorrow, there's no point in taking him home now"

Sirius sighed. "Fine" He turned to the headmaster, "He won't be coming back next term"

"Hogwarts isn't safe anymore Remus" Sirius announced as soon as Remus stepped out of the fireplace.

Remus sighed and swept his fringe out of his eyes. "Its no more dangerous than when we were students"

Sirius scoffed. "The students are being attacked from something within the castle! That's not the same as when we were there. We all knew that Hogwarts was far safer than anywhere else. That's not the case now. The castle itself is the danger"

"I'm not disagreeing with you, I just think that this can not be a hasty decision. Harry will be furious with you. You need to think about this carefully"

"I will not put Harry in danger! I won't fail James and Lily again," Sirius said softly, his voice throbbing with passion. A single tear formed in his grey eyes and he blinked it away furiously. "I promised I'd keep him safe, and I have no intention of failing"

"Sirius, I didn't mean –"

"I know. I just want you to know why I'm doing what I am"

Remus smiled sadly and let his eyes fall on a photograph above the fireplace. The photo was of the marauders, Lily and Harry, taken in August 1981. Sirius had a stick to help him walk, and Remus had a large bruise running the entire length of his jaw. But it was the last photo taken of all of them together, so it had pride of place in the lounge. He looked at the trusting smile on Lily's face and he knew that he would do anything to keep Harry safe.

"The three witches and the knight set off down the hill together, arm in arm, all four led long and happy lives, and none of them ever knew or suspected that the Fountain's waters carried no enchantment at all" Remus finished.

"Yay!" Kura cried. Remus had been reading her the story of the Fountain of Fair Fortune, as was their custom in the morning. Sirius was home today, Scrimgouer having let him come home early for wrapping up a case, and Alex was busy teaching students various languages. "Can we read more? Please?" Kura asked, her large grey eyes fixed on him hopefully.

"More? Kura, we've finished the book. The rest of Beedle's stories are too scary for little princesses" Remus answered, laying the book down on the side of the armchair. "Plus, I think we need to go and meet Harry at the station soon. And then mummy will be home soon"

Kura grinned at him. "And then we can do the tree!"

Remus smiled. "Yes, then we can do the tree. We best go get your dad so we can go to the station" He stood up and swung Kura onto his hip, smiling as Jethro raised his head sleepily to see what they were doing. Sirius was filling in a long form, looking more and more miserable as he read down the form. He brightened somewhat when he saw Kura in Remus' arms. Remus smiled and set her down on the floor. As soon as her feet touched the wooden floor, she ran towards Sirius, giggling and screaming with delight as Sirius held her up and spun her through the air.

"Is it time to go the station?" Sirius asked between Kura's shrieks. Remus nodded.

The journey to King's Cross was awfully slow this year, though that may have been because Kura sat in the back, asking "If they were nearly there yet?". Sirius' hands would tighten on the steering wheel every time she asked, and Remus answered "nearly", with increasing tiredness and concealed irritation every single time. By the time they parked at the train station, Remus felt like bashing his face into a brick wall. Sirius didn't look much better, but he managed to plaster a smile on his face as he lifted her out of the car.

Remus shifted his weight from foot to foot as they waited, his breath steaming in front of him. It was painfully cold, but Remus knew that he wouldn't have missed this for anything in the world. There was nothing as good as when he saw Harry return safely, regardless of the fact that he'd seen him yesterday.

Sirius' voice intruded on his thoughts. "Do you think I was right to tell Dumbledore that Harry won't return to school?"

Remus sighed. He honestly didn't know. he knew that Harry would be furious, but he also knew that Harry would likely be in danger if he went back. "I don't know. I want him to be safe as much as you do, but I worry that he'll do something stupid if you keep him home, as in, stupider than normal. Besides, Alex is at Hogwarts. He's not alone"

Sirius nodded and set Kura on the floor. She took his hand and waited impatiently for Harry to walk through the barrier. When he finally did she took off at a run towards him, ignoring Sirius' calls to come back and evading him as he ran after her. He nearly tripped over Harry's trolley, but managed to right himself before he made a complete fool of himself. Harry caught the little girl and they both laughed at Sirius, much to his annoyance. Harry turned to grin at Remus. He smiled back. All was well.

AN: You have no idea how hard I found this chapter. It took me three days to sort, and I'm still not sure that it's the best it could be.

Please review?