I'm sorry this is so late, but I went on vacation and couldn't get it up until we got back. I'll be gone next week too, so I hope to have another update by Saturday this week.

The next day, Remus got to the school looking considerably better than he had for the last couple weeks. His black eye had healed a few days ago, he had shaved last night and thanks to the good night's sleep he had gotten, he didn't look as tired.

And the students were glad about that.

He came into the lesson with his usual energy, teaching them about the dark creatures with lessons, diagrams, lectures, examples, real life stories, and he found himself thoroughly enjoying it.

He assigned no homework, something the students were extremely happy about. They ran off and after the last lesson of the day, someone came in.

Draco Malfoy looked happy by the prospect of getting his mark off. He was wearing casual robes to him, but to Remus they looked rather extravagant. Such were the Malfoy traditions, he supposed.

"So, Professor, are you able to take the Mark off?"

"In theory, yes, that is what will happen," Remus nodded, rolled up his sleeves, took off his tie, and unbuttoned the top button. He took a deep breath. "Are you ready, Draco?"

"Ye-"

"He may be, I am not."

Remus sighed. "Hello, Minerva, Filius. I suppose I'm going to have an audience for this?"

"Merely backup, in case something goes wrong, Remus," Flitwick said. "Though I'm confident in your abilities to complete this task."

They seated themselves on the desks and fingered their wands.

Remus took a deep breath. "Now, Draco, I want you to relax. Take a deep breath and let me know when you are ready."

"I've been ready for a while now professor."

Remus gave him a stern glance. "Now, hold out your arm." Draco did as he was told and Remus began the spell.

Draco didn't know how long they were there for, only that it was at least ten minutes. Finally Remus finished the spell, and waved his wand over the Mark one last time. They all held their breaths as they watched it start to fade.

"It worked!" Draco cried joyfully. "Thank you, Professor! Thank you!" He caught Remus in a hug and the surprised professor returned it awkwardly.

"You're welcome, Draco, I'm just glad I could help."

Draco smiled and thanked him again. "I must go give the news to my mother. See you around, Professor!"

"Goodbye, Draco."

Suddenly, Remus stumbled. Clutching his desk for support he took deep breaths. Minerva and Flitwick were by his side in a second, the former holding him up and the latter muttering some diagnostic charms.

"He's alright," Flitwick declared. "Just exhausted."

"I could have told you that myself," Remus muttered weakly.

Minerva rolled her eyes. "But I wouldn't have trusted you."

"And why is that?" Remus joked.

She rolled her eyes. "Don't pretend you don't know. You are very stubborn. Now get home to your wife, Remus. The school day is over."

"Yes, ma'am," Remus saluted jokingly and obeyed. He disapparated home to find his wife at the kitchen table, feeding Teddy.

"How did it go?" she asked.

"Successfully," Remus answered, ruffling his son's hair and giving a kiss to his wife. "Ready to go look at that house?"

"I should be asking you that question," his wife admonished. "You look about ready to fall over!"

"A good cuppa will solve that. A bar of chocolate as well." he said, rummaging through the cupboards. "Where are the chocolates?" he muttered.

"Second cabinet to the right, dear. You swear by those two things, don't you? Tea and chocolate."

"As a defense professor I ought to know my remedies!" Remus declared with a chuckle. "But yes, I do swear by them."
His wife rolled her eyes. "And I love you for it. Now, let's go!"

"Are we taking Ted?"

"No, Mum said she would watch him." And with that, they were off, Remus with a cup of steaming hot tea and a bar of chocolate.

They arrived in the front path of the house, and Remus was impressed by the start. "It looks big enough. Just think, we could possibly have the Weasley clan to our house!"

"The back lawn is certainly big enough for Quidditch," Dora agreed.

Suddenly, a portly man came out of the house. "Why hello there! You must be the Lupins come to see the house! I'm Jon."

Remus nodded. "Hello, Jon. It certainly looks the part from out here."

"Wait 'till you get inside!" Jon remarked with a wink. They followed him inside and found themselves in a suitable sized entryway with a doorway leading into the living room. There was a nice big fireplace in the side and a window to the lawn. To their right, there was a bar that led into the kitchen which would be nice for them to be able to talk while in separate rooms.

They climbed the stairs to the second level and they were in a hallway with doors branching off to different rooms. There were four bedrooms and two bathrooms, and a good sized room to serve as an office for the both of them. When they went down to the basement they found another sitting room type thing and another room that could be used as a guest room or office.

Remus was smiling when they finished the tour and turned to Dora. "This could do well! Very well indeed! You've chosen well, my dear."

"Why thank you good sir," she grinned. They turned to Jon, who was watching them with a smile. "We'll take it!"

His smile broadened and he clapped his hands together. "Jolly good! I'll go and fetch the paperwork!"

He was back and they were signing the forms to transfer the money to his account in Gringotts. "Well, I do hope you enjoy the house, Lupins. It is all yours. Here are the keys. I'll be off then!"

The couple returned to Andromeda's cottage. They smiled when Andromeda enquired how it had gone and answered that it had gone very well. At this, Andromeda looked slightly saddened, prompting Nymphadora to give her a hug. They had dinner and decided they would start moving in the next day.
They all went to bed, Tonks and Remus to prepare for their big day the next day.

"Remus, do you think Mum's ready?"

He turned on his side and stroked a hair from her worried face. "Ready or not, this is something we have to do. Dora, I never did want to impend on your parents for too long...this was always a temporary thing."

"I know, but we weren't counting on Dad…" Tonks couldn't bring herself to say it and Remus pulled her to him in a hug.

"Yeah, I wasn't planning on that either." he sighed and rubbed her back in comforting circles. "How are we going to arrange the cooking?"

"I thought that House Elf idea wasn't so bad. Wasn't there one at Hogwarts who wasn't coping so well?"

"You mean Winky? That's not a bad idea. I have visited them a few times and she did look to be on the outside a bit."

"Why don't you talk to Minerva about it."

"Good idea. Goodnight, Dora."

"Night, Remus."

This fanfic is getting longer than I expected it to be. 35 chapters!

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