'Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Warning: Language, adult situations

Chapter 55 – Reborn From Fire

Remus and Sirius retraced their steps and walked silently through the doors of The Leaky Cauldron. Pausing to allow their eyes to adjust to the cool dimness of the interior, Remus was grateful to note that they appeared to be the only patrons. Nodding to Tom, the proprietor, both young wizards made their way to a booth at the very back of the place, situated in a secluded corner.

Tom appeared at their table with menus, which both declined, ordering a pitcher of butter beer instead. Once he had returned with their beverage and glasses and had withdrawn again, the pair were left on their own.

The silence they had carried into the pub settled around them as they sat, sipping the cold butter beer and looking anywhere but at each other. Finally, true to form, Sirius could stand the silence – and his own escalating nerves – no longer.

"Remus, you wanted to …"

"Sirius, I've had …"

Both stopped and finally looked over at each other. Sirius half-smiled. "Sorry. Impatient as always, aren't I? You asked for a word; you start."

Remus' smile was sad as he nodded and took a deep breath. "You're not always impatient; the past few months have proved that."

"Hmm; well, I might have been. We haven't spent much time together, after all. I'm sorry you couldn't go to James' this summer. Bloody awful timing," Sirius said. At Remus' raised eyebrows, Sirius flushed and stiffened a bit. "Yes, well, of course, the fact that I was there really sealed it for you, I know. I wasn't thinking about – well, let's not …"

Remus reached over and put his hand on Sirius' arm and gripped it tightly until the other wizard looked up at him. "I didn't know you were at James' until I returned to school. I just – you weren't in the compartment with us on the train back to London when James invited me to Brighton. He didn't remember that I would be dealing with the full that week. I had to remind him of it. But you knew; you remembered." He withdrew his hand.

"Of course I remembered," Sirius said, sadly.

"You've always remembered," Remus added.

"Yeah, I have."

"Sirius, what happened with Snape that night?"

Sirius' head snapped up and he searched Remus' face for a sign of the anger or hostility that had not been evident in the softly voiced question. Finding neither, he shook his head. "Thought you weren't interested in the reason."

"I thought so, too. I was wrong."

Sirius sat back and exhaled sharply. "In hindsight, it's all so stupid. I should have known better than to … but I digress. You remember how Snape had been sort of trailing after us back then? Yeah, well, I figured that the only way I'd find out what he was up to was to trail him. I followed him onto the grounds that night and that's when I found out he'd seen you leaving the castle every month with James, Peter and I coming along shortly afterward. I'd caught up with him round the corner of the castle that overlooks the Willow, you see and part of me panicked that he really did know what happened every month. He didn't. Snape had discovered Ofelia's pregnancy – quite by accident – and had spun quite an intriguing theory of how it had happened. In his mind, I was the father, but you really were the ringleader behind a monthly circle of debauchery that had students leaving the school, traveling to Hogsmeade through the Willow and engaging in all manner of drunken orgies. We supposedly lured Ofelia there, which is when the deed was done in her case. He threatened to reveal all to Dumbledore after which we would surely be expelled."

Remus looked at him in confusion. "But Dumbledore would have known Snape's story to be baseless, Sirius. After all, he knows what happens to me every month. Granted, he doesn't know about the three of you…"

Sirius shook his head, feeling himself begin to tremble as he remembered the events of that night – Snape's threats and his own cold fear that he would be forced to return to Grimmauld Place. "That's not it – at least I don't think I thought of the Animagus bit on any kind of conscious level. One afternoon – before I sent him to the Willow - Snape had followed Ofelia to that spare classroom by the library. She was meeting me; I don't even remember what we – anyway, as we were leaving, Ofelia caught her robes on a piece of an old chair and ripped a huge gash in them. When Snape saw her – then saw me – he thought that I'd assaulted her in some way. When he found out about the pregnancy, he remembered that afternoon and …"

Remus paled. "…And thought that you'd forced yourself on her."

Sirius nodded, grimly. "Again, in his mind, since her pregnancy was too advanced for that to have been the occasion on which she became pregnant in the first place. He told me that he was going to Dumbledore with evidence that Ofelia had been raped … and all he needed was to find that evidence and I'd find myself back in London with my parents. In the event that news of my transgression didn't reach my parents' ears from Dumbledore, Snape planned to make sure Bellatrix, Narcissa, Malfoy and my brother knew so they heard from someone."

Remus listened, horrified at the story spilling out of his friend's mouth. As he sat there, the young werewolf had seen the other wizard begin to tremble as his tale progressed and now that he was getting to the crux of the events of that night, Remus was devastated to see the trembling turn to shaking as Sirius fought to retain some semblance of control.

Remus leaned over the table to still the other boy's hands. "Stop for a moment," he said quietly. "Breathe; you're not being sent anywhere. There's no one here who can hurt you."

Sirius looked over at his friend and Remus caught his breath at the pain reflected in his eyes. "Yeah; there is." But he shook his head and took a deep breath before resuming his story. "Right. Well, all I could think of was how wrong he was and how we'd all be expelled. Yes, yes – I know that Dumbledore would have called Snape a fool for telling a story that could not be true – about you, at any rate. That night, all I could see was Dumbledore turning me over to my parents and telling them that I had been expelled. Maybe I thought he'd repeat Snape's story as a cover for you – who knows? I certainly can't remember. All I can recall is knowing that I could not go back there. They were already bloody well pissed at me for getting the marriage contract dissolved and they weren't having much luck finding anyone else who would have me. Now, with the idea in her head that I'd raped my ex-fiancée– plus some trumped up story of the four of us running wild, drunken orgies in Hogsmeade – my mother would have a field day and there wouldn't be anyone there to stop her." Sirius shook off Remus' hand and buried his face in his own. "I never thought about the wolf; I never thought about anything other than proving to Snape that his idea was bollocks. I told him how to get past the Willow and sent him to the tunnel. I never thought of what it would actually mean to you if you – if the wolf – if you …"

Remus glanced around the pub and found that they were still alone, although Tom was back in his position behind the bar, looking their way every once in awhile as if to assure himself that they hadn't slipped out the door. Quietly, Remus murmured a Distraction spell that would cause Tom – and any subsequent arrivals – to avoid their booth until it was discontinued. He reached over and gently pulled Sirius' hands from his face, guiding them to rest on top of the table and once again covering them with his own. Tears flowed unchecked down the other boy's face, slipping from beneath the dark lashes that rested against the pale cheeks. Remus felt his own emotions rise. He knew that whatever bravado Sirius put forth in public about life at Grimmauld Place, it was false; the elder child of Walburga and Orion Black was terrified of his parents – his mother in particular. Based on what Kate had told him that morning, Remus knew that the wizard before him had suffered tremendously – yet again – at his mother's hands. That, on top of a friend who had refused to forgive him – refused to even listen to him – had obviously proven to be a heavy burden indeed. Remus wondered at Sirius' ability to withstand it all. He was brought back to the present by the feeling of Sirius tugging his hands away once again.

"I'm sorry, Remus," Sirius rubbed his eyes and cheeks free of moisture and his voice, though hoarse, was once again quietly controlled. Remus was again saddened to think how much subterfuge at home had contributed to this uncanny ability to bring himself back under such quick and impressive control. "I wish, more than anything in the world, that I could go back to that night and do things differently. I can't, though and it's been obvious that I can't properly make it up to you, either. So, instead of standing still – stuck between what I want back and what I can't have - I decided to move forward. I was going to apologize once more, if you let me but I made a promise to myself that I wasn't going to beg your forgiveness any longer. It's no use…to either of us, and…"

"Stop," Remus said gently. "Sirius, I don't ever want you to beg. Ever. I know that if you had been thinking clearly, you wouldn't have done it. If you had been thinking of the wolf and I as one being, you wouldn't have sent Snape anywhere near the Willow that night."

Sirius stared at the other wizard, his breath hitching as he tried to make sense of what Remus had just said. "Y-you do?"

Remus nodded. "Since that night, I've said things to you that were unfair – no, worse – I've said things that were cruel and untrue. You're not like your family and you're wrong to think that I've spent the past 5 years waiting for you to turn on me. When you reminded me of all the things we've been through in our friendship, I realized that – dangerous though it might have been – you've never thought of me as 'the wolf'. I've always just been Remus. Even though you've seen the wolf, you've always had the uncanny ability to see us as two separate beings. The wolf is the manifestation of a curse; I am your friend. You accepted me as I am, acknowledging the wolf, but keeping it separate. I don't even think that my own parents have been able to do that. After we argued in the library – and Ka – well, someone else explained a few things to me, I found that I had more to think about than my own reaction. I had facts that I could look at somewhat objectively. I realized that I could not cut you out of my life for that which had made you my best friend in the first place. I should have listened to you long before last night."

Sirius protested. "I moved out. I stayed away from all of you. You didn't have the chance to talk to me; I never gave you one."

Remus gave Sirius a rueful smile. "Well, let's just say that when I was called a 'sanctimonious, self-righteous bastard', it wasn't far from the truth. I did get a bit stubborn about getting over my anger and betrayal. Lily suggested that I was getting a little self-pitying and that it wasn't overly attractive." He paused, waiting until Sirius looked up at him again. "The point is that I was so busy thinking about how you'd betrayed me that I let myself go blind to how much you and your friendship have meant to me. How truly good you are. I hurt you because I wanted you to feel what I felt. And I did it in the worst way possible by hitting you where you were most vulnerable. I'm so very sorry for all of that. Padfoot, can you forgive me?"

Sirius stared at Remus for some time as his mind finally acknowledged the use of a name he'd never thought to hear again from his friend. He nodded mutely, feeling his emotions rise again. After awhile, Sirius looked across the table and swallowed thickly.

"Remus," he croaked. "Moony, please; does this mean you've forgiven me?" So much for not begging, he thought as he waited – forcing himself to sit as still as possible while he did so.

Remus nodded, realizing that despite all that he'd said to his friend, he needed to hear these words. "I forgive you, Padfoot."

The whispered, "thank you" was barely audible, but Remus heard it and, through his own tears, was thankful to see the genuine smile that lit up the face of the wizard seated across from him.

"Does this mean you'll move back to the dormitory?" Remus wanted to know, wiping his eyes on his shirtsleeve.

"I never moved out," Sirius confessed, clearing his face with his hands yet again.

"But…" Remus started, dividing the remaining butter beer between them.

"I couldn't have stayed there last night after what had happened in the library, Moony," Sirius took a long drink from his glass. "It just – I needed time."

Remus looked at him sadly. "Earlier, when I told you that there was no one here who could hurt you, you said that there was. You meant me, didn't you?"

Sirius nodded. "Yeah, but that's all over now. We're ok again, right?"

"Right," Remus agreed, running his fingers along the rim of the glass.

"Don't," Sirius reached over and took the glass from him. "We both said we learned from this whole bloody mess, didn't we? So let's let it go and just move forward now. No more secrets between us; no more hard feelings. We tell each other – all of us – if something's not right or if we're mad as hell. We get it out and get it over with. 'Sorry' doesn't mean much if we don't do that, yeah?"

"Yeah," Remus said, reaching over and snatching his glass from his friend. Draining it in one go, he set the glass back on the table and looked at Sirius thought fully. "With all the Dark things starting to happen, the last thing we can afford to do is start fighting amongst ourselves. Our friendships are too important to throw away. We've got to stick together."

He canceled the distraction charm and signaled to Tom for the check.

Sirius pulled some coins from his pocket. "I've got this."

"No, Padfoot," Remus protested, pulling out his own money.

Sirius leaned over and stilled his hand. "I'll get this. You can buy me ice cream."

Remus smiled. "Deal. But no tricks when we get there. You promise?"

Sirius handed Tom the money and the two wizards stood. Impulsively, Sirius leaned over and pulled Remus into a hug, slapping his back warmly when he was finished. He took a step backward and looked at his friend. "I promise. No tricks. About anything. Ever again."

Remus shook his head. "Never. About anything." He squeezed Sirius' shoulders then gave him a wicked smile. "Now, about that ice cream…"

XXXXXXXX

James, Lily and Kate sat under a colorful umbrella sheltering one of Fortescue's Ice Cream's round outdoor tables. Nerves having dealt a crushing blow to their appetites, the trio sipped tall, icy glasses of sweet tea and watched the street for signs of their other two companions.

"It's been an hour," James said, reaching for Lily's arm and looking at her watch yet again.

"If they'd started hexing each other, we'd have heard about it by now," Lily retorted, gently extricating her arm from James' grasp as his attention had once again shifted to the street. She rolled her eyes and turned to Kate. "Did Remus say anything to you earlier?"

Kate shook her head. "Only what I've already told you. I'm concerned about them both. Last night was not pretty."

James turned to her with a smile. "In the library or the dorm."

"Here they come," Lily said, catching sight of the two friends walking down the road. "They're not talking," she added, watching them carefully.

It was true. Remus and Sirius maintained a generous distance between them as they walked down the street toward the ice cream shop. They looked down at the ground as they traveled, one or the other of them glancing up to track their progress from time to time. Kate felt her heart rise to her throat as they drew closer and she could see that both young men looked as if they had gone through a very emotional afternoon.

"Sirius. Remus," James said as the wizards pulled out chairs and settled themselves – Remus between Kate and Lily and Sirius between Kate and James.

"Did you all abandon the idea of having ice cream before heading back to Hogwarts?" Sirius asked James.

"We were waiting for you, mate," James replied, looking from Sirius to Remus.

Remus nodded. "That was considerate of you, Prongs."

He looked over at Sirius, barely concealing his smile. "Don't you think that was considerate of Prongs, Padfoot?"

Sirius nodded. "Indubitably, Moony." He grinned widely then looked round at his friends, all of whom were staring at them with wide eyes and their mouths slightly open. He laughed out loud.

"I don't think this crowd needs ice cream, Moony; their faces look frozen already!"

"That's alright, Padfoot," Remus snickered. "We'll eat theirs, too!"

The two began to rise to go inside and place their orders when their friends finally recovered themselves and began talking at once.

"They'd better not think for a minute that we're going to let them get inside that store without…"

"Did he say, 'Padfoot'?…"

"Sirius! Remus! After everything we've been through with them, they'd better sit right down here and …"

Remus stepped back from the table, caught Sirius' eye and inclined his head toward the open door. "Shall we?"

Sirius smiled and hurried over to meet him. "Oh, let's. This crowd is giving me a right headache!"

"And it's not as if they're even talking to us."

"Not a bit. Ah, here we are. After you, Mr. Moony," Sirius stood to one side and gestured to the open door.

"Thank you, Mr. Padfoot. Awfully kind of you," Remus said, walking into the shop.

"My pleasure entirely."

The two wizards entered the ice cream shop with the sound of their friends' babbling voices behind them.

"Hey," Lily said, putting a stop to the cacophony of sound around her. "Where did they go?"

"Must have gone inside without us," Kate said, rising.

"Gits!" James put in, the smile on his face betraying him. "Well, ladies, what are we waiting for? Lily – will you hold the table? I'll bring yours to you."

"You do know what this means, don't you?" Kate asked as they crossed the threshold and saw the two ordering rather large bowls of the frozen dessert and laughing at the various ice cream flavors posted on the billboard behind the counter.

James grinned down at her. "We're back."

Kate shook her head. "I was thinking more along the lines of, 'You're back and the Tower is no longer safe for the rest of us'!"

James gave her a look of mock dismay. " 'The Tower'? 'No longer safe'? Kate, you wound me! I'm sure you really meant to say that once again, Hogwarts can look forward to the cleverly entertaining exploits of the Marauders!"

Kate took his arm and began to lead him the short distance to their friends. "James, what I really meant to say was that we need some way of knowing where the four of you are every hour of every day. That way, we know how to avoid the cleverly entertaining exploits of the Marauders!"

"Katie!" Sirius slipped his arm around her waist. "Was that your sweet voice raised in heresy? Could you really want to avoid us? I'm sure I must have heard you wrong!"

Kate looked up at him and was very glad to see that although his eyes were still a bit red, there was a happiness shining in them that had been missing for far too long. She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek gently. "You heard me correctly – and I'm sure there are teachers who would be very glad for such a handy tool, as well." She released him as the counter witch signaled to Sirius that his order was ready.

"What will you have, love?" Sirius asked, pushing a very large bowl of ice cream to one side. He gestured to his bowl. "One of these, perhaps?"

Kate's eyes widened at the huge collection of multiple scoops of a variety of ice cream flavors, whipped cream and chocolate fudge filling the bowl. She shook her head. "One scoop of Fiendish Fudge in a dish, please."

Sirius shook his head. "Scarcely a mouthful. Are you sure?"

Kate nodded. "I'm watching my figure."

Sirius grinned and waggled his eyebrows at her. "But that's my job!"

Kate blushed, accepting her dish from him. "Prat." As she turned to leave, she saw James with Lily's ice cream in hand, heading for the door. "James, let me take that to Lily. You boys will need both hands to carry those back to the table!" She nodded toward dishes identical to the one Sirius had been given.

A short time later, the five friends were seated at their table, Kate and Lily finished with their ice cream and watching in amusement as the three Marauders dug their way through their bowls.

Lily raised an eyebrow as James lifted what appeared to be the head of a chocolate frog onto his spoon. "What are you boys eating?"

"It's called, 'A Hippogriff's Dinner'," Sirius replied thickly, attempting to swallow a rather large portion of warm fudge.

"If you actually finish one, they give you a medal," James added, popping the frozen candy into his mouth and chomping happily.

Kate and Lily exchanged looks. "And what does this medal say?" Kate wanted to know.

Remus swallowed his mouthful and beamed at them. "It says, 'I Ate a Hippogriff's Dinner at Fortescue's Ice Cream'."

Kate turned to Lily. "Rather makes me feel foolish for asking," she commented, wryly.

"Most people can't finish it, you see," Sirius explained. If you do, they give you the medal then they take your picture standing behind your empty bowl. They hang the photo inside the shop. And…they'll give you copies if you want them."

"We'd be happy to autograph a copy for you to hang in your dorm room," James put in.

"No thanks," Lily replied. "I'm queasy enough watching you now; I don't want a photographic reminder."

"Lightweight," Sirius grinned, more than halfway through his bowl. "Merlin, but this is good! Petey's going to be mad as hell at us when he finds out we came here without him!"

James stopped, spoon midway to his mouth. "Peter! Merlin! He's in for a bigger shock when he gets back here than seeing our picture pinned up on the wall. He's got no idea of all that's happened or that we're even back here already."

"Wasn't he going to Wales or some such place to visit family with his mum?" Remus asked. "It didn't sound as if he had much control over his schedule."

James shook his head. "No, it didn't. But perhaps I'll send him an owl later on – just to let him know what's up. He might be worried about coming back in September, thinking that everything would still be the mess that it was in when we left."

"Won't he think that we're sort of boasting that we're all here having fun while he's decidedly not enjoying himself?" Sirius wondered. "You know how he gets when he's not included in things. Sort of like a girl, really…ouch!" The dark-haired wizard dropped his spoon and rubbed his arm where Kate had pinched it. "No call for that, Kate!"

"There was; behave yourself, Mr. Black." Kate said, sternly. "Poor Peter. You shouldn't be mean."

"Here's my vote," Lily said. "I think you should owl Peter and tell him that since he can't physically be here, we wanted to include him as best we could. Give him the highlights of what's happened with you three."

Remus looked over at James, who was just scraping the last of his ice cream from the bottom of the bowl. "Let's get him a copy of our photograph, too. I like James' idea to owl him once we get back to the castle."

Sirius dropped his spoon into his now-empty bowl and sat back in his chair, a blissful smile on his face. "Sure thing, Moony." He looked over at Remus' dish to find that it, too, had been emptied. He stood, groaning as he patted his stomach. "Come on, men; let's collect our medals and have our photo taken for posterity!" The other two wizards rose, grabbed their bowls and marched back into the ice cream shop.

Kate looked over at Lily, who had on arm propped on the table and was resting her cheek in her palm as she watched the boys' progress across the patio. "What?" she asked.

Lily smiled. "I'm trying to figure out why it makes me happy that those three lunatics have resolved their differences."

Kate laughed in return. "Could it be the delight of an angst-free August?"

A bright flash from inside the shop distracted Lily from their topic. "Ah; they've apparently been judged successful." No sooner had she spoken than the three boys exited the shop with garishly bright medals pinned to their shirts and duplicate photos clasped in their hands.

"Are we finished here?" Lily asked, rising.

"I suppose we could push on to the book store now," James replied. "Actually, whilst you lot are in the bookstore, perhaps we three could hit the Quidditch shop."

"The Quidditch shop!" Kate exclaimed. "Didn't you have enough time in the shop while Lily and I were at Madam Malkin's?"

Sirius gave James' side a sharp jab with his elbow, speaking loudly to cover James' groaned protest. "You can never have enough time in a Quidditch shop, Katie-girl; I thought I'd convinced you of that, no? And besides, we went before Moony and I had sorted ourselves out. He hasn't had the chance to see all the new gear, yet. Right, Remus?"

"Oh – er – yes; quite right, Padfoot," Remus agreed, feeling heat rise to his cheeks.

"But I thought your whole reason for coming to London was to see this new book store," Lily put in, here green eyes narrowing as she looked at him.

Remus blushed a bit deeper. "Well, um – yes, yes, of course. I'll just pop into the Quidditch shop with these two for a bit and then I'll join you."

"Really, Lily; we haven't had Remus around for the whole of the summer so far. Let a bloke have a little fun, eh?" Sirius finished, taking Remus by the arm and steering him in the opposite direction of the bookstore.

The two witches stood watching as their friends beat a hasty retreat then turned toward the large, elaborate storefront of London's newest bookseller.

"There's something very strange going on with those three," Lily remarked. "Remus Lupin is about as interested in Quidditch as I am. It bears watching, I tell you."

"Lily, just relax and enjoy the day. We've had so much stress and anxiety over the past few months; I think we're just conditioned to look for it at every turn. Let them have their fun. Besides, they need to work off all that ice cream!" Kate took her arm and propelled her forward as they mounted the steps of the shop and entered the cool interior.

XXXXXXXX

Much later that afternoon, the five friends stepped out of the Floo at The Three Broomsticks – packages magically reduced in size to fit comfortably into their backpacks. They stepped out into the narrow, cobblestone main street and sighed in relief at the coolness of the air. London might have the attraction of a big city, but Hogsmeade village, with its cool, sunny summer weather, clean fresh air and smaller population was, by far, the students' favorite place to spend the holiday.

The group shuffled along the path back to the castle, reliving the events of their day and relishing the harmony and ease that had been restored to their relationship. As they walked, Kate's glance periodically strayed to Remus and she felt a pang of guilt each time she thought of the previous evening in the dormitory as well as her failure to completely settle their differences earlier in the day. Kate knew she had one more discussion with Remus ahead of her before either of them could completely close the book on all that had happened between them.

Arriving back at the castle, the friends parted to return to their respective dorm rooms to shower and change before dinner. It wouldn't do to present themselves in their current dusty condition, they realized, and planned to meet in the Common room at 6:30 to head to the Great Hall together.

Remus was ready before either of the other two boys and, true to his character, announced quietly that he was going to take a walk before dinner. While James tossed out an amusing comment about the werewolf's need to walk off the ice cream from earlier in the afternoon, both James and Sirius knew that Remus – introvert that he was – needed to process the events of the day before he could move on completely. He accepted James' comment with his usual grin and exited the room.

"You're both obviously alright now," James commented, picking up his shower kit and starting to cross the room.

Sirius smiled. "Yeah, Jamie; we're both ok now."

"Anything in particular I need to know about what happened when you talked?"

"Not a thing. We worked it out. He forgives me."

"Brilliant!"

"Yeah, 'brilliant'!" Sirius grinned, grabbing his towel and shower bag and brushing past James on his way to the bathroom. "Now, you'd best move your sorry arse or I'll be downstairs, eating your share of dinner before you can say, 'Quidditch'!"

XXXXXXXX

Kate was showered and changed well before the agreed-upon time and decided to walk over to the hospital wing for a bit of the sunburn salve Madam Pomfrey kept on hand for students who might tend to overindulgence when the good weather finally came around in the spring. While otherwise the precautions she had taken had been effective, there was a bit of a burn on her nose and Kate wanted to make certain she treated it before it blistered.

While waiting for the school Healer to return with her vial, Kate wandered over to the window overlooking the lake. There, in the distance, she saw Remus seated upon a flat rock, gazing over the water, apparently lost in thought.

"Here you are, Miss Morgan," Poppy said striding briskly toward the young witch, deep purple vial in hand. "Put some on your nose now and once again before bedtime. Make certain it's absorbed completely into the skin. You should be fine tomorrow."

Kate thanked the older woman and, with a final glance through the window, she pocketed the vial and left. Standing in the corridor, Kate glanced at her watch. It's just 5 now. I should have plenty of time. With that, she quickly made her way down the staircase and out the front door of the school.

Keeping Remus in her sight, Kate walked down the sloping grounds as quickly as she dared, mindful of the uneven terrain. As she drew closer to her friend, he turned and smiled.

"I should have known you'd hear me coming," Kate said, smiling.

"Enhanced senses; one of the few benefits of my condition," Remus replied gesturing toward the space next to him.

Kate accepted the invitation and sat next to Remus. They were quiet for a few moments before Kate spoke.

"I wanted to apologize for the way I spoke to you last night – and for the things I said this morning," she said softly. "I was very angry."

Remus nodded. "Yes, I caught on to that fairly quickly. Kate, what I was feeling was – complicated – that is, I suppose, the best description. I was angry, too, but …" he sighed, "I don't even know how to describe it to you."

"You don't have to," Kate replied. "I can imagine what a jumble of emotions you were feeling."

Remus nodded. "It's been an awful few months for all of us." He looked over at her bowed head. "I've missed you, Katie; I've missed you very much. I've missed all of you."

Kate raised her head to look at him and saw the emotion she was feeling mirrored on Remus' face, as well. "I've missed you, too," she whispered. "Remus, I'm so happy that you and Sirius have reconciled. You've been such a good friend and you mean so much to me; I want things to be back to normal between us as well."

"So do I."

Kate rose and stood in front of the young wizard. Taking one step forward, she put her arms around him and hugged him tightly, delighted when she felt him do the same in return. After a moment, Kate moved to place a small kiss on his cheek then took a step backward. "We're ok, now?"

Remus nodded. "We're ok, now." He pulled her in for one more quick hug, then released her and stood as well. "We should probably head back to meet the others."

As they moved away from the edge of the lake, Kate impulsively caught Remus' hand and held it tightly as they walked up the hill. She heard him chuckle, even as he squeezed her fingers lightly.

"Aren't you afraid of what your boyfriend might say if he sees us?" Remus asked, smiling down at her.

"Not at all," she replied. "I can handle him."

Remus laughed. "I'll bet so!"

They quickly covered the distance to the castle and, upon walking through the front doors, found their friends standing in the entrance hall. James was the first to notice them.

"Thought you'd ditched us, Moony," he called out, smiling. "And now I can see why!"

Sirius tried to fix an affronted look on his handsome face as he turned to greet the newcomers. "Oi, Moony," he said, walking over to where Remus and Kate stood. "Doesn't look good, this, does it?" with a wink, Sirius gestured to their still-joined hands.

"There might be a good explanation for it, though," Remus smiled mildly.

"Such as?"

"Such as my very good friend and I have just returned from sorting out a few things and are quite happy to be moving on from the process," came the reply.

Sirius' glance shifted to Kate who was smiling broadly. He lifted an eyebrow and she nodded. "Quite happy."

"Would you like to take over now, Padfoot?" Remus asked, extending their linked hands toward him.

Sirius stepped forward and took Kate's hand, squeezing it tightly in his own. "Let's eat; I'm starved!"

As the others looked at him in amusement, Sirius led Kate past them, smiling and calling over his shoulder, "Oh, and Remus? If you don't want the mickey taken out of you at dinner, you might want to wipe your very good friend's lipstick off your cheek."

They were back, indeed.