Author's note: so apparently I was mistaken and never said that Professor Prewett had a ponytail. Oops. This has been been fixed. I went back to chapter ten of book two and added that he has a ponytail. Sorry about that guys I could have SWORN I had said this at least a couple of times but apparently not. :T

/\/\/\/\/\

The last Tuesday of the school year was agony for Remus. He paced a lot in his little room, staring at the window, staring at his slowly healing pinky, and spending most of his time furious with his wolf for doing this to him. By the time Defense Against the Dark Arts started his pinky was almost completely formed, though it still looked rather odd. Chances were nobody would notice it… but he couldn't take those chances. He had to be more careful about things. He had been taking so many risks since the Marauders knew; he needed to get back to watching every little thing he said. Or did.

The Marauders visited again during lunch, and at some point when they were in Defense, Aegis showed up again. For a second Remus was extremely confused then realized… of course. The Slytherins had a different schedule entirely. Just because the Gryffindor second years had a class didn't mean the Slytherins did.

By the time supper rolled around his pinky was almost completely back to normal. Compared to his other hand it was a little bit smaller still, but not enough for anyone to really notice unless they were looking extremely closely. He cheerfully got dressed in his everyday clothes, heading to the Great Hall, positively starving. He had been eating a lot since yesterday, and when he sat down at the Gryffindor table he really piled the food on his plate. His friends were all very happy to see him, making a big show about how glad that he was back.

"At least you'll be able to go to a few more classes," Lily said when she brought her friends over to sit with them.

"That's a positive thing?" James snorted.

"It is for people who actually like class," Lily snapped back.

"Like me," Remus said. "I c-can't believe I've missed almost a—a whole week." Only three days left. Suddenly he wasn't so hungry anymore. Four days and—and it'd be summer holidays. They'd be going back. He'd be… back in that cellar…

"…mus?" He jumped, blinking several times. "It is good to see you doing better," Inkwood said, obviously having said it at least once before without him realizing.

"Thank—thank you."

"I'm really sorry you missed so many classes."

"Er, yeah, I—uh—um, th-thanks." The interaction felt very awkward. Was Inkwood being sincere or taking the mick? She was smiling and acting genuine, but something about how she said it made him unsure. Or maybe he was just tired and not thinking straight.

After supper everyone wanted to go run around outside though Remus was unable to go, having Occlumency that night which he was both excited for and dreading. And feeling sad about, as it would be the last time seeing Fawley until September. Fawley was well aware of this, hugging him as soon as he was in the room, giving him as tight a hug as she had the week before.

"How are you doing?" she asked, smoothing his hair down. "How did the moon go?"

"Not great," he said, settling on the couch. "Erm, I mean, I think I'm all right. The moon is what isn't… v-very great. Didn't go great."

"I'm so sorry."

He curled his fingers in, running his thumb along his new pinky as he told her about it. About how sick he felt knowing he did things like this. Fawley listened intently and promised she understood. She talked a little about her sister, how her sister would remove body parts, and how horrifying it was for her.

"It's nothing you can control," she said softly. "Be sure to remind yourself of this. It isn't you, it's not anything you can control or help. It isn't your decision."

Remus looked down at the pinkish new skin along his pinky. "No. I know."

After some more chatting they began working on occlumency. Like the previous week, all his memories were beneath the school in the cave or the passages. This time he grit his teeth, determined to keep trying, determined to not let this get to him. At one point they were in the memory of Peter accusing Remus.

"HE'S THE ONE THAT WANTED TO RUN AFTER CREEPY DEAD LADY WHISPERS!"

Then they were on the couch, Remus having managed to push Fawley out of his head. He bent forward, clutching at his hair. Fawley rubbed his back, promising him it wasn't his fault and also praising him for the intensity of him shoving her out of his head. He barely listened, only hearing Peter's (rightful) accusations repeating.

"Do you want to end the lesson?" she asked.

"No." He sat up. "No, please don't. I need to—I need to."

Fawley nodded. "Very well. Try to think of something else, something… happier."

He tried, but it didn't go well. Not that they returned to the passage. Instead, they were in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom as Twycross's boggart turned into a werewolf.

"I g-guess what wasn't much happier," he joked when they left his head. He thought about telling her about his nightmares, how most nights the werewolf that bit him haunted his dreams. Then he thought since he was out of the hospital wing he'd probably… possibly… stop having them.

They spent another thirty-some minutes dealing with bad memories until Fawley decided that was probably enough. It was near enough the end of their session anyway, and they spent the remainder of their time talking about other things. The upcoming school year, the summer, his electives. He waited for her to bring up her desire to help 'fund' his education but she didn't. Instead she brought up something else.

"I was wondering if perhaps we could try to meet in the summer."

Remus stared up at her with big eyes. "The summer?" he repeated, rather stupidly.

"We'd have to speak to your parents, of course; to see how they feel about it…" She sounded a little on edge when she said this, which made Remus feel on edge as well. "Maybe not every week. Every two weeks would be helpful. That would help keep your ability active, perhaps reduce the need to get back into practice once September comes."

"That would be wonderful," he said, getting excited at the thought of at least seeing Miss Fawley during those long months at home! "I'll ask my parents—" He stopped, hand going to his mouth. "Oh. Right. This weekend. I keep forgetting I go home Saturday. I—I'll ask them this weekend." Surely his parents would be all right with it. They didn't like people in the house but Miss Fawley already knew about his lycanthropy, and was helping to keep him safe.

It wasn't until after they said their goodbyes and he started heading back to the Gryffindor tower that he got worried about Miss Fawley being around his father. She didn't like him. Would she be polite? Or would she bring… things up? Surely she wouldn't, right?

Then he stopped in his tracks. It was only an hour before curfew, but this time of year the Prefects barely enforced it. Still, it would take him a lot longer than an hour to do what he wanted to do. Perhaps if he woke up early the next day? That'd be best. He could tell the others he was going to the library to research the prank—which, really, he should be doing—and that way no one would worry. If he didn't show up until ages after curfew, he knew they'd worry. He certainly didn't want them going to a teacher.

Tomorrow morning then, he thought as he went up to the tower.

/\/\/\

The rest of Tuesday evening was spent with Lily as they worked on Operation Overgrowth. Practicing putting two spells on one delaying spell which… wasn't as easy as he anticipated. He knew it was possible. Just maybe not for a thirteen year old who shouldn't be able to do the delay spell in the first place. James suggested inventing a whole new spell which made Remus sag a little. It was only a few days away, there was no time to invent a new spell.

"I'll figure something out," he promised, and stayed up almost the entire night going through books trying to figure out how to do what they wanted to do. When his alarm went off only a couple of hours after he fell asleep, he considered forgetting his plan and going back to sleep. Except… he had to.

He left a note saying he was figuring things out for 'OO' before tiptoeing out of the dorm. It was just after six in the morning, an hour before second years were allowed out of their common rooms, but he was able to make his way to one of the side doors on the ground floor without being seen. He slid out into the chilly, foggy morning and pulled his cloak tighter around him. He slipped a few times on the dewy grounds until he got to a stone path that led near the Forbidden Forest. From there he went into the wood, weaving through the trees until he got near the Whomping Willow. He thought a possible trail through the dew from the forest would be less suspicious than one from the castle.

After he got the Willow to freeze he slipped under the roots into the passage. "Lumos." He went as quickly as he could, not wanting to be away from the castle more than he had to. Unfortunately, it took him longer than expected inside the house. It took longer to find it than it had finding the flesh from his backside but finally he found it. The claw was still perfect. A violent looking claw, a couple of inches long, ending in a razor sharp point. Attached to it was the raggedy fur and flesh, with a bit of bone still in there.

Remus sank down onto the ground, cupping the wolf 'pinky' in his hands, his breathing becoming fast. He curled his fingers around the claw, including the replacement pinky which seemed so tiny and delicate in comparison.

My flesh, my bone, my… claw. He had never seen his own claw before, not a full one. He had seen broken off tips before. Flesh, plenty of times. Fur, all the time, there wasn't a full moon that went by that he didn't leave fur somewhere. Occasionally teeth. Sometimes he'd wake up and find a fang laying about somewhere.

It seemed so senseless. So pointless. Was the wolf really so furious about not having human victims it would bite off part of its own paw like that? Doesn't matter. He could ask the darkness inside of him a thousand times and never get a response.

He stood up, going into the kitchen to throw the claw away. Just as he held his hand over the rubbish bin he stopped, examining the claw. Werewolf claws were a very expensive potion ingredient. Very expensive. A queasy sort of feeling filled him as he pictured himself taking the claw to Slughorn.

Offering to sell it to him.

He'd buy it, Remus thought. He had no doubts about that. Not as full price, of course, but certainly enough to pay for what he'd need for his electives. His parents would be absolutely furious, but…

But it felt even weirder than accepting the reward money. Selling off parts of himself. To Slughorn.

With a disgusted scoffing sound, he opened the rubbish bin once more. Except he didn't throw it away. He dropped it into the sink instead, using the incendio spell until there was nothing left but the claw and bone. He rinsed it off then pocketed it, taking it back with him to the school. After he emerged from the Whomping Willow he went back into the Forbidden Forest, digging in some dirt until he got a hole nearly a foot deep. He buried his wolf pinky, covering it up, hoping that would suffice.

Need to ask my parents what they do to get rid of… things like that.

He got back to the school at almost ten-thirty which barely gave him time to eat before having to run to Charms. He only managed one piece of toast, stuffed hurriedly in his mouth, and when he showed up at class the other Marauders were going wild with worry. Apparently they had gone to the library to find him and when they couldn't, they had been searching everywhere.

"S-sorry," he panted out as he slid into his seat. "I went—was—had some things to do."

"Evans said she sorted out how to fix the problem," Peter whispered.

"What?"

"She says she thinks she knows how to fix the delaying spell problem, said she was looking for you, that's why we were trying to find out," said Sirius. "Where were you?"

"Sorry," he said again, feeling guilty. He shouldn't have gone to find his pinky, he should have left it. "I was—it was—"

Flitwick cleared his throat to indicate it was time for the lesson to begin, and Remus fell silent. It was a bit difficult to pay attention with everything swirling in his head. Not only Lily figuring it out, but also his claw, and the fact the couple of hours of sleep he had gotten were full of the same hazy nightmares that plagued him for so long now.

As soon as class was over, Lily leapt from her seat and bolted across the room, diving onto Remus. "I think I know how we can do it," she hissed in his ear.

"Careful, Evans, you say that too loudly it'll spark worse rumors about the two of you than kissing," Sirius said.

Lily frowned. "What in Christ's name are you talking a—SIRIUS BLACK!" she suddenly screeched, pummeling his arm with her fists as he laughed. "YOU ARE SO DISGUSTING! WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?!"

Remus didn't understand but he didn't want to ask, so, going by Lily's reaction, he hoped a look of disgust would suffice. Once Lily felt Sirius was thoroughly punished, she whirled back 'round to face Remus, tugging at his sleeve. She insisted they go somewhere else to talk, away from the baboons. James and Sirius made loud monkey noises as they left, making a big show of scratching their armpits and picking at each other.

Lily guided Remus to a side corridor, where they waited a moment for some fourth years to leave before she grabbed his arms, facing him with excitement. "I figured it out! At least, I think I have. Maybe. All right so… okay maybe it's easier to test it than explain." She looked around to make sure nobody was around. "Okay do the delaying spell for… oh, I don't know, one minute?"

Remus frowned as he did a line along the floor, not sure what she was going for. "Moratempium."

Lily followed the line, doing a spell to make plant life appear. It was a third year spell but she had it down pat. Then she instructed him to put the delaying spell down again in the same place. Remus realized immediately what she intended and quickly did it again. This time Lily put the engorgement spell on, and then they waited.

Half a minute later flowers and mushrooms sprouted out of the stone, and ten seconds later they burst into three times their size.

Lily and Remus both squealed and flung their arms around each other, jumping in circles; at one point Lily fully lifted him off the ground.

"If one or two of them help with the engorgement charm we can make them huge!" Lily began picking at the plants, pulling them easily off the stone. They weren't real plants though they weren't illusions either. They were sort of flimsy imitations. The flowers didn't give off any scent, that sort of thing.

"Brilliant!" Remus laughed, hugging Lily. "Absolutely brilliant!" Lily beamed, patting herself on the back, causing Remus to laugh more. "The only downside is…" Her smile faded at those words.

"Oh, is there something wrong?"

"No, no," he promised. "Not… wrong. Only, it's going to take a lot out of me. You're going to have to do both charms on your own."

"I can do that. As I said, we need help with the engorgement charm."

Remus took her hand. "Let's talk to the others."

The other Marauders hadn't gotten far from the Charms classroom, so the five of them returned to the side corridor where Lily and Remus explained the plan, along with the need for additional help with the charms.

"But one of us needs to be the distraction," James said, pushing his glasses up.

"And I'm no good with spells like the plant one," Peter added. James, Sirius, Lily, and Remus all stared at Peter. "What? What?" he demanded. "Why are you all star—no. NO!"

James began tugging at Peter's sleeve. "C'mon, Petey, you've got to!"

"NO!" Peter wailed, falling back. "No! I can't! I'll—I'll cry!"

Sirius pushed James aside and settled his hands on Peter's shoulders, looking him in the eye. "We only have about forty-eight hours left and this is the only way. Come on, Captain Pete, you can do this!"

"Blithe, Blithe, Blithe," James began chanting.

"Stop it!" Peter sniffled, pulling away from Sirius. "Fine! I'll do the distraction! Happy now?!"

All three Marauders pulled him into a big group hug, promising that they were very happy and it'd be fine. James insisted he'd be able to help sort the distraction out beforehand. Then when the Marauders let go, Lily took Peter's hand, telling him he was a star.

"Technically I am," Sirius said, and Lily punched his arm. "Oof, right, right."

James coughed. "Okay. What do we have left to do? Should we get a swelling solution to drip down the walls for the wall plants? Also Thursday night we need to put everything up in the rafters."

"What if they're seen before the prank?" Lily asked.

James shrugged. "We have to hope they're not."

"I need to practice the delaying spell," Remus said, tugging at his sleeve. "Doing all the aisles between tables is going to be a lot. I… I need to do a lot of practicing, and will need someone to help me—"

"I can help," Sirius promised.

Lily began clapping her hands. "This is so exciting! No wonder you four love to pull so many pranks! But it's also a bit nerve-wracking. I don't think I'd want to help out with much else, honestly."

James rolled his eyes. "Good thing this is a one time thing then, Red. We're never asking you again."

Lily put her thumb on her nose and wriggled her fingers. "Plphlphlphl!" she blew out.

/\/\/\

During the free period after lunch, James spent the time working on the swelling solution with Peter, while Sirius and Remus worked on strengthening his delaying spell ability. They were all in the hidden room behind the mirror, since the swelling solution wouldn't take too long to make and none of them wanted to use the Pits Passage.

Remus filled the large room with the delaying spell, criss-crossing it all over the floor while Sirius put the plant and engorgement charms on them. At first the delaying spell would go off too soon but before long he was able to keep them to the time he wanted. Unfortunately, he couldn't try for very long, since they had class, but they agreed to go back after Transfiguration to work on it some more for a longer test. Remus figured an hour and a half, maybe two hours would be best as well as be a good time delay he could do.

Between working on the spell and his lack of sleep, Remus was very tired through his afternoon classes. Doing the spells in Transfiguration tired him out and the piece of metal he was supposed to be turning into some kind of statue turned out to be a very lumpy sort of mushroom. Nothing like his typical smooth statues he managed before.

"Mr. Black, what are those?" McGonagall inquired stiffly after dismissing class.

Sirius looked down at his 'statue'. "Erm. Bludgers, Professor McGonagall," he said very sweetly. "The knobbly bits on the end are just mistakes, I couldn't smooth them out, I swear." James, Peter, and Remus all tried to hide their laughter though James ended up choking a little.

McGonagall looked less than amused and flicked her wand, turning the 'bludgers' back into a chunk of metal. "Five points from Gryffindor for that."

James pat Sirius's arm as they left. "It's all right, Sirius, I thought you had some lovely tits."

"Thank you," Sirius said very solemnly.

"Though congratulations on making something other than penises, for once," Remus said and Sirius grinned.

"Why do you turn your statues into cocks all the time?" Peter asked. "Or tits, in this case."

"Because it annoys McGonsie," snickered Sirius. "I love to see that look in her eyes! Sheer exhaustion and disappointment. It's wonderful. I decided to go for tits this time for something different. Maybe next year I'll try a nice arse or maybe a fanny—"

"MR. BLACK." They all cringed and turned to see McGonagall standing right there. "I heard all of that."

"Er." Sirius tried his best smile. "Hello, Professor McGonagall."

She looked down her nose at him. "I rarely give out detention during the final days of lessons but congratulations, you have detention tonight. Be at my office at six."

"But I have plans!" he protested.

"That is not my problem." With that she returned to her classroom.

Sirius drooped down. "Shit! I didn't hear her creeping up on us!"

"I heard footsteps but I assumed it was another student," Remus admitted.

Sirius elbowed him. "At least we'll get some practice in before supper. Hopefully she doesn't keep me for too long."

They spent the rest of the afternoon working together and after supper, when Sirius disappeared off to detention, Remus worked with Lily. By the end of the evening he was on the verge of passing out, but they were able to do it.

Providing the distraction went well, it looked like Operation Overgrowth would be a success.

/\/\/\

Thursday was a warm, sunny day which meant everyone wanted to be outside. Professor Sprout had a hell of a time trying to keep everyone's attention for her final class and, like Flitwick the day before, gave up. She dismissed them a full half an hour early and told them all to have a good summer.

The other Marauders and the girls wanted to play outside. Remus went with them, though because of how tired he was he simply sat on a grassy hill, watching them play tag. He drew his knees to his chest, resting his chin on his arms. They seemed to be having a lot of fun. Well. Mostly have fun. At one point James tagging Lily wound up with them in a huge argument that nearly turned into a fistfight until Sirius and Inkwood yanked them apart.

Eventually James wandered over and plopped down next to Remus, leaning back against his elbows. "Don't want to join?"

"I'm still a little tired."

James nodded, reaching up to adjust his glasses. They looked so beat up ever since the cave incident, though Pomfrey had managed to replace the lens. "Can't believe it's the end of the year."

"Nor I. Of course this week was very weird for me, since I missed so many classes."

James was silent for a moment then, quietly, said, "Sorry you had to stay an extra night in the hospital wing."

Remus bit his lip, keeping his eyes on his friends. Lily's hair was loose, streaming everywhere as she ducked under Sirius's arms. "It is what it is. I… can't do much about it." He looked over and saw James staring up at the sky with a distant sort of look on his face. "Is something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh." James got a fake smile on his face. "No. I mean, a little. Ugh! No you and no Sirius for two months?!" He grabbed Remus, yanking him in for a noogie. "It's the worst!"

Remus protested as he tried to wriggle free, complaining about the stench of James's underarm. Finally he popped free, smoothing his hair down. "Is Pete going to be able to visit?"

"Yes, and better than that…" James spread his hands out. "I'm going to go visit him! I'm going to stay the night at his house sometime, least that's the plan. Probably after I get home from Spain."

"Oh, you'll get to meet his infamous grandfather," Remus said.

Something flashed through James's eyes, the briefest flicker of sadness. Then his expression was once again exuberance. "I can't wait to meet him."

"Careful, he might make the two of you go on some hikes," joked Remus.

James actually smiled. "That could be fun. Muggle hiking? Be brilliant, wouldn't it?"

"James, you wouldn't last five seconds going Muggle hiking," Remus said, sprawling out, imitating James's position of being propped up on the elbows. "You realize anything you carry won't be in a lightened pack, right? And you couldn't wear clothes with cooling charms? Your water won't be cooled with magic either?"

"Is that a challenge?" James demanded, straightening his shoulders.

"No, it's a statement."

"A galleon says I can—" James stopped, lips tugging down. "Er, okay, homework says I can. If I go Muggle hiking with Petey and his grandfather, you do a week of homework for me."

Remus tried not to roll his eyes. "That would mean subjecting Peter to hiking too, you know. Besides, what do I get if I win?"

"A galleon," James said.

"A galleon?" Remus's eyebrows arched. "A full week of homework is only worth one galleon?"

"Er, fine." James rubbed his chin. "My History homework for a week, with some help in Astronomy."

"I give you help anyway."

"Good." James picked up Remus's hand, shaking it. "It's a deal."

"I never agreed—"

James jumped up, brushing the grass from his trousers. "I should go, this game needs a proper athlete in the mix. Ta!" He took off running, tackling Sirius, causing the two to go rolling down a hill with laughter.

Remus sighed, shaking his head and pulling his knees back up. His mind went back to James's sad face, wondering if not seeing him or Sirius was the full reason? And the strange look in his eyes when Remus mentioned Peter's grandfather? Why would…? Oh, he realized with a sickening lurch. The anniversary of James's grandfather's passing was coming up in about two weeks.

James was running, his legs pumping as Colgate chased after him, his dazzling smile filling his face and his laughter bursting out into the summer air.

Remus rested his chin back on his arms, feeling awful that he wouldn't be able to be there for his friend.

/\/\/\

Professor Prewett's final lesson wasn't a lesson at all. Instead he had them play a game, with prizes. He sorted everyone into teams of four, with one team of five. At least he let them choose teams themselves, so the Marauders stuck together. It turned out to be a trivia game involving the lessons they learned that year, so of course the Marauders would win. Prewett handed them buzzers and Remus would buzz in sometimes before Prewett was even done with his question. Realizing how unfair this was, Prewett put on restrictions saying if a team got a question right, someone else had to answer the next one and they wouldn't be able to switch until that teammate got the question right.

The Marauders lost to Lily, Colgate, Inkwood, Magpie, and Nettle by five points, and the girls triumphantly accepted their basket of sweets to divvy up.

"Professor!" Sirius said, standing up. "Before you dismiss class for the last time, we've got something for you."

"Oh?" Prewett raised his eyebrows.

Sirius proudly handed over the card which he had spent ages on. It was probably the best piece of art Remus had seen Sirius draw. Professor Prewett looked perfect, and all the creatures he drew in were very detailed too. Everyone had signed the inside of the card along with little notes.

Remus thought of the note he left. Thank you for being one of the best teachers. You've taught us so much and showed me great kindness. I'll never forget you. He hoped it wasn't too awkward.

Prewett read through all the notes, his face lighting up as he went through them. "Thank you everyone. Teaching here has been a wonderful experience, and your class made my job a lot of fun." He gave everyone individually a kind smile then Lily began clapping, cheering for him. Everyone else joined in, and then James started a chorus of 'For He's A Jolly Good Fellow' which everyone sang along to.

Prewett thanked everyone when they were done, and promised he'd never forget any of them. Unfortunately, they had to go before Prewett's next class arrived so they all shuffled out, telling Prewett goodbye one more time. Remus was a little slow getting his things together, the last to leave the classroom.

"Th-thank you, Professor," he said. "G—goodbye."

"Goodbye, Remus," Prewett said. "And good luck."

Ducking his head, Remus hurriedly left, the sadness over how much he'd miss Prewett overtaking the feelings of being hot and wobbly. At least until the Marauders nearly ran into a Prefect who informed Remus—and Remus only—that Dumbledore needed to see him.

Dumbledore. His stomach folded in on itself and he swallowed, all remaining wobbliness disappearing, all sadness disappearing, nothing left but worry. "Th-thank you."

The others walked with him to the gargoyle, all of them trying to figure out what the Headmaster might need. Remus really had no idea whatsoever, he couldn't even make a guess. He told the gargoyle the password that the Prefect told him, and then went up the stairs.

When Dumbledore called him in, he wasn't at his desk; instead he was with his phoenix, stroking the brilliant feathers. He looked up, a kind smile filling his face as Remus stepped into his office. "Good afternoon, Remus. Please, have a seat." He indicated one of the comfy armchairs near him.

Remus sunk down into the chair, setting his bag by his feet. "Is everyth-thing okay, s-s-sir?"

"Oh, yes, I'm sorry if I caused any worry." Dumbledore sat down in another chair, across a low table from Remus. "I had… initially one thing to discuss with you however all things considered I believe there is something else I think we should talk about." He looked at Remus, pale blue eyes a little grave. "The first thing I want to ask is whether you noticed anything strange on Sunday, after you went to Hogsmeade."

Shit. Remus hoped he wasn't sweating. He felt like he was sweating. Fear trickled up his spine and then punctured his chest. "Sir?" he said as evenly as he could.

Dumbledore folded his hands together, raising his eyebrows. "Did you notice anything strange?" he repeated. "Did you hear anything going on?"

"Erm." He pressed his fingertips against his thighs, keeping his eyes locked on Dumbledore's eyes, wondering if Dumbledore was sliding into his memories. "I—I'm not sure. I was a-asleep mostly, be—before sunset." He tried to look curious instead of terrified. "D-did something ha-ha-happen?"

Dumbledore kept staring at him for another second or two until tearing his gaze away from Remus, shifting it to Fawkes. "There was an incident, somewhat near the house. I was not sure if you were aware of what happened."

"No," he lied. "I—I don't know. I was asleep. What—what happened?"

Dumbledore looked at him again, the smile back. "Someone set off fireworks, outside the Forbidden Forest. It was relatively near the house that I wasn't sure if you heard or not."

He knows, he knows, he knows it was them, he thought, feeling like he was crawling through a pit of nails. "No." His lie felt so heavy and wrong on his tongue as it fell from his mouth. He hated lying to Dumbledore, and for a split-second wondered why he was bothering. Dumbledore knew. Maybe he should tell him everything. The silence was thick in the air between them and right when Remus felt like the truth might burst out, Dumbledore began speaking again.

"The other thing I needed to speak with you about—the more imperative thing—is about next year."

Remus tilted his head. "Oh?" Was this about his electives? Was he going to be told McGonagall made a mistake and he couldn't take them?

"Regarding the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Dumbledore continued.

Remus was taken aback by this. "You—you h-have someone?" he couldn't help but ask.

Dumbledore shook his head. "Not yet, I am still searching for someone to take on the position. I wanted to warn you."

Warn?

"I know that Professor Prewett has been very… kind and understanding towards your condition," Dumbledore said cautiously, and Remus's back straightened. "I wanted to warn you that there is every possibility the next teacher will not be. It is very hard to find someone who I believe will be willing to teach a werewolf."

Remus shrank in his seat, feeling his entire soul shriveling up as a giant boulder rolled onto him. He wanted to cry. Dumbledore was having a hard time filling a position because of him?

"It will be all right," Dumbledore said, words cutting into Remus's misery. "I have a few people in mind whom I believe will be comfortable with this. The thing is, I do not wish to reveal to any potential teacher that you are a werewolf until I can be certain of their loyalty."

Remus nodded, fighting off the tears, because there wasn't anything else that he could do. He felt so much more like a burden than ever before.

"Remus." Dumbledore moved to the chair next to his and reached over, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Don't be upset. I am not upset. I am determined to give you the fairest education that you can have, and that includes no more teachers like Professor Dedenne. I will do everything I can for you. To help you. Do you understand?"

His nose burned and he wished he could secretly wipe his eyes off before the tears came out. "Y-y-yes," he gasped out. "Yes. Th-thank you."

"I only wanted to talk to you, to let you know there is a possibility you'll need to be cautious around the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, whomever they may be," Dumbledore said softly, his words curling around Remus's brain. "I'm hoping you won't need to worry about it. I don't want you to have to worry about anything. You deserve as much freedom in this school as anyone else and I intend to give you that, completely and wholly. I am determined that you have a comfortable, safe, and happy life here at my school, and will do all I can to help achieve this for you."

Remus looked up at him, his face blurred a little from the tears in his eyes. Guilt ate away at him for all the lies he had been telling Dumbledore, at hiding the fact the other Marauders knew. He also felt guilty for Operation Overgrowth. For all the pranks he helped pull. Dumbledore had done so much for him—risked so much for him—and—and—

"That freedom and happiness does include the fun you have with your friends, you know," Dumbledore added with a twinkle in his eye.

Remus opened and closed his mouth, face flaming with heat. "You—did—Leg—Legil—"

"My boy, I don't need to look in your head to see what's clearly written on your face," Dumbledore chuckled, standing up again. "I'm not asking you to stop doing what you enjoy. You're a student here. Like Mr. Potter, like Mr. Black. I want you to be happy here, whatever that entails. All right?"

Again, all he could do was nod. Dumbledore wasn't angry about the pranks?

"I also don't wish you to feel as though you need to tell me anything about what goes on between the four of you," Dumbledore said and again, a spike of fear that he knew that the Marauders knew. But then, "Whatever you have planned for tomorrow night… well, I suppose I'll see tomorrow."

Remus remained motionless at that.

"You may go, Remus. Thank you for coming here and listening to me."

"Th-thank you." Remus got up, shouldering his bag. "Er. And—and th-thank you. For… everything. For g-giving me this chance to—to be here."

Dumbledore met his gaze once more, and the kind smile was back. "I am very glad to be able to give you this opportunity. If you ever need anything, please let me know, or Minerva, or Poppy. Have a good afternoon."

Remus left the office feeling dizzy and disoriented. When his friends asked him what Dumbledore wanted all he could do was shake his head, unable to even begin to explain. He wasn't even completely sure anymore. Everything felt almost like a dream now that he was out of the headmaster's office.

"A few questions about my illness, that's all," he finally said, which wasn't really a lie. James and Peter nodded while Sirius frowned, peering intently at Remus's face.

"You look like you were crying," he noted.

Remus reached up, wiping his eyes off on his sleeves. "When don't I cry?" he joked, the words feeling strangled. "Come on, we have a lot of work to do."

At least Sirius dropped it, and Remus was able to calm down a little bit though he was rather nervous for the rest of the day, feeling very confused.