Chapter III

Remus

Remus hated the worried wife waiting for her husband to come from the sea routine, but Sirius was the best one for this task. Teddy was picking up on his anxiety and fussing more than usual. He wondered - if he and Sirius died would he even remember them? A loud cry interrupted his train of thought and he started rocking the baby again.

"They are back," Lily said walking into the room.

Remus sighed in relief.

"Do they…"

"You should go and check that yourself, I can handle the pup."

"Do not call him that, it will only encourage Sirius more" Remus hands Teddy to Lily.

Teddy's hair turned red and his eyes green. He had gotten much better, now his skin tone matched hers as well.

"Hello," Lily turned to Teddy that blinked at her sleepily. He was exhausted and the change took a lot out of him.

Remus closed the door and headed downstairs. Harry, Sirius and Draco were in the kitchen, he assumed Lily already checked them for injuries, but he was still worried.

"Got it!" Sirius grinned at him and pointed to Harry's bag.

"Did you encounter any problems?" Severus asked.

"Not more than we expected," Sirius said.

"You were supposed to stay out of this one," Severus turned to his godson.

"I actually saved the day," Draco puffed out his chest.

"He… helped" Harry said reluctant, like the words had been forced out of him.

"How did you get out of the pit?" Remus asked Sirius.

"On a dragon," Draco said trying to hide his enthusiasm.

"A dragon?" Hermione piped in from her place at the table.

"An Ukranian Ironbelly."

"This was supposed to be a stealthy operation," Severus turned his disappointed eyes on Sirius.

"We stayed out of populated areas," Sirius defended himself.

After dinner, it was the usual war meeting. Everyone pretty much lived here full time now and the house had never felt this full. Sirius was the one on Teddy duty tonight.

"We have accumulated some Horcruxes, we should work on destroying them," Lily opened up the meeting.

"What about getting the next one?" Harry asked.

"We do not know where that one is!"

"It must be something that represents Ravenclaw if we judge on the pattern he used so far," Remus announced.

"What of Ravenclaw's?" Harry asked.

"The diadem maybe?" Hermione proposed.

"Diadem?"

"The one that was stolen from her, it was said it would boost the intelligence of the wearer, but it had been lost for centuries," Hermione explained.

"How does that even help us then?" Harry puffed.

"Because we know where lost things go!" Draco's face lighted up.

"It's not safe for you to go back to Hogwarts!" Lily looked at her son with fear in her eyes.

"I can't hide in here either," Harry announced stubborn. They'd been having this discussion, or variants of it each night since this whole thing started.

"Hogwarts may be a good place to search for a way to dispose of them," Severus suggested.

"But we have a way to dispose of the Horcruxes," Harry announced.

All eyes turn to him with different levels of confusion on their faces.

"Oh!" Severus said suddenly. "You still have her?"

"She's been hibernating pretty much all time, but her venom is still there."

"Selina?" Draco asked.

"Basilisk venom!" Remus exclaimed suddenly.

They had to relocate for the forest to get enough of a place for the snake to transform. Remus had never seen the basilisk in her true form, but Severus told them all to be prepared and not look it in the eyes. It was only he, Harry and Severus in the forest. Selina had shed from the last time he had seen her and her scales were shiny in the sun. He wondered if her true form would be bigger also, no one really did a study on it before.

Harry put Selina down and hissed to her. Harry used to speak with snakes all the time, but he started doing it less as time went down. Sometimes, he could hear Harry hiss to Selina in his room late at night, but he didn't mention it.

Harry stepped away and Selina transformed, ripping trees to accommodate her new form. Remus was keeping his eyes down, but he could feel it blocking the sun.

"She grew!" Severus said dead pan.

"Yeah, she is not sure she would fit in the pipes anymore" Harry translated for the basilisk.

"Okay, we want her to drop some venom on the Horcruxes. We are not sure biting would be safe for her since they are imbued with dark magic," Severus instructed. Remus handed the horcruxes to Harry one by one. They were keeping them in a locked box with wards to keep their effects at bay.

Selina didn't have an easy time dripping venom on them, so Remus had to find some game for her to generate venom normally. It took a few hours, but they destroyed all the Horcruxes in their possession.

"Do you think he can feel it?" Harry asked once it was all done.

"I do not know, not many records of people splitting their souls," Remus replied.

Harry hissed a command at Selina and she transformed back into her usual form. Although she looked like a regular snake now, Remus still felt like the skin of his arm was prickling, like instinctually his body warded him away from a dangerous predator. Well… not that the concept was unfamiliar to him.

"We should go to Hogwarts next!" Harry was the one starting this conversation not long into dinner.

"It will be too dangerous for you!" Lily replied not even looking up from her meal.

"I already have a general idea of where to find it."

"Hogwarts is warded, you can't just apparate in!" Severus tried to derail the train wreck.

"I can apparate close enough!"

"And just walk in?" Lily didn't give up.

"We have the invisibility cloak," Draco piped in. Lily's glares turned on him and he crumpled in his seat.

"Why do you have to go?"

"I am the best at sneaking inside the school," Harry counterargued.

"We can make more polijuice potion and…"

"Disguise into who?" Harry challenged his mother.

"We can write to the people inside," Hermione tried to find a compromise.

"And put them in danger too?" Harry moved his glare to his friend.

"I am saying no to this operation!"

"Me too!" Severus followed soon after Lily.

Harry glared at them some more, but didn't insist, for now. Remus was sure the discussion was far from finished.

"I was thinking…" Sirius started when they got to their bedroom.

"Dangerous affair."

"That Harry is very much like James."

Remus's joke died on his lips and he was staring at his husband.

"He won't just take no for an answer," Remus completed.

"Should we… stop him?" Sirius asked.

"I mean… he is right, we need the Horcrux destroyed."

"I should at least go with him."

"No, let me. I have a plan, plus you are better at handling a mad Lily."

Sirius stopped mid-change and glared in horror at his husband. "You wouldn't just leave me at her mercy, till death do us part and all that!"

"It may be sooner rather than later then!"

Remus heard a faint crack of a door opening and two sets of footprints sneaking downstairs.

"They are off!"

Another crack and a lighter set of footsteps.

"The girls as well!" Remus said surprised.

"Keep them all safe!" Sirius sighed.

Remus kissed his husband and made his way downstairs. The pair of teenagers had met and were trying to have a hushed argument, then someone, probably Hermione casted Mufflito.

"Good evening!" Remus called.

The girls froze. Draco and Harry are hidden by the cloak, but he can still smell them.

"We were only following them!" Pansy called.

"Then why you wearing your Hogwarts uniforms?" Draco accused.

Pansy glared in the general direction of the cloak.

"Take it off, Harry!" Remus sighed. Did his voice sound as tired as he felt right now? He shouldn't be handling sneaking for at least 10 years.

Harry dutifully took the cloak off. He looked down, a bit ashamed. Good, he should be.

"So, what was the plan?"

"Sneak into Hogwarts using the cloak," Harry said.

"Apparate to Hogsmeade and then use the tunnel from the Shrieking Shack to get into Hogwarts," Hermione followed.

"How do you know about the tunnel?" Remus turned surprised eyes on her.

"Harry told me…"

Remus sighed deeply.

"I like the girls' plan better, we are using that one!"

"We?" Harry's asked raising his hopeful eyes to Remus.

"I agree that we need to get that Horcrux. Also, I have someone in mind that can help us! Give me a few seconds to send a letter."

Minerva McGonogal was as intimidating in her night gown as she was in the teacher's robes.

"Are you positive the object is in here?" she asked tight.

"We have reason to believe so," Remus said. They wouldn't risk themselves or the students otherwise.

"And the Death Eaters won't follow you here? You must understand, mister Lupin, my duty is to the school and to protect the students."

"I won't put them at risk. Neither of the objects were guarded. They were all cursed, but none guarded. We are not sure if the Death Eaters know about their existence."

"He never really liked to expose his weakness." Minerva sighed. "You are welcome to search for the object."

"Thank you, Headmistress." They all chorused.

"I am happy to welcome some of my top students back at least." Her face lighted up at seeing the kids behind him.

"It's good to be back!" Hermione smiled sadly. Out of all of them, she missed the school the most.

"You should rest tonight and begin the search tomorrow, during the night they usually let the Dementors into the halls."

"Dementors!?" Draco shrieked.

"We do not have people wondering the halls anymore!"

Minerva led them into the school through some passages even he didn't know about. In other circumstances he would be impressed, but now… the school was silent as a tomb, not even the ghosts were out anymore. It was so cold he could hear Pansy's teeth clattering.

"Our funds are… not what they used to be," Minerva excused.

"But you are still Headmistress." Remus exclaimed.

"Because school is not their top priority, the teacher's roster looks much more different now."

"Where are we going?" Harry asked.

"My office, you will be safe there!"

Minerva hadn't changed the password, not much of the office either. Even Fawkes was still there dozing in a corner.

"I am sorry I do not have other accommodations for you right now."

"Are there spies in the faculty?" Remus asked her.

"The Carrow siblings. He took over the Defense position and she is teaching Muggle studies."

"What happened to Charity?" Remus asked surprised. He liked her, she was a very dedicated and passionate teacher.

"She… disappeared," Minerva said swallowing past a nod in her throat.

Draco froze.

"She died," He said in a faint voice.

Minerva's eyes checked the young man over, her eyes were stuck on his arms, on the tattoo everyone knew was there hidden under his coat.

Harry moved closer to Draco and bumped his shoulder. Minerva looked away.

"It is safe to move right after dawn and before classes start."

"Thank you for everything!" Remus turned to her.

"I hope you find what you need and destroy that bastard!"

Remus wished he could have recorded that moment and watch it on repeat, play it for Padfoot like a movie.

Minerva bid them good night and retreated.

"Did she… actually say that?" Pansy asked first.

They laid their sleeping bags on the floor. Remus lighted the fire, so they all crawled to it; the castle was freezing. Remus found it hard to fall asleep, he got used to his bed and Sirius sleeping next to him. The kids fell asleep one by one, he heard it in their breathing. He closed his eyes as well.

Since he slept so badly, Remus had no qualm with being up before the sun. He rose from his sleeping bag and made a few steps, watched the sleeping castle through the window. He turned to the kids when the sky was starting to color. Draco and Harry's sleeping bags were pretty close to each other, their hands were touching during sleep. As always, he found them adorable, but he did promise himself not to do that anymore.

"Rise and shine!" He called.

Groaning and waling about back pains – oh little children with no idea of adult bodies' aches - the children woke up and gathered their things.

Harry with the cloak and Draco as a ferret on his shoulder were sent ahead to scout. Remus and the girls followed.

They got to the Room of Requirement with no problem, but once in, Remus was hit by the enormity of it. Years and tons of lost objects dusting away in piles high as mountains. He was very optimistic when he said they would be done today.

"Okay, Harry, I saw some brooms, give us an aerial view while we each start from a corner of the room and work our way to the middle," Pansy said taking it all in.

"Do the lost objects appear here in order? If so, we should look at the bottom of the piles since the diadem was lost a long while ago," Hermione rationed.

"We can try that." Pansy sighed.

"Accio diadem!" Harry called. Nothing happened.

Four pairs of eyes turned to him.

"One of us had to at least try."

They separated and each started working from a part of the room.

"I found my socks!" Harry called at one point.

"If they do not have any souls living in them, we do not care!" Pansy called from another end.

"After all this time, something is definitely living inside," came the disgusted reply from Draco.

"Can't we burn it all?" Harry asked after a few hours in. "The Horecrux is indestructible."

"Could work, but it's too risky, fire is hard to control and we have no idea how the Room works exactly, how the fire inside may spread to the rest of the castle," Remus replied.

"Bombarda!" Draco casted.

"Didn't we say we are not burning this place?" Pansy called.

"It was an acquaintance of mine that should never be used again!"

"Was it the wardrobe?" Harry asked in a lower voice, but not enough for Remus to not pick up.

"Yes," Draco replied barely above a whisper.

At around noon, Minerva sent an elf with lunch. They had been at it for hours and although they were making progress, they didn't find the diadem.

"Thank you, Winky!" Harry said after they were done.

The elf nodded and disappeared.

They worked tirelessly for a few hours more with only a few bathroom breaks in between.

"I am still supporting my fire idea," Harry said at some point. He sounded much closer now, so progress was made at least.

"Duly noted," Pansy replied.

"Maybe what you need are more hands," A new voice rang in the room.

"Blaise!?" Pansy's voice called from her point. She started running towards the exit and the others followed. By the door, Zabini, Ginny and Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom were waiting for them.

"What are you doing here?" Pansy asked hugging her friends.

"You appeared on the map" Ron said waving the Marauder's Map.

"When you all disappeared, we figured you must be here." Ginny grinned.

"You sent him the Map?" Draco turned to Harry.

"What is he doing here?" Ron hissed jabbing an accusing finger at Draco.

"He is where he belongs, it was all an act, he was on our side!" Harry said stepping in front of Draco. "We had no use of it and it might help them!" he said turning to Draco.

Ron still glared at Draco, but nodded.

"What are you all doing here?" Neville asked.

"We are looking for something… something important" Hermione replied.

"It's Ravenclaw's diadem, we need to find it," Remus explained.

"Do you need help?" Zabini offered.

Everyone's eyes turned to Remus.

"Do not touch it with your bare hands, just let us know when you find it!"

Pansy hugged Blaise and dragged him to her side. Ron followed Harry, Ginny went with Hermione and Neville followed a reluctant Draco.

There were making better progress with more hands on deck.

"Found it!" Harry voice screamed after a few hours.

Everyone made their way out of the maze of lost object towards the sound of his voice. He was on his broom pointing at something shiny in one of the piles. Remus walked over and dragged the diadem out. The pile moved precariously, but several spells shot at once to keep it steady.

"Is that Helena Ravenclaw's diadem?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, it is the same as Riddle's diary," Harry explained.

Ginny recoiled and shivered. "Will you destroy it?"

"As soon as we get home," Remus reassured her.

"Good".

Neville's hand found hers and squeezed in a comforting gesture. That, even Remus didn't expected.

"So, what happens now?" Ron asked.

"They are going to leave us again to go and be heroes, of course," Blaise said bitter.

"Neither of us chose this… but we must do something" Pansy argued turning to him.

"And to leave me behind, was that a choice?"

"You will be safe here! Your family is not a part of this war!"

"But you all are!" He argued. The other Hogwart students were quiet, but Remus could see they all agreed.

"We can't put any more students in danger!" Remus intervened.

"But we want to protect the magical world and our families!" Ginny replied with fire in her eyes.

"Then stay safe, make the school safe for all the other kids, so we can fight knowing at least this place will be okay!" Remus argued.

They made their way out of the room and into a corridor. The sun was close to setting.

"Isn't this sweet?" A voice Remus didn't know taunted.

"Positively sickening," A new voice replied.

"The Carrow's," Ginny announced pulling her wand out. Everyone else followed suit.

"Mister Potter, such an honor," The guy continued. He was young, not long since he left Hogwarts, although it wasn't one of Remus's students. They were both wearing black and green serpent emblems.

"There is more of us, just let us go before you embarrass yourself, he doesn't like mistakes," Draco said.

"The wandless Malfoy too, you would know everything about mistakes," The girl laughed. "How about we even those odds, huh?" She pressed on her arm where Remus assumed the dark mark was. Draco hissed behind him.

"We should hurry, everyone with a mark felt that."

Remus started firing spells at the two siblings.

"Go!" He said to the kids stepping in front of them.

"No way!" Harry called and cast Expeliamus on one of the siblings. They parried.

"Draco, Harry, get this home!" Pansy ordered handing them the diadem wrapped in cloth. "Ginny, Neville, alert the school about a potential attack!"

"Why me?" Harry rebelled.

"You are more valuable than the rest of us," Hermione explained.

"We will send everyone here!" Draco called dragging Harry after him.

"Hermione, Pansy, you should go as well!" Remus called while shielding against a nasty hex.

"We are stronger together!" Hermione called.

In the end, the Carrow's alone were no match for the Remus and his former students. Neville was a surprisingly capable fighter. After they knocked out the siblings, Remus sent the Hogwarts students back to their dorm while they made their way towards the Weeping Willow and out of the school grounds.

A stray hex flew over their heads and into the old trunk as they were about to enter. They turned, a handful of Slytherins were lining up their next spells. Hermione cast a shield. There were considerably more students, Remus even recognized some from when he was teaching.

"Blood traitor," Nott spat glaring at Pansy.

"Lap dog," She replied getting ready to fight.

"Where are the other ones?" He asked.

"No one else here," Hermione said.

"Then this will be easy," Nott laughed. "Not the same reward, but the werewolf will make a nice price"

Remus and the girls jumped into the fight. They were severely outnumbered and the longer they remained here, they risked more Death Eaters showing up. Remus hexed an enemy, petrified another, but he needed to protect himself, unlike him the attackers used Unforgivable spells and hexes. He heard Pansy scream and turned his head enough to see a cutting curse had caught her on the leg. He and Hermione moved closer to protect her. They were getting tired, his shields were cracking after less hits and his spells needed more power. Hermione was healing Pansy, he was protecting both of them, he could feel his fangs heavy in his mouth, but couldn't bother to care about that now. He was scared the end was near and he didn't get to say goodbye to Teddy at least.

The students advanced on them, Hermione's shield were barely holding when a well-aimed Expeliamus sent her wand flying. Remus jumped in front of her with his shield, spell after spell aimed at it. He felt the wolf whispering in his mind, snarling asking for blood, promising power. His vision sharpened, he could feel the fangs in his mouth, and his bones started snapping like they did before a transformation.

The student stopped in awe. Remus was sure none of them ever seen a werewolf transform before. He crumbled to the ground, the wand slipping from his claws. He could smell Hermione and Pansy's fear behind him trying to move into the tunnel before he finishes. For a few moments the only sound was his bones snapping.

"Expeliamus!" came from behind him. Remus was too far down to see them, but he could smell Sirius, Lily and Severus. He vaguely heard Minerva's voice and then he had to shut down his mind to stop the transformation.