Thursday 23 June, 1994:

"Reducto!"

The dummy was blasted into smithereens.

"Thank you, Miss Lestrange," said the examiner, Professor Oyawale, noting something down. Lena patiently waited for him to finish. The practical section of her Defence Against the Dark Arts NEWT was almost done, and she was fairly certain she had achieved full marks so far.

"Now," said Professor Oyawale, looking back up at her, "one final task. Please perform for me a Patronus Charm."

Lena nodded. She had been expecting this would be the last question – and the one that could potentially prevent her from achieving a perfect score. She knew that the Patronus she could cast would get her some marks, but she still had never cast a full, corporeal Patronus.

'Well,' she thought, 'there's nothing like performing under pressure.' She closed her eyes, and started to focus on the last time she had seen Voldemort. But just as she raised her wand to cast the spell, the image in her mind suddenly changed as she remembered her first kiss with Remus.

Before she could stop and think about it, the words, "Expecto Patronum!" were out of her mouth. She opened her eyes to see the silver light streaming out of her wand. But, to her astonishment, instead of making the shield it usually did, it began to take a different shape.

Four, long, spindly legs grew down from the cluster of light. A tail sprouted out one end, and a neck from the other. An elongated head grew out from the neck. Lastly, two large bat-like wings extended from its back.

Lena watched, entranced, as the glowing, silver Thestral took flight, circling the Great Hall and drawing the attention of the other examiners and students.

"Excellent work, Miss Lestrange," said Professor Oyawale, his eyes also keenly following her Patronus.

Lena smiled. "I had an excellent teacher."

Friday 8 July, 1994:

"I'm not supposed to be telling you this," said Dumbledore, "as NEWT results aren't officially out for another week, but you have done rather brilliantly."

Lena arched an eyebrow. "Outstandingly, perhaps?"

"To perfection," replied Dumbledore, "is my understanding."

Lena chuckled."Well, I wouldn't be happy with anything less. But I suspect you didn't ask to see me tonight just to offer your congratulations."

The End-of-the-Year Feast had finished twenty minutes prior – Gryffindor, for the third year running, had won the House Cup, to nobody's surprise – and now the Headmaster and Lena were seated in his office.

"There is something else I wished to discuss with you," agreed Dumbledore. "In fact, I have a proposition."

Lena straightened in her chair, intrigued. "Indeed?"

Dumbledore tapped his fingers on his desk, looking at Lena thoughtfully. At last, he said, "Lena, I would like to offer the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher to you."

Well, that was... unexpected. Lena blinked. "You would?"

"I believe you are more than qualified for the position, both in terms of your knowledge and skill in the subject, and in your ability to teach – the results of your housemates' Defence Against the Dark Arts NEWTs prove that, I am led to believe." He leant forward, steepling his fingers. "You would be my first choice for the position."

"The infamously cursed position, you mean," said Lena wryly.

Dumbledore shrugged slightly. "I suspect that if there is anybody who could break the curse," he said, "it would be you."

Lena folded her arms, looking at him suspiciously. "You're not just saying that as a compliment." It was a statement, not a question.

After a short silence, Dumbledore said, "Almost forty years ago, the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor of the previous eleven years decided they wanted to pursue other ambitions, and there were many applicants to be their replacement. One of them would have been the obvious candidate if my only concerns were their knowledge and skill. But I believed that this applicant was ethically unsuitable for the position, so I refused to offer it to him."

"Voldemort," said Lena quietly.

"Correct. And ever since then, Hogwarts has been unable to retain a Defence teacher for any longer than a year."

It was Voldemort that had cursed the position. Somehow, that didn't surprise Lena. But the fact that Dumbledore was telling her this in relation to why he believed she might be able to break the curse...

"So you're aware there is a history between Voldemort and myself," she said evenly.

Dumbledore nodded. "It was one of the first things Severus informed me once he turned on the Death Eaters to spy for me – that Voldemort had taken a special interest in the Lestranges' daughter. I found it... concerning, to say the least."

Lena didn't blame him. "He was my teacher," she explained, her voice soft. "He taught me wandless magic, theory, Legilimency and Occlumency."

"And it was strictly a teacher-pupil relationship?" inquired Dumbledore. "Or perhaps, one of a mentor and a protégée?"

A small lump began to form in Lena's throat. Maybe her previous happiest memory had been supplanted by one of Remus, but that didn't mean her feelings towards Voldemort had lessened. She told Dumbledore carefully, "There was... a degree of affection."

"On both sides?"

There was a pause, before Lena replied, "I believe so."

Dumbledore peered at her through his half-moon spectacles as if inspecting her. "And you maintain that affection even now?"

Opening her mouth to respond, a realisation struck Lena. She leant forward, so her elbows were resting on the edge of his desk. "You know," she began, "I just figured out why you didn't push the inquiry into what happened to Lenora Travers any further all those years ago, despite suspecting it was me. You were afraid that if you expelled me, I would be lost to Voldemort." She tilted her head to the side. "It's why you've tolerated the bad things I've done, why you were so willing to help me with my illness – you were afraid that if I went beyond your reach, I would gladly be pulled into the arms of Voldemort. You were trying to keep me – or bring me over – on the side against him."

"Yes," admitted Dumbledore, "but more than that too. Even without Voldemort, I was afraid if that was what you were capable of as an eleven-year-old, what you could become away from the influence of Hogwarts. However, at the same time," he added, "there were encouraging signs coming from you."

"How do you mean?"

"You may have been interested in the Dark Arts," said Dumbledore, "but there was no indication you shared Voldemort's views on blood status – quite the opposite, really."

"You mean my decision to associate with Maggie rather than the children of 'great' pureblood families," guessed Lena.

"Yes, and I was aware that the girl you were suspected of attacking so horrifically held those ideologies. And while it is true that young Tom Riddle was always careful to hide any belief in blood supremacy while at Hogwarts – except from his closest friends – you appeared to be less concerned than he was about concealing that you were anything less than good. You seemed guarded, but not deceitful."

Lena digested all of this. At last, she told him quietly, "I know he is a monster. I know he's evil, and his actions are unforgiveable, and that he is beyond redemption."

"But you still care for him," said Dumbledore simply.

She stared at Dumbledore, and he calmly gazed back. Bewildered by his apparent acceptance of this, she asked, "Doesn't that anger you? That I know full well how wrong it is to love him, yet still do?"

A shadow seemed to pass over Dumbledore's face, but his eyes did not move from hers. Then an almost overwhelming amount of emotion filled them, shocking Lena.

"If I were to condemn you for that," he said softly, "then it would be hypocrisy on my part."

Lena's jaw nearly dropped. The great wizard Albus Dumbledore, champion of the light and all that was good, had once loved someone Dark and terrible? The idea seemed ludicrous – but only at surface level. Once she had considered it for more than a few seconds, it made complete sense. Could you truly defeat something if you didn't understand it completely?

'Oh,' realised Lena. 'That's who he's talking about."

"Grindelwald."

There was an unmistakeable sadness in Dumbledore's smile. "Correct – as you so often are." He appeared to take a moment to collect his thoughts. "You see," he said finally, "for your first six years here at Hogwarts, I watched you as closely as one can from afar. But I made no effort to meet you – for I think I was afraid that I would see more of myself in you than I would have liked."

Lena wasn't offended by this; she understood what Dumbledore meant.

"You will have to forgive me," continued Dumbledore, sounding as though he was trying to keep a great deal of emotion from entering his voice, but struggling, "for not going into great length of the circumstances that led to my meeting him. Even nearly a century later, they are still painful memories that I have seldom discussed. I think I will explain it all to you one day, as you have entrusted me with many of your own. But for now, what I will tell you is that a tragedy occurred shortly after my graduation from Hogwarts – one that meant I had to stay in my home in Godric's Hollow, rather than go travelling the world as I had been intending."

A flash of anger crossed his face, but Lena suspected that it was not directed at whatever the source of his detainment was, but towards himself.

"You must understand," he continued, "that I was very bitter. I was a selfish young man, and I felt as though circumstance had caged me, and I thought I would never be set free." He sighed. "Then he arrived."

He lapsed into silence, staring down at the desk.

After a while, Lena hesitantly said, "I imagine he was very charming."

Dumbledore looked up at her. "The most charming person I had ever met in my life, as well as the cleverest and handsomest," he said, with a small smile. "Combined with my feeling of being trapped and the great boredom that bred, it was all enough for me to not be concerned by the fact he had recently been expelled from Durmstrang. He had come to Godric's Hollow to stay with his great-aunt. We were introduced by her, and that one meeting was all it took for me to know that I had met someone special. And my feelings for him very quickly became more... intense. We spent a summer in almost constant communication, sharing and building upon ideas which I thought magnificent then, but regret very much now." He paused as his expression shifted from reminiscing to pained. "Once again, I must be vague when I say what broke us apart – suffice to say there was another great tragedy, and we were responsible for it. Unlike the previous one, which had embittered me, this one opened my eyes and brought me to my senses. I had thought that Gellert and I pushed each other to new heights of brilliance, but in reality, we were dragging each other down to the depths of cruelty. He left immediately after, and I did not set eyes on him again until our duel many, many years later." A tear escaped the corner of his eye. "Nevertheless, I could not let go of my love for him – even after the great many more horrific acts he committed in the name of 'the greater good'. I could despise his attitudes and commit myself to fighting against him, yes. But still I loved him."

Lena watched him wipe the tear away, and something tugged at her heart – sympathy or empathy, she didn't know which.

"For, Lena," he continued, once he had composed himself, "that is the great curse of people such as you and I – just as our greater intellects and brilliance creates the capacity for more enormous mistakes and oversights, our difficulty to truly connect with others makes the attachments we do form more powerful and intense. When we love, we do not do so with uncertainty and inconsistency, but unconditionally and bindingly."

"Everything comes with a price," murmured Lena, her stomach twisting. What did this mean for her relationship with Remus? Yes, she loved Voldemort and him in different ways, but could they coexist? If they could, surely there would be something else she had to sacrifice.

She let go of the tip of her plait with which she had absentmindedly begun playing, and folded her hands in her lap, gazing at Dumbledore. "So, returning to your proposition," she said, "you think that my connection with Voldemort could somehow make me immune to the position's curse."

"Not immune, no," replied Dumbledore. "I confess, I know practically nothing about the curse. But I thought that perhaps while you were in the position, you would be able to investigate it. Perhaps your, as you put it, connection with Voldemort would give you greater insight into it."

Lena considered this for a minute. She couldn't deny there were elements of the position that she found quite appealing. She would be able to continue watching over Harry, all the students would again have a proficient educator in the subject, and investigating such a unique and unexplored curse was an attractive challenge.

But taking up the role of a teacher at Hogwarts imposed many limitations on one's life, and Lena had been looking forward to life no longer dictated by timetables and mainly restricted to one location. Not to mention that she would be taking the job that Remus had loved. That felt cruel – to be living the life he wanted but couldn't have, all the while saying she loved him.

"I'm incredibly flattered by the offer," she said at last, "but I'm afraid I have to decline it." A thought occurred to her. "But may I make a suggestion?"

Dumbledore, who seemed a little disappointed but not wholly surprised by her refusal, nodded. "Of course."

"If you find someone you want, offer it to them on the condition that it would only be for one year. Perhaps if they are intending to leave from the beginning, it might lessen the potential of something nasty befalling them that would force them out."

Dumbledore thought this over for a moment, then smiled. "A wise idea, I think." He looked at Lena curiously. "May I ask if you do have any plans for what you will be doing after graduation?"

Lena smiled as she thought of a certain werewolf. "I've got some ideas."

Saturday 9 July, 1994:

"See ya, Lestrange!"

"Thanks for all the help with Charms homework."

"Good luck for... well, whatever it is you're going to do."

"Bye!"

It was such an odd experience for Lena to have more than two people saying goodbye to her at Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters. But so much had changed since she'd last been at the platform ten months ago – and for the better.

"So," said Kahn as Lena helped Gemma get her trunk off the train, "how long should we be expecting until you take over the country?"

Lena laughed. "Well, I'd like to have something of a holiday before indulging in any megalomaniacal desires."

"Would this holiday perhaps be with a certain former Defence Against the Dark Arts professor?" asked Kahn, smirking.

"What can I say? Lockhart's thick as a brick, but he is fit."

They all sniggered.

"Well," said Gemma as their mirth faded, "if things don't work out between you and Lupin, you can always come find me." She gave Lena a wink.

Lena smiled at her. "You're sweet, Gemma." She leant forward and kissed the other girl on the cheek. "But you deserve someone much nicer than me."

Gemma blushed slightly.

Lena and Maggie exchanged their final goodbyes with Gemma and Kahn. Just as the others were walking away and Lena and Maggie were preparing to find Rolf and his mother, Lena was suddenly tackled around the midriff. Looking down in shock, she saw a blonde head.

"What are we going to do without you, Lena?" cried Tiffany dramatically, hugging her.

A moment later, they were joined by Eve, Erin and Rebecca.

"Yeah," said Rebecca mournfully, "what if we only get slightly-above-average marks next year?"

All four were looking up at her with expressions of dismay. Maggie had to cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

"You all aced your exams this year," Lena reminded them. "Just work hard next year, and I'm sure you'll do it again."

"But we learnt more from you than the rest of our teachers combined," said Erin.

"You don't just teach us how to do stuff, but why it works," added Eve. "You make everything interesting."

"Well, if you find all the theory so interesting, you'll have the motivation to investigate further by yourselves," said Lena. "And that's a good skill to develop." Then she sighed. "And if you're ever really stuck, I suppose you can write to me."

"We can?" said Tiffany and Erin together, as all their faces brightened.

"Only as a last resort," said Lena quickly. "I don't want to be inundated with letters every week asking me questions you could answer yourselves if you just opened a book. Now, I'm sure all your parents are wondering where you are, so–" She tensed as Tiffany threw her arms around her again.

"We'll miss you," she said, and the other girls nodded.

Lena awkwardly patted her on the head. "Yes, all right. Goodbye."

Tiffany detached herself from Lena, and the four girls disappeared into the crowd.

Maggie snickered. "And so the mother duck bids her brood farewell..."

"There you are!" Wood had suddenly appeared at Maggie's shoulder. "Come on, it's time to meet my parents."

Maggie's face went from smug to panic-stricken in less than a second. "W-what, now?"

"Yes, come on." He grabbed Maggie by the hand, and began to tug her away.

"But my stuff–"

"Don't worry, I'll look after it," said Lena, grinning. "Now, do try to make a good first impression."

Maggie shot her one last panicked look before the crowd had also swallowed her up.

Standing on her tiptoes, Lena looked around the platform, trying to spot Rolf. Although she still couldn't find him, she did see Harry, and called out to him.

Hearing her, Harry made his way over. "Hey," he greeted her, smiling. "How does graduation feel?"

"Like freedom," replied Lena. She noticed an envelope in his hand. "What have you got there?"

"A letter from Sirius," said Harry, lowering his voice. "He and Buckbeak have gone into hiding."

"I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to properly meet him," said Lena. "It would have been nice to spend some time with one of my relations who's actually a decent human being."

"I can imagine," said Harry. "So, you seeing Lupin tonight?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Lena lightly cuffed him over the head. "None of your business, you little creep." Then she gave in. "As it's a full moon tonight, no, I'm not seeing him until tomorrow." She was unable to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

Harry's expression became more earnest. "I am happy for you, Lena. And for Lupin too."

Lena smiled at him again. "I appreciate that," she said softly. "Now," her tone became more businesslike, "remember you can write to me whenever you need. About anything: schoolwork, how you're feeling, if there's another mystery at Hogwarts you feel is your duty to solve." An idea occurred to her. "Oh, if you want the Dursleys off your back this summer, maybe you should–"

"Let it slip that my godfather is the escaped convicted mass-murderer Sirius Black, and that he wouldn't like it if I wasn't being treated well?" Harry grinned upon seeing Lena's surprise. "What, surprised I thought of it myself? I've been hanging around you for more than a year, I was bound to pick up a thing or two."

Lena stretched out her legs, enjoying the late evening sunlight. She was sitting on the back-steps of Rolf's grandparents' house. She and Maggie were joining him there for the night for the mini-celebration Newt and Tina were holding for their graduations. Everyone else was inside at the moment, but Lena had needed some fresh air.

Twirling her empty goblet in her hands, she closed her eyes and breathed in and out deeply. She was no longer a Hogwarts student. She was free to do whatever she liked, whenever she liked. The problem was knowing where to start.

She was brought out of her reverie by the sound of squeaking. Opening her eyes, she saw it was Mortimer, coming back from his exploration of the garden. She held out a hand, and the bowtruckle climbed on, excitedly chattering about his discoveries.

The door opened.

"So this is where you snuck off." It was Maggie, and she was holding a bottle of something in one hand, and a small package in the other. "Fancy a refill?"

Lena smiled up at her. "What have you got?"

"Horklump Gin."

Lena held out her goblet and Maggie poured some.

"Mind if I join you a bit longer?" asked Maggie as Lena took a sip.

Lena moved her legs to clear some space on the steps, and Maggie sat down.

"So I was meaning to give you this as a birthday present," said Maggie holding out the package to Lena. "But as we weren't talking then, I decided – once we were good again – that I would give it to you after graduation, as a thank you present for getting me through my OWLs and NEWTs."

Lena blinked, surprised. "Thank you," she said, accepting the package. "You didn't–"

Maggie cut her off. "Look, it's nothing huge. Actually, it's probably a bit shit. I made it last summer–"

"You made it?" repeated Lena, her curiosity roused.

Maggie sighed. "Just open it."

Placing her goblet on the step above, Lena then opened the small rectangular gift. Seeing what it was, she raised an eyebrow. "Is this a cassette tape?" she asked, holding it up.

Nodding, Maggie replied, "It's a mix-tape. All Muggle music, because I know how much you despise every single Wizarding singer or band. I put on a few of the songs I knew you liked, and some others which I suspect you will. I've found your taste is surprisingly... mellow." She pointed at the tape. "I wrote down all the tracks and artists on the inlay."

Lena stared down at the tape. "Maggie, this is... brilliant." She looked up at her friend, grinning, and opened her arms. "Come here, you big softie."

Maggie, looking relieved, leant over and hugged Lena. "You'll have to buy your own device to play it on," she told her, a little guiltily.

"Cheapskate," joked Lena, drawing back from her. "But seriously, I can't wait to listen to it."

"Good, it took a bloody long time to make."

Putting the tape down – where it was keenly inspected by Mortimer – and picking up her goblet, Lena and Maggie sat in a companionable silence for a minute.

"So, when do you start the new job?" asked Lena, finally breaking it.

After finishing their NEWTs, Maggie, on the recommendation of Professor Sprout, had applied for a position at a greenhouse in Pembrokeshire that specialised in medicinal Herbology.

"You mean if I get accepted," Maggie pointed out. "I won't find out until Monday. But if I get the job, I start the following Monday."

"Were you going to try to find a place to live in Wales?"

"I guess." Maggie stared down at the bottle. "Oliver and I were going to talk more about it tomorrow night when we have dinner with his family."

Lena's eyes widened. "Wait, are you saying you and Oliver are thinking of getting a place together?"

"God no!" yelped Maggie, looking up at Lena. "We are nowhere near that stage yet. It's just part of a larger conversation about, you know, what we want moving forward."

"Yeah," muttered Lena, gazing out into the garden, "I know about those." She could feel Maggie watching her, but she didn't say anything. Lena was glad.

The truth was she had no idea what she was going to say to Remus when she saw him tomorrow. They had written to each other a couple of times over the last month, but those letters had been about NEWTs and Sirius, not their relationship.

What did she want from a life with Remus? It had always been her plan to enter the business of dealing in magical objects and artefacts, but that tended to involve a lot of travel and a great deal of danger. It wasn't an ideal line of work for someone wanting a stable relationship. And there would certainly be an amount of illegality involved – how would Remus feel about that?

Was it even the job that Lena wanted most anymore? She wasn't sure – she had changed so much over the past couple of years. There might be other areas of work she hadn't explored yet that might suit her more.

She had spent a month thinking about all of this, and was still no closer to a conclusion than she had been when she'd started off.

She was brought out of her contemplation by Maggie commenting, "It's hard to believe that Rolf will be in Brazil by this time next week."

Like Maggie, Rolf had applied for a job after NEWTs, but as the name 'Scamander' carried a certain weight in Magizoology circles, he'd already been accepted for the position. He would be working in a magical wildlife reserve in the Amazon – one of the most desirable locations for any budding Magizoologist.

"Merlin, I hope he doesn't get himself killed," muttered Lena.

Maggie raised her eyebrows. "You don't think he's up for the job?"

"I have every confidence in his ability to look after creatures," said Lena. "It's his ability to look after himself I'm more concerned about."

They chatted for another couple of minutes, until Maggie went back inside to get herself another drink. The door soon opened again, but this time it was Newt.

"Oh, the weather's lovely out here," he remarked.

Lena smiled at him, and patted the spot next to her. "You're welcome to join me."

"Thank you," replied Newt, sitting down. There was a short silence, before he said, "We missed you at Christmas."

Lena bit her lip. "I had a lot going on," she said quietly.

"Yes," said Newt. "Rolf wrote to me when you told him of your illness. He was... well, distressed, to say the least." He looked at Lena curiously. "But you are better now?"

"I'm not cured," explained Lena, "but neither am I dying anymore. So, yes, I'd say I'm better."

Newt nodded slowly. "It was a big year for you, then."

Lena snorted. "Oh, you have no idea."

"Well, perhaps if you are so inclined, you could enlighten me."

She hesitated, then said, "You're aware, I take it, that our Defence Against the Dark Arts professor this year was a werewolf?"

"Yes, Rolf told me."

"Well," Lena swallowed, "he and I grew very close over the year. And after he resigned, we became... even closer."

"I see," said Newt quietly.

"The thing is," Lena went on, "I love him. I want to spend the rest of my life with him. But I don't know what that entails. And I'm afraid that when I see him tomorrow, we might argue and ruin everything."

"What are you afraid you'll argue about?" inquired Newt.

Lena shrugged. "I don't know, anything – a potential career, at what pace we want things to progress, the best way of living with his condition. I'm just worried that if an argument starts, that I'll–" She stopped, staring down at her lap.

"That you will use it as an excuse to break things off now, rather than the risk of a more painful heartbreak further down the road."

Lena glanced up at him, surprised. "Yes," she admitted. "I – I make a lot of bad decisions. I feel a lot of things I shouldn't. I... I can't go halfway; I'm either all in, or I give nothing." She took a deep breath. "I'm scared, Newt. And if I'm in love, surely I shouldn't be scared?" She gave him a reproachful look. "I blame you for all of this, by the way. You're the one who encouraged me to talk to a werewolf and make human connections."

Newt cocked his head. "And you think your life is worse off because of it?"

Lena hesitated, then shook her head. "No. I might never have opened up to Remus, and then we would never have fallen in love–" She noticed Newt was smiling. "What?"

"I think you've answered your own question," he replied softly. "Lena, what is the worst thing that could happen in your life?"

Opening her mouth to reply, Lena paused. For the last seven years, her automatic reply would have been possessing Hecate's Orb again. But now there was something much worse.

"Losing Remus," she whispered."If he died, I–" She clenched her fists. "I don't know what I'd do."

Newt nodded. "With love must always come the possibility of loss," he said simply. "Tina and I have been married for a very long time, and youth is long, long behind us. But the thought of losing her still causes such unimaginable pain. The idea of those eyes never looking back at me..." He smiled wistfully. "Eyes like fire in water," he murmured.

His expression of such complete adoration, of such overwhelming love made Lena long to see Remus. His light green eyes, his greying temples, his scarred face.

'I miss him,' she thought, her chest hurting. 'Fuck, I miss him so much.'

And then she knew she couldn't wait a minute longer, let alone a day.

"I have to see him," she announced. "I have to go to him now." She stood, glancing up at the sky. "How long do you think until the moon rises?" she asked.

"A little under an hour, I imagine," answered Newt.

Lena plucked Mortimer off her shoulder, and handed him to Newt. "You don't mind looking after him, do you?"

"It will be a pleasure," said Newt, smiling. "Now, go. I'll tell Maggie and Rolf where you've gone."

Lena smiled back. "Thank you, Newt. For everything." Then she quickly made her way to the edge of the garden, went out the gate, and Disapparated.

After so many months of taking Wolfsbane, it felt strange to Remus to actually be expecting to fully turn into a werewolf. Not that the process of transforming was any less painful under Wolfsbane. There wasn't really anything that could dull the feeling of your entire physiology being warped into something else.

He was preparing to go down into the shack's basement that he had created a couple of years ago to lock himself in during full moons. Beginning to undress, his shirt was half unbuttoned when, to his shock, there was a loud knock on the door. He lived in the middle of nowhere, who the hell could it be? The only people who knew he lived here would also know there was a full moon in less than an hour.

There was more thumping on the door. "Remus? Are you there?"

Remus gaped. There was another knock, and he raced over to the door and pulled it open.

"Lena, what the hell are you–" He was silenced by his visitor pushing past him and striding into the shack.

"So this is where you've been living," she said, looking around the dwelling.

As delightful as the sight of Lena was after an entire month of not seeing her – and she looked particularly good tonight, in her tight black jeans and dark green t-shirt, the bottom of which was tied to the side, exposing part of her midriff – he also wasn't entirely glad. "Lena, it's a full moon, you can't be here!"

She leant against the small table, tilting her head to the side. "Well, it all worked out last time. I'm not too concerned." Her eyes flicked down from his face to his mostly uncovered chest, and she smirked. "Well, hello."

Remus, fighting back a blush, tried to argue, "Just because I didn't attack you last time doesn't mean you should risk your safety now." He frowned at her, crossing his arms. "I thought we agreed we'd meet tomorrow."

Lena shrugged. "We did, but I wanted to see you now," she said nonchalantly.

"You are being reckless," snapped Remus.

But Lena just smiled, and made a beckoning motion with her finger. "Come here," she said softly.

Despite knowing it was a bad idea, Remus felt compelled to go over to her. "You have to go," he told her in a low voice. "Now."

"I'm not going anywhere," murmured Lena, slipping her arms around his neck and giving him a feather-light kiss on his cheek. "I came here to let you know what I want, and I'm not leaving until you know," she whispered in his ear, before kissing it too.

Remus tried to shake his head. "It can wait until tomorrow," he tried to protest, but was interrupted by his own moan as Lena gently bit his earlobe. She lightly tugged on it, before releasing it.

"It really can't," she breathed, one of her hands sliding down from his neck to his chest. One of her fingers began to trace a scar. "You see," she continued, keeping her eyes on his, "what I want in this relationship – for me, and from you – is you." She moved her lips up closer to his. "And if there is any impediment to that, any problem, any conflict – do you know what I'll do to it?"

Remus' head was beginning to feel exceptionally light. "What?" he whispered.

She smiled. Not a sweet smile, nor a happy one. No, it was the predatory smile, the one that said she was about to get what she wanted. And it made Remus shiver in both fear and arousal.

"I will destroy it," she whispered. "Annihilate it. I don't care if it is a matter of circumstance, a decision one of us has to make, or a person. If it stands in the way of us being together – of being happy together – I will wipe it off the face of this Earth." She took her hand off his chest and cupped his cheek. "I will make whatever we want work. Do you understand?"

Remus stared back at her. "Yes," he replied hoarsely.

"Good," she said quietly. "Now, I'm all in." She arched an eyebrow. "Are you?"

"Yes," repeated Remus without a moment's hesitation.

Their lips, which had been so close, met with a fervour. Remus encircled her waist with his arms, pressing up against her body as firmly as he could. As Lena ran the tip of her tongue along the underneath of his, Remus' hands enthusiastically ran over her sides, back, bottom, and anything else he could reach. Eventually, as she was doing something to the roof of his mouth that was eliciting all sorts of noises from Remus that he wasn't aware he could make, one of his hands became tangled in Lena's hair, and he accidently undid the bun in which it had all been gathered.

This made Lena temporarily pull back, wincing. "Ow."

"Sorry," said Remus immediately.

"It's fine," said Lena, pulling out the hair-tie and pin that had been keeping it all in place, and putting them on the table behind her. She shook her hair out properly. "Now, where were we?"

They resumed their embrace, lips, tongues and teeth clashing as both sets of hands freely roamed over each others' bodies. But as Remus tried to lift Lena onto the table, she drew back again.

"You know, if you're going to ravish me, you could at least have the decency to do it on your bed, rather than a table."

It was an extremely desirable proposition but, Remus remembered, the full moon was imminent. "Lena, we can't," he insisted, despite being incredibly aware of the tightness in his pants. "The moon rises in less than forty minutes."

Lena snorted. "Remus, darling," she said, undoing the last couple of buttons of his shirt, "I'm delighted you have such self-confidence, but I highly doubt you'd last for more than a quarter of that time."

Harsh, maybe, but true. Remus chewed on his lip, staring down at Lena. "Are you sure you want to? Tonight?"

Lena took his hands. "I told you," she said quietly. "I know what I want."

Then how in the world could Remus possibly say no? He smiled at her. "Well, in that case," he began walking backwards, leading her towards the shack's other room, where his bed was, "do you, Lena Lestrange, consent to me taking you to bed and giving you the best–" he paused for a second, thinking, "–five, if I'm being generous to myself, minutes of your life?"

"Why, Remus Lupin," replied Lena, grinning, "I damn well consent to letting you try."

So try he did.

And I'll leave it to your imaginations to decide how he tried :)

I'll be honest: I don't love this chapter as a whole. There are so many other scenes I could add, conversations I could extend, moments I could definitely write better. But I'd never finish anything if I waited to publish until I was 100% happy with it, so I hope what there is, you find adequate :) If not, please don't be afraid to say. It doesn't do anyone good to be content with mediocrity.

Anyway, that was the end of the PoA section of To Be Human - hope you enjoyed it! And I just want to reiterate my appreciation for everyone who's been reading, following, favouriting and reviewing this story, it really does mean a lot to me.

Oh, and well done to everyone who guessed Thestral for Lena's Patronus; hope you all think it's appropriate for her character!