Remus Lupin was in his office grading papers on this cloudy Saturday afternoon, sighing and shaking his head most of the time. Gilderoy Lockhart had done these students a great disservice, especially those who had been first years with him. He'd basically had to start over from the beginning with them, since they hadn't done much other more read his books. The whole student body's knowledge was fragmented from so many different teachers, but that was the chance one took when working in a cursed job.

"Professor Lupin! Professor Lupin!" Someone was banging on the door to his office.

"What is it? Office hours are over but I'll make an exception if someone's dying!" Remus liked his alone time, but he was a teacher now and his students' needs came first.

"No one's dying!" Harry Potter kicked the door open and strode inside, carrying a large photo album in his hands. "Someone's not dead!"

"We need your help, Professor!" Hermione Granger came in on his heels. "I told the others we need to talk to a teacher!"

"Yeah she's being a real stick in the mud about this!" Ron Weasley yelled, coming in on Hermione's heels. "Remember what happened when you talked to an adult about the Firebolt!"

"And nothing bad happened with the Firebolt. Besides, Ronald, this is an entirely different situation."

Remus sighed and shook his head, watching as Hermione and Ron continued to bicker. They reminded him of a different couple he once knew, but he couldn't think about that right now. He looked up and saw young Christina Evans bringing up the rear, then sighed again. He hated to see a nice quiet girl like her get caught up in Harry, Ron, and Hermione's nonsense. "One at a time, you guys. What's going on?"

"My mum's alive." Harry slammed the photo album down on the table. His eyes were red-rimmed, like he'd been crying recently, and his hands shook slightly.

"Ok." Remus took a deep breath. "How did you find this out, Harry? Retrace your steps for me."

Harry jerked his head toward Christina, who set a photo of two people down on the desk. Remus picked up the photo and examined it. The photo showed Christina posing with another redheaded woman who looked a great deal like her, one who . . . "The bodies." Remus whispered. "Their bodies were never found." Suddenly every piece clicked into place for him. Lily and baby Christina hadn't died, they'd escaped, and no one knew about it. And for whatever reason Christina had been entered at Hogwarts with her mother's maiden name. That's why she reminded him so much of Lily, and her eyes—for Merlin's sake, he'd noticed her eyes had been exactly like James's on the very first day of school. Why hadn't he seen it sooner? How could he have been so stupid?

"They're both alive." Remus finally said. The words felt hollow in his mouth. "I'm sorry, Harry, and Christina, that I was too stupid to figure this out sooner. I'd had my suspicions about Christina since the first day, but didn't pry for fear that I would be wrong and end up upsetting you both."

"It's ok, Professor." said Hermione. "I'm sure you have other things keeping you busy." She looked at him shrewdly. She had to know he was a werewolf by now. Either Snape's essay, or she would've checked a lunar chart. But, to her credit, she only said, "It doesn't help that Harry's not particularly observant, nor did it help that their mum's got amnesia now."

"Lily has amnesia?"

Christina nodded. "Mum doesn't remember anything before halloween 1981, except for bits and pieces. She couldn't even remember her married last name, which is why I'm down as Evans. She didn't remember Hogwarts until she sent me off to school."

Remus nodded. "That explains—"

"I know, it explains everything."

"That's why I made them come to you," Hermione added, "since this isn't a usual situation."

Remus nodded. "You were right to come to me. I think we have to proceed very carefully in this here. I don't want to overwhelm Lily with information she doesn't remember about her dead husband and her status as a witch, nor do I want the burden of jogging her memory to fall on you children." Harry's emotions were particularly volatile at the moment, and he didn't necessarily want Harry interacting with a long-lost parent who didn't remember him. "All right here's what we're going to do. we're going to talk to Professor McGonagall. And then we'll think about sending someone over to your mum's place to talk to her and gage what she remembers."

"Don't you think I should go and talk to her?" Harry asked.

Remus frowned. "I don't know. Let's go see what McGonagall has to say." He gathered up the photographs and lead them down the corridor and up the staircase to Professor McGonagall's office.

"What is it, Remus?" Professor McGonagall's door swung open.

"You may want to sit down, Professor." said Remus. McGonagall had told him many times to call her by her first name, but old habits died hard. "Harry and Christina have pieced together some information you may want to hear." He showed her the photos and quickly explained what they'd found.

"I told Albus." McGonagall sank into a chair, her face turning white. "I told Albus that just because he hadn't found a body didn't mean Lily was dead. I told him there was a chance she was still alive. Amnesia. Oh, the poor dear." She took Christina's hands in her own and carefully searched the girl's face. "I'm sorry, dear. I should have figured it out as soon as you walked through my classroom door. But I have been slightly preoccupied keeping my students safe from the dementors and the mass murderer that have roamed this campus at inopportune intervals. Remus, remind me to update Christina's last name on the school's list."

Remus nodded. "How should we proceed, Professor? I thought we ought to send someone over to see Lily, to assess the situation. Perhaps take her to St. Mungo's and see if her memory can be restored."

McGonagall nodded. "They may be able to restore the damage, especially if it wasn't spell damage. Remus, would you like to be the one to go and see her? A familiar face might be good for her."

Remus nodded. "I'll go and talk to her as soon as I can. Do we have her current address on file?"

"Hold on." said Harry. "She's my mother, I want to go and see her!"

Remus and McGonagall exchanged panicked glances. "I told him wait and see what you say." Remus said. In and undertone he added, "I don't think it's a good idea for him to see her right now."

McGonagall nodded. "Potter, I think it's best if we let Professor Lupin go and see her first so we know what she remembers. I believe an encounter with you would be upsetting for the both of you."

"But she's my mother! Professor, please!"

"Harry, we've established that she probably doesn't remember you." Lupin cut in. "Think how terrifying it would be if someone you don't know came in to your house claiming to be your child. For your mum's sake, do you think you can hold on a little while longer?"

"I guess." Harry grunted.

"Thank you. I'll go and talk to her as soon as I can. That's a promise."

"Ok." Harry checked his watch. "I should go. Quidditch practice starts soon, and Wood's gonna kill me if I'm late."

"Is that all you can think of at a time like this?" Hermione asked him as they filed out of the room.

Remus sighed heavily after the children had left. "I can't believe it. I just can't believe it. I'm right to not let Harry see her, right? His emotions are so volatile right now and I don't think it would be good for him. On the other hand, she's alive, and I hate to keep them apart longer than necessary."

"No, you were right. Harry has enough on his plate right now, between Black and the dementors to all the pressure Oliver Wood's putting on him with quidditch to him helping Hagrid with that hippogriff. We need to make sure Lily's in a stable place before we re-introduce them."

"Well. I can go over to her place tomorrow. The sooner we work this out, the better."

McGonagall nodded. "Good luck."