Harry was swept away from the Great Hall in the sea of Griffindors. He struggled to keep up with Hermione and Ron in order to speak to them. "So Ron-who's Arabella Figg?" he asked.

"Only the most famous ex-auror in the history of magic!" Hermione exclaimed as she interrupted Ron's answer.

Ron shot her a look as he spoke. "She was an Auror when You-know…Voldemort was in the height of his power. Her, Moody and that other guy at the table- Fletcher- were known as the Order of the Phoenix."

"They were called the Aurors Triumvirate," Hermione interrupted again.

"They captured most of the Death Eaters in Azkaban!" someone yelled from the back.

"Hey, in my trunk I have a Chocolate Frog card that has a picture of them!" Colin Creevey suddenly cried in excitement. A surge of excitement rose from the students- people who wouldn't normally talk to Colin swamped him, begging him to show them the picture. Harry, Hermione and Ron were pushed even father to the back.

The finally came to the portrait of the Fat Lady. Harry, Ron and Hermione, who were all the way in the back of the crowd, didn't hear the password.

Ron frowned as a thought dawned on him. "Do you realize that with three aurors now running around the school, we won't wouldn't be able to do anything?" He sighed in frustration. "We can't step out of line at all!"

He was, of course, wrong.

db

Remus approached the door at the end of the hall. It was a rather unused part of the school-of course this would be where she decided to live. He was a bit nervous…

Okay, he was pretty damn nervous. 15 years could really change a person, and he didn't know if the Arabella he was about to confront was the same Arabella that had been a kindred spirit of the Marauders.

He finally reached the door. It was old, dark, and rather intimidating. 'Of course it just sets the perfect mood,' he sarcastically thought as he raised his hand to knock.

He never got the chance.

The door flung open, and a figure of medium height flew out of the room. Remus almost toppled to the floor as the figure threw her hands around his neck and jumped into his arms.

Arabella's hair tickled his face as she laughed in delight. "Loony, loopy Lupin!" she shouted in glee as she clung to his neck. Her feet hung a few inches from the ground.

"Farcical Figg!" he countered, a smile dawning of his face.

"Moony!"

"Ink!"

She finally let go of him, but held onto his hands. "The grey in your hair suits your pallid complexion," she teased. Her eyes were sparkling.

She had taken off her cloak-Remus could now see the muggle clothing she had worn. "Well, the blue in your plaid shirt compliments your eyes," he said, returning the compliment.

A suppressed laugh could be heard from the inside of the room. She pulled Remus by the hand into the room. "Come inside, Moony! I'll make you a cup of tea-or would you like a cup of hot chocolate instead, or perhaps you'll like,"

"A cup of Arabella's specialty, burnt water," Sirius interrupted teasingly as he got up from his chair from the fire.

Arabella went off into the next room in search of a tea kettle. Sirius chuckled as he walked over to Remus. "Consider yourself lucky Moony. She wasn't all hugs and kisses an hour ago. She changes moods like she changes socks."

"Sirius! Where's the kettle!?!" Arabella yelled from the other room.

Remus eyed the boxes upon boxes of Arabella's life scattered haphazardly through out the room. "Just use the Summoning charm," he suggested.

"But that's the easy way out! Besides, I've grown accustom of living magic-less," Arabella replied.

"How could I forget! I'm speaking to Arabella the Great Muggle Lover," Remus chuckled. "Wasn't it Snape that coined that name?" he asked innocently. "In our first year?"

A snorting noise came from the other room. "I should've hexed that greasy git after the feast. He smiled at me-he's up to no good, you'll see," Arabella jeered. "But I was to busy too."

"She was hanging up her mirrors," Sirius whispered.

Remus looked towards the room that Arabella had walked into. She was in Hogwarts-the safest place from Death Eaters in all of England-and she was already setting up mirrors all over her living space, so then nothing would be able to sneak up on her. "I suppose the paranoia of Auroring stays with you forever," he softly said.

"Humph-look at Moody," was Sirius' wry reply. A glimmer of pre-Azkaban could be seen in his eyes.

"But remember how carefree she used to be?"

"Don't you mean foolhardy?"

"Padfoot…"

"I'm serious! Remember all the times she was in the hospital because she would forget to use her bat when she would have to deflect the Bludgers? As a Beater, you're not supposed to use your body to deflect Bludgers."

Remus smiled at the memory of their friend's in-air antics. "Remember how Lily would always cry whenever there was a game, because she was sure that a Bludger was going to kill Arabella."

A sudden crashing noise startled Remus and Sirius. Arabella yelped, and sparks flew…no, I mean it-sparks really did fly. She had started cursing things, both verbally and magically, in her frustration. "Were in the name of all things good and holy is that damn kettle!" she screamed. They heard struggling and the sound of more boxes falling.

Arabella yelled with such frustration that Remus didn't hear the spell. He did however, see the boxes come flying towards his head.

Sirius and Remus embraced the floor as they tried to protect their heads from large and heavy flying objects.

"Did she always have this temperament?" Sirius asked. He cowered as a book hit him on the head.

"No-it used to be worse," Remus dryly replied as he cautiously rose from the floor.

Remus was ankle deep in destruction. Surveying the damage, he saw the kettle-it had made a large hole in the wall. It hung there, slightly bent but no worse for wear.

Arabella appeared at the doorway, a bit sheepish. She took a double take at the disaster area that had been her sitting room. She sighed as she rose her wand.

"Now I'll use magic," she said, an attempt of a smile on her face.

db

"So Moony-why did ya' take the time to pay Padfoot and little old me a visit?" Arabella asked as she put her coffee cup down.

Remus kept the cup in his hands as he looked down at the hem of his robe. "Since we're both Defense Against Dark Arts teachers, I thought we should plan out what we're going to teach."

"Oh, but that takes all the fun out of jumping in cold turkey," Sirius joked.

Arabella sat back in her armchair. "They need to learn about hexes and curses, or any Death Eater can get them."

"The fifth years learned about the Three Unforgivables last year."

"Dumbledore told me- but there are so many more curses-so many more." Her eyes became blank as she clutched the arms of her chair. "Some just as bad as the Unforgivables."

Remus and Sirius fell silent. For a minute, the lost Arabella as she fought back the horrible memories of torture and pain-the memories of an auror.

But the life in her eyes soon returned as she looked at them. Remus had a funny feeling that whatever memories Arabella had again buried in her soul, she would soon get rid of by placing them into her pensieve.

"So I'll take care of curses," Arabella cheerfully said as she refilled her coffee cup. "That leaves you with Dark Creatures- the students will have to learn how to fight them. Voldemort will recruit them soon enough."

"And tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow? Tomorrow…we'll size up the students. Both of us will hold class tomorrow-show the students whose boss," she replied, a smirk appearing on her face.

"Arabella!" Sirius mock-scolded. "You're here to teach, NOT intimidate!"

"A little intimidation won't hurt them," she impishly said. She was absentmindedly rubbing her hands together. "Just because we're a bunch of teachers-or ex convicts-doesn't mean we can't have a little fun. We're still Marauders, guys."

As the toll chimed one, Remus shook his head, slightly amused-and slightly appalled.

He had been afraid of this…