Moira sat at her classroom desk reading papers her third years had just turned in when she heard a soft knock at her door.
"Come in."
The door opened and closed, and though she didn't see anyone enter, she knew who it had to be. She smiled.
"Hello Harry. What can I do for you this evening?"
A moment later, Harry Potter was standing before her, the Invisibility Cloak draped over his arm.
"How did you know it was me?"
"What other student would sneak out this late at night and politely knock on my door to speak to me? I assume that is your father's cloak?"
"Yes, ma'am." He smiled back at her.
"He caused a lot of trouble with that." She smiled sadly at the memory of waiting for James or Sirius to come and sneak her back to Gryffindor tower for a midnight game of Exploding Snap, or to sneak her outside to meet Lily for a midnight walk. "I do hope you're more careful with it than he was."
"I am." He assured her with the same wry smile James had always given when he assured Lily he was not getting into trouble.
"Now Harry, what can I do for you?"
"I was wondering if you could tell me about my parents. What were they like?"
Moira looked carefully at the fifteen year old boy before her. He stood straight and proud, her height, were she standing. He was the spitting image of James at his age, but for the eyes. The boy most definitely had Lily's intense green eyes. She removed her silver rimmed glasses and sat them on the desk.
"What do you know about them?" She had been expecting this conversation, but hadn't expected to be so moved by the plea.
"I know what they looked like. Hagrid gave me a photo album my first year. And I know my father played Quidditch and that my mum's is from a muggle family."
"My, that's not much at all. Did Remus and Sirius tell you nothing?"
He shook his head.
"They really didn't have much time what with Sirius being a convict and Professor Lupin a werewolf."
Moira chuckled.
"Yes, I suppose things have become a bit more complicated." She leaned her chin onto her hand. "Let me see. I met your mother our very first year. We were sorted into the same house- Gryffindor. She was my best friend, practically sisters, right up until, well, until the end."
Sirius walked quietly through the house, opening doors and looking in each room for Remus. The two had hardly spoken since Remus had revealed the truth regarding his feelings for Moira. The silence hadn't really been by choice. What was there to say to each other?
At last the found him in a room Sirius had never been in before. It had been Remus' mother's room up until she had died. The room hadn't been touched since her death, though Sirius wasn't sure how long it had been. She had died while he was in Azkaban, and Remus spoke very little of it. He had been very close to her, the woman who had so carefully protected her only remaining son. There were pictures of two young boys, identical down to the freckles on their noses. Romulus, the brother who had not survived the werewolf attack so many years ago. This was the only room where a picture of him could be found.
Remus was sitting at a writing desk, his back to the book. A candle burned next to his elbow, and as Sirius stepped closer, he saw that his old friend was reading from a small leather-bound book.
"Remus?"
"Yes?" He did not turn around, or even look up.
"What are you doing?"
"Reading." Sirius had to wait several seconds before Remus said more. "It's my mother's journal." He looked up. "Don't look so shocked. It's about me. She kept it after I had been bitten." His eyes wandered back to the book. "She was meticulous. Documented everything. Every scar I bore afterwards. Development. Treatments that were attempted and discarded." A page flipped. "And mixed in with all her medical observations were the thoughts of a true mother. 'Tomorrow, my dear Remus begins school at Hogwarts. He is as excited as ever, but I feel some resignation. Up until I spoke with Albus Dumbledore, I thought my son would have no chance at a normal life. Dumbledore assures me his secret will be safe and no other children will be in any danger. Yet my resignation is not in worry for his condition, but for my little boy. Will he, who has been alone for the past six years, be able to cope with the other students? Will he make friends? Will he be happy?' That's a good question, Mother."
"Remus, is this about-"
"No, Sirius. It has nothing to do with you or Moira." He closed the book and replaced it in a drawer. "Tomorrow is the tenth anniversary of my mother's death, and as it will be a full moon, I am mourning her tonight."
"I'm sorry, Remus, that I wasn't here."
"Don't be. It was not by your choice."
Sirius remained silent as Remus' amber eyes wandered to the pictures on the bureau of his brother and himself. He said nothing for along time, then spoke to Sirius without looking at him.
"Did Severus bring the Wolfsbane Potion?"
"Yeah. It's downstairs. That's why I came to find you."
"Thank you Sirius. Good night."
Harry Sat listening to Professor O'Shaughnessy's stories until he could not hold his eyes open any longer, but when she noticed his drooping eyelids and suggested he go to bed, the boy moaned. He had so many questions he still wanted to ask, but she was adamant. It was already after one a.m., and she shouldn't have allowed him to stay up this long.
"I'm like the aunt who spoils the children before sending them home, except I have to deal with you tomorrow. Mind you don't fall asleep in class."
"I won't, " he answered, staggering toward the door.
"Oh, come on, Harry. I'll walk you back. I daresay, if you put that cloak over your head, you'll walk straight into a wall."
"Professor O'Shaughnessy," Harry said as they neared the tower. "Why did Voldemort come after my parents?"
"Harry, that's enough questions for tonight."
"I just asked because- he was after my dad and me, wasn't he?"
"Why would you think that?"
"I heard my mom the night Voldemort came to the house when the Dementors came to the school two years ago. He was telling her to stand aside so he could kill me. He only killed her because she refused." Then, more softly, he added, "She wouldn't have died if-"
O'Shaughnessy stopped dead when she heard this and, gripping Harry's shoulders, turned him toward her.
"Harry, your mother was a very brave woman who loved you very very much. She made a choice, the right choice, in sacrificing herself so you could live. Do not betray her memory by ever believing she made the wrong choice. Do you understand me?"
Harry nodded, wiping tears from his eyes with the sleeve of his sweater.
"Good. Now go on. Go to bed."
Harry approached the portrait of the fat lady. He said the password and the portrait swung open, but he stopped midway through and turned to Moira.
"Professor O'Shaughnessy? Do you remember how you said you and my mom were practically sisters?"
She nodded.
"I think you would have made a great aunt." Then he entered the tower and the portrait swung back into place. Moira remained where she was for a moment, moved by the boy's words.
"I would have loved to be so," she murmured and turned away, heading for her own chambers.