Disclaimer: see previous chapters.

Author's note: Sorry about how long it took me to write this. Had so many papers to write for school that I was going INsane. Anyway, enjoy, and please let me know if you'd like me to end it there, and then write a sequel. Or continue it for about a chapter more and end it with Sirius showing up at Remus' door during the summer after the Goblet. I would really appreciate it.

~Chapter 7~

He'd been here before. The woods outside of his home. There was something different about them though, something off. Whatever it was, it was familiar as well, as if he'd been in this exact situation before. The knowledge of it remained buried within the recesses of his memory, though, as he continued to walk through the misty woods.

He hadn't gone two meters before he picked up the slightly familiar scent in the air. Where had he smelled that before? The sweetness of it tickled the hidden areas of his memory. A face, a name started to surface just as he felt the presence nearby.

"You've already forgotten me?"

He spun at the sound of the melodic voice. He couldn't help but smile. "You've grown older," he stated simply. His smile grew into a grin at the expression on her face. "I thought ghosts didn't age."

"Ah, but I'm not a ghost, am I, Rome? No...I'm just a figment of your imagination, the physical image of what you think I would look like now if I were still there with you."

"So, I'm dreaming again?"

"Yes," she answered simply.

He sighed. "I never can tell the difference."

She stood and watched him for a moment. He'd grown a couple more inches since she'd last checked up on him. He stood at about 6'2" now, with a few silver hairs growing in at his temples. His voice had taken on a soft, lilting baritone, a change from the boyish soprano he had once been when he was the child of her memories. It was his eyes, though, that captured her. They looked tired, a sadness lingered there, not willing to leave. "You've grown as well..."

He laughed, a sound devoid of any humor. "You mean I've aged...I didn't think that I'd need to dye my hair to cover the grey at age 33." He sighed again. "But it seems that nothing ever goes as planned." He looked at her, keen hazel eyes studying every aspect of her dream visage. "Why are you here, Athens? You only came to me once before, and that was to tell me something..."

"I've been with you for longer than that, Rome...I've always been with you...But you're right," she said with a wistful smile on her face, "I do have something to say, which is why I've come to you this way again. You always did know me a little too well, my little man." She reached out fondly and ran her hand down his face, as she had done countless times when he was a little boy.

He chuckled. "No one's called me that in at least twenty years."

"Old habits die hard I'm afraid," she smiled.

"Yes, they do..." He sighed, a drawn out breath of air that seemed too heavy to be coming from a man who'd only moved 33 times around the seasons. "I still miss you, Athens. Even after all this time, I still miss you. All of you."

"I'll wager that you'll never truly stop missing us, and you shouldn't. It's your memories that keep us alive in the world, Rome, and I'd be loathe to part from it. You keep us alive, just as you keep the Potters alive."

"Ah, so here it is...the message."

She glared at him; a look softened by the impish smile growing on her face. "Sarcasm never suited you, young man."

He snorted in disbelief. "You never had a problem with it before. So, I'm going to bet that you don't now."

"I told you once to have faith in your friends. I told you that they are what make you human. That still holds true now, Remus..."

"But I don't have anyone..."

"Yes, you do. Someone's come back from the past. You know of whom I speak. Keep your eyes open, Remus. Don't let your past prejudices lead you astray, for not all things are as they seem. I know it's hard, but let your heart guide you; it's never failed you before."

He stared at her with open disbelief before he started pacing. "Never failed me before? I listened to you the last time, Athena, and where did it get me? I'm an old man who has nothing...no friends or family to speak of...the entire world branding me as some menace to society because of something that I can't help...Have faith in my friends? I don't have any friends. All I have is a memory, a promise, and I will keep it. I will protect James and Lily's son.

"This is one time I can't listen to you, Athens. As much as it pains me to say that, I can't risk it. This is Harry's life, and I will not put him in harm's way because some dream messenger in the form of my sister is telling me to trust a man that betrayed everything that I've ever held dear. I love Harry and James… and Lily too much to do that."

Athena gazed at her brother for a moment, begging for him to trust her with her eyes. When she finally realized that it wouldn't work, she vocalized the plea. "Please, Remus…You've trusted me before. Please, trust me now as well…"

"I can't, Athens…I love you, but this isn't my life we're speaking of…I cannot do as you ask of me, not this time." There were tears in his eyes when he spoke the words, but the tone of his voice made it very clear that his mind was set.

So, she nodded, and accepted his decision. Then, very quietly, she whispered, "It's time for you to wake up, Rome…Wake up…" (*)

***

"Wake up, Remus…It's time to start your day, pup…c'mon now."

"Poppy?

"Yes, pup, it's me. Now come on, get up and get dressed. Your students will start to worry if you're gone for more than a couple of days."

Madam Pomfrey just watched as Remus nodded and struggled up into a sitting position, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and stifling a yawn. For a moment she saw the little boy he had once been, and her heart melted. "You know, Poppy," he started as he pulled on a shirt, "don't you think that I'm a little too old for you to be checking up on me like this?"

"I check up on you because I care, pup…and you'll never be too old for that, now will you?"

He rolled his eyes (a habit that he'd picked up from Sirius Black back when they were both young and carefree) as he shook his head in amusement. "And I'm not exactly a pup anymore, am I, Poppy?"

"No you are not, but then what would you have me call you? Dog Man? Wolfie?" she asked.

The grin on her face was soon answered by one on his. "You always did know how to make me laugh, Poppy…thank you," he said with a more natural smile. The effect of it was amazing. The wrinkles caused by years of worry and stress seemed to disappear entirely as the few smile lines took over. He looked like the young man he truly was.

"Oh, pup…why it is that life decided to curse such a good soul like you is beyond me," she thought with a sigh.

"Poppy, is there something wrong?"

"What?"

"You were somewhere else for a moment, I think," he said with a teasing grin.

"Yes, well, when you get as old as I am a wandering mind is not unexpected."

The two of them shared a laugh before Remus' expression grew solemn. "Poppy, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, pup."

"I need a completely honest answer from you…In your heart, do you truly believe that Sirius did it?"

She paused for a moment, trying to understand what Remus was asking. "Remus, I…"

"And I don't mean based on what the Prophet said or what you heard on the wizarding network. I mean, truly, do you think that Sirius, OUR Sirius, would have done something like that?" There was silence before he preempted her only argument. "To James…"

Would sweet, charming, intelligent, loyal Sirius do something like that to his best friend? For years after the incident on that fateful Halloween night she asked herself that question over and over again. Would Sirius betray the Potters; his brother, his sister, and his godson?

"I don't know, Remus…for a while I went along with what the Prophet fed us. I was angry. If Sirius, someone who lived and breathed for James, Lily, and Harry, could turn his back on everything, what was stopping one of my friends from doing the same? The effects of his actions went beyond just the Potters' deaths, Remus…I started questioning the loyalty of my friends and family. But now…twelve years later…No…I don't think that Sirius did it."

She watched as Remus sat in contemplative silence for a few moments before getting up and stretching out the kinks in his back. "No…I suppose it never really did make any sense, did it?"

"No it didn't…Remus…why did you ask me that?"

"I don't know, Poppy…Athena…came to me again…"

"But she hasn't done that since you were eleven!"

"I know, Poppy…she told me to have faith in my friendships…She meant for me to have faith in Sirius, but I don't think…I don't know what to think anymore, Poppy. I really don't know what to do."

She smiled at him in silent support, but it was clear that he needed words. So she just simply told him, "Follow your heart, pup. It's never failed you before, it won't start now."

***

Pemberley Manor

~*July 1987*~

"Saaay…dada! Saaay dada! C'mon, can you say dada? Hmmm? Saaayyyy dada!"

"James, give it up already…the kid will say dada as soon as he is good and ready," Sirius laughed from his seat on the couch.

James glared back at his friend before turning to his son again. "Uncle Padfoot is being an ass, yes he is. Yes he is…can you say asshole?" He smiled when one year old Harry giggled happily. "No? Okay…then, let's go back to saying dada, shall we? Saaay dada…can you say dada? Hmmm? You know, I'm going to tell your mum you said it anyway, so you might as well try…saaay dada!" (**)

There was a pause before a quiet murmur of "dada" broke the silence. "YEAH! My big boy said DADA!" James screamed as he jumped up, grabbed little Harry, and danced around the living room. "Who's the smart boy? I think it's you!"

"Am I interrupting something?" came a quiet voice from the doorway.

Harry's green eyes sparkled bright with excitement as he exclaimed, "MOONY!" Both James and Sirius turned to see the somewhat haggard looking young man leaning against the doorframe.

"Hello my little man, I see that your dad's trying to get you to speak again," Remus grinned as he walked towards the little bundle of energy trying to escape from James' arms. "And from the looks of it he succeeded."

James handed the little boy over to his friend with a grin before playfully accusing, "You know, it took me an hour and a half to get him to say dada again…all you have to do is walk in the room for him to scream out your name…I just don't understand it, Remus…I just don't understand it at all…how long have you been standing there anyway? I didn't hear you come in."

Remus chuckled as Harry playfully whacked him on his nose with his tiny hands. "Just long enough to know that you're already trying to teach your son some profanity," he grinned. He laughed outright when the toddler started plucking at his eyebrows. "Yes, Harry, those are my eyebrows…yes, and that's my nose, and those are your eyes!"

Sirius watched the scene with narrowed eyes. He could feel the familiar flame of jealousy dancing within him again. How dare he? How dare he come in and disrupt James' household? How dare he step into the role of the father so easily? How dare he make Harry giggle and squeal with happiness so easily when he, Sirius, Harry's godfather, had to struggle to make the baby smile?

Where did Remus get the nerve to just show up whenever he pleased and just take over? Where was he when Harry had laughed for the first time? When he'd crawled for the first time? When he'd stood on his own for those precious couple of seconds? Why hadn't Remus been there to hear Harry's first words? At least the baby had learned to say Padfoot before Moony.

"Don't do it, Padfoot…" He turned to see that James had taken a seat next to him on the couch, and was presently giving him a warning look.

"Don't do what?" he asked, feigning innocence.

James glared at him for a moment before stating, quite simply, "You're comparing yourself to him again, and jealousy is baring its ugly green head. I can see it in your eyes." James forced him to look his friend squarely in the eyes. "You remember what happened the last time you got jealous, Sirius? You remember what you put him through, right? You've seen the scars that were added to his body because of what you did? Because I do, Sirius, I do remember, and nothing will ever erase the memory of the way he looked when my father carried him into my house that summer.

I will never forget the blood, the bruises, the complete disgust I felt towards Justin Wallace…and you. Don't make me feel that way again, Sirius, because I hated myself for feeling that way about you. You're my best friend, Padfoot…but so is Moony, and I will not let you hurt him again. I love both of you a little too much to let that happen a second time."

Sirius sat silently, didn't even try to stop James when he got up to go talk to Lily. He didn't even realize that he was alone in the living room until one of the Potters' house elves came in to clean up the mess Harry had made.

Was it true? What James had said? Was it jealousy that kept him from making the right decisions? Was it a veil of green that kept him from seeing clearly? Was he suspicious of Remus Lupin because there was a reason for it, or was it because he was searching for a way to bring Moony down a notch?

No.

No, he wasn't seeing things. Remus was the traitor. Why else would he have pulled away from them just as the dark side was gaining an upper hand? Why else would he start to come back to them now? --just when James and Lily were going to go into hiding. Just when Voldemort wanted the Potters. It made sense. Remus was the spy.

But then there were times like these when Remus looked so genuine.

He'd walked up to Harry's room to say goodnight to the baby, but Moony was already there, singing softly to him. It was that muggle song that Moony had sung to him one night.

"It's called In the Gloaming," Remus had confessed when Sirius had just woken up from a bad nightmare back in their third year at Hogwarts. Remus had climbed into his bed and started singing softly to him. After the song he'd whispered, "My sister would sing it to me whenever I'd had a bad nightmare…it always made me feel safe."

He'd listened to the lyrics as Moony had sung to him. It was a love song, so he'd never really connected to the lyrics, and neither had Moony. It was the melody, and the sound of someone special singing it to you that made you connect. It was a beautiful, haunting melody that stayed with you even after it was over. It would echo in your dreams as you slept. It didn't matter whether or not you remembered the words, all that mattered was the sound of the song.

Remus had given him a precious gift that night when he'd sung to him. He'd given him a part of Athena, and his memory of her. And now, he was giving the same gift to baby Harry.

"Sleep well, my little Harry…and always remember that you are loved." Sirius watched as Remus whispered the words to the sleeping child before laying him down in the crib. "I will always be there for you, even after your parents are gone. I don't want them to die, but they will…Voldemort will see to that…"

So, he'd been right. Remus was the traitor, and now he had proof. All that remained was convincing James that he was telling the truth.

***

The Forbidden Forest on the outskirts of the Hogwarts' lands were still; night had fallen, and the only thing disrupting the silence was the sound of a few nocturnal animals scurrying about in the dark…and the sound of soft humming coming from the bushes that surrounded the whomping willow.

"In the gloaming, oh my darling, when the lights are soft and low, and the quiet shadows fallen softly come and softly go, when the trees are sobbing faintly with a gentle unknown woe, will you think of me and love me as you did once long ago?" (***)

Sirius Black sat, huddled against a nearby tree, tattered old cloak wrapped up around him. He wondered if Moony thought of him often. He wondered if there were times the man could remember without hating him. Did Remus ever think back and laugh? Or did he just cry? And if he cried, was it the way he'd cried when he'd lost his family? Or was it more like when he'd cried that day on the dock off the shores of Azkaban?

Or perhaps…he got angry.

He deserved that. He deserved to have Moony get angry at him for all he'd done, because there was so much that he'd done wrong. Forgiveness couldn't be an expected luxury for him any more. He wanted it, he craved it, but he couldn't ask for it. His chance for forgiveness had been lost when his mistake had cost two of his dear friends their mortal lives, and one other his happiness.

"In the gloaming, oh my darling, think not bitterly of me…"

All he could do now was hope that Remus could remember at least some of the good with the bad.

***

Pemberley Manor

~*September 1987*~

"I think Padfoot suspects it's me, Jim. I think he believes that I'm the traitor…"

It wasn't James who answered. As always it was Lily who voiced the words he needed to hear. "Well, then, he's just a great bloody git, isn't he? How in bloody hell could he think it's you?"

"Very easily."

Remus watched silently as Lily Evans-Potter turned flashing green eyes on her husband. "How could you say that?!"

"Lily, calm down, please…"

"You…be quiet, Remus. I'm talking to James right now…" Lily once again turned her angry gaze to James. "Now, why do you think it's so easy for Sirius to believe that Remus is the traitor?"

The moment his fellow marauder looked at him, he knew from the apologetic expression of his eyes, that he wasn't going to like what was going to follow. "Lily…"

"What?!"

James sighed as he took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose; it was clear that he didn't want to have to verbalize what he was thinking. So, Remus did his fellow marauder a favor. "It's because I am what I am, Lil." He held up a hand when he saw her mouth open to protest. "I am a werewolf, and despite anything that you may say, or that James and Bella may say…the truth of the matter is, outside the walls of our friendship, is the real world, Lily, and the real world doesn't like my kind. Sirius has probably heard the same rumors…the ones stating that Voldemort is offering a cure for my disease in return for joining his ranks. It is a very tempting offer, Lily, and many werewolves have gone over to the other side because of it."

"Did he make you an offer?" James asked, voice the softest Remus had ever heard it in the twelve years he'd known the young man.

"Of course he did. Personally, as a matter of fact…"

He saw James and Lily both freeze at the confession. "You mean…? " "When…?"

He didn't know which one asked which unfinished question, but it really didn't matter in the end; they were both asking the same thing. "The night of the full moon right after graduation. None of the pack could be there that night…"

"That doesn't make sense," James interrupted in confusion, "Yeah, Padfoot and I couldn't be there because of an auror orientation session, but Peter could…"

"Well, he never showed up. But Voldemort saw fit to grace me with his presence that afternoon right before my transformation…It's not an experience I'd like to repeat."

" I remember that transformation," Lily whispered. "I'd come to see you afterwards…" Realization dawned on her as her eyes grew wide. "Is that why…? You said you'd just had an extremely rough transformation…You lied to me?"

" I didn't want to scare you…and it wasn't exactly something I was proud of…"

"What did he say to you?"

"Oh, the same thing he's said to all of them. Power beyond imagination, respect, a cure…he said he needed me on his side…"

"Of course he needed you!" Lily yelled, with a rather humorous amount of indignation considering the circumstances. "He'd be thick to not want you on his side…"

"Luckily he underestimated your loyalty to us."

There.

James said it. Good old Prongs was, once again, the one to say what he so desperately needed to hear.

"Moony…Remus?" Lily's gentle voice drew his eyes to her. "You have never given us any reason to doubt your loyalty to us. Never. I trust you with my life…and the life of my child. Sirius… is… just… well… He's just thick headed to think you're the leak in the Order."

He smiled at her, and then at Prongs. "Thank you…You have no idea how much I needed to hear that…"

In typical James Potter fashion Prongs grinned his flashy grin and slapped him on the back. "Don't worry too much about Padfoot. I'll talk to him about it. Trust me, if anyone can knock some sense into him, it's me…"

***

She'd known him for twenty-four years, and yet she still couldn't bring herself to not stare at him at times like these. It still surprised her, the amount faith he had in people. The mere notion of Sirius Black's innocence was ludicrous. But in typical Lupin fashion, he was able to put doubt into her mind. He was able to make her question something she'd believed in for the past twelve years. Could it be? Could it be that they had all been wrong for so long?

No.

No. Sirius betrayed everything and everyone. That was the truth. Not this stupid drabble that Remus had been speaking for the past hour and a half.

She finally couldn't take it anymore. "No, Remus. We are not having this conversation…How could you even THINK such a thing?!"

"Bella, please…just put all that you've been told behind you for a moment…and just think with no preconceptions, no prejudices…please…Bella…Please? For me?"

And then he did something that he hadn't done in years. He gave her what she'd secretly dubbed the "Lupin Little Lost Pup Look." How was it that he could still make her go weak in the knees with only one look from him?

~Easy…you're still in love with him,~ she thought with a bittersweet sigh.

Oh, but that look. That look just had the ability to melt hearts. No wonder he'd had such a huge fan base during school.

Of course Sirius and James had been extremely popular during their years at Hogwarts, but the thing was, Remus was just as popular, if not more among the girls…and the boys that swung that way. All of them had to admit that there had been, and still was, something about the man that was Remus Lupin. Something mysterious and dark. He screamed passion and intensity. Something that neither Sirius nor James possessed in that…incredibly…intense way.

Later, she'd found out that the reason why he was so mysterious was because of the fact that he was a werewolf, but that, in some aspect, just added to his appeal. For some reason, it just made him all the more strong in her eyes.

Remus Lupin definitely had strength beyond imagination within him, and she loved him for that.

"Bella?"

"Hmmm?" She looked up to see his concerned gaze. "Oh, I'm fine…Just tell me what you want to say then, Remy…"

He smiled at her old nickname for him. She'd been the only one allowed to call him that. He'd always thought that it sounded a bit too babyish for his liking. She listened silently, taking in everything that he was saying with that passion he'd always possessed .

She couldn't help but let his voice run over her, and remember a time when she'd been the one to bring this heat from him. She couldn't help but remember the intense flame of pain that had danced within his eyes when he'd told her that he was letting her go.

He'd felt that he would be keeping her from her chance at living a normal life with a normal man and normal kids. She'd always seen herself getting married and having children; she'd told him that before she'd learned of his secret. He wanted her to have that. He wanted her to have what he couldn't give her because of the curse he'd been afflicted with.

What he hadn't realized during his blind, overzealous moment of self-sacrifice was the fact that she didn't want that anymore. The moment he'd confessed his secret to her, she'd changed her plans for her future to fit him in them. It hadn't mattered to her that she wouldn't get a chance to leave behind a legacy of her own. All that mattered was that she would have him in her life, she would have his love. He'd looked over the fact that she wanted him more than she'd wanted her picturesque, white picket fence existence.

The blind, foolish, bloody bastard had forgotten the fact that she loved him just as much, and with the same intensity as he loved her.

And she loved him even more because of that…she loved him even more because of the fact that he'd sacrifice it all for her happiness. Too bad she'd already sworn to herself that she'd give her heart to no other than Remus J. Lupin.

"So, what do you think, Bella?"

She mentally shook herself from her reverie and looked at him. "I don't know, Remus…Maybe…maybe we were wrong about him. Maybe he didn't betray Lily and James, but that doesn't explain why he killed Peter…"

She watched as he sat down and took off his reading glasses. "Yes…I haven't exactly figured out why he would have done that…It doesn't make sense, does it?"

Slowly, she rose from her seat next to his window and walked over to him. "Perhaps…the reason why it doesn't make sense is because Sirius is truly guilty of what he was accused with…" She more felt rather than saw him shaking his head in response. "No, Remus, you've spoken for more than an hour, and I've listened silently. Now it's my turn to talk… Maybe this time you should save yourself all the pain you put yourself through and take the easy road. Sirius Black has caused you enough pain already, why are you inflicting more on yourself for his sake when he never once did the same for you?"

It took her a moment to realize that there were tears flowing down her cheeks. She cried for him, she shed her tears for him because he wouldn't allow himself that luxury. And then she cried even more because of that. She cried because he was the reason why she was so unhappy. His strength and honor, and warped sense of duty and devotion were what kept him from making her truly happy, and she hated him for that.

But as much as she hated him for all those things, she loved him even more because of them. They were what made the man she'd lost her heart to all those twenty-one years ago, and without them he wouldn't be who he was.

"Bella, please…please don't cry." He was holding her now, whispering soothing words of comfort into her ear. "Please, Bella, I know that this is hard…and I know that I'm asking a lot from you, but please…have faith in Padfoot…and in me…"

How could she say no to that?

She couldn't. So, against her better judgment, she agreed. She silently nodded, and sent a silent plea to the heavens to spare her and Remus from any more pain, hoping against all else that his faith was not unfounded.

***

He'd forgotten how much he loved her. He'd forgotten how much he'd depended on her. For some reason he felt more confident in his faith now that he had her on his side. He knew that she didn't truly have faith in Sirius Black. But it was her faith in him, Remus Lupin, that gave him strength. If she could push aside everything she'd believed because she trusted him even more than herself, then he had to be right.

~God, please let me be right.~

He sighed and sat back down at his desk. And it was then that his eyes were drawn to it. As if God herself had turned his eyes towards it, his sight fell on the map.

There.

The one word that disproved everything that he'd been led to believe for the past twelve years.

They were both here. Both of them.

And that could only mean one thing… His dream… Athena…

Without even thinking he jumped, grabbed his wand, and ran out the door.

He ran. Faster than he ever ran in his entire life. Down the stairs, out the door, to the tree, down the dirt filled tunnel, through the rickety old door, up the stairs…

This was when everything would change.

This was when he'd get the answers he'd needed to hear.

He burst through the doors in time to see Harry and his two friends with their wands pointed at the man that had haunted his dreams for so many years. And for the second time in twelve years, their eyes locked.

"Where is he, Sirius?"

***

(***) --the lyrics are from a song called In the Gloaming. I don't know who it's by originally, but one of my school's a cappella groups does a cover of it. If you'd like to know what it sounds like, just let me know and I'd be more than happy to send you a clip of the song. It is quite beautiful.