A/N: It would appear from the reviews from last chapter that everyone had fun with it, even if they had been pulling for Remus. Excellent! I must tell you that it broke my heart to write the scene when Lorien gives him her decision, but only for a moment. He's in more trouble later since Sinistra will be back, and she'll definitely be up to no good.

And let me tell you, the scene where Severus goes ballistic just couldn't have been any more fun to write.

Falla - Welcome to AHN. Glad you liked the first story. Shame on you for reading fanfiction on company time. *smirk*

PJG - if you've made it to AHN, thanks and welcome!

deSevera - Sorry - I was teasing you. That comment about Black was meant to be facetious. I believe that it's quite clear just where your loyalties lie, my sister Slytherin. ;)

nightdweller - Great! Now you've done it. Way to go mentioning 'strip twister' to Padfoot and Moony. They're still waiting for a suitable explanation. I suppose I shall just have to sacrifice a bit of typing time and..er..explain it to them. ;)







Nytd sits at her computer after deciding that the story needs a glimpse at a DADA class, and types away while she concentrates.

The door to her office flies open, and she is startled at first when Snape strides quickly across the room to stand near her desk. He obviously isn't happy, and Nytd watches as her copy of POA gets flung to the floor, followed by a shower of pens and pencils, a flutter of bills, and her stuffed dragon.

She eyes Snape over the top of her glasses, irritated at his tantrum. "Something vexes thee?" She asks sarcastically.

Snape rolls his eyes in exaggerated fashion before replying. "You've really made a mess of things now, haven't you?" He begins to pace.

"Severus, calm down." Nytd replies.

"Calm down? You insist on tormenting me through yet another scene and you want me to calm down?" He asks, still agitated.

"Yes, now pick that book up and sit down." Nytd says, moving over so that he can join her in front of the computer.

Snape eyes her carefully for a moment and draws his wand, debating whether to hex Nytd or pick up the book. He settles for sending everything back to it's proper place with a swish and a flick, and sits with a huff next to the author.

"Now," she says, pulling up another chapter on the screen. "Let me show you what I have in mind for Halloween."

Snape starts to protest. "Halloween? You must be joking! Nothing good ever happens at Hogwarts on Halloween. People die, Nytd. You nearly killed ..." he trails off as she taps the monitor to focus his attention on the writing there.

"Read." She says, and watches him carefully as he reads the chapter, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Snape turns to face her. "You, my dear Mistress Nytd, may write chapters like that all you want." He says slyly. "And please, don't hesitate to consult me," he purrs, kissing her hand, "if you think you need further....inspiration." He lets go of her hand and sweeps from the room.

It takes a large glass of red wine to steady Nytd's nerves enough so that she can finish her current chapter.









Dog and Dragon ~*~





Sirius looked at his best friend in a very concerned way. "Moony, you look like hell this morning." He observed.

Remus gave Sirius a small smile and sighed. "I didn't sleep much last night. I had a talk with Lorien." He said softly.

Black's own voice softened, and he looked at Remus with heartfelt sympathy. "It's over between you isn't it?"

"Yes." Remus said quietly.

"Moony, I ..."

Remus held up a hand and interrupted him. "No. Don't say anything. It's ok, really. I've known for a while that this is how things would turn out." Remus shrugged. "She feels almost as bad as I do."

"I hope she does." Sirius said sharply, anger becoming apparent in the deep blue eyes. He wasn't happy with Lorien at the moment, and of course the news did nothing to improve his feelings about Snape.

"Now don't be like that, Sirius." Remus scolded the other wizard. "You knew it was going to happen. I don't want you holding a grudge against her when I don't." Remus looked pointedly at his best friend, knowing that he had a tendency to harbor hard feelings when he or someone he cared about had been hurt. It wasn't going to do anyone any good if there ended up being animosity between Sirius and Lorien.

"I just hate to see her hurt you." Sirius said, imagining just how much pain Remus was keeping to himself.

"She didn't set out to hurt me on purpose, and I'll tell you Padfoot, that it would grieve me more to see you condemn her for something she couldn't help." Remus spoke sternly to Sirius. "She and I will still be friends, and I'd prefer it if the two of you were as well."

Sirius sighed and sat on the couch next to Remus. "I know you're right, Moony." He paused for a moment, looking thoughtful and then placing a hand on Remus's shoulder affectionately. "I know it's going to feel awful for a while, but it'll all work out, Remus. Trust me." He looked Remus in the eye. "It's going to be her loss, you know."

"I know." Remus smiled weakly.

Sirius sat there quietly for a moment or two, and then a slow broad grin spread across his face as he looked at Remus slyly.

"What, Padfoot?" Asked Remus cautiously, knowing that look meant Sirius was up to something.

"Oh, nothing." Sirius said casually, now sporting his most innocent look.

"What?" Remus asked again more insistently, wondering what was causing Sirius to smile that much at this particular moment.

"I suppose there is one bright spot in all of this." Sirius said brightly.

"Which is?" Remus hadn't thought of one himself yet.

Sirius laughed a little. "You won't have to explain to Lorien the way you've been looking at that little redhead every time you see her." He said.

Remus snorted. "I don't know where you get your ideas, Sirius." He said trying to act indifferent.

Black laughed at his friend. "Don't play coy with me, Lupin! I saw your mouth nearly drop open at breakfast last week when she took that hat off all that red hair."

Remus could feel his face getting warm. "So, she's cute. So what? You said so yourself."

Sirius rolled his eyes and shoved Remus playfully. "Yes, but I wasn't the one that talked Lorien into taking a beating in order to please Marlina." He continued.

"Sirius, you made me do it." Remus reminded him. "Besides, Lorien likes Marlina and was happy to do it."

"I also wasn't the one standing in the middle of Hogsmeade wearing that ridiculous hat." Sirius said pointedly.

Lupin's mouth opened but no words came out.

Black looked smug. "Gotcha." He was pleased when he finally saw his good friend laugh.







Lorien was on her way into Hogsmeade later that week and was walking at a fairly rapid pace. She had seen Sirius heading in her direction and she wanted to avoid a confrontation at the moment with Remus's protective best friend, so she walked quicker to avoid being seen by him.

"Lorien!" he called to her.

Damn. He'd spotted her. She turned to wait for him to catch up, eyeing him warily.

"Merlin's beard, woman! You'd think I was a pack of werewolves the way you were trying to avoid me." He said as he finally caught up to her.

"Hello, Sirius." She said evenly, anticipating an unpleasant conversation.

He smiled as he spoke to her, knowing that she was probably on edge at the moment. "I don't hate you, Lorien."

Sirius was direct as usual. His simple statement conveyed to her that he knew everything and that he had decided not to condemn her, or their friendship.

"You don't beat around the bush, do you Sirius?" She said, beginning to smile a little with relief.

"Nah. Life's too short." He said jovially. "Besides, Moony threatened to kill me if I didn't play nice."

"I'm glad." She said, obviously quite relieved that she wasn't going to be at odds with Sirius.

"That he threatened to kill me?" He asked in an amused way.

"No. That you don't hate me." She laughed.

"I gave it a good try for a few minutes, but..." He shrugged, and decided to change the subject. "So where are you going?"

"I have to get a few things in town." She answered.

Sirius frowned. "You're going alone?" He didn't think it was a good idea if the Nemorosi witch even went to Hogsmeade alone at this point.

"I'm only going for a little while." She said, starting to look like she was getting a bit defensive.

"Yes, you are, and I'm going with you." He announced, obviously set on accompanying her.

Lorien started to protest but then thought better of it. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to let Sirius feel like he was being helpful. It might ease any remaining tension between them.



She walked into the small wizard town with Sirius as he continued their conversation.

"So. How's old what's his face dealing with the news?" He tried to joke but she could hear the edge in his voice, as always when he spoke of the Head of Slytherin.

"I haven't told him." She said quietly, not terribly comfortable discussing Severus with Sirius. Besides, Snape was not one of her favorite people at that moment either.

"What?" Black sounded genuinely surprised. "I figured he'd be gloating intolerably all over the place by now."

She shook her head. "We had some.....words the other day."

Sirius had to look away so that Lorien couldn't see he found the thought of an argument between the potions master and medical witch funny.

"So what were you two fighting about?" He asked with obvious amusement still in his voice.

She frowned at him. "You."

The smile faded from his face. "What?"

Lorien explained. "Ariel Sinistra was spying on us in the tower the other night and saw you hug me and call me sweetheart before I flew." She sighed as they walked along together. "Let's just say she didn't waste any time reporting the incident to Snape. Out of context of course." She said bitterly.

It took a minute for what she was implying to sink in. "So, he thinks that you and I are.....that's ridiculous, Lorien." Sirius said.

"It wasn't to him." She said. "Let me tell you something, Sirius. I don't know what that woman's problem is, but she definitely has a bigger one on her hands now."

"It's Moony." He said softly.

"What?" She asked, not really understanding what Sirius was saying.

"She has a thing for Remus." He replied, clarifying things for her.

"Does he know?" She wondered out loud. Remus had never mentioned anything of the sort when they'd spoken of The Astronomy professor in the past.

"Kinda. He's oblivious to that stuff mostly but evidently she was pretty persistent when he was here two years ago." Sirius told her. "I'm sure he thinks she's over it by now."

Lorien still looked puzzled. "So why did she tell Severus if she was jealous of me and Remus?" She asked.

"She must have known that Remus would never believe her, but that Snape would. It was the best way to stir up trouble." Sirius could well imagine how angry Snape had become at the thought of Lorien and him, of all people, together.

"What a bitch." Lorien snarled.

"That's pretty much what Remus says about her." Sirius smiled at Lorien.





"I'll meet you back here in a few minutes." Sirius said to her. "I'm going to run into Honeydukes to get something for Noah."

"Ok, Sirius." She smiled to herself as he walked down the street, knowing that both Sirius and Remus had a soft spot for the outgoing youngster. She turned to walk in the other direction when someone spoke to her nearby. Looking up she saw two men walking toward her.

"Excuse us, but could you tell us where we might find The Three Broomsticks?" One of them asked her pleasantly.

"Oh, of course." She began and turned a little to point in the correct direction. "It's just down....." She saw the other two men coming up behind her and realized that she was in trouble. She had nowhere to go and one of the first men locked a hand firmly on her arm.

"Someone needs to speak to you, love." He said coldly, tightening his grip on her wrist.

Lorien tried unsuccessfully to pull away. "What do you think you're doing?" She cried.

"We've been asked to escort you." Another sneered at her, and she saw the man raise his wand.

As Lorien realized exactly what was happening, and where these men intended to take her, she became very frightened. Merlin's beard, she hated to do it, but she knew she was in a great deal of trouble. Lorien took a deep breath.





Sirius knew Lorien was in trouble the moment he heard her scream, and he was in the street in a heartbeat. He could see four men around Lorien and one of them had grabbed hold of her, while another was starting to point a wand at her.

"Get away from her!" He yelled as he ran. He didn't really care for the odds but he knew he had to help her. Suddenly a huge black dog was thundering down the street. He startled the four just long enough to give Lorien the opportunity to yank her arm away and take a step back. The huge dog leaped and slammed one of the closer men into the ground, biting him savagely as the man screamed. People in the street began screaming and running away from the spot.

"Get the witch! Kill that damn dog!" One of them was yelling. Two of them stepped toward Lorien as the third pointed his wand at Sirius.

"Oh no you don't." Lorien snarled at them and then the dragon did. Both of the men trying to grab her backpedaled furiously and she whipped around, growling at the man threatening the dog.

The thug was foolish enough not to join his two retreating companions and pointed the wand now at the dragon. The great dog jumped again as the man spoke and his teeth closed on the man's arm viciously, sending the spell sailing harmlessly past the small dragon's wings.

Lorien caught the movement from the ground behind Sirius as the man he had attacked first managed to point his wand at the dog. He screamed terribly as the wand in his hand vaporized in a burst of flame that charred most of his fingers. She pinned him to the ground with a large clawed foot and stared into his face in a menacing way.

Sirius had transformed and now shoved the other bleeding man to the ground next to his burned companion. The dragon stepped back as he hexed the two men handily, and then Lorien was standing next to him.

"Thank you." She said gratefully as she surveyed the damage the two of them had done. She stood close to him, still quite rattled after the attack.

"You're quite welcome, sweetheart." He said. He shot her a quick smile before he turned back to the bound and groaning men on the ground. There was no sign of the other two. "What the hell did you think you were doing?" He spoke angrily at the men in front of him.

The bleeding man eyed him ruefully as he gripped his injured arm. "We were sent for the witch."

"Who sent you?" Sirius asked, deciding that he was afraid to hear the man's answer. He suspected he already knew.

"The dark lord." The man said defiantly. "There's a price on her head." He nodded in Lorien's direction.

"You're bounty hunters?" Sirius asked with obvious distaste in his voice. He glanced at Lorien, and saw that more of the color had drained out of her face.

"That's right." The man laughed without mirth. "Voldemort is offering a tidy sum in galleons for her, more if she's alive. You too, Black." He sneered.

Sirius turned away in anger and disgust. He spoke to Lorien as he placed a reassuring hand on her arm. "I'll stay here to keep our new friends company. Go see if you can find Kaneene."

"You'll be ok if I leave?" She asked, concerned for his own safety at this point as well.

Sirius nodded. "Yeah. Those other two are probably long gone, but hurry."







Kaneene was walking across the grounds with Keath when she spotted the small blue-green dragon. It made a graceful landing a short distance away and then the blonde witch was walking rapidly toward her.

Kaneene's eyes narrow when she saw the woman that had befriended the Death Eater. "That was a bit better than the last landing I saw, Desjardins." The auror said sarcastically to the other woman.

"Well, they couldn't get much worse, could they?" Lorien chose to make light of the situation, and let the look the dark haired witch gave her pass at the moment. "Kaneene, Sirius needs you right away."

"What is it? Where is he?" Moody became concerned, and her hand went to the wand at her belt.

Lorien told her about the ambush and the two men Sirius had waiting for the aurors.

Kaneene looked very grave. "We'll go right to him. You go to Dumbledore and tell him what happened. I don't want anyone else going into town until we evaluate the threat."

Lorien nodded and went toward the castle as the Moody siblings quickly made for Hogsmeade. It had been a close call, and she knew that if Sirius hadn't been with her, there was a good chance she might have been standing before Voldemort at this very moment. It was a thought that chilled her to the bone, and she shuddered as she quickened her pace to warn the headmaster.







There were certain classes during the week that Remus looked forward to more than others, and his last class of Thursday morning was one of his favorite. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy teaching the other levels, but when it came down to it, he loved instructing the seventh years since that was where they got into the really interesting material.

In particular the seventh year Gryffindor/Slytherin class that he had this year was made up of a group of particularly bright and insightful students, and it was refreshing that by the time they'd reached the age of seventeen or eighteen, the childish inter-house bickering was put aside during class. Well, most of it, anyway.

Remus waited for the students to arrive and leaned back casually against his desk at the front of the room. He was trying to keep focused on what he had prepared for today's lesson, but he found his mind wandering again to his last conversation with Lorien. It had been about a week, and he hadn't really seen her to speak to. It was probably best for now.

He still had yet to recover, and each night so far he'd dreaded going to dinner in the great hall. It wasn't that sitting so close to Severus normally bothered him, but the thought of having to tolerate the inevitable gloating from the irritable Slytherin had Remus on edge when he arrived. Strangely enough, Snape hadn't been seen in the great hall for several days, and Remus was thankful for each day that went by without having to deal with him.

Remus's eyes wandered around the classroom as he waited and fell on the grindylow watching him sullenly from the tank nearby. The sight of the minor water demon pulled him out of his thoughts and back into the classroom as the first students began arriving for class.

Remus smiled at the seventh years as they seated themselves, and when the last student had arrived and shut the door, he leaned off the desk to begin lecturing. "So today, as I promised last week, we're going to start covering how to deal with the Undead."

A murmur of approval rippled across the classroom, and Remus smiled to himself. This was always a popular subject. "Now," Remus continued, "there are nine major classes of undead entities, the most obvious of which are zombies, ghosts, and mummies. Would someone please name two others?"

A seventh year Slytherin girl raised her hand.

"Yes, Tisha?" Remus asked.

"How about ghouls and wraiths?" She offered.

"Very good. Correct." Remus replied. "Two more?" He looked around the room until a short Gryffindor raised his hand. "Robert?"

"Shades and wights?" Robert asked.

"Yes, good. That makes seven. Any ventures as to the last ones?" The Defense professor asked.

"Vampires?" Asked another Gryffindor in the back of the classroom.

"No, but tell me why, Ethan." Remus said.

Ethan thought about it for a moment and then it hit him. "Oh! That's right. Vampires get classified by themselves as 'living dead'." He replied.

"Excellent, Ethan." Remus replied with a smile. "Now, any last tries?"

"I believe I know one more." A tall blonde Slytherin ventured.

Remus turned in the boy's direction to acknowledge him. "What would that be, Thomas?"

"Ghasts." Thomas replied smugly.

"Yes. Well done." Remus nodded. "Last one. Any takers?" Silence greeted him.

Remus decided to give the class a hint. "Formidable undead dark sorcerers?"

"Liches!" Several students cried at once.

"Yes!" Remus replied. "Excellent. Now today we're going to start with ghosts, including phantoms, specters, and poltergeist ..."





The Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom was in the same corridor as the classroom that the new Care of Magical Creatures professor used for the lecture part of her class, and Remus watched for Marlina to step out of her classroom after his class was over.

She saw him leaving his room at the same time she was exiting and closing up hers and she smiled and gave him a little wave.

"Good afternoon, Professor Perkins." He said as he walked her way. He couldn't help but smile a bit to himself as he noted she was wearing her beloved hat.

"And to you, Professor Lupin." She said, turning his direction as she finished charming the door.

"Marlina, where's Noah?" Remus asked curiously.

"He's at school, Remus." They began walking slowly down the hallway as they talked. "I enrolled him at the grade school in Hogsmeade."

"You did?" Remus suddenly looked alarmed.

"Yes, he can't just be hanging around my classroom all the time. I have his education to worry about as well." Marlina told him.

Remus felt a wave of anxiety when he heard exactly where the boy was. "Marlina, you need to get him out of there. It's too dangerous to have him away from you right now." He said firmly.

Marlina became a little annoyed. "I refuse to live my life in constant fear, Remus. It's not likely that anything is going to happen, and I think I know what's best for my child."

Remus hated to tell her. "Marlina, please. I'm not telling you how to handle your son, I'm just very concerned about him..."

"And I appreciate that, Remus." She cut him off, still a bit annoyed at his interference. "He likes you a lot too."

"Marlina, you're not letting me finish." He said. "You must not have heard about yesterday yet and I was just coming to tell you not to take Noah back into town at all."

Marlina's blood ran cold at the seriousness in his voice. "Remus? What happened yesterday?"

Remus hesitated, but then knew he had to tell her. "Lorien and Sirius were attacked by bounty hunters from Voldemort in Hogsmeade."

Marlina felt the panic rising up in her as she realized that Remus was right, and that Hogsmeade was in fact not safe for her little boy. She turned and started to run down the hall.

"Marlina! Where are you going?" Remus called after her.

"I have to get Noah, now!" She kept running.





Remus caught up with her before she reached the door outside. "I'll go with you."

"No. I'll be quick. Besides, you have classes." She said, turning away to leave.

Remus placed a restraining hand gently on her arm. "Not until later. It's too dangerous for you to go alone." He saw that she was about to protest further and changed tactics. "Besides, Noah will be safer if we both go get him."

She nodded and looked at him gratefully and they left quickly together for Hogsmeade.



Noah was playing outside with his new classmates when he saw his mother appear outside the grade school. It looked like she was here to get him early, and even better Remus had come with her to get him.

"Hi, Mom. Hi Remus." He said brightly. His expression changed to one of frustration as he was suddenly crushed by his mother in a protective she-bear hug.

"Mom!" Noah did not think his mother should hug him in the middle of the playground .

Remus watched as Marlina grabbed her son with relief. He knew that it was unlikely that the boy had ever been in danger, but he could understand the way that she felt.

"Come on, Noah. We're leaving early today." Marlina said, ushering the boy off the playground and back toward Remus.

"Cool. Is Remus coming with us?" Noah asked, eyeing the brown haired wizard.

"Yes, he is." She said, grateful for the fact that Remus was there.

Noah walked up to the man waiting patiently for him and his mother. "Remus, can I go with you?" he asked.

Remus looked at Marlina for the ok. She nodded and spoke to them. "I'll be right behind you."

"Ok, Noah. Come on!" Remus said cheerfully and took the little boy's hands. "Ready?"

"Yup." Noah replied.

Remus disapparated, taking the small boy with him.

"That was cool!" Noah said as Marlina apparated beside her son and Lupin. The small boy set out at a quicker pace than the adults for the castle in the distance.

"You should be honored." Marlina said to Remus as they walked behind Noah. "He's usually squeamish about going with anyone but me. I guess he really likes you."

"I really like him. He's a wonderful boy, Marlina." Remus said sincerely.

"Thank you, Remus." She replied. She couldn't have been more relieved to be walking back onto the protected school grounds with her son.

Remus smiled warmly at her. "No need to thank me, he really is wonderful."

"I mean thank you for coming with me." She said gratefully.

"My pleasure. So what are you going to do about him during the day now?" Remus asked.

Marlina sighed. "I'm just not sure."







A/N: I had to throw the tiny salute to Alan Rickman's performance as the Sheriff of Nottingham in at the beginning of the Nytd fantasy. He pitches a similar fit when going to see Mortiana in the dungeons. (I didn't dare give Severus a knife.) I have seen Prince of Thieves many times, and the reason has nothing to do with Kevin Costner or Robin Hood, I assure you. ;)