The days passed in a rather busy blur. Remus wrote up his curriculum for the school year, and brushed up on anything he thought he'd need. The ministry did, in fact, contact him-only to say that the investigation was going well and to stay close as long as possible.

The news his the press, and Remus found himself tossing the Dailey Prophet aside without even reading it. He didn't want to see old pain splashed across the headlines, it was too much. He knew that avoiding the situation was most likely *not* the brightest idea, but it was all he felt he could do.

He had been in correspondence with Albus, concerning his need to remain where he was until the day before he actually began teaching. He was told that was fine, he could simply take the school train and everything would be ready for him.

The only drawback was his change. As it turned out, August thirty first was the full moon-he'd be in no shape to do much of anything. But what choice did he have? He would have to do his best, and hope that a good night's rest and a hot meal would fix him up. He had thought that the moon was in the middle of the month, but in all of his haste he had misread his chart-a mistake he was *not* going to make again.

The day of the full moon arrived, and Remus made himself ready. He slept most of the day, in preparation. Had things gone as they should, he would be at Hogwarts under the influence of the wolfs bane potion. Merlin, but how he was looking forward to that!

As the evening fell, Remus drew the curtains and stripped out of his clothes. He sat on the floor, body rigid as he anticipated the transformation. The last thing he remembered was the pain. It was agony, as his body shifted and twisted and changed-and so did his mind.

The wolf that was Remus was nothing more then a mindless animal, tearing at himself in frustration. He bit and clawed and whined, until he passed out from loss of blood.

When Remus awoke, he picked himself off of the ground and took a very quick shower. He was unsteady on his feet, and he felt as though he would topple over at any minute. He dressed carefully-he was still sore and tender from his night's activities-and grabbed his small battered bag. He had even added 'professor' before his name, though it did little to improve things any.

The trip to Kings Cross station was not a pleasant one, and Remus feared he was going to miss the train. Much to his surprise, he was there rather early. He slipped onto the train, stashed his bag, and promptly collapsed into a seat.

It wasn't until the train lurched to a stop that Remus woke up. He opened his eyes, rather surprised at the darkness. He heard voices, and he blinked furiously to bring his mind up to speed. Ah yes, he was on the Hogwarts Express. And something was *very* wrong. There were voices-rather shrill ones that were adding to the pain in his head.

"Quiet!" His voice hurt with the effort it took to speak, and he cleared his throat as he stood. He retrieved his wand from his pocket, and muttered a lumos spell.

"Stay where you are." He told the assembled students, eyes scanning the compartment. He didn't have any time to actually *register* what he was seeing. He felt it. It was cold and dead and felt very much like the first tingling of the change. He frowned, eyes narrowing as the door slid open.

//Are they mad?// Dementors on a school train? And Cadwallace had said everything was under control! Summoning what little strength he had left, Remus summoned a patronus.

"None of us are hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks." He growled. "Now go!"

The light of his patronus hurt his eyes, but it did the trick. He swayed on his feet as feeling and light flooded back into him. He ran a hand over his face, and turned back to the compartment. Harry-it had to be Harry, good Merlin he looked just like James!-was lying on the floor of the compartment, his friend's attempting to revive him.

Everything else passed in a blur, much as the past few weeks had. Remus did what he could for Harry and the others, and excused himself to send an owl ahead to the school. He was quiet upset, and felt that Albus should know what had happened.

The rest of the trip passed uneventfully, thankfully. Remus just wanted to climb into bed and not wake up. He finally stumbled into the great hall, taking his seat at the faculty table. He caught Severus' eye and offered a weak smile-rather surprised at the look he received in return.

//What now?// Remus sighed, staring down at his plate instead. He had *thought* they had settle everything. //Is he upset because I wasn't able to come by early? He has to know it wasn't my fault…//

In retrospect, Remus decided he ought to have owled Severus personally. He'd just been so wrapped up in everything else that it had never occurred to him. He knew Albus would have told him that he had been delayed, and why.

//I'll speak with him before I go to bed.// One more thing he had to deal with. And classes tomorrow… he felt as though he was going to be exhausted for the rest of his life.

He ate in silence, well aware of Severus' hateful gaze burning into him. He wanted to be ill, he really did.

After the feast, Remus headed to his rooms. He unpacked his few meager possessions and looked around. It was a very nice room-simple, but nice. Far better then his own modest cottage, really. He cleaned himself up as best he could, and made his way down to Severus' office.

"Go away, Lupin."

Well, that wasn't a welcoming response. "Severus…I wanted to say hello." Remus offered a trembling smile.

"And I want you to go away." Severus narrowed his eyes in a rather threatening manner as he spoke.

"What happened to being civil?"

"I said I would be civil to you in public, Lupin. This is hardly public. What do you want?" His eyes turend back to the papers on his desk, and Remus shifted uncomfortably.

"I wanted to apologize for not coming sooner. The ministry…"

"Suspects you're helping Black, I'd heard."

"What? No!" How dare he accuse him of that! "The ministry doesn't suspect me of anything."

"Believe what you'd like Lupin." Severus shrugged. "If that is all, I have things I need to do."

"Yes, that's all." Remus sighed. Why did he have to be such a complete and total bastard? Remus was *trying*. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"I highly doubt it."

That was clearly a dismissal. Remus rolled his eyes, cursing himself on a wasted trip. He stumbled uneasily back up to his rooms, slipped off his robe and fell into the bed. He didn't even bother climbing under the covers, he didn't have the strength.

Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

~~~~~~~~~~