Friday, 15th June 1973

Among the many things on Albus' mind as he made his way to the Hospital Wing, was the question of why emergencies so often happened on full moons these days. It wasn't the most important question by any means, but it did boggle the mind. Perhaps he needed to keep a closer eye on young Lupin and his band of Marauders.

Minerva's summons hadn't provided much information to go on. Just that there was an emergency, and his presence was required in the Hospital Wing, but when he pushed the door open and walked inside, he was unsurprised by the selection of students he found within, for the most part. Everyone but Regulus, whom he definitely hadn't expected to be involved. The boy was supposed to be keeping his head down and out of trouble.

'Ah, Albus, you're here,' Minerva greeted on noticing him. 'Let's go into Poppy's office and I'll explain what's happened.'

The students all watched as they moved through to the smaller room, and Albus attempted to peer through the gap in the curtains around the one bed that was screened from view. He didn't like being in the dark about what was coming. But he wasn't able to see anything, so he was taken completely by surprise when Minerva closed the door behind her before turning to him and saying, 'Deasura attacked a student.'

'Attacked? In what way?'

'She cast the Imperius curse on him and drank his blood.'

'Ah.'

'That's a milder reaction than I would have expected. You were aware she was a vampire?'

'Yes, I hired her specifically because she suffered from Sanguinaria. I thought she'd make a good mentor for Mister Lupin. Whom did she attack?'

'Regulus Black.'

'Oh dear.'

'Yes, "oh dear." Fortunately, he seems disinclined to report the crime, but his parents will not be.'

'How is he?'

'Shaken up, but physically fine. Mister Lupin discovered them before any lasting harm was done. The wound healed well and Poppy gave him a potion to replace the blood he lost.'

'Then his parents need not be informed,' Albus said dismissively. 'We don't make a habit of calling parents in every time a student collides with a Bludger or blows up a cauldron.'

'This is hardly the same thing, Albus.'

'Of course,' Albus said, agreeing. 'However, if Mister Black does not wish to report the crime against him, then it would be unwise to give his parent's the opportunity to overrule him, wouldn't you agree? Particularly, when it is his conscience that would have to bear the knowledge of her execution.'

'There's something else,' Minerva said. 'Poppy compared the magic she found in Mister Black's wound with the sample she took from Marcus last year. She believes it's a match.'

'Believes?'

'The sample from Marcus was badly degraded after so long in storage, and there weren't enough markers left to say for certain, but all those that remain correspond to Deasura.'

Albus frowned. He'd checked Deasura's mind during her interview and had found no trace of Marcus Hawthorne, and certainly no recent incidents of non-consensual human-blood drinking. Had there been any evidence of her involvement in his death, he would have reported it immediately, not given her a job in a school full of children.

'In that case, I think it's time I spoke with her.'

'Of course. She's unconscious from Mister Black's stunning charm, but we can revive her.'

Albus inclined his head before opening the door and stepping back to allow Minerva to exit first. Everyone in the Hospital Wing looked over as they walked out and crossed to the bed with drawn curtains, watching as Minerva placed a restraining charm on the unconscious vampire before casting the spell to wake her up.

'Hello, Deasura,' Albus said, keeping his voice low so as not to spook her. It could be disorientating to come to after a long period under the Stunning charm. 'You're in the Hospital Wing, and you're restrained. Do not try to move.'

She jerked and opened her eyes, but the spell held her in place, and she calmed again immediately. 'You do not need to restrain me. I will not attempt to escape.'

'Unfortunately, your word doesn't hold much weight at the moment,' Albus said, peering down at her over the top of his glasses. 'You assured me you had your blood-lust under control when I interviewed you, and yet tonight you attacked a student.'

She turned her head to look at the wall, breaking eye contact with him. 'I have no excuse.'

'Please, look at me, Deasura,' Albus said, and the moment she looked back, he stole into her mind and looked around. It seemed she'd taken some basic steps to protect her mind from invasion since the summer when her mind had been an empty space. Now it resembled a duelling ring and Deasura herself stood guard over the door leading to her memories. It wouldn't be enough to stop Albus.

It barely took him three seconds to break through and access the memories she was trying to protect. All he needed to do now was make her think about them. 'Was tonight the first time you attacked Regulus Black?'

'No.'

'When was the first time?'

'September,' she said and Albus found himself inside the office connected to the Defence classroom. Deasura was seated at the desk, engaged in some marking, and a quick look over her shoulder at the stack of essays told him this memory had occurred towards the end of September, right at the beginning of her teaching career. A moment later, a knock came at the door and Deasura looked up as she called for the visitor to enter.

Albus was unsurprised to see Regulus Black on the other side when the door opened. He didn't enter at first, waiting on the threshold, and Deasura smiled at him. 'What can I do for you, Mister Black?'

'I was hoping you could assist me with the attack stances we learned this morning. I've been practising, but I'm not sure I'm doing them right.'

'Why did you attack him?' Albus asked out loud, and the memory blurred, skipping forward to Deasura helping Regulus with his form in the otherwise empty Defence classroom. She was nearby—but not close—instructing him, but he was struggling to get his limbs in the right place. She stepped close, reaching out a hand to his arm to change its position when she inhaled, her eyes glazing over.

'His blood,' she said. 'It… I can't describe it. The lure was more powerful than anything else I'd ever encountered. I couldn't resist.'

And in the memory, Albus could see her try. She stepped away from him, held her breath, attempted to get control, but Regulus moved back into range, asking if she was alright, and Deasura lunged for him. She drank from his wrist the first time, silencing him and preventing him from struggling with a bodybind, and Albus could see the bliss on her face as she savoured the flavour, only taking a little, not enough to cause him any harm. When she was done, she performed a memory charm and sent him back to his common room before retreating to her office and breaking down into tears.

'I never intended to hurt anyone,' she said, her eyes pleading with him to understand. 'But once I tasted him, I couldn't stop.'

'Have you fed on any other students or staff while you've been employed at Hogwarts?'

She closed her eyes as she said, 'Yes, I fed on Sirius once. I thought if he tasted the same, I could take turns. I could see it was affecting Regulus' health, but…'

The memory blurred again, and when it settled, they were still in the Defence classroom, but this time Deasura and Sirius were seated in armchairs opposite each other. Sirius seemed a little nervous, but Deasura was smiling, her elbow propped on the arm of her chair, twirling her wand between her fingers.

'So, what shall we talk about while we're waiting?' she asked.

'I don't know.'

'How about what you four were all doing in the Three Broomsticks on Thursday afternoon?' Deasura asked, and Sirius straightened a little in his chair.

'We were shopping?'

'You don't seem surprised that I knew you were there.'

'I'm not. I know you're a vampire. You smelled us.' Albus shouldn't have been surprised, really. The boy had worked out his dorm mate was a werewolf in a matter of weeks. Why wouldn't he figure out his teacher was a vampire just as quickly?

Deasura wasn't happy to learn this information, though, if the way she frowned was any indication. 'For someone so reluctant to tell his friends about his lycanthropy, Remus sure was quick to spill my secret.' Ah, that explained it. She assumed Remus had been gossiping about her.

'He didn't,' Sirius said. 'James and Peter don't know. I only know because I heard him think it in an alarm.'

The frown left her face, replaced with understanding. 'Ah, I see. I suppose he can't be blamed for that.'

'I won't tell anyone. I don't want you to get fired.'

She smiled. 'Thank you. So, back to your little illegal excursion to Hogsmeade…'

And that was when she flicked her wand, casting the Imperius charm on him. Sirius' face lost all expression and his eyes turned glassy.

'Legilimens,' Deasura cast next. Albus wasn't privy to what she saw in Sirius' mind, and he wasn't interested enough to look. Instead, he waited patiently for her mental interrogation to end. When she had finished looking for whatever she wanted to know, she sat back in her chair, contemplating him for several seconds before finally standing and crossing the small amount of space between them. When she reached him, she lifted his limp hand from the arm of the chair and turned it over, exposing the wrist.

'Just a taste,' she muttered, allowing her fangs to extend before biting into the soft flesh. The violation only lasted a second before she stopped, lowering his arm with a dejected, 'It's not the same.' With another flick of her wand, she healed the wound and carefully returned his arm to the place it had been before.

After returning to her chair, she cast the same memory charm she'd used on his brother and lifted the Imperius charm.

Sirius winced, reaching up to rub his forehead. Legilimency often left residual pain when the caster was careless. Albus felt a pang of sympathy for the child.

'Are you okay?' Deasura asked, lowering the hand holding her wand to her lap and leaning forward in mock concern. Or maybe it was real. Albus wasn't sure.

'… He didn't taste the same,' Deasura finished.

'So you returned to feeding on Regulus?' Albus asked, ignoring the angry whispering coming from the students nearby.

Deasura nodded, her mind flicking through several instances.

'Did anyone ever discover you before tonight?'

'There were a couple of close calls,' Deasura told him. 'When the boys arrived for their private lesson a little early, but they didn't see anything.'

The scene inside her mind changed again, and they were back inside Deasura's office. Regulus was standing mutely with his arm clutched in Deasura's hands as she fed from his wrist again, but she was startled out of her trance by the sound of the classroom door opening. Albus wouldn't have been able to hear it normally, but this was Deasura's memory, and her hearing was far superior to his, so it was loud.

'Shit,' she muttered, then louder, calling through the closed door. 'Good evening, boys. One minute.' She hurriedly checked her appearance in the mirror and hissed a 'stay here' at Regulus before opening the door. 'Sorry, I had a detention this afternoon and missed dinner,' she said as she walked out and closed the door behind her. 'I was just having a snack.'

Albus saw Remus take a deep breath through his nose. 'What did Regulus do to get detention?'

Deasura's eyes widened for half a second, and then she laughed. 'It didn't occur to me that you'd know his scent. I probably shouldn't tell you this, but he hexed another student during class. Nasty little thing it was. Glued her tongue to the roof of her mouth so she couldn't speak.' She sighed. 'I think he may have been dared to do it, but he wouldn't admit it,' she told him, causing Remus to pull a face. 'Anyway, enough about that. Let's get started, shall we? I saved this lesson for the new moon so you'd be at maximum energy, Remus.' She smirked. 'You're going to need it.'

Sirius grinned and nudged Remus with his elbow. 'Sounds exciting.'

'We've practised fighting, obviously, and we'll do more on that in the future, but flinging spells about should be kept as a last resort. What do you think should always be your first course of action, if it's an option?'

'Running away?' Peter suggested. His answer sounded more like a question, but Deasura accepted it, smiling at him.

'Precisely. And since you can get away with running in the corridors, and I cannot, I'm only going to give you a thirty-second head start. Hide well.' She paused, but the boys didn't move, all of them just staring at her silently, and then she started counting down. 'Twenty-eight, twenty-seven…'

'Um, run?' Sirius said, grabbing Remus by the hand and tugging him towards the door. 'Come on!'

The moment they were out of the room, Deasura hurried back up to her office to perform the memory charm and lift the curse keeping Regulus in place. And then the scene changed again. This time, the boys had walked in for their lesson while Regulus had been in the process of leaving. Unable to hide his presence from them, she'd made the detention excuse again after casting a surreptitious emotion-altering charm on Regulus to make him angry. He'd shoved past the group with barely a word.

'But you have not cast memory-altering spells on anyone else?' Albus asked when the scene dissolved.

'No.'

'What about Marcus Hawthorne? You told me at your interview that you'd never met him, but Poppy took a sample of magic from his wound, and it matches the sample she took from Regulus tonight.'

She closed her eyes again, seeming to be in pain. 'I lied at my interview. Marcus was… my partner. I took a dose of Forgetfulness potion before the interview so I wouldn't give myself away.'

'You killed him?'

A new location formed inside her mind; Hogsmeade. She was walking through the village with a purposeful stride, heading for the Three Broomsticks. Pushing the door open, she gave Rosmerta a wave and got a cheery, 'Off to see the fella, Dea? Go on through,' in response.

She made her way down to the cellar and located the camouflaged trapdoor without a problem, showing she'd been through it often. The memory skipped over the trip down the passage and she whispered the password, opening the archway at the other end, before walking straight into Marcus' classroom. He was sitting at his desk, waiting for the students taking part in the Murder Mystery weekend to come and question him, and he looked at the door when it opened, his face breaking out in delighted surprise when he saw who it was.

'Dea! I wasn't expecting a visit today.' He stood up, rounding the desk to meet her as she crossed the room to him and took her hands, pulling her in for a kiss. 'Not that I'm not happy to see you, but this isn't a good time. There's an event going on this weekend and I'm expecting students at any minute.'

There was no warning about what happened next. No reason. Nothing. She just lunged for his neck, fangs extending as she did so, and ripped out his throat. His body fell to the ground at her feet and she stared at it for a moment in shock as blood dripped down her chin and onto her clothes, and then the scene vanished. It didn't dissolve slowly as the others had but disappeared all at once. She clearly didn't want to think about it.

'I don't… I don't know why I did it. I wasn't angry with him. I wasn't thirsty. There was no reason at all. It just… happened,' she finished lamely, unable to explain.

Albus reached out and took her hand, squeezing it gently as he waited for her to regain her composure. 'What I don't understand,' he said when she seemed to be ready, 'is why you applied for his job? Someone else had been arrested for the crime. Why not get as far away as possible and start over?'

Tears were leaking from the corners of her eyes and she tried to swipe them away, but she couldn't move her arms due to the spell keeping her restrained. 'Please. I'll tell you everything, I promise, but please, let me sit up.'

With a wave of his hand, Albus lifted the restraining charm to allow her to sit up and wipe her eyes. 'I will restrain you again if you try to move from that bed.'

'I know,' she said. 'I won't. I came to Hogwarts to help Remus. Mar… Marcus talked about him often, saying that he was worried for his safety when he grew up and left Hogwarts. I wanted to do something to… honour his memory? I wanted him to be proud of me before…' She trailed off and Albus raised his eyebrows at her.

'Before what?'

She shrugged. 'Before I die. I can't let Emhio be executed for my crime. I was going to hand myself into the DRCMC tomorrow.'

James' heart broke listening to Professor Tenebris answer Dumbledore's questions. Finding out she was a vampire was a shock, but he could accept it. His best friend was a werewolf, after all. Learning she'd lost control and fed on a student was even more shocking, but he could rationalise it. Everyone made mistakes. Being a vampire just meant some of her mistakes had more of an impact. But she hadn't just lost control tonight. She'd been feeding on Regulus all year. Systematically. Planning it and lying about it. One glance at Sirius' face was all it took to see that he was pissed, but James was finding it hard to get angry. He just felt sorry for her.

None of them knew what it was like to be a vampire. Remus would have the best idea, but even he wouldn't be able to imagine it properly. Sufferers of lycanthropy and sanguinaria might be treated similarly by the magical world, but the conditions were very different. Werewolves would attack any human they could smell when they were in wolf form, but in human form, they were as in control of themselves as any other human. Vampires, on the other hand, craved human blood all the time, and they were surrounded by it all the time. In his mind, he likened it to a human addicted to eating sugary and fatty foods but trying to lose weight. They wanted to stop, but temptation was everywhere, and their cravings were constant. Slip-ups were bound to happen.

Would he feel like that if she'd fed on him, though?

It was impossible to say.

When she admitted to feeding on Sirius, his heart skipped a beat, and he turned his head to see betrayal and hurt cross Sirius' features. 'She fed on me?' he hissed. 'When? I don't remember anything.'

'Yes,' Regulus said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. 'That's how memory charms work.'

'Yes, thank you, Reggie. I know that,' Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

Regulus gave a shrug. 'Seemed like you didn't.'

'How are you so calm, anyway?' Sirius asked. 'She's been drinking your blood all year!'

'I'm not calm. I'm furious,' Regulus told him. 'I just don't feel the need to show that to everyone in my vicinity.'

'Wait,' James said. He'd been half-listening to their argument but keeping an ear on Dumbledore and Tenebris too, and what she'd said had rocked him to his core. Was his teacher nothing but a monster, after all? 'She killed Professor Hawthorne?'

'What?' Sirius said.

'She said he was her boyfriend, and she killed him, but she doesn't know why.'

They all heard what she said next, and James' heart broke all over again, but this time there was warmth, too. She wasn't a monster with no conscience at all. He hadn't put his faith in the wrong person. She'd been planning to do the right thing all along, but she knew the price she would have to pay, and she'd wanted to do something good before she paid it. James could respect that.

'Well,' Regulus said. 'I suppose that saves me from a difficult choice.'

'I've heard enough,' Sirius said. 'If you're not going to report the crime, then I don't need to be here, and I can't stand to be in the same room as her a moment longer.'

'You going to..?' James asked, knowing Sirius would know what he meant.

'Yeah. You coming?'

James shook his head. 'I'm going to stay a bit longer. I want to speak to her if I can.'

'Why? She's been lying to us all year!'

James shrugged, realising the truth wouldn't be acceptable to Sirius at that moment. 'I'm not sure. I just do.'

'Fine. What about you Pete?'

'I'll come with you. But James, don't forget you're supposed to meet Lily at midnight.'

'Shit, I'd forgotten about that. Thanks, Bubbles.'

'I knew you'd forget,' Peter said. 'We'll see you later, yeah?'

'Yeah, bye.'

Sirius approached Professor McGonagall, whispering so Regulus wouldn't hear when he told her they were going down to the Whomping Willow to sit with Moony, but Regulus wasn't paying any attention to them.

'A midnight meeting with Miss Evans?' Regulus asked, smirking at him.

'It's not what you think.'

'What is it then?'

'She found out there's a werewolf in the school. I'm helping her to figure out who it is.'

Regulus tilted his head a little, thinking, and then he laughed. 'Planting false leads and keeping her from discovering Remus? How very Slytherin of you.'

'Yes, I suppose it is.'

'I'm actually impressed.'

'Well, thank you,' James said. 'You won't tell anyone, will you? About Remus, I mean.'

'No. Unlike our delightful Defence teacher, I don't have a death wish, thank you.'

'Remus wouldn't hurt you.'

'Maybe not, but Sirius would murder me on the spot.'

James laughed. 'Okay, yes, you might have a point there. He's threatened murder for far less when it comes to Remus.'

Regulus gave a pleased smile that caused a flutter in James' stomach, but he quickly squashed it. Best friend's brother, he reminded himself. Off-limits.

'I would like to speak to Remus in the morning, though. Do you think that would be possible?'

'Depends,' James said. 'Usually, he would wake up in time, but after what happened, he might have a bad night, and the healing makes him sleep for longer.'

'What constitutes a bad night?'

'When the wolf gets upset or angry, he hurts himself. Often quite badly.'

Regulus was quiet for a long moment. 'It seems my debt to him is even greater than I thought. If I'm unable to speak to him, will you give him a letter for me?'

'Of course, but you don't owe him anything, Reg. Remus wouldn't want you to feel that way.'

'That is for me to decide.'

'Yeah, I guess.'

Their conversation trailed off as the Headmaster waved his hand, drawing the curtains around Tenebris' bed before he, Professor McGonagall, and Madam Pomfrey returned to the small office to talk privately. Regulus waited for the door to close before climbing to his feet. 'I want to speak to her.'

'I'll come with you.'

When they slipped through the gap in the curtains, they found Professor Tenebris once more restrained, but still sitting up, and she was staring at her lap, refusing to look at them.

'I doubt I'll be able to answer your questions, Regulus. I don't know why I did it.'

'You told the headmaster that my blood was especially tempting,' Regulus said. 'Can you explain that?'

She chewed her lip. 'It was like…' She paused and started again. 'Blood, for a vampire, isn't like food. We need it to survive, yes, but… there's power in it… like… It's so hard to explain. It… drinking it makes us feel alive. Your blood gives that feeling a hundred times stronger.'

Regulus nodded. 'Do you know why?'

She shook her head. 'I have no idea.'

For a long moment, Regulus was silent, staring at her, and then, 'Do you regret it? What you did to me?'

'More than I can possibly say,' Professor Tenebris replied, meeting Regulus' eyes. 'I am so sorry, Regulus.'

'Because you were caught?'

'No.' She shook her head vigorously. 'I've regretted it all year. Every time it happened, until the next time you were there in front of me and the cravings took over. Every time, I vowed I wouldn't do it again, but I couldn't stop.'

'Like a potion addict,' Regulus said, his tone laced with understanding. 'What about tonight? Would you have stopped before you killed me?'

She looked down again. 'I want to tell you yes, but you deserve the truth, and I honestly don't know that I would have. It was easy to stop when I knew the opportunity would be there to have more, but after tonight, you would have been out of reach. I…'

'You wanted as much as you could have before it was gone,' Regulus said.

'Yes. I'm sorry.'

Regulus went quiet again, and then, 'I accept your apology.'

She looked up at him, surprised. 'You do?'

'To be clear, I do not forgive you, but I do accept that you're sorry,' Regulus said, and she nodded.

'That's more than I deserve. Thank you.'

'And,' Regulus continued. 'I do intend to forgive you. When I'm able. I wouldn't usually tell a person that when they've hurt me, and I'm only doing so now because you intend to hand yourself in. I do not wish for you to go to your execution believing you will never be forgiven.'

With a heart-rending sob, Professor Tenebris burst into tears, covering her face with her hands.

'We'll leave you alone now,' Regulus said, pulling James away from the weeping vampire that had spent a year teaching them how to fight while failing to fight her own demons.

'That was really kind of you,' James said quietly once they were back on the other side of the room.

Regulus hummed. 'Yes, well, don't go telling anyone, will you? I have a reputation to uphold.'

'Your secret is safe with me.'

Regulus smiled and James' stomach did a little flip. Gods, he really needed to get a hold of himself. Even if Regulus wasn't his best friend's brother, now really wasn't the time.

'Thank you.' Regulus sighed. 'I just wish I knew why. I mean, am I going to be especially tempting to every vampire out there? Or is it just her?'

'The only thing I can think,' James said. 'Is it's because of that potion your family makes you take every year.'

'I don't see why that would make my blood tastier,' Regulus said. 'You just want me to stop taking it.'

'Yeah, I do,' James said, shrugging. 'But it's the only thing that's definitely different about you.'

'I suppose,' Regulus said. 'Maybe I won't take it next year.'

James grinned, but he didn't get a chance to respond because the office door opened and Professor McGonagall exited, heading towards them, while Madam Pomfrey and the Headmaster walked over to Professor Tenebris' bed and disappeared behind the curtains.

'Have you made a decision?' Professor McGonagall asked when she reached them.

Regulus inclined his head. 'Yes, I do not wish to report her. It seems unnecessary when she intends to hand herself in for a worse crime, and doing so would cause problems for Remus, which I would like to avoid.'

'In that case, Madam Pomfrey has cleared you to leave. And I suggest you go straight to bed. You too, Mister Potter.'

'Of course, Professor,' Regulus answered, climbing to his feet.

James winked at her behind Regulus' back. 'Yep, straight to bed. That's the plan.'

'What's the real plan?' Regulus asked once they were in the corridor. 'Meet Lily Evans and…'

'Break into Hufflepuff and see if the person I picked as the scapegoat is in bed.'

'Which they will be.'

'Yes. More than likely. Although, the Hufflepuffs have a lot more sneaky shit going on than you'd think.'

Regulus laughed. 'But if they're there, you'll be needing a new scapegoat.'

'Yeah, I figured we'd probably spy on them all again and pick someone else.'

'I know just the person,' Regulus said. 'There's a group of Slytherins in third year. One of them suffers from insomnia. He's unhealthy looking, dark circles under his eyes, always tired, and he tends to go for long walks up to the Astronomy Tower at night to try to wear himself out. If you timed it right on the full moon, you would find his bed empty.'

James stopped dead, staring at him. 'Regulus, I could kiss you. That's perfect.'

'Go on then,' Regulus said, turning to face him with a hint of a smirk on his face and an eyebrow raised in challenge.

And James never backed down from a challenge.

Without taking even a second to think about it, he leaned in and pressed his lips to Regulus', gently, intending to break it off after a second, but Regulus responded, stepping closer and cupping his face with one hand, and James was lost. The kiss went on and on, until finally, after more seconds had passed than James cared to admit, he found the willpower to pull away, and Regulus hummed a pleased little noise.

'It's an unconventional method of thanking someone, but I can't say I didn't enjoy it,' he said, still smirking. 'No doubt I'll see you on the train tomorrow. Good night, James.'

'Yeah,' James said, feeling more than a little dazed as he watched him walk away down the stairs. 'Night, Reg.'

He stood there for a few more seconds before shaking himself out of his stupor and turning to walk up to Gryffindor Tower. Luckily, he arrived early enough that Lily had yet to come down from her dorm, so he was able to run up to his room and change his clothes—he really felt like he needed to after the evening he'd had, though they weren't dirty—before heading back down to meet her.

Hiding under the cloak together, they crept down to Hufflepuff and James waited in the Common room while Lily tiptoed down the corridor of girls' dorms, found the right one, and checked the beds inside.

'She's there,' Lily said when she came back. 'It's not her.'

'Damn,' James replied, acting disappointed. 'I was so sure.'

'Yeah, me too. I guess we'll have to keep looking next year.'

The climb back up to the Tower was slower than the trip down had been, and when they got back, they bid each other goodnight and went their separate ways. Lily to bed, presumably, and James, upstairs to his dorm and out of the window on the back of his broom, making a beeline for the Whomping Willow to join his friends on Moony-watch, where he would absolutely not be telling Sirius that he'd kissed his brother.

'I'm telling you, she said "fuck." Clear as crystal,' Sirius' voice said.

'You're lying,' James replied. 'There's no way.'

'I just don't believe you,' Peter said.

'She did. I can't believe you think I'd lie about this.'

Remus peeled his eyes open to look at them all. 'Who said fuck?'

'Minnie, apparently,' James answered.

'No. She wouldn't. You're lying,' Remus said.

'I can't believe the first thing you would do when you wake up is accuse me of lying,' Sirius said, sounding utterly outraged despite the fact that he was gently stroking his hair. 'How are you feeling?'

And that's when he remembered. He looked around at them all, and they were all smiling, so it must be okay? Unless they were pretending again. 'What happened? Tenebris? Is she..?'

'Alive and well,' Sirius said. 'For now.'

Remus closed his eyes, in relief that he hadn't hurt her, and in response to the ominous tone of Sirius' voice. 'Regulus reported her?'

'No, she's handing herself in,' James said. 'For Professor Hawthorne's murder.'

Remus' eyes flew back open of their own accord. 'What?'

'Not only has she been feeding on my little brother all year,' Sirius said. 'but she also admitted to killing Professor Hawthorne.'

Remus didn't know what part of that to focus on first, but then he remembered that Professor Tenebris wasn't the only person in danger from him the night before, and he changed direction entirely. 'What about Professor McGonagall? The spell ended before I could jump through the trapdoor. Did I come back out?'

His three friends all glanced at each other, but it was Sirius that answered. 'No? Minnie said you jumped in and curled up in the corner so she could leave and lock the door. We thought it must have still been you. But it wasn't?'

Remus shook his head.

'Moony must remember, then,' James said, sounding thrilled. 'He knows he has to stay locked up for now so he doesn't hurt anyone.'

'Yeah, maybe,' Remus said, wondering what he would see in Moony's memories if he looked. 'You said Tenebris has been feeding on Reg all year?'

Sirius nodded, his expression turning angry. 'All fucking year, yeah. Apparently, his blood smells super tasty and she couldn't stop herself. She said she tried mine, too, but it wasn't the same.'

'She did what?' Remus said, his voice sounding like a growl as that wild possessive feeling rose inside him. 'Where? When?'

Sirius raised his eyebrows. 'I don't know. She didn't say.'

'I think we should probably go, Bubbles,' James said in a mock whisper. 'Think Remus needs some time alone with his boyfriend.'

'You think?' Peter said, already halfway to the door.

Remus ignored them, pulling Sirius closer by the front of his t-shirt. 'Mine,' he whispered against his lips.

Sirius hummed. 'Yours,' he murmured back before kissing him soundly. By the time they stopped, Sirius had several shiny new reminders of who he belonged to hidden beneath the collar of his t-shirt, and the wild feeling in Remus' chest had subsided.

'Feeling better?' Sirius asked, smirking at him.

Remus' voice sounded smug even to his own ears when he answered, 'Yes, thank you.'

'Good.'

They both jumped when the knock came at the door and Sirius hurried to move off of Remus before it opened and Madam Pomfrey stuck her head in. 'Regulus Black would like to speak to you, Remus. Is that okay?'

Remus nodded. 'Yeah, that's fine. You can let him in.'

The door closed and Sirius moved off the bed into a chair just before it opened again and Regulus walked in holding a goblet with a straw. 'Madam Pomfrey asked me to give you this?'

'Ah, thank you,' Remus said, leaning forward to take it. 'It's a nutrition potion. The transformation uses up a lot of energy.'

Regulus nodded. 'That would explain why you're so small.'

'Reggie, don't be a dick,' Sirius said, while Remus just laughed.

'It was a joke, Twinkles,' Regulus said. 'At least Remus has a sense of humour. You should ask him for lessons.'

Sirius rolled his eyes. 'What do you want, Reggie?'

'To speak to Remus. Privately, if you don't mind.'

'I'm not going anywhere.'

'What do you think I'm going to do exactly?'

'It's okay, Sirius,' Remus said. 'You can go. You still have some packing to do, don't you? Go get that done while we talk.'

'You're sure?'

Regulus rolled his eyes. 'For Merlin's sake, Sirius. Stop being so over-protective.'

'Fine,' Sirius said, standing up. 'Just call if you need me, Remus.' He tapped the side of his head, and Remus nodded.

'I will.'

Sirius left, and Regulus took his seat next to the bed, folding his hands in his lap and gazing at him. 'Are you well?'

'As well as I ever am the morning after.'

'Which means?'

'Everything aches and I'm tired. It'll be a few hours before I can get up.'

'You'll miss the train then.'

Remus nodded. 'I'll be using the Headmaster's floo to get home later.'

'Convenient.'

'Yeah. I'd rather be on the train with everyone else, though,' Remus said. The journey home had been awkward at Christmas. It would have been nice to be able to join his friends to go home for the summer. 'What about you? Sirius said Professor Tenebris had been feeding on you all year?'

Regulus hummed. 'Let's just say I can empathise with your fatigue. I assumed the exhaustion was due to extensive magic use and far too many stairs, but apparently not.'

'Hogwarts does have a lot of stairs,' Remus said with a small laugh. 'But otherwise, you're feeling alright? After last night, I mean.'

'Thanks to you, yes, I'm quite well,' Regulus said. 'I suppose it's time to get to the point of why I'm here. I want you to know that I'm aware that I owe you a great debt. You saved my life at great risk to yourself and—'

'You don't owe me anything,' Remus said, interrupting him. 'You're Sirius' brother. I wasn't just going to leave you there.'

'Nevertheless, it must have been a difficult choice for you. You revealed to me a secret that could get you killed in the wrong hands, and you had no way of knowing if I would take advantage of the information, and I'm led to understand that, had you made the wolf angry, you would have woken this morning with painful injuries.'

'Well, yeah, that's true,' Remus said, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

'I fully intend to repay this debt at some point, so if there is ever a time when my assistance would be valuable to you, please do not hesitate to ask.'

'Alright,' Remus replied. 'I'll keep that in mind.'

Regulus smiled, and leaning over, pulled something out of his bag. 'Wonderful. Now that's out of the way, are you any good at chess?'

Remus raised his eyebrows in surprise. 'You want to play chess with me?'

'That depends if you're any good.'

'I've never played.'

'Even better. I'll teach you.' Regulus' grin made him look even more like Sirius than he usually did, and Remus couldn't keep from smiling back at him.

'Why?'

'Must you question everything?' Regulus asked with a heavy sigh.

'Kind of, yeah, but especially when someone's just found out I'm a werewolf and they start being weirdly nice to me.'

'I don't think I've ever been not nice to you,' Regulus pointed out.

'Well, no,' Remus was forced to agree. 'You've always been… polite. But this is more than that. This is downright friendly, and to be honest, it's freaking me out a bit.'

'Alright, fine. If you insist. I was trying to show you, without directly saying it, that I don't think any less of you due to your condition. Because I thought saying it directly would be awkward for us both.'

'Oh,' Remus said. 'Well, in that case, sure. Teach me how to play chess.'

'Excellent.' Regulus set up the board on the mattress beside Remus with the white pieces on Remus' side and started explaining the rules to him.

Forty-five minutes passed, and Remus was enjoying himself immensely. Regulus was a good teacher, patient, with a dry sense of humour that caught Remus off guard frequently, and it took him by surprise when he checked the time. 'Shouldn't Sirius be back by now? He's been gone for an hour.'

'Depends how much packing he still had to do,' Regulus said absently as he studied the board for his next move. 'Or how many times he got distracted.'

'He didn't have that much left, to be honest. We all packed most of our stuff last weekend because we knew the full moon was on Friday.' And then he remembered. It was the reason he'd been in the dungeons to be able to save Regulus in the first place, but with everything that had happened, he'd completely forgotten about it, and apparently, Sirius had too. 'Oh,' he said, starting to laugh. 'Oh my god. He's trapped in the common room.'

'What? How do you know? Did you get one of those messages from your spell?'

Remus frowned. 'How do you know about that?'

'They told me last night. Sirius was in pain because of the tracking part of it. Did you?'

'No, I only get messages from James, not Sirius. It's a circle. I know because we set the spells to trap everyone inside. That's why I was in the dungeon last night. I did the entrance to Slytherin.'

Regulus finally looked up from the board. 'Before I gloat over my brother's misfortune in getting trapped by his own practical joke, I just want to clarify. The reason you were still inside the school so close to moonrise was for the sake of playing a joke?'

'Yes,' Remus said, shifting uncomfortably. 'But also no.'

'Explain.'

'Peter invented a potion to help me with the moonsickness. The pain, fatigue, and nausea before the transformation. Looking back, I think one of the side effects was… I don't know… I guess I'd describe it as an increased sense of confidence? I never would have taken a risk like that, usually.'

Regulus frowned. 'I suppose that means I owe a debt to Peter, too, then. Why do you not just take a conventional pain potion?'

'They all contain aconite. It's poisonous to werewolves.'

'That is unfortunate.'

'Yeah.'

'Anyway, back to gloating,' Regulus said, grinning. 'Trapped by his own mischief. It's delicious.'

Remus laughed. 'It is quite funny. I'm just worried I won't get a chance to say goodbye to them before they leave.'

'You'll see them during the summer though, won't you? I assume you and Peter have been invited to the Potter's too.'

'Yeah, we're all going,' Remus said. He couldn't tell Regulus he'd been hoping for one last kiss from his brother before they left.

'Well then. There's no reason to be upset about it, is there? Enjoy the irony with me.'

Sirius was not amused.

He could see that James and Peter were both trying extremely hard not to laugh, but he couldn't see what was funny about the situation they were in.

After leaving Remus alone with Regulus to talk about god knows what, he'd returned to Gryffindor Tower to finish packing his last few things for the summer. It hadn't taken long to toss the last of his belongings into his trunk and levitate it down the stairs, placing it with everyone else's for the elves to transport to the train, but when he reached the common room, there was a crowd, noisily complaining, congregated near the portrait hole, and that's when he remembered the reason Remus had been in the dungeons the night before.

'It's not funny, James. Stop making that face.'

'If I stop making this face, I'm going to start laughing, and I think you'd hate that more.'

'It's kind of funny,' Peter said. 'I can't believe all of us forgot about it.'

'If we don't get out soon, I'm not going to have time to see Remus before we leave. He'll think I don't care.'

'It's Remus,' James said. 'He's probably already worked out why you haven't come back and is laughing his ass off about it with your brother.'

'Why do you keep calling him my brother? He has a name.'

'No reason,' James said, turning away. 'Maybe we can get you out of a window.'

'You did the windows.'

'Exactly. It's worth a try, isn't it?'

'Did you do our window?' Peter asked.

'Of course,' James said. 'Didn't want it to be obvious it was us, did I?'

'Hey,' Lily said, walking over to join them, with Marlene, Mary, and Dorcas trailing behind her. 'This wasn't us, so I'm guessing it was you?'

'What makes you think that?' James asked. 'Could have been the Marauders.'

'Doesn't really seem like their style, does it? Where's Remus?'

'He got sick in the night,' Sirius said, giving her the excuse they'd prepared in advance. 'Madam Pomfrey sent him home through the Headmaster's floo so he wouldn't infect everyone else on the train.'

'Is it serious?' Marlene asked. 'He seemed fine last night.'

'No, I'm Sirius,' Sirius replied to the simultaneous groans of all of his friends. He hardly ever got the chance to use that joke anymore, so he was damned if he was going to let the opportunity pass him by, even if he was frantic. They all usually avoided the word like it was cursed.

'Some muggle illness or something,' James said. 'He had a rash. Pomfrey said he'd be fine in a week.'

'Probably chickenpox,' Lily said. 'I'll write to him. Chickenpox is shit.'

'I'm sure he'll appreciate that,' Sirius said, hoping Remus knew what the hell chickenpox was, 'if we ever get out of here.'

'Why would anyone think it's a good idea to spell the doors and windows closed on the day we go home?' Dorcas asked. 'We're going to be late for the train at this rate.'

'It's not going to leave with no one on it,' James said.

'That's not the point,' Dorcas said, shaking her hands anxiously. 'I don't like it when things don't happen when they're supposed to.'

Marlene put an arm around her shoulders. 'It's alright, Cas. The teachers won't let us miss the train.'

Sirius felt even worse, then. He hadn't realised their little joke would upset Dorcas so much. 'Yeah, they'll get us out, Cas. Everything will be fine.'

With Dorcas in the midst of a panic attack, there was no way for Sirius to extricate himself to try to find a way out of the Tower without looking like a complete ass, so he joined the rest in their group attempting to comfort and distract her while they waited to be rescued. He couldn't help but watch the clock, though, as the time ticked around to ten thirty, ten forty, ten forty-five, and finally, at ten fifty-two, the portrait swung open to loud cheers from the trapped students, the seventh-years cheering loudest of all.

Professor McGonagall stood in the opening with wisps of hair haloing her head where they'd come loose from the tight confines of the bun she normally kept them in. 'Right, form an orderly queue, two abreast, and make your way down to the Entrance Hall as quick as you can, please. We're late.'

No one argued. They all wanted to go home and followed her instructions without a fuss, but Sirius gazed longingly down the corridor to the Hospital Wing as they passed the first floor, wondering if he had time to sneak away. James seemed to read his mind, because he grabbed his arm and tugged, forcing him to continue the march downstairs.

'There isn't time. You'll miss the train and your Mother will kill you. It's not worth it. You can ask Peony to take you to his house when it's safe, yeah?'

'I know you're right, but…'

'Yeah, I know,' James said.

By the time everyone had boarded the train, it was a full forty minutes late leaving the station which Sirius would have found hilarious under normal circumstances, but instead, he just sat in the corner of the compartment feeling miserable and wishing they'd never decided to play the stupid joke in the first place. Of course, if they hadn't, his brother would probably be dead, so there was that. He supposed missing out on a goodbye kiss was a small price to pay for his brother's continued existence. It just didn't feel like a small price at that moment.

The compartment door opening made him look up, and—talk of the dementor and he will appear—there was Regulus.

'Hello, brother. Do you always sit in the same compartment, or is it a coincidence?' he asked, stepping inside and closing the door behind him before taking a seat next to Sirius. 'Peter. James.'

'What do you want, Reggie?' Sirius asked over the top of James and Peter both saying some form of greeting.

'I have a message for you from Remus, but if you don't want it…' he started to stand, but Sirius grabbed his arm and yanked him back into his seat.

'What's the message?'

'One moment. I want to be sure I get this right.' Regulus covered his mouth with one hand, making a show of clearing his throat. 'Twinkles, I understand you're upset that you became trapped by your own joke, but I cannot believe you would forget my genius so quickly.'

'What does that mean?' Sirius asked, frowning.

'I believe he was alluding to a method of communication,' Regulus replied.

'The Notebooks,' Peter said. 'He's talking about the Notebooks.'

Sirius slapped himself on the forehead. 'Of course.' Pulling out his wand, he levitated his trunk down from the luggage rack and searched through the contents until he found it, sitting back in his seat with the treasure in hand. He pulled it open, flicking through to his page with Remus to find a message waiting for him, and he smiled fondly at the terrible handwriting.

Twinkles, I'm so conflicted. I wish you hadn't forgotten about the spells we cast on the common room doors, but at the same time, the thought of you all being trapped by your own mischief is extremely funny. I hate that I didn't get a chance to say goodbye before you went home, but I'm hopeful that you'll find a way to see me soon. Just don't take any unnecessary risks. Make sure it's safe first. Don't throw away the freedom you and your brother have worked to secure for you for the sake of a kiss. It's not worth it. I hope the train ride isn't too boring without me there. Don't say hi to your Mother for me xxx.

The last line made him chuckle.

'What's he say?' James asked.

'He thinks it's funny that we got trapped. He hopes the train ride won't be too boring without him. And he told me not to say hi to my Mother for him.'

Regulus hummed. 'I don't think "by the way, Mother, my half-blood werewolf friend sends his best wishes" would go down very well.'

'No, probably not,' Sirius agreed, laughing at the thought. 'He didn't say anything about you, though. What did you talk about?'

'I taught him how to play chess,' Regulus said to Sirius' surprise. He only ever deigned to play chess with people he liked. 'He's not very good yet, but he seems to be a quick learner, so I have hope that he'll make a worthy opponent eventually.'

Sirius blinked twice and then threw his arms around Regulus, giving him the squeeziest hug he could manage. 'Thanks, Reggie.'

Regulus, of course, did not appreciate this response at all and tried to shove him off. 'Merlin, get off me, you brute.'

'I'm confused,' Peter said. 'What are you thanking him for?'

'Maybe he really wanted Remus to learn chess but couldn't be bothered to teach him?' James suggested.

Sirius let go of Regulus and grinned at him. 'I thought you'd be a dick about it.'

'Yes, well, you always do assume the worst of me,' Regulus said, straightening his robes. 'Get me a nice birthday present and we'll call it even.'

'Already bought you one,' Sirius said. 'Maybe I'll actually get to see you on your birthday this year.'

'When is it?' James asked. 'I wonder what your star sign is.'

'Next week,' Sirius said. 'The twenty-first. And you best believe Mother loves that he was born on a feast day. Apparently, that makes him special somehow.'

'What's a star sign?' Regulus asked.

'It's a muggle thing. They think the position of the stars when you're born dictates your personality somehow, but Peter's was completely wrong, so it's bullshit.'

'Don't tell me you thought it was true?'

'Not at first, but I was almost convinced after reading Remus, James, and mine. They were eerily accurate.' Sirius frowned then, remembering why they'd been reading the star signs in the first place. 'But enough about that. I need to reply to Remus. Are you planning on staying?'

'No,' Regulus said. 'Netty's waiting for me, but I'll come back when we get to London.' He stood up and pulled the compartment door open, pausing to turn back with a smirk. 'Bye James. Peter.' Sirius turned his attention to the Notebook, thinking about what to write to Remus.

There was a, 'Yeah, bye, Reg,' from James and a, 'See you later,' came from Peter, and then Regulus was gone.

'What was the look for?' Peter asked, and Sirius looked back up from the Notebook, but Peter was looking at James.

'No idea,' James said. 'He's an odd one.'

Sirius snorted and looked back down. His brother was certainly that.

Moony, I can't believe you would laugh at our misfortune in such a way. You have no idea the emotional torture I went through when I realised I wouldn't be able to kiss you goodbye. I will ask Peony to bring me to you as soon as I can, but don't worry, I'll make sure it's safe. I won't do anything to put our holiday at the Potter's at risk. Reggie tells me he taught you to play chess. You should know, Reggie only plays chess with people he likes, so his doing that was his odd way of saying he accepts you. I miss you already. xxx.

He waited a couple of minutes, but no reply came, so he closed the book and placed it on the seat next to him where Remus would usually be sitting. He'd hear it if Remus wrote back, but hopefully, he was sleeping. He needed his rest.

Deasura tried not to fidget as she waited for the Headmaster to return. He'd agreed to her request to remain at the school until Remus was recovered enough to ask if he would speak to her. She desperately wanted the chance to explain everything to him, but if he refused, at least she would know her actions the previous evening hadn't harmed him. Physically, anyway.

Waiting for moonrise had been the longest five hours of her life, not knowing if the wolf was hurting himself, hurting Remus, because of her, and the relief when the message came through to Albus to say he had made it through the night unscathed was the best thing she'd ever felt. She'd been told about what had happened after she'd been stunned, and she was beyond grateful to Minerva for her courage and quick thinking. Not because it had saved her life, she was dead anyway—had been dead since she killed Marcus, never mind that she was still walking and talking—but because it had saved Remus' life. If Moony had bitten her, tasted her blood, it would have killed him.

And she was grateful to Remus, too. If he hadn't turned up when he did, there would be a second death on her conscience. Not that what she'd done to Regulus wasn't already bad enough. He was a child. What she'd done was unforgivable, even if he did say otherwise.

She looked up at the sound of the door handle turning, and at the sight of Remus trailing in after Albus, she took in a sharp breath. He'd accepted.

'She is unarmed and restrained to her chair,' Albus said, speaking to Remus, 'but I can stay if you prefer?'

'No, it's okay. I'd like to speak to her alone.'

'Very well. I'll be right downstairs if you need me. I haven't spoken with Khigumex in a while.'

Remus frowned in confusion. 'Who's Khigumex?'

'The gargoyle.'

'The gargoyle has a name?'

'Of course. Everything has a name, Mister Lupin, if you care to ask.'

'Well, now I feel bad.'

Albus just smiled serenely and swept out of the door, closing it gently behind him, and Remus stared at her for a long moment before crossing the room and taking a seat in the armchair opposite hers. 'You wanted to see me?'

'Yes. I felt that you, more than anyone else besides Regulus, deserve an explanation, and I've already spoken to him. If you want to hear it, that is. I won't force you to listen.'

'You've spoken to Regulus?'

She nodded. 'Yes, last night. He was… very kind. Much more so than I deserve.'

'Yeah, he is surprisingly kind,' Remus said, a small smile gracing his face as he looked down at his hands. After a moment, he looked back up and the smile was gone. 'Did he accept your explanation?'

'He did.'

'Then I'll listen.'

'Thank you,' she said, letting out a breath. Her stomach was churning, and, despite spending the several hours since the moon rose thinking about how to explain, she really didn't know where to begin. 'Where would you like me to start?'

'I think Professor Hawthorne is probably the beginning. You killed him and then took his job. Perhaps you should start there.'

Start with the most painful part of the story. Alright. She closed her eyes, pushing down the grief, determined not to cry. Remus would think she was trying to manipulate him with her tears, and she didn't want that. 'He was my partner. Before I was infected, we'd intended to marry, but we never got the chance. I lost so many friends after it happened, we no longer had enough people that loved us to complete a circle.' She paused, swallowing and trying to compose herself, and Remus waited patiently.

'He quit his job at the Ministry, of course. Working at the DRCMC when your girlfriend is an unregistered vampire is a bit of a conflict of interest. We struggled for a while after that. I couldn't find a job, and we frequently had to move when I had slip-ups. But after a few years, I gained control over myself, and we settled in Hogsmeade.'

'That must have been hard for you both,' Remus commented.

She nodded. 'It was. I was depressed for a long time after I was infected, especially when I couldn't find work. Marcus never gave up, though. He would suggest the strangest careers just to make me laugh.'

'The cauldron-making book,' Remus said. 'That's why you were so mad.'

'Yes, it was a gift from him during a very bad time. I am sorry for how I reacted, though.'

'It's hardly the worst of your crimes,' Remus said, his voice taking on a hard edge again, and Deasura lowered her gaze to her hands.

'No. Sorry. I'll continue,' she said, pausing while she remembered where in the story she'd got to. 'We'd been in Hogsmeade for a few years when Marcus heard that the Defence teacher had retired and he decided to apply for the job. He thought it would give us the opportunity to build up some savings. He was ageing, you see, and I wasn't. I think he was worried for me—for how I would manage after he died.'

Remus nodded that he understood.

'He got the job, as you know, and moved into the castle. He came to see me in Hogsmeade whenever he was off duty, but it wasn't enough for me. One evening, when he was on duty and couldn't leave, I was in the pub complaining about it to Rosmerta, that I missed him, and she told me there was a passage in her cellar that led into Hogwarts, said I could use it to sneak in and visit him.'

Remus smiled. 'Bet he was surprised to see you the first time.'

'He was,' she said, a laugh escaping her at the memory of his face when she'd walked into his classroom that first evening in November. 'But I used it often after that. It was fun… well, I'm sure I don't need to tell you how fun sneaking around is.'

'No,' Remus said, smiling again. 'It sounds like you had a good relationship, so I don't understand what would make you kill him.'

'We had a perfect relationship,' she said, closing her eyes to hold back the tears, but that just made them fall, running down her cheeks and leaving a tickle in their wake. 'He was the love of my life. I wish I knew why it happened, but I don't. There was no reason for it. I'd been in control for years, especially with him. I… drank from him often, with his consent, of course. It was a special thing between us. But when I…' it was so hard to say the word but she forced it out, 'killed him, I wasn't drinking. I wasn't even thirsty. I just…' Gods, this was so hard. 'I just bit into his throat and ripped it out. I didn't even realise it was happening until it was over.'

'Do you want to stop?' Remus asked softly. 'It's… I didn't realise this would be so painful for you.'

She sniffed, wiping her eyes. 'No, it's alright. I've just never said any of this out loud before, but I've made it through the worst part. I might as well finish.'

'Alright.'

Taking a deep breath, Deasura took a second to gather her thoughts and then continued her story. 'When I realised what I'd done, I panicked. I hid him in the cupboard and ran for the passage. I stayed there for… I don't even know how long. I was a mess, covered in blood, and crying. But eventually, I got a hold of myself, vanished the blood and tidied myself up. Rosmerta was in the cellar waiting for me when I came out. She'd heard about the murder in the castle already. I didn't even think about it. I just cast a memory charm and made her forget she'd ever shown me the passage.

'I went home then and barely moved from my bed for weeks. The paper was still being delivered though, and I read it every day, checking for news about the investigation into Marcus' death. I knew Emhio had been arrested, but it wasn't until they announced that her trial was delayed until the summer that I realised they'd stopped looking. I knew I couldn't let her be executed for a crime she didn't commit. I'd never met her, but she and Marcus were friends and he spoke of her frequently. He spoke of you, too.'

'Me?'

She nodded. 'He was worried for you, for your future after Hogwarts, knowing how cruel the magical world can be to people like us. He called you a "sweet kid" and thought you were too sensitive to cope with the prejudice you would face. He was concerned about how it would affect you, and he made plans to offer you private lessons when you were older, to train you so you could survive.'

'I'm not sure if I should be offended that he thought me weak or pleased that he cared.'

'He was wrong, obviously. He just never got a chance to see your courage and spirit. But his worries haunted me. I hated that he'd died with his plans unfinished. But with Emhio's trial delayed, I had a year before I needed to hand myself in. So I pulled myself together and applied for his job in the hopes I could carry out his plans to train you. It was a bit sooner than he'd been intending to do it, but he underestimated you. You've done extremely well.'

'Thank you. You were a good teacher,' Remus said. The hostility he had been carrying when he walked in had diminished a lot, but there was still some anger simmering in his eyes. 'So what happened with Regulus? Sirius said you've been feeding on him all year.'

She looked back down at her hands, shame burning through her like fiendfyre. 'There's something about his blood that makes it… I don't want to say irresistible, perhaps if I'd been in a better state of mind, I would have resisted, but the temptation it presented was a hundred times stronger than anyone else I've ever met. During class, it was mixed up with everyone else, and I didn't even notice it, but when he requested help outside of class and I was alone with him, it overwhelmed me.' She looked up, meeting Remus' eyes, which were hard with anger again, making her heart clench. 'I don't want to sound like I'm making excuses. What I did to him was inexcusable. I'm just trying to explain as best I can.'

Remus nodded. 'I understand. Go on.'

'After the first time, I was addicted. It was better than the Euphoria charm. Every time I told myself it was the last time. But it never was. I couldn't stop. I could see it was taking a toll on Regulus' health, so… I decided to see if there was a second source.'

'And that's when you fed on Sirius?' Remus asked, the anger that had been simmering in his eyes coming to a boil and bursting out of him, but he didn't shout. He didn't move from his chair. He just spoke in a calm, cold voice that chilled her to the bone. It was an extremely effective method of inducing fear in someone. Marcus really had underestimated him.

She swallowed, answering in a whisper. 'Yes. I'm sorry, Remus. I have no excuse, and you have every right to hate me.'

Remus shook his head. 'I don't hate you. I'm furious with you for harming Sirius and I'm disgusted by what you did to Regulus. But… I'm also heartbroken for you because of what happened with Professor Hawthorne. I can't imagine anything worse than killing someone I love because of what I am.'

'I hope you never find out how it feels,' she said sincerely. 'And I know I've destroyed any relationship there was between us, but I hope that won't cause you to turn your back on everything I've taught you.'

'No,' Remus said. 'I can't speak for Sirius, he's so mad at you, but I won't ignore it, I promise. Your intentions were good, even if you did go wrong along the way.'

She let the tears fall, then, in relief at knowing her last year hadn't been a waste, and that Marcus' wish to give Remus the tools to protect his body and mind from a prejudiced world had been fulfilled. She would go to her death at peace. 'Thank you, Remus.'