Bethany threw her gardening gloves onto the kitchen table and took a large glug out of a glass of water. Getting the garden straight was taking a lot more effort than she had first expected. She'd been home two weeks since her visit to Diagon Alley, and had been working on the garden the whole time. It had to be sorted before she went to Hogwarts, as the idea of spending all of next summer dealing with a jungle didn't appeal much to her. It wasn't far from a jungle six months ago when she first took the house on. It almost looked respectable now. At least you could now get to the far end of the garden without being attacked by an assortment of small yet nasty beasties. When Bethany first moved in, she'd had to contact the Ministry to send over a team of wizards from the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Animals. There were too many things lurking in the garden, Bethany stood no chance of dealing with them all on her own. There was one bonus though, the gnomes who'd been living there had taken a hostage.

Bethany and the Ministry wizards had been most confused to discover that the gnomes had been keeping a Kneazle, half-starved and half-crazed. The small, scrawny cat-like animal crept out of the burrow after all the gnomes had been captured. The Ministry wizards tried to take it with them to be treated at the Ministry, but the Kneazle took a liking to Bethany and nearly tore off a hand from one of the wizards when he tried to pick it up.

It took nearly two months, twenty-odd charms, and a lot of discussions with the Ministry, but the Kneazle was finally given a clean bill of health and Bethany was issued a licence to keep the animal. For such a strongly independent species, this particular creature, now named Maeve, was fiercely defensive of Bethany.

"Hey, less of the claws!" Bethany squealed as Maeve launched herself onto Bethany's shoulder. Picking her pet up round the middle, Bethany dropped into an armchair and let Maeve settle on her lap. Bethany let her mind wander as she played with Maeve's large ears. It was already mid-August, the house and garden had to be completely prepared for her upcoming absence. The newly acquired Gwichian cactus had been planted near the front gate almost as soon as Bethany had returned from London. It attempted to kill everyone and everything within its reach to begin with, but Bethany soon trained it out of that habit. Maeve was nervous of it still, but then it did try to attack her when she got too close. The Banhadlen bush had given up trying to kill off the cactus, and now merely hissed at it when there was nothing else for it to do. It was slowly resigning itself to no longer being the nastiest plant in the garden, although it was still doing a fantastic job of keeping all gnomes at bay. Bethany was feeling much happier about leaving her home for nearly a year, in the knowledge that if she had difficulty getting past her own plants then no stranger could get near the house. She knew that Maeve would be the best protector of the house, but Bethany couldn't face the idea of not having her company, especially as Dumbledore had given permission for her pet to come with her to school. With both Lupin and Maeve to look after her, Bethany knew she was not going to get lonely. But neither was she going to be able to get any time to herself.

Bethany spent the rest of the afternoon battling with the overgrown mass outside. By dinner time she was scratched, dirty and worn out. She decided a quick bite to eat followed by a long soaky bath was the best plan for the evening. She was halfway through the kitchen door when Lupin's voice rang out through the kitchen.

"Bethany? Bethy, you there?"

Quickly moving into the kitchen, Bethany was surprised to see Lupin's face in the flames of her fireplace. "What's up, Remus? I wasn't expecting to hear from you until next week."

"There's been a change of plans. I've just spoken to Dumbledore, and he's decided that as there are a lot of changes at Hogwarts this year, he wants all the professors up at Hogwarts a week early. So, I thought."

"A week early?! But that means two days! I've still got so much to do, to get the house ready, I can't possibly get there early." Bethany exclaimed in an extremely panicky voice.

"Well, as I was going to say before I was so rudely interrupted, I'm all ready to go - comes from living out of a suitcase, you're always ready to move on quickly. So, I thought I could come over to yours this evening and help you finish off anything you need to. Then we could head up to Hogsmeade together. How's that sound?"

"That sounds good, it would be great if you could help out. How come we're heading for Hogsmeade instead of the school? That's not normal is it?" Bethany calmed down considerably at the idea of getting some help.

"Well, it's really uncomfortable with my head in this fireplace, so how about I tell you when I get there? Is it okay to apparate into the kitchen, or do you want me to ring the door bell first?"

"Kitchen's fine, Remus, you know it is. I'll see you soon then." Lupin's head disappeared from the flames as Bethany finished her sentence.

Within minutes there was a loud popping noise in front of the fireplace, and there stood Lupin, in his tattered robes with his trunk by his side. Bethany hugged him as Maeve looked on suspiciously.

"It's good to see you again Bethy."

"You might have changed your tune by next summer. You won't be able to get away from me for the next year, you sure you can handle that much of me?!" "I think I can manage. Anyhow, what needs doing? You said you had loads left to do. If you were lying." Lupin's voice trailed off into a smile. Bethany realised that she had genuinely missed him, she just hadn't been aware of how much easier life felt when Lupin was around. His manner made her believe that everything was right with the world and there was never any rush. This next year was going to be a good one.

"Well, before I do anything else I need a bath. Then I think we should have some dinner while we discuss what to do next."

"You want me to cook while you wash? It'll save some time."

"Definite plan. Right I'll be back down in twenty or so." With that, Bethany disappeared upstairs. Lupin looked around the kitchen wondering where to start, when he set eyes on Maeve. The Kneazle was still sat watching him, not so much mistrusting him just not sure what to make. She could clearly smell his 'illness' and was being wary. Lupin smiled at the creature, and began looking for something to cook for dinner.

By the time Bethany was out of the bath, Lupin had managed to cook sausages with roast potatoes and yorkshire pudding. Bethany sat opposite him at the table and began eating dinner like a starved animal.

"Slow down Bethy, you'll get indigestion. I don't need you being sick on the way to Hogsmeade!"

Bethany stopped her hurried eating, "Come on then, I know you're dying to tell me. Why Hogsmeade? I thought the professors turned up at Hogwarts a week before the students. Why does Dumbledore want us there early, as well?"

"As far as I can tell, he has decided there should be a kind of meet-and- greet amongst the professors somewhere everyone already knows. He said something about neutral territory."

"Snape?" Bethany queried.

"Possibly, but I don't know. After his little, erm, accident he's not quite the same person - well, you should know about that one, what with you being there and all! No, I don't know what the old fool's playing at, but I'm sure he has very valid reasons. He always does. And anyway, it gives me an extra week to enjoy your company before we have to deal with the screaming brats, sorry, pupils"

Bethany smirked at his final comment. She knew full well that Lupin loved teaching, having been one of his pupils once herself, but for some reason he felt that he always had to make it sound like a chore. But at least he had taught before. Bethany was getting very nervous now it was getting closer to her being called 'Professor', she wasn't sure she'd be able to keep a straight face when anyone treated her as an authority figure. She was also starting to worry about whether she was going to make as good a teacher as Lupin.

The rest of the meal was finished with lighter conversation: how the cactus was coping, what Bethany had been doing in the garden, the things that she hoped to have finished before they set off the next day. Lupin was most interested to hear about the discovery, and recovery, of Maeve.

"Hostage? The gnomes were keeping her hostage? That doesn't sound like a very gnome-like thing to do." Lupin couldn't quite believe what Bethany was telling him.

"Well, she definitely came out of the gnomes burrow after the gnomes had gone, and she wasn't in a good way. We actually had a total nightmare getting rid of the gnomes, as they were all incredibly vicious from the start. Poor old Murphy - you know him, Tonks husband - got sent back to the Ministry with a huge hole in arm. One of the little buggers took a chunk out of him. We also found a dead Jarvey just inside the burrow, it'd been beaten to death. Now that definitely isn't typical gnome behaviour. The Ministry decided it would be safest if they took the gnomes back with them to have them put down. The last thing anyone needs right now is a pack of insanely vicious gnomes roaming the country, it could be difficult keeping it from the muggles. But I got a companion out of it, so I don't think it's all bad. She's just a bit jumpy around small creatures. She was nervous of potatoes for a while, guess they look too much like gnomes for her!"

"Dumbledore's given you permission to bring her with you, hasn't he. How are you going to deal with the gnomes up at Hogwarts? She's going to want to go out exploring, it's in their nature."

"I've got her a lead to put on her collar, she doesn't mind it. I've been taking her for walks after dark round the country lanes, so it shouldn't be a problem up at Hogwarts. I can't wait to see Filch's reaction to her, his face should be an absolute picture!" Like all Hogwarts' students, Bethany hadn't got on with the vindictive caretaker and his flea-ridden cat, Mrs Norris. While she'd never been in serious trouble with him, he always glared at her as though he was just waiting for her to start smashing the school to pieces. It was one of the few things that made her glad she wasn't friends with Potter, as Filch appeared to have a personal vendetta against him from day one - Filch recommended Harry's expulsion at the slightest hint of trouble, regardless of whether Harry had been anywhere near the scene.

"Filch is still there? Ye gods, he must be almost useless by now. Has he still got that horrible cat?"

"Mrs Norris died about two years after I left Hogwarts. One of the girls at the Ministry told me, she was a few years younger than me at school. Apparently Filch refused to come out of his office for nearly a month, even when Peeves barricaded all the staff and students in the Great Hall on Halloween."

"What?" Lupin's eyes nearly popped out of his head with surprise, "Filch ignored an opportunity to get rid of Peeves? He must have been really distraught. Out of curiosity, just how did Peeves barricade the Great Hall? It's not like he could use magic."

"Suits of armour. Martha said that he piled every suit of armour against the doors. Obviously, because it was Halloween, no-one took much notice of a poltergeist moving armour around all day, and then it was too late. I wish I'd been there to see it. They had to send Flitwick out of the hatchway to charm the blockage out of the way, but Peeves wouldn't let him near it so they got the Bloody Baron to talk to him. Well, I say talk to him," Bethany gave a wicked grin, "what's supposed to have happened is Nearly Headless Nick got the Baron, who then chased Peeves all around the castle threatening to give him a re-enactment of how he got his name. Scared seven shades of crap out of him, nearly left him a gibbering wreck. Peeves is back to his normal tricks now, unfortunately."

Lupin was shaking with silent laughter at the idea of Peeves being chased by the Baron. It brought tears to his eyes as he thought of how comical it must have looked, especially if viewed on the Marauders' Map. As a thought suddenly struck him, he turned to Bethany, "Do you know if Harry still has the Marauders' Map? It would make life a lot more interesting over the next year if we could borrow it off him." Bethany shook her head in disbelief. "Honestly, I can see why you two get on so well. That was his first reaction when I told him I was going back to teach. It's already in my trunk, ready to go. Harry thought it would be good for me, as I never got to do anything like that while I was a student I might as well do it while I'm staff! And yes, before you ask, I have both invisibility cloaks. But we're not doing anything dangerous, I refuse to be a part of anything other than general mischief!"

Bethany showed Lupin where the spare room was before turning in for the night herself. Tomorrow was going to be a long day, and she didn't want anything to go wrong. Yawning widely, she turned off her light, and was asleep in minutes.