Author's Note : Teehee, to anyone who cares, I have a writing journal now where I'll be posting some stuff that won't end up on FF.net (such as drabbles or NC-17 stuff).  If you're interested the URL is :

h t t p : / / w w w . l i v e j o u r n a l . c o m / u s e r s / _ p i p p i n _

Just take out the spaces.

Most of the stuff posted there is slash of course, (mainly HP and lotr I think. ^^;;)

Anyway, Thanks To:

Loupetchien – Don't worry, chapters are returning to normal length now. :D

Monica-Chan

sk8er_bois_grl_13 – Glad to hear it. :D

lil_chick

xMadGirlx

Moony182

Tamachan444

Jvanilly

Prince(ss) Of Hell – You know that's gonna be an angst-fest. Teehee.

NoeName – Siri's still going to be in it a bit of course, but not as much as he was before. 

Janni-chan1

PsYcHo SaM

Lady Serpentine – Yes, Lucius-master. XP

Arathin – Remy doll. :DD And yes, three parts.  Part two will be up to Harry's fifth year, and part three will be after. ^^

Rachel

Coffeehouse-  I hope to someday, I really want to be an author when I get a bit older, but slashy fanficcy is a good fun for right now. :D

Drama-queen8

KATE!

Part Two

"What?" Remus practically shouted, jumping to his feet, eyes wide in shock. "You can't be serious, Sir!"

            "Sit down, sit down Remus." Dumbledore said kindly, with a smile.  He had, of course, been expecting such a reaction. 

            Remus did what had been requested of him, and sat back down, running his fingers through his greying hair, taking a deep breath.

            "Why me, Sir?" Remus asked with pleading eyes, trying to understand.

            "You're the best I could think of for the job," The Headmaster answered.  "The position has become difficult to fill, and I couldn't think of anyone else better suited than you to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

            Remus stared at Dumbledore still, half nervously and half warily.

            "Besides, you really need to start working again, Remus." Albus continued with a fatherly air.

            "I know... But it's been difficult with the new laws being passed by the Ministry..." he trailed off.

            "You would get to meet Harry, of course," Dumbledore said half vaguely, half bribing, staring at the ceiling.

            Remus glanced up suspiciously.

            "And this has nothing to do with Black?" Remus asked, his mouth fumbling over where the word 'Sirius' should have been.       

            "Of course not," the Headmaster replied innocently.

            Remus hesitated for a moment, and than nodded.

            "Splendid!" Dumbledore exclaimed, standing up and shaking Remus's hand. "Sure you won't have a lemon drop before you go?"

            Remus took one gratefully as he stood, and stepped out of the Headmaster's office.

            "Cheers, Headmaster." Remus said shakily as he popped the candy in his mouth.

            "Cheers, Remus," Dumbledore said softly, turning back to his window, hoping he had done the right thing.  After all, if there was anyone that could protect Harry from Sirius Black... it was Remus Lupin. Right?

                                                            *~~~~~~~~~~~~*

            Remus ended up having to take the train to Hogwarts.  Most of the teachers used a PortKey whenever they needed to go to and from the school, but since Remus had been hired so late of notice, there was no time, and having luggage, and no one to come help him, made it impossible to Floo while maintaining all his possessions.

            Remus stepped on the train, surprised at how nervous he felt.  Nearly as bad as the first time he had come, friendless and frightened. 

            He sat down in all too familiar car after getting all his things settled. Remus glanced around, seeing nearly no difference in the car from his days at Hogwarts.  He could practically see James and Sirius walking through the door...

            He shut his eyes out in both an attempt to block out unwanted painful memories, and in need of sleep.      

            Remus turned towards the window, deciding that rest would be the best way to pause the time.

            The train started to move suddenly, rolling down the tracks, when three students entered.

            Remus didn't open his eyes or stir, figuring they would leave him be.

            "Who d'you reckon he is?" Remus heard one of the voices, a boy, say.

            "Professor R.J. Lupin." a female voice answered immediately.

            Remus tried not to frown, not understanding how the girl knew him.  He hadn't been about London for a long while, probably since the girl was born.

            "How d'you know that?" the first voice asked again, just as confused as the 'sleeping' Remus.

            "It's on his case," the girl answered in calm voice.

            Remus was impressed, the girl was good.  Though he had forgotten that he had the whole battered thing with him.  Sirius had gotten it for him when he had first decided that he wanted to teach, though he wasn't about ready to tell anybody else that.

            "Wonder what he teaches?" the boy asked again.

            Remus was beginning to think that maybe there were only two people in the car.  Why had he thought that there were three when they had first entered?

            "That's obvious," the girl continued.  "There's only one vacancy, isn't there? Defense Against the Dark Arts."

            Again, Remus complimented the intelligent girl silently.

            "Well, I hope he's up to it," the boy spoke again, doubt in his voice  "He looks like one good hex would finish him off, doesn't he?  Anyway... What were you going to tell us?"

            'Do I really look that bad?' Remus questioned in his mind.  'Maybe I should have taken a bit of money to buy new robes...'

            Remus's ponderings were cut sharply off as a third, familiar voice filled the car.   He couldn't place exactly who it was though, until the third boy started telling his tale. 

            That Sirius Black was coming after him.

            Remus felt a lump grow in his throat, as he realized it was Harry.  James's son.  Good Gods, the boy sounded nearly exactly like what James had sounded like when he was younger!

            "Sirius Black escaped to come after you?  Oh, Harry... you'll have to be really, really careful.  Don't go looking for trouble, Harry-" the girl was speaking shakily now.

            Remus sat there, not reacting, realizing that Harry probably knew nothing of his parents.  If the boy had known... He would have recognized Remus's name upon entering.  He would have known why Sirius Black had been imprisoned, and the news of Black coming after Harry would have been no shock at all.

            "I don't go looking for trouble," Harry answered. "Trouble usually finds me."

            Remus vaguely wondered what other things could have happened to Harry over the past twelve years since he had left London, and felt a pang of guilt.  He should have come back sooner, came to see Harry...  But it was too late now. He could play no affectionate, parental figure in Harry's life now.

            "How thick would Harry have to be, to go looking for a nutter who wants to kill him?" the other boy questioned, fear eminent in his voice also.  "No one knows how he got out of Azkaban.  No one's ever done it before. And he was a top-security prisoner too."

            "But they'll catch him won't they?" the girl asked, sounding hopeful.  "I mean, they've got all the Muggles looking for him too..."

            'If they've got Muggles looking for him, it means they're no where near catching Black,' Remus thought tartly.

            The three suddenly turned their attention to a Sneakoscope that had gone off in Harry's trunk, and then their conversation turned to Hogsmeade.

            There was some commotion than, something that the boy was yelling at the girl about, but Remus couldn't find out what had happened without asking, which was something he didn't want to risk doing.

            After the cart with sweets came, there seemed to be an intrusion on Harry and his friends.

            "Well, look who it is,"  a drawling voice spoke, that Remus could have sworn was imitating Lucius Malfoy. "Potty and Weasel."

            There was laughter that sounded more like grunting.

            "I heard your father finally got his hands on some gold this summer, Weasley.  Did your mother die of shock?"

            'Weasley.' Remus noted that name. 

            There had been an Arthur Weasley at school around the same time as him.  He remembered reading in the Daily Prophet that Arthur had how many kids now... Nine?  There was one around Harry's age too... What was his name?  Remus strained his thoughts before the name came to him. Ronald.  That must be the other boy in the carriage.  Now who was the girl?

            "Who's that?" the drawling voice suddenly questioned, losing some of it's smugness.

            "New teacher," Harry stated coolly.  "What were you saying Malfoy?"

            'Malfoy!" Remus's mind yelled in surprise.  'Lucius went off and had kids to torture the next generation? God damn.'

             "I'm not going to take any crap from Malfoy this year." Ron was saying.  "I mean it.  If he makes one more crack about my family, I'm going to get hold of him and-"

            "Ron," the girl hissed. "be careful..."

            'Don't worry, girl,' Remus thought smugly.  'I'll teach Weasley there a few hexes to use on Malfoy if he's anything like his father. Damn, wait, I'm a teacher. I'm a teacher, I'm a teacher.  Teachers are good. Teachers don't kill students, even if they are Malfoys.'

            A bit more time passed without much event, in which Harry, Ron, and the girl continued to talk quietly. Suddenly however, the train stopped and the car was plunged into darkness.

            "What's going on?"

            "Ouch! Ron that was my foot!"        

            "D'you think we've broken down?"

            "Dunno..."

            "There's something moving out there, I think people are coming aboard."

            Remus frowned in the dark.

            The compartment suddenly slid open, startling Remus, who was careful not to make a sound.

            "Sorry-d'you know what's going on? -Ouch-Sorry-"

            "Hullo, Neville." Harry greeted the boy.

            "Harry? Is that you? What's happening?"

            "No idea- Sit down-"

            "I'm going to go and ask the driver what's going," the girl said, starting towards the door, and then there was a sudden thud.

            "Who's that?"

            "Who's that?"

            "Ginny?"

            "Hermione?"

            "What are you doing?"

            "I was looking for Ron-"

            "Come in and sit down-"

            "Not here! I'm here!"

            "Ouch!"

            Finally Remus could take it no longer.

            "Quiet!" he commanded, rummaging around for what he was looking for.  The flames came to life as he let them out of the jar they were contained in, hovering in his hands.

            "Stay where you are," he said to the group, his eyes not daring to linger on Harry, despite the fact the boy looked exactly like James, it was nearly maddening.    

            However, the door slid open before Remus had even touched, revealing one of his least favorite things in the world.  A dementor.

            He felt the cold plunge, and saw Harry suddenly fall over. Remus's brows knitted in concern, as he drew his wand out, challenging the dementor.

            "None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks.  Go." Remus commanded, knowing what the dementor was looking for of course.

            The thing didn't move, and behind him, Harry was shuddering. 

            Remus gave a sigh, annoyed.

            "Expecto Patronus!" Remus hissed, silver erupting out of his wand, and hurrying towards the dementor, which began to leave.

            Remus turned, stepping back towards Harry, where his two friends had gathered around him.

            "Is he all right?" Remus asked concerned.

            Hermione slapped Harry's face lightly, repeating his name, until his eyes opened.

            "W-what?" Harry asked shakily, his eyes roaming around the car.

            "Are you okay?" Ron asked, worried.

            "Yeah..." Harry answered, looking confused.  "What happened? Where's that-that thing? Who screamed?"

            Remus continued to stare at Harry for a moment, still amazed at how much he looked like James, but then turned back to his bag to retrieve the chocolate inside.

            "No one screamed," Ron answered, his voice starting to shake.

            "But I heard screaming," Harry insisted.

            Remus frowned, but broke the chocolate, cutting off the conversation.

            "Here." Remus said with a bit of a smile, handing it to Harry. "Eat it. It'll help."

            "What was that thing?" Harry questioned, his eyes fixing on Remus's face.

            "A dementor," Remus answered, handing out the pieces to the others.  "One of the dementors of Azkaban."

            Everyone was staring at him, so Remus lowered his gaze, putting the chocolate wrapper in his pocket.    

            "Eat," he finally repeated. "It'll help.  I need to speak with the driver, excuse me..."

                                                            *~~~~~~~*

            At this point of the story, Harry interrupted.

            "You were awake the entire time!" he said, looking clearly surprised.  "Why didn't you try to talk to us?"

            Remus rolled his eyes.

            "Harry, I was your teacher.  Come on, would you have accepted a new teacher in your circle of friends?"

            Harry shook his head, begrudgingly.

            "Still." he said, stubbornly  "You were awake the whole time, eavesdropping."

            Remus shrugged, but he was grinning.

            "I particularly liked the part where your friend Ron questioned if I was still alive," he said teasingly.

            "What did you ask when you went up to see the driver?" Harry questioned, looking suspicious. "Or did you fake that too?"

            Remus laughed a bit.

            "Never going to trust me again, are you?  Well... I did talk to the driver, but I mostly just went to collect myself.  The first time I see you, and you're fainted on the floor.  Not a great way to meet your best friend's son, if you get my drift." Remus answered with a nod.

            "All right," Harry agreed, motioning for Remus to continue. "When did you find out Snape was at the school then? And how did your first class go?"