Hunting The Traitor

by FairyTale

Would Harry's life have been better if he hadn't lived with the Dursleys? Seven year old Harry Potter's world collapses within the blink of an eye, and now it's up to Remus to hunt down the traitor responsible for it.

10. Turn Of The Tide

Okay, again this took longer than expected. My apologies. But it's the key-chapter. Well, at least I think it is, because now the shit has hit the fan and things start to go downhill. You'll see. Sorry that I kept you hanging on that cliffie, but I don't think you'll complain, because this is by far the longest chapter up to now. Nearly 17.000 words, twice as much as the last one. So I hope the wait was worth it.

A/N for the week (I don't know if I covered all the reviews, ff.net is doing weird things. Again.):

Mare: Keep on wondering. *g*

Nicky: I'll answer in English here because the others wouldn't be able to read the German reply (Hi Morgan *waves*^_^). Yes, I'm German, didn't you know? It's my favourite excuse for all the weird language mistakes I make. *g* I'm glad you like the flashbacks. And I can tell you without spoiling too much that the fact that Remus never told anybody about his friends becoming Animagi will turn up in the story again.

Why he never told (in canon) I can't tell exactly. Probably he thought that with James, and Peter dead and Sirius in Azkaban, it would never again be important. He'd never have to deal with any of them again. But Remus doesn't place shame above Harry's protection, it's just that he had never thought it possible that he'd ever encounter any of his pack mates again.

You're right, Moony doesn't understand the concept of treason, or at least he takes a lot longer to understand it than Remus himself does. That's why Moony has been excited about smelling his pack mate.

Concerning Sirius' role: there isn't just 'mad' or 'evil', just like there isn't just black or white. There are a lot of shades in between, but which one applies to Sirius, I can't yet tell.

Okay, I know by now that Janu

Kyra: Thank you. I always imagine that Remus' psyche cannot really be separated from the wolf, though it only surfaces once a month. You'll find out what happened to Remus (and Harry) in this chapter, though. But beware – it's getting darker. Fast.

Jenn: Thank you. I've been struggling a lot with the legal stuff in this story, and I am still deeply convinced that what I provided as an explanation has huge loopholes. But I hope it works out for the readers and doesn't seem too weird and convenient.

Starlette: Yes, Harry will get out of there. Mwhahahaha! It was not mentioned whether Sirius is after Remus alone or not. You'll see. And six years in Azkaban definitely confuse a prisoner, though I can't tell you how important that will be for the story. Just wait and see.

sarahpeach: I thought we had long cleared that I simply love writing cliffhangers? And come on – you already knew that part from the preview, so you knew it had to happen. But thanks that you like the chapter nevertheless. I'm glad you liked Remus' "interaction" with Moony, I always imagined his mind to be somewhat split in two.

You already said it, I can't tell you about Sirius' further role in the story. But to release you from pondering for hours, I'll also not give you a clue (I've noticed that some readers use them to deduct the further course of the story. And now that's something I don't want. *g*).

vmr: Thank you!

anaticulapraecantrix: Can't tell. Well, I could, but I won't.

Jakia: Thank you nevertheless. I'll try to be a better person, though I can't promise anything *g*.

Leandra: Thank you ever so much! I'm glad the flashback-present style seems to work out the way I wanted it to. But it won't be too long, I promise. See – it's already here!

Nagini: Now that you asked so politely for the next chapter – here it is. Don't like me? *sniff* that hurts. But no, I'm no sadist. Everything that happens here happens for plot reasons. Well, nearly everything. And if Harry is safe…well…read and see.

Amy Potter 13: Yes I can. I did. And it was fun to stop exactly there. *g* But I can't answer your questions now, you'll surely understand.

Silver Scale Serpent: I'll tell him as soon as I see him the next time. Could be a while, though. *g*

Sailor Sol: I can't tell you it's Peter just to make you feel better (or to not to make you angry) *hands Sailor Sol a handkerchief* But you'll not get to know who it was in this chapter, I'm afraid. It'll have to wait a little while longer.

Sk8reagle: Confusion is just what evil little FairyTale likes.

Aeryn Alexander: Thank you.

Moonlight: Here you go, that's all I can say.

tinytoonyloonyme: I'm the one who has to say thanks. I'll try not to take too much time between the updates.

MerlinHalliwell: Thank you.

elmtree: No, bigger climax. But not the climax of the story yet, that one will take at least two cliffies. Erm – explanations? As in 'explaining why things were done and who did them and why'? Hmmm…you'll see Janus guessing those things, does that count as an explanation?

Glad you liked the morning revenge. But yes, it's getting darker. I personally think that's not that much of a bad thing, glad you think the same. Thank you!

Bookworm2000: Why was it redundant? You really want to see Janus in pain, don't you? I can't understand why, he's such a lovable character. *hugs Janus tightly*

Naomi SilverWolf: Thank you!

A.Dee: Okay, I'll let you see:

1. Correct

2. Correct

3. *grins* I know.

BUT

1. hmmmmm…

2. but I do

Not the answers you wanted, are they? But glad you liked that chapter. Was the ending really that bad? Sorry.

Kathleen: *g*

thewalrus: What's mentioned in the summary hasn't happened yet, actually it happened at the end of the last chapter and continues in this one. So you didn't miss anything. Thanks a lot. I know it took me slightly longer to update this story, but now it should come more regularly.

padfoot1979: Now that is the big question. You all seem to reduce the choice to those two. I hope that in the end it'll all explain itself.

Darcel: Thank you. But I can't tell you yet, you'll have to wait and see. I'm glad you like the story, I actually wrote it because I've never seen that scenario, either. Thought it would be interesting.

PJinNH: Thank you ever so much. But what does 'thank you for penning it' mean? I don't know what 'penning' its.

Moonlight Snitch: Thank you. And here you go with the chapter, I promise upcoming Baby Harry. Much Baby Harry. Hope you'll like it. I'm so glad you like the flashback-style of the story, it'll continue though after this chapter the custody case is over. But there'll be more flashbacks, I promise.

Aurelia: To be honest, I had not really thought about you (consciously) when I named Aurelia Sanders. But it suits, and after all she is seemingly the only nice person in the Department of Family Regulations. But you're way behind girl, catch up! *g*

Morgan D.: Here you go. *leans back in chair with a sigh* Now I'm waiting.

That's it, now only the usual is left to say:

Enjoy!

Turn Of The Tide

Remus still could not believe everything that had happened after the last hearing in his custody case.

He and his family had returned home, that much he remembered, but the rest of that day seemed to have passed in a blur. All he could remember was one thought, three words that had not vanished from his mind ever since Fudge had closed the meeting. 'I've done it.'

And done it he had.

Professor Dumbledore had warned him that Fudge and the Ministry officials would take some time to thoroughly check the legality of Dumbledore's proposition, but his old headmaster had also promised him that they would not be able to find anything that could prevent them from granting Remus custody.

Six weeks had passed with no news from the Ministry. Six weeks during which Remus had been as jumpy and short-tempered as he had never been before in his entire life. He had been constantly walking the edge between extreme anticipation and a mood that closely resembled desperation. More than once he had lost his temper, and Janus or Richard had suffered under his outbursts. Looking back now, Remus wondered that they had never complained about it, not even Janus when Remus had once more made a scene in front of him and had attempted to shout him down.
Both men must have understood what those past weeks had felt like for Remus, nevertheless he made a mental note to apologize as soon as possible. Just in case. Janus could bear grudges for even longer than Snape did, Remus knew that.

Six weeks after the final hearing, a large barn owl had been flying towards his kitchen window while he had been sitting at the breakfast table together with his father. It had been a Ministry owl, Remus had realized this immediately after the bird had dropped the official looking envelope.

Much to his surprise, the owl had also delivered a package, but Remus had not noticed this at first.

He had held the envelope in his shaking hands, his gaze transfixed on it. This was it. The final answer, he would not get another chance for a custody claim, that much he knew. Either Dumbledore's arguments had eventually convinced the Minister, or…or it had all been in vain.

Remus didn't know for how long he had been staring at the envelope in his hands, but when he had eventually looked up he had found his father smiling encouragingly at him. Remus had just shaken his head.

"I can't do that. I can't open it up."

And with this, he had handed the envelope over to his father. Richard had lost no time in ripping the seal open and scanning the piece of parchment he had pulled out.

"Mr. Lupin,

concerning your petition for custody over Harry J. Potter we are to inform you that the Ministry of Magic, Department of Family Regulations has come to a decision.

In accordance to the custody law from March 21st 1407, the child's momentary legal guardians, Mr. and Mrs. Vernon and Petunia Dursley, have been interrogated. Both have stated that they are willing to refuse their right as legal guardians as the child's closest blood relatives, if the Ministry can provide the child with another guardian.

Due to the application of the custody law from March 21st 1407 and § 188 of the "Ministry Regulations Concerning the Dealings With Lycanthropes" from the year 1786, with Albus Dumbledore acting as your guarantor, we hereby inform you that you have been granted custody over the child Harry James Potter.

Due to your lycanthropy, the custody will be granted under certain restrictions. A complete list of the restrictions as well as the paperwork concerning the application of § 188 is enclosed in the delivery. Please note that any violation of the restrictions will lead to an immediate re-evaluation of the custody case.

A caseworker from the Department of Family Regulations will arrive at your house on October 21st to go through the needed preparations of the living arrangements with you.

The child has to be fetched at the home of his momentary guardians in the presence of a caseworker from the Department of Family Regulations, the respective date will be set on October 21st as well.

Sincerely,

Cornelius S. Fudge, Minister of Magic"

After Richard had finished reading out the letter, Remus had stared at him as if he had just read a passage in Greek. Of course he had heard the words his father had read out, and he had understood their meaning, but Remus had not dared to hope that this meant what he had thought it did.

Only when Richard had smiled at him, a long and genuine smile that had spread up into his green-brown eyes, Remus had dared to smile back. Remus had realized that he had not seen his father smile truly like that in ages.

"Remus, you've done it. You really have done it! In no time, you'll have Harry here with you."

Remus had only shaken his head, disbelief clearly visible on his features. Even when his father had gotten up from his chair and had given him a long hug, Remus had not seized shaking his head.

That day a week ago, it had taken him a couple of hours to fully understand that he had been finally granted what he had been fighting for so hard.

Realization had dawned later in the afternoon, when Richard had left him alone to go into town and do some shopping. Remus had gone upstairs into the room he had planned as Harry's room when the full impact of the morning's letter had hit him.

He had been standing in the still empty room, and suddenly he had realized that in a couple of days Harry would be living here. Harry would be living here in this room, would be living with him.

At that moment of realization, all the tension and despair of the last couple of months had flooded out of him.

He had still been sitting on the floor of Harry's room, crying his eyes out, when Richard had come back from town. At first his father had not understood, he had thought that something was wrong, and admittedly Remus had felt a little stupid. After all, what was the use in crying his eyes out if he actually felt rather like smiling, but he just couldn't help it.

The rest of the week since the letter had arrived had passed in a blur.

On Thursday, October 21st chief-caseworker Gwendolyn Smith had arrived at his house. It hadn't taken long for Remus to understand that she still had not forgiven him either his reluctance to give in and accept his non-existent chances for custody, or the problems that his repeated petitions had caused her. Remus was still undecided which it was.

But Smith had been in an exceptionally bad mood when she had been inspecting the house and checking the arrangements for Harry's arrival.

Remus had been quite thorough in his preparations, Harry's room was completely prepared and furnished by the time Smith paid her visit, but the chief caseworker had found things to complain about. Many things to complain about, in fact. The staircase had not been secured to protect a two and a half year old from falling down, the floo powder was not out of reach for the child, the fireplace was not secured and the entire kitchen had been declared as 'danger zone' by Smith. Not that Remus really cared. Her rants had been annoying, but it hadn't been in her power to deny him custody anymore. After all, her visit had had the reason to give him pieces of advice and help him to make the house secure for Harry's arrival, Remus couldn't care less about the mood she was in while doing so.

So Remus had kept his mouth shut and his temper at bay, had listened to Smith ranting and had heeded her words of advice. The stairs were now warded so that Harry couldn't fall down, the floo powder was secure out of reach, the fireplace was blocked and the kitchen was now child-proof.

Harry's room was finished, the wardrobe was filled with clothes Remus hoped would fit the child, there were books and toys to keep him occupied, but not enough to spoil him right from the start. Remus could wait for a couple of days before he began the real spoiling.

And right now he was standing in Little Whinging, Surrey, at the edge of the anti-apparition field around Nr. 4 Privet Drive, and waited for Gwendolyn Smith to arrive.

It was Saturday, October 23rd 1982, ten minutes past nine in the morning.

Today Remus would fetch Harry. Would bring him home. Once and for all.

And Smith was already ten minutes late.

Though Remus knew that she would eventually turn up, he was quickly running out of patience. Too long had he been fighting for this moment, too long had he been dreaming of how it would be like, how it would feel like to finally take Harry out of this poor excuse of a home and to a place where James' and Lily's son belonged. To a place in the wizarding world, to a home where he was loved.

Remus was scared out of his wits that raising a child was too big of a task for him.

He was terrified.

So terrified that he'd have preferred to turn around and apparate away before it was too late, but he had fought too hard to give up now. And with a sudden pop Smith apparated into the shelter of a bus stop next to where Remus was waiting, her appearance making all thoughts of flight vanish within an instant.

And the glare she gave him was reason enough for Remus not to mention the fact that she was late, he guessed it wouldn't be too good for his health to criticize Smith right now. If Remus had ever seen someone emotionally unstable, Smith was on top of the list at the moment.

The caseworker didn't say anything, she merely grunted something that could be regarded as a greeting, then she started to walk towards Privet Drive without another word.

Remus shook his head, then started to follow her. After all, he was not here to start a friendship with the caseworker, and with a little luck today would be their last encounter for quite some time. Though he'd be assigned a caseworker for the monthly and the irregular checkups, Remus doubted that it would be Smith. He only hoped it wouldn't be Nichols, either. With neither of them he even wanted to imagine having further dealings.

The two spent the short walk to Privet Drive in complete silence, then Smith climbed the front steps and knocked on the door. It took some moments until it was opened, in fact Remus already asked himself whether the Ministry had told he family that Harry would be fetched today.

After what seemed like hours, the door opened and a rather large man with a huge moustache stood in the doorframe. He eyes Smith and Remus with a distrust bordering on annoyance, and upon seeing their robes he frowned his forehead and his expression turned into one of barely hidden disgust.

"What do you want?"

His voice was harsh and extremely unwelcoming. Smith aimed one of her trademark glares at the man, who obviously was Vernon Dursley, and Remus was torn in two by the question which of the two he should pity.

"Ministry of Magic, Department of Family Regulations. My name is Gwendolyn Smith. We're here to fetch the child Harry Potter."

Vernon nodded grumpily.

"Ah, you're here for the boy. About time, I already thought you'd forget about him. Well, what are you waiting for? The sooner he and you are out of my house, the better for all of us."

Dursley opened the door a little wider and impatiently gestured Smith and Remus to come in. While Smith remained in the hall, Vernon showed Remus into the living room, where the werewolf had last seen his friends' child nearly a year ago.

Remus' heart was beating faster and his hands began to sweat in anticipation. What would Harry be like? How much had he grown? Could he already talk fluently? What kind of a child was he? Had he become more shy and withdrawn, or had he become the smart and lively little child Lily and James had expected him to be?

Maybe Harry had really gotten used to his family by now, maybe the child truly had only been disturbed by his parents' death when he had last seen him. What if Harry didn't want to leave anymore?

What if he didn't even recognize him?

All those thoughts, questions and doubts shot through Remus' mind while he was walking into the living room, waiting to see his godson again, hoping that he was doing the right thing.

Just like the last time, the first thing Remus saw when entering the room was the enormous figure of Harry's cousin, Dudley. Even more than last time it was unbelievable that mere weeks of age separated the two children, for a two and a half year old child the blonde kid was enormous. Huge. There really were no proper words for Remus to describe the size of this child.

But his attention was quickly distracted from Dudley anyway, when his eyes found the figure of another child that was sitting in the corner.

Remus had nearly overseen it, because the little kid made no movement of any kind, even when Remus approached him. Harry had grown since Remus' last visit, but he was still small and scrawny, too thin for his age. But that could also be deceiving looks, because the clothes Harry wore were too big for him. They could have suited Dudley, were it not for the fact that they were either torn on the joints or stained with something that suspiciously looked like chocolate and food of other origins that had not cleaned out in the laundry.

Harry didn't look up when Remus approached him, the only sign that the toddler realized the werewolf's presence in the room was the death–grip with which he suddenly clung to the stuffed lion in his hands.

Remus smiled. Harry still had Rory the lion, so Petunia had not dared to take away this toy from him. And maybe, maybe Harry even still remembered who had given him that plush animal. Maybe. He'd have to try to find out.

Crouching down in front of his godson, Remus took some shaky breaths and tried to keep his emotions in check. It would do no good to start crying now, not in front of Harry, not when he was about to take him with him.

"Harry?"

It didn't come out as firm as he had hoped it would, but it drew Harry's attention. And after all, that was what counted.

Green eyes looked into amber ones and Remus swallowed hard.

'Just like Lily's. He looks like a carbon copy of James, but his eyes are exactly like his mother's.'

Remus hands started to shake and he quickly forced himself to think about anything but Harry's parents and their deaths now. Not that it was easy, not with the last living reminder of them sitting in front of him, staring at him from those incredible green eyes.

The watery shine in his eyes betraying his emotions, Remus swallowed against the lump in his throat and forced himself to smile.

"Hiya Harry. Do you remember me?"

Harry didn't answer, he just kept on staring at him. Remus sighed. If this was already so difficult, how could it possibly go on from here?

Remus' eyes fell onto the stuffed lion Harry still held in a death grip in his hands. He held it so tightly that the knuckles on his small fists had turned white.

Remus stretched out his hand and tried to put it onto the lion, but Harry was too fast. With reflexes that would have honoured every seeker, he pulled the lion out of Remus' reach and scooted away from him.

'He doesn't recognize you. Of course he doesn't. What did you expect? A hug? Tears of joy? The child has not seen you for nearly a year, surely he has already forgotten you.'

But he had to try. After all, he'd take Harry with him today, and Remus definitely wanted to get off a good start with his godson.

Not taking his eyes from Harry, Remus got out of his crouch and instead knelt down next to Harry, who by now had buried his face in the mane of his beloved stuffed lion. The sight nearly broke Remus' heart. Harry had always been such a happy child, he had been so open with his family and their friends, the mere thought that Harry was now shying away from him made Remus want to punch the Dursleys into bloody pulps with his bare fists.

Moony was stirring, Remus felt it.

'Don't get angry now, Remus. Keep yourself in check, you don't want to scare the child even more.'

It was easier thought than done, but after some shaky breaths Remus felt he had enough grip on himself again to give it another try.

"Harry? Harry, it's alright, you don't need to be afraid. I won't hurt you."

The small face remained hidden behind the wide fur of the lion, but the grip Harry had on it lessened somewhat.

Stretching out his hand, Remus gently caressed the animal's fuzzy mane. It was obvious that during the past months, the lion had suffered under many similar 'attacks'.

"That's a nice tiger you have there."

Remus had to hide a grin when suddenly the lion was lowered and Harry's face appeared, a look of disapproval in his emerald eyes.

"It's a lion."

The first words Harry had spoken so far, and Remus was glad that at least this barrier seemed to have been overcome.

But quickly, as if he had just realized that he had done something wrong, Harry's eyes widened and he tried to crawl farther away from Remus. The werewolf frowned. Why did Harry seem scared all of a sudden? The only thing he had done had been correcting Remus' obvious mistake, exactly what he had wanted the child to do.

Did Harry think he was not allowed to talk back to him? That could not be, could it?

But then Remus remembered where Harry had lived for the past eleven months and it hit him. Of course Harry thought he was not allowed to talk back to an adult, trust those muggles to plant such a ridiculous idea in the child's head.

Remus shook his head, hardly noticeable. One way or another, he'd have to deal with it now.

Putting all efforts into what he hoped was an encouraging smile, Remus hit his forehead with his palm in a fake gesture of realization.

"You're right, how could I have confused that? It's got no black stripes, and it's got a huge mane, of course it's a lion. Thanks for telling me, Harry."

Harry just stared at him, obviously still not entirely sure what to make of him. Well, Remus had to keep on trying.

"Does the lion have a name?"

Not taking his eyes off Remus, Harry nodded. Remus smiled. Harry obviously wasn't very talkative. Well, he'd change that soon enough.

"Do you want to tell me its name?"

His eyes quickly darting through the room, as if to make sure that neither his aunt nor uncle were there, Harry gave his lion a quick, but very fond smile.

"Rory."

Remus felt the corners of his lips twitch upwards.

"That's a beautiful name."

There was silence for some moments, before Harry, his eyes still fixed on the lion, spoke again.

"Moony gave me."
Remus' heart skipped a beat. Harry remembered! He was sure that he was grinning like an idiot, but at the moment Remus couldn't have cared less. Harry remembered that he, that Remus, had given him the lion.

"I know. Moony gave you that lion and Moony promised that he'd come back and take you home with him. Do you remember, pup?"

Whether it was hearing the long-unused endearment or the memories he had evoked with this last sentence, Remus did not know, but Harry looked up at him and smiled shyly, his eyes lightening up a little in what Remus hoped was recognition.

"Moony?"

Barely audible, as if Harry was afraid that calling him by that name would anger Remus, Harry's voice trembled. Remus smiled down at the child, still struggling desperately to keep his own emotions in check, which was by no means an easy task at the moment. His heart ached when he tried to imagine what Harry had to feel right now, what he had felt like during the past eleven months. Remus wasn't sure what Harry had been told where his parents were and what had happened to them, but the child surely had realized that they were gone. Not only them, but also all the friends Harry had known from his very first year of childhood. Remus knew that his one single visit could not have helped Harry to cope with all that loss, promise to return or not.

Time was a concept that didn't hold much implication for children of Harry's age, and though Remus had promised to return it had taken him nearly a year to eventually do so. Surely Harry had thought he'd never come back at all.

Realizing that he had yet to answer to Harry's question, the way Harry had said it, it definitely had been a question, Remus kept his eyes fixed on the large emerald ones that were still watching him with the same nervous yet curious expression.

"Yes Harry, it's me. Moony. I'm sorry it took me so long to come back, but I just couldn't come earlier. There were some things that I needed to get out of the way first, and I didn't want to come again and give you false hopes in case it failed. I wanted to, I really did, but there simply wasn't a way for me to come earlier. I should have, but I just couldn't."

He was babbling, Remus realized. There was no way Harry could understand what he was talking about, but he just couldn't stop himself. It seemed as if all the tension he had thought vented off weeks ago still was there and needed to get out. This was it, this was the big thing. Today he'd take Harry home, now he only needed to explain it to the child.

"I missed you, pup."

Another shy smile was all Remus received as an answer, then the child quickly turned back to the task of petting Rory's mane and fur.

"I promised I'd take you home with me pup. Do you want to come?"

Harry's head snapped up.

"Home?"

His little brow frowned and Remus had to keep himself from sighing. He had confused Harry again.

"Yes Harry. Home, with me."

"But here's home."

Yes, Harry was confused. Again, his eyes darted across the room as if he expected Vernon or Petunia to come running into the room any minute, scolding him for even talking to Remus. Not that he could blame Harry, from all he guessed that was exactly the kind of treatment Harry was used to.

Slowly, Remus nodded.

"Yes, this has been home for you for the last year. But if you want, you can come and live with me."

"With you?"

Again, Remus nodded while he gave Harry some time to process this information, as far as his two and a half year old mind would allow.

"Uncle Vernon 'n Aunt Petuna?"

Remus smiled as he heard that Harry still had not managed to pronounce his aunt's name properly. Then he shook his head.

"They'll stay here with Dudley and you'll come with me. You'll live with Moony. Would that be okay?"

Remus didn't know what kind of answer he expected from the small child, after all Harry had not really known any other home than the one he had lived in since his parents had died. And surely he could not really imagine an abstract concept like 'living with Moony' and ponder if it would be better than living here.

And, as he had expected, Harry just stared ahead, frowning his little brow again, all the while nervously fidgeting with Rory's mane.

That was the moment Petunia Dursley chose to come running into the living room.

"Duddykins, my poor little Dudders, did the freaks hurt you?"

Hearing her frantic and worried calls, Remus turned around and got to his feet, just in time to see the tall blond woman fussing over the large toddler and lifting him out of the playpen into her arms.

Remus rose an eyebrow at the fact that she had actually managed to lift the enormous child up.

Due to her fretting, she had not yet realized Remus' presence in the room.

Lifting one of Dudley's two chins up with her left hand, she smiled and cooed at him. Remus thought he'd get physically sick if he had to keep on watching this for a longer time.

"Don't worry Duddykins, Mummy won't let the freaks get near you. They're just here to take the freak boy, and they'd better hurry. Then he won't annoy you anymore, there won't be no more of his abnormalities in our house. Did take them long enough, but no wonder. After all, who would want such an abnormal freak living in their house?

Do you hear me boy? Better get your ungrateful little butt out of my sight right now, before that, that woman out there changes her mind and leaves you. I'll be damned if I have to bear with you for another year. Hear me?"

With her last words, Petunia put Dudley down into his playpen and turned around to where she was suspecting Harry to be sitting, her expression furious and filled with disgust. But instead of facing a terrified small child, she found herself face to face with a pissed off, fully qualified wizard.

A strange feeling of déjà-vu overcame Petunia Dursley.

During Petunia's rant, it had cost Remus every last piece of self-control he had not to hex the woman right on the spot. If that was the way she had been treating Harry, then it was no small wonder that the boy was behaving like he did. Remus' jaw hardened, he was pressing his teeth so hard together that he could feel the first tingles of a headache starting to spread behind his forehead. His hands were balled to fists and his breathing was becoming harder and faster.

Petunia on the other hand seemed to have overcome her surprise at finding Remus with Harry quite quickly.

"Why are you still here?"

She demanded harshly. Remus tried to keep the threatening edge out of his voice, but only when he remembered that Harry was within earshot he managed to do so.

"You seem unable to wait for his departure. But don't worry, we'll be off soon."

"You'd better be. I wouldn't want you freaks anywhere near my baby if it isn't absolutely necessary. He's been here for long enough as it is."

With her last words, she made two steps into Harry's direction, and Remus was very surprised when suddenly he felt a small hand grab the sides of his trousers. Looking down, he found that Harry had gotten up from his spot next to the wall and now stood next to him, his large green eyes staring terrified up at his aunt while his left hand clung to Remus' leg as if it was his lifeline.

Remus put down his hand on Harry's head and stroke through the unruly hair in an attempt to reassure the boy. He shot Petunia his most dangerous glare, throwing all the wolf's anger he could muster into it. It had the desired effect – Petunia backed away a little, eying the pair of them suspiciously.

"Don't worry", Remus repeated, "we'll just get Harry's things and then we'll leave and you'll never have to see him again if you don't want to."

Petunia just raised her eyebrow.

"I should hope so, for I definitely don't want to ever see him or any of your…your kind here again. Ever!"

Remus felt rather than saw Harry flinch as Petunia's voice rose and became shriller and shriller with every word. He removed his hand out of Harry's hair and put it on the small child's shoulder, his surprise only growing when he felt Harry's little hand move away from his leg upwards to grab his own hand. Squeezing it gently, Remus looked down at Harry again.

"Ready to leave, pup?"

Burying his face in Rory's mane again, Harry nodded. Remus steered the child out of the living room, making an effort of staying as far away from Petunia as possible, and into the hall where Gwendolyn Smith was waiting for Harry and him. Harry's uncle, Remus noted, was standing next to the door, impatiently waiting for them to leave.

Smith looked at Remus, the question why it had taken him so long to fetch Harry lying unspoken in her gaze, then she shifted her eyes towards Harry and smiled. Remus realized that, even though her attitude towards him had been prejudiced right from the start and had not changed the slightest during the past months, her smile for Harry was warm and genuine. If that was the way she met all the children of the cases that went over her desk, then at least there was one single reason why she was in that job.

"We'd better be off, Mr. Lupin. Is there something else Harry needs to take with him?"

Remus thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Yes, there is the book I gave him last year. Other than that, I don't think there's anything."

Smith rummaged in her bag and pulled out the slightly battered copy of 'Donnie the Little Green Dragon'.

"This book? Mr. Dursley was so kind to hand it over to me while we were waiting."

Remus nodded and had to hide a smile. Judged from the steely tone of Smith's voice and from the venomous look she shot at Vernon, the time while he had been in the living room with Harry had not been spent with nice conversation between those two. No wonder, thinking of the Dursleys' attitude towards anything magical.

Remus quickly crouched down next to Harry again, still not letting go off his hand.

"Is there anything you want to take with you, Harry? Another book, a toy, a shirt, anything?"

Harry seemed to think for a moment, looked around the room and then shook his head.

"Nothing?"

Again, Harry shook his head.

"Alright then. Ready to go?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders and again buried his face in Rory's fur. Remus sighed and gently ruffled across his unruly black hair. He looked at Smith and nodded.

"Let's go then."

Smith took a watch out of the pocket of her robe and checked the time.

"The wards have been lowered five minutes ago. We can apparate anytime now."

They had agreed that taking a portkey might be too confusing for Harry, seeing that he had not been exposed to that kind of travel ever before. Though apparating might also confuse him to some extend, it was the fastest and least disorienting possibility they had been able to come up with, especially since both had agreed that arriving at Remus' house as quickly as possible might be the best solution.

Remus bent down and picked Harry up, noticing slightly startled that the child immediately stiffened in his arms.

"Harry, do you want to say goodbye to your aunt and uncle?"

Not taking his face out of Rory's fur, Harry mumbled a weak "bye". Remus realized that this was all they'd get out of him for the moment, and one look at Harry's relatives told him that they did not intend to say any words of parting at all. Remus shook his head and tightened his hold on Harry a little.

"Okay pup, we're going now. Don't be scared, we'll apparate."

Harry looked up, visibly confused. Remus smiled fondly.

"Don't worry, it's alright. It's magic."

Harry ducked as if someone had slapped him. Now it was Remus' turn to be confused. Surely the Dursleys had not told him…blast it, of course they had.

"Pup, magic exists. And it's nothing bad, you'll see. It can be a lot of fun and I promise I'll show you how. Now let's leave, alright?"

Again, Harry only shrugged his shoulders, and with a sigh Remus nodded at Smith. Making sure that she had put Harry's book back into her bag and once more securing his hold on the small body of his godson, Remus apparated away from Nr. 4, Privet Drive.

A moment later, the two adults and Harry reappeared in front of Remus' house near Highley.

Remus gently nudged Harry's face out of Rory's fur where he had once more buried it.

"Look pup, we're there."

The child looked up and immediately his eyes grew wide. He gave Remus a very puzzled look which made the older man smile widely.

"I told you, it's magic. Now Harry, this is your new home. Do you like it?"

Harry stared at the house in front of him with wide eyes and open-mouthed. Remus had to admit, it couldn't look more different from Nr. 4 Privet Drive at all. There were no immediate neighbours, the small town was a five to ten minute walk away. Also, nothing around the house resembled the tidy suburban order Harry had grown up in.

The two-storey house was painted in a light yellow, the shutters and window frames were dark red. Smoke was coming out of the chimney and rose up into the clear autumn sky.

From the front yard, the large garden behind the house could not be seen, but there were rather untidy herbal gardens on each side of the house, and some small trees and larger bushes in front.

From the outside, it didn't look like a wizarding house at all if one had no eye for the small details of it, for example the open windows in the attic through which Remus' owls could come and go as they pleased, or the occasional gnome that ripped out Remus' parsley.

"Now, let's get inside, shall we?"

Harry really wasn't a very talkative child, Remus once more realized. But he hoped that would be pastime behaviour very soon. He'd try everything he could to make that happen, that much he knew.

He opened the front door for Smith to enter, then followed her into the small hall.

Smith reached into her bag and pulled out Harry's copy of Donny the Dragon, then put it on the small table next to the door.

"I'll take my leave now, Mr. Lupin. Your caseworker will drop by on Sunday to see how the child has settled in. If anything happens, just contact out Department, we'll send somebody over then. Good bye Mr. Lupin, bye Harry."

"Thank you Mrs. Smith. And Good bye."

Harry gave the caseworker a small smile which she returned, then she left the house and closed the door behind her. Apparating right in front of Harry's eyes might be too much for the child to process right now, and it would take Professor Dumbledore until afternoon till he had put up the anti-apparition wards around the house. Or so he had said yesterday.

Remus sighed. All of a sudden, the house seemed so huge and silent.

He was alone with Harry, Remus all of a sudden realized. Richard was staying with Janus at the moment and would not show up until tomorrow, they had thought it better for Harry if he wasn't around too many stranger immediately. Though it had been a hard job to convince his father of it, Remus remembered with a smile. Richard's grandparenting urges had already kicked in, but Harry now definitely didn't need a complete stranger to fuss and coo over him.

With a shake of his head, Remus pulled himself back into the here and now and smiled down at Harry.

"Are you hungry?"

A small nod of the head. Remus smiled.

"Well, then let's make something to eat."

He put Harry back down on the floor and again took his small hand into his own, gently steering him towards the kitchen. He helped the child to climb into one of the kitchen chairs, then went to fetch some cushions for Harry to sit on. It would not be of any use if he could barely look above the table.

Once Harry was settled to his content, Remus opened the fridge and scanned its contents. It dawned him that he didn't know anything about Harry's eating preferences at all. Well, he'd have to find out.

"Harry, what do you want to eat?"

Harry once more shrugged his shoulders. Now, that wasn't very helpful at all.

"Hmm, we have cereal, or I could make you a sandwich, or some pancakes?"

Again, Harry only shrugged.

"Cereal?"

Harry quickly nodded. Too quickly, for Remus' liking.

"Sandwich?"
Again, Harry nodded. Remus sighed. This wasn't easy, not at all.

He pulled out a bottle of milk from the fridge and took two cups and the chocolate powder from the shelf, then settled himself on the table, opposite to Harry. The child was once more completely focussed on his stuffed lion.

Remus' heart wrenched once more at that sight. Harry shouldn't be so shy, shouldn't be so withdrawn. If things had gone differently, Harry would have had a brilliant childhood with parents who literally drowned him in their love, not some muggle-relatives who had despised him for something he couldn't help.

Remus poured the milk into the cups, added some chocolate powder and warmed the cocoa with a wave of his wand. This action made Harry look up immediately.

Remus pushed one of the cups over towards Harry, but the child didn't seem to realize.

"How?"

Remus smiled and indicated his wand.

"Magic, Harry. I'm a wizard, and so are you."

Harry just shook his head.

"There is no magic."

Remus sighed.

"You uncle told you that, didn't he?"

Harry nodded shyly.

"Harry, there is magic. Your uncle just didn't believe in it. Look."

Remus pulled today's copy of the Daily Prophet over from the counter and showed Harry the pictures on the front page. There was a report about Ludo Bangman, and a picture of his younger self in Quidditch robes was zooming in and out of the picture. Harry watched him in awe.

"They move."

Remus nodded.

"Yes, they're magical pictures."

Remus took his wand, and after a quick search in his mind for the right spell, he transfigured the paper into a picture frame. The paper vanished, and Ludo Bangman now zoomed in and out of the frame, waving at Harry every time he came into sight. Harry couldn't stop watching it, completely transfixed because he didn't understand what had just happened.

Remus gently ruffled his hair again and got up from his chair.

"Now about those sandwiches."

They ate their breakfast, and Harry was still all the while staring at the image of Ludo Bangman. At some point, he even shyly waved back at the man and stifled a laugh when Bangman flew loops as a response.

The initial ice had been broken a little, and Remus decided to thank Ludo Bangman for it, should he ever encounter the man.

After the belated breakfast, Remus once more took Harry's hand and steered him out of the kitchen again. The child gave him a quite confused look, which Remus returned with a smile.

"I'm going to show you your room now, okay?"

With a wave of his wand, he took down the 'childproof' wards on the stairs, then guided Harry upstairs. At the second door on the right, he stopped and opened it up.

It was hardly imaginable that the room had been nearly empty only a couple of weeks ago. A cupboard and a shelf lined one wall, the other was taken by two large windows and a small table in front of them. There was a small trunk which contained some toys and games for Harry, and also parchment and crayons. On the other side of the square room stood a child-sized bed with forest green covers that stood out against the yellow walls.

Nervously, Remus looked down at Harry. What if he didn't like his room? What if he didn't want to stay here, if he didn't want to live with him at all?

Harry stood in the doorframe as if he was rooted to the spot.

Concernedly, Remus crouched down next to Harry.

"What's wrong, pup? Don't you like it? We can change it if you don't like it."

Harry didn't answer, so Remus tried to gently pull him further into the room. Harry resisted.

"What is it, Harry? You can come in, it's your room."

Green eyes stared up at him in disbelief.

"My room?"

Remus nodded.

"Yes, your room. Come in."

Hesitantly, as if he was afraid that he'd get scolded for entering even despite Remus' statement that it was his room, Harry made a couple of steps into the room. He glanced up at Remus and, seemingly encouraged by his smile, tentatively made his way over to the window and sat down on the small chair next to the small table.

"My room?"

He asked it again as if he still couldn't believe it. Remus frowned. Surely Harry had had a room at the Dursleys', he could not imagine that Petunia had wanted him to share the bedroom with Dudley.

"Yes, it's your room, pup. All yours. There are some toys in the trunk, and also crayons if you want to paint something. What do you want to do?"

Harry looked up at Remus and nervously bit his lower lip. Remus realized that Harry was not to make a decision anytime soon, so he settled for suggestions.

"Do you want to read something with me?"

Harry's green eyes lit up and he nodded emphatically, but as Remus made his way over towards the few children's books on the shelf, Harry protested.

"No."

Remus turned around and was startled when he saw Harry flinch back from him. He quickly raised his hands in a calming gesture.

"Harry, I'm not going to be angry. Don't you want to read with me?"

"Yes, but…"

And suddenly, realization dawned.

"Ah, but not those books, right?"

Harry nodded.

"Do you want to read Donnie the Dragon?"

A huge smile spread across Harry's face and he nodded again.

"Alright, wait a minute. I'll be back with the book."

Remus quickly hurried down the stairs, grabbed the book from the small table where Smith had left it, and went upstairs again.

He found that Harry had not moved from his chair and was patiently waiting for him to return. Remus inwardly shook his head. The child should be searching the trunk for his toys, he should start making his room untidy, not sitting there like a ten year old in school.

When Harry saw the book, his eyes lit up even more.

Remus sat down on the edge of Harry's bed, one leg on the mattress and the other on the floor, and patted the spot next to him.

"Come here, Harry."
Again there was hesitancy in Harry's steps as he approached the bed, but when he realized that Remus really wanted him to sit down on it, he did. Remus shifted a little closer to the child, so that Harry would be able to see the pictures while Remus read the story, and then opened the book.

It looked as if the book had been read hundreds of times, but when Remus thought about it, he thought it was more probable that Harry had looked at the pictures than that Petunia or Vernon had read him the story. Well, he'd make up for that.

Carefully, Remus put his right arm loosely around Harry, who was snuggled into the pillow, Rory clutched tightly in his arms, his eyes fixed on the book.

"Comfortable?"

Harry nodded.

"Alright. Once upon a time, there was a little green Dragon named Donnie."

"Dragon Don", Harry piped up. Remus laughed.

"Yes, Dragon Don. Donnie lived with his Mum and Dad", here Remus indicated the picture of the little dragon with his parents, "and with many other dragon families in an old forest. But there was something different about Donnie. Donnie, the little green Dragon wanted to become a fire-fighter…"

Twenty minutes later, Remus tucked a sleeping Harry into a woollen blanket and pulled some lose strands of hair out of his eyes. Harry had slept in halfway through the book, Rory still clutched tightly in his arms, exhaustion of that exciting morning finally taking over. The book lay open next to him, on the page where Remus had left off. They could always finish it later.

With a last look and a smile at the sleeping form of his godson, Remus closed the door. He'd go downstairs and prepare something for lunch while Harry was sleeping, but before that he'd fire-call Janus and his father. He had to tell them that Harry had arrived and was settling in.

That Harry was home.

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

Claire was slightly startled when she arrived at the bookstore at half past eight and found the doors still closed. She was late, just as she had been about to leave the house, her mother had called through the fireplace. Though she had told her numerous times that she had to leave for work, her mother had ignored this and ranted on and on about the upcoming birthday party for her father. After she had been finally able to break the connection, she was already half an hour late.

There was a huge stack of ordered books bound to arrive that morning, and she and Remus had wanted to go through them and sort them into the shelves before the first morning rush of university students would arrive. After all, exams were only five weeks away. And Remus would not have the time to help her after the shop opened, he had an appointment with his former professor who was searching specific foreign literature on Defence. So she'd have to deal with the customers on her own until Martin would arrive around noon while the two of them would be in the back room, bending over large volumes of old catalogues and order forms.

They had to get the new books into the shelves, otherwise she'd be running to and fro between the storage and the shop for the entire morning.

And the fact that Remus wasn't there startled her even more as she contemplated this. With a frown on her face, she pulled out her own key and stepped into the store, locking the door behind her again to prevent possible early morning customers to come in before she was ready.

Maybe Remus had already been here and then had to leave again. She quickly checked the counter, the backroom and the storage rooms, but found no sign of her colleague. Neither had he left a note, which she was sure he would have if he had already been here.

She opened the window, looking out into the backyard whether there was an owl waiting for her, but the only birds to be seen were some sparrows hopping around the yard.

Claire frowned her forehead. This was strange. Remus had been really looking forward to meeting his old professor again, and normally she had to literally drag him out of the shop when new books arrived. It was so unlike Remus not to show up for work, he only did that if something was wrong with Harry. And even then he took time to at least send an owl.

A lump formed in her stomach as she contemplated the possible reasons for this. Something was not right, this was completely untypical behaviour for Remus. What if something had happened?

With quick steps, Claire returned into the backroom and lit a fire in the fireplace. She knew that she could not floo into Remus' house, apart from it being completely impolite to simply show up there without a warning, there were way too many protection charms and wards in between to protect Harry. But she could call him on the network.

She grabbed some powder from a jar above the mantelpiece and threw it into the flames.

"Remus Lupin's."

The flames flickered blue for a moment, signalling that the connection had been established.

"Remus? Remus, it's me, Claire. Remus, are you there?"

She waited for a moment, giving Remus time to come to the living room in case he had been upstairs. After a minute, she tried again.

"Remus, can you hear me? Remus? I'm getting worried here, are you at home?"

Still, nobody answered.

For some time more, Claire tried to reach Remus via his fireplace, getting more and more worried with every minute that passed. Remus obviously wasn't at home, but where could he be? He only lived a ten-minute walk from the store, even if he had left just as she had called him he should be here by now.

Claire ran a hand through her long brown hair, trying to think of what she could do. Where could Remus be if he was neither home nor here?

"Richard Lupin's."

Again, the flames flickered blue.

"Richard? Richard, here is Claire, are you at home?"
This time, it took only moments before the head of Remus' father appeared in the fireplace. Seeing who had called him, he smiled.

"Claire, good morning. What can I do for you, is there a problem at the store? Shall I come over?"
"Well, yes there is a problem. I was wondering whether you knew where Remus was."
Richard's smile immediately vanished and his forehead frowned.

"No, I don't know where he is. Why do you ask?"

"Well, when I came here fifteen minutes ago, the shop was still locked though I was already half an hour late. And I would have expected Remus to come here around half past seven latest, we've got a busy day in front of us."

"Maybe Harry is sick and he stayed home."

Claire shook her head.

"No, then he'd have send me an owl and surely he'd have asked Martin to come earlier. And he's not at home either, I've tried to reach him for minutes."

Now Richard looked downright worried. He too knew that this didn't sound like his son at all.

"That's strange indeed. Listen, I'll apparate over and then we'll check on him, okay? I'm sure nothing's wrong, but better be safe than sorry."

Claire nodded and broke the connection. After she had extinguished the fire, she left the shop and locked the door. Whoever wanted to purchase books this morning would have to wait until they were back.

With a low *pop*, Richard apparated next to her only moments after she had left the shop. The anti-apparition ward around Remus' house prevented him from apparating closer anyway.

Richard gave her a forced smile that could not entirely hide his concern.

"Good morning Claire. Shall we go?"

"Good morning again. Yes, I think we should."

They walked in silence for some moments, both not knowing exactly what to make of this strange morning. Richard finally broke the silence.

"When have you last seen Remus?"

"Yesterday afternoon when he left the shop. Janus had fetched Harry from school and had brought him over half an hour earlier, and before they went home he reminded me that today would become quite busy because of the large delivery and his appointment. It was nothing unusual, maybe he's been a bit restless all afternoon, but I guessed he was just excited to see his old professor again today."

She made a pause.

"It can't have anything to do with the full moon, can it?"

Richard shook his head.

"No, I don't think that. Full moon has been two weeks ago, that would be a first if his lycanthropy would affect him at a time like this."

Claire sighed and both continued their way towards the house. Nothing seemed unusual as they opened the garden door and stepped onto the front steps. Richard knocked and waited for a couple of moments, but when no reply came he tried to open the door on his own. He was more than surprised that it opened immediately.

Normally the door was locked during the night and when Remus wasn't at home. He looked at Claire and drew his wand. She mimicked his action, the leaden lump in her stomach growing bigger with every moment. Something was not right here, this wasn't like Remus at all.

"Stay behind me, okay?"

Claire nodded and they entered the house. The first thing they noticed was that despite the fact that everything looked normal, something definitely wasn't right. Claire wrinkled her nose. There was a horrible stench in the air, and knowing Remus' sensitive smelling sense, this was not normal.

"Do you smell that?"

Richard nodded.

"Dungbombs."

"What?"

"Dungbombs. Believe me, with two sons like Janus and Remus, let alone Remus' friends from school, I'd recognize that smell everywhere. I'm just wondering why Remus would set off dungbombs in his house."

They followed the biting stench towards its source, it seemed to come from the study. The door was slightly ajar, but Richard could not make out what was inside. With his hand, he gestured Claire silently to stay behind, then he opened the door and entered the room.

Claire saw him look around, then stop dead in his track. After a short moment of paralysis, he cursed loudly, stormed forward into the room and out of her sight. Claire quickly followed suit and she too stopped dead in her track when she took in the sight before her.

The room looked exactly like it had done when she had last seen it a couple of weeks ago. The books were neatly arranged in the shelves, except from two stacks that lay on Remus' desk amidst another stack of parchment. The chair in front of the desk and the two armchairs in front of the fireplace stood exactly where they usually stood. All in all, there was nothing unusual in the study.

That was, except from the slumped down figure that was lying in front of the fireplace, unmoving. Remus.

Richard bent over his son and frantically tried to get him awake.

"Remus? Remus, can you hear me? Come on Remus, wake up. What happened here?"

Claire made a tentative step forward, her voice nearly breaking.

"Is he…?"

Richard shook his head without looking up.

"No, he's still breathing. But he's unconscious and won't wake up. Come on Remus, wake up. Don't do this to me, you have to wake up."

He gently slapped his son's cheeks, then pulled his eyelids open and looked at his eyes.

Even on a closer look, Remus appeared to be unharmed to Claire. The only obvious sign that there was something wrong with him, apart from the fact that he was not conscious, was the dried blood on his lower lip. It looked nearly as if he had bitten through it.

Claire shook herself out of her momentary shock and turned around.

"I'm going to call a medi-wizard."

Again, Richard didn't look up from his son as he nodded. Claire ran into the living room, lightened a fire and contacted St. Mungo's. After she had given the receptionist the address and warned them about the anti-apparition field, she went back into the study again.

Richard was still bent over Remus, but it seemed that he had run out of ways to wake his son up. The discarded wand next to him told her that even 'Enervate' hat not worked on Remus. By now he had pulled Remus' head into his lap and pleaded him to wake up in a low voice.

"The medi-wizards should be here in a couple of minutes. I don't know how to take the wards down, so they'll have to walk the last part of the way. But they should be here soon. I just wonder why Harry hasn't woken up and found him."

Richard spun around and stared at Claire with wide eyes. Over the shock of finding his son like this, he had completely forgotten about Harry. Claire gestured him to stay where he was.

"I'll go and look after Harry. I don't think it would be wise for him to see Remus like this."
With this, she turned around and went back into the hall and up the stairs. She opened the door to Harry's room, expecting to see the boy still asleep in his bed. The sight that greeted her in Harry's bedroom was not what she had expected at all.

Even though the ground floor had appeared completely normal, Harry's room showed clear signs of a fight. Not that a seven year old boy could put up that much of a fight, but the blankets and pillows from his bed were strewn all around it and the bedside table had been knocked over. Also, one of the curtains had been ripped off and pulled across the room, just as if someone had grabbed it while being dragged away. Harry.

Claire felt sick. This could not be, could it? Harry had to be here, he could not have been taken away, not with all those wards and charms around the house. But then – those wards should have prevented anybody from coming into the house in the first place, but somebody had been here and attacked Remus.

Claire sank to her knees and looked under the bed, then opened the wardrobe and looked inside. No Harry. She checked all rooms on the upper floor, constantly calling out Harry's name and telling him that it was okay to come out of his hiding place, but received no answer. There was no trace of Harry anywhere here, not even in the attic.

Claire ran downstairs again, checking the kitchen, the storage and living room, but Harry was nowhere to be found. She looked into every cupboard which was big enough for the small boy to hide in, looked behind every curtain and even checked the garden and the garden shelter. No trace of Harry anywhere.

After long minutes of frantic search, Claire ran back into the house, nearly knocking one of the medi-wizards that had arrived in the meantime over on her way. Richard was still in the study, explaining the situation to the doctor that was bent over the still unmoving form of his son.

"Richard?"

The older wizard turned at the sound of her voice and looked at Claire with a questioning gaze. Seeing the look on her face, he immediately got to his feet and went over towards her.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't find Harry. I checked everywhere, but he's not here. And his room…"

She had no time to finish her sentence because Richard already bolted upstairs towards his grandson's room. When he entered the child's bedroom, his first thought was the same Claire had had. Somebody had dragged Harry out of here.

Richard sat down on Harry's bed and buried his face in his hands. What in Merlin's name had happened here? Where was Harry? How could they find him?

Suddenly, an idea struck him. If Harry was till somewhere near the house, despite everything Richard believed, there was a way to find out.

He grabbed a t-shirt from the chair near the bed, Harry must have put it there before going to bed the previous evening. He put the shirt on his outstretched palm, his wand above it and muttered an incarnation.

"What are you doing?"

Claire had entered the room without him realizing and stared at him in a puzzled way.

"Tracking charm. If Harry is still anywhere here, it should show us."

He repeated the incarnation, but still nothing happened. The wand didn't move to point in any direction at all. Richard sighed and buried his face in his hands again. Claire sat down next to him on the bed.

"What now?"

He only shook his head.

"I don't know. I guess I should go back down and ask the doctor about Remus. And then we need to alert the Ministry. Janus will know what to do."

With a sigh, he got up from the bed and together they left the room. Downstairs in the hall, Remus was floating on a stretcher while the medi-wizards prepared to leave.

"Mr. Lupin?"

Richard went over to the doctor that had examined Remus.

"What is wrong with my son?"

The doctor sighed.

"The way it looks now, he's been put under the Cruciatus Curse."

Claire involuntarily shivered. Who would do something like that? Richard had blanched visibly.

"How long?"

The doctor shrugged, but it was obvious that he was concerned.

"Quite long, from the look of it."

Richard closed his eyes and stretched out his hand to steady himself on the wall. He dreaded the answer to his next question, but he needed to know.

"Will he be…was it too long? Will he wake up? And if, will he be…will…what will the curse have done to him?"

The medi-wizard sighed.

"Mr. Lupin, I can't tell you anything precise without a further examination in the hospital. Normally, I'd say that it was too long, but with your son being a lycanthrope I really cannot say. I do not have experience enough with your son's condition to tell you something precise. We'll alert a specialist on lycanthropy at the hospital."

Richard nodded, too concerned about Remus to even realize that if Claire had not already known about Remus being a werewolf, the doctor would have spilled the secret at that moment. Under different circumstances, he would have given the man a piece of his mind about it, but at that moment, he hadn't even realized what the man had said.

Someone had put his youngest son under the Cruciatus. And that someone had held the curse long enough that it was possible…Richard didn't allow himself to finish that thought. He would not think about the possibility that Remus might lose his mind, that he might have gone insane because of that curse. It would only drive him mad as well.

He and Claire watched the medi-wizards leave the house and only after they had left Richard was able to bring his thoughts back into something that at least resembled an order.

The officials at St. Mungo's would report the incident to the Ministry as soon as they arrived, it was law that every use of an Unforgivable Curse had to be reported immediately, but he didn't want Janus to find out that way.

Slowly, as if he wasn't completely sure if he could trust his legs, Richard made his way over into the living room where the fire Claire had lit earlier was still burning.

Throwing some powder into the flames, he called up his son.

"Ministry of Magic, Department of Mysteries."

He was astonished as to how firm his voice sounded, but had no time to contemplate about this any longer because the head of an elderly woman appeared in the fireplace.

"Good Morning Sir, how can I help you?"

"I need to speak with Janus Lupin immediately."

The woman raised an eyebrow an looked at him with a piercing glare.

"I'm afraid that isn't possible. Do you want to leave a message for him?"
Richard sighed. Blasted Department of Mysteries and all the fuss they made about the Unspeakables.

"Listen, I don't have time to argue with you, I need to speak to Janus Lupin. It's important."

The woman made a face as if she was about to explain something to a small child for the umpteenth time.

"You can't speak with him now, but I'll tell him that you've called. What shall I tell Mr. Lupin who wanted to speak to him?"

Richard inwardly counted to ten, but realized that this didn't help to calm his anger one bit.

"Listen carefully, because I don't want to repeat myself. You will get me Janus Lupin in a fireplace right now, I know that he's not out on a mission. I'm his father, for Merlin's sake, and I wouldn't call if it wasn't an emergency. Now stop idly polishing your nails, get your ass out of your chair and connect me to my son, or I'll apparate over and show you what I think about your blasted 'Unspeakables are not available to common people' attitude. Did I make myself clear?"

Richard had not even realized that he had started shouting, but the secretary flinched as his voice grew louder with every word. She stared at him for a moment, then her head vanished from the fireplace.

Just as Richard was about to turn around to make his threat of apparating to the Ministry a fact, a voice from the fireplace told him to wait while he was connected.

He sighed and started pacing in front of the fireplace until, after maybe half a minute, the head of his oldest son appeared in the fireplace, a bemused smile playing around his lips.

"Dad? What's wrong? You disturbed Maggie quite a lot, I don't know if she was scared to death or willing to hex you into next year. What is this all about?"

When Janus saw the look in his father's eyes, his face fell and his own eyes grew wide.

"Dad? What has happened?"

"Janus, please come over to Remus' house immediately. I don't want to talk about it through the fireplace."

Janus thought for a moment, then nodded.

"I'll be there in a couple of minutes."

His head vanished and Richard fell backwards onto the sofa. Claire, who had been silent up to that point, sat down next to him and put a comforting arm around his shoulders. But as much as she wished to tell the older man that everything would be alright, she could not bring herself to tell him something that might turn out a complete lie. Remus might have been driven mad by the Cruciatus, and where Harry was only Merlin knew.

Claire was not oblivious to her surroundings, she knew that Harry was no ordinary child. His life was connected to You-Know-Who and his downfall, and if there were still Death Eaters out there, they would not want Harry to grow up in peace. But there had been no Death Eater activity, none at all, not since a year after You-Know-Who vanished. Why now? And who? Even if it wasn't a Death Eater who had abducted Harry, the child had been taken from his home by force, by someone with whom he had not willingly gone. And that meant that Harry was in danger.

Janus' voice from the hall made her look up.

"Dad?"

"In here."

Janus hurried into the living room, wand in hand as if he expected an attack at his entrance. As soon as he realized that no threat was present, he pocketed his wand and crouched down in front of his father, putting his hands on the older man's knees. Richard looked up.

"Dad, what happened? What's that smell? And where's Remus? And Harry?"

Richard sighed and put his head back in his neck, staring at the ceiling. Tears had started to form in his eyes, but he would not allow himself to break down and cry in front of his son. Not here, not now. After some short moments, he seemed to have collected his thoughts and looked back at his son.

"Remus didn't turn up at the bookstore this morning, and when Claire called me about it, we came here to check if everything was alright. He…Janus, somebody has been here last night. Somebody managed to get through all the wards and protection charms, put Remus under Cruciatus and took Harry."

Janus' eyes grew even wider and he gripped his father's knees tightly, as if they were all that kept him in balance.

"You're sure Harry is gone?"

Richard nodded.

"I performed a tracking charm. He's not anywhere near anymore. And his room looks as if someone had taken him against his will."
Tense moments of silence followed during which Richard tried to prepare himself for his son's next question. But he knew he couldn't.

"What about Remus? How long?"

Just as Richard when he had asked the doctor earlier on, Janus didn't need to elaborate what he was talking about any further. He too knew exactly what the consequences of being held under Cruciatus for too long could be. He maybe more than anybody else, he had seen more than his fair share of it during his years in the Department of Mysteries.

"The doctor said maybe too long. But he wasn't sure because of his lycanthropy."

Janus nodded and got up from his crouch. But instead of sitting down, he started pacing in front of the couch table.

Claire finally found her voice again and asked what had been on her mind for quite some time now.

"But who? I mean, who would be mad enough to risk getting caught while breaking through the wards of such a well-protected house, and who would want to do that to Remus and the child? Who would attack Remus in the middle of the night and then take away a defenceless seven year old child? Who would be mad enough to do that, and intelligent enough not to get caught in the act?"

Richard's face became an emotionless mask.

"I don't know. I just don't know."

Janus turned around and looked at his father. He had a very good idea who it could have been, but he couldn't tell his father about it. He just couldn't.

But if Janus could ever lay his hands on Sirius Black, nothing would be able to save that man.

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

Richard and Janus apparated into the waiting area of St. Mungo's a short while later. Claire had, reluctantly, agreed to go back to the shop and deal with the delivery and the customers during the day, as well as to tell Remus' former Professor that he was ill and therefore could not keep up their appointment. She had only agreed after Richard had promised to let her know immediately in case they got news on Remus' state.

None of the two men was too surprised to see Albus Dumbledore sitting on a chair in the far corner of the waiting area. Though they couldn't imagine how, the older wizard always seemed to know everything immediately.

When he saw Richard and Janus approaching he got up from his chair to greet the pair.

"Richard, Janus. I came as soon as I could."

Seeing their confused faces, Dumbledore realized that a little further elaboration would be right.

"The Ministry immediately informed me that something had happened at Remus' place. I guess they'll start questioning us about it anytime soon."

Richard nodded.

"Any news?"

Dumbledore shook his head and Richard dropped into a chair with a deep sigh. He really didn't want to think about whether no news was bad news or not. He was too afraid that the answer would be yes. He was quite glad when Janus put his focus on something else.

"Do you have any idea how somebody could have gotten around all those protection spells and wards, Professor? I can't imagine how."

Dumbledore sighed deeply.

"To be completely honest, neither can I. I don't think that those wards have flaws. Nobody could have apparated into the house, and in case somebody had tried to breach them, especially after dark, the alerts would have gone off. Not only in the house, but also in my office. But nothing happened last night. Also, nobody without the password could have flooed in.

So either Remus has let the attacker into the house, or they have gotten through the wards."

Janus thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"No. Those wards have no holes. I have checked and strengthened them, just like you and Remus himself have done. We'd have realized if there was any hole for somebody to get through. And there wasn't, I'm absolutely positive.

And neither can I imagine that Remus has invited somebody in, not after nightfall. The only persons he'd have let in would have been our Dad, me, my wife or Claire. No, I can't imagine that."

Dumbledore stared at the two others with a concerned frown.

"Maybe someone used Polyjuice and disguised themselves as one of you."
This time, Richard shook his head.

"No, you can't fool Remus that easily. Though full moon was as far away as possible, he'd have gone suspicious. His smelling sense is incredibly strong, he'd have at least smelled that something was not completely right."

Suddenly, Janus cocked his head and frowned. Richard looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"What is it, Janus?"

Janus shook his head.

"I was just wondering. That smell in Remus' house."

Richard nodded.

"Dungbombs, set off in the study."

"Yes, but that's strange. Remus can't stand having that smell around, and he'd never allow Harry to set them off. And even if the child did, he'd get rid of that smell immediately, because for him it's even more unbearable."

Dumbledore raised his hand.
"Wait. Somebody set off Dungbombs in Remus' study? The place where he was attacked?"
Both men nodded.

"And you're sure that it was neither Remus himself nor Harry? Maybe a prank?"

Richard shook his head.

"Absolutely. Remus once got really furious when he found a Dungbomb in Harry's room. I'm sure that the child never again thought about Dungbombs, let alone brought them home."

Dumbledore frowned his forehead and thought for a moment. A suspicion that had been growing in him increased steadily, but he needed to ask Remus about it.

"Maybe we should try to think who could have done it, and wonder about how it was done when we found Harry."

Richard just buried his head in his hands and rubbed his eyes. Suddenly, he felt very tired and old. He didn't need all this sorrow, not again. Janus put a comforting hand on his father's back, but Richard didn't even realize it.

Dumbledore just wanted to say something, but at that moment a nurse came into the waiting room.

"Are you here because of Remus Lupin?"

The three men nodded and got up.

"Dr. Waters is waiting for you, if you'd follow me, please."

The nurse led them out of the room, down a corridor and into an office near the end. She opened the door and gestured them to come in.

They entered a typical office in a hospital. A desk stood near the window, some chairs in front of it, and the rest of the space was taken by a rather large amount of medical instruments, reference books and physiognomy charts on the walls.

Richard distantly remembered Dr. Waters, the old wizard was a specialist in the field of lycanthropy and once or twice, he and his wife had visited him when Remus had still been very young.

Dr. Waters stood up and gestured the three men to take a seat.

"Hello Mr. Lupin, it's been a long time since we've last met."

He nodded his greetings at Dumbledore, whom he knew from various occasions, and Janus. The similarity between Janus and Richard immediately related them, so he didn't inquire his identity any further.

Richard didn't want to wait any longer.

"What about my son, Dr. Waters. What has happened to Remus?"

The elderly medi-wizard sighed.

"I've examined Remus very thoroughly and found the assumptions of his first examination confirmed. Somebody had held Remus under the Cruciatus Curse, and has done so for a very long time."

He glanced around the three men in front of him, his next question unspoken until Janus answered.

"We all know about his lycanthropy. I'm his brother, it would have been quite hard to hide it from me."

Dr. Waters nodded.

"Well, we can only evaluate the damage that has been caused by the curse when he wakes up, but I'm fairly convinced that he'll be alright within a week. Lycanthropes have an extreme physical and psychological stability against those kind of curses, they are able to distribute the damage a lot better because they are not entirely human. Though Remus was fairly lucky that he was attacked at this time of the month. Had it been close to or, even worse, shortly after the full moon, his lycanthropy would have exactly the reversed effect. But now, with his physical and mental condition not harmed or strained by the wolf's pull, he'll manage to cope with the effects of the curse without lasting damage."

Richard let out a breath he had not even known he'd been holding while Janus next to him sighed deeply. At least for once that blasted curse had proven good for Remus.

"Is he awake? Can I see him?"

Waters nodded.

"Yes, you can see him, though he is not awake yet. He might be sleeping for another couple of hours, but you can stay with him if you want to. I'll show you his room."

The three men got up and followed Dr. Waters out of his office, down a variety of corridors until they reached a secluded corridor. Waters gave Richard an apologetic glance as they went through the glass door that separated the so called 'lycanthropy unit'.

"The Ministry insists that lycanthropes are separated from the other patients. Though I have to admit that it's necessary as well as useful at full moon."

He stopped in front of the second door to the right.

"This is your son's room. You might stay with him as long as you like, if you want to stay overnight just tell one of the nurses, they will arrange a place to sleep for you."

He shook their hands and left them. Richard already wanted to open the door, but Dumbledore held him back.

"Richard, I'll take my leave as well. Inform me as soon as Remus wakes up, I'd like to talk to him before the Ministry starts upsetting things."

Richard nodded and Dumbledore too left them. With a deep breath, Richard opened the door and he and Janus entered Remus' room.

There was only one bed in it, next to the window. Remus was lying in it, blankets drawn up to his chest and his head fallen to the side. He was still sleeping.

Richard immediately walked to his side while Janus pulled up another chair for himself. Had it not been for the clinical environment, Remus could have been peacefully sleeping in his bed. They both sat down and Richard took one of Remus' hands in his.

Hours passed during which Janus and Richard silently sat beside Remus' bed and watched him sleep. Inwardly, Richard was thinking over and over again for a way to tell his son what had happened to Harry. But he knew perfectly well that no matter what way he chose to break the news, it would upset Remus greatly. He loved Harry like a son, no matter that there were no blood ties existing between them. Remus would be positively petrified and devastated by the news that his beloved godson had vanished without a trace.

Both men nearly jumped in shock when suddenly a voice addressed them from behind.

"Mr. Lupin?"

Richard and Janus turned around and saw that a nurse had quietly entered Remus' room.

"Sorry to disturb you, but there are Ministry officials out there who want to speak to Mr. Richard Lupin. I told them that you were with your son, but they said the matter was urgent."

Richard nodded and got up with a sigh. Of course they thought their matter was more urgent than anything else. This was the Ministry of Magic, after all.

"Ill try to make it as short as possible, Janus. Call me if anything changes."

His son nodded and Richard left the room.

Janus got up from his chair and stretched his aching back. Four hours in a hospital chair and he already felt as if he was getting rheumatic. They were making them uncomfortable on purpose, he suspected.

After the pain had subsided a little, he went over to the large window and looked outside. Remus' room was facing into the backyard of St. Mungo's, but Janus didn't really pay any attention to the constant activity three floors below. His gaze unfocussed and his thoughts drifted off to what might have happened last night.

He was sure that the wards protecting Remus' house would have never allowed anybody to enter it without Remus' explicit permission. If somebody had tried to breach them, had only set lose a weak curse into the direction of the wards' sources, several alarms would have gone off, and there had been no sign indicating that this had happened.

It was no surprise that somebody had been able to leave with Harry without disturbing the wards, they were set up to hinder people from entering, not from leaving. So the question was not how Harry had been taken away, but how the attacker had come into the house.

The only answer Janus could think of was that Remus had let the perpetrator in, that it had been someone Remus didn't consider to be a threat. It couldn't have been Harry, the boy knew that he wasn't allowed to let somebody enter the house without asking for Remus' consent.

Maybe they had flooed in?

Janus sighed. No, that was not a possibility either. The fireplace was password-guarded, and Remus changed the password everyday. Sometimes even Janus or their father didn't know the momentary password and had to wait for Remus to let them in. The 'Paris Panthers incident' was still vividly in Janus' mind.

'Think Janus, think. Somewhere there's the loophole, there must be something you haven't considered yet.'

Janus had started pacing in front of Remus' bed without even realizing it. Maybe he was looking at things from the wrong angle. Okay, what else had been strange?

Harry's room had looked as if the boy had tried to put up a fight. So, even if Remus had let in somebody he knew, Harry had not wanted to leave with the person.

There had been no signs of a fight in the study. Maybe Remus had known the person, or maybe he had been taken by surprise.

The dungbombs. Another piece that didn't seem to fit in the puzzle. Neither Remus nor Harry would set off dungbombs in the house, Remus smelling sense was far too sensitive for that. But why would somebody whose intention was to hurt Remus and take Harry set off dungbombs in the process?

Then something clicked.

Something about the dungbombs.

Something Richard had said earlier to Dumbledore.

Something about Polyjuice.

Of course.

Richard had explained to Dumbledore that Remus would have grown suspicious even if the attacker had disguised himself with Polyjuice, because Remus would have realized that the smell did not fit with the disguise.

Why would somebody set off dungbombs in the house? Assuming that the attacker had known about Remus' lycanthropy and his heightened senses, he would have tried to cover up any traces of himself in the house, just in case that Remus recovered from the curse.

So the attacker had to be somebody Remus knew, somebody whose smell he would immediately recognize.

Sirius Black.

Janus sighed. He didn't know more than before, but at least is somehow made sense now. The only question that still remained was how that maniac had managed to get into a house that had nearly as many wards and charms around as Hogwarts.

Ever since Black had escaped from Azkaban, the Department of Mysteries had been in a state of constant alert and panic. Many people feared him because they believed all those rumours about his ability in the Dark Arts. Janus didn't.

Oh, he had no doubt that Black was deranged and dangerous, but he didn't believe him to be the world's most capable Dark Wizard. From all that he knew about Black, from the few times he had met him, he knew that he was a capable and powerful wizard, but not beyond the level many other skilled wizards were able to achieve.

But Black was highly intelligent, clever and cunning. He was a fast learner, and no doubt he had learned his fair share of Dark Magic in the ranks of the Death Eaters. It was this combination that made him dangerous, not the silly belief that he was capable of doing practically anything. Really, some of the stories he had heard during the last couple of days…

Janus by now had stopped pacing and stood again at the window, his hands balled to fists on the windowsill, and stared outside. Somewhere out there was Black, and he had Harry. Had he already delivered the boy into the hands of the other Death Eaters? What were they trying to do with him? Bring Voldemort back? Was Harry still alive? Where was he?

"How does your twisted mind work, Black? Where did you take the boy?"

"Janus?"

Startled, Janus spun around. He hadn't even realized that he had uttered those last words aloud, but Remus seemed to have woken up at hearing his voice. Janus sat back into the chair and forced himself to smile at his younger brother.

"Good to see you awake again. How are feeling?"

Remus seemed to contemplate that question for some moments and Janus realized that he still had to be feeling very weak. His face was abnormally pale and his lower lip was still swollen, though the doctors had mended the cut. Remus too seemed to realize this because he started to run his tongue along his lip and his eyes narrowed in confusion.

"Alright, I think. Somewhat sore and tired. Janus, what happened?"

Janus sighed and unconsciously looked at the door. He wished his father was here to explain the situation. Truly, he and Remus had gotten closer throughout the last couple of years, but there was still a strain in their relationship that had its origins many years in the past. And though they got along quite well by now, they still walked on thin ice emotionally.

"Janus, what happened? Where am I?"

Janus realized that he would have to get through with it alone.

"You're in St. Mungo's. Remus, what do you remember of yesterday evening?"

Remus frowned in confusion and thought for a moment.

"You brought Harry into the store, and some time later we went home. Maybe half an hour. I made dinner, looked over Harry's homework and then put him to bed. Then I went downstairs again and tried to get some work done, to leaf through some catalogues for my meeting with Professor Reynolds today."

Suddenly he sat bolt upright.

"Oh my, the meeting! Professor Reynolds! And I promised to help Claire with the delivery!"

Janus put a calming hand onto Remus' shoulder and pressed his brother back into the mattress.

"We've taken care of that. What else do you remember?"

Remus thought again, growing more and more confused.

"Nothing really. I…I think I made myself some tea and went back into the living room, but then…nothing."

He looked up, confusion and a slight hinge of panic in his eyes.

"Janus, what in Merlin's name happened last night? And where is Harry? Is Harry alright? Janus?"

Janus sighed an rubbed his eyes with the balls of his hands. Suddenly, he felt very tired.

"Remus, somebody attacked you last night. Somebody got through the wards without triggering the alarms and then put you under Cruciatus in the study. That's where Dad and Claire found you this morning after you didn't show up for work.

Whoever did that held the curse for long. The doctors…they weren't sure if…gosh, Remus we were afraid that it had been too long…"

Janus' voice broke and he bent his head, gripping his hair in his hands in a gesture of frustration. He knew that he hadn't answered Remus' question and he dreaded the moment that he would, but he also knew that there was no way he could get out of this.

"Janus, where is Harry? Is he alright?"

Summoning the last piece of courage, Janus looked up and straight into his brother's eyes.

"Remus, Harry is gone. Whoever attacked you took Harry with them, and we don't know where he is."

Remus' eyes widened as realization dawned. Again, he jumped up into a sitting position.

"What do you mean he is gone? Where is he? Is he alright?"

"Remus, we don't know. Harry wasn't in the house when we got there, and every tracking charm we tried showed no trace of him. He's been taken away."

With a speed far to fast for Janus to react, Remus had gotten out his bed. Not caring that he didn't wear anything except a pair of boxer shorts, he started pacing up and down.

"What do you mean you don't know? He has to be somewhere. There has to be a simple explanation for this, there simply has to be. Maybe you just didn't look close enough."

He went over towards the cupboard and ripped it open in haste.

"Where are my clothes? I have to get back home, I'm sure he is still somewhere around. He's good at hiding, you know? You just haven't looked close enough, it's impossible that somebody has taken Harry away from the house. I was there, I would have done something to prevent that. He's still there Janus, I'll find him."

Remus was just about to pull on his shirt when he felt strong hands gripping him around the waist from behind and dragging him back towards the bed. He struggled against Janus' hold on his body.

"No, let me go, I have to look for Harry! Janus, you don't understand…"

Janus winced when one of Remus' elbows hit him square across the jaw, but he didn't release his hold on his brother. Blasted werewolf strength.

After some minutes of struggle he finally had Remus seated on the bed again and loosened his grip on him a little. Taking the shirt out of Remus' hand, he forced his brother to look him in the eye.

"Look at me Remus. We don't know how, but Harry is gone. He's nowhere in or around the house, we've checked everything at least twice. I know that it's hard, but that's a fact. It's important now that you don't lose your head, alright? Harry needs you now. If you want to help him, you've got to remain calm, okay?"

Remus shook his head but he seized struggling against Janus' hold on him.

"But how? How could somebody get into the house? And why didn't I realize it? Why don't I even remember it?"

Janus just shook his head.

"I honestly don't know Remus. I just don't know. The strangest thing is that the last thing you remember is being in the living room, but you were found in the study. Think again Remus, try to remember what happened after you went into the living room."

Remus just stared unfocusedly ahead.

"Remus?"

No reaction.
"Remus, please talk to me."

"The Ministry was right."

"What?"

Janus didn't really know what to make of that comment.

"I couldn't protect him. He was taken from straight under my nose and I couldn't prevent it. They've been right all along, I couldn't protect Harry. And now he's gone, Merlin knows where and it's all my fault. It was my task to protect him and I failed."

And then Remus broke down. With a loud sob he started crying, burying his head in his hands.

At first, Janus didn't know how to react, but after some moments he awkwardly pulled his brother into an embrace and let him cry on his shoulder. This was not like comforting a small child like his daughter or Harry, and neither was it like comforting his wife.

He had never seen Remus let his guard down like this. Normally, his little brother had his emotions under a very strict control and didn't allow himself to break down like that, and Janus didn't really know how to react to this new development.

"Listen, it's not been your fault, okay? I know that you would have done everything in your power to prevent this. You would do anything for Harry, no matter at what personal risk. Nobody blames you, understand?"

He got no reaction out of Remus, so he rubbed his back in what he hoped was a calming gesture. At least it always helped with Julia.

"Shhh, it'll be alright. We'll do anything we can, but you need to calm down. You still need rest, and maybe we'll already know more tomorrow morning, okay? I'll fetch the nurse to give you something to calm down, and then you, I, Dumbledore and Dad will talk it all through. We'll find out what happened, alright? We'll find Harry."

He lowered the now silently crying Remus back onto the mattress and pulled the blanket back over his body. Their eyes met for a moment and Janus inwardly flinched as he saw the pained expression on his brother's face. Remus raised one of his hands towards the spot where his elbow had connected with Janus' jaw.

"Sorry about that."

Janus absent-mindly rubbed his chin and shook his head.

"It's alright, nothing that a quick spell can't heal."

Remus let his hand fall back onto the mattress and stared out of the window.

"I just want him back, Janus. I just want him to be safe."

Janus nodded and pushed away some strands of hair from Remus' face.

"We'll do everything we can to get him back. I promise."

As he turned around to call his father and a nurse, only one thought was on his mind.

Black would pay for this, and he would pay bitterly.