Disclaimer: ::points at the author's name:: See? It doesn't say J.K. Rowling. Therefore the majority of these characters are not mine: they belong to Ms. Rowling and the fantastic world she has crafted for us.

Author's Note: Reunions are so sweet, aren't they? ::wicked laugh:: I do love some angst, and you can be prepared for a lot of it in this chapter. Read and review! Please! Boost my ego!

---

Maybe that wasn't the best idea, Remus thought wryly.

"God damn it, Lupin!" Ani shouted.

That stung. Since when was he such a stranger that she called him Lupin? The irritation that had caused him to petrify that tall, blond, imbecilic Muggle swelled once more. He had it coming, he longed to say. Who does he think he is, looking at you like he owns you? What were you thinking, Ani?

He knew better, however, and watched as she knelt by the man's side and touched his face worriedly. Remus felt a slight twinge of guilt that was instantly banished as she shot a scathing look into his face. "Was that really necessary?" she snapped. Her voice brought back ten thousand memories—he ignored them.

"If he was going to throw me back out in that storm, then yes, it was entirely necessary," Remus answered coolly. He took off his rain sodden cloak and sent it flying across the room to hang itself on a coat rack. "And it's nice to see you too, Ani." She clenched her teeth at the name and glared at him; he met her eyes steadily and for the first time in twelve years took in her face.

An unwelcome, tender sadness flooded him. She looked… God, she looked as fresh as a memory. She might have been plucked from time and preserved, she still looked so young. Her face had lost none of its glory and even her eyes, though traced with fine lines, were still bright and fierce. Seeing her, looking exactly as she had at twenty-one, Remus was more aware than ever of his own aging.

She pulled herself up to her full height—the top of her head was still only slightly higher than his shoulder. He could have lifted her over his head—that is, if she didn't look like she would throw off sparks like a cat if he touched her.

"Undo it," Ani demanded through clenched teeth. "I won't let him throw you out."

"Not yet," Remus replied, tucking his wand into the pocket of his jeans. "We need to talk." He glanced down at the Muggle—whose eyes were rolling furiously—and said, forcing his voice to stay casual, "He doesn't know you're a witch, does he? I take it he'll need his memory modified?"

"I don't care about his memory, I want you to unjinx him!" Ani retorted. "And what's so damn important that you have to show up in the middle of the bloody night, Lupin?"

He shrugged, feeling a bit foolish. "I'm sorry; it's morning in England. I had forgotten the time difference." Urgency started to nip at his heels. "Listen, Ani—"

"Lupin, I think that I have been fairly tolerant, seeing as how you just showed up after twelve years in the middle of the effing night… but I swear to God if you call me Ani one more time—"

Damn it. "Fine! Ani, Anne, Grand Duchess Hellsing, whatever the hell you're calling yourself these days," he flared, and for a moment Ani's face was bewildered. "I need to talk to you about something important—something I'd really rather not discuss in front of your boyfriend there—and we're rapidly losing time."

A look passed over her face that tempered his anger. "Is—is it about my parents?" she asked, color ebbing from her face.

Sighing, Remus shook his head. How was he supposed to do this? "No," he assured her, his anger depleted. "Last I heard they were fine. It's about—" He struggled. "Damn it. Can't we just go sit down?" They both glanced down at the Muggle. "He'll be fine, you know, I haven't hurt him or anything."

Ani sighed back. Finally, she looked as tired as he felt. "At least move him to a couch or something," she insisted. She stood and bent as though to lift him.

"I'll do it." He pulled out his wand once more and—swish and flick—raised the stiff body from the ground. Ani staggered back a step, then recovered and motioned silently into a dark, adjacent room. Remus guided the body towards the large couch, ignoring Ani's growl as the feet clipped a corner. None-too-gently he let the body fall onto the couch and turned back to Ani. She stood silhouetted in the doorframe—golden light caught on her sleep-tousled hair. He suddenly became very, very aware that she was wearing nothing more than an overlarge shirt. He forced his stomach to unknot. "Let's go sit you down somewhere."

"Just tell me," Ani demanded, but nevertheless she allowed him to guide her through the house. They entered the kitchen and Ani flipped on a light. She sat at a small oak table with slender, curved legs—Remus recognized it from her old flat.

Unwilling to bring up the bad news so soon, Remus looked around, trying not to appear too impressed. The cabin she was living in was huge—the kitchen was bigger than his current flat. The storm beat against huge windows, still howling beyond the walls. "So is this your place or the Muggle's?" he asked, attempting conversation. He glanced over at her. "What's his name, anyway?"

Ani said stiffly, "It's mine. And his name is Lucas. Stop calling him a Muggle."

Nerves and lack of sleep had frayed Remus' social skills. He laughed at the absurdness of the comment. "Why? That's what he is, isn't he?"

Her cheeks reddened. "If you're going to be obnoxious, you can just—"

"Sorry."

They were quiet for a moment. Ani cleared her throat—she seemed to be fighting to keep her temper under control as she slowly spoke.

"What's going on, Lupin? What are you doing here and how did you find me?"

"Dumbledore," he answered. "Dumbledore told me."

She slumped upon hearing their former headmaster's name. "I knew it," she said quietly. There was bitterness in her voice that ached; Remus could feel it in his bones. Then, almost to herself, she added, "Couldn't he just have left me alone?"

Uncertain, Remus stayed silent. Despite his anger at her (for he was angry at her, no sense in denying it… angry that she'd left, and angry that she seemed to have moved from devastation so easily) he couldn't bring himself to make this harder than it undoubtedly already was. So he waited until the weariness had somewhat faded from her face before he spoke.

"I know this isn't what you want to hear," he began, "but Ani—er, Anne, you've got to come back to England."

That caught her attention as very little else might have. She sat bolt upright once more and fixed wide and flashing eyes on his face. He braced himself for a tirade—she had some very good ones, as he recalled—and grew nervous when she spoke very, very softly.

"And why, may I ask, is that?" He opened his mouth, only to be cut off with a chuckle. "You'll excuse me if I find the situation a bit laughable. I just fail to see—if my parents are fine, as you said—what could possibly be so important that I need to return to the place I swore I'd never go back to after twelve years." She settled back in the chair, sardonic amusement written about her face. "So please, Lupin, enlighten me. What's happening across the pond that requires my presence?"

More than you know. More than you would ever want to know.

"Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban prison."

---

Soft hands were on her face and, for a moment, Ani Hellsing was drowning in a memory.

"Oh Ani, Ani, Ani," Sirius murmured in a voice hazy and thick with love. He tucked a curl behind her ear and tightened his arm around her bare waist, laying a lingering kiss against her forehead. His free hand traced over her face, committing the contours to memory. She felt as though she could burst into blossom. "Love, I couldn't dream you more exquisite."

"Ani…"

Oh, no. Don't wake me. Just let me stay here… let me be happy…

"Ani. Oh, damn it. Anne? Look at me. Open your eyes."

Lupin was talking to her. She pushed at the threads of blackness. The same light hands were patting her cheeks and a far-away, familiar scent permeated her haze. The werewolf still smelled the same—like subtle musk, earth, and sun-warmed pine. So odd that she'd remembered that after so many years.

Finally, as though after a long journey, she managed to push her eyelids open. Lupin had twisted her in the chair and was kneeling before her, his gentle hands touching her face. She looked at him for a brief moment and felt as though she'd finally seen him. Anxiety deepened the lines already present on his face. His cheeks were sunken, gaunt, almost malnourished. His hair, though still thick, now had shocks of silver that added decades to his appearance.

How hard had the past twelve years been for him that he could look like this? she whispered to herself.

A voice cracked in the air. The realization that it was hers brought her back to the world once more.

"You're lying."

Lupin settled back on his heels, relief and exasperation flooding his face. "I am not," he replied, sounding somewhat irritated. "Believe me, I greatly wish that were the case. But it's not."

Panic pounded through her system. Escaped. But that was impossible! No one had ever escaped from Azkaban—no one! Her head swam a bit and she leaned forward, elbows on her knees, cradling it.

Where was justice? Sirius Black was responsible for the death of the one woman she named friend. By rights he should be burning in hell. Without a second thought he had sacrificed Lily and James, he who had been his closest friend.

Black had innocent blood staining his hands. And now he was free. An old malevolence welled up within her again. Free. The word echoed throughout her skull, buzzing like a hoard of angry wasps. She could not believe it. What god would allow him to be free, free to destroy countless other lives? She herself had yet to recover and it had been twelve years. How many others would suffer?

She fought desperately to maintain her composure and finally settled for asking the only question she could form. "When?"

"About two days ago," Lupin answered. "They haven't seen him since."

The world spun—she must have blanched again because Lupin pitched forward to grip her shoulders. "Easy now," he said softly, gently easing her down to rest her head on her knees. She became vaguely aware of him pulling out his wand once more and then, an instant later, pressing a cold glass into one of her hands. "Take a drink," he instructed, helping her to sit up.

She gulped greedily and the icy water restored her a bit. Weary, she pressed the cold glass against one temple. A rivulet of condensate ran down her face, much in the path that a tear would. That's quite enough of that, she told herself firmly, setting her glass on the table. Now is not a time for weakness.

Banishing her steadily mounting panic, she schooled her voice to a cool, calm tone. "I don't see why this requires me to come back to England," she said tartly. "In fact, I think the safest course of action would be for me to stay here. Let Black run his rampage across the ocean; he doesn't know where I am. For all he knows, I could be dead."

Lupin was looking at her with an expression she could not read, and when he spoke, his voice had lost its bite and impatience. "Ani," he said, so softly that she had to strain to hear him. She did not bother to correct him. "Do you honestly think that Sirius wouldn't know whether or not you were dead? The same way you would know if he were dead?"

It was like being slapped. She stood so abruptly that the chair fell over behind her and walked away from the table, her back to him so he could not see her tears. They had sprung up without warning and now she could not make them stop. She hugged her arms close to her, her elbows digging into her sides. "I would know if he were dead," she whispered, unable to dam the words, "but I'm not so sure it goes the same way."

He was quiet for a moment: so quiet she almost thought he'd gone. Her heart pounded—she hadn't wanted him there, not for a minute… The memory of their last meeting stood stark and painful in her mind. He'd left her once before, and she would never be so foolish as to let anyone destroy her that way again. But if he'd left her again… I couldn't bear it.

She was about to turn, to see if he was really stilly there: perhaps this had all been a dream. But then she felt his hands touch her shoulders gingerly. She shuddered at the gentleness of his touch. He was so close she could feel his breath against her hair—her best friend, back as though from the dead. God, I've missed him, she thought suddenly.

"Ani," he said quietly, moving closer. She could feel his loneliness, palpable in the air, and felt it clutch at her own heart. It would be the most natural thing to turn, to step into his arms, to accept the comfort for which she had been desperate for these twelve, lonely years… Dear Remus, her oldest friend… They had both lost so much…

He left you, a traitorous voice whispered, just when you'd lost everyone else. He is not to be trusted.

She instinctively straightened. The voice was right. This could not happen. She would be strong.

"I can't come back to England, Lupin," she insisted in a voice she hardly recognized as her own. She pulled away and felt him wilt behind her. "It's simply impossible. I have a life here, one with which I am quite content." She was gathering steam, launching into lecture mode, ignoring the clenching of her heart—it used to be Lily who did the lecturing. "I am not afraid of Sirius Black. He won't find me, Lupin, he can't. Besides, I've nothing he wants."

"Listen to me," Lupin ordered. He circled her and came to a stop before her, forcing her to look up into his eyes. "You don't know what I know, Ani… It's dangerous for you to be here, alone, without protection. I'm not leaving you here if he does decide to come for you. Black is mad, if you'll recall… he'll find you, and then he'll destroy you. And on good conscience I cannot allow that."

A surge of indignation volcanoed inside of her. "I was forced to learn how to watch out for myself twelve years ago, Lupin: I do not need you to protect me!"

She had gone too far. Lupin did not meet her gaze for a long time, and when he did, his eyes were curiously shuttered. "I cannot," he began coolly, "make you fear for yourself; and if you do not want me to protect you, I cannot force you to accept. However, there is information to which you have not yet been exposed that I think will significantly change your mind."

A derisive laugh escaped her throat, fueled by her anger. The weakness had burned away. "You're wasting your breath, Lupin."

The werewolf's mouth grew taut as a harp string. "Fine," he spat. "If you're going to cower here and further abandon your godson, there's obviously nothing I can do." He spun on his heel and stalked back towards the front door.

A wrath such as she'd never known churned up inside her. How dare he bring up Harry?

Electricity spat and fizzled around her, as though she were the crux of the storm that raged without. Before she could stop it, the merest splinter of fury broke free and with a deafening thud, Lupin flew back through the kitchen and slammed into the paneled glass.

---

Bloody hell!

As the stars cleared from before his eyes, Remus drew in a long, shuddering breath. He cautiously drew himself up off the floor where he'd landed rather unceremoniously and moved his eyes onto Ani's face.

Rage swam around her like a crimson mist. Her hair coiled and swirled around her, spiraling with her fury. Her eyes—which had before been cold and screened against him—burned from behind her lashes, as though she'd like nothing better than to incinerate him. Scared though he was (he'd felt the power that had sent him hurtling across the room and had no doubts that, had such energy been focused, she might have killed him) Remus marveled at the change in her: power was surging off of her as visibly as if she'd been giving off light. She was glowing.

And she was furious. She stalked forward and put her palm flat on his chest. He could feel hot, unbridled hatred vibrating through her palm.

"Don't ever," she hissed through clenched teeth, "mention the boy's name in front of me again, do you understand me?"

Shocked wordless, he nodded his head.

"Good." She stepped away from him and turned her back. Remus watched for a moment as she clenched her arms around herself once more, physically forcing her anger down. He knew how enraged she had to have been to let herself explode that way—he also knew how scared she was by it. Even from where he stood he could see that she was trembling.

He knew he'd been cruel—Harry would be safe under Dumbledore's tutelage, and he, Remus, would be at Hogwarts as an added protection for the boy, as would be the dementors of Azkaban—and knew that an apology was necessary. But he could not bring himself to cross the few steps to Ani and speak the words. There was just too much damage.

She spoke first, instead.

"I want you to go," Ani said bleakly. The glow had gone from her; even her voice had gone grey. "Unjinx Lucas and leave. Leave his memory as it is. I'm not going back with you."

"And if Black comes for you?" he asked, his heart trembling but his voice calm.

She quietly laughed and there was no joy in the sound. "Let him come," Ani said, fatigue in the lines of her back. "He might as well finish the job. He took everything else."

"Ani…"

"Remus… please don't." She turned and looked at him squarely, resignation in her face. "Come see to Lucas, and then please leave me alone. I don't want to see you again."

The words were cold with finality. His chest felt empty. He had failed. Drained, all he could do was nod. Ani looked grimly satisfied and motioned for him to follow her back to the den, where the Muggle lay stiff as a board, only his eyes in motion.

Remus crossed the room and looked down into blue eyes full of hate; Ani lingered in the doorway. "I'm going to put you to sleep," he informed the man quietly. "You'll wake up in the morning and you'll remember everything. And then you'll let Ani explain everything to you without interruption. Understand?"

The blue eyes glared for a moment and finally blinked.

"Good." He unsheathed his wand and held it level over the Muggle's body. "Duermes."

He watched impassively as the other man's eyelids slowly drifted closed. Ani moved from behind him to a chest in the corner and pulled out a blanket. She walked over and draped it gently over the dreamer, tucking him in. Remus was instantly and irrationally jealous.

She straightened and met his eyes reluctantly. They were glossy with tears. An old pain ripped through him.

"Ani…" he tried.

"It was good to see you again, Remus," she lied perfunctorily. "Take care of yourself."

Defeated, he nodded. He took one last look at her face and resisted the urge to touch her mouth. He turned around and prepared to Apparate. He would not stay where he was not wanted.

"Remus?"

He turned around, unbidden hope rising in his chest. It thudded just as quickly as she closed her eyes against him. "Yes?" he asked tiredly.

"Nothing."

He nodded. There was nothing else he could do. He too closed his eyes.

Crack!

---

The house was instantly silent.

Ani opened her eyes. He was really gone. Remus Lupin had left her life for what would be the second and final time.

Behind her, Lucas was sleeping silently, his head full of dreams. She only wished it would last—tomorrow she would have to explain her midnight visitor and who she was before she called herself Anne.

Tears started to singe her eyes and her knees grew weak. Slowly she slid down to the floor, curling her spine and tucking her knees against her chest, fighting off the demons that had steadily begun to crowd into her mind.

And here you are again… alone.

A cry ripped its way from her chest and for the first time in a long time, Ani could not keep it inside.

---

In England the sun was shining. It seemed like a mockery.

Remus collapsed on his couch and summoned the biggest goblet his flat contained and a bottle of firewhiskey. Desperate for release he filled the glass to its brim and gulped it down equally as quickly.

It was over. In the span of a day he'd found and lost Ani Hellsing.

Idiot.

Remus closed his eyes. The chiding voice sounded remarkably like James'. Not much I can do, he answered it dully. She's made it plain that I can't convince her.

He could almost see James giving him a reproachful look. Come off it, Moony, the voice scolded. You're smarter than that.

I refuse to beg her to come back. If she wants to face the danger, fine.

Don't be daft. That's not you, Moony. You want to protect her, protect her. Don't just stand there and do nothing. She just needs convincing.

Remus laughed sharply. I think I've just proven that's impossible.

Only from you. What you need to do is find someone she'll listen to.

He sat bolt upright. Of course!

"I can't make her come back," he said aloud, pushing to his feet, dropping the goblet onto the table. "But no one said I had to do it by myself!"

He flew to his fireplace. There was one last place to visit before he lost hope. He only hoped it wasn't the biggest mistake he'd ever made.