PART 4

The distraction process was helped by the appearance of food and the casual conversation that sprung forth from the adults.

"I'm too old for this," Minerva commented as she settled herself on the grass.

"Ha! Tell that to Alastor!" Remus said with conviction.

"And why, pray tell, would I do that?" she asked as she began dividing up sandwiches.

"Oh – Molly and I were talking about the fact that rather than the 'older' group in the Order and the 'younger' group that we had last time round, that there was an additional 'middle' age group of people well… like us."

"OK," she said slowly, as if she were still not entirely sure what he was getting at.

"Well we were giving Alastor examples of the members who would belong where. So – the young ones were Tonks and the Weasley boys, then there was Severus and myself and of course Arthur and Molly in the non-descript. Then we suggested Alastor himself along with you and Albus for the final group." As far as Harry could see Minerva herself had no great objection to this – or at least wasn't surprised by it. "Well, Alastor objected to you being grouped with 'the old men' as he put it. I believe the phrase used was 'She's still a spring chicken!'"

"Oh – for Merlin's sake! Anyone would think I was young enough to be his daughter. I'm what? – 8 years his junior?"

"I heard Poppy come out with a classic after you were transferred to St Mungo's – 'and at her age too!' - when as far as I recall she's a good few years older than you are," Severus added.

"Indeed. However, if we've all finished discussing my age (relative or otherwise) we should probably get going." They finished up quickly and Remus and Severus took their leftovers back to the car for afternoon snacking. Harry offered Minerva a hand up, which she accepted gratefully and he noted that she almost managed to conceal her grimace as she straightened up.

Having decided to avoid returning to the main road from which they had come, a road map was produced and they set off on the B roads.

"Speaking of Alastor, Minerva," Severus began after a few minutes.

"Yes?" she asked, her voice holding a note of trepidation.

"Albus showed me a rather unlikely picture of the two of you." She looked a little shocked at this though. "The one from the 1940's – you're both in muggle uniform…"

"I haven't seen that in years," she said to no-one in particular. "Why he felt the need to show you that I have no idea."

"He was recounting some of your exploits during the war."

"Hah. My exploits were fairly limited. Alastor flew with the Airforce though."

"What did you do?" Harry asked, intrigued by the idea of his teacher having participated in the muggle war.

"I worked back at the base – tracking the planes and the like mostly. It's amazing how much easier it is to do with a spot of magic. I did a stint at Bletchley Park too."

"Cool," Harry said which seemed to amuse her.

"It's not often 'cool' is used in connection with me," she pointed out.

"I don't know – I remember discussing how 'cool' our Head of House was," Remus countered from the passenger seat.

"Probably right after she had failed to expel you for almost killing another student," Snape retorted instantly. The change in atmosphere was palpable as the reference just made seemed to echo around the small space. For the briefest moment he saw the Head of Gryffindor's mask flicker, saw how deep the blow fell before she covered it once again.

"Take that back," Lupin ground out. "You know she tried bloody hard to get him expelled! And in all honesty he would have deserved it," he added quietly. There was an extended silence and Harry was on the verge of giving up expecting an answer when Snape spoke again.

"Perhaps," he began, "I should learn to curb my tongue on occasion." His quiet words seemed to have a profound affect. "Believe it or not, I have accepted that you were not to blame Lupin though… though I would be lying if I said that the thought of the wolf… well that it did not disturb me. I am also well aware of what Minerva's position was and although I do not agree with the Headmaster's choice I do understand a little of where he was coming from in allowing him to remain at the school." Minerva leaned forward and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. Harry turned in his seat and continued to stare out the window at the rolling country they were still passing through, trying to make scene of what it was he was feeling.

Over the past few months, since he had witnessed that scene in the pensive, he had been working so hard to deny what it was that seemed so unreal. The way his father and Sirius had acted… it was all well and good saying they were young and foolish but in all honesty they had been older than he was now and he certainly didn't think that that was an acceptable excuse. It wasn't that he didn't know what it was like to clash with someone in another house, but from what he had seen the young Snape was more than a little different from the current Slytherin prince. If their behaviour was reminiscent of anything it was of Malfoy picking on Neville. He had loved Sirius, and he still did really, but knowing that he had taken advantage of Remus's condition so totally without a thought to the consequences for the Werewolf … it changed things.

"I think," his head of House began, "that it would be fair to say that we've all done things we aren't proud of, made decisions that with hindsight we wouldn't have. But we can't change the past, or at least it certainly isn't sensible to. But perhaps it is time to move on."

"Lemon drop anyone?" Remus asked lightly resulting in a few smiles. "No – really, Albus left us a treat," he said, pulling out a paper bag from the glove compartment.

Though the countryside was beautiful, the atmosphere in the car greatly improved and, as Remus pointed out, it wasn't as if they were looking for the most direct route, they had little choice but to admit that they were lost. After almost three hours of driving around and conversations along the lines of, 'No – that must have been Wayword Lane and this is London Road,' they finally had to stop and ask directions in a local village. Much to his surprise they even managed to avoid a 'proper' argument and eventually found the motorway. Unfortunately it seemed that there had been an accident resulting in the closure of two out of the three lanes and the traffic was tailed back for 15 miles. This did nothing to improve anyone's mood, however this changed somewhat when a dozing Lupin could be heard quite distinctly singing along to the radio.

"For Merlin's sake," Snape sighed. "Lupin! Does this look like a karaoke bar to you?"

"Oh shh! I thought it was rather cute," Minerva said with a smile. Remus on the other hand just looked totally lost.

"Ooooh I like this song!" he said turning up the volume. "Come on – lets car dance!" With this he lifted his arms above his head and started wriggling in his seat. "Does he love me? I want to know – how can I tell if he loves me so?…" Harry tried unsuccessfully to hide his mirth as Snape took his hands off the steering wheel (they had come to a complete halt - again) and did an un-enthusiastic, deadpan, Night Fever move.

"Are you like this all the time Lupin – or does it have something to do with the phase of the moon?"

"You know – I never thought about it," Lupin said dropping his arms and stopping dancing.

"Personally I'd be more likely to blame the number of Lemon drops you've consumed in the last 3 hours," Minerva volunteered.

"That might explain the Headmaster," Harry mused out loud.

"Spectacular. Does that mean we're going to be stuck in this contraption with you acting like a sugar-high toddler for the foreseeable future?"

"Quite possibly," Remus replied before starting to dance again.

When exactly the sugar began to wear off Harry wasn't aware as he slipped into sleep not long after the dancing continued. This time when he woke up it was flashing blue lights rather than sunlight, shining in his eyes. He was more than a little surprised to discover it was dark already.

"Hello sleepy head," Minerva said softly.

"Hey," he replied running a hand through his hair. "How long was I asleep?"

"About three hours I'd guess," she supplied. "And yes we've only just passed the accident – don't ask." Her smile was strained and he couldn't help but notice the wince she tried to cover as she shifted slightly in her seat.

"Are you ok?" he asked quietly.

"Hmm? Oh yes, just sitting still for too long," she replied, throwing a smile his way. Harry might have thought about following this up but he honestly wasn't sure where to take it and in any case he (and everyone else) was distracted when his stomach growled loudly.

"Hear hear," Remus echoed. "It'll be past eight when we get anywhere likely to have food." They all sat quietly listening to some dramatisation on the radio that Harry suspected might be Dickens. Twenty minutes later they came across a signpost for another Service station.

"You know what?" Remus asked no-one in particular.

"No Lupin – I have absolutely no idea what is going on in that mind of yours."

"I was just going to say that I reckon we're going to have visited pretty much every Service Station in the UK by the time we get back to the castle."

"You exaggerate almost as well as you dance Lupin," Snape countered easily as he pulled into the carpark and picked a spot near the grass verge. Remus was up and out as soon as the car had stopped moving but Snape let the engine idle for a few seconds before turning the ignition off. Harry opened his door and fished out his jumper from the assorted 'stuff' that had been collecting in the back seat. He noticed Lupin watching what was happening on the other side of the car and couldn't help but follow his gaze. Minerva's door was opened but she didn't seem to be making any startling move to actually get out. Slowly she did emerge though, just as Snape was opening his door and Remus was ambling around in her direction. He got the feeling that they were all watching as she wrapped her right hand around the top of the open door. Harry's trepidation was fading a little as she stepped out but before she was upright she bit down on a gasp that was matched by a look of sheer agony. Snape shut his door quickly and had turned and had her underneath her arms before her legs seemed to crumple beneath her.

"Minerva!" Remus called out presumably on instinct, as he closed the distance between them. Harry hung back a little but moved round enough to get a better idea of what was going on. She had one foot on the ground but her other leg was still inside the foot well and he suspected that might be part of the problem.

"Hip?" Remus asked, delivering him an even bigger clue. He received a terse nod in reply. She was biting her lip and he was struck by just how vulnerable she looked in that instant.

"Just…just give me a minute," she ground out unconvincingly. Remus slipped his arms underneath hers from behind, talking to her quietly all the time as he clasped his hands in front of her ribcage. Now that she was more secure, leaning back against the other man, Severus could let go and understandably he began rubbing gently where his arms had been pressing into the top of the door.

"Bloody hard headed Gryffindor – why didn't you just say some…"

"Severus," she interrupted quietly. "Shut the hell up." This shocked Harry as it was so incredibly out of character and he could almost swear that he heard her voice crack as she spoke. Remus threw a hellish look in Severus direction before approaching a little more cautiously.

"Ok - are you comfortable where you are or do you want to move?"

"Ummm," she began. "I…I'm going to have to move."

"Well just take your time, if you want a hand…" She shook her head quite viciously.

"No, I think I need to be in control," she said. It seemed that she was mustering her strength, or courage, as she spoke. After a moment she shifted her weight slightly and lifted her leg up enough to rest her foot on the lower rim of the door. The effort this obviously took was mammoth though and even from the distance at which Harry now stood he could see the very last of the colour drain from her cheeks and her entire body begin to tremor visibly.

"Ok…" Remus said soothingly as he helped her pivot around so that she was facing the car, the front of her left shin still supported on the edge of the seat. "Woah," he continued, as her eyes seemed to drift out of focus and she reeled quite dramatically. "Come on, Minerva," he urged as it was quite plain that she was struggling to keep conscious.

"Minerva – if you loose consciousness we're going to have to get in touch with Poppy," said Severus from the back of the car. Harry hadn't really noticed that he'd moved but now it seemed that the potions master was digging around in the boot for something. Well whatever he might have done to irritate her earlier this seemed to have the desired effect. It wasn't instantaneous but she did seem to slowly be pulling herself back to the present. Resting her elbows on the roof she let her head fall forward into her hands, and seeing that she was balanced, Remus backed off a little but continued to rub her back gently.

"I'm sorry," she said thickly without looking up.

"Don't be stupid," both of the other men said at the same time, in such different fashions that it was almost funny. Severus had reappeared now carrying what looked to Harry to be and old-fashioned doctor's case. He opened the driver's door again and put the case down and once again started rummaging for something.

"When was the last time you took anything Minerva?" he asked pulling out a bottle that would have passed quite easily for a muggle medicine bottle.

"Ummm…before we set off," she replied.

The end of her sentence tailed off though as she closed her eyes, as if she were having to fight another wave of pain.

"Just bear with me," Severus said as he poured out a substantial measure of the potion into a plastic medicine cup. "There you go." He held it out to her but seeing how unsteady her hand was, probably wisely continued to hold on to it as she guided it towards her mouth. The mood was lightened somewhat when she grimaced at the taste.

"Don't you make anything that tastes decent Severus?" Remus asked with a twinkle.

"No – I get a perverse pleasure in seeing those ill and in pain on the verge of throwing up what's likely to help them," he replied deadpan before rolling his eyes.

"Why doesn't it surprise me that you had that bag stashed somewhere?" Minerva asked, her head once again leaning on her hands.

"Because you can guess at the kind of hard time I got from Poppy and Albus about you before we left," he replied whilst moving things around in said bag. Wanting to do something vaguely useful Harry re-opened his door and ferreted around until he found a half full bottle of Diet Lilt.

"To take the taste away?" he suggested as he held it out over the roof of the car. She took it with a steadier hand and offered him a smile in return.

"I'm beginning to feel ganged up on," Severus said quietly but obviously with the intention that they would all hear. They did – and he received only muffled sounds of amusement in return.

"How're you doing?" Remus asked moving in to lean on the side of the car next to her.

"Better actually," she replied, and as Harry meandered back around towards the group he saw that she was flexing her left leg. That said she still winced audibly when she took the next step and placed her foot on the ground.

"Easy there – I'm not a miracle worker," Severus said as Remus stepped in to give her a little support again. "Harry – if you go into the boot and pull back the carpet at the back you should find a pair of elbow crutches."

"How…?" Remus asked throwing him a perplexed look.

"Believe it or not there is in fact a reason why I'm head of Slytherin Lupin."

"Yes, he's a sadistic bastard," Remus said quietly having turned his head to face Harry. Minerva chuckled slightly at this but Severus just scowled.

A/N – Know that again there are probably jokes in here that some of you wont get but one the less hope you get the general gist of it.

The comment about Albus having a good reason for keeping Sirius in school is one I think must be true. The way that I look at it is that if he had expelled him the chances are that he would have turned to the dark side.

Ummmm – oh yes – more to come soon which will probably fill in some of the details.

Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks to Rachel (my beta) and please review.

Thanks again

Linds