Rating: Yes, I know that I've updated the rating to M, but I've never been quite sure about the rating and I figured that it was better to be wrong than removed off fan-fiction. So, here it is.

Disclaimer: None of the characters mentioned in this story belong to me, but rather to J.K. Rowling, I promise to return them to her once I am done with them. The poem which this story features is taken from the novel, The Smoke Jumper by author Nicholas Evans.

Message from the Author: Well, I'm not overly happy with this chapter. But I like it more now then I did just under an hour ago. So, here it is. Thank you very much to everyone who reviewed for the last chapter, it means a lot that you all liked my favourite chapter too. It's not just parental pride then...Only two more to go after this one... Evalanis.

Part Twelve – Escape

"So when you walk the woods where once we walked together,

And scan in vain the dappled bank beside you for my shadow,"

---

July 1993

Remus Lupin walked slowly and carefully down the stairs of his apartment, rubbing the sleep from his bleary eyes as he did so and blinking in the harsh morning sunlight. He knew that he need no longer wake up so early in the morning, but could not help himself and continued to do so purely out of habit.

Remus paused and looked out the window at the cloudless blue sky, grumbling to himself. Of all the seasons of loneliness that had passed in the last twelve years or so, Remus hated this one, Summer, the most. Summer reminded him of days spent under the beech tree by the lake at Hogwarts and of nights spent lying on the cooling grass outside the castle with nothing but the stars to cover their heads. Above all, Summer reminded Remus of the friends whom he had lost and could never replace. Summer reminded him of Sirius.

Remus roughly ran his hand through his greying hair, as if shaking loose his thoughts, before continuing on his journey to the kitchen. Barely noticing what he was doing, Remus went through the same pattern he had observed every morning for nearly twelve years.

Once his tea and porridge were ready and seated in his spot on the empty table, Remus nodded mutely to himself and made to sit down in his chair. He was interrupted, however, by the arrival of that morning's Daily Prophet which landed, still attached to the owl whom had delivered it, right in his porridge.

Remus grumbled and mumbled something about stupid owls before picking the porridge-drenched owl and newspaper out of his breakfast and placing them on the table. Slowly he got up and fetched five Knuts from the jar on the bench where he kept his smaller amounts of money, grimacing as he noted once again how empty it was and paid the owl when it weakly lifted up it's leg and hooted.

Remus helped the owl on its way and made himself a new batch of porridge before attempting to sit down at his table once again, this time uninterrupted. For some minutes Remus indulged in eating his porridge and sipping at his now lukewarm tea before he turned his attention to the still unwrapped Daily Prophet lying next to him on the table. Remus reached his hand out to unfold the newspaper but stopped himself just before opening it. For some reason he had a certain reluctance to read the paper this morning, as if he would be confronted with something bad.

"Don't be stupid, Remus." He muttered to himself, stretching his hand out all the way and grabbing the newspaper. Remus opened up the newspaper slowly, still somewhat reluctant to read about what ever bad news the day brought. Opening the paper to the front page, Remus lowered his eyes to the large black and white picture that occupied nearly all the page and froze as the tortured eyes in the picture calmly turned to look back at him.

SIRIUS BLACK, MASS MURDERER AND YOU-KNOW-WHO SUPPORTER MYSTERIOUSLY ESCAPES FROM AZKABAN PRISON!

Remus felt his heart clench as he read the bold words glaring up at him from above the photo. No. Not this. Not now. He thought furiously as he stared into the defiant eyes of Sirius Black for the first time in twelve years. He tore his eyes away from those of his former lover and hastily scanned the article in front of him, hardly daring to believe what he was reading. Never, in all of the years since its construction had a prisoner managed to escape from Azkaban prison, and definitely not a prisoner as watched and guarded as Sirius Black.

For some time after he had finished the article, Remus continued to sit at the table in a stunned silence, his tea and porridge lying forgotten in front of him as thoughts raced unbidden through his mind.

Why, after all this time would Sirius want to escape? What could he possibly want to do so desperately that he would risk death or even the Dementor's Kiss to do it? Once upon a time, he would have believed that Sirius would risk it all for his friends; for James, Lily, Peter and Remus, even for Harry. But now he knew better. Sirius Black had betrayed them all and obviously had never cared for any of them. Although Remus still loved the other man, he was no longer blinded by it. Remus sat up abruptly in his seat when he found himself courting the possibility that Sirius had finally escaped for him. That Sirius was coming home for him. Remus sighed, taking a drink of his cold tea and fiercely tried to find a plausible reason for Sirius' escape after so long.

His musing was interrupted by a rather loud knock on the front door. He got up out of his chair, hastily tipping into the sink the remainder of his breakfast before rushing to open the door. Pulling back his front door, Remus was confronted with the rather intimidating figure of none other than Albus Dumbledore, his former Headmaster at Hogwarts.

"Professor Dumbledore." Remus said, feeling relieved and disappointed at the same time for reasons he neither understood nor wished to explore. "What a surprise to see you."

"Isn't it just?" Dumbledore asked, his tone serious and his sparkling blue eyes sombre. "May I come in?"

"What? Oh, of course. Forgive me." Remus said, ushering Dumbledore inside the apartment before hastily scanning the empty street for signs of movement and shutting the door. "My mind is currently elsewhere."

"Ah, I assume then, that you have had the pleasure of reading this morning's Daily Prophet?" Dumbledore asked, his blue eyes seeking Remus' own amber ones.

"If you could call learning about the escape of a mass murderer pleasurable, then I have." Remus said, pretending, yet again, that he had never known Sirius Black as more than a murderer. He walked in the direction of the lounge room, Dumbledore following close behind him. "Would I be able to get you anything, Headmaster?" Remus said, gesturing Dumbledore towards one of the armchairs in front of the lit fire place.

"No thank you, Remus. I don't believe that I shall be able to stay for too long." Remus nodded and seated himself in the chair opposite Dumbledore. "And Remus, you have not been my pupil for nearly twenty years. Please, call me Albus." Remus bowed his head, knowing that he could never call such a man as Albus Dumbledore by his first name.

"Yes, sir." Remus said, Dumbledore smiled at this but did not comment on it.

"Now I suppose that I should explain the reason for my visit today." Dumbledore said, causing Remus to look up at him abruptly. "You see, I am in dire need of a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and I thought that maybe you would be able to help me."

Remus sighed, relieved that Dumbledore's visit had nothing to do with the escape of Sirius Black from Azkaban prison, before he paid attention to what Dumbledore was asking him to do.

"I'm sorry, Professor but I must decline." Remus said, once again avoiding contact with Dumbledore's eyes.

"Ah, would you mind explaining to me why you are unable to take up a position as teacher at Hogwarts?" Dumbledore said, his blue eyes challenging.

"Professor, you must be able to see why a person such as myself, a person in my… condition, is unfit to teach young children. It is simply not safe." Remus stated, thinking for a moment that perhaps Dumbledore had forgotten about his 'furry little problem' as James had once dubbed it.

"Remus, have you ever heard of a potion named Wolfsbane?" At Remus' rejection, Dumbledore went on. "It is a rather recent invention and although it is difficult to brew, I have among my staff someone who has successfully made it a number of times already. You see Remus, the Wolfsbane Potion, although it does not cure the affects of lycanthropy, is able to prevent the wolf's mind taking complete control over the human mind at the occurrence of the full moon."

Remus sat back in his chair, taking it all in. The Wolfsbane Potion sounded like something out of his wildest dreams, presenting him with opportunities that he had only ever dreamed of happening. But still…

"Despite that, Professor, I have never taught before. I can't see why you can't just find someone else for the job." Dumbledore sighed.

"Remus, Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban prison," Dumbledore said bluntly, causing Remus to blink.

"Yes, I know that. But—"

"The Ministry of Magic has reason to fear that he is after Harry." Dumbledore interrupted and Remus knew exactly which Harry he was referring to. "That he wants to kill Harry. I would appreciate it if you were at Hogwarts to help Harry at the moment. After all, you were one of his father's closest friends, and you did know Sirius Black."

"I thought I did." Remus said quietly. Dumbledore looked at him sadly.

"I know that this is hard for you Remus, but I need your help."

"I'll do it." Remus said quietly after a time, before looking up into Dumbledore's eyes. "I'll do it for Harry."

Dumbledore left soon after, once again leaving Remus alone to his thoughts. Walking back into his kitchen, Remus looked again at the photo of Sirius Black as he now was; long black hair reaching down to his elbows, bones pointing out everywhere, and those eyes. Remus had never seen eyes so sad and despairing and yet containing so much desperation before in his life. But there was one other thing that caught his attention. They said that every man who entered Azkaban went crazy after only a short time in the prison, but Sirius' eyes showed clearly that he was in complete possession of his mind. And that the said mind was just as sharp as it had always been, and just as calculating. Sirius Black was very far from mad, a fact which made him even more dangerous.

The rest of the day passed, like the past twelve years, as a blur. Remus stared into the tortured eyes of the man he had once believed he had known better then he knew himself, desperately trying to understand what had gone wrong. How it was that Sirius had come to betray them all and he had never noticed anything. How it was that Sirius had been able to murder one of their closest friends in cold blood. Surely it must come down to madness? What other reason was there for Sirius wanting to kill Harry so desperately?

Harry. Remus had not seen the boy in twelve years, but he would do what he could to ensure his safety. For Lily and James who had died to save him, for little Peter who had looked at him with joy and something akin to love, and for Harry himself, even though he didn't know it yet. But also for that little part of him that was screaming to see Sirius Black again.