Do I really need to say this again? J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. If you recognise anything from any movie, TV show, book or whatever else, it's probably because it is from them. If you want my 'full' warning, you can check out either 'Dormant Power' or 'Beginning of the End'.

If you've read both those fics, then you know how my version of it ends…but how did it begin? Again, only some names are mine, everything else is not! I've based this from the Marauders perspective so…well you'll know the story when something happens to a certain someone, even though I don't write about it in this one! Also check out 'The Apprentice', it has some info you won't find in my other two stories (wink, wink!).

Again, both the witches names are from 'Gone In Sixty Seconds'; Eleanor is the Shelby GT500, while Bernadine is the…Jag XJ220 (hmm, wonder why I picked that one!).

This is my longest chapter for this story. It's a bit 'dark', and those who easily get queasy probably won't like it that much (I didn't really enjoy writing it either). In short, I give detail about what happened to Remus' parents. It's not terribly gruesome…but I thought it'd be safer to inform you first.

This is where the action of this fic starts to pick up. Dormant and BotE were both far different to this, in that both spent the first two thirds detailing stuff before the Christmas hols, with the rest being after it. I split this one pretty much in half. The simple reason for Dormant and BotE's case is that I spent that much time setting up the last bit of the story, whereas I haven't for this one. I haven't given much, if any, indication of what's to come…that is about to change! The talk at the end is why this chapter goes on for a bit, but I didn't want to cut it short, so I just carried it through in its entirety.

I won't be able to update next weekend since I'm not going to be home, so you'll have to wait an extra week for ch 15…sorry about that, but real life comes first I'm afraid. Also, the sequel to BotE has hit a bit of a snag, and I'm having some trouble writing the next bit for it. I am hoping this delay doesn't last long :)

Chapter 14 – Battle Lines Are Drawn

For the next few weeks, Sirius Black walked around with a huge smile plastered to his face most of the time. Remus had only ventured with him that one night, and decided to let Sirius enjoy his new found attention. Nothing any of his friends said could bring Sirius down from his feeling of floating, even when they told him the truth about his post-game celebrations.

The four wizards had had one more session with Trent, where he got them to cast the Patronus charm on a transfigured Dementor, exactly like he had done with James the first time he was able to cast it. And, like before, only James could successfully cast the charm, but the others had improved. Sirius and Remus could produce a mist, but it was much thicker than the last time, while Peter had at last been able to get a faint silver wisp coming from his attempts.

Classes had been a blur, with all the Professors dumping enormous amounts of homework on them, and only Remus and Lily seemed to be able to handle it all, both of them hidden behind large stacks of books. James and Sirius were coping alright, and both could be found venturing to the library. However, both of them were looking quite frazzled, with James' hair being much messier than normal, while Sirius had deep rings under his eyes from lack of sleep.

If this was what 'coping' looked like, it was nothing to how Peter was acting. Remus had kept his word, and was helping Peter were he could, but the small wizard was clearly starting to get stressed. He could be heard snapping at his friends if they so much as breathed near him, only to apologise to them straight away. He had even opted out of the majority of their pranks, as had Remus, which only had left James and Sirius to carry out the job. Both had spent a few days in separate detentions, and had used Sirius' charmed mirrors to quiz each other for their upcoming NEWT's.

The month of March was half over when the rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin reached new heights. James and Sirius had been targeted by Severus in their Defence class, but it had been Remus who had ended up bearing the brunt of his payback. He had said it wasn't intentional, but Remus knew the Slytherin had been looking for ways to get him back for the incident in fifth year when Sirius had told Severus how to enter the tunnel beneath the Whomping Willow. Even though Remus hadn't knowingly been a part of it, something he had told Severus often, Severus refused to believe him, and had delighted in reminding Remus about what had happened to his parents over the summer holidays.

It had been this fact that annoyed James and Sirius, and their pranks had, once again, centred mainly on Severus. The young Slytherin had taken matters into his own hands during Defence and had directed several hexes in their direction, knowing they'd shield them. Severus had slightly modified his spells, so that every deflected spell targeted the nearest dark creature; a certain werewolf.

A resultant scuffle broke out between all the Gryffindors and Slytherins in the class, and the Professor abandoned all attempts to calm the class down and had decided to wait for them to finish it themselves. The end result was that twelve students (including the Marauders, Lily, Severus and Walden Macnair) had spent the night in the hospital wing, and both houses were out of the running for the House cup. Numerous fights had then broke out in the halls once the younger years had heard what transpired, and why they had lost so many points overnight. The Aurors had stepped in quickly and stopped the students from injuring each other, but they could only do so much since the students severely outnumbered them.

James and Remus had been once again told to stay behind after their latest Charms class by Professor Flitwick, after both had hexed Severus the moment he had started to taunt Remus again. The tiny Professor had been kind to them, as he pitied what Remus must be going through, and had merely told them to try to ignore everything Severus says, a task much easier said than done.

Remus and James made their way hurriedly through the corridors to their next class which happened to be Transfiguration.

"I can't believe Snivellus did that! When I get my hands on…"

James was interrupted when Remus went sprawling to the floor. His bag split as it hit the ground and all of his textbooks, notes and quills went scattering everywhere.

"Pity, I was aiming for Potter" a cold voice came from behind them.

James felt his anger rising within him. He slowly withdrew his wand and turned around.

"I'd watch it, Snivellus. You might get some grease in your eye. You wouldn't want that, would you" James taunted.

Severus smirked and turned his attention back to Remus, who was gathering up all of his belongings.

"I thought you would've noticed me there, Lupin. What with your keen senses…"

"Shut up, Snivellus! Don't make me use this" James interrupted and quickly pointed his wand straight at Severus' chest.

"I wasn't talking to you, Potter. This isn't your concern" Severus spat.

James narrowed his eyes. "As Remus' best friend, this is my concern. I'll tell you one last time, Snivellus; Leave. Remus. Alone."

Severus ignored James and spoke to Remus instead, "I challenge you to a duel, Lupin. Tonight, ten o'clock at the Quidditch pitch."

Remus looked up at the greasy haired Slytherin before answering, "fine. I accept, on several conditions."

James looked astounded. Remus had never been in a duel before as far as he knew.

"What conditions, Lupin. I'm not waiting for the right time of the month if that's what you're after" Severus sneered at the young werewolf.

Remus merely smiled, "no. Firstly, I want it to be a proper Wizards duel, James will be my second. Second, anything goes. Lastly, no one is to find out about this in advance. Accept that, and you shall have your duel."

Severus glared at Remus before nodding his head. "Very well, Lupin. Have it your way. Myself and Macnair shall be waiting for you."

As Severus strode off, leaving Remus to pick up his remaining items, James grabbed his friend.

"What are you playing at?"

Remus sighed, "this has been a long time coming, James. He still thinks I was in on Sirius' attempt to kill him in our fifth year."

"But why did you want anything goes? That means he can use Dark arts!"

"I'm aware of that. I'm also aware of what I can do, James. Are you in, or should I ask Sirius instead?"

"Are you kidding? There's no way I'm letting Padfoot see this at my expense. Count me in!"

Remus nodded, "good, then let's go. That git has already made us late."

They both then ran to their Transfiguration class, hoping Professor McGonagall would be lenient on them for being late. Neither of them noticed the wizard with hazel eyes and glasses who had overheard everything from his position in the shadows. He looked quite concerned over what he'd just witnessed. He had a feeling what a couple of Slytherins might be capable of.

James and Remus made their way towards the Quidditch pitch. They had told Sirius and Peter that Remus was feeling ill and that James was escorting him to the hospital wing. That satisfied Peter, but Sirius knew that there was something they weren't telling him.

Once they got there, they weren't really surprised to see Snape and Walden Macnair already waiting for them.

"If you don't mind, Snape, we can skip the bowing bit. Even though it would be nice to see you bow to me" Remus said as he and Severus made their way to the centre of the pitch, while James and Walden got out of the way.

Remus and Severus glared at each other as they got into their respective duelling positions. Just as they were about to begin, a familiar voice cut through the air,

"I believe we need to have a little chat in my office."

They all turned to see who the voice belonged to. To say they were stunned when they saw a tall figure with half-moon glasses and a long white beard would be a big understatement. Albus Dumbledore was standing with his wand pointed at Severus, while Trent Fuller was alongside, his wand locked on James, his gaze on Remus. Dumbledore's face was a picture of calmness, but Trent looked furious.

James gulped; they were in deep trouble.

Neither of the young wizards said anything as they made their way up the spiral staircase that led into Dumbledore's office. Once inside Dumbledore waited until the four teenagers were seated before speaking,

"I'm disappointed in you all. Imagine my surprise when Mr Fuller here came to me earlier today informing me of a conversation involving three of you seated here. All of you know you are not supposed to use magic outside of classes, unless given permission."

"Headmaster, if I may make a suggestion?"

Dumbledore nodded, "certainly, Mr Fuller."

Trent nodded in thanks before turning his attention to the four students in front of him.

"Myself and Mr Moody, a colleague of mine, could use some additional help tomorrow night while we patrol the school grounds. Since it's the weekend, you won't need to worry about them falling asleep during class. It would also give my colleague and myself the opportunity to inform at least two of these four about how catatonically stupid they were."

Dumbledore had a light smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes as Trent said the last few words. He nodded again before he spoke,

"Very well, that is an excellent idea, Mr Fuller. Before we adjourn tonight, I'm afraid I must take fifty points off each of you. However, since both of your houses do not have that many points anymore, I shall just take all those points that have been earned away instead. Have a nice night."

Trent rolled his eyes as Dumbledore said the last comment then gestured the students outside where he told them to meet both he and Alastor Moody tomorrow night at nine at the castle doors. All four nodded before making their way to their respective dorms.

"You mean you had a duel! And you didn't tell us!" Sirius exclaimed as he and Peter bombarded them with questions as Remus and James arrived back.

"We were going to, but Dumbledore and Trent stopped us."

"Why?"

"I suspect we'll find out tomorrow night, Sirius. We've got detention with Trent and another Auror" Remus glumly answered.

James and Remus followed Trent (who had told Moody that since he knew them, he would talk to them tonight, something his fellow Auror agreed with) to the Quidditch pitch. James initially wondered why they were going there, but then realised that Trent had probably decided for them to start their patrol here.

Neither of them was prepared for when Trent stopped and turned to face them. Trent's eyes were narrowed so much that they were mere slits. The kind Auror they had known, the one who taught them more about the Patronus charm and even joked around with them on occasion, had been replaced by this cold calculating wizard in front of them.

Remus gave James a nervous glance, he'd never seen anyone look so intimidating before. He imagined this was the Trent who went out and caught Death Eaters. The twinkle in his eyes was gone, replaced by a hardness which gave the impression that Trent had seen a lot more than Remus thought he had. None of them noticed a set of grey eyes watching them from the forest.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU TWO THINKING?" Trent roared.

Both James and Remus flinched, but didn't say anything. This was probably a good thing considering Trent had only just started.

"Take a good look around boys. Does this look like a nice place to die?" Trent asked, his voice still loud, although not as much as before.

Remus looked confused, and James must have looked the same because Trent snorted before continuing,

"Don't act like that. Did it ever cross your tiny minds who exactly you were dealing with? Oh, I'm sorry, of course it didn't."

"What do you mean?" James asked.

He immediately regretted it when Trent snarled at him, "DON'T interrupt me, Potter! Judging by your conversation on the train when we first met, I take it that neither of you like Dark wizards very much. So why you decide to pick a duel with the sons of Death Eaters is beyond me!"

"Death Eaters? You mean…" Remus began, but Trent cut him off,

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO INTERRUPT ME! Yes, both Snape's and Macnair's fathers are Death Eaters! Do you know why we stopped your duel last night?"

James was about to speak, but decided against it as he didn't want to be yelled at again.

Trent let out a hollow laugh, "good, you both are listening to me. If it had have been a duel, just between you and Snape, we would have let it go. We stopped it because of something else."

Trent then turned to James, who felt Trent's hazel eyes boring into his own.

"You need to watch your back, Potter. You obviously had no idea that Macnair had his wand directed on you, and was only waiting for the other duel to start before cursing you. Rest assured he wasn't planning on using a Cheering charm either."

James' eyes widened and Trent smirked.

"Ah, it all fits together now, doesn't it. Did you honestly expect two Slytherins to play fair?"

"I…I'm sorry" James said simply.

"What. For" Trent answered, his voice still frosty.

"For not thinking…"

Trent interrupted and shouted "DAMN RIGHT YOU DIDN'T! This duel never should have made it outside. You are Head Boy. It's your JOB to ensure the safety of your fellow students, regardless if they're your friends or not!"

Trent then ripped his gaze from James and glared at Remus, who could almost feel Trent's eyes piercing through the back of his skull. He found he could not meet Trent's face and stared at the ground instead.

"And YOU should never have accepted the duel in the FIRST place! From what I've heard, you are easily the most intelligent wizard in the school, Lupin. Did it never occur to you to just say no? I don't care about what Sirius and you did, or didn't do, in your attempt to kill Snape, but I never thought you would act so stupidly!"

Trent then spoke in a low clear voice, "your parents would have be appalled, Lupin."

Remus snapped his head up. He was livid. Trent had no idea what he had gone through last summer. He had no right to say that. Suddenly, Remus forgot that the wizard in front of him was at least ten years older than him, and could easily kill him if he wanted to. He felt his anger rise within him as he shouted,

"I DON'T BELIEVE YOU SAID THAT! I LOVED MY PARENTS, AND THEY LOVED ME!"

Remus glared at Trent, then realised what he had done. He got a horrified look on his face and shifted his gaze back to the ground.

"Sorry"

Trent smiled grimly, "no you're not. And nor should you be. I'm the one who should apologise. You weren't at home when it happened, were you, Remus."

Remus shook his head, "I was at my grandparents place. Mum suggested I visit them that day. I wish I hadn't now."

"Your friends would say otherwise. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but I believe you have a right to know."

That got Remus' attention. He lifted his head and looked at Trent in confusion.

"Know…what? How…how do you know what happened?" Remus asked, struggling to keep his emotions under control as he remembered being informed the day after by his grandfather.

"Because I was one of the first Aurors who turned up at your house. I saw the message they left for you."

Remus' eyes widened in terror. He wasn't told about the Death Eaters leaving a message for him.

"What did it say?" James asked.

Trent glanced at James before looking back at the werewolf. "That is up to Remus. If he wants to hear it, I'll tell him. If he doesn't want to hear it, I won't. Whether or not he wants you here if he does want to hear it, is his choice."

Remus blinked away the tears that had started to well up in his eyes before he looked up at Trent, "I…I want to hear it," he then looked over at James, "alone though."

James nodded and headed off towards the grandstand. He was a little sad that Remus didn't want him there, but he could understand it. He, himself, would have made exactly the same decision.

As James walked away, Trent looked over at Remus with a heavy heart. He flopped onto the ground, gesturing for the young werewolf to do the same. After Remus sat down, Trent looked over at him and could see tears trailing down Remus' face.

"Why…why didn't you tell me this before?" Remus croaked.

Trent closed his eyes, "because I remember you on the train, Remus. You were distant and wanted to be left alone. Your friends were trying their best to get you to open up by joking around, but you needed more time. I could tell then, in that instant, that you were an incredibly strong wizard."

Remus allowed a light smile cross his face as he said "not as strong as James."

Trent sighed and muttered as he opened his eyes, "Merlin, not another one."

"What do you mean 'another one'?" Remus asked.

"Peter said the same thing, only he added yours and Sirius' name to his list. Remus, listen to me. You are not weak, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. You put on a mask, trying to hide all the emotions you were feeling. A mask which you haven't taken off since your final year began. Believe me, I know how difficult taking that mask off is, but you have to."

"How could you possibly know what I'm going through?" Remus retorted, trying to keep his anger out of his voice.

"Because I did the exact same thing three years ago."

Remus looked over at Trent, and found him just staring into space. Remus was about to ask, but didn't need to as Trent continued,

"I'm supposed to be married, Remus. I'm not supposed to be here. Voldemort had spread his poison everywhere, even to my home, even Australia."

He added "yes Remus, I'm not from around here. I transferred to Europe this year to help in the war" despite not realising that was what Remus had wanted to ask.

Trent sighed and continued again, "I've spent the last five years fighting against Voldemort's forces in Australia. We are currently the only country that has managed to successfully drive him away. We caught all his followers. We lost a lot of good people, Remus. You see, Australia doesn't have a medical facility like St Mungos."

Trent felt tears begin to form as he carried on "I watched my fiancé die at the hands of Death Eaters. She was a squib, and couldn't defend herself like we could, but she wanted to fight. I let her, because I knew she would have done it anyway, regardless of what I said. She was part the muggle Police, and they knew something was wrong when all these mysterious deaths started to happen. Our Ministry made the decision to inform them about our magical community, and we fought alongside each other.

"After losing her, I wanted nothing but for the ground to swallow me up. I hid for three months, Remus. I just couldn't do it anymore. I wanted to be left alone. That was until my friends found me, and asked me what she would want me to do. And they were right, she would want me to carry on. That is what I fought for, Remus. I vowed to drive out Voldemort, even if no one else could. Our combined efforts proved enough. Our entire country now has anti-apparition wards in place, effectively cutting us off from the rest of the wizarding world. Of course, you can get around those, but it's exceedingly difficult, not to mention painful at first."

"How can you get around the wards? I've heard it's impossible."

Trent chuckled, "nothing is impossible, Remus. Take house elves, for example. I didn't think you were supposed to be able to apparate around Hogwarts, yet they do."

"Oh" was all Remus said before asking what he wanted to know. "What…what was it like? My house when you turned up, I mean."

Trent sighed, "are you ready to hear this, Remus? Do you want to know the reason why they did what they did?"

Remus slowly nodded, and Trent could see the determination in his eyes, along with a few tears. Trent sighed again and began, "your parents loved you more than you could possibly know, Remus. Whatever you did to Severus, he informed his father about it. And I've already told you about where his allegiances lie."

"You…you mean they killed them…because of…me?" Remus asked, his voice starting to choke up.

Trent shook his head, "no. That wasn't their intention. I'm not going to sugarcoat this, all right?"

Remus nodded and waited for Trent to continue.

"They wanted you, Remus. And since you weren't there, they decided to kill your parents instead, rather than wait for you. When we arrived, the dark mark was already hovering above your house. We went inside and found the burnt remains of your parents, believe me it wasn't a pretty sight. We split up, to see what else they'd done and I must have walked into your bedroom.

"They hadn't touched anything at all. In fact if it wasn't for the dark mark, we would never have known that anything had happened. Anyway, I went into your bedroom and found a message on one of the walls. It read; 'you can't hide forever, half-blood. You will be next'. I was disgusted, so I vanished the message the moment I read it. I'm sorry, Remus. I really am."

Trent then reached over and pulled the now sobbing young wizard into an embrace. James was watching from the grandstand and hadn't heard what the other two were talking about. He saw his friend let out all the pain and anguish he'd hidden so far this year. James had never seen Remus this vulnerable before, and felt ashamed that it wasn't him, Sirius and Peter who had done what Trent was doing. All they needed to say was that they were there for him if he ever needed to talk. He felt a lump form in his throat and a single tear slowly trickled down his cheek.

Trent still held Remus close, as the teenager continued to sob.

"That's the way, Remus. Tears cleanse the soul. Become stronger from this. Just promise me one thing."

The young werewolf looked up into Trent's eyes, and saw the sadness in them.

"What's that?" Remus asked, his voice barely more than a croak.

"Don't blame Severus for this. It wasn't his intention."

Remus broke out of Trent's grasp and jumped on his feet, "HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT! HE'S RESPONSIBLE FOR IT! THE NEXT TIME I SEE HIM, I'LL KILL HIM!"

"Remus, calm down."

"CALM DOWN? HOW CAN I DO THAT AFTER WHAT YOU'VE JUST TOLD ME?" Remus screamed.

"Because you have to believe me. If Severus really wanted to kill you, why would he have waited until last summer? Why didn't he do it the previous summer, directly after you and Sirius attempted to kill him?" Trent countered.

Remus opened his mouth to yell, but found he didn't have an answer for that. By that time James had come running over from the grandstands, having heard Remus' outburst.

"What happened? What did you do to him, Trent?" James asked, as he moved over to comfort Remus who was shaking.

"If Remus wants to tell you, he will, James. I'll finish what I have to say though. He didn't do it then, Remus, because he didn't know where you lived."

"Then how'd he find out? I sure as hell didn't tell him" Remus snapped.

"I believe one of your friends has a younger brother in the same house as the person in question" Trent answered.

Remus' hands curled into fists. "Regulus" he spat.

James was looking between the two in confusion, but decided to not interrupt. Trent was right; if Remus wanted to tell him, he would.

Trent nodded, "indeed. Again, I'm sorry to have been the one who told you this, but…"

Remus shook his head and interrupted, "I'm not sorry you did. In fact, I'm actually glad that you were the one who told me."

"Very well, I believe we should probably make a start on the patrol though. We've been here for longer than I expected. Are you all right to do this, Remus?"

He nodded, "yes. Walking around the grounds for a while might clear my head a bit."

Trent then stood up and headed off to start his patrol, with Remus and James following in his wake, along with the set of grey eyes in the distance.