Chapter Eleven: In Which Questions Are Asked

"Hold your fire, it's me, Remus!"

"Oh, thank goodness," said Hermione weakly, pointing her wand at Mrs. Black instead; with a bang, the curtains swished shut again and silence fell. Ron too lowered his wand, but Harry did not.

"Stupefy! Expelliarmus! Incarcerous!" incanted Harry in rapid succession. A figure fell to the ground, unconscious and bound. A wand flew in the air, which he caught deftly.

Ron and Hermione turned to look at him. He raised an eyebrow at them.

"You didn't just assume he was really Lupin, did you? Granted, a Death Eater wouldn't announce himself but he could still be someone using Polyjuice!"

They had the decency to look sheepish.

Harry then conjured an uncomfortable-looking chair and levitated him into a sitting position on it. He altered the ropes to bind him to the chair, and then sat down on the nearest sofa (the only one in the house comfortable to sit on).

"Now what, Harry?" inquired Hermione.

"Now, you two are going to learn about proper security. You two have been very careless . . ."

Half an hour later, Harry finished lecturing them and woke the man up. Who started speaking, more out of habit than anything.

"I am Remus John Lupin, werewolf, sometimes known as Moony, one of the four creators of the Marauder's Map, married to Nymphadora, usually known as Tonks, and I taught you how to produce a Patronus, Harry, which takes the form of a stag."

"He seems legit, mate," said Ron, taking out his wand to free him.

"Not really, no," contradicted Harry. "That's information which could be easily obtained. We need another way. Something literally no one except Remus Lupin would know. Like . . ."

He racked his brains. "What happy memory was I initially using to cast the Patronus?"

"Riding a broomstick for the first time," the man answered calmly.

"Oh, all right," said Harry, lowering his wand, "but I had to check, didn't I?"

"Speaking as your ex-Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, I quite agree that you had to check. Ron, Hermione, you shouldn't be so quick to lower your defenses."

"So we've been told," said Ron angrily. "Repeatedly."

"For the past two hours straight," said Hermione furiously.

"It wasn't that long!" protested Harry. "And you both were being very irresponsible —"

"Hark who's talking."

"Charges into situations head-first —"

"So reckless all the time —"

"We do it once and suddenly he's all over us —"

"Lecturing us on responsibility —"

"I swear, a guy can't even —"

Fortunately, the complaining stopped before it could reach toxic levels. Because of Remus Lupin (now verified as the real one), who laughed.

"It's kind of nice to see you three still having fun. Do remember to keep security measures in place, though. That dusty figure won't keep someone like Snape out, if you know what I mean," said Lupin.

They nodded.

"Now, do you mind releasing me from this infernal chair? It's quite uncomfortable."

AN: Ron and Hermions's complaining aside, am I the one that thinks Grimmauld Place's security was flimsy? I mean, the curses Moody set up against Snape were a bit of a joke, really. They couldn't even do anything except possibly scare off a five year old. Never made sense to me how a figure that can't even do anything except say a few words was supposed to keep a wizard like Snape out. Later in the story, we find out that Snape had indeed got past the protections and read the letter from Lily to Sirius. Useless, really.

Also, the information Lupin tells them isn't really very classified. All of it is probably known by Snape, so it could very well have been the greasy bat using Polyjuice. Which is why Harry asks another question to really verify the guy. I sure loved how Harry blasted first, asked questions later. Stun him, tie him up, Disarm him, revive him and then ask questions!

PS: I have another idea for a chapter with respect to the whole Lupin fiasco, so do let me know if you would like me to write it. Seriously, do let me know.