The next morning, Tonks was still in the kitchen when Remus got up. Remus found a loaf of bread and cut off a couple of slices to put in the toaster. "I would never have guessed that you would have so much Muggle stuff!"

Tonks shrugged. "It means I don't have to bother about all those household spells. Both Molly Weasley and my Mum were always pretty certain I should avoid using them. Plus, it's easier if Muggles come round."

"Does that happen often?"

"No, but you never know."

Remus thought about that. Tonks said, "So, you said yesterday that three of the people in the list in the Prophet yesterday are now dead."

"Yeah." Remus turned as the toast popped out and started to butter it.

"Tom Stannard, Marcus Channings and Dorothy Dantan." She swallowed a mouthful of tea. "But all of the others who are not in their houses are okay. I'll see what comes in about those three. Thanks for doing all that work yesterday Remus. None of those people would ever tell an an Auror half as much of that."

"Will there be an investigation?"

"That depends. The guy running the operation is Cicero Scrimgeour. He's not as competent as his Dad, Rufus, but he's cut from the same cloth." She smirked. "He's been an Auror for about twenty-five years, and has been stuck as a Detective Diviner for most of those. He also doesn't like werewolves, but not for any personal reason as far as I know."

"Is that why you got rid of me so quick out on Ilkley Moor?"

"Yeah. As it is about werewolves, he was put on the Daily Prophet stuff too – synthesis. My guess is that the names will be put down as missing. I don't think there will be any investigations. Not under Cicero, at least."

Remus sighed and bit into his toast. Swallowing slowly, he said, "I didn't know them. Well, I'd met Marcus at Sorrel's. The others I've never met, but I'll try and find their families and let them know. They all lived alone." He took a second bite of toast, and chewed it far too long. The task did not appeal.

Tonks sensed his reservations. "That would be really good of you, Remus. If one of the relatives makes a request, the Aurors would have to take the case. I'll speak to the guys I was working with, and see if I can push them in that direction. Now, you said that there were several names missing on the list, and that they were people who are forced to work at Sorrel's all the time to cover their treatment?"

Remus nodded. He felt as tired out by this conversation as if he had never slept.

Tonks said, "I'll try and get hold of a copy of the real Registry list."

Remus was a bit confused. "But I thought you'd been taken off the case?"

Tonks smiled ferally. "Yeah, I have." Remus frowned, and she continued, "There are a couple of leads that need following up, and Cicero isn't going to put anyone onto it. Especially if it was my idea."

"Won't you get into trouble?"

Tonks ran a hand through her hair and smiled winsomely. "Me, get into trouble?" Remus flushed.

"Right," said Tonks. "Now, you're sure that the werewolf at the crime is Quadrille Beaufort, but that he doesn't remember anything about it. Now, when you're under Wolfsbane, you remember stuff better? Is that right?"

Remus squirmed a little. The transformation was not a subject he liked. "Normally you have a bit more control over the wolf under Wolfsbane. But it can be really difficult to remember any details. It's like a dream. Before the wolk would control it. Now, you control the dream. But, just like a dream, it all fades away in the morning. Sometimes you remember what happened. Other times no. More than likely, no."

"So, you're not surprised that Quadrille claims not to remember?"

"No. He certainy didn't act as if he knew anything."

"If we assume that you are correct about him, the question then is how did he get out, and why. Plus, Ilkley Moor is a long way from London."

Remus said quietly, "And how the wolf took control."

Tonks shook her head. "Just because the man was in control, doesn't mean he couldn't attack people. Look at Fenrir Greyback, after all."

Remus put his hand flat on the table and tried to curb his anger. He said quietly, "I know Quadrille; at least I know him well enough to know that he would not attack children. He hates being a werewolf, and he dotes on his daughter. He would not have done this if he were in his own mind."

Tonks said, firmly, "Remus, the first thing you learn on this job is that you never know what is really going on inside people. But, I'll grant you that it's something else to consider, that the wolf was in control. Could he have missed taking the Wolfsbane, or could it have been off?"

Remus shrugged. "He couldn't have missed his dose. The people at Sorrel's always triple check, and I saw him drink it. It probably came from the same batch as mine."

"So, did you notice anything odd about it?"

"No, it tasted the same as it does every time."

Tonks tapped her lips, and then glanced at the clock. "Merlin, it's five to nine. I'd better get to the office, or they'll have my guts for garters." She surged up and banged her knee painfully on the table. Wincing in pain, she hopped over to her bag, blew a stage kiss at Remus and Apparated out. Remus shook his head in amusement at the brief glimpse of a younger Tonks and finished off his toast.

It took Remus the better part of an eventful morning to find the names and addresses of family members. The Channings were a small family based near Exeter. The Dantans were a larger, more ancient, clan with several branches all over the country. Remus Floo-called one of the names listed in the Green Parchments and got through to an imperious looking fellow, Edmund Dantan. Remus was expecting a rebuff, but the older man recognized him on sight and revealed that he was Dorothy's father. He invited Remus to visit after lunch if convenient.

The hardest of the three was Stannard, a Muggleborn. Remus had visited the local Muggle library to try and find a telephone number in the equivalents of the Green Parchments. There was a long list of names, so Remus performed several quick copying spells when no one was looking. He knew that a spell existed that could be used in such cases to identify relatives, but he did not know the incantation. With a sigh he walked back to Tonks' house and apparated to a locked toilet in King's Cross train station. After listening a few moments for any nearby Muggles, he nipped out, locking the door with a spell on his way out.

From there it was a short walk to the British Museum. To wizarding eyes, there was several more level, underground. When the Museum had been renovated, it had been a great problem as the works had touched the wizarding book stacks located there. It had been a great problem at the time, and Remus had volunteered along with many other wizards to help move all of the books. Even with the Colloportus spell it had still taken a lot of wizard hours.

The wizarding area was not as grand as the Muggle part, dominated by the sweeping, great, stairway. In fact, it was rather cramped. The study area was brimming with people. Remus set about finding the spell that he was looking for, and after selecting several works, pulled up a free chair at a table. There was one other occupant there, bent over her parchment, bushy hair pulled back into a thick ponytail. She did not look up when Remus sat down, as her quill was racing over the parchment.

Remus started to look through his books. After about twenty minutes or so, the girl's writing came to a pause, and she looked up, staring into the middle distance, lost in thought. Remus glanced at her, and then looked back. It was Hermione Granger. He stared at her for a moment, long enough for her to sense it and to pull her out of her reverie.

She gasped when she looked at him, and then guiltily put her hand in front of her mouth as other users looked over sharply. She leaned forward excitedly, and said, "Professor Lupin! It's been such a long time. How are you?" She glanced around, noticing the dirty looks that were being thrown at her, and then said, "Do you want to get a cup of tea or something? If that won't disturb your work, of course."

Remus looked at her and smiled helplessly. "It would be my pleasure, Hermione."

They both gathered up their things, leaving their books on the tables in neat piles for when they returned, and went outside. Remus was rather surprised when Hermione moved out of the wizarding portion, into the Muggle cafe. She noticed his expression and said, "The tea's much better here than in the wizard cafe. And the cakes as well!"

They both ordered a cup of tea, and sat at a table a little way away from any other customers. Hermione smiled broadly, and said, "It's been so long, Professor. How on earth are you?"

Remus shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm okay. But please, you mustn't call me Professor. It's been an awfully long time since I was your Professor. Call me Remus."

"I'll try," said Hermione dubiously, "but it's rather difficult to break certain habits. I've been reading all these terrible things in the Prophet. And all the new laws and everything. Are you sure that is everything okay?" She squinted at him, as if trying to draw the truth out of him.

"Well, I won't say it's been easy. Still, we do what we can."

"You should speak to Harry. He might be able to do something. Although I suppose you have to make all of the Wizengamot see sense, and that can be difficult."

Remus shrugged again. "I spoke to him a while back, and he did the best that he could."

"You spoke to him recently? How is he?" She was very intense, Remus noted. Her youthful energy was wearing him down.

"Oh, about eight months ago. He seemed fine; a little busy. But don't you keep in touch?"

Hermione looked away uncomfortably. "Not so much recently. Well, not since I broke up with Ron, at any rate."

Remus' jaw dropped. "You broke up with Ron?"

Before he could say anything further, Hermione's face grew blank. "Yeah, a while ago now."

It was clear that she did not want to talk about it, and so Remus suppressed his surprise and moved to another topic. "So what are you working on these days? What brings you to these fine halls?" He gestured round the room.

Hermione obviously appreciated his change of subject, and she became more animated, although it seemed a little forced to Remus. "Well, after school, I concentrated on Charms, to break the curse that was left on all of the teachers. So, I decided to use that expertise to try and work on a few other problems, develop some new spells maybe." Remus was watching her closely, and saw that her smile had dipped slightly, and she was staring off to the left, to the wall. She turned back to him and her smile returned in force. "At the moment I'm working on an adaptation to the Point Me charm to add a distance indicator."

"That sounds interesting."

Hermione snorted. "Yeah, I'll bet. Tell anyone about the details and they fall asleep in ten seconds flat. So, what are you doing at the moment, Remus?" She tested the name carefully.

"Oh, this and that. At the moment, my situation is a little precarious, as you might imagine." He smiled and chuckled lightly. "Im trying to track down some of my friends, as I am a bit worried about reprisals over that list."

Hermione looked concerned. "There were attacks? I didn't read anything about that, but I guess that the Prophet wouldn't mention anything like that."

"No," Remus shook his head. He had not looked at the most recent copies of the Daily Prophet. "It wouldn't. But yes, there were attacks. In fact, I was the victim of one."

"Dear Merlin, Remus. Are you okay? What happened?" Hermione reached forward and covered his hand.

He smiled. "I'm fine. I was just summarily evicted from my house by some of the local residents."

Hermione looked at him carefully, obviously not trusting his joking tone. She pulled her hands back and rested her chin on them. "Where are you staying? If you need a place, or anything else, just let me know. I've got a small flat in Kentish Town, not too far from here, with a sofa-bed in the living-room."

"Thanks for the offer, but I'm staying with Nymphadora Tonks."

"Tonks! Another person I haven't seen in I don't know how long. How is she? Are you two...?" She left the question dangling, not wanting to cause offence.

Remus said, "No. I bumped into her quite by accident, and she offered me a place to stay whilst things settle down."

Hermione said in an arch tone, "Well, I'm sure she'll be very glad to have you there on a regular basis."

Remus blushed and waved his hand ineffectually in the air. "I don't know what you mean."

Hermione laughed. "Of course you don't. Anyway, why does looking for your friends bring you here? Can I be of any assistance?"

"One of the guys is a Muggle. I've got a list of Muggle telephone numbers for people with the same surname from the Yellow Pages, but it is rather large. I know that there is a spell I can use to get blood relations of someone from a list of names, but I couldn't remember the details. Hence, my presence here."

Hermione grinned infectiously. "Well, you came to the right place. I actually looked at that spell quite recently, as part of my research on this thing with the Point Me charm. I thought that it might me some pointers as to what the principles of the spells were. It didn't help much, but the incantation is Sanguis Nominus and then the name of the person you know. You have to identify them as well, by an address if you have one, or by some such means. You have to flick the wand tip to the upper right and then circle back quickly to bottom left as you say the 'No'. Then after you've said the identifying name you tap the parchment you want searching."

She paused. "It'll probably be easier if we go back downstairs and we can do it together."

Remus thought that that sounded like a much better idea and said so. They finished their drinks and headed back downstairs. Remus told Hermione the name and address of Tom Stannard, without mentioning that he was dead, and she quickly performed the spell. Three names glowed, and were then written in a fey blue light above the parchment for several seconds. Remus whipped out his quill and put a cross next to the highlighted names.

"Thanks so much, Hermione. I don't know what I would have done without you!"

She patted his arm. "I didn't do anything – you'd have found it out pretty quick. You'd better go and check up on your friend. I can put your books on the return shelf for you. It was really great to see you again, Prof- ah Remus."

"And you too, Hermione."

She said firmly, "And you must promise to keep in touch. We should have lunch together sometime. You can send me an owl, my address is 101 Leverton Street. It's warded to safely receive owls without Muggle issues. Or else, you can find me here most mornings."

Remus said, "Of course. It was a pleasure to see you again."

She stopped his with a stern look. "I mean it Remus. Don't just disappear into the woodwork again. I'm your friend, and if you have any problems, then I want to help. I also don't want the next time I hear about you to be when you're on the front of the Daily Prophet for the gods know what reason. I was so worried when there was all that stuff about the Muggle school."

Remus stood still, desperately wanting to be elsewhere. Some of that desire must have communicated itself to Hermione, and she stepped away. "You'd better get going, but I mean it Remus. If you don't get in touch, I'll ask Tonks. I should do that anyway." She nodded her head, and said, "Good luck, Professor."

Remus mumbled a goodbye, and then turned away, walking uncommonly fast.