Remus Lupin was not a wise man. Oh he was smart and intelligent and he liked books and learning. But he wasn't wise. If intelligence was knowing a tomato was a fruit, and wisdom was knowing to not put tomatoes in a fruit salad, Remus Lupin would make a tomato parfait and ask what was wrong.

He was, after all, the man who'd thought it was a good idea to show a room of thirteen year olds their biggest fears. The man whose reaction to his friends becoming illegal animagi had been to allow them to run around with him during a full moon. The man who still hadn't mentioned this fact to anyone, despite consequences currently staring him in the face.

At the moment, standing between his once closest friend and the stunned body of said friend's younger sister, he felt the weight of a million unwise decisions he'd already made come pressing down on him again.

He wanted to immediately regret his decision to stupefy Lyra. He wanted to rennervate her, explain it was an accident, and move on.

He didn't.

Instead, Remus Lupin made yet another unwise decision. He looked at his once closest friend, currently a dog who looked as bewildered as a dog could look, and calmly - oh so calmly - spoke to him.

"Get out of here, Sirius," he said.

The dog looked up at him, letting out a small whine.

"Get out of here before I change my mind. Don't come back."

The dog raised an eyebrow, because even as a dog, Sirius Black could perfectly pull off a skeptical look.

"I have nothing for you," Remus said, softly, so softly that if his one time closest friend had not been a dog at that very moment he would not have heard.

The dog snorted, and it was such an achingly familiar sound, after an achingly familiar conversation that Remus almost made another unwise decision.

Almost.

"Get out," he said instead, voice practically a growl, gesturing with his wand and causing a jet of red and gold sparks to fly out of the tip.

Remus Lupin's once closest friend turned tail and ran away, disappearing deeper into the tunnel.

Remus took a few breaths and shouldered the weight of a lifetime of unwise choices.

Lyra came to with a gasp like a drowned man, her body flailing slightly. It took her a moment to realize she was still in the tunnel behind the witch statue, though back at the entrance.

"I didn't think it smart to levitate you all the way to Poppy," Lupin said.

Lyra coughed slightly, and started to nod, but winced when her head spun.

"What happened?" She asked, "there was a dog I think?"

Her memories were foggy; she must have hit her head.

"I took care of it," Lupin said, "But Sirius got away."

"Damn him," Lyra said, "What was he thinking, coming here of all places?"

"He won't do it again," Lupin said.

Lyra pulled herself to a standing position, using the wall to help her balance.

"I feel like I've been stunned," she said, rubbing the back of her head.

"Accident, my fault, sorry," Lupin mumbled, the words slurring together.

"You stunned me?"

"Not.. not on purpose," Lupin winced, "I just… you just… sorry," he held his hands out, proving they were empty, in a gesture of goodwill.

Lyra stared at him, "it's alright," she said, after a pause, "just watch what you're doing next time."

Lupin nodded stiffly. His eyes wouldn't meet hers, they jumped around, not focusing on any one thing for any length of time.

"Right, well I guess we better get back to Dumbledore. He'll be wanting an update," Lyra said.

Lupin nodded again, and moved forward to take the lead.

They found the Headmaster in the great hall, having summoned a large amount of squashy purple sleeping bags for the students. He finished addressing them, and swept over to Lyra and Lupin, eyebrows raised expectantly.

Lyra shook her head, "We almost had him, but he got away. Conjured some sort of dog to guard the path behind him, I've never seen anything quite like it."

"He has left the castle?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes," said Lupin, "I don't think he'll try it again, he knows it was stupid to come in the first place."

"I don't understand, though. What does he want so badly as to come here for it?" Lyra asked, frowning.

Dumbledore waved a hand dismissively, focusing on something over her shoulder, "I have my suspicions, but am too unsure of them to want to say. I think we shall see sooner or later."

Flitwick came hurrying up the hall, tiny legs moving him surprisingly quickly.

"We've found the Fat Lady, Albus," he said, "Up on the fifth floor, practically in hysterics."

"I suppose she will not come back?"

"It will take her some time. We'll need to find a replacement in the meantime."

Dumbledore nodded, "Remus, Lyra, thank you for your help. I think you have done all that can be done for the moment. Lyra, you're looking peaky, perhaps stop by Madam Pomfrey before bed. I imagine once the Ministry hears of this you'll be inundated with owls, and will want full function of your mind."

Lyra sighed heavily. He was right, the bloody Aurors would be all over her now. She rubbed the back of her head again, feeling it throb. A headache relief potion and a soft bed sounded wonderful right then.

She left Lupin, Flitwick, and Dumbledore, and slowly made her way to the stairs. It has been one of the longest days she could remember in years, and Lyra was ready for it to be over.

"You say he escaped onto the grounds?" Scrimgeour leaned across the desk, eyes intense.

"Yes; I didn't see him go, but Lupin seemed certain he was just ahead of us," Lyra rubbed her eyes. Dumbledore had been correct in how the Ministry would react to Sirius Black appearing in the castle. Scrimgeour and Shacklebolt appeared after breakfast to talk to everyone involved.

"He must have apparated," Scrimgeour said to Shacklebolt.

The taller Auror shook his head, "You cannot apparate on Hogwarts grounds, Rufus," he said.

"How else would he disappear so quickly?"

"It was dark," Lyra said, clearing her throat, "And I hit my head."

She decided to leave out the part where Lupin stunned her by accident.

"You said Remus Lupin was with you?" Scrimgeour picked up on her reluctance to speak about the other professor.

Lyra nodded, "You'd have to ask him what he remembers, but he didn't say he saw anything different."

"You are aware, of course, of what Remus Lupin is?"

Lyra frowned, "A professor of Defense against the dark arts?"

Shacklebolt coughed, "Perhaps we shouldn't…"

"Remus Lupin is a registered werewolf, Ms. Black. He and Sirius were friends at school. It is entirely possible he has been an accomplice to Black this entire time and is lying to cover up his involvement," Scrimgeour was practically laying across her desk, so far leaned forward he could have touched her.

A strange ringing started in her ears. Remus Lupin, a werewolf? She schooled her face still, shock threatening to break her mask of cool indifference.

Shacklebolt looked pained, but his voice was the same smooth caramel as always, "Rufus, we've been over this before, I don't think Lupin has anything to do with Black's current situation."

"It's just odd," Scrimgeour continued, "that Sirius Black would make an appearance, and be lost by his sister and his friend."

Lyra narrowed her eyes, cool anger joining the shock, the ringing in her ears growing louder.

"I think you need to leave now, Auror Scrimgeour," she said, "I've told you what happened, and you already have my statement on my brother's escape. If you continue with this line of insinuation you will be hearing from my solicitor."

"We will be back, Ms. Black. Don't think you can hide from this forever," Scrimgeour stood, picking up his hat from his lap.

Shacklebolt sent her an apologetic look, but didn't add anything as he hurried his partner out of the room.

As the door closed behind them, Lyra realized her hands were shaking. She slumped in her chair, the ringing in her ears slowly fading out.

Lupin was a werewolf. A lot of things suddenly made sense.

A memory, foggy and distant, dragged itself to the front of her mind. Sitting around the Potter's living room, Sirius slouched over the arm of the couch. His feet rested on Remus's lap, presenting themselves an easy target for a tickling charm. James was leaning against the doorframe, glass of something in his hand, while Lily and Peter were busy in the kitchen. Lyra wordlessly shot a charm across the room, inwardly smirking when the spell hit her brother's feet.

He jerked them up with a yell, nearly taking Remus's head off in the process. Remus swore loudly, rubbing at his chin. He shoved Sirius off him, scooting to the far side of the couch.

"Lyra," Sirius said, "look what you've done, you've made me kick Moony, and it's his time of the month too."

James was struggling to keep back a laugh, "it's true, he always gets more violent when his furry little problem rears its head."

"His furry little problem?" Lyra said, eyebrow raised.

Remus sighed, "Cut it out you two."

"Moony has a bad tempered rabbit at home," James continued, eyes sparkling.

"A bad tempered… rabbit," Lyra raised the other eyebrow in a mixture of disbelief and concern.

James was openly laughing now, and Sirius had cracked a grin.

"Yes," Remus said, "One I should go check on before it kills my roommate," he stood and crossed the room, checking James with his shoulder as he left.

James frowned, "it's only four, Moony, moonrise isn't until -"

"Bad tempered rabbits don't care about the time, James," Remus called from the front door. They had all laughed then, even Lyra, who was fairly certain she was missing something important.

Realization dawned, the memory fading from that point. That had been one of the last times they had all spent time together, before. Before Regulus died. Before Lily and James were murdered. Before Sirius had killed Peter.

Before she'd known Remus was a werewolf, and had gone into a tunnel underground with him, by herself, chasing her mass murderer brother. Before he'd stunned her, so he could…

So he could do what, exactly? Help Sirius? Sirius hadn't been there. So he could make sure she didn't see where the tunnel lead? Based on the direction of the tunnel, she was fairly certain it led to Hogsmeade, which had been swarming with Dementors every night since the term started. So he could harm her in any way? Somehow she doubted Remus Lupin was capable of harming anybody.

Without thinking about it she summoned a bottle of whiskey and a glass from the locked cabinet in the back of the office, and poured herself a finger's worth.

As far as she could tell, Remus Lupin being a werewolf changed nothing. Her parents had never harped on the so-called "half-breeds" as much as they did other things, and when the subject did come up, it was only in a similar tone they used for muggle-borns. Her father had dealings with a werewolf pack out in Transylvania, but apart from that, Lyra never really considered the implications of what being a werewolf meant. The term half-breed had simply become another relic of her childhood, alongside others like mudblood and toujours pur.

No, Lyra decided, wishing her drink had an ice cube but too lazy to summon one; what upset her more about this meeting with the Aurors was not the revelation of a werewolf. It was the insinuation that Lupin had something to do with Sirius' break-in. That she had something to do with it. She downed the rest of her drink with a grimace, glancing at the time as she did so.

"Shit," Lyra swore aloud. She had about two minutes to get to class before the fifth years would be waiting on her.

She stood, briefly wondering if she'd need another drink to get her through the hour, but shook her head forcefully. The last thing Hogwarts needed at the moment was a lush professor.