Remus awoke deep within the Forbidden Forest, covered in moss and mud and aching all over. For a few minutes he lay still, letting the events of the past night settle over him like a cold, wet shroud of guilt. He'd undergone a full transformation on the Hogwarts grounds, right in front of three of his students—how could he have been so careless? All reason had left him as soon as he'd seen Peter's name on the Marauder's Map, and he'd nearly gotten someone killed.
He hadn't killed anyone during his run through the Forest—his wolfish memories were enough to assure him of that. Sirius had driven him away from the others…but Peter had escaped, and there had been Dementors; his wolf was immune to their effects, but he remembered their dark cloaked figures hovering above the Great Lake, and Sirius's pained, hollow cries….
He had to figure out what had happened. Groaning, he forced himself onto his feet, every fiber of muscle within him protesting. He was naked, as he always was after he transformed; he had no wand, but he was skilled enough in wandless magic to conjure a simple white robe to cover him as he headed back towards the castle grounds.
The walk there was long and difficult, with the summer heat beating down through the trees and Remus's tired feet constantly finding themselves entangled in roots and vines. When he finally reached the forest's edge, he was surprised to see Dumbledore waiting with a fresh change of clothes in hand, giving Remus a soft smile as he approached.
"Professor?" Remus's heart began to pound. What is going on? "Were you looking for me?"
"Indeed I was." Dumbledore held out the clothes, nodding for Remus to take them. "I thought you might be in need of these."
Remus felt his cheeks turning red. So Dumbledore knew about his transformation—he probably knew about everything. Hurriedly he slipped on the clothes, Dumbledore turning away to give him some privacy.
"I also thought you might want to know what happened last night after you ran off," the headmaster said as he finished changing. Swallowing, Remus nodded, bracing himself for whatever he was about to hear.
"I'm sure you'll be relieved to learn that all your students made it through the ordeal safe and sound," Dumbledore said. "In fact, there were no deaths at Hogwarts last night, nor were there any Kisses from Dementors."
Remus closed his eyes, letting out a long, deep breath. Thank God. "Sirius," he murmured. "What happened to him?"
"Mr Black was apprehended by Severus after his run-in with the Dementors. He told me his story about Peter Pettigrew and the Potters, and soon after, he mysteriously managed to escape the castle grounds before the Dementors could get to him."
Remus let out another breath. If he couldn't have helped Sirius out last night, at least someone was able to. "And Peter?"
"No sign of him," said Dumbledore. "I was told he ran off soon after you transformed. It will be incredibly difficult to find him again, I predict."
Of course Peter had gotten away. And it's all my fault. If he'd just remembered to take his potion on time, Peter would be in the Ministry's hands now, and Sirius would have been exonerated. He had always loathed being a werewolf, but never as much as he did right now.
Dumbledore cleared his throat, glancing down. "There is one other thing I must tell you. I was able to convince the Minister that you were not working with Sirius, and you will not be facing any investigations or consequences there—but this morning, during breakfast, Severus informed a large group of students about your condition." His brow furrowed. "He claims that the incident was merely a slip of the tongue, but I'm afraid the damage has already been done."
Remus bit his lip. Severus had to be furious at how the last night had gone—he was not surprised in the slightest that he'd no longer felt compelled to keep Remus's secret. "I suppose that's it for me, then," he said quietly. "I'll hand in my resignation by the end of the day."
"You don't have to," Dumbledore insisted. "You've been as wonderful a professor as I'd thought you would be—I will intercede on your behalf if you'd like me to."
"Thank you, Professor, but no; I won't have you put up with that, not after everything you've done for me." Remus felt a lump forming in his throat. "And after last night…I'm lucky I didn't kill anyone, or bite them, but I very easily could have. It's too dangerous for me to stay at Hogwarts." Even if Snape hadn't divulged his secret, he probably would have resigned anyway. The past night had been too close a call for his comfort.
Dumbledore nodded; he seemed intuitively to understand that Remus would not be convinced to change his mind. "Your students are certainly going to miss you, Remus," he said. "Will you stay for the end-of-term feast, at least?"
Remus shook his head. "No, I should get going." He didn't want to have to see Severus again, or any of the students who now knew what he really was. They would never look at him the same way again….
"Very well," said Dumbledore. "I'll leave you to sort out your affairs, then. I'll send for a carriage later to take you wherever you need to go."
"Thank you," Remus murmured, dipping his head. He watched in a half-trance as Dumbledore turned and retreated across the grounds, headed back to the castle Remus had called his home for so long.
As the weight of everything that had happened in the past day slowly came to settle, Remus felt a strange mixture of emotions welling up within him. He had loved his time teaching at Hogwarts, even more than he'd imagined he would. If things had been different, he thought, he would have been happy to teach there for the rest of his days. But at least he was not leaving empty-handed: he knew Harry now, he'd helped teach him how to defend himself and keep himself safe…and he had Sirius back, his Sirius, innocent and on the run—that was something he hadn't dared hope for in even his wildest dreams.
So when Remus returned to his office that afternoon to pack his things, he did so with a trace of a smile on his face, for once excited to find out what would happen next.
