He spent all day attending classes and spending as much time as he possibly could with Lily. She was so innocent, untouched by the hardships of life. He enjoyed the comfort of her company. He had briefly wondered whether he should confess his feelings for her but was reminded of her falling in love with James Potter. Although this infuriated him, he just wanted her by his side. And most importantly, he wanted her to be alive and happy. That was what he had taken from her in her previous life. No, he would not make the same mistakes again. He would make himself worthy of this gift, this new life that he did not deserve.

He made his way back to his dorm and lay on his bed. He thought about all his greatest mistakes that he would not repeat: Calling his best friend a "Mudblood". Losing her friendship. Joining the death eaters. Committing heinous crimes. No, this time he would change. He would at least be a better person. He felt hope and it was a feeling he wanted to cherish. He was consumed by a million thoughts plaguing his mind until sleep claimed him.

The next morning, he was up and about before anyone. He was ready and out before any of his dorm mates could even wake up. He always enjoyed these peaceful strolls, even in his old life, he would patrol the empty corridors and enjoy the sanctity they provided him. He reviewed his current situation. He was once again a child, free to learn everything he wanted to, he was disliked but now he did not yet have to face the hatred for his crimes. As far as anyone in this time knew, he had never committed them in the first place. He could do so much. But there were some negatives to this situation.

He was no longer a respected teacher, he was now a poor boy mocked and bullied for his state of poverty. He looked pathetic. He was never a charmer but he wore respectable clothes and he was definitely not this skinny. He was not free to live in solitude, his parents were still alive and he would have to face his drunk father once more. And he did not have Dumbledore's favor.

In his previous life, Dumbledore had used him, manipulated him. He had told Severus that he was doing what he did for Lily, for protecting her son, but in the end, he had made Severus the medium to the boy's death. Severus was forced by Dumbledore to kill him, without a thought on what Severus would have to endure after this act.

He hated the headmaster for all this but then Dumbledore was also the only one to trust him. He had helped Severus on many occasions. And regardless of his manipulative ways, he knew that Albus had always meant well. He did what had to be done for "the greater good" as he liked to put it. After his death, he had read the filth that Rita Skeeter had written- the life and lies of Albus Dumbledore. But the book provided him a new insight into the headmaster's life.

He knew the pain of losing someone you cherished, and the pain of losing your best friend. And through all his pain, Dumbledore had done what was right, not for himself but the entire magical Britain. And he had cared for Severus in his own way. This was the reason why Severus had decided to pass on Dumbledore's message to Harry Potter. "For the Greater Good". And for once he had sincerely hoped that the boy would live and not just for Lily's sake.

He thought about what he could do. He thought about the changes he could make. The Marauders would be a problem. James Potter, the spoilt brat and celebrity of Gryffindor, Sirius Black, the idiot who had almost got him killed and did not repent his mistake even once, Peter Pettigrew, the traitor who was responsible for Lily's death and Remus Lupin, the werewolf. This train of thought suddenly stopped at Lupin. Dear Merlin! Lupin had once almost killed him when Sirius Black lured him through the secret tunnel below the Whomping Willow. He had almost killed Harry Potter and his friends. And now he was in the same school as Lily without the advantage of the Wolfsbane Potion. He had to address this issue with great sensitivity and urgency.

In his previous life, he had gotten the werewolf kicked out of Hogwarts when Lupin stupidly forgot to take his Wolfsbane Potion and had posed a danger to Potter and his friends. There was also the shared advantage of the curse on the defense against the dark arts teaching position.

But this time, Lupin was a student. And he was under Dumbledore's protection. If he approached this wrongly, he would be the one made to shut up about it just like when he was in his previous life, when he was a student. But how should he deal with this matter? The Wolfsbane Potion was not yet invented either. And Lupin would not take it from Severus.

Burdened by his thoughts, he decided to find a solution, and quickly. He headed to the Great Hall for breakfast. He greeted Lily a good morning and sat at the Slytherin table. He noticed the Slytherins. Not all of them ended up as death eaters. His eyes fell on one Regulus Black. He was Sirius Black's younger brother. He knew Regulus Black as an acquaintance through Lucius but they did not know much about each other. He had heard of his death of course. It had been a mystery.

What had happened? He never gave it much thought before. From what he knew of the younger Black, he was a Quidditch fanatic, who was all for the beliefs of blood purity reigning supreme. He had joined the death eaters with this purpose foolishly believing that the dark lord was some saviour in disguise for the purification of the wizarding world. He doubted if Black even knew that his dark lord was himself a half-blood and that he did not care what blood you had if you were to disobey him or were a loyal follower who posed a little inconvenience in acquiring his goals.

Severus had first-class experience with this, he had known that the dark lord tortured his own followers when he was enraged, Severus himself had been on the receiving end more than once, after all. He had considered Severus Loyal until the very end but killed him to acquire Dumbledore's wand which he thought would make him win when he would fight the Potter boy. Never mind that he could have just given the blasted thing to Severus, won a battle against him and spare him his life! All he had to say about it was that he regretted it. Regret and the Dark Lord? As if! The Dark Lord had murdered him without a shred of remorse or a second thought might he add!

Perhaps he could leak the dark lord's secrets among the Slytherin and stop some dunderheads from joining the death eaters and ending up dead like himself. He doubted very much that everyone got a second chance after death like him. And after experiencing the pain of death he did not wish it on anyone. He regretted even more than before that he could not save those who were murdered by the dark lord before his very eyes.

After breakfast, he attended his classes like everyone else and tried his best not to raise any suspicion towards himself. During Potions class he wrote a note and subtly slipped it into Lupin's potions textbook on the pretext of stumbling on his way. He was restless during the classes, but he maintained his composure outwardly using Occlumency. After classes, he greeted Lily and spent some time with her in the library.

Meanwhile, the marauders headed to the common room and were planning new pranks on Slytherins. Remus Lupin joined his friends in their little endeavors often but this time he excused himself for a bit of light study. He was falling behind due to his condition and it was already beginning to raise suspicion on his whereabouts, if he fell behind in his studies too, then people would surely notice it. He had not even revealed this information to his friends, afraid that he may lose them forever. He was grateful to be allowed to attend Hogwarts. The headmaster was kind enough to go out of his way so that Remus could pursue his education. Remus wanted to do his best to prove that the opportunity given to him would not be in vain.

As he was trying to take out his transfiguration textbook, his potions book slipped from his bag and fell to the floor. When he tried to pick it up he noticed a parchment sitting in one of his pages. He picked it up and as he read it, he could feel his heartbeat raising.

Remus Lupin,

Meet me at the Whomping Willow. I'm sure you are familiar with the place. Come alone, for the moon is beautiful tonight. Be there just after curfew at 10:30 pm. I will be waiting.

S.

Someone figured it out! Dear Merlin! If word got out then he would have to be expelled! He had to go meet this person and beg them not to expose his condition! He had to go even if it ends up being a trap. In this, he had no choice. He could lose everything! No, he had to convince this person! He had to at least try.

The shock on his face might have been obvious as his friends saw it. They were curious and asked him about the note. Remus panicked and hid it behind him immediately! If they were to find out, they would not want to be around him again. But this only fed their curiosity. James Potter tried to take the parchment from his hands but Remus held onto it with fervour. But unfortunately for him, during this attempt, Sirius Black nicked the parchment from behind and read it aloud while James blocked him from taking it back.

He was done for! It was all over!

"Look, James! Remus has a secret girlfriend! And she says to meet her because the moon is beautiful!" Sirius laughed loudly.

"Remus, Mate! Are you seriously going to sneak out after curfew to meet this girl?" asked James.

They got it all wrong, but he would take what he could get. It was better than revealing that he's a werewolf. This was an opportunity in disguise.

"Please don't tell anyone!" Remus begged with a pleading face.

"It is signed as "S". Who is this girl exactly?" asked Peter

"Just a friend," Remus said nervously.

"Yeah right, so let me get this straight! You are sneaking out of the castle at night, after curfew might I add, to meet this "just a friend" girl to take a "friendly stroll" in the moonlight?" mocked James.

Remus' face went red at the implication. And for all he knew, his friends might even be right! It could be a coincidence, that some girl secretly had a crush on him and wanted to confess her feelings. Maybe he misunderstood. In the best-case scenario. But in the worst case, his biggest fear might have come true and someone discovered his secret! Somehow he had a bad feeling that it was the latter rather than the former.

"Don't worry mate! We will keep it to ourselves. But we want details when you come back!" said James.

"Yes, besides what are friends for?" said Peter.

"Remus seems to have beaten us on the girlfriend department!" said Sirius jokingly.