Okay, before you start cheering that there is another chapter: This is not one of my best. I don't know if it is because of school, or because this were hard scenes to write, but the truth is that I'm not happy with it. Huge thanks to Lead, who had the tough job to edit this, without making it entirely different.

I have given up hope to take over the world and become JK. I'm from now on just mokimik, who hublebly (Is this a word?) uses JK's characters….

On with the story!

Remus had always gotten used to the weirdest things: The fact that he grew fur every month, the fact that people didn't like him, no matter how nice he was, the fact that he had to keep his being a werewolf a secret. Giving Harry Potter private lessons now also fell in that category. Indeed, Remus had not gotten much sleep after the first night, but fortunately, the following lessons weren't so emotional, so intense, as the first one. Harry had managed every time to put some sort of shimmer between him and the Dementor, which gave him no further flashbacks, and which gave Remus no more nightmares imagining how terrible that Halloween night had been. Remus still didn't know exactly what Harry knew about his parents and the Marauders, but he didn't mind: as long as he didn't have to explain himself, he was fine with it.

On one morning, while he was reading the Daily Prophet during his breakfast, Remus lost his appetite.

Black Awaits Dementor's Kiss

London, 16 February,

Mass-murderer Sirius Black, who escaped Azkaban last July, will be given the Dementor's Kiss when he is caught. This was confirmed by Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge yesterday, during the weekly press conference regarding the Ministry's progress in the Black case.

The Dementors are now allowed to perform their punishment without the consent of a witch or wizard.

This measure was taken in the hope that Black will be caught as soon as possible by the Dementors, and that all the extra forces for Black can be recalled.

"Black has escaped the Dementors once. We will not let it happen again, because the Dementors do not have to bring him to the Ministry first," said Mr. Fudge yesterday. Meanwhile, the rumours that Black was seen in the North continue, but the Ministry will still not confirm them, nor the rumour about Sirius Black, breaking into Hogwarts this past Halloween. TheDaily Prophet reported last week that there have been two muggles who have called the special number; today we can tell you that there has been another call from a muggle, who doesn't live too far from Hogsmeade.

See page 11 for a detailed report on the press conference.

Remus folded the newspaper, looking askance at his scrambled eggs. He felt he might be ill.

A Dementor's Kiss . . . Surely Black deserved to rot in Azkaban, but to be a soulless shell? He looked at his colleagues, some of whom were also reading the Prophet. Did they agree with Fudge and his measures? They were probably hoping that this would cause the Dementors to leave the school. But did they really think that Black deserved this? It was hard to tell, but it was even harder to tell whose side Remus was now on. After reading the article, he suddenly hoped that Sirius would stay away from those foul creatures, and would stay in hiding for a long time.

While Remus was slowly bonding with Harry, Harry himself still wasn't allowed to ride his new broom. Remus heard the news from both sides: Minerva, who told him that it was really odd that they hadn't found anything yet, and Harry, who had been late for their lesson because he'd had difficulty catching the snitch during training, and Wood had made him fly on one of the slow school brooms as long as was necessary to catch the tiny thing.

Harry's mood wasn't improved by that whole incident, and he certainly wasn't happy about his Dementor lessons either. Remus could see that Harry had expected more from himself than just a vague silver shimmer as protection.

"You're expecting too much of yourself," said Remus the next night, when Harry kicked a chair in frustration. It was their fourth meeting: Harry could now manage to put the Dementor back into the box without Remus' help, but on his face was a frown that showed that he wasn't proud of it. Harry looked up.

"For a thirteen-year-old wizard, even an indistinct Patronus is a huge achievement. You aren't passing out anymore, are you?"

"I thought a Patronus would – charge the Dementors down or something. Make them disappear –"

"The true Patronus does do that. But you've achieved a great deal in a very short space of time. If the Dementors put in an appearance at your next Quidditch match, you will be able to keep them at bay long enough to get back to the ground."

But Harry wasn't relieved or comforted.

"You said it's harder if there are loads of them," said Harry stubbornly.

"I have complete confidence in you," Remus said, smiling. He looked at the time and saw that it was too late to try it again. Suddenly, he remembered that he had brought something other than just chocolate. "Here – you've earned a drink. Something from the Three Broomsticks, you won't have tried it before – " He walked to his briefcase on the desk and pulled two bottles of Butterbeer out of it. Remus had thought about it, and came to the conclusion that if Harry wasn't allowed to go to Hogsmeade, then Hogsmeade had to come to him. Or at least Butterbeer: as James' son he had the right to taste that delicious liquid. So yesterday he had asked Hagrid, whom he was comforting because his Hippogriff seemed to have to go to court, to bring some bottles back.

"Butterbeer! Yeah, I like that stuff!" Harry said quickly. Remus raised an eyebrow. How could Harry know what it was, if he had never been to the Three Broomsticks? Maybe Harry was more like James than Remus had thought.

"Oh – Ron and Hermione brought me some back from Hogsmeade," Harry said, just as quickly as his last sentence, looking away.

"I see," he heard himself say, although he didn't believe a word of what Harry had just told him. "Well – let's drink to a Gryffindor victory against Ravenclaw!" Realising that this toast sounded very much like the ones he had made in his school time, and suddenly recalling that he was a teacher, he added: "Not that I'm supposed to take sides, as a teacher . . ."

Harry only grinned and Remus smiled back, feeling that he was again comfortable with the whole situation. They drank in silence. Remus was just about to ask if Harry might have heard something from McGonagall about his broomstick, when Harry asked:

"What's under a Dementor's hood?"

So much for a light conversation. Remus had expected the question, but that didn't mean that he was prepared to explain it.

"Hmmm . . . well, the only people who really know are in no condition to tell us. You see, the Dementor only lowers its hood to use its last and worst weapon." He thought back to the article he had read that morning and wondered if Harry had read it too.

"What's that?"

"They call it the Dementor's Kiss." Remus saw that Harry still looked eager to hear more: apparently he hadn't read it. "It's what Dementors do to those they wish to destroy utterly. I suppose there must be some kind of mouth under there, because they clamp their jaws upon the mouth of the victim and –" he noticed that he had trouble speaking further – he had an image of a young Sirius in his mind's eye, "-and suck out his soul."

He barely noticed when Harry spilled his Butterbeer. The image was now changing: there was a black thing on Sirius' head.

"What – they kill - ?" Harry asked.

"Oh no. Much worse than that. You can exist without your soul, you know, as long as your brain and heart are still working. But you'll have no sense of self anymore, no memory, no . . . anything." He suddenly saw how joyous and happy and . . . alive Sirius had been. Mostly with James, the one that he would betray, but still . . . "There's no chance at all of recovery. You'll just – exist. As an empty shell. And your soul is gone forever . . . lost." He wondered what Harry thought about it, but his face didn't tell Remus much. He took a sip of his Butterbeer and then suddenly, not caring that Harry was not supposed to know about Sirius, he said: "It's the fate that awaits Sirius Black. It was in the Daily Prophet this morning. The Ministry have given the Dementors permission to perform it if they find him."

There was a look of shock on Harry's face, and Remus relaxed: Harry would probably think the same way about it as he did. But then, Harry's face hardened and he said: "He deserves it."

"You think so?" Remus asked in a quasi-casual tone. "Do you really think anyone deserves that?" He didn't want to admit it, but he felt a bit disappointed. He had, without realising it, expected that Harry would be more…. noble.

"Yes. For . . . for some things . . ."

It was clear to Remus that Harry knew more about the whole affair than anyone thought. He wanted to question Harry further, but it was obvious when Harry stood up and left that he hadn't been comfortable with the situation.

When Remus arrived that Friday morning for breakfast, Minerva soon leaned over to talk to him.

"A curious thing happened last evening, Remus," she said in a strange voice. Remus couldn't tell if she was joking, or too angry to sound mad.

"Oh," he replied, a bit careful.

"Yes. I went to Gryffindor Tower yesterday, to give Mr. Potter his broom back."

"So you haven't found anything wrong with it?" Remus asked.

"No, we haven't. Potter must have a very good friend somewhere, and if the price you told me is correct, a very rich one too. Anyway," she now looked a bit stern, because Remus had led her off topic, "When I arrived at the Tower, the only person there was Mr.Weasley, trying to make his potions homework. He told me that Potter has private lessons with you?"

Although the last sentence hadn't been a question, she did phrase it as one, as if there was some need for explanation there.

"Yes, that's correct," Remus said. He could tell that his short answer wasn't appreciated. Her eyes pierced into Remus and he added: "Harry has asked me to help him conjure a Patronus, to protect him against the Dementors during the match tomorrow."

Minerva blinked for a few seconds. She said slowly: "And . . . it was Potter . . . who proposed this idea?"

"Absolutely. Before Christmas, he came to me and asked me if I could help him. After the holidays, I started tutoring him."

"And you're not . . ."

"I'm not favouring him, if that's what you mean. But Harry seems to have more trouble than most with those creatures, and he didn't want it to be an obstacle for Gryffindor to loose the match tomorrow."

He saw that his last words had touched a nerve. If Minerva was still as competitive as she had been in his days, she would allow it. Remus knew that James and Sirius seemed to get less punishment for their deeds when there was an upcoming match.

Minerva was silent for a moment, and then she said: "Well, I hope you know what you're doing. I'm a bit disappointed that you didn't confide it to me when Harry started these lessons with you." When Remus wanted to interrupt, she added: "And please try to remember during those lessons that Harry isn't James, Remus."

Remus said nothing back. He felt a bit ashamed that he hadn't told McGonagall anything about it. And when he thought about the reason why he hadn't, he had to agree with Minerva again: Maybe he hadn't told anyone because he had wanted to see Harry as a friend.

He walked back to his office, to prepare his class and jumped automatically over the fake step on the staircase to the second floor. As he did so, his mind flew back to his fourth year, when James had invented the stair. He had stumbled on the spell in a book during one of their infrequent trips to the library, this one prompted by an actual need to do their Charms homework. From then on, James had tried the spell on everything, and made it permanent with this stair. And even though everyone told him it was useless, James had tried to master the spell with the same dedication and stubbornness as Harry now had with the Patronus.

Remus stood still. What was actually wrong with the tutoring? Minerva had made him feel as if he was doing something wrong, he realised. But was it wrong? All Remus was trying to do was help Harry. He probably would have done the same when it was about some one else, wouldn't he? Okay, maybe with less dedication, but as long Harry didn't know the whole story, that wasn't so bad, was it?

The day quickly passed and Saturday, Remus went, just like the rest of the school, to the Quidditch pitch. He had been to the other matches of the season, (except the one Gryffindor had played when Harry had been injured) but when he saw the players in Gryffindor red mounting their brooms, it felt like he was a student again, cheering with the rest of the crowd. His seat was right next to the commentator's box, where Minerva stood with Lee Jordan, a crony of Fred and George Weasley. Remus saw that the boy was talking to McGonagall.

"Wow! Professor! Did you see Harry's broom? It's a Firebolt!"

"Yes, Jordan, I looked at it myself. Now, please, turn on the spell and start commenting this game."

"Yes professor. Did you notice that when you hold it, the Firebolt is as light as a feather?"

Remus heard Lee's voice booming through the stadium, sometimes interrupted by McGonagall because the boy still gave too much information about the Firebolt. But because of his view, Remus barely heard it. In front of his eyes was a great match. The Gryffindor team flew better than they had ever done when Remus had been in school, even when James had been on it. Fourteen (fifteen with Madam Hooch) brooms were flying, zigzagging, looping and diving in the air. Remus saw that Harry was the highest flyer, although he was constantly being blocked by a girl from the Ravenclaw team, all of whom were doing their best to make it as difficult for Gryffindor as possible.

He didn't know how much time passed: the brooms seemed to mesmerize him a bit. When Harry seemed to see the snitch for the third time however, something happened that made him alert again.

Both of the seekers where slowing down, and the girl behind Harry seemed to point at something. Half of the crowd was cheering, while the other half was busy looking for what the Ravenclaw Seeker (or was it Seekster?) was pointing at.

Remus followed the gaze of the latter group and he felt a fear creep up in his veins when he saw that there were three Dementors slowly entering the field. As if he was watching a tennis match, his gaze switched from Harry onto the creatures and back. Remus was afraid that Harry wouldn't be able to perform the spell on a real Dementor, that he would fall off his broom. But Harry didn't even seem to make any effort: he pulled out his wand, and repeated the incantation, for as far Remus could tell. Then, - Remus couldn't believe that Harry didn't have trouble at all with the spell - he conjured a full, corporeal Patronus. It was too sunny and there was too much light to see what it was: All Remus could see was that it had four legs and was enormous (it looked a bit like a lion, or was it perhaps . . .), and that it was far too big to be the usual shimmer of silver.

What happened next happened even faster then the previous things: the Dementors were not blown away by the spell, but they fell, and Remus saw from the corner of his eye that they exposed some feet. At the same time, he tried to watch Harry, who managed to catch the Snitch. Madame Hooch blew the whistle, and the red part of the stadium erupted into cheers and screams, compensating for their relative quiet during the hunt for the Snitch.

He felt that he had his fists clenched from excitement and fear, and relaxed. He stood up, as the rest of the crowd was doing, to descend and congratulate the Gryffindors. But before Remus could walk over to Harry and congratulate him not only on the match, but also on his best Patronus so far, he saw that Minerva was extremely red in the face and that she was marching down the stairs with her lips so thin that they were almost invisible, so great was her anger.

As soon as Remus was on the ground, he saw that she was walking towards the "Dementors" who now seemed to be four guys in hoods and capes.

Without looking further, he fought his way towards Harry (with quite some difficulty- it seemed as if the crowd was everywhere-) and said: "That was quite some Patronus."

Harry turned around and grinned at Remus, who now felt that he had actually some sweat on his forehead from stress.

"The Dementors didn't affect me at all! I didn't feel a thing!" Harry yelled above the crowd, who was now cheering some odd Quidditch song.

"That would be because they - " he said, leaning over towards Harry to make himself audible, "er –" he suddenly got the feeling that Harry would be disappointed when he heard that they weren't real Dementors. Well, someone had to tell him . . . "weren't Dementors." Harry looked surprised. "Come and see –"

He led Harry out of the crowd, until they were able to see the edge of the pitch. When he saw that Harry was even grinning more at the sight of the "Dementors" he said:

"You gave Mr. Malfoy quite a fright."

To make the sight even better for Harry (and subconsciously himself, because he realised that he would've hated it if Harry had been injured during the match) Minerva was yelling at four Slytherins, Crabbe, Goyle, Flint and Malfoy.

"An unworthy trick! A low and cowardly attempt to sabotage the Gryffindor Seeker! Detention for all of you, and fifty points from Slytherin! I shall be speaking to Professor Dumbledore about this, make no mistake! Ah, here he comes now!"

While Harry was being called away by one of the Weasley twins (after he almost doubled up with laughter), Remus saw that Professor Dumbledore and Minerva were discussing the incident. Dumbledore said something to Minerva, who gave an answer, and suddenly, Remus saw that Dumbledore was heading towards him.

"I hear that you would have prevented the incident from escalating, had it been a real incident?"

If Dumbledore was heading at the lessons with Harry, he was right, so Remus nodded.

"Well, then I believe you did your job right. Harry produced quite a Patronus there . . ."

With a wink, Dumbledore turned around to walk back to the castle.

Leaving Remus, as proud as he could be, behind.

The euphoric feeling didn't last long for Remus. His sleep was woken abruptly from some quick knocks on the door. Remus' first thought was to ignore them, but when he heard the squeaky voice of Flitwick, yelling: "Remus, are you there?", he sighed and walked over to open the door.

In front of him was the little professor, in a white nightgown, with black stars on them. Remus would have had problems containing his laughter about the matching nightcap, if it wasn't for the concerned and panicked look that had caught his attention immediately.

"Remus, come quickly! Black has tried to break in again!"

Ooo! Cliff-hanger! Well, at least I got some tension in this chapter. Please review me to ask me ridiculous questions (normal ones are allowed too!) or to tell me that this chapter is not one of my best!

But the next one will be better, promise! I mean, how is Lupin going to handle himself when he has to save Harry and the Map out of the hands of Snape?

(Two cliff-hangers in one chapter! Wow, maybe this is a good chapter after all…..)