I don't own it; though I wish I had, because the chapter is pretty good... well, I will settle with only owning the weird crazy idea's in my head and the key-board I have typed this on... (It's a bit sticky, btw...)

anyway, on with the story!

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"Harry, this piece of vermin is the reason you have no parents," Sirius said, while Remus himself was looking flabbergasted at Harry, who still stood in front of Pettigrew. Hadn't he understood? Was he still against them, still thinking Sirius had done it? He felt another shiver pass through him.

"This cringing bit of filth would have seen you die too, without turning a hair. You heard him. His own stinking skin meant more to him than your whole family." Although Remus would have used different words, he nodded feverishly.

"I know," said the boy in front of them, panting. "We'll take him up to the castle. We'll hand him over to the Dementors. He can go to Azkaban . . . just don't kill him."

Remus tried to understand why Harry would want to do this, but it was hard to think when he saw Pettigrew trying to embrace Harry, while gasping: "Harry! You – thank you – it's more than I deserve – thank you—"

But Harry's frown returned and he spat, "Get off me! I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it because I don't reckon my dad would've wanted his best friends to become killers – just for you."

Remus already knew that Harry was truly the image of his dad, but he wondered which parent had passed on the need to do good. Probably Lily.

And then he understood something far more important: Harry had thought this through better than he himself had done: he had told the truth to three teenagers. But no one else knew; they needed Peter to prove that Sirius was innocent, in the same way they had first needed the rat in Ron's hand to prove he was still alive.

He looked at Sirius, who nodded, clearly thinking along the same lines as Remus himself did. Harry had every right to tell them what should be done with Pettigrew, just as he'd had the right to hear the truth about the betrayer of his parents. They both lowered their wands; Remus hadn't even noticed that even with Harry in front of him, he had still held his wand high.

"You're the only person who has the right to decide, Harry. But think . . . think what he did . . ." Sirius tried to change his mind once more, but Remus, knowing Harry now for almost a year, and knowing how like his parents he was, knew that he wouldn't change his mind about this.

"He can go to Azkaban. If anyone deserves that place, he does . . ." The boy looked at Sirius and smiled.

"Very well. Stand aside, Harry," he said, but Harry looked at him with hesitation. "I'm going to tie him up. That's all, I swear," Remus added. Harry nodded and stepped out of the way. He looked at his former friend, and was almost disgusted to conjure the cords at his wrists and ankles.

"But if you transform, Peter, we will kill you. You agree, Harry?" Harry nodded, almost immediately.

Remus got another shiver and a feeling that he should get out of here. This place was giving him the creeps.

"Right." He looked at the bed, where Ron was still lying, his face growing steadily more pale. "Ron, I can't mend bones nearly as well as Madame Pomfrey, so I think it's best if we just strap your leg up until we can get you to the hospital wing."

Ron nodded, and Remus walked over, in the meantime digging in his brain to find the right spell for that measure.

"Ferula," he said, when he reached the bed. Bandages sprang out of the end of his wand, binding Ron's leg tightly to a wooden splint that had erupted from thin air. Then, he helped Ron up on his feet. Ron, being a bit unstable, gently put his weight on the leg. When Remus looked at Ron's face, he saw that he wasn't quite as uncomfortable anymore.

"That's better. Thanks," the boy said, smiling at him.

Remus wanted to help Ron with walking around in the room, when his attention was caught by Hermione, who softly said: "What about Professor Snape?"

He walked to her and the bundle of black robes, with here and there an arm sticking out, and checked his pulse, hoping that he hadn't given Snape more reason to hate him – although he knew already that he had.

"There is nothing seriously wrong with him," he heard himself say, and glanced for a moment at Sirius, knowing that, as a boy, Sirius had strongly disagreed on that point. He looked back at Hermione, who was standing still, terrified of having committed a crime.

"You were just a little—" Like us in our time at school? Harsh? He knew that both of those answers wouldn't comfort Hermione at all, so he said, "over-enthusiastic. Still out cold." He wanted to wake Snape, but at the moment he drew his wand, he knew what kind of trouble Snape would make, and said, to explain himself: "Er—perhaps it will be best if we don't revive him until we're safely back in the castle. We can take him like this . . . Mobilicorpus." And, giving him an eerie feeling that he had done one of the exact same things that Sirius had done to Snape in their youth, Snape flew up in the air, like a puppet. He tucked the Invisibility Cloak that Snape had had in his hand into his pocket.

"And two of us should be chained to this. Just to make sure," Sirius said, almost kicking at the vermin called Pettigrew.

"I'll do it," Remus volunteered.

"And me," said Ron determined, limping towards the group.

Sirius conjured chains and Pettigrew was suddenly held upright, by Ron at his right, and Remus to his left.

"Let's go," said Sirius, and following Crookshanks, they walked out of the room.

The stairs were a bit difficult for Ron, Pettigrew and Remus, seeing as Peter didn't want to go down, and Ron barely could. But a nudge with Remus' wand did miracles to Peter's aversion, and when they walked a bit slowly, stair by stair, Ron managed to keep it up.

The tunnel wasn't difficult at all. Remus felt himself getting a bit cold, and he shivered again, while Peter was sobbing quietly, now and then letting a murmur of barely audible words out. Remus still couldn't believe what had happened. Sirius was free! Well, not yet: but how difficult could it be to walk to the castle? The only thing he now looked up to was the talk he would have to have with Dumbledore: He would have to admit to those piercing blue eyes that he had lied to them all along. He felt a bit nauseous when he thought about it. Or was that just the odour he smelled coming from Peter?

Ron had trouble walking so fast, so Remus slowed down a bit, constantly holding his wand at Peter.

"Are you okay, Ron?"

Ron nodded. As pale as his face had been on the bed, it was now equally red.

"Yeah – it's just – a bit difficult to walk – without one knee..to bend..."

"We'll be there soon. It's not that far to the castle, and I will personally bring you to the hospital wing once we arrive."

Ron nodded.

"That is, until we have delivered this stinking vermin—" he pointed at the wheezing man between them, "—to Professor Dumbledore."

"Yeah... –I suppose I should have washed you better," Ron said, staring at the man in disgust. Remus heard him mumbling further: "I knew it! Never trust anything Percy gives you! Fred and George were right!"

They had reached the end of the tunnel, and Remus walked out after Crookshanks, tugging Pettigrew with him, so Ron had enough space to climb out.

He inhaled deeply, and suddenly, felt that odd, weird shiver again. It felt familiar, as if he had had it before, not only tonight, but it was probably the adrenalin. Or perhaps – happiness, seeing as he had never felt so free from all his guilt before.

Once Ron had climbed up, Snape followed, a bit of blood oozing from under his hairline. It was clear to Remus that the blood hadn't been there in the Shrieking Shack, but that it was a result of Sirius' transport of him through the tunnel.

Peter made a sudden move at his right, and he quickly focused his attention back at him.

"One wrong move, Peter." Pettigrew shuddered again, and Remus followed his example.

When Hermione had climbed out of the hole, the group walked further. Remus cursed himself for not bringing his cloak with him: It had gotten cold. He felt a little dizzy, too.

And then the shaking began. He stood still. For a second more, Remus blamed the coldness of the night, but when Snape's body collided with his back, the truth hit him. Why had Snape seen them in the Shack? Because he was bringing the Wolfsbane Potion to his office! A potion Remus hadn't drunk. His thoughts were swirling in his head. Remus wanted to make it clear to Sirius, or Harry, or...He was too late, however: His mouth slowly started to sprout in a snout. Remus looked above and saw that a cloud was slowly shifting away. And then he saw his worst fear: the moon. Full.

The first thing he felt after that was the coldness from the ground. He was lying on his back, on what seemed to be a forest floor. His body felt numb and he had trouble opening his eyes. Remus felt weak, empty, as if a terrible storm had raced through his body and torn everything apart in him. He tasted blood in his mouth, and, without flexing it, could tell that his left wrist was not in working order.

Slowly, fearing what he would see in the light, but knowing already in the back of his mind, he opened his eyes. The first things he saw were the trees, staring at him from above. Remus sat upright, and saw his own feet. He had lost both shoes and shirt, and there was not much left of his pants. His hands were almost black and were covered in scratches.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no . . ." His throat felt dry, and some memories began to slip back, unbidden.

After almost a year, he had become a full werewolf again. He had seen the moon.

Remus tasted the blood in his mouth again, as if to determine if it was from someone he knew. Pettigrew was alright, but if it was one of the others, he wouldn't know what to do. He panicked. Had he bitten one of the students? After all the precautions that were taken this year, and in his years at Hogwarts as a student, had he finally broken them without wanting to? For a moment, he hyperventilated, but he calmed himself down: he had to, or the guilt would suffocate him.

A stick was lying next to him, and slowly, feeling every limb in his body screaming, he grabbed it, and tried to stand. In an automatic reflex, his eyes travelled to his wrist, to see what time it was, but the watch couldn't be called a watch anymore: several of the insides were hanging out, and the glass had disappeared. He looked at the sun and saw that it had just risen; it was probably four, five o'clock in the morning. If he was lucky, he could find the castle before everyone had eaten their breakfast: his situation was terrible and embarrassing enough without every student sitting outside gaping at him.

He walked, hoping he was going the right way and would find a path soon. His body protested with every step.

"Good morning, wolf Lupin," he suddenly heard from behind.

If his limbs had allowed it, Remus would have jumped, but instead of that, he turned his head, and his eyes met a centaur's.

"Er – good morning. I'm sorry. I'm . . ."

"Lost?" the centaur interrupted. Remus nodded, feeling too stupid and embarrassed to answer.

"Follow me. I assume your goal is to find the castle?" Remus nodded again, and followed the centaur, who was walking in the direct opposite the one Remus had planned.

"You created quite some havoc last night," the creature started, as if he was talking about the weather. "We all had to be careful not to cross your path. Almost every centaur was warned, and we all had to stop unravelling the future, to keep an eye out. We saw something of this sort coming, though; a full moon, and Neptune almost disappeared. And then we have Mars of course, but since he has been bright for a long time now . . . It was destined to come, this terrible night. I'm sure that it will have many consequences."

Remus heard only half of what the centaur was saying. He was still wondering who he had bitten, and suddenly, when it seemed that the centaur wouldn't speak further he asked:

"Have – have I injured anyone?"

"None of us," the centaur spoke simply. "There was an unfortunate rabbit, I think...You didn't seem to mind much if the flesh was human, animal or from a creature..." Remus shuddered, and the creature stopped talking.

They walked for about an hour in silence. Remus wondered how the centaur knew he needed help, and why he gave it. His free hand brushed against something soothing, and he looked down: the Invisibility Cloak he had taken last night was hanging a bit out of his pocket, but other than that, it seemed fine. Remus put it back, glad he hadn't damaged it. They walked further. Quite suddenly, Remus and the centaur reached the end of the forest.

"Here I will leave you. Good luck in the rest of your journey. May you find some happiness along the way."

Before Remus could say anything, the centaur turned away and disappeared. For a moment he stood there, realising that the centaur had meant the journey of life, instead of the journey to the castle. Then he inhaled deeply, and leaning heavily on his stick, walked towards the front doors.

It took him almost half an hour to reach those doors, and when he did, they were opened before he could knock.

"Hello Remus. I was wondering when you would be back." The piercing blue eyes were scanning him behind the glasses. Remus tried to avoid them, but still felt them burning. He said nothing.

"Let's walk to my office. Madam Pomfrey gave me a revitalizing potion yesterday. I think it will do you good."

Remus nodded and followed Dumbledore to his study. They both didn't speak; Remus because guilt and pain were overwhelming him, Dumbledore because he was softly humming a tune Remus had heard on the WWN.

The door closed and Dumbledore conjured him a very comfortable chair. As he slowly sat down, the Headmaster gave him a goblet full of a creamy substance that looked a lot like warm milk. Remus sipped from it, and felt a bit more relaxed.

"I have had quite an evening, Remus. And I've heard that you played quite some role in it."

Remus was still avoiding his eyes, looking at the goblet in his hands.

"You are probably wondering how the others are; I am pleased to inform you that they all are in perfect health, although it was close enough."

"So I haven't bitten any of them?" Remus now looked up, asking the question he had had in his head since waking.

"No, you haven't. Thanks to Mr. Black's quick transformation, he could untie you, and pull you away from the students immediately. But that's not even a fraction of the whole story I've heard. A story, of which you have heard only half."

"Half? What do you mean, sir? If Sirius pulled me away, what more is there to tell, other than the story we told Harry in the Shack?"

"In his noble attempt to save the others, Mr. Black lost Mr. Pettigrew, who turned himself back into his rat form, Scabbers, or Wormtail as I understand he's known in that state." Remus nodded and drank some more potion, feeling his heart sinking with that news.

"The rat Pettigrew fled after injuring Mr. Weasley, and when Mr. Black came back from freeing you, he immediately ran after him. Unfortunately, he was caught by some Dementors."

"No!" Without realising he had done it, Remus had stood up. "Sirius Black is innocent, Peter is the one that killed them!"

Dumbledore motioned him back in his chair.

"I have heard that, but at that time, I didn't know, and neither did the Dementors."

"So . . . Sirius . . ."

"Oh, he is quite whole, if that is your question, Remus. His soul is still intact. As I said, the story is longer than that."

Remus sat back and listened again.

"Mr. Potter and Miss Granger ran after Mr. Black, and were, just as Mr. Black was, knocked unconscious. Then, a Patronus was conjured from the other side of the lake, scaring the Dementors away. Severus woke at that moment, at which point he found Misters Black and Potter, as well as Miss Granger and Mr Weasely, all of whom he took to the Hospital Wing. With the exception of Mr. Black, whom he brought directly to me."

Remus wanted to interrupt again. The story made no sense. Who had conjured that Patronus? And where was Pettigrew? And how did Dumbledore know about Sirius and Pettigrew being Animagi? However, Dumbledore continued.

"I was at that moment having tea with Mr. Fudge. I have questioned Sirius, and he told me about the three of them becoming Animagi for you. Then he told me what had happened in the Shrieking Shack, and how you became a werewolf. Now, I believed him, but there was no way the greater wizarding world, nor the Wizengamot, would. It was obvious that Mr. Fudge, who was still here for the execution of the hippogriff Buckbeak, would want to perform the execution immediately. Fudge wouldn't even sit down to listen to Sirius; he thought he had already heard the whole story from Severus, whom he had promised the Order of Merlin."

"But Severus was unconscious when Sirius and I explained!" Remus said angrily.

"Severus thought he already knew the whole story, and that he hadn't missed a bit. When I heard the whole story from Sirius, however, I went to the hospital wing, and asked Harry and Miss Granger to go back in time with the Time-Turner Miss Granger has in her possession. You see, yesterday afternoon, Buckbeak managed to flee also; Harry and Hermione were responsible for that.

"They freed the hippogriff, and waited until they could free Sirius. But in the meantime, because they also had to look out for you, they hid themselves in Hagrid´s hut, giving them a clear view of the person who would eventually conjure the Patronus. It turned out, that that person was Harry himself. Thanks to your lessons, he managed to save not only himself, but also one of his best friends, and, if I recall James´ and Lily´s will correctly, his godfather." Remus felt a lump in his throat. Dumbledore's comforting words, about how he had taught Harry the Patronus weren't helping. Everything had been messed up, and all because he had forgotten to take his potion. Guilt was trying to drown him again.

"After that, they managed to fly up to the correct window, freeing Sirius. They came back, just in time to hear themselves disappear. I convinced Fudge that you weren't helping Black, and couldn't have helped him escape, as you had become a werewolf already. In all the commotion that followed, I managed to get in contact with one of the centaurs, asking him to help you. I assumed that you would be lost when you woke, and letting you find your own way back would have taken hours. I didn't want to have raised any students' suspicions. Two sightings of a murderer and the sudden flight of a hippogriff and that same murderer is enough for one year, I think."

Dumbledore stopped talking, and now looked straight into Remus' eyes.

"And Pettigrew?" Remus asked.

"Disappeared."

"He's gone? So Sirius still can't prove he's innocent?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Sirius fled, still as a murderer in the eyes of most. He will probably be sighted again soon, and reported seen as a convict. But we know he's innocent, Remus. And that is, at this moment, enough."

"I should have told you from the start of this year that Sirius could transform. Maybe Pettigrew wouldn't have escaped."

"Well, you didn't, and I think you had enough reasons for that." Dumbledore leaned forward and said in a softer tone: "I don't blame you, Remus. You've had enough to cope with."

"It looks like I'm back where I started," Remus suddenly blurted out. "If I hadn't been a werewolf, my friends would have never been killed, or falsely accused. And if I hadn't become a real werewolf last night instead of the tamer version, the real betrayer would never have escaped."

"It's not only your own fortune and will that contribute to the situation, Remus. If Harry had allowed you to kill him, if Sirius had been faster, if the Weasleys hadn't taken Peter in . . . It wasn't just your lycanthropic state. You cannot blame yourself because one of your friends turned out badly."

A bit lighter, Remus nodded.

"I advise you, Remus, to go to the hospital, and to ask Madame Pomfrey to look at those wounds. Seeing as she has known you for quite some time, she won't ask questions. I have informed the staff about your . . . er . . . behaviour last night; you don't have to explain to anyone. It's now almost seven o'clock, breakfast starts in two hours, so you should be decent by that time."

"Sir?"

Dumbledore looked up; Remus couldn't quite read the expression on his face, but he saw that it wasn't a happy one, as if he knew what was coming.

"I would like to resign."

"I see."

There was a pause, and he stared at Remus, with a sad expression. "Are you sure? I can promise you that I won't sack you later, when you and I will get to be criticized, nor that you will be sacked when the Ministry demands that."

"Yes, I am. Last night, becoming a werewolf while chained to Pettigrew and Ron, that never should have happened. It didn't matter how many precautions were in place, it still did. I have put a student in mortal danger. Three students, a friend and a teacher, actually. And I can't bear the thought of staying here, with the danger that it could happen again. Besides, I have lied to you the whole year, and it wouldn't be fair to ask you to take the blame that is obviously going to come."

Dumbledore shook his head sadly, and then looked back at Remus.

"I am going to miss you here. You were a great teacher. Heaven knows what kind of teacher the students will get next term. But I think I'm not the only one who is going to miss you, Remus," he added, with a knowing look in his eyes. "He's rather attached to you now. And I'm almost sure he would want back that cloak you hold in your pocket."

Remus nodded, ignoring the last part, not even remotely surprised by Dumbledore's comment. "Yes, he's truly his parents' son. I liked it here. There were always people to laugh with. I think I will miss that." He stood up. "I think I will leave today, Dumbledore, if you don't mind."

"I wish I could change you mind, but I understand. Let me order a carriage for you, while you clean up and pack."

Remus nodded, and opened the door, descending the stairs, and almost walked into Hagrid, who looked very pleased.

"Hey there, Remus. I've heard 'bout yer little accident last nigh'. Are yeh a'right?" Remus nodded.

"Yes, I'm fine now. I have just resigned."

"Wha'? Resigned? Are you kiddin' me? Well, I can tell yeh that the students are gonna miss yeh."

"Yes . . . well . . . I have put them in too much danger." He shuddered again.

"Mi' be a bit harsh to ask, but do werewolves eat hippogriffs?" Hagrid asked suddenly.

"I think we can attack a weak one, but I'm pretty sure I didn't touch one last night."

The bearded face relaxed a bit, and broke back into a smile.

"Well, I'll be seein' yeh . . . People like yeh always have a knack for turnin' up when they're needed."

Remus smiled, waved, and walked to the hospital wing.

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Heey! It took a while to write and post this! My internet broke down, just as I wanted to sent it to my beta! (Who I haven't thanked in a while for editing. Sorry! Thanks LEAD!)

Don't worry, it's fixed now...and while I had no internet to distract me, I have already written the last and final chapter: Number 13!!! It will be a bit nostalgic and dramatic...you have to review me about this chapter to hear more :P:P

xxx-mokimik-xxx