Harry awoke the next morning to the sounds of chaos. As he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he noticed that Ron's bed was already empty. "Ron's awake before me? Well that's a first." Harry thought to himself as he stretched and yawned widely. The first intelligible noise that greeted him when he opened the bedroom door was the sound of Molly Weasley, who was quite obviously agitated. "... only eight days away! I will not have you loafing about the house when there is work to be done!" "If Ginny and I ever get married," Harry thought to himself, "we're eloping."

Harry got dressed, trundled down the stairs and entered the kitchen to find Mrs. Weasley running around like a chicken with her head cut off, barking orders at Arthur while simultaneously trying to give Ginny a haircut and make alterations on Fleur's wedding dress. When she saw Harry, her disposition softened slightly. "Sorry about the noise Harry dear. There's just so much we need to get done before the wedding. There's some bread and cheese on the table if you're hungry." Ginny gave Harry a pleading look that said 'Please get me out of here!" but before he could respond, Mrs. Weasley shooed him out of the kitchen. "Ron and the twins are in the backyard Harry. Why don't you see how they're coming along with the tent?" Harry gave Ginny a helpless shrug as if to say 'I don't know what to do.', and after hastily making himself a cheese sandwich, went outside to the garden.

Harry was awestruck as he stepped outside. Ron, Fred, and George, wands drawn, were attempting to erect the most humongous tent that Harry had ever seen. To say that it would quite comfortably fit both the Weasley and Delacour families was an understatement. It might also fit Hagrid's family along with half of wizarding Britain and a couple of Hungarian Horntails. The boys, faces dripping with sweat, were glaring at Fleur who was barking orders at them. "Careful wiz ze turrets boys! You are going to make zem collapse! A little more to ze right! Now to ze left! Non non! Too much! Now back to ze right! Watch ze trees!" Harry laughed out loud at the mutinous looks on the boys' faces and wandered to the edge of the property to see what Bill and Charlie were up to.

"Morning Harry." Bill welcomed absently. "Morning Harry." Charlie echoed. Harry could see that Bill and Charlie were very absorbed in their work, and after a few minutes of studying them, figured out that they were putting anti-apparition wards around the perimeter of the Burrow. Not wanting to bother them, Harry walked back towards the interior of the property where he saw Mr. Weasley focusing his wand on a particular piece of ground.

"Good morning Mr. Weasley." Arthur looked up from his work, "Ahh, good morning Harry. Just making an apparition point for our guests to arrive at."

"Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the anti-apparition wards Bill and Charlie are working on?"

"No Harry. That's the brilliance of it. No one can apparate to this point unless they have specifically been invited."

"Have you seen Hermione?"

"Not recently Harry, sorry. It's a bit chaotic around here today."

"Anything I can help you with?" Harry had known better than to ask the same question of Fleur earlier.

"I'm afraid not Harry. Please don't take this the wrong way, but it's probably a good day to curl up on your bed with a good book. You don't want to get yourself involved in all of this, trust me."

With nothing to do, Harry went back inside. Ginny, still sitting in a chair in the kitchen, looked as if she would rather have been back in the Chamber of Secrets than here at this particular moment. A pair of scissors was haphazardly making its way around her head. "Hey Ginny, have you seen Hermione?" Ginny opened her mouth to speak, but Mrs. Weasley interrupted. "Ginny, unless you want to look like a mountain troll, I suggest you sit still!" Ginny gave a defeated sigh, rolled her eyes towards the heavens, and crossed her arms as the scissors continued to attack her head. "Hermione is doing some shopping for me Harry." Mrs. Weasley continued, "I have to replace all the food that we used for Ron and Hermione's party last night."

"She went alone?" Harry asked, somewhat shocked.

"Of course not dear. Kingsley Shacklebolt went with her. I don't mean to be rude dear but perhaps-"

"Of course not Mrs. Weasley." Harry cut her off, "You're very busy and I'm in the way. I'll just go upstairs and read for awhile."

"Thank you dear and I am sorry things are so crazy around here today."

Seeing as how he could not possibly be missed, Harry reckoned this would be the perfect time to pay a visit to professor Lupin. Harry had wanted to speak with him about Tonks for days. He ran upstairs, left a hastily scrawled note for Ron, and grabbed his invisibility cloak. He was going to floo to professor Lupin's completely unannounced (which Harry realized was extremely rude, but he was fairly certain that any request for a meeting would be denied), and didn't want to get hexed the minute he stepped out of the fireplace.

Harry threw the cloak over his body and came back downstairs. He probably didn't even need the cloak while still at the Burrow; everyone was way too busy to take notice of him. Making his way to the sitting room, he threw some floo powder into the fireplace and stepped across the mantle. When he stepped out on the other side of the connection, it hit him just how small and poverty stricken professor Lupin's house was. Harry realized that professor Lupin probably had not had a proper job since leaving his DADA post in Harry's third year, and Harry doubted that working for the Order paid very well if at all. If Lupin agreed to teach them Occlumency, Harry would make sure he was paid for his time. The sitting room was only slightly larger than Ron's bedroom. A threadbare sofa sat in the middle of the room. In front of it was a coffee table that was of dubious sturdiness. Despite the meager possessions in the room however, Harry noticed that professor Lupin had done his very best to make it feel very homey and comfortable.

He removed his invisibility cloak and walked down a short narrow hallway towards what must be the kitchen. There were two doors off of the middle of the hallway. One was open, revealing the bathroom. The other was closed. "Must be the bedroom." Harry thought to himself. "Professor Lupin?" he called out, knocking gently on the bedroom door. "Professor Lupin, it's Harry, are you home?" There was no answer. The hallway opened up into the kitchen which was smaller than the sitting room, containing a table that could probably fit four people, although somewhat uncomfortably, and wizarding appliances that looked older than Nicholas Flamel. "Professor Lupin?" Harry called again, to no avail. A door off the kitchen led outside. "Maybe he's in the garden."

The sight that greeted Harry as he stepped into the garden almost knocked the wind out of him. Professor Lupin was lying on the ground motionless by a mound of earth that must have been Tonks' unmarked grave. At least a dozen Dementors were hovering above him. "No!" Harry screamed, "Get off of him! Expecto Patronum!" A brilliant white stag erupted from Harry's wand and charged towards the foul specters, driving three of them away almost instantly. The others turned towards him and began to advance. Harry directed Prongs towards the advancing Dementors, and catching two of them unawares sent them flying off, howling demonically.

There were still seven of them left and they were quickly gaining ground on Harry. Prongs had dissipated after dispatching the last two Dementors, and so again, Harry screamed "Expecto Patronum!" Once again, the brilliant stag flew forward from his wand, impaling another two Dementors on his antlers, sending them flying away screaming. Harry directed Prongs towards the remaining Dementors just as they reached him. Prongs was able to take care of two more of them before vanishing once again.

The remaining three Dementors greedily bore down upon Harry. Slimy, rotted hands reached for him as he fell to the ground. He tried to cast a Patronus, but his voice sounded as if it were a million miles away. "Think Harry, think of Ginny!", but try as he might, his thoughts were taken over by the sound of high pitched laughter and his mother's screams. "Expect... expectuhhh..." Harry knew he was about to black out as his knees gave way and he fell to the ground. One of the Dementors floating above him opened it's mouth and began to lower it's head towards Harry. "No... No... Want to see Sirius again..." Harry moaned weakly as he tried to turn his head towards the earth.

Harry's eyes rolled into the back of his head, and his body went into grand mal seizure as the Dementor's lips came within an inch of his. Suddenly there was a blinding white light. The last thing Harry saw before he passed out was a brilliant white wolf savagely tearing into the remaining Dementors.

When Harry awoke, still lying on the ground in professor Lupin's garden, it was almost dark. Professor Lupin was lying completely motionless at the other end of the garden, his wand still pointed in Harry's direction. With great effort, Harry managed to heave himself into a standing position. He felt very weak and was freezing cold. "Please be alive." Harry thought to himself as he stumbled towards Lupin. Harry dropped to his knees and felt for a pulse. Lupin was alive, but Harry's attempts at waking him were fruitless. They had to get out of here, but Harry was in no condition to carry Lupin anywhere, and he couldn't apparate while in the confines of Lupin's property. "Dobby!" Harry called weakly. A second later, the house elf appeared with a pop.

"Master Potter! What has happened to master Potter?" Dobby squeaked.

"Dementors," Harry croaked, "get us out of here... need chocolate." Dobby took hold of Harry and professor Lupin, and when Harry opened his eyes again, they were inside the Shrieking Shack. Professor McGonagall hadn't been exaggerating. Dobby had completely renovated it to the point where it looked as if it had just been built. There were two matching leather sofas that looked incredibly plush. There were exquisite wall hangings covering the boarded up windows, and the intricately carved parquet floor had been brightly polished. Dobby immediately levitated both Harry and Lupin to separate leather sofas in the sitting room that were as comfortable as they looked, disappeared, and reappeared a few seconds later with two massive blocks of Honeydukes chocolate.

"Harry Potter needs to eat." Dobby said, handing Harry a large block of bittersweet chocolate. Harry bit down into it and warmth immediately spread over his entire body. "He'll wake up, won't he?" Harry asked, the minute he was done chewing, already beginning to feel some strength return to his body. "Dobby will take care of professor Loopy. Harry Potter is to be eating and resting now." Harry almost laughed at the sternness in Dobby's voice. Perhaps the house elf had taken to spending time with Madam Pomfrey.

A few minutes later, Dobby was able to wake Lupin and began practically force feeding him chocolate. "Harry," Lupin said when he was lucid enough to speak, "I didn't think I was going to make it. If you hadn't shown up when you did -" Lupin was silent for a moment as he looked around at his surroundings. "Where are we? This place seems oddly familiar but-"

"It's your old stomping grounds." Harry replied, "Welcome to the Shrieking Shack." Lupin looked around the grand sitting room in awe, taking it all in. Finally, he let out a low whistle and nodded. "I like what you've done with the place." Harry looked at Dobby as he answered. "We worked with a good decorator." Lupin looked at Dobby with a smile. "Your decorator has very good taste in housewares and furnishings." Dobby turned slightly pink before reprimanding them. "Harry Potter and professor Loopy need to be eating and resting. They do not need to be talking now. They need to get their strength back," the house elf stated, while wagging his finger at them.

A sudden thought hit Harry. "Dobby, the Weasley's will be wondering where I've gotten to. Can you go to the Burrow and tell them that I'm okay, and that I'll be staying with professor Lupin this evening, and that I'll see them tomorrow? And don't tell them about the Dementors okay? Just tell them I'm with professor Lupin and that I'm fine."

"Of course Dobby will go to the Wheezys, but Harry Potter must promise Dobby to be eating and resting while Dobby is gone."

"I promise Dobby, no more talking, and thank you for everything today. You probably saved our lives."

"Dobby is always happy to be helping Harry Potter and his friends. Dobby will be going to the Wheezys at once." and with a faint pop, the house elf was gone.

Harry and Lupin ate quietly for a while as the chocolate worked it's special brand of magic. Finally, it was Lupin who broke the silence. "Why did you come to see me today?"

"I wanted to talk to you... umm... about..."

"About Nymphadora," Lupin finished.

Harry felt his stomach ball up into a fist as he searched for words that could relate how sorry he felt about Tonks' death. Lupin spoke before Harry had a chance.

"It's not your fault Harry. You didn't ask her to do what she did. You can't blame yourself."

"It feels like it's my fault. It all feels like it's my fault."

"Harry, did you ask Voldemort to give you that scar? Did you ask him to kill James and Lily?"

"No, but – "

"But nothing," Lupin interrupted, "you didn't ask for this Harry, none of us did. This is Voldemort's fault, not yours."

"Hermione said the same thing."

"And Hermione is, as usual, right. She is exceptionally bright Harry, and if she says something, you should listen."

"Professor – "

A warmth emanated from Lupin's eyes that almost made Harry forget the man was suffering. "Please call me Remus Harry, I haven't been your professor for three years."

"Fine," Harry smiled briefly before becoming serious, "Remus, I've been hearing rumors that you are planning to go back underground."

Lupin looked down at the floor, avoiding Harry's gaze. "The Order needs a liaison for the werewolves. I'm really the only person for the job."

"The werewolves are going to side with Voldemort, and you know it," Harry spat, in spite of himself, "you are much more useful to the Order here."

"Doing what Harry? Pacing around Grimauld place like a caged lion?" Harry tightened up at the mention of his godfather, and Lupin softened his tone. "The Ministry knows I'm a werewolf. The Order needs to operate in secrecy. The only thing I can do for the Order is to try to get the werewolves to listen to reason."

"Which they won't. The only thing the werewolves are going to do is rip you limb from limb." Harry took a deep breath before allowing himself to speak further, "I'm not going to let you commit suicide Remus, not after everything you've done for me."

Lupin looked up from the floor and his sad empty eyes locked with Harry's. "It's not your choice to make."

"Remus, I need you here. I need your help. Going off to get yourself killed is only going to delay me in doing what I have to do."

Lines of sorrow etched themselves into Lupin's face as he answered. "You won't even tell me what you're doing Harry, how can I possibly help you? You won't give me the real reason why Tonks did what she did. You know why she did it, don't you?"

Harry was silent for a long time. He always knew that it would be very tempting to break his word to Dumbledore at some point. He didn't want to break his word, but he didn't want Remus to die either. More than that, Remus had a right to know why Tonks had died. "I think so, but I'm not sure. Remus," Harry began, "what do you know about Horcruxes?"

Lupin's mouth dropped open very slowly as he stared at Harry. "He's made one?" he whispered, "Voldemort's made one?"

After a moment, Harry replied. "Six... actually." Remus let out a hiss of shock and revulsion before Harry continued, "Two of them have been destroyed; one by Dumbledore and one by me."

"But how?" Lupin countered, "How did you destroy a Horcrux?"

" It was the year before you came to teach at Hogwarts. I didn't even know what it was until years later, and to answer your question, I destroyed it with a Basilisk fang. It was a diary – Voldemorts diary when he was still at Hogwarts. I plunged the fang into the book and that was it, it was done for. I have a feeling I'm not going to be so lucky with the rest. I have to hunt down and destroy four more of them. Only then will anyone be able to kill Voldemort for good."

"I think Tonks knew." Harry continued, "I think Dumbledore let her in on it sometime before the start of last term. I think he knew he was going to die sooner rather than later, and charged her to be my protector as he had been. I think she sacrificed herself so that I could hunt the damned things down without Voldemort catching on to what I was doing, but in order to do that successfully, in order for Tonks to not have died in vain, I need to learn Occlumency. You can teach me; you're the best teacher I've ever had."

"What makes you think that Dumbledore knew he was going to die?"

Harry considered Lupin's question for a minute before he continued. "Professor McGonagall I guess. I spoke to her the other day, and she mentioned something about the last time she saw Dumbledore; that he sounded as if he was saying goodbye to her... or something like that. Anyway, when she said it, it brought up things in me that had been bubbling under the surface. I realized that I had gotten the same feeling from him last term, but that I couldn't... or wouldn't address it consciously. His hand, whatever happened to his hand when he destroyed that ring, I think it was slowly killing him."

"There are better Occlumens than me in the Order Harry: Moody, Kingsley – "

"But they aren't better teachers than you." Harry interjected, "and besides, I don't trust them Remus; I trust you. Whoever my teacher is, they will be rooting around inside my head, and will have access to all sorts of information. Please consider what I'm asking you. You are the only person that I trust inside my head. You are the only person I trust to teach me Occlumency."

The two of them remained completely silent for some time as Lupin considered Harry's offer. Finally, Lupin spoke. "There will have to be certain conditions..."

Harry's heart leapt with hope. "You'll do it then?" he asked, beaming from ear to ear.

"You realize that for seven out of every twenty-eight days I will be out of commission. I will have to leave three days before the full moon, and I will not return until three days later."

"But Wolfsbane potion... Slughorn could make it – "

"No," Lupin countered, "that is another condition. As far as anyone is to know, I have gone back underground. It is far too dangerous for anyone to question what I am up to."

Harry thought for a second, then almost as if talking to himself said, "Maybe I could make it."

Lupin stifled a laugh. "I'm sorry Harry, I don't mean to laugh at you, but Wolfsbane is a highly advanced potion, even for an expert potions master. If I remember correctly, potions was hardly your best subject."

"There's a book." Harry hated the idea that it was Snape's book, but if it could help him now, he knew it would be foolish not to use it. "I was given a secondhand textbook last year. Turns out it was Snape's when he was a student. When I followed the annotations he made to the original instructions, the results were brilliant. Slughorn was so thrilled with my work I thought he was going to ask me to marry him. It's hidden inside Hogwarts; I'll have to retrieve it."

Lupin looked dubious at best. "We'll have a look at this book. If it looks promising, maybe we'll try it. But if not, I will be gone for seven days out of every twenty-eight."

"Fine. Now, I have some conditions of my own." Lupin raised his eyebrows in amusement. "And those conditions would be?"

"One: You will receive a stipend – "

"Absolutely not," Lupin countered, "we have made this deal as friends who care for one another. I will not take payment to teach you Occlumency."

"I'm not asking you to," Harry replied, "however, also teaching Ginny, Ron and Hermione was not part of our deal. You will be teaching all four of us, and you will be paid to teach your three other students."

Lupin looked uncomfortable at this proposition. "Fine," he sighed, "One galleon per month – "

"Ten galleons per week, per student," Harry added, "not counting me of course."

"Harry – "

"You are not a house elf Remus. Thirty galleons per week."

"Twenty."

Harry could have sworn he the hint of a smirk on Lupin's face. Was Lupin actually having fun with him? "Fine, but that brings me to my second condition."

"Which is?"

"You stay here in the Shrieking Shack. I don't want you going home and being targeted by Dementors again. So the deal then is twenty galleons a week plus room and board."

"Okay, but I'm not taking anyone's bedroom; I can kip on the couch, and I receive no payment for any 'vacation time' I need to take."

"You've got a deal," Harry sighed with exasperation. Lupin was chuckling at Harry's consternation when he suddenly stopped, desperately trying to stifle the belly laughs that were shaking his body. Harry looked around; there was Dobby doing his best professor McGonagall impression. Both hands were on his hips as he tapped his right foot impatiently. "Harry Potter promised Dobby there would be no more talking," he said sternly, taking one hand off of his hip so that he could wag his finger at them. Then Dobby snapped his fingers, extinguishing the lights. "Harry Potter and professor Loopy will be resting now," he said in the darkness, "Dobby will come back to check, and if he hears talking, Dobby will be very cross."

Harry and Lupin were in stitches at the sight of Dobby playing the role of angry schoolmarm, but dared not laugh until he had left the room. When they finally heard a light pop sound in the darkness, they giggled themselves to sleep.

OOOOOOOOOOO

The next morning, Harry awoke to the sound of snoring. The Dementor attack had taken a lot more out of Lupin than the man had let on. Harry supposed that it was natural; the older you were, the longer it took you to recover. He quietly got up and stretched, and it was then that the aroma of eggs, bacon, sausages, kippers, and freshly baked bread tickled his nose. Following the pleasing aroma, he made his way to the kitchen where he found steaming platters of food, hot tea, and ice-cold pumpkin juice awaiting him. It was only then that Harry realized that he was ravenously hungry; the Dementor attack had depleted his energy as well. He plopped down on a chair and began to shovel piles of food onto his plate. "I could kiss you Dobby," Harry thought, as he greedily ate everything he could get his hands on. When he was finally full, he decided it might be a good idea to retrieve his potions book. If they were going to attempt to make a Wolfsbane potion for profess – for Remus (that was going to take getting used to), they should start immediately.

Donning his invisibility cloak and scrawling a quick note telling Remus where he had gone, he stepped into the fireplace and quickly reappeared in the common room of the Head Boy and Girl's dormitory. It was quite an impressive structure made of stone and hardwood. The vaulted ceiling was at least thirty feet high, and like the ceiling in the Great Hall, was charmed to mimic the sky outside. There was an enormous bookcase between the two spiral staircases leading up to the bedrooms containing thousands of books and reference materials. A giant silver plaque engraved with the names of every Head Boy and Girl in Hogwarts history completely covered the opposite wall. Harry found Percy's name rather easily; he had been Head Boy only four years previously. The names stretched all the way up to the ceiling. His father's name was too high up for him to see; he would have to come back later with his broom.

Harry quietly opened the door leading out into the main building. The teachers would not be here yet, but he didn't want to alert any of the resident spirits (especially Peeves) to his presence. Harry wasn't sure what floor of the castle he was on until he recognized the entrance to the prefect's bathrooms where he had spent some quality time with Moaning Myrtle and a rather loud egg. He made his way to the seventh floor without encountering a single spirit. "Did ghosts go on summer holiday?" Harry momentarily amused himself with the image of Nearly Headless Nick lounging on a beach in the south of France. He stopped in front of the blank patch of wall in front of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. Closing his eyes he thought, "I need to retrieve my potions book." He walked back and forth three times, and when he opened his eyes, the wall was still just a wall.

Harry stared at the wall, furrowing his brow. "Okay, that was obviously not the right way to state what I need. What would Hermione do if she were here?" Harry thought about it for another moment, and then it hit him. "The book doesn't belong to me." Closing his eyes again, he paced back and forth in front of the blank stretch of wall. "I need to retrieve Severus Snape's potions textbook." When Harry opened his eyes for the second time, a large wooden door greeted him. He quickly slipped through it into the gigantic, cathedral-like room where he had hidden the book last term.

Harry stood rooted to the spot for a full five minutes simply taking it all in. The enormity of the room and its contents were simply overwhelming. Harry thought that he would have loved to spend months here, excavating the hidden treasures that probably lay hidden amongst mountains of broken furniture, Fanged Frisbees, and muggle girly magazines. "It could take hours to find that book. Well, I'd better get started then." Harry peered down each of the many alleyways in turn, looking for the enormous stuffed troll that marked where he had made a right turn down another passage. He found it after a moment and started forward. He turned right at the troll, and proceeded down the alleyway keeping an eye out for the cabinet where he had hung a left.

He was surrounded on either side by walls of broken furniture, self correcting quills, foul looking potions, thousands of books (some of them with hideous titles like 'Harmful Hexes', 'Vengeful Spells for the Downtrodden', and 'The Ritual Suicide'), skeletons of unidentifiable creatures, cloaks, hats, and jewels. Harry had been walking for some time when the passage came to a dead end. Was it possible that he had missed the cabinet where he had turned? Retracing his steps, Harry went back the way he had come, keeping a sharp eye out for the cabinet. There were many passages leading off the one he was on, but there wasn't a cabinet at the beginning of any of them. When he reached the front of the room, it dawned on him. "I am an idiot!" Of course the cabinet wasn't there! Draco had used it last term to sneak death Eaters into Hogwarts. Harry had no doubt that one of professor McGonagall's first actions as headmistress was to have it removed from the grounds.

Harry once again went back into the passage. He would have to try each passage leading off from the left until he found the bust he had placed on the cupboard where the book was hidden. Harry remembered that he had gone a fair distance when he had made the turn, so it wouldn't be one of the first passages leading off, nor would it be at the very end since he had not noticed a dead end the last time. He decided to go all the way to the end, walk until he could no longer see the dead end, and work his way back towards the front of the room.

Two hours and five passageways later, Harry finally saw the bust of the ugly wizard wearing a wig and a tarnished tiara. He hurried towards it, and opening the cupboard door, retrieved Snape's potions book from behind the cage where he had placed it. He took the journey back at a full run, hoping that Remus would not be too worried about where he had gotten. Harry was about to leave when a thought occurred to him. How could he find this room again? Did this particular room appear whenever you needed to hide something, or did a certain set of conditions need to be met? Would it only appear if you needed to hide something that would get you detention or expelled? Could he return with Snape's book claiming that he needed to hide it again? It didn't matter; the only thing he had on him worth hiding was his father's cloak, and he wasn't going to roam Hogwarts without it. He'd simply have to hope for the best if he ever needed to come back here.

"Harry, where have you been?" Lupin asked as Harry appeared in the fireplace, "You've been gone nearly three hours."

"Sorry Remus, I hid this thing better than I remembered; it took me awhile to find it again."

Harry handed the potions book to Lupin, and sat next to him on the sofa. As Lupin perused the book, Harry could have sworn that he saw a questioning look come over his features, but in a flash, it was gone.

"Something wrong Remus?"

Lupin seemed to snap out of a daze. "Hmm? No, nothing's wrong. You said that this was Snape's textbook?"

"Yeah, why?"

"It's fifty years old, much older than Snape."

"We think it was his mums."

"Well Harry," Lupin said while idly flipping through the pages, "when this book was written, Wolfsbane potion hadn't been invented yet. I highly doubt it will be in here."

"Snape could have written it in," Harry replied, "there are spells in there that he invented. Maybe he wrote the potion instructions down in there as well."

"Worth a look, I suppose, but I wouldn't get my hopes up."

Harry and Lupin silently went through the book from cover to cover, looking for anywhere that Snape might have written down the instructions for the Wolfsbane potion. Occasionally, when they came across something interesting, Lupin would grunt, or let out an unconscious "Hmm." At one point, he muttered, "Fascinating what he did with Felix Felicis. Probably still a horror to brew though – takes forever too." Something began to gnaw at Harry. Something that had to do with what Lupin had just said, but he couldn't figure out what was bothering him. When they found the page that contained the Levicorpus spell, Lupin's voice derailed his thoughts. "I remember that one; very popular back when I was a student."

Harry did not join Lupin in his mirth. The Death Eaters used this spell on that poor Muggle family at the Quidditch World Cup. It wouldn't have surprised Harry if Snape were the one who had actually cast it that night. It was also the spell his own father had used on Snape when they were at school together. A sudden thought hit Harry. "Remus?"

"Yes?"

"How would this spell have been so popular? It's a nonverbal spell. How could anyone else use it if they couldn't hear the incantation?"

"These things have a way of getting around Harry. One person tells another, who tells two more..."

Harry felt his stomach knotting up. "My aunt gave me a picture of me as a baby. I'm at Godric's Hollow and my parents are there. This book is lying open on a table. If it was Snape's book, how did my father end up with it? He didn't... he wouldn't... "

"Harry," Lupin interrupted, "James wasn't perfect, but I can tell you with absolute authority that he was not a thief. There is any number of ways this book could have ended up with him. It ended up in your possession without you stealing it yes?"

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. Of course, Remus was right. There was any number of ways that his father could have ended up with that book. Harry had never quite recovered from seeing his father bully Snape. Until that moment, he had thought that his father was perfect and noble in every way. It had been a shock to discover that his father was a human being with flaws like everyone else.

They flipped through the remainder of the book, but were unable to find any mention of a Wolfsbane potion. On one of the last few pages however, Harry noticed something he had never seen before. It was another spell that Snape had written into one of the margins. 'Usurpocorpus – nvbl.' Harry pointed it out to Lupin. "Do you recognize that one?"

"I've never seen it before Harry. I have no idea what it does, and judging from some of the other spells in this book, I think it might be dangerous to try it out.."

Harry wholeheartedly agreed. The last thing he wanted to do was rip Lupin to shreds as he had done with Draco. He couldn't help feeling disappointed. He had hoped that Snape would have written down instructions for the Wolfsbane potion. This meant that Lupin would be gone every month, and more importantly, he would be suffering. Lupin, seemingly reading Harry's mind, brought him out of his reverie. "Harry, I have lived with this condition for almost thirty years. It is not the end of the world. I'll be fine. I'll make sure that I structure the lessons in such a way that the four of you will be able to make progress in my absence." This seemed to cheer Harry up slightly, and he allowed himself a small smile. "Now," Lupin stated, "it is probably time for you to return to The Burrow. I'm sure the Weasleys will be wondering where you are. Please Harry, for everyone's sake, you are to tell them that you tried to talk me out of rejoining the werewolves and that I refused. No one but the four of you should know that I am here."

Harry donned his cloak, retrieved the potions book from the table, and was about to step into the fireplace when Lupin called out to him. "Harry, wait." Harry slipped the cloak off his head so that Lupin could see him.

"What is it?"

"Do you mind leaving that book here with me?"

"No, of course not," Harry replied, handing the book back.

"Okay then. You'd better get going. I'll see you soon."

"See you soon Remus, and thanks for everything." With those words, Harry stepped across the mantle and was gone.