Thanks for reading and reviewing, guys! This chapter's set in third-year, Prisoner of Azkaban.

1993

"Sir?" Harry Potter asked nervously to his new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, Remus Lupin. He had thought he'd recognised Lupin on the train, and the more classes he took under him, the more his suspicions were confirmed. He had met Lupin before, when he was seven years old, in kindergarten. "I was wondering if you might be able to answer me a question. Were you, um, by any chance – "

"The person who came to see you at school when you were seven?" Lupin asked. He had known straight away what Harry was about to ask. The boy was remarkably precocious and it didn't surprise Lupin that he had remembered him all the years. "That was me. I just wanted to check up on you. It wasn't my most brilliant of ideas."

"I liked you," Harry mused. "You seemed so nice. For a long time I hoped that you were prospective adoptive parents come to take me away."

Lupin grinned despite himself. "Sorry, but we were already breaching the rules by getting in touch with you anyway. Dumbledore wouldn't have been impressed if we'd just grabbed you. For what it's worth, we wanted to. Tonks was really upset. I think she would have dome a few demonstrations on your cousin about how bullying sucks if I hadn't been there."

"I'm sorry, Tonks?"

"Her name's Nymphodora Tonks. She's refused to answer to her first name for about ten years. Her parents get away with it, but woe betide anyone else who tries it."

Harry looked puzzled. "I thought she was about your age?" he asked. "Wouldn't that make her older than refusing to answer to her first name for ten years?"

"She would be..." Lupin pretended to think about it, because he preferred acting like he was entirely indifferent to anything about Tonks. "... Twenty. She's a metamophmagus – a shape-shifter in muggle terms. That's why I co-opted her, with any luck if we did get caught no-one would trace it back to her. But we didn't, so it was a moot point."

"Do you still see her? I'd like to meet her," Harry said.

Lupin's heart skipped a beat. He had known this was coming. He had known it was a risk, taking on this job when Dumbledore and at least Percy Weasley knew of his relationship with Tonks. He was surprised Percy hadn't gone blabbing to the rest of his family, but on second thoughts, from what he'd heard of the boy, he took himself very seriously and probably liked having such a secret between him and Charlie. And Charlie had gone to Romania. Lupin assumed this meant his relationship with Tonks was well and truly kaput, because he had found out easily enough that she was studying to be an Auror.

At any rate, it was clear that Harry's best friend Ron Weasley had no idea of the history he shared with Tonks, and the thought of teaching Harry was too good an opportunity to pass up. "Sorry," Lupin said, realising he'd been lost in la-la land for a few seconds. "No, I don't."

Harry was clearly hoping that he would offer to track her down, and Lupin was not about to make that offer. So after a length pause, instead he asked, "Did you know my parents?" Lupin nodded. "What were they like?"

"Your dad was something of a prankster – sort of the forerunner to the twins. Your mum was one of the sweetest women I ever met. You look a lot like him, actually. Except – "

"For my eyes, yeah, I know," Harry interrupted. "And what about Sirius Black?"

Now we get to the point, Lupin thought. "We were all in the same grade together," he said. "I didn't have a lot of contact with him in the last year or so before he went to Azkaban so I have no idea what his mindset was like. All i can say is he would have been the last person I could think of to do what he did. Though I'm sure that's of no comfort to you."

Harry smiled painfully, and Lupin wished he had more comforting news. But the reality was, Sirius Black had chosen to betray his so-called best friend for reasons no-one knew of... and the most likely answer was that he had decided he would rather have the power Voldermort was offering him than the knowledge that he was one of the good guys.

Lupin was attempting to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts, although certain Slytherines were doing their damndest to upset the flow of the class. Draco Malfoy in particular resented that Lupin was not interested in a person's blood status or even talent – you only had to look at Neville Longbottom to know that a good person with the right encouragement could flourish. But Draco had a particular issue with Gryffindor and the fact that Lupin had been a Gryffindor himself was not lost of him. Neither was the fact he wasn't exactly a wealthy man.

"Filthy mudblood," Draco hissed at Hermione, loud enough for Lupin to hear but soft enough that he could always deny it and complain that the professor had been listening in on his conversation.

Lupin heard it, and knew Draco was expecting him to respond with a reprimand about using such language. Instead, he smiled sweetly. "It's funny you should say that, Draco, because one of the most talented young witches I ever met was your cousin."

Draco responded by glowering; he didn't like to be reminded of his relationship to the Tonkses, although he knew exactly who Lupin was referring to - and that she did indeed have a reputation as a very talented witch. "I don't have a cousin," he said haughtily.

Lupin's smile grew wider and sweeter. "Sure you do," he said amiably. "Nymphodora, remember?"

There were grins in the class as they realised Lupin had put Draco on the spot. It was a well-known fact that Narcissa had an older sister who had married a muggle-born wizard and did indeed have a half-blood witch daughter who was extraordinarily talented. "We don't associate with her," Draco said coolly, but the damage had been done. Lupin had reminded everyone in the class that Draco could claim kinship to a half-blood who was highly talented - possibly even more talented than him.

"You didn't need to do that, sir," Hermione said to Lupin after class. "It will only make him even angrier."

Lupin shrugged. "I was never going to make friends with the Malfoys," he said in that same amiable tone. "And it's amusing to remind them that Andromeda managed to produce a very talented young witch who was only a half-blood. I think that annoyed them more than anything else. If Tonks had been a squib, they all could have had a good laugh and say that's what she got for marrying a muggle-born. Far worse that Bellatrix never had children and Draco may not measure up to Tonks's talent."

"You knew them well?" Hermione asked with interest, and Lupin realised he'd said too much.

"They were part of the fight against Voldermort in the first wizarding war so I got to know them through that. But, ironically, we all got a little blasé after Voldermort was vanquished and a lot of friendships fell by that wayside." he hoped that satisfied Hermione's curiosity, although he doubted it. She was just as smart and inquisitive as Tonks had been at that age, except Tonks had been in love with him and therefor disinclined to dig too deeply into his past.

Lupin was having a casual chat with Harry when Snape interrupted them. Snape, he knew, had never forgiven him by extension of a childish prank of Sirius's. It was, Lupin had to concede, a pretty stupid prank and Lupin didn't entirely blame Snape for begrudging them endangering his safety – but it had been twenty years ago. Surely by now he could let by-gones be by-gones?

But he had to rely on Snape for his Wolfsbane, and in all fairness, Snape was one of the best Potions makers around – possibly even better than Lily, who had never had the luxury of thirty years to hone her skills and knowledge. Snape's Wolfsbane was by far the best Lupin had ever had, making it the easiest transformation with the least amount of side-effects.

"Thankyou," Lupin said, his innate good nature hoping that a little politeness might go a long way. Besides, he didn't want to look petty in front of Harry. "I have some health problems, and Snape makes one of the best potions around," he explained to Harry.

Snape ignored his thankyou. "Tell me, Remus," he said, stressing his name contemptuously, "have you heard from Nymphodora Tonks lately? I was just recently having the most pleasant discussion with Andromeda and she talked about how her daughter you to look up to you. Positively adored you, she said."

Lupin gritted his teeth. He knew perfectly well that no such conversation had ever taken place, because Andromeda had never been convinced that Snape had turned his back on Voldermort. Which meant Snape was either taking a shot in the dark or knew something about his relationship with Tonks. What, Lupin wasn't sure, because the Tonkses and Snape didn't exactly have loads of friends, or even acquaintances, in common, which meant it was likely that he was simply taking a shot in the dark. "Can't say I've had the pleasure," he said pleasantly. "You know how it is, people drift apart. I heard she did really well, though. She and Charlie Weasley knocked your guys out of the top stop."

Lupin knew he shouldn't antagonise Snape when he relied on him for his Wolfsbane and he may or may not know something about his relationship with Tonks, but really, it was too much to turn down the opportunity to tweak Snape about the fact in that particular year, a Gryffindor and Hufflepuff had beaten out everyone else – including Slytherin – to take out the top academic honours.

Snape scowled at that, and Lupin knew he had hit home. The fact Tonks was a Black must have particularly galled him. He left without saying a word. "Why does Snape hate you so much?" Harry asked.

"Because I was friends with your dad and he hated your dad so by extension, he hated me," Lupin said, deciding omit both the fact that James and Sirius could be quite cruel to him – let someone else tell him that – and that he suspected Snape had been in love with Lily. Merlin knew, he knew what it was like to be in love with someone who was out of your reach.

Harry beamed at that, liking the idea of James disliking Snape. It showed that they had something in common.

"I can't believe they're firing you for being a werewolf! You've never hurt anyone!" Harry raged at the end of the year. "And you're the best Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had. Snape's just a jealous git."

Lupin smiled indulgently at Harry's outburst, secretly touched by how many students had complained about his firing. "It's not just the werewolf thing – although that was a big thing. The reality was, people objected more to my relationship with Nymphodora Tonks. Bad enough that I thought I had a right to be with a full human, for that human to be a Black... Narcissa Malfoy had repeatedly said that her sister and niece are no kin of hers but she was the loudest opponent of me being allowed around students. God forbid I might get it in my head to get involved with another Black."

"But – you wouldn't – " Harry said wildly.

"Of course I wouldn't. Tonks was – is – one of the most mature, fascinating women I've ever met. I can't imagine myself with anyone else."

"You really loved her?" Harry asked, entranced. Lupin nodded slightly. "I don't understand why you can't just be with her then," he said.

Lupin smiled at that. Harry could saw endearingly naive things at times, especially given what he had been through. "Because I'm a nobody," he said. "Less than a nobody. Oh, I know what you're thinking, and I appreciate how popular I am with my students – well, most of them," he said wryly, thinking of the Slytherines and Draco Malfoy in particular. "But there are plenty of people out there who don't want a bar of me... or at least want me light years away from their children. I can kind of understand it. People are always so afraid of what they don't understand. Merlin knows, if I wasn't afflicted the way I am, I'd probably be just as scared of me."

Andromeda glowered at Lupin when she saw him at the front door – although at least he hadn't arrived by Floo network. "Go away," she hissed at him. She had not forgiven him for seducing her daughter, who had become so infatuated and heartbroken she had refused to see how good Charlie Weasley was for her. Charlie had left for Romania, his own heart broken in the process.

"I need to talk to you," he said quietly.

"How dare you show your face here!" she yelled at him. "You – monster. I hear how you were fired from Hogwarts," she said triumphantly. "First time I agreed with Narcissa over anything."

"Andromeda, if you don't stop calling me names, I won't explain why your cousin is innocent," Lupin said quietly.

His words had the right effect. Andromeda clutched her heart in hopeful surprise. She had heart about Sirius's escape, of course, and part of her had been glad that he'd gotten away from that hell-hole even though the evidence pointed wholly to his guilt. And now Lupin, who she had wanted to never see again, was on her doorstep, telling her that he was innocent and he could tell her why. "Come in," she said weakly.

He had never expected to be allowed back into the Tonks home, let alone invited. He explained about how it had been Peter Pettigrew, not Sirius, who had been the Potters Secret Keeper, and therefor Peter who had betrayed them to Voldermort. When Sirius had found out, he had gone to confront Peter, only to have Peter disappear and he be blamed for all three murders. "Part of why I took the job was I wanted to keep an eye on Harry, I was convinced that Sirius was after him. He was actually after Peter. And I couldn't even help him there," he added bitterly, angry at his inability to do anything – in fact, he had made things worse.

For the first time in three years, Andromeda felt sympathy towards Lupin. He was really feeling guilty about Peter escaping and Sirius being denied his redemption. "It's not your fault," she said. "It's Peter's. It's Voldermort. It's Snape's for charging in there without all the fact. But it's not yours."

He certainly never thought he'd hear words of sympathy from Andromeda again. "Thanks. But I really came over to tell you that you can see him if you like. I mean, you have to be incredibly discreet."

Andromeda nodded. "Thankyou," she said, thanking him for telling her about Sirius, for trying his best to clear his name, for enabling her to see him – and for keeping to his word and not only not seeing her daughter but making a concerted effort to prevent her from seeing him.

There was a long pause, and Lupin almost ruined it by asking, "How is she?"

Andromeda scowled. "She's not here," she said shortly.

"I know. Why do you think I came this time?" Lupin asked, and to her surprise, Andromeda felt a little guilty at jumping to that conclusion. "I just wanted to know she's OK."

"She's... OK," Andromeda said a little too quickly. "She doesn't socialise as much as I would like her to. I thought she had something going with Charlie Weasley but it didn't pan out."

"Percy gave me filthy looks whenever he passed me," Lupin admitted. "I figured it didn't end well. For what it's worth, I'm sorry. I want her to be happy with someone her age."

There was a sad dignity in his voice that made Andromeda think that he was sincere in wanting Tonks to be happy, and knowing that she would be happier with someone more suitable. What he hadn't banked on was how tenaciously she had clung to her belief that she loved him. "I wish you hadn't given in to her," she said.

He raised his eyes at her. "So you believe me now?" he asked. "That she came on to me?"

She gave a rueful laugh. "I think I always believed it," she admitted. "Dora always doggedly pursues something once she decides she wants it."

"I know," Lupin said. "That's what I like – liked – about her. She first demonstrated an interest in me when she was fifteen. I thought if I told her to come back when she was seventeen, she would lose interest."

He had thought maybe he was revealing too much information – that maybe in retrospect he should have told Andromeda about it and let her, as a strong-willed woman, deal with it. But instead, she laughed. "You really don't know us, do you?" she asked in a teasing, almost playful voice. "You never tell a Black they can have what they want if they wait for it. It just encourages us to plan for it."

And Lupin found himself laughing for overlooking such an obvious trait in the Black personality and he and Andromeda were getting along like old times before he'd started to look at Tonks in a way he shouldn't...

There was a familiar bang from the fireplace and then "Mum?" from a voice that was all-too-familiar. Remus was shocked to hear her voice again, and it was as if three years hadn't passed and she was in his arms on his shabby couch, crying her eyes out. No, he didn't like that memory – she was lying on her stomach, against his chest, propped up on her elbows, looking at him in that adoring way that she did. His heart caught in his chest and his throat went dry and he couldn't focus on Appirating like he needed to if he was to disappear before she saw him.

Too late. "Remus?" she whispered, her eyes going wide in shock at seeing him again. Three years and it was like it was yesterday that she had been crying in his arms. No, she didn't like that memory. She was lying in his arms and he was playing with his hair the way he did that made her feel like he didn't give a damn what her appearance was because he liked her exactly the way she liked herself.

Instinctively she ran towards him, and he got his act together in time to perform a shield charm that repelled her a meter from him. Being as clumsy as she was, she stumbled back and hit her ass on the floor. "Sorry, Andromeda, I had no idea she would be here," he said to Andromeda. And before Tonks could recover from her fall, he had Appirated.