Chapter 23! Bodacious! It's a Remus chapter! We get to know more about him and if that's not exciting i don't know what is. I think out of all of them Remus is my favorite Marauderbut that's just personal opinion. Review! Review! Review!

Remus Lupin would admit to being extremely nervous. Last night Albus Dumbledore had flooed over to his tiny apartment. He had asked him to come teach for a year at Hogwarts. Him teach defense? It was what he had always wanted to do and Hogwarts was his home. Albus had then told him something chilling.

"I made a grave mistake 10 years ago. I cannot tell you all the details but suffice it to say Harry Potter is living at Hogwarts this summer and may be doing so indefinitely. Should you agree to work you will have the next two months to get to know him."

"Albus of course I'll come and work. Hogwarts has always been a home to me."

"Wonderful. I'll send a couple of house elves to move your things and you can move in tomorrow."

It was sudden but Remus didn't really mind his head was filled with thoughts of Harry. What would the boy be like? Would he be like James? Would he be like Lily? Would he even want anything to do with a shabby professor? He had felt his heart sink when he saw Harry enter with Severus Snape. It was clear they had a good trusting relationship which means Snape would've poisoned Harry against him.

Remus wouldn't put it past Severus to tell Harry that he was a werewolf just to make his life harder. When he began walking across the room to greet them the words Albus gave last night floated through his mind. Albus had made a grave mistake involving Harry which forced Harry to have to live here instead of elsewhere. He turned cold at the implications. He noticed that Harry had backed into Severus and looked frightened. Snape then whispered something he couldn't quite catch and the boy calmed.

They spoke for a while and Harry was nothing like he expected. He was an almost carbon copy of James except for the eyes. Lily's bright green eyes sparkled. Harry was witty, much like James was except he wasn't cruel about it. Harry was protective of those he cared about exactly like Lily was. Harry was accepting just like his parents were. Then suddenly he was gone and he was left with a pale and worried potions master.

"Listen Wolf." Snape said after a moment. "I suggested you work here so that you could be another person of support for Harry. The boy has been through too much. Dumbledore placed him in a home where he was beaten, starved and neglected. I had to save his life at the beginning of the summer when his uncle nearly murdered him."

"Murdered?" Remus asked feeling his wolf rise up within him.

"Yes. The boy nearly died and despite all my work he is still not up to a proper weight. He was starved for most of his life. He doesn't like to talk or even think about his relatives so only ask him about them if you want him to shut up and leave. I've been working for a month and have gotten very little of his story from him." Snape said. "If you want him to trust you it will take hard work. He wants to get to know you. You are a link to his father someone I have told him very little about."

"I could imagine why." Remus said. "Are his relatives facing charges or is the political climate not right for that yet?"

"We can't do it unless we wish to put Harry in danger. Right now Harry is still in their custody and there is little I can do about it."

"So he is living at Hogwarts in secret then?"

"Yes for all intents and purposes he spent the summer with his relatives and not under my care."

"Alright. He said he was going to go flying do you know when he will be back?"

"If he didn't lie to me and he actually went flying he will be back in time for dinner. If he is somewhere in the castle that I can't get to then he might not be back until the middle of the night." Snape admitted. "There are passages he's found that only he can open and close so if he is exploring those then we won't see him till he remembers to leave there."

"What do you mean only he can open?"

"Did Albus tell you my Dark Mark is gone?" Severus asked instead.

"It's gone? Like completely I thought that was supposed to be impossible."

"Harry got rid of my connection to the Dark Lord. He is a Parselmouth just like Voldemort was. Apparently Salazar Slytherin made passages all around the school that can only be opened with Parseltongue and Harry has been exploring them. I can't open them and neither can you."

"He's a Parselmouth? But how?"

"Harry is very secretive he knows where the ability came from but won't tell me. Not that it really matters. He is extremely powerful that boy. I only hope we can lead him on the right path. Be here for dinner and try and talk to Harry again. I imagine he will be more open to you then. If he isn't at dinner come by this evening to my quarters around 8. We generally have tea at that time."

"Why are you being so nice to me Severus?"

"If I am going to help Harry move on then I need to do the same. Holding onto past grudges from our school days will hinder his progress. I'm moving on."

With that Severus Snape stood and left the room. Remus shook his head. It was clear the man didn't like him but he was no longer angry. Albus had told him that Severus was the one to suggest him to work and now it made sense. Remus decided that he would try and catch a glimpse of Harry flying. He made his way onto the pitch and saw Harry flying like a demon. James only ever flew like that when he was stressed. He watched from a distance as Harry calmed down his flying and then landed on the roof.

That certain part of the roof was a favorite of James and Lily's when they started dating. They would go up there for a completely private date to eat and watch the sunset together. It seemed strange in a nice way that Harry would go there too. He began walking around trying to find a way to speak to Harry. How would he talk to him? Should he wait for Harry to come to him or should he go to Harry? After an hour of wandering around in the afternoon sun he decided to just throw away planning and be a Gryffindor about it.

He grabbed one of the school brooms and flew up to the roof. He had expected to see Harry sitting there not wrapped up in a warm blanket and sleeping. The kid flew up there to take a nap. Well now that he thought about it this napping spot was genius. No one would look for Harry here, the sun shone directly on it and it was completely private. Remus was impressed.

That was when the broom began to shake. Remus Lupin was awful on a broom. James had demanded that he be at least able to fly in a straight line and had spent hours coaching him but he had never had much skill in that area. That lack of skill was showing now. Apparently as he struggled Harry had woke up and was watching him with a smile on his face.

"Mr. Lupin would you like to land? There's room on the roof and I don't want you to fall and break your neck." Harry called out.

Lupin jumped at the voice but nodded and did his best to move forward. He landed on the roof clumsily. Harry was still seated so Remus sat down next to him.

"I was never very good on a broom. James and Sirius were better at flying and I was better at defense and potions."

"Severus said you guys were in a group?"

"Yes the Marauders. Your mother actually gave us the name. We had just pranked the entire school it was our second year and she was angry and called us a bunch marauding pirates. She meant it as an insult but we liked the name so we gave our group it as a name. We became the Marauders we each had nicknames." Remus said with a wan smile. "Can I tell you a secret you promise not to tell anyone?"

"I won't tell anyone." Harry promised his eyes shining.

"I taught your father and our friends to be animagus when they were in fifth year. It took us two years of hard work to figure it out."

"What were they?"

"Your father was a stag. We called him Prongs for his antlers. Sirius was a giant black dog we called him Padfoot, Peter was a rat and we called him Wormtail."

Remus had to admit that talking about Sirius and Peter was hard. Sirius' betrayal and Peter's murder still hurt his heart but that didn't change the memories. Harry wanted to know about his father and those two were involved. He couldn't just ignore them.

"What was your nickname?"

"Moony. Sirius suggested it and James made it stick."

"Moony, I like it." Harry said. "Why did you teach them?"

"Well when I would go to transform every full moon my friends worried about where I would go."

"I would too a friend disappearing every month? That's just weird."

"I would come back sick too. Since I transformed alone the wolf would go crazy and start hurting itself. I would spend the next day in the infirmary healing."

"You ran out of excuses eventually right?"

"Your father figured it out first actually." Remus said. "Your father was notorious for never doing his work but when he wanted to figure something out he became like a demon. He would go to library and rifle through every single book till he had an answer then he would stop. My behavior confused him enough that he started searching the library, he hated doing that. It took him a whole month of searching to get the right answer."

"What did he do then?" Harry asked in a quiet voice.

"It took him two weeks to confront me with his information." Remus said.

He could remember that moment as one of the scariest of his life. He had been eating lunch alone. Peter and Sirius were in trouble with Slughorn. James plopped down next to him with a grave look. One that didn't work well on his face.

"What's up James?"

"Remus. Just don't lie to me alright but are you a werewolf?"

The silence had been deafening. He dropped his fork, his face went pale and he started to shake. He merely nodded and then looked away not willing to see the look of disgust and hatred that would surely be there. After a moment when James clearly hadn't moved away he snuck a peak and save James was looking at him still.

"Remus. You're skinny enough as it is. Eat your lunch." James said pushing the plate over to him.

"Huh?"

"Eat. You look half starved."

James had just accepted it. It had not even been a problem. He asked for permission to tell Sirius and Peter and at the next full moon they were waiting in the hospital wing to spend the Saturday with him. On school days they would come together during their breaks and meal times to be with him. All three of them accepted him and gave him hope.

"Your father just straight up asked me and when I told him he just shrugged and told me to eat my pudding." Remus told Harry.

"Why did he wait so long to ask you if he didn't mind?"
"I think he was worried about hurting my feelings. Werewolves are often treated like scum and if he asked me in the wrong way he might've ruined our friendship."

"So why did you help them become animagus?"

"Well once all three of them discovered my problem they wanted to do everything they could. As a werewolf I want to do something hunt or play or anything really. In their animal forms they could play with me and keep me from hurting myself through the night."

"That was really cool of them. Do you have anyone to do that with you now?"

"No Harry I don't."

"Well then I will." Harry offered. "It will probably take me awhile to get it down but I can certainly keep you company."

"That's too dangerous Harry. I could hurt you."

"Not if you drink your Wolfsbane that Severus is going to brew for you."

"Yes but even with that I am still very strong. I wouldn't want to hurt you. Promise me you won't try and keep me company during the full moon."

While Remus was touched that Harry cared about him but he would not risk the son of his best friend. When Harry nodded he gave a sigh of relief. Harry looked out at the sky and took in a deep breath.

"Did my parents love each other?" He whispered out.

"What? Of course they did? James had a crush on your mother since his third year! He spent most of his time at Hogwarts trying to impress her. Your mother admitted to me that she had liked James since our fourth year but thought he was too immature. Once he grew up a little they started dating. I've never seen two people happier with each other than those two."

"He liked her for that long?"

"Your father was a sucker for red heads." Remus said with a smile.

So for the next two hours Remus sat on the roof with Harry Potter and told him stories about his parents. From the awful event of their first date to how every Hogsmeade weekend James would ask Lily out and she would turn him down flat. How James wrote her love poetry but couldn't rhyme to save his life. They both laughed and giggled about the stories. Normally those memories would sadden Remus but sharing them with Harry seemed to make it better instead of worse.

After that Harry started telling stories about his first year of Hogwarts. The troll incident, how he made the quidditch team without even trying out, his two best friends and finally the stress over the philosophers stone.

"I never told anyone what happened down there between me and Quirrel." He admitted quietly.

"You don't have to." Remus said.

"Do you promise not to tell anyone ever? You can't tell Dumbledore or Severus."

"I won't tell a soul." Remus swore.

"We were beneath the school. We had gotten past the first three tasks without a problem then we got to McGonagall's task. A chess game. Ron is a whiz at chess. He led us to victory but at the cost of himself. He was thrown down and I thought he might be dead. We finished the game and moved Ron to someplace safe. Hermione and I continued on. The last task was Snape's he had a table with a bunch of potion vials and a riddle. Hermione solved it quickly enough but there was only enough for one person to continue. So Hermione drank the potion to go back and take care of Ron and I continued forward."

Remus sat there and tried to imagine what that must have felt like. He wouldn't have been so brave or foolhardy at 11. He doubted he would've been able to solve a riddle like that. Harry continued after a moment.

"I walked in expecting to see Severus inside. We had thought it was him trying to steal the stone. Except it wasn't him instead it was Quirrel. The man who seemed afraid of his own shadow. He saw me quickly and bound me in a spell so I couldn't move. He started talking about how frustrated he was that he couldn't kill me that I always managed to escape him. He then turned back to the mirror. The Mirror of Erised shows you what you want most and Quirrel wanted the stone. Dumbledore had spelled the mirror to only let the stone out if you wanted the stone but didn't want to use it."

"That's a pretty good protection." Remus said.

"Yeah." Harry agreed. "Quirrel summoned me in front of the mirror and I saw myself in the mirror put the stone in my pocket. Then suddenly it was there in my pocket. Quirrel asked what I saw I lied and said I saw my parents Voldemort saw right through it though. Instead of forcing me though he made Quirrel take off his turban. On the back of his head was Voldemort's head. It was horrifying and disgusting."

Harry shivered for a moment as he recalled the moment he saw Voldemort's face. Remus tried not to puke at the idea of seeing someone possessed. Harry continued after a moment.

"This is the part where it gets bad. Voldemort gave me a choice give him the stone and he would give me everything I wanted. He didn't promise to bring back my parents. He didn't promise power. He only promised to make sure I never had to return to my relatives again. I wanted that so badly I was willing to give up the stone and allow Voldemort to return so I could be safe from them. I reached into my pocket and was going to give it to him until something pulled me out of it. A voice telling me that I shouldn't. I told him no and he got really angry and made Quirrel attack me. We fought and I started hitting him I was so scared. Everywhere I hit him his skin started to burn. I hit him until he was nothing but dust." Harry said his voice getting weaker as the story went on. "I'm a murderer. I was also willing to let my friends die for something so trivial. I almost gave him the stone."

"Harry. Are you feeling guilty about almost giving him the stone or killing Quirrel?" Remus asked.

"Both."

"Harry. The stone part well you shouldn't feel guilty at all. Voldemort had a special mind magic that he mixed with his speaking voice. He could convince anyone to do anything at the height of his power if they weren't a practiced occulmens. The fact that you fought off his persuasion should be commended. Besides he offered you something that no one could blame you for wanting."

"Really? He could do that?"

"Yes Harry he convinced many people to do his will by speech alone. You have a strong mind to resist him."

Harry seemed to collapse in relief and Remus smiled. He couldn't imagine the amount of guilt the boy had been carrying around. Remus reached his hand a patted the boy on his back. Harry stiffened for a moment before leaning into the touch.

"About the other part the part where you killed Quirrel." Remus said. "You were defending yourself against the man who had tried to kill you. Quirrel would've died very soon since he allowed himself to be possessed. Voldemort has killed so many people. Anything you do to hurt him is pretty much completely justified. I know it doesn't feel right but I had to go through a very similar thing when I got bitten by a werewolf."

"What do you mean?"

"I felt guilty for surviving. Doing what was necessary to survive the attack." Lupin said. "I did everything I could to survive despite the fact that it would mean I would be cursed for life. I didn't understand that as a four year old but when I grew older I felt so guilty for surviving when my sister did not. I learned something though."

"What?"

"Never feel guilty for surviving. Promise me Harry that you will never feel guilty for surviving."

Harry stared at him his green eyes looking so deep that they didn't fit on a child's face. He was searching Remus for something but Remus couldn't be sure what. Finally Harry nodded.

"Thanks Mr. Lupin." Harry said. "I don't think Severus could've helped me with this. There are some things I know he will understand but I wasn't so sure about this."

"I'm sure Severus could've helped you." Remus said.

"No. Severus wouldn't have understood the guilt. You understood."

"Alright Harry." Remus said not quite sure what to make of that statement.

"Mr. Lupin." Harry began again.

"Harry would you at least until the school year starts call me Remus? When you were a baby you called me Moony but I think Remus is a good place to start."

"Alright Remus. I was going to say that it is nearly dinner time. I was going to offer to fly you down to the doors so you wouldn't crash."

Remus smiled at the offer. It was true he would probably crash he just wasn't very good at flying.

"I would like that Harry."

So Harry left the blankets on the roof and flew Remus down to the front doors while Remus held the school broom he had used. When they landed Remus smiled. Harry told him he would see him at dinner. Remus felt like he had accomplished a lot that day. Harry trusted him even if just a little. Harry might even come seek him out the next time.