Chapter 22 - Remus Revelations

Remus Lupin, for his part, had had a peaceful Christmas. It had been just the three of them and they'd celebrated as they usually did with their roast dinner, Christmas pudding and walk in the countryside. His mother had wept with happiness when he'd told his parents that his friends had discovered his secret and cared for him just as much as ever, but his father looked very grave indeed.

"Remus, you mustn't get complacent." He told him one night when his mother had gone up to take a bath. "I know you think they're your friends, but they're still wizards. The world has always been anti-werewolf, it's just the way it is, and it's moving more and more in that direction too I'm sorry to say. I've been reading the papers and from the sounds of it they're trying to blame all these strange disappearances on the werewolves. You must be very careful no one else finds out. Are you absolutely sure Sirius won't tell anyone?"

"Sirius is the least likely to tell anyone." Remus said, a bit disappointed that his dad still clearly felt his friend was a product of his family. "His parents would probably pull him straight out of Hogwarts if they knew he shared a dormitory with a werewolf."

"Well maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing…"

"Dad," Remus said, fixing his father with as determined a stare as he dared (something he had learned from Sirius, incidentally). "Sirius is my friend. He would die before he betrayed me."

"Well you know him better than I do." Lyall said with a sigh. "But the Blacks are right in there with this lot, I'm sure of it." And he gestured at the Daily Prophet, lying on the coffee table. "Just be very, very careful, alright?"

Whether Sirius' parents were involved with the strange activity and unexplained deaths happening more and more frequently Remus didn't know, but their son at least was still very much on the side of fighting the rising darkness.

Without even bothering with hellos, he grabbed Remus and the others on platform nine and three quarters, told them he had some very important news for them and that it was absolutely crucial that they weren't disturbed.

Waving a last hasty goodbye to his father, Remus joined him and the others in a compartment on the train, James cast a silencing charm on the door, and Sirius proceeded to tell them exactly what he'd overheard at his family's New Year's party.

"Voldemort?" James repeated as if trying the name out for effect. "What kind of stupid name is that?"

"Not just Voldemort." Sirius corrected him. "Lord Voldemort. What a prat." He added. "There are no wizarding lords or my parents would have insisted on a title. Who does he think he is, coming up with a name like that?"

"Well, it sounds like we know exactly who he thinks he is." James said. "Did the minister or Minchum say anything else?"

"Yes!" Sirius said, clicking his fingers and sitting up. "Yaxley's a member of the Knights of Walpurgis!"

"Professor Yaxley?" Peter said, staring at him in disbelief.

"No Yaxley the ginger cat who haunts the owlery." Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "Yes of course professor Yaxley. Just because he's a professor doesn't stop him being a git."

"I think we all knew that already." James said. He looked back at Sirius. "I thought Dumbledore looked uneasy at the start of term. Maybe he suspected him all along."

Sirius gave a humourless laugh. "I'm amazed I didn't. It all fits, doesn't it? And if the Knights have him I hate to say it but he's a useful asset, knows practically every curse there is to know, doesn't he? There's one other thing they did say though. They're putting some aurors on to tail him. Maybe they'll catch him doing something dark and dodgy and he'll be carted off to Azkaban before the end of the school year." He grinned, seeming cheered by the thought.

"Well that won't be difficult." James said. "Let's just invite the blokes to sit in on one of our DADA classes."

"Do you think he'll let us sit at the back again this term?" Peter asked the others. Remus knew he hated being right under the teacher's scrutiny in their lessons with him and would love the safety of the back of the room where he wouldn't have to try and answer questions he never got right.

"I don't think so." Sirius said and Remus couldn't help but notice he sounded a little guilty. "I'm afraid I might have wound him up a bit over Christmas..."

They never found out what Sirius did (or didn't) say to their DADA professor over Christmas. They fell back into their usual easy familiarity with one another, stopping their conversation only when the witch with the trolley arrived and Lily Evans poked her head around the door looking for Severus.

"We ate him." James told her. "I mean, why on earth would he be in here?" He asked the others incredulously after she left.

As he did at the start of every term, Remus hoped that this one might be different when it came to Severus Snape. Unfortunately, as he was at the start of every term too, he was disappointed.

"Happy New Year, Snivelly." James called over to the greasy haired boy as they passed him on their way up to the carriages that would take them to the castle. He frowned as he saw who he was walking with. "Traded your girlfriend in for boyfriend, have you? Who's this?"

The Slytherin boy, who Snape was walking with, was blond with thick eyebrows and a cross-looking face. "I'm Evan Rosier." He snapped at James. "And if you've got something you wish to say, say it to my face."

"Nah, you're alright." James said, turning back to Snape. "Moved on to first years, have you? Shame none of the boys in our year like you. Probably about the only thing I've got in common with Mulciber."

"Oh piss off Potter." Snape snapped. The presence of Rosier seemed to have emboldened him. There was a new ferocity in his black eyes that Remus hadn't seen there before. "Some of us actually have things to talk about other than how many times you can throw a red ball through a hoop."

"Greasy git."

"Nosy parker."

"Important things to talk about…" James muttered, shooting dark looks back at the pair of them. "Who is that kid anyway? I wonder what it is about him that interests Snivellus. Oh well, what do I care."

"You don't, obviously."

But it seems that James did care. And it wasn't just Rosier who Snape was spending more time with as the term wore on. They frequently saw him in the company of Rabastan Lestrange and Rupert Wilkes, neither of whom were in their year either.

"It's because no one normal can stand him." James said dismissively, watching the little group with their heads together in the library one day.

"You calling Mulciber and Nott normal?" Sirius asked him.

But James' sour interest in his nemesis took a back seat as the second quidditch game of the year approached. Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw had performed poorly against Slytherin last term and James was confident of an easy win.

The three of them took their seats in the Gryffindor stands to watch, all bundled up against the winter chill, as their friend took to the sky and the crowds began to cheer.

Peter screamed himself hoarse and Sirius cheered as James flitted across the sky, passing and intercepting effortlessly, even shouting warnings to other players who were in danger of being hit by a stray bludger. Gryffindor were up two hundred and twenty to forty when Ravenclaw seeker Gregory Wyatt caught the snitch and the Gryffindor crowds bellowed themselves hoarse.

There was a party up in the common room that night, with plenty of butterbeer and bowls of crisps stolen from the kitchens by Freddie Johnson as James, instead of joining in the celebrations (or preparations for them) with his team mates, was sitting by the fire sulking instead.

"Oh you're such a child." Sirius told him. "Just because you didn't win by a three hundred point margin, what does it matter?"

"It matters because we could have." James said crossly. "Kiran Kumar is pants. She needs to be kicked off the team. I reckon she's only there because Freddie fancies her."

Kiran was the Gryffindor team seeker. A dark-skinned girl with pretty eyes she was, in Remus' eyes, a good flyer who had some bad luck. He saw her now over by the buffet talking to Freddie who had a comforting arm around her.

"See?" James said, gesturing at the pair of them. "It's blatant favouritism."

Remus had to agree with Sirius. James was acting awfully childishly. But unlike Sirius, he didn't dare tell him so.

"Go and tell him then." Sirius said, throwing his arms up in frustration. "Or are you just going to sit here and moan like a twelve year old instead?"

"I am twelve." James said. "And I'm not moaning, I'm just stating facts."

"If you were so sure they were facts you wouldn't mind telling Freddie so." Sirius said fairly.

"No it's fine." James said sulkily. "I'll just let them get on with it. But she'd better catch the snitch against Slytherin or I'll…."

"Probably sulk and complain some more." Sirius grinned and James threw his quidditch helmet at him.

Remus awoke the morning after his first transformation back at school to find his three friends gathered around his bedside. They'd clearly been waiting for him to wake up as they'd brought their homework with them which they put down eagerly as he opened his eyes.

"How was it this month?"

"Are you badly hurt?"

"Was the wolf mean?"

Remus smiled, especially at Peter, who had asked the last question. He appreciated so much that his friends cared, and loved that they didn't see him as a monster for what happened to him once a month. He knew it had taken a lot for Peter to overcome his fear, James to overcome his culture and Sirius… well, he wasn't sure whether there had been any barriers to his third friend's accepting of his condition, but he appreciated him just as much.

He remembered the conversation they'd had with Dumbledore and McGonagall the night they'd discovered he was a werewolf. Madam Pomfrey had gone to fetch them and they'd both come at once, Dumbledore still in his dressing gown. They had both been very grave indeed and appeared to be quite taken aback with his friends' insistence that they didn't mind in the slightest. Sirius in particular had promised he wouldn't breathe a word to anyone, especially his parents, and that they 'weren't idiots' (the boys, not his parents). McGonagall had been moved almost to tears and Dumbledore had awarded them fifty points each for courage and tenacity of spirit (whatever that meant). While the rest of Gryffindor house had been delighted there were finally some rubies in the hourglass, Remus' joy was deeper still.

"It was as it always is." He told them, smiling though he still felt stiff and aching all over. "But I manage."

"You shouldn't have to." Sirius told him quietly.

Remus wanted to tell him he didn't have to either, but decided to keep his mouth shut. His friend didn't need to be reminded of his family again so early into the school year. He'd only just got away. "How are you all?" He asked instead.

James was fine, he'd forgiven Kiran for her failure to catch the snitch at their last match and was training hard for their next match already. Peter had finally succeeded in transfiguring his slug into a worm and Sirius had received a letter from his cousin Andromeda. "She's eloped!" He said, grinning wickedly. "Our uncle Alphard gave her some gold. Knew he would. Aunt Druella's furious and mum's blasted her off the family tapestry. Oh an honour I might one day be so lucky as to achieve…" Remus couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

Term wore on with little change in the bitter weather. As they were so far north, thick layers of snow frequently covered the grounds, which delighted Sirius in particular.

"We hardly ever get snow in London." He said, inexpertly rolling a snowball in his gloved hands and grinning around as he looked for a target to throw it at.

"My parents get loads in Yorkshire." Remus told him. He wondered if their little garden would be covered in snow today too. He was glad to know they hadn't had to move during the time he'd been at Hogwarts. He supposed him being away at school meant less chance for muggles to ask awkward questions and drive them away.

"It's not so bad where we live either." Peter agreed. "I wonder if my sisters will have a day off school. Sometimes muggles do when it gets heavy enough."

"How are your sisters?" James, who'd been quite taken with the excitable girls, asked him.

"They're fine." Peter said uninterestedly. "Clara's got a boyfriend and Annabelle's studying for her O-Levels."

"Still reading Jane Eyre?" This was the one fact James had remembered about muggle school.

"No idea." Peter said again without interest. "Oh, isn't that Professor Yaxley?"

All three of them whipped their heads around to where Peter was looking. Sure enough, the man's quick walk and stiff posture was recognisable even at this distance.

"Reckon I can get him from here?" Sirius asked, holding up his snowball.

"Yes!" James said at the same time as Remus said firmly "no."

"Oh go on, please let me." Sirius begged Remus as if he were a teacher. "I'll duck right behind this flutterby bush. He'll never see me."

They all looked over towards the flutterby bush Sirius indicated.

"Hey, isn't there someone there?"

Sirius snorted. "Probably another snogging couple."

But Remus didn't think so. He could just about make out the top of a balding head. Even the seventh years weren't quite old enough to be losing their hair yet.

"Aurors!" James said excitedly, also appearing to spot the man. And without waiting for the others, he hurried off over to the bush.

The others ran after him, their footsteps crunching in the show, and arrived at the flutterby bush to find two wizards crouching behind it, both their eyes (and wands) fixed on Yaxley's retreating back.

"Hello!" James cried happily, causing the men to swear and startle. "Who are you?"

"Father Christmas." The larger of the men said, recovering first and frowning at James. "Shouldn't you be in class, sonny?"

"Are you following Yaxley?" Sirius asked them. "Can we come with you?"

"Yeah, we hate him too." James told the men. "Maybe it can be like work experience? I wouldn't mind being an auror when I grow up."

The balding man looked at him and frowned. "What makes you think we're aurors?"

"Because Father Christmas doesn't exist." Sirius said.

The larger man rolled his eyes. He turned to his comrade. "Obliviate?" He asked, and the other man nodded. They raised their wands.

"No, please don't!" James said, holding up a hand (not that it would have done much good). "We swear we won't tell a soul. And we might be able to help you."

The men looked at each other. "And how do you propose you're going to do that?"

"Well for starters, we're students in the castle. And we have… we have means of getting around undetected. You just tell us what you want us to do and we'll do it. We can tell you what Yaxley's teaching us in class too if you like? Last week we had this curse…"

The men listened with genuine interest as James told them about Yaxley's classes.

"And he's friends with my parents too." Sirius told them. "Which should really be a crime in its own right. Orion and Walburga Black." He added in response to the men's questioning look.

The balding man raised his eyebrows. "Well you might certainly be of use to us, young man."

Sirius grinned. "I hope so. Because I reckon I can find out quite a lot for you. They had this party on New Year's…"

Remus watched, a little amazed, as Sirius listed off all the attendees to his parents' New Year's party and exactly who were the 'biggest prats' there and what they'd been saying.

"Oh and Abraxas' son Lucius wants to join the Knights when he leaves Hogwarts and I'm pretty sure Abraxas is already a member as there was a pretty significant exchange between the two of them at Christmas dinner…"

"Won't your parents mind you telling us all this?" The larger man asked Sirius a little suspiciously.

"Oh yes they'd be furious." Sirius said brightly. "But we won't tell if you don't." And he drew a finger across his lips significantly.

And so it was agreed. The two adults gave the twelve and thirteen year olds a scrap of parchment, which they demonstrated how to use. If there was a message from the aurors, there would be a small sound, they would tap the parchment, say 'I solemnly swear I am (their name)' and the parchment would reveal a message from the auror. They could then write one back or tap the parchment again saying 'message received'. It was quite a neat plan.

"And we got to keep our memories." James said happily after they left. "It must be awful, being obliviated. I don't want to forget a single thing about my life."

Remus couldn't honestly say he agreed with that. He and Sirius exchanged another of their 'James lives in another world' glances and they went back to their snowball fight.

As the weeks progressed, they continued to report to the aurors (who they knew as 'Dave and Bill', but whether these were their real names or not they weren't sure). There had been an odd moment when Yaxley had hinted that he had performed a curse which was illegal in front of the class and Sirius quickly wrote down which one it was to tell 'Dave and Bill' later. As the Easter holidays approached Sirius even told them he'd be going home to number twelve to do some 'Knights of Walpurgis spying'. Remus marvelled at his dedication.

The knowledge that a potentially very dangerous wizard was teaching them defence against the dark arts was unpleasant enough, but Remus had twice as much reason to worry as the others.

The teacher's eyes narrowed suspiciously as he arrived to class the day after the full moon the night before, pale and peaky as he always was.

"Lupin." Yaxley said, coming to stand in front of his desk and looking intimidatingly down at him. Remus felt himself flush. How did Sirius and James manage this without shrinking back in their seats as he, Remus, was now doing?

"You were absent yesterday." Yaxley told him.

"That's right, sir. Professor McGonagall said she would send a note."

"What was wrong?"

"Just a cold, sir." Remus said, beginning to feel himself sweat.

Yaxley narrowed his eyes at him. "You are ill regularly, are you not?"

Remus gave an awkward shrug. "I suppose so sir."

"About once a month, if I'm not mistaken."

Remus' mouth was dry. His heart was beating furiously in his chest. He felt a bit sick as he looked back at the professor, who had his eyes narrowed suspiciously. This was it. This was the moment everyone found out he was a werewolf. Whatever else Yaxley might be, he wasn't stupid. Perhaps he'd already connected the dots and now he was just waiting for Remus' confession. He opened his mouth to speak, though he had no idea what he could say.

"Remus has the worst immune system of anyone I've ever known." Came Sirius' bright voice from two desks away. Remus let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "But that's not a crime is it, getting ill? I don't know why you have to put him through the sodding Salem witch trials for it."

Remus felt a mixture of relief and guilt as the DADA professor bore down on his friend instead.

"How many times, Black" he said, his voice quiet and dangerous, "must you be told NOT TO INTERRUPT ME IN CLASS?" He shouted, slamming his wand down hard on the desk.

Though James, Peter and Remus all jumped and there was terrified squeak from behind, Sirius didn't seem remotely afraid. He looked at Yaxley's wand, then back up at the man. "At least once more sir." He replied and Remus wasn't sure whether he wanted to laugh or cry.

"I've had enough of this." Yaxley snapped, clearly not in the least bit amused. He marched around the desk, pulled Sirius roughly from his seat and dragged him to the classroom door. "If you can't behave in my class you can wait here and I'll deal with you later." He said, throwing him out into the corridor before slamming the door hard in his face. He marched back to his desk, breathing like a winded rhinoceros, and picked up the register again. "MacDonald, Mary!" He shouted and poor Mary startled so much she toppled off her chair.

"I wish you hadn't done that." Remus told Sirius once they'd reunited with him at the end of the lesson (and after Yaxley had finished shouting at him). He seemed cheerful enough, said he didn't understand why being told to leave the classroom was any kind of punishment ("he may as well have handed me sugar mice"), and that he'd spent the hour researching animagi in the library (which upset Remus even more).

Remus was very grateful for his friend's defence and protection but felt terribly guilty Sirius had to face the wrath of his teacher (and inevitably very soon his parents) for his sake. Despite his friend's insistence that it was 'fine', that Yaxley was 'a bigger grass than Snivellus' and that he was disappointed the man hadn't cursed him as then he'd have evidence for Dave and Bill, Remus thought it must have still bothered him, being shouted at in front of them all like that, and he knew he was playing it down for Remus' sake.

"It's fine." He insisted again. "Honestly if you think that's bad you should meet my mother."

"Do you really have to go home?"

"Yes. I promised Dave and Bill I would."

Sirius had developed a strange, near obsession with the two aurors. Remus had never heard him speak as positively about any adult quite as he did them, and he was determined to make them proud and be helpful in any way he could. Remus wasn't sure if his loyalty was a little unfounded. He was quite sure 'Dave and Bill' were pseudonyms, and Remus did wonder how much the two men had given the boys a task to do simply to keep them off the aurors backs. But he didn't tell any of this to Sirius. It seemed to do him good to have somewhere to channel his energy, and he was so determined he was going to 'dig up some dirt' on his family friends, he seemed as cheerful to leave for the Hogwarts Express to London as Remus had ever seen him.

Remus missed his friends when they were gone, but used the free time to get on with some undisturbed schoolwork. As the next full moon fell over Easter, he knew he had at least another month before having to worry about Yaxley becoming suspicious again. But as the holidays wore on, he began to grow worried again. He knew he was risking so much by being at Hogwarts. If his father was right and they were blaming werewolves for the strange disappearances across the country, he would be a perfect scapegoat for members of the Knights like Yaxley (if indeed he was one). What a thirteen year old wizard was supposed to have done to cause the chaos now covering the papers daily he didn't know. But he knew that by virtue of being a werewolf, he would still be seen as guilty.

He stared miserably out of the window, where the weather appeared to be reflecting his mood. He knew that Sirius, James and Peter would protect him for as long as they could, but what could three second years really do if the ministry for magic was rounding up werewolves? Of course he was registered as one. Members of the ministry knew he was at Hogwarts, but thanks to Dumbledore the information was highly classified. What if men like Yaxley discovered his secret? Would he tell people or would he do something worse? Remus knew he was only worrying because his friends weren't around with their cheerful optimism, but he also knew couldn't rely on their support forever. After all, even Sirius Black wasn't truly undefeatable at the hands of men like Corban Yaxley.

...

A/N: If anyone has any suggestions for magical shrubs other than the flutterby bush please let me know. I am aware it features far too much in my story! I'm also aware I gave the Blacks a venomous tentacular houseplant in the last chapter which even for them may have been a step too far. If anyone writes a book on magical botany, I will buy it!