Chapter XIX

Beast of Burden

"It gives me strength to have somebody to fight for; I can never fight for myself, but, for others, I can kill."

―Emilie Autumn

When Harry regained consciousness due to magic-abuse the first thing he noticed was that he was alone in a different compartment than the one he lost consciousness in and that he had a guest. That guest was one Remus Lupin who he then proceeded to give a vicious right hook to, bruising his knuckles in the process.

"I deserved that," Remus muttered quietly as he held his bruised cheek. He looked back at the teenager fuming across from him with a quirked eyebrow. "Better?"

"Yeah," the teen told him in a snarky tone, nursing his bruised knuckles. "I feel better now, although you deserve another one if you don't explain to me where you've been."

"First, some chocolate," the man said as he pulled out a chocolate bar and broke off a bit of it. Harry reluctantly accepted it, while muttering something along the lines of, "How does chocolate even work on Dementor exposure?"

"Endorphins my dear boy," Lupin jovially said as he bit a piece of the candy. He sighed happily as he felt the mass of candy slide down his throat. "Chocolate stimulates the production of endorphins, which is the feel good chemical in the human body."

"Does it still work on someone who's a werewolf?" Harry mumbled quietly as he chewed on the bit of candy in his hand. He looked on blankly as the older man choked slightly.

"Excuse me?" the ragged looking man asked with mild surprise.

"You heard me loud and clear Remus Lupin."

"But how did you know I was a werewolf? That information is under a strict need-to-know basis backed by a Blood Oath that would cause the death of any person divulging the secret," Remus explained in a flabbergasted tone.

"Well it's a good thing family was included in the list of people who could be told of your secret, eh, Remus Lupin?" Harry snarled through his teeth at his father's second friend.

"So you know I'm a werewolf," the disheveled man muttered quietly as he mulled over his thoughts. He stared across toward the fuming teen and regarded him with a curious gaze. "And you're fine with that?"

"Well," the teen started as he began to list off the oddities of his life with his fingers, "seeing as I'm friends with a ginger, the son of a death eater, and the girlfriend of said death eater's son; am in love with a know-it-all, while having faced against Voldemort three times, faced a Basilisk, I think having a family friend being a werewolf is just par for the course." Though he was pissed at his other guardian, the teen seemed to be taking the man's disposition in stride.

"Sweet Merlin, you faced a Basilisk?!" the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor asked with a great amount of shock. "But the last sighting was nearly four centuries ago. Where in the world was one hiding?"

"Well I didn't technically fight it," Harry told his father's friend embarrassedly. "Also it was Salazar Slytherin's Basilisk that had been hiding in the Chamber of Secrets for nearly a millennia."

"Fascinating," the older man murmured as he once more reevaluated the young man before him. He had learned little from Professor Dumbledore as the elder wizard had told him the bare basics of the teen's life before telling the werewolf that if he wished to learn more about Harry, he would have to go to the source. However, that would have to wait till later, seeing as the teen was staring at him intently, brows set in a light scowl.

"However, the story of my misadventures can be told at a later time depending on whether or not you tell me where in the hell you've been since my parents' murders." Remus sighed as he leaned forward a little and clasped his hands together in the space between his legs.

"Before I begin, has Professor Dumbledore told you the reasons why I had not dropped by to see you or sent you a letter at all?"

"He only told me that it was your story to tell me, not for him to tell," Harry murmured as he recalled the conversation that followed when he had exploded in rage, screaming at the wizened Professor for withholding information. His mind then wandered as he remembered the horrific events that followed in the wake of his outburst and how close he came to repeating history.

"Then I believe now is as good a time as any since we still have a ways to go before we reach Hogwarts." The older man paused for a moment and looked towards the compartment door with a raised brow. He then turned back to Harry and asked, "Would you like your friends to listen to my story or would you rather tell them yourself later?"

Harry closed his eyes and meditated on that question, debating with himself whether or not to allow his friends into the compartment and listen to Remus Lupin's story with him. On one hand, their mere presence would act as a sort of security net for himself should he have a violent outburst. However, that would mean they would see him in his more violent and angry state, something only Hermione really ever saw. And something he did not want to have a repeat of. But on the other hand, that would mean he would be alone with Remus Lupin with no one to hold him back should he become violent. And from the looks of it, not even the new Professor seemed keen on defending himself from Harry's wrath, despite the man being a werewolf.

Internally he shook his head, realizing that he had to learn to control himself. He could not allow hatred or sorrow control his actions. Harry would be damned if he began to act like Voldemort, the monster that Tom Riddle created through his weakness. Besides, it would be best to have his friends here beside him listening to this story than have them feel as if he did not trust them with the story of his other guardian.

"There are no secrets between any of us," he told the werewolf, a firm tone in his voice. Remus Lupin nodded affirmatively, coming to a better understanding of his friend's only child and his greatest legacy. The older man then moved to the door of the compartment and slid it open. He was not surprised when he saw the former occupants of the compartment fall through in a heap of tangled limbs with the blonde boy and dark haired girl on top. Being a werewolf had its perks, such as a heightened sense of smell.

"Really guys?" Harry deadpanned as he held his face in both of his hands. He would have expected this out of Ron since the redhead could be a snoop at times. Hermione was an unlikely candidate for eavesdropping, however since she was going out with the son of a Marauder, she was likely to pick up some of his quarks. Padma, Draco and Pansy he really did not expect to go along with listening in since they would have too much pride in their respective houses to listen in on a private conversation.

"No secrets, remember?" Hermione asked with a small smile on her face on the bottom of the pile. Her fiancé just sighed, rolling his eyes as he did, before bending down and holding his hand out to the bushy haired girl. She smiled in kind as well, taking hold of his hand and pulling herself out from the pile of human bodies that seemed to disengage itself once Hermione extracted herself.

"You should know by now that we'll always have your back Harry," his redhead male friend pointed out as he pulled himself and his girlfriend up onto the seats of the compartment. There was also the fact that they as a trio always seemed to be eavesdropping on people anyway. So it would not have been a surprise for two of the trio to listen in on a private conversation concerning one of their own. Ron himself would have to come clean about some things in the coming future if he ever wanted to relieve himself of the burden on his heart.

The Third-Year Ravenclaw just looked at her boyfriend and wondered if it were a Gryffindor thing for members of that house to stick together in a tightly knit group consisting of their own house. That could not be it though since her sister, Parvati Patil, had a loose sort of relationship with the rest of her house compared to her relationship with Lavender Brown and other gossipmongers of Gryffindor. She also had a firsthand account of how close knit houses really were due to the events a few days before the end of last year.

Glancing over in the direction of the Muggleborn and Pseudo-Muggleborn, the Indian girl began to wonder if it were not house loyalty Harry inspired in others, but rather a sort of personal loyalty he inspired in those around him. She would ponder this thought for a long time before reaching a daunting mountain she could not hope to overcome without actually asking the person himself. Padma Patil did know this however, Harry Potter was an interesting fellow and interestingly curious circumstances always surrounded his school life, circumstances she was sure she would be dragged into without her own express permission.

Not that she would say no.

"Seeing as I'm your only reputable connection to Slytherin House-" Pansy snickered lightly at the blonde boy's boastful comment, which caused her to get her nose tweaked by her boyfriend, "-I only wished to know of why you would consort with a… person afflicted with Lycanthropy. I also need to ascertain for myself whether or not he is a threat to our school."

"Draco." The glare the dark-haired Gryffindor leveled his Slytherin counterpart would have caused anyone else to shrink back in terror. To tell the truth, even Draco would have shrunk back in terror due to the anger, wrath and fury he saw in the Potter's eyes. But he could not be deterred. He had to make sure Harry saw it from his personal point of view, the view of a Pureblood ignorant of the world but willing to learn, rather than the view of the stereotypical Pureblood unwilling to understand the world around them.

"Potter, I know he has to be a friend of your family or you wouldn't be so hung up about his backstory. And by your reaction due to his sudden appearance, I could tell this is your first meeting with him." He was obviously referring to the right hook Harry gave the new Professor. "I'm not trying to get him sacked before he begins. If anything, I want to make sure he doesn't have it in him to harm others simply because he can."

"This is a first," Ron snorted as he crossed his arms over his chest, reclining back further into the cushions of the compartment seats. "You actual want to understand a situation from another point of view rather than your own preconceived one."

"And that's a first too," Draco shot back, eyes narrowed in annoyance toward the redhead. "I never would have imagined I would hear you say such a complicated word. Are you sure your head's fine right about now?"

"Hah hah, Draco." Though his face was slightly flushed due to anger, Ron kept a bottle on his emotions, as he could not allow an outburst due to this situation having to do more with Harry's relationship with Remus Lupin rather than his own intelligence.

"Color me surprised, Weasley didn't lash out when his intelligence was insulted." Though it was meant to come off light hearted Ron made sure to clock Draco since everyone, even Pansy, thought his comment came off as asinine and harmful. "Snarky remark aside, it takes learning that your own situation isn't what you think it is to begin to question everything around you."

Harry and Hermione shared a look while everyone's attention was on the blonde. Though it seemed like mere eye contact, the way they conveyed their emotions to one another had a much further depth than that. Just the way the young Potter conveyed his sorrow and regret by dipping his head and how his bushy haired fiancée grasped his hand in her own, threading their fingers together to communicate her love and devotion to him showed how well the two understood one another. It also helped that they could communicate telepathically with one another using their thoughts since that incident nearly a month ago.

After conversing with one another for what seemed like an hour using their thoughts, the two turned back to the other occupants of the compartment. "It's fine Draco. I'm still struggling to remember you're not a completely bigoted Pureblood."

"Thank you Po-"

"You're just a completely ignorant Pureblood." Though Draco would have thrown a massive fit over being mocked like that not too long ago, he had matured immensely in between his last encounter with Potter and now. Having taken extensive etiquette lessons drilled into one's head for hours on end helped. And ignoring the continuous teasing of one's girlfriend helped as well. As such, all he gave was a rather indignant huff as if to say, 'Your comments are beneath me'.

"Harry," his bushy haired girlfriend huffed as she elbowed him lightly in the ribs, eyes rolling as she heard his theatrical groans of distress. "I believe we are here to listen to Professor Lupin's story rather than bicker like children."

"Right," the young teenager blushed as he coughed into his hands, miraculously recovering almost instantly after being assaulted brutally by his fiancé. "If you would Remus."

"Yes. Thank you for allowing me to explain the circumstances surrounding my life up until now." Remus closed his eyes so that he could reimagine the day his life had gone to hell in a handbasket. Nearly thirteen years had passed since the end of the previous wizarding war. More a cold war than anything else, as most conflicts were clandestine affairs that ended just as quickly as they began. If a mission failed, more often than not occurring due to the termination of the team, the mission was redacted.

He himself partook in such a mission. The cover for his mission was to try and dissuade the other werewolf clans from joining Voldemort's growing army that seemed to swell each and every day with more and more recruits. Everyone knew it was an act of futility to do so, since the werewolves, at least those backing Fenrir Greyback, had already decided to support Voldemort. The opposing side simply allowed him to work unhindered since it meant one operational asset of the Order of the Phoenix was distracted, weakening their foe.

Never interrupt the enemy while he is making a mistake.

Remus Lupin acting as a diplomatic envoy fit his personality, yes. It would be reasonable to assume so. But to those who really knew him, they also knew he was a pragmatic man. So it was a shock to the Potters, Sirius and Peter that he would accept such a waste of a mission.

"I've been missing for nearly thirteen years simply because I failed to carry out a mission that would have swung the war in our favor," the scrappy looking man explained as he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. "My cover was to treat with the werewolf clans asking for their neutrality in the war. The real mission I was given by Dumbledore was to use any means to find the spy within our midst. No one would assume it was me carrying out the tailing since I was supposed to be on the continent."

"Were you able to ascertain who it was?" Hermione asked cautiously, since she and Harry knew who the real traitor was. They were worried that Remus would assume it would be Sirius and thus attempt to carry out his failed mission from thirteen years past.

"Only four people were able to see that my 'mission' was nothing more than a cover," the werewolf went on. "Your mother and father, Harry, knew from the moment I had accepted the mission that it was a cover for something else. I'm a pragmatic man, I don't waste my time doing pointless tasks. I knew immediately it could not have been them who gave it away." He then exhaled sharply and stared out the window.

"That meant whomever it was that was able to set up an ambush for me knew me personally. They would have known that someone had to have been on to them, more than likely me since I was the only asset unaccounted for. Many people wouldn't have believed it was me tailing them, but only a few. And it was the one whose actions became sporadic that set off red flags in my mind," he told the teenagers as he tapped the side of his head.

"What happened when you tried to terminate Black?" Draco asked, playing coy along with everyone else. Hermione had of course filled in them in on the pertinent information regarding the Potter tragedy and would fill in everyone else in their group. She had warned them to be cautious about showcasing their knowledge since she was leery of which adult to trust. Not to say that Remus Lupin was untrustworthy. The man was simply a new variable that needed to be understood before being brought up to speed.

"You, you're serious right?" Remus asked with a chortle. "You're asking me if I had failed to terminate Sirius Black, one of the most loyal Gryffindors to ever pass through Hogwarts vaunted halls?" he asked with a toothy grin. "A man who made a Blood Oath that would kill him if he so much as thought of harming his remaining family, namely James Potter? Surely you jest!" The man then proceeded to laugh himself into a coughing fit, leaving everyone in the train compartment to stare wide eyed at the laughing man.

"Many people would like to think that, but Sirius was a Gryffindor through and through. Every person who had known our group since Hogwars should have questioned why it was Sirius that was the spy for the Dark." He shook his head ruefully, wondering how stupid people had to be to overlook loyalty. "When I heard that it was Sirius being blamed for the Potters deaths, I knew it was nothing more than a political move to sweep the entire was under the rug and allow everyone to sink their collective heads back into the sand," the new Professor growled.

"No, the man who betrayed all of us, spied for the Dark, and lead to the deaths of Lily and James was indeed a Gryffindor. It was just the wrong Gryffindor. It was our other friend that rounded out the quartet." Though the man seemed angry beyond belief, he seemed sorrowful in the fact that it was still one of his friends that sold them out. "It was Peter, Peter Pettigrew was the man who betrayed us all." As everyone sat there with faux-shocked looks on their faces, Remus merely rolled his eyes. "You know you can stop acting like you don't know it was Peter."

When they just gave him quizzical looks and looked amongst themselves as if to silently communicate their bewilderment, Remus once more rolled his eyes at them. "I'm a werewolf. I can hear things very well. More so when the subject being spoken about is of great interest to me." He then sat straighter and looked over all of them.

"As I said before, I was ambushed when Peter learned I had pinned him as the spy in our ranks. He had lured me into the catacombs of Paris where he enacted his plan to rid himself of his tail." When everyone's eyes were on him, he sighed and once more looked up at the ceiling. "A team of fifteen satires had ambushed me, the spry bastards," he growled. Draco knew of the ferocity at which satires fought, and taking on that many, even for a werewolf, was suicide since the half-goat mean were known for their lethal grace and quick strikes and parries. To know that a single werewolf made it out of fighting that many alive spoke volumes of the werewolf's prowess.

"While I had battled them, Peter had escaped in the chaos. After I had dispatched of the last one, taking nearly thirty minutes to do so after the confrontation had started, I followed his scent as far as I could. When I caught up to him, my instincts were screaming at me that I had fallen into a trap. And I did."

"You were captured?" Draco asked the Professor as it finally dawned on him. He had heard stories from his father that many werewolves were captured back during the war and sold off at auctions on the mainland to the highest bidder. There were also stories where some were forced to fight one another just like gladiators of old in the Roman Coliseum.

"Yes, I was captured," Remus admitted, much as it shamed him that he someone had be able to pull the wool over his eyes. "Peter had reached out to his own personal contacts living on the continent to contact anyone looking to net themselves a werewolf rivaling Fenrir Greyback in strength. Someone, I didn't ask the man's name when I killed him," everyone sucked in a breath at his casual remark about killing someone with such cold-bloodedness, "nor did I have any interest in learning it, had taken interest and had put together a hunting party to trap me."

"What did they do to you?" Harry asked with trepidation, hoping that the sinking feeling in his stomach and in Hermione's was without warrant. When Remus opened him mouth next, the messy haired boy could barely believe that such cruelty and utter evil could actually exist. Hermione herself was crying outright, her heart going out to the older man as she gripped her beloved's hand as if it were the only thing holding her together.

The Purebloods in the compartment felt like retching, wondering if what he was telling them was actually true. It was true of course, but it still boggled their young minds to no end that people were capable of carrying out such barbaric acts. It made Draco question whether or not the servitude his family was currently under was any different from the horrors the werewolf had gone through.

"For ten years, I was underground living in some of the worst conditions, confined to little more than a cage with nothing but hay covering the bottom. I quickly learned that since many though werewolves little more than animals, that we were to be treated as such. All my dignity went out the window the first day." The man decided not to share with them how the food he had been given the first day had laxatives mixed into it. He had wondered when so many of the workers had huddled around his cage a little while later. An hour later after taking the shit of his life in front of so many laughing and cajoling people had left his dignity shredded and tattered.

"We were all given drugs to keep our inner beast in check." Hermione had a sinking feeling about the drug Remus was alluding to. If it could suppress a werewolf, that meant it had to contain only one thing. "Drugs that after long exposure would drive many of the consumers insane, if they lived that long. Others would develop a dependence on it, causing fights to occur like nothing else when it was distributed. Enough mental discipline kept me from becoming too dependent on it, but its damage was already wrought upon me. I have but only another decade to live before the bits of silver floating in my bloodstream make it to my brain and complete the clot already there." His face appeared older than his real age was, showing how defeated the Marauder was. He was a man resigned to his fate, a fate that would come whether or not he was ready for it.

Remus shook his head slightly and smiled a small smile at the tearful young man that was the legacy of his two closest friends. He could accept Harry's feelings on the subject later, but first the young man must know the trials and tribulations he had gone through just to return to protect said young man and do right by him and by extension Sirius, Lily and James. "Later, Harry," he soothed the teen, patting him on the shoulder twice and squeezing his shoulder. "You need to know the rest of the reason of what stopped me from being there for you in your time of need." The werewolf then cleared his throat and began his odyssey once more.

"For ten years, I had to fight like a monster against others who were trapped in the same situations as I. I was lucky enough to always win, but those who lost also lost their privileges to the drug. When I would later face them, little of who they once were was left. Those times, however, I made sure to kill them as a mercy. They were but husks of their former selves. I could not in good conscious leave them to wither away and die like animals." He held his face in his hand and pulled down, showing the prominent bags under his eyes and tired look upon his face.

"I fought once a week, every week, for ten years. I released four-hundred eighty-nine souls from that living hell into peace." No one would be able to understand why he had to kill so many, because no one else would have to live through the events he had lived. "And I failed to keep a promise I made there. I failed to keep a promise I made to a friend, and I live with that fact every day." He then explained to them the personal hell he lived in alongside his friend.

"Names Erica! What's yours?"

"Remus Lupin. Nice to make your acquaintance."

"So what'd they get you for? Jay-walking? No wait! I know, forgetting to tip."

"Nah, I wasn't able to get rid of a pest."

"What the hell is this? They expect me to stomach this shite?!"

"It's better than nothing," Remus shrugged as he stomached the horrible rations they gave everyone.

"They could at least season it properly," the blonde growled as she dug into the putrid smelling food.

"Fuck you bastards! I'm gonna live long enough to escape this place and kill every last one of you fucking sons of bitches!" Erica shouted as they began to drag her out of her cage, kicking and screaming. Remus however was restrained by several guards since he was shouting like a demon had possessed him, as he was knew what was going to happen, since what was about to occur had occurred to every other woman to come into the 'care' of the hunter.

"Get the fuck off me you bastards! I'll kill you all if you hurt her!" he roared defiantly, fighting his captors.

"I'll kill them all! I'll kill them all!" his blonde friend screamed before doubling and puking. She then collapsed and laid still, her breathing the only sign that she was still alive. After a while, Remus sighed in relief when he heard he call out his name. But that relief turned into rage when he heard her cries for help. "Remus. Remus. Help me."

'When I get out, I'm going to make sure every last one of them suffers for this.'

"C'mon Remus, we have to put on a show for them." Erica winked at him before fully transforming. "You know what's gonna happen if we don't." She was then lead to the opposite end of the small arena where they would be forced to fight one another.

"Y'know, you didn't have to put on too much of a show." A chuckle followed by a cough emanated from the thin blonde woman sitting in the cage beside Remus' own. "Do you think we'll make it out of here?" she asked her friend wistfully in a quiet voice. Being confined to a cage for ten years would put a serious damper on any attempts to make friends. It was either make friends with your neighbor or the guards, and she wasn't too keen on befriending the latter. Luckily enough, her neighbor was the kind man known as Remus Lupin.

"I don't know Erica, I don't know. But we have to have hope in our hearts that the rumors are true." Remus had overheard some of the guards discussing numerous raids that were going on in the country at the time. Most of them were successful raids, freeing at least fifteen werewolves and dozens of other slaves. They had concerns that this warehouse was next since five of their other warehouses were hit within the last month, causing them to be concerned for their safety.

"I hope they come soon, I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out." She had grown weak over the last few days since their fight. Coughing fits were now a regular thing for Erica and it seemed she could hardly stomach the already meager amounts of putrid food they had no choice but to consume. Her already thin figure was taking a turn for the worst as well.

"Just another day," Remus told her, doing his best to consul his ailing friend. "Just another day and we'll be free."

"Just," she wheezed a little and coughed horribly, "Just another day Remus. You better make good on that promise."

Remus, in his beast form, growled as he retracted his hand from the gut of the man who had condemned him, along with every other werewolf and human who was in his 'care', to a living hell. For more than a decade had passed since he had seen the hunter, more than a decade of hatred had been within him to gut and skewer this monster of a man.

"When I see you again," he hissed at the man, his feral eyes staring into the hunter's own, "it will be in Hell. And I will make sure that you regret ever crossing me you motherfucker," Remus spat at his before tearing out the man's throat with his teeth and then spitting it out in disgust. The Captaine of the Division Magie of the Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale placed his hand on the werewolf's shoulder, not one bit scared of the beast since he too was a werewolf.

"Remus Lupin, we need to get you extracted, you're barely holding it together," the Captaine told his fellow werewolf, his French accent thick as he spoke in English.

"She's still alive. I'm not leaving her behind. I need to find her," he told the Captaine as he stalked out of the hunter's personal office. Remus paid no heed to the GIGN operatives that followed after him, he only had one thing to take care of. He growled as soon as he caught her scent. The werewolf followed it from the hunter's office and tore through just about anyone who stood in his way. One last group of guards stood in his way, and he ripped through four of the five, leaving the last one screaming as he held his stump of an arm.

The room she was kept in was dark, and smelled of the essence of men. The werewolf growled deep in his throat, and stalked further into the room until he found where she was. When he nudged her, she made no response. A worried whine emitted from his mouth when he nudged her again and still no response. With his ears pressed against his head, he ripped the chains from the wall and searched for the keys. Finding the keys on one of the bodies outside, he stalked back inside and removed her shackles.

As he carried her body out of the chamber, his attention turned to whimpering man that had survived his attack. Remus growled at him, and looked at the Captaine with his GIGN operatives behind him.

"This man is one of the lieutenants of the former hunter," he told them as he stalked past them. "Do with him what you will. I have no need to kill a pathetic man such as him."

When Remus finally made his way out of the underground warehouse, his eyes slammed shut at the blinding light, light of the sun that he had not seen in a decade. He had not even noticed that he had reverted back into his human form. But he paid it no mind as he looked down at the woman in his arms.

"We made it Erica," he whispered as he kissed her forehead. "We made it." Remus laughed hollowly, having failed to protect someone precious to him once more. He had failed James, Lily, little Harry, Sirius, so many others when he had failed to eliminate the spy in time. And now? Now he had failed to make so that his friend, maybe even the woman he was in love with, made it out of their living hell alive. "Looks like," he sniffled as he fell to his knees, the adrenaline powering him finally leaving his body after his ordeal, "looks like… I won't… be able… to bring you to… Paris… for that date…"

The medical personnel rushed to fallen couple, doing their best to stabilize both of the now rescued werewolves. The two doctors that had rushed to the woman five minutes later decreed her deceased since an hour before. They had then moved on to assist the others in stabilizing the male werewolf. His condition would be critical as he had fallen into a comatose state due to the decade long ordeal he had miraculously survived.

"I was in a coma for nearly a year and a half Harry," he explained the morose teen sitting before him. Everyone else had grown silent as they had digested his personal ordeal he had gone through in a decade. To say they were astounded that people were even capable of such unspeakable acts, committed by the hands of those morally sound and immoral, had astounded them. Was this what would lie in wait for them in the dark war that was sure to come? Or was this a result of darkness that plagued the world at large?

"It took me nearly six months to be rehabilitated. But I made it through ten years of hell, another six months would be nothing in comparison. I still had no way of actually getting back, but I somehow as able to make my way back to Britain with the help of a few of the GIGNs who had rescued me."

"I had heard from my Godfather that you were approached for the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts last year. Why didn't you take it?" Draco spoke up, asking the unsaid question that was plaguing everyone's minds, more importantly Harry and Hermione's. 'What was he doing for nearly a year?'

"I had been out of the world for nearly decade, I needed to catch up to date with everything I needed to know. Or at least the details that everyone generally knows. Some stories I had never even hear of until Harry here had told me." He then scratched the side of his head. "That and it would have been rather embarrassing for me to accept a teaching position when I myself had barely remembered any of my own schooling, let alone know what I actually need to teach seven years of students."

"At least you're here now," Harry said, consoling his father's friend. "You're here now and that's what counts."

"Not just for you Harry, I'm here to also help out a wronged friend and bring a traitor to justice," Remus reminded the young man. "Hopefully by the end of the year we'll be able to finally do some justice to the souls that departed due to the actions of a traitorous man." His face lightened up however, and he smiled benignly at the teenagers.

"But first things first, you all need to get your robes on, we're just about there." Off in the distance, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry loomed in the distance against the full moon of the night.

Harry was finally returning to the one place he could truly call home. Feeling his hand squeezed lightly by Hermione, they messy haired teen turned and smiled at her, before pecking her on the cheek. He then headed out to the compartment with Remus, Draco and Ron so that the three Third Year young women could get dressed.

So far, Harry's third year of school was shaping up to be another interesting one.

For the love of God, don't kill me! I am so, so, so sorry! I never meant to leave any of you hanging! I've just been having really bad personal issues and they've been piling up. But I swear to do right by all of you. You guys are my sixth family after all. I love every single last one of you for having faith in me. So it's time for me to do you justice by that faith.