"First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher." Remus smiled down the table at Dumbledore, then looked out at the students. The applause, though rather unenthusiastic, was more than he could have hoped for. He suspected that the students grew tired of applauding a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher every year. He knew that he and his friends certainly had. By their fourth year, James and Sirius had stopped applauding altogether.

Perhaps it was the mere thought of his two friends, but at once, Remus sensed that someone was watching him. He glanced at Harry and his friends, but saw that they were whispering about something and glaring down at the other end of the table. Remus let his eyes wander until they reached the giant doors. It was all he could do to keep his jaw from dropping.

For a moment, he could swear that a giant shaggy black dog had been peaking its head into the Great Hall. Remus' heart thudded with shock. In the blink of an eye, the dog had vanished. Remus struggled to control his breathing.

It's being back here…you're seeing things…it can't have been real…Sirius can't be here…not yet… Remus tried to convince himself, all the while trying to maintain a calm, cool, and collected appearance. Yet no matter how hard he tried to tell himself he had imagined the dog, he couldn't. Sirius Black had arrived at Hogwarts.

However, instead of being scared of that notion, Remus felt surprisingly irritated. Stupid git! What was he thinking! Poking his stupid head into the Great Hall when the entire SCHOOL is in here… Remus rubbed his temples. Twelve years in Azkaban hasn't changed him a bit.

No matter how much Remus wanted to see Sirius thrown back into Azkaban, he didn't want to be the one to send him back there. But if Sirius kept this sort of nonsense up, he may not have much of a choice. He spent the rest of the evening silently debating whether or not to tell Dumbledore what he had seen.

You know you need to tell him. Remus, the responsible adult, the Professor, told him.

But that would mean…I would have to tell him everything. Moony, the Marauder, tried to argue.

Oh, stop being so childish! That was so long ago. It doesn't matter anymore.

But it does matter.

It was some stupid candlelit ceremony. It didn't mean anything.

No! It means everything in the world to me.

So you would risk the safety of every soul in this castle for the sake of some stupid promise you made to a man who didn't even keep it?

But James and Peter...I made it to them too…

Dumbledore needs to know. Just tell him. Remus thought long and hard. He had to tell him. He had no choice. The Great Hall was clearing out as students made their ways to the common rooms. Remus cleared his throat and approached Professor Dumbledore.

"Er…Professor Dumbledore?" He tapped the silver-haired wizard on the shoulder lightly.

"Yes, Professor Lupin?" Dumbledore turned his bright blue eyes on Remus. In a flash, Remus was once again hurtling through time and found himself some 18 years earlier, sitting alone on a window, staring down at the lake.

"Remus?" Remus turned away from the window to see Professor Dumbledore approaching. He looked at him for a moment before turning his attention back to the lake. The sun was going down. It's rays illuminated the gold in Remus' light brown hair and cast shadows across his handsome face. "Something is bothering you." Dumbledore said knowingly, taking a seat.

"No. I'm fine." Remus replied. Why couldn't everyone just leave him alone?

"You're not fine." Dumbledore looked at him. "You are feeling hurt…scared…" Remus choked down a lump of tears that had been forming in his throat. "Betrayed…"

"Wouldn't you?" Remus asked harshly. He couldn't remember ever speaking with such a tone. Then again, he couldn't remember every feeling this angry.

"I would." Dumbledore didn't try to argue. For some reason, this angered Remus.

"With all due respect Sir, I don't think you could possibly know how awful I feel right now." Remus said, wishing that he could just be left alone.

"You are right, Remus. I do not know how awful you are feeling. But I think I can name one person who might just be feeling worse than you." He said. Remus stared at him with cold, skeptical eyes.

"Who?" He finally asked.

"The young man who asked me to come a speak with you today. It would appear that you have something of a talent when it comes to the classic cold shoulder technique."

"Sirius asked you to come talk to me?" Remus asked.

"That's right."

"Coward." Remus muttered.

"Well, what I understand from Mr. Black is that he has tried many times to apologize, yet you either turn away completely or a display of your two fingers." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. Remus blushed. Now he was going to get in trouble for using inappropriate hand gestures at school. "Remus, I tell you now, that you will never again have friends like the ones you do now. I know how strong the bonds of friendship connecting you are. And I promise you this, never once in all my years of teaching have I met a group of more loyal friends. They would do anything for you."

"He betrayed me." Remus said quietly.

"That is true. But perhaps you have betrayed him as well."

"What!" Remus yelped. "How? I have done nothing-"

"Exactly." Dumbledore said calmly. Remus eyed him questioningly.

"Unless I am very much deceived, Sirius has begged for your forgiveness, but you refuse to give it. Is that something you would expect out of someone who is meant to be one of your best friends?" Remus looked at the wise old face, but didn't answer. "Sirius is truly sorry."

"I know." Remus said grudgingly. "But…he promised…"

"And I'm sure he could tell you all about how much breaking a promise hurts." Remus looked directly into the Headmaster's eyes. They all but pleaded Remus to remember how many things Sirius had done for him through the years, how wonderful a friend he had been…

Remus was once again standing in the Great Hall. A professor, no longer a student. Dumbledore was still standing in front of him, patiently waiting for whatever Remus had to say.

"Er…" Remus began.

No! I can't do this! That promise was sacred. To all of us.

"Thank you for this opportunity." Remus said slowly. He suspected Dumbledore knew that this was not what he had originally intended to say, but if so, Dumbledore did not mention it.

"It is my pleasure, Remus. I thank you for taking the job. Merlin knows Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers are getting sparser by the minute." Remus gave a small laugh, but his insides were writing with guilt. True, there was not as much guilt as he would have felt if he had broken the vow made so many years ago, but it was still there.

I'm going to be fired before Halloween at this rate! Remus thought miserably as he climbed into bed later that night. Stupid Padfoot! Putting me in this situation! No…not Padfoot. Sirius. Stupid Sirius!

Remus moaned into his pillow. This unhealthy thinking had to stop. He couldn't keep referring to Sirius as Padfoot. Padfoot was his friend. Sirius was not his friend. Why did he keep thinking that? Why was it so hard to get the fact that Sirius was a blood-thirsty murdering heathen through his head? As Remus fell asleep, all he wanted to do was forget that he had ever had any sort of contact whatsoever with Sirius Black, but he couldn't. All he did was dream about all the wonderful memories he, James, Sirius, and Peter had collected throughout their years at Hogwarts.

They were Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, always and forever.

Author's note: Hey guys! Happy summer! I hope everyone is having as magical a summer as I am so far. I'm serious…this summer has been just like out of a movie or something! Action, adventure, knights in shining armor, fixing cars, breaking curfews, romance… I'll have to write a story about it one day! Anyway, I'm not exactly sure what made me sit down and start writing on this story. I've been working on two new ones (one isn't for Fanfiction…it's about a hot Knight my best friend and I met at Scarborough Faire. You girls out there think you've seen the most beautiful man in the world? You haven't. Unless you've seen this guy. I'm not joking at all. He's gorgeous. And if you're thinking I'm making him up, I'm not! His name is Billy and he has a pet duck! My other story currently in the works is for Fanfiction though) but for some reason I was called to work on this story today. I hope you like the two new chapters. I'm in kind of a silly mood right now, which you can probably guess after reading my endless rant about Billy and how perfect he is. I don't know when I'll update any of my stories again since I'm about to go out of town for two weeks. But even if I were going to be in town, I can't update until I feel inspired to write. Otherwise, the story just isn't as good. You're all writers, you know what I'm saying.

Peace, Love, All that good stuff,

Midnight Paradise

PS – For all you music fans out there…If you're looking for a fantastic new CD to listen to, go out and buy the Red Hot Chili Peppers new album "Stadium Arcadium." I promise it will blow you away. I can say this without bias too because they aren't my favorite band.