Waning Moon I

Notes:

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and everything else in between.

I welcome you all to the closing chapters of Under the Hunters Moon, where our hunt draws to a close, a boy finds that the door has never been locked, and a Goddess must make a choice.

In the two months I've spent writing this tale I never thought it would get this close to breaking 1k in so little time, I'm just hoping to do so before I finish it.

But enough with this mortal prattle, on with the show!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Harry Potter, Gryffindor Tower.

Harry awakes with a groan, blinking the spots out his eyes as his head throbs with pain, before he even opens his eyes he can hear the muttering around him, of his dorm mates, Ron and Hermione, all speaking softly. He can tell he's back on his too soft bed, he reaches over to the table to look for his glasses when he hears Ron speak up.

"Here mate," he says before passing his glasses to him and Harry mumbles thanks before he sits up, leaning against the headrest and putting them on, wondering what had just-

Sirius Black. He was in the dormitory, he had run away!

Harry springs from his bed with a growl in his throat as he looks around the room, it was brightly lit and filled with his dorm mates all looking at him with a bit of fear before Harry starts towards the door, intent on chasing his prey, right before Hermione steps in his way, holding her arms up and palms out.

"Harry, stop!" She says, "He's gone Harry, he escaped, you need to calm down." Her eyes are full of fear, Harry can hear her heartbeat rapidly in her chest and he can feel Ron move to his back.

"Move, Hermione," Harry says as he flicks his wrist expecting his wand to slide into his hand, but when he feels nothing and only then does he notice his wand and wand holster missing, "Where is it!?" He snaps at Hermione before turning to Ron, "Where the hell is my wand?" He growls out.

"We hid it," Ron says as he leans against a bedpost, "because both of us knew you were gonna act like this when you woke up, Harry you need to calm down. Black is gone, he escaped, no tracks to follow, nothing to hunt. Calm down." Ron says calmly, but Harry can see his arms twitching, ready to do something about Harry leaving if he has to.

Harry's teeth grind and clench, He can still smell Sirius Black in the room, he had his scent he could hunt him! And Harry didn't need a wand to do that, he moves around Ron and walks over to his trunk before opening it and pulling out his Jacket and pulling it on, before grabbing his invisibility cloak and the map which he stuffs into his jacket pocket, he had to go get Atalanta. Checking his pockets and finding Serpent-Hunter, he starts to move to the door but once again Hermione moves in front of him to stop Harry.

"Harry, stop!" Hermione says, "The professors are searching the castle and the grounds, there's nothing else you can do, Black escaped through the fireplace. There is nothing to track." She pleads with Harry, desperation in her eyes, but what she sees in his eyes is nothing but obsession, nothing but the hunt, "Please Harry," she tries one more time. But Harry just shoves her aside, his prey is getting away, and moves to the door.

"Atalanta is in the hospital wing!" Ron blurts out, stopping Harry in his tracks, hand on the doorknob, Harry's head snaps to Ron, and finally, his eyes hold something else other than the hunt, concern. "Black cracked her across the head with something, nothing woke her up in the common room so they moved her to the hospital wing," Ron informs Harry, trying to stop him from going after Black by himself.

Harry's breathing turns heavy and frantic, the hunt slowly bled away from his eyes before he turned the handle and left the room, he ignored the shout from Hermione making his way down the stairs. Tossing his cloak over himself Harry makes his way out of Gryffindor Tower and down the stairs, not even looking at the map Harry makes his way through the castle. Moving quickly and quietly he dodges around the prefects on his way to the hospital wing. As he turns the corner and sees the door that leads to the hospital wing, Harry feels a pulse of magic and stops, turning around to look behind him and sees nothing, Harry narrows his eyes at the seemingly empty corridor Harry takes a deep breath through his nose, it wasn't Black, but from the smell of death, magic, and a potions lab, Harry has an idea who it is before he feels a hand grab him and slam him against a wall before the hood of his cloak is pulled off.

"Potter! Why am I not surprised to find you breaking the rules when a murderer who is after your hide is running about, you fool boy." Says the invisible man with a nasally draw. Harry growls at the voice as the disillusion melts away to reveal the potion master glaring down at him, "What the hell are you thinking brat? Wait, don't even bother, I already know you weren't." Snape says with an aggravated sigh, "That will be fifty points from Gryffindor and three days of detention with me, now come foolish boy, I have to waste my time walking you back to your common room, you know, the only place we know where Black isn't." He says as he turns on his heel to begin to walk up to Gryffindor Tower.

"No," Harry says as he doesn't move.

Snape stops, turning his head to the infuriating boy slowly, "Excuse me? I just gave you an order, brat. Come with me or I will force you to comply." The potion master states with a slight growl at the end.

"I said No, I'm going to the hospital wing," Harry says, turning to the doors of the wing and starting back towards it, Snape could feel the vein in his temple throbbing over the brat's blatant disregard and disrespect.

"Potter! I will not tell you twice!" Snape calls out to the boy, but Harry keeps moving to the door of the hospital wing. So Snape raises his wand and sends a wordless body bind at the brat, intent on dragging him back to the tower, but is surprised at the spell shattering across the cloak without harming the boy. Harry turns around, his hand diving into his pocket grabbing Serpent-Hunter, his pupils split and he bares his teeth at the potion master. The man himself quickly recovers from his shock and levels his wand at the boy, Snape would drag the brat to safety kicking and screaming if he had to.

"What is going on here?" A new voice says, "Harry? What are you doing outside of the tower?" And in the soft glow of witchfire, Remus Lupin steps around the corner with his wand out.

Harry's head snaps to Lupin as his knees bend in preparation to either run or hunt, though he had no idea which one he'd do. Lupin walks over slowly and carefully, hands out and wand pointing away from either of them.

"Let's just calm down here, okay?" Lupin says diplomatically, he could smell the aggression in the air between Snape and Harry. Snape lowers his wand but doesn't put it away, but Harry doesn't relax.

"I found the boy sneaking around after curfew while a madman after his hide is in the castle, he says he was going to the hospital wing, and I was about to escort him back to Gryffindor Tower when you showed up," Snape says as he glares at the two of them.

Lupin looks at Harry, disappointment coloring his eyes, "You've already taken points off and assigned detentions?" He asks, looking at the potion master.

"Yes, fifty points and three days worth," Snape says in his normal draw as Lupin nods.

"Let's make that a round hundred and a weeks worth of detentions," Lupin says as he looks back over to Harry, "Unless Harry has a good reason for sneaking out at this hour, during a sweep of the grounds for someone trying to kill him." The Defence Professor says.

Harry had yet to relax, his body twitching as his eyes shifted between the two professors, "I was, I was going to see Atalanta, she got hurt." Harry mumbles out.

Lupin nods and Snape sighs, "Well, while being worried about your…friend," Lupin says, unsure of the relationship between the two, "is a good reason, it still doesn't excuse this behavior, Harry. We are wasting valuable time standing here talking when we should be searching for Black, and you should be back in the tower. Now come on, I'll take you back myself." Lupin tells Harry, gesturing for him to follow, but still, Harry doesn't.

"No," Harry says through gritted teeth, "I just want to check on her, so take away as many points as you want, give me as many detentions as you want, I'm going to the hospital wing." Harry turns around and makes his way to the doors hearing the matching sighs behind him.

"You stubborn brat," Snape growls out before following behind Harry, "I'd almost say you're like your father, but at least he was smart enough to know when he was caught." The potion master says.

"No," Lupin says as he watches the two before moving after them, "He's much more like his mother when he's being this stubborn." He says with a smirk, remembering Lily's own stubborn and mean streak, causing Snape to stop and glare at the werewolf, who just shrugs at the glare.

Harry just grits his teeth before making his way to the doors and opening them, he is greeted by wand point as the Headmaster turns from the only occupied bed making Harry stop dead.

"Ah, Mister Potter." Dumbledore greets him and lowers his wand, "I should have expected you, now that I consider it." He sighs, "Please, do come in." He says as Harry starts to move again before Snape grabs his shoulder.

"I think not, Potter." Snape says, "My apologies Headmaster, it seems that Potter thinks himself above the rules for the moment." The potion master says with a glare.

"It's quite alright Severus, he may stay," Dumbledore says as Lupin enters the room.

"Headmaster, I feel that I must point out that there is still a killer after the boy who may still be in the castle," Snape says through gritted teeth.

"It has been three hours since Severus, I do not think Black is in the castle any longer if we have not found him yet." The Headmaster states, "His method of escape could lead him to any number of places, and I've had every room with a fireplace and the surrounding areas checked." He sighs as watches Harry free himself from Snape's grip and move to the bedside, taking off his cloak as he does and tossing it onto the chair next to it.

The potion master's lips press into a thin line, "Fine, but do not come blaming me if the boy is found dead." He growls out before storming over to the chair and grabbing Harry's cloak.

"Hey, that's mine!" Harry calls out in protest.

"No!" Snape says as he turns on Harry pointing a finger at him, "You obviously can not be trusted not to run around with it when a madman is after you brat, I will be confiscating this till either the end of the school year or till Black is caught. Why Albus gave it to you in the first place I'll never understand."

"Headmaster!" Harry says, turning to the older man hoping he'd help.

Albus sighs, "I'm afraid that Professor Snape has a point, Harry, so long as he remembers to give it back before the end of the school year." He says looking at the potion master over his half-moon spectacles.

Snape scoffs, "Of course, I'm not in the habit of stealing from children, Albus." Implying he wasn't above stealing from other adults before storming out of the wing.

Harry looks at the Headmaster, feeling a bit betrayed but doesn't comment, all too used to adults taking things from him, they never helped anyway. He turns to the bed, looking down at Atalanta's still but breathing form.

"What happened?" Harry whispers mostly to himself, he's seen Atalanta napping plenty of times before, more times than he cares to recount. Mostly when he would meet her for training, she would be napping in a sunbeam or on a thick branch of a tree waiting for him, but even then her ears would be twitching or she would be grumbling. Now? Now she was still, unmoving, but breathing. Harry's teeth ground together, he could feel his heart pump harder and faster and the Hunt poured into him.

He tried to even out his breathing, to exert control of the stream and close it, but it was no use. All he saw was Atalanta laying on the bed, Black creeping his way over to Ron's bed, hadn't he already taken enough from Harry? Did he think he could take more leaving Harry alone with the Dursleys again? Anger built too fast feeding into the Hunt and it was calling to him, to kill Black before he could get to anyone else, to end the hunt and put his spear through his heart.

"Harry," a voice says as a hand lands on his shoulder, and Harry spins around, fist raised to strike out before he was the one struck, where once he would cower and find mercy in his cupboard, Atalanta had shown him how to strike back and he would use it.

Lupin flinches back when Harry spins around, and even Dumbledore jumps a bit at the quickness with which Harry moved, "Calm down, Harry. No one here is going to hurt you." The Headmaster says, in a soft voice. Harry puts his arm down but still doesn't relax, "You had asked what had happened, you had zoned out while I was telling you." He says while looking at Harry, but notices Lupin's eyes flickering back and forth between the boy and himself.

"Sorry sir," Harry mumbles out, it is unknown who he was apologizing to, so both men take it as if it was to them.

"That's quite alright my boy, tonight has been stressful for everyone, and with Miss Atalanta in this state, I do not blame you for being on edge," Dumbledore said calmly as Harry turns back to look down at the Hunter, "But as I was saying after Miss Atalanta forced her way into Gryffindor Tower she encountered Sirius Black, it is believed a small scuffle happened between them." Harry lets out a soft laugh at that.

"If I knew her as well as I do Headmaster, she kicked his ass seven different shades of, well she beat him up pretty badly," Harry says, cutting himself off before cussing in front of the Headmaster.

The old man chuckles, "of that, I have no doubt, Harry, but when Professor McGonagall got to the tower thinking she was going to give more than a few students detentions for staying up too late and causing more than enough noise, she found, instead, Sirius Black standing up after striking Miss Atalanta with a fire poker." He finishes, giving Harry a moment to absorb what he had said, before continuing, "She has been unconscious ever since. Madam Pomfrey has informed me there is nothing wrong with her, but her being out for this long from a blow to the head is worrying." Albus watches as Harry's hand's clench and unclench as his face twists into something primal as anger blooms in his eyes, and Dumbledore is brought back to his office almost a year ago.

"The call of the hunt is a dangerous thing if left alone the boy will lose himself to it, he'll become no more than a wild beast hunting everything and anything around him until he has to be put down like A rabid dog." That is what Lady Artemis had said, and looking at young Harry's face, Albus now believed that.

But it wasn't Albus that spoke next, "She'll be fine Harry, from what you've told me about her, she's stronger than she looks, and she looks plenty strong." Lupin says in a soft tone, and Harry just nods.

"Can…can I stay here for the night?" Harry asks quietly but with an edge to his voice to the Headmaster.

"On the condition that you allow me to lock you in, and that you do not try to leave Harry." The Headmaster gives his conditions and Harry nods in acceptance, "Good, then you may stay till morning, but I still expect you to be in class tomorrow, do you understand Mister Potter?" Dumbledore asks, and once again Harry nods.

As the Headmaster nods to Harry before Harry takes a seat next to the bed, putting his head in his hands and trying once again to get the Hunt under control, something crumples in his pocket, he reaches down and pulls out the map, he'd check it when the Headmaster and Lupin left, see if he can't find where Black had run off to.

"Headmaster," Lupin says, as he was looking at the piece of parchment that Harry had pulled from his Jacket pocket, "While I'll need a word with you, do you mind giving me and Harry a private moment?" He asks.

Dumbledore nods, before telling Harry to try and get some sleep and making his way out of the wing. Lupin conjures a seat next to Harry and sits down with a sigh, the wing is quiet as Lupin watches Harry, the boy's eyes, so much like his mothers, bounce around the room from Madam Pomfrey's office, to Atalanta, to the waxing moon back to the parchment in his hands.

"I heard you fought with Black," Lupin says, and Harry's eyes snap to him and he just nods. "A very brave but all-around foolish thing to do, you could-"

"I almost had him." Harry hisses out, "if Ron hadn't gotten in my way or if Percy hadn't knocked me out we could have trapped him, we could have…" Harry wants to say chase him down, kill him, end the hunt, but he can't get it out because he doesn't know which one he wants more.

"Harry, he had escaped through the fireplace, one not connected to the floo, I doubt you or Atalanta could have stopped him if he wanted to escape," Remus explains to Harry.

"It doesn't matter, he wasn't- he isn't theirs to…" Harry says, trying to keep it all down, but the Hunt is itching for an outlet, and he just growls out angrily.

Lupin gives the boy a moment to collect himself before speaking, "They were looking out for your safety, Harry, don't hold it against them, they did it because they care about you."

"I know, I know it's just…," Harry sighs and opens his mouth to say something but just deflates And fiddles with the parchment in his hands.

Lupin watches Harry's hand play with the parchment, opening and closing it, spinning it in his hands, "What do you have there?" Lupin asks, and it was like watching a ghost of the past as Harry answers.

"Nothing," Harry says, trying to move it out of sight, "Just a spare bit of parchment."

Lupin couldn't help it, he chuckles at the James-like excuse, "Harry, if I had a Sickle for every time I heard your father say those same words, I would be a very rich man." Lupin tells Harry, before holding out his hand, Harry sighs and hands it over.

"It's just a bit of-" but Harry is cut off as he watches Professor Lupin tap the parchment with his wand.

"I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good," Lupin whispers with a hint of nostalgia behind it and Harry's mouth drops open in open shock as he watches Lupin smile as the map blossoms to life.

"How?" Is all Harry asks.

"A story for another time, Harry." Lupin says before clearing the map, "Perhaps over tea this Thursday." He offers before folding up the map, "Now, this will be our little secret, but I will be taking this so you don't get any smart ideas about hunting Black down yourself," at the flash of anger in Harry's eyes, he knew he did the right thing, "But, like your cloak, you'll get this back before the end of the school year, understand?" Harry looks away, gritting his teeth before nodding. "We're only trying to keep you safe Harry, please understand that," Lupin says as Harry looks away from him and glares down at his feet.

Lupin sighs before standing up, "I'm sorry Harry, try to get some sleep, okay?" But Harry ignores him, Lupin frowns but nods before leaving the room, the door closing with a soft click behind him, leaving Harry alone with the unconscious Atalanta.

Harry lets out a frustrated sigh, his map was gone, his cloak was gone, Atalanta was hurt, and he was pretty sure he had scared Hermione again and would have to apologize again. He could still feel the Hunt right beneath his skin wanting him to get out and hunt something and try as he might he couldn't turn the tap off. Harry lays back in the chair, closing his eyes with the thoughts of hunting under the full moon and revenge swimming through his head until another thought blooms in his mind. Beyond the hunt, beyond Sirius Black, he just wanted Atalanta to be okay.

And another brick comes tumbling down.

Remus Lupin, Hogwarts

After Remus had left Harry in the Hospital Wing, he confronted Albus about what he had noticed, Harry's even changing demeanor, his slit pupils, the scent of aggression and rage on the boy that was unlike him, and the smell of something familiar he couldn't put his finger on. Dumbledore seemed surprised that he didn't know, know what? Lupin couldn't say. All Dumbledore had told him was it was up to Harry to tell Lupin, not him.

Remus had stormed off, angry at Albus, angry at the traitor that couldn't serve his sentence in hell as he had deserved, angry at himself for not seeking out the child of his best friend earlier like he should've. He could make his excuses, sure, but being a dangerous dark creature didn't stop him from writing a fucking letter. So, Remus berates himself for the rest of the week, all the way past the full moon and into Thursday when he once again helps Harry try and get a Charm that should be far out of his age range to do.

It was this that had caused Remus the most confusion, Harry was without a doubt skilled for his age, he was able to grasp the spells in class at an almost instinctual level with just seeing them once or twice, but for the life of him couldn't explain how he did it. But when it came to the Patronus Charm, his grasp of it was random at best, which was on one hand not shocking considering it was old magic, one far past Harry's age and skill, but on the other hand, there were weeks where Harry could try all-day, screaming the spell till his voice was raw and get nothing, and some weeks where he would get so close to actually completing the spell to get a Corporeal Patronus that Remus could taste the magic in the air. But the next week he would be back to square one, this was one of the weeks.

Remus sighs as he locks the boggart back into the trunk before turning back to Harry, picking himself up off the floor. He walks over to Harry, offering a hand to him, but he ignores him and picks himself up. Another thing so much like his parents, he was stubborn, almost as stubborn as Lily was when she wanted a reaction out of a spell that was out of her range. She would try and try again till she had got it and then mastered it, Remus saw the same stubbornness in Harry in moments like these and couldn't help but smile.

"One more time," Harry says before standing at his mark before his trunk, wand at the ready, but Lupin shakes his head.

"No Harry," Remus says, "you're spent, any more and I'll have to drag you to the Hospital Wing, and I'd rather avoid the wrath of Madam Pomfrey thank you very much." A coy smile on his lips, before walking over to the small table and chairs set up by the window, "Come, some tea and chocolate will do you some good before dinner." He says pouring some tea for himself and Harry and breaking a large slab of chocolate into pieces to split between the two as Harry takes a seat and nibbles on the chocolate.

"So, how has your week been since the last time we talked?" Remus asks with a smile before taking a sip of tea.

Harry shrugs, while just looking at his tea and nibbling on the chocolate, "Atalanta woke up a few days ago." Harry says as he sets his chocolate down.

Remus had seen that himself, she was out for almost twenty-four hours before waking up and tearing through the castle on a mad dash to find out where Harry was and what had happened, she had shown up in the middle of dinner still clad in her PJ's, if he hadn't seen the ears earlier Remus was sure he would had choked on his dinner like some of the staff and most of the students. But it was quite amusing to watch the huntress fuss over Harry before she realized she was still in her PJs before running off. He had also heard she interrogated Minnie about how Sirius had escaped but he didn't know the details about that.

"Yes, I wasn't expecting dinner and a show, but it was a nice surprise," Lupin says to Harry, teasing the boy.

But Harry just shrugs before popping a full piece of chocolate and chewing quickly and swallowing it, "You said, …" Harry trails off, eyes focusing on something off in the distance, through the window before shaking his head and continues, "You said you'd tell me how you knew about the map." Harry says in a quiet voice, Remus sees a bit of trepidation in his eyes when they flick up to meet his eyes before they look back down at his own cup. Another thing he had noticed, was Harry didn't ask questions a lot, not even in class or if he didn't understand a creature he was studying. It was almost as if he didn't expect anyone to give him an answer.

"It's because we made it," Remus says as Harry's head pops up to look at him, " We, as in your father, myself, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and, unbeknownst to her, your mother." Harry tilts his head with a look of confusion on his face. Remus chuckles a bit before he explains "We, the Marauders as we liked to ourselves back then, each put a little bit of ourselves on the map. I'm a drafted hand at Runes, James was a prodigy at transfiguration, Sirius was one of the best in the class when it came to curses and potions, and Pettigrew had an excellent memory and was skilled with penmanship and cartography" Remus says with a sigh reminiscing the past, "We had the building blocks for the map, but none of us was skilled enough in charms to tie it all together, so we went to the brightest witch of our age, someone with such an intrinsic understanding of charms and rituals that in the course of her school years she outstripped and surpassed every single student and almost Flitwick himself. Your mother." Remus says as Harry watches him with rapt attention.

"We had to trick her into at the time, she hated Sirius, Peter, and your father at the time for all the pranks they pulled on her friends, so I had approached her saying it was a personal project of my own, she had a passing respect for me at the time, due to being the only person the other three would listen to." He says with a smile, "even then it took a few weeks to get her on board without her thinking it was a trick, which it was, but not the kind she had thought." Remus takes a sip of tea before continuing, "but by the end of the week she had found the charms needed to tie it all together for us, out of respect, we didn't leave her out of the map, if you pay attention to the edges you'll see a doe wander around the edges, James' little joke." Remus chuckles a bit.

"My mom hated my dad?" Harry asked, confused.

"Has no one told?" Remus asks, and when Harry shakes his head, he explains, "oh, your mother hated us up to the sixth year, I think. We were never the most mature of children, your father, and Sirius especially. But by the time the sixth year came around, your grandparents had passed and the war was heating up. That woke James up and he really came into his own. One day he asked your mother out like he always did, and she finally said yes, and the rest is history as they say." Remus says as he looks out the window and both of them fall into silence, Harry shuffles his feet and plays with a bit of chocolate before rocking back and forth a bit, never sitting still.

"Harry," Remus begins slowly, "I've noticed some things about you, that I'd like an answer to." Harry stills and stiffens at those words before looking away from Remus.

"Like what?" Harry mumbles

"In the dark, you have cat-like eyes, some of the things I was warned about when teaching you shouldn't be possible for a wizard, and your mood swings from the other night," Remus says, confronting Harry with it all, "is there anything you want to tell me?" He asks, but Harry just stares at his cup not saying a word, and Lupin sighs. Disappointed in Harry for not trusting him, Disappointed in himself for not being there for him.

"That's fine Harry, you don't have to tell me," Remus says softly, "Just, …Just tell me this, did you ever come across a big cat or dog when you were younger and got scratched? Like a mountain lion or a wolf?" He asks with a sigh.

Harry looks up confused, "Noooo?," he says, his tone matching his face, "I mean I ran into a big dog over the summer."

"A big dog?" Remus asks, a pit forming in his stomach, before his eyes narrow, "what did it look like?"

"Umm, big black shaggy fur, gray eyes," Harry says, before he stops and thinks about it for a moment, "I think I saw it in the stands too." He whispers to himself.

It was Lupin's turn to stiffen, "You saw it here? At Hogwarts?" Lupin asks, now very sure of what Harry had seen, "what did it do when you first saw it?"

"You know, Dog stuff, barked, wagged its tail. I think it was here in the stands, it looked like the same dog but could have been a trick of the lightning, or the Grimm." Harry says with a dark chuckle.

Lupin says nothing, instead turns to look out the window thinking he's pulled back to reality when Harry stands up.

"May I be excused? I want to visit Hedwig before going down to dinner." Harry asks.

"Hmm, oh, of course. Take some chocolate before you go, Harry. Make sure to eat it all, understand?" Remus says and Harry nods before grabbing a chuck and turning to the door and leaving as Remus was lost in his own thoughts, had Sirius really seen Harry before he even came to Hogwarts? Did he get past the blood wards? Why hadn't he attacked him then? Why did Harry have his Jacket? The questions swirled in his head so quickly that he almost missed the pecking at his window.

He looks down to see a snow-white owl looking at him through the glass with a note clutched in its claws, letting the owl in, it hops onto the table and turns its head up to look at him with piercing yellow eyes, Remus feels as if he was being judged and weighed by the owl, like it was seeing if he was of worth, worth of what? Remus had no clue, but the owl seemed to find what it was looking for before dropping the note onto the table. A sharp whistle calls out before the owl turns his head and flies out of the window. That was one of, if not the strangest encounters Remus ever had with an owl.

Remus shrugs before picking up the note and opening it before he drops it as it had burned him, it was blank and only addressed to Moony. He pulled out his wand, casting every analyzing and detection charm he could think of on it, all he gets back is a very familiar charm. He takes a deep breath before tapping his wand on the note.

"I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good." He whispers and watches as painfully familiar handwriting blooms across the note.

Moony,

If our friendship has ever meant anything to you, and if you don't burn this note immediately after figuring out who wrote it, meet me at our old hang-out, tomorrow at noon. Come alone, we need to talk.

Ever the Marauder,

Padfoot.

Notes:

So the webs of fate string along pulling at the actors in this play to their final act.

Crazy shit, huh? Honestly thought I had it all figured out till a thought hit me, and have you ever had a backup plan that was just, …more fun than your main plan, and you said fuck it, out with the old and in with the new?

I did.

Well, Snape is an asshole, Harry struggles with the hunt, Albus keeping secrets, and Remus worries if Harry got nicked by a were.

The next chapter is gonna be Harry-less, it should be fun.

What else is new?

Oh, to the one guy who asked me how I'm doing this so fast, I have no life and I've been thinking of this story for years.