"That's absolutely impossible, Padfoot!"
Lupin paced in short, agitated steps. As he leaned in close to Sirius's ear, he kept one eye on the young wizard standing at the edge of the bushes.
His voice was very low, and he failed to notice that the ears hidden beneath the boy's black hair had already turned furry.
"Nothing is impossible, Moony. We have to do this."
Sirius's tone was serious, with a faint thread of impatience underneath.
"I'm afraid I cannot agree. I have to tell Dumbledore…"
Lupin lifted his chin stubbornly.
Sirius looked at him, then suddenly laughed.
"You won't tell Dumbledore. You didn't do it back then, either."
Lupin fell silent for a moment. He looked at Sirius as though remembering the long road they had walked together.
Back then, he had been a young werewolf boy that no magic school would accept. Before Wolfsbane Potion was invented, he turned into a terrifying monster every month.
Attending Hogwarts had been an impossible dream. No other parent would willingly let their child get near him.
Later, it had been Dumbledore himself who came to his home to invite him.
"Now I will, Padfoot."
Lupin said it without a trace of emotion.
He had once failed Dumbledore's trust. It was Dumbledore who had planted the Whomping Willow, built the house beneath it, and the tunnel beneath that—for him. So he could be secretly taken out of the castle once a month and have somewhere to transform.
Those transformations had been horrifying.
The pain of turning into a werewolf drove him to bite and claw at himself.
The villagers had heard those sounds and screams and thought they were some especially violent ghost…
It was Dumbledore who had allowed those rumors to spread.
And how had Lupin repaid him?
Because of the friends he had only just gained, he had chosen to hide the fact that they wandered the grounds and the village at night.
Looking back, how dangerous had that been?
For the thrill of sneaking out more boldly, they had even made a map.
"I won't make that mistake again, Padfoot."
Lupin had once lacked the courage to expose his friends, just as he had once lacked the courage to stop James and Sirius from doing that to Snape.
He had been afraid of losing them.
But now, he could not afford to be cowardly anymore.
"Has that much time really passed…? You've become someone I don't recognize, Moony."
Sirius dropped the teasing tone and stared at Lupin carefully.
"You don't understand, Padfoot. There is only one person in all of Hogwarts who cannot be allowed to get caught up in this danger."
Lupin instinctively glanced toward the high towers of Hogwarts Castle.
He was thinking of the white-haired old man sitting in an office there, smiling as he told him to make sure he kept a close eye on a certain young wizard…
Smiling as he asked:
"Can I trust you, Remus?"
It took extraordinary courage to stand against an enemy, but it took just as much courage to stand firm in front of a friend.
The courage he once lacked, he would not lose again.
"You're wrong, old friend. Do you really think this was my plan?"
Sirius bared his teeth in a grin.
"What are you talking about?"
Lupin was caught off guard.
"Oh, come on, old friend. Who do you think I've been following? Do you think I was the one who found Mr. Green?"
Sirius muttered, and a strip of white showed at his waist.
"Wasn't it you?"
Lupin felt his thoughts slow. He had no answer to either of Sirius's questions.
"You'll understand, old friend. If there's any chance of victory besides Dumbledore's plan, then the answer lies only with the honored Mr. Green."
Sirius fixed Lupin with a deep, unwavering gaze, speaking word by word.
"Are you afraid to die, Lupin?
If I told you the one standing before you is a wizard who will one day surpass even Dumbledore—the greatest wizard of the future;
if I told you you are following a true prophet;
if I told you you are meant to become part of this great plan;
if I told you that you must offer up unconditional courage, even if this plan demands your death—
Lupin, would you agree?"
Lupin's worn face stiffened. His head turned like a machine.
All those suspicions he had carried—Dumbledore's request, the young wizard's identity—were finally answered in that moment.
"We need Peter to become our spy. I know the risks involved… We also need to strip away everything he relies on, and then offer ourselves up for that great battle in the future…
Remember, Moony? What's the point of standing against the most evil wizard in the world?"
Sirius's face had gone strangely calm.
"It's to save innocent lives, old friend!
So if you believe that too, then fight beside me."
The ground at night was dark, lit only by the faint glow spilling from the distant castle windows.
Lupin no longer dared look too deeply into his own heart.
But he had to choose.
Dumbledore had told him to watch over the boy, and that would lead them to a future that was at least not too terrible.
But what would Sean say?
Exactly what Sirius was repeating now.
They had to act, take risks, offer courage, pay the price—even stake their lives.
And by doing so, they would save more innocent people.
"By the way, do you remember what mark I got on my Memory Charm?"
Sirius said in a low voice, eyes glinting dangerously.
"Failed, Padfoot."
Lupin smiled.
"Oh, then we're doomed."
Sirius shrugged.
"Anyway, welcome aboard, old friend."
Sirius held out his hand.
Lupin gripped it firmly.
"I'm going to get myself sacked by Dumbledore. This is the first real job I've had in years."
Lupin gave a helpless smile.
"That's fine. You belong to that bookshop anyway."
Sirius teased.
"Oh…"
At that, Lupin's face immediately turned troubled again.
He turned to the black-haired young wizard. For a second, he thought he must be imagining things—he could have sworn he'd just seen fur appear around the boy's ears, though it vanished again a moment later.
"Mr. Green…"
Lupin addressed him with the same reverence Sirius used.
"Professor Lupin."
Sean replied politely.
"I should have realized sooner, sir,"
Lupin said. He meant the contents of the newly released Chocolate Frog cards, though now he felt they still left far too much unsaid.
"If you have any commands for me, please tell me."
Lupin saw Sean incline his head slightly. Then, after glancing toward Sirius, Lupin gave a small bow and stepped back to his side.
Sean knew the two men, reunited after so long, must have much to say—but he had to interrupt.
"Professor Lupin."
Sean spoke softly.
"Sir."
Lupin's expression, still tinged with memory, snapped at once into seriousness. There was even something like anticipation in it.
"If you know a woman named Nagini, then please help me find out where she is."
Sean said it plainly.
"I understand, sir."
Lupin paused, then answered seriously.
Sean nodded, preparing to leave.
He still needed to unlock Master-level Fiendfyre. If he could get to Hogsmeade smoothly, then he could slip out of the castle—and after that, he needed to visit Gringotts.
The oldest magical contracts were mostly in goblin hands.
Sean's figure blurred into the night, and Lupin and Sirius watched him go.
Only then did Lupin say hesitantly,
"How did you get out of Azkaban, Padfoot?"
"Oh, that…"
Sirius said carelessly.
"The Dementors couldn't feed on my remorse, and Fudge brought me that newspaper.
When I saw Peter in that photograph, I realized he was at Hogwarts, at Harry's side.
If any word reached him that dark forces were rising again, there was no better place for him to strike…
Honestly, old friend—
swimming back to the mainland was torture, but I had to do something, because I was the only one who knew Peter was still alive.
Luckily, coming ashore in London was the best decision I ever made. Ah, that was where I met Mr. Green…"
Sirius's dark, worn face lit up in an instant. He couldn't quite describe the feeling.
Once he came ashore, those grinding days of misery began to fall away from him.
Mr. Green had given him shelter, a chance to see Harry, and when he was weighed down by the bleakness of the future, it was Mr. Green who gave him hope.
Hope.
That was when Sirius knew: Mr. Green was someone who would always draw his sword against fate.
Its blade pointed toward a sorrowful tomorrow, and following him had been the easiest decision Sirius had ever made.
"And then? You and he…"
Lupin asked.
"Oh, let's talk about Peter instead, old friend. We have to drive him out, make him leave. That's a necessary step in the plan."
Sirius refused to linger on the other subject.
"Let's start at the beginning—decades ago, I thought it was a brilliant idea. A decoy plan. Voldemort would obviously come after me.
I never imagined they'd use someone as weak and spineless as Peter… He told Voldemort he could hand over the Potters to him, huh…
That must have been the proudest moment of his wretched life…"
Sirius let out a bitter laugh, murder burning in his eyes.
"We have to get there first—before the date Mr. Green mentioned.
The only reason Peter hasn't harmed Harry yet is because Peter has never acted without knowing which way the wind is blowing.
Voldemort has been gone for twelve years. People say he's half-dead. Peter wouldn't risk killing under Albus Dumbledore's nose for the sake of a ruined, fallen wizard.
But we know Voldemort isn't dead. He will return.
And once Peter is sure Voldemort is the supreme power again, he'll go running back to him. Why else would he choose a wizarding family to hide with? So he could keep his ears open for news.
If his old master rose again and it became safe, he'd go crawling back to him…
We have to move before that happens."
Sirius's words left Lupin silent and thinking.
"We have to move fast. Once he's sure he has allies again, he'll act… He'll hand over the last surviving Potter.
If he can deliver Harry, who would dare say he ever betrayed Voldemort? He'd be welcomed back like a hero…"
Sirius gave a cold, vicious laugh.
"We can't kill him, but there are plenty of spells we can use on him."
"I understand, Padfoot. When do we move?"
Lupin said, making the decision.
"Wait…"
Sirius didn't answer. Instead, he looked toward a black patch of bushes.
The black-haired young wizard, apparently, hadn't gone far at all.
"Mr. Sirius, one more thing,"
Sean said. His eyes flicked to the slip of parchment sticking out of Sirius's pocket. It was not hard to guess what it was: the Gryffindor common room password Neville had written down, now delivered by Crookshanks.
"Tonight is not a good night to act. But if you intend to go see Harry, then please wait until later. Professor Snape is on night patrol tonight, and he'll stay up later than usual."
Then Sean vanished for real.
Lupin looked at Sirius, then at the helpless, crooked smile on his face—the look of someone who had just had everything seen straight through—and the faint doubts stirred by all the shock quietly dissolved.
"You saw it, old friend. When Mr. Green found me, I was even more uneasy than you are now."
Sirius let out a self-mocking laugh.
"To Mr. Green, neither past nor future holds secrets. Naturally, that includes the two of us."
Sirius looked toward the blurred treetops of the Forbidden Forest, where stars glimmered faintly above.
Mr. Green—so long as he existed, people like them would always have a reason to fight.
"I can see the sun, old friend. And even if I can't see it, I still know it exists.
And isn't knowing the sun exists the whole meaning of life?"
Sirius said.
…
Hogsmeade weekend was getting close.
Even closer than Hogsmeade weekend was a Quidditch match.
And closer still than that was Sean's Black Magic Master title.
Yesterday, Sirius's sudden appearance had interrupted him. Today, though, Sean had plenty of time to unlock the last bit of proficiency.
At the same time, he faced another problem: Professor Snape did not allow him to leave the castle, so how exactly was he supposed to find a goblin?
The Great Hall was still crowded today. Before long, another group of dirty-looking wizards in robes came through the entrance hall.
With the Quidditch match drawing near, every team had thrown itself into practice with fierce determination.
The weather, however, was getting colder and colder, with more and more rain.
The nights were darker now, but mud, wind, and storms could not dim the wizards' dream of winning the shining silver Quidditch Cup.
Roger had come looking for Sean more than once, but the boy had refused him every time.
After sending Roger away again, Sean noticed that the Hall was buzzing even more noisily than usual.
"What happened?"
Harry asked Ron and Hermione when he returned. They were sitting beside Sean, in the two best seats by the fire, working on their Astronomy star charts.
"The first Hogsmeade weekend."
Ron pointed excitedly at a new notice pinned to the battered bulletin board.
"End of October. Halloween eve."