Moody righted the young man before pulling into a forgiving embrace. "Yno dont wylo. Hush now, laddie." Lupin took a few quivery breathes and relaxed into Moody's embrace. It had been a long time since anyone had showed any care for him at all, and although the way the older man had shown his care was painful, Remus couldn't help but feel comforted by it. After a moment, Remus straightened in Moody's grasp and was allowed to sit up, which he did with a slight wince as he put pressure on his sore backside. Moody ran his wand over the younger man to ensure that neither he nor the full moon had inflicted any severe damage on the lad. Once satisfied with the results, Moody spoke. "Laddie, do ya want to read Albus's letter and offer, or do ya need a few more moments?" "I can read it now, Uncle Madeye," Lupin replied. Moody reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a letter wrapped in a copy of the previous day's Daily Prophet. Handing the wrapped envelope to a bemused-looking Lupin, Moody huffed and scanned the outside of the flat with his magical eye. Lupin opened the Violet envelope with the moving shooting stars and pulled out a letter from his former headmaster. The first few paragraphs were polite admonishments regarding Remus's safety and health that made Remus blush and shift in his seat. However, the final few paragraphs contained an offer that Remus had been dreaming of his whole life. An offer to teach defense at Hogwarts, along with the chance to have the expensive potion wolfsbane provided for him.

The young man could hardly believe his luck. "A professor? Me!" "Congratulations, Laddie!" Moody exclaimed. Pulling the young man into another embrace, "Charlus and Dorea would have been so proud of ya." fresh tears sprang to Remus's eyes, and the two men were silent for a moment. Suddenly Remus stood and went to his wardrobe. "What are you doing, laddie?" Moody asked. Remus didn't answer with words; instead, he grabbed the handle of a leather briefcase and pulled it out of the wardrobe. Returning to the bed, he showed the older man the engraving on the leather Professor R.J. Lupin. "I can finally use Lily's last birthday gift," Remus said softly. Moody ruffled Remus's hair. "Your family has always believed in you, laddie. You shouldn't listen to anyone else."

The two fell back into a comfortable silence when Remus happened to glance at the front page of the newspaper. A wizarding photograph of the Weasley family took up the first quarter of the page. Across the two smallest family members' shoulders was a familiar grey rat with a missing toe. Remus felt his heart stop and all the air leave his body. The rat was Peter Pettigrew. And Peter Pettigrew was supposed to be dead. "Remus? Remus!" Remus could vaguely hear Madeye calling to him, but it sounded very far away. "REMUS JOHN LUPIN!" the shout of his full name brought him back to reality. "Uncle Alastor?" Remus asked weakly. "Arglwydd da lad! Don't scare me like that! What is wrong?" "Do you see that rat?" Remus demanded. "Rat?" "on the paper!" Remus jabbed a finger at the photo, making the family patriarch's photo version give him a stern look. "Yes, I see the rat, Remus," Moody responded, concern slipping into his gruff tones. "Could you please describe him?" "Alright, lad. The rats grey with tattered ears and bulging watery blue eyes, missing a finger on his front left paw." Remus nodded, seemingly growing paler. "Peter Pettigrew, did you read what happened to him?" "What does that-?" "Just answer me, please," Remus interrupted. "OK, Black blew him up; all that was left of Peter was a finger." "A finger from which hand?" "His left. Remus, what is going on?" "You remember that after my fifth year, how my full moons got so much better? "Fewer injuries, tiredness, and overall illness." "Yes. Poppy thought it was because you were older and more accepting of your condition." "That wasn't exactly the reason. James, Sirius, and Peter all became Anamaji. They kept me safe and quiet." "What animals were they?" Moody asked, heart in his throat. "James was a stag, Sirius was a dog, and Peter was a rat. The exact rat in the newspaper."

Moody took a deep breath before responded. "Alright, here's what we are going to do." Moody decided a robotic note to his tone. "I am going to meet with Arthur and Albus at the ministry and give this information to them. Then I will get a group of Aurors, and we will get this rat." "But Alastor, I don't want to stay in the background and do nothing Sirius, Peter, and James were-" "I will not risk another member of my family, lad!" Moody interrupted, "you will stay home, is that understood?"Yes, sir," Remus replied sullenly. Moody looked at him solemnly before making a decision. "Get dressed, laddie; we're going to Hogwarts to give your answer in person." "I what?" Moody pushed the young man towards his wardrobe and gave his backside a light swat "get dressed," Moody repeated. Remus stumbled to his wardrobe and pulled and random outfit out. He quickly pulled it on, not wanting to irritate his uncle when the man was still in a swatting mood. When he finished, Moody gently gripped his shoulder and steered him towards the sitting room. "I figured we would floo. You are too exhausted to" - "we are going to have to take the knight bus," Remus interrupted. "I don't have any powder." "I have some," Moody replied. "Let's go" Moody walked over to the fireplace and threw the powder into the flames. "Dumbledore's office Hogwarts!" Moody shouted and then pushed his "nephew" into the green flames. Moody scanned the flat one last time before following Remus to Hogwarts.