Remus sat down at the staff table in the Great Hall for breakfast. He had just finished serving himself some scrambled eggs and was plucking three sausages off the tray in front of him with a serving fork, when someone took a seat next to him. He quickly pushed the sausages onto his plate with his fingers, placed the fork back on the tray, and, resisting the urge to lick his fingers, wiped them on the napkin in his lap. Before he could turn his head to see who sat down next to him, the person spoke.

"Lupin," came the silky voice of Severus, the name spoken like a bad taste in his mouth. "I would suggest you come see me down in my office after lunch." He leaned as close to the man as he dared, which wasn't all that close, and continued in a whisper with a hint of a warning. "You failed to show up last night for your potion. You do not want to go into the next transformation without it. If you do, your teaching career will be over faster than your recuperation."

Remus looked over at the potion's master. "I'm truly sorry Severus. I was catching up on some work after dinner and lost track of time. When I finally took a break, it was too late in the evening to come see you." In truth, Remus actually forgot about the potion, though he knew his transformation was on Monday. He could definitely feel it in his body. But his thoughts were on more important things. Like Severus being Harry's father.

"Very well." Severus stood up from the table. "Do not leave me waiting." He turned around and swept out of the room, having already finished his breakfast earlier.

Remus watched Severus stalk out of the room, then turned his attention back to the sausages in front of him.

~SH~

Like he promised, Remus was in Severus' office right after lunch. He was seated at one of the chairs in front of Severus' desk, hands clasped on his lap, waiting for the potion. Severus walked out of his private lab with a goblet in hand. He passed the goblet to Remus and sat down at his desk, reaching for the notes for his next potion's class. He completely ignored Remus.

Remus took the goblet and looked at the liquid sloshing inside. With a grimace, he brought the goblet up to his lips and downed the disgusting contents in one gulp. He set the goblet on the desk. "Ugh." He then wiped his hand across his mouth; missing the glare Severus gave him for his childish action.

After having taken the wolfsbane potion for years, Remus knew better than to leave Severus' office right after taking it. He wouldn't get very far with its side effects. He sat back in his chair to wait out the ten minutes before he could leave, eyes traveling towards the potion's master.

Last night, Remus told himself he would speak to Severus about Harry's detentions after his transformation. But since he had nothing better to do at the moment, and felt he could handle the conversation, he decided he might as well bring it up.

Severus, feeling he was being watched, looked up and met Remus' eyes. "What is it Lupin?" he asked irritated. "Why are you still here?"

"You know why I'm still here, Severus." Knowing Severus wouldn't respond, Remus continued. "I'd like to discuss your detentions with Mr. Potter."

"Potter's detentions with me are none of your concern," he said matter-of-factly, and returned his attention to his notes.

"Pardon me, Severus, but yes they are." Remus leaned forward and placed his arms on Severus' desk. "When a student comes to me in pain because of a detention, it becomes my concern."

"My detentions do not cause pain." Severus took his quill, dipped it in the ink well, and began adding a few more notes to the parchment in front of him. "They teach discipline."

"Is that so?" he challenged. "Then why was Harry complaining to me that his hands hurt from his detention two days ago with you?"

"Coincidence Lupin. Potter was probably just seeking attention and wanting to get out of his well-deserved detention." Severus was getting tired of the conversation and decided to turn his attention elsewhere. It was bad enough when the headmaster wanted to have conversations about his 'golden boy.' He didn't need to have the werewolf engage in those conversations as well. Placing his notes back into the folder they were in, he pulled a potion's journal from under a stack of papers on the corner of his desk and began to read.

Remus watched Severus read a few lines in the journal then shook his head. The man wasn't interested in the conversation at all. He should have expected it and in fact, he did. He realized this was also one sign that Severus had yet come to terms with his past.

Looking at the potion's master one more time and deciding it best to give up, Remus stood, preparing to leave for his quarters. "In any event Severus, would you please reconsider the assignment you gave Harry for his detention? It really is extreme…as well as the reasoning behind his second detention tonight. I highly doubt the Headmaster would find it appropriate."

Severus raised his head and looked at Remus with a scowl. "The headmaster and I have different definitions of appropriate and that is something we both agree on. He is fine with the way I handle all my detentions. Furthermore, I will assign whatever tasks I see fit for Potter. As I said, it is none of your concern." He then turned back to the journal on his desk.

Taking that as his cue to leave, Remus left the cold dungeon office and went up to his quarters. He knew the conversation had been a waste of time and he was glad he didn't seek out the potions master during his free time. At least he kept his promise to Harry; that he would talk to Severus about his detentions.

At the sound of the heavy wooden door closing, Severus spelled it locked, closed the potion's journal he was reading and sat staring at the cover unwillingly thinking about Lupin’s comments. He definitely didn't think the task he assigned Potter was too extreme. It just made up for all the destruction he caused during his past five years at Hogwarts. It was well deserved.

~SH~

Students began spilling out of the sixth year Transfiguration classroom. Harry was one of the last to leave the room, having had to stay behind to answer a few questions Professor McGonagall had for him. After clearing the threshold, he rushed to catch up with Hermione and Ron.

"…so that's why Fred and George want us to visit it, Hermione." Ron finished as Harry finally met up to them. He then looked over at Harry. "So, what did ol' McGonagall want this time, Harry? Did it have anything to do with why you weren't around last night?"

"I don't want to talk about it. And no, it didn't," Harry replied shortly.

"You aren't in trouble with her are you Harry?" Hermione questioned.

"No, Hermione. I don't always get in trouble you know."

"Well, it just seems that lately…" Hermione began.

Harry stopped walking. "I'm not in trouble, Hermione." Harry cut in, a little irritated. "Will you please just drop it?" He really didn't feel like discussing the conversation he had with the professor. It was, after all, about his Occlumency lessons and he hadn't told his friends he had started up on them again.

Hermione looked at Harry worriedly. He always seemed to be short with her and Ron lately. "Sorry Harry."

Harry saw the look on Hermione's face. "It's okay 'Mione," Harry replied after a few seconds. "I'm sorry." He gave her a small smile and continued walking to their next class.

Ron looked at Harry and decided it would be a good idea to change the subject. "Harry, Hermione and I were talking about our next Hogsmeade weekend. We decided we're going to that small café next to the apothecary first, then the book store, and last, the joke shop. Then we'd just stroll around the village. We even thought it would be fun to come back a little early and have a picnic lunch out by the lake."

"Really?" he asked half heartedly. It sounded like the locations were picked so the two of them could spend time together, not for the three of them to have a fun Saturday; especially considering this would actually be the first time he was in the village without sneaking there or because of some type of agenda, like the DA or his date with Cho.

"It should be fun Harry." Hermione came to a stop in front of an open classroom door. "What do you say?"

Harry looked between his two friends. He knew he'd feel like a third wheel on this trip and that they more than likely didn't want him to go. "No thanks guys. I don't feel up to it. You two go have fun."

"You sure Harry?" Ron asked. He was surprised by his friend's response. "You've never really been there before with us. To just have fun, I mean."

"I'm sure Ron." In truth, he really did want to do, but not under those circumstances.

"Well, next time you will definitely come with us. Right?"

Harry was actually unsure what he wanted to do, but reluctantly gave Ron his answer. "Right." He then followed Hermione into the classroom with Ron trailing behind. The three took their seats and took out their potion's text.

Ron looked around the room then turned to Harry. "Well, don't go making any plans for the next Hogsmeade weekend then. There are a lot of places we need to explore."

Harry nodded his head just as the classroom door slammed shut and Severus walked to the front of the room to begin the lesson.

~SH~

After Harry's last class of the day, and about an hour and a half before dinner, he climbed the many stairs to Gryffindor tower and strolled into his dorm room. Grabbing some of his homework and stuffing it into his book bag, he went down to the common room and claimed one of the few remaining empty tables near the back corner of the room. He pulled out his potion's text, notebook and some blank parchment from his book bag, deciding to start working on his homework. It was too close to dinner to do anything else and surprisingly he didn't want to wait until late Sunday night to start on his homework. He also didn't want to give Snape any other reason to give him a detention.

Flipping through his notebook, he found the page where he wrote the homework assignment down and read it over. "Explain, in a three foot essay, when Draught of Living Death should be administered and how and why the sopophorus bean should be crushed and not minced when added to the potion." He sighed. He hated having to write essays. Moving his textbook in front of him, he turned to the chapter on Draught of Living Death. He picked up his quill, and placing his left elbow on the hard wooden table, rested his head on his closed fist.

Harry read through the first part of the question two more times, wrote one sentence then gave up; his thoughts not on his homework. He sat there twirling his quill around with two fingers and thinking of his conversation yesterday morning with Remus. The man said he would speak with Snape about his detention, but he got the feeling it was just talk.

Remus was a kind man; had been one of his father's best friends. But unfortunately Harry felt he wasn't a huge concern for Remus. He had come to realize that on many occasions over the past three years. He wasn't expecting the man to take his father's place or be a father figure, but he had hoped that the man would be around and help him at times, like a concerned friend or mentor. It just seemed, to Harry, that Remus didn't put too much effort into whatever it was he was doing for him. In thinking about his detention, he figured he would just have to wait until after dinner tonight to find out if Remus helped him at all this time.

Raising his eyes from the twirling feathers flaring out on his spinning quill, Harry realized the common room was practically empty. Hearing his stomach growling, he decided it was probably time for dinner. Glancing at the clock on the far wall confirmed it. He placed his homework back in his book bag, ran upstairs and dumped it on his bed, and quickly walked down to the Great Hall for dinner.

Dinner had been as uneventful as the previous night for Harry. But at least this time Ron and Hermione joined him; though they didn't talk very much. They were too busy staring at each other. In a way he was glad for their silence. Their silence meant he didn't have to explain about the detention he was to have in an hour or why he was missing for two hours last night. He had avoided the discussion since the events happened and hoped to keep it that way.

Feeling eyes on him, Harry raised his head and looked toward the staff table. His eyes met Remus' and they smiled at each other, though the professor's smile looked a little forced. He swept his gaze along the right of the table and unfortunately his eyes then landed on the sallow face of professor Snape. Luckily the professor had his attention on something else and didn't know Harry was looking at him. He quickly averted his eyes to the dinner on his plate and finished eating. He then bid his friends goodbye and spent the remaining time until his detention up in his dorm room working on his homework.

With fifteen minutes until his detention, Harry opened his trunk, grabbed his clothes from two nights ago and changed into them. He then made his way down to the potion's classroom, hoping it would be the last time he'd have a detention with Snape for a while.

Upon entering the classroom and finding out his assignment was the same as two days ago, Harry reluctantly went into the potions storeroom and began cleaning. With Snape only checking in on him every once in a while, Harry had a lot of time to think. It was definitely obvious that Lupin never spoke to Snape about his detentions, especially after receiving crueler comments from the man than normal.

True, he told himself that he would feel better just talking about it and not caring if Lupin did anything about it, but he knew that was a lie. He hoped the professor would try to help him, even if it was to make sure he wasn't the only one to clean out the storeroom.

While removing the final four jars and bottles from one of the shelves, Harry wondered why Lupin even wanted to talk with him this year. Was it just to make Harry feel like he had an adult to talk to?

At first the talks were great. Harry learned a little about his family and about what the Marauders were like while at Hogwarts. And he got to share some things about his time since entering Hogwarts. But after a while, it seemed Remus wasn't paying that much attention to what Harry was talking about. He'd even had to repeat some of the questions he asked the professor. But, he was always telling Harry to come to him, even when he had problems. However nothing was ever done on Remus' part if Harry came to him with a problem, big or small.

And it was hard for Harry to talk with Remus at times. The questions or discussions the man started where sometimes very difficult for Harry to participate in. He had never been comfortable talking about himself. And then to feel like he wasn't even being heard made it that much worse. He felt that it was time to stop speaking to the man in that type of capacity. There was no point.

It was then that he decided he wouldn't think of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher like a friend. He would be just a teacher to him now…like McGonagall or Flitwick. He was tired of talking and confessing difficult things to people who didn't care.

Finishing up with the shelf he was working on and beginning to place all the items back onto it, Harry also decided he wouldn't let Snape get to him anymore. He would do his best to ignore the man's vicious comments. It wasn't worth it to get upset or angry anymore, it didn't solve anything anyway. Feeling satisfied with his decisions, Harry gave a small smile.

Severus walked into the storeroom as Harry was placing the last item back on the shelf. "You are dismissed Potter. Bring all your cleaning supplies to one of the desks at the front of the classroom. Then you may leave."

"Yes sir." Harry watched Severus leave the room. He then cleaned up everything he was using for his detention and brought them over to the desk. After setting them down, he quickly left the classroom and headed straight to his dorm room. He was exhausted and was looking forward to getting to bed and sleeping in tomorrow morning since it was Saturday.

~SH~

Normally, Harry and Remus would meet to talk every few days. However, Harry had been avoiding the man since his detention Friday night. Whenever Remus tried to talk to him outside of class, Harry always brushed him off, muttering something about homework.

On Wednesday, after going through four days without a word from Harry, Remus knew something was up. He spent the whole day trying to corner the boy, but never found an opportunity. He finally got his chance after the last class of the day. Remus was on his way to speak with Professor McGonagall about Harry, when said boy turned the corner into the corridor he was in.

Before Harry noticed his presence in the corridor, Remus spoke. "Harry, can I have a word?"

Harry stopped walking and looked up, dread filling his stomach. "I'm sorry Professor, but I've got to get to the library to study." He knew what the man wanted to talk about and he didn't want to have the conversation.

"You can go to the library in a while, Harry. This won't take long." Remus began to slowly walk towards Harry's end of the corridor.

"I've got an essay I need to complete." Harry turned around.

"Harry…"

"I'm sorry professor. Some other time," Harry said while walking away from Remus.

"Do not walk away from me Harry," he said sternly.

Surprised at Remus' tone of voice, Harry quickly stopped walking.

"We need to talk. Now!" He couldn't believe that Harry was fighting him on this. It definitely wasn't like him.

Breathing heavily, Harry quickly looked around the corridor. He was glad no one was around to hear Remus talking to him in that tone. He slowly turned around and kept his eyes on the stone floor. It actually hurt to be talked to in that tone and he didn't want Remus to see it in his face or eyes.

Remus regarded Harry before speaking. "My office. Let's go."

At Remus' no nonsense attitude, Harry obliged and followed the man to his office.

Remus opened the door and allowed Harry to enter first. Harry walked in and sat down in his usual chair, eyes still on the floor. Remus took a seat behind his desk and looked at Harry. "This stops now Harry."

"What sir?" Harry asked, feigning confusion at the professor's words.

"You know well what." He was still surprised at Harry's attitude towards him.

Harry was quiet. He wasn't going to admit anything.

Remus sighed, sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. He sat there for a few moments still observing Harry. Harry was sitting on his hands and still looking at the floor. He had yet to look at him. Remus sighed again. "What did I do?"

The question and desperation in Remus' voice surprised Harry and without meaning to, he looked up and met Remus' eyes.

"What did I do Harry?"

Harry dropped his gaze and after removing his hands from under his thighs, concentrated on his hands in his lap. "Nothing."

"I don't believe that. If I haven't done anything, why have you been avoiding me since Saturday morning?"

"I haven't," Harry argued.

"You have. Every time I try to talk to you, you run away saying you've got homework."

"But I do."

"I don't believe you," Remus challenged.

Harry's anger was beginning to return. "Why?" He looked back up to Remus. "Why do you want to know? Why do we have to talk? It's not like you or anyone else cares about me anyway. Why…" Harry realized what he said and quickly shut his mouth, averting his eyes back to his lap.

Unfortunately for Harry, Remus got more out of that last sentence than all the conversations the two of them had since the summer. Remus stood from his chair, walked around the desk and sat down in the empty chair next to Harry; Harry's eyes following the professor's movements without looking up. "We'll talk about what you just said at a later time, but you know that's not the truth Harry."

Harry could feel his throat tighten. He didn't acknowledge Remus.

"Please Harry, tell me what I did wrong?" Remus pleaded.

"Why should I tell you? It's not like you going to do anything about it." He paused a few seconds. "You never have," he said gloomily.

"Ah!" Remus whispered, the reason behind Harry's attitude dawning on him. "So this is about your detention with professor Snape."

"Yes," Harry agreed, reluctantly looking at the man seated beside him. "I mean, no! I mean, it's…"

"Harry, I did talk to professor Snape."

"But I thought…he was worse…he said things…" Harry rambled. He now felt sorry for treating Remus the way he had. But then again, one time helping him out of countless times wasn't acceptable; at least not for Harry.

Remus patted Harry's arm then stood up. "I'm sorry I couldn't really do anything for you with your detention with professor Snape. I tried, but the man won't budge once his mind is made up."

"It's okay professor. Thanks for trying."

Remus gave him a smile. "Why don't you go on up to your common room. I'm sure you're friends are wondering where you are."

Harry stood up. "Yeah, right," he said a little too depressed. He didn't think his friends even noticed he was gone.

"We'll talk later Harry." Remus noticed the way Harry left and knew something else was bothering him. Hopefully he'd open up the next time they talked.

~SH~

The next two weeks of November passed by without incident. Harry hadn't received any detentions from Severus, but still had to see the man in his Occlumency lessons twice a week. The lessons continued in the same fashion as the first one he had this term. Harry felt he was getting a bit better at it, but at his last lesson, Severus told him otherwise

~SH~

Sitting by himself at the table, like normal, during dinner on Friday, Harry was a bit surprised when Neville sat down next to him. He had actually been hanging out with Neville and Ginny more this year, but most often seemed to end up sitting by himself at meals.

"Hey Harry."

"Hi Neville. How was Herbology?" Harry asked, knowing that was Neville's last class of the day and his favorite.

Neville served himself some of the roast, potatoes and vegetables that were on the table. "It was great as usual. How was History of Magic?" Neville poked a potato with his fork, brought it to his mouth, and then ate it. "Did you stay awake today?"

Harry laughed. "Almost."

"Um, are you planning on going to Hogsmeade tomorrow? Ginny, Luna and I are going and were wondering if you wanted to come with us."

"I wasn't planning on it." He then thought about it. Hanging out with Ginny, Luna and Neville would be a lot more fun than what Ron and Hermione had planned, and definitely better than hanging around the school. Harry turned his head towards Neville. "Sure, I'll go with you guys."

"Great. We can all me up in the common room tomorrow morning and go there together."

"Sounds good to me," Harry said while nodding his head.

Both boys then turned their attention to their dinner. After they finished eating, they walked together to the Gryffindor common room. They were going to play exploding snap until they turned in for the night.