The Headmaster's office was stuffy and when they entered Dumbledore went right to the doors of his balcony and threw them open, letting in a cool Autumn breeze that ruffled papers on his desk and the feathers on the wings of the large, beautifully colored Phoenix that sat on his perch by the fireplace, preening. Remus stared at the bird and reached out a finger to run it gently over the bird's jewel-toned breast. Fawkes cocked his head at Remus and nipped affectionately at Remus's thumb as he stroked the bird.

Dumbledore paused on his way back to his desk and watched, commenting, "Very few people can pet Fawkes without losing a finger, Mr. Lupin - your time with Mr. Scamander growing up certainly gave you some interesting knowledge and abilities, didn't it?" he smiled and went to the desk, neatening up the papers that were scattered all over. Remus caught a glimpse of an old map of Scotland with markings and X's all along the western coastline before Dumbledore scooped it up and shuffled it into a pile of old newspaper articles and parchments.

"So you have made a delegation to Blackburn?" Dumbledore asked, "And how does Greer and her family fare?"

"Restless, as expected," Remus replied, and he let his arm drop from Fawkes and made his way over to the chair opposite of Dumbledore, lowering himself into the seat. He crossed his legs at the knee and shook his ankle, his worn leather loafers showing below several inches of argyle sock that was exposed below too-short trousers, worn at the cuffs from sewing repairs and extension charms over the years. "But I wasn't the only delegation there, I'm afraid."

"No?" Dumbledore slipped the pile of documents he had collected from the desk into the top drawer of his desk and then sat down, too, leaning back in his ornate chair and folding his hands over one another, laid over his belly as he looked through his half-moon glasses at Remus.

"Greyback had a delegation at Blackburn as well," Remus revealed, "A man from the Great North Woods pack - Winston, he was called, according to one of my - er - esteemed colleagues."

Dumbledore nodded. "I see.

"He claimed knowledge of You Know Who, saying that He Who Must Not Be Named was not defeated that night and that he will soon rise more powerful than he was before." Remus hesitated when Dumbledore didn't seem to respond at all to that news and he felt something in his heart tighten. "This is... as you suspected, isn't it, Dumbledore?" Remus murmured.

Dumbledore peaked his fingers before his chin, rubbing the tips of them over his lips, and murmured, "Unfortunately, yes."

Remus looked away. "Then you're telling me -" Remus stopped, emotion getting the better of him, and had to regain himself before continuing, "You're telling me that James and Lily died for nothing? That it's all been for nothing?"

"Not for nothing, no," Dumbledore said. 

"But if You Know Who is still alive - then it is for nothing!" Remus paused, then, "Sirius said he saw the body, sir. He said there was a body."

Dumbledore shook his head, "You know the Auror report has said there was no body at the scene to verify that claim. It has been speculated by many that Sirius himself took the body --"

"That isn't true, none of that dung they've said about Sirius over the years is true," Remus pressed, "You know that now, Dumbledore, you know that now that he has explained himself." Remus shook his head, "And if Sirius says there was a body, then I believe him."

Dumbledore sighed heavily, "I know that Sirius is not lying, and I look forward to the day that we can finally get the entire wizarding world on board to know the truth of Sirius's innocence. Unfortunately, until the day that we have Sirius's name cleared, the Auror's report is all that we have to go by and the aurors that were on the scene that night did not find the body of Voldemort there."

Remus shook his head. He thought of that day on the floor of the little shack in Costa Rica when he and Sirius had smoked the backyard and listened to David Bowie records all day and how Sirius had mentioned differences between the official reports and what he himself saw when he arrived to the Potter's house that Halloween. Blood - that had been the thing that struck Sirius most about the differences. There had been so much blood - that's what Sirius had told Remus, too, when they'd talked thirteen years ago... But the report had said the killing curse had been used, which did not produce blood, and there had been pictures - horrid and chilling to look at, images that Remus could never get out of his mind - to back up the Ministry's claim of a clean scene. But Sirius had seen blood. But what concerned Remus most was the fact that Sirius claimed to have seen Voldemort's dead body and the reports said there was none.

"There are many explanations for a body's disappearance," Dumbledore was saying and Remus looked up at him.

"There are?"

"Any number of Death Eaters may have been on the scene with Voldemort at the time of the attack, any one of them could have taken the body when they left or returned for it after the fact. The body may have self-destructed by some dark magic... or," and Dumbledore paused here, "There may have been something more... sinister... at work here."

Remus felt goosebumps rise up on his arms, felt the hair on the back of his neck twitch. "More sinister?"

Dumbledore shrugged, "What, I do not know."

Remus ran his hands over his jumper sleeves, trying to warm away the cold that had risen up from inside of his very bones.

"Is that all that the delegation from the North Woods had to say to the leader at Blackburn? That Voldemort would rise again soon?" Dumbledore asked.

"No, he was preaching the same old song and dance that Greyback and He Who Must Not Be Named together would reconstruct the Ministry, and that, should the pack give their allegiance  to You Know Who that they would be reap benefits of a pro-werewolf governing and the protection of their all-so-compassionate Alpha," Remus shook his head, "Nothing new to promise, nothing that they haven't been harping about for years with no result. You Know Who doesn't give a damn about werewolves, whatever Greyback thinks, and the Ministry doesn't give anymore care than he does. Neither side can offer true protection -- including our own," Remus added with emphasis, cutting Dumbledore off before he could try to claim that he had any more protection to offer. "As proven by the fact that I now have Chase Volsung hounding me."

Hounding you, get it? Sirius's voice jetted into Remus's head. Remus closed his eyes, annoyed by how much Sirius talked to him without even being there.

Was Remus himself going mad? Was Sirius the voice of madness?

Dumbledore mused, "I see. Well. You've done excellent work already, Mr. Lupin, and I appreciate the information that you've shared with me on this matter and --" he stood up as though he were making closing remarks on the meeting, as though he was about to usher Remus Lupin to the door.

Remus interrupted him quickly, "Providing you with information was not my only purpose for coming here."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, "No?"

"No." 

Dumbledore lowered back into his seat. "And what else, Mr. Lupin, can I do for you?"

"My pack has needs."

Dumbledore nodded. "What do they need?"

"We need additional food and supplies, we need wolfsbane. I would like to get the pack families all joined together in one place, the way the pack in the North Woods are, so that it is easier for me to be involved in their lives. We need a village, Dumbledore, protected by magic of some kind from the Ministry's registration vultures that will keep us safe..." Remus paused, looked at the desk, drew a deep breath, and then looked up at Dumbledore. "I need Fallengunder."

"Then you need to speak to Mr. Scamander," Dumbledore replied.

"Mr. Scamander fears more troubles like there has been in the past, but I wish to make Fallengunder safe - the way Hogwarts is - and you are the one who upholds those safeguards today, Dumbledore, you know better than anyone how the Founders put the boundaries on this school and I know that you can help to replicate that safety at Fallengunder if you really want to. I implore you - for the sake of my pack - help me to move them to Fallengunder."

Dumbledore stared at Remus for a long moment, then he murmured, "I shall visit the grounds and see what repairs are necessary and review the village there to see what we could do to rejuvinate it. But I cannot do so without Mr. Scamander's help as he is the secret keeper over the property."

"Thank you sir." Remus nodded.

"In the mean time, I will transfer a substantial amount of money into Spencer Stewart's vault at Gringott's to use for the food and supplies that your pack is needing."

Remus sat up a little straighter, eyes bright with appreciation. "Thank you, sir."

"Is there anything else, Mr. Lupin?"

Remus nodded, "Just two more things, sir."

"You did have a full agenda in mind, didn't you?" Dumbledore chuckled, and he opened one of the drawers and pulled out a bag of lemon drops, offering the bag to Remus, who shook his head, his nose crinkling at the smell. Dumbledore put one in his mouth and lay the bag on the desk before himself for easy access to the sweets. "What else do you need from me today, Mr. Lupin?"

"I want to bring Sirius Black with me to Fallengunder."

"When the safeguards are up, that should be fine, but not until, Mr. Lupin. For Sirius's own safety," Dumbledore sucked on his candy, "He has done an excellent job thus far of staying off of the Ministry's radar - thanks in whole to his... unique talent."

"Alright. But the moment we move to Fallengunder, I am taking my Husband with me," Remus said.

Dumbledore nodded in agreement, still sucking on the lemon drop merrily. "And your final request?"

"Less a request and more of a warning," Remus answered. "And it doesn't come from me but from... aquaintences of mine."

"Oh?"

"Keep an eye on Mad-Eye Moody," Remus said. "I have heard from very reliable sources that there are reasons to be concerned... I am sure that you've vetted him but are you absolutely certain that Mad-Eye is... well, Mad-Eye?"

Dumbledore asked, "Why do you say that?"

"You'll think I'm mad if I explain, but suffice to say that the person who has raised the question had... very good reason to do so."

Dumbledore nodded, "I will look into the matter and stay ever vigilant. Thank you, Remus."

Remus weighed whether this was effort enough or not, and decided it was the best he could do for now and he would simply need to talk Tonks into bringing the matter to Dumbledore herself so that she could explain the fish fingers theory. Perhaps it would sound less mad the way she told it than the way he, Remus, would sound trying to repeat it.

Dumbledore again stood up then and said, "I thank you for stopping by, Mr. Lupin, and I do wish you safest of travels..."

Remus got up, struggling against the lowness of the chair to get to his feet, and Dumbledore ushered him to the door of the office.

"Sir?" Remus said, pausing on the landing before getting onto the moving staircase. Dumbledore raised his eyebrows in question and Remus continued, "Is... is Harry Potter safe? With the Tournament?"

"He will be very safe indeed," Dumbledore promised.

"You'll find a way to help him, won't you?"

"If Harry Potter finds himself in need, I shall personally step in to alleviate any shortcomings he may have throughout the tasks at hand, Mr. Lupin," Dumbledore vowed. "Even if that means fighting a dragon myself."

Remus's heart clenched. "So that's - that's true then?"

"Yes, Mr. Lupin, but I assure you - Harry Potter is protected and will not come to harm."

Remus looked down, then back up at Dumbledore, "As James and Lily were protected?"

Dumbledore murmured, "Harry Potter will not come to harm so long as I am there."