A/N: First of all, I'm not J.K. Rowling, this universe and these characters are rightfully hers. Secondly, this is the sequel to "New Beginnings", and, as I'm trying to stay as canon as possible, it's not mandatory that you read that story before this one, but I seriously recommend it. The Marauders are about the start their fourth year at Hogwarts and the drama continues. Please read and review!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Chapter 1: A Narrow Escape

August, 1974

As Remus slowly regained consciousness, he began sorting through the confusing and fuzzy memories from the previous night as he often did after a transformation. Most of the time, there was nothing worth remembering, just blood and teeth and rage which only provided more fuel for his nightmares; but something unusual had happened last night.

The wolf had spent a large chunk of the evening trying desperately to squeeze its head through the bars on the tiny window in the corner of the cellar; it had only just grown large enough to reach it while standing on its hind legs during the summer. There had been something important outside last night.

Remus tried to make sense of the jumbled information that had been gathered by senses that weren't his own. It couldn't have been something the wolf had heard because of his father's silencing charms and he couldn't remember seeing anything…

Smell! He thought suddenly; it had been a smell!

It had been something familiar, something that been intriguing enough to stop the wolf from hurting itself; but what was it?

A persistent banging sound finally made its way to the forefront of his brain and Remus risked opening his eyes a crack.

He was in his bed. Someone had mercifully shut the blinds on his window so his room was dimly lit. It became clear that the banging sound was coming from the living room and he glanced around his own room quickly.

His mother was sitting in an armchair beside his bed, shooting nervous glances at the window and someone had put all of his belongings into boxes. Remus felt his remaining grogginess disappear instantly.

"What's going on?" His face ached as he spoke from the wolf's long struggle against the bars on the cellar window.

"We have to leave," Hope's voice was faint as she twisted a tissue in her hands anxiously.

"What!? Why!?" Remus tried to sit up, but he was still lacking the strength to do so; his mother helped prop him up before sitting back down.

She chewed her bottom lip and when she spoke, the emotional strain behind her voice made his stomach plummet, "There was an attack in the town last night." Remus' eyes widened and he felt his heartrate pick up.

"They're saying—" Hope tugged at the tissue in her lap, "they're saying that it was a werewolf attack." Before he could react she added in a whisper, "A little girl died."

Remus felt sick. Bile was rising in his throat and despite knowing better, he cried out, "But I didn't get out last night!"

Hope shook her head vigorously, "No, love. I know. It was another werewolf. But we still have to leave."

She was being infuriatingly vague and his head was spinning with a million questions.

"Did they find whoever it was? Are they still out there? Can't we help them!?"

His mother gave him an odd look: it was a mixture of pain, love, and something else he couldn't quite place. Something like guilt, perhaps?

Hope looked towards the bedroom door; the banging on the other side had finally stopped.

"Remus…" she began uncertainly, "There are some people in this world who are beyond help. I don't believe that… this individual… can be helped."

He stared at his mother incredulously, "Whoever they are, they couldn't control it!" he cried. "I know what it's like to be transformed, to be able to see what you're doing and be powerless to stop it! Please!" he begged, "Please! We can't leave, not yet. We need to help them!"

Hope turned her attention away from the door and fixed her gaze on her hands. Her sudden sob startled him.

"Please Remus, don't. We just have to go and we have to go now. I won't let him find you!" she wailed.

His mother buried her face into her hands as her thin shoulders shook and Remus felt something twist in the pit of his stomach.

"You won't let who find me?"

At that moment the door to his bedroom swung open revealing his father, looking more pale and ill than Remus had ever seen him. He cleared his throat.

"Everything's packed. I've found a house about an hour outside of Ipswich."

Hope nodded mutely and Lyall glanced at his son nervously, "We'll go as soon as you're well enough to Floo there." He pointed his wand at a stack of boxes in the corner of his room and shrunk them down until they were small enough to fit in his pocket. "I'll have to come back for the rest later."

"Can you do anything for my garden?" Hope asked gloomily.

Lyall nodded, "We'll only be gone for a couple of weeks, but I'll see what I can do." His father turned to leave but Remus stopped him in his tracks.

"I don't understand," he was positively desperate for some sort of an answer.

Lyall leaned heavily against the door frame.

"I know," he replied sadly, without turning to meet his son's gaze.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The rest of the morning passed in a stressful blur.

Hope refused to leave her son's side and Lyall, having already packed all of the more crucial things, paced around the house anxiously.

Remus found it impossible to rest and his father, eager to speed up his son's recovery, handed him a different potion every half hour.

By mid-afternoon, the werewolf was feeling well enough to make the, admittedly short, journey to their new house, much to his parents' relief.

He didn't want to leave their home. After all, the Lupins had lived there for the past couple of years, longer than they had lived anywhere else since Remus had been bitten. His parents had friends in the village; truthfully, they weren't close friends, but it was the first time his parents had established any such connections in nearly a decade.

As he stepped out of the fireplace into their new house, Remus collapsed into his mothers' arms, feeling weak and shaky once again. A moment later, Lyall appeared behind him with a suitcase in his hand. He set the suitcase down and immediately turned his attention back to the fireplace.

"What're you doing?" Hope asked nervously.

"Closing the connection," he explained hastily, "At least for the next couple of days." He cast a spell which caused the flames in the fireplace to glow green, then red, and finally they died altogether.

Remus, leaning heavily against his mother, could only stare at his father curiously. In the past, the Lupins had been forced to leave their home abruptly on several different occasions, but most of the time they would have a few days' notice; but even when they'd fled in the middle of the night, his father had never seemed so terrified before.

Lyall reached down to pick up the suitcase again, his hands were shaking violently as he did so.

"Dad?" Remus said, barely above a whisper. He hoped his father knew what he was really asking. Hope squeezed his shoulder behind him.

His father flinched before stooping down to open the suitcase, revealing a number of miniature items.

"I'll start with your room," he replied evasively.

Remus couldn't help but wonder if his parents would ever explain what had just happened.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Lupins spent the better part of the next week cooped up in the tiny house. Whenever Lyall had to leave for work, he'd set up an excessive number of barrier and protection spells on the house and Hope fretted and fussed every time there was an unexplained sound outside.

As the days wore on, Remus' curiosity gave way to frustration. The house was stifling in the summer heat and although he'd been told it was still too dangerous to go outside, no one had told him why it was dangerous. Not to mention Sirius had been having an extremely hard time at home this summer and Remus knew that his friend would start panicking if his letters were returned without being delivered, but his parents remained adamant that he wait a few more days before sending an explanation.

After a little over a week, Hope and Lyall had finally calmed down enough to let their son send a message to Sirius. He got his friend's reply just a few hours later when Bevan, the family owl, returned home.

You're dead, Lupin. Dead!

Remus sighed to himself as he began reading the hastily-scrawled letter.

First the Daily Prophet says that there's been a werewolf attack in Pentrich and then every one of my letters gets sent back unopened! James, Peter, and I were about to start a country-wide search!

As soon as I see you, I'm going to kill you.

Hope everything's alright,

Sirius.

Remus smiled, suddenly grateful that he'd be returning to school in just a few short weeks.