Christmas went pretty quickly after that disastrous visit from the Minister. As Remus had predicted, the day had not ended well. More parsnip was splattered over Percy than was strictly called for. This had the unfortunate consequence of making him stomp away, much to Molly's distress. The twins and Ginny were pretty proud of themselves, Ginny had extremely good aim. Remus had tried to look disapproving but the expression on Percy's face when the first glob of parsnip hit him had the corners of his mouth twitching.

Harry had returned to the house quickly after that. Noticeably without Rufus Scrimgeour. There was a look on his face that quite pointedly showed that he didn't want to talk about it. So, nobody did. Everyone remembered his explosive temper from last year. Remus did check to see if he was okay and got a thoughtful affirmation in return. At least it looked like Harry had come out on top from that little scene.

Molly managed to get him to stay until the new year. Not that he had needed much persuading. He was thoroughly enjoying the time spent with all the people he cared about under one roof.

"Almost everyone," a small voice at the back of his head persistently told him but he ignored it.

It was easy to do so when he was with other people and not left alone to your own thoughts (like you could be left to your own thoughts in the Burrow). He had really enjoyed catching up with Harry and seeing how he was doing with his classes. It didn't surprise him that Harry wanted to be an Auror, all the boy had done was fight - he didn't know anything else. Remus was personally trying to get him to consider other careers. There was more to this life than fighting. Physically and emotionally.

Remus have himself a shake. No. He said he wasn't going to do this to himself anymore. It wasn't going to get him anywhere. He let out a growl of frustration.

You know what? It was the New Year. Time of new beginnings and hope. He wasn't going to drag last year into this one. Nope. It was going to be a new start where he was going to do his part. Hopefully get a few werewolves to their side (or at least stop them from siding with Voldemort), help with the Order, keep in touch with Harry. Nothing more. Nothing less. That was going to be his life. That was all he could deal with. That was all he had to deal with. Anything else was a distraction. A distraction he very well couldn't afford.

Remus was sure by now that word had got around to Fenrir Greyback that someone was trying to recruit werewolves away from him. When he eventually figured out who (and he would figure it out), it was not going to be pretty. He had to prepare for that. Prepare to flee. Remus twisted his mouth into a self-deprecating smirk. He was good at fleeing.

'Knock knock'

That brought him out of his thoughts. Clutching his wand, he carefully approached the door. There was only one person he was expecting but you had to be careful these days.

"Declare yourself!" he barked at the door.

"It is I, Albus Dumbledore, here for a prearranged meeting."

Well, that was true. He and Albus needed to plan out the next steps of his work for the Order.

Knowing better than to just let him in (though, it was a brave or incredibly stupid man who would dare impersonate Albus Dumbledore), Remus asked, "What was done in preparation for my first year at Hogwarts?"

"The planting of the Whomping Willow." came the calm reply. "What did I tell you before you came to Hogwarts?"

"That, that I was a wizard first and being a werewolf doesn't change that."

It was a lie but it was still as comforting as it was all those years ago, even if there was a slight bitter twist to those words now.

Remus opened the door to a smiling Albus Dumbledore.

"Truer words have never been spoken," he told Remus, giving him a brief grasp of the hand in greeting.

So different from his old, firm handshake. It shocked Remus just how weak the curse made his muscles. It was actually rather horrifying. Associating Albus with any type of weakness scared Remus more than he would like to admit. The man was practically invincible in his mind.

"Tea?" Remus asked as they both stepped back into his house, going on autopilot.

"Please."

Remus quickly made a pot, possibly casting a warming charm a little too vigorously on the teapot but it got the job done. Soon there were too (very) steaming mugs of tea in each of their hands. They spent a few minutes in silence as the drank some. Remus felt his muscles relax. That was just what he needed. Albus looked like he was enjoying his too.

"So, who would you like me to approach next," Remus awkwardly broke the silence.

Albus stared at him for a moment before placing his mug on the table next to him.

"My dear boy, we could have resumed this when everyone went back to school."

Remus shook his head. He couldn't have waited any longer, doing nothing made him feel on edge and he didn't want to be like that around the children. Not that they were exactly children any more.

"The sooner, the better, Albus," he replied quietly but firmly.

He didn't want to drag this out. It was always at the back of his mind. And he was getting restless already, he felt like had to be doing something. Contributing. Not being useless.

Albus sighed regretfully but nodded. He linked his damaged fingers with his good ones. Remus tried not to look to obviously at them. He didn't want to poke or pry and Albus had said that he was dealing with it. That was good enough for him.

"Very well, Remus. Shall we proceed?"

Remus nodded and leaned forwards in his chair.

"I'm honestly not sure how useful active recruitment would be now, Albus," Remus began.

Not that he had actually managed to recruit anyone. He couldn't even confidently say that he had kept people away from Voldemort.

"It has proved to be rather unsuccessful, hasn't it?"

Remus flinched at the observation. Oh, he knew it wasn't really a slight against him. It just compounded the sense of failure that he had around it. He couldn't even persuade his own kind. Just something else he had failed at.

Albus seemed to take no notice of him as him hummed slightly in thought. Remus was at a loss to what he could do. Trying to pull people away from Greyback's call was difficult and fruitless. He was too persuasive, had too much to offer (whether it was lies or not, it didn't matter - it was what people believed). What could they do against that?

"We shall have to approach this from a different angle," Albus told him decisively. "Focus more on keeping people away from Voldemort."

Remus nodded but that was really easier said than done.

"What would you have me do?"

What could he do? Albus picked up his mug again and took a long sip of his tea before answering.

"Why, appeal to their humanity, my dear boy."