Relieved, the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher leaned back in his chair and watched the red dots until they slowly disappeared from his field of vision. He still remembered the whole procedure of checking the two Firebolts that Harry and Serena had received for Christmas and now proudly carried around with them for several curses with Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick. He himself had been sure that there was nothing wrong with the brooms, even if Sirius had sent them. But he had kept that opinion to himself. 
Sighing, Remus turned back to the Daily Prophet. Exhausted, he rubbed his tired eyes, with which he had been looking through sixth years' essays all afternoon, and then focused them on an article that jumped right into his face. The Ministry had given the Dementors permission to perform the kiss on Sirius as soon as they found him. It wasn't the first time the werewolf had heard this news. He had read the article over breakfast when Snape had handed him the paper with a nasty grin.
The grin alone, had given Remus the feeling that it had to be something bad. It was more than obvious that Snape was perfectly fine with Sirius receiving the Dementor's kiss and Remus was fine with it too... At least that's what he told himself. It was his punishment for what he had done to Lily, James and Peter. What he had done to him. 
He still remembered how he had wished Sirius dead, shortly after betraying his best friends. So much had he hated the Black, so much that he would have killed him with his own hands if he had had the chance. But now, after twelve years, he wasn't so sure....
Remus was abruptly jolted out of his gloomy thoughts when he heard an excited commotion that had been brewing like a storm outside his door for the last few minutes. A glance at the clock told him that the students had long since had no business in the corridors. At least they shouldn't be caught so obviously outside a teacher's door. He would never have been so stupid in his school days. Even if he, James, Peter and Sirius had done some stupid things. Hastily, he dismissed the thoughts of his friends once more and swallowed the memories like foul-tasting medicine. Instead, he rose from his chair and went to see what was going on in the corridors. 
Quietly, he closed the door behind him and walked slowly down the dark corridor, at the fork of which he could spot a group of students at the end of the corridor, who themselves did not seem to have noticed his presence yet. Remus cleared his throat, "What's going on?" 
Startled faces with innocent expressions that he didn't buy turned abruptly to face him. Even though they had now obviously noticed him, not one of them answered his question. Instead, they hastily swarmed off in different directions, leaving a trembling Gryffindor behind. 
Remus' gaze fell on Serena, whose dark eyes avoided his. An evil suspicion spread inside him. "Is everything alright?" he asked her gently.
The student nodded slowly, her distraught gaze still fixed on the ground, not looking remotely like everything was alright. Her breathing was still rapid and her even paler face reflected a mixture of anger and shame. 
"Shouldn't you be in your common room at this time of night?" he probed further, for it had not been long since he had watched her walk back into the castle from training. That part of the castle wasn't exactly on a direct route into the Gryffindors' common room, though. 
"I actually wanted to talk to you", she finally admitted meekly, avoiding any eye contact. Remus opened his mouth in surprise, searching for a plausible explanation for her words. Perhaps she had a question about homework or simply wanted the map back. The latter was more likely.