Remus had gone up to bed shortly after Raya, but instead of finding sleep, he found himself tossing and turning. Frustrated, he sighed heavily and stared up at the ceiling, trying to think of anything but his current predicament. He thought about the term that would be starting after the New Year, how he would return to Hogwarts. Before, he had always planned to see Nymphadora on the weekends, but now he found himself working out plans to see Raya.

�You�re in deep, Remus,� He told himself with a satirical laugh, then sighed. �Real deep.�

As he lay there in contemplation, a piercing scream and shattering glass from the kitchen startled him from the bed. Grabbing his wand from the nightstand, he rushed out the door and down the stairs. Bursting through the kitchen door with wide eyes and his wand at the ready, he quickly surveyed the scene. Raya was sitting in the middle of broken glass, holding her bleeding feet, with a frightened look. There was no one else in the kitchen, but Remus still hadn�t lowered his wand.

�What happened?� He asked abruptly.

�I saw someone�outside the window!� Raya told him. Remus rushed past her, mindful of the glass, to peer out the kitchen window, but could see nothing but snow and trees.

Hastily, Remus turned back to Raya, pointing his wand at the glass. �Reparo.� The broken shards lifted themselves in a tiny whirlwind and formed an almost perfect glass, with only a few pieces chipped off. It flew into Remus� waiting hand and he set it aside, bending down and lifting Raya into his arms without hesitation. He carried her to the table, set her down on its surface and thrust his index finger in her face with a look of worry. �Don�t move.�

Raya nodded and watched him rush out the back door without shoes or a coat. Her heart was still pounding, her feet stung from the glass she�d stepped on, and her stomach churned with worry. What if whoever had been out there was waiting to ambush Remus? She wanted to go to him, to make sure he was okay, but she had promised not to move. As the seconds turned into minutes, Raya�s dread became palpable and she found herself breathing raggedly in anticipation. It felt as if an eternity had passed before Remus came back into the house, his face red from the cold, trembling slightly, but alive.

�You must have scared off whoever was lurking out there,� he relayed as he shut the door and made his way to her. �They must have apparated. I found footprints that just stopped in the middle of nowhere.�

�What would they have wanted?� Raya asked as Remus sat in a chair and took her feet into his hands to examine them.

�I don�t know,� he admitted. �Best not to second guess their intentions.� He tapped his wand on the tips of her toes lightly and Raya felt a warmth run down her feet. The stinging stopped at once and she wiggled her toes and flexed her feet gingerly at his request.

�Thanks.� She said with a slight blush and he put her feet back down. �I thought Tonks was supposed to be the klutz of our family, but apparently that�s rubbed off on me as well.�

Remus laughed softly, rummaging through one of the kitchen cabinets. He pulled out a rumpled piece of blank parchment, returned to the table and spread it out. Raya watched him intently as he tapped it with his wand. �I solemnly swear that I will do no harm.�

The parchment began to shimmer slightly and Raya watched with vague fascination as ink began to magically appear on the paper, bleeding down the page and forming the words:

The words began to fade only to be replaced with a map that glowed a brilliant green color, illuminating Lupin�s gray hairs as he bent over the map with a look of seriousness. Raya looked at it with him, recalling something she had seen once before.

�Is this another Marauder�s Map?� She asked with stifled amusement.

�Similar, yes.� Remus replied, his finger tracing every inch of the map, occasionally prodding the sides with his wand to shuffle the map sideways to reveal parts that went off the parchment. �The Marauder�s Map was for causing mischief. While Sirius and I were stuck at Headquarters, the Headmaster asked us to write up another map�one that could be used to make sure a place was safe. Unfortunately, we were never quite able to finish it.�

Raya knew that reason was because of Sirius� death, and she frowned, but before she could say anything, Remus went on.

�This had gotten filed away for a while, but once Tonks and I had moved in here, I found it and I wrote it to protect this house. It shows me who is in the house at any given time, and also if any of my protection spells have been breached, hence why we named it the Minder�s Map, it�s a guardian of sorts.�

�I�m sure Sirius was thrilled at having to write this after he had written the one for tomfoolery.� Raya mused.

Remus smiled, halfheartedly, tapping the parchment one final time with his wand and muttering, �All�s safe� before he looked up at her. She could see the concern etched into his features and her heart flipped oddly. �Are you alright?� He finally asked her.

�Yes, I�m fine.� She answered, looking away in embarrassment. �I�m sorry if I gave you a fright. I feel a bit daft right now.�

He placed his finger under her chin, turning her head up to meet his eyes. �Don�t. You might have just saved both our lives. Unfortunately, without knowing who was out there, there isn�t much that can be done, but I�m simply glad that you�re alright.�

�Well, I�m sorry about the glass, anyhow.� She blushed. Remus smiled genuinely this time, folding up the now blank again parchment.

�The last thing I�m worried about is a chipped glass. Not a day goes by around here without something being knocked over, spilled, broken, or slammed into.� He glanced at her with a mischievous glint in his eyes, referring to the meeting between his nose and the kitchen door.

�Oh, you!� Raya huffed playfully, looking around for something soft to throw at him when a potholder thudded against the side of her head. �Remus!� She protested, picking it up and throwing it back at him. He was laughing so hard that he couldn�t catch the flying object before it hit him square in the face, dissolving both of them into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

As they finally quieted, Remus regarded her with an unreadable expression. She was still perched on the table, her nightdress clinging to her in a very becoming manner, falling just above her knees. Remus felt his breath hitch in his chest at the first realization of just how short the dress was, and he couldn�t help the blush that colored his cheeks as his mind replayed the events from the moment he�d come down to the kitchen. Raya seemed to know just exactly what he was thinking because she tugged at the clothing self-consciously. There was something about the way he was looking at her that made her feel both excited and apprehensive. She had seen that look before, but not in his eyes. Shuddering softly, Raya found that she couldn�t look away from him, even as he came nearer to her and gathered her into his arms, kissing her passionately.

Remus was surprised that Raya was returning the kiss full force, even clutching the back of his neck to pull him forward. He braced himself against the edge of the table as his arms went about her tightly, and his pulse quickened as her legs wrapped around his waist. He pulled away abruptly, both of them breathless, and stared at her long and hard, conveying with his seriousness what he intended to do. When she didn�t protest or push him away, Remus swooped her up into his arms and carried her up to his bedroom.

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