Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including, but not limited to, Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Author's note: This is a prequel/companion piece to 'Love Sees More 3: Greyback's Pack', so they could probably be read in any order.

Shades of Grey: Althea's Story
Chapter 1 - Misplaced Trust

"I hate it there." Eighteen-year-old Althea Jameson plopped down on the sofa in her parents' sitting room, miserably running a hand through her long, golden blond hair.

That disappointed expression fell across her mother's face again. The one she always wore whenever they had this conversation. It was like someone had let all the air out of her, and Althea was never really sure why; her parents both knew exactly how she felt about this.

"Honey," her mother, Brooke said, sitting down next to her. "Tell me what's so bad about it." She even had that tone in her voice, the one that suggested that Althea had absolutely no reason to complain.

"We've talked about this," Althea said in exasperation. "This isn't what I want to do with my life. I don't want to work in a boring office forever."

"Working for the Ministry is a worthwhile profession," her mother reasoned. "It's something you'll be able to rely on for years to come, because we're always going to need a government, and you'll earn a good amount of money. I know you had this fanciful idea that you could be an artist, and I wish you could follow your dreams. I really do, but it just isn't something you'll be able to count on to support yourself. What are you going to do when you have children to feed one day, and you can't sell a painting to save your life?"

"But I could do it, Mum. If I only had a chance to try."

"By all means, try all you like!" her mother exclaimed. "I'm not trying to discourage you at all. Painting is fine for a hobby or even to make a few extra Galleons on the side. I just don't think it's safe to make it your life." She reached out for Althea's hand, grasping it tightly. "I just want you to have a good life. I want you to be successful, and I want you to be financially secure. That's all."

"I don't know why that means I have to work at the Ministry of all places." Althea turned to face her mother, hoping she'd finally be able to get her to see sense. "You're right, I may not make it as an artist at all, and it's good to have a steady job otherwise, at least until I know for sure. I understand that. But…I just don't like it at the Ministry. Everyone there is so serious, and…it's just not a fun place to be."

"It's our place of government," her mother pointed our around a smirk. "It's not supposed to be fun."

"But don't you think I should at least have a job that I enjoy?" Althea asked. "If I can't make it as an artist myself, maybe I can at least find something in the art field. Maybe I can find an already successful artist who needs an assistant or something. Or even just something in an art shop somewhere."

"That sounds like Muggle work," her mother said disdainfully. "And what happens when those businesses lose money? What if you're forced out of work, and you're desperately looking for something else to support yourself? Like I keep telling you, the Ministry is something that's going to be there even a hundred years from now. We need government, and we need good, responsible people to run it. And if you keep at it, if you keep trying to work your way up, imagine where you might be when you're my age. You might even get to be the next female Minister of Magic! Wouldn't that be wonderful? To make all of our laws? To make sure we remain a good society of wizards?"

Althea shook her head. "That's your dream, not mine."

"One that I wasn't able to achieve." Her mother finally released her hand and leaned back against the sofa. "I tried, and I wasn't even able to get my foot in the door of the Ministry. Even getting an entry-level position there can be impossibly difficult, and that's something you already have." She paused, watching her daughter carefully. "Don't forget the amount of strings your father had to pull to get you in there. An eighteen-year-old, fresh out of Hogwarts with no previous job experience - you're lucky they even considered you!"

"I know," Althea sighed, "and I'm grateful to have had the opportunity. I am. I wasn't happy about it then, but I decided to at least give it chance. You and dad said that I just had to try it for a little while, and if I didn't like it, I wouldn't have to stay. That I could try and find something else, something that's more suited to me."

Her mother took a moment to push her short, curly red hair back from her face. She looked like she was trying very hard to keep her composure, because just like her fiery hair might indicate, Brooke definitely had a bit of a temper. Althea knew that her cause was now lost, because once her mother started to get annoyed, there was no reasoning with her whatsoever.

"You've only been there for six months," Brooke said curtly after a few seconds of silence. "I hardly think that's enough time to be able to judge it accurately. Why don't you give it a little more time, maybe six more months? Once you've been there for a year, we can all sit down as a family and discuss it again."

Althea closed her eyes in defeat, simply nodding. She knew that things wouldn't be any different in six months or even six years. They'd already had this conversation more times than she could count since she started her job at the Ministry. Every single time, it ended exactly the same way, with her parents encouraging her to give it more time. Althea knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt that she'd never be able to get through to them. They were so set in their decisions, the ones they had made for her. They'd never even entertain any of the ones Althea made for herself. They wanted her to be a Ministry employee and that was that. Whatever Althea herself wanted didn't matter. Not to them.

Little did Althea know that her time as a Ministry of Magic employee was about to come to a screeching halt. It was something she had been praying for for months, but once it happened, she'd be desperately wishing for her boring old Ministry job back, because her life was about be plunged into a nightmare. One that she wouldn't be able to wake up from no matter how hard she tried.

Exactly twenty-four hours later, Althea found herself back at the place she dreaded the most - her desk in the Ministry of Magic - with absolutely no end in sight. There were mounds of papers in front of her waiting to be organized and filed, and as far as she knew, Althea would be there doing nothing but that for the foreseeable future.

Althea rested her elbow on her desk and propped her chin up in her hand. She glared at the stacks of parchment, wondering if anyone would notice if she just used her wand to set fire to them all. There were so many damned papers at the Ministry, it seemed like all she did was file them all day long, and she doubted anyone would really miss a stack here or there.

Just then, the door behind her opened, the one that led to her father's office. Althea immediately sat up straight in her chair, rummaging around with the papers in front of her, trying to look like she was busy.

Her father, Nolan came around her desk, holding a large file folder in one hand. He crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a scrutinizing stare, his brown hair causally falling into his hazel eyes. "That stack of papers looks to be about the same size it was when we came in this morning."

"I've been working all day!" Althea exclaimed, annoyed at her father's insinuation. She desperately hated her job, but it was still her job; she wasn't about to shirk a responsibility that she was hired to do, no matter how much she abhorred it. She did eventually grow tired and discouraged at the amount of work by the end of the day, but she still plowed on through most of it. She was a Hufflepuff, after all, and they were unafraid of toil. "I can't help it if more papers come in faster than I can sort through them."

Her father let out a heavy breath. "I'm sorry, Ally. I know things have been unusually hectic around here lately. It's just that damned Fenrir Greyback. He's been attacking more people than we can keep up with. I don't know what You-Know-Who's even thinking, using him as a tool. I don't necessarily think You-Know-Who has the wrong idea about things, you know that, but Merlin only knows what he hopes to accomplish with Greyback."

"Blackmail," Althea stated simply.

"Yes," her father agreed, "but You-Know-Who's a fool if he thinks it won't eventually backfire. Everyone knows Greyback sees it as his mission in life to make enough werewolves to overcome the wizarding population, and then what? You-Know-Who himself despises werewolves, as he should, so he's encouraging Greyback to make more, thinking they'll all dutifully follow him?" Nolan rolled his eyes. "It's utterly ridiculous. Before he knows it, there are going to be far more werewolves in this world than he knows what to do with. He's not going to be able to control them all, and he's going to be sorry. But he isn't thinking that far ahead. All he cares about right now is gaining power, and that's what Greyback is giving him, the hell with the consequences." He shook his head before adding, "This world is going to be overrun with animals someday, and there won't be a damned thing anyone will be able to do to stop it."

Althea didn't reply. She never knew what to say when her father got into these ranting moods about how the world was going to end up in shambles one day if it continued on its current course.

Nolan seemed to realize this, because he said, "But that's neither here nor there. I guess we'll cross that bridge if and when we come to it, won't we?" He held the file folder out to her. "Here. Run this down to the Werewolf Registry office, and then you can go. It's a list of all those believed to have been recently contaminated by Greyback and his minions, and who should be registered by now."

Althea wanted to ask him why any werewolf in their right mind would register with the Ministry. It was simply so the Ministry could keep track of them when they hadn't even done anything wrong. If werewolves were smart, she thought, they'd stay far away from the Ministry and try to keep their condition hidden. Given, it was illegal for them not to register, but it still seemed safer than letting the Ministry keep track of every single thing they ever did.

That was another reason why Althea hated her job so much. She was helping the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures when she didn't even believe in half of what they were doing. Her father was the head of the Werewolf Support Services, and she couldn't help thinking what a joke that name was. The Ministry's idea of supporting werewolves was to inform them of the Code of Conduct, and to report them to the Werewolf Capture Unit if they didn't follow those rules down to the letter.

Althea didn't think werewolves deserved to be punished just because they were attacked by some deranged monster like Greyback. In the end, however, Althea never said a word. Neither of her parents liked werewolves, and they didn't think werewolves deserved any rights at all, regardless of how they ended up in their position. Her parents never even really asked her what she thought about it. Because they believed one thing, because they had raised her a certain way, they only assumed that she felt the same. Moreover, because her father worked for the Werewolf Support Services, they figured that was what Althea would want to do as well.

They didn't even like to hear any other opinions on the matter, and they often got angry at anyone who attempted to change their minds. Althea never stood up to them like she wanted to, because she was terrified of earning their wrath, as ridiculous as that sounded. She just wasn't that brave.

Althea simply reached out for the folder, giving her father a smile and getting up from her desk. At least she could go home for a while and pretend like she didn't hold a job that made her feel sick to her stomach. As she headed for the door, her father called to her one last time.

"Tell your mum I might be a little late tonight," he said. "There are even more reports of werewolf attacks coming in as we speak, and I should compile another list before I leave. The two of you should go on and eat without me. I'll most likely grab something on my way home."

Althea didn't have it in her to voice a response, so she nodded. She pulled the office door shut behind her, unaware that it was a message she would never get to deliver.

Althea didn't go straight home. She Apparated to a spot that she was beginning to frequent with more and more regularity, a place that she went to when she needed some time to be alone and think. It was a forest not far from where she lived with her parents, one where they had often gone on picnics when Althea was little.

That was why she loved the forest so much. It reminded her of those days. Things had been so much simpler then. Althea had still been in school, and she hadn't yet needed to think about what she wanted to do for a living. Her parents hadn't yet started to push their ideas on her about what she should be doing or what she should believe. It hadn't been a struggle just to talk to them, feeling like she was outnumbered two to one on everything.

The woods were especially spectacular now with it being October. The leaves were beginning to change into brilliant hues of red, yellow, and orange, and many of them already littered the forest floor. The sound of them crunching underneath her shoes as she walked and the smell of the autumn crispness simply invigorated her. Perhaps it was because her birthday was just a few weeks off. She supposed it always made October feel like her month, like she truly belonged in it.

One of the things that amused her the most was that werewolves were rumored to inhabit the area. If her parents didn't like werewolves, they sure picked a stupid spot to settle down and have a family. Althea had been warned time and time again not to wander about in the woods alone, and to never set foot in them after dark. Doing so would simply be asking for trouble. The funny thing was that Althea never felt in danger when she was in the forest. In fact, being in the shelter of the trees somehow made her feel more at home than she ever did with her parents. Perhaps because there wasn't anyone around to judge her, no one to order her around and plan out her life for her. In the forest, she was free.

Althea wasn't stupid enough to remain in the woods after dark, especially not during a full moon, but she didn't see what was so wrong with taking a walk in the light of day. Most werewolves were only a danger once they transformed. Sure, there were homicidal werewolves like Greyback who attacked whenever they could, but she knew for a fact that they weren't all like that. Besides, even if Greyback was lurking around a tree somewhere, what reason would he have to attack Althea? Didn't he mostly attack those that had either offended him or the Dark Lord himself? Neither Althea nor her parents had ever even interacted with any Death Eaters at all; she didn't think he'd have a reason to even take notice of her, let alone bite or attack her.

She wasn't exactly keen on listening to what her parents told her anyway. They never took any notice of what she said or what she wanted, so why should she give them that respect in return? It occurred to Althea that she was being ridiculously immature about this entire thing, but she didn't care. In fact, perhaps it was time that she started thinking for herself a little bit. If she kept letting her parents dictate her life to her, she knew she was going to end up absolutely miserable.

Aside from her lack of courage, the only thing holding her back was her parents' reaction. Despite the way they treated her sometimes, she knew that they did love her and that they were looking out for her. After all, her parents valued money and success very highly, so much so that they equated it with happiness. They were only trying to ensure that Althea herself could have those things as well. They weren't Althea's idea of happiness, but she supposed she couldn't exactly fault her parents for having different ideals than she did. That was precisely what she disliked about her parents so much to begin with - their intolerance for anything different.

As much as her parents drove her absolutely nutters sometimes, they were still her parents, and Althea loved them desperately. She was terrified of doing anything to disappoint them, even if it meant sacrificing her own happiness to make them proud. She knew exactly how dysfunctional that made her family, and she promised herself that if she ever had children, she would never impose those same restrictions on them.

Althea wasn't even sure that that was something she wanted - children. It was just another thing her parents assumed about her, that she would settle down with a family just like every other generation before her. Althea was only eighteen, nineteen in a few more weeks. She had plenty of time to decide on that later, plenty of time decide if following in her parents' footsteps was something she really wanted. As it was, the only thing she really wanted right then was to paint and to see if she could have success with it. If she didn't even try, she knew she'd spent her entire life wondering what if. She just didn't know if it was worth alienating her parents, and she was aware of just how insane that sounded. Shouldn't her own happiness be the most important thing to her?

Sighing heavily, Althea leaned into a tree near a stream that meandered through the woods. It was one of her favorite places to sit and think, the constantly running water always managing to soothe her jangled nerves. Pressing her back up against the trunk of the tree, she sunk to the ground and pulled her knees up to her chest. She folded her arms over them and rested her chin on top of them, staring ahead at the stream as if it might hold some sort of answers for her.

The orange ball of sun was dipping down toward the horizon, shining through the leaves on the trees and making their colors even more vibrant. Althea absolutely loved this time of day, and she thought she might stay just long enough to watch the sunset. As soon as it got dark, as soon as the moon showed signs of rising, she'd Apparate back home. No sense in asking for trouble.

However, the longer she sat there, the more she watched the sun's decent in the sky, the more her eyelids began to droop. She didn't even realize it. She had grown so comfortable in what she had come to think of as her domain, it didn't cross her mind that she could be putting herself in danger. That something could be out there lurking, waiting to change her life forever.

When Althea opened her eyes again, she was met with complete and utter darkness. At first, she was still too groggy from sleep to even register what had happened or where she was. It took her a moment to realize that she was sitting hunched over against the trunk of her favorite tree. She rubbed at her eyes harshly, wondering what time it was. Her mother had been expecting her home for dinner, so Althea hoped that it wasn't too late. She was never one to simply miss plans like that, so chances were her mother would be worried if she had.

Althea stretched her arms out over her head, attempting to further wake herself up. It wouldn't do to return home half asleep. Just as Althea began to get up from the now damp grass, she heard a loud snapping sound from somewhere behind her in the darkness. She sucked in a breath, turning and peering into the blackness of the trees beyond. Nothing moved, nothing made a sound, and Althea shook her head. It was most probably a rabbit or some other harmless animal, scurrying away into a burrow when they heard her stir. There was no reason to think that whatever it was meant her any harm. No reason at all.

Even so, Althea got to her feet, making a mental note to never remain in the woods after dark again. She was still certain that there wasn't anything that would hurt her, but no forest in the dead of night was a welcoming or friendly place. Certainly not what she had been looking for when she first Apparated there after work.

Althea closed her eyes and focused her thoughts on her new destination - the walkway leading up to her parents' house. Before she could Disapparate, however, she heard something else. Something that chilled her to the bone much more so than a snapping twig had done. It was a growl. A low guttural sound that could only have come from something large.

Althea's eyes snapped open again, fear driving all rational thought from her mind. She squinted her eyes, trying desperately to see into the blackness that surrounded her. She immediately reached inside her robes, going for wand, but she didn't even get that far.

Before she even realized what was happening, something hit her squarely in the chest. She started falling backwards, her arms shooting out in all directions, desperately trying to catch herself on something. All her fingers found were useless twigs and brambles, which scratched and tore at her skin on the way down. When her back slammed into the forest floor, a large gasp of air was forced from her lungs. She desperately tried to suck it back in, but something very large and heavy had settled into place over her chest.

It was still too dark, and she was still too disoriented from her fall to register much of what was happening. All she felt was heaviness and fur on top of her which smelled horribly of dirt and sweat. She heard that deep growl again, and the next thing she knew, something sharp was tearing through her clothes and into her flesh. She cried out in pain as a warm wetness spread out under what remained of her shirt.

Althea started kicking and punching at the creature that was pinning her down, but she was absolutely no match for it. Whatever it was, it was huge, and her efforts to hurt it didn't even seem to affect the animal at all. Next, her hands went to her pocket, searching out the handle of her wand, but it wasn't there. It must have been knocked free from her clothes by the creature's attacks.

Unsure of what else to do, Althea opened her mouth and screamed. She screamed bloody murder, hoping to rouse the attention of anyone who might be in the area. She yelled until she was sure her voice would be permanently hoarse from the effort, and even then, she continued to cry out into the darkness. No one came. There was no one there. No one except for her and the huge hulking thing atop her.

She only stopped screaming when she felt an intense pain in her right hip. It was much stronger than anything else the animal had done thus far, and it sent lightning bolts of pain resounding through her entire leg and abdomen. It felt like nails were being driven right into her very bone, and the pain began to creep up into her chest. Her voice died in her throat, only to be replaced strained gasps for air.

A horrible thought occurred to her. She was going to die. This creature was going to tear her to shreds, and there might not even be anything left by the time someone did find her.

Althea couldn't focus on anything. Everything seemed like a swirl of pain, and growls, and blood, and fear around her. Her eyes began to roll back in her head, and the very last thing she saw was the impossibly full moon hanging high in the sky above her.

To be continued…