The stark cold cut through his skin like a million daggers as the wind began to pick up. He ducked quickly into an alley seeking shelter from the bitter storm and found a large black dog staring at him, keen yellow eyes aglow.
The dog walked slowly towards the boy, stepping on the full moon as it lay still in a puddle beneath its paws. Droplets of water splash about as the ripple moved eerily slow across the small puddle. As the dog moved out of the shadows and the moon shined on its fur it transformed from a black dog to a vicious wolf.
The wolf crept along, snarling and displaying its sharp, yellowed, and bloodstained teeth. The boy could swear a grim smile had just crept along the wolf's jaw. The moon turned to fire in its eyes as it lunged towards him and began to tear away mercilessly.
The fog grew thicker as his screams hung about the air as the
silvery moon grew blood red…
A small crashing sound downstairs woke Lupin from his uneasy sleep. He grabbed his wand from the night stand table instinctively and searched through the blackness of his small room in number twelve Grimmauld Place
He got up from his bed and walked slowly down the stairs, making the unfortunate mistake of whispering 'Lumos' beside the portrait of Mrs. Black.
"FOUL BEAST!" roared the portrait. "DISGRACEFUL! SUCH A WRETCHED BEAST ALLOWED TO LIVE IN THE HONORABLE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS!" she continued roaring until Lupin got so fed up (and she screamed loud enough to be heard through Lupin's clogged ears) that he closed the curtains around Mrs. Black and found himself shouting at her much like Sirius used to do.
He walked down the stairs, having lost his cool for what seemed like the first time, but his temper soon faded as he remembered why he had come downstairs in the first place.
When he arrived downstairs he found the torches in the dinning room all lit. Puzzled and on guard, he stealthily made his way across the room and found a most peculiar sight: a floating dustpan attempting to sweep a broken dish into a broom. He stared at it for a moment, not sure what to make of it, when the kitchen door swung open to reveal Tonks holding a cup of hot chocolate.
"I should have known," sighed Lupin as he lowered his wand and rubbed his eyes.
"Wotcher Remus," said Tonks as she took a light sip of the chocolate. "What're you doing up?"
Lupin thought that should be pretty obvious, seeing as she had been the one to break the dish that lay fragmented on the floor, being tossed aside by the dust pan. Apparently, Tonks noticed the blank gaze he had given the dish.
"Oh, sorry about that. Never could get that spell to work right."
"Its all right, I was only sleeping," said Lupin in a dry sarcasm as he pulled up a chair and sat down, placing his head in his hands.
"I'm surprised that woke you," she commented as she took another small sip. "Honestly, of all the times I've seen you sleep through Mrs. Black's loudest rant. Wait, was that you I heard hollering at her?"
"I haven't been sleeping very well lately."
"It's the mission, isn't it?" Lupin looked taken aback at this. "I heard you'd be going away for awhile. Moody mentioned you were still staying here, so I decided to, you know, check to make sure a Death Eater hasn't bludgeoned you to death."
Lupin stared blankly for a moment. "I- I know Dumbledore's ordered everyone out temporarily ever since…" He grew silent and let his eyes wander around the room. "…But I couldn't abandon this place… Not yet."
"But you're still leaving soon, right?"
"At daybreak."
"Where to, exactly?"
"Don't worry about it," he spoke softly. "I'll be fine."
"Come on," she winked at him as she plopped herself on top of the long table, placing her cup next to her hip and smiling. "You can tell me where you're going."
He gave a small smirk and looked at her for a moment. "Dumbledore thinks I can be of use to the Order by living amongst others such as myself."
"He's sending you to live with werewolves?" she stared at him with her eyebrows quirked, her mouth hanging slightly open.
"Not exactly, I sort of have to find them first."
"Any ideas where to look?"
"A few," he looked at Tonks closely then let his eyes widen as he saw the look of interest in her eyes. "Don't tell me—"
"—I'll go grab my stuff, come back, and then we can set out together."
"Er—I'm sorry Tonks, but this is my mission."
"Correction: our mission."
"No, it isn't. This is something I have to do; only I can do."
"I'm a qualified auror and an exceptional metamorphmagus. There's no reason why I can't handle the mission."
"It's too dangerous; they won't fall for you being a werewolf. Even if you did manage to fool them, what would you do at the full moon when everyone is turning into a wolf and you're the only one who's still a human?"
"I'll worry about that when the full moon comes."
"No, because you're not going."
"Oh come on Remus, you know I can—"
"Nymphadora," he said rather loudly, instantly stifling Tonks. "You're not going." The look of finality in Lupin's eyes annoyed Tonks immensely as she leapt off the table and left Grimmauld Place steaming.
Lupin sighed and stared at the cup of chocolate she had left on the table. As if with great effort, he stood from his chair and went back upstairs to get some rest, doubting his own reasoning for keeping Tonks away.
Pale moonlight, the fog, the piercing cold, the pitter patter of wolf's paws; it all came slowly and hauntingly back. Again came the snarling, then the lunge, and now returned the pain. The vicious tearing… the blood… and then…
Lupin's eyes shot open as he gazed upon the silvery waxing moon, standing up against the tree he'd been resting on out of a momentary panic. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then sighed, and opened them again.
He had no reason to panic; it was still about two days before the full moon presented itself. As he collected himself his focus returned to him. He had a mission to complete. Dumbledore was counting on his success, and he had no intention of letting him down.
Two weeks he has been working his way through the Black Forest of Germany on a tip that a pack of werewolves had taken refuge there. He had covered miles and miles, but found no sign of them.
He walked away from the tree, picking up his battered case from the grass beside him. He reached into his patched robes and pulled from it a small flask, the contents of which he swallowed in one bitter gulp. With a look of contorted disgust he switched the flask for his wand.
Lupin raised his arm and, just as he was about to say 'Lumos,' the bitter potion he had gulped caused him to cough, making the spell sound something like "Cloo-cooh-mos." Unfortunately for him, this sent a large shot of bright red sparks towards a tree, which it used as a sort of ramp to propel itself towards the sky where it exploded with a loud whiz and a shower of red lights.
"Oh wonderful," he groaned as he messaged his raspy throat and began to walk away. He cleared his throat as he heard a loud rustle in the bushes behind him followed by several small grunts of pain. He turned about face and shouted "Expelliarmus!"
"Protego!" shouted the voice of a young woman from the bushes. "Remus! Look before you cast a spell! Ouch! Stupid thorns!"
"Tonks?" said Lupin rather puzzled as she leapt from behind a small bush. "Green today?" he commented on her appearance, which was very green indeed. Her hair and skin had been turned a deep forest green, making her rather hard to distinguish from the surrounding pines and firs.
"I was undercover, okay?" she said as her flesh returned to its usual complexion and her hair turned a short bubblegum pink. She pulled a few thorns from her robes and winced slightly. "Camouflage, you know," she commented as she flicked a few thorns off her fingers.
"Think pink is the best way to go?"
"Think pink? Sounds like the right way," she laughed.
"I take it you came here to help me with the werewolves," a look of approval fell upon Lupin's face as Tonks stared in disbelief. "I think pi—" Lupin stopped himself seeing a small smile creep along Tonks heart shaped face at the thought of hearing him say 'think pink' again. "—er, believe,—" a feigned look of disappointment struck her face. "—that pink might be an attention grabber."
"Surely you aren't talking about grabbing attention," she said as she crossed her arms and stared at the red sparks which continued to shower upon the two of them.
"You don't want any werewolves getting your attention."
She shot a warm look in Lupin's direction and cleared her throat with a soft 'ah-hem.'
"Um… Well, any other werewolf. They're not all as pleasant as I am."
"Fine, fine," she sighed as she scrunched up her face in deep thought. "Let's see… how 'bout a nice tangerine orange?" Surely enough, her hair had at that moment turned itself a flaming orange.
"Please, don't make me use your first name," he smiled slyly as Tonks' expression made it seem like she herself had had to guzzle down the Wolfsbane Potion.
"All right, all right." With a look of deep concentration on her face she managed to turn her hair a shoulder length (and slightly tangled) mousy brown. "There, happy now?"
"Immensely," the two smiled rather stupid smiles as one of the red sparks fell on Tonks' nose. She moved her eyes to stare at it as it faded away into nothingness.
"So, I see you've been doing a good job at keeping your mission top secret, and I thought I was the clumsy one."
"This from the girl, who turned herself green, then yelped in pain whilst hiding in a thorn bush."
"I'm serious," the sound of that word struck Lupin oddly.
"Don't worry Tonks, no one knows why I'm here."
"No, but now they know that you are here." She walked towards him and smiled.
"Honestly, fireworks to mark my arrival."
"It's this Wolfsbane Potion. I think Severus' made this batch especially potent."
"Well, with the Order being short handed and all, he has been running out of people to spew his vile at." Lupin's reaction to this could make the cool night's air freeze around them. "Sorry… I didn't mean—"
"It's—" he struggled for a moment to find the right words. "—I know you weren't talking about him. It's just…"
"Look, if you don't want to talk about it, that's okay with me."
"Okay…" he said softly before clearing his throat. "So, I take it Dumbledore sent you?"
"Not exactly…" she shrugged for a moment. "Things were rather hectic at the Ministry and the Order so I just decided to take a little breather."
"A dangerous search for a secretive society of werewolves is your idea of a breather?"
"It beats dealing with giants and dementors."
"These people aren't going to be like me, though. Some will actually believe completely that lycanthropy needs to be spread. Those are the ones we have to watch out for. The ones that have just been dragged into this, the more recently infected ones, are our best chance to sway. Those are the ones I have to find when we get to the camp. I'll have to do it fast too, the full moons fast approaching."
"Then we should move out," said Tonks as she felt the urgency of Lupin's monologue.
They walked for a quiet hour before taking a break. Tonks transfigured a nearby log into a long and soft couch while Lupin started a small fire beside them. She rummaged through her robes and pulled out a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, taking one and that scrunched her face up. It had been so sour it had caused her hair to temporarily flash a lime green.
"Want one?" she asked hoarsely as she extended the box towards Lupin.
"What, are we first years again?"
"Fine, if the only taste you want in your mouth is that ruddy potion then so be it." She quickly popped a creamy white bean into her mouth. "I know this one!" she looked over at Lupin who had a somewhat horrified look on his face.
"Was that—?"
"—Sour cream? Sure was." Lupin reacted with several awkward glances at his shoes and then spoke as if that was the obvious flavor. Then he resigned to his fate and asked for a bean, which Tonks passed to him with a victorious smile.
They ate for awhile but stopped when Lupin nearly lost his tongue to a large red pepper bean. Tonks fell asleep relatively quickly, resting her head on one of the couch's arms while Lupin sat on the other and watched her.
He let his thoughts wander for a while, conjuring up scenario after scenario involving Tonks and himself. Though he hated to admit it, it was rather pleasant having her there to talk to, help keep his mind off things. After awhile he began to feel somewhat guilty and backed off the subject, believing it best for him not to even consider the possibility. Yet, he could not help it, as the thought kept nagging at him as he stared at her face. It looked so pleasant to him in the moonlight…
The moonlight… how nice it must be to sleep so peacefully. Her eyelids looked weightless, yet Lupin's grew heavier with every second. Soon they grew too heavy to lift, and the wind began to swoon gently about him. His eyes pried themselves open for one final look at Tonks before closing, a smile spreading on his groggy face.
An hour later Lupin's eyes opened as the crackle of the fire died down to a low sizzle and a small gust of wind caressed them. Tonks was still sleeping soundly, as thoughts about her began to flood his mind again. He stood himself up and shook it off, looking for something else to think about. He stared at the withering flames and rekindled them, watching them dance about.
It wasn't long before his thoughts found their way back to the mission. He decided to scout nearby for any signs of a camp. He began to walk away slowly, attempting to leave without waking her with the crackling of fallen leaves. Once clear of his camp, he picked up his pace, hoping to scout a decent area before checking in on Tonks. The sight of trees grew monotonous to him as he made his way deeper into the forest, placing small markers on trees to make sure he could find his way back to the camp.
After nearly a half hour of searching through the repetitive forest, he was ready to head back when he noticed something unusual surrounding a large group of trees. He felt something grip his leg and quickly discovered that 'that something' unusual was in fact Devil's Snare.
"Expecto Patronum," he shouted as his patronus made its way towards the camp. Lupin gripped his wand arm free from a vine that had just wrapped itself around it and muttered an incantation that set the plant ablaze. The Devil's Snare retreated as Tonks ran towards a recovering Lupin.
"You all right?" she said as she gathered her breathe.
"I'm fine," he said as he put pressure on his right leg, which had begun to bleed. "Devil's Snare… we're definitely on the right track."
"I don't think we have to look much farther," Tonks said in a somewhat worried tone. Lupin shifted his gaze from his stinging leg to a small group of wizards who had just Apparated near them, all aiming their wands at the pair.
"Drop your wand," spoke the largest of these men in a deep, throaty voice. His long black robes were rolled up at the sleeves to reveal—
"The Dark Mark…" whispered Lupin. "We've found them."