In the Forbidden Forest, wolves howled, and lights flashed. It was the day after the full moon, and the Mauraders were all in the Hospital Wing, Peter, there because he was in a coma after eating too much food. "Remus, I still don't get why you don't give Mary the time of day. She's very nice, smart, and interested in you. Give her a shot." Pleaded Sirius.

The other two conscious Marauders rolled their eyes. James turned to Remus though, and said, "Look, mate. Hey! Remus! Hello!" Remus had spaced out, looking at the window.

Suddenly, Remus tore out of the room into Madame Pomphrey's office, twenty minutes later, the nurse floated him out unconscious. "I've got no idea what's wrong. First it was all I could do to keep him from going through my window, his original intention. Then he just, fainted. It is beyond me, though I think last night just caught up to him. Hagrid's hunting a pack of wolves that have been causing trouble. Perhaps that reminded him of something unpleasant from last night. It has happened every time Hagrid does this. Every few months he has to kill a few. I think Dumbledore has finally given the order to wipe them out. Too much stress on the poor boy." The black haired pair frowned, but left to go to sleep.

The next day, right during breakfast, Hagrid ran in as Remus, Sirius, and James finished eating. Remus had been acting very strangely and when everybody saw what Hagrid carried, rumors flew. Remus gasped, and lunged toward the half giant, but Sirius and James dragged him into the hall outside. Dumbledore said many spells over the thing in Hagrid's arms, and soon, people saw what it wasin detail. A young girl of about sixteen, wearing clothes, but ones that looked like animal fur. She was red headed, and her hair was tangled and all over. It was nearly long enough to reach the floor, even in its ruined state. The girl awoke, flared her nostrils, and ran straight to where Sirius and James interrogated Remus with no results.

"Rem! That... human, he killed them all! It wasn't just the little ones this time. I called for you, but then Narlk hit me so I would sleep. Remus..." The girl collapsed at his feet and cried.

Glaring at the Marauders, Remus dropped instantly to his knees, and hugged the girl close. "Leave!" the werewolf hissed. Both boys refused to leave, even when the teachers came running in, barely a second later. Remus growled protectively when anyone took a step closer. "Leave her alone!" Remus growled after twenty minutes of people inching closer to the crying girl in his arms.

The teachers looked shocked, the Marauders puzzled, until Hagrid came in to the Hall. The girl was up instantly. Feral snarls ripped from her throat, and she lunged for Hagrid. Remus tackled her, and growled something in her ear. She sat back, but was clearly uncomfortable. In English, she asked Remus, "That is the human, why won't you allow me to take our payment?"

"Fera, he isn't the Alpha. Not even Beta. Just a part of the pack. Irresponsible. You can't take his blood." Remus hissed to the girl.

The girl moved back as if stung, "How could you use that name, Rem? Y-you swore..." Remus growled something unintelligible to all but the girl, and her look softened. To the room, the girl said, "You may call me Fera. That man was sent to kill my pack. For a few months all he did was take out a few cubs, which we could forgive, seeing his reasoning, but the night after The Moon, he killed nearly all of us."

Fera sat numbly next to Remus, who frowned, "Fera has omitted the fact that, as the living remnants of the pack, we require blood. Either the same number of your pack, that had equal status to ours, or the utter passing of the leader behind the attack. It is a way to punish packs for being clumsy in killing. The remnants of the pack must also be given a place of equal status in the destroying pack."

"In other words, as Remus has... explained to me, either we get to kill Dumbledore, or we drain forty humans of the school, preferably teachers, down to about a third of their strength in blood." Fera said bitterly.

James frowned, "You two keep saying we. Why? Isn't she the one who lives with wolves?"

Fera growled fiercely, but Remus placed a restraining hand on her arm. She glanced at him and nodded, "Sorry, I forgot you didn't know. There were two packs of wolves in The Forest. Ours, and the true wolves. We lived in harmony together, us acting as a go-between for centuries, but now the wolves won't understand wizard motives and vice versa. Our pack includes all the werewolves within a few hundred square miles, and all the human-wolves like me. I am special. I was cast out of my home, and adopted by the pack. There were others, everybody killed actually, they all had blood ceremonies and things so that they could choose form: human or wolf. I can as well, but I am only just coming into my powers otherwise. Narlk was teaching me how to control everything when they were slaughtered."

Remus squeezed Fera's arm gently and she leaned against him. "They are basically wolf animagi, but with actual wolf blood in their veins. You just upset the entire balance of The Forest. Congratulations." Remus hissed the last bit in contempt.

Sirius stood there dumbstruck, the teachers stood in silence until Professor McGonagal whispered, "So we just killed about forty people?"

Remus nodded gravely and then stood sharply, sending Fera rolling. Fera used the momentum to roll fluidly to her feet, and she darted over to Remus. They exchanged wolf speech, and came to an agreement.

Fera calmly sat down, and Remus went into the Great Hall, to quietly speak with Professor Dumbledore. The old man came in and glanced around. He instantly saw Fera restraining herself from attacking, and he sighed. "How long do we have?"

A growl in the wolf tounge was his reply from Fera, and Remus translated, "She says until The Moon next rises in the sky. It is a reference to the full moon."

Dumbledore nodded gravely, and Fera snarled something. Remus winced, as people turned for a translation, "Fera, he isn't. He didn't know about it. They aren't true yet. You know Narlk also made bad decisions sometimes. The pack paid. They didn't make a good choice. Now their pack will pay. Come on, let's get you away from his scent."

Remus led Fera up to his dorm, and Dumbledore instructed Sirius and James, "Watch them. They are, well, they'll tell you if they trust you, but keep an eye on them. Tell Mr. Lupin that I will settle the debt, but not to take a drop otherwise." As the boys left, Dumbledore told Professor McGonagal, "Set up a private suite for Mr. Lupin and Fera please. Thank you, Minerva."