Bill Weasley was not having a good day. For that matter, he wasn't having a good week or month or year. In fact, life had been pretty bloody awful for longer than he cared to admit. Yet it should have been the happiest time of his life.

You-Know-Who had long been defeated, his family was finally finding some normalcy, along with the rest of the Wizarding World, and Bill himself had had everything he wanted.

Then Fleur had gone and left him.

He wanted to be angry with her, and, even though quite some time had passed since she left, perhaps part of him still was. Discovering that she wanted children - just not with him, due to his 'condition' - had definitely left its mark.

In end, however, he couldn't blame her. It wasn't her fault that there was something inside him that clawed to get out, something that made him darker, more animalistic than the man she had fallen in love with.

Yes, Bill cursed the day Fenrir Greyback had mauled him, not quite turning him into a werewolf but forever changing him nonetheless.

Oh, it had all started off well and good. They'd all had a good laugh about his craving for rare steak in the beginning. But then additional changes had come, ones that weren't nearly as humorous; the way his senses had sharpened, creating more than a few embarrassing situations until he realized what was happening, and even worse, the way his behavior had changed, where Bill suddenly found himself acting more aggressively, more moodily, especially before a full moon.

He had tried to repress it all as best he could, but Fleur simply couldn't take it anymore.

After she had left, he had drawn inward, isolating himself from friends and family, leaving Shell Cottage only for work. He had done a fair job of it, too, until two weeks ago when he had received an owl with nothing but a bit of wool wrapped in parchment, which itself was blank except for the word 'Woolacombe' written on it.

At first, Bill had thought George was having a bit of fun, particularly when both items had burst into flames soon after he had opened them. When he realized that wasn't the case, he immediately put in for an extended holiday from Gringotts and went to the seaside town to investigate.

That was when he had learned about the wild dog attacks, and in that moment, he knew.

Greyback was alive, and he wanted Bill to know it.

They had never found the blasted wolf's body after the Battle of Hogwarts. Bill had thought nothing of it at the time; many witches and wizards had been lost and never recovered, and there were witnesses who had seen the Death Eater fall. As he stood in Woolacombe, however, he knew differently.

Bill had immediately notified the Ministry, of course, but after investigating his claim and finding absolutely no trace of magic in Woolacombe, they had politely informed him that Greyback was most certainly dead and to please stop making inquiries to the contrary, as it could create an unnecessary panic.

Bill's family hadn't believed him, either, though no one had said it outright. He could see it in their eyes; they thought he was obsessed with a bogeyman he could never catch as a way to cope with his own problems.

Even Bill had to admit, it all sounded far-fetched. The attacks on livestock were out of character for Greyback, and his only other evidence had literally gone up in flames. Still, he knew he was right, so he continued to search on his own.

Tonight was the closest he had gotten. Tonight, for the first time, he had picked up Greyback's scent.

It was the reason why he had raced half-mad through the forest. Unfortunately, he hadn't counted on running smack into some blonde bird. Or herrunning into him.

Bill grimaced as he rubbed his sore ribs.

Merlin, she had been strong, surprisingly so for someone so small. A right pain in the arse, too.

And now he had to take time from his pursuit of Greyback and go after her instead.

Bill quickly got to his feet and scooped up his wand, which he was relieved to find lying close by. His body groaned in protest at the sudden movement, but he simply ignored it. He wasn't sure how much time had passed since she had coldcocked him; what he did know was that he needed to do damage control before it was too late.

Of course, to do that, he had to find her find first.

Magic was obviously out of the question, as he had nothing he could use to locate her, not even her name. That left him only one option.

Closing his eyes, Bill breathed in deeply, trying to pick out her scent amongst all the others in the forest. He had repressed this part of himself for too long, however, and he couldn't find it, not right away.

Bill felt his temper begin to rise, but he simply pushed it down and tried harder.

After a few long minutes, he finally found it. Feeling pleased with himself, he set off on the girl's trail. Despite the fact that he was severely out of practice - and that it felt a little too much like hunting for his own comfort - he managed to follow her scent quite successfully until he reached a small clearing. Here, her scent went in two different directions.

Momentarily thrown, Bill came to a stop as he tried to figure out what it meant.

"You are a werewolf."

Bill whirled around toward the voice, his wand at the ready. It was the girl, leaning against a tree not twenty feet away.

"What? No!" he exclaimed.

"Right," she said slowly. "So you weren't just scenting me then."

Bill noticed the way she eyed his scars as she spoke, and he felt himself flush with embarrassment and anger.

"I was marked by a werewolf. That doesn't mean I am one. I will admit, however, that I may have developed some of their abilities."

He tried to leave the bitterness out, but by the look on her face, he had failed quite spectacularly. Her demeanor instantly changed.

"Why all the self-loathing?" she asked curiously. "Maybe it's not ideal, but it could be a lot worse. I mean, you're already a wizard. I'd think it would be no big."

Bill's lips curled up in a sneer. "Right. Because being shunned by society is bloody fantastic," he replied. "Because you're looking for Greyback to invite him for some tea."

That seemed to irritate her.

"As long as I know a werewolf isn't going to kill and maim innocent people, we're good. And for your information, one of my friends is a werewolf, so don't you get all judgy on me."

Bill raised his eyebrows at that. "'Judgy'? Is that an American thing or a Muggle thing?" he asked, purposefully echoing her words earlier that evening.

She crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "It's a word. And while we're on the topic, what is a Muggle anyway?"

Bill hesitated, weighing his options.

He could've tried to Obliviate her right then and there. He had seen how fast she moved, though, and he couldn't run the risk that she would escape again. And while she seemed relaxed at the moment, he suspected otherwise; and now she had the added advantage of a tree for quick cover.

No, his best bet would be to stun her first. That spell took considerably less finesse and precision, allowing him to move as quickly as he could without the fear of permanently damaging her memory in his haste. To do that, however, he would need to get her guard down a little.

While, he was reluctant to share any part of the Wizarding world with her, for obvious reasons, answering her question might give him the opportunity he was looking for. Besides, if he were successful, he could tell her the entire history of magic and she wouldn't remember a thing.

His mind made up, he nodded in acquiescence. "Muggle is our word for a non-magic person."

For some reason, that made her laugh. "Really? 'Muggle' is the best you can come up with? That doesn't sound very PC to me. Not like, oh say, magically challenged or persons with magical disabilities or hey, maybe even non-magically gifted."

Bill shook his head, though his lips twitched with humor despite himself. "Are you always this maddening?"

"So they tell me," she said, suddenly quite solemn, though he could still see the laughter dancing in her eyes. "So, why were you following me?"

The shift in topics was startling. He thought she had done it on purpose, to catch him off guard. It almost worked, too. Bill had certainly felt off-balance the entire night. Thankfully, though, his head was on a bit straighter now. It also didn't hurt that he had years of experience dealing with his mum and the tactics she used to get information out of him.

The trick wasn't in coming up with a fantastic lie. In fact, he always told the truth; the trick was in deciding which part of it to tell.

"To stop you from going after Greyback. He'll tear you to shreds," he said honestly.

Though it looked as though she believed his sincerity, she didn't seem to take his warning very seriously. "Well, you can't, either."

Bill frowned. "Oh, really?"

She rolled her eyes. "Sure, you may be big with the magic, but your instincts suck," she said frankly. "If Greyback is as big and bad as you're implying, you don't stand a chance against him out here on his own turf. I mean, you couldn't even beat me."

From the way she batted her eyelashes at him, Bill got the distinct impression she was baiting him, or maybe testing him. For the first time that evening, however, he used his head and ignored it. Instead, he let the old Bill Weasley take control - the one who could engage a woman in conversation without antagonizing her.

"Well, that's because it's just bad manners to hit a girl, let alone beat her into a bloody pulp, even if she has no such reservations," he pointed out good-naturedly.

She grinned. "What can I say? I'm a hit first, ask questions later kind of girl."

He winced, a hand touching his bruised jaw. "I noticed. Apparently, you also have no qualms leaving me unconscious and defenseless in the middle of the woods with a werewolf on the loose."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that," she said, fidgeting uncomfortably and moving away from the tree in the process.

He seized his opportunity.

"I'm sorry, too."

She cocked her head to the side. "For what?"

"This," Bill said. "Stupefy."

She gave a start, but before she could move out of the way, the spell hit her square in the chest.

The effect was almost instantaneous. She was on the ground in an unconscious heap a moment later.

Bill sighed as he walked over to her.

"I really am sorry," he murmured. Then he pointed his wand at her. "Oblivi-"

Before he could finish the spell, her eyes snapped open. At the same time, her legs swung out, knocking into his and sending him flying onto his backside. Then, before he could fully comprehend what was happening, she was on top of him, using her legs to pin his arms to his sides while her arm went to his neck in a decidedly less than friendly manner. The look she gave him was rather hostile and, dare he say, hurt?

Flustered, Bill tried to throw her off, but she was immovable. It was rather embarrassing. Not to mention utterly mystifying.

Modesty aside, he knew he packed a wallop as far as stunning spells went. That Stupefy should've knocked her out cold. And yet she had not only recovered from it in record time but was now holding him down like he was a helpless Flobberworm. He knew from their earlier run-in that she was strong, but this was unnatural.

"Are you part troll or something?" he asked, blurting out the first thing that popped into his mind.

It did not go over well.

"Troll? TROLL? You think I'm a troll?" she exclaimed, obviously offended. Then she leaned toward him and pressed a little harder on his neck. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't finish what I started."

Bill, unfortunately, had nothing. Still, seeing as he didn't fancy getting pummeled into unconsciousness again, he had to give it a go.

"Because I was trying to protect you?" he offered. "I was just going to erase your memory of me and of Greyback."

She blinked, taken aback by his response. "That's almost... noble. If you're telling the truth, and if, you know, you hadn't lied to me and attacked me, all so you could violate my mind."

Bill cringed. It sounded pretty awful when she worded it that way. "You're not going to hit me again, are you?" he asked.

"Do I need to?"

He quickly shook his head. "No," he stated firmly. Then because he was deep in it already, he added a little cheekily, "Of course, I didn't think you needed to the first two times, either."

For a moment, the sides of her mouth twitched, as if she were going to smile. It quickly faded, however, and her brows knitted together in irritation.

Bill closed his eyes, fully expecting to get knocked into unconsciousness once again. To his immense surprise, he felt her weight lift off of him. When he opened his eyes, he found himself staring into empty space.

Slightly confused, he picked up his head and saw her standing a few feet away, his wand once again in her possession. Though she kept her eye on him as he got to his feet, she didn't appear to be angry anymore. If anything, she looked conflicted.

"Who are you?" he asked, unable to help himself.

That seemed to snap her out of it. "Oh come on. You honestly don't think I'm going to answer that, do you?"

It was a fair point. Still, he wasn't going to give up. He would figure it out on his own if he had to; he hadn't been Head Boy for nothing.

He quickly began cataloging everything he had learned about her in their two brief encounters; her appearance, her silver crucifix, her unbelievable strength and agility, her insane desire to track a werewolf, her apparent knowledge about Wizards coupled with her complete ignorance on the finer details, her ability to withstand a stunning spell as if it was nothing...

"You're a Vampire Slayer."

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. "And a cookie for the wizard," she said grudgingly.

Bill was anything but pleased, however. Perhaps his male pride had been restored, but this was much worse than any ridicule he would have suffered at the hands of his brothers, had they ever discovered that he had gotten his arse kicked by a girl who weighed less than seven stone. He had violated a very old, very strict accord, one which forbade wizards from performing magic of any kind on slayers.

Bill bit back a groan. He had really made mess of this one. He needed to fix this, and quick.

"For what it's worth, I won't try to stop you anymore, though I still think you're mad. Now that I know who you are, I will also tell you that Greyback is a wizard, a cruel and ruthless one who delights in torturing people, whether they are a man, woman, or child."

The Vampire Slayer winced at this, her arm absently rubbing the spot his spell had hit her. It was the only indication that being Stupefyed might have affected her more than she had let on. Perhaps realizing what she was doing, she dropped her hand down a moment later.

"Good to know," she said. After a pause, she added, "Thanks."

Then, to Bill's chagrin, she began walking backward - with his wand. Since he was hardly in a position to argue - in fact, that would probably only make the situation worse - he simply watched.

At first, he thought that maybe she meant to keep it this time. Then he noticed the way she eyed it with immense distrust, and for one brief, albeit delusional, moment, he thought that she might leave it on a rock or throw it into the woods so that he could retrieve once she had gone her merry way.

It wasn't until she reached the edge of the clearing that he realized her intention.

"NO!" he shouted.

But it was too late. With one clean motion, she snapped his wand in half.

Bill stared at her, frozen in place with shock. He felt like he had been Petrified. His wand was… broken.

"Just to let you know, the standard disclaimers still apply, only this time, if you try to use magic on me again, I'll do more than just turn your wand into kindling. Understood?" she said.

Then she tossed the remnants of his wand toward him and turned, breaking out in the opposite direction in a sprint - though not before giving him one last smirk over her shoulder.

Bill flushed with anger, but he didn't dare move. He was too afraid; not of her, though clearly she was a force to be reckoned with, and he'd be only too glad never to be on the receiving end of her fist again.

He was afraid of what he would do if he followed; for she made him want to forget the fact that he was sorely in need of Healer so he could chase after her.

She made him want to answer the challenge she had issued, despite being obviously outmatched.

She made him want to howl.