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Riddles of the Blood Moon

By Vanessa Renadi

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Chapter Two: Fangs and Fur

Tonks sat crossed-legged on her bed, her old Care of Magical Creatures textbook, Dark Creatures Demystifyed, levitating before her. She shoved the last piece of her chocolate muffin in her mouth as she continued to read, refreshing her memory.

Vampiric magic fluctuates with the lunar cycles. A vampire at the new moon has the same stamina as any other wizard. As the moon waxes, however, the vampire becomes gradually more powerful with superhuman strength, speed, and superior senses, becoming the strongest at the full moon.

The barbarism of vampires is more nuanced and less frequent than that of werewolves. While they retain lucidity most of the time, they become feral with the onset of a lunar or solar eclipse. The nature of the eclipse influences the degree of their aggression, being mildly hostile during a partial eclipse and becoming the most savage during a total eclipse. The total solar and total lunar eclipses are therefore highly significant in vampiric culture, being referred to as The Day of the Black Sun and the Night of the Blood Moon, respectively. Most vampire attacks occur during these two astronomical events.

Upon contamination, Vampires immediately become Animagi, taking on the form of an animal that is always black in color. Even Muggle vampires take on this characteristic, though the number of Muggle vampires is substantially smaller than their wizarding counterparts, since the magical nature of the vampire's bite causes the majority of Muggle victims to perish during the transformation.

Tonks snapped the book shut and reached for an official-looking file resting at the end of her bed. It wasn't the original; she had performed a Cloning Charm so that nothing would have appeared missing in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

Name: Roxelana

Surname: Unknown

Other aliases: Commonly known as "the Black Viper."

Queen Roxelana is the official leader of the Darkthorn Coven and is the most powerful vampire in all of Britain, if not Western Europe. Despite once being a Muggle, she has commanded the respect of all seven British covens and holds considerable influence over all vampires, wizard and Muggle alike.

Very little is known from her life as a Muggle, only that her birthdate most likely predates 1930 and that she grew up in London. She became a member of the Darkthorn coven in 1945, rising in its ranks until being named Crown Princess in 1957 under Queen Lorena. Roxelana succeeded as Queen in 1979 upon the death of Lorena at the hands of werewolves.

Under her rule the Darkthorn coven adheres to an unorthodox philosophy where they feed primarily on animal blood, yet it is this coven that attacks Muggles the most frequently for the sake of increasing their numbers. Roxelana believes it is her mission to bite as many Muggles as possible so they have the means to defend themselves against wizards. The Ministry of Magic has found it increasingly difficult to regulate the coven's activities since most of their victims are bitten voluntarily and thus refuse to prosecute.

Animagus Form: Gaboon viper

Warning: Only the most senior and skilled DMLE officials and Aurors should engage.

Attached to the file was a photograph of a otherworldly beautiful woman with silver hair and red eyes. She smirked at Tonks in a way that automatically conjured images of her Aunt Bellatrix and Narcissa. This was the coven that Dumbledore was the most interested in. This was the vampire that Dumbledore was keen to sway to their side. On the surface it didn't seem that Queen Roxelana, as a Muggle herself, would look favorable upon You-Know-Who and his goals. Nevertheless, like werewolves, vampires had never been treated well by wizarding society, and there was always the threat that the vampire queen might overlook certain ideological differences depending on what You-Know-Who offered her in return.

Tonks would have to start searching for the coven soon. She had already created the backstory and appearance for her alias, Trixie Ruschman, an unsuspecting shop assistant who had been transformed into a vampire by a member of the ruthless SilverBlood coven, the coven she knew the Darkthorn were on the worst terms with. She had a few vampire contacts through her duties as an Auror who had told her of a pub in Knockturn Alley, The Scorpion's End, that specifically catered to vampires and other Dark creatures. She would go the pub incognito, hoping to find a member of the Darkthorn coven and express her desire to join.

Tonks closed the file and set it onto her bedside table. She rolled over, her head falling on the pillow. Aside from protecting the prophecy, this was the Order's biggest priority, to stop You-Know-Who from creating the massive army of Dark Creatures that he had during the First Wizarding War. That's why Hagrid has been sent as a envoy to the giants, and why Remus was doing similar work with the werewolves.

Ah, Remus…Tonks smiled into her pillow. She knew she would need to ask him soon, but she had yet been able to corner the gentlemanly werewolf alone. Next time she was at Grimmauld Place, she was determined to ask him the burning question, even if she had to do so in front of that nosy mutt, Sirius Black…

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Sirius observed over the next week that Diana was the polar opposite of her brother. Remus was calm and collected, whereas Diana was brash and decisive. His impressions of her as a child was that she had been a bit of a spitfire, and to his delight, that spirit had not faded with age. While her defiant personality remained steadfast, Sirius's couldn't help but notice, as any red-blooded man would, that she had blossomed into a stunningly attractive woman. He found himself staring at her whenever he thought she was distracted, whether that was cleaning yet another Merlin-forsaken room in No. 12 Grimmauld Place, reading a book, or cooking a delicious meal in the kitchen. His eyes would hang on her swan-like neck, her strawberry curls that smelled faintly of honeysuckle, the coutures of her waist and her voluptuous….

Sirius shook his head very hard, trying to break this train of thought. It was a testament indeed to just how long Sirius had been deprived of female companionship that he was reduced to fantasizing about his mate's little sister. Diana and Tonks were now the two Order members that visited Grimmauld Place the most often after Remus. He certainly couldn't think about his own baby cousin like that, so that left Diana…sweet…adorable…sexy Diana…

Sirius threw another log into the fireplace in the library, a little more forcefully than necessary. He needed to get a grip; no self-respecting woman who saddled herself with someone like him. Sirius had spent years listening to Remus's self-deprecating resignation that he would never been able to find a woman or have a family of his own, though from where Sirius was standing, his mate had far greater chances that he had. Remus was a werewolf, yes, but he wasn't a convicted criminal who'd spent years rotting in prison. Even if by some miracle that his name was cleared within his natural lifetime, he knew that Azkaban had changed him. There would be no one would could possibly cope with someone who had seen the horrors that he had.

"Hello?"

A head peaked through the door and none other than Diana Lupin herself appeared.

"Oh, it's you, Di," said Sirius, standing up. "I didn't hear you come in. Remus isn't here."

"I know. I just need to kill a few hours before I head back to the Ministry; it's my first time for guard duty." She held up a deck of playing cards. "Care to join me?"

"Sure, got nothing better to do, have I?"

He silently chastised himself for his bitter tone. It was not her fault he was trapped in the second prison of his life. As she entered the library, Sirius realized that she was not alone. He let out a yelp of surprise. Something massive with black and gray fur followed closely behind Diana. It was a wolf, though clearly not a normal wolf…it was almost the size of a tiger, yet it possessed none of the humanoid characteristics of a werewolf.

"Is that a…" Sirius breathed. "Nah, it can't be…a dire wolf?"

"Right in one," said Diana. "This is Ravenmoon. He was a birthday present from Remus on my seventeenth. Was a right pain in the arse to get paperwork and ownership license settled through the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Thought it would be worthwhile to bring him along for guard duty."

Sirius felt enormously reassured to know that she would not be staking out the Department of Mysteries alone. Diana sat down gracefully on the Persian rug in front of the fire. Sirius sat down across from her. The direwolf, Ravenmoon, heaved his large body mass down behind Diana. The trinkets on the mantle trembled as he landed on the ground. Ravenmoon nestled his head comfortably between Diana's knee and the fireplace.

"Where on earth did Remus get him?" Sirius asked.

"He was actually one of the dire wolves that I studied in my Care of Magical Creatures class," Diana explained, scratching underneath Ravenmoon's ears affectionately. "Remus took note of how much I raved about him in my letters, and tracked down the owner via Professor Kettleburn."

"That's a real brother, there," said Sirius.

"Indeed, but personally…" Diana lowered her voice. "I think his reasons were just as selfish as they were selfless. Of course, Remus has never allowed me anywhere near him during his transformations, but I think it bring him peace of mind to know that I have a giant dire wolf nearby to protect me, from himself as much as external threats."

Sirius nodded in understanding. He reached out his hand. "Want me to shuffle?"

"Alright."

"What are we playing?"

"Well, as much as I would love to play a drinking game, I don't think it would be appropriate to show up for guard duty completely knackered."

Sirius chuckled. "No, I suppose not. We'll have to save that for another day."

They settled for a simple game of Muggle poker. Sirius didn't much fancy trying to play Exploding Snap several feet away from a dozing dire wolf. Neither had any money on them to gamble, so they set the stakes with undesirable cleaning tasks around No. 12 Grimmauld Place. They went through several rounds, with Diana promising to defumugate Walburga Black's room for Buckbeak and Sirius being forced to clear out Orion Black's study so it could be used as the Order's primary potion station.

"I gotta say…you're not what I expected for an Unspeakable," said Sirius, dealing out the cards yet again. "Thought they were a bit more…"

"More straight-laced?" Diana finished with a smile "A bunch of stick-in-the-muds?"

"I was going to say conservative, but yeah," said Sirius. "Can't have a bunch of loose cannons handling the the most precarious forms of magic, can they?"

"Do you consider me a loose cannon?"

"In the most flattering way, I assure you," said Sirius with a cheeky grin. "I can only think that if James and I were to have ever stepped foot in the Department of Mysteries, we would have blown something up within hours and threatened the very fabric of existence."

Diana laughed. "There are some fuddy-duddies as you described, but often when you work under such harsh regulations and in such secrecy it's natural to go a little crazy in other areas of your life. I know one Unspeakable who lets loose by partaking in Muggle skydiving once a month."

They were each studying their cards now. Ravenmoon glanced at Diana's hand, then let out a few barks. To Sirius's utter astonishment, Diana responded in kind, emitting similar barks and growls that he could not understand. Sirius's jaw dropped.

"You're a Lunalmouth!" he gasped.

Diana nodded absentmindedly, as though this trait was of no real importance.

"But they're really rare! Just as rare as Parselmouths!"

She hummed.

"Blimey, Remus never told me that."

"Well, he couldn't, could he? We didn't find out until I was ten years olds, and by that time you…"

Diana stopped mid-sentence and lowered her gaze, suddenly fascinated with the design of the rug beneath them.

"By that time I was in Azkaban," Sirius finished for her.

"Yes…" said Diana quietly.

"So…how did you find out?" asked Sirius, trying to steer the conversation towards something happier.

Diana bit her lip. "Well…in was Christmas Eve 1981. Remus was still grieving his losses. Dad and I did the best we could, but he was inconsolable. I don't even remember what I had done, exactly, maybe dropped a tray full of eggnog and Remus started to yell at me. I knew he wouldn't hurt me, but I'd never seen him that way before. I ran out of the house and into the neighboring woods. Then they came…a whole pack of wolves. 'It's the Man-Wolf's kin,' I remember the Alpha said. They led me to some berries to eat, a creek to drink. By nightfall, my father and Remus had come searching for me. The Alpha asked me if I wanted to go back, and I said yes, so they escorted me home.

"You can imagine their shocked expressions when I showed with an entourage of five wolves. Some of them were itching to attack Remus, sensing that he had been the cause of my distress, but I called them off. My father was so pleased, gushing about my special ability. Remus, on the other hand, didn't have much to say. I think he just wanted me to be normal, and didn't like that I had such a…shall we say…wolfish attribute."

Sirius listened to her story intently. Sirius remembered how desperately Remus wanted Diana to be normal, from the moment that the owl had come to Gryffindor tower announcing that he was a big brother. He never wanted her to be burdened because of him or anything that would make abnormal.

"But he obviously came 'round," said Sirius, gesturing to Ravenmoon. "Decided to let you embrace your 'inner wolf' as it were…"

"True, years later…"

She laid down a straight flush in diamonds.

"Looks like you get the honor of banishing the ghoul from the attic."

"Bullocks!"

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Author's Notes: And that's the second installment to our epic tale! Leave a review to let me know what you think!

When I first read Chamber of Secrets and learned that Harry could talk to snakes, I thought for sure that this ability wasn't limitd to just snakes and that we would eventually meet other witches and wizards who possessed a similar gift being able to communicate with different animals. Sadly, that never came, but the thought stayed in my head.