Title: A Wolf by Any Other Name

Summary: AU, Multi-chaptered. Remus goes undercover in Voldemort's army. This chapter, Sariah has a confrontation, Peter is a bastard, Sirius voices concerns, and Remus gets in trouble.

Rating: M

Warnings: Language, graphic violence.

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, J.K. Rowling does.

A/N: This chapter kinda came out of nowhere, but I needed it so I could set up some events that are occurring in later chapters. This story is almost taking on a life of it's own, and I'm having some difficulty keeping it going where I want it to go. This chapter was me working out some kinks in the storyline.

Thanks, as always, to everyone who's reviewing. You guys make my day :) I'll try to have the next installment up in a few days. Enjoy!

Chapter 6

Early July

Sariah had been called to Remus' rooms again last night, this time to heal a cracked skull and dislocated shoulder, and she had decided that enough was enough.

"Igor, how nice to see you." The wizard drew a startled breath and tried not to jump when a cool voice spoke to him as he passed a hidden alcove of the castle. He looked wildly around for a moment before spotting the source of the voice—that unsettling vampire Voldemort liked to keep around.

Karkaroff turned to face her, smiling tightly. His otherwise calm demeanor was betrayed by the nervous way his hand went to his belt to toy with his wand.

"Can I help you, Sariah? I thought you told me that interacting with you was unnecessary."

"Ah, and there we have it," responded the woman, unfolding herself from the wall, and moving much too close to the wizard for his comfort. "I believe it has become necessary."

Leaning in even closer, she spoke softly into his ear. "Are you aware that I am acquainted with a Mr. Remus Lupin? Because I am—we work quite closely. And frankly, I have become… concerned about the state of his health of late."

Karkaroff gulped. Yes, last night he might have a gone a tad too far… had been exceptionally… forceful… but why should this vampire care about a worthless werewolf?

Her inscrutable eyes were watching him closely.

"You are wondering why I am involving myself. Well, Igor," the grin that accompanied her drawn out pronouncement of his name was entirely too white and sharp for his liking. Karkaroff wasn't able to stop the tremor that ran through his body as he unconsciously tried to sidle away from her.

"Mr. Lupin has developed a distressing pattern," the vampire continued, running her tongue lightly over her teeth. "After every interaction he has with you, he, for some reason, ends up being unable to perform his duties for several days.

"With this latest injury, he will be out of commission until the next full moon. This is… stressful for me, especially when the Dark Lord has recently put me in charge of gathering information and coordinating the movements of his wolf packs."

She moved even closer to the man, forcing him to take a backward step. Sariah smiled to herself—her vampire instincts were loving this, screaming at her to bite into the soft flesh that was so tantalizingly close… She took a stabilizing breath, not wanting to give in to this urge.

"With Remus unable to perform his duties, I am down a key player. He was negotiating the introduction of a particularly large pack into our ranks. Over twenty wolves." She paused dangerously, taking an unnecessary breath and letting Karkaroff feel her exhalation on his neck.

"You have interrupted this process."

"I-I'm… ah… I apologize. I-I didn't realize how… ah… critical he was to your, um… operations."

The vampire closed her eyes, and let her fangs trail softly along Karkaroff's jugular. He flinched, and tried to control the sudden urge to run away screaming.

"Well, now you know. And if Remus does choose to return to your bed, you are to… only be as forceful as he desires. To make myself clear—if I see much as another scrape on my wolf, you will answer to me. I assure you, Lord Voldemort will continue to make use of you—whether you serve him as a human or a vampire is your decision."

She abruptly turned and glided away, leaving a pale and trembling Igor Karkaroff behind.

OoOoOoO

Peter Pettigrew was scurrying through the maze of halls that made up Voldemort's castle. He hated having to come here and show his face. Hated the looks he got from Voldemort's inner circle, hated the fear he felt, hated that he had chosen the easy way out and betrayed his friends.

He wondered if Remus was staying here. Maybe they could talk, share some drinks—it could almost be like old times, without James and Sirius, of course. It wasn't like he had any other friends among the Death Eaters, and he had become an animagus for the man. Well, more like James had suggested it, and he had gone along… but still.

The werewolf probably thought he was pathetic, sneaking around and hiding from the rest Death Eaters. Remus had been brave enough to leave and openly declare his allegiance, something Peter could never do. Hell, he didn't know if Remus was even aware he also worked for Voldemort.

He'd never say anything to any of the others, but Peter still thought it strange that Remus had switched sides. Everyone here seemed to take it for granted—werewolves had been promised more rights under Voldemort, so it only made sense to align with him. But Remus had seemed so dedicated… Peter guessed that was how a real spy did it—throw yourself fully onto one side, but when the time was right, switch back. He only wished he could be that brave.

Speaking of the man—Peter glanced down into a shadowy courtyard, and spied the werewolf, curled up on a bench, book in hand. He opened his mouth to call out, but his courage failed him, and he hovered in a shadow, watching his old friend.

Remus was staring at a book, but not reading—Peter craned his neck, trying to see what the other man was looking at. It was a picture… of Sirius? He suddenly felt terrible for the werewolf. Was Remus still pining after him? It must have been hard to leave him. At least Peter didn't have a relationship to screw up by choosing one side or the other—of this is was grateful.

He made up his mind to try to find Remus the next time he came in, maybe try to offer some comfort. Maybe he could tell him what Sirius was up to. But now… now he had things to do, and he wanted to get it over with.

He turned away and scuttled into the inner recesses of the castle, not noticing when Remus looked up and caught the briefest hint of dirty flyaway hair and a rounded back.

Remus frowned at the space where the Someone had disappeared. There had been something familiar about them, something he couldn't place. But he wasn't thinking right, couldn't make connections. His head still ached.

He sighed, and looked down at the picture again. The Sirius in the snapshot was smiling at him, and as Remus smiled gently back, picture-Sirius put a hand over his heart and mouthed, "I love you." Tears clouded his eyes, and Remus forced himself to close the book. He stood unsteadily, and went to look for some breakfast.

Meanwhile, Peter was waiting nervously outside the doors leading to Voldemort's inner sanctum. He had something incredibly important to tell his Master.

He had started nervously rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet when the door swung open and he was beckoned inside by an exceedingly sour-looking Lucius Malfoy, who spared a contemptuous glare at him before exiting. Peter nervously closed the door behind him and went to kneel in front of an armchair where Voldemort was reclined.

"What is it, Wormtail? It has been an excruciatingly long night. Tell me you have something of use."

"I… bring news of a prophecy, my Lord. Given just hours ago. It-it's a bit disturbing, I thought you'd want to know…"

"Spit it out, then."

Peter pulled a scrap of parchment from his robe pocket, and unfolded it, stammering over the words he had hastily written.

"It's delivered through Sybil Trewlaney." Voldemort snorted. "But Dumbledore believes it is real," Peter quickly added. "Um, it says:

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh moon dies… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives… the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh moon dies…"

Peter gulped audibly when he finished. He looked up and into his Master's face.

Years of anger and the side effects of dark magic had played a toll on the body of the man who had been Tom Riddle. He had shaved his head when his lush black hair had turned mostly grey, and his once lively eyes were hard and dark. He was slightly too thin, and his hands were twisted, like they were constantly reaching for someone's neck to strangle.

From a distance, he still looked human, but when you got too close (and those that ended up that close rarely lived to tell others of their experience) you could see something… shifting, a gentle writhing of dark magic spells, just under his skin.

It was into this terrible face that Peter Pettigrew now peered, terrified. Lord Voldemort had gone extremely still.

Peter tried to speak for a moment, and found himself unable. He took a steadying breath, and tried again.

"Two witches I know of are due in July, and I am scouring for news of any others."

"Who are they?" Voldemort's voice was low and extremely dangerous.

"A-Alice Longbottom and Lily… Potter." Peter felt sick even saying her name.

"I see. Bring me news of any other July births, Wormtail. Now, leave me."

"Y-es, m-my Lord." He turned and scurried away.

OoOoOoO

"Hello?" Sirius called, poking his head in Lily and James' flat. He was greeted by a wand in his eye, and a very stern and heavily pregnant Lily.

"Tell me something only you would know…"

Sirius grinned at her. "In our sixth year, you were looking for Remus to help with Transfiguration homework and walked in on him giving me head in the Room of Requirement?"

"Ugh. Thanks so much for reminding me of that wonderful memory." She lowered her wand, a slightly pained expression crossing her face at the mention of Remus. She was honestly surprised that Sirius had brought him up at all. "Come in, then. I'll fix you a cuppa."

"Ta, Lils. Is James around? I wanted to talk to both of you."

"He's finishing packing. Crazy man, planning a move when I'm about to burst…" she grumbled good-naturedly, before raising her voice. "James! Sirius is here!"

She waddled around the cramped kitchen, boiling water and fixing the tea, which she poured into three mugs, expertly fixing it to each person's taste. Two squirts of honey for her, one for James, and, well, black for Sirius.

She handed him his cup as James walked in, brushing dust off his hands onto his muggle jeans. "Hey, Sirius! How goes the good fight?"

"Better. We've had a bit of luck recently. We're getting intelligence from somewhere…"

"Certainly not from you," Lily interjected.

"The wit on this one," he said dryly. "No, actually… I wanted to talk to you two about that…" he trailed off, suddenly nervous. He'd come over here planning on talking to the Potters about his suspicions that Remus' defection hadn't been what it seemed… but what if he was seeing things that weren't there? He just so desperately wanted…

Sirius shook his head to clear it. He needed to talk to someone about this, and there was no one better than his best friends.

"Right to the point, then," he muttered, eliciting confused looks from James and Lily. "I-I think that Remus is a spy."

There was a beat of silence, and then an incredibly uncomfortable look appeared on James' face.

"Sirius… we, ah, know he's a spy. He gave the Death Eaters information about us… the Prewitts barely escaped…"

"Not a spy for the Death Eaters, you daft—" Sirius slammed his cup down on the table, causing both Potters to jump slightly. "I think he went undercover for us. I think he's the one passing us all this information we've been getting.

"It makes sense, you know? The sudden influx of actual intelligence just happened to start a month or so after Remus left. Plus, Dumbledore basically told me he has spies in with the Death Eaters, and a couple months ago I…" he paused. He hadn't told anyone he had seen Remus a few months ago in the Beacons.

"The night I fought Greyback," he said, backtracking slightly, "I ran the moors afterward. I… sort of… stumbled upon Remus right after he changed back. He was talking to… a woman… who was taking care of him, and he sounded… bad. Depressed, and angry at the Death Eaters."

James and Lily were staring at him with wide eyes and open mouths. If the conversation hadn't been so serious, Sirius would have teased them at how much they resembled one another.

"You-you saw Remus and didn't tell anyone?" Lily suddenly asked, her voice slightly shriller than usual.

"I guess I didn't really think—I mean, it wasn't that important. It's not like he said anything compromising." He glared down at his cooling tea, suddenly wishing he had never said anything.

The Potters shared a look.

"Sirius," James said slowly, "you know that we wish Remus hadn't…" he waved a hand. "done what he did… as much as you. It was a shock, truly… but there's nothing to prove that he's still… on our side. I don't want you getting your hopes up. I know you miss him…"

"Miss him?" Sirius interjected, suddenly furious. "I've loved him since we were thirteen. I think 'miss' doesn't quite capture the extent of how I feel about him. And I know him better than anyone—I'm telling you, something is not right here."

Lily suddenly reached out and grasped Sirius' hand. "If you think this, I believe you. What do you think we should we do?" She ignored the incredulous look her husband was giving her.

"I don't know. Nothing, I guess. I just wanted to see if I sounded crazy. If you think I'm not… I guess I'm going to start patrolling the Beacons on full moon nights. Try to find him."

James made an aggravated noise. "You'll be killed. Don't you remember your encounter with Greyback? If we hadn't shown up—" he made an angry abortive gesture with his hand.

"Of course I remember, Prongs. But don't you think this worth looking into? It's Remus…"

Lily nodded immediately, and James reluctantly followed suit a moment later.

OoOoOoO

Remus was determined to earn the respect of Greyback's pack. And with these animals, there was only one way to do that.

This was the reason that when Remus shifted back to his human form after the latest full, the first thing he did was spit out a chunk of fur, and wipe blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.

Fenrir's second in command, a man named Louis, was lying dead at his feet, throat torn out. Remus growled at the rest of the pack, who were gathered around him in a loose circle, most still panting in pain from the transformation.

"Anyone else want to question me?" he ground out, through the ache of his newly-rearranged bones. "I can kill you as a human, too." No one answered him—in fact, no one looked him in the eye, except for Greyback, who approached, grinning.

"I always knew you'd amount to something, Lupin. Congratulations on your promotion."

Remus nodded stiffly, the bile rising in his throat as the full impact of what he had done swept over him. His acting was getting stronger, though, so the only reaction he showed was to turn a bloody, toothy smile on Fenrir.

"I'll celebrate with the pack tonight. Dinner and drinks, my treat. Now, I'd like to get this bastard's blood out of my mouth."

The pack laughed at that, and made happy by promises of free food and alcohol, cheered their new second in command. Remus nodded one more time to Greyback, and turned on his heel, Disapparating.

The second he materialized in his room, he threw up in a nearby bin, and then stared, aghast, as his stomach emptied itself of more fur, blood, and what looked suspiciously like a wolf's ear.

That had gone much too far. He had only meant to show he wasn't afraid of confrontation—not take over as second.

Right before the change, he had pointedly insulted Louis' lineage—the man had been a muggle before he was bitten—and while Remus had anticipated a tussle once they were changed, he never imagined that Louis would take it as an all-out power play.

They'd spent most of the night trying to kill one another, and somehow Remus had come out on top—not that he had emerged unscathed. His right arm was hanging uselessly, with muscles and bone torn and broken in his shoulder. He had also very nearly had his own throat ripped out, and he winced as he felt at the raw and bleeding area.

Those were the worst of his injuries, but by no means all of them. He was covered in countless abrasions, tears, slices, and oozing wounds. This was going to take forever to heal.

He awkwardly took up his wand with his left hand and muttered "Expecto Patronum." His dog-shaped Patronus—which he constantly told himself didn't look like a smaller version of Padfoot, not at all—immediately shot off, headed for Sariah. Remus badly needed help—he wouldn't be able to stay conscious long enough to perform healing spells on himself.

A few minutes later—no longer than ten, though to Remus, it felt like at least two hours had passed—there was a knock on the door, and after a brief pause during which Remus wondered if the vampire would know to come in on her own, because there was no way he was getting up from where he was puddled on the floor, the door swung open and the woman swept in.

She took in his collapsed form, and minutely shook her head, while at the same time drawing her wand.

"I take it the night went badly. Your plan to aggravate Louis worked too well?"

Remus grunted in affirmation, to sore to speak quite yet. The vampire rolled her eyes, and began to work on fixing his neck and shoulder. After about twenty minutes of silent work, she sat back on her heels and fixed Remus in her gaze.

"So what happened tonight? Not all this blood is yours…"

Remus suddenly appeared to find the pattern on the carpet was exceedingly interesting. Sariah ground her teeth.

"I told you something bad would happen. You don't need the pack's support—you need them to leave you alone! So what did you go and do?"

Remus finally looked up at her, and the anger flew from her face when she saw how miserable he was. She reached out and pulled him into her arms, mumbling apologies.

"I killed him. I didn't have a choice, he was going to kill me, and then he went for my throat and even though I took the wolfsbane I could feel the anger and I couldn't stop myself and I—" Remus broke off his rapid-fire sentence, a sob racking his body. "I killed him. Now I'm Greyback's second and I'm no better than any of them. I'm a monster."

"No, no, you're not a monster. You did what you had to…" Sariah said softly, holding the shaking man to her chest. "It's ok, I have you…"

She continued to whisper comfort to him long into the night, but privately, she mourned at the ease which he had fallen into his role as a murderer.

A/N: Remus, what did you do? (Spoiler: It'll be ok)