Hiya all! Thank you very much to all who are reviewing this fic (thanks, abigail, glad you are liking it). And to all those who are reading - there are a steady number of hits to each chapter so I know people are following this. I challenge you to review!! I dare you!

Wow, Kate copped some abuse last chapter (not surprising really as I wanted to smack her around a bit). You are all really protective of our werewolf. Hopefully, some of her thought process will be explained this chapter.

Disclaimer: I own it all! I'm really JKR and I write fan fiction (you all read the DH epilogue, didn't you? FF at its worst!). I'm kidding - I do not own a sexy werewolf or the world he lives in. I just make him bounce from Sirius' bed to mine...ah, I mean, my characters. Hehehe...(looks shiftily from side to side hoping no one noticed her slip).

Chapter Ten

Benji's dead?

Remus' mouth fell open and he couldn't stop himself looking over at Kate, who he could now see was pale and, as she turned to him, eyes full of pain, he saw the bruises on her face.

'What happened?' he asked, sliding into the chair next to her.

'We were outnumbered - again,' Moody growled, slamming his hand down on the table, making Kate and Remus jump.

He stood up, pacing the kitchen. 'We are getting cut down one by one…They are too strong…'

Alastor,' Dumbledore said calmly, standing also. 'Perhaps this is a conversation we can have elsewhere. I think that Kate should go and lay down right now…'

Remus looked at her, she did indeed seem even whiter than she'd been just a minute before.

'She will be staying here the night, Remus,' Albus said, reaching over and squeezing Kate's hand. 'She has been through an ordeal these last few days and she's had a shock - I do not want her to be alone.'

'She won't be,' Remus said softly.

Albus looked at the young man and his light blue orbs saw far more than Remus was aware of as his feelings for Kate were laid completely bare, written all over his face. Dumbledore nodded then the three men left, leaving the couple alone.

'Kate,' he said, touching her chin carefully. 'Are you hurt? Do you need potions?'

She turned to him and nodded. 'The pain potion Alastor gave me is wearing off,' she said, her voice hoarse.

Remus jumped up and pulled the box of potions from the kitchen cupboard, searching for the correct vial. 'Here,' he said, holding it out and she took it with a grateful smile and a quiet thank you.

After she'd swallowed it, he pulled another vial from the box before closing the lid and standing up. 'Come on,' he said, taking her arm. 'You can shower and I'll find you something else to wear.'

When she stood up, he could see the ingrained dirt all over her, and she obviously hadn't washed in a day or two, dried sweat sticking to her skin, giving her an odour that was far from her usual citusy scent.

'I must stink,' she muttered as they walked up the stairs and he chuckled.

'I've known you to smell sweeter,' he teased lightly.

He lit the lamps in the bathroom, getting a good look at her for the first time in the light. 'Shit,' he exclaimed, realising not all the filth on her clothes was dirt - a lot of it was blood. 'Is that your blood?'

Kate looked down and was horrified. 'Hell,' she mumbled, brushing at the stains. 'I didn't know…' Her movements became frantic and she pulled her jacket off quickly.

'Kate..'

'It's not all mine,' she said desperately, pulling her shirt off roughly. 'It's Benjy's…God!'

'It's ok,' Remus said, voice faltering when he saw the newly healed cuts over her torso, the vicious bruising around her neck. 'Jesus.'

Her breathing was coming fast and ragged as she struggled to get her soiled jeans off as quickly as she wanted. 'I found him,' she gasped, panic etched into her face. 'What was left of him…they k...killed him…they cut him up into little p…pieces…GOD!'

She screamed the last word and Remus steadied her as she lost her balance, twisting and struggling to get the bloody clothes off. She clung to him, suppressed sobs shaking her as he sank to the ground, holding her tightly to him.

'It's ok,' he whispered, more frightened by her uncharacteristic loss of control than he had been facing those Death Eaters. 'Katie, it's alright. I'm here; I've got you.'

She let out a wail of grief, a terrible sound that sent a chill down Remus' spine and then she held him close to her as she buried her face in his chest and cried.

It was an hour before she appeared in the door way of his bedroom. After she had gotten herself back under control, she'd thrown him out of the bathroom so she could shower. Now, still a little damp with only a towel wrapped around her, she appeared and his heart leapt dangerously at the mere sight of her.

Uh oh.

'I, um, I'll take the spare room down the hall if that's alright,' she said softly and he stood up.

'I don't…if you want you could stay in here,' he said hastily. 'With me…'

'Remus,' she whispered, lip trembling again. 'I don't want to be alone tonight but I don't need a lover. I need a friend…'

'Kate,' he said, moving swiftly to stand before her. 'I can be whatever you want me to be, whatever you need me to be. Just…'

He sighed and frowned a little. 'Just let me be here for you.'

Kate bit her shaking lip then nodded.

Remus smiled and said, 'Let me get you something to wear.' He turned his back as she changed into a long shirt of his and crawled into bed.

'This is a potion for dreamless sleep,' he told her, sitting down next to her and handing her the familiar potion before she laid down. 'I drink it sometimes after transformations if the pain potions don't work well enough. Drink it, Kate.'

She took it from him but before she drank she looked up at him, saying, 'Thank you. For…being a friend. Am…am I making you uncomfortable by asking you to stay with me?'

'I was never going anywhere,' he admitted with a little smile. 'Even if I had to sleep on the floor outside the door.'

Something flickered across her eyes as she looked at him and her tentative smile faded a little.

She looked down at the vial and murmured, 'Happy Valentine's Day, Remus,' before she raised the potion to her lips and drank.

It worked instantaneously, the vial rolling off the bed and clinking onto the wooden floor as she fell back onto the pillows. Remus shifted her into a more comfortable position then stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed next to her. He locked the door with his wand, not wanting anyone finding them together, then lay down, staring at her now peaceful face.

An ache began in his chest and he frowned, fearing his earlier suspicions were correct.

I'm worried about her. That's all this is.

But another voice deep down in his gut said that this was more than mere concern for a friend, more than a casual relationship, more than awesome sex.

This was something much scarier than an encounter with a Death Eater…this could possibly be the most frightening thing he had ever done.

He had fallen in love with her.

His eyelids fluttered a bit as he awoke the next morning, staring blankly for a second before he realised what he was looking at; or rather, who he was looking at.

'Morning,' Kate whispered and he smiled, stretching an arm over his head.

'Morning,' he mumbled, trying to stifle his yawn. 'Did you sleep alright? No dreams?'

'Well, if I did, I don't remember them,' she said softly. 'Remus, thank you. I…I was a complete and utter bitch last time I saw you and you would have been perfectly within your rights to just leave me to my own devices last night but you didn't. You were the friend I really needed so…thank you and...I'm sorry I treated you so badly.'

Remus looked worried and touched her bruised cheek lightly. 'I would never have left you, Katie,' he said gently. 'Not while you needed me.'

She could feel her face go red and she wasn't sure if it was because she wasn't used to apologising or whether it was because of the way he was looking at her - like he knew about the turmoil that was whirling around inside her.

When she'd woken half an hour earlier, the first thing she saw was his face, weak sunlight streaking across it, accentuating the scars etched into his skin. She wanted to reach out and touch them but restrained herself, reluctant to wake him. It wasn't till then, until her hand twitched to touch him, that she realised he was holding her hand, their fingers entwined, and it frightened her that it looked so natural, so right to see his long digits weaved with hers.

The month long mission she'd just returned from had taken its toll on her physically and emotionally. They'd been hunting Death Eaters in Europe, sleeping rough and rarely as they tried to find their hide outs, catch them unawares and take them into custody to be questioned about the Dark Lord. In general, these men and women were cowards - the weak seeking the protection of a bully who was bigger and stronger. Many were in over their heads and cracked at the first application of pressure but some…some were militant - like the Death Eater's they'd stumbled upon earlier today.

Considering how bad it could have been - five against…well, she'd counted nine but she wasn't sure - they had had gotten off lightly. Benji was the only death but certainly not the only injury. Kate shifted carefully, trying to ease the pressure on her still aching ribs. She was one of the most easily repaired - cuts, bruises and broken bones her only injuries. Some were far worse off - the Death Eater's breaking their minds as well as their bodies and the mind is a far more difficult thing to fix, the brain a mysterious organ…one, Kate knew, that does not always allow us to erase that which we desperately want to forget.

Like the sight of a wand pointed between your eyes, malicious laughter ringing in your ears when your antagonist sees the panic in your face; the image of a colleague screaming in agony while you are helpless to stop her pain; the memory of finding a friend in bits - scattered across the room like puzzle pieces thrown by a petulant child. These are things the brain should let you forget lest the memories drive you insane but, alas, sometimes the mind will not allow these visions to be expunged. Perhaps it is for the best - the memories can serve to remind those who are losing hope, like herself, of what it is they are fighting for.

She focused again on Remus' face. He had seen so much pain in his life already - he shouldn't have to be here, watching people around him die, fighting and possible losing his own life. He was young - he should be chasing girls, looking for a job, drinking with his mates. Instead, he'd been dragged into a war not of his generation's making and he was here; this teenager, and he was doing things to her heart that no one had ever done before.

He was making her care about him; making her need him.

So it was unfortunate that part of her job description was not caring about her colleagues, not developing feelings for those who fought alongside her and, as she wasn't about to give up this fight, and she knew Remus was too damn stubborn to give up, she could not allow these burgeoning, forbidden emotions to develop any further.

She could not allow herself to get closer to him, to fall even harder for him because the people she loved the most always left; physically disappeared, emotionally withdrew, and she would hurt again. She would left behind to bleed to death from those old wounds if they were opened once again.

The people she loved always left.

That's why she couldn't love, hadn't loved since she was ten years old.

She wouldn't love him.

She would do her job; hide behind her job like she always did.

It would protect her; stop her falling over the edge into the unknown.

But when Remus opened his blue eyes and smiled at her, her resolve disappeared like ice in the hot summer sun - strong, solid until the warm rays hit and melted it into a puddle.

'Do you want to talk about what happened?' he asked gently and she shook her head.

'No, you'll hear all about it at the briefing,' she whispered. 'No need to go through it twice.'

Remus smiled, understanding. His hand tightened for a moment around hers then his eyes fell to her throat and he winced when he saw the mottled black marks there.

'Who did this?' he asked, reaching across the space between them and stroking the back of his index finger over the bruising.

'Antonin Dolohov,' she answered with a frown. 'He's a nasty piece of work.'

Remus' frown deepened when he realised the darker black marks were from the pressure of fingertips digging into her flesh, into her windpipe.

'I'm alright,' she told him, seeing the combined anger and distress on his face. 'It's part of the job.'

He tried to smile, nodding as he shifted, pushing the corner of the pillow under his head so he could see her face properly.

'Why did you want to be an Auror?' he asked and she looked surprised.

'I…my dad was an Auror - he worked with Moody, helped train him actually,' she said a little haltingly. 'He would tell my older sister and I all about his adventures when we were little. My sister, Jess, grew out of it…became more interested in boys than dad's stories but I was…transfixed. I could sit all day and listen to the tales of him and his team fighting the bad guys and I decided I wanted to be just like them.'

She smiled a little sadly at him, her fingers absently playing with his as she spoke. 'He was killed when I was ten…bad guys won that day.'

Remus moved a little closer, closing his fingers over hers and sliding his foot between her smaller ones.

'I know what it's like to lose a parent,' he said softly. 'I'm sorry, Katie.'

Her forehead creased a little and she whispered, 'My dad called me Katie. He was the only one…it sounded so strange coming from anyone else but when he said it…it was warm and comforting and ok.'

'I didn't realise,' Remus said quickly. 'I'm sorry. I won't call you it again…'

'No, it's alright,' she murmured, face flushing as the words slipped out before she could halt them. 'It…it's fine. It sounds…it doesn't sound strange when you say it.'

She was looking at his chest but when he put his hand on her cheek lightly, she lifted her gaze, meeting his.

'Thank you,' he said then his thumb shifted to trace along the edge of her bottom lip. 'Kate, I know you said you needed a friend but…'

'Please kiss me,' she whispered, hating how weak and desperate her voice sounded but more than anything, she needed to feel his lips on hers.

He did as she asked, his lips meeting hers gently, their kiss soft, tender as they carefully tasted and explored each other's mouths in a way they hadn't taken the time to do before. He moved so he was touching her from mouth to toes, every inch of their bodies tingling in awareness. Breathing became heavy then suddenly, Remus pulled away, groaning a little as he rolled onto his back and threw an arm across his eyes.

'What's wrong?' Kate asked huskily and he groaned again at the obvious desire in her voice.

'As much as I want you…and I do want you very, very badly…I can't do this.' He moved his arm and rolled back towards her, chewing at the inside of his mouth as he stared at her.

'I really like you and I don't want this to be a casual fling. I know you're worried about Moody and Dumbledore finding out and I know we can't tell anyone that we're together but…I want to be able to call you mine, Kate - even if it's only you that hears it.'

Kate pulled her hand from his and sat up, drawing her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them.

'I…I don't know,' she said, dragging her fingers through her hair and urging herself to say no, to say it was never going to happen but the sentences fell apart as they reached her tongue. 'God help me, Remus, I feel like some kind of pervert but... I like you too. But it could never work out. Relationships between people who work together in these types of situations…they don't work. It's too dangerous for everyone - you lose perspective when you care about someone.'

Remus sat up, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. 'You care about me?' he asked and she made a frustrated noise in her throat when she realised what she had said.

He chuckled in delight (she cares about me!) and reached out, taking her hand again. 'Katie, just give it a chance. Give us a chance.'

Kate bit her lip, tempted - so very tempted - to say yes but…

'I need to think about it,' she told him, sliding out of bed and hoping that next time, she'd be strong enough to say no. 'I'm not sure…'

'About me?' he asked, standing up beside her. 'You're not sure about me? How you feel?'

Kate let out a breath. 'I'm not sure about anything,' she admitted, looking at him then shaking her head. 'I'm too old for you, Remus; I'm too damaged by this job; I'm too dangerous - anyone involved in my life will be at risk…'

'I don't care,' he said insistently. 'Katie, I don't care about the age difference - it's not even six years, and…I'm a werewolf. I know all about being broken, about being damaged. I'm dangerous. Are you willing to take me as I am?'

She was silent for a moment then repeated, 'I need to think about it.'

His apprehension must have shown on his face and before she could stop herself, she leaned forward and kissed him lightly.

'I'll think fast.'

A smile broke his serious expression and Kate surprised herself by smiling as well.

She didn't have a clue what she was doing here but for the first time in her life, she thought that whatever it was between them might be worth taking the chance on, that a life with Remus might be worth the risk of leaping over that edge without looking first and just hoping that everything would be alright.

Maybe, this time, she'd found someone who wouldn't leave.

Worth reviewing? No? What if I promise smut next chapter? Wow, look at your cursor race to that blue button...