Red Horizon
Chapter 10 – Evil scheme.
DISCLAIMER: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon, and Harry Potter to J.K. Rowling. I don't own anything…
RATING: PG-13 (T) to R (M) - violence, language, angst, horror, mild sexual interactions, etc. If you can watch BTVS/AtS and read HP, I doubt you'll have any problem with this story.
TIMELINE: Takes place after season two in BTVS, and after the marauders last year at Hogwarts. Sequel to "Out of the Blue."
SUMMARY: BTVS/HP crossover. After Graduation, Buffy's life takes another turn once again. She finds herself being thrown into war against Voldemort along with her friends, and not everyone will make it out alive...and not everyone is loyal to the light. But who is a friend and who is an enemy? Who can you trust in a time of darkness?
CENTRAL PAIRING: Buffy/Remus
OTHER PAIRINGS: James/Lily, Sirius/Eliza
Special Thanks to: My Beta - CharmedChick
Remus grinned as James let out a whoop of joy as he got sight of the wand-serving-kit he and Buffy had bought for him, along with a wand-holster and 'Auror 101: Everything you need to know about pranking dark wizards', which was new on the parody book-market...although both he and Buffy had had the feeling James would take it rather seriously.
"Thanks Moony, Buffy. This is great! I love my birthday!"
Lily rolled her eyes, and leaned over to whisper in Buffy's ear.
"Of course he thinks it's great - he ruined his own serving-kit last week - he sat on it."
Buffy let out a snort of laughter, and James frowned at them.
"What's so funny?"
This only made Buffy and Lily start giggling.
"Oh, come one, Prongsie-pooh!" Sirius exclaimed, interrupting them. "My present next!"
James gave his best friend a glare.
"Don't call me that," he muttered, but opened Sirius' present nonetheless.
"A...crystal ball?"
Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Of course not! Do you think I'm stupid? Don't answer that," he hastily added, as he saw James smirk.
"It's a dark arts detector," he continued. "Made to look unsuspicious. When someone you can't trust comes near it, like someone with the dark mark, it will be filled with this white smoke that will swivel around inside."
James grinned at his friend, even though he personally thought that if the detector was supposed to look unsuspicious, a crystal ball might not be the best object since James had hated Divination while in school. Still, it could be, and probably would be, useful.
"Thanks, Paddy," James said.
"You're welcome, Prongsy," Sirius said. "Next up - Peter."
Peter gave James his rather small gift with a shaky hand.
"I bought it in a...I think it's called soupernit-shop while I was in Australia," he said.
"Souvenir-shop, Peter," Lily corrected with a smile. Peter shrugged with a sheepish smile, even though he felt like throwing up. He wanted to get out of this company, as soon as possible. They made him sick. Nobody noticed how the crystal ball's inside was quickly being filled with smoke.
"I saved it specially for you,"Peter added, hoping his smile didn't look all too fake.
James grinned at his friend. His grin quickly turned into a frown as he picked up his present.
"Umm...Wormtail...what is this?"
The object was formed like a very wide 'v', with round edges, and was completely lime green to the colour. It hurt to look at it.
"It's called a 'bumerung'," Peter said.
"Boomerang," Lily automatically corrected. Peter gave the redhead a grateful look, although he was boiling inside. Damn mud-blood. Always perfect.
"Well, what does it do?" James asked, looking at the boomerang in all angles, desperately trying to figure it out. "What's it good for?"
"You throw it away, and it will return to you," Peter explained.
"Cool! Is it magic?" James asked, throwing away the boomerang. It landed several feet away on the floor. He frowned.
"I think it's broken."
The others snickered.
"It's not broken. It has to do with how you throw it - it's all about technique." Lily said kindly, and summoned the boomerang back. "Try again."
James did try again, with the same result.
Lily shrugged.
"I'm sure you'll get the hang of it eventually."
She quickly got engaged in a conversation with the others, while James kept practising with the boomerang, summoning it back after each time.
Peter sighed as he watched his 'friends.' Once upon a time, he looked up to these people. Why, he'd never know. He was so bored, and wanted to get out of here...Lucius and Severus Snape was a much better company. He remembered the day the trap had been set up for the Order. Voldemort had after Peter had told him Caradoc Dearborn was a spy for Dumbledore, been thinking up different plans to use him in the best way, before killing him. The trap was one of those plans...although it had failed. But Voldemort was sure they'd get the chance again.
During that day, Peter had been on his first mission, along with Severus and some other junior Death Eaters, torturing muggle-borns. Peter had loved the sound of his victims screaming as he tortured them to death. He remembered one special victim. A young girl, called Alyssa. She had been so small...so vulnerable. Peter had made her watch as he and his friends tortured and killed her parents, before slowly breaking her. He had used every pain curse he could come up with. First the Cruciatus - her screams had been like heaven to his ears. Then came the bone-breaking curse, cutting hexes, burning-hexes, bludgeoning curses, skin-removing curses...he was pretty sure the girl had died from the pain before he finally hit her with the killing curse. The smell from the blood and flesh around him...it made him be filled with adrenaline. He loved it.
Suddenly, he got sight of James' crystal ball. Its insides was completely filled with white, thick, smoke, and to Peter, it seemed as if the smoke was travelling outside the ball as well. His eyes widened, and he hastily moved towards it, putting it down in its box. Then, a thought hit him. What if James had the damn ball in sight next time Peter came to visit? No, the best thing would be to get rid of it completely. He quickly looked over his shoulder. The others were still busy. He took up his wand, and shrunk the box, before putting it in his pocket, hastily turning back. Nope. Nobody had noticed a thi -
" - OUCH!"
Everyone quickly looked up from their conversation to stare at James.
"James, what's wro - " Lily burst out laughing. James was sitting on the middle of the floor, glasses broken and askew, rubbing his nose tenderly. The lime green boomerang was lying in front of his feet.
"What happened?" Lily got out between her laughter, even though she could easilyguess.
James glared at his wife and snickering friends.
"That bloody bonnyrung finally turned back to me...and hit me on the nose!"
The laughter grew louder.
"It's not funny!" James snapped.
"Oh, it is, Prongs," Remus chuckled. "It's very funny."
James humphed and took off his glasses, repairing them, and put them back on.
"I hate my birthday..." he grumbled.
Buffy grinned, but it faded as she got sight of Peter, standing among the presents. What was he doing?
"Peter?" Eliza asked, apparently noticing the same thing. "Why are you standing all alone over there?"
"Ehh..." Peter's eyes darted around nervously, as he noticed everyone's attention now was on him.
"I'm a bit tired, actually," he said quickly. "I think I'm going to go home...I just didn't want to disturb you, so I thought I'd just sneak out."
Buffy raised her eyes sceptically, but the others seemed to buy Peter's story.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Peter!" Lily said. "I won't stop you from going home if you're tired! We should have noticed."
"Yeah, mate," Sirius said. "Well, I hope I see you soon - it seems like you're disappearing more and more."
"Well, you know how it is," Peter said nervously. "You get more busy when you're older. I've got some jobs in several different places...you know, doing favours. And my mother's ill...and I think I'm starting to catch a cold."
"Oh, poor you..." Buffy muttered, but no one seemed to hear her sarcasm.
"Well, get better soon, Peter," James said. Peter nodded, before walking out of the room. Finally!
"Okay, so this is what we're gonna do," Buffy said, and leaned down to whisper in Eliza and Lily's ears. They immediately started to giggle.
"Are you serious?" Eliza said.
"No, but your boyfriend is," Lily joked. Eliza scowled.
"Oh, shut up. Okay, so we need...what exactly?"
"This!"
The girls got to work, all giggling.
Remus sighed, and looked up at the closed window at the second floor to Lily and James' cottage. He, Sirius and James was sitting outside, reading - well, Remus was reading, Sirius and James was flying - and they couldn't believe the girls preferred to be inside on a day like this. It was in the middle of May, and the sun was shining, and the birds chirping...and they all had a day off from their work and studies and had decided to meet up (except Peter, who had a bad case of a cold) - all in all a wonderful day, that should not be spent inside having girl talk and painting nails.
"Oi, Moony!" Sirius called. "Leave your boring book for awhile and join us in the air!"
Remus shook his head.
"The book is not boring," he said. "It's really interesting. It's about the history of elemental magic, and I really think it's very educational and - "
" - Blah, blah, blah," James finished with a laugh. "Come on! The book is not going to run off you know!"
Remus shook his head again, but couldn't help the small smile that was threatening to take over his lips.
"Fine," he relented. "Your wish is my command," he continued jokingly.
He had just gotten up and was on his way to summon a broom, when the girls came out, carrying a picnics basket. James and Sirius immediately forgot everything about flying and ran over to them.
"Food! Finally! I'm starving!" Sirius exclaimed. Eliza rolled her eyes.
"Easy, dog-boy," she said. "Let's go join Remus under the tree."
James and Sirius made a big scene of stomping over to where Remus had sat down again.
Buffy gave Eliza and Lily a wink as she served the food. They both had trouble to keep from laughing.
"Eat up, boys," Lily said with a grin. Sirius and James didn't need to be told twice. They practically devoured their sandwiches, while Remus took it a little easier, sipping on the cold pumpkin juice. Suddenly, he frowned, as his heightened sense of taste picked up something odd about it.
"Guys, I think - " He wasn't able to finish the sentence as he looked up and got sight of James and Sirius. Beside him, Buffy, Eliza and Lily were laughing so hard, that tears were formed in their eyes and ran down their cheeks.
"What?" James asked, but his eyes widened in horror as he heard his voice. It sounded... squeaky. Like professor Flitwick's. He hastily looked down, and let out a very unmanly scream of terror as he got sight of himself. He was dressed in a pink tutu, with bows and plastic flowers, and he seemed to have shrunk several inches. On top of all that, he was very make-up, although he himself couldn't see that.
Sirius turned around to look at his friend, and burst out laughing. It stopped however, as he himself realised James wasn't the only victim. He looked down, gulping slightly. His body was covered with a yellow sundress, and when he looked up, he understood why. He looked into the mirror, which Lily had conjured up, with horror.
"NO!" He screamed, and let his hands cover his pale, ghostlike face, which was surrounded by, long, greasy, black hair that smelled like something akin to rotten eggs, fish, and socks in deeply need of washing. He was a replica of Snape...A Snape in a yellow sundress and high-heels.
"NO!" Sirius screamed again, and got up, only to fall back down again, as he couldn't keep his balance in the shoes.
In the meantime, Remus was doing his best not to laugh at his friends. He himself had been turned into a female fairy, with wings and a white Gloria, dressed in a light blue bikini. However, James and Sirius seemed to be too busy with their own predicaments to notice, for which Remus was grateful. He hastily conjured up a big blanket, and covered himself in it, and got up to get into the house to change...only to find he was hovering gently over the ground.
He frowned, and tried to move forwards, but it didn't work. It seemed like his spiked drink had glued him to the spot - in the air.
Lily and Eliza were still on the ground laughing, but Buffy has got up and was busy snapping photos of James and Sirius. Then she got something wicked in her eyes.
"Remus, why don't you show us what you've got?" She teased, even though she knew perfectly well - after all, she was the one that had spiked his drink.
Now James and Sirius looked up as well, apparently realising they were not the only victims.
"Yes, Moony, show us," they chorused. Their eyebrows rose as they saw him soaring in the air.
"No," Remus said grumpily, drawing his blanket closer to him. "No way."
"Oh, come on!" James said. "We're not the only ones that should be suffering!"
Remus flushed angrily.
"No!" He said again.
"But that Gloria is so cute!" Eliza said between laughter.
"Yes, we want to see - are you an Angel, Remus?" Lily asked, all too innocently.
Sirius smirked and lifted his wand.
"Accio blanket!"
"NO!" Remus screamed, eyes widening, and he desperately tried to get hold of the blanket, but too late.
Sirius and James just stared at the flushing, bikini-dressed, female look-alike Remus for several seconds, before howling with laughter. Buffy quickly snapped a picture. Oh, how she loved blackmail material...
Almost a month later, Remus looked out of his bedroom window. During the summers he was living in his child-home, although he had remade it with the help of magic - all to erase the memories of finding his parents dead on the first floor.
He sighed, and looked at the clock tiredly. It was late, but he couldn't sleep. He felt...weird. He was tired...but restless. The full moon had been just yesterday, and being too tired to sleep was one of the side effects. Suddenly, he caught side of a shadow flying towards the window, and he hastily opened it to let the big bird inside. It was a big, black hawk.
The bird let out a screech, and dropped a letter in Remus' hands, before taking off.
Remus turned the letter around, and felt himself grow cold. There, staring up at him was a printed dark mark, just as green as in reality.
He dropped the letter to the ground, to burn it, but it was almost like it was calling to him...a voice urging him to read it. Remus backed away, but the voice seemed to grow louder and louder inside his head, screaming at him. Remus tried to cover his ears, to block out the sound, but it came from inside his mind - it wouldn't stop. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. He picked up the letter from the floor, opened it, took the black parchment and threw away the envelope.
His hands were shaking. The letter was written in...blood. Fresh, human-blood. Remus tried to cover his nose - due to being so close to the full-moon, his senses was even more heightened than normal...but he could still smell it. Inside him, the wolf seemed to awaken, lurking behind his eyes, trying to take over his mind. Remus wouldn't let it. He pushed the wolf back inside a corner of his mind, imagining it being locked up. He could hear it growling, trying to get out...but Remus ignored it, and turned his full-attention to the letter.
'This letter is a portkey.'
Remus eyes widened in shock as he read the words,but before he had a chance to throw the letter away, he felt a pull in his navel, and he disappeared.
He landed in a clearing. Where, he didn't know. He didn't care. He just wanted to get away.
"Don't move," a voice hissed, right beside his ear, and he felt a wand being pointed at his neck.
"Mr Lupin. I am so glad you decided to join us," an amused voice said.
Remus narrowed his eyes, his mind and senses now fully alert on his surroundings. The letter's manipulative nature - Remus was sure it had been cursed - no longer had an effect on him.
"Join you? Who are you?" He asked, hoping to buy himself some time, even though he knew perfectly well whom the voice belonged to.
It chuckled.
"Why, I thought you were so much smarter...I must say, you disappoint me."
A shadow stepped into the light.
Lord Voldemort.
"Voldemort," Remus growled.
"Right on one. I have an offer to give you."
"You do?" Remus said, working up every ounce of his Gryffindor courage, even though he felt far from brave. "Let me guess: You want me to join you in your evil scheme to take over the world."
Voldemort chuckled.
"Well, yes. But when you say it, it sounds insulting."
"That was my intent," Remus said, sneering.
Voldemort chuckled evilly again.
"Humour. That's good." His red eyes narrowed. "But not good enough. CRUCIO!"
Remus sank down to his knees, biting his lip, to keep from screaming.
'This is nothing,' he tried to tell himself. 'Nothing. Against transforming...this is nothing.'
For a while, this seemed to work, but the longer Voldemort kept the curse, the harder it became. Finally, he was no longer able to hold back, and a whimper escaped from his throat.
Voldemort lifted the curse.
"Have you had enough?" Voldemort hissed. Remus just glared up at him.
"Remus, Remus...can I call you Remus?"
"Can I call you arsehole?" Remus shot back.
"CRUCIO!"
This time, Remus was under the curse for several minutes. After what felt like forever, he started screaming...it was impossible not to scream. He felt the curse shoot pain through his bones, and he was pretty sure he felt one of his legs breaking. Finally, the pain stopped, and Remus fell down on the dirty ground, panting heavily.
"Is it worth it? The pain?" Voldemort asked, circling around him, his wand still pointed at his now bleeding form. Remus very much felt like throwing an insult, but his throat felt sore, and his voice wouldn't obey. And he didn't think it would be wise to put himself under another unforgivable, so he kept silent.
"I didn't think so," Voldemort mused. "You know, Remus, some things are worth pain. A world free from prejudices against werewolves for example...wouldn't that be nice?"
'Yeah, it would.' Remus thought. 'But if you think that I'm going to buy your coming pathetic story of righteousness and justice, then you're wrong.'
"I could give you that."
'I knew it.'
"If I came to power, Mr Lupin...Remus...we could have that world. You could have whatever you wanted. A job. Any girl you wanted."
'I have Buffy.'
"In my world, you would be so much better off. Don't you agree?"
"Go to hell," Remus said hoarsely, spitting out a stream of blood. His throat must be bleeding, from all his screaming.
Voldemort's eyes narrowed, and he sneered as he lifted his wand again.
"CRUCIO!"
Peter watched from behind his mask how Remus got put under the Cruciatus curse for the third time that night.
He felt an odd satisfaction at hearing his 'friend' scream. He had gotten everything Peter had wanted. Good grades...the girl. It was so unfair.
Still, he couldn't understand why Voldemort wanted Remus to join him. Why not just get information out of him, and then kill him?
"Master," he said.
Voldemort lifted the curse and turned towards him. Remus frowned. He was so closed to being unconscious, but the voice...something about the voice...he recognized it.
"Pettigrew," Voldemort sneered.
'Peter?'
"Can't you see I'm busy? Or can't you handle one of your 'friends' being tortured?"
"N-no, master, that's not it. I-I just don't understand w-why you're wasting time on him. I-I know Remus Lupin - he would rather die than join you."
For a second, one tiny second, he hoped Peter would get him out of this mess, and then have a very good explanation - maybe he was a spy too, like Caradoc. However, that hope was crushed as he heard Peter's next three words:
"So...just kill him."
Remus' eyes widened in shock. No...no this couldn't be...Peter wouldn't do this. Would he?
"I didn't ask for your opinion, Pettigrew!"
"But master - "
" - CRUCIO!"
Remus watched as the robed figure fell to the ground, the mask falling off, revealing the face of a screaming Peter Pettigrew. So it really was him. Why?
Remus thought he knew. Jealousy. It was all about jealousy, and need of power.
"M-master, listen to me," Peter got out as the curse was lifted. "He knows about me...you can't let him k-know..."
"You should have thought about that before you revealed yourself to your 'friend', Wormtail!" Voldemort snapped.
"Never the less, you are right." He moved closer to Remus again.
"However, I will not kill your friend...yet. I might have use for him later..." He conjured up a letter and placed it Remus outer-pocket. He smirked evilly.
"Master?" Peter questioned. "What are you doing?"
"It is my hope that...someone...will find that letter. If we are ever in need of someone to...blame...if something not goes according to plan...that letter should do it."
"I-I don't understand..."
"I didn't expect you to," Voldemort sneered. "I am still displeased at your interference, Pettigrew, but it might all have worked out for the best." He pointed his wand at Remus, who had tried to get to his feet, and muttered a spell, making Remus slump back to the ground, unconscious. Peter watched in shock as Voldemort then performed several healing spells on him. What was he doing?
"Severus, healing potions, please."
Severus Snape stepped out of the circle, and lifted up Remus' head, pouring down several potions down his throat, forcing him to swallow.
"W-why are you healing him, master?" Another Death Eater asked. For this, Peter was grateful. He was not sure he himself could work up enough courage to make another question. He knew where the line was, and Peter had a feeling he had already crossed it several times tonight. He was right.
"Fool! Don't question me! He must look normal - like nothing has happened to him. Obliviate!"
The spell hit Remus in the head, and he jerked for a second, then became still once again.
"He will have no memory of this night. Snape!"
"Yes, my lord?"
"I trust you will make sure Lupin gets home without any harm coming to him?"
"Yes, my lord."
"Good. Place the letter somewhere where it's hard to find...but not hard enough for not being able to be noticed."
"Yes, my lord."
"Good...good. Portus!" He gave Snape the portkey, and he bowed at Voldemort, before moving over to Remus, grabbing hold of his arm. Seconds later, they were gone.
Remus woke up with a yawn, before frowning at his surroundings.
'Strange,' he thought. 'I don't remember going to bed...'
He frowned again.
'In fact...I don't remember anything...what was I doing last night?'
He sat up, and groaned. He felt stiff all over. The last full moon must have been horrible...but he was pretty sure it had been rather easy. Something weird was going on...
He shook his head, shaking off the feeling as imagination and got up to make himself a cup of tea. As he stepped into the kitchen, he saw Buffy sitting there, reading the Daily Prophet.
"Hi!" She said, grinning. "I decided to make a surprise visit, but you were sleeping, so I decided to wait - hope you don't mind."
Remus grinned back.
"No, I definitely don't."
The day was looking up.
A/N: AND I'M BACK! Have you missed me? It has certainly been awhile since the last update, and for that, I am truly sorry! The only excuse I have is that I have been really busy with other stuff, and so has my beta. Anyway, I hope the chapter was worth the wait, and if you've got the time (please say you do), please read my new story "The Return of the Saviour", which is myfirst HP fanfic. I am rather disappointed at the lack of hits and feedback (as I'm rather proud of the story), so please review (If you want to see a wallpaper, go to my webpage). Again, all reviews will be answered individually, if you add your e-mail adress to them.
/Ida