This is a short chapter, written fairly quickly but is not - I hope - a filler. A little R & R never hurt anyone, so please take the time to do both...

BTW: to rockstar-101 In the last chapter, I meant to say stupid, idiotic, etc.but used 'simple'. Maybe not the best word choice, but when you write it you know what you mean to say, but forget that other people reading it aren't in your head (except for the voices - Those damn voices!) Hope it makes sense now!

Warnings: for mild violence, language - the usual.

Disclaimer: Don't own the Potterverse (who came up with that anyway? BTW, don't own that either!), not making any profit, just trying to work out this obsession...

Chapter 12: I'm Your Villain

Sirius could feel her amber eyes burning into the back of his head as he led Remus' daughter back down the tunnel towards the castle. He wondered if she was trying Legilimency on him but couldn't remember if that subject had been taught at Hogwarts or not. He couldn't recall how he had learned. Maybe his parents had taught him? No, he thought bitterly, they'd never have bothered. It irked him that he couldn't remember. Some memories were so clear to him now, but others…

He stopped abruptly as the starlit sky came into view through the hole at the base of the Whomping Willow. "This is as far as I go," he croaked as he turned to face her. His throat stung as he spoke; his voice wasn't used to forming words anymore.

She stared at him with wide amber eyes, the look behind them unfathomable. "I'm not leaving," she stated. She sounded resolute.

"Get the fuck out of here!" he snapped, growing angry. He couldn't understand why she was there. If she'd wanted to do away with him she'd done a poor job planning. She hadn't even bothered to bring a wand. Maybe it's a trap, he thought suddenly. No, he decided quickly, It's obvious she's acting alone. He doubted Remus had a clue where his daughter was at the moment.

"Not until you tell me you're going to leave. Tonight." She sounded sure of herself, firm, but Sirius could see in her eyes that her own words had come as a surprise to her. Maybe she had come to kill him.

He stepped towards her swiftly but stopped just out of arms reach. "What's it to you?" he asked in annoyance. She really was becoming a pest. Just like her mother, he thought, but a small part of him knew there was more to it.

She scoffed at his words, still standing her ground (she hadn't even flinched as he approached). "You're fucking mad if you think I'll let you kill him!" she snapped, the pupils of her eyes suddenly becoming vertical slits. They stayed like that for a few seconds then became round once more.

Something in the back of his mind was warning him something wasn't right. He made the conscious effort not to take a step back. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into, little girl," he breathed menacingly. I have to get out of there now! he thought urgently, but she was in his way. He needed her gone. Peter was going to die whether anyone knew it or not and no one, not even Dumbledore himself, would stop him. Certainly not a teenage girl.

"I know your secret," she retorted, her voice barely audible, "so I can either turn you in or," she hesitated, "you can go away – I don't care where – just leave us alone." There was a distinct edge in her tone. She really was so much more like the wolf than Moony had ever been. He wondered briefly how anyone could miss it.

"Don't threaten me," he responded. Her words grated him immensely. He wasn't about to leave Harry unknowingly in the clutches of Peter Pettigrew. "I know your secret, too."

Her eyes unblinking, she fixed him with a steely gaze. "Just leave us alone," she repeated, an edge of defeat in her tone as her voice wavered.

He grabbed her shoulders roughly and the steely look fell away, revealing panic, fear. Sirius felt a sort of satisfaction at getting that reaction. It would be easier to intimidate her and make her go away if she was afraid of him. "Stay out of it, hear me!" he spat, baring his rotted teeth as he spoke. "Go back to the castle and pretend you never saw me!"

"No!" she said defiantly, despite her shaking limbs. "I won't let you kill Harry and neither will my father!"

The words hit him with brutal force, the steely belief behind them tearing away at his heart. So Moony told her, he thought sadly. He still believes it. He doesn't know. But how could he?

He continued his tight grip on her shoulders, a part of him willing to do anything to frighten her away, but another part of him worried of going too far. He pulled her closer, deciding on the spur of the moment to play up his role as the villain in her eyes , and moved his hands – grabbing her forearms instead – to keep her from fighting back. "Get out and keep your mouth shut or I will shut it permanently," he breathed menacingly between gritted teeth. His gaunt face was inches from hers and her body shook in his vice – like grip as he squeezed the arm he'd bitten harder than the other.

She screwed up her face and closed her eyes suddenly, letting out a strangled cry and he felt her limbs seizing in his hands. At first, he thought that he'd squeezed too hard but then he looked down and watched in horror as her small, delicate fingers elongated into sharp, feral claws. He let go instinctively and backed away.

She let out an eerie, guttural growl and swiped her clawed hands at him, catching his robes with razor – sharp nails. She was still human, but her eyes were almost yellow and the dark vertical slits of her pupils had returned. He shoved her away in shock but she pounced on him, a mixture of unintelligible words and growls spewing from her as she ripped at his arms and stomach. He yelped with pain as he tried to fight her off but she was strong and her reflexes quick and he couldn't stave her off. Thinking only of getting away, he transformed, ran at her and knocked her down, then turned quickly back to human form and pinned her to the floor. She writhed underneath his bony body, revealing sharp fangs as she bared her teeth and screamed.

"Get off me!" she yelled, her voice sounding human once more. He pressed all his weight down and held her to the ground. The young girl, the fight apparently knocked out of her, began to sob as the claws detracted and her wolfish hands became human once more.

"Calm down!" he urged her as tears streamed down her face, "Calm down, I won't hurt you!"

She stopped struggling but continued to sob, her eyes shut tight and her face turned away from his. He suddenly felt sorry for her. It was obvious she hadn't expected that to happen. He hadn't even known that kind of thing was possible. Had she? Her sobs quieted, except for the occasional shuddering breath and he loosened his grip and shifted his weight so that he was now kneeling on the ground beside her. She looked so helpless and weak as she lay there he could hardly believe she had attacked him viciously just moments before.

"Look at me," he whispered after a while. She turned her head slowly and opened her eyes. The pain encased in her amber orbs was heart – wrenching. "I won't hurt you," he assured her, "I won't hurt Moony – just stay out of my way."

She blinked and her eyes seemed more focused. "Stay…" she drew in a shuddering breath, "Stay… away from… Harry," she whispered, struggling with emotion. Then, her face set like stone, she whispered, "Don't make me kill you." The honesty of her words made him shudder. He knew she meant it, he knew she could do it – and so did she.

Before he could register any reaction, they both heard a thumping sound come from the front room of the house. Sure that someone had come looking for the girl, he jumped up, took one last look at Moony's daughter lying on the ground, and with a silent plea to 'stay out of it' with his pale, grey eyes, he bounded away, transforming mid – step as he ran down the tunnel towards the grounds, back to his refuge in the Forbidden Forest, his mind all the while reeling at what had just taken place.

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Remus stooped low, creeping through the tunnel as the panic that had seized him when he'd realized what Sophie had done continued to ebb and flow. Where is she? He couldn't believe she would try and go after Sirius herself. Please let her be alright, he pleaded to the gods. He only cared about finding her safe. Until then, he couldn't think about anything else.

He rounded the sharp corner in the tunnel and immediately spotted her, resting against the dirt tunnel wall, her legs pulled up to her chest.

"Sophie!" he cried, running to her and throwing his arms around her. Her face was buried between her arms and knees. He ran his hands over her head and shoulders, checking to see if she was hurt, then pried her face from her arms and noticed her bleeding forearm. "You're hurt!" he exclaimed, taking her hand gingerly and pulling out her arm. She resisted.

"Sophie," he said gently, "you're hurt, let me see." Her face still half – hidden, she let him check her arm. Blood was stickly wet around deep teeth marks. "What bit you?" he asked, though he already knew.

"Padfoot," she whispered, her voice quivering. He started, a sudden urge to cause Sirius pain coming over him, but her voice brought him back from the wolf's control. "He did it – he did it saving me," she continued, "from Dementors."

Remus blinked repeatedly, trying to let her words sink in. He was having trouble with the concept of Sirius as his daughter's saviour. Again.

"Daddy?" Her voice was small and her face was tear – stained. The sight of her in that state was too much for him.

"Let's get out of here," he said soothingly, running a hand over her face and wiping moist tears with the pad of his thumb, "Everything's going to be fine."

An hour later, as he watched Sophie finally drifting off to sleep in his bed while he sat by the window in his private quarters just behind his office, he had the horrible feeling that nothing would be 'fine' again.

Sophie had told him what happened, how Sirius had pulled her back into the Shrieking Shack, how he'd told her to leave and how she'd resisted. She told him that he'd threatened her, and then promised he wouldn't hurt either one of them but Remus had the feeling a large part of the story was missing.

No matter the details, the fact was that Sirius had taken Sophie out of harm's way for the second time – the third if he counted modifying Sir Higginbottoms' memory. When Sophie had asked him, just before settling into bed, why he thought that Sirius had gone to such lengths, he told her he didn't know. But that was a lie. The more he thought about it, the more he suspected that Sirius had more than a passing interest in the young girl. He knew what she was. Perhaps he thought he could use her to get to Harry. Perhaps he thought in his twisted, evil mind, that he could persuade her to turn against all that was good in her life and turn his lycanthropic mate's daughter into one of them.

The thought of it made him shudder but he knew it was likely. He himself had been approached by Voldemort's followers during the first war. They'd tried to recruit him, offered him freedom, riches – anything they could to sway him to the other side. He hadn't even been tempted but he knew other werewolves who had. But he couldn't fathom Sophie doing the same. It just wasn't in her.

As he sat staring at the grounds which were quiet and still, belying the turmoil the darkness ensconced, he came to the conclusion that Sophie would need to be watched more closely. Though she'd promised never to do anything so foolish again, he just didn't trust that she could curb her animal instincts. It had always been a struggle for him (the duel with Snape a glaring reminder) and he'd seen her struggle to tame the wolf in the past. The truth had been a terrible burden to place on the shoulders of a barely sixteen – year old girl. He couldn't expect her to deal with all of it well. He'd certainly had a time of it when he was her age.

The next morning he informed her that she would not be allowed out of bounds during the rest of the year. That meant that Hogsmeade visits were now banned, as was visiting the Shrieking Shack. She'd been angry but speechless. She seemed to realize that she'd pushed it too far the night before and took her punishment, though he could tell she wasn't happy about it. He knew it was harsh but it had to be done. If he had to look the villain in his daughter's eyes to keep her safe, he would eagerly take on the role – anything to keep Sirius away from her.

I was kind of on the fence about this chapter. Not as actiony as I imagined. It turned out not how I expected. I don't hate it, but...

The next chapter is half - written and may take a little while longer to post (this one was unusually quick). There is no preview (because I'm too lazy - and tired), but I will tell you that the story is moving on from Halloween night and finally moving forward. Relationships issues get resolved and/or given insight, and... you'll just have to wait for it! Bye!