First uploaded: 21-4-2017, last part added on 24-8-2017, please read and review :)

Remus Lupin 1979

The Order could provide them safety. The thought sprang unbiddingly in Remus' head as he watched Gabrielle sobbing for her lost love and Robert cursing Voldemort's Death Eaters for their betrayal. A few days ago, under the cold light of the full moon, their pack of werewolves had let themselves transform near a small mixed town of both wizards and Muggles, as part of a larger attack led by Death Eaters. In return, they'd been promised shelter from the Ministry's people, but they had gotten nothing of the sort. Instead, the attack had drawn a clear trail to their hiding spot, while the Death Eaters had disappeared from view. Now, the Ministry had ambushed their camp in the dead of night, arresting and capturing people on sight. Amidst the panic, Remus and Robert had managed to escape the Aurors and had fled into dark woods, pulling Gabrielle along. They'd just taken a quick brake from running, hiding amongst the trees.

If Remus managed to contact the Order now and save Robert and Gabrielle, he might still partly succeed in where he'd miserably failed. Originally, the plan had been to integrate himself in this werewolf pack and to prevent the very thing that had just happened: the recruitment of the werewolves by the Death Eaters. It was in vain, however, as the two leaders of their little gang, Philippe Wakkerdam and Hervé de Thiercelieux, had already been firmly in the pockets of Voldemort's men by the time he became accepted. The saddest part was that he unavoidably had become close friends with all of them, and he found it difficult to fault the pack for wanting to survive and to be together. For that was what they were, essentially: a group of friends bound together by their curse and their will to live. Becoming part of their pack was like becoming part of a family.

However, he didn't completely abandon his duty as member of the Order of the Phoenix. As Remus witnessed Death Eaters frequenting their camp, unable to warn the others without giving himself away, he suddenly found himself in the ideal position for a spy, as no one would suspect he had still good friends outside of their clique. He'd been reporting the movements of their various visitors to the Order for months before the attack had taken place. That was something he would need to give up if he wanted to save them, but as the majority of the pack was being captured at that very moment, it wasn't much of a loss.

"We need to hide. I know a safe place not too far from here, we could fly there if we had brooms." Remus glanced sharply at Robert Moon, who'd echoed his exact thoughts just before he could speak them. He knew a hiding place too?

"But Hervé… They've got Hervé, we need to save him…" Remus enclosed Gabrielle in a tight embrace, as he let her tears fall down on his neck. Gabrielle was Hervé's girlfriend, or wife, as you might have called her rather, even though she and Hervé had never seen the chance to marry. They were pretty solid together, and even were expecting their first child in a half year.

As Gabrielle drowned his neck, Remus contemplated this new development. If Robert would take them to a hiding place, he could keep his cover, and maybe even acquire more useful information for the Order. On the other hand, it might be not so useful as he'd imagined, or as secure as what the Order could offer them, and if he was true too himself, he would rather admit to his spying and work for the Order out in the open.

And he missed his other friends. James, Sirius, Peter and Lily. They had always been good to him, and he wanted to fight at their sides.

"We don't have brooms." he said shortly, not yet decided if he was hoping Robert's plan would work out or not. If it was possible, it was his duty to keep his cover, but the prospect of simply coming out in the clear and introducing Robert and Gabrielle to the Order was so tempting. In contrast to him, they had never had the luck to attend Hogwarts and find such good, loyal friends amongst wizard society. They'd been on the run for ages, even long before the war had started. But Dumbledore would see to it that they didn't need to run any more, and he would provide for them a place to stay, a safe place where Gabrielle could birth and raise her child. Or so Remus hoped.

"We could apperate as well, but I'm not that good at apperation. I could side-along you to our destination, and then you can come back here and get Gabrielle, but I'm not apperating a pregnant woman."

Remus glanced around the trunk they were hiding behind. The lights of what once was their camp shone brightly against the black of the surrounding forest, flickering as shadows were moving around – of the Aurors searching their tents and shacks. They were far away, though, and probably wouldn't notice the pop of apperation.

"Alright," Remus agreed, "If Gabrielle agrees too?"

They waited until she nodded, wiping her tear-stained face with dirt-stained hands.

Robert grabbed his arm tightly. "Okay. Here we go."

An uncomfortable moment later they were again in a forest, one with less pines and smaller trees, however, and with an oddly fresh, flowerly smell. Luckily, they had arrived mostly whole, only Remus' left arm missed the sleeve along with much of its hair and a small snippet of his elbow had been lost along the way. After taking a second to regain his orientation and take in his surroundings, Remus apparated back to Gabrielle and brought her to the spot.

"So, where are we, and what are we doing here?" he asked Robert as soon as they all were together between the trees. Robert was standing with his back towards them, looking through the forest as if searching for something, or someone.

"There should be a house somewhere 'round here." he answered, "A large stone and wooden cottage with two tall, prominent gables on each side of the house. Normally it appears easily when one knows what to look for, but sometimes the bewitchment behaves a bit erraticly, making it hard to spot. See if you can find a path somewhere, or a large maple tree. Or a fence, or maybe an old, low, stone wall."

After about half an hour of seeking any of the objects Robert had described, just as Remus tiredly began reconsidering bringing the others to the Order anyway, Robert suddenly perked up as they came across a small stream he seemed to recognize. He followed it up, and indeed they soon came upon the low, stone wall Robert had spoken about. They made their way across it, and indeed, after some unexpected turns and twists they suddenly were standing on a narrow path, only a few metres from a clearing in which stood a cosy looking wizarding home. Robert walked up the path and pounded on the door.

As it was in the middle of the night, it took a few minutes before someone answered. As they waited, Remus enquired Robert about the house.

"Who's living here? Family of yours?" Robert had once told him his family, the Moons, were mostly pureblood wizards who kept away from the Muggles, so it wouldn't surprise him if some cousin or aunt or uncle of his inhabited the secluded place. Robert shook his head, though.

"This is Weasley Cottage, as far as I know it's been in the Weasley family ever since it was built. You might have heard of them, they're one of the oldest and purest families around, even if they're very poor if you compare them with most pureblood families." Remus wouldn't call the cottage they were standing in front of particularly shabby or poor, but from what he'd seen of Sirius' and James' families, he could imagine it might seem so from the average pureblood's point of view.

"They're very proud, though, too proud to join Voldemort from what I've heard. They support pureblood ideology, obviously, but luckily for us they are surprisingly tolerant. They take in all sorts of refugees, including werewolves."

A window lit up above them, and Robert knocked on the door again. Footsteps could be heard, and what Remus thought to be a child's voice. He looked at the weathered face of his friend. "So, who's side are they on?"

"No one's. And that's the great thing." A smile stretched on Robert's face, and Remus let it almost lighten his own wariness and exhaustion. "We're safe here."

The light in the hallway lit up, shining through an embroidered curtain blocking the view through the door window. A few moments later the door was thrown open harshly by a stout, fierce-looking woman with flaming red hair. She held her wand raised confidently in front of her, appearing more than prepared to trash a Death Eater or Auror or two. Behind her stood a tall, just as shockingly red-haired man with icy blue eyes behind thin-wired glasses, also with his wand aloft as if expecting to back his wife up in a fight. For a moment Remus expected to be hexed at sight, and cursed himself for not thinking through the idea of knocking on a family's door at three PM during war time. The woman's sharp, dark eyes scanned the small group at her threshold before settling on Robert, narrowing in vague recognition, as she slightly lowered her wand, but not quite.

"Do I know you, sir?"

"Ah, yes. Robert Moon is the name, Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley…" Robert nodded to each of the Weasleys in turn, before hastily continuing to explain, "I've dined one or two times at your home, ma'am, as a friend of Godfrey's. You might not remember me, but we're werewolves and our camp has just been found by the Ministry… You said we could always come here if nowhere else was safe."

She lowered her wand now fully and her stare made way for a warm and welcoming smile, even if her look still held a prickle of wariness. "Ah, of course, Mr. Moon. You were that man talking with Mr. Davis, at the time, weren't you? My apologies for not immediately recognizing you, your arrival came quite… unexpected."

"I can imagine, ma'am." Robert responded with a polite nod and a smile. "May we come in?"

Mrs. Weasley quickly hushed them all inside, closing the door behind her. As they moved through the corridor towards the kitchen, Remus thought he saw two glimpses of red disappearing up the stairway, just as they walked past.

As they sat down the extended kitchen table Robert introduced Remus Lupin and Gabrielle de Thiercelieux to Molly and Arthur Weasley, the latter of whom looked a lot warmer and more pleasant once he got his wand out of the way and relaxed a bit. Under the enjoyment of a cup of tea and a slice of home-made cake, they told the story of what had happened to their pack and asked for a place to stay, if only for a night.

"That should be more than fine." Molly ascertained them, "The guest room is still free. It's actually made for two people so it will be a bit tight, but tomorrow we can look into an enlarging spell too make it all a bit more comfortable."

"We'd be very grateful." Robert said, relieve filling his words.

Molly shook her head though. "No, no need to thank us. Your lives have just been destroyed by the Ministry, after being scandalously betrayed by Voldemort's people after a lifetime of being ostracised by just about the entire wizarding society. Just see this as an apology, from a part of that society, because we owe you at least that. And besides, it would go against anything my mother ever taught me to leave a pregnant woman outside in the middle of the night. It's nothing more than common decency."

Remus snorted darkly at that. "It should be common decency, but still our kind could never count on any such kindness."

Molly just looked at him sadly. It somehow reminded him of the fact Remus himself was only nineteen and just barely out of Hogwarts – she would've probably thought his entire short life he'd been living in that camp in the woods, eating self-poached meat and canned beans.

It was Arthur that lead them to the room. After the third bed had been conjured it indeed was quite tight, but what the Weasleys probably didn't realise was that the werewolves often slept on the hard ground in their little tents so the arrangement was for them luxurious indeed. It had literally been months since Remus last lay on a real bed.

Before he exited the room, Arthur Weasley added one more request. "We'd ask you not to wander around at night, and please do not enter the corridor at the other side of the staircase or beyond the bathroom I showed you. There are some very nasty wards installed there you do not want to get caught in, and if we find you back crushed and squashed behind the plaster in the wall or locked in the attic being slowly consumed by fungi, I'll tell you: my wife and I will gladly leave you to your fate."

Remus frowned. "Why?"

Arthur's smile was with love, but without cheer. "That's where our children sleep."

The three werewolves nodded in understanding. The most pacifist of people would kill you if you threatened their children. It was only sensible that their were deadly traps protecting them at night, especially when a house served as a safe house for war refugees and relative strangers went and came as they pleased.

They bid their host a good night and made up for bed. They all were tired after the chase they'd just escaped from, and being werewolves, none of them were particular good sleepers. In the corner of his eye Remus glimpsed Gabrielle, silently cradling her bump.

Hervé had been like an elder brother to them all, even to Remus, caring and responsible for the entire pack and never letting any of them swerve astray. Remus was sure he would've made a great Healer, or maybe even an Auror, hadn't he gotten the virus as a child; Hervé was a lot like himself in that way, only Hervé originally came from France and the Head Master of Beauxbatons was no Dumbledore.

The flip side of that coin was that Hervé had become a very angry and authoritarian man, and a monster of a wolf. He was ruthless to anyone outside their little clique, and when Remus had tried to cautiously talk him out of their cruel, disastrous plan he had first snorted at him, then snapped at him and then threatened to bite his throat out if Remus ever said another traitorous word in his pack. Remus hadn't.

For the sake of public safety it probably was for the better to have Hervé locked up, but it was not his fault he'd become this way. And it certainly wasn't Robert's or Gabrielle's fault, even if they would follow Hervé and Philippe till the end. For them he was a good leader, so they never really had a choice. All of them had been abandoned by their old friends and family, and no human could live truly alone. It was as Mrs. Weasley had said: society had betrayed them.

For that reason, it was very convenient Robert had a safe house. Very convenient, and very suspicious, since as far as he'd known Remus was the only member of the pack with acquaintances in the outside world. And he himself had been only there to spy for the Order.

"Robert," he asked, "How do you know these people? I believed you had lost all contact before Philippe found you."

"One of the Death Eaters –" Robert spoke around his toothbrush, before he removed it from his mouth and spat in the sink.

"One of the Death Eaters that came to our camp, Nicholas Barker his name is, the tall young man with the goatee and curling hair, we got talking and he offered me a place to stay if I would ever need to leave the pack. He told me he's the brother of Arthur's brother-in-law – if I remember correctly – but he invited me here for a meeting with the 'Circle of the Hoodwink', as they call themselves. After the 'Order of the Phoenix', which is apparently a secret resistance set up by Dumbledore." Not as secret as they'd hoped to be, it seemed.

"Their network consist mostly of the Weasley family plus good friends, but they are quite large – especial for purebloods – and there are plenty of others who feel the same, so it all works out well enough. There are many Death Eaters like Nicholas who frequent here, who do not feel safe with You-Know-Who and can't go to the Ministry for obvious reasons, much like us, actually. They like having a back-up group if they ever need to flee."

So it was a support group for dissident Death Eaters and other outcasts. That might be very interesting for the Order, much more so than the actions of a bunch of homeless werewolves. Actually, as a spy he might have coincidentally managed to wriggle himself in the perfect position to figure out the weakest links in the ranks of their enemy. If he found a way to get closer to this group, who knew what he'd find.

On the other hand he realised how close he'd been to accidentally planting a potential spy who could leak who knew what to the Death Eaters. Robert was a good man, but Remus would've never known about his contacts with this Nicholas and Robert could have easily given everything away not thinking anything of it.

Just as he just did.

"You know, when I told him my name, Nicholas said his grand-mother was a Moon. It's funny to think we would be related."

Everyone in the wizarding world was related. Sirius and James were cousins, too. It wouldn't surprise Remus at all if ever he himself turned out to be a distant cousin of Filch.

…

He'd related everything to the Order.

"The Weasleys..." Dumbledore said thoughtfully, "I do remember them from their time at Hogwarts. Everyone had quite a start when Septimus was sorted in Slytherin instead of Gryffindor. Since then they've been sorted across all the four houses."

"And it was the Hufflepuff who got arrested for kidnap and torture of twenty-seven muggles." Mad-Eye grumbled darkly, putting a direct end to any speculation over their possible alliances. "The wife's brothers, Gideon and Fabian Prewett, are in the DMLE's top hit squad – annoying as hell, they're trying to get too close, if they know about the Order they must suspect I'm part of it – all they talk about when I am near is how much they hate You-Know-Who. They'll want to join. But the lot of them are purebloods either too smart or too proud to join the Dark Lord. No one from that corner is to be trusted; they might not have taken the enemy's side, but in the end they want the same. They're impoverished old families, a pureblood supremacy would favour them."

Dumbledore simply frowned in thought, taking the Head-Aurors words in consideration.

"We're not trusting them, we're spying on them." Remus replied snappishly, he still felt physically weak from his last transformation. And psychically… the pictures of that night would probably haunt him forever.

"You are too attached." Mad-Eye accused, and he was right of course, but it was impossible not to get attached when the pack received you as family – people who had no other family for themselves.

"Well, at least I'm getting scrambled eggs and baked beans from the enemy." he said obtusely. Purebloods or not, Molly's breakfasts rivalled that of Hogwarts.

Sirius' eyes widened in realisation. "Cedrella asked me to join them two years ago. She offered me a place for when my parents would throw me out, but I already had James' offer so I refused."

Mad-Eye snorted. "She's going by all her cousins? Then Potter here is just as suspect as you are."

Sirius crossed his arms moodily. "Don't be ridiculous. We all know the four of us can be trusted."

"But what about your brother? What will he do when he finishes Hogwarts?" Remus asked. Sirius said nothing, but tightened his fingers around his arms.

"Robert also mentioned this Nicholas Barker was 'the brother of the brother-in-law – if I remember correctly' to Arthur Weasley, and the group consists mostly of old friends or family for as much as I heard. That means it'll be quite easy to guess who will or will not know of this network if we know how everyone is related."

Sirius briskly summed up, as Remus tended to forget he knew exactly how everyone was related: "Arthur Weasley only has two brothers, and Godfrey is already married to some Czech witch, so that will be Bilius and he hasn't been married as far as I know. I believe the youngest generation of the Barkers exists of just two children, the youngest is called Nicholas, the elder one is a girl named Barbette who's been married to Samuel Hopkins but he died some years ago, I believe Hopkins was a Death Eater, I don't know what happened to her afterwards but if she's somehow met Bilius, that would make Nicholas the brother-in-law of the brother of Arthur, not the brother of the brother-in-law. And if he were the brother of the brother-in-law, that would make him just a brother-in-law and then Barker would have remembered that, wouldn't he?"

Remus tried to puzzle it all together. "So Arthur has a brother named Godfrey? Molly Weasley said Robert was a 'friend of Godfrey's'."

"Yup, Godfrey Weasley was a Slytherin and is best buds with Rabastan Lestange, whose brother as you all know is the husband of my dear cousin Bellatrix. I wouldn't be surprised if more inner circle Death Eaters are friends of Godfrey." Sirius explained with a painfully sarcastic cheer. "And Molly Weasley, who's maiden name is Prewett as you all know, is the little niece of the old wizard Ignatius Prewett, who in his turned has been married for more than forty-five years to my dear old aunt Lucretia, so Molly, Fabian and Gideon Prewett and I share an uncle and an aunt."

"Black will help Lupin mapping 'the Order of the Hoodwink', and whoever else would be supremacist-sympathiser, and they'll try to find the weak spots of the Death Eaters as Remus continuous to attend the Weasley meetings." Mad-Eye ordered brusquely. Remus looked at Dumbledore, who nodded.

So Remus' mission had changed from recruiting a werewolf pack, through spying on the Death Eaters visiting their werewolf pack to spying on Death Eaters opening their hearts about their Lord at Weasley dinner parties.

…

When he came back to Weasley Cottage for dinner, after what the other's thought was a trip to the Muggle world to pick up some supplies, he was surprised to be greeted not by Mr. or Mrs. Weasley – or anyone from his pack – but by two young, freckled boys with strikingly red hair, who ran up to him from behind the house and stopped him in the lawn to gape up at him.

Remus guessed they were brothers, and the Weasleys' children. They didn't differ in age much, the older one was only half a head taller than his younger brother but he had a terribly wise, all-knowing look on his face – which probably came from growing up as the older brother in a house filled with werewolves, Death-Eaters and who knew what other sorts of refugees – all harmed or broken by this terrible war. The younger brother looked more blatantly curious – and awed by Remus' presence, for some reason – and was so freckled he almost looked tan. Both boys were covered in grass and old leaves.

It was the younger one who spoke first. "Bill and Mum says you are cursed, and that you don't like being a werewolf, but I think you are cool. Werewolves are thrice as fast as humans, they have much better night-sight than humans, they can hear a mouse move from five-hunderd meters away and they can smell blood from up to three kilometers away! You are so cool, I want to be a werewolf when I grow up!"

"And I told Charlie to shut up, and that he is stupid, and then Mum told us to stop pestering the guests and sent us outside." Bill helpfully elaborated.

"Can you howl for us?"

"Of course he can't! It is still day, stupid! Werewolves only change when it is full moon!"

"I am not stupid, and I know he can't change! I know more about werewolves than you do! But maybe he can howl as a human?"

Bill rolled his eyes. "That's not nice to ask! That's offensive! And you don't want to be a werewolf when you grow up, being a werewolf isn't fun!"

Charlie looked up at an amused Remus again and pointed accusingly at Bill. "Did you hear that? He said you aren't fun! He says it is not nice to ask you about being a werewolf, but saying someone isn't fun is really not nice! Bill is mean, isn't he? But don't worry about stupid Bill, I still think you are fun! And cool! You are so cool!"

Bill was about to push Charlie then, but Remus hastily pulled the two boys apart. "Calm down, I'm not offended. And it's not nice to call Bill mean, Charlie. But it is also not nice to call each other stupid."

Charlie cockily said to Bill, "You hear that? It's not nice to call me stupid!" Bill just rolled his eyes and countered, "When you are not listening I can call you stupid, because you are stupid if you don't listen."

"Both fair points," Remus interfered before it could escalate into another argument, "So what about a compromise? Charlie will try to listen better to what people are saying and Bill doesn't call Charlie stupid any more?"

"But aren't you offended by what he said?" Bill innocently asked.

"No, I'm not, because I know Charlie didn't mean anything unkind by it." Remus answered, reassuring Bill that he was not, in fact, hurt or angry.

"I didn't!" Charlie swore, seeming startled by the idea that what he said might've come across as such.

"Of course you didn't. But what Bill and your Mum say is true, it's not fun to be a werewolf."

"See?" Bill said, glad to be proven in the right.

"But werewolves are so much more powerful than humans!" Charlie exclaimed, "And they are partly spell-reti… ritree… – uh, you can't stop them with magic, and they can hear and see and smell so many more things..."

"Only when they are changed." Remus reminded Charlie – he suspected the boy had retrieved some kind of informative book about werewolves from somewhere in the house, and seeing his enthusiasm, the boy probably now knew more trivia about werewolves than evem Remus did himself. "And when they are changed they are very dangerous creatures, who try to harm and even kill any humans they see, even their own friends and family, which makes the werewolf feel very sad and guilty when he turns back into a human. That is why good werewolves like me, Robert and Gabrielle usually keep away from normal humans, so we don't unintentionally harm them when we change." Or at least unless their leaders had made a deal with the Dark Lord, in which case they actually aimed to hurt as many people as possible.

"Oh." Charlie said, sounding disappointed and a bit guilty. "That's stupid. And you really can't stop yourself from doing that?"

Remus shook his head. "No, we really can't. So next month, when it is full moon again, we will be far away from here, and from any other people, so far away that we can't hear or smell anyone and no one will be harmed."

Charlie wanted to ask more questions, but it was then that Molly Weasley appeared from behind the house, looking for her two sons. To Remus slight surprise, she held a third freckled, red-haired son by the hand, three or four years old. In Remus' experience, Pure-blood families seldom had more than one or two children, the only notable exception being the Blacks.

When she saw Remus standing in the front-lawn with her two elder sons, she smiled warmly at them. "Arthur has just come home from work, Bill, Charlie, if you two bring Remus and our other guests to the table I will get the twins."

"You've got twins?" Remus said. Unless the boy at her hand was one of them, that brought their number of children to a grand total of five.

"Fred and George, they've only just become one year old. We've named them after my brothers, Gideon and Fabian, they are also twins and a great pair of trouble-makers. This is Percy." She nodded at the young boy at her side, "He's a bit shy, or at least he is if you compare them to most of his family. But he is only three and has already started learning to read!" She added proudly.

Mrs. Weasley went back in with Percy as Remus followed Bill and Charlie to the humble dinner room, the delicious, hearty smells of dinner already waving towards them from the kitchen. While Bill raced forwards to greet his Dad, Charlie hung back a bit, slowing down to walk next to Remus.

"I know being a werewolf isn't fun, and that you are dangerous when you are changed, but why do you need to stay away from people when you are human? You're not dangerous now, are you?"

"No, I'm not, I would never hurt you or your family or anyone when I am human, but most wizards still are afraid of us because of what we are."

"I'm not afraid of you." Charlie confided, and Remus wouldn't show it, but his heart melted a bit. "I'm not afraid of anything!" he proudly exclaimed, before continuing in a more quiet tone, "But I'm also not afraid because I like you. I still think you're cool – and even if you wouldn't be a werewolf, I still would think you're cool."

But would Charlie still think he was cool if – when – he discovered that he was spying on him and his family for the Order? Somehow, Remus doubted it.

The names Hervé de Thiercelieux and Philippe Wakkerdam are inspired by a popular Dutch game called "De Weerwolven van Wakkerdam" (The Werewolves of Wakkerdam). It originally comes from France, where it was called "Les Loups-Garou de Thiercelieux" (The Werewolves of Thiercelieux). It's creators are Philippe des Pallières and Hervé Marly.

There is a lot more background to this story than I manage to write in a chapter, among which entire family trees for different parts of the pureblood wizard society and a great table spanning decades listing all Hogwarts students in the right year in the right house to see who would personally know who, and a description of the looks and the history of all houses in the Weasley family.

I'm really too precise maybe, but well, I really dislike plot holes. I also have two old chapters in which Anthony Weasley is slowly revealed to be a squib, which was my first intention with his character, but that really became too tragic and dark even for me so he became a Hufflepuff instead, and then a doomed Death Eater.

Don't forget to review! :) (I love to read them because I'm very curious as to what people think of both my writing style and the characters, ideas and story itself. Don't be shy!)