(If you have not already done so, go read chapter 10 before reading this chapter! - kavi)

Chapter 25 – And The Moon Was Stained Red

A dusty-brown wolf padded quietly over thick grass, between closely spaced tree trunks, beneath a cloudless sky and a full moon. A larger, onyx-colored wolf clambered after it, while a cat with matching fur trotted along at its heels. The brown wolf suddenly stopped and turned back towards the house far beyond the trees. It stared down its gray-tinged muzzle at the lit windows for a moment, then turned to its companion.

"There. We must be out of seeing distance by no- OOF!"

The black canine had pounced on him, yipping playfully with an over-excited tail. She licked at his face and pawed at him, keeping him firmly pinned to the ground. "Oh, Moony, I've missed you so much! It's been so boring and lonely without my Furry Friend!"

"Alright, Nyx, alright!" he choked out; she was putting most of her weight on his chest, oblivious as usual. "I missed you, too! Now get off me; I'm not as young as I used to be…"

"Well neither am I, but I'm still having fun!" Nyx said brightly. But she obliged and backed off a pace or two, though anyone could tell she really wanted to tackle him again.

"Good thing you didn't do that back there," Moony chuckled as he righted himself and shook the grass out of his fur. "Otherwise we'd have some very confused Normals on our hands, and no way to explain ourselves."

Nyx grinned, albeit in a wolfish way. "Yeah. I don't think the truth would go over too well."

The "truth" being that the two had been close friends ever since they met 20 years ago. During the time Nyx spent with Snape, acting as his pet bat, she found herself becoming increasingly lonely. Snape was good company when she was in human form, but she wouldn't even tell him that she was a werewolf. It was difficult to pretend nothing was up around full moon, and even harder not to allow herself to transform. By the time he returned to Hogwarts for his 6th year, she needed to transform just once; it was as if the werewolf part of her was going to rip her apart from the inside if she didn't let it out soon.

On the night of the first full moon of the school year, she lied about "going out for a bite to eat" so Snape wouldn't suspect anything. Nyx transformed where no one could see her and decided to take a little romp around the grounds for some exercise. And then she saw something very peculiar run across the lawn towards the Whomping Willow.

There was a majestic stag and a big, black dog, plus a little rat that she didn't notice until later. All three disappeared into the base of the tree, and she had no choice but to follow. She wasn't a cat, after all, so curiosity couldn't possibly kill her.

When she emerged at the other end of the tunnel, she was met with a most welcome sight; a dusty brown-colored werewolf, just like herself. The others, of course, panicked when they saw her, but she quickly convinced them that she meant no harm. This piqued their interest as well, and she was soon introduced to Moony the werewolf, Padfoot the dog, Prongs the stag, and Wormtail the rat; better known as the Marauders.

From that night on, Nyx's every full moon was spent with her new friends. She learned fairly quickly that all four were 6th-year students, 3 of which had become animagi for the benefit of their lycanthropic friend. Nyx claimed to be a friendly local werewolf who did not attend Hogwarts, but wished to remain anonymous anyway, so she simply had them call her "Nyx." The Marauders also felt their names were unnecessary, so they used only their nicknames.

From her point of view, Moony was the only Marauder of major importance or interest. He was the most easily trusted, since they were so alike, and the easiest to warm up to. They had a good deal in common personality-wise and became friends quickly. Neither Moony nor Nyx had met another werewolf before, so they enjoyed having one of their own to talk to. However, Nyx never completely trusted anyone unless she truly knew them inside and out, so Moony was left in the dark about her vampirism and the fact that she doubled as another student's pet. Everything else involving her past was still off-limits to even Snape, so there was no chance of telling Moony yet either.

Besides the werewolf, the three animagi seemed decent enough; well, two of them did anyway. Prongs could be very conceited at times, but he placed high value on his friends and was quite protective over them. Padfoot was the most fun loving and outgoing of the group, but it took him a long while to trust Nyx, though they got along splendidly once he did.

Wormtail was Nyx's least favorite. It was difficult for her to pinpoint any particular good traits about him, but it was equally hard to single out the bad ones. Something about him didn't seem trustworthy or safe to her, even though whenever they spoke he was unassuming enough. She never said a word to anyone, though, because there was no one to tell. Prongs would have a fit if she spoke a single word against any of his friends, Padfoot would back him up completely, and Moony would want to hear the reasons behind her suspicions. All she had was a bad feeling about him and no proof, so there was nothing to be done about it.

Years later, after she knew the truth, Nyx wondered if saying anything would have changed the course of the future. If she hadn't kept silent, would Wormtail still have become a Death Eater, betrayed everyone, caused Prongs (and Lily) to get killed, and Padfoot sent to Azkaban for a crime he didn't commit? A normal person might have been overwhelmed by a sense of "responsibility" for these tragic events, but as we all know, Nyx is not a normal person, and therefore felt nothing.

Not a week before their 7th-year-graduation, Nyx finally revealed the whole truth to both Snape and the Marauders - that is, the "whole truth" minus the things she told Snape months earlier and decided her other friends didn't need to know. The things she revealed to him weren't things that the Marauders would take very kindly to, and she wanted to remain friends with them if she could help it. If not, oh well.

Both the Gryffindors and Slytherin were gathered to hear the tale of her past, but only after she proved how she knew them all. Snape was upset and a little worried that she failed to mention her lycanthropy before, and Prongs and Padfoot were furious to hear that she was that trouble-making little bat. But the main issue they all had with her was put quite simply by both sides: "How could you be friends with him/them?"

Nyx chose not to explain why she willingly became friends with both Gryffindors and a Slytherin since they were being so childish about it. She still revealed (most of) her truths to them as planned, with mixed results. Prongs was visibly afraid of her, but in a respectful kind of way. Padfoot, despite the fact that they'd been friends for almost 2 years, immediately began mistrusting her and treating her like he did when they first met. Wormtail's attitude towards her did an abrupt about-face, and he began admiring her and fawning all over her like he did to Prongs when he showed off his mad Quidditch skillz. Moony and Snape had a newfound respect and admiration (and fear) for her as well, but little else changed between them. That was no less than what Nyx expected from each of them, though.

Even though in the end she wasn't as close to them, she was genuinely sorry to hear that Prongs and Padfoot were dead. Unfortunately, there were few people she could tell this to; Snape sure as hell didn't care about them, and was probably happy when they died. Nyx had no desire to contact Wormtail, whether he was dead or alive, since she had a particular hatred for traitors, backstabbers and the like. She and Moony lost all contact after he graduated and she went off on her own, until now. She considered it a point in her favor that she felt sorry that someone was dead, even though they weren't among her closest friends, but since there was no one to broadcast it to it seemed pointless.

"It's strange to listen to you now that I know you're lying," Moony said. "I know half of the things you said to us back then were untrue, but now I really know not to believe a word of it."

"Thanks for playing along back there, by the way," she said, smiling. "I knew you realized who I was as soon as you saw me, and for a minute I was afraid you'd blow my cover."

Moony chuckled. "Am I the reason you showed up looking like that?"

"No, I did think it would be a good joke," Nyx replied. "I wasn't sure you'd be here tonight, and I didn't want to look suspicious by asking too many questions."

"I don't think the Normals would have guessed that we knew each other from way back when."

"Don't refer to it like that…It makes me feel old," a new voice groaned. Moony's ears perked up immediately as he spun towards the source of the sound.

"…Pooky speaks?" he asked, surprised and confused.

"I am not Pooky!" the cat hissed from its place beside Nyx.

"…so you lied again, huh?" Moony asked his friend with an un-surprised smirk. "Drat. I thought I had you figured out."

"It wasn't my decision to keep this a secret," Nyx explained patiently. "Remember all the things I said about Severus being horribly ill, and that's why no one's seen him for almost 2 months?"

"Yes," the brown wolf replied slowly.

"Well…that was a lie, too. This…" she stepped behind the cat and pointed down with her nose, "…is Severus."

Moony's mouth dropped open. "…please tell me you're lying again."

"Sorry. I'm not."

"Er…well, in that case…oh, dear."

"'Oh, dear' my tail," Snape growled irritably. "But now you know why I wouldn't let her tell anyone what really happened. It's too…humiliating."

"If you didn't want anyone to know, then why did you tell me?" Moony asked either one of them.

"We both agreed that you were trustworthy enough to keep it a secret, and we also agreed that you would make better company than the Normals since you can understand what he's saying," Nyx said. "Sev might not have liked you very much back when we first met, but he admitted that you were the most civil to him. I won't try to force you into becoming friends or anything, but I think you can get along for now."

Snape gave a vague shrug of assent.

"Oh. Well, erm…I'm glad you find me trustworthy," the werewolf said a bit awkwardly. "And, about everything that happened all those years ago –"

"If you're going to say, 'can we put it all behind us,' or something to that effect, then the answer is no," Snape interrupted shortly.

"…er, no. What I was going to say was that I am truly sorry for never intervening. If I had tried to, I could have forced James and Sirius to leave you alone," Moony said, looking frankly ashamed of himself. "They wouldn't have liked it, and I knew I should have done it, but I never did. I wanted to apologize for that, now that I have the opportunity. If you don't want to forgive me, I understand, just as long as you know that I regret my failure to act, and that if I had a second chance I would do differently."

"Glad to hear it," Snape fairly purred. "Because I don't forgive you anyway."

Nyx's paw crashed into the side of his head and knocked him to the ground before he even thought to duck.

"Sorry, I didn't hear that answer," she growled sweetly. "Would you mind repeating it, keeping in mind that you're lucky you got an apology at all, you insufferable little bastard?"

Snape stuck his tongue out at her.

Approximately a minute later, a heavily muffled noise came from beneath Nyx's admittedly large weight. She cocked her head so that her ear caught the full sound, and said to Moony, "He says, 'Thank you, I forgive you, I appreciate it, and that sort of thing.'" The wolf hopped off the spot she was poised on, giving a very flat- and harassed-looking Snape the chance to take in several long, wheezy gasps of air.

"Happy now?" he hissed once he was able to.

"Yep," Nyx practically sang, grinning, and ignoring the death glare she was receiving. "And you?" she added, turning to the other werewolf.

Moony opened his mouth to reply, but closed it and gave a combination of a shrug and a nod. Nyx assumed it to mean "yes," so she was satisfied.

"Incidentally, we'd appreciate it if you didn't ask how he got this way," Nyx added, giving Snape a nod. "As of right now, we don't have an answer to give you, and neither does anyone else. Because we don't know how it happened, we don't know how to change him back, and the trial-and-error method obviously hasn't done much good."

"Doesn't sound like a very good situation," he said.

One look from Nyx kept Snape good and silent, though he still looked as irked as he felt. People who stated the obvious deserved to be hexed liberally, in his opinion.

"So, Nyx…" the dusty-brown wolf continued, changing the subject for everyone's benefit. "What have you been up to lately?"

"I'm so glad you asked! I ought to start at the beginning…"

"Oh, what brilliance!"

Snape yowled in pain when Nyx's back foot collided with him.

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"…well, you've certainly been busy," Moony said, highly impressed. Nyx had just finished explaining how she came to be the head of her organization, how things worked with her minions and such, and what she had accomplished since they last spoke.

"Yes, but I'll have much more to do once certain other things happen," she replied.

Her friend's face darkened. "Are you really sure you want to do that? Are you sure it's not going to hurt you any more than it already has?"

"Well…" Nyx murmured. "I don't know for sure just yet. That's why I haven't made my move, even though I could. When I'm ready to, I will."

"Always needs to be on your schedule, doesn't it?" Moony asked with a smirk.

"Of course. You know how cranky I get when I don't have my way," she chuckled. "But I've gotten the hang of my new way of doing things by now."

"And that is…?"

"If I find myself in a situation I don't like, or if something doesn't go the way I planned, I'll either force it to become a situation I'm happy with, or work my way around the problems and make it all work out for me in the end."

"Has anyone ever told you you're quite selfish, and yet very clever?"

"Yep. I've gotten both of those at different times. But, you know what? As long as-"

"'-it works out in my favor, I don't care'? I still know you quite well, Nyx. And I know that, of all people, you're one of few who could actually do just as you say," Moony said with a glint in his eye. "You do have a flair for success, you know."

Nyx grinned at him proudly. "I know. And the best part is that everyone I like shares in my success, which makes them forget that, in the end, I'm being extremely childish and nasty in order to have my way, because it benefits them too. So, having said that, if you'd like to sign up as one of my minions you're perfectly welcome to take a high-ranking position if you want it. Better dental plan, you know."

"Thank you for the offer," he said. "But I'll have to decline. Now that I know all about your ulterior motives, I don't think it should surprise you."

"No. I wouldn't have actually let you work for me eve if you begged. And I know I don't need to explain why you're going to act like you never heard a word I said about those ulterior motives."

Moony nodded quickly. He saw her in action the night she revealed her 'condition.' She didn't know it was SMS at the time, but she certainly knew what happened during a full moon. And, as if by some mysterious coincidence, the night she chose to reveal this happened to be full moon. What he saw that night was carved into his memory forever, a permanent reminder of why he will always do whatever she tells him to, no matter what.

"That reminds me…" Moony said, switching the subject. "Don't you think you were just a little hard on them?"

Nyx laughed humorlessly. "You can never be too hard on a Normal, I always say." When her friend did not look impressed, she added, "I got my point across, didn't I?"

"You could have done that without being so…merciless."

"Oh, please. They deserved it."

"No, they didn't. They didn't know any better, and you knew it before you ever set foot in that house. How could they have known you'd be so offended? They've never met anyone like you before, and they've never spoken to you about this before. Yes, they could have been more tactful at times, but overall, I think you're more at fault than they are."

"What? Because I won't let them use me like they're using you?"

Moony's fur bristled. "I am not being used, Nyx. I offered to go undercover with the other werewolves without being asked. It's just like you said; I'm in a situation I don't like, but I'm making it work out for me. I'm not happy about being a werewolf, but I'm doing something helpful because of it."

Nyx turned and stalked off a short distance before sitting down with her back to him and growling darkly, "If you knew me as well as you think you do, you'd remember how the idea of being 'used' gets me fired up. I don't put up with things I don't like for any reason. Just because those Normals don't know my history is no reason for me to put up with any kind of abuse."

"I…I'm sorry," Moony apologized quietly, tucking his tail underneath him. "I didn't think of that."

"Evidently not," the other said cruelly. "And don't you dare say, 'the Normals didn't know about that, either.' I'm completely aware of that because that's how I planned it to be. If I explained things to them, they'd be a lot sorrier than they are now, but that would screw everything else up. So they're going to have to keep believing that the main reason I got so pissed off was just in their nature, and there's nothing they could do about it. It's mostly true, for once."

"…I see you still have your vendetta against Normals."

"It's not a vendetta. I just really hate them."

"With you, they both amount to the same thing."

"That's fine by me, because what I hate about one I hate about them all. And when I say 'hate,' I mean 'loathe with every fiber of my being.'"

"Which is why if you go insane and kill yourself, you hope you take most of humanity with you."

"I have nothing against humanity, Moony. Just the Normals, and their ignorance and foolishness. And their gullibility, I can't forget that one."

"That's the same thing as humanity, Nyx."

"Bullshit. What do you think I am?"

"Er…what?"

"What do you consider yourself, Remus Lupin? Man or beast?"

"I-I'm a man, of course. What kind of question is that?"

She ignored his question coldly. "Some Normals wouldn't agree. Because you're a werewolf, they might not be so certain of your humanity. They might not call you a 'beast' outright, but perhaps not completely a 'man.'"

"…then what do you consider yourself?"

"Whatever you want me to be. You say 'human,' and I'm a human. You say 'monster,' and I'm a monster. You say 'shrubbery,' and I'm a shrubbery. It's your call. But whatever else I am, I know there's one thing that I'll always be; me."

An empty silence followed her words. The moon was higher in the void-black sky than when they first came outside, and the stars struggled to be seen amidst the blackness. The air had become chilly and dreadfully still, and the trees seemed dead in the motionless darkness. There was no breeze to carry the scent, but the two wolves and cat suddenly felt a terrible chill and caught the scent of something gone very wrong.

"Do you…?" Moony asked as Nyx turned around with perked ears.

"Yeah…" she muttered, staring past him into the trees.

Snape, who had stayed quiet until now since he was a Normal himself, crept towards his friend. "Do you smell something?"

"Nothing familiar," Nyx replied dismissively with her nose in the air. A sharp gasp from Moony grabbed her attention, and as she saw a look of horror spread across his face, she pinpointed where it was coming from.

She lifted the dark cat up in her jaws by the nape of his neck and leapt into a flat-out run towards the Burrow. Moony followed just behind her. Within moments, the trio cleared the woods and the old house was in full view; an island in a sea of werewolves.

There must have been over a hundred of every color and size imaginable, all led by the unmistakable Fenrir Greyback. Nyx immediately assumed that this was all on Voldemort's orders, as most of the wolves didn't seem quite as enthusiastic as Greyback, who was a loyal Death Eater. Moony already told her how much influence he had over the werewolves, so she wasn't surprised that they went along with this on their own (or at least she thought they chose to do it).

The pair came to a halt halfway between the trees and the first line of wolves in order to survey the situation. There was no way they could get to the house without fighting their way through all of those wolves. For Nyx, that was no problem as long as she had enough time. But that was no longer the case once she and Moony realized that Arthur and Bill Weasley were standing just outside the front door, confronting Greyback himself with only their wands as everyone else peeked out through the windows. The Weasleys looked blatantly terrified of him, but remained courageous till the bitter end like the sappy Gryffindors they were, even as the werewolf looked like he was ready to happily tear their throats out.

'This is all my fault," Moony whimpered anxiously. "I never should have suggested that we leave…If we had been here –"

"Nothing would be different," Nyx said shortly after letting Snape to the ground. "We don't have time to think about that right now anyway. What's your plan so far?"

"Plan?" he yelped. "I-I don't have a…a plan, I…I…"

Fool. Panicking at a time like this… she thought with a sigh. "Look, just sit there and calm down. I'll take care of everything." She turned to the black cat and added, "You stay with him. As you are, you'd probably be eaten alive if you tried to do anything. Keep an eye on things, though, will you?"

Snape gave her a thoughtful stare before grinning. "If I see anything to report, I'll let you know."

Nyx gave him an approving nod, and then turned to move closer to the crowd of wolves before her. She slowed to a halt just out of reach, and then addressed the whole lot of them in the familiar commanding tone she used with her underlings. "The first one to explain what the hell is going on here will be granted a swift, painless death, as opposed to the living hell I have planned for the rest of you."

The wolves looked at her curiously, like they were wondering if they were on Candid Camera.

Nyx's lip curled and she bared her fangs as she roared, "Speak, now!"

"Move aside and let her through," a deep, growling voice ordered.

The werewolves obediently parted like the Red Sea did for Moses, giving Nyx a straight path to the Weasley's front door. Greyback had given the command, and was now sauntering down the newly made opening as if daring Nyx to do the same. She took that dare and began striding towards the middle of the crowd, just as he was.

Smaller than Nyx but far more muscular, Greyback was covered in scruffy, steely-colored fur and a medley of scars, perhaps from before and after he became a werewolf. His sharp yellow eyes and bloodthirsty nature gave him a permanently manic, rabid look. It was no wonder to Nyx why most people were so afraid of him.

"Welcome, madam," he growled tauntingly, performing a little curtsey.

Nyx gave him the wolves' equivalent of the finger.

"You're not too brilliant, are ya?" Greyback asked, seemingly unfazed by her rudeness as he began circling her like a vulture. "Coming over here all alone, I mean…"

"Answer the question; why are you here?" she demanded, showing her teeth again as she circled him in return.

"We're tending to some business that doesn't include you, bitch, so back off," he growled. His tail was raised and his fur was bristling, and he was generally doing the best he could to look nice and menacing, but Nyx just thought he looked stupid.

"You're gonna have to do better than that if you want me to 'back off,'" Nyx laughed, glaring at him. "And I'm not leaving until my question gets answered."

"All right, then," Greyback said as he came to a halt. "We recently found out that he –" he glanced at Moony and growled "- is a spy and a traitor. We're just paying him back for abusing our trust."

"Oh, right. And of course Voldemort has nothing to do with this?"

"Do not speak his name, you filthy mutt!" Greyback bellowed, launching into an attack position. Many of the other wolves flinched at the mention of Voldemort, but they looked much more worried now that their leader was ready to attack. They began backing off so that the pair in the middle had as much room as possible, and so that one of them wouldn't accidentally attack a bystander in the confused heat of battle.

Greyback seemed to have calmed himself a little before he spoke again. "The Dark Lord gave us permission to kill as many of you as we want. He already knows that this place is something like the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, so he figures we might as well knock some of 'em off now that we're here since he has to have it done eventually."

"Sorry, but the only killing is going to be of you, by me," Nyx said with a cheery smile. "Unless of course you'd rather flee like chickens, that's fine, too. And yes, I do plan on taking you all on by myself. You don't appear to be much of a challenge, so-"

"Do not insult me!" the gray wolf howled furiously.

He flung himself at Nyx's throat like a starved beast and bit down as hard as he could. Greyback threw his head back, ripping her neck open with a cascade of blood and breaking the chain that kept the blood ruby around her neck. As Nyx watched the gold chain fall to the ground like a dying snake, speckled red, a horrible laugh rang in her ears. Panic struck her, and she quickly realized that her voice was all but useless until she healed her ragged, gaping throat. It could be done in a matter of seconds, but there was no time for that.

Snape received her telepathic message instantly and was horrorstruck. He snapped a quick, "get to the house now," at Moony before taking off at an incredible speed for such a little cat. The pair flew down the path the wolves made, ignoring them as they snapped at their heads and feet. Snape saw the ruby lying in the grass and caught the bloodied chain in his teeth as he sprinted by.

Just as they barreled past her, Nyx suddenly convulsed like someone had kicked her in the side. That was the only thing that stopped Greyback from trying to bite the cat's head off as it passed him; he was too busy staring at her in confusion. They all saw her jump and yelp as if she was hit in the stomach, and then again like she was getting her head bashed in.

Just as she started whining and yipping pathetically, rolling around on the ground in pain, Snape and Moony reached the front door of the Burrow. Having heard what Nyx told Snape, the wolf immediately jumped up on his hind legs and did his best to push Mr. Weasley into the house. The cat clawed at Bill's leg and cried at the door desperately until the two Normals got the hint and went inside, casting bewildered and concerned looks back at 'Ariana.'

She, meanwhile, was still howling in agony on the grass, slick with her blood, as a murmur swept through the mass of werewolves. Greyback barked at them to shut up, and they did once they saw how annoyed he was. He assumed that Nyx was just making a big deal out of dying like the cowardly weakling she was, and he was mad that the attack hadn't killed her instantly. But there was something else that was bothering him, too; the pain she was in didn't seem like the pain of dying. It made him feel uneasy, but he refused to show it, and instead continued growling at the agonized wolf before him.

After one final twitch and whimper, Nyx became very still as she lay on the inky grass. The whole congregation of werewolves wondered if she was finally dead. The Normals in the house wondered if she was faking it in order to make Greyback drop his guard and then pull off some amazing attack she had up her sleeve. Snape and Moony wondered if they would be alive in the morning.

Not a minute after her body stopped moving, Nyx suddenly rolled over and rose to her feet again, with her back to the gray wolf. Greyback jumped a little, but quickly covered it up with a loud snarl, challenging her to try fighting him again. Her now-mended throat had apparently slipped his mind. The other werewolves remembered it, though, and started backing off even more in fear. Whether she was immortal, indestructible, or something else, they didn't want to be any closer than they had to.

Greyback barked his challenge again, because apparently Nyx hadn't heard him the first time. This time, however, her head slowly turned to look at him. The gray wolf was happy to finally get some kind of response, but it vanished as soon as her eyes locked onto his. He had no time to react, and even if he did he wouldn't have been able to for the fear that was paralyzing his legs.

In one quick, fluid motion, Nyx was on him, and one sickening snap later, Greyback lay on the ground, dead, with his neck broken and bitten through. When the black wolf raised its head to look up at everyone watching it, the wolves started scrambling to get even further away, yelping and whimpering like frightened puppies.

The Burrow's windows were full of faces, peering out into the yard. They hadn't really registered what Nyx had done, until her head turned to face them very, very slowly. The moonlight shone into her eyes, making them shine as red and terrible as the blood seeping from her fangs, bared in a twisted grin. The Normals jumped at the eerie sight, and some chose not to return to their window. Despite being rather naïve about all the details of Nyx's condition, they all knew that something had gone awry, and even they knew it wasn't part of anyone's plan.

Snape was watching her carefully from his perch on the windowsill. He didn't think it was something he could explain to Moony, but Nyx's eyes were…wrong. He knew he had seen them somewhere before, but he was certain that he hadn't ever seen Nyx with them. The shade of red, the way the pupils seemed just a little too small, the deathly emptiness within them…It was all so familiar, but from where?

Licking the blood off her jaws, Nyx looked around calmly at the unnerved werewolves. Her eyes eventually fell back on Greyback's corpse, which she licked a little more blood off of since she was an advocate of the "waste not, want not" saying. After her thirst was satisfied for the moment, the wolf sat down on her haunches and let her head roll back lazily, so that she was staring straight up at the full moon. And without warning, her jaws parted, and she emitted a sound that could have scared a ghost to death. It was screechy, like a bird, and deafeningly loud, with an instantly recognized sound mixed in; a human scream.

No one actually saw it happen. The werewolves, including Moony, were trying desperately to cover their sensitive ears while they whimpered in pain on the ground. Snape had instinctively dashed under the couch in terror, and remained there, quivering. The Normals all doubled over, grimacing and pressing their hands to their ears as if it would make them stop hearing that god-awful noise. But as soon as the sound actually stopped, it was replaced by one that was not quite as terrible, but did nothing to calm their fears.

The whole over-100 werewolves outside began a collective howl of terror as they stampeded to get away from the thing causing that noise, which came back again shortly after the wolves began running. But this time, it seemed much louder, if that was even possible, and it almost completely drowned out the deep rumble of the wolves' fleeing.

Before anyone could get back to the windows to see what in hell was going on, a brilliant white flash lit up the cramped family room, and a sound like a thunderclap and an explosion split through the air. A crash followed it, and the whole house shook so hard it probably should've fallen over. Every light in the house was suddenly extinguished, but the pale moonlight shining in through the drawn curtains gave them a limited range of sight.

The first thing on all their minds was to figure out if a bomb had fallen in their front yard, but by the time they reached the windows again, all signs of the werewolves, including Nyx, were gone. The Normals were nothing but confused at this; the wolves had been running away, but how could they be out of sight so quickly? This question and more was answered when someone went to peek out a window on the other side of the house, and let out a small scream.

This was inarguably where that "lightning strike from hell" landed. A crater, burned grass, and the remains of over 50 wolves were their proof. The rest of the wolves were found already behind the house, frozen at the edge of the trees, mere feet from a possible escape. Their wide, terrified eyes were locked on the thing methodically eating them, ripping them apart, and crushing them one by one, with incredible speed. It seemed to be attacking at complete random, but after watching for long enough, one could see that the strikes were very precisely aimed in order to make efficient use of it's jaws and claws; the wolves were powerless against such a brilliant and powerful foe, and they knew it.

Most of the Normals turned away after comprehending what they were seeing. One had to go somewhere private to retch in peace. Moony, Snape and three others stayed only to know what was happening outside. But within barely two minutes, every last wolf was dead except for one. There was nothing special about that wolf; it just happened to be the last one on the menu. The thing that killed it's fellows did an abrupt about-face and began moseying on over towards the front of the house again, stepping carelessly on any wolf carcasses that happened to be in it's path. The lone survivor took this chance to run like the devil was at its heels into the forest and out of sight.

As the cat, werewolf and Normals moved away from the window, looking very sickened and defeated, the lights flickered back on, but no one really seemed to care. The others were scattered throughout the room, desperately trying to remove that image from their minds, and each of them completely failing. A few were shaking, crying, and one was still in the other room emptying their stomach. The adults were slightly less troubled since they'd seen that sort of thing during the first war with Voldemort. But none of them would dare lie to the younger generation by saying that what had just occurred was less frightful than the whole war crammed together.

The sudden sound of footsteps approaching the front door knocked the group out of their disturbed stupor.

"That'll be Ariana," Mr. Weasley said, finally finding his weakened voice. He moved towards the door, walking uneasily, until Moony caught the hem of his sleeve in his teeth. The wolf pulled him back in the direction of the family room, giving him a plaintive look. Snape appeared at his feet, with the blood ruby on it's tainted chain draped across his middle like a sash, seemingly to agree with what Moony was trying to convey. The wolf jerked his head at the door, and the glanced at the cat, which finally made the Normal understand.

Mr. Weasley returned to his former spot, inwardly thanking every god he could name that he didn't have to answer that door. Welcoming mass murderers into his home was not something he ever planned on making a habit of, and he didn't want to start now. But after seeing everything he just did, how could he have refused her?

Moony and Snape walked solemnly towards the front of the house, both knowing that they put their lives on the line by doing it. But they had to. They were the only ones who knew. They were the only ones who wouldn't be killed on sight…

…hopefully.

With some difficulty, Moony managed to turn the doorknob and push it open, to reveal someone no one was expecting. If Nyx had an identical twin brother, this would be him.

The face was the same, although his was less feminine, but not blatantly manly either. The hair was black, slightly wavy, and messy, like Nyx's hair, but his was cut so that the tips were around the middle of his neck. The one piece that fell across Nyx's face and drove her towards her Insanity Decline faster than a phoenix's cry was still there, too. His skin was barely a few shades lighter than hers and had a faint bluish tinge, making him look corpse-like. He looked the same age as she did; between 17 and 19. The rest of his body could have easily been Nyx's if she was a man, and he was somehow wearing the exact same clothes as she had been.

But the one thing that made them so distinctly different, even besides the obvious lack of boobs, were the eyes; his were the same possessed red as when Nyx killed Greyback. They were unnerving to have to look at because of an eerie light that seemed to gather in the center and pierce through everything it was aimed at, like some kind of sinister laser beam. Anyone, no matter their level of sanity or lack thereof, could tell that these were not the eyes of a human being. But for all anyone could tell, the stranger seemed to be just that.

Until he realized that the door had opened, the young man was standing calmly on the porch, staring out into space without any semblance of an expression as he idly licked the blood off his face and fingers. When he finally moved towards the werewolf, Moony noticed that his movements were fluid and controlled, almost puppet-like at times, and very calm. He stopped as the wolf made no effort to get out of his way, and looked down at him coolly, staring at him with those weird unblinking eyes.

"…hello, Remus Lupin," he said. His voice was not different form his appearance; a male version of Nyx.

Moony obviously showed his surprise at the stranger knowing his name.

"Don't look so astonished," he said. "I know everything she knows, and she knows you're Remus Lupin, so I know you're Remus Lupin."

Snape's eyes suddenly widened in fear as the truth dawned on him. The cat's sudden attempt to scoot away from him caught his attention.

"Don't run, scaredy-cat," he said, sounding nasty but still looking as calm as ever. "Or I could say 'Snapey-cat,' to be proper. Ether one works. So unfortunate that that happened to you…" Sarcasm was practically spilling out of his mouth though his face showed no sign of change.

Something about the way he said that provoked Snape into hissing at him, spewing out the foulest insults he could think of, and doing what cats did best to make themselves look intimidating.

A miniature smile curved the stranger's lips, but it didn't really look happy. He moved so quickly, neither the cat nor the wolf realized that he crouched down and plucked Snape off the floor by the nape of his neck, until it had been done for several seconds.

"I don't blame you for being angry with me, and I can't say I find your words untrue," the stranger said as Snape's eyes widened in shock. "But I'm afraid you dislike me for the wrong reason."

"…what are you talking about?" the transfigured man asked, feeling a sudden, overwhelming urge to run for his life. The way his eyes bored into him, he felt like his very soul was on display for him to view, or possibly harm.

The young man's eyebrows raised themselves slowly and the smile retreated back into the 4th dimension. "You don't know yet?" No response. "…right. I see you're not as bright as she makes you out to be, but no matter. I don't mind doing demonstrations."

Just as the stranger raised his free hand and gently placed his fingertips over Snape's heart, half of the Normals in the other room poked their heads out to see why no one had come back in yet. They were just in time to see a bright light cover the little cat, and to see it suddenly grow and distort into a horrible shape, transforming morbidly into something that resembled a human. In a matter of seconds, the cat had fully transformed into what appeared to be Severus Snape.

The strange young man released the hem of his long, black robes, and he fell to the floor with a loud thud. Snape sat there in a daze, staring at his hands and arms, and inwardly rejoicing at the fact that he had thumbs again and was no longer covered in hair.

"I'm…human again," he breathed in awe.

Moony made no attempt to speak. He was preoccupied with crouching next to the wall, looking as frightened as he could, and whimpering. Mr. Weasley, however, had kept his voice.

"S…Severus? Is that…you?" he asked with very, very wide eyes.

The sudden question startled Snape and made him whip around to face them much more quickly than he should have. As the stranger smiled again, the Normals each gave a small gasp of shock when they saw that, despite the fact that the voice was his, the body was his, and the clothes were his, the face on that man was not the face of Severus Snape.

--- to be continued in Chapter 26 : Doppelganger ---

Disclaimer: Own not, profit not, sue not. (With exception of Nyx, SMS and...um...the lightening bolt from hell. :D)

A/N: This was a very fun chapter to write, even though it's dark and depressing. The part where Nyx lays waste to all the werewolves was the part I was looking forward to writing, but I'm still glad I split the chapter into two rather than making it all one. I'm also happy with how the rewritten version of chapter 10 turned out. I think I slimmed down on the information this time, but that's either because it wasn't that important or I decided to remove it altogether. Don't worry; there'll be another SMS 101 in a future chapter.

General Notes: I can't really write this in the chapter itself because not everyone's seen LotR (though I think most people reading this story would have), so if that's my only description not everyone'll get it, but the SMS beast's cry sounds like a Fell Beast. You know, the dragon-y things the Nazgul/Black Riders fly around on. That's the best comparison I can make, so hopefully you have an idea of the noise now.

There are 2 reasons I didn't describe the beastie at ALL in this chapter. One is that in the movie JAWS, the shark was a lot scarier because you didn't see it for half the movie. I figure that if I let your imagination make what it wants of the little description I gave, it'll be better than me telling you every single thing and making your mind stay on that one image. Dunno if that makes sense or not but it did when I thought of it. The second reason is that I busted my ass on the description in chapter 10 and I do NOT want to recopy or paraphrase it in any way ever again. If you need to refresh your memory of what it's supposed to look like, go read that again. (Which is why I had to finish redoing chapter 10 before I posted this.)

Oh, and the Normals were scared shitless, and that's why they didn't apparate or floo powder away. They prolly should have, but Normals suck, so there. –huge grins-

Oh gnoez! Snapey's face went plop! D: Sadness abounds! Or maybe not. That's all I have to say about that.

And the surprise character is that dude that showed up after the mass genocide. ...what, you expected me to tell you who he is? AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That's a good one...

Anyone have any guesses as to what actually did happen to Snape's ugly mug or the identity of the freaky guy who's never lost a staring contest in his life? Hmm? Anyone? (Hint: You should be able to figure it out without my help.)

Preview: FREAKING CHAOS. And a very pissed off Snapey-pants. And I'll tell you who the other guy is. Happy now? Good.

Art Updates: If you haven't seen them already, there are two new pics up on my profile. One is of the new-and-improved SMS beastie, and the other is of the guy-I-haven't-named-for-you-yet. As an extra incentive to go look at them, I may as well tell you that the picture says who the guy is. :)

Thanks for reading and have a nice day!

--- kavi - sama ---