Chapter 34

Greyback

Fenrir Greyback, the notorious and ruthless werewolf, stood in my office not ten feet from me. I discreetly tried to pinch myself just to make sure I hadn't fallen asleep while grading. Or, better yet, perhaps I was still back in my quarters asleep and I would soon wake to find Remus lying beside me, or just coming to bed after patrol. Oh how I wished for either scenario, but neither were true.

Greyback was in my office.

I could see his nostrils flare as he sniffed the air. It was with great horror that I realized he could smell Remus on me. And I was nauseated when I realized I could smell him on Remus; that was why it seemed so familiar at first. I could feel my stomach churning violently as my dinner threatened to resurface. Had it not been for Leo's protective instincts kicking in and creating a keen awareness of my surroundings, I'm not sure I would have held it together the way I did.

We were locked in a stare down as I assessed my options for an escape. He was blocking the exit to the corridor, so that way was out. The entrance to the classroom was about halfway between us. I could make a run for it though there, but I'd have to traverse a maze of desks and chairs in the dark. Or there was my library behind me. It was easily assessable, but small with no way to escape and a door that was far too capable of being knocked down by a raging lunatic.

I suppose the only real option was the classroom. I knew I couldn't simply run for it; he was bigger, stronger, and in my current state of thirty weeks pregnant, he was faster. I eyed the two book cases that stood on either side of him. As much as I hated the idea of potentially ruining what was on them, I knew it was either them or me.

He started to move towards me, and I flicked my wand bringing both cases toppling down on top of him. I could hear him growl viciously as he shoved the shelves aside. Meanwhile, I ducked into the classroom. He was right behind me. I flung chairs and desks his way, in part to slow him down and I was hoping the noise would draw the attention of someone on patrol. From the noises emanating from the corridor, however, it seemed those on patrol had their own problems to deal with.

I had just reached the door when he grabbed the back of my robe. I scrambled for the clasp as it tightened around my neck. I began choking and gasping for air before I finally released it. The force of my sudden freedom sent me stumbling into the wall before me. I threw my arms out to catch myself, but my wrist bent in a way it shouldn't and my arm buckled. My stomach caught me instead. I knew Greyback was still pursuing me; I could sense him getting ready to strike but this time I had no escape.

"NOOO!"

Suddenly there was a pair of hands on my shoulders and a body pressed against my back. I knew at once it wasn't Greyback because whoever it was they were shielding my from Greyback's attack. I could hear his claw-like hand come down, but instead of tearing through my clothes they tore through those of my shield. Still, I was slammed forward by the force, and my head bounced off the cold stone.

My dalliance with the wall was only temporary; I was quickly pulled back and pushed aside. I spun in time to see Bill fighting off Greyback. After pushing him back with a series of wand strikes, Bill turned to me.

"Go! Get out of here!" he said before he had to turn back to the fight. Greyback was coming for more.

I didn't leave. I couldn't. I looked around, frozen by the scene before me. There was fighting everywhere. It wasn't just Greyback in the castle; there were Death Eaters too. How did they even get in? I caught sight of Remus fighting a Carrow in the distance and I wanted to go to him. I was pulled back once more.

"Kate, no!" Tonks said. "You shouldn't be here. Get to safety now!"

"I… I can't… I…" I looked to where Remus was still fighting.

"He'll be all right. I'll protect him. But he can't know you're here; he won't think straight."

She was right. I knew that my presence would not only put me at risk, but Remus and our baby as well. I nodded.

Suddenly Bill fell and Tonks jumped forward to fight Greyback.

"Go! Warn Pomfrey!"

I didn't wait a moment more; I turned and fled. I ran as fast as my swollen feet would carry me. I skidded dangerously around the corners, my belly throwing me off my balance. When I reached the straightway leading to the hospital ward, I ran at top speed. I flung the doors open ahead of me with my wand.

"POPPY! POPPY!" I called.

The medi-witch made her appearance a moment later, hair down in loose curls and night robe on.

"Good lord, child what… Kate?" She rushed over. "What happened? Did you fall?"

"No, I…" I shook my head, making the room spin. "Grey…" back… "Death…" Eaters…

"Grey death?"

I was becoming disoriented and I was sorely out of breath.

"No…"

"Come one, Kate, have a lie down."

"No… no I…"

She led me to one of the beds, and when she pushed down on my shoulders lightly, I was incapable of resisting. She grabbed my good wrist, and I knew she was checking my pulse. My head was still spinning, but I knew I had to fight it. I had to warn her.

"Your heart is racing. What happened?"

"D…d…d…"

She shoved a vial in my hand. "Here, drink this."

"No." I shook my head again, a mistake. "I don't… can't sleep…not until…"

"Kate, you have to calm down. You don't want to induce labor this early."

"No…sleep."

"Fine, you stubborn cat. Drink this one; it won't make you drowsy, I promise." She shoved another bottle in my hand. "Drink, Kate."

I felt the effects of the tonic immediately. My head stopped spinning, and my breathing evened out.

"Now, tell me… What happened?"

"Death Eaters… in the castle."

"What?"

I nodded again, this time without the dizziness. "I don't know how they got in. they're fighting near the Astronomy Tower. Greyback was with them; he… he attacked Bill."

She gasped. "Is he..?"

"I… I don't know. He…He fell and there… There was blood everywhere, Poppy."

"And you…? Did Greyback attack you?"

"No, he didn't, because Bill… Bill blocked him. These…these wounds are from the wall; I ran into it. Oh, God! Poppy, the baby! I ran into a wall!"

"Shh, shhh, calm down, Kate; don't go and undo the tonic I just gave you." She gently rolled up my blouse and began examining both the wound and the stomach in whole. It was several nail-biting seconds later before she leaned back and lowered my shirt.

"It's all right, Kate. It's just a skin abrasion."

She moved on to my wrist, which was now slightly swollen and hurt when she touched it.

"It's not broken, but I do believe it's sprained."

She examined my head last. She flashed her wand in my eyes and made me follow her finger.

"Any dizziness?" she asked.

"Not now. Not since the potion."

"Hmm…We'll keep an eye on that, but your other wounds are superficial. They are easily healed with a bit of magic. At this stage in you pregnancy, however, I'd prefer to use as little magic on you as possible.

"That's fine, Poppy. Just wrap them up."

A short while later my scrapes were cleaned and bandaged, and my wrist was wrapped firmly. Once that was done, Poppy immediately began making preparations for any injured that were sure to come, including making a salve for Bill. She refused to let me help in any way and threatened to put me to sleep if I didn't cooperate. So I was forced to wait with nothing to distract me from my worries.

"Oh!"

"What? What is it?" I jumped up and turned away from the door to find Poppy standing at a window, an orange glow behind her.

"Is that…? Oh! It is. Oh no!

There was a fire on the grounds, a massive fire that was consuming Hagrid's hut.

"Look, look! There he is, and he's got Fang."

I sighed in relief before I caught sight of something far worse. "Poppy… Poppy, look to the sky."

In the corner of our vantage point, we could barely see it, but it was unmistakable. A large green skull with a serpent protruding from the mouth. The Dark Mark.

"Who…?"

"Remus!"

"Kate, no!"

I turned to flee; if there was any chance Remus had fallen I had to get to him, but Poppy stopped me. She tried restraining me as I fought against her, nearly hysterical, until the hospital doors opened. Tonks led the way with Jonathan and Remus quickly behind her. Bill was supported between them, bloody and unconscious. Hermione, Luna, Ron, and Neville filed in; Neville with a slight limp. And McGonagall came last, floating Flitwick before her.

"Is he…?" Poppy began.

"He's alive," Tonks answered.

Poppy's sigh of relief was short lived as she set to work, directing the injured.

"Place Mr. Weasley here. Clean his wounds, staunch the blood, and apply this directly. And Filius?"

"Alive, but unconscious as well," McGonagall said.

"There then. And you, Mr. Longbottom?"

"It's just an ankle," he replied.

"Take the usual tonic and a bed; I'll be with you when I can."

Poppy then took over cleaning Bill's face from Tonks and Hermione. I had to stand back as the smell sill burned my nose and made my stomach churn. Even from my distance, however, I could see the damage. His face was almost unrecognizable from the scratches he now bore.

"Mum?"

I turned away from Bill to focus on my son and husband. They looked weary, but unscathed. They looked at me too; their eyes quickly grazing over my wounds.

"Kate!" Remus hurried over. "What are you doing here? What happened?"

"I'm fine. I'm all right. They're superficial."

"But what happened? How did you get them?"

"I… I was in my office…"

"What? When?"

Before I could answer, thankfully, the hospital doors opened again. This time Ginny led Harry in. For the smallest second, I saw James and Lily standing hand in hand. The image was broken as Hermione jumped up and ran to hug Harry. Remus and I moved towards him as well.

"Are you all right, Harry?" Remus asked.

"I'm fine. How's Bill?"

Neither of us knew how to answer. I looked over my shoulder and saw that Poppy had cleared all the blood away finally. She was now applying the salve.

"Can't you use a spell to heal them?" Harry asked.

"No charm will work on these," Poppy replied. "I've tried everything I know. There is no cure for a werewolf bite."

"But's it's not a full moon," Ron said desperately. "Greyback hadn't transformed, so he won't be a… a real…?" He turned and looked up at Remus.

"No, I don't think Bill will be a true werewolf."

"Think?" I said, then added firmly. "He won't. Lycanthropy can only be passed via a bite at the full moon."

"But that doesn't mean there won't be some contamination," Remus continued. "Those are still cursed wounds. They'll never fully heal, and… and he might have some wolven characteristics."

"Like what?" Ginny asked.

"He'll like his steaks on the rare side and have a heightened sense of smell and hearing. Nothing more," I said. "Remus is just being a tad dramatic."

"Dumbledore might know something that'd work," Ron said. "Where is he? Bill fought those maniacs on Dumbledore's orders; Dumbledore owes him. He can't leave him in this state."

"Ron," Ginny began. "Dumbledore's dead."

XXX

It seemed impossible. Dumbledore was dead, and Snape was the one who killed him. Snape, the man Remus and Dumbledore himself both tried to convince me to trust, the man who concocted a potion, the only potion that got me through my morning sickness had killed a friend and mentor to us all. It was unfathomable.

Almost as unfathomable as my last words to Dumbledore. At the very least they had been a warning, at most a threat. It had threatened him to take care of my nephew…or else! Why? Why did my last words have to be a threat? Why couldn't I have told him how much he meant to me? I should have told him how I considered him to be another father in my life, not threaten his the way I did.

In the days following the Battle of the Astronomy Tower—that's what it was being called since that's where it happened; Snape struck Dumbledore with the killing curse on the top of the tower, my tower, and his body fell over the ramparts to the ground below—there was an eerie numbness across the whole castle. McGonagall had stepped up as acting Headmistress, while the arrangements were being made for Dumbledore's funeral. Apparently, McGonagall found a time-release will on Dumbledore's desk that gave explicit details on his funeral. He wished to be encased in a tomb and placed permanently on the grounds.

McGonagall gave me and Remus a couple of hours to step out and find our new home. Remus tried to argue against me going; he claimed it was too dangerous for me to be out. But I insisted that I couldn't choose a house without first walking through it and feeling it for myself. He relented so long as we took Jonathan and Tonks with us. In the end, we chose the house in Somerset.

The house itself was secluded down a long, winding lane, surrounded by open farmland, with a small vegetable garden in the back. In lieu of a cellar or a forest there was a garage that we could fortify for Remus' transformations. There was a nearby Villa where we could purchase all the necessary food and baby items we would need. It had a decent size master with and en-suite bath, and three additional bedrooms, should we ever have overnight guests.

XXX

Bill stayed in Madam Pomfrey's care until the funeral. I went by to see him a few days after the attack. Fleur and Molly were there visiting too.

"Kate, how are you?" he asked.

"I'm…" Well? How could I say I was well when I was so much more than simply well? I smiled. "I'm still pregnant, and the baby and I are perfectly healthy, thanks to you."

"It was nothing," he said with a wave of his hand.

"It is most certainly not 'nothing.' It is everything to me…to Remus, and to this baby of ours."

"Kate…"

"Don't fight me on this, Bill. I'm pregnant; I promise you, I will win?"

Molly laughed and nodded, while Bill only grinned.

Fleur, on the other hand, said, "You 'ave a bit of French fire, in you. I like 'zat. Remember 'zis day, Bill. I will always win an argument, pregnant or not. Zat is ze way it is."

Bill laughed and finally relented with a nod. Then he decided to have a little fun with it. He grinned in a manner eerily similar to his twin brothers.

"If you really wish to show your gratitude… William is an excellent name."

I laughed. "So it is. Alright, if we have a son, then some part of his name will contain William or any diminutive of it."

"Billie makes a great girl's name too," he said jokingly.

"Perhaps, but we've already got a name picked out for girl, and I refuse to change it."

"What is ze name you so desire?" Fleur asked.

"That, Fleur, I cannot say for fear I'll never get to use it."

Fleur frowned.

"It's nothing personal, Fleur. We haven't even told Jonathan."

This seemed to make her feel better.

"'Ere, Kate. 'Ave my seat and stay a while."

"Thank you. I won't stay long."

"Don't be ridiculous. You and I 'ave not 'ad much time to talk. So, you are 'oping to 'ave a girl?"

"Yes, I am, very much so. I've had my two boys with Jonathan and Harry. I want to put this one in dresses."

Molly snorted. "Good luck with that. Ginny was never one for a pretty dress. She always found some way to ruin it."

"Wiz brozers like 'ers, 'oo can blame 'er?"

"Yes, Fred and George were quite the handful."

"I meant my future 'usband, Bill."

"Oi!" Bill protested.

"Shush now, Darling. Ze women are talking."

Bill seemed only slightly put out by that, but since he was still restricted to the bed, there was little he could do about it.

"Speaking of 'usbands, 'ow is yours, Kate? 'Ee seemed quite…"

"Put out? Angry? Manic?" I offered.

"…I was going to say 'displeased.'"

"What happened?" Bill asked.

"He…uh… Got a little…territorial when he found out that Greyback had been in the same room as me, let alone that he tried to attack me. But he's…he's fine now. We settled it. He's actually away at the moment, closing on our new house with Tonks…who's there, as me."

Molly raised her eye brows.

"Yeah, it's weird for me too. But Remus absolutely refused to let me leave the castle again. It was hard enough to convince him to let me go the one day to view the potential houses. A second day wasn't going to happen; he's paranoid with Greyback still at large. Jonathan went with them as well, and he was enjoying himself. He kept calling her 'Mum,' much to her and my annoyance. She said the term made her feel old."

Bill laughed. "I can't imagine Tonks as a mum to anyone."

"'Ow did you and Remus 'settle' the matter with Greyback?" Fleur asked, ignoring her future husband.

"Oh!" I could feel my cheeks warm slightly at the memory. "He… He staked his claim over me. It was…aggressive, but all together…not unsatisfying."

"Kate!" Molly exclaimed.

"What? I think we all know how this," I pointed to my stomach, "happened. And frankly, I'm tired of letting this interfere with that. I am sure you and Arthur can relate."

"Oh sweet Merlin, no! POPPY!" Bill shouted and Madam Pomfrey came running. "Poppy, please, get these women out of here."

"On what grounds?" Fleur asked.

"For causing severe mental anguish. I will not sit by while you all discuss my parent's…relations," he finished with a grimace.

"Why not? I zee nozing wrong wiz it," Fleur said. "We French 'ave a very healzy apetite for love."

"Nope! This conversation is done," Molly said adamantly, standing to leave. "Rest now, Bill. I'll see you later."

I left soon after Molly did, with similar words of parting. Of course… the next time we saw each other was at Dumbledore's funeral. It was not a day that I'd easily forget. It was full of tears and bitter joy, and laden with guilt and the dark unknown.