Magic in the Moonlight
CHAPTER Fifty One
As soon as the term had broken up all the kids had been sent home with little hassle. Parents were practically clambering to have their children brought home after news of Voldemort's return had hit the news like fireworks. Everyone who had doubted Harry and Albus were kicking themselves with fear and a dark smog seemed to settle over the wizarding community. Things were definitely going to be different. Lyra had escorted Harry to the Hogwarts express knowing that the other Auror's would be taking over guarding the train the entire way back to London where more would meet them to make sure every child got to their parents safely. Lyra would have gone with them but Albus had asked her to stay to speak with him. Her godson still looked somewhat lost but with Hermione and Ron at his side he looked to be on the mend. She patted him on the shoulder and gave him a quick hug promising to check up on him over the holidays if she could before watching the trio vanish onto the train. Before she knew it the great crimson steam train she knew and loved well was rumbling its way away from Hogsmeade.
Sighing wearily she headed back to the castle that suddenly felt very lonely without the thousands of students. Her first stop was Albus' study, walking in with a small knock to find said elderly wizard sat behind his desk awaiting her, accompanied by Severus.
"Ah now we can begin," Albus sounded cheery as he moved aside a small mountain of paperwork he had been working on, "with what happened at the Ministry we can safely assume that Voldemort will make his rise to power much more…obvious. I and Cornelius have already warned the muggle prime minister to be wary of a number of muggle killings that will likely rise. Although the Order will be helping the Ministry in protecting this school and its students, and of course Harry, there is a vital piece of the puzzle we must complete if we are to defeat Voldemort."
Stiffening, Lyra took a deep breath before taking the seat opposite Dumbledore as he offered her a drink, it looked like the time had come. The gesture did not escape Severus but he said nothing.
"What do you mean Headmaster?" he asked with a frown.
"You may be aware of Voldemort's safety measures that has allowed him to escape death, namely his use of Horcruxes."
Severus' gaze darkened, "I had heard rumours of such things but I had not thought it truly possible."
Albus nodded, "indeed Voldemort has created several in fact, and whilst they exist he is in essence immortal. Before Harry can defeat Voldemort these Horcruxes must be destroyed. I have a few ideas to the locations of where they may be found but I assume they will be heavily guarded and so I may need to call upon you both for your help when the time comes."
"Of course," Lyra piped up quickly, "when do we start?"
"For now I will check a few of these places I know of where he might have stored a Horcrux, in the meantime Severus you must keep up appearances with the Death Eaters, and Lyra you will need to help bring the werewolves to our cause before Voldemort can sway them."
"I doubt they will listen to me," she scoffed, "most of them are afraid of Greyback or were scorned by the wizarding community so offer no love to our cause, this is one fight I don't think I can win."
"Still it is worth the effort," he pressed with his cool blue gaze before turning to Severus, "you know what to do."
Said man had become tight-lipped, his mouth a thin line of grim determination as he inclined his head lightly. Lyra frowned not really liking the idea of Dumbledore sending him back to the Death Eaters but she knew that Severus was probably the most vital link in the whole plan to fell Voldemort. Dismissed from the office with only a few other words, the two headed down the cool and silent corridors of the empty school.
"Be careful when you go there," Lyra finally spoke up to break the silence, "I'm imagining several of them aren't happy about missing the chance at the Ministry to get Harry's prophecy, so they'll be looking for trouble."
"I am well aware how to deal with them," Severus replied coolly before pausing, the pair halting in the hallway, "yesterday…"
"It's alright Sev," she interrupted, "I didn't expect you to quickly change your mind about things, it's fine."
She had already geared herself up for this conversation knowing how it would end. She had been silly to think that he would suddenly decide to move on from Lily after her angry rant the yesterday. But damn it still hurt, maybe it was better this way.
"No you damned woman, listen to me speak," he shut her up, grabbing her arm once again as if expecting her to walk away, "there has been no quickly changing my mind, I….I am unused to these things," he looked at the ground for a moment before meeting her eyes without flinching, his scowl not seeming annoyed or angry for a change, "as hard as it is to say, you are my friend and have been since we were children, I am not sure I can return these feelings you seem to have for me, Merlin only knows why you do, but….I cannot forget."
Lyra felt her heart quicken a moment at his words, were she truly hearing them? Not daring to get her hopes up, she steeled herself still.
"I won't replace Lily," she didn't miss his slight flinch, "when we were kids I knew how much you cared for her and several times I tried to patch things up between you both despite my own feelings. Merlin! Sometimes I felt jealous of my best friend for having all your attention," she laughed a little at the old memories, "and somehow I know no matter how many times I tell you that things would not have worked between the two of you, that won't change a damn thing. So if you could kindly put me out of my misery and tell me if there was at least the smallest hope that you would care for me as I have done for you for many years, no matter how many times you have wound me up."
Severus sighed, an almost pained look passing his face as he closed his eyes.
"I do," he all but whispered, "but I cannot."
His words were all but a slap to the face leaving a stinging mark but she refused to show it. Yesterday's actions had been a spur of the moment, caught in the emotions everyone was feeling with the sudden turn of events. It would be better this way. Sever all ties then when things came to fruition in the years to come it would be easier. Pulling away from him Lyra nodded her head.
"I understand, I won't bother you any further."
"Lyra-"
"No Severus, I thought it was too much to ask, just forget about what happened yesterday I need to go and prepare for heading out to meet the werewolves."
Without letting him speak again she hurriedly walked away leaving him stood there staring after her, not noticing the pain etched into his dark eyes and tight lipped mouth or how his hand had moved to stop her before freezing. And then the cool façade fell back into place and he too turned and headed towards the dungeons, he too had matters to attend to.
Following up her side of the Order duties finally Lyra felt almost excited, apart from the fact she was going to a place she didn't particularly enjoy. The one time she had gone she had refused to go again only this time there was no choice. For a while Remus had been the only one to attend the werewolf meetings out in the dark and cool woods in the Yorkshire moors, always at night when there was less chance of running into muggles. Sometimes numbering up to a fifty werewolves at a time where present and sometimes on a full moon, it was these times that unwitting muggles that strayed into the moors often fell prey. But with the birth of the wolfsbane potion there were fewer and fewer precedents of werewolf attacks on the moor. Until Fenrir had risen to the centre of the mix of werewolves. He was truly feral, more werewolf than human even when the moon was not full, even Lyra kept her distance but there was an underlying hate for the man after all he had turned Remus in the first place when he was a child.
Speaking of said wizard, he was accompanying her that night as they strolled across the moors, following the scent of other werewolves that had grown stronger with the nearing full moon. They would have to stay with the pack for at least a week to integrate and listen in trying to find who they would side with whilst trying to poke them in the right direction. Oddly it didn't feel awkward walking together, perhaps it was Severus' words on her mind that had made the split cleaner and less painful? In fact with Sirius' death still hanging in the air they were both acutely aware how ridiculous it would be to avoid each other, even if they had been lovers they had been friends first and they were now among the last of their group.
"I still find it strange to think that he's gone," Remus spoke softly, a hand lightly scratching his stubble lined chin, "the last of the Marauders."
His chuckle sounded somewhat hollow unsurprisingly.
"We are still here, even if it's not as expected, our friends are always with us Remus."
"You sound like you've been around Albus too long," he remarked with a small smile, "but indeed I do wonder what they would have said if they knew that we had gone our separate ways."
"James and Lily would have gone mental but they would have understood," Lyra admitted, "things got between us that made it clear it was over, but we've talked enough about it I'd rather not repeat myself."
Remus merely nodded without adding anything, staring into the darkness around them as they entered the sheltered trees on the edge of the wood; it stretched for as far as he could see either side but the wood itself was not particularly deep only dense with its tall, thick trunks.
"You haven't been to one of these in a while," he commented quietly in case there were any wayward ears around the forest, "be careful things have changed since you last came."
"Even more so since most of them probably know I am on Albus' side of things in all of this," Lyra squared her shoulders, "if I come out of this alive I'll count myself lucky."
"It was possibly not the best idea to send you here but Albus' knows what he's doing," Remus assured her.
"I hope so."
Upon entering the clearing where they could sense the number of werewolves gathered the pair halted before a haggard looking wizard. He looked like he had been living amongst the trees for a good few years as he clothes hung loosely on him, looking more like rags than a pair of belted trousers, shirt and dirty cloak. Combined with his bushy blonde beard that seemed to be housing its own eco-system, and mass of long tangled hair, he had the feral look in his eyes that reminded of her Greyback. Remus wasn't kidding that things had changed! Last time she had been here she had been greeted warmly by a werewolf couple who had been trying, or daring, to have children, eager to welcome her in. That had been the nicer part of the gathering, the rest had been darkened by tales of abuse, segregation, hate and death. Life was cruel indeed.
"Who gathers here?" the old man rasped.
"Two lonely wolves hoping to share the warmth of the pack," Remus responded almost on command.
The man eyed them both up before stepping aside, melting into the shadows of the trees until only the gleam of his eyes were visible.
"You didn't prepare me for this," Lyra muttered sideways at him, "it's like Azkaban but in the wild!"
"Fenrir has been modelling the group after himself, making them distrust everyone other than werewolves, all this werewolf superiority talk has sent good folk wild."
To be honest she didn't know why Dumbledore had sent her here. She was supposed to be the poster-girl for werewolf rights what with her title of Auror and status as a highly recognised witch. But if things were truly this bad she didn't know what she could do to help. Not to mention that if Greyback appeared there would be trouble. She doubted he had forgotten her face and she had definitely not forgotten his. By all means this was incredibly dangerous but no more so than what Severus was doing at the moment. This thought was all that she needed to stand taller, confidence finding its way into her mind. She would do what she can just like she had during the last Wizarding War.
Splitting up so as not to look like they were together, after all Remus had been coming alone for weeks before, she noticed a few heads turned her way as she walked through the leafy meeting place. Lyra didn't recognise any of the faces but clearly they knew her. Not all of them looked feral, although many had the haggard and pallid look of a werewolf near the full moon, at least the majority still had their shoes on. The few that were not so society-ready hung back to the shadows of hulking trees, gleaming eyes watching all that happened in the clearing.
"You're her aren't you?"
Blinking, she looked down in surprise to see a young boy looking up at her with such a look of hope in his eyes her heart almost broke.
"You're the werewolf Auror?"
Knowing there was no point in hiding, Lyra knelt down to his eye level before nodding, noticing his eyes lighting up at her response, "what's your name?"
"Tommy, miss! I want to be an Auror when I grow up too, just like you! Even though you're like us people still like you and want you to protect them, that's what I want to do."
Surprised by his statement, Lyra couldn't help but recall Remus once telling her of a boy called Tommy who had been ecstatic to hear about her story that the Ministry had found out she was a werewolf but had let her keep her position. Who would have thought she would have met such a boy in such a place. Smiling, she ruffled his short mess of dark hair.
"Grow up big and strong then, I'm going to make sure you can become an Auror when you're older. Come to Hogwarts when you're old enough and study hard."
"I will do!" he piped up happily before grabbing her hand, "come! You've got to meet everyone!"
Led through the clearing she came across a small group that had gathered in a corner away from most of the others. Surprisingly they looked mostly normal, well dressed although not to the standards of the Malfoys of course, but presentable and wrapped in their cloaks to keep away the cold. What really struck her though was the way they looked furtively around at the others like cornered animals. Tommy pulled her towards them with a wide grin on his face.
"Everyone, Miss Lyra the Auror has come to visit!"
Surprised looks were shared among the crowd before they quickly huddled round her, holding her hand much like Tommy or holding her shoulder gently with such looks of admiration it was almost overwhelming. It was like they all wished to touch her to make sure she was in fact real.
"Is it really you?"
"Oh Merlin's beard! You really are an Auror after all!"
"You're much prettier than I imagined!"
Shaking her head at the onslaught Lyra raised a hand to bring them to a hush, "thank you everyone, I'm surprised I'm so well known to be honest."
"You are practically a legend among us my dear," an elderly woman spoke up from her seat on a particularly large root that stuck out of the ground, a long scar marring her face across a blind eye, "you are a werewolf in power, respected and loved and above all you are known. Some of us might be jealous but you are the one we all look to as a beacon of hope and change."
"Not all of us," one of them muttered shooting a glance out across the others gathered.
Frowning, Lyra drew in closer, "I noticed things are very different from when I first came here years ago, what has happened?"
"Fenrir Greyback happened, my dear. That damned evil man turned so many impressionable young pups and the slightly mad ones towards his cause, this gathering is but a husk of how it was back in my day! Now our little group live in fear of him and his group who cast out or tear down any that try to stand against him. Not all of us want to fight for you-know-who and we most certainly do not bear grudges against witches and wizards to the point we would kill them, it is barbaric what they do."
The news was chilling indeed but cleared up many things for her. Looking around with a new perception, she did indeed notice the groups and the wary eyes, not to mention those that appeared to be muscling around and patrolling the camp. Things were very wrong.
"After your talk at the Ministry," someone else from the group suddenly spoke up, "there's been all sorts of talking about how unjust the anti-werewolf legislation is. Merlin, I even had my employer find out that I was a werewolf but he decided to keep me on, that sort of thing doesn't happen but things have started to change."
Lyra wasn't sure if she could attribute such things to her active campaigning against Umbridge and the legislation but it made her smile. To hear things were improving was better than nothing. Searching for Remus she noticed his back amongst a small group further into the trees when she noticed him stiffen, his head whipping to the right. Following his gaze, her nose almost itched at a familiar scent that set the hairs on the back of her neck on edge. Fenrir Greyback had arrived.
