Written for the International Wizarding School Championship Season Two Round 6

School: Hogwarts

Year: 3 (Exchange 1 standing in for year 3)

Theme: Borgin and Burkes (Explore characters who need dark magic to survive or as their occupation).

Main Prompt: [Quote] "It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both." Nicholos Machiavelli.

Additional Prompts: [Character Type] A Turncoat, [Action] Getting Kidnapped/Kidnapping.

Word Count: 3297

There was a loud, clanging noise as the bell rang in Sirius' ears. He hastened to open the front door of 12, Grimmauld Place, eager for some much needed company.

To his dismay, a teary eyed Tonks greeted him. Sirius could barely register her hair was a dull brown before she collapsed into his arms. The portrait of Walburga Black was so surprised at Sirius' low growl that she shut up, much to his relief.

'We need to help Remus!' Tonks kept saying again and again as Sirius gently led her to the shabby sitting room and deposited her on a couch.

'He's going to die! He's a werewolf!' She cried hysterically.

'It's okay, Tonks,' Sirius said awkwardly, wondering if she needed another hug. He decided against it.

'Just tell me what happened.' He hadn't yet grasped the seriousness of the situation.

'Fenrir…' She started in a haunting voice, 'Fenrir Greyback came for him.'

Shivers ran down Sirius' spine.

'There was an attack on his house at dusk,' Tonks continued, 'We were outnumbered, and there were wards set up all over the place. Dumbledore was too late. They took him from right under the Order's noses and left us with the burning house.'

Sirius listened with wide eyes - Tonks wasn't mad. He could hear her raw anguish. This could not be happening. He shook his head wildly.

'It was horrible,' Tonks whispered softly, 'Hestia had half of her right leg blown off and Podmore's going to spend the next six months in St. Mungo's. I was sent to call reinforcements… but we were too late.'

Tonks burst into fresh tears and Sirius held her without complaint, wondering what to do about the wetness in his own eyes. They came for Moony, only Moony? Poor, sweet, innocent Moony?

He held back his emotions and looked into Tonks' eyes fiercely. Now was not the time for mourning. It was the time for action.

'We need to get him back.' Sirius said firmly, 'Wait here while I call Dumbledore.'

'NO!' Tonks shouted, her voice cracking. "Pull yourself back together, you're an Auror for Merlin's sake," she chided herself.

Sirius stopped in his tracks. 'Why?' he asked.

'That's why I came to see you,' said Tonks, 'The Order's a mess right now and Dumbledore told me to my face that he wouldn't look for Remus. He said it was futile to challenge the werewolves and there was nothing we could do to save him.'

'You should have insisted!' Sirius looked furious.

'I did! But you should have seen his face. He was so… sad and cold at the same time. He didn't even budge. He said he had to find the traitor who revealed Remus' house, besides the various other... incidents. He said it would only get worse if he didn't act.'

Sirius was ready to burst with anger.

'We can't just abandon Moony!' he shouted, pacing furiously. 'We have to save him somehow.'

A flash of inspiration came to Tonks. 'Mad-eye,' she said almost reverently, remembering her old mentor.

Sirius looked skeptical. 'You think he'll help us?'

'He has no choice,' Tonks declared, stepping into the green flames of the floo.

Remus looked apologetically at the pale, frail excuse of a girl he had just bumped into. Her spectacles dangled from her fingers. Brown hair fell in strands across her forehead. They were standing outside the Hospital Wing.

'I'm Cynthia,' she introduced herself, 'sorry, I didn't quite see you there.' She was wearing Hufflepuff colours and a faint scent of jasmine. She was pretty in her own innocent little way.

'You can call me Remus,' he said, 'It's fine, I had a bit of a headache.'

'That's funny.' Cynthia cracked a shy smile. 'Me too.'

Remus nodded. 'I have a class to go to,' he said, 'I'll see you around.'

Both of them parted without sparing a single thought more to their chance encounter. Afterwards they met in hallways and exchanged a few words here and there, but it was just a friendly casual acquaintance. Cynthia was in her fifth year at that time and Remus was in his fourth.

And then it started - sometime in the middle of Remus' sixth year. He started to notice a pattern. An increasingly high number of such encounters, usually near or in the Hospital Wing. It was almost every time the day after the full moon. Not every full moon mind you, but enough to make Remus suspicious.

'You're a werewolf,' he accosted Cynthia one day.

Cynthia wasn't even phased. 'So are you,' she replied coolly.

Remus was more thrown off than he would ever care to admit. He hadn't expected this. It was obvious in hindsight, but at the time he tried his best to keep a straight face and cover up. Cynthia didn't fall for his excuses and weak explanations. They both knew the truth and it wasn't long before a strong bond formed between the two of them. She was a fellow academic, a kindred spirit. They would share their problems which only one of their kind could understand. They grew stronger together, their trust never faltering. She hid in an empty classroom with special protections on full moon both told no one, not even their closest friends, for Cynthia's fear of being discovered.

They first kissed in Hogsmeade under the stars, when Remus showed her a secret way to sneak out of Hogwarts.

Moody stared at the offending piece of chicken on the end of his fork. It was the only thing he hadn't checked for poison a third time. His potions supply was exhausted, which was very suspicious since he always measured his supply to the drop before mealtimes. He had done the same this time too, or so he thought. He hadn't checked himself for a False Memory Charm yet, how abhorrently remiss of him! Constant Vigilance!

"Mark my words, old boy," he berated himself, "don't let the old age get to you. You'll go down fighting yet."

Suddenly his alarm for an incoming floo call rang. "Aha! So you're the mysterious Dark Wizard assassin out to get me."

He quickly positioned himself near the fireplace and unleashed a torrent of spells designed to disarm and restrain the unknown assailant, who no doubt thought that he would be indisposed by now. "Not so fast, flobberworm."

He quickly checked himself for memory charms and tied his victim to one of his sturdy wooden chairs. He or she was Polyjuiced as Tonks. He muttered a quick Rennervate and menacingly held his wand in front of her face.

'WHAT did'ye to my chicken?' He roared at her. He had found this particular method to be as good as Veriteserum in many cases.

Tonks sighed in resignation. She should have expected this.

'Your chicken's fine except for being dead,' she said, 'I need your help. Remember Liverpool, 1991. You said, "I bloody owe you one." I'm calling in that favour now. '

Moody blinked three times in quick succession, muttered Polyfluis Reverso, checked his house for any invisible assailants that might have come with her by floo and said gruffly, 'Why didn't you say so before? Who needs my help?'

'How do you know it's not just me?' Tonks shot back with some irritation.

Moody smiled suddenly, showing his rows of broken teeth. 'I know you,' he said, removing her restraints.

'It's been a long time, Mad-eye.' Tonks grinned, relieved that Moody had agreed. It was like a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She could finally breathe.

'Aye, that it has, Nymphadora, that it has.'

The chicken was inevitably forgotten.

It was a rainy day in Hogsmeade when their relationship changed completely.

Cynthia had asked Remus to meet outside the Three Broomsticks.

'You need to listen to me, Remus,' Cynthia said urgently. She was soaking wet and covered in grime.

'What's the matter?' Remus asked.

Cynthia hesitated. 'I met someone. He… he can help us. People like us. He can ensure a good life for us. He knows… others of our kind.'

She watched Remus carefully. Remus scoffed, 'You mean the wild werewolves who don't control themselves? Are you nuts?'

'No, no,' Cynthia insisted, 'you don't understand. They have no choice. They can give us jobs and… and money, and a good life.'

Remus looked incredulous. 'Do you know how they get their money? Dark magic, illegal curses. Murder, Cynthia. Cold-blooded murder and robbery. They're wild and uncontrolled.'

Cynthia looked at him in disbelief. 'You sound like one of those Ministry stooges.' She wiped her glasses. 'They do what they need to do to survive.'

Remus grabbed her shoulders. 'Can you hear yourself? Do you understand who you're defending? They deliberately bite kids like us. Like you and me. They force us to have these horrible lives. You want to be like them?'

Cynthia ignored the question. 'They can't live by themselves. They need more of us to help them. Did you know there are less than a hundred werewolves in Britain? We need to help them.' Her voice was desperate.

Remus shook his head.

It was the first real argument they had. Later, it was as if an invisible barrier had come up between them. Remus was especially hurt she didn't tell him who she had been talking to. Nevertheless, tears were shed at her graduation and she promised Remus she would come visit him.

'Promise you won't let me down.' He held her hands in his just before she had to leave. She knew he was talking about her joining the wild ones.

She couldn't bring herself to say no.

'I promise,' she had said, kissing him one last time.

Moody had looked at Tonks with some disappointment that she hadn't figured it out herself. 'They took Lupin for a reason. From what you've told me, they could have killed him but they didn't. They want something, and they'll come to us themselves begging for it,' he had said, his eye spinning madly around the house, noting all the dark artifacts.

The experienced Auror's prediction soon proved to be correct. A raven patronus came for Dumbledore.

'I can hear Lupin behind me right now screaming under a Crucio,' Fenrir snarled, 'If you want him back, we want something in return. Fresh blood, if you want him in one piece. Her name's Cynthia Lytton. Night of the next full moon at ten, near Lupin's burnt cottage, we'll all be waiting.'

Tonks was distraught beyond reason when she heard the message in Dumbledore's pensieve. She was still in shock when Dumbledore passed on the matter to Alastor's trustworthy hands.

'Who's Cythia Lytton? How does he know we won't ambush him?' she asked Moody as soon as they were back at Grimmauld Place.

'He expects us to,' said Moody grimly, 'but a pack of bloodthirsty werewolves on a full moon is something even the Ministry hit wizards won't dare to engage in combat with. We can't fight them alone, but we won't have to.'

Tonks looked far from reassured even after Moody told her there was no way they would be giving up innocents to save Lupin, not even that young Slytherin brat Sirius had suggested. Sirius' lips curled up when asked about Cynthia, quite an unusual name.

'Remus' old flame,' he said, 'very snippy. They dated for a while in Hogwarts.' He had a positively canine look on his face. 'She was a year above him.'

Tonks' hair flashed through several colours as she whistled. 'Can you get her?' She asked.

Sirius licked his lips. 'Absolutely. You leave it to me.'

The next time they met was at the train station after Remus had graduated from his seventh year. It was exactly a year later. He was much taller now.

Cynthia had a maudlin look on her face as they hugged tightly.

'They took my job,' she told him. Remus was incensed. She hadn't mentioned it in her last letter.

'What!' he exclaimed, 'but you were doing just fine.'

Cynthia bit her lip. 'It wasn't because of the quality of my work.' Fire smouldered in her eyes.

'That bitch Umbridge sent investigators to clear the Ministry of… of our kind. They found out… they didn't even fire me quietly. No! The whole world knows I'm a werewolf now and I'm never going to get a job anywhere again.'

Tears streamed down her cheeks as Remus held her tightly. It was so wrong. It was all so wrong. She was the most harmless person in the world and… and they didn't even care. He did what he could. He helped her set up a small shop selling household charms.

And then came the war.

Remus' cottage was now a small heap of bricks and stones covered in grey ashes. Grass had already started to appear between the cracks. The forest behind the house was dense and forbidding, perfect for a hideout. The moon was nearing its zenith as its light shone brightly on the barren ground. Sirius, glamoured as an elderly wizard, walked along with Alastor Moody on the gravelly pathway.

Tonks was mysteriously absent, no doubt due to some important work of her own.

Moody didn't reply but just glanced behind at Cynthia who was walking along deep in thought. Her innocuous frame and perfectly innocent expression made a Niffler look dangerous in comparison. It was exactly these attributes which made her essential to their plan.

They waited for about five minutes before Fenrir Greyback emerged from the darkness of the forest. The shadows of hundreds of similar figures were visible just inside the trees' cover.

It was madness. Utter madness and chaos. Close ones were brutally murdered.

The two of them eventually drifted away. Remus couldn't bear to see her slowly get torn apart, piece by piece. He had a duty to the Order now.

But the Order could do nothing but stand by as hundreds of families were destroyed. They weren't decisive enough. They would stun the enemy, only to get hit by a killing curse when they turned back. He couldn't take it anymore.

He would first have to embrace the dark arts to destroy it. He studied them. It ate him up, consumed him with greed for power. The Black library was especially helpful. In the end, it was all worth it when they attacked Cynthia's house.

It was dusk. The sun was a bright red. Cynthia's patronus reached just in time for him to grab his wand and Apparate. There was no time to call anybody else.

Three cloaked figures had surrounded the house and the Dark Mark was already high in the sky.

'Confringo!' He aimed his wand at the nearest Death Eater who dodged just in time. He saw Cynthia run out of the house onto the lawn with a shield at her back.

A cutting curse from one of the onlookers caught her in the arm. She screamed. After that, Remus only saw red.

'Avada Kedavra!' he shouted, the green spell whizzing through the useless shield of the shocked Death Eater. One down, three to go.

All the dark curses and hexes came back to him slowly as he crouched, shielded and attacked with a mad fury.

'Bombarda!'

'Crucio!'

'Sectumsempra!'

'Avada Ke-'

A silent spell from Remus tore the arm from his assailant's shoulder. Blood gushed everywhere. A flurry of spells ensued. It was all over in a matter of minutes.

Cynthia looked at him in shock after they had finished. 'You killed them,' she muttered.

Remus looked at her fiercely. 'They would've killed you in a heartbeat.'

She was lost for words. Tears welled up in her eyes. Remus stepped closer to her. She wasn't so innocent herself.

'Stay away from me!' she screamed, her wand in her hand.

She gave him one last meaningful look. 'It was Greyback. Greyback was the one who talked to me that day,' she said, and there was a small pop as she Apparated away, never to return.

Moody pushed Sirius to go talk to Fenrir. He would use his eye to locate Remus.

Sirius motioned for Cynthia to follow as they approached the werewolf.

Fenrir pointed his wand. 'First the girl, then we talk.'

Sirius knew he was in no position to negotiate. He acquiesced. Greyback grabbed her roughly and pulled her close. His breath was nauseating. He dragged a long sharp nail across her cheek. She weakly protested.

'Exquisite.' Fenrir muttered, 'An excellent addition to our ranks.'

'Now answer my questions,' said Sirius, barely restraining his anger, 'Why did you kidnap Remus? Why not her directly?'

Greyback smiled, showing his canines, 'We didn't kidnap him; and we couldn't find her.'

Remus knew why they had attacked her. It was the same reason for every bad thing that had happened in her life. She hadn't joined them. They would be coming for him next. He wouldn't shy away this time. Greyback…

James and Lily's death was the last straw. Everybody thought that the Light had won, the truth was that the Dark had lost. He couldn't live like this anymore. Not in a shabby little cottage with no money and everybody celebrating around him as if nothing had happened before. It was time, he decided, to make sure she didn't have to hide anymore.

A dark figure emerged from the shelter of the trees. He stood beside Greyback.

'Remus!' Shouted Sirius, diving towards him. He had a special Portkey in his hands made by Dumbledore himself, which would break any wards the werewolves could put up.

Cynthia's features rippled slightly to reveal Tonks who silently stunned the surprised Greyback. She grabbed the Portkey. They would have escaped, except for Remus who had sidestepped Sirius and was looking at Tonks curiously. His hair was brushed back and he was dressed in expensive robes.

'You're not Cynthia,' he muttered while Sirius was shouting for him to get a move on. 'Where's Cynthia?' he growled, in a way Remus would never have, 'I needed her to be here and understand me and… and forgive me.' The last part was said in a whisper.

Sirius glanced at the surrounding werewolves who were inching towards them. Remus held up a hand. To the other two's astonishment, they stopped. Remus glared at Sirius.

'She… she's left the country,' Sirius stuttered, 'we don't know where she is.'

Remus looked at the two of them dispassionately. His gaze had a coldness to it which was cruelly unnerving.

Remus took out his wand. 'Yes, before you ask. It was me who betrayed your pathetic Order.' He brandished his wand with an evil glint in his eyes. 'And for giving me false hope, Avad-'

He never got to finish his spell. A blasting curse hit him out of thin air directly in his face. Tonks gasped. The air rippled slightly to reveal Moody. He grabbed the Portkey, and before they knew it, they were back at Grimmauld Place.

'That was only my fourth backup plan,' Mad-eye said smugly only to be hit in the face by an enraged Tonks. Damn that Constant Vigilance!

'I did what had to be done,' he said quietly and Apparated back to his own house.

Sirius and Tonks were swimming in a whirlpool of emotions. Not in their wildest dreams could they have imagined this happening. Remus betrayed them.

'Why did you really come to see me? I couldn't have been the only person who could help you. Hell! You could have gone straight to Moody!' Sirius said at last.

'You were the one person who cared for Remus,' Tonks said thickly, tears dripping down her pale cheeks, 'as much… as much-'

'As much as you did.' Sirius finished smoothly, looking out of the window at the dark dreary night which stared back at his face.