CHAPTER NINETY-THREE

Tonks did not know exactly what to expect upon reaching the centaurs' encampments, though any feeling of safety the young witch felt among their 'distinguished hosts' was immediately gone the second Astelos addressed poor Norah.

"I would like to speak to you alone, She-Wolf," the leader of this herd of centaurs spat in a tone that suggested he was disgusted with the young werewolf.

The beast flared his nostrils in frustration, stomping his hoof, a temporary release of frustration as his tail twitched as he turned towards his companion. "Danys, please see to it the humans get something to eat, and give them a tent, as we did for the old hag."

He must be talking about Umbridge, Tonks thought wildly, biting down hard on her bottom lip, though she offered up no verbal quip, though a thousand and one questions were burning on the tip of her tongue, just begging to be asked of Astelos.

"The Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, the—the woman you captured a few nights ago, where is she? Is the witch alive and unharmed? May we see her?" Tonks began hastily, wringing her hands together nervously while biting her bottom lip, ignoring Ollie's little agonized moan and Lupin's gasp of surprise, never once averting her gaze from Astelos before he vacated their drafty little makeshift tent.

Astelos whinnied in frustration and agitation before turning back around to face the young witch with a look akin to bemusement intermingled with annoyance on his light purple face.

"The Hogwarts Headmaster demanded of me her release the other night and would not leave our encampment until he personally escorted her out of the Forbidden Forest himself," he sighed, and if Tonks was not mistaken, the centaur sounded immensely disappointed as he growled. "From what he was able to tell me, the witch will be residing in St. Mungo's for a short time before being escorted to Azkaban Prison where the witch rightfully belongs, but not before paying a visit to Hogwarts' Hospital Wing."

Tonks felt her mouth drop open in shock and what little color was left in her face drain. She spluttered and stammered as she painfully wrung her hands together as she struggled to think of a retort and to process the leader of the herd of centaurs's words to their group.

"What?" she yelled, her hands balling into fists at her side, her nails almost piercing the sensitive skin of her flesh, though she ignored the pain and pushed right past it.

She was gone?! After all of that?! So, they had trekked all the bloody way through the Forbidden Forest for nothing?

Tonks felt her temper swell and surge to dangers levels within her bloodstream.

"Th—then if Umbridge isn't even here, why have you brought us here? Is just another bloody trap so you can, what, imprison us all, then?"

"Tonks." Norah called her name warningly, the edges of her voice clipped and hardened, as the young blonde werewolf moved to follow the centaur out of the tent.

She sighed and slowly turned back around to regard Remus, Ollie, and Tonks.

"It will be fine," Norah murmured under her breath in agitation, though her brows furrowed as she noticed Astelos give Danys a knowing little nod and snorted something unintelligible in their own native tongue.

But Tonks wasn't convinced. She could not prove it, but there seemed to be an ulterior motive hidden, lying just beneath the surface of Astelos's words. What, by Merlin's left saggy buttock, did he want with Norah?

Was this about his dead scouts?

Tonks stuck out her bottom lip in a slight pout and bit down hard as she exchanged with Norah, Ollie, and Remus a look of concern for their new friend.

She had fulfilled her end of the bargain and had (sort of) gotten Umbridge out of the woods, though the credit for that should rightfully be given to Dumbledore, though Tonks could not deny that Norah had, run-in with the spider notwithstanding, gotten them safely through the Forest thus far.

Norah had saved her life and the life of her and Rem's baby, and for that, Tonks knew she owed the blonde She-Wolf a big favor.

We'll…we'll get you both the best house money can buy, both of you, Tonks thought, wincing as Norah gave them all a look that Tonks could only describe as slight concern as she reluctantly but willingly followed Astelos out the tent's flap, their only defense against the early first-day-of-November bitter chill.

Tonks frowned, though she knew they had no other recourse here but to comply, considering they were now, like it or not, in the centaurs' territory and severely outnumbered, even with their wands.

That, and if they wanted Norah back alive and unharmed, Tonks knew she was going to have no choice but to cooperate with the herd and let them ask their questions.

Tonks also supposed their leader wanted to discuss with Norah what happened.

He was not a fool. He had seen the massacre their group had left behind in dealing with Aragog and his offspring in the Acromantula's hollow, and then the cave.

She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that Astelos knew they were behind the slaughtering of his three comrades, and that was what he wanted to discuss.

Tonks's frown deepened as she had to practically crane her neck upward to look at Danys, the centaur who had spoken to her before on the trek over here, attempting to make light conversation and currently eyeing her with a look of fascination in his eyes, which Tonks wasn't entirely sure that she liked, but couldn't speak out against it.

She couldn't quite explain it, but she was feeling rather betrayed by all of this. They had spent bloody who knows how many days trekking through the Forest, she had been cornered and viciously attacked, as had Ollie, by three adult centaurs, and now, they learned that Professor Dumbledore had already taken Umbridge back?!

Why wouldn't Astelos and the rest of his herd just let them go free and send them on their way and out of their territory? What did the creature want with Norah? To torture her?!

What was the point of all the secrecy?

Why had they separated her and Remus and Ollie from Norah?

Tonks blinked owlishly up at the centaur as it spoke to her.

"Forgive me," the centaur called Danys spoke to Tonks as it reached down and put his hand on the young witch's back as it steered her and the rest of them towards a makeshift tent. "But you have not yet told us your name, witch. What is your name?"

Tonks furrowed her brows and exchanged a concerned look with Remus and Ollie collectively. She didn't really owe this bloody centaur an answer to his question, not after what his 'friends' had attempted to do to her and Ollie, if this one knew them.

Remus shrugged his shoulders as did Ollie, both men silently communicating to Tonks that with the situation given what it was, it couldn't really hurt to tell this one her name, as neither one of them could detect a hint of malice or deceit in Danys' eyes.

Besides, this particular herd of centaurs knew Norah Jameson enough. What harm could there be in giving her name, particularly if Tonks attempted to be kind to him?

Maybe then, the centaurs would see that not all human were not bad. Not all of them held prejudiced views on their 'beast' status like Dolores Umbridge did, Tonks thought.

It wasn't like any creature here in the Forbidden Forest even know who either of them was, or probably would not meet the three of them again after this morning.

Their names would mean nothing to these centaurs. "I'm Dora Tonks-Lupin," Tonks spoke, shrugging her shoulders and gestured towards Remus and Ollie. "This is my husband, Remus Lupin, and my best mate, Ollie Brennan. We don't mean you any harm."

She could not help but actively avert the centaur's gaze as she looked down at the ground beneath their feet. She sincerely hoped the centaurs would let Norah go.

"I'm Danys. I…understand that you ran into a few of my kind a few days ago," he grunted, and Tonks instinctively flinched and felt Lupin grip onto her arm tightly.

Though, Tonks was surprised when the centaur called Danys turned, his brows furrowed together in a frown, though he did not seem particularly upset by the news of what happened to his fellow herd-mates and quite possibly, his companions, his friends.

The beast took notice of Tonks's, Remus's, and Ollie's mutually horrified expression and he snorted, shaking his head, and flicking his tail back and forth, as though disappointed that the group thought he might try to harm them or punish them.

"You do not have to worry about retaliation from us," he murmured, and there was no mistaking the look of disgust in Danys' voice. The centaur snorted in frustration and stomped his front hooves. "Not all of us are like the ones you encountered in the forest a few nights past, though I am afraid that it is those few who have earned the reputation that we have been branded with," he growled lowly, and as he turned towards Tonks, his face immediately clouded with concern, as he took in how pale she looked.

Not to mention, her face was still covered in dried spatters of Aragog's blood.

"Are you all right, Mrs. Lupin?" he asked, and barely repressed his smile upon seeing Tonks's shock at a centaur, perhaps for the first time in her life, addressing a human witch with a modicum of respect. "Unlike my companions, who I understood the She-Wolf dealt out a fair punishment for their horrible, disgusting mistreatment of you, I like humans, though you are admittedly the first young female witch I have ever met, Mrs. Lupin. I apologize for the horrific treatment you endured the other night, and hope that while Astelos talks with the werewolf, you'll be comfortable enough, as much as my herd can possibly make you feel welcome here, at least from me," Danys said softly, looking pained, his sharp black eyes flitting from Lupin to Ollie, his frown intensifying.

"Why does your leader wish to speak with Norah Jameson alone? She's done nothing wrong and if it weren't for her, we wouldn't even be alive, horse," Ollie growled in a low, hoarse voice, and there was no mistaking the subtle hint of growing concern for the well-being of the young blonde werewolf in her best friend's voice.

Danys opened his mouth to speak, though before he could, another male's voice cut through the air, causing the centaur to swivel his head and Remus and Tonks to look in the direction of the new voice, and were relieved to see the leader with Norah.

"That, human, is personal business between leaders of which you need know nothing about as such matters do not pertain to you, boy," Astelos growled angrily, watching as Norah shifted nervously from one foot to the other as she rejoined her group and they collectively stood in front of the herd leader.

Tonks clamped her mouth shut, watching silently as her friend glowered up at Astelos, though Norah did not speak to the herd's leader. Instead, she waited for him.

Astelos merely proceed to grit his teeth in annoyance, his gaze unabashed and unwavering as he glared at Norah. "Professor Dumbledore has relieved us of the witch. You and your company are free to go provided you provide me with an explanation."

Norah shook her head and heaved in frustration, pinching the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger, stomping her foot, crossing her arms across her chest.

"My friends and I were merely passing through the Forest. I thank you for the assistance, Astelos, in dealing with the spider's offspring. Saved us the trouble of having to do it ourselves," Norah growled, her gaze flitting towards Remus and Tonks before flitting back towards the herd's leader and settling on the centaur. "Our business was to retrieve the bitch from your camp, but as Albus has already taken care of that for us—"

But Astelos neighed in frustration and threw his head back, tossing his mane over his shoulders, stomping his hoof, and flicking his tail in agitation.

"It is not that simple, She-Wolf," the herd leader spoke languidly, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "As you are well aware, centaurs and humans are not on the best of terms. We know not of your intentions here in our territory. Why, Norah Jameson, would I allow you to pass through mine and my kin's home, when you would not even pay me the courtesy of being honest as to your intentions?"

Norah let out a low, wolfish growl from the back of her throat and moved a half-step forward, only pausing when Ollie reached out and set a firm hand on her shoulder and squeezed it tightly, grinding his teeth in anger, preventing her moving.

"We were not intending to pass through your home," Norah growled lowly, her voice now dangerously low and quiet as her sky-blue, cobalt orbs darkened and flashed angrily, turning almost cerulean in color as she fixed Astelos with a pointed glower. "You brought my companions and I here, Astelos. If you want answers from me, then I believe you owe me some answers first. What of the other wolves in the Forest? If I leave this place, can you solemnly swear to me that you would treat them well? That you would leave them well enough alone unless they require your aid?"

Astelos remained silent for several long moments, though finally, he offered a curt nod of his head.

"I give you my word, She-Wolf. You are, admittedly, something of a contradiction. Not at all like the other wolves who abide in this Forest and live off her lands, but I like you well enough, and that, and that reason alone is why I am willing to overlook what happened at the mouth of the cave. The three you encountered near the cave at the edge of the Forbidden Forest's borders were not of my clan. Rogue scouts, and they had a reputation among our tribe that labeled them as disturbers of the peace, and if you ask me, the Forest is well rid of them, and though I am a merciful leader, there are some within my ranks who would suggest that such a heinous crime against our race not be allowed to go unpunished, so bearing that mind, and I really suggest that you do, She-Wolf, I suggest you leave the Forbidden Forest immediately before anything else happens and I change my mind and decide not to be so courteous as to let you go free. From what Norah told me, it was mostly you two that successfully ridded the Forest of that monstrous Acromantula, was it not?"

"Y—yes," Tonks mumbled, feeling the heat creep to her cheeks as she looked towards the floor, though what the centaur said next caused her head to whiplash so sharply upwards to regard the herd's leader, that she was barely able to stifle her yelp of pain as a white-hot pain shot up her neck as a muscle pulled the wrong way.

Tonks clamped a hand to her now aching neck and ear in the hopes of soothing the pain.

"Good," Astelos growled, his tone laced with what Tonks and Lupin could only ascertain to be relief intermingled with perhaps even that of gratitude, or as close as a prideful centaur could come. "The beast has been burdensome in this area too long. Go now, then, and be free of us, before I change my mind and decide to imprison you for annoying me," he snarled, though if Tonks wasn't mistaken, his gaze flitted to Norah.

Tonks could have sworn she saw the edges of the centaur's lips curl upwards in a twisted smirk that Tonks guessed was meant at the creature's attempt at humor, but she had no time to ponder it as Lupin murmured into the shell of her ear that they needed to go.

"Come, love," Remus whispered lowly, his voice husky and heavy with relief.

For a split second, as Tonks, Norah, and Ollie stared after the centaur's retreating form as it barked commands for his comrades to follow him deeper into the depths of the Forbidden Forest, leaving the four of them alone to their own devices, all hung in an eerie but peaceful silence.

Tonks felt whatever strength she had regained from the adrenaline coursing through her veins during Aragog's attempted attack for the past several minutes, was gone. And now she felt nothing but a horrible, fatigued ache.

She thought perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad idea, after all, to have Madam Pomfrey examine her in the Hospital Wing before they visited Dumbledore and assured the old man that they were relatively unharmed and still quite very much alive.

It felt as though someone had removed all the bones in her legs, it felt so bloody hard just to stand upright. Tonks rested heavily against Remus's side, knowing that she lacked the strength to do it herself.

All she wanted right now was a warm blanket and to sleep. Just sleep.

The young Auror wondered if she'd ever be able to move again.

"Dora?" Lupin's quiet, reserved tones broke through Tonks's haze of thoughts, causing the young witch to cock her head to the side and regard her husband in silence.

"Mmm?" Was all the strength in her voice Tonks could muster to ask Remus.

Lupin noticed how her eyelids had started to droop and grow heavy, and her husband smiled that gentle smile of his that always made her heart skip a beat, before leaning forward and whispering tenderly into the shell of her ear, "Let's go home."

"Home." Tonks uttered the word so faint, it was barely a whisper, as she slowly nodded in agreement, her eyes beginning to drift as she allowed Remus to take her arm. "Home sounds nice, Rem. Take us there, sweetheart. Take me…take us home."

Needing to say nothing further, Tonks let out a content sigh and rested her head against the crook of her shoulder and allowed her husband to grip tightly onto her arm.

Tonks was already asleep by the time Lupin turned on his heel and Disapparated with Tonks in tow back to Hogwarts, with Norah and Ollie quickly following suit.


Tonks was safely asleep in a bed of the Hospital Wing, had been now for an hour, with Remus never once leaving her bedside, and did not have to look up to hear the soft clacking footfalls of Professor Dumbledore's boots on the cold cobblestoned floor.

"Headmaster," Remus murmured under his breath, reluctantly tearing his gaze away from the peaceful sleeping form of his wife who had been given a thorough examination by Madame Pomfrey, her wounds treated.

Pomfrey was pleased to report that his wife was out of danger, though she recommended a few nights of a Sleeping and Calming Draught to quell the worst of Tonks's exhaustion and mental trauma of the ordeals she had undergone whilst in the Forbidden Forest with Lupin and had given Remus a few bottles to take home to administer to his wife in appropriate dosages.

Remus sanguinely lifted his head, shifting at the waist, though remaining relatively unstirred from his chair in case Tonks woke up and needed something, to better look Albus Dumbledore in the eyes. "It was good of you to come, Professor Dumbledore. What of Dolores Umbridge, Professor? Where—"

Though the Hogwarts Headmaster cut up a hand and promptly cut him off.

"I thought it best that given the circumstances, Miss Tonks is not to come into contact with our Ministry's Senior Undersecretary at any point, given what Dolores attempted to do to the unborn baby your wife is carrying. The tension and untold amounts of copious stress it would put her body through would be undeniably taxing, and given her vulnerable physical condition where her pregnancy is at a stage where it is most critical that she remains healthy and calm, I thought it best if Tonks were not allowed to see Umbridge from here on out going forward," Albus began slowly and cautiously, though Remus was not fooled.

There was no mistaking the growing look of rancor in his normally kind bright blue eyes.

"I agree with your decision, Albus, wholeheartedly, you know that," Lupin sighed, carding his fingers through his hair, and then running his hand alongside his growing two-day stubble on his jawline, returning his attention to his wife, still sound asleep and probably would be for the next several hours. "But—"

And again, Professor Dumbledore raised a hand and gently cut him off, causing Remus to fall silent.

"If you truly must know, Remus, the Senior Undersecretary is in the dungeons. Professor Snape has courteously agreed to guard her until such a time when an Auror from the Ministry can be arranged to come and collect her to send to Azkaban Prison, where, again, given the circumstances, a cell with her name on it awaits her pending an informal hearing in front of the full Wizengamot."

Lupin nodded, though internally, he was troubled.

Surely, that was not at all that Albus had come to speak to him in regards to, nor, he could tell, had Albus come solely to check up on Dora, though his curiosity was rewarded a moment later by the sound of someone coughing to clear their throat, and he knew the man's voice as a low, gravelly voice spoke up, and Remus rose to his feet hastily to greet the Minister of Magic.

"Minister Scrimgeour," Lupin breathed, his light brown eyes widening in shock as he extended a hand to shake the Minister's hand. "It—the honor is mine, sir. Truly."

Rufus Scrimgeour merely proceeded to bow his head in response and waved Lupin's formalities away with a curt brush of his hand.

"Please. Do not get up on my account, sit," he murmured, though he too waved away Dumbledore's offer of a chair. "No, no I cannot stay," Rufus growled in a low growl that sounded like a lion's roar. "I merely wished to stop by and see how my highest ranking Auror is recovering from her ailments, and I had been hoping that I could persuade her to take that pay raise she was passed over last year, considering I just received word from Arthur Weasley that she's to become a mother in nine months," he added, a light little twinkle in his eyes, as Lupin quickly nodded his agreement on behalf of his wife.

Scrimgeour nodded and continued.

"Furthermore, I wished to also let the pair of you know that I have already spoken to Miss Jameson and Mr. Brennan following the series of events that unfolded whilst you were in the Forest. I have already instituted a ban on the Anti-Werewolf Legislation Act, Mr. Lupin, and have arranged for Miss Jameson to have an official and formal interview with the Ministry of Magic in our Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures in a mere matter of days, Mr. Lupin. I would also like to set up reasonable accommodations for the young woman so that she may move out of the Forest at her earliest opportunity. I believe that the Ministry could, for a short while at least, provide her with a relatively modest stipend to live off of pending her acceptance of the job the Ministry would like to offer her. It would be enough for her to afford her own home if she so chooses to make those kinds of arrangements for herself. Given the young woman's extensive knowledge of the creatures that live in the Forbidden Forest and her expertise having spent so much time around centaurs, Acromantula, and the like, I think that, in time, with a little….etiquette training on proper decorum and how to behave in polite society amongst other witches and wizards, the young woman should soon prove herself a most invaluable employee to me in time. I hope. "

"Sir?" Remus breathed, not sure what else to say. When did Norah and Ollie speak to him?

The Minister must have been a skilled Legilimens, either that or the shock and surprise was evident upon Lupin's pale features, for Rufus Scrimgeour's thin lips turned upwards into a sardonic little smirk, perhaps the closest thing the man came to smiling.

"The pair spoke to me outside the hallway of your Potions Master's classroom, Albus," Rufus sighed, turning his attention to the Hogwarts Headmaster, and pinching at the bridge of his slender but slightly crooked nose with a rather long thumb and forefinger, an exasperated look etched upon his features. "The young blonde werewolf was quite…ah, distraught, shall we say, upon Severus's refusal to admit her in to see my Senior Undersecretary, apparently to, as she put it 'have a dialogue' with my Ministry employee, and the boy, Brennan, well…he seems quite taken with the girl, that's all I'll say, and I shan't repeat what insults were spat at your Potions Professor when he adamantly refused her entry to see Dolores, though I think it safe to say he is more than capable of guarding Umbridge until the Aurors arrive to escort her to Azkaban," he growled, a note of anger and bitterness laced throughout his tone as his eyes flashed as he thought of the monstrous betrayal of her.

Scrimgeour emanated a tense exhale through his nose, cocking her head to the side and silently regarding the sleeping Auror and wife of Remus Lupin resting peacefully.

"I never have quite met another young witch like Miss Tonks. You are truly lucky, Mr. Lupin, to have a wife that cares and loves you as she does, that she would sacrifice herself in exchange for you is rare. Know this," Scrimgeour murmured, reaching up a hand to toss his long, greyed, and grizzled mane over his shoulders.

Tearing his gaze away, somewhat reluctantly, Lupin noticed, from Tonks's gently sleeping form, the only indicator that she was alive was the steady, slow rise and fall of her chest, and spoke to Dumbledore.

Rufus sighed, sounding utterly exhausted. "Everyone within Bartemius Crouch Jr.'s estate has been captured. A pack of werewolves led by none other than Fenrir Greyback attempted to lay siege to Crouch's estate and would have succeeded, were it not for this man whom I've brought here today to address a matter of concern. He alerted the Ministry at once this man learned that the castle was under siege and claims to have aided your wife in escaping somehow. I was only more than happy to arrest this man on sight for past transgressions and his history of killing those Muggles all those years ago, though he made mention of your name, Mr. Lupin, so I have brought him here with me to see if there holds any truth to his claims and to witness for myself, sir."

Here, his gaze briefly flitted to Remus and let out a tired sigh.

"This one, however, claims that he knows you and your acquaintance, Mr. Sirius Black, and knows her as well?" Scrimgeour swiveled his head slowly and almost methodically and turned to stare at the open doorway of the Hospital Wing that led out into Hogwarts' corridor, furrowing his brows in a frown. "Come," he barked in an animalistic growl. "Now."

A short, stout man carefully and timidly poked his head around the corner, and Lupin felt his face drain of what little color was left and a low, wolfish growl escape the confines of his chest, throat, and lips as for the first time since admitting Dora to Madame Pomfrey's care here in the Hospital Wing, Remus bolted upright from his chair as he felt his normally kind light brown eyes narrow in utter hatred and disgust for the cowering figure of Wormtail.

"Hello, Peter," Remus growled in a low tone, recognizing that he sounded unwelcoming and uncharacteristically cold, choosing to sacrifice all semblances of pleasantries, current company aside, though from what Ollie had managed to tell him during their time in the Forbidden Forest, Pettigrew had played an ultimate hand in almost poisoning Tonks by slipping her the tea Umbridge had wanted her to drink.

Peter Pettigrew, Lupin was pleased to see, was now looking upward at Remus with such unbridled terror in his eyes that his eyes threatened to escape their lids, and Lupin could swear he heard the deformed man whimper as he curled in on himself.

The man was missing an eye now, alongside several fingers in addition to the one that he had cut off in order to escape imprisonment in Azkaban and fake his death.

No less than it deserves. Rip it, tear it, kill it like that rat that it is, sink your fangs into its neck, rip him, flat, tear, kill, kill... he heard the Mad Beast within him growl its displeasure, practically foaming at the mouth as Remus took in the sight of this betrayer, not just to James and Lily for selling them out to Voldemort but to Tonks as well for allowing his cowardice to get the better of him.

A deep, yet low wolfish growl left the confines of his chest as he stalked towards the hunched over, cowering and chittering form of Peter Pettigrew, who immediately shrank away from his former friend's towering form, and let out a squeak of surprise when Remus had to stoop down to seize fistfuls of the man's pinstriped jacket, lifting him up off his feet slightly and slamming him into the wall, pulling up him to his level, and thrusting his pale, exhausted face to Peter Pettigrew's scrunched up, terrified expression.

Peter squeaked as he witnessed the flickering shadow of the Wolf within dart across Lupin's face as the taller man thrust his face so that the tip of his nose was practically touching Pettigrew's, the other hand not clutching fistfuls of the man's jacket curled impulsively into a fist over his wand as he pressed it squarely into the man's chest. Minister Scrimgeour and Albus Dumbledore wore equal expressions of concern over their face, though made no move to stop Remus, wanting to see what he'd do.

Lupin let out another growl, feeling his breaths coming to him in short, heaving gasps, and his palms began to sweat heavily as his hold on the fabric of Wormtail's jacket tightened.

His hand began to shake violently, and perhaps for the second or third time in his life, Lupin was hit with the onset that he was afraid. Scared so much of the man who lay curled into himself thrown violently against the wall of the Hospital Wing.

Ironic, really, that in this place of healing and comfort, Lupin wanted nothing more than to allow the Wolf within him to take over and rip Peter limb from limb, only a bloody death would do.

The Wolf itched to taste the iron and metallic tang of blood, sweet like mo, on his tongue, though Remus internally, violently fought against the Mad Beast's urgings.

A strange rage spread like a drop of fever in his bloodstream, and Remus felt a muscle in his jaw twitch as for a moment, he said nothing to his former friend and classmate, and let the short stout figure of Marauder Peter Pettigrew stew in his fear.

Lupin felt his eyes drift towards Pettigrew's eyes, wildly and desperately searching his for the truth.

No longer were they filled with eased confidence and cold indifference, much like they had the night he, Sirius, and Harry had confronted Peter in the Shrieking Shack about his despicable betrayal towards James and Lily and allowing Sirius to take the fall for those twelve innocent Muggle lives that Peter had killed.

No. Now, Wormtail's eyes were reduced to almost overwhelming fear. Fear for his own life, but then, out of all of them, Peter had always been the weak one.

A coward. A life that Remus now saw as nothing more than pathetic and this man was no longer a friend to him or his family and friends. How could he be, after all that happened? Peter Pettigrew was no longer welcome into Remus's life, not after his monstrous betrayal of selling out James and Lily to Voldemort, and then Tonks…

Lupin let out a low growl and ground his teeth, feeling his molars coming together with a sickening click. Peter had never been a friend and Remus cursed himself for his own blindness.

Why, even as a student back then, had he not seen the truth? Perhaps the answer lay within himself if he allowed himself a second to mull. It was because he did not wish to see it, and for just a fraction of a second, Remus deeply regretted that Harry had prevented him and Sirius from killing him.

He had chosen to ignore James and Lily's viable insights and warnings when they were alive, that they, for reasons that they could not quite put their finger on, had initial misgivings about Peter, though neither when prompted could answer honestly.

In the past, Lily, Merlin bless her soul forever, that lovely young redhead had always spoken the truth to him, had never lied nor lead him astray, not even once.

And he had…he had ignored her the last time the two of them had spoken shortly before Lord Voldemort traveled to Godric's Hallow that fateful night on Halloween all those years ago and brutally murdered her.

He hadn't listened to her.

She had been right about Peter all along, and Remus had ignored her claims.

The proof rested now, in the bed just behind him, as his wife slept soundly, though Madam Pomfrey had informed Remus and Tonks before putting her under with a Sleeping Draught that any further exacerbation to his wife could potentially put her at risk of losing their baby, and that, he was not about to allow. He would protect her.

It was his duty, as Dora's husband, not to let any further harm come to her, and he knew he would do whatever it took.

Even if it meant allowing the Wolf to take over temporarily, to surrender wholly to it, ending the life of this wretched miserable excuse for a human being in front of him that had always made a better rat than man.

Remus did not know who he was angrier with: Peter Pettigrew or himself.

"L—listen to me, R—Remus," Peter stammered from his place shoved up against the wall, a shaking hand, the one with all his missing digits, tried to outstretch in a pleading manner in attempt to placate the man who Wormtail had once called friend.

Remus's light brown eyes flashed with a fathomless, smoldering rage as he turned his raging, deep, darkened orbs on the short Marauder, his jaw rooted shut tight, and the hand currently clasped around his wand tightened its grip as Lupin pointed his wand squarely into the man's thick chest, letting out a vicious, animalistic and wolfish growl.

"No," he growled, trying to keep the pain of what this man had done to his wife, aided and abetted Dolores Jane Umbridge in attempting to rid Tonks of their baby, trying desperately and feeling like he was failing to keep his voice level and hurt. "You listen to me, Peter, and heed my words, because I will not repeat myself again."

Remus watched in a sick sense of satisfaction as Peter physically recoiled from the werewolf's harsh and biting tones that did not at all sound like his old friend, and attempted to shrink further into himself, his shoulders hunching together as if he were trying to disappear.

Peter had gotten away once; he'd not be escaping a second time.

Not at all surprisingly, Lupin felt that dark twinge of satisfaction that he was causing Wormtail such fear and uncertainty at not knowing what he was going to do.

As if to emphasize his unspoken point, Remus dug the tip of his wand further into the man's chest, pointing it directly at his heart—or where his heart would have been if he'd had one—and briefly, Remus was tempted to aim for Peter's head, because the man clearly did not have a heart, the way he had so coldly betrayed James and Lily.

The way he had betrayed Tonks by slipping her that tea, he thought angrily.

For all the pain and suffering Peter had caused when he had betrayed James and Lily, and now his wife, not just to himself, but to Sirius, to Tonks, anyone that Dora cared about, Peter deserved someone treating him in the same manner, just as he had done to them.

Lupin drew in a sharp, angered breath that pained his bruised torso, a small side effect from the attack that Aragog had allocated him and Tonks, but he was otherwise unharmed.

There was a reason he held title to one of the master duelist trophies right here in the Hogwarts Trophy Display, something he had meant to show to Tonks, but had forgotten.

Maybe later, before they went home, he thought, then quickly growled, yes, growled, in frustration and violently shook his head to clear his mind.

"Why? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you, Peter. It's no more and no less than you deserve after everything you've done, my friend," he growled, spitting the last word as though it were a bitter poisonous piece of chocolate that lingered upon his tongue, baring his teeth, feeling the edges of his gums curl upward in a twisted, grotesque snarl, and he was pleased to see Wormtail shrink down even further.

He did not need to look into a mirror to see what Peter was seeing for himself.

Remus saw it every day when he looked in a mirror, his own reflection staring back at him.

At the three scars that snaked diagonally down his face, starting at just above his browbone and working its way down until it reached the corner of his lip, which tugged it down slightly in a minor grimace.

Permanent, courtesy of the Wolf within him during his fifth year, when he bit and scratched at his face in a wild frenzy one full moon's night. They were unusual looking scars, an odd mixture of bright white and light pink. Grotesque looking upon first glance, and while he guessed that witches did not consider him handsome, he was, at the very least, rugged, and Tonks had fallen for him, and Dora was all that he had ever wanted or needed in his life, and for Peter to see the Wolf within him as he was allowing now, was truly a rare moment in Remus's life.

Still breathing heavily and uneasily, Remus raised his hand and risked one glance over his shoulder, but not to see the sharp looks of Minster Scrimgeour and of Albus.

He focused solely to the unmoving figure of his wife who rested soundly asleep on the small bed behind him. Tonks was unstirred, her eyes still closed. She looked, in Remus's mind, much too pale, if the dark circles underneath her eyes were any indication for him to go off of.

She—she looked like Death, and he didn't know what to do to help her. He hated seeing her like this. The taxing events of their time spent in the Forbidden Forest had finally caught up to Tonks after days of a delayed reaction.

Remus felt his anger and despair surge within his veins, hotter than any Chinese Fireball or Hungarian Horntail dragon could ever flame as an uncomfortable pit started churning in his stomach, and he tasted bitter bile as it coated the back of his throat.

He whipped his head back around to once again face Peter Pettigrew, this witless worm, this betrayer, this man who he had once dared to call a friend to him.

Lupin swallowed down hard past the growing lump in his throat as it hollowed and constricted, digging the tip of his wand deeper into the man's chest until he swore that he heard Peter whimper. He wished that Sirius were here with him by his side.

He could not explain the sudden urge, though he felt Padfoot needed to be here to watch Pettigrew die, as Sirius had been the one to truly suffer for Pettigrew's crimes.

"Remus." A voice, Dumbledore's, from behind him, calm and ever-so-stoic, and yet there was a hint of hardened steel within the ancient wizard's voice that told Remus he must listen to him, though Lupin knew there was no stopping the storm.

Professor Dumbledore took a cautious half step forward, an unusually somber and stern look upon his lined and weathered face.

"This is not the way, Professor."

Lupin blinked owlishly at the Hogwarts Headmaster. Professor?! He was not a teacher here at Hogwarts anymore, so why was he addressing him by his former title?

It did not matter. Remus ground his teeth and turned his head back around in anger, brushing off the Headmaster's subtle warning in an attempt to calm himself down.

There was nothing that could be done to stop the storm brewing in his chest. It was already too late, and the Wolf within him was past the point of no return, having snapped itself free of the invisible restraints within Lupin's chest as he let out a roar and turned back around to regard Peter Pettigrew.

The man looked incredibly small, and was seeming as though he was wishing for nothing more than to sink into the very stones of the wall behind him, or perhaps that the floor would open beneath them and swallow him whole until the worst of his former friend's pain and rage had dissipated wholly.

"You sold James and Lily to Voldemort, tried to rid my wife of our baby, and as good as murdered Tonks by your hands by giving her that tea when you knew of Umbridge and Crouch's intentions, Peter. You knew that it could kill her and my baby, and you did nothing to help my wife escape Crouch's torment," Remus growled, his face set in a grim expression and his light brown eyes glistening with unshed moisture that told of his unspoken anger and deep, antagonizing hurt as he thought of what Peter had done.

Lupin exhaled a shaking breath and continued.

"You are a coward, Peter Pettigrew, and lack the convictions to own up to your mistakes and your fears in this life. You should never have been sorted into Gryffindor when we were at school, Peter," Remus snarled, baring his teeth, and letting out a low, wolfish snarl.

"Remus, I—I don't…I—I didn't m—mean to…." Peter stammered pitifully, looking like he was on the brink of near hysteria, tears practically glistening in his eyes.

But Peter's voice instantly trailed off and he fell silent as Remus practically snapped at him in anger, and he shriveled further within himself, a pitiful attempt at escape.

"Give me one good reason why I should not kill you right here where you stand," he snarled. "It's no less than you deserve. Or maybe I should just feed you to the Dementors when they come for our truly lovely Senior Undersecretary," he said. "You are no friend of mine, Peter. You have as good as almost killed my wife, Peter."

Remus spat Pettigrew's name with as much hatred and bitterness and loathing as he possibly could, allowing his unspoken hurts and pains of almost losing Dora several times over, and knowing that Peter, though under Crouch's watchful eye or not, could have turned over a new leaf at any time by helping his wife and did not, flowed into his quiet and dangerously low voice as he glowered at Peter, causing him to quake in fear.

Lupin knew without a shadow of a doubt in his heart and conscience that he wanted to hurt Peter Pettigrew. He wanted to hurt Wormtail, his old friend, this Marauder. Hurt him, just as he had hurt him and Sirius and Tonks and everyone else.

They said that only death may pay for life, and Peter needed to pay for James and Lily's with his.

Remus wanted to let Peter squirm and writhe in the agony that Remus did now as a series of memories rolled through his head like moving photographs, of James and Lily during their days as First Order of the Phoenix members.

Their time spent together at school when they were all innocent. Friends.

His wand hand curled even tighter over the handle of his wand, so much so that Remus felt the Wolf's strength within him grip his wand tight enough that he swore he felt the wood start to crack and splinter, and he was forced (albeit reluctantly so) to loosen his hold on the weapon so Lupin did not wind up snapping his wand into two.

Remus wanted nothing more than this deformed, broken shell of a man before him who he had once considered a friend and would have done anything for if Peter were in trouble, to experience the heart-wrenching pain and agony that he felt at this very moment, as he recollected how when he had found Tonks in the Forest alongside Newt Scamander and Sirius, how Dora had been dangerously close to losing their baby.

Once again, the urge to allow the Wolf to take control and rip this man limb from limb with his own wolfish fangs had overtaken him, with the strong desire to end this wretched miserable human's life, on Hogwarts Grounds or not be damned indeed.

Only this time, his sweet Tonks was not awake and alert enough to pull him back from the darkness that Remus knew that resided in his own heart.

Not even Dumbledore and Rufus Scrimgeour were about to stop what was coming, what had been a long time in the making for his old friend and former Order member, Peter Pettigrew. Lupin let out a low warning growl, courtesy of the Mad Beast within.

He pointed his wand squarely into Peter's chest and closed his eyes.

"Goodbye, Peter."


A/N: Ooh ANOTHER cliffhanger! Do you think Lupin has it within himself and give in to the temptation to kill his old classmate and former friend/Marauder? Or do you think he'll manage to overcome it and embrace the true Gryffindor within himself and learn to forgive Peter?

I really wanted Remus to have a conversation with Peter first and foremost, though it's very much one-sided as Remus kind of lists off all the things in his life that Peter's done wrong, I felt sort of cheated in POA when Pettigrew escaped and neither Remus nor Sirius got to have that sort of resolve, that closure that their best friend's murderer would one day eventually be brought to justice.

Coming up in Ch. 94, also the next couple of chapters will be rather long as I don't want this story to end and am having a hard time letting it go, but want all my loose ends to be wrapped up and give Remus and Tonks the HEA (Happily Ever After) that they deserve, or I'll try to anyways.