Written for:

Mystery challenge - Remus Lupin as your main character in a story with your genres as supernatural or humour or both. - 700-5,000 words. (WORD USED - Chortle)

Cinema Competition II - Hunger Games - Write about a partnership.

Bad Movie Tuesday - The Avengers (1998) - [occupation] Doctor, [dialogue] "This is a bit much." Steed, [dialogue] "Manners, [character name]." Steed

The Valentine Making Station - Glitter: Write about a big mess that's difficult to clean up.

Ultimate Chocolate Frog Challenge - (Silver): Blenheim Stalk - Challenge: Write a Muggle!AU, in which any wizard/witches are actually Muggles.


Hunter!Remus

The Trickster


Remus pushed the covers back and slipped out of the warm bed. An arm reached for him as he moved away, but Remus wanted to get an early start that morning. Sirius tended to take too long in the shower and use all the hot water, or would end up joining Remus and distracting him.

Remus was drying himself with a towel when a half-asleep Sirius Black stumbled into the bathroom, giving Remus a bleary-eyed look, before stepping into the shower. Remus grabbed a dry towel, setting it out for Sirius to use and headed to the small kitchen area to start on making breakfast.

They were on the move again that day. Regulus had called with a case for them. Strange incidents and supernatural activities happening in the area and Regulus was certain it was something that they would want to look at.

From the brief description, Remus and Sirius thought it could be another trickster. They had faced one before, briefly and knew what they were dealing with.

Remus sighed as he fried up some bacon from the fridge and poured some drinks. It wasn't long before Sirius joined him at the table and the two quickly and silently ate their breakfast, before packing their bags and heading out.

Regulus had asked for them to come as soon as possible.

...oOo...

The drive itself was short. Remus found he enjoyed travelling with Sirius. For those journeys, Sirius was carefree, singing to the radio, the window down and his hair blowing. He'd joke and laugh and smile.

And he was so different to the man who hunted at Remus' side. He was almost the boy that had spent the nights at Remus' house when he had run away from home; back before they even knew what a hunter was, or when the bumps in the night were just stories.

Back when they didn't know monsters existed.

...oOo...

They pulled up at the motel and Sirius headed inside, ready to charm the young woman behind the counter. The pair knew that the receptionist would be less careful about checking I.D. if Sirius flirted.

It wasn't long before they had the room closest to the fire-escape, ready for a quick getaway if needed, and they looked around yet another motel room with an uncomfortable bed, similar furniture and questionable sheets.

Remus moved closer to Sirius, until their bodies were touching, and took comfort in the familiarity of his best-friend and lover.

They could both handle the moving from place to place and the lack of a home, because they had each other at least.

...oOo...

Their previous job had been on turned out to be a job for the police. The witness statements were useless, and the pair had no reason to be at the scene, though they did help out - after all, who in their right mind would turn away from a case with missing children?

The children had been found safe and unharmed, thankfully.

Remus had been glad about the non-supernatural case. He was still suffering after the full-moon and Sirius was still blaming himself for the events from a year prior.

Remus didn't blame Sirius in the slightest. They hadn't been long in the Supernatural world at the time - only a year's experience, and had gone after a Werewolf without much prior knowledge on the beasts.

They were too eager to kill the monster - though another hunter had informed them that they had stumbled onto a known Werewolf who had managed to get away from other hunters. They were told to hang back and allow the others to take the wolf out, but they had been over-confident, thinking they could take the beast out.

Greyback had gotten the jump on them and Remus' upper leg still bore the mark. They hadn't told anyone at all about the attack, pretending that they had stepped back as asked.

Sirius blamed himself for not looking after Remus properly. Remus blamed himself for not being quick enough.

...oOo...

Regulus pulled the pair into an empty room at the hospital, taking a seat in the chair and taking a deep breath.

"It's been weird," he began, in way of greeting.

"Weird how?" Remus asked.

"Your kind of weird," Regulus replied. "A couple of accidents… it just sounds like pranks gone wrong, but on this massive scale. Almost deadly pranks. A guy I saw just before I called you… he..."

"He what?" Sirius pushed.

"He was pregnant," Regulus blurted out. "There's no way he could be, but he was. I sent him for an ultrasound and… called you."

Sirius nodded his head. "Great. Now, can you give us a list of all of the victims, their injuries, and anything else you think might help?"

Regulus produced a list from his pocket. "Names, addresses and accidents," he said. "If you need me, you have my number." He hesitated for a moment, his eyes flicking to his brother for a second, before focusing on Remus. "Do you still need some Wolfsbane?"

Remus nodded. "Did you make the potion up?" he asked eagerly, ignoring Sirius tense up beside him.

"Every month," Regulus said. "It's brewing, will be ready in three days and it'll last three months. I'll have another batch brewing then."

"Thanks Regulus," Remus said softly. "I appreciate it."

"Yeah, well you'd do the same if things were reversed."

Sirius sighed as Regulus left the room. "Should I tell -"

"He's going to do magic whether you like it or not," Remus pointed out softly. "There's no point straining things between you even more than they are now. At least he's not hurting anybody."

"But what if he does? He might not realise what he's doing, but -"

"I'm more likely to hurt someone than your brother is," Remus murmured, effectively shutting Sirius up.

...oOo...

The pair began to work through the list, meeting the first man in the string of strange occurrences.

The man was adamant that his wife had been turned into a goat. Remus had to take the lead on the case whilst Sirius headed outside to take an important call.

(Or to laugh about the situation in the car more likely).

Remus jotted down in his notebook the man's story. How the man had gone to sleep with his wife next to him in the bed, and woke up to find the goat in the bed, wearing his wife's nightgown. Remus managed to keep a straight face throughout, promising the man he would look into it.

When he got back into the car, Sirius was still laughing.

"It's a trickster," Remus confirmed. "I found sweet wrappers next to the drainpipe at the side of the house."

The smile faded. "I was hoping it would be something - anything - else," he muttered. "The first trickster was hard enough, but at least we know what we're facing!"

...oOo...

Remus stared at the motel-bed. Where Sirius had been through the night, now lay a large black dog, as big as a wolf.

The same dog that had kicked Remus out of bed and onto the floor, causing Remus to hit the ground and wake up with a pain in his shoulder where it had clipped the side of the bed.

The dog stared back.

"Sirius?"

The dog barked, as though confirming Remus' question and Remus quickly got up from the floor, dusting himself down. He stared at the dog, trying to work out if the creature was Sirius, or just a random dog that got in.

Though Sirius never got out of bed first. He usually liked to cuddle Remus and fall back asleep, so it was quite likely that this dog was his boyfriend.

Well, at least Sirius wasn't a goat!

"Sirius… what happened?"

The dog barked once more, before lowering its head and letting out a sad whine. His eyes fixed on Remus, widening and giving Remus the saddest look Remus had ever seen from an animal.

Yup. Definitely Sirius.

"Sirius, we need to find this trickster," Remus decided, frowning. He headed to Sirius' bag, grabbing some clothes from it, and gestured to the dog. "How is your smell?"

The dog looked offended at the words.

"I don't mean that you smell bad," Remus quickly stated. "I meant your sense of smell. Do you have good sense of smell like a dog, or do you still have the human senses?"

The bark didn't give Remus any indication of what the answer was.

"Bark once for yes and twice for no."

Remus smiled at the single bark.

"This is a bit much," Remus muttered, shaking his head. "Now, the trickster had to be close by to cast this spell, and we know that all tricksters have a sweet-tooth. Can you find the smell of something sweet? Can you follow the smell?"

Sirius let out a while, lifting his head into the air and looking around. After a long moment, he began to sniff, searching for a scent.

Finding nothing inside, they headed out of the motel-room and began searching.

...oOo...

It took a while for Sirius to get used to new scents and tracking, but once he had gotten over the overwhelming scents and the new experience, he was quick to find the scent of the trickster. Sirius led them to an old, overgrown sports-field, where a man was lazing in the broken down old stands.

"You?!" Remus exclaimed upon seeing the trickster. "We killed you!"

"Tricked you, didn't I?" the man stated with a grin. "The new form… suits you, buddy."

Remus silently reached into his jacket, pulling out a blood-stained stake. "I don't know why this didn't kill you last time, but you won't be so lucky this time around," he stated.

James eyed the wood. ""Put that thing down before you hurt yourself. Wait. Where'd you get the blood? I didn't leave any dead bodies, and I'm sure no-one would just hand it over."

"Pregnant people tend to go to hospitals for blood tests," Remus pointed out. "It wasn't that hard to go and pick some up. We have a contact there."

"Regulus? He gave you the blood? He… no."

Remus lowered the stake at the sight of James' distress. "What did you expect? Playing cruel pranks on people. Turn the back, trickster."

"No." James shook his head, hazel eyes narrowed slightly. "Not until you meet my demands."

"Demands? What are your demands?"

"I want Regulus," James stated. "I want him to go out with me."

"You… what?" Remus asked as Sirius let out a growl.

"Well, these pranks have gained his attention as planned, but you've butted in before I could ask him out and ruined weeks of planning. So now, you have to be the ones to get me a date, since you've ruined my chances." James folded his arms, glaring at Remus.

"You're insane," Remus muttered, shaking his head.

"Manners, Remus!"

"Do you really think I'm going to even begin to negotiate on this? You need to decide - fix your mess, or die again."

"That's bollocks," James stated. "Speaking of bollocks… how are you finding being a dog?" he asked Sirius. "Now you don't have to wait for Remus - you can lick your own bollocks."

Remus' jaw dropped.

"Just because he looks like a dog, it doesn't mean he acts like one. Sirius would never…." Remus glanced at Sirius, who just looked back guiltily. "Sirius!"

The dog let out a whine and puppy-dog eyes fixed on Remus.

"Just you wait until he starts humping your leg."

Sirius moved forward at the words, but Remus stopped him with a stern look. He turned back to James. "You do know that it's Sirius' brother that you're asking for a date, right?"

"Regulus is Sirius'... oh. Oh! That makes sense." James grinned as he flicked his wrist.

"You're mad," Sirius said after the quick transformation back into a human. He didn't sound as angry as Remus had expected him to be. "Pranking people just to get Regulus' attention. I thought tricksters were supposed to be smart?" His gaze narrowed. "But we've killed you before, yet you're still alive. You're not an ordinary trickster?"

"I never claimed to be one at all," James stated, shrugging. "But if the boot fits… now, I've turned him back. Would it freak you out if I started dating your brother?"

Remus leaned in to Sirius, without taking his eyes off James. "We don't know what he is or how to kill him."

"We can't just leave him to terrorise my brother," Sirius hissed. "What if he hurts him?"

"I won't," James said, standing right next to them and causing both men to jump. "I'm not some evil being, no matter how you perceive me." Lightning flickered and shadows of wings appeared for a moment. "I can be good!"

Remus sighed. "He's an angel. Maybe if we get our own Angel, Frank, he can tell us if James is a trust-worthy angel, and then go from there?"

...oOo...

"Here's the deal," Sirius began, once Frank had left. "We're not going to introduce you to Regulus or set you both up, but we will tell you how to get - and keep - his attention."

James' eyes lit up. "How?"

"First, you have to fix everything you've done. Make everyone back to how they were."

James nodded. "Uh… the pregnant man? He really is pregnant, I just stuck one of his wife's eggs in, and… do you just want me to delete a baby?"

"No, leave him as an exception. It's a… safe pregnancy?"

James nodded. "Once the baby is born, everything will go back to normal," he confirmed.

"Right. Pregnant man aside, everything needs to go back to normal. The man whose wife is a goat, the people in hospital due to over-enthusiastic pranks - all of the rest."

"Sure." James flicked his wrist again. "Though the man with a goat isn't on me. Between us, I think old Abe is a bit confused."

"This is your one warning," Remus stated. "We will be back with the angel blade if we hear that you've hurt someone or played any pranks."

"Fine, fine. Now… Regulus?"

"Get a job at the hospital and heal people. If Frank can heal, then you certainly can. If you make people better, Regulus would be impressed. He works hard there to save lives. Use your powers for good."

James nodded his head. "So… we cool?"

"Not even close," Sirius muttered, not liking the plan too much.

"Good enough for me," James grinned. "Now, wish me luck!" He quickly shook Remus' hand, before disappearing.

...oOo...

"I told you, it's gone!" Remus touched the spot on his leg that held the bite.

"What happened? How?" Sirius demanded. "Is the bite healed, or… I mean, there's no cure for lycanthropy, right?"

"It was cured by an angel," Frank said. "I can feel his grace on you."

"But… I thought you said that angels couldn't cure lycanthropy," Sirius asked, turning around to glare at their angel-friend. "You said -"

"James is no ordinary angel. He's an archangel," Frank informed them.

"An arch… why didn't you tell us this when you met him earlier?" Sirius said.

Frank smiled. "You asked if he was an angel we could trust. You didn't ask for specific details as to what sort of angel, or what power he held. I told you we could trust him and clearly he's healed Remus as a good-will gesture."

"I'm cured?" Remus repeated, eyes wide, and Frank nodded his head.

Remus let out a chortle, grabbing Sirius and pulling him into a hug. "We should celebrate before we go on our next hunt."

Sirius turned to Frank and winked. "Frank, mate… trust me, you don't want to be in here right now."

"And what should we do about all the mess that James has left behind?"

"Not our problem," Sirius muttered, holding Remus tightly. "We did what we needed. Let someone else tidy up for once."


Review Please :)

Thanks to Raybe and Firefly for the help


Prompts used from Gringotts Prompt Bank:

Family/Friends Vocab prompts - Brother, Boyfriend, Buddy, Mate, Wife, Home, Best-Friend, Lover

Celestial, Weather and Nautical Prompts - Full Moon

The Vampire Diary Quotes - "Would it freak you out if I started dating your brother?" - Bonnie Bennett

Once Upon a Time Quotes - "Put that thing down before you hurt yourself." - Regina

Descriptors - Demanded, Asked, Stated, Replied, Exclaimed

Prepositions- About, After, Around, Aside, Before, Behind, Beside, Between, But, By, Down, Except, Inside, Outside, Throughout, Without

AU - Supernatural AU

Various Prompts: Genre Specific - Words: Blood, Pain, Boyfriend

Muggle Occupation - Doctor

Charmed - (Location) Hospital, (Word) Angel, (Animal) Dog

Secret Diary of a Call Girl - (word) Angel,