Chapter 12

The Beast Within

Back at Grimmauld Place, the evening consisted of dinner, and then a small meeting for the adults in the kitchen. Buffy, Willow, Xander, Tonks, Remus and Mr. And Mrs. Weasley sat around the large table, somewhat like the knights told in legends. The meeting was an important one, but to Willow, this one was nothing compared to the one she knew she'd have to sit through the next night…

"So Arthur here is going to take you to the Ministry…" explained Remus, "and Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt are going to accompany you."

"We work there, so it'll look OK…" smiled Tonks, her hair now long, curly and platinum blonde.

"I'm going to say you're an expert here to look at some regurgitating toilets, if anyone asks…" added Mr. Weasley with a big smile.

"They'll take you down to the Department of Mysteries…if anyone asks you Willow…you're on a tour of the courtrooms."

Willow nodded in understanding.

"Are there going to be any department workers down there?" Xander spoke up, pre-emting Willow's own thoughts.

Remus gave an awkward shrug.

"From what I've heard, not many have been down there since they all found out Death Eaters managed to get in…big security issues…it'll be investigated so it's likely to be off limits for a while…which is why we must be careful."

Willow wasn't really listening. She'd done things like this before; broken into morgues, snuck around late at night, she wasn't particularly fussed about sneaking into what was likely to be an abandoned department. Suddenly though, she had a thought.

"Did you get that last thing you needed for…?" she blurted out. Everybody turned to look at Remus. He shrank into his chair a little and scratched the back of his hand tensely. It was then that Willow realised just how pale Remus looked…was he ill? Or just nervous about what was to come…?

"Erm…no…I'll have it by tomorrow. Don't worry." He flashed her a small smile and she smiled back. She thought of it no more. It slipped her mind that tonight was a full moon.

As the evening progressed, Xander noted that most of the house seemed eager to go to bed early that night. He wasn't going to complain…he was uber tired. He and Tonks had spent the day attempting to clean out the disgusting library, and so a dust fight had ensued…before Mrs. Weasley promptly stopped the both of them. Covered in grime, both had agreed to desist, but there was no doubt that the bond they shared was getting stronger. It frightened Xander a little how much he liked Tonks; Anya had been his one true love…or so he'd thought. He missed her terribly, and had hidden his feelings well. Buffy and Willow never seemed to ask him about her. But now, a while had passed since she had died…was it even possible that he could find a love like hers again?

"Hey Xander…you seen Dawn?" Buffy interrupted his musings, poking her head around his door.

"She's in her room with Hermione…" he answered, "Have you seen Tonks?"

Buffy shook her head, before leaving and heading on down the stairs. A quick glance at the clock told her it was seven thirty…

"Buffy…" a voice called to her from a room off to her right. Buffy turned to look.

"Erm…yeah?" she replied stepping nearer to the shadowy figure in the doorway. A very haggard looking Remus stepped forward into the light a little. In his hand he held an empty goblet.

"Hey Remus," Buffy greeted him brightly, holding her hand out, "Want me to take that to the kitchen for you?"

"No, it's fine…Buffy I need to talk to you quickly." He beckoned her into the room. With a puzzled frown, she followed.

It was pitch black…Remus only shut the door a fraction, so some light from the hall was cast into the room. She could just make out his very agitated features.

"Buffy…you're the slayer…you've dealt with things in the past…" he began hurriedly, switching the goblet from hand to hand, apparently not realising he was doing so.

"Just a slayer actually…now all the oth-"

"Yes yes" he intervened abruptly "…Buffy, did Willow tell you at all about…anything about me?"

Buffy's frowned hardened. She felt her feet shift into a defensive stance. This was getting creepy.

"No…" she said slowly, "Why?"

Remus sighed. He inwardly thanked Willow for being so trustworthy, but also cursed her silence.

"Buffy I'm a werewolf." He whispered.

The statement lingered in the air. Buffy felt a wave of relief pass over her. She'd expected worse, like he was possibly some evil re-incarnation of a carrot…or god knows what. Buffy was still getting used to this whole new world of a different type of magic from the other side of the globe. Speaking of carrots…she remembered yet another unusual redhead from back home. Oz…and now she understood a fraction of what he was going through. She went into 'research mode', as Giles would call it.

"It's nearly sunset…" she started worriedly.

"I know…I know. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, but…it's awkward…"

"Of course." She agreed. Werewolf or not, Remus was still a nice guy. She felt nothing against him.

"Buffy, for the spell to bring Sirius back, we need blood from someone who was there…I've drank my potion, which helps with…things, I'll be docile, so to speak." His face crinkled as he considered what he was about to ask her. Then he continued.

"You've dealt with werewolves before. Do you think tonight you could somehow get some of my blood?" It all tumbled out very quickly, and Remus fearfully awaited her response.

Buffy was still confused.

"Sure…but why don't you use some of your…regular blood?"

Again, Remus sighed.

"Well I've already sorted that, but I've got a very sneaky suspicion that it'll only work if it's got ALL of my blood…both types…so just to make sure…if you understand?"

Buffy nodded.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked, eyes focused on his.

With a look of relief on his face, Remus smiled, a very tiny smile.

"Once I've transformed, I think…I'll probably fall asleep at some point…could you come into the room I'm in and just…well…" he raised his hand to the light to reveal a fresh cut across the back of his hand, "here's one I made earlier."

Buffy couldn't help but chuckle.

"OK…so that'll be on your paw?" she enquired, "I'll just re-open it?"

He nodded.

"Thank you Buffy. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner…it's not something I generally broadcast…"

Buffy shrugged.

"It's OK. No biggie…I'm really sorry if I hurt you."

"Just…" he looked terrified, "get out as fast as you can if anything goes wrong?"

She nodded, took hold of his hand and gave it a very gentle squeeze. No more was said. No more was needed.

At five minutes past midnight, the corridors of the house were empty. Doors were locked.

"It's only until we locate that stray doxy…we don't want it getting into any of your rooms." Mrs. Weasley lied to a bemused Andrew and Dawn. Harry, Ron and Hermione said nothing to obstruct this story. A mere glance at each other showed their mutual understanding. Of course, Mrs. Weasley slipped a key into Buffy's hand as she came to "tell them to lock their doors", and she hastily whispered "library" to her before flitting of to find Fred and George.

Now, Buffy stood nervously outside of the closed library door, the key hot and heavy in her left hand. In her right she held a small vial she'd plucked from the kitchen before bed, and strapped to her ankle was a knife. With a small gulp, she fumbled with the lock, opened the door silently before peeking into the room. The full moon had finally risen at about eleven, and so Buffy prayed Remus had fallen asleep by now. Nothing stirred. Buffy stepped inside, and immediately spied a large canine-shaped body spread out, sticking out from behind a stack of dusty books.

The creature moved slightly, and Buffy spotted the paw/hand Remus had indicated earlier lying outstretched, away from the body. Perfect. Step by step, Buffy edged closer to the werewolf, and crouched down to be at a better height. She shuffled silently to its side, and listened as it slowly breathed in and out. Definitely asleep; but the werewolf's nostrils twitched, and Buffy knew she had to work fast. Drawing the knife from her leg, she cut across the old would as quick as a flash. It flinched and began to stir…

Buffy held the vial close to the open wound and tilted it to coax the blood into the bottle. Minute droplets trickled painstakingly slowly down around the rim, and descended the oval shaped container before settling at the bottom like a tiny red bead…

The werewolf opened its eyelids. Buffy back away instantaneously, and promptly fell backwards over a heavy book. The vial still gripped in her hand, held high above her head in an attempt to prevent damage, she picked herself up and calmly edged towards the door. It watched her…its beady eyes boring into hers. The werewolf bared its teeth and growled as it spotted its bloody paw…but still it did not move. She slammed the door and locked it as swiftly as she could. It was then she realised how much her heart was beating. It had been a while since she'd had to do anything slayer-like…and the sudden adrenaline rush was hard to take. At twenty-four, Buffy wondered if she was getting too old for the job...she was one of the oldest slayers to survive that she knew of. One look at the blood in the tiny vial, and she smiled. Mission accomplished. Too old? Nah.

AN: I did wonder if this chapter was legitimate so I had to sit and work it out. The time scale is a little confusing. I think if the full moon was two weeks before Remus chatted with Harry, and then it took the Scoobies a few days (say 4?) to get to the nearest airport…a day for the flight, a day to sleep off their jet lag, the day Snape came, the day Willow saw Dumbledore, and then they've spent some time at Grimmauld Place between Chapters 10 and 11, then that's about 28 days since the last full moon…according to my lovely Spike calendar that should be about right. Sorry if any of you got a bit confused!