(12) Walking Among The Dead

Remus lifted Merida from between the two dead tigers & checked her over. She was still alive after all & slowly returning to reality. Merida pulled out her mother's pendent. It's protection charm had performed it's duty once again. When she was fully awake, Merida noticed a peice of chocolate that was held barely two inches in front of her face. All she could do was laugh! With Harry, she had to deal with a Quidditch addict; with Remus, it was a chocolate freak!

"What's so funny?" asked Remus.

"You & your chocolate!" Merida replied. "By the way, I prefer something salty! I don't like sweets!"

Remus thought that over for a moment & put the chocolate away. He fished around in his other pocket & pulled out.....more chocolate. "It's unsweetened for when I have my Wolfsbane!"

"It's chocolate!" Merida pointed out.

"It's not sweet!" Remus explained.

"But it's still chocolate!"

"Come on, Meri!" Remus tossed it to her. "Just eat it!"

"That's Moonhead for you!" Sirius laughed. "So, I finally get to meet you! You look like your Mom, you know, but I'd recognize those eyes anywhere! Ol' Sniv's eyes!"

"Are you insulting my mate?!?!"

"No, just her Dad!" Sirius defended.

"And.....you are?" Merida wondered where she had seen this man before. He was vaguly familiar.

"Sailuck Bris!"

"Try Sirius Padfoot Black!" Remus ordered.

"Eh, that too!" Sirius shrugged.

"YOU!" Merida jumped up. "You evil foul little----!"

"Easy Meri!" Remus jumped between her & a shocked Sirius. "He was innocent!"

"Was?!"

"Oh shut up, Pads!" Remus growled.

"He's not innocent at all!" Merida raged. "are you?!.......Sweetheart?! Hmmm?"

"Oh!" Sirius deflated stupidly. Merlin's sake! How'd she find out?!

"Uhhh," Remus looked back & forth between a furious Merida & a humbled Sirius in confusion. "Did I miss something?"

"NO!" Merida snapped while at the same time Sirius replied with a "Yes!"

"Yes?" Merida raged at the same time Sirius said questionably, "No?"

"No!" Merida corrected as Sirius again said, "Yes---er no! I mean...."

"No!" they finally said the same thing at the same time!

"O.....K!" Remus was even more confused then ever! "What's with the Sweetheart?"

"Nevermind!" Merida crossed her arms. Remus held up his hands in defeat. "Well, Messer Sweetheart! We meet again! Remus has told me about you!"

"Oh? What did he say?"

"Oh....basically," Merida sighed before going on. "he told me you were a slut!" Remus went bright red!

"Oh he did, did he?!" Sirius glowered at him as he snaked an arm around Merida's waist. "Well, he's right! Come on Meri, love!"

"It's Mrs. Potter to you, Sweetheart!" Merida ordered as Remus felt like he would faint. "Or Mrs. Lupin!"

Sirius, however had toned out after Merida had said Potter. "Moony?" Remus remained silent, staring at the shifting sands. "MOONY?!" Still no answer. "Remus! You told me you were here to avenge your girlfriend's husband? Potter? Moony, where's Harry? Where's my Godson?! Tell me! NOW LUPIN!"

"Look Padfoot! I've been trying to tell you since I got here!" Remus began.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO MY GODSON?!?!" The haunted look of Azkaban swept over Sirius like a tidal wave. He grabbed Remus around the collar with both hands & pulled him next to his face.

"Harry is dead, Sirius!" Remus finally poured out the whole story. "I tried telling you over & over! Merlin help me, I tried! But I just---I--well--I----He was murdered by Donoven Randaf! That's why I came here!"

Sirius released his grip. "My God, why didn't you tell me sooner?!"

"I tried!" Remus screamed at him. "I just couldn't! I'm here to find & kill Randaf!"

"In the names of all the gods of heaven & hell, LET'S KILL HIM!" Sirius raged. "I'll torture him! I'll slaughter him! I'll make all my Azkaban charges look like child stuff!" He knelt into the sand, sobbing. "I may not have been crazy then but I sure as hell am now! I'LL KILL HIM!!" Remus cautiosly put his arms around his friend & pulled him close. Sirius continued whispering 'I'll kill him!' over & over while occasionally mentioning Harry's name.

"Harry married Merida but made me promise to look after her if anything happened to him," Remus explained. "It's as if he knew something would happen!"

"I can imagine Snivellus!" Sirius managed a weak laugh. "Two of his most hated rivals out with his daughter!"

"Yeah, he wasn't happy about it at all!" Remus laughed as he pulled Sirius up. "Come on, we've got some unfinished business to take care of!"

"& what business might that be?"

"Randalla?!" Sirius yelped, startled. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm just passing through!" Randalla eyed Remus over. "Lord Bris, you know it's illegal to keep a werewolf for a pet!"

Sirius snickered softly as Merida buried her face in one hand. Remus just stared! "'Ey Moony! Come here, my pet!" Remus bared his fangs!

"I'm serious, my Lord!" Randalla crossed her arms.

"Remus isn't my pet though!" he went on. "We've been friends since we we're 11! Well, there was a 13 year gap, but I don't want to get into that!"

"Just make sure you don't get caught!" Randalla warned. "I brought him to you thinking you wanted him for yourself!"

"I said I wanted him alive!" Sirius reminded.

"Wait a minute! The whole thing was a set up?" asked Remus.

"She's the one that found you!" Sirius explained.

"While we're on the subject of werwol---forgive me, Lycans!" Randalla went on. "Last night, there has been a large fight between them & Vampires on the Wind Planes with great loss to both sides. That drove the coeurls out here!"

"Do you know if Landau & Luna survived?" asked Remus.

"I know nothing of the causualties other then the number!" Randalla stated. "Lord Charmone has also been to Bestry Isles. Lady Azrial is dead!"

"What?" Sirius gasped.

"Never fear!" Randalla rolled her eyes. "She will return tonight!"

"And considering that the sun never completly sets there," Sirius pointed out.

"That's right!" Randalla agreed. "Unless someone moves her now! Lord Charmone is already attending to it!"

"I wonder if she can do sunshields!" said Remus.

"I'd like to find the other Vampire that can do one!" Sirius declared.

"Only Lord Charmone knows!" said Randalla. "Let's get back to Feradeck."

"One moment," Sirius picked out an abandoned sand shell. It was about the size of a tennis ball & vibrant shades of light purple at the opening edge to indigo blue on the center swirls. The sand shell was very warm to the touch & hummed a soft tune when it was held, playing different tones for different people. "First stop: Oasis! Then I must find Donoven Randaf! Randalla, have you ever heard of him?"

"No," Randalla replied. "But I can probably find out!"

"Ah, you've picked out a fancy one!" Kerrel bobbed her tail up & down in excitement as she lay on the large flat rock at the edge of the oasis. "Now I must reward you! I have heard of the battle of Dark Creatures last night!" Kerrel twisted her tail around & pulled off one large silver scale that flashed bright aqua green in the sun. "Keep this on you at all times! It'll ward off any Dark Creature that wishes you harm!"

"Thank you!" Sirius replied. "But didn't that hurt, when you pulled it off?" he went on.

"Not at all!" Kerrel giggled. "Those big scales fall off all the time & are constantly replaced. Anyone who finds a shed mermaid scale will find a shield of protection!" She pulled off one more & handed it to Remus. "This will shield you in places that would otherwise be unavailable to you! I must go now, Lord Bris!" Kerrel flipped off the rock & swam away, surfing the waves.

"Let's go home!" Sirius said once Kerrel left.

"I'd....like to make a stop at Landau's house!" said Remus.

Sirius, Remus, Merida & Randalla arrived in Feradeck two days later. Randalla left to find anything on Donoven Randaf. Sirius, Merida & Remus headed straight to the woods between Feradeck & Wind Plane. The McClaine Woods were deep & dim, with soft rays of light shining through. Sirius kept Remus away from the center of the woods & it annoyed the Lycan no end that he had to walk around the edge instead of straight through!

"Why can't we just go straight through?" Remus demanded.

"Because you'll go crazy if you do!" Sirius retorted.

"I'm already crazy with you around!" Remus snapped. "Is there a monster in there or something?"

"No, these woods are peaceful," Sirius groaned. "Fine! There's a path in the center of these woods that's made of hardened moonlight! You DON'T want to go there! There is a reason why Landau stays at the edge of the forrest! Stupid git!"

"I'm not as 'gitty' as you are!" Remus shot back.

"No, of course not!" Sirius agreed. "You're an even worse git then I could ever become!"

"You're so much of a git," Remus retorted. "That the Dementors had a cardiac arrest whenever you showed up!"

"That was a real git thing of you to say!" Sirius groaned.

"'Git thing'?" Remus sighed. "What the hell does that mean?"

"I don't know!" Sirius groaned. "Git!"

"You're the git!"

"No, you are!"

"Not me! You!"

"Uh-Uh!"

"Uh-huh!"

"Uh-Uh!"

"Uh-huh!"

"SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUP!!" Merida suddenly screamed. "Ugh! No wonder father hated you Marauders! & here's a newsflash for you: you're both gits & that's final!" With that, Merida transformed into a coeurl & stalked off into the woods, pausing to cast an angry hiss over her shoulder as she left, dragging her blasters along on either side!

"WOW!" Sirius gaped. "You didn't tell me she was an Animage?"

"That's because you're a git!" Remus punched Sirius & fled.

"COME BACK HERE!!" Sirius sped after him. "GIT!"

Merida found Landau first, unfortunatly. Sirius ran after Remus & ended up running into him. The two went sprawling into the grass, crashing into Merida. Remus fell over first, Sirius sprawled out on top. "Why Moony! I didn't know you liked being on the bottom!"

"SHUT UP, BLACK!"

"Excuse me---Messers but---uh---get off!" Merida sounded like she was flattened.

"Oh, a threesome!" teased Sirius.

Growl! Believe it or not, that was Merida growling! Really wierd how mates copied each other.

"What are you doing here, Alpha?" Landau retorted, as soon as the three of them stood up.

"Seeing if you're alright!" Remus shrugged.

"I can't find my pup!" Landau sighed. "I'm in no mood for a challenge!"

"I didn't come for one!" Remus replied.

"Have you seen Luna?" asked Landau.

"No, not yet!" Sirius answered.

"The Vampires ruined everything!" Landau nodded to where his house used to be. "They somehow managed to keep their eyes off the cross windows. Now, Luna is gone & so is half my pack!"

"Come home with me," offered Sirius. "We'll find Luna!"

Landau really didn't want to leave but he really didn't have much choice. By the time they had stepped through the door, Landau & Remus had become uncontrollable! Remus had his fangs sunk into Landau's left arm & Landau was twisted around in a most unnatural way, sinking his own fangs into Remus's neck. Both were snarling murderously! Landau let out a heart-renching yip as Remus bit down again. The two became a mass of entangled flesh, teeth & K9 Alpha fury rolling on the floor.

"This wasn't a good idea.....Sweetheart!" Merida groaned as Remus squealed in pain from yet another bite from Landau.

"I'll....'fix'....them!" Sirius doubled over for a moment. When he regained control of himself, he attempted to gain control of the wolves. "Remus! Landau! That's enou-----!" Remus squealed again. "ENOUGH!" Landau barked pitifully as Remus bit the back of his neck. "OY! YOU PIGDOGS!!" Sirius yanked out his wand. "STOP IT BOTH OF YOU! This is my house; therefore, my territory! I'm the Alpha & the two of you are nothing but Omegas here! UNDERSTAND?!?!" That last word actually echoed a bit!

Landau shoved Remus off & stood up, trembling. The wand terrified him. "Y-Y-Yes my Lord!" Remus, however, burst out laughing! Landau stared at him in shock.

Sirius ignored it. "GOOD!" he fumed, shoving his wand away. "& I don't want to hear another growl about it!"

"Yes, my Lord!" Landau bowed slightly as he glowered at Remus. Remus glared back. Landau swished his long dark brown hair over his shoulder & heaved a sigh. "He's a bit moody today!" Landau said once Sirius was gone from the parlour.

"Well, he just found out he lost his Godson," Remus defended. "He's basically going through the same thing you are!"

"At least he knows what happened!" Landau snapped. "I don't!"

"So what?" Remus groaned.

"OK, that's enough!" Merida warned. "Remus? Upstairs! I'l take care of your bites in a minute! Landau? I'll let Sweetheart take care of you!" Merida began marching for the kitchen as Remus raised an eyebrow, feeling somewhat jealous.

"Who's Sweetheart?" asked Landau as he followed her.

"You're precious Lord Bris!" Merida groaned. "Oy! Sweetheart? Take care of him please!"

"That's it girl! Rub it in!" Sirius groaned. "For your information, nipping you was an accident! I was slipping & was trying to hold on to something! You just happened to be in the way!"

"How convenient!" Merida muttered flatly, shoving Landau closer to Sirius & stalking off upstairs.

Remus was waiting for her. "Alright! What did Sirius do?"

"Nothing!" Merida smiled sweetly, forcing Remus into a chair & began tending to a rather large wound on his shoulder.

"Why are you calling him Sweetheart?" Remus leaned back to look at her.

"Nevermind!" Merida sighed, forcing his face forward again.

Remus waited a moment & turned to look at her again. "But he must have done some---!"

"HONESTLY REMUS!" Merida turned him back. "You're making this bleed more then it should! Hold still! Or shall I put the Immobulios on you?!"

"Sorry!" Remus sighed. He decided it was better to listen to her then cross a woman of the Snape line! Merida was very much like an Alpha, thanks to her Snape temper.

"Simply put, you've nothing to be jealous of!" Merida went on.

"Me? Jealous of my best friend?" Remus acted like he didn't know what she was talking about.

"I'm telepathic Remus!" Merida sighed, exasperatedly, moving on to the four gorges in his neck.

"I was thinking of Landau," Remus defended. "He was following you!"

"Ah, Landau!" Merida pretened to believe him. "Don't worry about him either!"

"He's an arrogant mongrel!" Remus muttered.

"Only because he's an Alpha!" said Merida. "You've dealt with an Alpha before. You & father were always snarling at each other!"

"Sniv---sorry! Severus? An Alpha?" Remus exclaimed. "That's the funniest thing I've ever heard!"

"Oh come on, Remus!" Merida groaned. "Why else would you be quarreling with him even on Full Moons? We Snapes can be very domineering!"

"I suppose so," Remus shrugged, earning a low groan from Merida as she had to repatch his bleeding wound. "Good thing you're a female!"

"Oh really?" Merida teased. "Just wait a few minutes for that to set, will you?"

"Oh, alright!" Remus crossed his arms & remained motionless as Merida finished off his other bites. "I don't heal well, anyway," he added. "My blood won't clot well. Hemophilia is a symptom of Lycanthropy."

"Oddly enough, so is an insane urge to do self-harm," said Merida. "OK, you can move now!"

"Finally!" Remus straightened up. "Sheesh that creature bites hard!"

"I'm sure you do to," said Merida. "He looked quite battered up!"

"No less then what he deserves!" Remus sighed, hanging his cross over the bedstand.

"So........uhhhhh........you like being on the bottom, do you?" Merida laughed softly, striding up to him.

"Wha---uh oh!!" Remus gulped. He decided to let her do as she pleased, making a mental note to himself: Sirius Black dies at dawn! In a fashionably...horrible...way!

Dawn came & went & Sirius was still very much alive! Not having to worry about Snape walking in, Remus slept in over an hour, Sirius's sentence forgotten. Merida lay beside him, waiting for Remus to wake up. At last, he opened his eyes.

"We've got an audience!" Merida warned immediatly.

"Hmm?" Remus rolled over slowly to stare at the door in which sat a black dog, tail thumping against the floor. "Oh....Merlin!" Remus whispered. "How long has he been there?"

"Only for an hour or so!" Merida got up.

"Yeah right!" Remus groaned. "He ALWAYS does this! To Jim & Lily! I think even Peter once! YOU'RE DEAD BLACK!" Remus shot out of the bed like a bullet & made for the dog that had scurried downstairs faster then one could say Dementor!

"Re--REMUS! WAIT!" Merida yelped to late. She rolled her eyes as she hooked a finger through a belt loop on his pants & held them out, waiting. There was a surprised scream & thunderous steps as Remus bounded back into the room. With a pro-longed sigh, Merida turns her eyes to the ceiling & left them there.

"Why didn't you tell me I wasn't dressed?!" Remus snatched his pants off her finger.

"Wasn't it obvious?" laughed Merida, as she settled to brushing her hair.

"Randalla is downstairs!" Remus groaned. "That was so embarassi---where's that zipper? & why do my pants feel so wierd?"

"There on backwards, Remus."

"WHAT?! OH!!" Remus groaned & whimpered like a pup as he rearranged everything. He began growling softly under breath, possibly swearing in the K9 langauge! "Sirius is going to get it! He's mine! Mine to destroy! I'll---OUCH!"

"You caught yourself?" Merida didn't know how she kept her face straight as she watched Remus hunch over for a moment.

"I'm fine!" he hissed through gritted fangs & stormed off downstairs, not bothering to put his shirt on. "Sirius Black! You! Are! Mine!"

Sirius tossed his hair back & said with an airy voice. "Why Moony, my love! I thought you'd never ask me!"

"Shut up! SHUT UP! Just shut----could you just shut up?!" Remus pinned Sirius against the wall. "Why do you do this?"

"Do what?" Sirius fluttered his long lashes. "I had only come up this morning to see you!"

"See me?" Remus growled. "For what? Think you could learn a new move or something?"

"It wouldn't hurt!" Sirius shrugged, ignoring the feral gleam clouding over Remus's eyes. "I really wanted to say that Randalla is here, somewhere! You scared her off!"

"What did she want?" Remus sighed.

"Firstly, get your nails out of my sides!" Sirius ordered. Remus released him & Sirius took a moment to breath before going on. "I needed her help. Landau had some bad wounds. Randalla's a doctor."

"Randalla wants to kill him!" Remus pinted out.

"Yeah, I found that out pretty quick!" Sirius sighed. "Landau's fine! He's hiding somewhere!"

"Very well," Remus groaned. "Now, if you'll excuse me! I need to finish getting dressed." Remus headed back into his room Sirius had given him. Merida was gone by now. Remus strode over to the end of the room to retrieve his wand.

"Well, Remus," Randalla's voice sounded behind him. "Does Lord Bris always get you out of bed so fast?"

Remus glanced over his shoulder to see her come in. "He can drive one mad at times!" he turned back to the mirror & stared into it. "He's an over-grown teenager!"

"Which is why I don't let him around me," Randalla half-laughed.

Remus stiffened a bit. Something wasn't right. He could feel Randalla closing in on him but something was just not right! He continued gazing into the mirror.

The mirror! Everything was perfect in the mirror, except one thing. Where was Randalla? Remus had to come up with something quick! She was almost on top of him & his cross was still hanging, unnoticed, on the other side of the room! Remus summoned a fountain pen to his wand, formed a cross & whirled around. Randalla yelped in pain as she crossed her arms over her face, but only for a moment. Remus took advantage of that moment & sped past her.

"That won't work, werewolf!" Randalla lowered her arms & turned to glare at him. "It's not a real cross!"

"Maybe not! But this is!" Remus yanked the gold cross off, snapping the chain & held it in front of him.

Randalla fell to the floor, covering her eyes. "Get that....thing....away from me!"

"No!" Remus replied. "You were wise in befriending me! A true predator always studies the prey before striking! But you forgot one thing, I also, am a predator!"

"I was merely curious about you," Randalla admitted, focusing on the floor. "You are the first werewolf from the Celestial Temple! I will kill you eventually. I've already put aside a silver bullet for you!"

"No wonder Landau killed half your family," Remus held the cross closer to the floor. Randalla backed away, keeping her eyes tight shut. Unfortunatly, she backed up in the wrong direction. Now, Remus was holding the cross in front of the door & there was no way out. "You're all Vampires! & you're that other one that can do a Sunshield!"

"Quite right!" Randalla yelped. "Please put it away! I can still feel it's cursed presense!"

"Not yet!" Remus declared. "Did you just happen to be gaurding that cemetary when I came along? Answer me?" He moved the cross closer.

"Yes!"

"& when you said you "hang out" near Landau's place?" Remus went on.

"I'm a bat, aren't I? I didn't go close to his house, though because of his windows. Please, no closer!" pleaded Randalla.

"Just keep your eyes shut & you won't have any problems!" Remus ordered. "Now, did you just happen to be at Bestry Isles?"

"No!"

"Did Lord Charmone order you there?"

"Yes!"

"You destroyed Lady Azriel?"

"Yes!"

"Why?" Remus moved the cross a bit closer. Randalla whimpered softly, pressing her hands to her already closed eyes. "WHY?" Remus barked.

"Because she kept a werewolf in her care!" Randalla snapped.

"Don't you dare pin it on me, Randalla!" Remus glowered.

"I'd kill Lord Bris too, if I could," Randalla went on. "but he's so powerful! I won't go near him!"

"You got that right!" Remus snapped. "I lost him twice & I won't lose him again! Go near my last surviving pack member again & I'll kill you! Leave him be & I'll leave you be! Understand?" He held the cross close to her.

Randalla panicked. She jumped up & tried shoving past Remus while keeping her eyes closed. Remus fell over, dragging Randalla down with him. Randalla opened her large black wings that had been neatly folded up against her arms, making them unnoticable until now. Remus lifted the cross up again. Randalla fluttered wildly, slashing her left wing on it in a paniced frenzy. She knocked Remus over & he fell onto the cross. It peirced through into his leg & sunk in. Randalla transformed completely to a small agile bat & fluttered wildly out the door & downstairs.

"SIRIUS!" Remus screamed. "SIRIUS LOOK OUT!"

Sirius ducked as something came flapping at him. It hurried out the open window & out of sight. He bounded upstairs to find Remus on the floor, pressing his hand to a bleeding cut in his leg. "What happened?"

"Randalla! She--She's a Vampire!" Remus gasped. "She knocked me over & the cross peirced through me!"

"Let's get you downstairs!" Sirius lifted Remus up & held him steady as they made their way to the bathroom. "This looks bad, Moony!" Sirius said, once he had partially stripped Remus & inspected the wound. "All I can see is the chain!"

"Well, get it out of there!" Remus yelped. "OW! Not good!"

"Sorry!" Sirius mumbled. At this precise time, Merida just happened to pass the closed door! "There!" Sirius went on. "Is that good?"

Merida let out a gasp! "Oh Merlin!" She had her telepathy turned off at the moment. She didn't cast the Legillimens charm on her. Merida didn't want to feel this!

"Yeah!" Remus gasped, as the cool cloth pressed against his cut took the sting away. "Much better!"

"Now to get it out of you!" Sirius continued. If only Sirius had said 'get the cross out of your leg'! If! Only! "This might hurt a bit!" Sirius warned as Merida's jaw slammed the floor!

"That's OK!" Remus assured. "Just do it!" That was the wrong thing to say! Surprised, Merida swore under her breath a very bad word for a lady!

"You're losing a lot of it!" Sirius stared at the amount of blood pouring out around the jammed in cross.

That did it for Merida! She fled outside & collapsed in the grass. "I knew they were close!" she fumed. "Somedays I could feel it strongly! But why didn't Remus at least have the courtsey to tell me he was Bi?!"

"OK, I think I've got the cross!"

(Oh SURE! Now the damned slut says the word 'cross'!)

Sirius began tugging at it & after 15 minutes of muffled yelps from Remus, the cross finally pulled free. Sirius cleared away the blood & bandaged the wound. "You're begining to look like a war zone, Remus!"

"Thanks!" Remus growled dryly.

"So, Randalla's a Vampire?" Sirius asked once Remus was dressed & had his cross back.

"Yeah," Remus went on to explain everything.

"Well, now that we know, she'll be more careful around us!" Sirius said when he was finished. "Want some chocolate?"

"Oh yes! Definitly!" laughed Remus. He glanced out the window & noticed Merida sitting outside, staring over the yard. Remus brought out some choclate for her. "Would you like some chocolate, Meri?" he held out a piece.

"No thank you," Merida sighed. "Professor!"

Remus could only stare!