Disclaimer - It's not mine. It never was.

A/N - Umm, I don't have anything to say. Just enjoy the story.

Later,

A.A.

Down Time

It had been a week since Sable had last talked to Remus when he was standing outside the entrance into her room, or any of the boys for that matter.

It had been a week since the 'discovery' down by the lake where Sable's heart had been ripped out and stomped on.

And it had been a week since Sable had gotten a full night's sleep.

The stubborn girl was still stewing in her own anger and self-inflicted depression about the whole incident down by the lake. Once again, it was a beautiful Saturday morning, and a Hogsmeade day to boot. The entire week had been horrid, and Sable wanted nothing more than to loose herself in the little wizarding town outside the castle walls. Unfortunately, going to Hogsmeade would mean running the risk of seeing Remus and the rest of the Marauders. And that was something she did not want to do.

All week long, she had avoided the boys like they carried the bubonic plague, ducking down hallways and just making it into classes they had together before the bell rang. She was still angry with Remus for betraying her, and she was still angry with the other three for making excuses for him and trying to cover for him. It appeared that she and Remus were not the only couple to have been affected by the incident. Lily and Bella were giving James and Sirius the cold shoulder as well, the little she saw them. Even sweet Amanda was pushing Peter away from her. The girls who had witnessed Remus' indiscretion, had banded together to form a support net for Sable, and for that she was forever thankful. Having her boyfriend turn on her and go to the school slut was one thing, but losing the friendship of three of her closest girlfriends was not something she wanted to deal with.

So, as the week had progressed, Lily had spent more time with her in her lab, working on homework and talking with her. Bella and Amanda would use their spare time to keep her occupied and away from the Marauders. Sable also perfected the shape-shifting that she had researched the month before. It seemed that since her body was already in a from of change, the actual transformation would not be much more difficult.

After a few days of concentrating hard, and going to bed with migraines every night, Sable's desperation had finally won through, and her body had shifted to it's wolf form. The pain had been minimal, and Sable had figured that it was the same as James, Sirius, or Peter changing into their Animagi forms. The hardest part was keeping her body from reverting back to it's human form. It took all her concentration to just keep the form, but as the full moon came closer, it seemed as though her body began to voluntarily keep her lupine form on its own; with less concentration on her own part.

Of course, she had been overly pleased with the discovery, and had quickly informed Professor Dumbledore of her success. He, in turn, had congratulated her and asked for a demonstration. Sable had nodded and quickly shifted into her wolf form. The wizened headmaster seemed overtly pleased with her, and asked to be kept up to date with any new occurrences or things she might discover. He also warned her to keep the secret to herself, seeing as how werewolves were not exactly creatures that many other people believed could be trusted. Sable had only agreed, already knowing that the only person she would have told to begin with, was not speaking to her now.

It seemed like the little golden group had broken away from each other, and the rest of the school was in a slight shock. The girls took it in stride, but the boys retaliated the only way they could.....pranking.

The boy's latest prank had originally been centered directly on the Slytherin Quidditch team, but during the set up process, the boys had felt particularly mean, and branched out to include everyone else in the school, including their girlfriends. Friday morning after everyone was sitting in the Great Hall eating breakfast, the boys activated the spells on their pranks, and all Hell broke loose.

After muttering the release spells, a bright flash of green light was seen. When everyone was able to see again, shrieks of horror were heard all around the room. The girls were dressed in coconut bras and green grass skirts, while the boys were wearing board shorts and bright, Hawaiian colored shirts. Both looks were completed with the brightly colored flower chains around the student's necks, and the tropical flowers in the girl's hair. Needless to say, the majority of the school was not happy, although there were a few people who found it quite amusing, especially when some of the girls started doing a hula dance in the middle of the Hall. The rest of the females ran out of the Great Hall and towards their dormitories to change clothes, while most of the boys had stayed to watch the show in the Hall. Hell, even the teachers seemed to think it was funny.

The boys had pranked Bella, Amanda, Lily, and Sable in hopes of making them mad enough to speak to them again. However, the theory of that backfired when all four of the girls got up from their seats and joined a few of their Housemates hula dancing in the middle of the Hall. Everyone seemed to realize then that the Marauders and their girlfriends were on bad terms because those four girls had always been spared in any of the pranks before now. But what sealed the deal on the relationship question was when some of the more brave boys started catcalling and whistling at the dancing girls, who smiled and winked at them in return. Of course the Marauders had not planned on the girls corralling all of the attention of the prank and therefore turning it to their advantage, so they could do nothing but sit by and watch as the boys made passes at their girls. Everyone who was left in the Hall noticed the soured expressions on the pranksters, and found it funny that their obvious ploy had backfired.

Seeing the defeated looks on their faces had been satisfaction enough for the girls, and as they danced their way out of the Hall, Lily and Sable stopped long enough to grab their book bags from the table. Walking out of the Hall, they stopped at the head of the where the boys were sitting, and glaring at them. Sable smirked and shook her head, but Lily was the one that really made them mad.

"You're going to learn not to prank us boys." she said with a sickeningly sweet smile. "We'll always find a way to turn the tables on you. We've been around you long enough to know how your minds work."

"Yes, so you can thank yourselves for corrupting our thoughts." Sable said, looking right at Remus. "Good day, boys." With that, the two girls walked out of the Great Hall, grass skirts swaying and book bags on their shoulders. The boys had been in a bad mood for the rest of the day, and even during lunch, after they had changed back into their school uniforms, they sulked as they watched Lily, Arabella, and Amanda converse with their other friends in the Houses and Sable help some of the younger kids with last minute homework.

The only people who seemed to be getting some sort of perverse pleasure at watching the Gryffindor boys squirm were Marcus Avery, Severus Snape, and Cody Flint, the three Slytherins that had been responsible for the whole mess in the first place, of course no one else knew that. They had managed to set up the entire scene and frame Lupin by using the Polyjuice Potion Snape had brewed. They had made sure that Sable's little buddy Thomas saw the Polyjuice Remus slip into the clearing with Sedera, knowing he would go and tell her eventually. So far, it was working rather well, and the next stage would soon begin, allowing them to tie up a few loose ends with some annoying classmates along the way.

Apparently though, by the end of the day, Peter and James had managed to talk to Amanda and Lily, and apologize for being such prats, but Sirius hadn't had such luck. When he had tried to talk to Bella, she had hexed him enough to land him in the hospital wing for a few hours. Sable, on the other hand, managed to disappear down a dark hallway anytime she saw Remus coming. She did not want to talk to him, even though she could not figure out why. She had nothing to be ashamed of. 'If anyone should be ashamed, it should be him.' she thought as she gathered up her books. 'I've done nothing wrong.' And with that final thought, she had settled down into the book Dumbledore had lent her about ranulas from the American Department of Magic.

That was one good side to being away from the boys, she had time to read the book and learn more about herself. The full moon was coming up in less than a week, and she could already feel the changes starting. They were weak right now, but given a few more days, they would intensify to the point that she would almost go crazy. It had not been so bad for the past few months, but she and Remus had been near each other during the time, and they would help each other through the urges and temperamental flares. Now that they were avoiding each other, or more appropriately, she was avoiding him, she was not sure how things would go. The change she was going to attempt would be easier the closer it got to the full moon, so that would keep her occupied.

She still toyed with the idea of whether she should give Remus his monthly dose of Wolfsbane Potion. She was mad at him, even after a week. But she also had seen what he went through during the transformations, and she did not want him to loose his sanity because she was being difficult. She decided to send him the dose of potion by using a school owl the day before the change, which would be the last day of school before Christmas holiday started. Another good thing about being away from Remus was the amount of time she had spent with her research for her potions. The few days she had separated herself from the boys had been used to subtly alter a few facets of the Wolfsbane Potion, allowing it to act as a mild anesthetic, as well as the psychological suppressor that kept Remus in control during the transformations. She had also sent her mother and father a dose of the potion, telling them it was a stronger version of the pain reduction potion she had always given them.

All in all, everything was fine. Sable was getting her work done, and she had more free time on her hands than ever before. But one thing kept on bugging her. It seemed as though James and Lily had reconciled their differences in the disagreement, as had Amanda and Peter, although the girls still remained steadfast in their grudge against Remus. Bella was standing up to Sirius, but Sable knew it was only a matter of time before the Ravenclaw's will to fight ran out and Sirius was proclaimed victor of the altercation. What worried her the most was the coming full moon, and how Remus would react without her being there. The past few months had been less stressful on all parties concerned because of her close proximity to the werewolf, now she wondered if he could control himself without her there. 'Wonder if I can control myself while he's not here?' she thought dryly.

She had yet to see him with Sedera Walsh again, although the rumors had kicked up again about why she and Remus were no longer together, but she ignored them. It had not helped when Professor Dumbledore had called both of them out of class on Friday and asked them about the coming full moon. The last time they had spoken, Sable had told the Headmaster that she would go with Remus during his changes, and allow him to help her learn to control her own transformation technique -which she had already done-. Sensing the tension between the two teenagers, Dumbledore had suggested that they work out whatever was bothering them before the effects of the full moon began to adversely affect their friendship. Neither of them had said anything, only answering the Headmaster's questions when he asked. When he had finally dismissed them, they walked out of the room and separated, neither of them saying anything to the other. Each one of them knew that it was pride that kept them from apologizing to each other. Sable maintained her accusations of seeing him in the clearing, and Remus maintained his stance that he was innocent, backed by the word of the other three Marauders, and the Gryffindor Quidditch team. It was at a standstill, and neither of them were ready to back down.

And so that Saturday melded into Sunday, and Sunday into Monday and so on until the last day of classes before Christmas break was upon them. The last day of school was December 7th, a Thursday. Friday night was the full moon, and Sable was dreading it beyond anything else. Like she had told Lily earlier, she was staying at Hogwarts for the duration of the break. She knew it would be a pain, having to be around the Marauders during the break, especially now that she was not on speaking terms with any of them, but she would manage.

Classes were let out early on Thursday and the students that were going home had pulled their trunks into the entrance Hall and were saying goodbye to their friends. Sable went to see Amanda and some of the younger children off, not really paying attention to where she was going or what she was doing. While she was coming down the steps, she had the utmost misfortune to run into Snape and Avery.

"What have we here, Marcus?" Snape had sneered, looking at the girl and scowling. "It seems Ms. Robbins is without her body guard this evening. What a pity."

"Bite me, Snape, you bloody prat." she said, looking at the older boy and daring him to touch her. "Get out of my way, I've got nothing to say to either of you."

"I have a feeling if anyone is going to be doing any biting, it will be you, Robbins." Snape said, walking around the girl as though surveying a trophy. "The full moon is coming up tomorrow night, after all." Sable gave him a sly smile and shook her head.

"You still think I'm a werewolf, Snape?" she asked. "You've been trying to find out for months now, and you still don't know, do you?"

"You're no werewolf, Robbins." Avery said lowly.

"Well, I'm glad someone agrees with me." she said sarcastically. "Now get out of my way, the both of you!"

"What if we don't want to?" Avery asked, looking for a way to anger the Gryffindor.

"Then I'll remove you from her way for her." came another boy's voice. All three of the students looked up and saw Remus standing at the top of the stairs, glaring at the two Slytherin boys. Snape and Avery took a small step back and nodded.

"Of course, I guess the body guard is always on duty, isn't he Robbins?" Snape sneered.

"Trust me, she doesn't need a body guard." Remus said, walking down the steps and towards the girl. "If she wanted you out of her way, she'd be able to do it. But unlike some people, she has manners and refrains from using brute force unless necessary." He stopped beside her and looked down, finally meeting her gaze for the first time in two weeks before looking back at the two Slytherins. "I, on the other hand, couldn't care less about you three snakes. Now, I think the lady asked you to move and let her by." Snape and Avery lifted their noses and stepped aside, letting the two Gryffindors pass. When they were out of the hearing range of the two boys, Sable turned to Remus and shook her head.

"Thank you." she said quietly.

"I got the potion this morning." he said stoically, completely ignoring her thanks. "You coming to the Willow tomorrow night?" he asked. Sable stood still for a minute and looked at him curiously. She had figured he'd want her as far away from him as possible, considering their attitudes toward each other the last two weeks.

"You want me to come?" she asked, shocked to hear it.

"I can't change your mind about what you think you saw." he said simply, beautifully avoiding her question. "But you are still welcome to come tomorrow if you want."

"I'll think about it." she said quietly, not looking at him in fear of embarrassment. "I'll let you know tomorrow after lunch."

"Until then." Remus said, nodding and walking to where his friends were standing in the entrance hall. Sable watched as he turned his back and walked away from her. It felt like her heart had just been ripped out and thrown on the floor. The whole five minutes she had just spent near him had been peaceful to her, even though the conversation had been strained. Remus was still mad at her, although she did not blame him for it. His stoic handling of the situation had her worried as to whether or not she and Remus was ever going to get back to the way they had been.

When the final carriage pulled out of the school yard half an hour later, Sable decided to go take a walk around the grounds. She had not been outside in a while, seeing as how she had practically locked herself in her lab for the past few weeks. She was soon joined by Lily, and they went off together to the back section of the grounds where the greenhouses were.

"Are you going to the Willow with them tomorrow?" Lily asked as they passed by a planting of Venus Fly Trap that kept snapping at them.

"I don't know." Sable answered. "I think I might. It....when I was there last month....he seemed to make it through the change much easier." Sable stuttered and looked around the room, her eyes filling up with warm, wet tears. Lily looked at the girl and frowned. Being away from Remus had been rough on her, even if she did not want to admit it.

"I think you should." Lily said firmly. "It might help the both of you sort out this disagreement."

"Do you think I acted to harshly against them?" Sable asked, looking to the taller girl.

"If anyone was harsh, I was." Lily said with a grin.

"What did you and James do?" Sable asked. "I know he won't believe Remus done that."

"We agreed to disagree." Lily said, shrugging her shoulders. "We agreed to not talk about it until you and Remus work things out for yourselves."

"You're kidding?"

"No, once James made me realize that it was the two of you that needed to work things out, and not have me sticking my two cents in, I gave in." she said, running a finger down the petal of one of the flowers. "We do agree that you guys should talk about what happened, though." Sable nodded and Lily gave a small grin. "I'm sure you noticed that Walsh and Cunningham left today, hand in hand, I might add?" Sable glared at her playfully and shook her head.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." she said firmly. "I don't pay any attention to that Slytherin tramp and her hedonistic boyfriend!" Lily grinned and shook her head.

"Seriously now," she said with a smile. " you and Remus need to work this disagreement out before the full moon tomorrow night."

"I'll talk with him tomorrow before they all leave." Sable promised, pushing one of the hanging vines out of her way as they exited the greenhouse. "We'll get this straightened out before nightfall, I promise." Lily only smiled and nodded, knowing that things were on the track to getting back to normal.

***** The next day, about an hour before sundown.....*****

Sable stepped out of the passageway and into the Gryffindor Common Room without anyone the wiser. It had been decided by Sable and Remus that they would leave an hour earlier than the other two boys on their way to the Whomping Willow so that they would have a little time to talk about the fight they had been having. The two students had hardly spoken for going into two weeks, and both were bitter towards the other for the obvious avoidance that had been going on. Before school had let out, every student in Hogwarts had given the two warring wolves their way, not questioning anything, and always being careful not to mention one to the other. Unfortunately for Remus, the Marauders were sick of him being so moody and unpredictable since the unfortunate incident. So, they had conspired with Lily to convince the two to try and talk out their problems, and surprisingly it had worked. So, here they were, swallowing their pride and coming to stand in front of their friends to try and work out their argument without killing each other in the process.

Sitting in the chairs surrounding the fireplace were three of the Marauders, and Lily. There was no one else in the room, other than a few of the younger students who had stayed for the holiday vacation. Today was the first day of their Christmas holiday, and many of the students left had forgone the holiday homework assigned to them to play a relaxing game of wizard's chess, Gobstones, or Exploding Snap. Sable came out from behind the stairwell and walked up to the group of friends sitting in front of the fireplace. If she had ever felt like an outsider since she had come back to Hogwarts, it was now. James and Lily were sitting together on one of the couches, joking and laughing at something, while Remus and Sirius were sitting on the floor playing a card game. She honestly considered turning around and just going back into her lab to hide, but her pride had been bruised enough, and she was not about to back down from this.

Remus was the first to notice her entrance into the Common Room. He glanced up and saw her come out from behind the stairwell, looking like someone was forcing her to do this. He was not exactly in the best of moods either. The wolfish urges in his mind rejoiced when he saw her coming towards them, though. Since the beginning of the week, he had not been able to get a decent night's sleep with Sable being so far away. Of course, he could have went down to her room and asked to stay with her, but he highly doubted that she would let him; besides, he was still upset with her to begin with. When James and the other boys had threatened him with bodily harm if he did not try to talk to her about what she 'thought' she had saw, he figured that he could lower his pride enough to talk to her. So, when he saw her coming towards them, he sat the cards he was holding in his hand down on the floor and stood up.

"Sable." he said politely, nodding at her. The other people in the room could feel the tension building between the two of them.

"Guys. Lily." she acknowledged. She pulled her cloak around her and glanced quickly out of the window on the west side of the Tower. The sun was about an hour from setting, and it was progressively getting darker. Sirius looked up at her and nodded.

"We'll be down in about forty-five minutes, Moony." he said, looking over at the pale boy to his right. "That long enough?"

"Fine." Remus said, grabbing his cloak and pulling it on. It had been snowing for some time that day, and they needed to keep warm during their trip to the Shrieking Shack. "Ready?" he asked Sable. She only nodded and began to walk towards the portrait opening. Remus followed behind her at a slower pace, and their friends gave a sigh of relief when they disappeared from view and heard the portrait click shut.

"You think they'll work this out?" Sirius asked, still looking at the entrance to the Common Room.

"You and Bella did, didn't you?" Lily asked.

"Yeah. So?"

"They'll be fine." James said finally. "They're mature enough to talk about this without hexing each other into oblivion." Sirius hmphed and shook his head.

"If you say so, Prongs." he said. "But if we go down there and find Moony beaten to a bloody pulp, I'm gonna be the first person to say 'I told you so'."

*** Outside the Common Room entrance.... ***

Sable and Remus walked in silence until they made it to the entrance doors of the school. Pulling open the huge double doors, they quickly ran to the Willow. Picking up a large stick and prodding the roots, they immobilized the tree and slipped into the tunnel, using the coming cover of night to hide their escapades.

As they walked silently down the passageway that led into the Shrieking Shack, Sable wondered for the hundredth time how Lily had managed to talk her into this. The silence between the two teenagers was strained and awkward, forcing them to keep silent in fear of saying something that was not exactly smart. Meanwhile, Remus was trying to think of something to say that had nothing to do with the real reason they were down there. Coming up with nothing, he stayed silent.

****Meanwhile, on the edge of the Forbidden Forest…****

Two cloaked figures wound their way out of the dense foliage and peered across the lands to where the Whomping Willow stood tall and proud. In the waning daylight, they could see two figures approach the deadly tree, and finally disappear underneath it's roots.

"They're in there." the taller of the two men said evilly. "It should not be much longer now." He turned to the other figure, who was just pulling the white mask over his face. "Is everything ready?"

"The note was planted earlier today, before they ever left. My source of information tells me that Robbins and Lupin are supposed to talk about their little altercation tonight before the boy transforms." he answered stonily.

"Then we wait." the other man said. To his side, two threatening growls could be heard. He grinned maniacally and walked over to the two bound animals. "Yes, we wait until they come here, then we let our pets make snack food out of Lupin. After all, a two to one fight is most impressive when messing with these wild beasts, don't you agree, Severus?" The other figure only nodded, shuddering as he watched his partner stroke the fur of the snarling animals at their feet.

'This is going to be a long night.' Snape thought sadly. 'Malfoy is bound and determined to get the girl back to Lord Voldemort tonight. After what we found out, I'm seriously wondering if only the two of us will be able to handle the girl.'

**** Back in the tunnel under the willow**

When they finally reached the trapdoor that led into the Shrieking Shack, both of them were annoyed and aggravated beyond belief. They climbed into the room and walked around, checking the windows and such for any possible escape routes, even though it was pointless since Remus was harmless after he took the potion. Remus finally had enough and decided to break the ice.

"Sable.." he began, but was cut off by the girl in front of him.

"What's that?" Sable asked, pointing to the window behind Remus. He turned around and walked over to the window, pulling a piece of paper off of the pane of glass and reading over it. A frown appeared on his face and he handed the paper to Sable.

"It says for us to meet Professor Kettleburn on the east side of the castle, near the forest ." he said, looking confused. "Why would Dumbledore want us to meet the Care of Magical Creatures professor? And why didn't he tell us earlier?"

"I don't know, Remus." Sable said, shrugging her shoulders. "But it is signed by Dumbledore."

"Do you think we should go?" he asked, "I mean, I've only got about half an hour before I start changing. Will we be able to get there in time?"

"Well, Dumbledore signed the note," she said, stating the obvious. "I guess we should. I mean, you're not a threat to anyone since you took the potion. So there shouldn't be any problem." Remus shrugged and turned around, going to the trapdoor and lifting it. Sable pocketed the note and walked over to the trapdoor. In no time at all, they were standing at the base of the tree.

They started walking towards the eastern side of the castle, along the tree line of the Forbidden Forest, just as Dumbledore's note had instructed them to do. Once again, the silence was strained, and neither of them would speak to the other. Finally, Sable got annoyed and broke the ice.

"Remus," she said quietly. "Look, about this apologizing thing...."

"I'm not expecting you to apologize for anything." he said firmly, walking pointedly towards the tree line. "You saw what you saw. Nothing is going to change that. No matter what I say to the contrary, you are not going to believe that I was not the one that you saw down there by the lake that day. You and I both know that." Sable frowned and stopped walking, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at the boy.

"Then what's the point of me coming down here, if you already have this so figured out?" she asked sarcastically. "Because it sounds like you already have your mind made up."

"There is no point." he said. "You are convinced that you saw me down by the lake that day, even though I have enough witnesses to prove that I was on the Pitch the entire time. Its come down to my word against yours, Sable. What else can we do, other than agree to disagree?"

"So you're not denying that I saw you down by the lake, with Sedera?" she asked, getting angry, and unintentionally twisting his words.

"That's not what I said." he replied, gritting his teeth. "I said that you were convinced you saw someone you thought was me. I am, in fact, completely convinced that you probably did see me down there, but I know that it was not the real me."

"You don't have a twin, Remus." Sable pointed out. "If it was not the real you, then who the Hell was it? Cause I'm dying to find out?" Remus sighed and ran a hand through his hair, causing the strands to stand up on end.

"I don't exactly know..."

"Well, look at what we have here." came a cold sneer from behind the two students. Sable and Remus whirled around and came face to face with two black cloaked figures standing about ten feet away from them, hidden in the outline of the tree's shadows. They stepped out of the shadows, and Remus pulled Sable behind him so that he was positioned between the two intruders and Sable, pulling out his wand in the process.

"Who are you?" he asked, looking at the two figures. "What do you want?"

"It's none of your business, wolf boy." the shorter of the two drawled lazily. "Expelliramus!" Remus and Sable's wands were quickly shot out of their hands, landing somewhere in the middle of the trees to their left.

"Who are you?" Sable asked, looking at the figures. They were obviously two men, judging by the breadth of their shoulders, and their all around body build. But what scared her the most were the emotionless, white masks that the two wore. "What business does Death Eaters have on Hogwarts grounds?"

"Our business concerns you, Ms. Robbins." the taller of the two said, pointing to her.

"Me?" Sable asked, coming from around Remus. "What in Merlin's name do you want with me?"

"Whatever it is, you're not going." Remus said fiercely. "They'll kill you!"

"If we wanted her dead, wolf boy, we'd have already killed her." the shorter man replied. He lifted his wand and pointed it at Remus, who was defenseless. "Comosupralina!" he yelled. The curse left the wand with the speed of light and hit Remus square in the chest, causing him to fall into the soft white snow, unconscious. Sable, shocked and scared, knelt down and checked for a pulse. It was still there, but weak. 'Oh shit, this is not good!' she thought hastily, looking up at the two Death Eaters, wands drawn and pointed at her. 'This is definitely not good at all! Maybe it's a good thing I figured out how to do that transformation thingy after all. Cause it looks like I'm going to be needing it sooner than I thought!'

"Look," Sable said fiercely, glaring at the two cloaked figures in front of her, "I don't know who you are, or what you're trying to pull, but enough's enough already!" She cradled Remus' limp form to her, trying to detect any form of life left in him. "What do you want?"

"We want you, my dear. Nothing else." the first figure said stoically. Sable looked confused, but realized that dusk was almost over and the full moon would be up in a few minutes. 'Maybe when the moon gets up, he'll wake up.' she thought. 'I can change, and we can get the hell out of Dodge!'

"Me? What do you want with me?" she asked again, trying to buy herself some time by playing dumb. The snow had began to fall and she felt herself shiver as the coldness finally hit her full blast.

"You've been selected by our leader, Lord Voldemort, to join the ranks of the Death Eaters." the first one continued. Sable flinched with the verbalization of the horrid name.

"You are the ones who have been attacking and killing so many people in the past few months." she stated. "Why would I want to join you? And just what made ME so qualified?" She glanced between the two men to where the rim of the full moon was beginning to show. 'Just a little longer.' she thought. She could feel Remus' breathing getting stronger as the moonlight began to pour out over the edge of the forest, bathing everything in a soft, luminescent glow. 'Come on Remus,' she thought, 'Help me out here!'

"Your particular ability and talent to manipulate potion ingredients is what caught our Lord's eye. Not to mention your extraordinary magical talent. You are a very powerful witch, Ms. Robbins. The Dark Lord has plans to put you right beside him in power when you come to him." the second man said, matter of factly. "He is granting you a great honor. Usually, there are no females allowed within the ranks of his closest followers since he considers them weak, and fit only for repopulating the world." His voice was oddly familiar, but she was in no state to try and figure out who it was at the moment.

"So I'm something special then, huh?" she said, trying to keep her own feral temper in check. 'Don't' loose it Sable!' she thought, 'You loose your temper now and you'll forfeit your life, and Remus' to boot.' "Why should I come with you? All you stand for is murder and hatred."

"Those people were casualties of an ongoing war that has been going on since Salazaar Slytherin died, the war to rid the wizarding world of any and all Mudbloods."

"I'm no pureblood, you idiot!" she said fiercely. "Why would you LORD sully his hands with me?"

"Our Lord has decided to overlook that particular shortcoming." one of the answered. Sable realized that her time was running short, and she groped around for another topic that would stall the psychopathic murderers intent on kidnaping her.

"Okay, fine," she said, "what's in it for me." The snow was falling herder now, and the ground was nearly covered in a think blanket of the white powder. Sable spread her cape over Remus' unconscious for. She slipped her hand down to his and squeezed, hoping for a response.

Nothing.

"The followers of Lord Voldemort can give you anything you desire. Money, respect, power. Anything." the first man said. "You come with us and you can have anything and everything you have ever wanted."

"What's the catch?" she asked.

"You pledge your entire being to Voldemort and receive the marking of his followers."

"So I basically become a slave to the whims of some psychopathic killer with a wand and a grudge against normal people?" she said, her temper getting the best of her.

"No, just a follower." Sable smirked.

"You obviously haven't done enough of a background check on me. You see, if you would have, you'd know that I value my freedom above anything else. The only people I answer to are my parents. So as good as your offer is, I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline. Sorry." She stated. The moon was full out now, and so was her protective, feral instincts. Her eyes were glowing an eerie amber color.

"No need to apologize, Ms. Robbins." the first man said stiffly. "You see, our master knew that you would resist, so we have an ultimatum for you. You come with us peacefully and accept you position beside our Lord, or you parents die. What is you decision?" Sable was thrown into overdrive.

"You don't have my mom and dad, they're in Bulgaria." she said simply.

"They're not anymore. We captured them nearly a month ago."

"How? There's been nothing in the papers about any kidnapings."

"We made sure that the Ministry tried to cover up their disappearances, so as not to alarm anyone."

"Were are the? What have you done with them?"

"They are nearby, in fact, closer than you may think. Would you like to see them? Perhaps that will help in making up your mind." he said coldly. Sable didn't know what was going on, she was a mixture of mixed up emotions. Her wolf instincts were kicking into overdrive. She felt Remus tense up then relax. Searching for his hand, she found it and squeezed it. Sure enough, she felt him squeeze her hand twice in response. She was broken out of her reverie when a sharp whistle penetrated the silence of the forest. Sable looked up in horror as two lanky wolves came romping out of the shadows fo the forest. They came to the feet of the two Death Eaters as obedient as a pair or well trained labradors. 'Oh, God. No!!' She thought.

"Do they look familiar to you, Ms. Robbins?" the second man sneered. Sable looked at the two wolves. The female was a tan color with black markings on her paws. The male was coal black. Both were growling fiercely at the two people in front of them. Sable took off her cloak and bundled it up, lying Remus' head on it. She stood up and walked slowly towards the figures, not believing what her heightened senses were telling her. Stopping two feet in front of the animals, Sable knelt down.

"Momma? Daddy? Is that you?" The two animals growled and barked at the girl, causing her to fall back into the soft snow. She got up and looked from the wolves to the men. "What have you done to my parents?" she said. "They've never acted like this towards me before!"

"Our Lord figured you would need a little incentive to see things our way." the man continued, "So we apprehended your parents. We've been injecting a controlling potion for weeks. They do whatever we tell them too. They will even kill on command."

"That's not my parents." she stated simply. "They would still be in their human form now. The change shouldn't have occurred. Remus hasn't even changed yet. There's no way those are my parents."

"Yes, that's one of the side effects of the potion." the figure said evilly. "Your parents have been transformed for two days now. The mind altering potion has reacted with the lycanthropy, causing them to change early. Definitely an unexpected surprise, for us at least. They have been trying to sink those teeth into something since yesterday. I believe they think it's time to kill."

"My parent's won't kill anyone." she stated fiercely.

"They used to not kill, when they had their sanity. Now, even in human form, they are loyal servants to the Dark Lord." Sable looked down at the snarling creatures and felt her resolve soften. There was a fierce glint in the eyes of the two wolves, and the only time she had ever seen it before, her father had attacked someone who was trying to mess with her and her mother.

"How could you do this to people? And how do I know that's really my mom and dad? They could very well be imposters you're trying to bluff me with." Sable heard Remus whimper behind her. 'He's changing, good. Maybe we can get the Hell out of here when he's done.'

"When your parents were captured, they put up quite a bit of annoying resistence." the second one said. "But after administering the truth serum Vertiserum, they told us everything. Including about your interesting bloodline." Sable blanched visibly. No one besides Dumbledore, the teachers, and her friends knew she was a ranula.

"Yes, our Lord seemed to find in quite interesting that you were indeed no more than a filthy blooded she-wolf." one of them said. Sable felt her anger rise up to new levels. They knew about her.

"Seeing as how you are so well acquainted with my heritage," she said. " you would know that I will not normally give up without a fight."

"A smart girl." the first one said. "However, I can assure you that you're parents did indeed tell us this information."

"I still don't believe that is my parents." she said defiantly.

"Would you like a closer look? I'm sure there is someway of identifying them." Sable thought fast, realizing her time was running out.

"Call them off." she said, "let me have a look of them. If I find that they are my parents, I'll go with you peacefully. But if it's not them, you might as well kill me now." The man nodded and the two wolves immediately calmed down. Sable walked back and knelt down. The amber eyes followed her every move. She reached out and took the right front paw of the female. As she had feared, a dark splotch covered the underside of the padded paw. "Momma." she said sadly. Moving to the male, she pulled the fut back on his neck, revealing a scar the width of a quarter and as long as a pencil. "Daddy." she cried. Through her tears she stepped back from the four figures, two human and two wolf. Remus had finished transforming, but lay still. Sable knew he was awake, but biding his time, waiting for her to make a move.

"Well, girl," the man said impatiently, "made up your mind yet?"

"Yes, I have." she said simply.

"Well, what is it?"

"Well, seeing as my friends have all seemed to turn against me, you have been controlling my parents with Dark Magic, and the person I care about is lying in the snow over there, almost dead. What would you do?" The shorter of the two men visibly tensed when she spoke, but it was not because of the edge on her voice, it was because of what she had said.

"You still care about that worthless beast after what he's done to you?" he asked. "After he cheated on you with another girl, you still care enough about him to worry about his well being?" Sable looked at the man and narrowed her eyes. She knew that voice well, she just could not figure out who it was.

"How did you know about that?" she asked, staring at them.

"You see, Ms. Robbins, the whole mess with Lupin was a set up from the beginning." The taller of the two men said.

"A WHAT??" she asked, getting more angry by the second.

"It was a play to separate the two of you from one another, and to further divide your little golden group among itself." he explained, and Sable could almost see the malicious smile on his hidden face.

"So he never...he never was with Sedera by the lake that evening?" she asked them. The shorter of the two Death Eaters seemed to be growing impatient with her.

"No, he was not with her. In fact, what he told you was the truth. When you came across Ms. Walsh and your precious Lupin, or who you thought was Lupin, he and the others were actually out on the Pitch at Quidditch Practice." Sable gasped, and she could tell that this revelation was really starting to make Remus nervous, since he was letting loose with a small growl, unheard by the two humans but plainly audible to her own hearing.

"How do you know all of this?" she asked.

"We have our source on information. That's all you need to know." the taller man said.

"Then why did I see Remus by the lake if he really was not there?" she asked. She thought for a minute and then it finally dawned on her. She looked up at the two Death Eaters, Hell's inferno burning in her amber eyes. "Polyjuice Potion."

"How very astute." the taller man drawled lazily.

"And I'll bet the fight a few days before was actually a cover for lifting a piece of his hair. Am I right?" she growled, finally piecing everything together.

"Once again, you are correct." The taller one said. "Not that it is going to matter in the end. The werewolf is unconscious, and will be dead in a few hours out here in the snow."

"At least bring him somewhere out of the snow. He doesn't deserve to die out here. He hasn't done anything to you. Besides, it's me you want, not him."

"No!" the shorter man said fiercely.

"But..."

"I said NO!" he said again, slapping her hard enough to knock her down into the snow. Sable put her hand to her face and felt the stinging burn start to course down her cheek.

"That's enough!" the taller man bellowed. "If she's harmed, Lord Voldemort will kill us both. And I do not feel like being punished for your stupidity!" Sable looked up at the man and frowned. "Besides, once our Lord gets her, he will change her tune in no time. Now let's go, Robbins. Now!" Sable got up off of the ground and looked back to Remus.

"Fine." she said angrily.

"Good." the taller man said. The shorter of the two seemed awful quiet suddenly, and Sable wondered if him slapping her had been beneficial to his own health. 'It won't be in about two seconds!' she thought angrily.

"I knew you would see things our way." the second man drawled finally. "Lord Voldemort will be pleased. Now come with us. He awaits our arrival" Sable nodded and walked up to them.

"One quick questions," she said.

"What is it!" he snapped

"Ever been bit by a pissed off she-wolf?"

"No, why?"

"Just wondering asshole, cause you are about to be wolf chow!! Remus!!" With that threat, Remus jumped to his feet, eyes full of fire and canines bared. Next to him stood a pure white wolf with amber eyes, Sable. Bother were crouched down, expecting a fight.

The two cloaked figures stood there stunned. Below them, the tan and black wolves snarled at the unexpected change. The tan wolf jumped to Remus, trying to lock her jaws around the throat of the younger male wolf. Sable rushed her father, catching him off guard and sending him flying into the trees. She let her wolf instincts of survival take over, controlling her every move and reaction. The black wolf came running back towards her at full speed, howling in anger. She lunged at him, jumping onto his back and latching onto his fur. The black wolf howled in pain and tried to throw her off. Sable hung on, and soon her snow white fur was matted with the combined blood of her and her father. So on and on the four wolves fought. Remus had downed the smaller tan wolf, leaving her bleeding and broken, but not dead. Sable fought with her father. Blow by blow they were matched, the father and the daughter. Her youth and stamina matched by his experience and blood lust. Neither one was ready to admit defeat and bow out; each one realizing that the battle would not be over until one of them was dead.

Sable was losing her strength as the blood drained out of her from the gashes and bites. Her alpha wolf father was weakened too from the wounds inflicted upon him by his own daughters teeth. Sensing his weakened stated, she gathered up what was left of her own strength and rushed him once again, knocking him head first into a nearby tree with a sickening crack. His figure slumped over, and didn't move as his blood stained the pristine whiteness of the surrounding snow. With her enemy defeated, she fought to regain control of her mind, pushing the feral instincts of the wolf to the back of her conscious. She turned to Remus, seeing him advance to the two cloaked men. She used her reserve to stagger over to the men, baring her teeth.

"What do we do now, Lucius?" the second man asked.

"We leave. This wasn't part of the plan. Her parents told us she did not know how to change. And if we hurt the girl, the Dark Lord will kill us himself." The man, Lucius, turned to the injured white wolf. "You've crossed the line Sabriel. We will have you , or we will kill you."

Sable let a low growl escape from deep in her chest as a warning. With that threat, the man pulled his wand out, but a large black dog barreled him over into the snow. 'Sirius!' She thought. Sable blinked in the darkness that was quickly clouding her sight, not sure of what she had just seen. She looked up and saw a stag rear up on two legs and kick at the other man, landing a kick in the man's forehead. 'James! Oh, thank Merlin! We may get out of this alive after all!'

"You're as good as dead, Sable! Mark my word!" And with that last threat, both the intruders disappeared. Sable slumped down into the snow, slowly losing the concentration to retain her wolfish form. She felt something warm on her face and slowly opened her eyes to see Remus standing over her.

"I"m sorry Remus, you okay?" she asked him. The wolf nodded and licked her hand. She felt someone lift her up out of the cold snow and cradle her like a baby. It was Sirius.

"Sable what happened?" he asked, concern showing in his dark eyes for the girl. Sable felt her head slowly lolling forward. She wanted to sleep, but Sirius shook her awake. "Sable don't you go to sleep. You can't. Not right now."

"Sirius, listen to me carefully," she said slowly, "Where's James?"

"I'm here." came the weary voice of Hogwarts Head Boy.

"Okay, listen to me. I need both of you to take those two wolves to the Shrieking Shack and tie them up, or close them in, or whatever. Just put them somewhere where they can't get out."

"What?? Why?" James exclaimed. "They just tried to kill you two, and you want to help them!!??"

"You don't understand, James," she said quietly, "That's my.... my parents."

"What?" Sirius said, nearly dropping her in surprise.

"I'll explain...later. Just take them there and seal the windows and doors. Don't let them get to each other. They're going to go nuts when they change back. And don't get any of the blood on you, or you could get infected." Sirius shifted her in his arms and covered her with the cloak he was wearing, and give James a puzzled look. The two prone figures of the wolves were nearly dead. There was blood all over the place and Sable was on the verge of blacking out.

"Fine, but you've got major explaining to do, missy." was the last thing she heard before passing out.

A/N - Hey everyone. How's it going? I hope everyone is having a good holiday season. I don't have much to say right now, just remember to leave me a review telling me how things are going in the story. I want to know.

Later,

A.A.