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Without further ado, here is Chapter Four: (I hope you like it!)
Chapter Four: A Rat in Man's Clothes
As Remus Lupin stepped into the tavern, he was filled with an overwhelming sense of evil. All of Knockturn Alley had a particularly dark feel, but nowhere was it as strong as inside the tavern. Remus could almost sense all the Death Eaters and dark creatures. I wonder if they can sense the wolf in me, he thought to himself.
He pulled his hood farther over his face, as if by doing so, he would be able to hide his identity from everyone. Hopefully no one will recognize me. In his haste, Remus had forgotten that he had gone to Hogwarts with quite a few of Voldemort's Death Eaters, and they might recognize him. It's too late to fix that now, he though. I'll just have to hope no one pays too much attention to me. If confronted, I'll deny everything.
Remus slid onto a bar stool at the counter. He had a large man (Possibly part-giant, he thought.) on one side of him, and an empty seat on the other.
"Heard anything about Harry Potter?" he asked the man, in what he hoped was a menacing tone.
The huge man looked at him as if he were absolute scum, merely grunted, and turned away.
I'll take that as a 'No.'
Remus was about to stand up to confront some other patrons when a slight man dressed in elegant clothes sat gracefully down next to him.
Remus took a quick look at him, taking in his fancy garments and neat silver-blond hair and stifled a groan.
Oh, my god, he thought. Of all the people, it had to be Lucius Malfoy.
Malfoy, a regular at the tavern, glanced at Remus and said, almost disinterestedly, "I haven't seen you here before, have I?"
Remus cleared his throat. "Oh, I doubt that you have," he said, trying to sound causal although his heart was pounding so loud, he wondered if Malfoy could hear it.
The other man raised one neatly sculpted eyebrow. "Have we met?" he asked, this time sounding much more interested.
"I can't say that we have," Remus said, now very worried.
Malfoy smirked, brushing an invisible speck of dust off his cloak. "What are you doing here, Lupin? Looking for your precious Potter?"
Remus' heart was now pounding so hard he feared he might pass out. "Excuse me? I'm quite sure I don't know what you're talking about," he said weakly, hoping Malfoy would accept his lie and move on.
"Oh, come now, Remus," Malfoy said. "I'd recognize that hoarse voice and those tattered robes of yours anywhere; not to mention that your eyes are an extremely unusual shade of amber this time of the month."
Remus shook his head, more to clear it than to say no.
"Finally decided to join the winning side, Lupin?" Malfoy sneered.
Stay cool, Remus, he told himself. He tried to tell Malfoy that he had decided to become a Death Eater and help with Harry Potter, but he could not make himself say the words. "Never," he spat, his normally hoarse voice reduced to a growl.
"Well, Lupin. Come to rescue Potter, have you? Follow me. I know someone who is just dying to see you again."
Remus knew better than to trust Malfoy, but he didn't know what else to do. He felt helpless and out of place in the tavern. He wasn't really a dark creature, but he could never forget the part of himself that longed for human flesh.
Remus sighed, his shoulders slumping. Feeling defeated and knowing what he was about to do was not the smartest thing in the world, he followed Lucius Malfoy, hoping he would be able to overpower Malfoy if need be.
Remus was led out into a small, closed-off alley behind the tavern. Even dirtier than the main street, it was filled with empty beer bottles and other unidentifiable pieces of trash.
"Peter," Malfoy called out in his silky voice. "There's someone here to see you."
Remus thought he heard a small squeaking noise coming from a corner of the alley. The squeaking soon turned to high pitched, almost maniacal laughing. Then, from out of the shadows in the corner, stepped Peter Pettigrew.
Remus Lupin looked at his old school "friend", doing his best not to show any emotions.
"Hello, Peter," he said, trying to sound smug. "What have you been up to recently, other than kidnapping children of your old friends?"
"Oh, Remus," Pettigrew said. "You always were the brave one, weren't you? Always saying exactly what you felt, even if it got you into a lot of trouble..." He drew the last word out, extending his silver hand to Remus, stroking the werewolf's cheek.
His hand is silver! Remus though, panicking. Just the small touch of it had already caused his skin to bruise alarmingly. Remus gritted his teeth against the pain.
"Yes, Remus. You always have been brave. Oh, well. I'm sure we can manage to fix that, somehow."
He reached his hand out again. Remus automatically stepped back, although Malfoy had already barred the entrance to the tavern. Remus was trapped!
This time, Pettigrew reached his hand around Remus' throat, physically slamming the stronger man into the wall. Remus snarled and kicked out his leg, hitting the other man in the stomach. As he did so, he grabbed Pettigrew's arm, trying to pry the hand from his neck. He could feel his skin blistering from the continued touch of the silver, almost as if it was burning him. No! Remus thought. I have to save Harry. I will not let this traitorous rat stop me!
Although Remus continued to fight the physically weaker man, Pettigrew had the upper hand in the fight. Pettigrew had the advantage, and no matter how much Remus struggled, he couldn't win.
Remus could already feel himself losing consciousness, his struggling only exacerbating his condition.
Using the last of his strength, Remus managed to swing his arm, his fist connecting with Pettigrew's left eye. Take that, Remus thought, almost proudly. As Pettigrew howled and covered his eye with his hands, Remus fell to the ground, no one holding him up and his legs no longer able to support his weight.
Harry, he thought. I will get to you. I will not let these people hurt you. With that, Remus Lupin passed out.
