Disclaimer: I still own nothing (although I keep having dreams about Remus...)

Blood of a werewolf

Chapter 6: Firenze

Hours had passed since Grawp had taken Tonks to his cave. Grawps' cave, to Tonks' amazement, was situated very close near the escape route she had taken while running from the Vastatore's. It made her wonder for a moment why she hadn't found the place then, but Tonks soon concluded it was too well hidden from sight for her to see and there was also the little fact she had been running for her life and didn't have the time for sightseeing.

When they had arrived at the cave, Grawp managed to communicate he went out again, to find some food, but first he had brought Tonks to a large bed made of leaves, indicating she should rest until he was back.

Strange to have an actual conversation with a Giant, Hagrid managed to teach him well, but I know he had help from Hermione, that could have made the difference of course.

For the first few hours, Tonks had slept peacefully on the improvised giant bed, but then she had woken up and couldn't get back to sleep again. Grawp still hadn't returned and Tonks was starting to feel restless. Suddenly the light in the cave darkened as Grawp entered. Finally.

Grawp offered Tonks a handful of berries, handful of his hand, that is, I could eat a whole week of those, Tonks thought. They ate in silence for a while but when they were finished, Grawp tried to make conversation again. He seems to like being able to talk to people.

"Wha' Tonk here?"

Huh? Tonks looked confused towards the Giant.

"Wha' Tonk here?"

Is he asking why I'm here or what I'm doing here? She mentally shook her head. Not that there's many difference.

"I'm looking for Remus Lupin, do you know him?"

Grawp seemed to think for a moment, before nodding his head.

"Do you know where he is?"

This time, the Giant shook his head in the negative.

Tonks bit her lip, trying to hide her disappointment.

"Do you know where Firenze might be?"

Grawp smiled. "Fir'ze come here."

Tonks lifted her eyebrows. "Does Firenze come here often?"

Grawp frowned. Apparently not, but what did he mean then, maybe...

"Does Firenze come here sometimes?"

Grawps smiled and nodded.

"But I suppose you can't predict when he will come."

Grawp nodded again and Tonks sighed.

"Grawp, I have to find Firenze and I don't have much time left."

Grawp nodded. "Grawp help, but firs sleep." He indicated the entrance of the cave, where darkness had fallen outside.

Tonks sighed again. Well, I suppose I don't have much choice. Spent the night here and get help from Grawp or go on my own without any help and risking those hunters will find me again. She shuddered and decided staying with Grawp seemed definitely the best option.

All right. Let's get some sleep then and we can rise at dawn and resume my mission.

000

The next morning, as she had planned, Tonks woke up at dawn. However, that was probably the only part of the plan she wasn't forced to change. When she came fully awake, Tonks immediately noticed something was missing, or rather, someone. Grawp was gone. It's hard not to notice when there's a Giant missing.

Two hours passed by very slowly, Tonks used the time to impatiently pace around the cave. She was starting to get hungry, but there was no food. My food supply was in my backpack, and I didn't have the chance to get it back from those hunters. Now I think about it, I can't even change clothes until I'm home. Great. With a sigh she sat down on a rock on the ground for a moment, before a realization hit her. Damn, they still have my diary too. Tonks stood again and returned to her pacing. Where could Grawp have gone?

Finally, after a little more than two hours, Grawp appeared again, bringing some food with him and, to Tonks' surprise, with Firenze in tow.

Grawp offered Tonks some food, which she accepted gratefully, Firenze didn't waste any time and immediately directed Tonks.

"Miss Tonks, when I came across Grawp this morning, he told me you were staying with him tonight and wanted to meet me?"

"Yes, I'm actually looking for Remus Lupin, Hagrid told me that you might know where I can find him."

Firenze gazed towards Tonks for a long time, seemingly in thought.

"I'm afraid cannot tell you where to find Remus Lupin."

Tonks frowned at the centaur. "But Hagrid said you had seen him once in this forest. You must have an idea as to where he might be."

"I didn't say I don't know where he is, I said I cannot tell you."

Tonks glared at Firenze. "I have no time for your riddles, this is important, Firenze."

"I know of the importance of your mission, but Remus Lupin had decided to hide in this forest to make sure no one would be able to find him, I cannot give away his location without his permission."

Tonks stared at him for a moment. Remus doesn't want to be found. Why didn't you think of that possibility earlier? What do I have to do now? For a moment, she thought desperation would overcome her, but it immediately turned into anger, and the only one to direct that anger at was Firenze.

"It doesn't matter if he wants to be found or not, I have to find him and if you won't help me, I'm going to go looking for him myself, no matter how wide this forest is." Tonks' voice rose gradually while speaking, and the calm look the centaur was giving her only infuriated her more.

Firenze's answer was calm as ever. "I'm sorry." He doesn't look sorry in the least, Tonks thought. "If you really want to find him, I can bring you to a place where he often takes a walk when the night falls, but since tonight is the full moon, you will have to wait until the day after tomorrow before I can take you, the night after a full moon he won't come outside anyway. If the stars are with you, he will be there when I take you."

Tonks and Firenze stared at each other for a moment. Tonks wanted nothing more than to yell at the centaur and demand him to take her to Remus right away, but she realised she wouldn't get anywhere with her anger.

After a few minutes of silence, Firenze nodded towards Tonks. "I'll see you soon." A moment later the centaur left abruptly, Tonks followed him out of the cave, but he had already disappeared in the forest.

For about an hour, Tonks sat in Grawps cave, brooding over what Firenze had said and trying to figure out what was the best course of action.

Common sense says: wait until Firenze comes back.

Rest of me says: don't mind Firenze and go look for Remus now.

Common sense is mostly right.

But when did I ever listen to common sense, leave that to people like Hermione.

That settled it. Tonks quickly thanked Grawp and before he could realise what she was doing and stop her, she left the cave and headed into the forest.

I hope I find Remus soon. Preferably before moonrise.

000

The hours had passed quickly while Tonks was making her way through the forest. It wasn't as easy as she had hoped, the trees and shrubs were growing very close together. It was very hard to see any possible tracks and the dim light made it even harder. How am I ever going to find Remus here, or even my way back out of this, maybe it had been a better idea to wait for Firenze.

Tonks noticed suddenly it had steadily grown darker and she lighted her wand when she realised she couldn't see where she was going anymore. She threw a quick glance at her watch and stopped abruptly, checking her watch again.

The sun has set already. I didn't realise so much time had passed, how is this possible?

Carefully, she took another few steps, deeper into the woods, trying not to stumble too much. After a few minutes however, something made her stop again. Somewhere in the distance, a mournful howl sounded. Tonks grew rigid, she felt cold shivers run all over her body, her breathing and heartbeat quickened. How stupid can you be, Tonks. How exactly do you plan to escape a werewolf in here?

Tonks drew a few deep breaths to calm down and give herself the chance to think about a solution to this new problem. An annoying voice in her head kept bothering her, repeating over and over: Should have listened to Firenze, why do you always think you know better than someone else.

Shut up, She thought to the voice, this isn't helping.

After a few moments to try and calm her racing heart, she tried to make her way through the trees as quietly as possible. She had been debating if she should extinguish her wand, but if she did so, she wouldn't see where she was walking and probably fall and break something. With the light of my wand, I might be able to find a safe place to hide before he finds me. Hopefully.

An hour or two passed. Tonks had heard a few howls after the first, but they had sounded far away and had quieted down some time ago. That had given her some hope, but the fact she hadn't found any place to hide had greatly dampened that hope.

Suddenly, Tonks heard a sound in the trees right after her and she stiffened, listening intently. It had only been a rustling through leaves, but that could have been anything, just the wind, or an animal or… There was a moment of silence and Tonks wanted to take a breath in relief, but just the same moment, another sound reached her ears. It was coming from where she had heard the rustling and it chilled her to the bone. A low growling came from right behind her, growing gradually louder and more savage.

Slowly, Tonks turned around, while she was racking her brain trying to find a way out of this predicament and finding nothing. As she turned, she came eye to eye with the creature standing before her, still growling, and it took her only a second to recognize it from her Defence against the Dark Arts lessons at Hogwarts. Well, I was looking for a werewolf, she thought wryly for a second, before she turned again and tried to run, knowing she wouldn't be able to escape, because at the moment she had turned around again, the werewolf was getting ready to leap on her. Nevertheless, Tonks started running as fast as she could, more trying to buy time then to really escape. It took the werewolf only a few moments to catch up with her, and the next moment, Tonks found herself lying on the ground, pinned down by a werewolf. He was growling and probably ready to bite down, for the umpteenth time in less than a week time, Tonks was sure her end was near.

Suddenly, the weight on her back was roughly removed and Tonks heard the werewolf give a yelp of pain, followed by the sounds of breaking twigs and rustling leafs, as if something was running away through the trees. What the hell is happening here?

A moment later, she felt a hand touching her shoulder, followed by a soft voice. "Get up Miss Tonks."

Firenze? In her panic, Tonks had failed to hear the sound of hooves that had come running in her direction. Tonks did as instructed and soon faced the centaur, but as she tried to speak, he interrupted her.

"I managed to surprise him and chase him away, but it's not easy to keep a werewolf from his prey, so he might come back, we have to get out of here. Did he hurt you?"

Tonks quickly checked herself and was relieved to find no wounds. "No, I'm alright, thanks for saving me." She felt herself heating up in embarrassment. I have an Auror license and I fought and survived the war, but I'm stupid enough to get myself attacked by a werewolf and then I've got to be saved by a centaur. Can this become even more embarrassing?

Firenze stared at her for a moment, and though his face looked calm, his voice sounded icy. "Why couldn't you wait with Grawp, Miss Tonks? You would have spared us from this and I would have come and get you soon enough." Tonks didn't answer and they started walking.

After a few moments, Tonks gathered her courage to direct a question to the obviously angry centaur. "Where are we going?"

A curt 'Somewhere where you are safe' was the only answer she got.

The both of them fell silent again and they kept walking like that through the darkness of the forest for a long time, until they reached a small clearing between the trees. While they had been walking, Tonks sometimesheard some howls, but they sounded far away.

When they finally stopped walking, Firenze spoke again. "This clearing is charmed and you will be safe here, it is one of the places where I take shelter to rest. You should rest now. At dawn I will help you find Remus, he will probably need some medical attention now."

Only now, realization struck Tonks. "That was Remus."

She had only whispered the words, but Firenze had heard her and replied with a curt 'yes', although Tonks had already known that by now.

Silently, she turned away from the centaur and sat down against a tree, tears were starting to gather in her eyes. How could I have been so stupid, I knew he was here somewhere and I knew it was a full moon tonight. What if Firenze hadn't come in time to save me? I would probably have been dead.

Tears streamed steadily down her cheeks at the images that filled her mind. Her torn apart by the werewolf, Remus waking up in morning, near her own torn body. If that had happened, it would have completely destroyed him. I know he can't bare the thought of what he could do to the people he cares about during the full moon. Sirius once told me that was one of the main reasons why Remus almost always kept his distance from other people. Merlin, how could I have been so stupid. With these thoughts in mind, Tonks slipped away into a restless slumber.

000

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