Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter. I am not her. I'm just killing time until the next book comes out. If you sue me all you'll get is a half eaten bag of marshmallows….

The next couple of days passed in a blur of exhaustion for Percy. He and Broder woke up with the sun and settled in to camp only after it was too dark to see the ripples on the surface of the water. They would slowly walk under the bright sun and scorching heat, keeping their eyes trained on the surface of the lake, looking for any abnormalities that would point to the werewolf settlement being below the surface.

After that first night they rarely talked much around the fire. Usually they were too tired to do much more than stare aimlessly into the flames. When they did talk it was about the mission, he and Broder tried to figure out how they would convince the werewolves to join them. This always made Percy uncomfortable, he certainly didn't want the werewolves to come back to England, but he had to seem enthusiastic enough to keep Broder from getting suspicious. As a result Percy would often feign exhaustion, falling into his blankets to sleep not long after their evening meal. He hoped Dumbledore had a plan… he didn't know what he would be able to do if the werewolves decided to come back.

Finally on the fifth day, not long after their midday meal, Percy finally saw something strange on the surface of the lake. There was a spot, near the middle of the lake, that seemed to be moving more than the surrounding waves. He stopped and watched it for a minute, the waves were definitely too rapid to be normal variations. At least it was the strangest thing he'd seen after five days of staring at the bloody water.

Broder noticed his interest and was watching the spot as well, "That's gotta be it." He said, Percy thought he heard a small sigh of relief in Broder's voice.

"How do we get down there?" Percy asked, still staring at the waves.

"We swim." Broder said, digging into the pocket of his robes, "Here." He said shoving a lump of something in Percy's hand. "Gillyweed, it will help you swim and let you breathe under the water."

Percy nodded and followed Broder out into the water. Following Broder's lead he shoved the gillyweed in his mouth and started chewing on it, trying to ignore the slimy, rubbery texture, when he finally could he swallowed it and dove underneath the surface of the water, just a second before Broder.

For the first horrible minute he couldn't breath and then he felt a sharp pain in his neck. Water started flowing past his new gills. His fingers felt funny, looking down he saw they had become webbed.

He was already a fairly good swimmer; however with the help of the gillyweed induced flippers he was wonderful. In no time at all he caught up with Broder as was inching ahead. Broder turned and looked at him, he suddenly grinned and started swimming faster. Percy took the unspoken challenge. Carefully keeping their eyes trained ahead for the werewolf settlement, Broder and Percy raced towards their destination.

Finally, long after they'd finished their "race" they saw the settlement. It was the strangest thing Percy had ever seen. It was a picture perfect tiny village sitting on the lake's bed. A large dome covered the entire village, no doubt to keep breathable air in. Men and women were walking along the streets of the village, staring at Percy and Broder as they approached and swam through the dome.

The dome felt like gelatin against Percy's skin as he swam through it. He managed to get his feet under him in time to land on them, but Broder wasn't so lucky, he was lying face down in the sand at Percy's feet.

Broder quickly stood up and dusted himself of. The werewolves were still standing and staring at them. They were not anything like Percy had expected. Even after knowing Professor Lupin he had still almost been expecting half-wild creatures, but the men and women in front of them looked like normal witches and wizards dressed in normal robes, which were made out of some material that Percy had never seen before. As Percy watched the crowd began to move apart to let a tall middle-aged man and shorter woman through. They were both heavily scarred and looked wary.

The man stopped in front of them. "Welcome to our village." He said in a deep voice. "My name is Torstan, I am the leader here. This is my wife Laila," he nodded down to the short woman at his side. She had red hair, swept into a loose bun, and was glaring fiercely at them.

"Why are you here? What do you want from us?" She snapped at them.

Broder ignored her undiplomatic tone and responded politely, with an easy smile on his face, "We are here to make you an offer."

"Who sent you?" She demanded.

"The Dark Lord, whom you serve."

At Broder's words the courtyard fell silent. Laila's eyes widened, her mouth opening in shock. Pale and shaking slightly, Torstan stepped forward.

"We will discuss your offer in my house." He said steadily, "Come let me take you to it, you can refresh yourselves and then we can talk." He motioned them forward; obligingly Percy and Broder followed him to a rather large cottage. Now that he was closer he noticed that the houses looked like they were made out of seaweed and coral, tightly woven together to form the walls and ceilings. He didn't have much time to wonder about this before he and Broder were ushered through the door.

Broder's sharp intake of breath was the first thing that alerted Percy; automatically he pulled out his wand. He looked around Broder's shoulder and found Professor Lupin standing there, a glass in one hand and his wand in the other. He looked as surprised as Percy felt, but no sooner did his gaze fall on the wayward Weasley then his eyes narrowed and his knuckles grew white around his wand.

"Well if it isn't one of Dumbledore's cronies…" Broder said, smirking. He had his wand out and pointed at Lupin.

Remus Lupin didn't say anything, but his mouth tightened. He looked ready to duel. Indecision raced through Percy, what would he do if it came to that? He couldn't very well kill his former Professor…

Fortunately Torstan, his own wand out, stepped between them. "Enough of this. We will not have any violence here, we see enough of it every moon." He glared at all of them until their wands were lowered,

"What is he doing here?" Broder gritted out, still glaring at Lupin.

"Mr. Lupin is here with an offer for us as well. He is offering us amnesty for our former crimes and a return to our homeland if we join in the fight against the Dark Lord."

"You can't be considering returning to England to fight for Dumbledore… for the Ministry that hates your kind! He's just trying to trick you into coming back!" Broder's eyes were blazing, "You cannot trust him! You cannot trust the Ministry of Magic to keep their promises!"

"And they can trust Voldemort?" Lupin asked quietly, ignoring the collective wince at he sound of the Dark Lord's name, "The Ministry is changing, people's minds are changing…it's happening slowly, but things aren't the same as they were twenty years ago when you felt you had to join Voldemort."

"The Dark Lord won't have to wait for people's minds to change, when he comes into full power he can make things better for werewolves now!" Broder shot back, "They would be helping make things better for all werewolves…."

"By helping Voldemort kill innocent people?" Lupin's voice was rising.

"Just muggles and mudbloods!" Broder's face was turning red.

"That doesn't…"

"Enough." Torstan rumbled. "I have been keeping my eye on the situation, I know that the Dark Lord is growing powerful, how could I not?" He pulled up the sleeve of his robe to reveal a Dark Mark burning so brightly it looked newly branded. "and I know that Dumbledore and the Ministry are finally fighting him..."

"It doesn't matter," Broder interrupted, "We have more wizards joining our cause than ever before. My friend here is a Weasley, one of the families that have traditionally fought against the Dark Lord," He pulled Percy, who had been standing slightly behind him avoiding his former Professor's eyes, forward.

"Is this true?" Torstan was looking at him now.

Percy sighed. "It's true." He said as firmly as he could manage, reluctantly he rolled up his sleeve and showed his own Dark Mark, glowing dimly.

Lupin was staring at him, "Your parents were so hoping it wasn't so." He whispered.

"Well it is!" Percy snapped, "I know where my loyalties lie." He said, "Tell my parents that they lie with the Dark Lord, they are not my family anymore." He winced even as he said the words, but he knew the truth of them. He'd given up his family long before.

Lupin nodded, "I see." He said coolly.

"This isn't important." Torstan said abruptly, "My people have been preparing for this eventuality for years now. While following the Dark Lord I grew to abhor violence, gradually my people have come to follow my example. We no longer tolerate it in our community. We will not be drawn into this fight again. We have everything we need right here, there is nothing either side could offer us to make it worth returning to the lives we once led." He fixed them all with his stare, "You are welcome to stay the night and dine with us, however after that we must ask you to leave and not seek us again. And you two," he turned his glare on Broder and Percy, "Tell the Dark Lord that we will no longer serve him. We have worked hard to build this community, but now we will move to where he cannot find us. It would be a waste of his resources to seek vengeance." Broder glared at him but nodded.

"I can respect your decision." Lupin nodded, "I will accept your offer of dinner and will leave you in peace." With that Lupin left the cottage.

Broder tried arguing Torstan out of his decision for the next few minutes, but it was obvious to Percy that it was useless. Finally Broder gave up and stomped out of the cottage. Percy made to follow him but was stopped by Torstan's hand on his arm.

"Do you know what you are doing, young man?" He asked staring at him intently. "Do you truly know what kind of a man you are following?"

"I think I do." Percy said grimly, pulling his arm out of Torstan's grip and following Broder out into the night.

Percy stopped and looked up, before the daylight had been filtering through the water, giving the village a sparkling kind of light. They had been in Torstan's home long enough for the sun to set up on the surface, casting the village into a simi-darkness that was lit sporadically by lights strung up along long strings.

Broder was standing a little distance away staring out into the water flowing past the dome.

"Broder?" Percy called out hesitantly coming up behind him. Broder turned around, Percy gasped to see how pale and fierce he looked.

"Do you have any idea what the Dark Lord is going to do to us if we cannot convince them to come back to England?" Broder asked harshly, "You thought it was bad after the Lestrange Mansion incident? This will be much worse…" He broke off with a shudder.

Percy swallowed hard, and then he looked around the village. For the first time he noticed that there were children running around and playing happily. Percy smiled past the feeling of dread in his stomach. He was glad that the werewolves hadn't decided to come back. No matter what it would cost him.

"I can't believe that they aren't willing to fight for themselves again, don't they realize what the Dark Lord is offering?" Broder asked angrily, "How can they just turn their backs on all that the Dark Lord is willing to do for them… to do for their kind."

Percy shook his head sympathetically. He wondered if Broder had even been looking at this community… it was peaceful and happy. What could the Dark Lord possibly offer them? But he didn't say any of these things. He settled for faintly shaking his head.

A young woman was scowling and walking toward them with a purposeful stride. As she came closer Percy saw that she had a scar slashed across one eye. Her scowl was only getting deeper the closer she came to them… warily Percy put his hand near his wand.

"My name is Rikke." She said stopping in front of them. She used one hand to push a strand of short brown hair behind her ear, the other was fidgeting nervously near her own wand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Broder said smoothly, hiis angry expression vanishing into one of wry amusement.

"My father, Torstan, has asked me to escort the two of you to dinner." She said by way of explanation. Without another word she turned and began walking toward the largest hut in the center of the village. She never even turned to make sure they were following her.

"They must not trust us roaming around." Percy muttered. Broder was frowning again.

"Are you coming?" Rikke turned around and glared at them.

Percy and Broder exchanged looks then followed her.

The dinner was small, but satisfying. Percy sat next to Rikke, but Broder opted to sit as close to Torstan as possible. Although it was obvious to Percy that the leader had made up his mind, Broder spent the entire meal trying to convince the werewolf to return to England.

Rikke spent the first part of the meal glaring in Broder's direction and muttering under her breath. "Your friend is persistent." She finally said to Percy.

Percy looked up from his soup in surprise at actually being addressed. "He truly believes that coming back is the best thing for the werewolves." He said.

"You disagree?" She was looking at him with an interested expression.

Percy shrugged and gestured around with, "You seem to have a good community going… I probably would do the same thing if I were your father."

Rikke was looking at him like he was the strangest thing she'd ever seen. "Don't you support the Dark Lord and what he is doing?"

Alarm bells rang in Percy's mind. "Of course." He said quickly, "I wish you would decide to come back, but even I will admit that you don't have much incentive to rejoin the fight."

"I see Dumbledore's representative probably hates the two of you as much as I do…" Rikke said in reply gesturing towards Lupin sitting further down.

Percy glanced along the table and found Lupin staring at him. Rikke was wrong though; there wasn't hate in his former Professor's eyes. He looked disappointed and more than a little confused. Percy recognized the look; it was the same one he'd been giving himself since he'd joined the Death Eaters. He pushed his bowl away; he wasn't very hungry any more.

"So what do you do with the children during the full moon?" He asked to change the subject.

She was giving him that strange look again, "They stay here of course… we couldn't let them transform on the surface…"

"Their parent's have allowed them to be bitten?" Percy asked incredulously.

Rikke laughed, startling Percy. "Of course not." She said, "The child of two werewolves is almost always a werewolf. All of the children in our community were born with lycanthropy."

"Does that mean you're…."

"Yes." She said, "Of course."

Broder finally seemed to have given up his argument. He was now moodily pushing his food around on his plate while Torstan and Laila spoke softly to each other. As soon as it was polite to do so, Broder pushed back from the table and disappeared from sight.

"I have to go." Percy said to Rikke, "It's been a pleasure talking to you."

"You're not anything like I expected." She said suddenly. "You're too nice to be a Death Eater."

Percy shook his head, "trust me… I'm not." With that he followed Broder out into the darkness. He found him standing far away from the hut, near the edge of the dome staring out into the dark water.

"I hoped it wouldn't come to this…" Broder muttered as Percy came and stood beside him, his mouth twisted in disgust, "We were given orders about what to do in the eventuality that they chose not to come back… we can't let them defy the Dark Lord without making an example out of them…"

"What are you talking about?" Percy asked, his stomach sinking. "We can't possibly do anything against them… there are only two of us."

"It doesn't matter." Broder replied, "Tonight I will send a message to the Dark Lord. Telling him exactly were we are. He will send others to either kill or put everyone in this community under the Imperio."

"What about the children?" Percy asked desperately.

"I don't know." Broder's face was cold. "I'm sure they wouldn't harm them…."

But Percy was remembering all the horror stories he'd grown up hearing. He knew that Death Eaters didn't usually show children any more mercy than they did their parents. Silently he resolved to stop them.

A/N: That's all for now my pretties. Please review….

Rutu: Thanks... I've worked very hard trying to keep the dialoge in this peice realistic. Screaming at the computor is fun... I do it very often.

Miss Piratess: You can marry Broder if you're sure you really want to...I'm so happy I made you cry... is that weird?Hopefully you get a chance to read this chapter before you have to go back! Thanks for all the reviews... I did a happy gasp when I saw all of them.

miecamiu: Yey! glumps I'm so glad you're reading all of this! Thank you for all of your reviews... I know you like bread.. I like candy...