Only the plot is mine!
Ash was feeling great. He hadn't been in a fight like this in a long time, and it relaxed him to beat stupid puppies into a pulp. Mare was helping too, and she looked like she was having the time of her life.
All the same, he hoped the members of the order would be here soon. It could get nasty if he didn't have any backup. Finally, there managed to be a break in the action, and Mare and Ash, both panting, went to rest against the bars of the ruined dungeon cell.
"Are you doing okay?" he asked her between ragged breaths.
Mare nodded. she was bent over with her hands on her thighs, breathing just as raggedly.
"I'm just as all right as you, thank you very much." Suddenly, she turned around and karate chopped a wolf that had been about to bite her neck. He whimpered, and scampered quickly away. Reluctantly pulling themselves away from the bars, Ash and Mare walked back in to the violent melee.
The owl flew in a window of the offices of Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore. He gently pulled the parchment off the owl's leg, and read it, looking troubled. He turned to face the group of people that were sitting on a table behind him.
He had called this emergency meeting of the Order to discuss just what could be and should be done about Mary-Lynnette Carter's mission. It was turning dangerous from what Mr. Redfern had told him. But they had to get Lucius Malfoy all the same. He had to think about this.
"Sir?" he looked at Remus Lupin steadily.
"Sir, I'm not sure I should be going on this mission. Ash's note says that they're fighting werewolves, and that Mary-Lynnette herself has killed a few. It's almost dark out, and tonight's a full moon. I feel we should act with caution, and that I should stay here."
"Oh, god Moony, will you come off it already? You're an asset! We need you more for this mission then any mission we've ever done! You're gonna do this, or I swear on Prongs' grave that I will do something drastic that will force you to come."
Remus couldn't help but smile and capitulate. Sirius could convince him to do anything.
Dumbledore looked at Sirius Black and smiled. "Thank you, Sirius."
Sirius grinned widely at his former headmaster. "No problem."
Dumbledore cleared his throat, and addressed the group.
"We will apparate to the hideout in five minutes time. Good luck, all of you."
Even after weeks of being a vampire, Hermione still couldn't quite believe the difference that it made. Of course, she did have to drink blood, but Ash had told her she only had to do it once a day, so that was tolerable, she guessed. Harry, Ron, and her other Gryffindor housemates took turns being donors for her. And she made sure to buy lots of blood pops from Honeydukes so that her friends could rest once in a while.
The fact that none of them had recoiled from her in horror when she had told them was a big relief. In fact, far from being horrified or disgusted, many, like the Weasley twins, thought that it was awesome.
"Bloody hell, Hermione," Fred and George had said in tones of wonder, "that is so wicked! Do you know what you can do with those powers of yours? You can look into teacher's minds about tests and stuff so you'll never have to study again! Or better yet: make them forget that we even had a test at all!"
Hermione had only rolled her eyes and laughed, but it made her happy to know that her friends were still there for her.
But the biggest change had been in Malfoy. Mare had convinced him to go back to the castle and wait for her, telling him that it would be safer that way.
Every time he looked at her now, it wasn't in a taunting, mocking way, it was more like he was deeply intrigued by her. She didn't know weather it was a good thing, or a bad thing, but she was curious to find out.
The members of the Order of the Phoenix arrived at the werewolf mafia's hideout castle in a matter of minutes. They entered without much trouble, since the vast wolf majority was battling in the dungeon. They followed the pipes down, and saw the chaos that was occurring.
Several of the werewolves were twitching and convulsing from pain on the floor, and Ash and Mary-Lynnette were fighting with a handful more.
When Dumbledore spotted the two of them, he walked over and tapped Ash on the shoulder.
"We're here Mr. Redfern. What would you like us to do?"
Ash looked away from the werewolf he was punching, and said "would you take him and everyone except that guy?" he asked him, pointing at Jeremy, who was trying to find an alternate route of escape out of the dungeon since all the normal ones were cut off.
"I have a score to settle with him."
Dumbledore nodded, and went off to alert the other Order members, who then began to fight with surprising energy and alacrity.
Then, Ash cornered Jeremy. They looked at each other, the pure hatred they felt for one another unchanged. Then, Ash hit Jeremy in the face, and he fell, slightly dazed, to the floor.
That didn't last long, though. From somewhere inside the ruined dungeon, Jeremy had managed to salvage a splintered oak branch. He charged at Ash with it, and Ash managed to kick it away, but not before it had grazed his face a few times.
Angry with pain, the werewolf and vampire sparred with their choice weapons. Jeremy had his branch, and Ash had a silver sword that Dumbledore had given him.
All around, bodies were dropping, and shrieks and wails filled the air. Finally, Ash cornered Jeremy in the dungeon. In a last ditch attempt at vengeance, Jeremy thrust his wooden lance at Ash's heart, but earlier, Ash had gotten him in the stomach with his sword, so the branch was not close to actually hurting him.
Feeling no regret for what he was about to do, Ash grabbed his sword, and plunged it in Jeremy's heart, stilling his breath forever. Ash had looked up his resurrection spell in one of Thea's spellbooks, and it could only be performed once, thank God.
Just after Jeremy's eyes closed, Ash heard a long, loud howl coming from the main room. He ran out, and saw Dumbledore and some of the others surrounding another werewolf.
He looked at Mare and saw that her eyes were wide with shock. She had seen Professor Lupin transform, and was now staring blankly at the full moon shining brightly through one of the dungeon's barred windows.
Nightwood- Yep, Jeremy's dead for good. I'm glad you thought the first part was so funny. Hope you liked this chapter, and thanks so much for reviewing!
sexyirishBeep- Thanks for reviewing! Hope you like this chapter!
Mental Twitch- Thanks. You like the Jeremy-Ash battle? I kinda improvised it. I tried to put more HP in this chapter, and now that Mare is better, and Jeremy's dead, the NW/HP ratio should be pretty even.
Angel- You're not sad. I hope you like this chapter, and thanks bunches for reviewing!
