Consequences

By Neurotica

Twenty-Nine

Feeling rather bored, Sirius sighed as he stared out the window of an abandoned building that loomed over a dark street. Somewhere behind him, Remus was looking over the map they'd developed for the Order. So far, they'd been standing guard for hours outside a pub that happened to be a known Death Eater haunt, and they hadn't spotted one person who shouldn't have been there. Even if they had seen a Death Eater, it wasn't as if Sirius would be able to help catch them; he'd have to remain under his Invisibility Cloak until Remus could Disapparate back to the cottage with him. He narrowed his eyes at a building across the street and could vaguely make out a head of purple hair. Wasn't this supposed to be an undercover mission? A Death Eater would be able to spot that hair a mile away...

"Moony," Sirius said quietly, not looking away from the other window. "Contact Tonks and tell her if she doesn't change her hair to something less conspicuous, she's fired."

Remus chuckled but did as asked. A few minutes later, he informed Sirius that Tonks told him to "piss off." Sirius stuck his hand out of the cloak and made a rude gesture across the street. He saw Tonks repeat the sentiment before moving away from the window. "You know, there was once a time when she actually respected my authority," Sirius muttered.

Remus smirked. "Which dream world was this, Padfoot?"

"Piss off, Moony."

"Come here and look at this map. I think I've finally got the charms right..." Sirius moved away from the window and went over to the table where Remus had the map spread out on. He could see small dots with labels above them. "Watch this," Remus said, tracing his wand to the map's edge. It began to scroll down through England and stopped over Ottery St. Catchpole where a dot labeled Harry Potter sat beside Ginevra Weasley, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger.

"Nice one," Sirius said approvingly, thankful that they finally had a way to keep track of their ward. "Did you ever figure out what was going on in Albania?"

Remus shook his head with a sigh. "From what Tonks has told me, she and Kingsley picked up that the werewolf tribes lived on either side of this blank spot where there's just nothing—no trees, no houses... It's just a big circle, really. They thought maybe it was a Fidelius Charm, but if this is somehow Voldemort's hideout, he would use something a lot darker and more complicated just because he can..."

"Any ideas on what he could be using?"

"No, not really... Dumbledore has been looking into it, but I don't even think he has a clue on where to begin."

"Has Dumbledore thought of sending someone out there to check the place out? From what Naomi says, even the Death Eaters don't know where it is," Sirius said.

"He's thought about it, yes, but he's reluctant to send anybody out there. We don't know anything about the charms that could be protecting the place. Not even Naomi can tell us about that..." Sirius noticed a slightly bitter tone in his best friend's voice.

Sirius was going to reply, but Emmeline's voice echoed from the tip of Remus' wand. "Are you two watching the street?" she asked in a hurried whisper.

The two friends raised their eyebrows at one another and rushed to the window. Below them, two men were arguing. One was unfamiliar, but the other Remus had no trouble recognizing. Fenrir Greyback looked livid and rather wild as he screamed at the wizard before him. Remus wondered idly if this was the type of situation in which his father and Greyback had their disagreement. All Remus knew about the altercation was that it had taken place outside his father's bookshop in Diagon Alley. Obviously something rather serious had occurred between them—it had resulted in Greyback's attack on Remus. His parents had thought him too young to tell about the argument. There were many things Remus regretted not having talked to his parents about, and Greyback was one of those things.

He'd learned a lot about the werewolf who'd attacked him as a child, more than the average wizard would care to know, and he knew it didn't take much to anger Greyback. But Greyback usually only bothered to threaten wizards if they had something he wanted terribly. Remus still wasn't sure what his father had had that Greyback would have been interested in, but it may have had something to do with the old bookshop.

"Who's going to follow him?" Sirius asked. "Tonks can arrest him if she catches him doing anything..."

"No," Remus said hoarsely. "Nobody follows Greyback. Tell everyone we're going back to Headquarters."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Aren't we supposed to be tracking Death Eaters? Why can't anybody follow him?"

"I'll explain when we get back to Number Twelve," Remus snapped. "Just get everyone back there."

Sirius found it easiest not to argue with his best friend when he was like this—his face was completely blank, and his jaw was set. Sirius signaled across the street to Tonks, who looked to be preparing to follow the werewolf. The Auror raised an eyebrow at her cousin's signal, but nodded and turned to Sturgis with whom she'd been paired up with that night.

"Ready, Padfoot?" Remus asked after rolling up their large map. Sirius nodded and grasped Remus' upper arm tightly as they prepared to sidelong-Apparate back to Number Twelve. They appeared in the backyard as Emmeline and Tonks Apparated behind them.

"What's going on?" Emmeline asked. "Our shift doesn't end for three more hours."

"Ask Remus," Sirius said, watching Number Twelve materialize before their eyes. Remus entered the backdoor without a word to any of his friends. "He saw Greyback and told me to get everyone out." Emmeline sighed and led the way into the dark house, down to the kitchen, where they found Remus pacing with his hands behind his back.

"Since when are you in charge, Lupin?" Mad-Eye growled, clunking his way down the stairs.

Remus ceased his pacing and calmly turned around to his fellow Order members. "I don't think any of you should go after Greyback," he said quietly, ignoring Mad-Eye completely for the moment. "Find out everything you can about the wizard he was arguing with, but don't follow him. He'll most likely go after the wizard's children if he has any, so that's what we need to concentrate on."

"How do you know he'll attack the kids?" Sturgis asked.

"That's what he does," Remus said. "He attacks when the child is young, and takes them from their parents to raise them to be bitter against wizards."

"And you know this... how?" Sirius asked curiously with a raised eyebrow.

Remus sighed. He'd never told his friends who had bitten him when he was four. "My father knew Greyback. I'm not sure of the circumstances, but there was some sort of argument between them. Greyback grew angry with my father, and on the full moon, he waited in the forest behind our cottage. I don't know if he was planning on breaking into the house, but it doesn't matter—I wandered outside on my own and he attacked me."

Sirius' mouth fell open. "Greyback was the one who turned you?" he whispered. Remus nodded. "Well, you learn something new every day..." Remus didn't even glare at him. "So what do you suggest we do?"

"Wait a second," Mad-Eye interrupted. "I still want to know who died and put Lupin in charge. This could have been our chance to finally catch Greyback, and Lupin decides we should just leave?"

"No one made you leave, Mad-Eye," Sirius said quietly in defense of his friend's actions. "If you're so eager, go find Greyback yourself. I'm actually interested in what Remus has to say."

Mad-Eye growled something inaudible, but made no move to leave. He merely continued to glower at Remus with his normal eye and Sirius with his magical one.

"All I'm saying," Remus began, "is that you all know what Greyback did to the Grangers. I saw it firsthand, as did Sturgis, and I've never seen anything more gruesome in my entire life. And the worst thing about it was that it wasn't even a full moon. If he could do that to a Muggle, he could do it to one of you, and I don't want to see that happen to any of you."

"Remus, we're in the Order regardless of the dangers," Tonks said. "We've all faced something horrible and we can handle Greyback."

"No," Remus said firmly, turning to look at Tonks. "The only person who will follow Greyback is me. I'm already a werewolf, so he can't do much harm to me—the worst that could happen is he'll kill me."

"Oh yeah, that's no risk at all, is it?" Sirius asked sarcastically.

Remus rubbed a hand over his face. "Look, I don't want any of you to have to go through what I do. I don't want to see any of your throats ripped out by a werewolf who doesn't get enough action on the full moon. Greyback is more dangerous than any werewolf alive."

His friends looked at him incredulously. "Remus, you're not going after Greyback alone if that's what you're thinking," Emmeline said. "He'll kill you!"

"I'm aware of that," Remus said calmly, unable to look at her.

"So you'd rather risk your life than have someone go with you?" Sirius asked. "If you're trying to be noble, you can knock it off right now, Remus. I don't know what's gotten into you, but following Greyback is suicide."

"How did we get from finding information on that wizard Greyback was arguing with to Remus following Greyback?" Charlie asked quietly.

Remus didn't answer. He kept his eyes averted from Sirius and Emmeline's piercing gazes, begging him not to do what he was thinking about. Of course it would be suicide; he knew that. He honestly didn't know what he was thinking about doing—he knew Greyback was a maniac and that anyone who went after him would have to be just as crazy to make it out alive; but if it meant saving innocent children from being attacked, then it would be a worthy risk.

Around him, his fellow Order members were having a heated discussion on the subject—Sirius and Emmeline continued to stare him down and he stared back with a blank expression on his face. He could tell that his best friend and girlfriend would do everything in their power to keep him from following Greyback. And if they worked together, Remus would be hard-pressed to resist their arguments. Perhaps he should just skip a stage and drop the whole Greyback issue for the time being. Maybe when Sirius was back to normal, they could go on the mission together—it wasn't often they spent quality time chasing werewolves in their human form.

Remus, Sirius, and Emmeline left Number Twelve with Mad-Eye still glaring at Remus the entire way out. Just before they Apparated to the cottage, Remus sighed. "Before you two even start, you win; I won't go." And then he disappeared with a pop.

Sirius and Emmeline looked at each other with raised eyebrows. "Well, that was easy," Sirius said before taking Emmeline's proffered arm and Apparated with her.

Harry yawned widely as he looked around the living room of the Burrow. Ginny sat on the floor, leaning against his legs, playing a game of Gobstones with Hermione, who was trying to keep Crookshanks away from their game. Ron was in the kitchen trying to get his mother to give him a few slices of the cake she'd just pulled out of the oven. The night had been rather boring—due to a heavy rainstorm, the kids weren't allowed to go out and fly. Fred and George hadn't been seen all day; according to Ginny, they were off checking out locations in Diagon Alley. When asked why they were doing this, Ginny grinned mischievously and changed the subject.

Neither Harry nor Ginny mentioned the incident back at Number Twelve to Ron or Hermione. Ginny had asked him what Sirius and Remus had said after she'd left, but beyond that, the subject hadn't been brought up. Harry obeyed his guardians' wishes and kept things between him and his girlfriend calm. He'd decided over the last few days that what Sirius really needed was his own girlfriend. Remus had Emmeline, Harry had Ginny, and everyone was pretty sure Ron had Hermione, though neither of them came out and said anything about their growing relationship.

But who could Sirius date? The only single witch in the Order that Harry knew anymore was Tonks, and that would just be wrong... Harry would have to talk to Remus about it one of these days. Remus probably knew who Sirius had his eye on in the Ministry...

The backdoor of the Burrow opened and Harry was snapped from his thoughts when Mr. Weasley entered the kitchen. He greeted the kids tiredly and told Harry he could go home if he wanted—Sirius and Remus should be there by now, he said. "I thought you were going to be gone all night?" Harry said to Mr. Weasley as he sat down with a tray of dinner. "That's what Remus said, anyway."

"Well, we were." Mr. Weasley sighed. "But something came up and we had to leave."

"Is everyone okay?" Ginny asked, pushing herself away from Harry's legs.

"Oh yes," Mr. Weasley said hastily. "Yes, everyone is just fine... Well, that's if Mad-Eye doesn't decide to curse Remus at some point in the near future," he added as an afterthought. Harry's eyebrows shot up. "It's nothing to worry about, I don't think. Mad-Eye is just being himself and Remus can handle him just fine."

Harry wasn't convinced, but he nodded. Why would Mad-Eye want to curse Remus? They'd always got on fairly well, and Remus was usually the one to keep Mad-Eye from cursing Sirius. Mrs. Weasley offered Harry some late dinner, but he declined—now he was curious as to what was happening at the cottage. He said good night to Ron and Hermione, quickly kissed Ginny while her parents' backs were turned, and stepped inside the fireplace, calling his address clearly. When he stumbled out of the fireplace, it was to find Remus staring broodingly at the floor, Sirius and Emmeline standing on either side of him as if they'd just given him a lecture.

"Hey. What's going on?" Harry asked cautiously, startling the three adults. Harry raised an eyebrow; hadn't they heard the whoosh of the fireplace? "Is everything all right?"

Sirius looked up and forced a smile on his face. "Yeah, everything's fine, Harry. Did you have a good time at the Burrow today?"

Harry shrugged. "I guess. We couldn't really do anything because of the rain..." He got the impression that his guardians and Emmeline weren't listening to him—Remus hadn't even looked up, and Sirius and Emmeline had gone back to watching him. "Right, well, I'm going to bed. I'll see you guys in the morning, I guess..." None of them reacted. Harry was tempted to slap his godfather just to see if he realized Harry was there, but thought better of it; Sirius didn't seem to be in a playful mood that night. Sighing, Harry walked down the hall to his bedroom, and closed the door. Maybe he could get some answers tomorrow.

Shortly after Harry had gone to bed, Sirius also called it a night. He thought he'd gotten his point across to Remus about Greyback pretty well, and if he hadn't... Well, he could try again another night. Besides, Emmeline was still working on convincing him to forget his little idea, and Sirius was almost positive that Remus wouldn't be able to resist anything Emmeline wanted him to do, or in this case, not to do.

He checked in on Harry, as he normally did at night, finding the boy already sound asleep. He didn't know anybody who could fall asleep as quickly as Harry. The boy was quite lucky to not have had a dream concerning Voldemort in months. The last one Sirius was aware of was on Christmas Eve, and Harry hadn't even been sure if that was a Voldemort vision—it wasn't like any other vision he'd had, even though his scar had bothered him a bit afterwards. Sirius was sure Harry hadn't been having the dreams because of the Occlumency lessons Emmeline had been giving him three times a week. Emmeline told the boy's guardians that he was doing quite well. He still had a long way to go before he mastered the skill of Occlumency, but at the rate he was going, she gave him another year before he reached that point. Emmeline also said Harry's mind was unusually strong for a wizard his age. When Sirius asked exactly what this meant, the witch said it meant Harry would become a very powerful wizard within the next four years. When asked how she knew this, she answered that a wizard's power could be measured by how strong their mind was. At this, Remus laughed, saying Sirius wasn't as powerful as they'd thought him to be.

Sirius closed Harry's door and went down the hall to his own room, where he found a small brown owl waiting for him on the desk. He smiled at the bird, already knowing who it was from, and untied the letter from the owl's extended leg. He waited for the owl to fly off again, but it seemed to have been instructed to remain until Sirius sent a reply. The wizard rolled his eyes, handed the bird a few owl treats, and sat at his desk to read the letter. He looked over his shoulder briefly as he heard Remus and Emmeline going to their bedroom as well and hoped his best friend didn't decide to pop in for a late night chat—Sirius had no way to hide this letter or the owl that had brought it, and Remus probably wouldn't be too happy with either.

He chuckled as he read the letter, and searched his desk for new parchment and his favorite quill, and began to write his reply.

Remus was changing into his pajamas and could feel Emmeline staring at his back. Even though he'd told her and Sirius ten times that night that he wouldn't follow Greyback alone, they still didn't seem to believe him. He didn't know how many more different ways he could assure them. Sirius knew him well enough to know he wasn't going to let something this important just go away so easily, and Emmeline was learning this very quickly.

He turned around and went to his side of the bed, pulling down the blankets and climbing in. Emmeline sat up beside him, her knees pulled to her chest, a worried look on her face. Remus turned to her. "What can I do to convince you I'm not going to do this alone?" he asked quietly.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and sighed. "Promise me," she whispered.

"That's it? Just a promise?" She nodded. "Okay," he said, sitting up. He pulled her closer and looked into her eyes. "Emmeline, I promise you that I will not go looking for Greyback alone. I won't follow him, either. But if something happens to anyone in the Order because of him, you can't just expect me to sit here..."

"The hell I can't," Emmeline said. "You're not the only person who wants to see Greyback get what he deserves, Remus. Granted, you have more reason than the rest of us, but that shouldn't drive you to get yourself killed. And that is what will happen if you go after him. You say you don't want the rest of us hurt or turned into werewolves, but what about you? I don't want to see you hurt or dead, and neither do Sirius or Harry, or anyone else in the Order for that matter. This isn't just about you, Remus..."

"I never said it was," Remus muttered. "But I know Greyback... I know how he operates—"

"But you don't even know what your father did to offend him, do you? You don't know what this wizard tonight did to set him off, either. All you know, and don't try to argue this, is that he enjoys attacking children. And he enjoys killing when the moon isn't full... I agree, he's dangerous; he's probably the most dangerous weapon Voldemort has, but that should be more reason for you to not want to do this alone."

"Emmeline, he doesn't just enjoy killing... It arouses him. For him, killing is better than sex; and yes, I do know that to be fact. When I was with the Albanian werewolves, the Alpha male told me a lot about Fenrir Greyback that I won't repeat to you, but Hermione's mother was not the first person he ever attacked in that manner." Remus' tone was full of disgust and bitterness. There was nothing in the world that could drive him to nearly getting himself killed quicker than Fenrir Greyback. He'd been the cause of most of the misery Remus encountered in his life, and he was the one who kept Remus from having a normal life. If there was a way Remus could ensure no other child would have to go through that, he would do so in a heartbeat.

Emmeline sighed. "Look, can we just drop this for now? I've got your word that you won't go after him alone, and that's all I need." She reached across Remus and switched off the bedside lamp before making herself comfortable against his chest. He smiled into the dark room, and tightened his grip around her waist. "I love you," she whispered, kissing his bare chest.

"I love you too," he replied softly, closing his eyes.

Somewhere in a dark castle, Lord Voldemort was formulating a plan. He was certain it would be a success; granted, he may need to tweak certain circumstances just a touch to obtain the desired results. But everything was falling into place nicely, and whether they knew it or not, the Order of the Phoenix was no closer to defeating him than they were to domesticating trolls. He allowed himself a cold chuckle at the image of Dumbledore having a troll with a leash around its neck. A more amusing thought was Dumbledore with a leash around his neck and the troll having power over the wizard.

But he digressed...

He'd learned much about his young adversary, Harry Potter, over the years. Lucius' son had reported to his father even before having received the Dark Mark, and would now report directly to the Dark Lord himself, once the new Hogwarts term began. Of course, it wasn't only Harry Potter who Draco would be keeping an eye on; even though he'd been forgiven, something generally very much unheard of by Death Eaters, Severus Snape was still at the top of the Dark Lord's watch list. Any one of his followers who was in such close proximity to Dumbledore would need to be watched closely. Dumbledore had a way of turning people to his side...

Again, he was off topic. If he wanted this to work, he'd need to remain focused, but the plan was so exciting and there were many things that would happen as a result of its success...

One, of course, would be the permanent disposal of one of his long time enemies. Another would be the chance to find out whether Harry Potter's Occlumency lessons had been effective. Not that it would matter, of course; Lord Voldemort could do anything, and there wasn't a soul who could stop him. Oh, they could think they would defeat him in time; in fact, he wanted them to think that. But in reality, Voldemort hadn't even begun to release the real horrors he possessed in this war. Very soon, they would realize what they were up against, and would have to drastically rethink their tactics...