Chapter Five: The Three Worst Dispatches

February, 1981…Remus has made contact with Fenrir Greyback…

"Don't forget it, you: Belgium! We've gone to Belgium! And if we hear you've told any differently, we'll pay a visit to headquarters and get that pretty girl you hide away there!"

Remus nodded, almost bowing, to Fenrir Greyback as he departed. Greyback had an agreement with Remus: Remus lies and tells the Order they're abroad and Greyback doesn't hurt them. Best of all, Remus was able to fulfil this. He had never told the Order the truth about where the werewolves were, but Snape was always able to correct him. By this method, Ermengarde remained safe, the Order stayed informed, and the werewolves were none the wiser. Remus did wonder, however, how Snape got his information, but then he had to resist the urge to smack himself in the forehead when he remembered.

Yes, of course, how could you forget, Moony? He said to himself. Snape's still pretending to be in allegiance with Voldemort. Of course he would know.

The tall trees and silvery half-moon caused eerie, flickering shadows on Remus's body as he left the forest. The chill was biting and despite himself, he felt a flash of pity for his fellows who had to live outdoors in the winter.

As he reached the beginnings of civilization, he strode onto the sidewalk, hitching his collar up a bit to block the wind. It was still early in the night, so he could take the underground to his flat. He didn't really feel up to Apparating after that meeting with Greyback; it had left him terribly unnerved. Even though he knew Ermengarde was safe now that he'd moved her from headquarters to Lily and James's house, a tiny bit of him still wondered if Greyback would hesitate to kill another member of the Order.

He shivered, not from the cold, but at the thought of returning to headquarters to find a mass of dead Order members sporting the horrible werewolf scars, scars that would never heal, that would follow them to their graves…

Shut up, Remus, he commanded himself as he boarded the underground, sitting in the dirty plastic seat and trying not to make eye contact with any of the other passengers. He knew he was in a particularly seedy area of town.

"Oi, man, wos that on yer 'ead?" said a youth with a nose ring, pointing at Remus.

Remus wondered what he was talking about, then realised he must have been referring to the numerous scars Remus had sustained as a boy, when he bit and scratched himself during his full-moon outings (before, of course, the Marauders had taken to joining him).

"Car crash," said Remus, managing a sheepish grin as he tried to flatten his hair over them.

"Vile, man," said Nose Ring. "Fort for a second they'd be tattoos or somefink."

"Sadly, no, these were slightly more painful," said Remus.

"Damn," said Nose Ring in awe, then he went back to staring around the car.

The next month went about as smoothly as anyone could have hoped. Remus continued to feed the Order lies about the werewolves' whereabouts, only to be immediately corrected by Snape, who seemed to really be enjoying making the adjustments. Though this made Remus look very stupid and made Sirius look as though he wanted to punch both of them for confusing him, at least it gave Remus peace of mind. One night, however, James had managed to get away from the house long enough to join a meeting, and he cornered Remus.

"Seriously, Remus, you really buy these stories they're feeding you?" said James quietly as they started to clean up the kitchen.

"Well, it's the best information I can get," said Remus, hating that he had to lie.

"Look, mate…" James glanced around. Seeing that no one was listening, he continued. "I think I've figured out what you're doing."

"I'm not surprised. You were always bright," said Remus lightly.

"Stop being funny for a moment," said James, and Remus almost smiled as he realised how much he and his friend had switched places in the last two minutes. "Ermengarde's really depressed. I think you should come see her."

"I can't. You know I can't. If you've really figured out what I'm doing, you'll understand."

"I do know what you're doing. Lying to the Order for God knows why."

"I'm lying to save our skin! I know precisely where they are. I know because they're using me to feed the false information to the Order, and Snape knows because the Death Eaters still think he's one of them. But…look, I'm just trying to keep us all alive a little longer, all right?" said Remus, more defensively than he had planned.

"What else is it, Moony?" said James, staring at Remus with a concerned look in his eyes. Remus sighed.

"Fine. But not here, let's go outside."

The two friends left the kitchen (it was easy to slip away unnoticed, since everyone was now chatting loudly) and stepped onto the back steps of the house. The village of Hogsmeade was just barely visible in the moonlight, occasional lit windows causing twinkling squares of yellow light and Hogwarts Castle looming elegantly in the distance.

"Well?" James prompted.

Remus reached into his pocket and took out Greyback's latest dispatches. He had been receiving them regularly, and for some reason, had saved the last three. Without a word, he handed them to James and did not watch as he read them. Remus had memorized them…

I'm in the far end of the forest in Inverness where we last met. Be there if you want your wife to remain as pretty as she is now.

-Fenrir Greyback

Tell them we're in Belgium or we'll find headquarters.

-Fenrir Greyback

Take a good look at that girl you stash at headquarters. She might not always look that sweet if you don't do just as we've instructed.

-Fenrir Greyback

James finished reading them and looked up, horrified. Remus nodded grimly and took the notes back, stuffing them into his pocket again.

"You told me it was just because you were being overprotective!" said James indignantly. "You never mentioned this! Why didn't you?"

"I don't know," said Remus. "I should have. But I let him get to me; I let him scare me. I see now it was a mistake, but…but at least he doesn't know I've moved Ermengarde."

"So, are you going to come see her, Remus?" said James.

"Is she really as sad as all that?" asked Remus.

"Well, of course she is, aren't you?"

"Terribly," said Remus. "I can't stand being away from her. But I can't think I'd be very good company at the moment."

"You're her bleeding fiancé! What better company could she want?"

Remus ran a hand over his face. "What has she been doing with herself?"

"Well, not much work lately. In fact, I don't think she's been in two weeks, if I'm counting correctly. She keeps calling in ill. She's taken to spending the morning in her room, reading, then spends the afternoon in the living room, and the evening back in her room. She hasn't even really smiled in ages. She hardly eats or sleeps from what I can deduce," said James gravely. "If she doesn't improve soon, she might be rejected from Auror training, and she's so close to qualifying."

Remus was somewhat startled by this. Ermengarde, his resilient, optimistic Ermengarde, wandering around the house like a lost soul?

"Look," said James softly. "Just come visit for a few days, right? Come see her. I think it would do her a world of good."

"It's just –" Remus began, but James cut him off.

"She's one of my best friends and I hate seeing her like this. Just come with me tonight and stay for a while. It'll do you good as well, and I know Lily would love to see you."

Remus hesitated, then agreed and went to gather a few things. In the foyer, James was waiting, grinning broadly. They both gathered a handful of Floo Powder, and before he knew it, Remus was spluttering ash out of his mouth in the living room of the Potter household in Godric's Hollow.