I AM SOOOO SORRY THAT THIS TOOK SO LONG TO GET OUT! Because of school and work and everything, I've been sooo busy! God even over Christmas Break I didn't get to touch a computer! And now with finals I'm surprised I've been able to get on (for my own leisure, that is) at all! So here's the next installment: a semi-lengthy, rather depressing chapter...have at it!

One of the hunted, the tables have turned, One of the hunted, There's nowhere to run – One of the Hunted, Kamelot

Snarling. Snarling, howling, gleaming white-yellow teeth. These were the things that struck Remus Lupin's mind first. At what they were snarling and baring their teeth he didn't know, until the leader spoke.

"A spy in our midst. A filthy human."

"We're all humans, most of the time." Lupin pointed out, trying to remain a cool demeanor. It was clear Greyback didn't like being corrected. He lunged at Remus, who was knocked backwards and pinned down by the vicious werewolf on top of him.

"You are human. You feel. You are the spy." Remus could not see the others beyond Greyback's image, but heard their deadly snarls and snorts.

"Listen to me." Remus squirmed from beneath the wolf, backing up slowly, cautiously, only to find himself entombed in the pack that had formed a tight circle around him and their alpha male. "Listen."

"No more listening, human." Greyback spit, growling as he drew himself down into position, ready to attack. "We end this now." He called to the rest of the pack. "Nothing else gets out. He dies tonight."

Howls of excitement, anger and power filled the night as Greyback lunged once more at Lupin.

To the outsider in the woods, the wolves in the clearing appeared to be attacking an outcast. He could not understand the language of the wolves, nor did he care to know what they were saying.

He stayed perfectly still, attempting to let the werewolves finish their business and move on before they found him. He watched, eyes wide, as all of them took turns lunging and clawing and biting at the outnumbered animal, and flinched as a shiver ran down his spine upon hearing their cries of mingled anger and enjoyment, as well as the cries of pain from their prey.

"Enough." He spoke quietly. "That's enough." He repeated as a fresh yelp was emitted from the victim. He drew his wand.

Lights flew in every direction, startling the werewolves and distracting them from their mission. They had enjoyed torturing the spy and had nearly killed him, when a light flew from the woods with a loud bang, hitting one of the wolves and sending it tumbling into the bushes. It reappeared quickly, bounding to the trees from which it had been attacked, Remus Lupin forgotten.

"Who?" It cried angrily. "What!"

A loud crack sounded, breaking the silence that had formed amongst the pack, and the lights emitted once again from the direction opposite of the first time.

This time the spell hit Greyback, knocking him off of Remus and causing him to twitch on the ground in pain until the light disappeared.

"Spread out! Find them!" He snarled furiously, foaming at the mouth. He too, ignored the broken and bleeding traitor before him.

Another crack, and the lights continued, this time each of them red, hitting one wolf after another. Crack, red light, wolf down. Crack, crack, red light, wolf down. Two more red lights, two more wolves stunned into motionlessness. Crack. Red. Greyback down.

Crack. Crack. Boom. Yelp. Crack. Crack. Crack.

These were the noises that coaxed Remus Lupin into unconsciousness.

The wizard, now convinced after apparating to three locations one right after another, stepped out into the clearing. The light of the three-quarter moon lit the bodies of the stunned werewolves around him, and he counted quickly. Nine. Nine on one, and the figure before him was still breathing.

"Amazing." He murmured. He stunned the wolf before him as well and levitated the body to float behind him.

They show no emotion for this loss of life, It reminds me of myself not long ago, And the cries for life that I'd seem to ignore, The cries for life are now my very own – One of the Hunted, Kamelot

And when life seems to be complete, It comes and knocks us off our feet, The element of surprise, The avengeful attack – Expect the Unexpected, The Fragile Art of Existence

Remus Lupin stirred, moaning in pain as he tried to roll over. The ground was cool, yet he could feel the warm sunlight falling onto his body, warming him slightly. He opened his eyes slowly and looked about him. The floor beneath him was stone, and he was chained to the wall. It was clear by the dark, dingy appearance of the cottage that he definitely wasn't where he had been the night before, in the middle of the forest.

He sat slowly, his wounds from the previous night's fight cracked and bleeding, none of them healing very well. He felt at least three broken ribs when he tried to breath. Who had brought him here? And why had they not healed him? Did Greyback and his own mean for worse torture then what they had shown last night?

Lupin shook his head slowly, trying to clear it and looked up. He shook his head once more and blinked furiously, afraid his sight might have been failing him.

"Obliviate! Stupefy!" The spells came one after another, and it was funny, but Lupin could have sworn that before he passed out he had seen

Severus Snape stood in the dark, anticipating the rise of the sun. The warm rays melted through the small window of his shabby home and fell upon the injured werewolf, causing his true form to surface slowly.

The wolf had fought a losing battle against nine werewolves the night before, and had nearly died, but somehow managed to stay alive. The brave werewolf that must have done something to enrage his pack, to cause them to attack him ruthlessly, shifted slowly, painfully.

Snape took two sharp steps forward, examining the prisoner in the light of the dawn.

"Remus Lupin, isn't it." He sneered softly to himself. The man before his shifted his position and locked gazes with Severus. "Obliviate! Stupefy!" He cast the spells quickly on his childhood foe, silently thankful that he hadn't healed the wretched wolf's wounds.

Prepare for what you cannot see, Expect the unexpected, And you will save yourself a state of shock, A waiting game, waiting to see, Expect the unexpected – Expect the Unexpected, The Fragile Art of Existence

A dream it's true, but I'd see it through, if I could be wasting my time with you – Waste, Phish

"Hey, Gin."

"Hi," she responded quietly. "

What's goin' on?"

Ginny only shook her head to this question, to indicate that nothing was going on. Malfoy dodged in front of her and grabbed the book out of her hand, holding it high above his head and out of her reach.

"What's up?" His eyebrows were slightly furrowed together, and he was scowling.

"Nothing." Ginny stressed, jumping for the book that was at least a good four feet above her.

It had been nearly a week since Lupin's disappearance, with not a word from the Order of his whereabouts. Everyone feared the worst: their good friend and loyal werewolf had died at the hands (paws) of the elite pack of Greyback.

Ginny sighed angrily. "Give me my book!"

Malfoy brought it down to her level and Ginny snatched it from his hands. "What are you doing this weekend?"

"Homework."

"…That's it? Would you want to hang out?"

"And do what?"

"I don't know…" Malfoy rubbed the back of his neck with a hand and looked around. "Whatever…" He shrugged.

"I don't think so," Ginny denied coldly.

The scowl reappeared on Malfoy's face as he questioned her. "Why not?"

"Because I just…it's not good. I don't want to." God, she thought, what would I tell him if we were just hanging out?

"You…what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing's wrong with me! Is it a crime to not want to walk around pointlessly?" Ginny began to walk away, but Malfoy wouldn't have it and cut her off again.

"We don't have to walk around," he pointed out softly, locking eyes with her.

The intense look that burned in his gray eyes raced through Ginny; she tore her eyes away. "What's that supposed to imply?"

"I think you know—" Ginny refused to listen to him.

She moved past him once more and began walking quickly, stubbornly, towards the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Hey!" Malfoy snarled, grabbing Ginny's arm and spinning her around, causing her to drop her book in the process. When she was facing him, his hand shot out and snatched her other wrist, while simultaneously slamming her against the brick wall.

Ginny let out a small gasp of mingled surprise and pain, which was quickly covered by Malfoy's typical death threats. "Don't you ever walk away from me, do you understand that!" he whispered menacingly.

Ginny closed her mouth, which had been hanging open, and covered the look of surprise on her face with a stone look of passiveness. "I'll do whatever I bloody well please," she stated, using all of her strength to push him away from her.

For the third time, she began to walk away from him. Feeling slightly risqué and vindictive, she added a cool "And there's nothing you can do about it," to the end of her statement, thus closing any and all contact with Malfoy for a full day and a half.

Spiteful witch. Malfoy found himself thinking. Arrogant brat.

"Ferocious redhead," a voice came from behind his spot in the hallway, where he had been standing for a full five minutes.

Malfoy spun around to face the Headmistress and tried half-heartedly to clear the look of intense repugnance and irritation. "Excuse me?"

"Oh…did you think I didn't hear you? You were speaking out loud, Mr. Malfoy," McGonagall wore a trace of a smile on her face at Malfoy's raised eyebrows and 'oh crap!' expression.

"I hadn't realized," Malfoy responded quietly, trying not to lock eyes with the reason he was still at Hogwarts.

"Not to worry," she said shortly, she too, walking away. "I won't tell her."

Draco Malfoy watched Ginny the next morning at breakfast, arriving late and staring off into space morosely. She looked uncharacteristically depressed; in fact, Draco noted, a good portion of the Gryffindor table looked rather glum. He watched her inconspicuously until she left the table, never once seeing her take a bite.

When she left, he left, following her distantly behind the hordes of noisy students. When he realized that she had no destination, but was just wandering about aimlessly, he left her to go to the Library, or his dorm. This was the way it was until late the next evening, when he felt confident enough to approach her again.

"Gin," he spoke it sharply, catching her attention.

She turned around ten feet ahead of him. Draco walked up to meet her, and within seconds of reaching her took in how depressed she really looked.

Her hair was thrown back half-heartedly into a messy bun, odd and random strands falling in her eyes and down her back. Her skin appeared paler than usual, causing the red freckles that dotted her entire face to stand out all the more, and dark circles encompassed her tired eyes, giving her startling resemblance to a raccoon. She raised her head to meet his eyes slowly, her own full of bleakness and misery. Her stance was different as well, holding herself not tall and direct as usual, but slouching back lethargically. When she walked, she was sluggish and world-weary.

"Gin," he breathed once more, now in astonishment. "What's wrong with you?"

Her eyes were glossy, glazed over with tears that wouldn't spill down her cheeks. "Nothing," she murmured softly, shaking her head slightly and breaking eye contact with him.

"You…don't lie to me. I know something's up, you look like hell."

The misery and bleakness that had occupied her eyes for the past week flickered and mingled with an expression of slight offence and hurt. "Thanks," she whispered sarcastically. Two weeks ago, that unintended comment would have gotten Malfoy a slap in the face, a kick in the shin, and a fine 'howdy-doody' from Ginny's middle finger as she stomped away angrily. Today she didn't move, save her head, which she turned towards the window next to her, her eyes moving from the top of the window to the bottom, watching individual raindrops running down the glass, and back to the top when said droplet of water reached the pane.

"You know I didn't mean it like that," Malfoy nearly pleaded with her silently to take her eyes off of the window and look at him, or at least blink; she was staring off meditatively. "Ginny, you…you're dead…"

She stared in silence for nearly half a minute before she opened her mouth. "No," she barely croaked. "Not me…him…"

"What?" She looked away from the window towards Malfoy briefly before shaking her head. As he glimpsed her face he observed her face to match the tall window before them, tears streaming down her cheeks like raindrops on the glass.

She cocked her head to the side, hesitated, then turned slowly and shuffled in the direction opposite she had been moving in before the confrontation.

He stood there for almost a minute before deciding on following her. He caught up to her in barely twelve steps, cutting her off once more.

"Stop it! Look at me, TALK to me!" he yelled fiercely to her.

"WHY!" she yelled back.

Draco blinked at her, startled by the sudden change in attitude.

"Huh?" she prodded. "Why? Are you going to make everything all better if I explain it to you? Huh, Malfoy? Is that what you're going to do? Are you going to turn back time and fix everything!"

"I can at least understand what's wrong with you! You don't eat, you look like you haven't slept in days! I don't have classes with you but I'm sure you're not paying attention, if attending at all, so what's wrong with you?" He was in her face, letting out all of his frustration at the girl that stood before him.

Ginny wasn't shaken by this, but merely pulled herself taller, leaned forward and yelled back. "HE'S DEAD, OKAY!" her voice cracked slightly, her throat unaccustomed to speaking loudly than a whisper for the past week. "He's dead, and it's my entire fault! They found him and killed him because of me! Do you think you wouldn't feel a bit sad if you caused something like that?"

"Gin, what?" Malfoy wasn't sure exactly who she was talking about. "It's not your fault!"

"Oh, okay, wow, what a relief. That's a really good thing to know because one would think, after I sold him out to you to tell your precious master and after he hasn't turned up for over a week, being pronounced dead and all, one would think that it would be my fault since I was the one betrayed him; but since YOU say it's not my fault, well Merlin, that just calms me right down. All of my problems," Ginny gave a short, sharp whistle, "out the window," thrusting her thumb in the direction of the nearest.

Malfoy stood in silence as Ginny breathed heavily and closed her eyes, shaking her head violently. She stared at the ground for a moment before speaking in a calmer, quieter voice slowly. "Lupin's gone. They found him and killed him, and don't say it's not my fault, because it is. He died because I let him."

Still Draco just stood, rooted to the floor, staring in disbelief and concern at the shaken, crying girl before him. He didn't even try to stop her when she turned from him and set off down the corridor slowly, wiping furiously at her face with the sleeve of her robe.

Come waste your time with me, Come waste your time with me, Come waste your time with me, Come waste your time with me – Waste, Phish

Alone in the cruel world, all of your nightmares coming true, alone in the cruel world, where cruel things wait for you – Cruel World, Me

A sharp rap sounded from the front door.

The redhead bustling about the dingy kitchen, preparing supper for the starving crusaders, waved her wand at the pot she had been stirring. A wooden spoon glided over and began churning the food in a clockwise motion.

When she opened the door and found no one to be outside, Molly Weasley took a step out to investigate and nearly tripped on the ragged body that was spread across the doorstep.

You scream and cry in terror, because your nightmare's coming true, you scream and cry in terror, when cruel things wait for you – Cruel World, Me