Chapter 17: In the Company of Wolves

Beta and co-author Lukanicus

Remus Lupin had been on a long-term deep undercover assignment for the order. He had actually forgotten the exact date that this assignment started, but he knew that as he was amassing more information, the more dangerous and difficult the battle ahead was going to be.

Swansea was the first destination he had, had to apparate. There he shadowed a small splinter cell of Death Eaters. They were all in the early thirties and were mostly Slytherin from Remus' own time at Hogwarts. They were under the direct leadership of a man Remus thought would always end up serving the dark side, a short wizard called Luke Jones.

This cell just seemed to be interested in taking in new batches to be processed. However, batches of 'new what?' Remus never actually got to find out, since on the second day of the stake out at the old gothic Clyne Chapel that they were using, Remus got a scent on the breeze that made him decide, there and then, that he was in danger of being caught. The scent was of a long ago past that he remembered with vile, unmistakable contempt and loathing.

This was more than a memory. This enemy had tried, on numerous occasions to turn him. This was someone who had bled Muggle babies over him as a child to encourage his ferocity. This was someone who had tried to kill him and his friends when they tried to fight in the last war against Voldemort. She had succeeded in killing three of his watch that day. Without mercy, she had ripped out the throats of his three fellow wards of light. Yes, this was someone who would undoubtedly remember his scent as much as her own, being someone who had raised him in semi depraved infancy, hoping that when he turned into the werewolf that he would become that he would serve her master against Dumbledore. This was his sister Chaeli.

Remus quickly removed the glamour that was making him appear as a tree and apparated out of there. He did not realize that he had left a rag on the stone next to where he was. Within seconds that stone had a visitor, a visitor with the most dazzling black eyes, and soul to match. He had been noticed.

Remus had made a mental note that he should tell Dumbledore about the sighting of his sister in Wales. However, He reckoned that her presence there could be for any number of reasons and as she had not noticed him, he thought it best to carry on with his surveillance work. He went from Wales, to Scotland where there was similar activity to what he had witnessed before as was Sweden, Denmark and Spain. Three months later, his duties took him into England and the outskirts of the city of Stoke. Once there he witnessed another splinter cell in action. This time the work that was being carried out by the Death Eaters was more noticeable and the packages they were processing were eerily recognizable.

They were people. More than that, they were Muggles that all looked like they had been stupefied, row upon row of them. Remus' heart skipped more than a beat when he saw who was presiding over this Muggle farm. It was another of his school hood foes, and one of the most evil wizards Lupin had come across. It was Lucius Malfoy.
Lupin had transfigured himself into a squirrel, and with a sound enhancing spell he listened to what Malfoy was instructing a sand elf, who was directing a line of perhaps thirty Muggles into a circle.

"Who is your Master?" Malfoy was asking, waiting for a reply.

"What, cat got your tongues, ha-ha, ah yes I forgot you can't talk can you?"

Malfoy was giving the most convincing performance of his life that he was indeed mad. "Fama" Malfoy raised his wand and everyone in the circle could speak again.
Screams of pain and anger resonated across the quarry where they were standing.

Lucius just stood there laughing. The more terrified was the group of Muggles, the more amused he had become. He was joined on the Dais he had perched on by another familiar character. She was looking at the assembled Muggles too, but more so as a possible tasty snack.

"Let us go, you fucking weirdo," One of the younger men in the circle shouted at Lucius.

"Oh why would I want to do that, when I'm having all this fun," sniggering he walked away. "Pitiful Muggle, the Dark Lord has the right idea about your kind. Hahaha, when he assembles groups like thi…"

"Shut the fuck up you fucking long haired…"

He never got to finish the statement. As soon as he had got to 'haired,' Lucius signalled to his companion to silence this Muggle. She did, pouncing from her spot twenty feet away, the finger nails on her right arm turning into dagger like claws. She swiped violently down at the Muggle man's head, tearing the front of his skull away, his body still twitching from latent energy. He died instantly.

Licking her fingers Chaeli sniffed the air. She could smell something familiar, but not too familiar. Putting it down to the thrill of the kill, she ignored it, but continued smelling the air deliberately. Lucius joined her, looked down his nose at the mutilated corpse in front of him and ignored the sound of the screaming
Muggles.

"We need to try this last live test now. Then report on the progress, so that the Dark Lord can plan his attacks against Dumbledore and the venerable fucking Potter. He is anxious to know how the experiment looks as well as performs so take a picture before we start and after we finish.

"As you wish, master."

Chaeli, apart from being one of Voldemort's most ruthless killers was also the bodyguard for Lucius Malfoy. They were equally spaced from the stupefied corpse on either side, and in the centre of the circle was a bevelled crystalline pillar. Lucius surveyed the assembled circle and realised that they were one short now that one of the captives had met an untimely end. Lucius pouted that he was one man short. Chaeli flew through the air and to Lupin's utter dismay, wrapped her talon like claws around his sciurromorophic form.

"What have you got there? Chaeli, come we need a photo taken, put that squirrel down. He can replace the naughty Muggle you killed."

Being too stunned to remove the glamour so that he could fight his sister, Lupin just played dead. She positioned him in the exact spot that the dead man was, "Say Cheese."

Screams from the Muggles were even louder as Chaeli took pictures of all the captives whilst they still lived. Lupin's mind was clearing just in time for him to hear Malfoy cast the spell.

"Avada Kedavra," a green light shot from his wand at the pillar and then ricocheted in the direction of all the captives in its outer circle. Lupin saw one after the other die instantly. As the spell approached him, he just about managed to remove his glamour as the spell back fired against him. Now fully transformed as himself, he had his wand out to try and counter the spell before anybody else died. But he realised that he had to get out of there and quick. Hexes and spells came at him from all directions as Death Eaters quickly tried to halt the intruder. He said the spell to apparate, just as he was about to apparate out of there Chaeli ripped at him, tearing his arm off as he disappeared without a trace.

"It was your brother. Chaeli, did you get him, is he dead?"

"He has lost a lot of blood and his arm will not mend without one special ingredient that he doesn't have. He will not live until morning. He had not enough strength to apparate far. He will still be in the local area."

"Send search parties out after him. I want his corpse here before the day is done."

Remus had used all the strength he had left to complete one last action, to get to Dumbledore and warn him. He arrived just outside the gates to Hogwarts,
luckily for him Hagrid was walking by with Fang.

"Remus, god what's happened to you. Get away fang, let's get you to the infirmary straight away."

Remus whispered a name to him and Hagrid realising he was giving a dying man his last wishes took him to the person he wanted most. Barely alive and hardly able to talk, Hagrid lay him down on Professor Snape's desk. He was sure he would be safe, with the one person he wanted to see before he died.

"Remus, my god what have they done to you. Granger, get Madame Pomfrey. Weasley fetch the Headmaster. The rest you insignificant trolls, GET OUT!"

Looking down at the battered and bloody near lifeless figure on the floor, Severus felt like he had died and then died again.

"Who ever did this to you will pay, I promise you my love, they 'will' pay."