Disclaimer: I own nothing, everything belongs to J. K. Rowling…(I'm still in denial about those hunters)

Hunted

Chapter 6: An unusual fellowship

A little more than an hour later, they reached Grawps' cave. But before they could enter, a voice stopped them.

"Who's goin' there? If yer here ter hurt me lil' brother again, yeh'll have ter get past me firs'!"

Remus and Tonks stopped abruptly and looked at each other, both looking quite surprised when they recognised the voice.

Tonks turned back to the entrance of the cave and called out, "Hagrid, it's us, Remus and Tonks."

The next moment, the half-giant came out of the cave, looking very relieved.

"Where d'yeh come from? I arrived 'ere an hour ago, and found Grawp unconscious and bound up. When he woke up, he told me somethin' about hunters bein' after yeh. Wha' happened?"

Hagrid beckoned them inside the cave, while Tonks was giving him a summarized version of what had happened to them. When she was done, Hagrid turned towards Remus. "'Tis good ter see yeh safe and sound, Remus."

"Thanks, Hagrid."

Meanwhile, Tonks had spotted Grawp, and was running towards him, suddenly the giant picked her up and deposited her on the palm of his hand at eye level.

"Tonk alright?"

"Yeah, I'm alright, Grawp, I'm sorry I got you into this mess."

"Grawp alright," the giant answered, in what sounded like a reassuring voice. Then he brought Tonks close to his shoulder and they held each other in something that vaguely resembled a hug.

With a choked voice, Hagrid commented, "Thank yeh, Tonks, for bein' Grawp's friend, 't means a lot ter him."

Next to Hagrid, Remus was staring a bit bewildered at the scene before him.

Suddenly, someone cleared their throat behind them, Remus jumped and turned towards the sound, noticing out of the corner of his eye that everyone else did the same. He was surprised to find Firenze standing there.

"I've come to let you all know that the stars have let me known that the time has come for me to continue my journey to Greece."

When Firenze had left Hogwarts five years ago, together with Hagrid and Grawp, he was originally planning to go to Greece, why he had stayed near Grawp's cave was a mystery to everyone, and of course, the centaur would never explain his reasons.

But now it's pretty clear why he is suddenly leaving. And speaking about leaving…A sudden idea came to Remus' mind.

"Do you want us accompany you, Firenze? I'm leaving too, I'm returning to Britain with Tonks, but we wouldn't mind to make a trip to Greece first, and if we're not going home right away, we might distract the hunters off our trail, if they're following us." And I wouldn't have to face seeing everyone again just yet.

Tonks opened her mouth as if ready to protest, then seemed to think against it.

"Thank you, I wouldn't mind the company for this trip." Firenze answered sincerely, although Remus couldn't shake off the idea the centaur had another meaning hidden in his words, but then again, centaurs always seemed to have hidden meanings.

Now, Tonks did speak up. "I just thought about something, those bastards overpowered Grawp yesterday, which means they could do it again. We should help to find a new home for him and if I'm not mistaken, there is an area in Greece where there once were giants, I don't think it would be too difficult to find a suitable place for Grawp there."

"Tha's a great idea, Tonks, thanks, I'll go with yeh of course, ter help him settle."

"Good, then it is decided," Firenze spoke, "let us start on this journey as soon as we have all had something to eat."

Remus stared at his companions for a moment, taking a moment to grasp what had happened.

Why did I have to suggest to go to Greece, now I'll have to put up with that giant for who knows how long. He frowned at his own thoughts.

I have nothing against giants, of course, I just don't like the idea of having to spend a considerate amount of time with Grawp. Or maybe he didn't like the idea of having to observe Tonks spending a considerate amount of time with the giant, but Remus wasn't going to admit to that.

Of course I'm not jealous of a giant!

000

In the Bleeding Calf, chaos was the all over the place. When the news reached the ears of Michael Vastatore that his prisoners had escaped, he was furious and he immediately ordered everyone to look everywhere and try to find them, explain him how they escaped and who helped them. Answers didn't come, and he realised one of his men must be covering up for the culprit.

However, it didn't take long for his good mood to return. A new plan was building in his mind, and it was an even better plan than before.

With the new plan, they would have more fun, and it would probably last longer, at least he hoped it would take longer than one full moon, this way. It was simple, but effective, they would just follow their prey wherever they went, without their knowledge, and strike the moment when it would be most beneficial.

After contemplating the new plan for some time, Vastatore called together his followers and gave them orders to pack all their stuff immediately.

Half an hour later, the werewolf-hunters left the Bleeding Calf, ready for the hunt.

000

A week had passed since they had left Grawp's cave.

In the course of this week, the five companions found a steady pace in which they travelled through the land. They made good progress, but they were still a long journey away from Greece. To not lose too much time, they only stopped once a day to eat something, because it was winter and the nights were long, they could have a good rest each night.

Most of them also didn't really need to rest a lot. Of course, Grawp with his long legs often had to wait for the others to keep up with him, Hagrid had long legs too, not quite as long as Grawp of course, but long enough to take big steps. Firenze with his four legs had no problem keeping up with Hagrid and Remus with his werewolf-strength managed to keep up with them most of the time.

Tonks was the only one who really encountered problems with the pace at which they travelled, even though, as an Auror, she probably was in a better physical condition than most people are. Whenever Tonks really couldn't keep up anymore, Grawp picked her up and placed her on his shoulder, from where she happily chatted with him.

This way, a pattern had developed itself and turned into a daily routine.

At dawn, Remus made a fire and prepared some breakfast together with Hagrid while Firenze, Grawp and Tonks went looking for some more food to take with them. At noon, they took a brief break, Hagrid and Grawp quickly assembled some wood to make a fire, so they could all warm themselves and they ate whatever they had with them.

An hour before dark, they stopped again and while Remus and Hagrid collected some wood, Firenze, Grawp and Tonks went to search for food. After dinner, they all curled up around the fire, Firenze lying a bit apart from the rest of them while Tonks always curled up closely to Grawp, to Remus' dismay.

Although he knew it was just for warmth, he couldn't silence the voice that told him she could just as easy curl up next to him, instead of Grawp, and how nice it would be if she would do so.

The close friendship between Tonks and Grawp really started bugging Remus, and after a week, he had to admit to himself that, no matter how hard he tried to deny it, he was jealous. Jealous of how close Tonks and Grawp had become and jealous of how Grawp seemed to absorb almost all of her attention. It seemed to Remus as if she barely noticed him anymore.

He realised however that it was partly his own fault, since the first three days, Tonks had tried to talk to him, but Remus had been acting all jumpy around her and tried to keep her on a distance. Remus realised all too well this must have been discouraging her, but he couldn't help it. He really wanted to let her in, but he couldn't open his heart to her just yet.

Remus was thinking over his feelings and reasons for the umpteenth time, trying to figure out what to do, while they were walking. Meanwhile he was staring at Tonks, sitting high on Grawp's shoulder, gazing around the landscape like a queen on her throne, her long green hair waving in the wind.

She really looks like a nymph of the forest now. I hope she'll have the patience to wait for me just a bit longer.

000

Tonks was having a great time, travelling most of the time on Grawp's shoulder. From there she had a great view (and could easily steal glances at Remus whenever she wanted), and the company was very nice too, she had actually a lot of fun talking with Grawp.

The only thing during this journey that bugged her, was Remus' attitude towards her. She had tried to talk to him a few times, but she barely got any response and it was obvious he was trying to create some space between them, so after a few days she had given up.

From then on, she had decided to leave him alone and wait until he would come to her, in the meanwhile she would have fun with Grawp or Hagrid, and occasionally even with Firenze. But this seemed only to make Remus more upset, and Tonks didn't know what she should do anymore or how to act towards him.

When he had accepted to go home with her, he had somehow given her new hope for some future relationship between them, and now it made her only feel worse, because he was again crushing all her hopes by the way he was acting.

Sitting on Grawp's shoulder, she once again glanced down at her beloved werewolf and wondered once again what could have had gone wrong between them this time. Maybe I should give up on him. Tonks sighed. I can't do that, I love him too much. She decided to go talk to him next time she had a chance, and this time she wouldn't let him get out of it before she knew why he was acting like this.

000

Evening was falling slowly, Remus and Hagrid had quickly gathered enough wood to make a fire that would last a few hours and to keep it going well into the night. A smaller pile of wood would be used to make a new fire in the morning.

When the fire was burning steadily, they relaxed and waited for the others to come back with food. It's not easy to find food in the middle of winter and since our trip was a bit unexpected, none of us had a sufficient stock to take with them. Even Firenze hadn't foreseen it. Remus thought wryly to himself.

Of course there were towns where they maybe could have bought food along the way, but they didn't have the money used in these towns and they didn't want to waste time by trying to find a place where they could exchange some. Another important reason to not go into the, mostly very Muggle, towns, was that there would definitely be major trouble if the Muggles happened to see Firenze and Grawp, so they stayed away from civilization as much as possible.

If it would really be necessary, Remus mused, I suppose Tonks and I could have gone to one of those villages to buy some food, but then the others would have to wait for us at some point far enough from the Muggles, and that way we would have lost too much time.

Time was something they didn't have, since Greece wasn't exactly nearby and they only had two weeks and a half left, which was almost impossible to do, but Remus really didn't want to have to transform someplace he didn't know, where there wasn't much chance for him to find a safe place. He still hoped they could be home before the next full moon.

Another reason to move as quickly as possible, was a certain group of werewolf-hunters. No matter how often Tonks tried to reassure him, Remus was certain the Vastatore's wouldn't let him go just like that this time. He thought it was highly possible they were following them.

Suddenly, Remus' thoughts were interrupted when Hagrid spoke to him. "Wha're yeh thinkin' about?"

"Just thinking how we can make sure we aren't being followed."

"Don't yeh worry about tha', even if they'd find us, I'm sure we'd be able to defend usselves against 'em hunters."

Remus frowned. "I don't want to endanger you all like this."

"Nonsense, we can take 'em, Remus, Grawp can even take 'em all on his own, they only overpowered 'im last time because he was sleepin'."

Remus sighed, knowing Hagrid was right, but still a bit worried. Of course, Grawp can take them all, he's a giant. Firenze has his crossbow with him, and even without it, he could take care of himself, and Tonks is…

Suddenly, Remus stilled his thoughts, an odd realisation hitting him, and he had to laugh. Hagrid looked at him questioningly.

Remus shook his head, "I just thought about what an odd little group we are."

When Hagrid still held the same look Remus elaborated, "Here we are, a half-giant and a werewolf, waiting for a giant, a centaur and a metamorphmagus to bring back food. You have to admit we make quite an unusual fellowship, Hagrid, Umbridge would throw a fit if she would see us."

Now, Hagrid laughed too, "I s'pose yer right, Remus."

Only a bit later, the others had returned, and soon they were eating.

000

Please review…

A/N: I'm really very sorry for making you all wait so long, I just don't have much time to write this right now, because I have a lot of papers to write. I'm working on my stories and I promise to post as often as possible.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed…It's you who keep me going…

Since it's freezing here (outside, that is) as well as in this chapter, I'm giving every reviewer as many bottles of butterbeer they want…