Wendy walked back to where Remus and Sirius were still conversing. "I'll be here four-thirty tomorrow. Be ready. I don't have time to waste waiting for you," she said shortly.
The two men looked at each other in confusion. "What was that about?" Remus asked.
Sirius looked towards Snape and saw the triumphant sneer on the Potions Master's face. "That bastard. I'll bet he told her you're a werewolf." He lunged for Snape.
Remus restrained his friend as Severus pulled his wand. "Give me a reason, Black. You continue to prove you are unstable and a danger to yourself and others," Severus replied dryly.
Arthur joined Remus in restraining Sirius. "Now, Sirius, you know he does this on purpose. Walk away from him."
"Ah, he's not worth it anyway," Sirius snarled and stormed out of the kitchen.
Remus spared one last glance for Severus before following. Why does he insist on making my life difficult? Remus wondered. Now he would have quite the uphill battle in getting Wendy to act normal around him.
It was four twenty-five and Remus was waiting in the kitchen. Being late would be the wrong way to earn his new partner's trust. He was surprised when he heard a knock on the door rather than the doorbell. Most people forgot about the portrait and rang the bell. He hurried up to the door, not wanting to keep her waiting. His jaw dropped when he saw her. She had styled her hair quite nicely and was wearing enough makeup to accentuate a beauty he hadn't seen yesterday, yet at the same time it wasn't overpowering.
"Don't flatter yourself, it's not for you," she said sardonically. "Are you ready?"
"Yes." He cringed when his voice cracked.
She gave him appraising glance and raised an eyebrow in disapproval. "All right, we'll go with plan B then."
"What's plan B?" he asked as he stepped out of the house.
"We act like we don't know each other while trolling the pub for information."
"Out of curiosity, what was plan A?"
"You were going to sell me," she replied nonchalantly as she walked down the street looking for a secluded Apparition point.
He momentarily froze, aghast at what she had just said. "I was going to sell you? Is that how Aurors do business?"
"Doesn't matter. Wouldn't work anyway." She had always preferred working alone since a partner tended to ask too many questions. Though, it was always nice to have someone watching your back.
"What do you mean it wouldn't work?" While he was against the idea, he knew an insult when he heard one.
"No one would believe that someone dressed like you would be selling a woman like me."
"Excuse me?" That was most definitely and insult.
"You are a bit shabby," she replied derisively.
He took one look at her traveling cloak, which was somewhat tattered. "And you are any different, how?"
She opened her cloak for him to see the low cut, tight fitting red dress she was wearing.
"Oh, my," he replied quietly.
She pulled her cloak closed and looked around the street, pleased to find it deserted. "Let's go."
Remus followed her to Gloucester.
They found themselves standing outside a pub that was somewhat seedy. "You're going in there dressed like that?" he asked incredulously.
"Give me a couple minutes, then you can come in and start your own information quest."
"And what if something goes wrong?" He didn't like this plan. He'd been in places like this before and the clientele had a tendency to get rough.
She smiled confidently. "Don't worry, I'll come to your rescue. I can take care of myself, so don't interfere." This was going to be worse than working with a rookie. At least a rookie had undergone Auror training.
Remus couldn't help but worry. Going into the pub dressed as she was, she was sure to draw the wrong sort of attention. He began to question Albus' decision. She didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the Order. He gave her the couple of minutes she had asked for, and then sauntered into the pub. The air was thick with smoke and the stench of unwashed bodies. Instinctively, he searched for Wendy, but didn't see her.
After ordering a drink from the bar, he tried find a likely candidate to covertly interrogate. He was just about to hit his first mark when he heard a musical giggle coming from a corner booth. Peering into the murk, he could see Wendy fawning all over what had to be one of the most repulsive men he had ever seen. His instincts told him to protect her, but she had made it clear that they were working alone.
"Hey, luv, buy a gal a drink?" asked a plump witch that was at least thirty years older than he was.
He tried not to act repulsed while still keeping an eye on Wendy. "Sorry, no, I'm, uh…"
She saw him looking towards Wendy. "Hmph. I see how it is, after the young tart like all the rest. I have experience that she could never have," she purred as she ran her hand along his lapel.
"Thanks anyways," he replied and picked up his mug, searching for a more secluded place to observe the patrons.
After an hour, he had yet to learn anything of any value from those he had plied for information, though he had been propositioned three more times. Wendy had been with at least six men and, in his opinion, she had drunk far too much. He saw her give her latest victim a good slap and stumble away from him. Gripping his wand in his pocket, he fought the desire to protect her.
As she walked by, he grabbed her arm. "What do you think you are doing?" he said through clenched teeth.
She threw herself on him. "Mmm, guv'ner, how much are you offering me? The others just haven't got the price. Have you?" She ran her fingers through his hair. "Though, I don't think you have. Rather shabby, aren't you?"
"I've got the price," he said as he pulled his coin purse out of his pocket. "Outside, now," he added quietly.
She examined his coin purse and said cheerfully. "I guess you do have the price." She stood and led him by the hand out of the pub.
He pulled her into the alley. "Your behavior is despicable. We are supposed to be gathering information."
She suddenly sounded very sober. "And what do you think I was doing? I told you not to interfere."
"What?" He was very confused. She had appeared totally sloshed just a moment ago.
Even though her voice was angry, she was still able to affect the appropriate body language so that anyone glancing in the alley would not see anything unusual. "Look, Lupin, I know what I'm doing. Do you know how much information people will tell a pretty girl that acts interested in them? An awful lot. And I happen to be very good at what I do."
"How far do you go?" He was appalled by this behavior, but then again, she was Slytherin, it shouldn't be that surprising. And he did have to admit that she did seem skilled at what she was doing. His body was involuntarily reacting to her touch.
"Let's just say that I'm very good at memory charms." She gave him a cruel grin. "Now then, are you going to play nice and leave me alone or do I have to make a big fuss when you go back in there?"
"How come you aren't drunk? As much as I've seen you drink you should be passed out."
She pulled a vial out of her pocket. "Standard Auror issue."
"And you weren't going to share that with me?"
She shrugged. "No reason to. For what you are doing, you don't need to drink like I do." She patted his cheek condescendingly. "Now, be a dear and speak well of me. Tell them what a marvelous blowjob I gave you, if they ask. I plan to be here until closing unless I get a particularly juicy bit of information."
He was really beginning to despise working with her. He had always been shy and had a hard time getting anyone to talk to him. On the other hand, she seemed to have every male in the place wrapped around her fingers. Of course, wearing a dress like that probably helped. Once they had waited a decent amount of time, they walked back into the pub. He watched as she almost immediately began flirting with her next victim. He ordered another ale and tried to find someone else to question.
The more he watched her flirting around the room the more it bothered him. It was unbelievable that Kingsley would have thought she was the type of person they needed in the Order. He ordered another ale to gain the courage to continue socializing.
As the barkeep announced closing time, Wendy pulled herself away from her latest would-be paramour. She looked around and saw Remus passed out at a table. "Oh, bloody hell," she exclaimed under her breath. She saw the bouncer getting ready to throw him out. "I'll take care of him. He's my brother's mate."
"He's all yours, luv," the bouncer replied.
She walked over and slapped at his cheeks. "Lupin. Come on. Let's get you out of here." He was mostly unresponsive. "Bloody hell," she swore again. "Lupin!" she said sternly and gave him a good shake.
"Five more minutes, mum," he muttered.
"You're bloody pissed. Come on, let's get some fresh air." She had to at least get him on his feet. Pulling him up, she almost collapsed under his weight. He was heavier than he looked. "Lupin, you are bloody well going to walk out of this pub or I'm going to leave you here."
He opened his eyes and tried to focus. "My, aren't you pretty." He reached out to touch her.
She slapped his hand away and slipped under his left arm, trying to guide him out the door. As they were trying to walk through the door, he fell forward into the doorframe. She didn't feel at all bad about that and hoped it left him with a black eye.
Once outside, she took him back into the alley and propped him in a corner created by a stack of crates and the wall. She fished a locket out of her dress. "Here, touch this." She pressed his finger against the locket with her hand. She used her other arm to pull him towards her and hoped for the best. Thankfully the destination of this Portkey was her front hall and no matter which direction he fell, he shouldn't hit anything.
Trying to maintain the precarious balance, she pulled out her wand. She was vaguely aware that his free hand was touching her quite inappropriately, but she could do nothing about it. She touched her wand to the locket and said, "Portus."
Instantly, she could feel the tug behind her navel as the Portkey activated. Unfortunately, once they arrived Remus fell forwards, landing on top of her. She tried to shove him away, but he was dead weight. "Lupin, get off."
"You called me Remus once," he mused.
"I'll call you a lot worse if you don't get off." She shoved again and he rolled over. She watched him babbling in a state of semi-coherency. I hate my job, she thought. Picking her wand up off the floor, she decided to levitate him to the sofa in the drawing room. He wasn't a guest so there was no way she was putting him in the guest room. He kept babbling incoherently and she continued to ignore him.
Once he was on the couch she called, "Cappa!"
A house-elf appeared in the room. "Yes, Mistress?"
"Get a bucket, pitcher of water and a blanket for our…visitor."
"Yes, Mistress. Should I take him to the guest room?"
"No. He can stay here."
"Yes, Mistress. Will you be needing anything tonight?"
"No. Turndown the bed and that will be all."
She walked upstairs to her bedroom and a long hot shower to wash away the filth of the night. Why had Dumbledore saddled her with an incompetent partner? First, he almost ruined her cover and then he had the impertinence to pass out on her. She would send an owl to Albus requesting a new partner. She couldn't work under these conditions. Her time was valuable and Remus Lupin was wasting it.
Remus woke to a splitting headache and thought his mouth tasted of old socks. Looking around the room, he tried to determine where he was, but thinking too much only made his head hurt worse. He didn't recognize his surroundings, but he did see that water was on the coffee table. He helped himself to three glasses of water and re-examined his surroundings. It was a very nicely appointed formal drawing room. He could smell coffee and followed the scent. He wasn't quite sure about eating, as queasy as his stomach felt, but coffee would probably be a very good idea.
He entered the dining room and saw Wendy reading the paper and having breakfast. "Is there a washroom I could use?"
Without looking at him she pointed at a swinging door. "Through the kitchen, to the left. Ask Cappa if you get lost."
He muttered thanks, but they went unanswered. He found the small water closet with no trouble and went about trying to make himself somewhat presentable. As he washed his face, he tried to remember how he had ended up in Wendy's drawing room. He had fuzzy memories of being in the pub in Gloucester, but not much more than that.
Once he was as clean as he was going to get without a shower, he returned to the dining room. She was still ignoring him. "Do you mind?" he asked as he pointed at the coffee service. When she didn't answer, he assumed she didn't mind and helped himself. He looked at the pastries and tried to decide if he should attempt eating. His stomach wasn't quite sure it was ready for that step.
"About last night?" he asked nervously.
She folded the paper and glared at him. "Yes, about last night. I have sent an owl to Dumbledore requesting a new partner."
"What?"
"Your behavior was deplorable. First, you almost ruined my cover with your little fit. Then, you went and got completely plastered, leaving me to make up some silly excuse to explain why a whore would be taking a passed out drunk home with her."
He grimaced at her yelling. It made his headache pound harder. He interrupted, "Could you please lower your voice?"
"I bloody well will not lower my voice. You earned that splitting headache, so suffer through it. We can only hope that there will be no need to return to that pub. Though, since it's highly unlikely you found out anything useful, there is a very real possibility that a return trip will be necessary.
"I think I might have chosen the wrong side. From what I have seen of the Order, you are bunch of incompetent boobs that let petty grudges dictate your behavior. The lot of you could be wiped out inside a week."
Remus was in shock. He knew he hadn't used his best judgment, but he had not expected an outburst like this. "Well, you could have given me more warning about what your plan was. That sort of behavior is not the type of thing anyone in the Order normally does."
"That's because you are all damned honorable Gryffindors. Wouldn't dream of doing anything sneaky, that wouldn't be honorable, would it? Well, you know what? The other side isn't going to play fair. You lot need to realize that and change the way you play. That's why I was brought in. You need diversity, a new way of thinking. The Order was almost wiped out last time and he almost won. You know what turned the tide? The Ministry deciding to let the Aurors do what they had to do, that's what. They were encouraged to become devious and sneaky, to think like their adversary. That's what I do best.
"As I said, I've asked Dumbledore for a new partner so you can finish your breakfast and be on your way," she said dismissively.
He was glad that she seemed to have finally stopped yelling. "I have been assigned as your partner and until I'm replaced, I'm going to stay. Albus doesn't want any of us working alone, not on any of these information gathering missions."
"Bloody lot of good you did. You were watching the insides of your eyelids, not my back. If that's all the help you can be, I'm better off alone."
"I used poor judgment last night. I wasn't prepared for what you were going to do."
"What the bloody hell does preparation have to do with it?" She started shouting again.
He grabbed his head in an attempt to stop the throbbing. "I'm used to protecting my partner and you were placing yourself in a very vulnerable situation and I felt like I couldn't do anything about it."
"So you decided to get pissed? Very mature and wise decision there," she replied sarcastically.
"Look, I'm sorry. Give me another chance." He decided that perhaps he could stomach a piece of dry bread.
She was busy glaring at him when Cappa entered the dining room carrying a silver tray with a letter on it. Wendy took the letter and quickly read it. She crumpled it and threw it across the room. "Looks like you're getting your second chance. Cappa?"
The elf stepped next to Wendy. "Yes, Mistress?"
"Escort Mr. Lupin up to the guest room so he can shower. Then get out some of Mr. Edgar's old clothes and clean his."
"Yes, Mistress." Cappa bowed and waited at the entrance of the dining room.
Wendy glared at Lupin. "I'm not doing this because I like you. I'm doing this because if I have to spend all day working with you, it's not going to be with you in those smelly old clothes. You reek of the stench from that pub."
Remus had guessed that they were in Wendy's home, but he had no idea where it was. "Cappa, where are we?"
"In Mistress Westin's house," she replied.
"No, I mean, where is the house? I didn't see much when we arrived last night."
"Chelsea, sir. Here is being the guest room. Cappa will get clothes for you to wear and place them on the bed."
Chelsea, a very upscale neighborhood. Though, if what Sirius said is correct, I shouldn't be surprised, he thought. At least she had consented to letting him shower and was following Albus' orders, no matter how grudgingly.
Feeling somewhat better after his shower, he went into the bedroom to dress and saw a small phial next to the clothes. He pulled the stopper and sniffed the contents. It didn't smell like any poison he knew. Of course, he reasoned there would be no point in her poisoning him and he drank it. As he dressed, he could feel his mind clearing. By the time he was finished, he felt completely refreshed.
Considering his reflection, he thought that he cleaned up quite nicely. He couldn't recall the last time he had worn nearly new clothing and it certainly had not been of this quality. He went back downstairs with the intent of thanking her, but found that she was no longer in the dining room. He started walking around the downstairs looking for her and realized the house was actually quite large. "Wendy?"
"In the library," came the reply.
He followed her voice to the library and found her studying an array of maps. "Quite a nice place you have," he said in a conversational tone.
"You aren't here to socialize. Now that you've recovered from last night, did you learn anything of value?"
"Thank you for the potion. It was quite helpful." He hoped that being polite would elicit the same behavior in her.
"Let's see that you don't need something like that again, shall we? Now, were you completely useless last night?" she asked derisively.
"I was talking to a, er, woman last night who mentioned that her man had been away from home a lot lately. Lots of late night meetings and she was feeling a bit jealous over the whole thing. I think she was under the impression he was seeing someone else and she wanted some revenge."
"That's not particularly useful," she replied sardonically.
"That's when I bought her a drink to see if she knew anything else. She seemed rather inclined to talk about it. I got her to admit that she had followed him one night and he had met up with a bunch of other men. At that point she got scared and left, but she told me they were meeting in a wooded area outside Gloucester." He pointed to a place on the map. "She said they were all dressed up in robes and masks."
She smirked at him. "So, you aren't completely useless. I learned the same thing. One of the blokes I was with is one of the Death Eaters that's part of that group. They meet on Saturdays so we should be able to infiltrate tonight's meeting."
"You intend to infiltrate a Death Eater meeting?" he asked incredulously.
"Why not? Can you think of a better way to find out about them?" she replied calmly.
"I can think of a hundred reasons why not. We will be outnumbered, we could be captured or killed. Really, the list goes on. We should get reinforcements."
"None of them are compelling. We need to get information. As for the concerns you listed, based on the people involved I do not expect it to be a high level meeting. This is a group of lackeys and maybe one trusted lieutenant. They aren't going to be expecting to have to deal with an Auror."
"No, but all it takes is one hex for them to take you down."
She smiled slyly. "I'm smart, experienced and I don't play fair. We'll be fine."
"We should let the others know what we are doing in case something happens."
"By all means, go tell them, but I was planning on spending my time on researching the meeting site. I'll meet you back here in two hours." She stood and Disapparated.
He knew he was doing the right thing, but she made it feel like he was acting childish and afraid. In reality, she was the one acting childish. He really didn't know what to think about her. She was brusque and most definitely Slytherin in her approach to things. Severus liked to treat him in the same manner.
When Remus arrived at Grimmauld Place, he found Sirius alone in the kitchen. "So, she didn't kill you?" Sirius asked.
"No. Did you think she would?"
"I wasn't sure. Everyone else seems to trust her, but I don't. I don't think she's changed."
"Well, she's definitely a Slytherin," Remus replied as he took a seat at the table.
"Nice clothes."
"What? Oh, after last night's adventure at the pub, she didn't like the way I smelled. They used to be her husband's."
"After more than thirteen years she still has some of his clothes? Very odd, especially if she would have hated him for being a Death Eater."
"Some people just don't throw stuff out. Look at what we found around here. That place of hers in Chelsea is every bit as old as this place."
"You did check to see if they were cursed, didn't you?"
"Now you're staring to sound like Moody," Remus replied dryly.
"So where is she anyway? I expected the two of you to report your findings."
"That's why I'm here. She seemed to feel that reporting every little unsubstantiated fact to the Order is beneath her. She's scouting a place we think the local Death Eaters use as a meeting place."
"And you let her go alone? Are you mad? What if she sets a trap to have you captured?"
"Now I know you're sounding like Mad-Eye," replied Remus.
"Someone mention my name?" asked the grizzled old Auror as he stumped into the kitchen.
"What do you know about Westin?" Remus asked.
"Good Auror. Nice person to have guarding your back in a fight. I worked with her a couple of times and didn't have any complaints. Why?"
"Sirius seems to think she's working for the other side and is trying to lure me into a trap."
"Wendy? No, I wouldn't worry about that. She's on our side, no question about it. Her family disowned her when she became an Auror."
"But what if she's decided she wants to get back in their good graces?" asked Sirius.
"I've never heard her talk about missing her family. I doubt they'd want her back, anyway. There was a little incident."
"Incident?" asked Remus.
"It's not for me to say. It just means that she's not trying to get in good with her family. Where is she anyway? Did you two learn anything last night?"
"She's scouting a possible Death Eater meeting site we learned about last night. I came here to make a report on that in case anything happens tonight," said Remus.
"You let her go alone? Not smart. Place like that you can really use someone to watch your back. Where is this place?"
"Near Gloucester. They don't meet until midnight so it should be deserted."
Moody grunted. "Should be has gotten people killed, you know. Good people. That's why we were all teamed up. I'd get out there if I were you. Make sure there's nothing funny going on."
"Yeah, make sure she's not betraying us," added Sirius snidely.
Remus Disapparated from Grimmauld Place and reappeared outside Gloucester. He then began his search for his partner. He knew from the map that this was the wooded area in question, but he could find no sign of anyone. Searching for any sign of human presence, he held his wand at the ready. While he did not entirely believe Sirius' assertion that Wendy would turn them over to the Death Eaters, he also did not entirely discount it. For once, being a werewolf would be useful since his senses were sharpened by his lycanthropy.
He heard a noise off to his left and turned to face it, but before he could do anything he heard the word, "Stupefy," saw a bright red flash and the world went dark.