Chapter 24: Werewolves and Death Eaters

Remus Lupin had spent the past twelve days getting to know every member of the town, each of which was very friendly. He half wished that he could forget about the Order entirely and spend the rest of his life here. But he couldn't do that, not yet. Maybe after the war, if he was still alive, he could move back here.

He loved everything about the small town. He loved the small wooden cottages that lined the streets. He loved the shops and cafes that were scattered around the town. He loved that everyone knew and cared about everyone else. He loved that they had their own potions master who brewed each member of the town their own supply of Wolfsbane—for free. He loved the invisible fence that was set up around the town to make sure that no one escaped during the full moon (he had been told that this was actually an improved version of a Muggle invention used for keeping dogs from leaving the family's yard). But most of all, he loved that no one thought any less of him for being a werewolf.

Sighing wistfully, Lupin walked around a group of kids building a house of rocks on the ground and pushed open the door of the town hall. The room was already practically full when he stepped inside. Lupin walked up to the front of the room and took his seat next to Patrick Emerson, the werewolf who had told him about Bracmoor. Tonight is the night, he told himself; the night that decides whether or not Bracmoor is willing to join the war.

A few minutes passed before everyone had taken a seat and were ready for the meeting to start. Lupin watched as Adam Fowler, Minister of Bracmoor, stood and faced the town.

"Welcome," he began. "I'm sure by now all of you have met Remus Lupin." Fowler stopped for a moment allowing everyone to clap politely and Lupin to nod in response. "Unfortunately, he's not here for pleasure. I know everyone in this room has heard that the dementors have left Azkaban."

There was some frantic muttering as the townspeople relived the shock they had felt when they had first heard the news.

"Remus," continued Fowler, "works in close association with Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You-Know-Who is building up an army. He's already just as strong as he was before he fell last time. Dumbledore's extending a hand of friendship. We need to work together in order to win this war. You-Know-Who already has an army of dementors, giants..."

As Lupin listened to the minister talk, he swore he heard someone calling his name.

"Remus Lupin."

Looking around and not seeing anyone, Lupin turned his attention back to Fowler. Then he heard it again, louder this time.

"Remus Lupin."

Several people turned around to look at him, trying to find the source of the noise. Remembering suddenly, Lupin reached into his pocket and pulled out the mirror. He saw Harry's face. Tempted as he was to answer Harry's call, Lupin knew that he had to pay attention to this meeting; this meeting was the reason that he was here. Deciding that Harry could wait, Lupin pulled out his wand and pointed it at the mirror.

"Silencio."

xxx

Lucius Malfoy stood starting at the scene in front of him. A wooden fence, about fifty feet in height, stood before him, shielding the town from his view. He flicked his wrist and with his wand checked the wards around the town. Realizing that there weren't any, Malfoy sneered. How much easier could this get?

"Reducto!"

Malfoy's spell blasted apart a large section of the wall in front of him. Several other Death Eaters did the same. Then they walked into Bracmoor. There was a good ten acres of land before the first line of wooden cottages. Not sensing enough magic to harm them, Malfoy led the rest of the Death Eaters towards the town. He hadn't walked ten feet when he collapsed in pain.

Shocks of energy shot up his body, sending of sparks of pain all the way up. The other Death Eaters that weren't clever enough to stop when they saw Malfoy fall instantly did the same. They started screaming in agony. Struggling backwards, Malfoy finally managed to get himself through whatever the hell it was that had attacked him. The others struggled through. Those that hadn't gone through the first time looked down at the field in front of them, hesitant to cross.

"What the hell was that?" snapped on the of the Death Eaters, rising to his feet.

"Something to keep the werewolves from crossing, I'd imagine," replied Malfoy, brushing dirt of his robes and turning to face the invisible barrier. Muttering a few words, he waved his wand over the area before him. Nothing happened. Narrowing his eyes, Malfoy tried a few more spells. Still nothing.

"What are you waiting for?" he sneered to the others. "Are you planning on waiting there while we do all the work? I assure you Our Lord won't be pleased when he finds that half of you didn't do anything."

Recognizing the threat in Malfoy's voice, the Death Eaters who hadn't crossed the invisible line did so. Predictably, each fell and started twitching. Malfoy found the sight a lot more enjoyable now that he wasn't the one on the ground. He watched as the Death Eaters climbed to their feet.

"You remember your orders. Capture all of the werewolves. Leave Lupin to me."

Once everyone was up, he turned and led them towards the heart of the town.

xxx

Jonathon McPherson was in the middle of building a house out of rocks. Since he was a little boy he had enjoyed playing with the rocks scattered around the town. He had even gotten his friends to join him. He was just sitting back to admire his latest masterpiece when he heard an explosion. He looked up to see the house next to his in ruins. Abandoning the rock house, Jonathon and his friends ran to look at the house and came face to face with a man in a black robe and white mask. Still in shock over what they were seeing before them, they didn't even flinch when the man raised his wand and pointed it at them.

"Evincio funis!"

xxx

"I still don't understand why we should join Dumbledore," put in Tawny McPherson. "Why should we make ourselves a target for no reason?"

"But you already are a target!" cried Lupin irascibly. "He's already got the giants and the dementors—"

"So what makes you think that we're next?" demanded Tawny. "He could be going after anyone."

Lupin opened his mouth to answer her but stopped, his eyes catching sight of something black moving outside the window. All of the color drained from his face as his brain realized what he was seeing.

Turning to Tawny he said, "He could be going after anybody? Why don't you take a look outside."

xxx

After a few muttered words and a flick of his wrist, Lucius Malfoy had succeeded in conjuring up an enormous cage. An enormous silver cage. He cast another spell that would enlarge the inside of the cage without having it take up more space (like the inside of Mr. Weasley's car). Satisfied with his work, he turned to the nearest cottage. Blasting down the door, he stepped inside and began to search the place. No one was in it. Stepping outside, he pointed his wand at the house and screamed, "Detonalis!"

The house burst apart with a loud explosion. Lupin walked to the next house, blasted apart the door, and, finding no one in there, blasted apart the house as well. In the next house, however, he found two children, no older than eight, cowering in the corner of their bedroom. Apathetic to the tears and pleads of the children, Malfoy cried, "Evincio funis!" Ropes immediately wound their way around the children's wrists and ankles. Keeping his wand out, Malfoy none-too-gently pushed the children out of the house and into the large silver cage. Ignoring the whimpers that they gave from being in such close contact with silver, Malfoy muttered "Detonalis!" again. The children screamed as they watched their house explode. Malfoy proceeded to the next house after glimpsing to see how the other Death Eaters were doing.

xxx

Upon hearing Lupin's words, Tawny McPherson looked out the window in time to see a man in black robes and a white mask blow up her house. She screamed and started to run outside. Everyone else quickly followed, Lupin in the lead.

xxx

Malfoy had just blown up his third house when he saw a flood of people exit the building down the street. He smirked as he saw their panicked faces; he had been wondering why he had only been capturing children. The screaming had obviously attracted the other Death Eaters, who immediately turned to the parents instead of the children. While the Death Eaters and parents fought, Malfoy sought out Lupin. Sneaking up behind him, Malfoy cried, "Redeo!"

Lupin, caught off guard, was thrown backwards. Landing hard on the ground and having the wind knocked out of him, Lupin drew in a shaky breath and looked to see who had cursed him.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here," drawled a familiar voice. "And here I thought werewolves were supposed to have good fighting instincts."

Lupin glared at who he now knew was Malfoy and stood up, grasping his wand firmly. He watched suspiciously as Malfoy let him get up without hexing him. Quickly, he drew his wand and screamed, "Soporufus!"

Malfoy easily deflected the curse and answered with, "Flaggaro!"

Bright flashes of light immediately lit up the sky. Dirt went flying through the air, causing those without protective masks (aka non-Death Eaters) to pause in fighting to shield their faces and giving the Death Eaters an open opportunity to attack. Malfoy didn't miss a beat.

"Crucio!"

Lupin heard the curse but, due to the dirt flying into his temporarily-blinded eyes, wasn't able to duck. The curse hit and he fell to the ground, screaming in agony. Malfoy held him under the curse for a good many minutes before finally letting up. As Lupin struggled to his feet, he pointed his wand at his face and cried, "Impervious!"

His eyes now protected from the dirt, Lupin turned once again to face Malfoy, the only Death Eater who wasn't busy loading men, women, and children into cages.

"Stupefy!"

"Impedimenta!"

Lupin and Malfoy fought furiously. Whenever one would throw a hex the other would deflect it and throw one of their own.

"Congelare!"

"Crucio!"

They seemed to be the only two still fighting. The rest of the Death Eaters and townspeople seemed to be watching. While some in the cages were fighting, the silver surrounding them effectively lowered their powers, making a breakout nearly impossible.

"Caligo!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Expelliarmus!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

They were dueling so quickly that their wands were blurs, their words nearly incoherent. Neither one of them was willing to stop fighting. Neither one of them was going to give up. Neither one of them was planning to resign to ineluctable defeat. It looked as though the battle would go on forever. And then something unbelievable happened. Lupin tripped over a pile of rocks.

The mirror fell from his pocket and landed on the ground beside him.

xxx

Malfoy could hardly contain his laughter as he saw Lupin fall. Raising his wand, he cleared his throat and, before Lupin could move to defend himself, cried, "Avada Kedavra!"

Smiling to himself, Malfoy left Lupin on the ground and walked over to where the other Death Eaters were guarding their captives. Without a word to any of them, he bent down, picked up a rock, and muttered "Portus!"

Carelessly tossing the rock at the caged werewolves, Malfoy looked around in time to see at least twenty people Apparate to the front of the town and start to hurry towards them. Hearing the other Death Eaters Disapparate, Malfoy raised his wand and shouted "Morsmordre!"

Then Malfoy Disapparated, the Dark Mark gleaming in the sky above him.

Chapter 25: News From Abroad

"Harry, I'm sure Lupin's fine," soothed Hermione.

She, Ron, and Neville were seated in armchairs around the fire. Harry was pacing back and forth. He had been doing that all night. Occasionally he would stop to call Lupin through the mirror again. Wiping sweat from his brow, Harry shook off his cloak and flung it down on the ground. Ron, frustrated with the lack of news and with Harry, got up and started pacing as well. He heard the portrait hole open and continued pacing. Looking up, he saw a timid looking first year look around the room, something clutched in her hand. Narrowing his eyes suspiciously, Ron looked closer at the emblem on the front of her robes. The yellow and black Hufflepuff symbol stared up at him.

"What are you doing in the Gryffindor common room?" he asked her angrily. He could see her trembling but didn't care. "Well?"

"She's here to visit me," answered a cold voice from behind him. Ron turned to find himself face to face Leslie Hyzer, a fourth year. "She's my sister."

"Why couldn't you meet somewhere else?" demanded Ron.

"I wanted to stay here. We're going to play chess. Do you mind?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I—"

"Ron."

Ron looked around to see Ginny glaring at him.

"What?" he asked her, angry at the interruption.

"Leave them alone. I know that if I wanted to hang out with you, I would be pretty pissed if some snotty prefect told me I had to go somewhere else."

Glaring at those around him, Ron pulled his sister aside. "What are you doing?" he snapped.

"I could ask you the same thing. Hermione told me what happened. You should be over there with Harry, not making trouble for first years. I know that we're supposed to be on the lookout for Hufflepuffs but I've seen this one before. Her name's Penny Hyzer. She's not a threat to anyone. Now go back over there and sit with Harry."

Glowering at his sister, Ron abruptly turned and walked back over to the others. Ginny smiled apologetically at Leslie and Penny and then took a seat next to Hermione. Harry was still pacing.

xxx

Penny Hyzer was not a very outgoing person. She was kind to those she knew but if she didn't know someone she wasn't likely to go talk to them. So it was no surprise that she didn't have many friends at Hogwarts. She made sure to stay close to her big sister whenever possible and hardly ever talked to those around her. She was lonely, to say the least.

Therefore, when she found a rat wandering around the common room one morning she was delighted. Her parents had never allowed her to have a pet of her own and she had been eager to have someone to talk to. She had walked over to the rat and gingerly held out her hand. She had giggled when the rat had crawled onto it and started to try to climb up her arms.

Now she went everywhere with the rat, whom she called Silver due to the light color of his right paw. She had made a pocket in the interior of her robes for him and carried him everywhere. She had even made a little bed on the nightstand next to hers for him to sleep in. One time she noticed, to her dismay, that he disappeared at night. After worrying that he was gone forever, she was happy to see that he returned by morning. Since then she hadn't been worried when he would wander off.

He was with her when Ron Weasley had started harassing her about being in Gryffindor tower. He had started to squirm in her pocket as she walked closer and she had had to hold him in her hand to get him to stop.

She smiled gratefully when Ginny, whom she had seen on several occasions around the castle, told Ron to leave her alone. Silver seemed to settle down after Weasley left. Penny smiled; it seemed that Silver could sense her discomfort and was wouldn't be content until she was.

Oblivious to the real reason why her rat was suddenly calm, Penny sat down at the nearest table and helped her sister set up the chess set. Taking off her robe and carefully laying it down on the chair next to her, she didn't notice Silver slip out of the pocket. Never noticed as he made his way over to the fireplace where Harry was still pacing. Never noticed as he crawled inconspicuously into the nearest pocket of Harry's robe, which was still discarded on the floor.

Instead, Penny Hyzer watched as her sister's knight took out one of her pawns.

xxx

Harry's scar hurt. It wasn't a full-out burning pain yet, just a dull throbbing. Feeling slightly nauseous, Harry kept pacing, much to Hermione's annoyance.

"Harry, you're going to frighten the children."

Harry was just about to retort when his scar exploded with pain. Ecstatic laughter filled the air. Harry had never been happier than he was at that moment...something great, no, something wonderful had happened...

Everyone in the common room turned to stare in wonder and fear as Harry burst into hysterical laughter. Ron, who had had experience in this area before, slapped Harry hard across the face while yelling at Hermione to get something for Harry to vomit in. Ginny and Neville shooed everyone else away from Harry and out of the common room.

Sure enough, as soon as Harry had stopped laughing he grasped the bowl Hermione had conjured and threw up everything he had eaten that day. After several moments he stopped vomiting and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. He was pale and shaking. He looked up to see the others staring at him. Then he looked back down, unable to look them in the eyes anymore. Then he said, in a small voice, "Lupin's dead."

"What?" asked Hermione in a voice just as shaky as Harry's. "Harry, you can't possibly know—"

"Trust me, he's dead!" Harry snapped, unable to stop the tears from welling in his eyes. Blinking them furiously away, he stood up. He was still shaking. Even though he was standing in front of the fire, Harry felt cold. Hermione, seeming to sense this, reached down, grabbed Harry's discarded cloak, and draped it over his shoulders. Harry numbly pulled it on the rest of the way.

At that moment Professor McGonagall arrived in the room. One look told her that they already knew what happened. She told them to follow her. Silently the group followed her up to Dumbledore's office. Harry was so numb he didn't feel the slight movement in the inner pocket of his cloak. Moody, Snape, and Tonks were gathered in the office.

"I'm afraid I have some rather bad news," said Dumbledore somberly. "As I'm sure you know, there was an attack on Bracmoor not too long ago. The entire werewolf community was taken prisoner."

Hermione gasped. Ron and Ginny looked shocked. Neville's eyes, widened in alarm, were the only indication that he had even heard the headmaster. Harry, however, appeared not to be listening.

"Even Professor Lupin?" asked Hermione, still not willing to believe that he was dead.

"I'm afraid that he didn't make it," said Dumbledore, his sad eyes fixed on Harry's face. "The Order arrived in time to see them Disapparate. Half the town was destroyed. There were no survivors. This, however, was found right next to Remus's body..."

Harry wasn't listening. He hadn't been since he arrived. What was the point? He knew that Lupin was dead. He didn't look up until he heard Ron gasp and felt Hermione stiffen next to him. Raising his head, Harry gasped. Dumbledore was holding up the mirror that Lupin had been using to talk to Harry.

"Where did you get that?" asked Harry. Snape scoffed as Harry made clear the fact that he hadn't been listening. Dumbledore, however, answered anyway.

"This was found next to Remus. It seemed to have fallen off."

That was the last straw for Harry. Without a word to anyone, Harry turned and ran out of the office. Dumbledore let him leave.

Chapter 26: Anger Management

Harry ran. He didn't even know where his feet were taking him. All he knew was that he had to get out of that room. Away from Dumbledore. Away from that mirror. Before he knew it he found himself outside the Room of Requirement. Without thinking, Harry threw open the door and ran inside. He was shaking with uncontrollable anger. He needed some way to get rid of some of that anger.

Suddenly a large picture of Voldemort appeared on the wall. There were big red circles all over his face. A table appeared next to Harry with sharp needle looking things attached to a piece of plastic. Darts!

Harry grabbed a dart and threw it as hard as he could at Voldemort's picture. He was so angry that he missed by several feet. He tried again. Missed. Again. Missed. Again and again he threw the darts (which never seemed to run out) at Voldemort's head. And again and again he missed. Pulling off his cloak in frustration, Harry threw it to the floor, grabbed a handful of darts and threw them all at the photo on the wall. They all landed on a pile on the floor.

With a shaky breath, Harry collapsed against the wall. It was too much, too much to handle. He was finally starting to get over Sirius's death. Why did this have to happen? Why couldn't he have gotten a hold of Lupin in time? Why hadn't he warned him when he last saw him in Grimmauld Place?

Without his realization, Harry's magic began to swell up inside him. The more he thought about what had just happened the angrier he got and the more it swelled. Finally, as he reached forward and threw one last dart at the wall, his magic got out of control. A burst of energy shot through the room, causing the walls to shake darts to rattle. The dart board of Voldemort's face fell off with a loud thud and landed right next to his cloak.

Shocked at the amount of magic that had just been unleashed, Harry bent down to pick up the dart board. Then he noticed a lump in his cloak. Surprised, he dropped the dart board again and picked up his cloak. Underneath it, apparently knocked out by his magic, was a rat. A rat with a silver paw.

Harry gasped and backed away from the rat. His breathing shallow, Harry took a deep breath and drew out his wand. Pointing it shakily at the rat on the floor and silently thanking Snape, he muttered, "Veneficus Exhibeo!"

Then he gasped at the two words that he saw glittering in front of him.

Peter Pettigrew.

xxx

Harry stared at the name in amazement. Even though he had suspected it, the shock at actually seeing the words was too much. Casting a spell to secure the doors and making sure that Pettigrew wouldn't be able to transform, Harry cast the spell that Snape had taught him just last week to force an Animagus to show his true form.

As Harry watched the rat transform into a person, he became more and more angry. The anger that he had previously felt, the anger that had knocked the rat out in the first place, paled in comparison to what he was feeling now. Once the rat was once again a human Harry pointed his wand at him and mumbled, "Ennervate."

He saw Pettigrew open his eyes, see Harry, and instantly try to run to the door. Harry jumps in front of him.

"Oh I don't think so."

Pettigrew flinched at the coldness in Harry's voice.

"H-Harry...Harry...forgive me..." He stammered, dropping to his knees before Harry.

"Fuck you!" shouted Harry in his coldest voice. "How dare you ask for forgiveness. What did Remus ever do to you? Or how about Sirius?"

Harry kicked Pettigrew hard in the stomach. The rat dropped even lower on the ground, doubled over in pain. Harry didn't care.

"Or what about my dad? What did he do to deserve death?"

Harry kicked Pettigrew again, harder this time.

"Or my mum? What deemed her eligible for your death list, huh?"

He kicked him again.

"What the fuck did ANY OF THEM EVER DO TO YOU!" bellowed Harry, kicking Pettigrew repeatedly as hard as he could. He wasn't even aware of the tears that had started to slide down his face. All he could think about was his anger at Pettigrew. His anger at himself for saving the worthless bastard. Before he could register what happened he collapsed on the ground next to Pettigrew, his energy spent. He sobbed quietly for a few moments. He wasn't paying attention to the man next to him anymore. Fortunately, the man wouldn't have been able to move anyway. He, too, was too weak to move, though his weakness was solely of the physical nature.

Time passed without Harry's knowledge. As his sobbing turned to sniffles, he heard a familiar voice calling his name.

"Harry?"

It was Hermione. But where was her voice coming from? Looking around the room, Harry saw no one but Pettigrew. Quickly stunning the weak man on the floor, Harry continued his search for the voice. A moment later, he realized it was coming from his cloak.

Crawling over to his cloak, Harry fished through the pockets until he found his mirror. The mirror that had failed to reach Lupin in time. Hermione's face stared back at him as he looked into it.

"Harry?" she asked again.

"W-what?" he asked tiredly.

"Where are you? You just ran off. We were worried about you."

"Where are you?" he asked her, ignoring her question.

"We're still in the headmaster's office," she said, clearly distressed. "Now where are you?"

"The Room of Requirement," he said. "Tell the headmaster to get over here as quickly as possible."

"What is it, Harry?" asked Dumbledore. He seemed to have taken the mirror from Hermione.

"Pettigrew's here."

Harry heard the gasps from the other side of the mirror.

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

The mirror went blank.