"The sun's setting," James murmured, his head on a swivel as he peered through the snowy-branched trees around them. "We've got to find him soon."

"We know, James," Lily said, almost snappishly. "We can't Apparate any further in, so we must be close."

Sirius bit his lip; he was growing more and more nervous with each passing minute. They'd followed Order intelligence to a particular Welsh forest where Greyback's wolves had been sighted, but they'd been trudging through the woods for hours and had yet to find anything. They were very much running out of time.

"What are we even looking for?" Peter wondered. "A…a big den, or a tree village, or—"

"Oi!" The four of them snapped to attention at the sound of Dorcas Meadowes' voice; she was pushing her way through the undergrowth in their direction. "Neville's found them. Come with me."

Lily and the Marauders exchanged glances, both relieved and apprehensive. "Finally," James said quietly. "Let's go."

With a brisk nod, Dorcas led the way through the woods and over the crest of a hill to find a large cave set deep into its slope. Two women—werewolves—stood guard on either side of its entrance, large knives glinting in their grasps.

Neville, Harriet and the Longbottoms were crouched with Marlene in the shadow of a rocky outcropping nearby; Dorcas took Lily and the Marauders on a circuitous path across the ridge to join them. "What's the situation?" Sirius whispered to Neville.

"We're not sure how many there are," Neville murmured back. "I haven't seen any wolves come or go since I got here. But we don't have much longer till the moon comes out."

"Yes, we're aware." Sirius peered around the rocks at the cave guards. "No matter what magic we use, we're not going to be able to sneak Remus out of there—werewolves' senses are super sharp right before they transform. We'll have to fight our way to him."

"Anything more sophisticated than that?" Marlene asked. "An actual plan, perhaps?"

"We don't have time for an actual plan."

"I say we charge down the hill with our wands out and see where it goes from there," James said.

Sirius tapped him on the shoulder. "Good idea, mate."

"Well, it's better than wasting daylight huddling behind a rock," Alice Longbottom said, rising to her feet. "Everyone ready?"

At Alice's signal, the ten of them ducked out from behind the outcropping and barreled down the hill towards the cave, their flitting shadows stretched out by the weakening sun. One of the guards gave a sharp, short howl, and more werewolves streamed out of the cave to confront the wizards, snarling in a way that was acutely animal. "Flipendo!" Sirius yelled, knocking a red-haired werewolf off her feet; he Stunned two others and pushed his way between them into the cave, his heartbeat pounding in his ears. He had to get to Remus, now.

"Where is he?" James breathed, entering just behind him with Peter and Lily while the rest continued their battle outside. Sirius shook his head, his eyes struggling to adjust to the darkness inside the cavern.

"I thought I would be seeing you here." A man flanked by werewolves stepped forward, lips twitching: Voldemort. Beside him walked another Death Eater with a hooked nose and a scowl Sirius knew all too well.

"Severus?" he heard Lily say behind him, nearly gagging on the word. But Sirius's eyes were fixed on the cage he could now see behind Snape, and the terrified, struggling man held inside it. Remus.

"Remus!" Sirius broke away from the others and ran for him, but Snape leapt forward and grabbed at his arm, thrusting his wand underneath his chin.

"Sirius, no!" Remus yelled, grabbing desperately at the bars of his cage. "You have to get out of here, please—we're about to transform, Sirius!"

"We're not leaving you!" Lily yelled back, her voice shaking. "Never."

Sirius spat at Snape, his saliva landing just beneath his eye. "You're going to pay for this, you bastard. No one messes with Remus and gets away with it." Snape didn't flinch; he pressed his wand tip deeper into the skin of Sirius's neck.

"Sirius," James said quietly.

Sirius didn't listen; he raised his wand, but Snape was faster. "Depulso."

Sirius was flung instantly backwards through the air, his head slamming against the cave floor hard enough to bring stars to his eyes. A searing pain consumed him, his ears ringing and his vision darkening; through it all he could sense the cave erupting into chaos around him. Get up, Sirius. For Remus.

Grunting, Sirius forced the stars from his eyes and the pain from his mind as he pulled himself back to his feet. The other members of the Order had made their way into the cave along with the remaining werewolves from outside, shouting curses and jinxes as they battled men and women armed with knives and teeth. Snape had joined in the fight, too, sending Marlene's arms up in flames with a carefully-placed hex; Voldemort hung back and watched, his expression stoic and unreadable.

"ARGHHH!" Sirius turned at the sound of Peter's cry and found a muscular werewolf crouched over his flattened body, drawing all ten of his claw-like nails across his bare chest.

"Stupefy!" Sirius cried; the wolf collapsed beside Peter, knocked out. Stomach clenching, Sirius ran to his friend's side—Peter was already bleeding profusely from all over, the blood pooling around his limbs where he lay. "Episkey!" Sirius murmured, lightly tapping each of the wounds, but nothing happened. Wounds from a werewolf were cursed, after all; Peter needed to be seen by a Healer, or he was very likely going to die.

Suddenly the werewolf beside Peter began to twitch, his bones and joints cracking and his muscles shivering. Sirius drew in a sharp breath, glancing around to find the other werewolves drawing back from their opponents as the same changes rippled through them. The Order wizards retreated until they stood together in a tight line, their eyes going wide with fear. The moon had risen; they'd taken too long.

"Accio," Voldemort said calmly from deeper within the cave. Two broomsticks flew into his hands, one of which he tossed to Snape. Behind him, Remus let out a feral, inhuman screech, his fingers tearing at his hair as they hardened into claws.

"You want your friend back?" Voldemort asked, waving his wand at Remus's cage. Its metal bars melted away, freeing the contorted figure inside. "You're free to have him."

Snape gave Remus one last, repulsed glare; then he and Voldemort mounted their brooms and flew from the cave, taking to the skies with none of the horrified Order members attempting to stop them.

"You have to get out of here!" Sirius yelled to the remaining wizards. "James and I—we can hold them back! Take Peter and get to somewhere you can Disapparate!"

"Like hell we're leaving you," Marlene retorted. Her wand was trembling so fiercely in her grasp that it looked like it was vibrating.

"He's right," James said, rushing forward to help Sirius lift Peter off the ground. Peter was barely conscious, mumbling and groaning with his eyes half-open. The two of them held him out to Frank Longbottom, the strongest of the group. "Trust me, we know how to deal with this. Take him, Frank."

"I—" Frank glanced down at Peter's body, then up at James and Sirius.

"We only have a minute," Sirius growled. "Take him, and run for your lives."

"Frank," Harriet said from beside him. She and Sirius exchanged a brief glance. "Listen to them. Let's get out of here."

Swallowing, Frank took Peter's body in his arms, and Lily and Harriet led the way out of the cave and up the hill, climbing as quickly as they could. Lily spared a quick look behind her to James, who blew her a nervous kiss.

The two remaining Marauders then turned to face the wolves, watching as they grew their pelts of black and white and gray. Their transformation was nearly complete—Remus was stepping out of the remnants of his cage as his fur grew in, his tail lashing behind him and his sights fixed on the humans at the mouth of the cave. He drew his tongue over his teeth, his ears pulled back as he approached his prey.

James and Sirius glanced back once more to the fleeing wizards, watching their silhouettes disappear over the crest of the hill. Then, just as the first transformed wolves leapt for their throats, they shed their skins for pelts of their own, the cave's final human inhabitants vanishing into the night.