October 21, 1978

Groggily, Remus peeled his eyes open. His head pulsed in time with his heartbeat and he groaned, hunching over, his eyes squeezing shut again. His muscles ached, and he was sore all over. The Death Eaters had likely used an Unforgiveable Curse on him; nothing else should or could leave him hurting this badly. The Cruciatus Curse was the only thing that it could be, he immediately decided groaning in pain as his lungs and ribs protested every breath that he took. He was glad that Althea hadn't come back when they had forged the letter, even though in the end it had resulted in more torture for him courtesy of Bellatrix Lestrange. She was safe, and that was all that mattered. He could deal with this torture because he knew that she was safe.

The dank, musty air of the cell irritated his sensitive nose and Remus coughed, pressing a hand to his ribs as they screamed in pain. The door to the cell he was in swung open and in waltzed Bellatrix Lestrange followed closely by Lucius Malfoy, someone who had graduated from Hogwarts only a year or two after Remus and the Marauders had started. Remus didn't know much about the Malfoy boy, save that he was a Malfoy, was married to Narcissa – Sirius's cousin – and was a Death Eater. Malfoy was close with Yaxley – the boy who had attacked Althea when they were still in Hogwarts – and Snape, which made sense since the three of them were Death Eaters. Well, Yaxley and Lucius were known Death Eaters; Snape was just a suspected Death Eater.

"Are you going to agree to contact your girlfriend now?" Bellatrix asked, impatience in her voice and a sneer on her angular face. Her wild, frizzy hair, gave her a crazy look. Remus didn't answer. "Mutt!" She snapped, drawing her wand.

"Patience Bella," Lucius told her, laying a hand on her arm. "He is a mongrel, it will take him sometime to comprehend the words that we are saying."

Bellatrix snickered, "Perhaps. But he should know to answer promptly, when being questioned by his superiors."

Remus barely fought the urge to roll his eyes, knowing that if he did whatever punishment he might receive would be worse. "I'm not going to contact Althea," he told them, his voice raspy. "It's hard to reach her, you must understand, since she is no longer in the country."

Bellatrix's eyes narrowed and even Lucius looked interested. "Then, where is she?"

"Mm, somewhere in Romania, I do believe," Remus mumbled lying through his teeth. "I'm not quite sure, Dumbledore has been sending her to many places, without my knowing. I think she talked about possibly heading to Romania though."

Ordinarily, Remus wasn't one to lie, but here he had no choice but to lie. He was doing it to protect Althea, while also trying to keep himself alive. A challenging task when surrounded by crazy Death Eaters. Bellatrix and Lucius said nothing further to Remus before exiting the room, in the same manner in which they had come in. Remus sagged against the stone wall behind him, his face pinched with pain as he tried to breathe. He had bought Althea and himself some time, but he didn't know how much.

Dammit. He groaned. He needed to find a way out of here, but it wasn't looking likely. The spells on this place were strong and there were who-knows how many Death Eaters in the buildings itself. Bloody hell, Voldemort himself, might even be here and trying to escape would be like signing his own death warrant. If he wanted to escape, he needed to have a plan. He needed to be methodical – he couldn't rush. Rushing would only make things go horribly wrong. Remus huffed out a breath, his hand going to his trousers where his wand still sat hidden in one of his pockets.

Stupid fools hadn't even bothered to check and make sure that his wand wasn't with him. At least now he'd have a bit of an advantage. He huffed out another sigh; but he couldn't risk escaping yet. He needed a plan.

Of all the things that Dumbledore had expected when heading into his office that night, after an exhausting day trying to stop the Slytherins from cursing or hexing Muggle-born students, he could quite honestly say that an irate Althea Morgan standing in his office wasn't one of them. He, had of course, known that Remus was missing and so her visit really shouldn't have been a surprise, but it was because he hadn't been expecting her back from France this soon. Not after hearing her latest report about Aurelie the half-Veela and her clan of fellow witches and wizards that also happened to be half-Veela. In retrospect, perhaps he should not have underestimated her feelings for Remus or the sneakiness of Death Eaters.

"Good evening Ms. Morgan," Dumbledore greeted, his eyes twinkling as he stared at the former Hogwarts pupil. "I presume, I know why you are here but in case my assumptions are wrong please do enlighten me."

Her strained smile, tightened and her eyes narrowed. "Remus is missing."

"Yes, I am aware of that fact Miss Morgan. However, I do not know what you expect me to do. While Voldemort is afraid of me, he soon won't be any longer, and it would be stupid of me to try to go after him just because one Remus Lupin is missing," Dumbledore told her, his voice holding nothing but pleasantness in it. Even still it made Althea bristle and clench her fists, an act which did not go unnoticed by the Headmaster. "That's not to say the Order won't try to find him, Althea. But these things take time. We need a plan, don't you think? Otherwise we could end up making things worse."

"I agree with that, but," Althea fumbled looking lost for words. She flushed then, ducking her head. "I'm just worried about him."

"I'm sure you are, and there is nothing wrong with that since he is your fiancé after all." Dumbledore held up his hands placatingly, "Leave everything to me Althea. Remus will be returned shortly, I'm sure of it."

Gritting her teeth, she nodded. Dumbledore eyed her for a few moments, doubting that she fully trusted in his words but eventually nodded, giving her a pleasant, understanding smile. She had really changed a lot in the short time since she had graduated from Hogwarts. Althea Morgan was no longer the shy, mousy, introverted girl that he used to see wandering the halls of Hogwarts or sitting in a library. She was more outspoken, braver, and her love for Remus could rival James's love for Lily – an impressive feat in and of itself, Dumbledore took care to note. She had really grown into her skin, and had truly become what a Gryffindor was to embody. He knew that she had her faults, but she hid them well, and when the time came she also acknowledged and learned from them. Becoming friends with the Marauders and Lily, had done her a lot of good.

"Then, I'll go. Thank you for your time," Althea said, stepping toward the fireplace so she could use the Floo Network.

"Floo to the Leaky Cauldron and then Apparate home," Dumbledore advised her his voice grave, "because you never know who could be watching."

Althea's eyes lit up with understanding and then she was gone in a flash of green light. Dumbledore sighed, wearily closing his eyes. It seemed that tonight he would have no rest. He had a werewolf that he needed to find.