Disclaimer: Some days I think I own them, but then I remember that I'm not British.

A/N Thanks for all the support (*cough*cough*) on my decision to give Lily the Dementor's Kiss...Heh. Some of you didn't seem to believe it actually happened. Sorry if I upset some of you!

And I would like to add that I'm surprised how many of you actually read my ten commandments on my profile. *laughs* Hey just because they're *my* ten commandments doesn't mean I can't break them, in fact that should give me a great right to break one or two or three...Because, it would make me a Goddess of sorts...So to speak. Err. Yes.

Questions:

Well, I WOULD have done the Q/A thing, but I keep having troubles accessing my reviews, errors keep coming up. *grumbles* stupid internet. I've also been very busy--I work 14 hours on the weekend and go to school during the week. However, school for me gets over June 6th and then I take on a 35 hour work week at my job (McDonald's) but since work doesn't give me homework I'll have free time in the evenings and such and more time to fix my social-life.

So since I normally do the Q/A right before I post, I can't do it this time--I did see some of your reviews--just not enough to get good info on what was confusing you.

I hope you like this chapter, I was VERY unsatisfied with it--I rushed through it and it was done in about an hour's worth of time--but I did edit some...Normally, I spend more time on a chapter--I'll do it in sections not all at once, because then the end will be splurged.

~*~

Flirting With the Enemy

By

Sierra Sitruc

Chapter 28 Downturn

If there was ever a death so peculiar as that of Lily Evans, the Daily Prophet had obviously skipped that report.

Not to mention every other newspaper in Europe. For the news of her death swept the continent like fire. How could a woman, sentenced to Azkaban for being a Death Eater, save the Auror's life that captured her?

Questions went unanswered, as James Potter had refused interviews and had dove even deeper into his work. Gossip was spun out by all the journalists around; speculation ran wild by every supposed expert. Terror was sucked into countries like air.

A person does not die immediately after given the Dementor's Kiss; it takes a few days or more to break them down. A person also, does not bring a Dementor down with them. And that was exactly what Lily had done.

How though? That was the main question that went through all the minds that read the story. Only two people had any idea how it happened: Remus Lupin and Albus Dumbledore.

Of course, no one knew this and the two men used their own intellectualism together to crack the mystery at hand.

It was late in the night, but as attacks from the Death Eaters increased, all against the evil were forced to push themselves to prevent more casualties. Thus, Remus and Dumbledore found themselves awake past midnight, with mugs of coffee steaming in their hands.

"What really pricks my curiosity the most," Remus began as he sat across from Dumbledore, with the Professor's large desk between them, "is why the Dementor attacked Lily in the first place. James's silence on the matter isn't helping any. He would know."

"Grief can strike a man down harder then the hardest blow of any sword or curse, sometimes, Remus," Dumbledore said quietly, while he stroked his beard and sucked on a lemon drop in seeming contemplation. Despite his composure, Dumbledore's eyes gave him away, there were no twinkling stars-- only a cloudy overcast. He was afraid, afraid of what was coming. Remus' senses caught onto it immediately, thus his own fear.

"I miss Lily too, but I'm not going mute," Remus grumbled. Almost immediately after, he then felt a deep stab of shame for being so cruel to James. He never had heard the entire story of Lily and James' friendship...

"But," Dumbledore pointed out, "Don't you and Isabella cope together in this time of sorrow?"

Remus thought back to reuniting with Isabella at Lily's funeral, and how they had come together to support each other, Isabella had sobbed hysterically on his shoulder, and Remus had held her up and released some pain of his own. Ever since, they'd been together most every day, and began to learn about one another; their likes and dislikes, their views on guacamole, their mutual friends and enemies; but Remus had yet to tell her of his knowledge of Lily's connection with Voldemort.

"I guess you're right, but we reached out to each other--James withdrew into himself," Remus said-- more defensively then he would have liked.

"That is true; I think he may just be befuddled about his feelings and is doing some inner-thinking to sort it out before coming out publicly," Dumbledore said thoughtfully.

"Possibly, still...two months and not a word," Remus semi agreed with his elder.

"Now, changing the subject--I did a bit of research on the curse you told me Voldemort had put on Lily," Dumbledore said, gesturing to a towering stack of backs beside his desk.

"A bit?" Remus questioned with a smirk.

"Yes, and I found out very little more then we already knew," Dumbledore said, a stitch of disappointment in his voice.

"Anything interesting?"

"Hmm...Well, for one I think I'd like for you to repeat what you told about what happened to you and Lily when you were in the Limbo between life and death."

"When you put it like that, it makes it seem ridiculous." Remus sighed heavily, weariness from all the excitement of the last few months still evident.

"Be as detailed as you can this time, if you please." Dumbledore folded his arms, reminding Remus very much of their many meetings during his school days, regarding... Well, compared to this, his problems seemed petty to him now.

"Very well." Remus began, "After Lily and I had found each other and had been talking for a while, we saw this small light--at first we thought it was another person but it turned out that they were no person at all..."

~*~

"Remus! Who the hell is that?!" Lily asked, the tone expressing her horrified shock.

"I think..." Remus breathed heavily, "that you mean, what the hell is that."

The stunned werewolf and witch continued to ogle at the beast in front of them. It glowed eerily, casting a grey-white light upon them that shone from its bottomless eyes. A pitchfork tail flashed about behind its Goliath-sized body. It stood on four legs as thick as trees, a fire trailed after its footsteps and its skin was the color of glowing coal.

Its head reminded Remus of a werewolf, except for the bull-like horns that stood up tall atop it. For a brief moment, Remus thought unnecessarily of how the... thing could see them from its view point.

Remus was also sure it would eat them alive--solid or not.

The demon let out a great snort from its hairy nostrils, and nodded towards them. "Which of you be the werewolf?" he asked, his voice shrill like nails on a chalkboard, but deep and hollow like a sorrowful ghost.

The hairs on the back of their necks rose at the question, but Remus answered with a steady voice, "I am."

"Ah, fellow brethren. We have a place for you amongst this darkness." The beast bobbed its head at Lily, "But she cannot come; she bore human blood in her worldly life."

"Where I go, she goes," Remus answered firmly.

The beast managed to look surprised, in all its unfeeling existence. "Bring her then, but I can make no promises about what the others will think."

"Others?" Lily spoke up for the first time, feeling miniscule against the creature.

"Never mind about that, just follow me." The beast turned around and began following its fiery trail back the way he had come. It appeared to work as a path back from where he had come, and Lily found herself thinking of the bread crumbs from Hansel and Gretel.

Remus and Lily nervously followed him after, walking directly through the fire without feeling a thing--it seemed all was a facade in this place. No burns or pains...The only thing it needed now was to have no emotions. No feelings. That would suit the two of them fine.

They arrived at their destination quite quickly, and both were amazed at what they saw.

It was as if Midas had come along with his golden touch and bathed everything in sight with gold. Magical pillars glittered, and a golden sky appeared seemingly from nowhere. Golden rivers and streams appearing from thin air ran towards a massive palace, soaking it with the sparkling money, all running on with no apparent end.

It was a rich man's dream. All they could do was dumbly follow the beast that led them there.

"Now, I will explain." The creature beside them began, "I am Motavius, Lord of the Werewolves. I am the Alpha of Alphas, your creator, youngling," he said with a nod at Remus. "Almost a thousand years ago, my people were shunned from Heaven and Hell. Heaven didn't want our supposed, tainted souls, and Hell didn't want to be so kind as to give us a home."

Motavius grinned strangely, and changed his form into a young man, no more then sixteen. His amber eyes gave him away for what he was, and his dirty blonde hair and long cheekbones gave him an intelligent and wise face.

"This is who I was, before Salazar Slytherin transformed me."

"The servant..." Lily gasped, her eyebrows raising high enough that she was sure they had raised half way up her forehead. "You're the servant of Slytherin's that Voldemort was speaking about." Her revelation changing the mood around them, the boy in front of them sighed regretfully.

"Correct."

"I thought you were...dead." Lily asked confused, but not as much as Remus was. "Or...more dead then you are now."

"I should have been. That much I figured out. However, what Salazar hadn't known back then all those years ago, was this," Motavius paused a moment, "I hadn't completely melded souls with him. At first, yes, it seemed I had lost my soul to that evil bastard, but--on the night of the full moon...My soul was able to escape from him, and the first living creature I came across that had a soul, was a wolf."

"A wolf in Australia?" Remus blurted out impulsively.

"I wonder about it myself at times. It was destiny for me to find this wolf. A powerful wolf, strong and healthy and it had just been murdered by a poor farmer protecting his children. The time had come for me to reclaim myself, and I did." He looked almost ashamed of this, as he looked at Remus and Lily.

"You decided to share souls with the wolf." Lily breathed, shock taking over.

"Exactly. For the most part, I had and still have most of the power over the wolf, but every full moon...He takes back what was his. He transforms into his original body."

"So, you were the one who began all this werewolf business." Lily stated, the wheels churning in her head, putting together the pieces of a puzzle she'd never wanted to solve.

"I suppose so, but let me further explain." Motavius said with sincerity in his voice, his hands fisted so tightly their place of existence seemed like a reality. "I hadn't known what I was doing... Months later in the mortal world, another full moon came and by then I'd begun to suspect what had been going on between me and the wolf that kept my soul from deteriorating completely. I'd made a small home here in this place of nothing, and had gotten used to the wolf taking over for a night."

Motavius paused, and willed himself to continue. That was when Lily began to suspect, that while he'd aged a thousand years here, there were still parts of him that were youthful and incapable of handling emotional strain.

"It was a full moon, and the wolf was in control. When the wolf used to romp about before, the desert had been empty. This time however, when the wolf decided to take a visit down to the world...It found humans- lots of humans." Motavius scrunched his face up, "It attacked, and with each bite his teeth left the mark of the wolf...The werewolf. From then on, a magical force bound the cursed people to my wolf. He would take over their bodies to run free one night a month, to gain freedom and expand his terrors to as many as he could."

"I have one question though, how did the wolf become able to actually touch mortals?" Lily asked.

"Hm, good question; I often wondered it myself, before the werewolves created began dying. They were trapped, here. Unable to continue forward into their next life."

"So you built this place for them." Remus said, with bitterness in his tone; no matter where his kind was, they were prejudiced against.

"Err...Yes, more like made with my mind. This place never looks the same for long." Motavius said lightly, "We needed a place to gather together. It's more or less heaven to us... Just that our friends and family--are elsewhere and are troubled once a month."

"Does the transformation hurt here?" Remus inquired.

"No, you just saw me in my other form--that was my transformation. Here, if you need intimidation, you can let your wolf take over slightly...Doesn't hurt a bit and you keep your mind."

"I see," Remus said with a nod. "Is there anyway to escape this place--and go back to our old bodies?"

"Excuse me?" Motavius seemed confused.

"We need to get back to the mortal world, its urgent."

Motavius thought a moment, "Maybe the girl--"

"My name is Lily, and he's Remus." Lily quickly filled him in, finally remembering that they hadn't told him.

"Pardon, Lily, I think I can send her back because she's not a werewolf and should have moved forward into Heaven--or the off chance of hell."

"You can't send Remus too?" Lily interrupted.

"I don't think so... How did you two get here?" The lord of the werewolves asked.

"We thought you knew; the Ceremony of course." Remus and Lily began to explain how they arrived here, step by step to Motavius, who listened intently.

At the end of their speech, he gave a crooked grin and said, "Now, there's something I could work with."

~*~

Note: Chapter 21 talks about the servant, that is Motavius. It's when Lily is conversing with Voldemort...

Review!! I love hearing from you guys, it gives me more confidence then any of you know!

*~Sierra~*