Meanwhile, Remus was beginning to feel enough energy to sit up and lean against a tree. Whoever sent that dementor for him, the dementor they sent was a brutal one. Remus, as wiped out as he normally was, had never felt this bad after a dementor attack. Of course, he hadn't been involved directly with a dementor since he encountered one trying to get at Harry Potter on the Hogwarts Express. Usually, he would recover after only a few minutes. The fact that just now he was able to sit up chilled him. Good thing Tonks had her wand with her. If she hadn't, he'd have been long gone by now.

Suddenly, a piercing scream interrupted Remus' thoughts. Remus could've sworn it came from the direction of Tonks' house. Whipping his head around, Remus tried not to make a sound. The scream was female…Tonks? What was it? Another boggart that she now couldn't get rid of?

No, it wasn't a scream of fright or surprise. It was a scream of pain. Was Tonks in trouble? Was it just her knee…or something else? Remus reached for his walking cane, which had fallen beside him when the dementor cornered him. He tried and struggled to get to his feet. When he stood, it felt like there was a 30-pound rock on each of his shoulders, but he needed to make sure it wasn't Tonks.

Remus began walking every so slowly but ever so steadily towards the source of the scream. The dark night made shadows appear to pop out of nowhere. He was afraid of tripping and rendering himself immobile, and then Tonks would be in real trouble, whatever was going on.

Or maybe she'd just been bitten by a spider or a snake or something. Maybe so. Nevertheless, Remus trekked forward in hopes of seeing Tonks lying on the ground, rubbing a spider bite on her ankle. In fact, he could have sworn he saw movement up ahead of him…

Bellatrix let go of the curse after about a minute. Tonks collapse to the ground as a huge wave of relief overcame her body. What she had just felt was death without the dying. Tonks had expected something inside her to crack and give away that Remus was about a quarter of a mile behind her, recovering from a dementor attack. That's when it occurred to her…

"Bellatrix, you sent the dementor my way!"

"Oh!" Bellatrix squealed with a demented sense of delight. "You figured it out already! Brilliant! I knew that wherever I saw the Patronus light from my broom, there you'd be! But I hadn't even arrived at the sight of the Patronus before I got you!"

Tonks growled as her strength came back. She needed her aunt's wand in order to survive this ordeal. "Why would you want us dead now, of all times?"

"Imperio!" Bellatrix shouted. She waved her wand, and Tonks felt as if she were attached to puppet strings. She felt herself being heaved to her feet. Bellatrix surprisingly lifted the curse before she had Tonks do anything lethal to herself. "Because the Dark Lord knows that a certain someone is about to come of age! And you and your repulsive half-breed bedmate are two of the things in his way from getting to Harry Potter…so obviously, if you want to get to the prize, you need to tackle a few…obstacles…but the Dark Lord isn't one to use up all his energy saved for Harry on two disgusting blood traitors like you and the half-breed—"

"REMUS! REMUS LUPIN!" Tonks screamed with a double-intention. Maybe if Remus could hear that, he'd know she was in danger.

"Like I give a rat's ass what his name is," spat Bellatrix. "I knew you'd put up a fight, you and the werewolf boyfriend of yours. But why deal with two-on-one? If I have you….the half-breed will come willingly into the palm of my hand…and I'll have had two for the price of one!"

Tonks hissed. "One problem. What if I don't say anything?"

Bellatrix snarled like an animal, her teeth so yellow they were almost brown. "Then I'll just kill you and force myself to work overtime to get your lover-wolf. But don't be stupid! Don't you want to see your lover-wolf alive one…last…time…?"

Tonks was silent. She noticed a shadow appear out of nowhere from behind Bellatrix's shoulder. It was Remus with her wand! But Tonks pretended as if she saw nothing.

"I'll make you a deal…you tell me where the half-breed wolfman is, and I'll give you a painless, carefree death. If not, then I'll just have to torture you to death, though either way, I win!"

Tonks remained defiant. Come on, Remus…she'd gonna kill me if you don't do something!

"Very well," Bellatrix sighed. "We'll do it the hard way. Crucio!"

Tonks felt the excruciating pain again, as if every cell of her body was on fire. She doubled over and fell to the ground, trying to keep her wits about her. She couldn't help but scream again, louder than last time.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Suddenly, she felt the searing pain lift as another cool wave of relief flooded her. Bellatrix, in a Body-Bind, fell backwards. Remus sprang out of the bushed and rushed to Tonks' aid.

"Thank you for waiting until she tortured me," Tonks sighed.

"Why is SHE here?" asked Remus.

"Voldemort wants us dead so he has a clear shot at Harry," Tonks said. "We need to get to the house and find a Portkey to anywhere but here…and we have to warn my mum and dad…"

Remus and Tonks decided just to Apparate this time. Tonks held on to Remus, and within a millisecond, she was in her living room. Andromeda and Ted both looked shocked to see Remus and Tonks in such bad condition appear out of nowhere. Ted looked shocked in general.

"I'll never get used to this magic stuff," he remarked.

Andromeda shook her head. "Remus! Dora! You both look like you've died!"

"Mummy! Daddy! Bellatrix is out there and after us!"

Andromeda looked surprised. Ted turned to her and pointed to his head. "Your sister with the…the…hair?" Andromeda nodded and looked at Tonks.

"She probably knows we Apparated here. The Body-Bind curse I put on her will only last a few minutes…by the way, Dora, here's your wand," Remus tossed the small wand back at Tonks, who snatched it out of the air.

Andromeda turned to Ted. "We can't Apparate out of here, it's too dangerous because of the cracking that comes with it!"

Remus looked up the stairs. "In my room, there's a photograph of Sirius," he said. "Just tap it twice and it will become an immediate Portkey to Grimmauld Place. Take Ted with you."

"What about you and Dora?" asked Ted.

"We'll seal the house so she can't get inside, and we'll Apparate there in an hour. If we're late, then something's wrong, but don't come back," Tonks ordered. Andromeda grabbed Ted's hand and dashed upstairs. After a few second, Remus and Tonks heard the unmistakable sound of a departing Portkey. At least Andromeda and Ted were safe.

"Quick!" Remus yelled. "Lock everything! I'll put a Shield Charm over the house…" Remus went upstairs. To make a Shield Charm, he had to be outside the house. Meanwhile, Tonks triple-locked all the windows and doors so "Alohomora" couldn't unlock them. She then turned off all the lights and made sure none of Andromeda's valuables were in sight…her sister would undoubtedly try to either steal or destroy as much of her disowned sister's property as possible.

Upstairs, Remus had just cast the Shield Charm successfully over the house…only to look down and see Bellatrix was already nearly at the door. She was on the inside, not the outside, obviously trying to remain quiet.

"DORA!" Remus yelled. "There's no time! Apparate out of here!"

"I can't!" said Tonks, rushing up the steps. "She's trying to break down the door, I already tried! Your charm is too strong!"

Remus looked at her. "Then we'll need to climb out a window and get outside of the shield. Hurry…"

And, of course, at that exact moment, Remus had another vision.

Remus found himself in the basement of Hogwarts. Why was he here? Did he really decide to go to the battle?

Someone was moving around him. His wand was out, and so was Remus' wand. He was in a duel…but with who?

Suddenly, a long-faced Death Eater, Antonin Dolohov, emerged from the shadows, grinning evilly at Remus. They were circling around and around, neither one of them making a move.

Suddenly, Dolohov spurted a curse at Remus, but he easily jumped over it, then he ducked under another one. One curse flew right after the other. Remus kept trying to stun the man, but he was too quick. Plus, Remus had to try and save his ass before trying to go on the attack.

Remus nearly got hit with a Killing Curse, but he again, dove to the ground to avoid it.

"REMUS? REMUS?!"

It was Tonks. Where was she?

Meanwhile, Dolohov was standing over Remus triumphantly. He was caught.

"It's all over now…" Dolohov chuckled.

Suddenly, he was hit with a Stupefying Curse and fell back wards. Remus looked up.

"Remus, are you alright?" asked Tonks' angelic voice.

But before he could see her face. The vision ended.

"REMUS! Are you alright?" asked Tonks. Remus shook himself back into reality.

"Yeah…"

"She's in the house. We need to stay upstairs and jump out a window," Tonks said. "I threw something downstairs to make it sound like we were hiding in the kitchen. But she'll catch on soon…"

"Come, you first…" Remus opened the window. Tonks grabbed onto the trellis hanging outside and slowly descended back to the earth. Remus followed closely behind. Their trek to the ground was quick and smooth.

"Come on, Dora, we can't make a sound…"