Werewolf Hunting

Disclaimer: Please don't kill me… I mean sue me…

Chapter Nineteen: Happenings

"A silver knife?" Moody questioned hesitantly.

"Huh?" Boewyn tried to look at Moody better by shifting on the bed so his head hung right over the side. Unfortunately this resulted in him overbalancing and falling most of the way off the bed, banging his head on the floor.

"OW!"

"The knife, Boewyn. Why's it silver?" He can't possibly think he's going to…

"I destroyed all of my silver weapons when I gave up hunting." Boewyn replied.

"That knife looks pretty damn silver to me!" Moody snapped "We're trying to save the kid remember?"

"Yeah, I know. It's just a precaution, Al"

"A precaution? Against what?"

"Just a precaution. A knife in the right place will kill anybody"

"Including a werewolf when that knife is silver!"

"Look, Al." Boewyn was still hanging over the bed, looking at Moody from the floor, where his head was. "I wasn't going to bring it. I really wasn't. But then I thought… 'you never know' I never said it was to use against the kid. What if… say this Dark Lord who took the kid had werewolves on their side? And we had to fight those werewolves to get him back? Without silver, where would we be? Hmm?"

Moody opened his mouth and then sighed.

"See?" Boewyn was smug again. "We have no idea what we could wind up being against. Hence, precautions."

Moody sighed, "fine then. But I swear if you…"

"I won't lay a hand on the kid alright? Won't even look at him if you're scared I'm going to hurt him in some way."

Besides the fact that Boewyn had said that, he still felt uneasy. It was just like Boewyn said. You never knew.

---

James, Peter and Sirius sat in their dormitory, all of them sitting on Remus' bed, feeling very depressed. Still Dumbledore had no new news to give them. He had heard nothing from or of Mad-Eye and Boewyn. Dumbledore could only assume that they had had no luck. Things were hard for the three boys, on top of missing one of their best friends, they had classes and…

"What about the Death Eater and Dark Lord stuff that's been going on." Peter asked, his voice slightly fearful.

"What about it?" Sirius asked, "A lunatic of a dark wizard and his just as loony followers are out to get everybody. It won't be long until the Aurors catch him and his followers and throw them all into Azkaban." He finished with a shrug. "No biggie"

"I dunno Pads. This Dark Lord seems pretty intent on what he's doing. You saw this morning's paper."

And he had, almost everybody had by the end of the day. One of the more important wizarding families had been found dead in their home that morning, a husband and wife not to mention their 9 year old daughter all dead, no marks, no nothing, just a skull sign hovering above the house. All three boys felt the same thing and shuddered slightly, even Sirius who had been saying it was a 'no biggie' just a moment ago . It was scary that's what it was.

"You don't suppose Remus was… well taken by this guy, do you?" Peter whispered

There was a silence.

"No!" James said a little too loudly. "Of course not. What would he want with Remus?"

"Yeah, Wormtail. Don't be stupid."

Peter gave a soft giggle. "Yeah, you're right. It was stupid, sorry."

But as the boys readied themselves for bed they couldn't help but wonder about what Peter had said. Remus' disappearance so was so strange… but it couldn't be like that… could it?

---

In the dark of the lower room in the tavern sat a figure with long tawny hair pulled back into a ponytail, long scars highlighted by the flickering lights, eyes cold and harsh a fanged necklace around his throat. Alone and in a secluded corner of the room he drank. Anybody looking in his direction would see that this was a man not to mess with. An aura surrounded him, warning peoples subconscious to stay away for those who didn't would sorely regret it. He downed his current mug and ordered another. While he waited he stared into open air, his eyes distant and unfocused. Sometimes the pupils would flicker ever so slightly as he though he watched something that no one else could see. Some might say that the man was drunk, hence the appearance of seeing things, but any wise person could see that this was not so. The figure didn't acknowledge the maid who came with his drink although after she left he picked up the mug and drank a mouthful. He never looked around or noticed goings on in the room. It seemed the building could burst into flame at any moment and he wouldn't notice, just continue to sit and drink and think.

Another drink, another flicker and so it went on. For many hours the man sat there drinking, thinking, and watching. He was so unnoticeable in that corner that everybody noticed him. One of the maids disappeared to return with the bar owner, who watched him along with everyone else.

"How long has he been like that?" The owner asked the maid.

"Several hours now, and a lot of booze"

The owner nodded grimly.

"Was he sober when he started?"

"He appeared to be so. He was here last night too, but not like this." The maid looked slightly fearful.

"Right then." The owner made his was slowly across the room until he stood next to the man's table. He cleared his throat to gain the man's attention. The man didn't respond.

"Evening, Sir" the owner tried.

Still nothing.

"Sir?"

The man finally turned his eyes sideways, watching the owner with hard, cold eyes.

The owner suppressed a shudder. There was something about this man that made him very, very nervous. He swallowed then tried the concerned card.

"Heard you been down here a while, perhaps it's time you made your way to bed."

The man raised a solitary eyebrow.

"No, I don't think so." He let his eyes slide back to where they had been before, "not yet."

The owner decided to try something else.

"A lot on your mind?" he asked, maybe the man would leave, just to avoid being questioned.

"There's always a lot on my mind" came the reply, his eyes still distant.

"…"

The owner was getting really nervous now.

"You're making the other customers a bit nervy friend."

The man took a drink and didn't reply.

"well… err…" The owner had no idea what to do. "I'll… err… leave you too it, Sir" he finally muttered.

"if you were given a choice…" the man spoke up suddenly. The owner froze mid turn.

"A choice, Sir?"

"If you were faced with death, by either your hand… or theirs… If by their hand, a monster would be free, but an innocent life be spared and if by your hand the world would be a little bit safer, but an innocent life would be lost… which would you choose?"

"Death, Sir? I… I couldn't say."

"No… not many can." The man went silent once more and the owner took his chance and left the room as quickly as possible. Once he was out of sight, he shuddered violently.

The man resumed drinking, thinking and watching. It wasn't long before he had finished two more drinks. As he finished the second the same barmaid who had been serving him since he had started came over. For the time that night he looked at her, she stared deep into his eyes and saw sadness and loss deep in those eyes. The man sighed and buried his head into his hands.

"Another, Sir?" she asked hesitantly.

"No, no more thanks love." came the soft reply. Surprisingly steadily he rose to his feet.

"Just charge it all to room 19, okay?"

"Yes, Sir". She considered the amount he had drunk.

"Want a hand getting to your room, Sir?' she questioned. The man placed a hand on her shoulder.

"No, thank you for offering, but I can manage." He let her go and made his way slowly across the room. He was steady on his feet , you would never suspect he had been drinking endlessly for several hours now. She watched him leave and then gave a soft sigh, she couldn't help but feel sorry for that man. Something terrible had obviously happened to him and he couldn't forget it.

---

Moody's magical eye spun and he looked through his room's wall. He watched as Boewyn slowly made his way upstairs and to his room. His eye unfocussed and the wall came into view. Moody found himself wondering just what had happened to Boewyn.

Authors Note: Another day, another chapter. I wasn't actually planning on writing today. It just sort of happened. My chapters aren't as long as the chapters in some stories you read generally because I get to a point which seems like a good place to end a chapter. I don't know how I decide this… I just do… So yeah… my long chapters are short and my short chapters are really short.