{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter World was created by J.K. Rowling and rights are owned by, but not limited to, Warner Brothers and Scholastic Books.  I, therefore, own no parts of this save for Andromeda McGee, Wyvern and my twisted, yet original, plotline.}

Chapter 4

Flaming Apothecary

Remus looked at sky through a nearby window, seeing the sun near the horizon.  It was almost time.  He stood up from the rickety porch chair.  The four children were in the lake splashing around with Sirius.  That would keep them occupied for a while.  Andy was no where to be seen, which meant that she was in the basement working on something else that she dug up.  He staggered inside.  His muscles were tightening like they always did before the transformation.  The spasm passed as he stumbled down the stairs.  The Wolfsbane Potion that he had taken earlier did nothing to ease the pain.  He leaned against the wall for a moment, gritting his teeth against the incoming agony.

"Andy?" he called out, torment creeping into his voice.

He saw her dash out of her laboratory in a panic.  She placed an arm around his shoulders, guiding him to a chair.  "Sit.  You took the potion, right?"

Moony nodded weakly.  It was always like this: painful as hell.

"Alright.  You want to stay down here, I suppose?"

"I had the door plated with silver just to be safe."

"You aren't going to hurt anyone, Moony.  You know that."

"It's a precaution," his voice dropped to a low growl as the moon rose above the horizon.  Andy stepped away, willing herself to become a lynx.  She watched him transform, wishing that she could do something to ease his pain.  The werewolf collapsed to the floor.  She waited for a moment.  There was always a chance that the potion hadn't worked this time.  It was a chance they had to take every time.

"Moony?" she purred softly as she nudged him with a paw.

"I'm…here," he sounded exhausted.

"Good, you'll be fine then.  Feel free to borrow the bed.  I don't mind.  I have to finish my current experiment."  Still as the feral cat, she saw him curl up on the unmade bed.  Satisfied that he would be alright, she stalked back into the laboratory and returned to human.

Remus awoke a few hours later from shooting pains sparking up and down his spine.  He leapt off the bed knowing that transformation was eminent.  He moaned as his bones lengthened and organs rearranged themselves.  It hurt worse than the earlier change.  It always did.  Feeling like he had been run over by a dozen Mack trucks simultaneously, he collapsed back on the bed, not caring that Andy was there as well.  She had obviously come to bed after he had fallen asleep.

Andy slowly returned to consciousness.  She realized two distinct things before she opened her eyes.  One was that her pillow had obviously been stolen by someone else and two, that the someone who had stolen it was currently being used as her own pillow.  She cracked the seal of sleep, finding herself gazing into a pair of golden eyes.  "Morning, Moony."

"Good morning," he replied, his voice tinged with amusement.

It took her moment to realize that she was almost sprawled out across him.  His chest was being used as a head rest and her arm was flung over the remaining part of his torso.  "You make a excellent pillow.  I hope you don't mind."

"Considering that I am using yours, I don't mind at all."

"Good, because I'm comfortable."

He chuckled.  "Then I don't suppose that you're planning on moving anytime soon?"

"No, not unless you want me to."  She moved one of her arms and found it still asleep.

"That's alright."  Remus patted her gently on the back.  As much as he hadn't expected her to end up this way, it was a pleasant surprise.  "It's my fault anyway.  I should have gone back upstairs."

"Nah, you wouldn't have made it beyond the third step.  I told you that you could stay and you did."

"This still was not supposed to happen.  Sirius is going to kill us."

"He won't."  Andy rolled off him and sat up.  "Though he will pretty pissed which will interesting to see." She paused, noticing the darkening expression on the werewolf's face.  "Don't worry.  He won't care.  He'll understand."

"Are you sure?"

"Only fools are completely positive."

A loud crash resounded from the kitchen.

Remus pulled himself upright.  "He's trying to cook again, isn't he?"

"Yup.  We should get up there."

Moony grabbed a spare shirt that he had left on the nightstand before he climbed the stairs.  He got to the top just as he heard Andy greet Sirius.  There was a pause as the other man saw him enter from the basement door.

"Oh, Sirius," Andy added.  "I forgot to tell you that I slept with you best friend last night."

"That's nice."

"You're just going to let her do that?" Harry questioned.

"Of course.  Here's some advice.  Never try to control a woman.  It doesn't work.  And I can honestly say that by sleeping, all they did was fall asleep on the same mattress, nothing more than that.  Am I right?"

"Yeah, but it's much more fun to tease you."

"See?  She's harmless."

Andy punched him in the arm.  "I am not harmless."

"Fine, mostly harmless."

"Thank you, that's better."

"Hey, do you want breakfast or not, woman?"

"Maybe.  Do you have any plans for today?"

Sirius placed a fried egg on each plate.  "We were planning a fishing trip across the lake for all interested."

Only Ginny refused to look remotely excited.

"Marvelous.  I'm going to Diagon Alley.  There are some things I need to get from the Apothecary."

"Go right ahead."

"Anyone want to come with me instead of spending useless hours out on the lake attempting to hook small swimming creatures that end up being smarter than the average human being?"

"May I go?" the youngest Weasley spoke up, not at all wanting to go fishing.

"Sure.  We're leaving right after breakfast."

Breakfast was a quick meal of eggs and toast, two of the things that Sirius could actually cook.

"Alright, Virginia, let us depart before these idiots try anything else."

Sirius cast her a dark look.  "That was not very nice."

"No, it probably wasn't, but I said it anyways.  Have fun!"  She pulled a handful of Floo powder out of the pot on top of the fireplace and tossed it in.  "You go first, Virginia."  She waited until the girl disappeared before leaping into the flames after her.

Ginny wiped a spot of soot off her robes before Andy appeared a few seconds later.  "I hate Floo," she muttered to herself.   "First stop: Gringotts.  Come along."  The girl tagged along behind her, saying nothing.  She hated Gringotts.  It was too much of a reminder of her family's lack of money.  It bothered her that other families had so much and they had so little.  She was embarrassed by it, to be honest.  She shook her head to clear the negative thoughts as Andy passed off her key to the goblin.  There was a cart waiting for them nearby.  Ginny noticed her Potions Mistress gulp as they buckled themselves into the seats.  It stopped by a small vault.  Andy stepped out after it had been opened.  Ginny saw a meager pile of Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts, a bit smaller than the quantity in the Weasley vault.

"Damn," the woman swore quietly.  "I'd forgotten about that."  She shoved a few handfuls into a carry sack.  "It'll have to do for now."

They returned to the surface with Ginny having a bit more respect for her instructor.  It had never occurred to her that the Professors were not as wealthy as they seemed to be.  Obviously some did have more than others, but at least she knew they were not filthy rich like some of the pure blood families.

The Apothecary was a small, slightly dilapidated looking shop on a small alley way off of Diagon.  It was run by an equally worn wizard named Jonah Valerian.  "Andromeda!  How nice to see you again!" he sounded excited to see her.  With the state of his shop, he did not get much business.  Most people preferred to go to the other, more well known apothecary shop.  Ginny knew the place.  It was where her family got what they needed for potions are such.  "And Miss Weasley!  How are you?"

"Fine, sir."

"Now what can I do for you today?"

Andy handed her list to the man.  "These are what I will be needing."

Valerian studied the list for a moment, pushing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose.  "Yes, I suppose I can find these for you.  They should be around here somewhere…" He trailed off, pulling down buckets, containers, and jars.

"I'm going to go look around for a bit. Just give me a yell when you're finished."

"Certainly, my…" He was cut off by a large explosion out on the street.

Andy swore under her breath, cursing every deity that she could think of.  She peeked out the shop's door and swore louder.  "Ah, fuck.  Virginia, Floo back to the cabin, now.  There are Death Eaters trying to blow up Gringotts.  And Jonah, I'll be back for the order eventually."  She raced out the door into the fray, wand in hand.

Ginny watched her go, mouth agape.  "Death Eaters…"  That wasn't supposed to happen.  Not here in Diagon Alley, especially not in Diagon Alley and Gringotts.  She didn't protest having to leave.  She didn't want to fight in the first place.  It would safer far away from here.

"I knew this was going to happen someday," Jonah muttered.  "I told them that it would, but no, did they listen to me?  Of course not!  Did they heighten defenses?  No!  Don't listen to the old man, they said.  He's delirious.  I knew it!"

"Um, Mr. Valerian, sir?"

He was brought out of his ranting by Ginny's voice.  "Hmm?"

"Andromeda told me to Floo back.  Do you know where I can find a public Floo near here without having to cross the Alley way?"

"Yes, I do.  I have my personal one right back here," he ushered her into a back room with a fire place.  "Here you go.  I do hope Andromeda knows what she's doing."

"She does," Ginny tried to sound confident even though she was anything but.  "Thank you, sir."  She disappeared into the green back to the cabin.

Remus noticed her first.  "Where's Andy?"

Ginny swallowed nervously.  "There was an attack on Gringotts.  She told me to go back here and then ran into the fight.  I don't know where she went after that."

"Shit!" Sirius knew that Virginia Weasley would not lie.  "May the gods damn you to eternity, Andy, for being such a stubborn little bitch!"

"Was that the right thing to do?"

"Yes, it was," his hard face softened.  "Andy can be a bit hasty sometimes, but she'll be fine.  She's a fighter at heart."  He desperately hoped that he was right.

Andy ran into the fray looking less fierce than she felt.  At a little bit over five feet tall and still underweight from her stay in Azkaban, she did not look any where near dangerous.  She seemed more like an innocent bystander than a want-to-be Amazon Warrior.  Appearances, fortunately for her and unfortunately for the Death Eaters, were deceiving.

The Death Eaters had surrounded Gringotts and were currently blasting everything that they could.  Goblins and Aurors lay dead in the street.  'Diagon Alley was a stupid move,' she mused to herself.  'The Aurors were right here, as if they already knew about it.'  Andy cracked a grin.  Severus must have known about it in advance this time.  She shrugged as she ducked behind an over turned cart and began to shoot out curses at whatever Death Eater got close to her.

It took them a few moments to realize that someone was hitting them from behind.  Death Eaters, along with judges, were stupid creatures.  They both failed to realize the obvious.  Two turned, intent on murdering her there and then.  Andy knew she couldn't hold off the whole lot of them, but she would try.  She shot her favorite enchanted knife curse at one of them before the other managed to grab hold of one of her arms.  She swiftly kicked him in solar plexus.  The masked man bent over, gagging for breath.  The other man was jabbed in his groin with her other foot.  He collapsed on the cobblestones moaning incoherently.  A third Death Eater managed to get her in a bear hug from behind, pinning her arms firmly to her sides and lifting her off the pavement.  Andy struggled in his strong arms and found no way out.  Another masked minion patted her mockingly on the cheek.

"Come one, baby, cooperate with us.  It'll make things so much easier."

She spat in his face.  It didn't much other than make the person rather angry.

"Alright, bitch, that's it!  No one messes with me and gets away with it!"

"I do," she whispered to herself as she swung her leg forward and felt it connect solidly with some part of the robed figure.  He stumbled backward as she hit the man holding her between the legs.  He dropped her, having lost all thought of keeping her captive.

The Death Eater that she had originally kicked was regaining focus enough to shoot a curse at her.  It hit her solidly in the back.  Andy staggered forward, tripping on her own feet.  She fell to the ground and lay still.

Closer to the bank, another Death Eater noticed her fall with a shake of his head.  He could never understand why she would throw herself willingly into fights.  The leader of the troops gave a silent signal to retreat.

"MORSMORDE!" the Death Eater called the Mark to the sky and grabbed the fallen body before Apparating away.

Snape appeared a few seconds later in the front entrance way of his house with Andy cradled in his arms.  She was still breathing.  That had to be a good sign.  He knew the curse they cast upon her would do more mental harm than physical.  Taking only enough time to remove his mask, he set up the fire to Floo to Hogwarts.

A few seconds later, he arrived in Dumbledore's office.  The Head Master had been waiting for him.  He noticed the body in Snape's arms.  "What happened?"

"Andromeda stumbled into the fray, decided to be the obstinate Gryffindor that she is, and tried to take on a mass of Death Eaters by herself despite the fact that the Aurors had already arrived," he scowled venomously.

"Oh my," Dumbledore decided, looking rather worried.  "Take her to the infirmary and see what you can do."

"There's nothing I can do, Albus," he snapped, not meaning to do so.  "They hit her with a Soul Separator curse.  She's still alive and will continue to slowly die unless her soul finds its way back to her."

The Head Master's eyes lost their familiar blue twinkle, changing to an icy grey.  "Then take her to the infirmary any ways.  We shall have to see what happens.  Hopefully she will be strong enough to find herself again."

{Author's Note:  I'm evil.  I know I am.  That was a bit of a cliffy, wasn't it?  ::proudly smirks at her achievement::  Ha ha, I know what happens next and you don't!  I need more sleep…I need a lot more sleep…Oh, well.  Hope you enjoyed it!  Please review! 

Anna Black:  I've read that one.  It's hilarious when you actually think about what is going on.  Which instrument do you play?  I understand your situation.  My instructor moved me up to second clarinet and I had to sight read everything toady in band, most of it being sixteenth note runs.  Now that was fun.

Shasa Perino:  The next chapter involves a bit more violence, I can promise that much.  I liked the petition idea.

Angelkas:  I am semi fluent in Spanish, so I understand what I am saying and my beta understands what I mean, so I'm good.

Dy:  They might later on, but not in the next chapter.

Sora G. Silverwind:  The darker stuff comes in the next two chapters and probably more after that.  This is going to be very dark once I get into it, judging by half the ideas that I have so far.

VMorticia:  Well…Twink came from a math class about three years ago.  My math teacher, who was a bit of a nut, was talking to us about the Regents exam (NYS state test).  Her almost exact words were "I can't go up to Travis if he does something wrong and say 'Travis, you twink!  That's not right!'"  Hence, the word twink and where it came from.  Saber was a bit of irony.  A sharp sword for a not so sharp cat.  My cat has run into closed, solid doors before which is where Saber came from.  You are muchly welcome for your bouncing ferrets.

Peace, Love, and Duck Tape, Nataly Ravenlock}