Authors note: Thanks you all for your patience…I'm so sorry it took me forever to get this up. Things are not going well lately. A bit of a mental crisis... Ah well, here is this insanely long and crapily written chapter to make things up to you…

Chapter Twenty three - The Full Moon

Oh my god… Remus…

"Does this card look familiar?" the Ministry official asked suddenly, bringing her jammed mind back to the present.

Tonks's head snapped up. "No…I mean well no and yes. It's mine."

The sallow faced wizard let out a soft hiss. "And did you write the message?"

"No." said Tonks, thinking very quickly now.

They exchanged looks as Tonks thought furiously of what she could say. She didn't want to blow Remus's cover, blowing Remus's cover, meant blowing the Order's cover- blowing the Order's cover at this point- well, then Voldemort would rise to power within the week perhaps.

"Do you know who wrote it?" the burly wizard asked.

She needed time…time to think-

"I don't think so." She said coolly, "but can I read the message at least?"

The sallow faced wizard opened his mouth in protest but his friend interrupted with a gesture to silence his friend and said,

"Yes, please read it."

Tonks stared at the writing,

'Tonks-Montgomery family in severe danger- esp. child. Move them or set up a guard to be ready for the full moon of this month (march). Expect a full out attack.

Dear God. Tonks was glad she was sitting otherwise she believed she would have collapsed right there on the spot. He was trying to warn them. No, not them- HER- he had used her card- she wondered why and how on earth he had gotten a hold of it. Perhaps he intended the message to reach her, or maybe he knew that the office might consider it more seriously… Questions raced through her head-

"There's a bit more on the back." The wizard added.

Tonks flipped over the card to see a series of scribble marks that looked as if Remus had been trying to get the ink in the pen to work before writing the main message.

"Perhaps another form of a message? A secret symbol?" the sallow faced wizard suggested.

Tonks resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I think he was just trying to get the pen to work."

"Who wrote the message?" the burly wizard immediately demanded.

"I don't know." Tonks lied. "But whoever it was obviously picked up my card as a scrap piece of paper or something because I don't remember anybody asking to borrow my 'get well' card as a Ministry tip-off."

"You have 'get well' cards lying around the place?"

"I'm a messy person." Tonks continued to lie- hoping it wasn't the worst one she could have come up with.

"So you don't think that-?"

"-one of my friends wrote this as a prank?" Tonks finished for him. "Absolutely not. All of my friends know how serious I am about my work."

The men both exchanged skeptical looks.

"Well at either rate we need to send a group over there right away-" Tonks said. "The family is in danger."

"It doesn't specify from what-"

Tonks pointed at the line that read 'for the full moon'. "It's obvious. Werewolves."

"So how on earth would a werewolf have gotten a hold of your card?" the sallow faced wizard asked her coldly.

"How on earth should I know?" Tonks snapped. "It's besides the point- and there's also the possibility that the tip-off came from someone who knows about it but isn't a werewolf themselves- did you think of that?"

"It's a possibility." The burly wizard confessed.

Thank you…Tonks thought in relief. With the way things had been going in the conversation, she was going to be caught in a lot of dragon shit. "Then perhaps we ought to send someone over there-"

"We don't know for sure if this for certain though." Said the wizard.

"It's better to be safe than sorry." Tonks said. "Just get this over to my division with a confirmation and I'll get a team over there as soon as possible."

"I'm afraid we can't do that."

Tonks who had been in the process of rising from her chair, froze. "Sorry?"

"According to regulations, we can't properly confirm this tip off as genuine unless we know who sent it and speak to them personally."

She stared at them in shock. "A family is in danger and you lot are worrying about regulations?!?!"

"It could very well be a trap." said the sallow-faced wizard.

"Trap of what?" Tonks exclaimed, feeling anger rising quickly within her. "A trap of Voldemort's?"

Both wizards flinched and Tonks inwardly cursed herself for using the name like that so recklessly. But now was no time to worry about something so trivial.

"A child is in danger and we can't do anything until we have a name, is that what you're telling me?" She froze suddenly as something on the opposing wall caught her eye. She felt the blood drain from her face.

"When did you get that tip off?" she asked, still staring at the clock.

"Now young lady," the sallow-faced wizard said snippily, "that is classified information-"

"It's the twenty fourth of March! The full moon is tonight!" she cried. "When did you get that tip-off?"
They exchanged a nervous glance. "The other day." The burly wizard admitted.

Tonks stared at them in horror. "And you didn't alert us right away? You didn't alert the Montgomery's?!?!?"

"As of this point we feel there is no need or evidence to suggest a-"

But Tonks had heard all she needed to hear. With Remus's tip-off clenched tightly in her hand, she bolted from the room- ignoring the cries of protests of the Alert staff wizards from behind her and burst back into the Auror office.

"I need a team with me right now!" she shouted. "Anybody who's still here and ready to leave- come'on!"

Several startled faces appeared over the tops of their cubicles.

"What's going on Tonks?"

"Are you alright?"

"What happened?"

She opened her mouth to explain but suddenly was cut off-

"Nymphadora Tonks! What is the meaning of this!?!?!"

She turned around to see none other than her boss, Gawain Robards the Head of the Auror office and Pius Thicknesse, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. From the look of it, they had been reviewing some paperwork in Thicknesse's hands before being interrupted by her frantic arrival.

"Sir!" Tonks gasped. "It's an emergency! The Alert Staff received a tipoff and there's going to be an attack— a werewolf attack tonight sir, and-"

"This is most irregular." Robards frowned. "Causing a panic like this and creating disorder in the office-"

"Sir I don't think you understand, there's going to be an attack! Tonight!"

The frown deepened. "Surely the Alert Staff would have told us if there was a threat?"

"They just told me sir!"

"They should have reported any information to me though."

Tonks shook her head angrily. "It doesn't matter at this point who they reported to! We need to get over there as soon as possible! If I can take over a squad to go over there now and set up positions to guard the house-"

"Ms. Tonks, I appreciate your effort in this but I will take care of this now. I am the one who gives orders around here, and though your enthusiasm is appreciated-"

"ENTHUSIASM!?!?!" Tonks shouted. "A child is in danger, SIR!" She knew she was crossing a line here. She didn't have enough standing yet in the office to get away with mouthing off to her superiors, but the situation had given her the temporary insanity to stand up to her boss…

"Enough!" Robards roared. "Do not think that I do not care about the safety of other wizarding citizens! I will speak to the alert staff as soon as I am done going over this investigation with Pius here-"

"—but sir!"

"Ms. Tonks I am allowing you to leave early-"

She had not expected this. "WHAT?!?!"
"I suggest you go home and take some rest. You are in obvious need of it. Come back in tomorrow with a clear head and-"

She was growing more and more outraged by the second.

"GO HOME?!?! Home? I'm more than willing to lead a group over there now and-"

"By standing here verbally haranguing me, I'm forced to believe otherwise!" Robards roared, his face turning a deep red. "As I stated earlier I will get in touch with the alert staff as soon as possible-"

"Do you know what a werewolf attack consists of, SIR?" Tonks spat, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Shall we look up the definition together? It involves a man who at the rise of the full moon turns into a murdering beast after loosing his sanity and normal demeanor-"

"Miss Tonks-"

"-they tend to attack innocent people, SIR. Innocent people that have NO WARNING of what's to come and hope that people like US will save them before the actual danger!"

But this seemed to have been the final straw for her red-faced boss.

"Proudfoot!" Robards bellowed. "Escort Ms. Tonks from the office please!"

Proudfoot stood up awkwardly, but Tonks gave him such a cold look, he froze.

"There's no need, sir." Tonks snarled to Robards. "I'm leaving."

She turned on her heel and strode quickly from the office, slamming the door behind her.

Never in the course of her entire life had she been as enraged as she was then. As she stormed down the hallway, a murderous look on her face, she managed to attract some startled glances from people.

At the end of the corridor she stopped suddenly, breathing hard as she tried to calm her furious thoughts.

Someone's going to have to act on this and take charge- and from the look of it, its going to have to be me.

She straightened up. Moody would be able to get the message out to the Order the fastest- She drew her wand to send her patronus as she retreated down a deserted side hallway.

Ontop of planning to alert the Order, another plan was starting to form in her mind. Tonks felt her nerves slowly start to turn into steely determination as her racing thoughts started to form a detailed operation. Robards wasn't going to be able to get rid of her that easily…

Remus was in a state of utter panic.

It was tonight…the full moon would rise and the fate of an innocent child would be sealed.

Fenrir was gone, Remus hadn't seen him at all that day. The other werewolves were excited, and restless, anticipating the events that would take place later that night. Several werewolves had been keeping a close eye on him during the day, but as of now with the full moon about to rise- he wasn't on their top list of priorities anymore.

He had to head off Fenrir, distract him if all possible from actually going through with the attack. He couldn't rely on his tip off…it might never have gotten there in time. He had no wand, he couldn't apparate to the Montgomerys, and so instead Remus was running there. It felt woefully inadequate as a method of fast transportation.

There was a prime possibility he would end up blowing his cover during this- but if a boy's life was spared, it was worth it.

Remus had managed to escape the notice of the others for a moment and a moment was all he needed. He was racing along the side of a dark tunnel- taking an alternate, and much less used route out of the Underground. It was shorter and faster, but also much more dangerous since trains still used these tracks. Remus was staying as close to the dark slimy wall as much as possible. At one point, he thought he heard a train coming from down the tracks, but after a moment's pause he realized it was just his ears playing tricks on him.

He was nearly at the exit now; he was walking up on a small platform against the tunnel wall. He knew that around the bend was a popular station so he'd have to be wary coming out. If muggles saw him and reported him as a homeless person, the local police might head down the tunnel where they'd most likely encounter Fenrir and his vicious pack where Merlin only knew how that would-

"And where do you think you're off to tonight?" said a cold voice from the nearby shadows.

Remus wheeled around to see a tall, long haired man walking towards him into the dim flickering light.

"Randolph!" he said in shock. He managed to compose himself again quickly, "What do you want?"

But the werewolf seemed to have utterly ignored Remus's question. "You know for a spy you don't cover your own tracks very well."

Remus felt the blood drain from his face. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, but I think you do." hissed the werewolf, stepping forward so that he was inches from Remus's face. The look in his grey eyes was absolutely murderous.

Though the game appeared to be up, Remus wouldn't give in so easily.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." He said coolly.

"You're a spy!" Randolph snarled. "You've been passing information about all our various attacks to the Ministry!"

"You're mad." Remus said calmly. Some part of him took an odd satisfaction in seeing Randolph growing more and more irate by the second, but the larger, more rational part of him realized he was not standing in a very good situation.

"Mad am I?" the long haired man spat. "Don't think I don't know what you've been doing! I was always one step ahead of you…just like I am now."

"And what are you ahead of me now?" Remus asked politely.

"You're going to stop Fenrir from attacking that Montgomery boy, but Fenrir's not stupid and neither am I- I'm here to stop you."

"Really?" Remus remarked dryly. "One man? What an opposition."
Randolph's lip curled into a smile. "So you admit it."

Remus felt his heart skip a beat at his mistake. "No." he said calmly. "My business is my own, but I'm finding this whole…scenario a little ridiculous if truth be told."

"Ridiculous?" Randolph laughed, but there was no mirth in it. "I've been watching you Lupin and the one thing I think is so ridiculous is how thick you are not to have noticed that I've been trailing you for so long."

Remus had had enough. He had to stop Fenrir, not standing here dallying words with a werewolf with a bewildering grudge.

"Right." He said as he quickly stepped aside. To his surprise, Randolph did nothing.

"You know," Randolph said lazily from behind him, his words ringing off the dark tunnel walls. "It's amazing how much of a selfish arse you are…how little you care about other people…"

Remus stopped dead in his tracks. Those words sounded terrifyingly familiar.

"Do you know what I mean? No? Think back on Christmas. That bitch of yours….pretty little thing."

Remus felt the air leave his lungs as if he had received a blow to his gut.

But Randolph was far from finished. "It would be a pity if anything…unfortunate was to ever happen to her."

Remus wheeled around to face Randolph. Never in his entire life had he been so quickly filled with white-hot rage as he did then.

Randolph was smiling at his expression. "Yes, it would be a real shame. Wouldn't it?"

Before he could stop himself, or realize what he was doing, Remus lunged forward and caught an off-guard Randolph whom he slammed into the opposing brick wall. Remus was shaking so badly he could barely keep his breathing steady. He had no idea how Randolph knew about Tonks, but that wasn't what he cared about.

"Stay…away…from…her." He said in a low voice, his hands clenched into white fists as he gripped the front of Randolph's coat.

"Or what?" Randolph sneered, who didn't look as shaken as Remus had expected him to be. "You'll fight me?"

And then in a flash, before Remus could stop him- Randolph's hand plunged into his coat pocket and he pulled a familiar wand pointing it inches away from Remus's horrified face.

"Perhaps you should learn Lupin that it's always better to have the upper hand in a fight…reveal the trump card when victory is certain."

Remus felt his blood turn to ice. Randolph had his wand…But his mind was oddly focused on one thing as he eyed his wand in Randolph's grip for a moment.

"You were a wizard once, weren't you?" Remus asked quietly.

There was a flash of pain behind those cold grey eyes before it was immediately gone again.

"Perhaps." said the werewolf coldly.

In Remus's terrified mind, things were strangely falling into place now- "So that's why you always hated me then. Even from the start."

"Yes."

"Why?"
"You tried to live as a wizard. Wizards cannot be trusted."

"But you were one once." Remus said. "Surely you remember what it was like."

"I had a fine life before I was bitten!" Randolph said angrily.

"And so because you lost that ideal life, you started taking out your anger and revenge on other innocent people?"

"Don't you dare try to lecture me Lupin about right and wrong like you did with the others."

"You're a murderer!" Remus said harshly. "You dragged Bronagh Morrison to her death! She hadn't done anything wrong and you murdered her for no point or purpose!"

"I had hoped that by her death you might learn a lesson- you were out of your league the moment you first set foot in this place Lupin."

"So you just used her to get to me?" Remus said, barely able to keep his voice under control. He was shaking uncontrollably now- almost as bad as he did when he was about to transform during the full moon…

…which wasn't that far away.

"Accurate observation." Randolph sneered. "But now, the game is up…the race has run its course which means," he brought the wand before Remus again. "Your part of the story ends here, Lupin."

But Remus didn't wait for it, he grabbed the end of his wand attempting to pull it to the side of Randolph who in retaliation, swung his fist.

It collided right on with the side of Remus's head who at the force of the blow, staggered backwards, his hand immediately flying to the side of his face.

He thought he could hear a familiar noise coming from down the dark tunnel, but he quickly forgot about it as Randolph brought Remus's wand down sending an attempted curse at him.

Remus ducked and all but tackled Randolph who at being caught off balance, fell backwards. Remus lunged for his wand which had started to roll away from Randolph's hand but an elbow to his windpipe prevented him from reaching it.

The two werewolves desperately grappled as they both attempted to reach for the wand, while in the meantime the noise coming from the dark tunnel was growing louder and louder by the second.

Randolph was attempting now to push Remus towards the tracks as he tried to make his way over to the wand. As a bright light suddenly appeared from the far end of the tunnel and began to grow, Remus realized with a jolt of horror what Randolph was trying to do to him. Avoiding a well aimed kick from Randolph, Remus slid forward under Randolph's reach and managed to clasp his fingers around the familiar piece of wood.

No sooner had his fingers grabbed the wand, he felt his head painfully get wrenched backwards by his hair, as Randolph attempted to pull him back. Remus desperately rolled onto his side where Randolph was forced to let go, but not without tearing a few strands of hair.

Remus lept to his feet, standing right on the edge of the platform and lifted his wand. The wind was rushing wildly as the train closed in on them. As Randolph jumped forward for the wand, Remus had just taken a step to the side in a frantic attempt to try to escape from the werewolf-

For a moment that seemed to stretch much longer than it actually was- the werewolf was suspended in mid air- his feet barely teetering upon the brink of the platform- Remus turned and threw out his hand without thinking but no sooner had he had- Randolph plunged forward.

He watched in horror as the werewolf's face contorted into a look of surprise as he fell onto the tracks. He didn't even have time to move as the dark train went rushing by. It went by so fast- Remus was thrown to the concrete ground from the force of the whipping wind which was so strong it seemed to be constricting the very air around him.

Luckily the noise of the speeding train was so loud, it covered any terrible, gut twisting noises he could have heard of Randolph's grisly end.

After what seemed ages, the last of the train went by and cautiously, with great trepidation Remus peeked over the edge of the platform and down onto the tracks.

At the sight, he threw himself back against the tunnel wall and closed his eyes, trying hard to fight back the wave of nausea. No one deserved to go like that, not even Randolph.

Tonks….

He hoped his message had reached her. He hoped that she was still even safe-

The sudden fear for Tonks's safety gave him a strange sort of strength. He straightened up and after a few deep breaths, picked up his fallen wand from the cold concrete ground. Remus held it for a moment, taking comfort in the fact that he was at least in possession of his wand again, though it had been at a hard cost, and with a quick turn of his heel, he apparated away with a loud crack that echoed through the tunnel even after he had gone.

"So this is the only information you have?" Robards frowned.

"Yes." said the alert staff official. "We questioned that witch…er- Nymphadora Tonks about it, but she said she didn't know who had sent it."
Robards frowned. "A werewolf attack on the Montgomerys? I have no idea what on earth they'd want with them…but still- Algea Montgomery is apart of the Floo Powder Network Authority. Has she been contacted?"

"Not yet sir." said the nervous, burly wizard.

Robards turned angrily on the spot and nearly collided into auror Markievicz who had just walked into the office.

"Excuse me, sir." said the grey haired woman as she continued to stride briskly into the office.

He waved it off and Nymphadora Tonks in the guise of auror Markievicz couldn't help but smile thinly as she walked away. Sometimes, it really did have its benefits being a metamorphous.

After sending a message to the Order she had concentrated with all her might on changing her appearance. She hadn't been able to do it for months, but perhaps it was because of Remus being involved in this emergency, it had given her the determination to pull it off for a few minutes.

As soon as she rounded the corner, she let the disguise slide and felt her features slowly shift back into the miserable one she had been carrying with her for several months.

"Wotcher you lot!" she said breathlessly as she fell upon her fellow aurors Williamson, Savage, Richards, several others (and to her great dismay, Apollo Hain) were standing there, talking quietly amongst themselves.

"Tonks!" exclaimed Richards in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"We have to go!" Tonks said. "A child is in danger- the Montgomery child-"

"Davey Montgomery?" frowned Williamson. "The son of Algea Montgomery?"

"Her son, yes."

Williamson looked bewildered. "I saw him with his Mother one day when she took him to work to show him around. He's not even six years old."

This news was not reassuring Tonks in the slightest. "Well he's in terrible danger, there's going to be a werewolf attack made on their house any minute now-"

"Didn't Robards tell you to leave earlier?"

Why were they all being so thick about this?

"A boy is in DANGER!" she said furiously. "What don't you lot understand about this? As Robards and the alert staff stand there arguing over the authenticity of the note or not- a child's life is at stake!"

"What if it's a false tip off?"

"It's not. The information is obviously coming from an insider."

"How would you know?" Hain asked pointedly, but Tonks ignored him.

"Or what if the tip off is really a trap?" Richards suggested.

Tonks glared. "Because You-know-who is going to set up a trap on a bunch of fore-warned, battle-ready aurors looking for a fight?"

"You never know." Williamson said darkly.

"We need to go now and not debate this any longer!" she said. "Who's with me?"

They all exchanged nervous glances before Richards spoke up, "But protocol says-"

"BOLLOCKS TO PROTOCOL!" Tonks shouted angrily. "Now please get your things together if you are an auror who joined with the intention of fighting dark wizards and saving innocent people!"

There was an awkward silence that hung in the air after her cutting words before a flurry of movement. Aurors began scrambling for their wands and cloaks as Tonks watched and waited.

In a few seconds, they were assembled.

"Alright." Tonks said, taking a deep breath. "I reckon we should try to head out the back of the office, around Fadiman's and Murray's cubicles, since their both gone this week and sneak out as Robards isn't paying attention right now to the door behind him."

She didn't wait long for their approval, and turned instead down the hallway to lead the way.

After a few seconds, they were nearly to the door. They had just rounded the corner and were half crouching behind the cubicles as Tonks began to estimate the distance to the door…

"So shall we take it in pairs? Remember we're apparating directly the Montgomery house once we get out of-"

"MISS TONKS!" bellowed a voice from nearby. They all turned to see Robards racing towards them. From the look on his face, Tonks expected him to blast her into oblivion but she set her jaw and raised her head defiantly.

Hain stepped forward at once. "Sir, this is all Nymphadora's fault- we were just about to escort her out of the-"

"Go!" he shouted, ignoring Hain completely. "Quickly! I'll send out some backup with some members from the Law Enforcement."

So he had come to his senses at last, but if they were too late Tonks was going to personally throttle him.

"Thank you sir!" she said, turning back to the crowd of aurors and a glaring Hain. "Let's go!"

She led the way as they raced to the door, where she nearly collided into a tall, broad shouldered black wizard who had just walked in.

"Kingsley!"

"What's going on?" he asked her sharply. From the look on his face, he already seemed to have gotten Mad-Eye's message.

"An attack! A werewolf attack at the Montgomerys! We're heading out now!"

"I will join you." He said grimly as he fell into step beside her.

Tonks felt her heart racing wildly. They were finally going…

Remus found himself in a dark forest clearing. This was it, somewhere nearby had to be the Montgomery's home, and closer still- Fenrir himself. He had limited time- he himself needed to find a place to transform before the full moon…but there were more pressing matters at hand.

He felt utterly exhausted. The past few hours had been a downright nightmare. He looked about the dark clearing- perhaps he ought to go and find the family first? Where was Fenrir?

No sooner had he taken a step forward when there was a sudden snarling noise from his side and Remus glimpsed a dark shadow come right at him before he felt himself be thrown to the ground. His breath was shoved from his body and he could see stars winking from beneath his eyes from the force of which he had hit the ground with.

"Lupin…" Greyback growled, his long nailed hand clenched in a painful hold on Remus's throat. "Looking for me?"

Remus could only gasp for air for a moment as he tried to get it back. The tight hold on his neck was not helping. "You're needed—Randolph— is looking for you—!"

"Is he?" Greyback sneered- his pointed, yellow teeth were inches from Remus's face. Remus could feel the werewolf's hot, putrid breath on him. It was so foul it almost made him gag.

Remus nodded the best he could under Greyback's clawed grip on him. "He said you were to come immediately."

Fenrir Greyback laughed- it was horrible, feral, downright wicked snarl of laughter. His grip on Remus's neck tightened and he pulled Remus to his feet by his throat. "You know Lupin-" he rasped. "You sure had me fooled."

"I don't understand." Remus continued to lie, though his heart was slowly starting to race.

"Oh but I think you do." The werewolf leered, his grip on him not loosening in the slightest. "Still soft eh? Still a human at heart, huh? You think hurting little kiddies is bad, don't you?"

Remus said nothing.

Fenrir grinned. "How old were you when I bit you?"

Remus forced himself not to emotionally rise to the sensitive bait. "Five."

Fenrir's grin widened. "The same age as little Davey." He flung Remus backwards where he collided with a thick oak tree and fell to the forest floor.

Fenrir turned from him and began stalking the clearing- almost sniffing the air.

After a moment he stopped to gaze up into the rapidly darkening night sky. "Yes…" he said with a self-satisfied air. "I remember that-"

"Impossible." Remus said hoarsely.

"I planned it all." Fenrir smiled, as he turned back to face him, his face immensely satisfied. "I waited and planned it so carefully…the waiting- well, to be honest I didn't think you were going to live after I was through with you. Even I didn't mean for it to get as messy as it did. If I recall correctly, they all were convinced you weren't going to make it."

Remus said nothing. That much was true. He had indeed nearly died and although he was young and didn't realize it at the time, he had been very close to death from the whole terrible experience.

"But you recovered, and you tried to live alongside those humans…"

"My parents," Remus said stiffly. "encouraged me to live as normally as possible."

"Normally as possible!" Fenrir laughed. "What did they think you were? You are a werewolf…werewolves aren't normal wizards! Their powerful monsters that could easily destroy humanity if they were only given a proper chance…"

Fenrir glanced down at Remus and laughed again. "And so here you are, torn between your parent's pathetic efforts to brainwash you to be a human and your wolf's inner instincts…that's why you're here trying to stop me from hurting Davey Montgomery tonight- that's why you're lying about Randolph wanting to see me when I know for certain he's was assigned to keep an eye on you tonight. I wonder what you did to get away from him. He's been trailing you very closely on my orders you know."

He watched Remus stand up and suddenly became much more serious.

"Lupin…" he rasped. "Join me."

Remus in his near panic was sure he had heard him wrong. "What?"

"Join me." The werewolf said. "Come with me in the hunt tonight and join in the attack. Come feel what it's like to taste the dark, forbidden fruit, to glutton in the bloodshed and to feel warm blood of a helpless victim- to feel the frightened heartbeat of an innocent child racing through their veins as you so quickly end it."

"You're sick." Remus spat.

Fenrir laughed and it sounded more like a snarl. "Where do you get off telling me what's right and wrong? You're just as bad as the rest of us."

"You're not all bad, you just believe yourselves to be."

"I've had enough of this Lupin. I've given you far too much slack. Now either join me or you will regret it."

Remus took a deep breath, and braced himself. "I can't let you do this."

"Can't or won't?"

"I cannot and will never join you. And I won't let you do this either… not tonight."

Fenrir's face took on a dark, furious expression. "You forget your place Lupin-" he snarled. "Stand aside."

"I'm not letting you do this."

"Move."

"No."

Remus had expected it- but not for it to come so fast. Fenrir lunged at him so quickly he was a blur and before Remus knew it, Fenrir was ontop of him again.

Remus threw out his arm without thinking and pressed his thumb into the socket of Fenrir's right eye.

The werewolf let out a loud howl of pain and jerked his head back- enough for Remus to kick him in the chest. In quick retaliation, Fenrir slashed across Remus's chest with his sharpened fingernails- so hard Remus would have sworn it drew blood, but there was no time to check.

Remus rolled to the side, and spied his wand which had rolled off to the side. He reached for it, but Fenrir suddenly pounced again and they rolled about on the forest floor, Remus desperately trying to pull away, and Fenrir unwilling to let go of his grip on his arm. Remus rolled onto his back and nearly managed to get away from Fenrir when suddenly he lunged, teeth bared at Remus's throat but missed it as Remus swung around to twist from his grip. Fenrir instead, sunk his teeth deep into Remus's shoulder who let out a loud yell of pain as he tried to twist free from Fenrir's jaws.

Fenrir wouldn't let go- he held on with his teeth as he clawed at Remus who was now trying to beat off Fenrir anyway that he could.

Then he saw it- just out of reach- a large stone. Remus reached out- his fingertips just grazing it- he threw himself a little bit further and upon grabbing it took it and swung it hard across the back of Fenrir's head.

There was a sickening 'crack' as the rock made contact with Fenrir's gray haired head. Remus had hoped it would stun or knock out the large werewolf but he had hoped too much. Fenrir though the force of the rock had thrown him off to the side was more awake than ever, and now ontop of it all, exceptionally angry.

His wand…he needed his wand. He spied it on the other end of the clearing and frantically threw himself at it as Fenrir caught him a sort of tackle and dug his long nails into Remus's side. Gritting his teeth, Remus pushed him off only to feel Fenrir's iron grip close in on his throat again. This time however, the grip was purposely getting tighter and tighter. He grabbed Fenrir's hands and desperately tried to pull them away, but his grip was too tight…the nails were digging into the skin on his neck and the clearing was starting to spin as he felt himself growing dizzier and dizzier by the second.

He could feel his lungs contracting as his hopeless struggle for air continued in vain…The clearing was getting darker and darker, he could almost hear his blood thumping in his ears as he started to loose all feeling and consciousness.

He was going to die…he would never know what happened to that boy…he would never see Tonks again…

Tonks…

As the black oblivion pressed upon him, he remembered those dark, twinkling eyes so vividly…they'd be the last thing he'd ever see…

And then suddenly in the back of his oxygen deprived brain he heard the words of an old auror from so long ago-"Right so this is even worse than before, isn't it?"

…Tonks...self defense…

Though he could barely feel any of his limbs at that point or Fenrir's hands he managed with the last of his fading strength to swing his leg up and around Fenrir's neck. The darkness was swirling as he hooked his leg and brought it down hard to the forest ground while pulling Fenrir's wrist in the other direction. Fenrir completely caught off guard lay there pinned and helpless, as Remus gasped for breath.

He shakily jumped to his feet and ran across the rest of the clearing where he grabbed his wand and straightened up to spin around and face Fenrir. He raised his wand as the werewolf got to his feet and turned on him with a snarl, but before Remus could move a muscle, a terrible sight in the dark night sky had already caught his attention. And in that second- right before the clouds parted, Remus knew he had to make a choice-

Stay and try to somehow stop Fenrir from attacking the Montgomery boy or leave the boy to Fenrir's mercy and pray the tip-off had reached the Ministry and they had alerted the aurors. If he stayed to protect the innocent victim to be, it could very well be him attacking the boy instead of Greyback. As a wolf, he had never tasted human flesh before, and so the opportunity would be gladly seized by his lupine half…something he had no power to control.

But to leave the boy in danger…what if the Ministry never gotten his tip off? Worse, what if they never considered it seriously and didn't send out the aurors in time? Could he really leave an innocent child to an uncertain fate?

He closed his eyes.

Up high in the sky, the clouds suddenly parted- and almost immediately the forest clearing was filled with silver moonlight.

Tonks lead the way as she raced across the slightly unkept lawn and up to the front door where she began pounding furiously on it.

"OPEN UP!" she bellowed. "PLEASE OPEN THE DOOR! THIS IS THE MINISTRY!"

After a brief hesitation, Tonks turned to the others behind her who had just caught up. "Blast down the door on the count of three?" she asked.

But suddenly the lock turned and the door opened a crack, a thin ray of light upon the group of aurors.

"Who-who's there?" said a nervous woman.

"Mrs. Montgomery?" Tonks asked frantically. "We're aurors. Your son is in danger!"
The door opened a little wider revealing a small, bird-frail woman whose dark hair was back in a long braid. "What is this?"

"We received a tip off that there is to be a werewolf attack tonight." Kingsley said in his deep voice. "Here, at your home. We're here to protect your family."

"Mrs. Montgomery, where is your son?" Tonks desperately asked her.

She frowned at her words. "At this hour, where else would he be? He's upstairs sleeping in his room."

Tonks let out a small breath of relief at the same time when heavy footsteps came around the corner.

"Algea! What's is going on?"

Mrs. Montgomery gave her husband a desperate look. "It's a bunch of aurors Jim. They think Davey is in danger."

The mustached man frowned at the crowd at his doorstep. "He's upstairs with his cousin who's spending the night here since his parents are away on business. Their not in any danger."

"Just the same," Kingsley said. "Would it be alright if we were to set up positions and one of us, or you was to check on the boys?"

The man bristled. "Are you suggesting that we aren't efficient enough as parents to know where my son is at this hour?"
"Have you heard anything unusual tonight or seen anything?" pressed Tonks.

"We've been in the sitting room listening to the wireless for the past half hour." Mrs. Montgomery said, wrinkling her nose slightly as the rest of the aurors came trooping inside the house after Tonks.

"Have you received any threats?"

She paled slightly but shook her head. "No. None."

"Perhaps you could check on the boys for us?" Kingsley asked Mr. Montgomery again. "Just as a precaution?"

The man looked as if he were about to argue again, but Kingsley's smooth tones seemed to have persuaded him. "Alright." He muttered. "Can't hurt to check I suppose."

He headed upstairs and Tonks went to Mrs. Montgomery's side, ignoring the other awkward aurors standing behind her.

"When did you get the tip off?" Mrs. Montgomery asked.

"Our office just heard about the tip off today. We came over as soon as possible-"

Suddenly there was a strangled yell from upstairs, Tonks and Kingsley exchanged horrified looks before racing up the stairs.

They burst into the room, where Mr. Montgomery was standing there in shock, a blanket in his hand-

There on a small bed, and on a nearby mattress lying on the floor were artfully arranged pillows that had apparently been under blankets to imitate sleeping children.

"Where is he?" Tonks cried.

Mrs. Montgomery ran in, her face deathly pale. "What is it? What's happened?"

Right on cue, there was a high, terrified scream from outside the house…

Tonks gasped and ran out the door and bolted down the stairs- she had barely made it halfway down when she tripped and went flying down the rest of the steps, landing in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the stairs.

"Tonks! Are you alright?"

But Tonks didn't wait- she apparated right on the spot and appeared well out into the middle of the Montgomery's woods.

Another scream from nearby and Tonks changed direction as she charged though the undergrowth. It was far too dark-

"Lumos!" she shouted, and desperately ran- her wand held high ahead of her.

Far behind her she thought she could hear the cries of aurors from the house, but her mind was only focused on one thing-

Find the boy! Find Davey…

She could hear frantic footsteps that were not her own. She froze to make certain they truly weren't her own and then bolted in that direction. No sooner had she gone several paces when she collided into a small boy of about eight years old.

He was sobbing uncontrollably, his eyes wide and frantic.

"Oy! Davey?"
He shook his head numbly.

He's in shock. Tonks thought. "Where's Davey?"

He pointed numbly into the dark woods behind him.

Suddenly a loud crack and Kingsley was there at her side looking furious, "Tonks! What do you think you're playing at apparating off like that?"

"This is his cousin." She said quickly, indicating to the terrified boy at her side. "We need to find Davey!"

Kingsley raised his wand and red sparks emitted from it, shooting high up into the night sky. The boy let out a dry sob and fell forward, his arms wrapped around Tonks's legs.

Within seconds, more aurors appeared.

Kingsley quickly shouted out instructions. "Richards and Williamson! Take that direction! Hain you cover the south part of the woods with Duffy! You three, follow them! The rest of you with me!"

"But what about-" Tonks interrupted.

"Just stay with him for a minute-"

Tonks was on the verge of arguing when she saw the trembling boy at her side. Without a word she leaned over and awkwardly picked him up, half holding him- half balancing him on her hip.

"Hey," she said as soothingly as she could as the aurors around her vanished into the darkness. "It's alright. It's alright…Shhh. We'll find Davey and in the meantime you and me will go back to the house, okay?"

He was sniffling heavily into her cloak. Tonks bit her lip, having a feeling that she was truly doing a terrible job acting as a comforting mothering figure and started to walk back. carrying the little boy.

Suddenly without warning, the boy began to talk, "Me and Davey heard noises outside in the woods. We thought we heard somebody yelling so we went outside to see where they were."

Tonks patted him on the back, feeling like an utterly useless prat.

"-Auntie and Uncle Jim didn't even see us fall down past the window- they were listening to the radio-"

Tonks was listening closely now the woods around them, and the distant yells of aurors.

"-and we walked a long time before we realized that we were lost, and then- then-"

The boy burst into tears and Tonks gave him an encouraging hug.

"-a big doggie ran out of the woods and we ran- we got lost-" the little boy's breath was coming in heaving gasps. "I don't know where Davey is-"

"We're going to find him." Tonks said again. "Don't worry."

They had reached the edge of the woods and had started to head out onto the untidy lawn where Mrs. Montgomery and Mr. Montgomery were running towards them.

"Davey?" cried Mrs. Montgomery as she ran forward.

"We're still looking for him." Tonks called back, determined to keep her voice netural. "Kingsley and the others are-"

But suddenly she knew something was terribly wrong.

Mrs. Montgomery's eyes widened her mouth slightly open in a silent scream as she stared over Tonks's shoulder.

Tonks turned and felt her blood turn to ice.

Yellow eyes from the shadows and bared, bloody teeth.

She was immediately and strangely aware of every inch of her body and how vulnerable she was standing within such close range to such an enormous, and terrifying creature. All of a sudden her pumping heart, the sudden sweat on her skin, the cold night's breeze tossing her limp brown hair about…she had never been so aware of being alive before...As she stared at the werewolf, time seemed to have slowed to a complete stop- dark eyes staring directly into golden ones. Neither one of them moving or blinking.

It was the boy on Tonks's hip whose terrified scream shattered the moment.

The werewolf tore out of the shadows of the woods and began running right at her and the boy.

Tonks pulled her wand and sent a stunning spell only to watch it hopelessly bounce right off the werewolf. She should've remembered. It was impossible to use spells against werewolves in this state.

Feeling unbelievably vulnerable she turned and began to run. With the boy in her arms however, it was much slower than she would've liked. Fumbling with her wand she sent up red sparks into the sky.

She was nearly at the house- nearly at the house- there was a snarling noise from behind her-

"Run!" she cried, as she passed off the boy to the terrified Montgomery's. Mr. Montgomery passed off the boy to his wife before leaping forward to Tonks's side with his wand drawn,

"No Jim!" screamed the woman.

"GO!" Tonks shouted at the man as she sent up an invisible barrier wall between her and the charging werewolf. Though the werewolf didn't bounce off of it as she had expected him to, he was going much slower now, as though he was trying to run through an invisible wall of molasses.

She pushed Mr. Montgomery back towards the house as she threw up another barrier. He glared and fought off her arm, but at Tonks's instant pulling and seeing his wife's terrified face, he ran back to his wife's side and both of them raced towards the house with the little boy.

Tonks turned and saw to her horror that the werewolf had managed to get through her jinx and was now coming straight at her, with nothing to stop him. With every lightening fast step the werewolf took-the smaller the space between them got…they were mere feet from each other now-

Tonks waved her wand wildly as the space between them closed. "INCENDIO!"

Red hot flames sprang between them, and the werewolf who had just jumped, his teeth bared- let out a loud, howl that sent a terrified cold shiver down her spine. But no sooner could Tonks raise her wand again, or try to run there was a flash of red light and then-nothing.

"Easy now…gently dear."

Tonks felt her eyelids flutter open and she stared groggily up at the dim, early morning grey sky as her blurred vision began to clear.

"What…what happened?"

"Stunned my dear. And virtually forgotten next to a pile of flames for a good long gap of time."

"No, I meant what happened to Davey? The Montgomerys? Where's the werewolf?"

Her eyes desperately focused on a familiar black haired witch wearing St. Mungo's robes.

"Hestia!"

The pink cheeked witch put a finger to her lips to calm her down. "You really oughtn't strain yourself like this Tonks right after everything. You had a very close call with that werewolf. Too close..."

"What happened to the Montgomerys?" Tonks begged.

"I don't know much at all, but when the Order received your message Dumbledore sent a personal message to Robards to let you go bring over a team of aurors."

"So that's why he let us go." Tonks grumbled. As she lay there, she was becoming quickly aware of a stinging pain spreading over her body.

"And so, you all came here and from what I've heard you were bringing back that little boy, Michael-"

"Is he okay?"

Hestia frowned. "He's still very worked up, but physically- yes, he's fine."

Tonks let out a sigh of relief.

"But you were bringing back Michael from what I understand when the werewolf attacked you and you started to fight. The rest of the aurors, saw the sparks, and most of them went to your side where they all tried to stun the werewolf-"

"-and someone hit me instead." Tonks finished for her as everything started to fit into place.

"Yes, and they kept trying to capture the werewolf since but it ran off into the woods, and they've been looking for it since."

"Oh."

"And during that fight, when you were hit with a stunning spell you fell next to the fire…a little too close."

Tonks followed Hestia's eyes and grimaced as she looked down at her left arm and part of her side.

Her skin was red raw, completely burned by the heat of the flames.

Hestia was still talking, "Luckily one of the aurors, that red haired one with the ponytail-?"

"Williamson?"

"Yes, him. He managed to get you out in time or the damage could have been much worse."

Tonks shut her eyes tightly and screwed up her face. After a few strenuous seconds she opened her eyes again and looked down at her arms which were still burned.

Hesita smiled slightly. "Wait until you're properly rested up to try that. I'm sure you'll be able to fix it later. Would you like me to bandage them up for now?"

"Yeah…yeah- that'd be great. Thanks Hestia."

Hestia set to work and Tonks winced as the bandages made contact with her burnt skin. It seemed to take forever before Hestia finally said,

"Do you have a headache or any pain?"

"No, no. I'm fine." She said hastily as she slowly rolled off the stretcher and got to her feet. "I gotta go talk to Kingsley and some of the others to see what's happened."

Hestia patted her gently on the side of her back that wasn't burned and watched as she walked off.

The Montgomery's yard was full of activity. She couldn't see the Montgomery's anywhere, but there were a lot of Ministry officials and a lot of Hit Wizards all bustling about. She looked about and suddenly felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. She turned and found herself face to face with two of her fellow aurors.

"Tonks," said Williamson, looking very relieved. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. Thanks for pulling me out of that fire."

He shrugged. "Don't mention it. Me and Proudfoot here were just going to scout out the woods again for evidence, would you like to join us?"

She nodded, "In a minute, I need to talk to a few people first."

"We'll head out now and you can catch up with us. We're making a broad, sweeping search in that direction again to see if we missed anything from earlier-" he said pointing to the thicker part of the woods.

"Alright, I'll be there."

Williamson and Proudfoot backed off respectfully and headed off in the direction of the dark woods.

Tonks walked over to Kingsley who she saw was just finishing up with talking to several different aurors.

At the sound of her footsteps, Kingsley turned to face her.

Tonks barely trusted herself to speak, but she had to know- "Did they…did they find the werewolf yet?"

He shook his head. "No."

She bit her trembling lip. Oh god...what if it had been Remus? Where WAS Remus? Or worse, what if he turned up now to see if everybody was alright and the Ministry seized him at the spot for being a known werewolf?

Kingsley gave her a knowing look before adding in a solemn voice, "The boy, Davey- he was bitten. He's is in Saint Mungo's now and still in critical condition."

Tonks closed her eyes and let out a small gasp. "Oh God."

Kingsley patted her firmly on the pack. "Tonks without you everything could have been much worse-"

"How?" Tonks asked angrily. "A boy has been hurt on our account and I knew what was going to happen, but we couldn't…we didn't—"

She felt her knees wobbling from exhaustion and shock. Kingsley noticed and he grabbed hold of her shoulders to support her.

"Take a deep breath Tonks."

She was desperately trying to fight back furious tears at this point, breathing properly was not her top priority. A few aurors drifted over…

"Say…" said auror Richards as he squinted across the field. "Isn't that Mad-eye?"

They all turned to see the old, ex-auror slumping towards them.

"What's HE doing here?" said Apollo Hain pompously, frowning as Moody continued to clunk over to them.

When Moody finally reached them- Hain stepped forward at once, his mouth open in protest-

"Get out of my way." Moody snarled as he brought his staff hard across the auror's kneecaps. The auror fell to the ground with a loud cry, but Moody ignored him as he strode up to Tonks and paused, staring intently at her with both his eyes.

"Are you alright lass?" She was surprised to hear that his gravelly voice was a bit softer than usual.

She nodded.

He continued to look at her, and Tonks realized with surprise that the odd look in both his eyes was that of concern. "You did well."

She gave him a watery grin in return. "For acting late on a tip off, disobeying my superior officers, breaking several ministry rules and failing to obey protocol by racing off into the woods without any cover to take on a werewolf?"

"Yes."

She raised an eyebrow at this and glimpsing a small opportunity to cheer herself up in the whole tragic scheme, seized it. "And not even a comment about my appearance. I seem to be racking up all the good points from you today."

Moody scowled. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but your hair looks utterly dismal."

"I thought you of all people would've approved of nice boring, brown."

"It gives the appearance of being negligent, something an auror should never be. I've seen trolls with better hair." Moody said.

"Trolls are bald…"
"That's my point." He said nastily. "Use a cheering charm on yourself for godsakes."

She scowled as he slumped away towards Gawain Robbards and a few other wizards who were talking hurriedly amongst themselves. She ran a hand absentmindedly through her hair, thinking hard before she looked back at Kingsley, "I'm going to go look for evidence with Williamson and Proudfoot."

"Alright." said Kingsley in his deep voice.

"Constant vigilance lass!" Moody exclaimed from over his shoulder.

She resisted giving him a one-finger salute in return and headed out into the heart of the woods, carefully scanning the ground and surrounding trees with her wand out. Her fellow aurors were nowhere to be seen.

She wondered deep into the woods, still feeling slightly nauseous in her gut from the earlier events. A boy had been bitten- a little boy that Remus had fought to save…where was he now? Was he still among the pack? Was he in danger?

Shaking her head slightly, she ducked a large tree branch and stepped into a small clearing. She was halfway across it when she noticed something….

There were scuffle marks on the forest ground here, as if there had been a fight-

She turned around, closely examining all sides of the clearing now- the leaves were unique here- some of them had funny patterns-

She kneeled down on the forest floor and picked up a leaf with a slightly shaking hand. Her eyes widened. What she thought had been the pattern of the fallen leaves were leaves that had been peppered with dark dry blood.

There was a snap of a twig suddenly behind her, and Tonks spun around leaping to her feet- her wand drawn and pointing to the thick undergrowth where the sound had come from.

"OY! STEP FORWARD WITH YOUR ARMS OUT AT YOUR SIDES! THIS CLEARING IS COVERED ON ALL SIDES BY AURORS SO PROCEED SLOWLY!"

If it was just a squirrel or some other innocent woodland creature, she was going to be so embarrassed.

But as she stood there waiting, she heard the definite sounds of somebody walking- or stumbling towards the clearing…

She held up her wand a little higher wide-eyed and fearful. Just ahead, through the thicket and trees was a familiar figure coming towards her.

Tonks suddenly found herself unable to speak- she could only stare at the sight before her in horror, a lump in her throat as she finally got a good look at the man who had stumbled forward into the clearing.

He was naked. Completely stark naked- but Tonks's attention was drawn to other things- the man was as white as a ghost and frightfully gaunt, his face had a painfully tight and hollow look and he had dark shadows under his wide, wild eyes. He looked like a madman.

He was absolutely filthy- covered in dirt, muck and worst of all-blood. There was far too much blood. Strips of flesh hung off of his skeletal frame and he was covered in far too many nasty, deep wounds. His torn skin looked as if had been slashed by claws- His side had a huge chunk of flesh missing from it, where shockingly scarlet blood was dripping heavily down his side….how he was still standing was beyond her, though admittedly he was swaying unsteadily-

Before Tonks could say or do anything however, Remus Lupin fell forward and collapsed onto the forest floor- totally unconscious.

Authors note: Luckily from here on out it will be more glorious and actual Remus and Tonks interaction. Huzzah. HBP is mostly a dismal period but from here on out its oh so lovely for me to write...yeah. sorta.

Alright, shut up. I'm really tired and I can't think straight anymore. :)