A/N: So very sorry I haven't been updating - I admit I completely forgot I was supposed to be. Luckily, AerinAlanna reminded me, so here's the next chapter, with never-before-seen backstory explanations. Enjoy!

xxx

Chapter 5 - A life for a life

Remus awoke with a jolt, completely disorientated. Katherine had been screaming, hadn't she? He lay completely still for a moment, listening hard. Maybe it was just a dream.

But if it had been a dream, where was Katherine? Her sleeping bag was empty and the tent flap was open, waving in the breeze. Up at the house, the kitchen light flickered on and a figure moved towards the door, heading towards the garden.

Remus was about to scramble to his feet when he noticed something odd. The tent flap was open, yes, but Katherine's sleeping bag had been dragged backwards a foot or so and anyone attempting to sneak out of the entrance to the tent would risk being seen from the house.

Remus sat up slowly as he came to the unpleasant conclusion that whatever had made Katherine scream was still in the tent. He paused for a moment, then leapt out of his sleeping bag and whirled around to face the impostor, the toy wand his parents had bought him for his birthday clasped tightly in his hand.

The man standing in the shadows grinned wickedly at him, his green eyes gleaming in the light from the house.

"Think that bit of wood's going to do much use against me, do you? I could kill her right now," he said, gesturing to Katherine who was clamped firmly under one arm. He snapped his sharp teeth at Remus, still grinning insanely. "Ever seen a werewolf before, boy?"

Remus hadn't but he'd learnt about them. What hurts them? Silver, wasn't it? He knew Katherine wore a silver ring on a chain around her neck but that wouldn't do much damage.

The werewolf flashed him a wild grin and ripped through the lining of the back of the tent with one clawed hand. Silver, where had he seen silver...? There were adult footsteps running down the lawn even now but the werewolf was already ducking through the newly made exit. The gleam of light reflected on glass caught Remus' eye and he looked down to see the photograph from his birthday, which they'd taken from the mantelpiece in his house. His and Katherine's faces grinned up at him from within the heavy photo frame his mother had let him pick out from the shop.

He darted for it, remembering the shop keeper's praise of his choice and hoping sterling silver still worked against werewolves. He ran through the shredded cloth of the tent and hurled it at the retreating head of the black haired man. It missed his head but smashed into the back of his knee, causing him to stumble. He dropped Katherine in his attempt to balance himself and fell headfirst into the stream at the end of the garden.

Remus dashed down the slope towards Katherine, who was getting unsteadily to her feet.

"Are you all right?" he asked, pulling her backwards, away from the dark figure in the stream. She nodded even though she was shaking and clung onto him, staring in horror at the man below them.

"What is he?" she whispered, as the man dragged himself to his feet, water streaming off him.

"You mean who," said Remus carefully, even now trying to conceal the magical world as his parents had warned him to. "Who is he? I don't know."

The adults had almost reached them now and Remus could see his father running towards them, his hand closed around his wand. Behind them, the werewolf wasn't giving up on his quarry. He made a wild lunge and dived towards the two children, determined to finish what he'd started.

What happened next was anyone's guess. Even afterwards, when the adults finally decided to be honest with one another, they couldn't understand it.

The man leapt at Remus and Katherine and a fraction of a second later, Katherine's mother screamed a warning. Remus' father sent a stunning charm at the man but it ricocheted harmlessly away, his werewolf blood rendering it useless. Then, when Remus' father was still five feet away, something happened.

A surge of power erupted from somewhere, rippling across the ground and making the trees sway violently as though in a gale. When it hit the man, he was thrown backwards and smashed into the fence that separated the garden from the forest, head lolling dangerously.

The four adults stood still, staring disbelievingly between him and the two small children in front of them. Charlotte was the first to recover, rushing to their sides and carrying them inside the house, exchanging a meaningful glance with her husband.

John Lupin approached the fallen werewolf cautiously, half expecting him to jump up at any moment and execute another vicious attack. He didn't, however. Whatever that surge had been, it had certainly meant the end of him.

"I didn't think there were werewolves in these parts," said Charles Archer softly.

"Neither did I," began John, then stopped, turning to stare at his neighbours. Sarah smiled apologetically.

"I think we need to talk. Shall we go inside?" She bent to pick up the picture frame Remus had hurled at the werewolf, then walked calmly up the slope towards the house, the two men following.

xxx

"They're asleep," said Charlotte softly, closing the door to the lounge and sitting down next to her husband. "I put them in Katherine's room." Sarah smiled and poured Charlotte a cup of tea as John asked quietly:

"You know about us?"

"We moved here purposely," explained Charles. "Katherine doesn't know about the magical world yet, but we thought it would be good to live near a small wizarding community for when we do tell her."

"But you're both muggles," said Charlotte, frowning. "How did you find out about the wizarding world?" Sarah smiled faintly, and began to explain.

"I've been meaning to tell you for ages now, but things kept getting in the way. My great-grandmother was, I forget what you call it – a squig?"

"A squib?" asked Charlotte.

"That's it," nodded Sarah. "Her family were wizards, but they disowned her when they found out what she was. Anyway, she married a muggle, and cut herself off from everything to do with magic, but she told her d

aughter, my grandma, stories about this fantasy world that existed alongside ours, with a secret wizarding school called Hogwarts and a bank run by goblins. My grandma thought they were just stories, but she remembered them and she used to tell them to me when I stayed round there. I forgot about them when I grew up but then five years ago…" Sarah hesitated and looked to her husband for support. Charles took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, turning his attention to the Lupins.

"You may have noticed that Katherine doesn't bear much, if any, resemblance to us," he said quietly, and Charlotte and John nodded; a black haired child born to brown haired parents did seem to defy the laws of genetics somewhat. "Well five years ago we were in a hospital in London – we'd been trying for a baby for a while with no luck and there was a new treatment that had had some success, so we thought – why not?"

"We had to wait around awhile for the tests that would say if we were eligible for the treatment or not to come back," continued Sarah, looking nervously up at the Lupins. "Anyway, I ended up in the maternity ward, looking at all the newborns in the nursery, and there's this woman there, hand on the glass, staring down at this tiny baby. She catches my eye and I ask if the baby's hers, and she nods, saying it's her daughter, and then asks which one's mine…" Sarah gave a nervous laugh, and brushed light brown hair out of her eyes. "I think she was rather startled when I just burst into tears, but then she just sat me down and got me a coffee and I just…told her everything. How much we wanted a child and how I didn't think we were ever going to be able to conceive…and then this man appears and starts practically yelling at the woman – saying she shouldn't be out of bed, shouldn't be there, shouldn't start getting attached…

"I didn't have a clue what was going on, but this woman…I've never seen anyone so angry. She looked like she was about to commit murder and I think she might have gone for him if a nurse hadn't come out and told them off for disturbing the newborns. The woman apologised, but the man just stormed off. I thought it was odd, but I didn't like to pry – just made my excuses and left. Later we got the results for the tests, were told we weren't eligible and went home - end of story, or so we thought."

"A few weeks later the same woman turns up on our doorstep, baby in one arm, a folder of papers in the other," said Charles, sitting back and running a hand through his already ruffled hair. "Turns out the yelling man was her brother and he wanted her to give up her baby. She didn't want to, we could tell that, but she was convinced it was the right thing to do. She told us the father wasn't a very nice man and she was worried the child could be in danger if he found out about her."

"So she gave the child to you?" asked Charlotte, staring in shock at her neighbours, not quite sure what to think.

"We tried to say no," said Sarah quickly. "We really did – Charles is a policeman – we always go through the proper channels for everything – but she was adamant. Said she got…feelings…about things sometimes. Of course we thought she was a probably going a bit off the rails, what with giving up her kid and everything, but then she turns to me and says…'your grandmother told you about Hogwarts, didn't she?'" Sarah gave them a crooked smile and laughed nervously. "Charles was all for throwing her out, baby or not, but then she shows us her wand and starts talking about the places my grandmother used to describe in stories…there was no way she could have known all that. Then she said she'd looked me up and found out I had some wizarding blood in me – that's how I found out about my great-grandma."

"To cut a long story short, we eventually started to believe her, and the next day and a few memory charms on certain key people later, the baby is legally ours, we've got a new house, a new life, and the woman has gone." Charles sighed, rubbing his thumb comfortingly over the back of his wife's hand. "We kept the name she gave her – Katherine Arcadia, and she also left a ring for her – Katherine wears it round her neck. We'll tell Katherine she's a witch when she gets her Hogwarts letter, but until then she only knows she's adopted, and that we love her very much."

"Well…that's probably best, I suppose," said John Lupin, exhaling deeply.

"You're not going to tell anyone?" asked Sarah, trying hard not to sound nervous.

"Well this woman must have known what she was doing if she did all the paperwork and that in one day, so I doubt there'd be any evidence left that anything was ever amiss even if we did want to report you," said John seriously, adding gravely: "Besides, I think there are more important things that need dealing with at present – the body in the garden for one."

"What are we going to do about that?" asked Charles worriedly. They could hardly go to the police; judging from the man's appearance, his DNA would cause nationwide panic.

"I'll get on to the Ministry," said John wearily, rubbing a hand over his tired face. "Werewolves usually hunt alone but there are the occasional pack of them and if this one had friends, they might be planning revenge. Don't worry," he added, seeing their anxious faces. "I'm sure it's nothing."

There was a heavy pause, then Charles asked: "That thing that killed the werewolf - did you do it?"

John and Charlotte shook their heads.

"There's no way it was Remus, either," added Charlotte pensively. "He's done magic before - small things like summon teddies or make his vegetables disappear, but nothing like that."

"D'you think it could have been Katherine?" asked Sarah, looking apprehensive. John shrugged.

"It's unlikely. I mean, she's only five. I don't know what happened." He sighed and shook his head. "We'd better be getting back – I need to owl the Auror department; we'll collect Remus tomorrow, if that's ok."

"Fine," nodded Sarah, standing to go with them to the front door, then hesitating. "You won't…well, Katherine-"

"Your secret's safe with us," assured Charlotte gently. "We won't say a word." She looked up at her husband, who nodded, and took her arm as they stepped out into the cool autumn night. Sarah watched them walk down the short garden path, then shut the door and looked up the stairs towards Katherine's bedroom. Charles came out of the lounge and slipped a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"It'll be ok," he said softly, as Sarah leant against him, burying her head in his chest and breathing in his warm, musky scent. "Everything's going to be all right."

Sarah nodded, and shut her eyes, trying her very best to make herself believe him.

xxx

Out in the forest, two figures stood together outside a shabby wooden hut, wondering what was taking Gareth and Frobisher so long.

"Why aren't they back yet?" asked Ruth, leaning against Reuben and sighing.

"I don't know," answered Reuben, resting his head on her scarlet curls. "Wait, someone's coming." He looked up, peering through the shadowy trees.

"Why only one?" whispered Ruth, suddenly alert.

"No idea."

Frobisher burst into the clearing, his black hair messier than ever and green eyes wide.

"They killed him!"

"What?" asked Ruth, confused. "Who killed who?"

"The wizards - they killed Gareth!" panted Frobisher, leaning heavily against a tree. "There was this...wave. It killed him. He's dead."

The three werewolves stared at each other for a long moment then Ruth's face hardened and she smiled grimly at the other two. "They're going to pay for this."

xxx

One week later, they carried out that promise.