Stolen: Greyback's Revenge
Chapter 3 - The Bond

Remus rested his cheek on the top of Sirius's head, but then his eyes drifted off towards the Forbidden Forest. There was no trail of blood leading away from the puddles that were in the grass, but Remus became almost convinced that someone or something had dragged Harry away into the trees. Remus's thoughts kept going to Greyback, to the dream he'd had the night before, but he tried pushing those images away. There was no use jumping to conclusions, because it would only cause him to panic, and then he wouldn't be of any help to anyone.

However, Remus was suddenly determined to find whoever or whatever had done this - injured Harry enough to make him bleed and taken him away from them. Remus thought the best place to start was in the Forbidden Forest; after all, they didn't have any other leads, and that was where all those unsavory creatures lurked.

Remus let go of Sirius and stood up. Sirius swayed a bit at the loss of contact, and Remus felt horrible for leaving him in such a state, but something had awakened inside Remus. The need for revenge, or perhaps it was just the overwhelming urge to see Harry alive again if at all possible. Whatever it was, Remus couldn't stop it, nor did he want to.

"Where are you going?" Sirius asked wearily, rubbing at his slightly damp eyes with a shaking hand. He then moved his hand to his forehead, pressing his palm to it and watching Remus out of the corners of his eyes.

Remus stopped dead in his tracks, glancing back at Sirius over his shoulder. "We can't stay here." He fixed his eyes on the forest again and muttered, "Clearly an animal did this. Don't you think that's where they would be?"

Sirius hurriedly scrambled to his feet, despite the fact that his legs were very unsteady. "Moony, you just can't go wandering around in there! You'd only be putting yourself in danger, and perhaps for nothing. We don't even know if that's where Harry is, and he's our priority right now. Don't you think we should be a little more certain about his whereabouts before we start narrowing down our search?"

Remus knew the answer to that - that if they didn't start narrowing down their search pretty damn quick, they might not make it to Harry in time. The pools of blood in the grass were testament to that, but Remus didn't say anything. He couldn't. He didn't think either one of them could handle those words spoken aloud right now.

"Besides," Sirius muttered, staring down at the sad pile of the Invisibility Cloak still on the ground, "I need you. I feel like you're the only thing keeping me together right now - the reason why I'm able to form a coherent sentence, and I'm not babbling like a lunatic. I can't have you going off and getting yourself hurt or-" Sirius broke off, all too aware of what he had been about to say. He swallowed hard. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you, too."

Turning to face his best friend, Remus gave him a defeated look. As much as he wanted to immediately go off and hunt down whoever had done this, he had to admit that Sirius had a point. "Oh, Padfoot…" Remus sighed. He slowly nodded. "You're right. We should alert Dumbledore first and foremost. He'll definitely want to send out a search party now, get the Order on it. Maybe one of them-" Remus broke off. He had been gazing down at the bloody puddles again, but then his eyes had drifted absentmindedly across the grass. He hadn't even been looking for anything, but it was just in an effort to find something, anything else that would occupy his mind for a few moments. To distract him from the horrific images that kept popping into his mind. And he did see something, something they hadn't spotted before, hidden among the tall blades of grass.

"Moony?"

Remus took several steps towards the object, and once he was close enough, his deepest fears were realized. He didn't know which was worse - this or the blood - but this filled him with a horribly intense feeling of hopelessness that the blood hadn't. Remus almost didn't want to let Sirius see, didn't want him to know what he had found, but it was a little too late to think about that. Sirius was still watching him closely, and Remus knew he'd never let it go if Remus tried to turn Sirius's attention away from it. Nor did he really have a right to. This was Harry's godfather, after all; he had a right to know about any clues that were found, no matter how much Remus wanted to protect his best friend from the hurt they would inevitably bring.

"Moony, what is it?" Sirius asked as if to emphasize this point, and he started approaching Remus now.

Remus let out a heavy breath before stooping down to retrieve the object from the grass. He held it up for Sirius to see, causing him to stop in his tracks. They both recognized it immediately, because they knew it as well as their own - Harry's wand.

Sirius's teeth clenched, his bottom lip quivering the tiniest bit. A moment later, he closed his eyes and let out a very long breath, one of hopelessness and despair - the same things that had grown to be a brick in Remus's own chest. When Sirius opened his eyes again, they were slightly watery once more as he directed them up at the sky. It was like he was silently asking whatever might be up there why it always had to be Harry.

Suddenly, a strangled sound ripped from Sirius's throat. To Remus, it sounded almost inhuman, and if he hadn't seen it for himself, he would have thought that it had come from an animal. Remus wasn't even sure how Sirius was able to form a coherent word with the amount of anguish present in his voice, but among it came out a choked out, "HARRY!"

Remus watched helplessly as his best friend called out for his godson. Sirius's chest was left heaving and he waited in silence, almost like Harry just might have heard him and would be able to answer. When nothing but the sound of the wind through the trees settled on their ears, Sirius's eyes settled on the Forbidden Forest, on the tree line that Remus had been approaching not very long before. Sirius's breathing had become fierce and loud, his shoulders heaving up and down with every breath. Without another word, he began stalking towards the trees, a determined look on his face.

"Padfoot!" Remus yelled, hurrying across the ground to try and catch up to Sirius. "Padfoot!" Remus tried again when Sirius didn't stop. Eventually, Remus had to break into a run, reaching out and grabbing one of Sirius's arms. "Padfoot!" Remus repeated, forcing Sirius to stop. "You were right before, you know. You can't just go wandering around in there with no clue that that's where Harry even is."

Sirius struggled halfheartedly to get out of Remus's grip, probably because somewhere in his grief-clogged mind, he knew Remus was right, that he'd been arguing the exact same thing just a few moments prior. "I don't care!" Sirius whispered harshly anyway. "I can't just stand here and do nothing! Does this feel right to you?! Harry is out there somewhere - Merlin only knows in what kind of shape - and we're standing here figuring out what to do next!"

Ever the voice of reason, Remus reminded calmly, "Mainly because we don't know what to do next. What if Harry isn't in there at all?" he asked, gesturing towards the tree line. "We'd be wasting a lot of time, leaving him waiting even longer, and what if we got hurt in the process? That's not going to help him at all." Remus had a brief moment of déjà vu, almost not able to comprehend how he and Sirius had done complete reversals in their attitudes. Perhaps it was because Sirius had stopped him just long for Remus's common sense to take over once again. He now realized just how insane wandering around in the forest would be, but he shook the thought from his mind; there were much more important things at hand right now. "We need to get the rest of the Order on this and now. The more people that are out there looking for him, the better. Maybe they'll want to search the forest, too, who knows? But they'll most likely want to get Hagrid involved, because that is the safest way to explore the forest. That's what we need to do right now - get others involved - and then we'll figure out what to do. There is safety in numbers after all."

"I know," Sirius sighed, sounding a bit desperate. "I just…I want to find him, Moony. The longer we stand here, unsure of what to do, I feel like he's getting further and further away from us. And he can't even defend himself. He needs us." A sob exploded from his chest.

Remus tightened his fingers around Sirius's arm. "I know. I want to find him, too." He turned his head to the right, glancing back at the puddle in the grass. "You reminded me of something. I'm just beginning to doubt that he even is in the forest. If this was an animal the way it looks and it dragged him away, there'd be a trail of blood, and there isn't. It just stops. That leads me to believe it was a person." He narrowed his eyes determinedly. "And if it was, it makes no sense for them to hide out in the forest with him. They either would have Disapparated with him or carried him away."

Sirius gave him a weary expression. "That really doesn't help me to feel better, Moony."

"Sorry, I'm just trying to put the pieces together."

Sirius swallowed audibly. "You think it was a Death Eater."

"Isn't it always where Harry is concerned?" Remus paused for a very long time, not sure if he should share his fears with Sirius. More and more, the clues seemed to be pointing in one direction, and Remus couldn't avoid the fact that it seemed like his nightmare was coming true. The last thing Remus wanted to make Sirius even more scared than he already was, but in the end, he didn't think that was possible. Finally, Remus admitted, "And there's only one Death Eater who leaves a calling card like this."

"Greyback," Sirius said unnecessarily.

Remus hummed in agreement and added, "In which case, I think he'd definitely take Harry someplace else. He isn't stupid. He'd know the forest would be way too obvious. He wouldn't go to all this trouble to steal Harry in the first place and then leaving him laying around so close by."

Sirius suddenly put his hands on his hips and laughed harshly, crazily. It was a sound that scared Remus - like he imagined Sirius's laugh had been when he'd gotten arrested. "If it is Greyback, I'm going to kill him." He crossed his arms over his chest, glowering. "First you and now Harry - that bastard's wreaked enough havoc with my family."

Something suddenly broke inside Remus. The calm, cool composure he'd been able to maintain a hold over until now seemed to escape him. He was angry, and the fact that this might involve Greyback after all made him see red. And that scared him. Not just the fact that Greyback might be responsible, but that that damn werewolf could make Remus become unhinged so easily. "You're not going to kill him," Remus said firmly, his voice dropping to a growl, "because I will first. Bill was one thing, but Harry is entirely another. How dare he lay one finger my pup."

Sirius's eyes had widened slightly. "You're scaring me."

"Well, that makes two of us, which means Greyback should be very afraid," Remus grumbled. "And he just better hope one of us doesn't find him first. We won't be as gentle as the rest of the Order." A moment later, he drew in a sharp breath, as if only now realizing what he had just said. He ran a hand through his hair and then grasped the back of his neck, trying to calm himself. "But the longer we stand here…"

"Yeah," Sirius finally agreed, nodding, "I see your point. Bastard's a loose cannon. We'd do well to get other people in on this."

He gave Remus one last worried look before leading the way back up towards the castle. He stopped once on the way to pick up the shredded Invisibility Cloak, hugging it tightly against his chest like it might have been Harry himself.

With the evidence Remus and Sirius had uncovered, Dumbledore didn't waste any time in alerting the rest of the Order to Harry's disappearance. Indeed, it was also getting close to dinnertime, and even Dumbledore couldn't continue to insist that Harry had just wandered off for a while. The Ministry, however, remained in the dark. Voldemort and the rest of the Death Eaters had become much too involved in the government, and it would only endanger Harry even further (if that was possible) to get them involved.

The Order began an intense search of the Hogwarts' grounds and the surrounding areas, looking for any sign at all as to Harry's current location and physical state. Remus and Sirius helped them search well into the night, until Molly and Arthur all but forced them to take a break. They had been looking all day, after all, much more so than the rest of the Order, and even Remus had to admit that he was exhausted. He and Sirius hadn't even had anything to eat that day (save for a half a cup of tea on Remus's part), and as much as Remus's stomach remained in knots, he knew they needed nourishment. Remus was even beginning to feel shaky and weak, and he knew that was due to him skipping all meals today.

Dumbledore had set up a base of sorts for the searchers in the Great Hall. He had the house-elves bring up some food from the kitchen, and the Order members had laid out some maps on one of the tables. When Remus and Sirius dragged themselves in, Kingsley was poring over the maps with some of the other Order member, checking off the areas that had already been searched.

Remus forced Sirius to sit down at the table with the food. Sirius had been protesting the entire way, insisting that they needed to keep looking, but Remus knew this was taking a toll on them. Not only had they not eaten all day, but it was freezing outside. By the time they got inside, Remus's limbs were largely numb to the roaring flames in the fireplace. He and Sirius could only keep going like that for so long before they started to suffer the consequences.

Remus grabbed a plate of sandwiches as well as a pitcher of warm pumpkin juice. He sat down across from Sirius and shoved them under his nose.

Sirius grimaced, wrinkling up his nose at them. "I'm not hungry."

"Too bad," Remus said, grabbing a turkey sandwich and forcing himself to stomach it. "I'm not letting you go back to the search until you have something. Padfoot, we haven't eaten since last night at dinner! How long do you think we can keep going like this before we collapse? And you know Harry wouldn't want us to jeopardize our heath in the process."

Letting out an annoyed breath, Sirius muttered something under his breath, before reaching out for a tuna salad sandwich. He took a big bite and asked around his full mouth, "Happy?"

"Yes."

Once they began to eat, both Remus and Sirius realized that they were a lot hungrier than they had realized. Each of them ended up finishing two sandwiches and splitting a third. After that, they began to show the unmistakable signs of fatigue and a full stomach. Sirius had resorted to resting his upper body on the table, his chin on top of one arm while his other hand fisted anxiously in his hair. His eyes kept drooping, but he kept opening them wider, trying to fight the sleepiness that was threatening to claim him. Remus thought that they could both do with a nap, but he knew Sirius wouldn't hear of it. Perhaps it was just better to let Sirius rest here rather than getting him all worked up again in an effort to get him to lay down.

Remus had propped his elbow on the table, and he was resting his cheek in it. Unlike Sirius, however, he was thinking. Or feeling. He wasn't quite sure which. He was digging deep inside himself for that connection he had with Harry, as if he was checking to see if it was still there. Remus was aware of the fact that the idea was probably absurd, but he knew that werewolves in a pack had an intense bond with each other. Actual werewolves did anyway, whether they were bonded by association or bite. Such a connection had never been established between werewolves and humans, but Remus was sure it was there. Greyback would laugh at it, would say that humans most certainly did not constitute a pack, but Remus knew different. He had an intense bond with both Sirius and Harry, and maybe, just maybe he could tell…something.

"You know," Sirius said very quietly after a while, "depending on what time he disappeared, Harry's been missing for about twenty-four hours now." His voice was drowsy, defeated almost. "I read once that the first twenty-four hours are critical in missing persons' cases. If they're not found by then, the chances that they'll be found alive begin to decrease dramatically."

Remus had read that before, too. He nodded his head once, pressing his lips together grimly, still lost in that place inside himself. He simply rested his hand on top of Sirius's, gripping it tightly. When Remus spoke again, it was with a confidence that he hadn't felt before. "We'll find him, Padfoot. We will."

Sirius must have heard that same conviction in Remus's voice, because he frowned and tilted his head to the side curiously.

"I can't explain how I know, but he's alive," Remus said firmly. "And I'm not just saying that to make you feel better." He smiled and laughed lightly, but this time, it was out of relief. "I've never been so glad I was a werewolf." Remus pressed his other hand against his chest, directly over his heart. When he spoke again, his tone was nearly choked with emotion. "Because I can sense him. His soul. It's still there."

Sirius lifted his head up, staring at his best friend. As doubtful as he still was about Harry's wellbeing, he knew Remus spoke the truth. "Well then, so is yours," Sirius replied. When Remus gave him a questioning look, Sirius explained, "You're always concerned about not having a soul anymore. That the wolf might have destroyed it along with stripping you of your humanity. But Remus, don't you see? You couldn't possibly sense Harry's soul if yours wasn't intact. That alone proves how different you are from Greyback. He wouldn't even have a clue what a soul is anymore."

Remus opened his mouth to reply, but then he found that he didn't have the words. He simply ducked his head, feeling his cheeks growing impossibly warm. All he could do was squeeze Sirius's hand some more in response.

Sirius replaced his head on his arm, still keeping his fingers entwined with Remus's. Silence fell between them, but for the first time since this ordeal had started, it was bordering on comfortable and relaxed. Sirius let out a calming breath, his eyes continuing to droop. Finally, Sirius gave into sleep, soft snores escaping from him.

Sleep, however, was the furthest thing from Remus's mind, and he thought that was a bit ironic. He never would have thought that Sirius would be the one to fall asleep. Not with how frantic he was, not with how positively invested he was in Harry's safety. Remus was as well, but sometimes, he was all too aware of the fact that his bond with Harry could never come close to the father and son relationship he shared with his actual godfather. As much as Remus wished he could have such a close connection with Harry, he just knew it didn't compare.

Remus was glad though, that Sirius was able to find a little bit of peace, if only for a few minutes. He certainly needed it. They both did, actually, but Remus's mind was running much too wild now for him to calm down enough. Ever since they had found the torn Invisibility Cloak in the grounds, Remus's mind had gone into overdrive, seeming to become fixated on Greyback. As soon as he'd found out that Harry had gone missing, he'd been pretty sure that Greyback was involved. Remus's dream, the unsettled feeling that it had caused him couldn't have all been just a coincidence. As the day wore on and as they found the cloak in the grounds, Remus became absolutely certain. It was the same way he knew that Harry was still alive. Remus just sensed it.

All he could think about was the stinky, disgusting, overgrown werewolf having their Harry. Harry laying somewhere under his control, being overwhelmed with that stench that followed Greyback everywhere. Harry struggling to find a way out of the predicament he found himself in. Tears, perhaps, even streaming down Harry's face if only as a result from Greyback's foul odor.

Every time he pictured Harry's face like that, wet with tears, it made Remus's bottom lip quiver. It made a wave of sobs threaten to overtake him. It made his teeth clench impossibly hard against the thought that Harry was scared and helpless. That Remus had done this to him. That this was his fault.

He knew everyone would tell him to quit blaming himself, but Remus couldn't. It had become second nature to him by now. Despite how much it had all been Dumbledore's idea, the fact of the matter remained that Remus had willingly chosen to try and put one over on Greyback in the first place. Yes, it had all been done to protect Harry, but look where that had gotten them. It had only served to put Harry in even more danger. Perhaps things would have been better left alone. Because now Greyback was angry. Remus had no doubt of that, and he wanted to hurt Remus in any way possible. And he was doing that.

Remus couldn't even put into words the revulsion for himself that had begun coursing through his body. He couldn't believe he had put Harry into this position. That he thought he could betray Greyback so easily and that there wouldn't be any consequences. Well, no, that wasn't true. He had known there would be consequences, but for himself alone. He was well aware that he would earn Greyback's hatred for the rest of his life. That he would forever be in danger if he ever ran into the overgrown werewolf again. But that had been okay. That had only involved Remus, and he could take care of himself. Never, in a million years, did Remus ever imagine that this might involve Harry or anyone else he loved. It had never occurred to him that Greyback might seek his revenge by hurting Remus's family. Of course, it seemed kind of obvious now that Remus thought about it. It seemed like just the thing Greyback would do, just the way Greyback would prove how much better he was, because he didn't have any family to be hurt by. Remus was vulnerable, and his ability to love made him that way. Greyback wasn't just seeking his revenge by going after Harry, he was proving a point.

Why hadn't Remus thought of this? Why hadn't it occurred to him that he might be endangering those he loved? It was exactly the way Greyback played, the way he operated. While he was living with the pack, Remus thought he could read Greyback, could predict him so well, but only now did he realize that he didn't have a clue. Only now did it occur to Remus how careless and reckless he was being.

Remus sucked in a shaky breath, trying his best to keep it quiet. The last thing he wanted to do was wake Sirius now that he had fallen asleep. But ever since earlier that evening, there was an intense anger and frustration that had awoken inside Remus. One that he was afraid he wouldn't be able to control if it came right down to it.

And then as if proving his fears exactly right, the answer literally landed right in front of him. Suddenly, a grey owl had arrived in the Great Hall, swooping down low across the tables and flying towards Remus. Remus blinked it, almost not sure if he was really seeing it. He was still a little bit too caught up in his thoughts to register much of anything else. A moment later, the owl landed right in front of Remus, depositing a tiny scroll of parchment on the table. Before Remus could even react, the owl had taken off again, disappearing out of the hall as quickly as it had come.

Remus's eyes darted first to Sirius, and then to the other Order members gathered at another table. Sirius was still asleep, and the others were much too engrossed in their maps to notice. Remus swallowed hard, his eyes then going to the little scroll of paper. He didn't know why, but as he reached out for it, he felt like he was doing something wrong, like he was about to read something indecent. Like a little boy who had gotten into his father's adult magazine collection. Mail didn't come at this hour and besides, who would know to contact him at Hogwarts? And then he knew. Before he even touched the piece of parchment, Remus knew exactly who it was from and where it had come from.

Softly disengaging his hand from Sirius's, Remus unrolled the paper. He wasn't even surprised when he saw the ugly, crude writing scrawled inside. It looked like it had come from a very angry child, one who was in the middle of a temper tantrum and couldn't quite control himself. The writing was sloppy in short, stilted strokes. It looked animalistic, almost like claw marks were making up the words themselves.

My insubordinate pup,

Missing something?

The Shrieking Shack. Now. You must be alone if you wish to see him alive again.

Regards,
Your alpha wolf

A fresh wave of anger rose again in Remus like a wave, and he clenched his fingers tightly in the note, crinkling the paper underneath them. His breathing began fast and heavy anew, and it was all he could do to keep from screaming in fury. Remus was very thankful that the half-empty glass pitcher of pumpkin juice was just out of arm's reach, because he was certain he would have picked it up and smashed it if it had been close enough. Remus sucked in a sharp breath. He forced himself to open his hands, letting the note fall to the tabletop like a dead autumn leaf descending from a tree. Almost immediately, Remus's fingers clenched into fists again, but he kept telling himself that he had to get a grip. If he lost his temper, he would become careless, and that wouldn't do Harry any good at all.

A million thoughts ran through Remus's mind. His first one was to wake Sirius, to show him the evidence of this latest turn of events. Or to run over to the rest of the Order members in the hall, to show them the note as well. But in the end, Remus decided against it. He scanned the letter again, and it said he must come alone if he wished to see Harry alive again. Now, Greyback was full of shit and Remus doubted pretty much everything he said. Just because Harry might be alive now didn't mean he would stay that way, no matter what Remus did, but he knew he couldn't take the chance this time. Harry's life was on the line, and he was much too important. If there was even the smallest possibility that he could keep Harry safe this way, he would do it. A million times over.

Remus checked to make sure Sirius was still asleep, that Remus hadn't disturbed him in his fury. Then Remus checked that the others in the hall were still preoccupied. Once he was certain that no one was particularly concerned about him, Remus slowly stood up from the table. He checked to make sure his wand was in his pocket, which it was, right next to Harry's. Remus swung one leg over the bench, but then he stopped, his eyes fixing on the Invisibility Cloak. It was sitting right on top of the table, just next to Sirius. It was now torn very severely, but it was still in one piece and it was still somewhat useable. Besides, it was pitch dark outside, and the cloak would serve well enough for now.

Remus grabbed it up in one arm, hugging it tightly against his chest just like Sirius had done not long before. Remus swung his other leg over the bench, giving Sirius one last look. Then Remus quietly snuck out of the Great Hall, leaving behind one best friend for the one he considered a son.

To be continued…