Stolen: Greyback's Revenge
Chapter 4 - Bat Out of Hell
When Remus stepped out into the frigid night air, he didn't waste any time in pulling the Invisibility Cloak over himself. Some of the Order members were still about the grounds, keeping an eye out for any sign of Harry and conferring with each other about the latest. If anyone spotted Remus, they'd want to know where he was off to by himself. He was much too flustered to even try and think up a lie, and he sure as hell wasn't about to tell anyone about the letter he had received. Harry's life was on the line after all, and Greyback had demanded that Remus come alone.
Remus knew this was insane - willingly going off to meet Greyback all by himself after everything that had happened between then. Greyback had a score to settle with Remus, and Greyback wouldn't be happy until Remus was dead. That was the price of betraying Greyback. But all that Remus was concerned about at the moment was Harry. He was Remus's priority, and Remus would walk to the ends of the earth to keep him safe if he had to.
After all, that had been his point for going to live with the werewolves in the first place - to keep Harry safe. Remus hadn't known that at the time, but Harry had been the reason for all of it, and Remus wasn't about to let his time with the werewolves be in vain. If something happened to Harry now, it would all be pointless. All of it. Aside from the pain of any harm coming to Harry, Remus couldn't stomach the thought of his time with Greyback going to waste. He hadn't lived with that monster, hadn't given up two months of his life - and even more recovering from the experience - for nothing. It all had to be worth something. It had to.
It vaguely occurred to Remus that he just might get himself killed in his quest to make his time with the werewolves worthwhile, but right now, that didn't matter. He didn't matter. All that mattered was Harry.
Remus hurried across the grass, quickly making his way towards the Whomping Willow. As he went, he was reminded of his own schooldays so long ago - running across the grounds in the evenings before the moon rose, hoping that no one would spot him and wonder just what in the hell he was doing. He felt like a little boy all over again, like he was doing something wrong and might be caught and scolded.
Pausing just in front of the Whomping Willow, Remus turned to look back over his shoulder. He glanced around the grounds, checking to make sure there was no one in his vicinity, no one to see the tree's swinging branches when they suddenly froze. Swallowing hard, Remus looked about the ground for a stick, grabbing up the longest one he saw. He carefully approached the tree, holding the branch out in front of him. He crouched lower to the ground and slowly crept forward until the end of the limb came into contact with the Whomping Willow's knot. The tree immediately stilled.
Throwing one last look over his shoulder, Remus easily lowered himself to the grass and slipped in between the tree's roots with the skill of someone who had done so many times before. It had been years since Remus had done so, and even longer since he had snuck through the tree with any regularity, but there were some things one never forgot. It was like riding a broomstick.
Remus hurried along the secret passageway, the Invisibility Cloak becoming dislodged and beginning to slip off of him. He barely even noticed. All he could think about was Harry - getting to him and making sure he was okay. It almost grew to consume Remus's mind, so much so that he was hardly registering anything else.
When he finally reached the trapdoor at the end of the tunnel, Remus came to a halt, panting for breath. He had been so consumed with moving as quickly as possible, it almost hadn't occurred to him that he had come so far so fast. He couldn't believe he was there already, with nothing but a few measly wooden planks standing between him and Harry. And Greyback. Once again, he was about to come face to face with werewolf that wanted him dead, but Remus wasn't sure why that didn't scare him as much as he thought it should.
The Invisibility Cloak was still draped on him, but only slightly. It had fallen from his head, and was just clinging to him by the shoulders. Most of it had been trailing behind him on the ground for probably quite some time. Still gasping for breath, Remus wrapped one hand in the shimmering fabric and pulled it away, letting it drop to the ground. Invisibility Cloaks were all but useless against Greyback; the big, hulking werewolf was most likely well aware that Remus was there. Greyback relied on much more than just sight, after all, and his hearing and sense of smell were what usually tipped him off to prey.
Remus drew his wand from his pocket and reached up with his free hand, pushing the small wooden door open. It slammed into the floor of the Shrieking Shack, throwing up a cloud of dust in its wake, but Remus hardly even noticed. He crept through the opening it had revealed, his entire body tensed and ready for an attack from Greyback. On the other hand, Greyback did love to hear himself talk so maybe he'd do that first. Remus hoped so, although one never could tell with the psychotic werewolf.
It was almost pitch black in the shack, so Remus muttered a quick, "Lumos." As soon as the light burst from the end of his wand, the trapdoor banged again, only this time, it made Remus jump nearly a foot in the air. He spun around in the direction of the sound, and there he was.
Fenrir Greyback was atop the now closed trapdoor on all fours. His back was arched, his arms and legs bent, holding him close above the floor like he was ready to pounce. His teeth were bared, and they shone in the pale wand light. His eyes were narrowed, angry and calculating. He growled, a hungry and predatory sound that came from somewhere deep in his throat.
It was times like this when the fine line between Greyback's human side and animal side became almost nonexistent. He truly looked like an animal now, with absolutely nothing left of the human side of him. This awakened a feeling inside Remus that was probably far from what Greyback had intended. Remus wasn't scared, he wasn't fearing for his life like he thought he should be. On the contrary, he felt nothing but pity for the animalistic creature crouched before him.
"Hello, Fenrir," Remus greeted, keeping his wand out in front of him and pointed towards the hulking werewolf.
Greyback slunk forward, moving almost like a snake across the floorboards. With such a gigantic body, it was surprising that Greyback could move with anything resembling grace, but when he was on all fours, he did just that. He closed the distance between them, and when he was just in front of Remus, Greyback straightened up, slowly rising to his full height. When he towered over Remus, he breathed in deep, as if smelling his prey before he devoured it. "It's been too long," he said silkily, licking his lips.
Remus's first instinct was to back away, but he stood his ground. Fear only made Greyback even crazier than he already was, and Remus wouldn't let him think, even for a moment, that he was afraid.
Greyback seemed to sense this, tilting his head and regarding Remus with curiosity. "You're not afraid?" Whether Greyback could smell it on him or just assumed Remus's state of mind from his demeanor, it never ceased to make shivers run up Remus's spine the way Greyback could decipher his mood in moment.
"No," Remus said simply.
Greyback grinned, baring his yellowed teeth to Remus once again. "You should be." He took another step forward, now almost chest to chest with Remus. "When I'm through with you, they won't even be able to tell what species you belonged to."
"I told you before," Remus replied almost tiredly, "there are far worse things to fear than death."
"I would think being torn limb from limb would be one of them."
Remus swiftly raised his wand to Greyback's throat with all the enthusiasm he had felt when his mother had forced him to go to the ballet when he was little. He didn't know why he suddenly felt so listless, so bored with the idea of anything Greyback could do to him. "Before you indulge yourself…" he said slowly, fully prepared for Greyback to laugh in his face, "let Harry go."
Greyback's eyebrows suddenly went up in surprise. "Sorry, whatever give you the impression that I would?"
Remus dropped his voice and tightened his grip on his wand, trying his best to sound threatening. "Harry has nothing to do with this. You wanted me. I'm the one you're pissed off at, I'm the one you want revenge against, and I'm here."
Greyback's lips closed around his teeth and formed into a twisted smirk. It was shrewd, calculating, and he looked almost pleased with himself. "Oh, that's where you're wrong. Potter has everything in the world to do with this. At least he does now. After that night you betrayed me. Damned little pup should learn to quit poking his nose into places it doesn't belong. You see, he made this his business."
"He had little choice in the matter!" Remus reminded sternly. "He very rarely does anymore. It was you and the rest of the Death Eaters who put him into that position in the first place."
"You were there, too, don't forget." Greyback's voice bordered on amused.
"Oh, I haven't forgotten," Remus said quickly, "but don't tell me you were expecting Harry to just turn around and walk away, leaving me behind with you just because you told him to. Because Harry wouldn't do that. He isn't like that. Nor am I."
"Oh, yes," Greyback yawned, rolling his eyes. "You all love each other, don't you? Gag me with a shovel."
Remus had absolutely no plan. He had run into this completely blind before he could fully understand what this or his actions would mean. All that had mattered to him then was Harry, and that was still all that mattered. It was only now beginning to occur to Remus that perhaps taking the time to organize some backup or even a plan of some sort might have been the better course of action.
But Remus could do this. He knew Greyback. Remus doubted that sometimes, but even Dumbledore had told Remus that he understood the psychotic werewolf pretty well. Remus hadn't spent two months living with him without learning anything, after all.
Remus threw his mind about for a plan of some sort, but he kept coming back to the same idea - that Greyback liked to hear himself talk. A lot. Remus knew it was cliché; it was used in nearly every single adventure and suspense book he'd ever read, but Remus decided to take advantage of it nonetheless. He didn't know where that would lead or what he would do when Greyback decided he'd had enough talking, but right now, it was the only idea Remus had.
"At least let me see him," Remus said calmly. He was trying desperately not to let onto the fact that the first vestiges of fear were beginning to seep into his nerves. "You said you would."
Greyback threw his head back and laughed cruelly, which Remus had fully been expecting. "You, Lupin, need to learn some reading comprehension. I said 'if you wish to see him'. Wish! I never said anything about actually letting you." Greyback backed away, tucking his thumbs into the waistband of his trousers and beginning to pace around the shack. "But I never even said he was here. You assumed. You know how much I abhor that."
Remus knew very well that Harry was there. He'd felt it on his journey there, a growing sense that he was getting closer to the one he considered a son. He was very close. Remus could tell, and even though Greyback would laugh at him for it, tell how stupid he was being, Remus knew better. Knew exactly what it was he was feeling - something Greyback would never be able to understand. Remus tried to hide the smirk that was threatening to overtake his lips. "Perhaps I did," Remus replied coolly. "But you know what really interests me? That you were able to write a coherent sentence at all."
Greyback rounded on him, baring his teeth and growling. "I know how to read and write! I'm not stupid! You're assuming again!"
"Isn't that a human thing?" Remus asked, pretending to be interested in the pattern of dust on the floor, like he didn't really care one way or the other about what Greyback was saying. If it occurred to Greyback that he was doing exactly what Remus wanted him to do, he would put a stop to it and then Remus would be back at square one. "I thought you disinherited pretty much any remnants of the human world."
"I was bitten when I was ten," Greyback bit out. "The damage was already done. Try as I might to reverse it, humans have indelibly left their mark upon me. Besides, believe it or not, reading was what helped to keep me sane when I was in the colony."
Remus's eyebrows went up. He had a hard time believing Greyback was ever really sane, but he didn't think that would be a good thing to point out. "They let you read?" That was something Remus had always wondered about. When he was little, it was never out of the realm of possibility that something would happen to his father, and then he would be doomed to life in a colony as well. One of his favorite things in the world was to read, and he thought that just might get him through if it ever came to that, but he didn't think colonies would offer things like that.
Greyback hummed grimly. "They had an old box of books. They were all in shambles, falling apart, but most of the time, they were all I had. They didn't like to give them to us; they didn't like to give us anything, but sometimes they would just to shut us up. Just like they were throwing a bone to a dog."
That made Remus's heart hurt. When it came right down to it, he and Greyback hadn't been entirely different as children. They couldn't be more different now, however. That much Remus knew. But if circumstances had been different for either one of them, even just a little, they just might have ended up very much alike.
"Don't presume to look at me with anything resembling pity!" Greyback snapped. "I chose a colony! It was either that, or live with the mother who despised me before I was bitten. You can only imagine how she felt about me afterwards. I did it to get away from her, and I don't regret it."
"What about your father?" The question had escaped Remus before he had even fully processed it.
Greyback glared, almost like Remus's question was implying that Greyback's father hadn't done enough to prevent what happened. "My father was a wonderful man!" Greyback yelled. There was evidence of some long-buried emotion in his eyes, one that Remus hadn't seen there before. It was as foreign to Greyback's face as being quiet was to Sirius. "Only my mother didn't think so. Just because their marriage didn't work out, she decided to be vindictive. She wouldn't let me see him anymore after that, and she even went so far as to have his parental rights stripped entirely. My father was dirt poor. He didn't have the money to hire any kind of decent defense, and we all know how the Ministry operates. He didn't stand a chance.
"I haven't seen him since-" Greyback stopped abruptly, like he was realizing he was saying too much. Finally he just mumbled, "Since around the time I was bitten." He glared down at the floor, his jaw clenching. "I'm not even sure if he knew what had happened to me. I mean, he knew I was bitten, but I don't know if he was ever informed that I went to a colony. My mother might have told him I died in the attack for all I know. She was persuaded by healers to do just that - to tell everyone I had died rather than admit to what I had become."
"So were mine," Remus said in a shaky voice, but then he forced himself to stop. It wouldn't be a very wise idea to talk about how his parents were so much more different than Greyback's, about how they had accepted Remus for what he was and took care of him. Just as easily, Remus thought, it all could have been so different. If his parents hadn't been so accommodating, Remus knew very well where he could have ended up. "What about your father?" Remus asked again instead. "How did he react to you being bitten?"
Greyback narrowed his eyes. "I said he was a good man! He wasn't prejudiced against us the way everyone else is! He wanted nothing more than to take care of me afterwards." Greyback broke Remus's gaze and stared off across the room, perhaps wishing death to the floorboards. "He just didn't have that chance," he added bitterly.
Remus felt an overwhelming wave of the very emotion that Greyback didn't want him to feel - pity. The very idea of a young and innocent Greyback was so absurd to him, he had an impossible time trying to imagine it at all. It was like trying to picture a Harry and Sirius who weren't reckless. Of course, Remus was now the one standing here, facing Greyback alone, so he supposed he wasn't much different.
Shaking his head, Remus tried to direct his thoughts back many years ago, to a time when Greyback had been a little boy. If what Greyback had said was to be believed - and Remus didn't think he'd have any reason to lie about it - then he had simply been a victim of the feud between his parents. Of his mother's inability to put aside her scorned feelings for the best interests of her child. That wasn't Greyback's fault, nor was the way spending so many years in a colony had warped his mind. Greyback had suffered the consequences from his bite just as Remus had, the only difference being the way Remus's parents had handled it.
Remus tried to imagine what Greyback might be like now if he had been as lucky as Remus had once upon a time, and he couldn't do it. Couldn't imagine a completely human Greyback, living a civilized life with a family like Remus. Greyback was now so twisted, so changed by things that had been out of his control, just as the bite had been. Who the hell had decided that Remus needed to have a family who handled it better? What the hell had he ever done in his first five years to deserve that? Moreover, what had Greyback possibly done in his first ten years to deserve the sentence he had gotten? Remus couldn't quite see Greyback that way, as a young and innocent child, but he had to have been at one point. So why had things turned out so unfairly different for him? Trying to comprehend it made his head hurt.
"Then you do know what love is," Remus observed. Greyback looked at him out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't seem like he was completely there. It appeared that he was perhaps lost in some distant memory, in something that had happened long ago. "Or you did once. You felt it for your father, just the same as I did."
"Perhaps I did," Greyback said absently, but almost as quickly, his expression hardened. Lost again to the animalistic urges that had grown to consume him. "It was humans who crushed it out of me. Forced me to become what I am. I couldn't survive any other way. Couldn't survive the horrors they put me through in that colony."
Remus hoped he wasn't taking too much of a chance with his next tactic, but he knew he had to try. Harry's life still depended on it, depended on Remus to get them both out of this. "Harry's not that much different than we are, you know," Remus tried. "He didn't want all this. Didn't want to be the focus of the wizarding world. He was swept up in circumstances that were beyond his control, the same way we both were. All he wants is to have a normal life with people that love him. Wouldn't you have given anything to have that once, too?"
Greyback tilted his head to the side, regarding him with something akin to surprise. "Oh, Lupin." He laughed, but this time, it was a breathless and amused sound. He started stalking closer to Remus. "Trying to play on my sympathies, hm?" He invaded Remus's personal space once again, towering over him like he had before. "I'm not that same person anymore. My father's been dead for quite some time. A victim like we all were, as you so eloquently implied. But you know what? I'm not a victim, and I resent you implying that I am! I never would have ended up this way if I hadn't chosen certain things, and I told you, I don't regret it! Not one bit of it. I'm not ashamed of what I've become. I'm not sorry. It's you humans who should be ashamed. Ashamed of the vices you're all controlled by.
"I'm sure you ran straight home after you left me to bathe, didn't you?" Greyback asked mockingly. "To get a normal meal? To sleep in a nice warm human bed? To be coddled by those you love?" He snorted loudly. "Love. You think it's some powerful emotion that can save you from anything." Before Remus could process what was happening, Greyback's hand shot out, colliding with Remus's and knocking his wand into the air.
Remus sucked in a breath, watching his wand arc across the room to clatter onto the floor in a cloud of dust. He had let his guard down. He had gotten so used to Greyback talking, he hadn't exactly been expecting him to actually do anything.
While Remus was still caught off guard, Greyback slammed both of his palms into Remus's chest. He knocked him back harshly, and Remus lost his footing, stumbling. For a precarious moment, he thought for sure he was going down, that Greyback would pounce on him and devour him liked he'd wanted to do this entire time. But Remus's back and head met with the wall of the shack, sending aching waves throughout his upper body. He opened his mouth, but contained the urge to cry out in pain, slightly grateful to the wall for keeping him upright. If Greyback had been able to pin him to the floor, Remus knew he'd never be able to escape the hulking werewolf. Greyback was simply much too big, much too strong, and he would have had gravity to assist him as well. Remus thought had still had a chance as long as he was on his feet; after all, he had already gotten away from Greyback like that once before. He just needed to do it again. Just one more time.
Before Remus's mind could even think that far ahead, however, Greyback's hand was around his throat, pressing his head painfully into the wall. He didn't cut off Remus's airway completely, but he put enough pressure on it so that every breath in and out was a struggle. Remus froze; Greyback was much stronger than he was, and Remus was afraid he wouldn't have enough oxygen if he exerted any kind of physical activity and didn't manage to escape.
"I've got to stop underestimating you, haven't I?" Greyback snarled into Remus's face, his breath as putrid as ever. "Allowing you to run your mouth, thinking I'll have some miraculous change of heart and let you go? Go home with your family?" Greyback paused for a moment, appearing deep in thought. "What's that expression? Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. No more of that. This ends here, right now. I summoned you here for one reason and one reason only. To show you what happens when insubordinate pups cross me." Greyback drew ever closer, whispering in Remus's ear like was sharing a private secret. "Where's your love to save you now?"
Greyback opened his mouth wide, his teeth glinting in the dimly lit room. His eyes were crazed. There was absolutely nothing left in them of the almost human Remus had been talking to only mere moments before. That part of him was gone, replaced by the animal that resided within. The animal that was interested in one thing - its meal.
Remus tried with all his might to throw Greyback off, but he was so weak. He clearly wasn't getting enough oxygen, and his limbs suddenly felt like they weighed a thousand pounds and Greyback might as have weighed a ton. Even Remus's vision was beginning to grow fuzzy, little black specs clouding into the edges of his eyes. Remus couldn't think straight, couldn't even come up with a coherent plan of action. The only thought that plagued his oxygen-deprived brain was the fact that he was about to have his throat ripped out, and he had willingly walked right into it.
When Sirius woke up, he sat up very groggily, rubbing at his eyes. He noticed that Remus wasn't seated across from him any longer, and he quietly called, "Moony?" Sirius glanced around the Great Hall for his best friend, but he didn't appear to be there. A group of Order members was still gathered around one of the tables, talking in hushed tones, but Remus didn't seem to be among them.
Sirius didn't think anything of it at first. He simply yawed and propped his chin up in one hand, assuming Remus was just in the loo or that he'd gone for a walk. He'd be back momentarily.
Sirius kept running his hand over his face, almost wishing he could go back to sleep. There had been a moment there, right when he'd woken up, that he had completely forgotten that Harry was missing. It had been a very brief but peaceful second when nothing was wrong with the world. And then the cold reality hit him like a punch in the stomach. But Sirius couldn't go back to sleep! He shouldn't even have been asleep in the first place! He should be out there, looking for Harry. Not sleeping!
As soon as Remus came back, Sirius was determined that they would both return to the search. Remus might try to change his mind, but Sirius wouldn't take no for an answer. He had spent enough time resting. Harry needed him, damn it, and he wasn't going to rest again until his godson was safe.
But the longer Sirius waited, the more concerned he became that something was very wrong. The brick that had been in his stomach all day grew even bigger, making him feel positively queasy. He was sorry he had eaten anything. Sirius tried to tell himself that he was being silly, that perhaps Remus had just gone home for something or other. There was no reason to think Remus had met with foul play, too. That was absurd. Sirius didn't think there was any safer place than Hogwarts at the moment with all of the Order members about. Besides, Remus was more than capable of taking care of himself.
Remus probably just hadn't wanted to wake Sirius up once he had dozed off, but something didn't sit well with Sirius. Considering the circumstances, he doubted very much that Remus would just leave without saying anything. Sirius was already having a heart attack; he didn't need his best friend disappearing too, even for a moment, to make it worse. Remus wouldn't do that on purpose. Not now.
Sirius kept checking his watch and still Remus didn't return. When it began nearing a half an hour since he had awoken, Sirius got to his feet, determined to hunt his best friend down and give him a piece of his mind for making him worry. And then he saw it.
Sirius thought it strange that it hadn't caught his eye before. The bright white piece of parchment against the dark wood of the tabletop was hard to miss. Sirius couldn't quite make out the sloppy lettering from his vantage point, but he knew right away it wasn't good. The very sight of it made his insides crawl and his legs begin to shake.
Reaching out a trembling hand, Sirius snatched up the note and brought it to his chest. He read through it, his heart pounding and his breathing growing even more frantic with every single word. His fingers clenched into the parchment, wrinkling it even more than it already was. Then and there, Sirius swore to himself that if anything at all happened to either of his two favorite people, he was going to kill Greyback. Sirius didn't even care about being a murderer anymore, didn't care about what it would mean for him. Remus and Harry were all that mattered, and Sirius would make Greyback pay dearly for it if he had to.
Almost instinctively, Sirius dropped his right hand to the table, reaching out for the Invisibility Cloak where he'd left it. He felt like he was in a daze, unable to even register much of what was going on around him; he was basically functioning on pure impulse now. But the cloak wasn't there. His palm fell flat against the cold and hard surface of the table.
His eyes closed, and he tried desperately to swallow away the painful lump that had formed in his throat. He silently prayed that Remus wasn't doing anything foolish before he screamed, "MOONY!" at the top of his lungs. Sirius tore from the Great Hall, well aware that the other Order members were staring after him, but he didn't care. Sirius also knew that Remus was probably already well out of earshot by then, but his best friend's nickname had almost been torn from his throat against his will. It was more like a cry of anguish than of actually calling for him.
"Sirius?" some of the Order members called after him, but Sirius didn't stop. He wouldn't waste one more second where the lives of his best friend and his godson were concerned. He only hoped he wasn't too late.
To be continued…