Chapter 3

"Are you certain you're up for this, boy?" Moody asked in his gruff voice.

It was only the second night following the full moon. Remus Lupin knew he wasn't completely back to his usual self, but the last thing he wanted to do was stay home and rest up. It'd do him a whole lot more good to be out there with the rest of the Order being useful.

"I'm good," Remus assured him. "Really."

"All right then. I'm putting you with Fenwick. You'll be covering the east end of Hogsmeade," the Auror stated without skipping a beat. "Don't let him fuck up again," he added, his magical eye swivelling fiercely in its socket.

Was it a coincidence that Benjy came through the door at exactly that moment?

"Oi, you better not be talking about me!" he said with a mischievous grin. "Are we handing out assignments?"

He came to stand next to Remus, a boyish grin still on his face as they exchanged silent greetings.

"Wipe that stupid smirk off your face. It's supposed to be storming up there tonight," Moody said as he handed each of them a roll of parchment. "You've got your invisibility cloaks?"

"Yes sir," Benjy nodded.

"Good," Moody grunted. "Now go on. I have better shit to do than babysit."

Outside the house—tonight their meeting spot was the Prewett family residence—the setting sun was casting a red and orange glow on everything, including the stupid smirk that was very much still on Benjy's face. They climbed down the front steps together and continued walking a few metres until they were outside the range of the Anti-Apparition Charm.

"Let's not blow up any shops tonight," Remus commented, trying to keep a neutral expression despite the traces of humour in the back of his throat.

"Oh, I make no promises, handsome," Benjy laughed.

Remus felt a jolt of excitement run through him that had absolutely nothing to do with Apparating. He'd never been called handsome by another bloke before, or even a girl for that matter. It made him feel…

It was a little awkward comparing it to all of the nights he used to run around the castle with the Marauders, but the feeling was pretty close. He supposed it was a nervous, exciting sort of energy, like pixies dancing around in his stomach.

Shit, he hoped to bloody Merlin that his face wasn't doing anything embarrassing.

Benjy did not need to know that his offhand comments were having such an overwhelming effect on him.

It's not like they meant anything anyway.

"Should we go, then?" Benjy asked.

"Yeah," Remus smiled.

CRACK!

Moody definitely wasn't wrong about the weather. When they popped back into existence behind the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade, both Remus and Benjy were immediately annihilated by a torrential downpour. The wind and the rain whipped at their faces, making it nearly impossible to see the lights in the windows of the shops across the street.

Remus grabbed the front of his tattered coat and brought it closer to his chest, but it did little to warm him up.

"We've got a long night ahead of us," Benjy pushed his wet hair out of his eyes and grabbed Remus by the shoulder. "I'm buying the first round."

Remus hated to admit just how many times he'd been at the Hog's Head recently. The dingy pub attracted a rather questionable sort of clientele, meaning it was the perfect place for a couple of clandestine Order members to sit around and eavesdrop.

"Let's grab stools by the bar," Remus suggested. As they walked inside, he automatically scanned the room, looking for anything that might stand out as suspicious or out of the ordinary—more so than usual anyway.

It wasn't something he saw that riled him up.

The air was thick with the scent of alcohol, cigarettes, and body odour, but there was something else. His eyes darted to a dark corner of the room. There, two men in tattered robes were hunched over a couple of tankards.

Werewolves.

He could smell them from all the way across the room, which meant surely they could smell him too. Shit, he really hoped it wouldn't lead to trouble.

"Remus?" Benjy's voice seemed a hundred kilometres away.

"Hmm?" he muttered distractedly, realizing after a few seconds that the old barman was waiting for his drink order. "Oh, uh, I'll have the same."

"Right, two firewhiskys coming up."

The barman hastily wiped down two large glasses with a grimy rag and poured a very generous amount of dark amber liquid into each of them. He collected a few sickles from Benjy and turned his attention to a different patron at the other end of the bar.

Benjy took his drink between his fingers and leaned toward Remus.

"You all right, mate?" he asked in barely a whisper.

"Yes, I'm fine. I was just making a quick sweep of the room," Remus replied quickly. "How's your arm?"

Benjy laughed. It was a clumsy attempt at an evasive manoeuvre, but it seemed to work well enough.

"Good as new, I reckon." He wiggled his fingers as proof.

"That's, uh, good… I wouldn't want to be partially responsible for maiming a member the of team," Remus replied with a light chuckle, but his attention was divided once again as one of the werewolves—the bigger one of the two—made his way to the bar to order another drink.

"Remus," Benjy put a hand on his arm to grab his attention. "The table behind us. Do you recognize the woman in the green robes?"

Remus waited a few seconds before sneaking a quick glance. She was a stocky little woman with terrible posture and a permanent scowl on her face. He was certain he'd seen her before in a photograph. Was she in the Daily Prophet, perhaps? Or—oh! She was one of the suspected Death Eaters Mad-Eye told them to be on the lookout for!

Alecto Carrow.

Although Remus wasn't sitting in the right spot to confirm it, he was willing to bet the bloke sitting opposite her was her twin brother, Amycus.

"Yeah, I think that's her," Remus agreed with Benjy's silent quarry.

"Right then, I'm gonna go to the loo," Benjy said suddenly, giving Remus' arm a deliberate squeeze. Shit. What was he planning?

"No blowing up the shop," Remus mouthed.

Benjy winked at him.

Alone in one of the bathroom stalls, Benjy ducked underneath one of the invisibility cloaks. It wasn't perfect, but under the cover of cigarette smoke, he probably wouldn't be noticed.

Probably…

Fuelled by nerves and the thrill of finally doing something, Benjy made his way back to the bar, sticking close to the walls. The last thing he wanted was for a drunk patron to accidentally bump into him.

Instead of heading back to his stool, where Remus was still waiting for him, he headed toward the Carrows' table. He crouched down low—a difficult task considering he was over 2 metres tall—next to a stack of unused chairs and listened.

"We're running out of time, brother," the woman—Alecto, presumably—was saying, her voice no more than a venomous growl as she leaned toward the dark-haired man sitting opposite her. "The Dark Lord is getting impatient with us. We cannot stall any longer."

Benjy held his breath.

"We can't afford any mistakes," the brother, Amycus, spoke. "Or it'll be our heads on the chopping block."

Come on, what are you up to? Benjy thought.

"You will be the one to explain to him why his orders were not carried out on time," Alecto snapped.

"I didn't think I had to answer to you, Alecto," Amycus spat angrily. "What do you suggest we do, then? A reckless charge into the lion's den? You may be eager to throw your life away, but some of us value our skins."

Benjy couldn't believe he was a witness to a sibling squabble. If the way they were speaking to each other wasn't terrifying as hell, it'd be almost funny.

"We need to strike now, while we still have the element of surprise on our side," Alecto continued. "We've been tracking their movements for months. If we can get both Aurors at the same time—"

"Shhhh! That's enough!" Amycus hissed, leaning forward and grabbing his sister roughly by the sleeve. "We shan't speak of this here."

Benjy watched Amycus finish his drink in one gulp before standing up. He practically dragged his sister to her feet and the pair of them clomped off together into the storm.

Bloody hell.

Benjy slumped against the wall, trying to gather his wits. They were going after Aurors. But which ones? He looked toward the bar in search of Remus.

They had a lot to discuss.

Remus was still sitting at the bar with his drink, right where Benjy had left him ten minutes earlier. But something wasn't right.

Two other blokes were occupying the stools on either side of him, leaning a little too close for it to seem like a casual chat between strangers.

Benjy felt his heart sink, watching the scene with a growing sense of discomfort. Shit, he should've been keeping an eye on his partner instead of prancing around in his invisibility cloak playing the hero.

They were supposed to be a team.

The moment Benjy left his stool and headed toward the bathroom, the werewolves got up from their table and headed straight for his side of the bar.

Remus was the absolute last person to judge anyone based on who they were, or what they were. Maybe these two were just drunk and looking for a bit of fun. Maybe they were excited to meet another werewolf. He should at least give them the benefit of the doubt... even though they looked like they meant trouble.

"Well, well," said one of the werewolves, a skinny bloke that reminded Remus strangely of Mundungus Fletcher.

"I just want to have a few drinks with my mate," Remus said flatly, gripping his drink in an attempt to keep his hands from shaking. Could they smell his fear? Could they hear his heart beating out of his chest? Was he just a fun little game to them or was he the target of something a lot more sinister? He had no way of knowing their intentions. "I don't want any trouble."

They laughed as if he'd just told them the best joke, putting their tankards down on the bar. Remus could only watch as they seized the stools on either side of him, every one of their movements deliberate.

"Your mate," the larger werewolf leered, scraping his stool against the old wooden floorboards. He wore his hair in dreadlocks, but it looked as if they hadn't been touched up in well over a year. His robes were filthy. Remus could smell dirt and sweat on them, as well as—blood.

There was something very offputting about the look he exchanged with his small, greasy-haired friend. Remus shifted uncomfortably on his stool, feeling like an animal stuck in a trap. He gave a quick glance toward the bathroom, hoping Benjy would stay in there just a few minutes longer.

He didn't need to be involved in this.

"It's a bloody shame we didn't cross paths a couple nights ago," the other werewolf said casually, a hint of a Cockney accent in his voice. "Sinkin' my teeth into him would've been a real treat. You'd be up for sharing, right?"

Remus reached inside his cloak and gripped his wand tightly.

The werewolves noticed.

"Relax, pup. I'm kiddin'," the greasy-haired Mundungus look-a-like chuckled and gave Remus' shoulder a harsh shove. "Kid can't take a joke, or what?"

"Just leave me alone, please," Remus said flatly, pushing his wand against the thigh of the big wolf with the dreadlocks and the blood-stained clothes.

It wasn't a plea, it was a threat.

Still, it did the trick.

The big wolf got to his feet and gestured for his friend to do the same.

"Watch it," he snarled. "If sparks come out of that wand of yours, it'll be your neck on the line as well as ours. You're one of us, best not forget it. They sure as hell won't."

The small, greasy-haired wolf flicked something off Remus' shoulder, an ugly grin on his face. "Sorry, you had a bit of filth, there."

Remus watched them leave the pub, their mocking laughs carrying all the way back to him. The gits. If it hadn't been for his mission—for the Order—he would've hexed them.

He let out a shaky breath, only to have the wind knocked out of him all over again when a hand landed firmly on his shoulder. He spun around in his seat and raised his wand toward—

Nothing.

"Sorry mate, it's just me," Benjy whispered in his ear.

From this close-up, Remus could just about see Benjy's hazy silhouette underneath the invisibility cloak. He slipped his wand back into his sleeve and relaxed against the bar.

"Finish your drink and then let's head outside," Benjy continued. Remus could actually feel the fabric of the invisibility cloak ruffling his hair as he moved. "I think I have something big."

There was no way Benjy didn't see his fingers tremble as Remus found his glass of firewhisky. He forced the rest of the drink down and placed the empty glass onto the bar.

He was more than ready to get out of here.

He kept a steady pace once he exited the pub, assuming Benjy was behind him. It wasn't until they were a safe distance away that Benjy took off the invisibility cloak and shoved it down in the inside pocket of his regular cloak.

Remus watched silently as Benjy scanned the fields all around him. No one else in their right mind would be all the way out here in such terrible weather, but one could never be too certain.

Once he was satisfied, he turned his attention back to Remus.

"We have to talk to Moody tonight," he said with an urgent edge to his voice. "The Carrows are planning to ambush Aurors—I think they have two specific targets in mind, but I didn't get their names."

"Okay," Remus nodded. "That's still really good."

"Honestly, I don't know how useful this information is gonna be. I don't have a time and a place either—"

"Come on, it's more than what we had half an hour ago. We can give the Order a heads-up. At least Moody and the rest of them will be on their guard," Remus told him with a small smile. "Constance vigilance," he added in a surprisingly good imitation of Mad-Eye.

Benjy cracked a grin.

"So anyway," he continued pleasantly, his whole demeanour changing before Remus' very eyes. There was even a little bounce in his step as they headed toward the treeline. "Who were those people you were talking to back there? They didn't look very, uh, friendly."

Remus was grateful for the darkness and the rain, hiding his features from view. It made it easier to lie through his teeth. "I think I might've looked at them a little too long. They came to give me a piece of their mind."

Benjy laughed. "I know the type. One look and they immediately think you want to shag them in a bathroom stall. As if none of us have any standards."

A very unwelcome—and distracting—thought gripped Remus as the two men prepared to Apparate back to the Prewett house.

Had Benjy ever shagged someone in a bathroom stall?