The room they were using was typically reserved for brainstorming larger cases. The space was mostly dominated by an old chalk board, half erased notes still left on it's edges. Below it, a scattering of chairs held a group of Aurors. The glow of a magically lit gas lamp illuminating the abandoned office memos that flitted above their heads like moths.

Without the natural light that usually streamed through the windows, the familiar place seem creepy. Maybe it was just his mood.

There were far less people gathered in the room than would be typical. It was only Harry and another set of Auror partners who had been in the same classes as Teddy and Hasan. Harry had supplemented the gas lamps with his wand, but everyone's faces lit from below just made the whole thing creepier.

Harry looked up, a sardonic expression glinting from the shadows. "Ah, Hasan's victim is awake so we can begin."

Hasan stiffened beside Teddy, Harry's jibe hitting it's mark. Despite, or maybe because of, years of training with Harry, Hasan had a hard time dealing with Harry's sharp tongue.

Teddy usually would have said something to blunt Harry's words, but Teddy's mind was a blank buzz. He wanted to grab Hasan's hand in support but barely thought better of it in front of the other Aurors. Instead, he merely shook his head and glared at Harry. He sat down with everyone else, already feeling weary, and Hasan joined him.

His daily snark accomplished, Harry began his briefing, which was relatively short. The victim had been found in her house early that morning when one of her packmates had come to visit her. Harry had already been there and collected some of the evidence but now the investigation was going to be handed over to the two teams in the room.

The whole routine was so normal that Teddy felt a bit disassociated from it. Or maybe it was the fact that the werewolf was female. There was ice creeping into his hands at the idea of it being one of the women in his pack. He actually like them

By the time the briefing was done, Teddy was having a hard time not running through when he had seen each of the female weres. Harry led them back to the main office space, just as empty and creepy as the other room. Everyone trailed off to their desks to gather the things they needed.

As Hasan prepped his bag to leave for the murder site, Teddy moved robotically to do the same. Kamya was in the clear because he had just barely seen her. But what about Lilith, his ex-girlfriend? She could have been murdered while Teddy was putzing around at work.

The thought brought his robotic movements to a jittering stop. No. No, it couldn't be. There was something that squirmed around in his stomach, like swallowed lake water, that told him that she was one of the more likely victims. She was probably the most vulnerable and youngest of the female werewolves.

Someone grabbed his shoulder and Teddy looked up to see Hasan beside him. "You okay?" Hasan asked, his face turned down in concern.

How could someone be okay when they were drowning? Teddy forced himself to focus on his hands, which had frozen around one of the potions he had been packing. He slowly tucked it in a pocket, giving himself time to recoup. It didn't have to be Lilith. Maybe it had been a domestic, he told himself with a horrible sort of hope.

"Hey, breathe," Hasan said, helping Teddy pack the rest of his bag. When their hands brushed on the last potion bottle, Hasan grabbed Teddy's hand. He waited until Teddy looked up at him, and then he said. "Don't let yourself get thrown by our busted stake-out. We'll get through it. Breathe."

Hasan stared meaningfully at Teddy until Teddy nodded his head, not really sure what he was agreeing to, and forced himself to take deeper breaths.

Hasan nodded once in satisfaction. "Come on, the other team is ready," Hasan said, gesturing to where they and Harry stood at the doorway.

Teddy nodded again, unable to say anything. Hasan reached and patted Teddy's shoulder several times before turning it into a strong grip. "I've got your back for this one too, come on."

Teddy nodded dumbly and gulped, glad that Hasan had supplied an excuse for his behavior. He should have said something. All he managed was a pained smile, which Hasan returned. Hasan shouldered his bag, Teddy mimicked the movement, and they silently joined the others.

They walked down the hallway to where apparitions were allowed. The silence seemed to follow them down that hall, but Teddy wasn't sure if that was his imagination again, spurred by his dark thoughts.

Harry pulled out a port key and motioned for all of them to hold onto it. A little more of Teddy's hope died when he saw the location written on the umbrella port key: Werewolf Forest. All too suddenly, the port key was activated with a lurch that didn't help his stomach at all. After a dizzying blur of limbs they landed in a clearing of the werewolf's forest.