A Song for Severus ~ (Not Update, but Edit)

Chapter 45 ~ Night of the Wolf

Remus Lupin walked through the forest that bordered Rubin Fezwig’s farm. This was where he spent his night of transformation each month. Rubin once had a son who had been turned into a werewolf as a child, nearly the same age as Remus when Fenrir took revenge on him for being insulted by Remus’ father. Unfortunately, Rubin’s son took the bad path, becoming a criminal to earn money, committing crimes with other werewolves to earn an illegitimate living. Werewolves, even those living within wizarding law were shunned, and it was hard to get gainful employment.

Rubin’s son was killed in a face-off with Ministry Aurors. His father had been devastated, but he always knew his boy would meet with such an end. When Remus came to him about the charmed barn he had to let, the farmer recognized the werewolf scent on him. Not many could, but as a wizard whose son had the malady, he could tell immediately.

Rubin was going to dismantle the main components of the barn to accommodate whoever rented it. He thought it would be used for storage. But it appeared that it was perfect for what Remus. The barn was divided by sturdy steel bars and an iron door with a heavy locking system. A heavy concrete slab was sunk deep into the earth and four manacles with long magically enhanced chains was attach to it by heavy rings. Remus had inspected it thoroughly and found it was just what he needed.

To the werewolf’s delight however, Rubin informed him that he could freely roam his lands without worry during his transformation. Both his home and the barn he kept his animals in were werewolf safe, having silver threading worked in the construction and silver blinds that dropped at every full moon. No werewolf could penetrate them. Since the nearest neighbors were many kilometers away, Remus was safe to go wherever he liked.

Because of the wolfsbane potion Remus drank before transformation, he retained much of his human mind and wasn’t completely taken over by the animal part of himself. To date, he had never killed a human being, though he had on occasion hunted small animals…mostly for sport rather than hunger, his wolf half loving the chase. Smaller animals generally could escape because of their size, either scampering up trees or slipping into holes with connecting tunnels. In the second case Remus would happily dig up the earth, snuffling for his prey, which was usually by this point…long gone.

He would apparate to Rubin’s farm on the day of the full moon and spend it there, the farmer often making him one or two large rare steaks and talking to him for a greater part of the day before locking his animals and himself inside to wait for the moon to rise and wane.

Since the loss of his job at Hogwarts as the DADA teacher, Remus got by doing small jobs and working from time to time at the Three Broomsticks. He didn’t make much money but enough to keep a small room in Knockturn Alley and provide for himself. It was a lonely life, punctuated by occasional visits from the Aurors who worked for the Ministry in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. This was always unpleasant with Remus having to sit by while they rummaged through his scant possessions, questioned him and sometimes even took his money. Who could he complain to?

Despite the unfairness of his situation, Remus continued to live as well as he could, although he was very lonely. His sexual life was virtually non-existent unless you counted his ongoing relationship with his hand. There were few werewolf females, very few and they were extremely picky about who they mated with. Most were quite old as well. Remus wasn’t an alpha male in any sense of the word, and didn’t visit the village where the werewolves lived very often. Fenrir was a strong presence there and very dominating. Remus hated the werewolf and would like to exact revenge, but he couldn’t do it alone. The others were too frightened of failure to help him. Fenrir had been the cause of many of the transformations.

As he walked to the edge of a little visited field, emerging from the forest, Remus stiffened. He smelled blood. Human blood. Fresh, sweet and alluring. Remus had never touched the stuff, but it still affected him. He stuck his finger in his mouth and wet his nostrils with it. He did have an enhanced sense of smell but the moisture helped him focus when he was still human. He lifted his head, tilted it back and forth then caught the scent strongly. He began to run toward it.

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Eloise stood outside of her flat feeling flighty and uncomfortable. The full moon was going to rise tonight and Fenrir would be coming to retrieve her. She didn’t want the werewolf stinking up her flat so waited to smell his scent. She’d follow him until they could disapparate away safely.

She still hadn’t come up with a way to kill the werewolf yet, so decided to do her best to accept her transformation and keep her sensibilities. Fenrir had said it was when one fought the change that their minds suffered. So if she wanted any chance at revenge, she would have to transform willingly.

A number of youths standing around a barrel across the street noticed Eloise pacing back and forth in front of her apartment building, but not one made any attempt to accost her. They all had heard what she did to the last bloke that tried it. Made a real mess of him, she did. Almost killed him with her bare hands.

“Think she’s waiting for a date?” one straggly-haired young man said to another, passing him a cigarette.

The mohawked young thug tapped the cigarette’s filter on the back of his hand to pack it, looking at Eloise with narrowed eyes.

“If she is, he’s a brave bloke…I tell you that. I wouldn’t fuck a bird who could make my knees bend backwards,” he replied, sticking the cigarette in his mouth and lighting it with a match, “No telling what else she’d bend up.”

At that precise moment, Eloise stopped pacing and looked directly across the street at the boys, smiling. It was a very unpleasant, rather threatening smile.

“Holy shit! Think she heard you?” the scraggly-haired youth asked his partner as they both turned their back to her quickly.

“No, she couldn’t have…but come on, I want to get a pop,” his friend replied. They quickly started walking up the street.

Eloise grinned nastily. She liked putting the fear of God into the little bastards. It was good to see them terrorized for once. Suddenly she smelled Fenrir and looked about, narrowing her eyes. Yes, she could make out his shimmer down the block. She began to walk toward it and it moved away.

As she followed the disillusioned werewolf, she could smell something else. Something attractive…something delicious.

Blood. Fresh blood. Human.

The shimmer turned between two buildings and Eloise followed.

“You smell like blood,” she said to the disillusioned wizard, who suddenly appeared, melting into view, his wand in his hand.

Fenrir smiled at her with his pointed teeth. His face and beard were streaked with crimson.

“Like it, bitch?” he rasped at her, his yellow eyes taking her in.

Eloise swallowed down her saliva.

“No. I was just saying you smelled like it,” she snapped, “And stop calling me bitch!”

She kicked him in the leg, and Fenrir growled at her, smirking.

“Always ready to fight, aren’t you?” he said approvingly, grabbing her arm tightly, “Let’s go. I have a present for you.”

Eloise tugged as if trying to get away. She really wasn’t trying to but it was habit. She hated being grabbed.

They disapparated.

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Fenrir and Eloise reappeared at the edge of a forest, the big wizard releasing her. Eloise looked around. Night was falling.

“This isn’t where you brought me last time,” she said looking at the open field.

“No, it isn’t,” the werewolf replied, walking over to a clump of bushes and digging through it, frowning as he scented another werewolf and finding the sack he’d left there gone. He let out a vicious snarl.

“Stolen! Gods damn it…I’ve got to find that sack,” Fenrir roared, “And Lupin. He’s around here somewhere, gods damn it. I’m going to rip him to shreds!”

Fenrir turned to Eloise who was staring at him. Fenrir was so enraged he was foaming at the mouth.

“You stay here!” he ordered her, then took off at a lope into the forest, his huge bulk disappearing between the trees.

Eloise stared after him for a moment, then curiously walked up to the clump of bushes. She could smell blood strongly here. She breathed in deeply, her mouth watering again.

Downwind, across the field, Remus Lupin laid stretched out in the grass, watching the woman, breathing in her scent, every sense focused on her.

Remus had found a burlap sack in those same bushes, the smell of blood strong. He opened it to find the dismembered body of a young woman. She had been torn into pieces. The desire to take a bite of the dripping flesh was almost overpowering, but Remus resisted. He reached in and took out the head. The mouth was slack and contorted, the hair matted with congealed blood. Remus took out his wand and scourgified it then studied it carefully before putting it back in the sack. He would send a pensieve to Dumbledore to let him know a woman had been murdered by Fenrir.

He couldn’t bring the body in himself. He would be blamed for the death. He then carried the sack into the forest, taking a winding, convoluted route because he knew whoever the remains belonged to would be back for them. The wizard backtracked, leapt aside and did all manner of things to twist up the trail, then finally, deep in the forest, used his wand to dig a hole and buried the woman.

“I’m sorry it couldn’t be more,” he said softly to the mound, “But hopefully someone will come find you after I contact Albus.”

There was nothing else Remus could do but go deeper into the forest and convolute his trail even more, then apparate back to the field to hide and wait to see who came to claim the sack. It figured it was Fenrir. But he hadn’t expected the werewolf to bring company.

“She’s a werewolf,” Remus breathed to himself as he watched Eloise digging through the bushes. He had never seen her at the village and she wasn’t a witch…he could tell. Most likely another poor soul Fenrir had purposely bitten. It made sense though. There weren’t many attractive bitches in their group or fertile ones. Remus knew Fenrir wanted to breed and women who became werewolves were immediately sterilized by the Ministry as soon as they were discovered to keep them from bearing children. No doubt Fenrir had turned this muggle with the intent on making her his mate.

Suddenly the woman straightened and turned toward the horizon, wrapping her arms around herself as the glow of the rising moon made itself known. Remus watched as her flesh began to bubble, surprised she didn’t scream more. It seemed she wasn’t trying to fight the transformation. Dear gods…was she as blood-thirsty as Fenrir and embracing becoming a werewolf? It seemed so.

Eloise writhed as the moon rose fully, the monochromatic light washing over her. With a shuddering cry that turned into a long, forlorn, the woman transformed fully, her bones locking backward and clothing disappearing, brown fur sprouting, muzzle elongating.

In the forest, Fenrir heard Eloise’s transformation, but continued looking for the muggle he’d killed, the moonlight unable to reach him through the dense foliage. He’d get to Eloise in time.

Remus watched as Eloise dropped to all fours panting. The moon’s light hadn’t hit him yet but was quickly flooding towards him. He braced himself as the light and pain hit him, willing himself not to scream as his bones cracked and reformed, his jaw loosened then jutted forward, his clothing melting away and skin itching furiously as thick fur sprouted. He staggered back, forcing down a howl then dropped to all fours, slinking forward toward the female werewolf, who had returned to the clump of bushes, digging at them furiously with her claws.

As Remus crept forward, the wind changed and Eloise let out a snarl, spinning, her yellow eyes scanning the field. She saw the werewolf crawling toward her and bared her teeth. But she had some of her senses. She knew this werewolf wasn’t Fenrir.

Remus raised himself slightly, his tail wagging submissively as Eloise rose to her hind legs, her body rigid and tail stiff as she watched his approach. Whoever the woman was, in her werewolf form she was a definite Alpha female. Remus hunched forward carefully, keeping his head low and not meeting her eyes in deference.

Eloise relaxed slightly, then dropped to all fours and began moving forward toward Remus, who tried to make himself appear even smaller, finally rolling to his back as Eloise approached him stiff-legged, her neck arched and teeth bared threateningly.

Remus whined and lay still as possible as the bitch reached him.

Eloise stared down at him and Remus licked his lips repeatedly in another sign of submission. Eloise stopped showing her teeth and walked up to him, touching the tip of her nose to his. Remus licked her a little and she snarled so he stopped. Then she began to sniff him all over, from the top of his furry head, to the tip of his hind paws, spending some time snuffling his genital area as the werewolf was aroused, the pink tip of his large erection showing.

Finally she back away and sat on her haunches, looking at him.

Remus knew he had to lead Eloise away to safety before Fenrir returned and transformed. He could easily beat Remus since he was bigger, but Remus was faster. It was doubtful Fenrir would be able to kill him, but the wizard wanted to get the bitch away from him.

Remus rolled to his feet, and jumped down playfully. Eloise stared at him, unmoving, but making no threatening gestures. Remus wriggled and hopped up to her, then away, trying to draw her into a game. Eloise cocked her head at him and Remus started acting a fool, leaping and zigzagging up to her, touching his nose to hers and springing away. Eloise’s haunches started quivering as the werewolf’s play started affecting her. Suddenly, she ran at him, leaping over him and spinning, a slight snarl of play on her face. Remus ran a little distance, then came back, pawing at her. Eloise pawed back and Remus rolled over several times in quick succession, panting at her as if laughing when he returned to his feet. He didn’t stand however. That would be a dominating act. Eloise suddenly ran past him and Remus gave chase. They ran over the fields and in between the trees, Remus slowly leading her to Rubin’s farm and the charmed barn. If he could get her in there, they’d both be safe from Fenrir, for once closed, the bars wouldn’t open until sunrise. Remus would be able to use his wand then and he was more than a match for Fenrir magically.

Eloise followed the werewolf happily, contorting and frisking in the moonlight as the farm came into view. Remus ran into the open door of the barn, Eloise stopping just outside the door, looking inside as Remus bobbed and enticed her to follow him. Slowly, cautiously she slunk in, looking around. Remus walked into the enclosure, whining at Eloise, who just looked at him.

Normally the door to the enclosure would have closed magically at Remus’ entry, but the magic sensed two creatures that needed to be confined, so the door remained open. Remus walked to the corner of the cage and picked up a large, bloody beef bone and whined at Eloise before cracking the end of it with his powerful teeth.

Eloise smelled the blood and slowly entered the cell, walking toward Remus stiff-legged again. He dropped the bone and crept back against the wall as Eloise grabbed the bone with a snarl, then lay down in the fresh straw, cracking the bone and lapping the sweet marrow within. Both the cell door and barn door closed, effectively locking them in. Remus stared at the bitch, his mating instinct strong. He whined slightly, Eloise looking over her shoulder at him coldly then continuing gnawing the bone.

Remus knew he didn’t stand a chance. He wasn’t dominating enough. Besides, he couldn’t impregnate her. That was against the law and the Ministry would remove her offspring before they were even born. But, in the morning he would try to convince her to register with the Ministry. It would be some protection against Fenrir and she would have help coping with her malady. She would be monitored in the muggle world as well and escorted to the wizarding world the day of transformation. The only problem was, would she want to do this, considering they would sterilize her and she would never be able to have children?

Remus lay down and placed his head on his paws, studying the bitch for a moment. Then his yellow eyes flicked toward the door of the barn.

No doubt Fenrir would be on his way soon.

Fenrir located the body of the muggle, but it was filthy with dirt and worms. Lupin had dumped out the parts and arranged them in the earth carefully as if trying to reconstruct the victim. He ruined the meat. Disgusted, Fenrir searched for Lupin for a while before giving up and loping back toward the field. The moment he burst through the trees the moonlight hit him, the wizard transforming with a blood-curdling howl. His howl wasn't tormented because of the transformation, but because Eloise was gone…

…and he could smell Lupin.

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A/N: Aw shucks now. Remus Lupin in the house. He’s stolen Eloise right from under Fenrir’s nose. Man oh man. Someone’s not going to be a happy werewolf. Thanks for reading.