Weapon

Posted 29/01/2011

Thank you to Angel no Yami and teamedward240

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Weapon (Possession Chapter XCVIII)
Chapter XLVII - Werewolf Complications
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Remus sat on the balcony in a comfortable chair, looking up at the moon. It was waxing and in a few days it would be full. He could almost feel the werewolf in him twitching in anticipation but he knew any sensation caused by the light of the moon was merely his over active imagination creating phantom tingles in his bones and muscles. He'd gotten used to that particular sensation a while back even though some werewolves claimed that sometimes, when the moon was not yet full but the light was strong, they could actually feel their bones begin to shift, but Lupin also knew that the change was only possible on nights of the full moon. The full moon was his enemy, not the phases. He took a sip of wine and picked up the paper that was resting on the small table beside him. A lumos spell, embedded into the wall above him glowed softly, giving him enough light to read by without drowning the area in its glow, allowing him to still appreciate the breeze and the night air.

He was worried. After that article he'd expected to be barraged with problems but except for the one article screaming that a werewolf loyal to You-Know-Who had been captured, there had been barely a whisper in the paper. Oh sure they'd stated that the werewolf was in Auror custody and was being questioned but they never named names, and never gone much further than that. So far the fall out had been very light and he was inexplicably thankful for that. Maybe someone in the Ministry had realized how bad it would be if they pushed the werewolves towards the Dark Lord... or something.

Remus was thankful, but not stupid and he scanned the paper carefully every day to see if anything was amiss. His position, here at Hogwarts, was available only because he was an Order member and because Harry was training. He was not so naive to think that he would be accepted anywhere else nor did he think here was safe, safer perhaps, but safe, no. No matter. Safe was a relative consideration.

He snorted remembering his encounter with the still in residence Potion Master. Dumbledore had asked Snape to brew the wolfsbane potion while Remus was staying at the castle and the werewolf had been dutifully taking it and sleeping out the night of transformation locked in his rooms. With the full moon nearing, he had sort out with the Potion Master to make the necessary arrangements for this time but had been rather taken back by how withdrawn the man had been. It wasn't obvious but if you knew what you were looking for, and you watched for a short time, you could see how the usually confident head of Slytherin House started slightly at every small sound or unexpected flicker. This was not a man who was in control of himself and without knowing exactly how he knew, Remus was certain, absolutely certain that the Potions Master had not been able to brew a successful sleeping potion for a while, let alone a potion of any complexity. And he knew with absolute certainty that he didn't want to trust his transformation to a potentially botched potion.

At best he'd have a normal transformation and a belly ache in the morning... at worst... Remus shuddered at the possibilities... who knew? There were so many things that could potentially go wrong with a complex potion like Wolfsbane Potion that the number of possible outcomes was astounding and while unlikely to be fatal, the werewolf knew there were fates worse than death and those fates were especially likely with a botched potion that affected one's mind as Wolfsbane potion did. Spending the rest of his life, trapped with his animal mind or with no mind at all was not appealing.

And so, despite the fact it was practically an official Marauder Law to 'Make Snape's life hell', he'd decided to show some maturity and had tapped the Potion Master in the hallway outside the dining room when they'd gathered for lunch. The suppressed jump that he'd seen had confirmed his decision and he'd merely informed the greasy haired man that this moon he would not be requiring the potion. It was a testament to how stressed Severus was that he didn't even sneer or make some derogatory remark about werewolves. He'd merely nodded his acknowledgment of the words before walking into the room for his meal. Remus though hadn't missed the slight, very slight signs of relief in the man but he'd held back on any comment as well, because truthfully he felt relieved himself. If he couldn't contact the somewhat unknown party, he would just have to strip out one of the rooms and hole up in it. He'd suffered through the transformation without wolfsbane in the past, and Remus had no doubt he'd be doing it again in future.

As for the breaking of the Marauder Law... Remus decided with a smile that he just wouldn't tell Padfoot. Even if his oldest friend found out, he was fairly sure that he could convince the canine animagus that it had been in his best interests not to demand that the potion be made for him this moon.

He took another sip of wine, and flipped a few more pages over, scanning them carefully for any news. He went through the paper in the morning of course but a thorough examination had to wait until the night when everyone seemed to calm down. He was reaching out to grasp his goblet again when a hoot startled him and Remus was almost childishly proud of the fact that he nudged but caught the glass without spilling any of the wine as an unknown owl ghosted silently into his light and landed on the table.

It somewhat presumptuously held out its leg to him and he could see a note tied there. The owl was black, with the slightest dappling of brown on its wings and had huge yellow eyes that watched him closely. Remus reached into his pocket, ignoring the way the owl fussed slightly when he didn't immediately reach for the note and after a moment of fumbling he brought out a noticeably squished owl treat and offered it to the bird who accepted it with obvious care to avoid nipping his fingers with its large hooked beak. The bird calmed, forgiving him the delay as he then reached out to untie the note. Once the note was untied he stroked the owls head once or twice but the bird began fussing again and with a few quick steps, talons clicking on the table top, it launched itself into the air and disappeared into the night on silent wings, leaving Remus to wonder after it.

He didn't recognize the bird but that wasn't particularly unusual. The Order for example had a whole aviary full of owls in the attempt to confuse anyone trying to intercept their messages a different bird was used every time. He shrugged as he looked down at the parchment. Really, the owl wasn't important. The message was. But he had no idea who it was from and the writing of his name gave him no clues as to the sender. The parchment was unadorned; his name printed clearly with careful calligraphy and the wax seal was just a circular impression, giving no hint about the originator. For most wizards, they wouldn't have cared who sent him the parchment, but he'd been targeted in the past because of that bite and old habits died hardest.

This letter could be almost anything - a howler, a portkey in disguise, a parchment bearing almost any other trap or spell - or it could be just a letter but he wasn't going to take chances. He picked up his wand, ready for anything before he broke the seal and unfolded the parchment. The missive inside was short, but he gasped as he read the method of address. Whoever had sent this, knew exactly who he was and while they had been discrete with the outside addressing, the writer felt no need to be as subtle within.

To the Werewolf Pack Leader, Remus Lupin, the letter began, and Remus felt a mild stirring of surprise as the letters seemed to waver and some began unraveling. Quickly he grabbed his wand and placed the tip on the parchment and the words stabilized. He smiled as they stopped, suspecting now, for sure, who the letter was from but still resisting the urge to look at the signature. The parchment was most likely loaded with charms but since none were directed against him, he hadn't felt even a whisper of threat. He was reassured though, while they were happy to refer to him by his rank, the probable writer was discrete with the addressing and he had the feeling that if it had not have been him, with his unusual aura because of the werewolf and his wand, then the words would have unraveled completely before the letter could be used to incriminate anyone. The werewolves would be allies were nothing if not discrete. He took a deep breath and started again.

To the Werewolf Pack Leader, Remus Lupin. Firstly, we would like to thank you for the opportunity you gave us to openly lay out our proposal to the werewolves. While we had desired to be specific, you will acknowledge that without a face to face meeting that was always going to be somewhat difficult and your request to meet made it possible for us to clarify to you and therefore to your brethren any number of points in our proposal that we feel would probably have been over looked, or misunderstood.

Secondly, we would like to apologize for failing to anticipate that some further questions and queries would arise and that we had left in place no means to contact us. In the event that the werewolves decideto ally with us, something we are confident will happen shortly, we would be establishing means of communication but we should have foreseen that at least some level of communication would be necessary now, during what we shall deem the negotiation phase.

To correct that mistake, we would encourage you, or any other pack leader to go to the clearing in which we last spoke and to tap their wand on the small piece of parchment that is currently affixed to the center of the clearing, saying the words 'I wish to discuss an alliance', and one of our representatives will be there within minutes no matter when the call is made. For ease of communication though we would request thatyou keep the number of werewolf representatives to a minimum but leave this choice entirely in your hands. If for any reason we need to converse with the werewolves directly, we will send you an owl requesting your presence for discourse.

Once a full agreement is made, a more permanent and less cumbersome means of communication will be set in place but for now, we are confident that this means will address the safety concerns we are sure we both are feeling.

Once again we thank you for your patience and willingness to treat with us and hope that any questions that have arisen since the time of our last discussion may be answered with due haste.

Our kindest and most sincere regards,

Viable Option Number Four

With a snort of laughter Remus flicked his eyes once more over the letter. He could almost see the smirk on the representative's face as they'd signed off the letter he now held. That man had represented power, was power but in answering the werewolf's questions at their meeting the lycanthrope had seen that there was a man beneath that power and that was what had convinced him mostly that this option was viable and wasn't merely the temporary sanctuary leading to destruction that the Dark Lord offered.

He blinked again. He'd never really thought of the dark path like that before, but with a burst of insight he could see that his observation was true and he knew what would happen if he didn't fight with proverbial tooth and nail to avoid going to the Dark Lord this time. A moment ago he would have fought the decision but so long as the usual stipulation remained, that individuals could serve where they would, he would have accepted it as the choice of the pack, even while he lead those members of the pack inclined to a more peaceful solution down his path. Such a split would have been disastrous and a slow death for his kind, Remus realized with a shudder. The Ministry would have persecuted them, and while the Dark Lord would have supported his followers, he would also see those who didn't follow him and would eventually find excuses to rid himself of those followers who were not deemed loyal. This wouldn't happen while they were still fighting but in the event the Dark Lord won, it was only a matter of time.

And speaking of time... The werewolf looked up at the moon. It was nearly full and casting enough light that he could see the edges of the Forbidden Forest once he moved out of the lumos charm that was illuminating his copy of the Daily Prophet. It was bright enough that he wouldn't do something stupid like trip and break his neck, or anything else that might be cause for suspicion. He folded the letter carefully and tucked it into his breast pocket before picking up the paper and heading in, shutting the door to avoid having a bug infestation in his quarters, before he dropped the paper on his bed, picked up his cloak, and headed out the door for a late night stroll.

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"Get ready," the shadows said aloud, swirling around the clearing where Sirius had been camped for the last few days.

Sirius looked up sharply at them. He was feeling more than a little put out with them at the moment and they knew it and had been conspicuous with their absence over the last few days. Oh they'd been around enough to make sure he didn't get into trouble and that his true identity was not discovered but that was about all they'd been around for. He hadn't particularly minded when they'd had him break the captured Death Eater Werewolf out from under the Ministry's nose but he was less than impressed when they'd insisted that he chaperone the man for a few days.

The werewolf, one Gideon Prayleor, had been very impressed with him and very thankful for a day or so, obeying his instructions without question but then, after the shock of freedom had worn off, he'd begun questioning Sirius and had taken to following him everywhere in the hopes of gaining some information about him for the Dark Lord. It was so utterly transparent that even after Sirius had confronted him, Gideon had merely shrugged, admitted that's what he was doing and then kept on doing it! It had been more than a little frustrating to stay 'in character' as it where for days especially when the only help the shadows had given him was a bit of warning one time when the werewolf had attempted to remove his mask while he was sleeping. No, it had not been a good few days for Sirius and he was feeling more than a little irate with the shadows and their planning. There was absolutely no reason why he should be summarily assigned the task of watching the Death Eater when he could have just dumped the werewolf at one of Voldemort's strong holds and left it at that. Word would have gotten back to the Dark Lord as to who had rescued him and Sirius was sure the Serpent Lord would have been suitably thankful. If the shadows weren't sure of that then hell, he could have dumped the werewolf in Voldemort's lap with the shadows assisting his apparation and then been on his merry way, unencumbered. But no... they had insisted that the werewolf needed to stay with him for a day or so and thus Sirius had been stuck in his persona, and stuck with the job of babysitting a known escaped felon while he waited for the shadows to set up whatever it was that they needed to organize.

The irony, while not appreciated, was not lost on him.

The breakout had gone smoothly, though it had probably done nothing to establish him as something other than the Dark Lord's servant and the shadows has been honest enough to admit that, though they insisted that it was necessary. It had, though, more than established him as a very powerful wizard since the shadows had provided their very pervasive assistance. The complex holding the werewolf, the Auror Headquarters, was of course warded against apparation and the shadows hadn't felt like breaking the wards but there were secure sections, guarded rooms that were available for apparating into and they were used to transport high level criminals who could not be trusted to the floo network, which was after all public and could, with the right preparation be intercepted. The safe apparation rooms were of course heavily guarded with four Aurors standing at the meridian points and the room sealed until the right combination on the locking ward was tapped out with a wand. He'd apparated into the room in a crouch, already casting the stunning spells and he'd fired front and left to catch those two Aurors off guard before somersaulting to his left and spinning, generating a shield charm that the shadows angled for him to reflect the incoming stunner spells at the Aurors who had been to his right and behind him. As each of them had fallen to the others spell, the shadows had chuckled before detailing the pattern to tap out on the ward and he'd slipped out of the room and down the darkened corridor before the platoon of back up arrived. After all, even if one took out the Auror guards, no one was meant to be able to get out of those rooms that quickly.

While his entry had unavoidably put the place on full alert and that would have caught most regular intruders, it was only a minor inconvenience for a wizard guided by Harry's servants. They'd lead him into offices and down corridors scant seconds before they were flooded with Aurors and then they'd lead him up into a small crawl space before they'd let him drop back down into the cell block. There had been some warding spells in the crawl space to prevent anyone doing what he'd done which was to evade the guard station that was necessary for entry into the cell areas but they'd been easy to disarm silently, even for him. Then it was merely a matter of slipping down the corridors, wrapped in the shadows to avoid calling attention to himself since at least some of these inmates would have sold him out until he found the cells with silver locks and the particular cell which held the Death Eater werewolf.

The man had blinked at him with something akin to awe as he'd entered and after magically unlocking the chains, he'd merely looked at the werewolf and said 'You will come with me,' in a tone that was not a question and brooked no disobedience. The shadows which had been rather ostentatiously swirling around him had made him appear far more powerful than any wizard and the werewolf really had no other choice but to follow. It had taken them slightly longer to get out of the building than it had for Sirius to infiltrate but the werewolf was fairly young and reasonably fit and had followed without complaint or overt fear as Sirius and the shadows had lead him back through offices and corridors, and more than once into a crawl space to avoid detection but they'd eventually emerged into a reasonably large office with a cheery fire burning on the hearth and an ornamental jar of floo powder sitting beside it.

Gideon had grinned at that, suppressing a full laugh and had merely asked "Where to?" as he'd walked towards the fireplace.

"Windsor House," the shadows said while silently giving Sirius instructions. :Go there then grab him and apparate immediately.:

Gideon had shrugged not recognizing the destination but not caring since any other destination would put him in further danger until he got his hands on a wand again. For the moment he was at the mercy of his rescuer and since that man had proven to be very slick, he saw no reason to doubt their ability now. The two of them had floo'd practically on each other's heels and Sirius had had a glimpse of some startled muggles before the rather richly appointed room they'd tumbled into disappeared with his apparation and they'd landed back in the neat camp he'd made a few hours earlier.

It had taken Gideon a few moments to get his bearings and Sirius had used the time to build up the fire while he questioned the shadows. :Apparation trail?:

:Even if they find where you floo'd out to, we have already removed the trace magic,: they assured him and answered a few other questions while dancing around the main one of why they'd brought the werewolf to his camp.

"That was bloody brilliant!" Gideon had gushed after a few moments of silence once he had established that they were at whatever destination they were meant to be. "I didn't think -anyone- could infiltrate and then move around the Auror Headquarters so freely. I don't think they did either," he'd added with a laugh.

"I have certain advantages," Sirius had replied at the shadow's prompting.

"Perhaps but infiltration, extraction and escape by one wizard, without a running battle is unheard of," Gideon said forcefully before looking around and noticing he was in the proverbial middle of nowhere. "Now what?" he asked.

Sirius had touched his fingers to the centre of his forehead as he listened to the shadows and he resisted the urge to groan. After they'd finished talking he'd rather presumptuously had turned to Gideon and made an announcement. "Now, in exchange for my rescue of you, you will stay with me for a few days and during that time you will not use magic. After that, I'll take you to another contact and then you are their problem. You may communicate with your master if it does not send up a magical flare otherwise you will just accompany me quietly. Any questions?"

"No, Shadow Lord."

"I am not the Shadow Lord," Sirius had snapped. "I'm merely the servant who got the job of getting you out of there."

Gideon had, had the good taste to chuckle a bit before bowing slightly, "and for that you have my thanks."

"We are safe here," he'd nodded his acceptance before continuing. "But since I was not really prepared to grab you, you will forgive me if I now make the arrangements to pass you onto the next contact, and that is something you can help me with."

Gideon had looked almost hurt but understanding. He'd looked around the small camp and it was obvious it was set up for one wizard, not two and while the man before him had been friendly and didn't radiant power as the Serpent Lord did, there was a sharp edge of alertness that he was wary of. The man was the shadows servant but he was also his own master. "I can help you?"

"You can write the letter," Sirius had said, gesturing towards his parchment and quills. "Let's get this letter off, then you can talk to the Dark Lord all night for all I care just so long as you don't wake me," he'd added as the werewolf had sat down and prepared to write.

Sirius grimaced at the recollection before looking over at Gideon. The werewolf was ready to leave and they only needed the word. The last few days had been annoying and the shadows' reluctance to explain why they needed him to baby-sit had rankled but Sirius had a theory about that, one he'd question them about later, because if true, it was a remarkable bluff they had pulled, and he always appreciated a good prank.

:Go now,: the shadows said, giving Sirius the visualization of his destination as he placed one hand on the werewolf's shoulder and his magic reached out to drag him along in side long apparation.

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