The Wolfsong - ch1
The WolfSong
Paring - Remus/Sirius
Warnings - Violence, and sex (I think)
Rating - NC17
Disclaimer - I do not own the character's of Harry Potter. I am not making any money off this story. However, ALL OC's are MINE and I call Copyright on them. So fucking there!
A/N - This story is AU. There is a lot that didn't happen. Such as, MWPP were simply WPP - Because Sirius, James and Peter still learned to become Animagi. They just thought they needed more of a challenge. And, if Sirius isn't some of the things I want to do won't work. So I need to keep that. Remus Lupine conceders Greyback his arch rival and is intent on killing him. Lupine is not weak in this story and you may not like his character. I expect him to be more of a Werewolf than he is in canon. Sorry, it just has to go that way. If there are any other questions, don't be shy, go ahead and ask me. I'll be happy to answer anything as much as I can.
Summary - Sirius Black is sent out on a mission to stop a Rogue Werewolf who is killing children in the hopes of changing them. Sirius suspects its Greback, a known Murderer and Werewolf. However, he crosses paths with Remus Lupine, a Werewolf who is intent on revenge. And the only way to do it is by Magic and he needs a competent Wizard to teach him.
Chapter 1 - Of Packing and Mysteries
"Come on Padfoot," James was practically begging. Sirius was packing a small satchel. He was bound for the wilds of England in search of Greyback. A terrible Werewolf who had finally crossed the line. It was funny how no one cared as long as it was just Muggles getting attacked, but when a kid of a pureblood family was killed, well, it was a different story.
"I can't," Sirius sighed, "I'm sorry James. I really wish I could be there for Harry's first Halloween but..."
"You can't come by for ten minutes and see your Godson?" James frowned.
"I'll make it up to him, I promise," Sirius put several changes of clothes into the pack. Mending charms only went so far until the cloth completely disappeared.
"It's fine, I just miss you," James shrugged.
"I know, it's not like we thought it'd be," Sirius nodded.
"And why are the Auror's lending you out anyway? isn't this a job for the Werewolf Capturing Division?" James asked.
"None of them know crap. They've tried for years to find Greyback, Fudge thinks that an Auror will do a better job. And I'm knew, and green sot hey think it's the perfect job for me. Half of them hate me, so I think they just want to get me out of the way for a while," Sirius shrugged. He sat down on the bed next to James who was lounging. It was fife in the evening. James should have been home an hour ago, with Sirius in tow.
"Here," and James searched his robe pocket for a second before coming out with a picture. It was of Harry at his first birthday. Chocolate cake was all over the child and Sirius was in the picture as well, feeding the kid. "You should take this so that you know who you have to come back too," James replied.
Sirius smiled as he tucked the picture safely into a pocket; "Thanks."
"No problem, I have to go so you be careful and if you need me..." James winked.
"Sure, I'll call you,"
They'd done a good job on updating the charms on their pair of mirrors. One for James, one for Peter and one for him. The Mirror's connected so all one had to do was call the name of the person you needed, and that mirror would respond. One could also call both names and that way all three mirrors were connected at the same time. It was the same process Muggles used, Sirius had heard it called a "Conference Call". Which was a pretty nifty trick.
Sirius made sure to grab the mirror and put it by the picture of him and Harry. James, Peter and Lily would flit in and out. Peter would turn into a rat to entertain little Harry in the picture. He smiled grimly. His job was going to take months if what he heard of Greyback was anything to go by. Not to mention that because of the discrimination against Werewolves in Wizarding Society, that he couldn't look for help in their direction. Even if Packs had a rivalry between them; they would never stoop so low as to help a Wizard destroy the Alpha of another pack. It just wasn't done and that Wizard could be killed.
Sirius grabbed his cloak, shrunk the pack and stuck it into his pocket. He'd have like to spend one last night with his friends and Harry; but Madam Bones gave him order's to leave that very night. He just hoped he'd be coming back.
0-0-0
Remus Lupin sat by the bed of the ailing Werewolf he called Father. His parents, bless their souls, had tried so hard to do good by him and help him through his changes. But then Benedict Chase had approached then; he had explained that he had a pack who were willing to help the parents, despite the fact that they were Wizards. Remus, though he was five, knew he wouldn't be going to school at Hogwarts because of Fenrir Greyback. The Rogue Werewolf who had bitten him because of an imagined trespass of Victor Lupine.
Benedict had then helped Remus pack a bag and they were gone; Remus hadn't seen his parents since that day. Though he was able to take some magical books with him, and his Grandfather's old Wand. Still, his magic wasn't like that of a trained Wizard schooled at Hogwarts and it rankled him when he thought of it.
Now, Benedict was old, his changes were harder for him to bear. And Remus was in line to inherit the Alpha position. Usually, it'd be Benedict's first son who'd giant he position and Remus wasn't at all adverse to that idea. However, Father and Son had a falling out - and so Benedict had adopted Remus; thus making Remus eligible.
And since Corey stood not he sidelines, completely embarrassed and practically shunned by the Chase pack; Remus had no intentions of turning the position away. He and Corey had grown up together. Corey was a purebred Werewolf however. It seemed that when two Werewolf parents had a child; said child had the genes of a Werwolf. Unlike when one parent was Werewolf and one parent was Human - the child had a fifty/fifty chance of being either. Most of the time Human.
Remus and Corey were good friends until Benedict disowned his son and named Remus Heir to be Alpha of the pack. Thus, changing the pack name from Chase to Lupine as the custom demanded.
It was now a matter of time until the old Werewolf Alpha died and Remus took his place. He would see to all the Death Ceremonies by the detail as well. He was determined to show his respect. If it weren't for Benedict, Remus wasn't at all sure what would have happened to him. His parents, most likely, would have put him down. Wizarding Society made it hard to rear a child afflicted with Lycanthropy. It made sense to send him to a pack who would make life for him better, and Remus never blamed his parents for doing so. In fact, he thanked them.
Still; he was determined to kill the Werewolf responsible for it; the one responsible for killing or turning a lot of children. Their society had rules about turning another person. First, it had to be a decision weighed heavily. One just did not arbitrarily go around turning Muggles; Muggles were obtuse to magic and thought Werewolves were Myth. They didn't go out hunting Werewolves down. Of course, there were times when a Werewolf and a Hunter did cross paths, but usually it did not end in blood shed.
All reports of such must be investigated by the Alpha to determine if the Hunter was dangerous. Most of the time the Hunter thought he/she had seen an abnormally large true wolf. And didn't think any more of it.
Remus was glad that his pack lived in a very non-populated part of England; They had their own village, grew and hunted their own food and consisted on their own. Though, he did wish he had more books. He loved to read, and by now he could recite the First threw third year magic books he'd brought with him as a child. It was a lot of books, but his mother had insisted he learn if he could. And since the wand she had also given him didn't have the 'Trace' - the Ministry of Magic had no idea he was even practicing magic at all.
The pack at first weren't sure about having a Wizard live with them. But Benedict had made it clear that Remus was one of their cubs and was to be protract and reared as such, even with his magic abilities. He had thought it a nice gift and had reiterated to Remus several times to never curse it. Remus may be different, but it was a good sort of different.
And then, they had discovered that other cubs within were also magical. They shared Remus' wand, under strict supervision, and the wand was always returned to Remus' keeping. Now, he hardly let the others use it. However, magic was just parlor tricks to the pack. It wasn't as important to them as to wizards.
The candle fluttered. it was nearly to the end of the wick. Remus stood and lit another, tall candle. It was nearing midnight. He returned to watching over his Father, who's breath was getting far more labored.
"Remus..." Benedict breathed softly.
"I am here, Dad," Remus went to his knees. Even with his keen hearing, he had to get close to the old Alpha to hear.
"It is time..." and with gnarled, old and withering hands. Benedict took the length of leather from around his neck with great difficulty. On it was the medallion of the pack, passed from one Alpha to another that indicated their position. He slowly hung the cord around Remus' neck; "You are now Alpha, take care of the family..."
And then, the eyes went dead and with one last soft huff, Benedict Chase was dead.
Outside the chamber. Rebecca and Corey waited. Rebecca was older than her husband by fifty years and her once raven black hair was white as snow. She held her son in her arms but both looked up from the floor to Remus as he came out of the room. Remus was the Heir and only one allowed to see Benedict to the Embrace of Death by Law.
"He's gone," Rebecca said. She took Remus's hand, bent and kissed it as all did to show respect for the Alpha; "may I see him?" she asked. Remus wasn't prepared for the shift. Though, he should have been. He nodded and squeezed her hand gently. "May I leave the arrangements to you?"
Rebecca was holding back tears, she wasn't one to cry but she did love Benedict dearly and she was sure she would follow him to death in a months time; "I would be honored," she straightened and Remus stepped out of the way so that she could tend to her husbands dead body.
Corey stood there, looking at the ground.
Remus knew that he could continue the young Werewolf's embarrassment, but instead he smiled at his long time friend; "are you angry at me?" he asked.
"No," Corey sighed and shook his head. He was a younger version of his now dead Father. All dark hair and eyes and tan skin. "I always knew I would never be Alpha,"
"Will you leave now?" Remus asked.
"I...no,...I'd like to help,"
"I would like it if you stayed and be my Lieutenant," Remus offered his hand.
Corey got to his knees, kissed the hand of his new Alpha; "I vow to protect you and to die for you," he whispered.
"Thank you," Remus said humbly.
0-0-0
The first thing he needed to do was track down all the families that had a child killed or changed by Greyback. Sirius first had to set down a time line before he could pinpoint Greyback's exact location.
There were twenty families to talk to; all in a twenty mile radius of each other, and a forest that was a National Park. His first guess was the Greyback had made the park his head quarter's for hunting down children who wondered out after dark. The oldest to be turned was eleven. She'd gone to see her older boyfriend which her parents had strictly forbidden her to see again; Greyback had found her. Now, her parents were at a loss of what to do.
Her name is Harriet Jones. She sits on the porch in the bright sunlight and Sirius approaches. He knows that he family have been harassed by the Werewolf Division and Auror's. His intentions are different; he's here to give some sort of hope, though he knows that there isn't any.
"Hello there," he gives her a smile as he passes through the white picket gate of the white picket fence. "Are you miss Harriet Jones?"
She nods and looks down at her feet. Sirius knows she was possibly looking at a simple grounding for sneaking out of the house, not painful transitions from human to snarling wolf every month of every year until she died. She handle the hem of her baggy blue flowered dress and chews on the end of one brown braid.
"My name is Sirius, are your parents home?" Sirius asked as the door opened to reveal Mr. Tom Jones. He's bigger than Sirius and wears overalls and a simple whit shirt that's seen better days.
"Who are you?" the man asks gruffly.
"My name is Sirius Black, I've been sent to hunt down Greyback, the Werewolf who turned your daughter this last Tuesday," Sirius explained.
"And you're a wizard? like the others?" Mr. Jones asked. He stepped out onto the porch. Harriet hadn't said a word. At all.
"Yes, I'm an Auror, I do want to appologize for the behavior of my fellow Auror's. They aren't trained to be polite,"
"Especially about Werewolves," Mr. Jones grunted.
Harriet gave a great cry; she lept to her feet and ran into the garden. Sirius watched but didn't go after her. He couldn't imagine how hard it was for Harriet to be a Werewolf. There wasn't a cure, and she was required by Wizarding Law to sign the Werewolf Registry. It was a stupid idea; but no one would listen to him. At least Werewolves weren't the only Magical Creature that was discriminated against.
"She's taking it hard," Mr. Jones sighed.
"I know I can't help in the way you need me too. I don't have a cure, there isn't one. All we've got is a potion to help with the feral aspect of the transformation on Full Moon Nights," Sirius shook his head. "All I can do is find the Werewolf who's doing this,"
"It's not for her," Mr. Jones frowned, "I know it isn't. It has to be because someone else in your world got bit or killed,"
"I can't elaborate on that case because it's still open and being investigated, but you are right in your assumption of killed," Sirius had to give him something.
"It was a Full Moon on Tuesday; we live pretty far from the village. It's a ten mile walk. Harriet has a boyfriend there. They mett halfway and from what she has told me, he takes her the rest of the way on his motorcycle. Anyway, she had to be bitten between here and the half way mark. I had looked in around ten to make sure she and her other siblings were in bed. She was gone. So I took the truck. I was so mad. And then I saw her in the road. She tried to hide behind a bush, but I pulled over and called her. She stepped out and then....there was a howl across the road from us," Mr. Jones sat down on the porch steps. Sirius slowly sat down a step below the man, intent on letting Mr. Jones get to the story in his own time.
"The thing was huge, At least nine feet tall, shaggy with a long tail and huge ears. I was reminded of Little Red Riding Hood. Anyway, Harriet was in front of the truck. I was inside. It turned to get my rifle. I was going to shoot it. But..it moved so fast. It darted across the road. and took my Harriet with it. She was screaming. I rushed out of my truck and into the woods as fast as I could. I took a shot. And got the thing in the leg. It snarled at me but it ran off. I know I saved Harriet from death, but...she was bitten," he sighed and hung his head.
"I took her to the hospital, and then she was transfered to some place called St. Mungos....and then they did a test, and told us she was infected with lycanthropy."
"And how is she taking it, being home?" Sirius asked.
"Not well," Mr. Jones looked over to the garden. Harriet had stopped crying but they still couldn't see her.
"Is this the first siting or have there been others?"
"There are stories about the woods here-abouts, sometimes, at certain times of the year we hear a lot of baying. Not always on a Full Moon Night. I don't know if it's real wolves or if it's a pack of Werewolves. But this is the first time it's happened to our family,"
Sirius nodded; "I am sorry I had to come by and remind you of all that." he stood. "I'm going to try and make it safe for your family, but..."
Mr. Jones waved a hand; "We'd move but...we have to make sure Harriet doesn't hurt anyone. I'm making a place for her to have her transformations,"
Sirius nodded; "That sounds like a good plan,"
0-0-0
Sirius tried to visit the rest of the nineteen families on his list. Except for a few, all shut their doors in his face; he really wished his fellow Auror's would be polite. Lily always said that you could gain more flies with honey than with vinegar. It was a weird Muggle saying but it was right. That's why Sirius went out of his way to be polite, more than polite and as understanding as he could be without seeming to fake it. It wasn't easy and he wished he could make them tell him about their run ins with Greyback.
The one thing he did know though, that if it was Greyback doing this - he was out of his territory. There were three known Werewolf Packs in England. The Chase Pack, the Greback Pack and the O-Malay Pack that were actually in Ireland and therefore not in England, but the Ministry didn't really care. They seemed to think that they still had jurisdiction over Ireland despite that fact that Ireland had gain independence from England.
The Chase pack was located in the woods of North Farlefoot; in its heyday it was as popular as Diagon Alley. Now, the small Wizarding village found itself surrounded by the farms of Muggles. The magical village kept it's roots strongly hidden though they sold things to the muggles. With so little contact from Wizards in London, it was a village unto itself, with its own rules. They didn't like it when their quiet lives were interrupted by the Ministry; it was always an upheaval in what was normal.
Though; not all of the families attacked by the Werewolf, which Sirius was now beginning to believe wasn't Greyback - not that anyone would believe him - were Muggles. Some were Wizarding families who'd married into the muggle family. Their children were either at Hogwarts or were close to that age.
Only three of the Wizarding Families talked to him. Two of the Muggle families - including the Jones and that didn't surprise him - while the rest told him to go away. Sirius knew that by the time night fell, he'd be a known face in the community. He needed someone friendly to tell him anything beyond what he all ready knew.
The Red Boy was much like the Hogshead in Hogsmead; it was dark, simply lit by a huge fire and candles, the place needed a good scrubbing and more light to make it at all cheery. Sirius was glad to find that the food wasn't all that bad. The Chicken pot pie had to be the best he ever had, and he had a lot of pub food. The ail was good too, he suspect it was home brew.
The bartender went by the name of Conrad Carter; he was a big man too. As tall as Hagrid and there was no way Sirius was going to ask if the man was half giant. Nor get into a fight with him if he could help it. It looked like he wouldn't as the bartender took a seat at the table Sirius had by the fire. They were the only one's in the pub. Everyone else had decided to stay home after dark.
"So, you're Sirius Black,"
"Ummmmm...." Sirius blinked at the man across from him. Carter had blond, shaggy hair, a wrinkled face that reminded Sirius of a Pit-bull rather than a human. And muscles that could crush Sirius in hand to hand combat.
"I've heard about you, you're after that Werewolf," Carter grunted.
"Yes," Sirius nodded.
"And who do you think it is?" Carter asked.
"I was sent because my boss thinks it's Greyback, but from all accounts, it can't be. In Wolf form, Greyback as a stripe of Grey going down his back, hence the name. This wolf, as far as I can tell - isn't Greyback," Sirius replied.
"Either way, you are going to kill it, right?" Carter asked.
"Erm...that's not up to me but I will find whoever is responsible," Sirius shrugged.
"Rogue wolves never stop. They can be sent to Azkaban and if they ever got out, they'd return to killing humans," Carter shook his head.
"I'm not authorized to kill unless in direct harm, I could loose my job otherwise,"
"Isn't that a risk to take?"
Sirius thought for a second before replying; "Yeah,"
Paring - Remus/Sirius
Warnings - Violence, and sex (I think)
Rating - NC17
Disclaimer - I do not own the character's of Harry Potter. I am not making any money off this story. However, ALL OC's are MINE and I call Copyright on them. So fucking there!
A/N - This story is AU. There is a lot that didn't happen. Such as, MWPP were simply WPP - Because Sirius, James and Peter still learned to become Animagi. They just thought they needed more of a challenge. And, if Sirius isn't some of the things I want to do won't work. So I need to keep that. Remus Lupine conceders Greyback his arch rival and is intent on killing him. Lupine is not weak in this story and you may not like his character. I expect him to be more of a Werewolf than he is in canon. Sorry, it just has to go that way. If there are any other questions, don't be shy, go ahead and ask me. I'll be happy to answer anything as much as I can.
Summary - Sirius Black is sent out on a mission to stop a Rogue Werewolf who is killing children in the hopes of changing them. Sirius suspects its Greback, a known Murderer and Werewolf. However, he crosses paths with Remus Lupine, a Werewolf who is intent on revenge. And the only way to do it is by Magic and he needs a competent Wizard to teach him.
Chapter 1 - Of Packing and Mysteries
"Come on Padfoot," James was practically begging. Sirius was packing a small satchel. He was bound for the wilds of England in search of Greyback. A terrible Werewolf who had finally crossed the line. It was funny how no one cared as long as it was just Muggles getting attacked, but when a kid of a pureblood family was killed, well, it was a different story.
"I can't," Sirius sighed, "I'm sorry James. I really wish I could be there for Harry's first Halloween but..."
"You can't come by for ten minutes and see your Godson?" James frowned.
"I'll make it up to him, I promise," Sirius put several changes of clothes into the pack. Mending charms only went so far until the cloth completely disappeared.
"It's fine, I just miss you," James shrugged.
"I know, it's not like we thought it'd be," Sirius nodded.
"And why are the Auror's lending you out anyway? isn't this a job for the Werewolf Capturing Division?" James asked.
"None of them know crap. They've tried for years to find Greyback, Fudge thinks that an Auror will do a better job. And I'm knew, and green sot hey think it's the perfect job for me. Half of them hate me, so I think they just want to get me out of the way for a while," Sirius shrugged. He sat down on the bed next to James who was lounging. It was fife in the evening. James should have been home an hour ago, with Sirius in tow.
"Here," and James searched his robe pocket for a second before coming out with a picture. It was of Harry at his first birthday. Chocolate cake was all over the child and Sirius was in the picture as well, feeding the kid. "You should take this so that you know who you have to come back too," James replied.
Sirius smiled as he tucked the picture safely into a pocket; "Thanks."
"No problem, I have to go so you be careful and if you need me..." James winked.
"Sure, I'll call you,"
They'd done a good job on updating the charms on their pair of mirrors. One for James, one for Peter and one for him. The Mirror's connected so all one had to do was call the name of the person you needed, and that mirror would respond. One could also call both names and that way all three mirrors were connected at the same time. It was the same process Muggles used, Sirius had heard it called a "Conference Call". Which was a pretty nifty trick.
Sirius made sure to grab the mirror and put it by the picture of him and Harry. James, Peter and Lily would flit in and out. Peter would turn into a rat to entertain little Harry in the picture. He smiled grimly. His job was going to take months if what he heard of Greyback was anything to go by. Not to mention that because of the discrimination against Werewolves in Wizarding Society, that he couldn't look for help in their direction. Even if Packs had a rivalry between them; they would never stoop so low as to help a Wizard destroy the Alpha of another pack. It just wasn't done and that Wizard could be killed.
Sirius grabbed his cloak, shrunk the pack and stuck it into his pocket. He'd have like to spend one last night with his friends and Harry; but Madam Bones gave him order's to leave that very night. He just hoped he'd be coming back.
0-0-0
Remus Lupin sat by the bed of the ailing Werewolf he called Father. His parents, bless their souls, had tried so hard to do good by him and help him through his changes. But then Benedict Chase had approached then; he had explained that he had a pack who were willing to help the parents, despite the fact that they were Wizards. Remus, though he was five, knew he wouldn't be going to school at Hogwarts because of Fenrir Greyback. The Rogue Werewolf who had bitten him because of an imagined trespass of Victor Lupine.
Benedict had then helped Remus pack a bag and they were gone; Remus hadn't seen his parents since that day. Though he was able to take some magical books with him, and his Grandfather's old Wand. Still, his magic wasn't like that of a trained Wizard schooled at Hogwarts and it rankled him when he thought of it.
Now, Benedict was old, his changes were harder for him to bear. And Remus was in line to inherit the Alpha position. Usually, it'd be Benedict's first son who'd giant he position and Remus wasn't at all adverse to that idea. However, Father and Son had a falling out - and so Benedict had adopted Remus; thus making Remus eligible.
And since Corey stood not he sidelines, completely embarrassed and practically shunned by the Chase pack; Remus had no intentions of turning the position away. He and Corey had grown up together. Corey was a purebred Werewolf however. It seemed that when two Werewolf parents had a child; said child had the genes of a Werwolf. Unlike when one parent was Werewolf and one parent was Human - the child had a fifty/fifty chance of being either. Most of the time Human.
Remus and Corey were good friends until Benedict disowned his son and named Remus Heir to be Alpha of the pack. Thus, changing the pack name from Chase to Lupine as the custom demanded.
It was now a matter of time until the old Werewolf Alpha died and Remus took his place. He would see to all the Death Ceremonies by the detail as well. He was determined to show his respect. If it weren't for Benedict, Remus wasn't at all sure what would have happened to him. His parents, most likely, would have put him down. Wizarding Society made it hard to rear a child afflicted with Lycanthropy. It made sense to send him to a pack who would make life for him better, and Remus never blamed his parents for doing so. In fact, he thanked them.
Still; he was determined to kill the Werewolf responsible for it; the one responsible for killing or turning a lot of children. Their society had rules about turning another person. First, it had to be a decision weighed heavily. One just did not arbitrarily go around turning Muggles; Muggles were obtuse to magic and thought Werewolves were Myth. They didn't go out hunting Werewolves down. Of course, there were times when a Werewolf and a Hunter did cross paths, but usually it did not end in blood shed.
All reports of such must be investigated by the Alpha to determine if the Hunter was dangerous. Most of the time the Hunter thought he/she had seen an abnormally large true wolf. And didn't think any more of it.
Remus was glad that his pack lived in a very non-populated part of England; They had their own village, grew and hunted their own food and consisted on their own. Though, he did wish he had more books. He loved to read, and by now he could recite the First threw third year magic books he'd brought with him as a child. It was a lot of books, but his mother had insisted he learn if he could. And since the wand she had also given him didn't have the 'Trace' - the Ministry of Magic had no idea he was even practicing magic at all.
The pack at first weren't sure about having a Wizard live with them. But Benedict had made it clear that Remus was one of their cubs and was to be protract and reared as such, even with his magic abilities. He had thought it a nice gift and had reiterated to Remus several times to never curse it. Remus may be different, but it was a good sort of different.
And then, they had discovered that other cubs within were also magical. They shared Remus' wand, under strict supervision, and the wand was always returned to Remus' keeping. Now, he hardly let the others use it. However, magic was just parlor tricks to the pack. It wasn't as important to them as to wizards.
The candle fluttered. it was nearly to the end of the wick. Remus stood and lit another, tall candle. It was nearing midnight. He returned to watching over his Father, who's breath was getting far more labored.
"Remus..." Benedict breathed softly.
"I am here, Dad," Remus went to his knees. Even with his keen hearing, he had to get close to the old Alpha to hear.
"It is time..." and with gnarled, old and withering hands. Benedict took the length of leather from around his neck with great difficulty. On it was the medallion of the pack, passed from one Alpha to another that indicated their position. He slowly hung the cord around Remus' neck; "You are now Alpha, take care of the family..."
And then, the eyes went dead and with one last soft huff, Benedict Chase was dead.
Outside the chamber. Rebecca and Corey waited. Rebecca was older than her husband by fifty years and her once raven black hair was white as snow. She held her son in her arms but both looked up from the floor to Remus as he came out of the room. Remus was the Heir and only one allowed to see Benedict to the Embrace of Death by Law.
"He's gone," Rebecca said. She took Remus's hand, bent and kissed it as all did to show respect for the Alpha; "may I see him?" she asked. Remus wasn't prepared for the shift. Though, he should have been. He nodded and squeezed her hand gently. "May I leave the arrangements to you?"
Rebecca was holding back tears, she wasn't one to cry but she did love Benedict dearly and she was sure she would follow him to death in a months time; "I would be honored," she straightened and Remus stepped out of the way so that she could tend to her husbands dead body.
Corey stood there, looking at the ground.
Remus knew that he could continue the young Werewolf's embarrassment, but instead he smiled at his long time friend; "are you angry at me?" he asked.
"No," Corey sighed and shook his head. He was a younger version of his now dead Father. All dark hair and eyes and tan skin. "I always knew I would never be Alpha,"
"Will you leave now?" Remus asked.
"I...no,...I'd like to help,"
"I would like it if you stayed and be my Lieutenant," Remus offered his hand.
Corey got to his knees, kissed the hand of his new Alpha; "I vow to protect you and to die for you," he whispered.
"Thank you," Remus said humbly.
0-0-0
The first thing he needed to do was track down all the families that had a child killed or changed by Greyback. Sirius first had to set down a time line before he could pinpoint Greyback's exact location.
There were twenty families to talk to; all in a twenty mile radius of each other, and a forest that was a National Park. His first guess was the Greyback had made the park his head quarter's for hunting down children who wondered out after dark. The oldest to be turned was eleven. She'd gone to see her older boyfriend which her parents had strictly forbidden her to see again; Greyback had found her. Now, her parents were at a loss of what to do.
Her name is Harriet Jones. She sits on the porch in the bright sunlight and Sirius approaches. He knows that he family have been harassed by the Werewolf Division and Auror's. His intentions are different; he's here to give some sort of hope, though he knows that there isn't any.
"Hello there," he gives her a smile as he passes through the white picket gate of the white picket fence. "Are you miss Harriet Jones?"
She nods and looks down at her feet. Sirius knows she was possibly looking at a simple grounding for sneaking out of the house, not painful transitions from human to snarling wolf every month of every year until she died. She handle the hem of her baggy blue flowered dress and chews on the end of one brown braid.
"My name is Sirius, are your parents home?" Sirius asked as the door opened to reveal Mr. Tom Jones. He's bigger than Sirius and wears overalls and a simple whit shirt that's seen better days.
"Who are you?" the man asks gruffly.
"My name is Sirius Black, I've been sent to hunt down Greyback, the Werewolf who turned your daughter this last Tuesday," Sirius explained.
"And you're a wizard? like the others?" Mr. Jones asked. He stepped out onto the porch. Harriet hadn't said a word. At all.
"Yes, I'm an Auror, I do want to appologize for the behavior of my fellow Auror's. They aren't trained to be polite,"
"Especially about Werewolves," Mr. Jones grunted.
Harriet gave a great cry; she lept to her feet and ran into the garden. Sirius watched but didn't go after her. He couldn't imagine how hard it was for Harriet to be a Werewolf. There wasn't a cure, and she was required by Wizarding Law to sign the Werewolf Registry. It was a stupid idea; but no one would listen to him. At least Werewolves weren't the only Magical Creature that was discriminated against.
"She's taking it hard," Mr. Jones sighed.
"I know I can't help in the way you need me too. I don't have a cure, there isn't one. All we've got is a potion to help with the feral aspect of the transformation on Full Moon Nights," Sirius shook his head. "All I can do is find the Werewolf who's doing this,"
"It's not for her," Mr. Jones frowned, "I know it isn't. It has to be because someone else in your world got bit or killed,"
"I can't elaborate on that case because it's still open and being investigated, but you are right in your assumption of killed," Sirius had to give him something.
"It was a Full Moon on Tuesday; we live pretty far from the village. It's a ten mile walk. Harriet has a boyfriend there. They mett halfway and from what she has told me, he takes her the rest of the way on his motorcycle. Anyway, she had to be bitten between here and the half way mark. I had looked in around ten to make sure she and her other siblings were in bed. She was gone. So I took the truck. I was so mad. And then I saw her in the road. She tried to hide behind a bush, but I pulled over and called her. She stepped out and then....there was a howl across the road from us," Mr. Jones sat down on the porch steps. Sirius slowly sat down a step below the man, intent on letting Mr. Jones get to the story in his own time.
"The thing was huge, At least nine feet tall, shaggy with a long tail and huge ears. I was reminded of Little Red Riding Hood. Anyway, Harriet was in front of the truck. I was inside. It turned to get my rifle. I was going to shoot it. But..it moved so fast. It darted across the road. and took my Harriet with it. She was screaming. I rushed out of my truck and into the woods as fast as I could. I took a shot. And got the thing in the leg. It snarled at me but it ran off. I know I saved Harriet from death, but...she was bitten," he sighed and hung his head.
"I took her to the hospital, and then she was transfered to some place called St. Mungos....and then they did a test, and told us she was infected with lycanthropy."
"And how is she taking it, being home?" Sirius asked.
"Not well," Mr. Jones looked over to the garden. Harriet had stopped crying but they still couldn't see her.
"Is this the first siting or have there been others?"
"There are stories about the woods here-abouts, sometimes, at certain times of the year we hear a lot of baying. Not always on a Full Moon Night. I don't know if it's real wolves or if it's a pack of Werewolves. But this is the first time it's happened to our family,"
Sirius nodded; "I am sorry I had to come by and remind you of all that." he stood. "I'm going to try and make it safe for your family, but..."
Mr. Jones waved a hand; "We'd move but...we have to make sure Harriet doesn't hurt anyone. I'm making a place for her to have her transformations,"
Sirius nodded; "That sounds like a good plan,"
0-0-0
Sirius tried to visit the rest of the nineteen families on his list. Except for a few, all shut their doors in his face; he really wished his fellow Auror's would be polite. Lily always said that you could gain more flies with honey than with vinegar. It was a weird Muggle saying but it was right. That's why Sirius went out of his way to be polite, more than polite and as understanding as he could be without seeming to fake it. It wasn't easy and he wished he could make them tell him about their run ins with Greyback.
The one thing he did know though, that if it was Greyback doing this - he was out of his territory. There were three known Werewolf Packs in England. The Chase Pack, the Greback Pack and the O-Malay Pack that were actually in Ireland and therefore not in England, but the Ministry didn't really care. They seemed to think that they still had jurisdiction over Ireland despite that fact that Ireland had gain independence from England.
The Chase pack was located in the woods of North Farlefoot; in its heyday it was as popular as Diagon Alley. Now, the small Wizarding village found itself surrounded by the farms of Muggles. The magical village kept it's roots strongly hidden though they sold things to the muggles. With so little contact from Wizards in London, it was a village unto itself, with its own rules. They didn't like it when their quiet lives were interrupted by the Ministry; it was always an upheaval in what was normal.
Though; not all of the families attacked by the Werewolf, which Sirius was now beginning to believe wasn't Greyback - not that anyone would believe him - were Muggles. Some were Wizarding families who'd married into the muggle family. Their children were either at Hogwarts or were close to that age.
Only three of the Wizarding Families talked to him. Two of the Muggle families - including the Jones and that didn't surprise him - while the rest told him to go away. Sirius knew that by the time night fell, he'd be a known face in the community. He needed someone friendly to tell him anything beyond what he all ready knew.
The Red Boy was much like the Hogshead in Hogsmead; it was dark, simply lit by a huge fire and candles, the place needed a good scrubbing and more light to make it at all cheery. Sirius was glad to find that the food wasn't all that bad. The Chicken pot pie had to be the best he ever had, and he had a lot of pub food. The ail was good too, he suspect it was home brew.
The bartender went by the name of Conrad Carter; he was a big man too. As tall as Hagrid and there was no way Sirius was going to ask if the man was half giant. Nor get into a fight with him if he could help it. It looked like he wouldn't as the bartender took a seat at the table Sirius had by the fire. They were the only one's in the pub. Everyone else had decided to stay home after dark.
"So, you're Sirius Black,"
"Ummmmm...." Sirius blinked at the man across from him. Carter had blond, shaggy hair, a wrinkled face that reminded Sirius of a Pit-bull rather than a human. And muscles that could crush Sirius in hand to hand combat.
"I've heard about you, you're after that Werewolf," Carter grunted.
"Yes," Sirius nodded.
"And who do you think it is?" Carter asked.
"I was sent because my boss thinks it's Greyback, but from all accounts, it can't be. In Wolf form, Greyback as a stripe of Grey going down his back, hence the name. This wolf, as far as I can tell - isn't Greyback," Sirius replied.
"Either way, you are going to kill it, right?" Carter asked.
"Erm...that's not up to me but I will find whoever is responsible," Sirius shrugged.
"Rogue wolves never stop. They can be sent to Azkaban and if they ever got out, they'd return to killing humans," Carter shook his head.
"I'm not authorized to kill unless in direct harm, I could loose my job otherwise,"
"Isn't that a risk to take?"
Sirius thought for a second before replying; "Yeah,"