July 31st - The Lake/The Dungeons - Early dawn.

[aculeatus]

Fenrir Greyback is waiting for a visitor. Shall we oblige him? Tense scenes, courtesy of lunatictide and a_lycoctonum, with a little help from me :D Lovely art by a_lycoctonum.

Down in the Dark - part 2

As Remus stepped off the final step onto the lowest level of the dungeons, the only sound he heard was the slow steady drip of water onto stone. Pausing a moment at the foot of the stairs, he reached within himself and beckoned the wolf to rise. If he was to face Greyback and win, calling on his own wolfen senses and instincts was a necessary step, and some sharp claws wouldn't hurt either, for there was no doubt that Greyback would use his...any chance he got.

Most of the time, Remus sought to deny this part of himself, to bury it as deeply as possible, but there was no point in doing so now. He needed every advantage he could find against such a cruel and ruthless adversary.

Turning away from the stairs, he began to move slowly down the dark corridor lit only by a few sputtering torches that threw unsteady light against walls glistening with dampness. Rounding a corner, he abruptly found the passage in front of him solidly blocked by a mass of shaggy grey bodies. Baring his teeth in an instinctive snarl, he snapped his wand up into attack position, but before he could cast a spell, the wolves parted like a curtain, lining the corridor ahead on either side, silent sentinels.

Having no choice but to press onward, he lowered his wand again and began to walk, trying to ignore the hostile creatures to either side of him who watched his every move with cunning yellow eyes. As formidable a force as they were, they really weren't what he had to worry about at the moment. As he moved further down the tunnel, a large ruined chamber filled with rubble and pools of black water suddenly opened up off to one side. In the middle of this dim, forbidding space stood Fenrir Greyback...holding Luna in his arms.

"And here he is... the guest of honour." There was something about the way Greyback said it that made it sound more like 'the main course'. "What a match, hey?" He pulled Luna towards him and sniffed at her hair, his eyes never leaving Remus. "I can still smell you on her." An ugly leer bared his teeth. "Young, isn't she? We're not so very different." He didn't drop the witch, now, but kept a tight grip on her shoulder, holding her close.

"He's nothing like you." It was all Luna had time for, before she turned her head and was catastrophically sick.

Though thoroughly appalled at the comparison, Remus schooled his features to blankness as he responded, trying hard not to rise to the bait or react to Luna's obvious distress.

“I’m here as instructed, Greyback. Let her go.” Remus's voice, calm and measured, was laced with tempered steel.

The grizzled man bent his head to Luna's neck, still staring at his opponent. "Oh, I'm a man of my word, Lupin. I'll release her, you can be sure of it. But first, throw your wand away."

Remus’s gaze darted to Luna’s pale stricken face and then slid down the column of her slender throat, as yet unmarked. Holding his wand hand out to the side, he brought his gaze back to fasten on Greyback.

“Give me your word that you won’t mark her before releasing her.”

Greyback seemed to consider his options for a moment, then nodded slowly. "If you throw your wand away, on my oath, I'll release her without laying a tooth on her. Not a drop of her blood will mark the ground. Happy?"

“Deliriously,” Remus murmured to himself. In point of fact, he couldn’t remember ever being less happy with a bargain, but what else could he do? He didn't put much stock in the worth of Greyback's word, but as long as the werewolf threatened Luna, he had the upper hand. All Remus could do was play along and hope for a chance to turn the tables.

“Very well.” He nodded grimly and tossed his wand into the darkness with more than a twinge of regret. “Now, let her go.”

There was a drawn-out silence, broken only by their breathing. Greyback curled his claw-like fingers around Luna's jaw, his other hand still tangled in her robes.

"Now, I said I'd release her... funny how words can have different meanings, isn't it? I could snap her neck and you'd not see a drop of blood. As if I'd waste it." He waited for a long moment to let this sink in and then grinned toothily. "But I won't. Not right now. We've got business, you and me." Tossing Luna aside as if she were no more than a bundle of rags, he spread his hands and waited for Remus to make a move.

There was a sharp scream as Luna landed hard, jarring her broken leg, and bruising herself in new places. She scrabbled to sit up, blinded by tears.

Carefully keeping his face impassive, Remus watched with a stab of sharp pain as Luna landed awkwardly on the hard wet stones of the floor and cried out in pain. As much as he wanted to go to her, to help her, he knew if he made a move in her direction, Greyback would be on him in an instant. All he could really do to help her now was to make damned sure that the creature who’d hurt her never had a chance to touch her again. Not that the odds were particularly stacked in his favour at the moment.

"What business could you and I possibly have together, Greyback?" asked Remus.

"Do you remember when we first met, boy? I do. 'There's a morsel', I thought to myself. 'Might make a good werewolf, if he grows up right...'" He shook his head in mock sadness, watching Remus slyly. "Shame, really. Too much soft living and concerned little friends standing by. Made you into a lapdog for Dumbledore, didn't it?"

A small boy, out without permission, lay flat on his back, pressed down into the earth by a sudden oppressive weight. Hot rancid breath suffocated him, huge yellow eyes full of greed and lust burned into his own, full of terror. A raw, sharp pain in his shoulder sent him spiraling down into a darkness he would never escape…

Remus shook himself sharply. Did he remember? How could he ever forget?

“So you think you should be the arbiter of what makes a proper werewolf do you? Why? Because you’ve created more of us than anyone else? Or perhaps we should listen to you because you’re so concerned for our welfare?”

Remus narrowed his eyes and continued in a cold voice. “That must be it, right? You’re so concerned that you allow your fellow werewolves to be abused in the vilest fashion by that monster you serve. From where I stand, Greyback, you don’t appear to do anything any longer other than what your Master commands of you. As far as I can see, you’re the one on the leash…not me.”

Greyback laughed, not in the least annoyed by the accusation. "And you think we've no business?"

"What do you want?"

"To fix a mistake, of course." He shrugged and licked his lips. "And when I've dealt with that, I reckon I'll try your little girlfriend out. Any good, is she?" He edged a little closer to Remus, hands spread wide as if about to pounce.

The hackles on the back of Remus’s neck began to rise to attention and as Greyback began to move towards him, he spread his hands as well and slowly circled away, never taking his eyes off his adversary.

“And what mistake would that be?” he asked casually, outwardly ignoring Greyback’s nasty comments about Luna while mentally adding them to the long list of reasons to kill the werewolf.

"I'm looking at it." Without further warning, Greyback lunged forward, bringing his arm round in a fast, low sweep, intended to unzip his enemy's guts, claw-like nails hissing through the damp air.

Expecting the attack, Remus jumped far enough back so that Fenrir’s claws missed him by inches. Then, before the werewolf was able to halt his momentum and turn back for another swing, Remus raised his leg and kicked out against the older man’s exposed side, sending him sprawling. Without giving Greyback a chance to recover, Remus leaped on top of him, reaching for the man’s thick neck with sharp claws of his own.

Greyback rolled, using his greater size and weight to his advantage, trying to pin down his attacker. He struck again, slashing viciously, open-handed. Dirty talons drew a line of blood across Remus' forearm and the older man bayed wildly, the thin trickle of red exciting him to frenzy.

Ignoring the sudden pain in his arm, Remus grasped Greyback’s wrists in an unyielding grip and slowly forced them back away from his face. Then, digging his heels into the uneven ground at his back, he shoved upward and rolled to the side, placing himself on top of the larger man once more.

The gloom of the common room made Greyback more monstrous, a thing of searing yellow eyes and snapping teeth. He wrenched his left arm back and up, pulling Remus' restraining hand within reach of his jaws, and thrust his head forward, sinking his teeth into the other werewolf's forearm.

Remus howled in rage as the older werewolf's teeth cut into his flesh. Releasing Greyback's other wrist, he instantly thrust his free hand forward, slamming it hard into his foe's face, driving the cartilage of his nose back into his skull and causing him to release his hold on Remus as the back of his head smashed into the slimy rocks of the floor on which they lay. The moment he was free, Remus rolled back onto his feet and kicked the older man hard in the side, audibly snapping a rib.

Fenrir grinned redly through the sudden gush of blood, seeming unaware of the sudden sharp pain in his side, and pushed himself to his feet, this time not waiting for Remus to make a move. He launched himself at his opponent, crashing into him with all his weight, clawing and biting without a pause, hot blood flying from his injured nose in a fine spray.

Remus went down under the older man’s relentless attack and the two of them rolled over and over across the uneven floor, coming to rest in the shallows of one of the rank, Stygian pools.

With a roar that shook the stones, Greyback struggled for purchase on the slippery floor so that he could brace himself for a killing blow. For a moment, he seemed to find it, gaining a toehold between flagstones, burying one hand in the front of Remus' robes and bringing his other hand down to dig his claws through the fabric into his chest, intent on tearing out his heart. Blood welled around his fingers and he leaned close, wanting his face to be the last thing Remus saw.

A horrid madness burned in Greyback’s yellow eyes just as it had all those years before when he'd turned a young innocent child into an outcast and brutally changed the course of his life forever. Now, facing that madness once more, Remus could feel himself tiring, losing ground under the larger man’s punishing assault. Time was running out. If he couldn’t end things soon, neither he nor Luna was likely to escape from this dungeon alive. While he could accept his own death at the werewolf’s hands, seeing it almost as coming full circle, letting this monster hurt Luna any more than he already had was something he simply could not allow.

Trying desperately to ignore the tearing, searing pain in his chest, Remus thrust a hand into Greyback’s bloody face and threw out the strongest shield charm he could muster without a wand. The force of the bolt of bright magic snapped the man’s head back sharply and caused him to pull his claws out of Remus's chest. Before Greyback could gather his wits enough to resume his attack, Remus seized the grizzled head in his hands. Then, with his knees planted firmly on the werewolf’s chest, he twisted the man’s neck sharply to the side. A loud crack echoed off the dripping walls of the room, and the larger man’s body went limp beneath him.

Remus crouched over Greyback’s body for a few moments, his head down, drawing ragged lungfuls of the clammy air into his lungs and easing the ache in his sore chest while he suppressed the wolf once more. Then, once he felt able, he slowly began to pull himself to his feet. As he moved, his hand brushed across a familiar sort of bulge in a pocket of the werewolf’s robe. Investigating, he pulled out a wand that he recognised as Luna’s. Regaining his feet, he opened his other hand and held it out, stating quietly, “Accio wand.”

Instantly, his own wand flew out of the darkness and slapped securely into the palm of his hand. Grateful to have it back again, he turned away from the sprawled body at the edge of the water and made his way a bit unsteadily across the chamber, anxious to reach Luna’s side.

"You're bleeding." It was inane but it was the first thing Luna could think of. "Let me help. There's such a lot of... I can try to stop the bleeding.." Her voice trailed off. She wasn't doing anything to help, was she?

Without a word, Remus fell to his knees next to Luna and took her gently into his arms. Her injuries were all his fault. Greyback abused her and used her as bait just so he could get at him, but in the end it had been the wrong move to make. In trying to fix his mistake of all those years ago, he'd ended up making a much greater one. The last one he'd ever make.

"I'm sorry," he whispered against her hair before pulling back and looking down into her eyes. "He won't hurt you again. He won't hurt anyone again."

"You came." She was struggling to get the words out, part of her wanted badly to fall silent and not emerge until it was safe. Whatever 'safe' meant. "You came." She had to find something else to say. "Don't be sorry. Not your fault." It was soft. "It could have been someone mad at me from the Ministry fight. You-Know-Who, mad at Harry. Anybody."

Concern filled his eyes as he looked at her. There was no point in debating whose fault anything was, and he certainly wasn't about to do so, much more important things had to take precedence right now. He was alarmed at how dazed and weak her voice sounded. Her words were hesitant as if her thoughts were as fragile and flighty as soap bubbles, and she was beginning to shiver, probably from shock and blood loss. Clearly she needed medical attention as soon as possible. Wishing he had a warm blanket to wrap around her, he did the best he could and cast a warming charm over her instead before handing back her wand and watching as she took it eagerly and clutched it to her breast.

"Of course I came," he said quietly. "You needed me. I couldn't let you down."

Casually, he rubbed at the blood seeping through his torn robes, trying not to wince and betray his reassurances. "And don't worry about this. It's nothing." Giving her what he hoped was a convincing smile, he added, "Werewolves have those remarkable recuperative powers, remember? Helps a lot at times like these. We have to get you out of here, though. Poppy needs to see to that leg and your other injuries."

"I.." Her brows knit as she tried to remember. And then she remembered. "Yes. I have to take Hestia back. Yes. She can't stay here." She made an instinctive move to rise, almost instantly checked. And then she looked down. "Thank you for my wand." It took effort to remember to string things together and keep the words from flying all to pieces. "I can't Apparate."

Hestia... He'd wondered what happened to her. Then, with everything else to worry about, he'd forgotten. He followed Luna's glance towards a corner of the dim room where what he took for a pile of soiled rags lay. Was that...? A sharp shiver of pain and sorrow ran through him as his eyes picked out a battered human shape beneath the bloody cloth. Was death, even one as horrid as this, a better fate than what awaited her if she'd survived? Once he'd have thought so. Now, he wasn't quite as sure, but regardless, he could do nothing for her now...except mourn.

Forcing his eyes away from Hestia's still form, he brought his attention back to Luna. Mourning would have to wait. You always had to favor the living over the dead, if you wanted them to stay living...and there was nothing he wanted more at this moment than for Luna to get away from this horror and keep on living.

"I'm so sorry, Luna. You shouldn't have had to go through this." He kept his voice, quiet and gentle. "Why don't you let me worry about Hestia, now. You need medical attention. There's no need to apparate. You can use a portkey, remember?" Did she still have her portkey? It didn't really matter, he supposed. He had several.

"No... I... She came with me. She was protecting me." Her voice was soft, but she shook her head to underline her intention. "I should take her back. I have to, Remus." She gave him a pleading look.

All he wanted was to get her away from this place as soon as possible. If taking Hestia back with her would ease her mind rather than distress her further, there was no reason not to let her.

"All right," he said with a nod and a slightly strained smile. "I'm sure that Hestia would appreciate you taking care of her now."

The entrance to the common room had never been closed, but until now the other werewolves had made no attempt to enter, kept at bay by Greyback's command. But now the sounds of fighting had ceased, and one by one, they nosed carefully into the room and slunk towards the pair, clinging to the shadows.

As he felt the hackles on his neck rise to attention once more, Remus turned and noticed the slowly encroaching wolves. Without their leader to command them, they seemed uncertain as to just what course of action to take. Hoping that their uncertainty would last a bit longer, Remus kept a wary eye on them while reaching into a pocket for the portkey that would take Luna safely to Poppy for treatment.

The prey were just sitting there, seeming not to care as they crept closer. The werewolves exchanged glances. Greyback had fallen, and the air was thick with shed blood. As far as their disintegrating minds could tell, this wasn't right. Then, from the still body sprawled on the flagstones, lake water lapping at his boots, there came a terrible, choked snarl.

"Kill..." That was all the instruction they needed. As one, they leaped.

As the harsh rasping command suddenly sprang from a throat they’d thought silenced by death, both Remus and Luna gasped and turned involuntarily towards the body by the water. Remus recovered first. Turning his attention back to where it needed to be, he pointed his wand at the wolves and swiftly felled one, two, three furry bodies in quick succession. The first two exploded into bloody chunks of flesh, covering everything near them with a coat of gore while the third fell naked and writhing to the ground with a horrible scream.

His fourth shot missed, and the wolf it was aimed at continued onward out of a cloud of blood, launching itself with a snarl straight for Remus’s throat.

Luna's voice was a raspy whisper but it was audible. The spell that Hestia had used. "Malleus Necros." Her face was so white it was greenish in the dimness but the hand that held her wand was steady.

The last wolf jolted to a twisted stop in mid-air and fell like a stone, hit by Luna's spell with crushing force. Its mangled body landed in a bloody heap and lay still, inches from its target. As his rapidly pounding heart began to slow again, Remus turned gratefully to Luna. "Thank you," he murmured with a sigh of relief.

Her arm lowered slowly. "I..." She turned her head. "You make me feel so safe." It was a whisper. I love you.. She wanted to go home. She wanted to lie in his arms in that bed in the inn and watch the morning sun creep across the floor.

Luna was pale as a ghost, and she'd begun to tremble again despite the warming spell. He needed to get her to treatment before anything else could threaten her...and before he did what it was now clear he'd have to do. Reaching out his hand, he stroked her cheek gently. It was cold as ice. "You won't be safe if you stay here. We need to get you to Poppy," he said firmly as he pulled the portkey from his pocket and held it out to her.

She didn't reach for it right away. Instead she touched his cheek with cold fingers. "Come home safe. We'll go to the inn, and I'll never leave you again."

The inn... What he wouldn't give for them both to be there right now, safely away from all this horror and pain. Their night together seemed so long ago...a dream of another lifetime. Not something to think about now...not here. He covered her fingers with his own, warming them against his cheek, and forced a smile to his lips, his voice softly reassuring but firm.

"You need to go, Luna. Try not to worry. You'll be safe with Poppy, and this will all be over soon." Though he wanted so much to tell her he would come back to her, that he'd always come back to her, he couldn't let himself make a promise he wasn't sure he could keep. Slowly he dropped his hand away from hers and waited.

She didn't want to let go of him, he was the only real sanctuary, the only real peace she had. But she made herself let go, and instead lift her wand and point it at Hestia's crumpled corpse. "Mobilicorpus." When the body, ragged and utterly broken, was dangling next to her like a bizarre Christmas angel, she reached for the Portkey. To the last, until the magic whisked her away, she kept her gaze on his face.

Once Luna had vanished, Remus rose to his feet, his wand gripped tightly in his hand, a determined expression on his blood streaked face. Now that she was safe, he could do what he had to do. Slowly he crossed the room to stare down at the still body of the werewolf lying at the edge of the pool of cold black water.

Furious yellow eyes stared back at him, one of them now marred by a starburst of ruptured capillaries, and a faint bubbling indicated breathing - a tiny sip of air in; a tiny sip out, then silence for a while. Greyback neither blinked nor spoke, but every now and then there was another of those wet little sounds as his straining lungs dragged another precious breath past his bared, gore-stained teeth.

Remus stood silently for a few moments simply staring down at Greyback’s broken form before speaking quietly as if to himself.

“I could turn your body over so that your face is immersed in that water and you couldn’t do anything to stop me. How long does it take someone to drown, anyway? Do you know? I wouldn't be surprised if you did, but I don’t. Probably not that long but I don’t suppose it’s very pleasant.

“Or I could just leave you as you are now, a prisoner within your own body. I could walk out that door and seal it shut behind me. If I brought down the corridor ceiling outside, no matter who wins this battle of ours, it would be weeks before anyone found you. You'd die alone in the dark as you probably deserve.”

Crouching down to put himself more directly into Greyback’s line of sight, he locked eyes with the werewolf and continued to speak in a soft tone. “That’s what you’d do if I was the one lying here I imagine, but then you’ve always gained great enjoyment from the suffering of others."

He shook his head. “But no matter what you’d like to make me believe, I know I'm nothing like you, and I never have been. All you know how to do is cause pain and fear...and death. You’ve ruined countless innocent lives and reveled in their destruction. As much as I believe you deserve to suffer for that, punishing you for your crimes isn’t up to me. All I can do is end this and send you on your way, and that's what I intend to do. Goodbye, Greyback. Your days of terrorizing others are over.”

Standing once more, he raised his wand and spoke clearly and resolutely. “Avada Kedavra.” A green flash enveloped the broken body at his feet and the hideous light died out of the fierce yellow eyes, leaving them glassy and dull.

Then, turning away without a backward glance, Remus headed for the doorway that would lead him up into the castle...and back into the fight.