Wolf and Wings - Remus and Narcissa

Chapter 15

Narcissa Black stepped to the door Lucius Malfoy had charmed locked behind himself as he abandoned her in his ancestral manor to face the wrath of the Dark Lord herself. She stooped to the keyhole where she could close one eye and see into the corridor outside. It was empty, no guard, no sign of the only Death Eater left who might help her. Not her sister Bellatrix, not her brother-in-law Rodolphus, but Fenrir Greyback. She didn't understand the connection he had to Lupin. It had begun in violence and revenge. But now it was something else, something like a bizarre proud legacy. And with no sign of Sirius and Potter and the Order of the Phoenix coming to their rescue tonight, it was the last chance they had for help.

Clearing her throat, Narcissa took a deep breath and called out a wordless tone in the ultrasonic range Lucius would never know she had. No one would hear it but other creatures. Lupin might be too far away for it, but Greyback, on the above ground levels of the house, might sense it, especially if he had been convinced by Lupin to be watching her.

But minutes passed and no one came. She called again, and then again. It had to work. Her tones grew higher, louder, until she was hoarse and light-headed, near tears with desperation.

Her upper register faltered and she beat her hand once against the door. "Please come," she called to the empty corridor. "Please, I can't let them hurt him."

There were heavy footfalls on the floorboards. Through the keyhole, she saw Greyback bounding down the hall, fast and frantic in his movements, like Moony, massive but lithe.

Narcissa stood back as his hand grasped the door knob. The lock was charmed shut on the inside only, so Bellatrix and Druella Black could continue to come and go as they pleased. It meant that Greyback could throw the door open with ease, swearing and wild-eyed. "What is all the bloody racket?"

She moved to dash past him, out of the room, but he caught her in the crook of his arm, squeezing her in a painful hold against his front, like a mauling bear.

"Lupin," she said, her ribs aching in his hold. "We need to get him and leave before the Dark Lord learns he's bound to me. He'll know it as soon as he tries to bind Malfoy to me and sees it can't be done."

Greyback's already craggy brow crinkled further, his teeth visible, blood always on his breath. "Can't you have them both, slut that you are?"

She shook her head, breathless. "No, it's not possible, even if I wanted it. And I don't want Malfoy. I chose Lupin. And as long as he lives, I can't, I won't accept another."

Greyback crushed her further, forcing a cry out of her. "I'm not a fool, witch. You formed a betrothal bond with Malfoy before you bonded with my boy. You're already bound to both of them, and lying to me about it."

She gasped to draw breath enough to speak. "It's not a lie. Malfoy breached the engagement pledge by forcing Legilimency on me. He broke it himself before I went to Lupin," she said. "Believe me. You have to believe me, or Lupin dies. We lose him if we do nothing tonight. He'll be destroyed, and with him goes everything he could have done for his kind."

He dropped her like a sack of silky white rubbish at his feet. "Get up, witch. Come along. And if you've crossed me, if any bit of you belongs to Malfoy, so help me - "

"I haven't," she said through a cough, refilling her lungs, pushing herself to her feet. "I swear. Please. Malfoy himself has probably fled by now. We've got to leave this house before anyone figures out there will be no wedding tomorrow."

With a grunt he shoved her ahead of himself, out into the empty corridor.

She had no wand and was afraid to insult him by asking for a Disillusionment spell in case he didn't know how to cast one. For all she knew, every werewolf in the country but Remus himself was unschooled, self-taught and mostly in survival spells for fighting and speed.