Blood of the Moon {Remus Lupin}

Chapter 19

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Auriga pushed open the door to the Three Broomsticks and removed her thin cloak, glancing around. About two-thirds of the tables were taken, what with it being a Saturday evening, but Toby wasn't here yet, so she grabbed one near the bar and away from the door, draping her cloak over the back of her chair and smoothing down her robes.

There was a family with three children sat in her line of vision, each of them taking it in turns to place down cards for exploding snap. It suddenly occurred to Auriga that she'd never learned to play the game. She was always more of a bookish child, and when she'd played with Draco it was usually something useful like chess, or they'd run around outside. It looked quite fun, jumping up at the three children every now and then and making them giggle and squeal. Meanwhile, the parents were having a quiet conversation, each of them wearing warm smiles and enjoying their children's distraction.

She checked her watch, twenty past seven. Toby was very late, something quite uncharacteristic for anyone her parents knew. Punctuality was a thing she'd been harshly taught at a young age. All respectable pureblood children were. But somehow, a Montague was late. She sighed and walked over to the bar. "I'll have a glass of mead, please," she said to the barmaid. She paid and sat back down. Twenty-fine past seven.

Auriga sighed again, looking around again as she took a sip of mead. There were a couple of groups of friends dotted about, all of them laughing and exchanging stories. A couple sat at the cramped table by the fire. A few more families. In front of her and to the left was a group of three men, a few years older than her. She didn't recognise any of them but she was sure they kept glancing over at her. They were probably just looking at the one whose back was turned to her.

Auriga drained her glass and glanced at her watch. Twenty to eight, meaning Toby was forty minutes late. It looked like she'd been stood up. Her face growing hot and her brows knitting together, Auriga fastened her cloak and stood, heading over to the door. She threw it open furiously and walked straight into a man that was much taller than her, inhaling the thick scent of chocolate and soap. "Oh, sorry!" Auriga exclaimed, stepping back and looking up.

"No, no," he said, "It was my fault." She now recognised him as that Lupin fellow that she'd bumped into twice before. The werewolf. What was his first name again? It hardly mattered. Rather odd they were meeting for the third time, but probably nothing out of the ordinary. "Auriga, is it?" He was smiling kindly at her now as she smoothed down her cloak.

"Uh, yes," she said, looking around warily and wanting to be on her way. If anyone saw her talking to a werewolf, interacting with one... The thought alone repulsed her - what would everyone else think? "But I really must get going."

"Yes, of course," said Lupin, standing aside and opening the door that had swung shut behind him. "See you." Auriga nodded stiffly and stepped past without giving any thanks. The sooner she could get away from him, the better.

The evening air was cooler than it had been inside, but not so cold that she shivered, the earth having been warmed by the summer sun all day. She heard the door close behind her and took a few steps away, ready to disapparate. The door opened again and the murmur from inside the pub pricked up onto the nighttime breeze. Auriga didn't disapparate. Something was wrong.

Less than a split second after she'd realised this and hesitated, she felt the full force of a silent curse hit her in the back. She fell onto the cobblestones, their warmth emitting through her cloak. Auriga tried to move and get up, but she couldn't. The full body bind.

She felt herself get picked up by two sets of arms, but she was still facing the ground and couldn't see who they were. They turned and the ground darkened, the walls closing in as she was carried down an alleyway. She couldn't physically fight it - what about magically? She poured her strength into freeing herself and could feel herself becoming looser, more relaxed, when they dropped her face down onto the stone ground and she was back to square one.

A crack filled her ears and she felt the hot gush of blood swarm from her broken nose and drip across her face, mingling with the dirt. "Good to see you again, sweetheart," came a voice from next to her. A familiar, chilling voice. Augustus. "Montague stood you up, did he? It only cost me fifty galleons too."

Auriga's heart was pounding now, and it only increased the longer she lay there. Was he going to kill her? Or just beat her up? She felt a gentle and elegant hand reach into her cloak and draw her wand from it and her stomach dropped, butterflies raging inside. That was her last defence. What would she do now? She was useless even if they removed the body bind. Which they did.

Auriga scrambled onto her hands and knees but a booted foot pressed down on her back and she collapsed again, scraping her chin on the gravel and hearing a rip of her robes. There was the sound of a few footsteps and the boot remained firmly pressed on her back. Another pair of boots came into view, and then the man crouched down, revealing the face of Augustus Carrow. "We're going to have some fun tonight sweetheart," he told her, letting his fingertips caress her face as he fiddled with her wand. "Just you, and me." He spoke in a soft whisper, putting emphasis on every syllable as though he wanted every word to last, and not just every moment.

Auriga shuffled again but the boot on her back remained firmly in place. Augustus tutted. "If you behave yourself, we can go back to my estate...or we could just do it here." He looked around mockingly and shrivelled up his nose, before shrugging and looking back to Auriga. She squirmed again, this time throwing the boot off, but it came back more heavily than before, knocking the wind out of her. She grunted slightly.

"No, no," said Augustus. "Let go of her." The boot obliged and there were some more footsteps. Auriga didn't move until Augustus stood and stepped away. And then, very slowly, she sat up and looked around. She was indeed in an alleyway, and the two men that had been looking at her in the Three Broomsticks were stood a little way away. So the third man had clearly been Augustus, who she now looked to. He nodded impatiently.

So she stood, slightly shakily, but still steady enough on her feet. "Crucio!" Augustus said suddenly, catching the already worn-out Auriga by surprise. She dropped again to the floor, writhing and contorting in pain. Knives pierced every square inch of her flesh, jabbing at her from every angle. She screamed and tears poured and she screamed some more.

But it was loud. Someone would hear. Someone would come and-

"EXPELLIARMUS!" yelled another voice and there were two clatters of wood on stone. The curse stopped and Auriga faintly saw her wand land an arm's length from her. She grabbed it and unwillingly jumped to her feet, swaying as she did.

CRACK. CRACK. The two accomplices disapparated. Auriga turned and faced Augustus's now panic ridden face. She raised her wand and he raised his now empty hands, his eyes flicking to a few feet away where his wand was. "Auriga," he began quietly with a forced smile, knowing how much damage she was capable of.

"Avada-" she began, but a pair of arms wrapped around her and she was forced to lower her wand. Augustus took his chance, grabbing his wand and disapparating. CRACK. "Let go of me, idiot!" cried Auriga, struggling against her new captors grip. They obliged but still kept an iron tight grip on her upper arm. "I said," she continued, looking up at them, "let-"

It was Lupin. Again. "Let go," she said in a low voice, trying to sound dangerous. He raised his eyebrows. "You dirty werewolf, let go!" He looked surprised, but remained calm.

"You think I haven't heard that before?" he asked, looking slightly disappointed in his eyes but the rest of his face remaining a cool mask of neutral emotion.

"I said let go," Auriga demanded angrily, now trying to jerk her arm from his surprisingly strong grip. He had no muscles - how was he so strong? Oh, the werewolf thing.

"I'm not letting you disapparate," he said quietly. "You need medical attention."

"I'm fine," Auriga said through gritted teeth, only now aware of her throbbing face and trembling knees.

"You sound like me," he said, looking amused. "Come on." He half dragged her from the alleyway and back into the high street and she reluctantly obliged trudging along with him, her mind whirring.

"You'd think it would be you inflicting the damage not receiving it," Auriga said slyly, "What with your wolfish tendencies." Lupin let go of her arm in surprise and looked down at her, his face displaying pure shock and hurt. Auriga smiled smugly and turned on the spot, apparating home.