Hunger Games: Fandom Style

Blood Moon

A/N: My deepest apologies to anyone who got the "contact filter block message". Unless by some wierd coincidence you happen to be my IT director, in which case, allow me to scream my frustrations at you.

Okay, calm down. Don't think of this as two hours of hard work down the drain. Don't think of this as some of your favorite passages being rendered useless and forever irretrievable. Think of this as an . . . opportunity. An opportunity to make it better.

*Wails* But I liked it the first time!

Too bad. Hey, maybe all this anger will make writing about bloodthirsty werewolves easier. Who knows?

Merlin stared out at the blood red full moon that seemed unnaturally large in the sky.

"Scared of the werewolves?" Arthur teased.

"Oh, no. I can fend those off easily enough."

Arthur jerked up from his sleeping bag. "They're real?"

"Yeah. There's five kinds, really. There's your true werewolf. Bitten and forever cursed, transforms on the full moon, no control over their own actions. I ran into a few once. Those can be nasty."

Remus tested the chains that bound him to the wall. They felt strong enough now, but he could never be sure what would hold up once the moon had risen.

Sirius drew a semicircle on the floor with his wand.

"What's that?"

"A caterwauling charm. It'll wake me up if you get free and cross it."

"You're planning on sleeping in a room with a raging werewolf?"

Sirius grinned half-heartedly. "Tonight, I think I could sleep in a dragon cage." Dark circles under his eyes underlined his point. He hadn't slept much since the Reaping, and what little sleep he did get was interrupted by nightmares. Lupin could sympathize. Only the full moon or a presidential order could drag him away from the viewing screens or a sponsor table this year. Of course, sponsors had been hard to come by ever since the supernatural had become less "blink and you'll miss it" and more "if you shut your eyes really tight and hum louldy you might be able to ignore it". No one was sure who Snow would sacrifice to save face, and no one wanted to back a losing bet.

Tonks had accused him of trying to get her out of the apartment. She was right, of course, but when Sirius pointed out someone needed to keep an eye on Harry, she hadn't been able to hold on to her argument. Lupin suspected she just wanted something to do. Luna's death hung over the apartment in a cloud as as heavy as Hagrid's little brother.

"I hate this," Sirius muttered, looking darkly at the chains.

"With the wolfbane gone, it's the safest way," Lupin reminded him. Once, his friends had managed to keep in check by becoming animagi - a feat that was all the more impressive since they'd had only a children's tale for guidance. Sirius alone, however, was not enough to contain him, as they'd learned with nearly tragic results.

Luna was gone. Harry was in danger. What would be left when he woke up?

The question was suddenly made unimportant by the agony that ripped through him as bones elongated and ground together. His spine stretched unnaturally and a scream that sounded more like a howl rose up to the moon.

"Then there's your lycanthropes. They've got a bit more control over themselves, but it's difficult for them. Sometimes they can retain their self possession, but it has a tendency to make them more bloodthirsty. Ruthless. Like Morgana, say, though she's no lycanthrope. They pass it on genetically, but they have to renew it with a bite or a scratch every few generations."