Hungry Like The Wolf

Hungry Like The Wolf - Runaway

I wanna run away
Never say goodbye
I wanna know the truth
Instead of wondering why
I wanna know the answers
No more lies
I wanna shut the door
And open up my mind

I wanna run away
And open up my mind
I wanna run away
And open up my mind

I wanna run away
And open up my mind
I wanna run away
And open up my mind

Linkin Park, "Runaway"

They checked their address. Surely one of their kind would not live in such a place as this, so small, so confining.

The woman turned to him, her emerald eyes filled with worry. "He's here, but his life force is very weak."

"Are you sure?" The man raised his eyebrow, skeptically. "Poor thing. Must be worse off than we thought."

"Have I ever been wrong before?" She asked, her voice filled with urgency. "We have to get to him, now. Before it's too late."

"Very well." The man pulled out his wand. "Alohamora."

The usual click of the lock opening did not follow. They weren't surprised. The man pulled out one of the woman's hair pins, smiling at how her long blond hair fell. He then began to pick the lock, his grin widening as the lock snapped open.

His dark eyes glistened, amber flecked. "We're in."

The shell of a man they found shocked the woman. "I know him."
-----
Remmy, please let me in. I'm so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking! I'm so sorry... please, just let me in... let's talk about this... I can explain... please baby... I need you...Remus...

Please forgive me, love.

Sirius's voice echoed in Remus's mind, the same muffled whimpering begging sobbing voice that he'd last heard. That had been three days ago, but the time didn't seem to matter anymore to him. In fact, it seemed almost as if time had stopped after those words passed his lips. 'You don't get to call me that anymore.'

He couldn't stop it, no matter how much he wanted to. He could never take those words back, and there was no doubt in his mind- It was over. After more than a decade of waiting, it was finally over. Everything was over.

Remus couldn't even move, he just lay on the bed and stared up at the canopy above him. He didn't remember when he crawled across the floor and onto the bed. It was just a matter of time until his eyelids drooped, then closed forever. For the second, no the third time in his life, Remus welcomed death with open arms. He could almost hear James and Lily now. It had been a long time since he'd seen them. And even though he hated to admit it, he missed Sirius.

'He left you.'

'He should be suffering now.'

No, no, no! He came back. My fault.

My fault.

MY FAULT.

The wolf inside growled vengefully at Remus and he knew if he lived until the next full moon Moony would destroy him. Suddenly, there was a bright flood of light... he was dying, dying filled with regret. But... something was... wrong. The pain wasn't lifting... and his eyes were adjusting to the light.

Was he going to hell because of the monster he was? Because he was the dark creature the Ministry labeled him as. Because he couldn't forgive his lover, his soul mate, his Paddy.

A soft palm touched his forehead. It felt very cool and comforting, like a mother's touch. Remus weakly turned his head and saw the person attached to the soothing hand.

The most beautiful woman he'd ever seen was hovering worriedly over him. Long golden curls fell gently from her head, and her eyes were the color of jade. 'An angel?' Her touch did seem to lift the horrible pain from him, almost as if she was freeing him from a curse. 'She looks so familiar.'

All too suddenly his eyes came into focus, and he realized he was very much alive.

The woman was accompanied by a man about Remus's age; tall, dark, and of course- handsome. His dark eyes were lit up in some areas by yellow specks, and his hair was a dark shade of gray, despite his young face. The only flaw with the man's features was a jagged scar across the midsection of his face.

He wanted to leap up and demand to know who these intruders were. He'd definitely seen the woman somewhere before. A sudden fear came over him- could they be werewolf hunters?

He tried to sit up, but the woman touched the side of his face softly and said, "Please Remus... you're hurt... let me finish healing you... I promise we're on your side."

It didn't make much sense but somehow, Remus knew he could trust the woman. He didn't speak, his throat still parched, so he just meekly nodded.

"Give me the flask. I can sense internal bleeding, and he's very thirsty," the woman told the man.

"He's really fucked up, isn't he? I've never seen one this far gone... Merlin, he must've beaten himself like a house elf."

"Shh... the flask," the woman ordered quietly, stroking Remus's hair.

The man complied with her request, gazing over Remus with pity in his eyes. He handed her a small flask filled with a dark red liquid. "Drink this, it will help," she said, tenderly lifting his head and bringing the flask to his lips.

He greedily drank the liquid, which had a sweet, pleasant taste. A small trickle of the ruby liquid escaped his mouth and ran down the side of his face. The woman let him finish, then wiped away the tiny trail that resembled blood.

His thirst finally quenched, he managed to ask, "Who-"

The woman smiled, placing her finger to his lips, silencing him. "You remember me, don't you Remus? My name is Sophious."

A wisp of memory surfaced. 'Pomfrey's apprentice.'

"This is my partner, Lobious. We're here to help you. We heard your cries during the past three full moons and came as soon as we could. You'll be alright now. The potion will make you fall asleep, but when you wake up you'll feel much better. Now rest. We'll explain why we're here when you wake up."

Remus suddenly was too exhausted to protest, the potion taking effect, and the woman still tenderly stroking his hair... he soon drifted off to a dreamless sleep.

-----

The Hogwarts Potions Master stood outside of the door, hesitating. Should he knock? Or just walk in?

This was the right address, he had checked many times. Yet even the dungeons were more welcoming than this slum. And Lupin had left the door open.

Perhaps he had been discovered- and was packing to leave.

Finally, Severus decided to just walk on in. "Lupin?" he asked in an irritated tone.

No response. Maybe he wasn't home? Snape walked towards what ended up being a tiny kitchen. "Lupin... you'd better be here... I've come all this way... Dumbledore is worried... you haven't taken your wolfsbane for the past four months..." His voice trailed off as his sensitive ears picked up something.

He heard a voice coming from behind a half-closed door. Instinctively he pulled out his wand and headed silently and stealthily over to the door.

He quieted his breathing and listened intently on the voice inside the next room.

As if they could sense him, the voice suddenly went quiet, and Snape mentally cursed at himself. Holding his wand tightly, he pushed open the door to see who was talking.

What he saw, to say the least, amused him. A lovely blond woman was sitting beside Remus, who lay sleeping on his four poster bed. The woman leaned down and placed a tender kiss on Remus's lips. He couldn't see her face, her hair covered it, but if her body was any indication, she must be gorgeous.

Snape grinned, wondering if Black knew his faithful werewolf (if there ever was such a thing, he thought to himself) was snogging with this woman.

He turned to leave when he ran smack into someone else. He stumbled back in surprise, clutching the vial of wolfsbane and his wand now in a death grip. "What are you doing here?" Severus demanded.

"Funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing," the man gave him a sly smile.

"Just dropping this off on Hogwarts official business... Albus Dumbledore himself sent me," he responded in a dignified voice.

"How do I know you're not lying to me?" The man advanced on him, and Snape held out his wand threateningly. "Look, I'm in no mood for a wizard's duel. I'll give Remus the potion for you."

Snape looked the stranger over. Finally he decided he had wasted enough time here in this dump, and so he said, "Fine. He knows what it is, and what it's for." He walked briskly past the man.

Suddenly the man spun around, and grabbed Severus by his left arm. Snape tried, but couldn't break his grip. "Leave now," the man's eyes narrowed, making the scar across his face even more menacing. "There's no need for a mother fucking Death Eater to be waltzing in here anymore." He released Severus then, just as roughly as he had grabbed him.

Taking his warning very seriously, Snape raced out of the flat to safety.

Lobious just stared at the vial of dark liquid, and then poured it into the kitchen sink.

-----

Padfoot was running the length of the corridor, his legs moving as fast as they could. Dumbledore's instructions played again in his head.

"Sirius, I need you to set off at once. You are to alert Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher- the old crowd. Lie low at Lupin's for a while; I will contact you there."

Arabella and Mundungus would be easiest to speak with. Remus, however... his heart clenched painfully.

"You don't get to call me that anymore."

He turned the corner, nearly knocking over a Ravenclaw boy. He would go tell Arabella and Mundungus first- then he would head back to Remus's flat. Maybe Remus would be in a better mood, willing to talk.

"Wait!" Snape's cold voice came from behind him.

Sirius skidded to a stop and turned to face him.

"Before you go... there's something I'd thought you'd find interesting... about Lupin," Snape seemed to grin, his black eyes lit up with amusement.

He looked around, and once he was sure nobody else was around, he changed. "What about Remus?"

Severus looked even more amused, despite what he had to do as soon as he left Hogwarts. "He seems to have... taken a different type of company lately..."

"What are you getting at?" Sirius snapped, releasing a small growl.

"Dumbledore sent me to give him his wolfsbane, and when I went to his flat... he was in bed, but he wasn't alone."

Sirius growled, deeper and more menacing. "Liar. Remus wouldn't-"

"Oh, but would he? Why don't you go see for yourself? I just thought I'd tell you. After all, Dumbledore made us promise to trust each other... didn't want to see my new friend get hurt." With that, Snape slid on down the corridor, leaving without another word.

Sirius just stood there, his tail drooping with his ears.

"You don't get to call me that anymore."

Had Remus...?

'No, don't let that bastard Snape get to you. He's still sore from a practical joke when we were just kids. He's been looking for ammunition against me since. Stupid git probably just talked to Remus and found out about... our problem.' Sirius thought, continuing to run down the corridor. 'Everything will be alright. I just have to talk to Remus, explain that I'm the one to blame... I forgot to leave a note... he'll understand that it was all for Harry, that Harry needed me to be there for him... Remus, please forgive your stupid lover.'

As soon as his paws touched the grass outside, Sirius tore into an all out sprint, racing as fast as he could to get to Remus's flat.

End of Part Three