Reconstruction of a Death Eater

Werewolves at Play

Moody stared around at the members of the DA - now junior Aurors in training - and scowled fiercely. He knew most of the little brats from teaching then DADA but that didn't stop him wondering what was in Minerva McGonagall's mind when she asked Hestia and him to begin their training as Aurors. Most of them would leave school and never pick up a wand to cast a curse again, or if they did it would be a last ditch effort to stave off something much more terrible than mere death. And that was why she had done it, he suddenly realised. These kids would be nothing but canon fodder if they had no skills; if they had some skills, they might just hold out until the cavalry arrived without dying. Bugger her and her indisputable arguments!

Eager faces turned to him, not so little now, most of them over seventeen and adults in their own right, even though they were just school kids. The trio was there, Ron looking fiercely determined, Harry equally determined, but with a matter-of-fact attitude that would indicate dedication without dramatics. Hermione, well, she was a strange one and, no mistake, fiercely loyal, determined and scared out of her knickers without backing down. She would make a terrifying opponent.

"Right, you lot! Shut your gobs and listen up!"

Hestia looked pained as the eager faces turned to her partner, but said nothing as Moody began the first indoctrination of the new group of Aurors in training.

~~*~~

"Well, that was a piece of rubbish," Ron grumbled as they entered through the portrait and slumped down onto convenient lounges. "All he did was lecture us on caution and taking care and learning the theory! It's just another study class!"

"Did you think it would be all derring-do?" Harry teased, summoning a drink for all three of them. "We have to master a few simple, non-magical skills before we can go on to the more difficult things like hexes and curses, you know?"

"Well, if nothing else we are going to get fit out of all this." Hermione sighed deeply and lifted her sticky hair away from her sweaty neck. "The next class we go to, the robes are staying in the trunk!"

Neville flopped down opposite them and groaned miserably until Harry took pity on him and summoned him a drink, too. "I told Gran it was a keep-fit class, but I never expected it to really be a keep-fit class!"

"Fitness builds stamina and stamina allows for the more prolonged use of magic," Hermione reiterated their lesson for the day, then moaned as another pulled muscle made itself known. "You two aren't saying much," she raised her head to study Harry and Ron.

"That's because we are already fit and healthy from Quidditch," Ron said smugly and caught the back of Harry's hand in the middle of his chest with a whoof of protest. "Harry! What was that for?"

"Our fitness leaves a lot to be desired too, you know. We're good at broomstick manoeuvres, but when it came to those bends and twists, I nearly broke my spine!"

"'Broomsticks are about balance, self-defence is about presenting the smallest target possible'," Hermione quoted with relish and giggled when the boys glared at her.

"At least you didn't keep falling over when you had to walk a straight line with your eyes blindfolded." Neville covered his eyes gloomily in remembrance of his total failure to cope.

"Yeah, but you managed to touch your toes and curl up in a pretty tight ball," Hermione reminded him. "Have you guys ever heard of yoga? Yes, I guessed you would have, Harry, but have you two? It promotes a clear mind and a healthy, supple body. I'll get Mum to owl me some books on the subject, and we can all practice."

They all groaned miserably, but no one disputed her words.

~~*~~

"So this is where you hide away from the rest of the Gryffindorks." The silky smooth voice made her stiffen and turn abruptly to glare at the lounging figure propped up in the doorway.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" she snarled, not giving an inch, even when his presence sparked some rather unfortunate images that she could not get out of her brain.

"I don't want anything really, just passing by and thought I'd drop in," he drawled teasingly, pushing away from the doorpost with one shoulder and lounging forward to squat at her side. "What are you reading?"

She turned her nose up and ignored him as she tried to continue reading her book, but he was too close, and finally she slammed the cover closed to glare at him. "What do you want?" she demanded again, refusing to soften when he bit his lip and seemed to be sincerely thinking about what he was about to say.

"How is Uncle Severus?" he asked, almost shocking her speechless. "Look, I don't have any ulterior motives or nefarious schemes; I just need to know if my uncle is still alive. Hell, he is the best of my relatives, and he isn't even related by blood. My mother really believes he is dead - which pleases her a great deal - so the hunt for his body has been scaled back which should give him some measure of protection, if that is any consolation."

Hermione thought about it for a few moments. "He was alive yesterday morning, but whether he survived the night is still up for grabs. We don't get a lot of extra information now that Sirius is dead, but we do try to keep in touch with...." She broke off before she was indiscrete.

"Yes, I understand that. Look, if you do hear something, could you please tell me? Even if it's just a word to say he lives or has died?"

Hermione stared at the Slytherin, weighing and measuring his sincerity before she nodded slowly. "If I hear anything, I will let you know - if it is not compromising."

He smiled a genuine smile for once, and Hermione blinked in surprise as his cold grey eyes became silver and warm. "I will reciprocate. If my mother or aunt drops a hint, I will tell you. Deal?"

"Deal."

Hermione watched him saunter out of the library, as arrogant as ever, his blond hair glinting in the last dusty light. Less than six months ago she would have placed a sure thing bet on the fact that Draco Malfoy would be spending the rest of his life in Azkaban for his part in the murder of Professor Dumbledore. Harry had witnessed the murder and had chased both Malfoy and Snape across the Hogwarts grounds in an effort to detain them. Then serious money had changed hands, or that was how the world perceived it.

Malfoy had been cleared of all charges, and Snape had been 'seen to be under Imperio' as 'demonstrated conclusively to the Minister and the Aurory'. Both had been allowed to return to their positions of student and teacher without penalty. The outcry had been horrendous. Malfoy had been treated like a pariah at first, especially by the other houses, but finally things had settled down. Over the holidays Harry had been shown Professor Dumbledore's final letter to the staff in which the Professor clearly stated that he had given Severus Snape permission to finish his life as he was very sick and willing to go, especially if his death served the Cause. And it had served the Cause. Now Snape was one of the most trusted lieutenants in the Death Eaters, or had been until just yesterday.

The part Malfoy had played was a little less clear, his presence at the funeral a distinct shock to anyone who saw him, his mother at his side. As the tomb was closed, Narcissa Malfoy was seen to let out a great sigh, whether of relief or sadness was up for speculation, but Malfoy seemed to shiver at the final, heavy thud of marble on marble....

The word marble in conjunction with her thoughts made a sliver of awareness trickle down Hermione's spine, but when she tried to catch and hold the thought it slipped away from her. Sighing to herself, she gathered her books and continued to research the problem in Arithmancy that was part of her final presentation for her NEWTs.

~~*~~

The back door slammed open and Shacklebolt came in, dragging Montegene with him, Sue Backrod and Mickey Ross helping each other in after. Remus Lupin dragged himself and Rhyanna Finnegan in last, the Auror as pale as milk and blood dripping from the rag she had pressed to her forehead. Hurrying across, Molly relieved Remus of his burden and helped the girl to a chair. Remus nodded his thanks and hurried out again, carefully taking care of the small signs that led to 12 Grimmauld Place, blood spots or scuff marks.

"What happened?" Molly asked as Kingsley began to cast a counter-curse over Louis Montegene who was twitching and giggling and trying to claw his skin off. As soon as the counter-curse went to work the man slumped, his hands stilling to drag through his hair.

"We got a tip off that there was to be a raid on the College of Potion Makers this evening to try and kill off as many of the students as they could," Kingsley said heavily, sitting back on his heels. "We warned the College Administration, told them where the Death Eaters would strike, but did they listen?" he raged angrily. "Of course not, we were just scaremongering and discriminating against the student body. The Dean even went as far as to seek Ministry permission to throw us out of the college grounds."

"How many are dead?" Arthur asked quietly, passing with a full cauldron of something pale blue and luminescent.

"I don't know, ten, fifteen, perhaps more. The Mors Mordre was seen over the dormitories, and the battle was a running one down the Avenue of Heroes right up to where the Avenue joins back into the Muggle village again. We got four of the bastards though, Phillip Longre amongst them."

"Longre, but he is a Ministerial Ambassador from Belgrade, isn't he?" Roger asked, finishing wrapping up Sue Backrod's broken arm in poultices and measuring out her dose of Skele-Gro potion.

"Yes, that's exactly the problem, he is. Now he is going to claim Imperio and get away with it, isn't he? After all, isn't that what Snape did?" Mickey Ross snarled bitterly, waving what looked like a gnarled crab claw in the general direction of north.

The Order members exchanged glances and nodded as one. After all, Severus was not generally known as an Order member, and they did try to keep his involvement with the Order under wraps. "Snape did test out positive," Kingsley murmured, shaking his head. "Three of us tested him most stringently, including just how human he really was. He was distressingly human to ten places, also completely cursed. The reading was impossible to fake; there was no vagueness about it, no perhaps or maybe, it was a definite Imperio signature, and a very strong dose of it."

"It would have to be, wouldn't it? Severus Snape is iron-willed and as stubborn as a mule so anyone who tried to control him would need to use the maximum of power and be very close to him while holding the spell. Damn! I would have been very happy to see Snape in Azkaban, he's squeaked past it so many times!" Sue hissed through her teeth as her arm gave her a pinch.

The more senior members of the Order exchanged glances and held their tongues as the juniors speculated and complained while their wounds were tended to until Remus came back inside and shut the back door after him. Shaking his head, he grabbed a glass and poured himself a large pumpkin juice, swallowing the lot without taking a breath. As he lowered the glass he realised he was the cynosure of all eyes and blinked nervously. "It's all cleaned up and the smell is taken care of," he assured them quickly.

Mickey blinked and frowned at his words. "Why are we taking care of smells?"

"Because," Kingsley stated flatly, "our favourite opponent also has werewolves in his camp and a werewolf can smell out a trail as easily as a Crup."

"Bloody werewolves," Sue muttered, then flushed as the eyes turned to her instead. "What? I just meant they make things so much more complicated and ... harder."

Remus caught Kingsley's eye and shook his head slightly as the black wizard made to chastise his underling. Shacklebolt's eyes narrowed but he held his peace as Remus carefully replaced the glass on the washing up pile and sketched Arthur a salute as he went to leave. "I'd best get back to the Wild Wolves now, we're planning a pre-Moon run to exercise some of the demons; so stay away from the heath for the next two nights. Some of the boys are a little twitchy, and it would only take one incident to send them over to the Dark in a heartbeat."

"We'll remember, Remus. Take care and Merlin's Blessings," Molly said, dropping a kiss on his cheek as he ghosted out the back door. "I worry about that boy," she mustered to herself as she hurried past the knot of injured, intent on treating the more badly hurt.

"Oh, Merlin, I put my foot right in that, didn't I?" Sue sighed miserably. "It's just hard to remember that they aren't all that bad, really."

"Yes, prejudice fuelled by the Ministry's propaganda is not easy to counteract, but we must fight it," Arthur reminded them all harshly as he went back to his brewing.

~~*~~

The makeshift infirmary was full with all the extra injuries, and Molly left her duties as chief cook and bottle washer until she could settle the next wave of casualties. If it kept up, pretty soon there would be no time to cook or clean, only time to patch up wounds and clean away curse signatures from injured bodies.

The parade was becoming never ending as more and more people came in to be treated for major or minor wounds. Death Eater activity had increased ten-fold, the Dark Lord rampaging through the countryside, setting property and people on fire for no better reason than because he could. For every raid their intelligence foiled, he seemed to be staging four more in retaliation. As much as no one wanted to admit it, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was winning the body count.

~~*~~

Remus apparated back into the camp ground, just in time to witness two of the younger men going for their wands. Without thought he yelled 'Expelliarmus' and caught both wands in one hand as he glared at them furiously.

"There are Muggles everywhere around here, and you two are about to start throwing hexes at each other? I think not! If you want to beat each other's heads in, go for it, but if I catch any of you throwing spells around, I will personally transfigure your heads into pigs' behinds, got it!"

One young man opened his mouth and Remus simply flicked his wand, the youth letting out a yelp that turned into a very convincing pig's squeal as his head changed shape and colour. The rest of his pack burst out laughing as he began to run around in circles flapping his arms and clawing at his fat pink cheeks. The tail in the middle of where his forehead used to be whisked and curled frantically while the speculation on what he was breathing through was rife.

The tension ran out of the massed packs on the wings of laughter as Remus took careful aim and transfigured him back again just before he tripped over a bedroll and sprawled out on the grass in a tangle of arms and legs.

"You're very good," Paddy muttered coming up behind the short man he had rescued two days before to laugh at the comedy the group made of extracting their member from the sleeping bags. "I thought the whole place was going to blow up, but you've defused the situation with barely a lifted finger."

Shrugging, Remus grinned at the man. "It's no different to trying to keep order in a classroom full of sixteen-year-old Gryffindors and Slytherins. Here, you can give these back to their respective owners now, if you like," he commented, tossing over the wands.

As dusk approached, there was a quick fusillade of pops as a dozen women and girls apparated into the area and were greeted by a pack of boys with loud cheering and noisy kisses. "Here's trouble," Lila Aguis muttered as she and Artimus slid in beside Patrick and Remus. "It's the 'bad girls' looking for a bit of fun and frolic."

Artimus grinned over her head at the two men who were a little lost at that point. "We all know about the wild boys or wild wolves but not much is said about the bad girls, their female counterparts..."

"Usually because we have more sense than to go roaming around looking for trouble," Lila snapped, then giggled. "We usually let you lot take all the credit," she commented, making a long arm and dragging her partner into a clinch.

Paddy and Remus shook their heads with fond smiles as the mixed group of men and women sorted themselves out into two teams of about thirty a side and began a form of football that combined soccer, rugby union and rugby league with all-in wrestling. The howling, giggling mass of arms and legs tumbled roughly across the heath until all combatants were thoroughly dirty and exhausted. Before tempers could be broken, a meal was hastily assembled, and Remus leaned over to Paddy to mutter in his ear.

"You wouldn't happen to have a radio or a boom-box, would you?"

"It can be arranged." He grinned as he apparated, returning ten minutes later with a large silver boom-box. "Modified it myself to run continuously on magic for as long as I like. What do you want to hear?"

"Ooh, music!" a lanky blonde collapsing near Artimus' feet exclaimed excitedly and began twiddling dials before Paddy could even respond. The Wizarding Radio station blared out a static-riddled rendition of a current Weird Sisters hit, which made quite a few heads turn and the groans were equally balanced by the cheers. Paddy chuffed indignantly and snatched his toy back, spinning the dials and waving the aerial until Top of the Pops roared out the top ten at full volume. "Muggle music! Cool!"

The party was in full swing, the crowd singing and dancing, beer flowed freely from brown ale bottles that appeared at regular intervals. Violence had been confined to a couple of scuffles which the alphas had squashed before they got out of hand, and the presence of the ladies seemed to keep the boys on their best behaviour. Remus was dancing energetically with Linda Holsworthy when one of the younger men dashed into camp, buttoning his trousers, his girl of the moment hard on his heels.

"Beta Prime, there are Death Eaters on the heath, and they've got a couple of kids bailed up. One of the blokes is hurt; the other is holding his own at the moment."

Remus stiffened. "Bloody Death Eaters, they're always ruining a good party. Right, we had better go sort them out before the Aurors turn up and manage to blame us for their handiwork."

"Maybe we should just leave," a voice in the crowd said flatly.

"And let them think they have driven us away? I think not! I'm a wolf, not a pussy!" Remus managed to sound indignant and cheeky at the same time. "Besides, it might be fun if we toss our voices around, make them a little bit crazy when they can hear us but not see us. How many of you are good at Creeping Flesh charms? What about Pallid Mist hex? How about we make the idiots think they are being haunted by something, sort of drive them nuts?"

"What about Ghostly Fingers?"

"What about Death Breath?"

"Now you are getting with the programme, let's make Halloween come just a little early!"

Drunken giggles and loud hushing echoed over the group as they scattered and flowed over the heath to surround their rather unsuspecting quarry. Remus let out a thankful breath and glanced at Paddy, who was giving him a fond smile. "What?"

"You did that really well, turning them from murderous to playful," Paddy commented as they began to run after the pack. "But tell me, what if these Death Eaters turn nasty and start flinging real hexes at the boys and girls?"

Remus considered his words as he surveyed the vicinity for eavesdroppers. "Then it will suit my plan, too. I want you to get the people who are being harassed out of here as safely as possible. Choose a couple of guys to help you. Our lot are going to play a practical joke as far as they are concerned. If the Death Eaters do turn rabid, then our guys are going to retaliate with force and the Death Eaters don't stand a chance against what, sixty odd werewolves. I'd rather there were no civilian casualties."

"Got you, Beta, have fun," Paddy chuckled and sloped off into the night.

Even drunken werewolves were hard to hear as the massed pack flowed over the slightly rolling ground, surrounding the ten black-cloaked Death Eaters while they were intent on their victims. One man was on the ground, blood dripping and pooling about his head and chest, the other had been severely jinxed and was flailing around blindly, his skin a mass of suppurating sores. One of the girls had a wand out and was doing her best to defy the taunting, jeering circle while they sent flicks of wind to blow her full skirt up around her head from different angles, while commenting crudely on what was revealed. The other girl merely wept noisily into her hand, the wailing and sobbing hiding the fact she was carefully working her wand out of its pocket.

The first Creeping Flesh charm took the most active Death Eater around the back of the neck, making him jump and squeak in a very unscary manner. Someone else sent Ghostly Fingers creeping under another black robe. Remus threw back his head and howled very softly, as if from a great distance away. Others caught the ploy and he was answered from miles away to the left and to the right. Three of the Death Eaters took the sudden deathly chills to heart and apparated immediately, but the other seven formed a defensive circle, wands facing out as they were touched and tormented by invisible hands and ghostly howls.

A flash of light from the far right illuminated a couple of figures and the Death Eaters suddenly had substantial targets to aim at, all seven of them moving in an orderly fashion without breaking their circle, their first quarry forgotten. The girl who had been drawing her wand was almost scared into doing something silly as five men and a woman rose from almost under her nose.

"Hush now and let's get you out of here," the black-haired leader of the party said in a whisper. "Cynthia, take that lass there, and you two take the bleeder. You two take the puss-head, and you take the other lass there. We'll go to the blasted oak; it should be fairly safe there. On three?"

They apparated.

~~*~~

Lupin waved another party to make their selves visible, leading the Death Eaters further and further away from their original victims and deeper into the heath. The game of hide and seek could have gone on forever, but the majority of the Death Eaters finally gave up and apparated out until only two were left. Finally, the charm of the game wore off for the werewolves, too, and the majority wandered off, many apparating out, a few simply continuing the game of tag amongst themselves as pairs dropped away to continue a private game of their own.

Remus chuckled silently to himself as he surveyed the scene and decided it was safe for him to leave the last remnants unsupervised. Turning his back, he apparated and reappeared at the blasted oak tree he had designated the rendezvous point. Paddy had begun the reversal of hexes on the worst wounded, and one of the women was helping the two girls get over the trauma by pointing out that it could have been a whole lot worse.

"Hi, Beta, you want to have a look at this bloke? I have never seen pustules like these before. Any ideas?"

Leaning forward, Remus cast lumos at a low intensity and shone it on the young man's face. "Some form of impetigo combined with acne boils, perhaps. Looks like a St Mungo's job to me. Does it hurt? Perhaps a temporary analgesic charm to relieve the pain wouldn't...." He broke off as a drawling voice cut through the night, making him spin on the spot.

"Well, well, well, a whole nest of vermin with their victims all neatly placed," the man in the white mask began to drawl, then ducked hastily as Remus threw a hex without warning.

"Go!" he yelled as he cast Protego and ducked hastily behind the tree. The others didn't wait around, each apparating out in a hurry, Paddy the last to go and only because he had the worst victim to deal with.

Duelling madly, Remus led the Death Eater away from the oak, keeping him well and truly occupied so that the others could escape. The man was good, fast reactions and a wide range of hexes, some of which Remus had never even seen cast. Still, having studied defence for so long, Remus was versed in energy conservation and his hexes were a lot more effective, his shielding taking the brunt of his opponent's fury and turning it aside. Muffed shots and curses made the landscape writhe and flow, wild and improbable plants springing up and dying in their wake. Animals and things being created and destroyed as the small creatures of the heath were taken by stray hexes and changed.

A passing moth suddenly became a vicious-toothed carnivorous something that flew at Remus' head, making him duck and whirl for a second. The movement threw off his opponent long enough to score two direct hits on the Death Eater that should have knocked him out but were blunted by the spell repellents built into the robes. Still, Remus was grinding the Death Eater down, the man's breath screaming in his chest, his spells growing more ragged and less effective when a bared tree root betrayed Lupin. He stumbled and fell flat on his back, but rolled and was coming to his feet when a last desperate banishing charm caught him in the side of the head and he knew no more.