Chapter Text
It had been a lovely night spent with friends despite the looming elephant in the sky. Both you and Tonks followed Remus out of the Burrow for the evening, bidding Molly and Arthur a reluctant farewell. The first night of the cycle was always the hardest for Lupin.
He was the first to know something wasn't right. Maybe he was hyper aware of the calm from past experience or maybe it was just nearing full moon nerves. Either way, Lupin scanned the silent night uneasily, feeling the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Tonks asked him what was wrong just before a ring of fire surrounded the Weasley's home.
Bellatrix Lestrange appeared as if out of thin air and landed in the middle of the lawn. You barely even registered her appearance before she disappeared through the flames as quickly as she arrived, leaving nothing but the sound of her chilling cackles behind. It happened in the blink of an eye. All you could do was stand by Lupin's side and stare after the witch in shock. That is until you were pushed to the side by Harry.
He came sprinting out of the house, thirsting after revenge for the woman that killed his godfather. The fire opened up to reveal a convenient path for Harry that he happily bolted through. Lupin tried to chase after your friend, but the flames immediately sealed up behind Harry.
Lupin and Tonks did their best to hold back the flames. It swarmed around the pair, circling them as if they were prey, but just before it could strike, another path opened. This time it was Ginny that came running out of the front door, but she wasn't alone. You were hot on her heels - damned if you'd let your best friend go after a Death Eater on her own.
Lupin's cries for you to stop were drowned out by the crackle of the flames. He lost sight of you when the fire sealed just as it had done when Harry went through, successfully stealing you away from Lupin. Remus knew you were strong, probably the most powerful Muggle born he had ever met (save for Hermione), but even he would have reservations about going up against Lestrange. Her blood lust did nothing if not make her more dangerous, horribly quick witted despite her obvious insanity. Lupin feared your kind soul didn't stand a chance against her cunning and evil heart, if Bellatrix even had one. If anything were to happen to you Remus would never forgive himself.
As you gained distance from the Burrow the only sounds that could be heard were the splashes of you and Ginny running through the marsh. Tall grass and reeds whipped your face harshly as you sped past, warning you of the danger to come, begging you to stop and think. You couldn't see Harry amongst all the shadowy muck, so all you could do was keep a close watch on Ginny's bright red hair, a beacon of hope in the black night. In the distance you could faintly make out the taunting chants of Bellatrix. You couldn't quite hear what she was saying, but it sent a chill down your spine nonetheless.
Your head snapped to the side as a new sound caught your attention. You could have sworn you heard footsteps. Large ones at that, but you could barely hear anything over the sound of your ragged breaths and thundering heart. You slowed to a stop, allowing your friend's bright hair to fade into the darkness. The night enveloped you.
"Lupin," you called out hoarsely. Silence answered. You took a brave step forward. "Is someone there?"
There. This time you were positive those were footsteps. Slowly making their way towards you. You strained your eyes in an effort to make out some sort of shape in the darkness, but it was futile. Shadows played with your mind, creating an evil you weren't sure was even there, so you pulled out your wand.
"Lumos." The tip of your wand glowed white and instant regret ensued. Before you stood someone you'd only heard in stories. In nightmares. "Fenrir Greyback," you growled.
The tall man greeted you with a wicked smile.
"So, you're the girl little Remus took in," he sneered, taking a step towards you. "I've known him since he was a boy, you know."
"You'll pay for the pain you've caused him."
You tried to sound brave, but your body betrayed you, instinctively backing away. You'd seen first hand how Lupin struggled with the full moon. You've patched him up yourself more times than you cared to count. And now the source Lupin's suffering was standing right in front of you.
"And who do you reckon will make me pay, hm?"
He was still moving towards you, slowly, but surely. His lips curled into a twisted, fanged grin. You wanted to run. You knew you should, but you'd be damned if you didn't avenge the man that took you in when your muggle parents abandoned you. You were too strange for them, but not Remus. To him you had never been anything but magic.
"Me."
The light from your wand disappeared and was replaced with a purple flash. It rocketed towards Greyback, but the purple light vanished with a simple wave of his hand. His smile was undeterred.
You immediately shot another blast, allowing him no time to taunt you, but he deflected it once more. This time he went on the offensive, brandishing his own wand and shouting a spell you'd never heard. You narrowly managed to shield yourself, but the aftershock sent you sliding back through the mud. Somehow you managed to stay on your feet.
"You're strong for a mudblood," Greyback said as if it were a compliment.
A new, stupid rage filled you and you found yourself forgetting your wand as well as all logical thought. You rolled up your sleeves and marched forward until you were nearly nose to nose with the man. He stared down at you, still smiling. He was practically giddy, waiting to see what a child like you would do against a dark wizard like him.
"You have no idea," you snarled before punching him square in the nose.
His head snapped to the side and the blow even sent him stumbling back. He grabbed at his nose and felt warmth pool into his hands, dark blood coating his palms. A taste of his own medicine.
He was finally rid of his smirk. He locked dark eyes with you, ignoring the annoying stream of blood coming from his nose. He aimed his wand directly between your eyes, but you impulsively grabbed his wrist with both your hands, struggling to keep his aim above both your heads. Unfortunately for you, Greyback didn't actually need his wand.
Before you could process what was happening he lunged forward and sunk his sharp teeth into your shoulder. A shriek of pain bubbled from deep within your chest, disturbing the still night around you. The sound was unrecognizable and chilling, unlike anything you'd ever head, paired with a barbed pain that cut all the way down to your shoulder bone. You dropped his wrist immediately, throwing him from you only to be greeted by the disgustingly wet sound of flesh tearing as you pushed him away. It took a beat before you felt the full pain of the night air kissing your exposed wound. A burst of green light distracted you from the pain, and for a few heart stopping moments your feet left the ground before your back connected with the wet earth and the oxygen was forced from your lungs.
You slid through the mud on your newly destroyed shoulder and disgustingly dragged half your face through the muck. You managed to keep an iron grip on your wand and grasped at your shoulder all the while struggling to regain your footing and catch your breath. The moment you were upright you were sprinting through the marsh, nearly toppling face first back into the scum, but not daring to slow down. It didn't sound like Greyback pursued you, but you couldn't risk stopping.
You ran with mud in your eye and warm blood pooling into your hand from your shoulder, tickling as it ran down your arm slowly, but unrelenting. The adrenaline kept you going even as you grew dangerously lightheaded. You didn't stop moving until you happened upon a clearing where you were greeted by the welcome sight of Harry and Ginny standing back to back with wands at the ready.
"Fancy seeing you here," you approached with a grunt.
"What happened to your shoulder," Ginny exclaimed upon seeing your blood soaked shirt. At this point you were probably covered in equal amounts blood and grime.
"Don't worry about it," you dismissed, swiping at the mud in your eye. There was no time to fill her in. Besides, you were far too paranoid to hold a conversation.
The three of you stood back to back, staring into the taunting darkness, waiting for something to go bump in the night. Off in the distance you heard someone call your name, but there was no telling if was the good guys or the others. Either way, there was no time to respond. A white blast came flying for your head, but you managed to block it. The fight had begun.
Spells came at you from all sides, hurtling forward with the ferocity of an angry Hungarian Horntail, making you extremely grateful that you weren't alone. None of your counter attacks managed to land on your opponents, it took everything for the three of you to keep the onslaught of attacks at bay, but at least the Death Eaters weren't making any valuable headway. You nearly cried in relief when Arthur, Remus, and Tonks burst through the tall brush amidst an assault of flashing whites, reds, and greens. They entered the fight only for a few moments before the attacks came to a sudden stand still.
A trail of black smoke disappeared into the air indicating that at least one of your competitors was gone. There was a rustle to your left and through the tall grasses, you could just barely make out the face of the man that marked you. Greyback smiled and gave a taunting wave with the tip of his clawed fingers before evaporating into a thick, black smoke of his own. Not a second after, all heads turned toward the far off sound of an explosion.
"Molly," Arthur cried at the sight of a distant orange glow.
The entire group took off at a sprint back to the house. Your heart dropped into your stomach when you burst through the brush and found the desolate sight of the Burrow ablaze. It seemed everyone was safe outside, but the Weasley home was gone, swallowed in the flames.
Arthur ran to comfort Molly and check on his family, but with the threat apparently gone, your adrenaline high began to wear off. It was then you realized just how much pain you were in, and how much blood you'd lost to bat. You sunk to your knees, suddenly woozy.
Lupin cried your name, running to your aid. He dropped to crouch in front of you and gently grabbed your face with both of his hands. He repeated your name.
"Look at me. Look at me, dear." Your eyes struggled to stay open as the world grew fuzzy. You mumbled something he couldn't quite hear. "What was that, love?"
"Hermione," you groaned, looking over to your friend. She'd been watching you from afar, along with several the other concerned faces, but she quickly ran to your side. You put your good arm over her shoulders. "Take me around the house," you ordered. "I just need to walk."
"I'm not sure that's a good -"
"Hermione, please," you pleaded. She was silenced by the look in your eye and reluctantly nodded.
"Let me help," Remus offered as Hermione brought you to your feet. He tried to wrap his arm around your waist for support, but you gently moved out of his reach.
"We've got it," you smiled tightly. His brow furrowed in confusion, but he watched silently as the two of you disappeared around the corner of the smoking Burrow. You had Hermione set you down just as you were out of sight, laying you against gardening shed that was still standing . "You have your wand on you, yes," you checked. Hermione nodded fervently. "Okay."
You leaned your head back and closed your eyes before taking a deep breath. "I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to be able to stay conscious. I need you to heal this to the best of your ability."
Hermione let out a terrified gasp as you moved your shirt away from your wounded shoulder.
She breathed your name lowly. "That can't be healed by magic alone." Her eyes were wide at the missing chunk of flesh. "You've lost too much blood."
"I know, I know," you silenced her. "I just need you to make it look like it's not a bite." Her gaze moved from your wound to your eyes in realization. "Greyback," you confirmed. "I'll tell everyone later. They can't handle this right now." She looked unsure, but pulled out her wand nonetheless.
"Try not to move. This is going to sting." With tear rimmed eyes she did her best to close your wound.
Sting was an understatement. You did your best not to writhe around in pain as agony consumed you, flesh pulling against flesh as the skin attempted to mend back together and envelope the bone that had been exposed. Hermione couldn't stop the bleeding, but by the time she was done your cavernous wound was no longer so gaping, now elongated and thinner. Still tender, but it definitely didn't look like a werewolf had bit you.
"Thank you," you grunted, pushing yourself to your feet.
She had you wrap an arm around her once more before making your way back to the group, slowly, and more than a little defeated.
"I'm so sorry," Hermione whispered.
You looked to her and saw tears openly sliding down her cheeks. You looked forward at the group and swallowed the frog in your throat.
"Me too," you sighed as black encroached on your vision. "I'm about to pass out."
Her head whipped over to see your eyes rolling back.
"Harry! Ron," she called out for help. You were vaguely aware of your friends running towards you.
"Don't tell anyone," you weakly pointed a finger at her, before you lost consciousness.