Blood of the Moon {Remus Lupin}

Chapter 77

And yes, I have made Dumbledore's dying act ✨matchmaking✨ :)

"Professor McGonagall," Auriga said brightly as she entered the entrance hall of Hogwarts. "Good evening."

"Good evening to you too, Miss Malfoy," said McGonagall. "Professor Dumbledore has said to patrol tonight. So you will be with...ah, here he is."

Auriga looked over her shoulder to see Remus, hair too long, fresh scars, robes hanging off him, wearing a warm, clumsy sort of smile, as he stepped through the front doors. Her heart swelled and hammered at the sight of him, alive and well and perfectly alright.

She quickly turned back to McGonagall, who was smiling warmly at Remus. "Dumbledore's suggestion, I presume?" she joked.

"Yes,"said McGonagall as Remus reached them. "He rather thought separating you and Miss Tonks was the smartest idea."

"I'm sure that's right," said Auriga, somewhat grimly. She silently cursed the old man and his meddling.

"Evening Professor," said Remus brightly. "Auriga."

"Evening," said Auriga and McGonagall at once. "Shall we go, then?" said Auriga, determined that that would be the only thing they said to each other all night.

The pair of them set off, through the empty hallways, with Auriga looking dead ahead and Remus staring at the architecture with interest. They hadn't got as far as the Grand Staircase before he spoke. "So, how've you been?"

"Very well," Auriga said, half-truthfully. She'd certainly been very something.

Remus nodded. "Did you ever explore the castle much?"

"No," scoffed Auriga. "The only route I knew was the quickest one from the Slytherin common room to the library."

"That's the one under the lake, isn't it?" he asked, and when Auriga looked at him his eyes looked charmingly mischievous. No! she thought quickly. They're annoyingly mischievous. Nothing charming about the guy with commitment problems.

"How did you know that?" she asked, curious. He only shrugged. Merlin, he was being infuriating! He reminded her of the Halloween when he'd escorted her and Shacklebolt out.

"So you never went down any secret passageways?" asked Remus with an amused frown.

Auriga sighed. "Hogwarts doesn't have any-" But the next moment, his hand had grabbed hers, and she'd been dragged behind a tapestry, where there was a dark, winding corridor. "What in Merlin's name are you doing?" she demanded, before storming back out the tapestry and back into the corridor they were supposed to be patrolling.

"Sorry," said Remus, emerging sheepishly from the tapestry. "I just thought-"

"Well, you thought wrong!" snapped Auriga, before storming away, leaving him to catch up with her.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he caught up with her with ease. Curse his tall stature and long legs.

"I'm fine," Auriga said coldly.

"Really?" asked Remus. "Because you're behaving very oddly. You're behaving like you did four years ago."

"Shut up," said Auriga, stopping in her tracks.

"Auriga!" protested Remus, standing in front of her.

"I swear to Merlin, Remus," hissed Auriga. "Shut up. Something's wrong."

He frowned and looked up at the ceiling, where a shout could be heard. "Come on," he said grimly, before starting at a run towards the nearest staircase. Auriga's time as an Auror had apparently paid off, because she could now comfortably run at his pace.

They'd just reached the seventh floor corridor, when a body came hurtling down the corridor. "Auriga!" they exclaimed as they ran, "You've got to come! Quickly!"

"Augustus!" said Auriga, taken by surprise. "What are you doing here? What's happened?" But now he had Remus's wand against his throat, and Remus was looking at him with furious disgust that even McGonagall couldn't match.

"What are you doing?" shouted Auriga, placing herself firmly between the two of them. "Get off him, Remus!" She pushed him back and away from Augustus, furious at him.

"Auriga-" Remus's confused protests began.

"What you were going to hex the person who was coming to warn us?" she challenged.

"It's him!" Remus said. "He tried to kill you! He tried to kill me!"

"Unbelievable," Auriga muttered. "He's switched sides, Remus!"

"Did they take your memories again?" asked Remus.

"Merlin's beard," she said, electing to ignore Remus from now onwards. "Are you alright?" she asked Augustus, turning to face him instead.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Augustus, frowning over her shoulder at Remus. "First name basis with the werewolf?"

"It's a long story," said Auriga dismissively, pretending Remus couldn't hear her. "Now what are you doing here?"

"Death Eaters," he said, and she felt as Remus came to join the conversation. "I came with them. Just round the corner, by the astronomy tower."

"Merlin's beard," said Auriga, starting to sound like a bit of a broken record. "Right, you stay here-"

"What?" protested Augustus, "No, I want to fight!"

"You're a civilian," explained Auriga. "We can't have you getting hurt."

"Aw, you care about me," teased Augustus.

"No, I don't," said Auriga with a smile.

"Look, I've been thinking," said Augustus. "Would you and Draco like to stay at the manor this summer? Plenty of space for you-"

"We need to go," Remus interrupted, sounding agitated and impatient.

"I'll think about it," promised Auriga. "Stay here."

She and Remus set off at a sprint in the direction Augustus had come from, and when they rounded the corner they saw what he meant. There were the Death Eaters, spells flying, fighting students and teachers alike. She saw Tonks and Sirius fighting one, McGonagall fighting two. She watched as Bill Weasley narrowly dodged a stunner, and Neville Longbottom was hit in the head by a bit of debris.

Immediately they launched themselves into battle, stealing one of McGonagall's attackers and firing stunners and the occasional tactical cutting charm. They worked in synchronised harmony, hair and robes lashing away from them as one blocked and one cast in quick succession.

But the Death Eater they were fighting seemed to be out of control, and began firing any number of killing curses in every direction. They ricocheted off the walls and Auriga had to duck and dive to avoid them, all while trying to disarm him.

She saw as Snape joined the fray, but ploughed straight through and up the stairs to the astronomy tower. A bang echoed out, and Tonks flew back as a great black smoke filled the air. It dissipated a minute later, and the Death Eaters had gone, with Tonks back on her feet and the entrance to the Astronomy tower blocked.