4 ~ The Game with Death

I had thought myself reckless before, but tonight proved how little I understood consequences.

A second werewolf.

     Its fur shimmered in a brownish-red tone, its body was huge, and in its dark blue eyes a murderous glint smouldered. Panic gripped my insides with icy fingers. The two werewolves sized each other up, stared at one another as if the world had stopped.     There was another rustling in the bushes, then they were there.                Over a dozen wolves.     James, who stood close beside me, was frozen just like I was.      The strange werewolf threw his head back and let out a long-drawn howl. The wolf reared up, higher and higher, until it seemed to touch the sky. Moony followed.     A second howl rang out, deep, as if it were singing of the end of the world.

And perhaps... that is exactly what it is.Perhaps our death is waiting here.

     At least everything made sense now. Moony had not reacted to the howling of the wolves, only to that of the werewolf. I was not even particularly surprised.     Wolves lived in the Forbidden Forest and people spoke of werewolves. Of course no one was foolish enough to test these assumptions, but here we had our proof. It was probably a human who went into the Forbidden Forest every full moon in order to transform. Believing that many did it, and that no human would be foolish enough to venture inside during full moon.     The wolves were also easy to explain. I did not know particularly much about wolves, but just as Moony had immediately grown used to our animal forms, the werewolf before us seemed to have done the same with a pack. The human behind the beast probably did not even know it.

Just like Moony the person will not be able to remember anything.

     The howling of the two werewolves faded. I exchanged a glance with James and we knew that we could no longer drive Moony in the other direction now.     What did one do in such a situation?          How did one stop one's fur-nosed friend from killing himself? As an animal?     I did not know whether I could move far enough away from the scene to hurl curses at the wolves as a human. Would I only draw Moony's attention to myself, who as a werewolf hunted humans?Perhaps also the attention of the other werewolf plus that of the wolves?     Even if I could defend myself, I would most likely be injured. Remus might be alive, but he would rather be dead than turn one of his friends. I would much rather become a werewolf than let my friend run into death; yet there was still the possibility that we would all die.     Also the possibility of letting Moony act as a werewolf. Perhaps the two werewolves would even get along and form a larger pack?

Wishful thinking.

     The reddish-brown werewolf, though smaller than Moony, yet with a pack, growled. The loudest growl I had ever heard and I understood, without being a werewolf; it was a threat. We would have to leave its territory or it would attack.          Only Moony was stupid.          Not as a human, but as a werewolf.     He probably believed he had just as much claim to this part of the forest as the wolves. James and I were probably to blame, because we had forgotten to think about territories.     But we were only fifteen and fourteen.

So young and stupid.

     A threatening growl left the throat of a wolf. Not the werewolf, but a grey wolf with yellow eyes and mangy fur. An older wolf, with a high rank, since the other wolves also began to growl.     The strange werewolf took a few steps forward, growling, but not in Moony's direction. I did not know what was going on in its head, whether a werewolf even thought, could feel emotions; but for some reason it wanted to face Moony alone.          Could a werewolf feel pride?     I did not know, only knew that the werwolf was the leader of the pack - during full moons at least. Moony had entered their territory, and now the werewolf wanted to prove himself and fight alone?          It was confusing.     But when did one ever stand as an animagus in the middle of the Forbidden Forest and watch two werewolves?     A normal human should never experience something like that. Usually never did either, which was why there were so many speculations about the behaviour of werewolves in books. They attacked humans, that was it. But how they lived, what they did during full moon far away from humans, nobody knew.

Actually I do not want to know either, I thought and moved like James a little to the edge, to let the two werewolves do their thing.

     Never in my life had I felt such fear.          It tightened my throat, made my heart hammer against my ribs as if it wanted to break free. My fur suddenly felt too tight; every sound, every growl made my muscles twitch and tense, as if I had to flee. But I remained standing.     The pack demanded blood - it was obvious. Their bristled neck fur, the gleaming eyes.          I realised: They would fight, kill, without thinking.     Another growl passed through the ranks of the wolves. They seemed to be telling the werewolf that they did not accept Moony as part of their pack. The reddish-brown werewolf ignored the pack, at least it tried to.     It sniffed briefly, a few steps in front of Remus, from whose mouth threads of saliva hung.          Moony growled.     I cursed inwardly, since the other werewolf might have been kind, if that was even possible; yet Remus wanted nothing to do with his kind.     The reddish-brown werwolf flattened his ears and stepped back.     Before I could think about what it meant, chaos broke loose.          The wolf pack surged forward - and overwhelmed the reddish-brown werewolf. The wolves had probably decided that their leader was useless, since the large grey wolf went for the werewolf, while Remus was confronted with two wolves.     The other werewolf forgot Moony and threw himself at his own pack.     Teeth flashed, claws tore through fur. Young wolves yelping, fleeing, while snow and earth were thrown into the air.     The grey wolf with scars along his flank tried to assert himself, but it was brutally forced to its knees.     One final strike from the reddish-brown werewolf and the grey wolf threw himself onto his back, submissive. Without another attempt at resistance the wolf retreated.     James and I were ignored, probably regarded as normal forest animals that had nothing to say in a pack fight. The two werewolves together chased off the last wolves.     A part of me wanted to breathe in relief.          But then Remus moved.     Growling he threw himself at the strange werewolf.

What else?

     His body was tense, his jaws twisted. Not a spark of reason flashed in his eyes anymore - only raw rage.     The reddish-brown werewolf was confused, had believed it had drawn Remus to its side. The werwolf fell to the ground, flung snow and dirt into the air, but scrambled up again immediately.     I stood at the edge, together with James, unable to take even a single step.     We watched as they circled one another, like two beasts.          Remus attacked first.     His strike narrowly missed, yet he tore deep furrows into the ground. The reddish-brown werewolf dodged, snapped at him, growled deeply.           Again they collided.      Fur and teeth tangled together, they whirled like a single dark shadow across the ground, until Remus sank his teeth into the other's neck.     Blood seeped into the reddish-brown fur and made it shine black. The strange werewolf howled, yet it tore himself free, struck back, bit into Remus' flank. A disgusting, metallic smell spread.     I wanted to leap forward, intervene, do something, but James held me back with a silent look.     We had no chance, at least not yet.

This here is the world of werewolves.

     Again the reddish-brown werewolf was thrown to the ground. This time it remained lying there, panting, his body cramped.     Remus stepped closer, his muzzle smeared with blood, his eyes full of greed.     He would kill her.     He would kill him.          The human behind the beast.     The other werewolf tried to get up, barely managed it. Its hind leg dragged a bloody trail through the snow.     Its head sank down. I recognised the resignation in the posture, even though I did not even know whether werewolves knew such feelings.     Remus prepared for the final strike.          I felt it, we both felt it.     James and I finally tore ourselves free.     Now was the right moment. The second werewolf would no longer attack us. So it was James and I against Moony again.     The stag leapt forward, I followed as a dog, my heart pounding up into my throat. We threw ourselves between Remus and his victim, pushed him back, drove him into the defensive with threatening sounds.     It hardly worked. Remus fought, snapped, hurled his paws at us.     I was thrown to the ground. James caught another blow.          But we held on.     Did what was necessary; Remus would never forgive himself if he had killed a human. A werewolf like him, yes, but still a human on the remaining days of the month.     And then - finally, finally - the power of the full moon faded.          The moon sank.     Moony panted, whimpered, as he was forced to the ground.     Before my eyes the reddish-brown werewolf changed as well. The wet fur dissolved, became paler, more human. Where claws and fangs had been moments before, there now lay a girl, covered in blood.     She did not move anymore.          I had no idea whether she was still breathing.

Bloody damn!

     While Moony was also transforming, I transformed back into a human as well.     Stag eyes became human eyes and Prongs stood like me as a human on the snow-covered clearing. Everywhere the snow was churned up, splattered with blood.     I would have preferred never in my life to learn what it looked like when two werewolves fought. The sounds, the images, that fear.          I would never forget it again.     But when I would look back on my life in a few years, I would say that something had changed me on this night today. From today onwards I would begin, in certain situations, to ignore my own needs and take care of those of others.     For that reason the forming panic inside me subsided. I was not important; Moony was important, who would wake up now. With blood all over his body, deep scratch and bite marks. He would not know what had happened.

The girl is important as well.

     My gaze drifted to the girl, who lying on her stomach slowly came to her senses. She had long, red hair, not only because of the blood that clung to her naked body. Bite marks and injuries everywhere that Remus had inflicted on her.     I only saw how she lifted her head, how she blinked dizzily around the forest. Her gaze met ours, yet behind her eyes there was nothing. Blue eyes rolled backwards, then she lost consciousness.     "You go to her," I instructed James, "your healing spells are better."          "And what do we do afterwards?" he asked, as he slowly stumbled in her direction. James' face was chalk-white. He trembled and sweat clung to his forehead, while his cloak appeared pitch-black in the night.     "How should I know?!" I snapped at him. Not meant badly, but what was I supposed to do?     Had I ever been in such a situation before?

No.

     "What if she is a student?" James asked further.          "It does not matter," I said, "we will have no other choice than to bring her to the Hospital Wing."     Prongs' eyes grew wider at the thought that Remus might have injured a Hogwarts student. I did not know her, but I did not know many faces of Hogwarts.     Perhaps she was not a student either and just a normal werewolf, who had been sent into the Forbidden Forest by her parents during full moon. Because why would Dumbledore have imposed the Shrieking Shack upon Remus, while another werewolf roamed through the forest unbothered?     It made no sense; so the student theory. However, it was unimportant, since Remus was injured as well.          I finally set myself in motion.     I ran to Moony, who slowly came to, and whom I would now have to confront with his greatest fear; injuring someone as a werewolf.

He will never forgive himself for that.

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Hola!

What are the boys going to do now?But hey, welcome, dear OC, to the world of my Fanfic, hihihi