The Marauders: Year Three | #Wattys2016

To the Death

To the Death

"Kill him."

The words echoed in Sirius's mind. He had no energy, nothing left within himself to fight. Every ounce of him had been spent - between running, searching for James and Peter all day and struggling through the storm back to the Shack for Remus all evening and then the struggle to keep from losing his mind as his father administered the cruciatus curse on him - there was nothing left.

What little spark may have remained was shattered with the sound of his own Father ordering a werewolf to kill his son.

Sirius didn't move as the grey-brown form of the werewolf came lunging at him. He just lay there, shivering in the cold, exposed, and utterly defeated.

Just before the werewolf would have grabbed hold on him, though, there came a dangerous roar and there was a second wolf - the grey wolf Sirius knew so well. Remus. Remus stood over Sirius, his body covering Sirius's, and his fangs bared, legs vibrating in preparation to lunge if he needed to, growling fiercely at the grey-brown wolf opposite him.

Sirius was reminded of a dream he'd had... way back in first year... a dream he was laying on the floor of Walburga's library, in exactly the state he laid in now, having just undergone the cruciatus curse... There'd been a wolf then, too, emerging from the dark... At the time, when he'd had the dream, he'd thought the wolf was attacking him. But now, as he laid beneath Remus, staring up at the fangs from below, at the vibration of his throat as the low growls escaped him, he realized the wolf in his dream had never been attacking him, he'd been protecting him. Just as Remus was doing now.

"KILL THEM BOTH!" Orion shouted.

And Veigler's muscles tensed.

Both wolves leaped at one another at exactly the same time, their eyes wild, jaws snapping.

Sirius scrambled out of the way, eyes wide with horror. "No," he whispered, "No. Remus, no!"

The wolves were not about to stop. They tumbled and fell over one another, their bodies fluid and curving, tangling up so that their limbs flew about, nearly indistinguishable which was which. Fur flew as they tore at each other's flesh, and splatters of blood shot across the dusty floor, spraying both Sirius and Orion, who stood back on either side of the fight, neither having expected what was happening, both staring on with wide eyes, stunned. The sound of the wolves snarling filled the house, the fiercest, most terrifying sound that Sirius had ever heard. As scary as he'd seen Remus's wolf form be in the past - all that seemed tame compared to how he was right now.

Veigler grabbed onto Remus's shoulder, throwing him down, shaking his head violently so that the grey wolf slammed the floor several times in a row, ripping a bit of fur from his shoulder.

Remus gave out a yelp and swept his paws, claws fully extended, catching Veigler's mouth, stretching back his jaw until he was forced to release Remus's shoulder and Remus leaped up, coming back at Veigler again without pause, clamping his jaw over Veigler's snout, biting down until the blood ran over Veigler's nose and face.

Veigler threw Remus to the floor, standing so his paws were on his chest and he leaned down into Remus's face and let out a growling bark - like a warning - that was so strong the floorboards shook.

Remus drew his legs in, close to his chest and his belly and kicked up, hard, sending Veigler flipping onto his back. But Veigler rolled and used his own legs to spring himself off the wall as he struck it and lunged back for Remus, forcing him into the hall. They snapped and growled at one another in the narrow space, Remus backing up, trying to get some form of higher ground, but Veigler came at him, a bigger wolf than Remus was, and snapped at his left ear, drawing blood, then his right cheek. He snapped at Remus's feet, making Remus dance backwards until he'd reached the stairs. Knowing the angle was no good, Remus bolted down the steps, drawing the other wolf down.