Manhunt
Manhunt
I tried my best to tune out the shouting from the other room. I really tried, but they were so loud it was like a drill going through my skull. I wanted nothing more than to just kick the lot of them out of my house, but of course I couldn't do that. Instead I sat there at the table staring into my coffee cup as if it held the answer to all of life's problems, silently twitching as my irritation spiked.
I wasn't paying attention to anyone else and it took me by surprise when Merula finally stood up from the table and put an end to the fighting. "Enough!" She screeched. "House meeting, kitchen table, right now! And not one more word out of anyone unless you lot want to be hexed."
Silence followed, blissful silence, as everyone shuffled obediently into the kitchen. Merula stayed standing and waited until everyone else had taken a seat before she started telling them off.
"Alexi you have made your feelings known. If you want to continue fighting with Diego you two can both piss off out of here. And Diego, mate you screwed up. You know you did. But what's done is done." I looked around the table at my friends faces. Their expressions ranged from hostile to heartbroken, to annoyed and exhausted. I was sure my own face fell into the last two categories. I sighed reluctantly and asked for an explanation.
"Diego?" Merula prompted him. All heads turned in his direction, silently waiting for him to speak. "I'm sorry, okay? I wasn't right in the head last night. Too much drink, not that I'm trying to excuse it. I was just in a bad place but I wasn't trying to get anyone hurt."
Alexi and Chiara both snorted simultaneously at Diego's words. I was still lost in the conversation, I thought I might just let myself into Diego's mind and see for myself what this was all about, but I stopped myself. He deserved the right to explain himself.
Alexi had calmed down considerably, although I could see how much effort it was taking him to remain that way as he asked Diego why he'd done it. Diego refused to meet anyone's eyes as he confessed to us. "I was hurt, and jealous. I hate that I'm excluded from full moons with my partner, but she gets to be with him. As if they don't spend enough time together as it is! I knew they were safe last night, I wasn't intending for them to get out. I just wanted to be with Alexi."
Chiara snorted again. "Bullshit Diego, you're forgetting that we remember everything. You came upstairs and lost your shit when you barged in on us. First of all, how dare you. You bloody well knew what we'd be getting up to. Secondly, I don't give a Porlocks fart how drunk you were. You tried to antagonize a pair of Werewolves into biting your stupid ass."
The silence that followed Chiara's accusation was potent, but the only other person who truly looked as shocked and appalled as I felt was Barnaby. Clearly everyone else had already been made aware of these facts. And Diego wasn't denying that had indeed been his goal.
"I really am sorry for all the trouble I've caused. I know how stupid it was, and dangerous. I had no idea about that other stuff, the kitty and that monster, Greyback. I'm just grateful everyone is okay. But I understand if nobody trusts me anymore. If you want me to move out, or want to kick me out of the Circle I'll respect your wishes." Diego was completely dejected as he apologised, and he still wouldn't look at anyone.
Horrified as I was, I still felt myself softening towards my friend. I couldn't even imagine the difficulty of the situation he was in. I thought about what would have happened if it had been my partner who had decided to open up our relationship and was choosing the other person more often than not. It made me feel horrible just imagining it.
I shot Alexi a stern look as I spoke. "No Diego, no one's kicking you out of anywhere. It was monumentally stupid what you did, but we have all done stupid stuff, myself more than most. We don't need our friendships torn apart over this mistake. Like Merula said, it happened, but it's over with, so let's move on."
Alexi got up from the table without a word and went upstairs. After tossing a dirty look at Diego and then me, Chiara followed after him. Barnaby caught my eye and gave me a gentle smile. At least I had his support. After everything that had happened with Ben I was determined to have some harmony in my own house, even if I had to force it.
I got up next. "Barnaby, we have to get to work. Now that our wolves are safe we need to get the WCU caught up on Greyback and his "gift" to us. He could still be watching the house, I don't think I'll be able to sleep until he's caught."
Barnaby agreed. We were already going to be late so we didn't bother showering. Just a quick change of clothes and then we got Merula, Ismelda and Diego on fortifying our house with protection spells. We also didn't bother collecting our WCU coats, not wanting to risk disturbing Alexi and Chiara while they were still so upset.
We Apparated to the Ministry and went straight to the WCU office, not even stopping for coffee or breakfast. When we arrived we found rather a lot of people crowding the already cramped space. Mad Eye Moody was there, flanked by Tonks and Talbot. Along with five or six other witches and wizards I had never met.
We side stepped our way over to where Uncle Cecil was and listened as he addressed the group. "We've had no fewer than fifteen reports in since last night. Some very disturbing things indeed. A Muggle child was killed and an underage witch was attacked and very likely infected. There may well be more casualties yet to discover. It would seem that last night's Sturgeon Moon was an epidemic of Werewolf activity like we have not seen since the rein of He Who Must Not Be Named. I have gathered here all capable hands who have experience in these matters at the moment, and we are expecting several more to join our number shortly."
Fifteen Werewolf attacks. That was no coincidence. Barnaby stepped forward towing me along with him and told Uncle Cecil to bump the number up to sixteen as he explained what we'd found on our doorstep when we'd arrived home, and who we thought it was from.
An uncomfortable murmur rippled through the small crowd at Barnaby's words. The name Greyback was known by everyone in the room. Just as Uncle Cecil started breaking people off into two and three person teams, Alexi showed up. He joined Barnaby and I at the front of the office and wordlessly handed us back our coats.
I was relieved he had come in, although he looked like hell. I was sure I didn't look much better after a night of chasing him and Chiara, no sleep, no breakfast, not nearly enough coffee and far too much strain. I thought it would be hard to tell which of us was the actual Werewolf going off appearances alone, but luckily no one else there seemed to notice anything amiss.
Alexi, Barnaby and I were reassigned as team Alpha and joined by Uncle Cecil to investigate our own neighborhood, as Greyback was agreed to be the largest threat. The other teams were tasked with canvassing the other area's where the reports had come in from. All four teams were due to return to the office by 16:00 to share their findings, or sooner if they were successful.
Caltus was the only one staying behind as the new teams headed out to begin the manhunt. He would be assigning the next groups as more volunteers came in to help. Uncle Cecil told us on our way down in the lift that this was by far the largest undertaking he had been a part of in over a decade and he had high hopes we would be able to round up at least the majority of the Werewolves. I wasn't as optimistic as he was.
When we arrived home we found Chiara alone in the kitchen, stirring something in a shiny copper cauldron over the fireplace. "Oh you're back. Brilliant timing, this is almost done and I was worried you might leave the Ministry before I could bring it over for you."
"What is it?" I asked, gingerly sniffing the bluish green liquid as it bubbled. "Wideye Potion. Ismelda started brewing it last night while they were waiting for us to get home, I'm just finishing it up. I know that no one got any sleep last night so it was the least I could do." She gave me an apologetic smile which I gratefully returned.
Barnaby and I pulled half a dozen mugs down from the shelf as Chiara went to add the final ingredient to the potion, two sprigs of Wolfsbane. She ladelled out doses for the four of us, and one for Uncle Cecil and we all toasted grimly to staying awake as long as it took to track down the Werewolves responsible for the attacks. We headed out shortly after, leaving Chiara who was now bursting with energy to stand guard while our other housemates slept.