Day in, day out
Chapter 13 - Day in, day out
September the first arrived, Dora was at the Hogsmeade station, waiting for Harry to arrive. Of course she cared about the safety of the other Hogwarts students too, she was supposed to be watching over all of them after all. But the Chosen One was to be given extra attention, especially since he was number one on Voldemort’s hit list, and he so narrowly escaped death yet again just a few months ago. Dora was expecting him to come off with Ron and Hermione, but she didn't see him with him. That was slightly disconcerting.
Dora waited until the platform was almost empty before deciding to check the train. There was one particular compartment with all the blinds drawn. That didn’t seem right, so she decided to check it. And lo and behold, there he was, under his cloak, lying on the ground, covered in blood, which appeared to be coming from his nose. They had to jump off the moving train, where they then had to walk to Hogwarts, as all the carriages had left. Dora sent her Patronus ahead of them, hopefully Hagrid would have gotten it by now.
But alas it was Snape who greeted them, wearing his usual sneer. Obviously just waiting to say something nasty about her new Patronus. Dora just glared at him as he slammed the gates in her face, she bade Harry goodnight before making her way back to her flat still seething with rage. Her mind wandered to Remus, as she held the pendant in her fingers, she just hoped he was alright. No news means good news right? Or so she convinced herself.
To distract herself, Dora thought about her parents. Specifically, the memory of them laughing together over dinner once as she entertained them with different faces. It was the thought she had used to conjure her Patronus earlier. She couldn’t help but smile, it was a simpler time then. Of course that was during the first Wizarding War, but Dora was blissfully oblivious to all the horrible things that were happening then. Unlike the present where she was actively fighting the Dark Side. If only she could turn back time, and return to her younger self. She was much happier then.
Nothing eventful happened over the next few weeks, unless you count Dora stopping Harry from strangling Mundungus in Hogsmeade, for stealing Sirius’ stuff, which was now Harry’s really. Oh, and a girl called Katie Bell almost getting killed by a cursed necklace she picked up in The Three Broomsticks. Although Dora had no way of preventing that. October melted away, making way for November, and then finally December arrived, bringing with it the air of Christmas. As usual, Hogsmeade looked beautiful in the winter, not that it managed to cheer Dora up anyway.
Molly had sent her a Patronus, inviting her to spend a few days at the Burrow; Dora knew Remus would be there, so she declined. Dora wasn't in the mood to be with company, especially not Remus’ of all people, even if she missed him. But at least that meant he was alright, which was what mattered. Dora would interrogate Molly and Arthur after New Year’s about him. Preferably via floo, she wanted to see their expressions so she could tell whether or not they were telling her the whole truth.
Remus arrived at the Burrow on Christmas eve, he mentally prepared himself for the questions, and snide remarks which Molly and Arthur were sure to hurl at him whenever they got the chance. Molly even gave him an annoyed look over dinner on Christmas day when the subject of Dora came up. However, it was news to Remus when Harry mentioned her Patronus had changed, although he never found out to what. This took Remus by surprise, he was rather fond of the Jack rabbit. They were even graced by the presence of the Minister for Magic himself, escorted by Percy. Remus didn’t like the idea of him spending alone time with Harry, but as Harry insisted it was alright, Remus stood down.
It was after the new year that Remus decided to try his hand at another werewolf camp. Things over here were almost the same in terms of amenities, or lack thereof. However, most of them here seemed to be leaning towards the Dark Side. Remus was careful, he didn't push his views openly, but he started small, talking about real life scenarios involving Voldemort and werewolves. Remus knew that he managed to talk sense to some of them, and hoped that they would in turn talk some sense to the others. He decided to talk to them one-on-one, when gathering firewood, or water, and even on their way to nearby farms where they would steal from.
Remus always felt a pang of guilt whenever he stole, but it was essential not to blow cover. He'd rather steal than kill anyway. Although slow, Remus was making progress, he managed to convince a fair few werewolves to see reason. Remus would send word to Dumbledore, and the Order whenever he could through his Patronus. Although he wanted to write to Harry, it would have been way too risky. Owls swooping in and out of the camp might be a cause for suspicion as none of the other werewolves communicated with humans, especially not via letter.
Dora grew increasingly restless, she hated her mouse-coloured hair more and more each day. She tried, and tried to change it, but it simply wouldn't budge. Although she had spoken to Molly and Arthur after Christmas, and they had insisted that Remus was okay, it didn't make her much happier, especially when Molly told her that Remus was heading to another werewolf camp. Dora prayed he wouldn't run into Greyback, she knew he wouldn't hesitate to kill Remus if he got wind of what Remus was doing.
The Prophet didn't help much anyway, especially since most people were still apprehensive about werewolves, news about them was barely reported. It was this mindset that played right into the hands of Greyback, it was so much easier to convince them that Voldemort's side was the right one as they would no longer be ostracised by society, under his rule, but given equal status as humans. This was of course a load of rubbish, as Voldemort only wanted them as pawns in his quest on taking over the world. When no longer needed, he would be sure to eliminate them.
Weeks went past, Remus continued to make headway with his mission, although he was still rather miserable, being stuck there. Remus wished it would all be over soon, he also realised how lucky he was relative to most of the other werewolves around. His parents never gave up on him and did the best they could to raise him. Granted it was his father who angered Greyback, causing him to attack Remus all those years ago, he never blamed his father for his affliction. Although there was no denying that Remus and Lyall had drifted apart since Hope died shortly after James and Lily.
Remus had gotten word from one of the werewolves that Greyback had attacked someone, but he had no way of confirming this. At this, some of them decided to leave the camp for good, as they felt it would be the easiest way of avoiding Greyback altogether. He still struck fear in the hearts of werewolves alike, and none of them seemed keen on the idea of getting on the wrong side of Greyback. Remus contemplated leaving too, but decided against it, there were still more werewolves which needed convincing.
Meanwhile, the news of Greyback attacking someone had reached Dora. She froze as she heard the news on the Wizarding Wireless, who was it? Was it a muggle, wizard, or even a werewolf? More importantly, was it her werewolf? She had no idea who to turn to before finally deciding on Dumbledore. It was him who got Remus into this mess in the first place. She disapparated to the boundaries of Hogwarts, and made her way into the castle.
Dora could have just sent a Patronus, but she didn't want Dumbledore to see her new Patronus, although she was sure he knew about it. Much to her dismay, Dumbledore wasn't in his office. Since she was already in the castle, Dora decided to take a walk to clear her head, oh how she missed her Hogwarts days. She bumped into Harry, who was once again on the ground. Dora thought she'd try her luck and ask him if he'd heard from anyone from the Order, but was most disappointed when he said he hadn't.