Visions & Plans
Harry gasped. One minute he was doing homework with Draco, the next he's somewhere else. Looking around, Harry realized he hadn't gone anywhere. He can still feel the chair he's sitting on, can still smell the apples and peanut butter Padfoot had given them for a snack. It's a vision, Harry thought, looking around to absorb all the details he could before it ended.
He was in a wooded clearing, and he knew that it was far away. It was colder here, and it was drizzling. His aunt was standing a few feet from him, her hands bound behind her back with a chain. She was yanking on it, making enough noise that someone yelled for her to be quiet. A man stepped out of the woods where the voice had come from. He was tall and muscular, with a savage look on his face. Harry was reminded of a show he had seen, where wildlife experts had to track a rabid wolf. This man had the same look the wolf had, crazy and dangerous.
"Where am I Greyback?" Alyssa snarled, and Harry was surprised at how angry his aunt sounded. Even when he had knocked over a cauldron in her lab, she was never that angry.
"Somewhere your mate will find you, eventually," the man said, looking very pleased. Even his smile seemed wrong, especially the red on his lips and teeth.
"What is your purpose for bringing me here?" Alyssa asked, giving up on the chains.
"To convince Lupin to join us, by whatever means necessary," Greyback replied. "He has good standing with the American Ministry, and I'm sure he can convince them to accept our ideas on werewolf laws." His smile showed that nothing good would come of that.
"And you brought me here because…?" Alyssa asked, ignoring the voice that was screaming about her nightmare.
"This is the place where he joined us in the beginning," Greyback said as the vision began to fade. "Fitting that it will be the place where he rejoins our pack for good."
Harry snapped back to the present abruptly. As his eyes refocused, he noticed that Severus was kneeling beside him, with Sirius standing beside Remus, who was holding Draco tightly.
"Papa, Auntie's been taken by a bad guy," Harry said, throwing his arms about his father's neck. His first vision had frightened him. "She said his name was…"
"Fenrir Greyback," Remus cut in before Harry could finish. "His scent is unmistakable, and is strong outside where he waited for her."
"What else did you See Harry?" Severus asked, ignoring the distraught werewolf for a moment. Harry came first, and this wasn't exactly what Severus expected Harry to see in his first clear vision.
"Aunt Lyss was standing in a clearing somewhere far away," Harry recounted, and then proceeded to describe the rest of the vision the best he could. Auntie was right, Harry thought as he tried to explain everything thoroughly. In the vision, he saw everything as clearly as if he had witnessed it himself, even though he hadn't gone anywhere. Trying to explain what he felt like they should know was frustrating. "And then he said that they were in the place where Uncle Moony joined them in the beginning. The vision faded as he said it was fitting that that would be the place where he rejoined them."
Remus's eyes turned hard. "He's captured Alyssa to force me to rejoin him, so he can have more power."
Draco snuggled closer to Remus, unsettled. Harry had acted odd, like Mama had occasionally, and then he started talking about how she was in danger and how Papa had to join the bad man. If he does that, then he'll be like Father and be mean. But if he doesn't, Mama will get hurt. "What will you do Papa?"
Remus sighed, carding Draco's blonde hair. "I don't know Dragon, but we'll think of something. We rescued her the last time she was kidnapped, remember?"
Draco nodded. He remembered the last rescue, because that was when he was saved as well. This time though, there was no Dobby to help. "But we only got away because of Dobby last time."
"There is more than one way to skin a cat Draco," Remus said, "And rescuing Alyssa is made easier this time because we know where she is. We didn't know that last time."
"Yes, but we also have no idea how many wolves Greyback has at his beck and call," Sirius said, looking troubled.
"We cannot afford to rush in there blindly," Severus agreed, "So curb that reckless Gryffindor impulsive instinct that is urging you to apparate to Greyback right now."
Remus growled slightly, because his friends had seen through him. His mate was in trouble, and he needed to save her. Greyback was dangerous, and he already had enough reasons to hate the were, kidnapping Alyssa just added to his anger. "We can't just do nothing."
"I never said we would," Severus said, "But we need to think. Greyback wants you to just apparate there, howling that he stole your mate and you'll make him pay for that. You will be playing right into his hands. He is expecting impulsive, reckless behavior, not a calculated plan of attack."
"Severus is right," Sirius said, leaning back in his chair. "We need to plan, so if there is some way he'll try to force your hand, you can counter it."
"Also, we will need to send Harry and Draco somewhere safe," Severus said, looking at the child sitting in his lap. "Perhaps with Fawkes and Nyx? The familiars of the founders would keep them safe, as they did before."
Remus sighed. "You're right. The question is, what are we going to do to stop Greyback?"