Of a Different Breed

Remus Lupin took a seat at the bar in the Leaky Cauldron, shedding his light jacket with a sigh. The Order meeting for the night had been overwhelmingly stressful and he desperately needed a breather away from Grimmuald Place.

"Remus, hope you're having a good evening my boy! What can I get you?" The old inn keeper grinned as he dried a freshly washed glass.

"Good evening to you too, Tom," he returned politely, forcing a small smile. "How about a double shot of fire whiskey?"

Tom chuckled to himself as the bottle came floating over with a flick of his wrist. "You don't look like you're in the mood to be celebrating."

Remus just raised the glass up to him with a sad smile. "Another lonely night I guess. Maybe I'm fooling myself into thinking I can drink myself some happiness."

"You aren't the first and you certainly won't be the last," Tom promised gently before walking down to the other end of the bar to address a cloaked figure that had just made their way down the stairs.

After taking the shot, Remus couldn't help but to find his attention locked on the stranger. Times were getting dark again, and he found himself paying extra attention to any seedy looking witches or wizards he came across. Hiding behind a thick, dark cloak in early summer seemed like more than enough reason for him to at least be a bit more aware of his surroundings.

"What'll it be?" Tom asked jovially, not at all threatened by the figure.

"Just a butterbeer," came a soft, feminine voice from beneath the hood. "And I need to settle my debts for the room."

The Inn Keeper stared at her for a few moments before softly shaking his head. "You've been quite a bit of a help around here the past few days. Consider us even," he said, pausing as he handed her the butterbeer. "Hate to see you heading out so soon."

Downing the drink, the girl left a single galleon and began heading towards the front door. Before she so much as made it past Remus, the bells chimed and he could practically feel the girl tense up behind him as he caught the new comer's scent-Fenrir Greyback. Remus' hands clenched to a fist as he watched the werewolf from the corner of his eye head towards the rooms. The girl, on the other hand, had drawn her cloak a little tighter around herself as she edged towards the front door.

Just as the girl pushed the door open, Greyback turned around and smirked. He immediately stalked over to the door and Remus quickly realized hew as after the girl. Throwing down more than enough for his double shot, he bounded outside just in time to see Greyback grab the girl by the back of her arm and shove her into an alley. He followed quickly after them both, wand out.

Greyback was too preoccupied with the girl to notice him at first. "Really think you could hide from me, little bitch?" He snarled, knocking her hood off as he slammed her into the brick wall.

Remus froze up when he saw her face. She had icy blue eyes and pale, porcelain toned skin, but messy curls of black hair seemed to hide most of her face. She had groaned when she hit the wall, but the moment Greyback got in her face to snarl at her, she spit in his eye. She couldn't have been older than fourteen or fifteen-how was this teen so bravely and stubbornly facing danger?

He slapped her across her face, his long, sharpened nails tearing open skin. "You little cunt! You'll learn to mind your place-"

Before he could get out another word, Remus shoved his wand into the side of his throat. "Let go of the girl, Greyback."

Almost immediately he growled but he didn't budge. "Look who it is, bitch. Seems like ole Lupin here thinks he can save you."

It took every ounce of willpower for Remus to resist punching the disgusting man before him, but he could risk hurting the child as well. Just as he was trying to piece together the best course of action, the girl roughly brought her knee into Greyback's groin, his face contorting with pain as he let go and slumped down. Immediately, Remus hexed him and saw the girl running off.

"Wait!" He cried as he dashed after her, leaving Greyback unconscious in the alley.

The teen didn't stop. She kept running, pure adrenaline propelling her until she momentarily looked behind her, checking how much distance she had put between them, sending her colliding with a streetlight. Her head knocked straight into it, throwing her back into the pavement, absolutely unconscious.

"Shit!" Remus cried, quickly catching up to her, desperately checking her vitals. Thank Merlin she was still breathing. Her head would ache when she woke up, but at least she would wake up.

With a sigh, Remus scooped her up into his arms. He couldn't leave her there; Greyback could wake up at any moment and it seemed he was the last thing she needed to deal with. No, the best option in that moment appeared to be to take the child back to Grimmuald Place until he could figure out what was going on. Sirius wouldn't be thrilled, but leaving her simply wasn't an option. Taking in a deep breath, he apparated them both to the house.

"Wow, back so soon, Remus? Honestly-" Sirius stopped cold. "What the hell is that?"

Remus couldn't help but to groan. "Help me and I'll explain later."

Begrudgingly, Sirius made his way over and helped Remus lay the girl down on the kitchen table. "Merlin, what happened to this kid?" He mumbled, mostly to himself.

"Greyback," was all Remus would say as he began healing the cuts on her face.

Sirius shook his head as he began cleaning up the blood, working behind Remus. "What in the seven hells was Greyback doing to this child?"

"No idea. She ran into a street lamp before I could ask questions."

He looked up in shock. "Moony, why were you chasing her?"

He groaned, feeling like a right fool. "I was going to help her, see if I could get her to her family or at least some friends to look after her. She was just staying at the Leaky Cauldron."

Sirius rubbed his temples before glancing down at her. He caught a glimpse of something shiny beneath her cloak, hanging around her neck. Curious, he moved the cloak aside, revealing a thin, silver chain just above her collar bone with a small diamond attached to it. It didn't seem that unusual, but he could feel a charm raidiating off it. Gently moving the neck lace, the girl's head turned over to the side and then he saw it-a pigmentless birthmark of a rose on the right side of her neck, untouched by the scars that surrounded it.

"Remus," Sirius whispered, staring in shock. "We can't let Greyback get this girl."

"Of course not! Bloody hell, Sirius, what do you think he'd-" he broke off the moment his eyes fell on the mark. "She's the BellaSera."