The Flower and the Badger

Chapter 3

Anna had, in fact, been put into the arena. She looked around. There was a large crowd, and they were all jeering, a few were placing bets on who would win. Anna's opponent was almost twice the size that she was, so it was sort of obvious who they were betting on.
The other werewolf growled menacingly at Anna, causing her to whimper and back up. Not that she could go very far.
A man waved his arms, and the crowd went silent.
"In the west corner, we have our current champion!"
The crowd cheered loudly. Obviously the larger werewolf was a crowd favorite.
"And in the east corner is our newest acquisition. The twin sister of the Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter!"
They booed at the mention of Harry's name. It would seem that none of them were very big fans of his. A horn sounded, and the werewolf advanced upon Anna, baring his teeth at her. He lunged for her, and she leapt out of the way just in time, snarling at him. He went for her again and she swiped her paw, her claws tearing at his face. This didn't seem to hurt him all that much. In fact, it only enraged him, and he pounced on Anna, pinning her to the ground. Anna yelped and she tried to push him off of her, but he was stronger than she was, and she was barely able to keep him from sinking his fangs into her neck. The cheers got louder and louder, the crowd thought that Anna was a goner for sure. Summoning all of her strength, Anna pushed him off of her, and quickly got to her feet. Blood soaked her fur, she had a large gash in her side.
Suddenly screams erupted from the crowd, and the whole place was thrown into chaos.

Remus and Kingsley had finally spotted Anna, but it was too late, she was already fighting. Or rather, trying to not get herself killed. Kingsley had to keep Remus from jumping into the arena. "Lupin, we have to think logically about this."
"We don't have time for logic!" Remus insisted. "She could be killed at any moment."
"And if you leap into that arena, you'll get killed right along with her."

"I was wondering when you would show up." The hunter who had attacked Anna over Christmas smirked at them. "Although I have to admit, I didn't think that you would be patient enough to wait for the Ministry Lupin."
Remus pointed his wand at him. "You let Anna go."
"Even if I was considering that, which I'm not, by the way. But even if I was, it's far too late now, she's already in the arena. And once they're in the arena, there's no backing out. They fight until only one is left alive."
"You son of a bitch." Kingsley muttered. "You're a bloody monster! She's a child!"
The hunter shrugged. "She's still a werewolf, I don't discriminate. Equality and all of that."
Kingsley could understand Remus' hatred now. This man was a soulless animal. Kingsley had never met a werewolf hunter before now, and he hoped that after tonight he never would again. He had tracked down dozens of dark witches and wizards that had more emotion than this man did. He wasn't even entirely sure if he was human.
The hunter whistled, and four or five of his friends almost immediately surrounded Kingsley and Remus.
"Four against five." Kingsley smirked cockily. "I would say that the odds are in our favor Lupin."
"Quite so." Remus agreed. He was the first one to cast a spell, stunning a hunter. He then narrowly avoided the Killing Curse, then shot back a immobilizing spell.

Kingsley dodged a curse, and came back with a freezing charm, before finishing off the last hunter with a hex that glued him to the floor, and he shot the hunter's wand out of his hand. Finally he turned to their leader, who looked mildly impressed. The hunter went to shoot the Killing Curse, but instead he crumpled to the ground. There stood Fred.
"What are you doing here?" Remus asked in amazement. How had Fred even found them?"
"I'm here to rescue my girlfriend." Fred answered, as though it was perfectly obvious.
Remus shook his head. Molly was going to kill Fred when she found out what he'd done. But for right now, they had to focus on Anna. A few people in the audience  had noticed what was going on, and Remus and Kingsley quickly stunned them. This caused the others in the audience to panic, especially when they saw an Auror. They all started to apparate away, and Remus ran to the arena. Anna was once again pinned by the other werewolf, and Remus blasted the wolf away. Anna looked at him and growled, not recognizing Remus. Even if he hadn't been in disguise, she wouldn't have recognized him since she didn't have any Wolfsbane in her system. Remus had no choice but to knock her out.
"We have to get her to St. Mungo's." Kingsley said as he and Fred joined Remus. Fred's eyes were filled with worry. He watched as Kingsley and Remus lifted Anna up. He looked at the dried blood that was caked on her fur, and worry flooded him. Would she be alright? Would she survive?

They transported Anna to St. Mungo's, where Healers immediately tended to her. The first thing that they did was give her a potion that changed her back into her human form. Then they started tending to her wounds. Remus and Fred were forced to wait outside so that they could work without any disturbances. Fred was pacing out in the waiting room while Remus was sitting in a chair, his head buried in his hands.
"She's going to be fine." Fred said firmly, but it sounded like he was trying to convince himself just as much as he was trying to convince Remus.
Remus ran a hand through his hair. "This is all my fault. She never would have been in this position if I hadn't changed her in the first place."
"Remus, none of this is your fault." Fred looked at the older man. "You can't honestly be blaming yourself for this. The only people at fault are those damned hunters."

After they had taken Anna to St. Mungo's, Kingsley had returned to the arena with a number of Aurors. The werewolves had been changed back into their human forms and released, although most had to be transported to the hospital for treatment. About an hour later, the Weasleys arrived, and Molly had been about to chew Fred out for leaving in the middle of the night and going on such a dangerous quest, but he looked so distraught that she just sighed and hugged him tightly.
"She's going to be alright Freddie. Anna is one of the strongest young witches that I have ever met."
"I can't lose her Mum." Fred's voice cracked, and Molly merely hugged him tighter. "You aren't going to." She looked towards the room that Anna was in as Fred sobbed into her shoulder.
"Potter, you better not die and leave my boy all alone." She muttered under her breath.