Remus Lupin

(As tempting as it is to take a page from our younger members and declare this to be business solely for the proper adults and request that the lot of them keep their noses out of it...I decided to just make it a private message.)

I've discussed this with Tonks and Sirius, of course, but Alice, I thought I'd better let you know what happened last night.

The Watch turned up, and insisted that I go with them on their 'rounds,' and I thought I'd better do it, since we already walk the line of providing dissenters with a comfortable place of like-minded beer-drinkers while trying to look like loyal subjects of the Protectorate. I thought if I was slow and clumsy and useless they'd likely leave me to my beer garden in the future.

They We went round to a number of places with muggles -- there aren't loads of them, in New London, no camps or anything like that, but I was shocked at just how many this wretched load of bigots ferreted out. First stop was a brothel, I think, and they rousted the customers, cursed them all with impotence -- I didn't mind that part so much -- but then they dragged out all the girls, made them strip, and hit them with curses to cause painful facial boils. They wanted me to cast that one, and I substituted a hex that would cause temporary swelling but hopefully not too much pain and hoped they wouldn't notice, and no one seemed to.

I thought that would be it, but then we moved on to a hotel that uses muggle staff in their laundry, and the leader of the mob demanded that the owner send out the muggles so we could 'teach them their place.' I was hoping the hotel would refuse, but they sent the muggles out, and we lined them up (THEY had to strip too -- I don't know why. Pure humiliation, I guess.) And then the leader of the mob made an example of this one bloke who dared look him in the eye. I didn't have to participate this time, but there wasn't anything I could do to stop it. He used Imperius to force the man to gouge out one of his own eyes. Or -- maybe not out. Perhaps -- I don't know. If the hotel owner sent for a Healer

The last stop was the worst, really, because it was the take-away shop managed by Puneet's parents. I've been there a few times since Tonks and Padfoot took Puneet. We like the food -- well. Of course, they're left mostly alone by the wizards who technically own the shop; they were absolute sitting ducks for the Watch and I feared the worst. It wasn't -- in some ways it wasn't as bad. They abased themselves, were as submissive as anyone could ask for, and got off -- I don't want to say lightly. At least they'll heal. They -- I should stop saying they. We. I was there and I didn't stop it. We put Puneet's father into a body-bind so he couldn't interfere and each of us used our wand to cut his mother's face while she sobbed and begged for mercy.

I don't know if she recognised me as a regular customer, or not. I don't think so. It was dark.

I feel like I'll never

I don't know what I'm going to do if they come back for me. I was terribly afraid of what they'd do to Ellie, if I didn't cooperate with them.

Things broke up when they were done with Puneet's parents and I went home.