Chapter 1: Rescue in the Night
After calming himself, Harry lay back down and tried to sleep, though sleep would not claim him no matter how hard he tried. He rolled over a few times trying to fall into a deep sleep that he so desperately wished for.
Sirius hopped off the bed and lumbered over to the window and sat down on his haunches, slowly transforming into a man he reached into his robe and pulled his wand out and tapped a stone on the wall three times before it slid away revealing a hidden compartment in the wall. Reaching into the dusty compartment Sirius pulled out a small silver box with the Black family crest barely visible under the layer of dust.
"It's still here after all these years of students around here" Sirius said softly lifting the lid open, a few pictures of the marauders in their school days littered the very bottom of the box along with a few out of date stink bombs, and a couple pictures of just Sirius and Remus. Shuffling through the contents he located what he was looking for at the very bottom. "I didn't misplace it then, so Remus had no reason to be upset back then" he said softly lifting out a small locket he looked at it and brushed his finger against it gently to remove the dust before putting it on and returning to his post at the end of Harry's bed to make sure nothing happened to his godson while he tried to sleep.
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In the green clad common room Draco walked across the empty to his favorite chair by the fireplace in the Slytherin common room he felt someone was watching him. Turning around he looked around till he spotted his eagle owl waiting for him with a note tied to its leg.
"I thought you were someone else, I'm just glad no one else is around." Draco said softly as he took a seat on 'his' chair. Draco removed the note from his owl's leg and read it over with a heavy sigh. "Father wants me to get the mark; he has no idea of the truth." The young Malfoy said to his owl softly as he stroked his owl's head softly. Pulling his legs under him Draco curled up into a ball as he fell asleep in the arm chair. His action being very un-Slytherin, though soon it wouldn't matter what he did anymore.
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"Well Severus, aren't
you going to make a snarky comment like you do to your students?"
Lucius asked with a smirk playing across his lips.
Snape turned and looked at the elder Malfoy. "I only reserve my comments for my idiot students who manage to melt a caldron Lucius." He said as he walked toward the window, the grounds below were circling with Death Eaters and Dementors. Escape would be impossible; a mouse wouldn't be able to get out… Snape thought as he waited till he heard the door slam shut. The potion master looked over at the other occupant in the room with a sigh he went over to the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher and nudged him awake with the tip of his foot.
Remus slowly opened his eyes and gave a low sigh as he got to his feet. "We don't have our wands and we're locked in this room." The werewolf professor said walking around in a small circle, his face looking worn and tired as he paced the room.
"Brilliant deduction, your still thinking like a student, repeating the obvious… it's from being friends with Pettigrew, Potter and Black. Those three never had enough brains to fill a goblet. How you became friends with them still amazes me to this day." Snape remarked looking away.
Remus spun around quickly and looked at his former classmate and glared daggers for a moment. "I know you hate us for what we did to you, but that is in the past, if we are going to live we need to work together. Stop being such a Slytherin and try and think of other people." Remus said letting both his worries and anger get the better of him, pacing around some more he finally gave up and sat in a high backed chair before the empty fireplace.
Snape moved from his perch by the window and sat in the other chair across the old dust covered floor from where his fellow teacher was sitting.
The two men would have been sitting in complete silence if it had not been for the creaks and groans that filled the room, a sign that the old manor was settling upon its foundation again. Cold air seeped into the room from the unused fireplace and windows. Pulling the simple school robes around them to stay warm, neither man allowed themselves to show any weakness and claim they were cold in any sense.
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By morning faint stars
clung to the evening sky before fading to the rising sun in the
eastern sky as it found its way into buildings all across the English
countryside. Students bustled around Hogwarts to make it to the train
for the sudden break that had spawned from the recent attack on the
castle.
In Dumbledore's office a small group of witches and wizards were waiting for the last of the small rescue group to arrive. Many had been there the night before fighting off the dark lord and his followers in the Great Hall.
"Don't worry I'm sure they will be here very soon" Dumbledore remarked popping a lemon drop candy into his mouth.
Just as the headmaster closed the lid of the candy a small group walked into his office. The Gryffindor trio and Sirius filled into the room and stood in the small open area.
"Sorry we're late professor" Harry said making his way over to Dumbledore's desk.
The headmaster smiled "Don't worry my dear boy everything is fine." He said calmly as the door opened once more and the young blonde Slytherin walked into the circle of older witches and wizards.
Draco made his way over to the headmaster and stood next to him, his grey eyes scanning the room quickly.
"What's Malfoy doing here? Isn't he going to just tell you know who?" Ron asked from his place beside Hermione, who had elbowed the red head hard in the stomach.
The blonde quickly looked at Ron like a hawk "For your information Weasley, the Dark Lord is using my home as a base of operations and I'm the only one who can get past the manor's charms and spells without suspicion." Draco said in a huff.
Ron turned red a bit "Well yeah… I guess that is a good reason for you to be around here" he said looking away from the blonde hiding the fact that he had said something stupid.
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"My dear Severus, I
never knew you could withstand this much torture. You have nothing to
worry about your death will come soon." Voldemort said calmly as
two Death Eaters started to drag the beaten and bruised Snape out of
the room and back into the room where he was being kept.
Lupin moved away from the large mirror he was looking in and walked across the room to help his colleague into a chair so he could rest. Severus is the only one he's torturing… then why am I still here anyway, unless he's waiting for a full moon. Remus thought solemnly as he looked out the window at the rose tinted sky. "I wish I was never cursed like this, it's the only reason I'm here anyway." Remus said softly moved from the window. The only good thing that came from this horrible curse is that I met Sirius, James and Peter because of it.
"So you've figured it out all ready, before I was found out to be a spy the dark lord told me of his plans for the next full moon. He learned from your former friend of your condition, as you can tell he is planning to use you to infect muggles." Snape said as he struggled to get up from the chair he was sitting in.
Remus began to wring his hands in worry, "I can't do such a horrible thing, and I've worked too hard to be a good person for this to happen." The werewolf said as he felt his emotions getting the better of himself and a few tears slid down his worn cheeks.
