Ch

Ch. 3

Remus stared down at the unconscious body of Rookwood with great distaste and extreme worry. He had seen the bite marks on the man's arm, and the blood running in streams to the ground. It was obvious who had done that. Remus turned his head towards the clump of bushes next to Rookwood's body, where a number of fresh footprints and paw prints could be seen. As the rain slowed, Remus scurried around in search of the one sign of proof- yes, there it was.

It was one of the large footprints, which appeared to have been twisted into the mud almost as if the man had been twirling. And there, right beside it, was a smaller pair.

"Harry," Remus whispered. "Where are you?"

Distant shouts from the aurors reached Remus' ears and he turned away from the awful evidence.

??

Harry sucked in his breath and squeezed his watering eyes shut. Damn, this stings!

"Hang in there, kiddo," Sirius said through gritted teeth, as he gently wiped the blood from Harry's left leg. The grotesque look of a flap of skin dangling off Harry's calf made Sirius want to puke. "Bloody hell! How deep is this?!"

"If you can please refrain from the enlightening comments-" Harry ground out.

"Sorry."

The rag was completely red by now, and they hadn't even started on the other cuts. At least it's stopped bleeding, Harry thought. So far, he hadn't been brave enough to take a peek. By the sound of it, he'd probably pass out if he did.

"There!" Sirius exclaimed. He held up the blood- soaked rag. "I'll just rinse this off and we'll start on the others."

"Wonderful," Harry muttered. He leaned his head on the table as Sirius paced to the sink. Although Harry barely knew the man, his instincts told him that Sirius could be trusted. It was almost as if he had known Sirius a long time ago, in another world…. Each of Sirius's footsteps made a hollow thump on the floor that echoed through the wooden table and caused a sharp jolt in Harry's temple. Unconsciously he reached up his hand to rub his scar.

The water spurted out from the sink, and made a gurgling noise as it went down the drain. When it stopped running, and the water made slapping noises on the metal as Sirius wrung out the rag.

"You still with me, Harry?" he called. Harry nodded, keeping his eyes closed. He heard Sirius walk up to him, and felt a hand on his chin. He opened stinging eyes to see Sirius peering at his split lip.

"Ouch," he said. "How'd that happen?"

Harry blinked wearily. "Bit through it." At least it was partially true.

Sirius wiped at it gingerly so as not to reopen the cut. He then scanned the rest of Harry's face and arms, which were uninjured except for a few scratches and the swollen lump on Harry's cheek. "Anything else I've missed?" he asked quietly.

"Erm…." Yes. There's lots you've missed that you're not going to clean.

"Is that a yes or a no?" Damn, this man can read me like a book, can't he?

"No," Harry managed. He faked a yawn.

"Alright, let's get you to bed. C'mere." Sirius stood up again and held out his hand. Harry gratefully accepted it, and he was pulled into a standing position. He tried to hide his grimace of pain from the bruises all over his chest. Sirius must not have seen it, because he didn't say anything as he helped Harry walk back to the stairs. When they reached the bottom, they both stared at the steps as if they were a part of Mount Everest.

"Er… maybe I should carry you again," Sirius suggested. Harry was too tired to protest this time, so he allowed himself to be picked up.

"Bloody…How much do you normally eat?" Sirius muttered. Harry could feel his face turning red.

"My entire family was on a strict diet this summer," he explained as they traveled up to the first floor. "It was mainly for my cousin, but my aunt thought he would feel better about it if the whole family ate the same things he had to eat."

Sirius snorted. "I think I've seen that cousin of yours. About the size of a whale, but looks kind of like a pig?"

"Yeah, that's Dudley," Harry muttered. The mention of Dudley's bulk vividly reminded Harry of his cousin's strong (and painful) punches.

They were silent for the remainder of the trip. Harry counted four flights of stairs as Sirius continued upward. Eerie portraits of wizards with dark hair and eyes that followed their progress lined the walls. They never spoke a single word to them as they passed. Sirius must have been out of shape, because he was wheezing slightly when he next put Harry down. They were in a long, dark hallway with three doors.

"The one furthest down is the bathroom," Sirius said, pointing at the door, "and that one across the hall is mine. This is yours," he added, tapping the wooden door frame with his finger. He grabbed the snake door handle and swung it open. The door creaked on its hinges and a belch of dust swirled into their faces. Sirius cursed under his breath. He walked into the room to turn on a lamp. "It's got muggle electrical power. Cool, huh?" Harry simply nodded. He'd grown up in the muggle world, so he didn't find the non- magic forms of power quite as interesting as normal wizards did. He grasped onto the door frame and watched as Sirius dusted off the empty mattress and pulled some thin blankets out of the closet.

"This'll have to do…." He said reluctantly. "If only I had my wand…." He began making the bed.

"How come you don't have it with you?" Harry asked curiously. Sirius jerked his head sharply and hit it on the bed frame with a loud thunk. "I- er- well, you see-"

CRASH!

Both of them froze. The noise had come from downstairs.

"What was that?" Harry tried to keep the nervousness out of his voice. Sirius shook his head, and slid around Harry to peek down the hallway. There was nothing there. "Get in the room, Harry. Turn the light off." He spoke in a whisper.

Harry limped over to the lamp and flicked the switch. They were consumed into total darkness.

They both stood completely still and silent for several seconds. The hard pounding in Harry's ears couldn't completely cover the unmistakable sound of someone walking up the stairs.

"Bloody hell, what now?" Sirius hissed. "Harry, get in the closet." Harry quickly complied, trying to block out the pain in his leg and scar as he quietly scrambled over the bed. To his surprise, Sirius followed him. "Go all the way to the back," he breathed. "There's a crease in the wall. Stick your fingers into the crease, and pull it open." Harry ran his trembling fingers over the back wall. "Hurry, Harry!" Sirius hissed. The footsteps were getting closer.

Harry's fumbling fingers found the crease, and he tugged the hidden door open. It was just large enough for a grown man to crawl through. "Get in!" Sirius whispered. Harry obliged, with spider webs clinging to his hair and his hands dragging through inches of dust. He willed himself not to sneeze. Sirius followed, and squeezed the door shut. They both froze again.

"Go check down there-" came an unfamiliar cold voice, sounding muffled through the walls. The response that came from a second individual was unintelligible, but the footsteps continued to come closer to their hiding place.

"Death Eaters?" Harry mouthed at Sirius, who was barely visible through the dark. Sirius nodded. He crawled past Harry into a darker corner, and beckoned for him to follow. Then Sirius disappeared.

Harry's eyes widened in shock, and he hastened to follow. Oh. It was just a tunnel. There was Sirius towards the end, looking back at him. He beckoned again. Harry crawled faster to catch up.

"You okay?" Sirius whispered. Harry nodded in response. "This tunnel goes all the way to the outside of the house. We have to get out of here. There's no knowing what Death Eaters will do." He turned again, and continued crawling down into the dark. Harry peeked back over his shoulder before following, wondering how the Death Eaters got into the house in the first place. Dark magic, perhaps?

The small tunnel opened up into a stairwell large enough for them to stand up in. Sirius helped Harry out, and half carried him down the steps. "These stairs are magically hidden," he said. "There's no way the Death Eaters will find them." Despite his confident tone, Harry was still worried. He'd had enough experience with dark wizards to know that things didn't always go as planned when in the face of danger.

At the very end of the tunnel they reached a rope ladder descending from the ceiling. Harry craned his neck and saw a square trap door twelve feet above his head. He looked back at Sirius, and they stared at each other for a while. "I can make it," Harry said, his mind already made up.

"Harry, I don't think-"

"Just let me try." Sirius appeared to be struggling with himself for a moment. "Alright, as long as you let me look outside to see if anyone's around."

Sirius ascended the ladder first. It was a long climb; much longer than Harry had anticipated. When he reached the top, Sirius tried to push open the trap door. At first it was jammed, and there was one heart stopping moment where Harry thought that they'd be stuck in here forever. But then it was forced open and several cold raindrops pattered softly onto the earthy ground of the tunnel. "Damn, it's still raining," Sirius said unnecessarily. He ducked his head back inside. "Do you want me to come back down and help you up? Harry?" Sirius spotted Harry collapsed against the wall, holding his scar. His eyes were screwed up in pain.

"Harry!" Sirius was down the ladder and at Harry's side in a flash. "What's wrong?"

"Scar…" Harry mumbled through his teeth. "Hurts." His eyes were clamped shut, and his fingernails were cutting deep enough into his palms to draw blood. He peeked one eye open at Sirius. It was glazed with tears. "We have to… get out of here… now!"

Sirius had no idea why Harry's scar was hurting or why they had to leave so urgently (besides the fact that there were Death Eaters in his house), but he was taking absolutely no chances. Quick as lightening, he had Harry in his arms and was attacking the ladder with his free hand.

"Harry, I'll need you to help me out here, otherwise we'll never get out. C'mon, Harry. Block out the pain!" Harry slowly opened his eyes and tightened his hand on the rope. "That's it! Now pull yourself up. Don't let go!" Together, they slowly climbed the ladder, step by step, until they reached the very top.

Sirius opened the trap door again, and deposited Harry on the sopping grass outside. He glanced around them again, but saw no death eaters lurking in the shadows. When he made to grab Harry again, Harry resisted.

"I can walk," he said, irritably through his pain. Sirius was taken aback slightly. "Alright," he replied, "C'mon, then. Didn't you say that we had to leave 'now'?" He turned and began walking into the shadows of the trees beside the house. He heard Harry's footfalls over the loud pattering of rain on the leaves, but when they were completely consumed by the branches, the footsteps stopped. Sirius turned again, and was surprised to see Harry standing with his arms crossed, leaning against a tree trunk for support.

"Go on without me." he demanded. The pain in his voice was now disguised. His messy black hair was plastered to his head, and he had somehow gotten more dirt smeared across his face.

"What?" Sirius asked, deeply confused.

"Why do you care what happens to me?" When Sirius regarded him blankly, Harry continued. "I have no idea who you are. I don't think I've met you before tonight. So why are you so intent on saving my skin?"

"Because I- er…"

"See? You don't even know the reason yourself! How do I know I can trust you?!"

"You just told me the reason you can trust me! I've saved your life multiple times tonight! Isn't that enough proof?" Sirius said, dumbfounded. Something wasn't right here….

"And how do I know that you're not just setting me up, getting ready to hand me over to Voldemort?!" Harry bellowed back. "I've had enough experience with that monster to know not to trust anyone blindly!"

There was a slight pause. "How much experience have you had?" Sirius ventured. Fear clutched at his chest. But before Harry could respond, a horrible voice spoke out from over his shoulder.

"Enough to understand that both of you are in a very, very bad position right now, Black."

Sirius turned slowly, and was unsurprised to find a wand pointed directly between his eyes. The hand holding the wand belonged to Lucius Malfoy. Oh no, Sirius thought. Harry didn't think I was leading him into the death eater's waiting arms, did he?

Harry!

Sirius spun around just in time to see another death eater shove Harry to the ground. He was trembling from the pain in his leg and scar. A wand was trained on him as well.

"Now, you have two choices," Lucius sneered. "Either you can come quietly and remain unhurt, or… fight us and see your godson suffer." Harry's head snapped up at the word 'godson'. His eyes bore into Sirius' deep blue ones before he answered for Sirius. "I'll come, but leave him behind. It's me you want."

The air was rent with the death eaters' sniggers. "Oh no, I think the Dark Lord will find just as much interest in Black as he will you, Potter," said Malfoy. "Let's go." He poked Sirius in the back of the head with his wand.

"Stupify!" One of the other death eaters stunned Harry before he could make a move to run away. His body lay limp on the moist ground, as if lifeless. Sirius tried to hide his panic.

"Remember your choices, Black," hissed Lucius. "You don't want him to become… further injured, do you?" His eyes lingered over the deep slash in Harry's leg. Sirius quickly shook his head.

"Good." A portkey was shoved into Sirius's hand, and the world was dissolved into a blur of color.

A/N: hey everyone! thanks sooo much for the support I've gotten so far! It makes me feel special. :)

I've been trying to update as quickly as possible, as I've written up to chapter five. but that also means that things will probably slow down in a little while. sorry bout that, but it can't be helped. ch. 4 will be up soon!