"Master! I have news!" His voice reverberated..
A shadow moved at the end of the hall, and suddenly, a cold voice replied, making the short man flinch.
"What is it, Wormtail?"
Quivering, he stepped out of the shadows and into a circle of light cast by a lone candle. He stepped up carefully towards his master.
"...H-Harry Potter is no longer under protection..." He stuttered, keeping his eyes trained on the ground. The tall wizard tensed, and turned towards him.
"Really Wormtail? And how did you come to have this information?" He asked skeptically. That old muggle-loving fool would never let his golden boy out of his sight, and he knew it.
"I..I was in Diagon Alley...about to head down K-Knockturn," Wormtail stuttered, "he recognized me...I lead him down the Alley. He chased me. He was by himself."
Voldemort paused, taking in this new development. Perhaps he was telling the truth.
"You are quite sure of this, Wormtail?" asked the tall wizard, raising his hood. "I wouldn t want to waste my time."
Wormtail seemed to shrink, becoming fearful. "He was completely alone...t-there was no one..."
"Very well, then..." The tall man said finally, "I want you to find Lucius, and go."
Peter Pettigrew bowed and hurried away.
Remus Lupin lit his wand tip, and descended down the dark alleyway. He walked slowly, and cautiously. Knockturn Alley was known for being the home of all things dangerous and illegal. Dark wizards congregated in shadow here. It was no place for someone like Harry. He raised the hood on his robes, to look less conspicuous, and continued walking with his wand held out.
Several corridors extended from the main alley, and Remus began to get worried as he realized that they were all completely empty. He shone his light down each path, but found nothing.
'Oh, where are you Harry' Remus thought frantically. He picked up the pace a little, starting to panic. How could he have let Harry go off on his own? He should have known better! He couldn't let anything happen to him, he wouldn't! He had just lost Sirius, and he would not lose Harry too, not now.
Suddenly, two figures apparated just a few yards in front of him. Remus twisted himself around, and ducked into a corridor, his heart hammering. Suddenly, a feeling of unease swept over him, and he silenced himself, out of instinct.
"...Well, Wormtail?" It was Lucius Malfoy.
Remus recognized the voice immediately. I ve got to find him! He thought frantically, his eyes searching back and forth. Something was terribly wrong. The shorter man was trembling.
"He...He was here, my Lord...right here.." Said Wormtail.
Pettigrew! Rage coursed through Remus veins as he heard his former friend s squeaky, little voice. He wanted nothing more than to jump out from the shadows and hex the men before him, but he knew better.
Lucius rolled his eyes. "Would you like to inform me on where he is now?" the silky voice drawled, hautily "He will be very displeased if we come back empty-handed."
"He...he was here, mere minutes ago...he can't have gone far..." Wormtail whimpered. Remus was slightly relieved - they didn't yet have Harry...but then where was he? He clearly wasn't in the Alley; Remus had been around it several times, and he hadn't seen him once. The farfetched thought that Harry was safe somewhere, hiding, edged into his mind. He severely hoped so.
Lucius stood silently for a moment, clearly fuming with anger. "Come, Wormtail..." He said at last, and with that, he disapparated with a pop. Wormtail was left there for a few seconds, and as he turned, Remus saw his face for the first time that night - it was contorted in fear. He had clearly gotten himself into trouble, and now he was going to pay.
'Look what you've gotten yourself into, Peter.' Remus thought angrily. A few seconds later, Wormtail reluctantly disapparated.
Remus waited there for a minute before leaving his hiding spot, just in case the pair came back. After a moment, he slowly rose to his feet.
He was losing it. 'What have I done?' He thought, 'I should have been watching him more closely!' With that thought, Remus began sprinting down the Alley.
"Harry!" He shouted. He was panicking. It was all his fault! He had to find Harry now, he didn't know what he would do if he didn't. He would never be able to live with the guilt of losing Harry.
He sprinted around every corridor, searching them thoroughly, calling Harry's name.
Mary apparated on a dark street. She looked around for the nearest street sign to make sure she had gotten it right. A post caught her eye-
"Grimmauld Place, perfect." She said aloud. She began running down the street, thinking something over and over in her mind-
'Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place; Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place!'
Suddenly, the tall house appeared out of nowhere between numbers eleven and thirteen. Not a moment after it had squeezed into place, Mary darted up the stoop, and jammed her finger on the bell. She heard bustling and a lot of noise coming from inside the house, and then the door was opened by a short, chubby witch with red hair.
"Molly Weasley!" Mary shouted.
"M-Mary Calloway? What on earth?" She asked, pulling Mary into a hug. "Its been years!"
"Yes, yes! Molly." She said, "There will be time for catching up later, but something urgent has happened. Is Albus here?"
They joy quickly washed away from Molly s face. "Oh, yes, he is here, but what s happened? Is it Harry and Remus? What s happened?" She asked frantically as she led Mary into the house.
"I had a vision. I saw...something." She explained, "It wasn't too clear, but I know it involved Harry...he was in Knockturn Alley somehow." The two women descended into the kitchen.
"Oh, dear." Molly muttered tensely as they entered the kitchen. Dumbledore sat there at the end of the table, surrounded by Snape, Moody and Tonks. Everyone in the room looked up to the new arrivals.
"Mary!" Dumbledore said cheerfully, expecting the newcomer as little as Molly had. The other three at the table looked just as surprised. A slight scowl appeared on Severus face.
"Albus, Harry's gone missing!" Mary said urgently. Dumbledore stood so quickly, the others started..
"What has happened?" He asked.
"Oh, please," She resonded, "I can explain everything on the way, but we need to get to Knockturn Alley!" As she said Knockturn Alley , the other three occupants at the table stood as well.
"Best get a move on!" Said Moody, limping out from around the table.
"Yes, quickly." Said Dumbledore. He asked Molly to stay to send a message to Arthur, and he, Snape, Moody, Mary and Tonks all headed up the stairs and out the door of Grimmuald place. They stepped out into the street, and disappeared as one.
The five figures appeared in the dark, mysterious alley. Mary immediately dove into an explanation of the night s events. She told them of how they had met at the Ministry, and decided to go to Diagon Alley. She told Dumbledore how Harry had set out to go to Gringotts to retrieve some money, about her vision, and how she had left when Remus went into the Alley to search for Harry himself.
"We must search for them." Dumbledore said. The five started walking forward, cautiously, their wands drawn.
Suddenly, a dark, running figure bolted out of a corridor up ahead. Moody raised his wand apprehensively, but they were relieved to see who it was -
"Remus!" Mary shouted.
"Albus!" Remus shouted as he closed the space between them. His eyes were wide with fear.
"Remus, what is it?" He asked calmly. Remus seemed to fall into a daze at that moment. He shook his head.
"..No.." He replied quietly. He buried his face into his hands, and Mary approached him, wrapping her arm around his shoulder.
"Now, now Remus, calm down, it will be alright." Mary said soothingly. Remus shook his head.
"No. I've search everywhere in the Alley." He said, his voice full of despair. "It s all my fault...I should have kept closer watch on him...I shouldn t have let him go off alone."
Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. "Albus," He said. "Voldemort doesn t have him."
The old wizard lowered himself next to the werewolf. "How can you be certain?" He asked, looking at Remus intently.
"Lucius was here. Here in the alley...and Wormtail." He explained, "They were looking for him, but they clearly didn't have him. They didn t even know where he was."
Dumbledore seemed to relax slightly at this news. "You've searched everywhere, Remus?"
He nodded his head sadly. "Yes, Albus, everywhere...and he was nowhere to be found...There s no telling where he is...it's all my fault."
Tears were sliding down Tonk s face as she sensed the pain that Remus felt. "Its OK, Remus," she said carefully, "you did what you could. It s not your fault."
Suddenly, a burning pain flaring up in Snape's arm, and he winced. The group turned to him.
"Headmaster," he said, "I am being summoned." Dumbledore nodded.
"Very well, Severus..." Albus responded gravely, "Bring back any news you hear." Severus nodded and disapparated.
Mary stared in shock at the place where the potions master had just been standing. "He's a..." She started. Dumbledore shook his head.
"Its quite alright, Mary." He replied, "Severus is on our side."
"Albus," Moody broke in, "What are we going to do?"
"Well," He started. He looked every bit as old as he was. The twinkle in his eye was gone, and he was clearly tired. "I think it best if we return to Twelve at the moment - There s nothing else we can do here we ve all searched the place and found nothing."
The group sadly nodded. Tonks and Mary comforted Remus, and, looking around one last time, they disapparated with a pop.