Ok, I was going to finish it up with this chapter, but I decided to go along with the timeline of the book and where my muse is taking me. I hope you don't mind and again I'm so sorry this story is taking so long to write.

The Riddle House

Harry was nervous and he had every right to be. They were going to find the man who not only killed his parents but tried to kill him. What in the hell was he thinking? Harry took a deep breath and looked the clock again. He had another hour before the sleeping draft took effect and they would be on their way.

Ariadne tapped on his door a few minutes later.

"You ok?" She asked.

"Uh-uh."

"You sure? Because we don't have to do this, I'll take the heat for the sleeping draft if they figure it out and we can just stay home tonight."

"No, I need to find them or I'll never feel safe."

"Alright. Can I sit here with you?"

"Wizard's chess?" Harry asked loving the fact that she was able to make him feel better and reassure him without being pushy about it more times than not.

They met Hermione and Ron an hour later. They watched as Harry put the invisibility cloak in his pocket. They had determined they would use it once they were close to the Riddle house. Four people under one cloak made it extremely hard to move.

"Are you sure, you want to do this?" Hermione asked.

"Yep," Harry said while Ariadne just smiled.

Ariadne handed Ron and Hermione the spare brooms and smiled when Hermione's face turned a little green.

"Hermione, you could stay here and cover for us," Ariadne suggested trying to be nice.

"No. I need to go too. You might need me."

They rode the brooms in relative silence. Everyone's nerves were on end, making the silence understandable. What if Wormtail and Voldermort were really there? What if they were discovered? What would that mean to Harry? What would that mean for them all?

The ride was over two hours long and silence was deafening, finally Ariadne decided that she needed to break the ice.

"I wish we could've just apparated there."

"What's apparate?" Harry asked.

"It's where you just think about a place and you arrive. Don't you ever read?" Hermione said testily.

"Nope, we have you for that," Ariadne joked making them all laugh.

"So, what do you think will happen when we get back home?" Ron asked.

"Ariadne and I made a pretty powerful sleeping draft so they shouldn't wake up until late tomorrow morning. So my feeling is they'll never know we were gone," Hermione said.

"Waking up later than normal is the only reason they might expect something, but George and Fred promised…" Ariadne started.

"You told George and Fred? What if they tell my Mum?" Ron asked a little miffed at his friend. This was supposed to be a stealth mission. George and Fred did not know the meaning of stealth.

"They've known for weeks and they haven't told so don't worry about it. We needed an alibi, George and Fred are the best I could come up with," Ariadne said logically.

"What's the alibi?" Harry asked.

"That we meet them so they could show off their new fireworks."

"Mum'll kill them. She forbade them from ever making fireworks again, after what happened in the castle," Ron said feeling a little guilty for not trusting his brothers.

"That's why your parents needed a sleeping draft too," Ariadne said smiling.

The three shook their heads at her, but were actually grateful that she came up with an alibi, while they didn't. It must have something to do with all of the pranks she loved to pull.

The chatter stopped when they realized that they were almost there.

"So what's the plan?" Ron asked looking at Harry expectantly.

"Sneak up and see if anyone is at home. The house is supposed to be empty," Harry whispered as they landed their brooms in a cemetery less that was less than a kilometer from the house.

"Hey, just think we're in a cemetery if Uncle Remus and Dad find out they can just bury us here," Ariadne joked trying to keep the mood light.

"So could You Know Who. So quit joking around," Hermione snapped.

"Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood."

Harry and Ron gave her a week smile. They knew when Ariadne was nervous and joking was her only outlet. Hermione knew that too, but being snippy was Hermione's outlet.

"Ok, let's go. I don't want to get too close," Harry whispered.

XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO XO

Severus Snape hated waiting. Why weren't Sirius and Remus here yet? The meeting time was almost an hour ago. Did something happen to them or the children? Usually they would send a patroness, but they hadn't had the courtesy to do that either. He was looking again in the direction of the cemetery when he saw the four small figures walking towards the Riddle House.

'It can't be. Even those dunderheads wouldn't be that stupid. And if was them they should at least be using Harry's invisibility cape.'

Well he couldn't just stand by and watch. This was completely dangerous, but letting the children head to a house where Dumbledore felt Voldermort and Wormtail were hiding out. As he was walking towards the children he felt it. His dark mark was tingling again. He prayed that he wouldn't be called, if so he would have to make a decision. Go or save the children. His job was to keep the Order aware of what was going on, but as a human being and professor his first instinct was to keep the children safe.

Snape sighed and walked toward the dunderheaded quartet.

"Someone's coming," Hermione whispered hearing the footsteps.

Harry had the cloak out and over them before they knew it.

Severus smiled knowing they had at least a little sense. He knew they were moving slowly out of the way, but his voice would bring them out.

"Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger, Mr. Weasley, and Ms. Lupin, I assure you, I mean only harm to one of part of your body and I promise that you will live through it. Though you might not once your parent are finished with you."

Harry contemplated for a few seconds before taking the cloak off.

"Professor Snape, fancy meeting you here," Ariadne said and yelped when Snape landed a hard swat.

"Come with me," Snape said knowing the children would follow him without question.

The four children walked in silence, dreading not only Snape's reaction but their parents as well. Hermione's parents always left her punishments to the Weasleys because they really didn't know about the wizarding world.

"Where are your brooms?" Snape asked once they were in the cemetery.

Harry walked over and gave them too him.

"Put them next to this grave, I will retrieve them after getting you safely home. In all honestly I should leave them here, but that might give the Dark Lord the idea that you were stupid enough to look for him," Snape snapped looking at Harry when he made the last statement.

"Yes sir," was said softly by all four of the children.

"Take my hand. We will head back to Black Manor."

They arrived at Black Manor in seconds.

"Where are Sirius and Remus? The alarm should have woken them up," Snape said and knew the answer a second later, "Ariadne Mary Lupin, you didn't."

"Yes sir, I did. The Weasleys too," Ariadne admitted.

"Young lady, you and I are going to have a serious conversation once we get back to school. You will be lucky if I ever allow you out of detention," Snape snarled.

"Yes sir," Ariadne said looking down.

"Well, my only option tonight is to sit here and wait for your parents to wake up. Go to bed," Snape said sitting on the sofa.

The four children walked up the stairs in silence, but decided they needed a little powwow before heading off to bed. Harry's room was the living room so they went in there.

"Why do you think Snape was there?" Ariadne whispered.

"Maybe he's working for Voldermort?" Harry asked.

"He would have given us over if he was," Hermione said logically.

"Unless he's still trying to say he is on the side of the light," Ron said.

"I SAID BED," Snape said filling the doorway.

"Yes sir," the four said in unison, but it didn't stop Snape from landing a swat on each of their bottoms for not doing what he said the first time.

Morning came too fast for Ariadne, Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They knew the morning was going to be filled with questions and punishments. They wondered if Snape was going to be a part of it, if so things just went from bad to worse. The four got ready and walked slowly down the stairs. They so didn't want to go down there and seeing the group waiting for them, made them want to run and hide. Molly and Arthur Weasley were there along with Snape and of course Sirius and Remus were there as well. Each and every one of them were looking angrier than the children had ever seen before.

"Good morning," Ariadne decided to try and lighten the mood.

"I don't think there is anything good about this morning," Remus said angrily.

"Yes sir," Ariadne said. She knew better than to say another word when Remus used that tone of voice.

"Sit down," Remus said.

He waited for the children to obey him, before asking,

"May I ask why you went out last night?"

Ariadne, Ron, and Hermione decided that Harry needed to answer that question. His dreams were the reason and all of them promised not to tell.

"I've been having dream about Voldermort and Wormtail. They kept getting worse and worse, so I had to do something," Harry said.

"What is another way you could have handled it, actually the correct way you could have handled this problem," Remus asked.

"Tell you and Sirius, but I knew you would freak out and make me live in the quarters not allowing me to leave even for meals. I wanted my freedom."

"What were the dreams about?" Sirius asked softly.

"Killing people and how Voldermort was going rise to power again. Every time I saw them they were at the same place, so we decided to start looking for it. That way we could tell you and you could go after him."

"What made you think we didn't know where he was all along?" Remus asked.

"If you did, why didn't you go after them?" Ariadne demanded.

"That is our business, not children's," Remus said angrily.

"How did you learn about the Riddle House?" Sirius asked.

"When I came home, I saw a list of addresses so I wrote them down," Ariadne admitted.

"And you researched each one?" Remus asked.

"Yes sir," was heard from all three children.

"Why didn't you tell us about when you learned the address of the Riddle House?" Remus asked.

"Again, we thought you would take away our freedom until someone checked it out," Ariadne answered that time for Harry. She wanted to make sure the adults in the room didn't blame everything on Harry. This was all of their idea.

"Molly, Arthur, do you have any questions?" Remus asked.

"No," they both said in a tone that made shivers run down Ron's spine.

"Severus," Remus asked again.

"No, but I will tell them that you will not like the consequences once you get back to school. What I teach is not to be used on adults so you can do what you want," Snape said angrily walking over to the fireplace and disappearing.

"Ron, Hermione," Molly said angrily.

"Mrs. Weasley, this is my fault," Harry said.

"They made their own choices, Harry," Arthur said not wanting the boy to blame himself for the other children's punishment. He knew Ariadne wouldn't allow him to, but he wouldn't see Ron and Hermione until after the holiday.

The second everyone was gone, the room was still completely quiet. Ariadne and Harry wished they would just start yelling. Silence was always worse when it came to their being punished. Finally after what felt like a lifetime, Remus said,

"Find a corner in the study. No talking"

Ariadne and Harry did what they were told. Ariadne so wanted to roll her eyes when Remus said no talking, like they weren't going to follow corner rules today. They were in enough trouble.

Sirius watched the children as they walked quickly into the study.

"I'm seriously at a loss for words here," Sirius said putting his head in his hands.

"I know. What were they thinking? Dumbledore didn't trust you with going there alone and a group of fourth year wizards thought they would go on their own without backup."

"Well, they didn't know about Dumbledore," Sirius said.

"Do you honestly think they did nothing wrong?"

"No, I'm not saying that, Moony. I…" Sirius had to walk out of the room. His emotions were too high to even be with his best friend right now. He almost lost the most precious people in his life. He honestly didn't know what he would do if he lost them. He had spent twelve years in absolute hell, but losing his children would be a hundred times worse. He took a deep breath and walked back inside.

"You ok?"

"No, our kids almost died," Sirius said.

"They didn't, Sirius. Severus brought them home and right now they're in the study waiting for the two of us to make mincemeat out of their arse," Remus said giving his friend a smile. "So are we sharing this punishment?"

"Oh yeah. I'm just itching to get my hands on them."

"How should we work this?"

"This is most dangerous thing they've ever done."

"Ok, how about a hand spanking, five with the paddle, five with the brush, and five with the slipper?"

"What do you want?" Sirius asked.

"If you don't mind the hand spanking and Sirius I think we need to do this bare."

"I was thinking we needed to share and they got punished at the same time. I will give Harry the hand spanking while you do the same with Ariadne. Once we are finished they can stand in the corner for a half hour before we switch and attack those poor red bums with the three implements of doom," Sirius said giving his friends a smile.

"Sounds like a good idea, let's get this over with," Remus said walking into the study.

"Sit down," Sirius said sternly to the two children standing in the corner.

Harry and Ariadne did so without argument. Both knew it was going to be bad.

Sirius nodded at Remus who said,

"First you both know better. Ariadne you have been told numerous times not to make potions but I am letting Professor Snape handle that. As for us, Harry, you will get a hand spanking from Sirius, stand in the corner for a half an hour before I come in to give you five with the paddle, five with the brush, and five with the slipper. Ariadne, I will start with the hand spanking and you father will take care of the rest."

"Dad…"

"Nope, choices have consequences," Remus said. "You could have been killed and we won't lose you because you think this is Harry's fight. There are numerous wizards with more than four years of training that are going to fight Voldermort."

"Yes sir," Harry and Ariadne said.

Remus turned his attention on Harry and said,

"Harry, you need to be honest with us, especially when it comes to Voldermort. You don't know what the dreams could be and if they are truly dangerous. If you would have been honest, we would have tried to be honest with you."

"Would you have to me that you were going after him and you knew where he was?" Harry asked.

"Yes, but we wouldn't have told you where," Sirius said.

"Just so you know we were going after him last night and your little stunt stopped that. You also put Professor Snape in danger all so you could do something you know we would have forbidden," Remus said harshly.

"We didn't know that you were going after him tonight," Ariadne whined.

"Because you are a child and this doesn't concern you," Sirius said harshly.

"Yes it does, I'm the one he wants," Harry argued.

"And as your parents it is our job to keep you safe, but what you did last night was beyond dangerous. Do you understand that?" Remus asked.

"Yes sir," was heard again from both voices.

"Ok, let's get this over with," Sirius said wanting to hold his children more than anything. Unfortunately, he had to punish them first. "Harry, please go head out to the living room."

Harry gave Ariadne a small smile before walking out to the living room. To his utter dismay Sirius was right behind him.

"Young man, I love you too much to let you get away with this. So I hate to tell you but we are doing this on your bare bum."

"Yes sir," Harry said unbuttoning his trousers with shaky hands and pulling his pants down along with his trousers.

Sirius helped Harry across his knee and started laying down the extremely painful swats. Before Harry knew it his bum was catching fire. He honestly didn't think Sirius was ever going to stop and even though he knew he deserved this smacking he had to make it stop right now or his would lose ability sit and in all honesty he loved sitting down.

"Sirius…I'm…so…sorry…I…was…scared."

Those words broke Sirius' heart. His Harry, his little boy was scared and he didn't trust them enough to tell them. He decided to quicken the pace, he wanted Harry in his arms right now. He landed a few more swats on his the top of his bum before turning his attention to Harry's sit spots and finally his thigh got five swats each. Harry was sobbing and Sirius pulled him into a strong hug holding him through his tears.

Once Harry was finished crying, Sirius had to ask,

"Why don't you trust us enough to tell us when you're scared?"

"You'll take away what I want most."

"Your freedom?"

"Yeah, so I couldn't tell you."

"Harry, you know we love you and all we want is for you to be safe."

"Isn't Hogwarts safe?"

"Yes and no, we have a lot more people there this year with the Tri-Wizard Tournament, plus someone put your name in the Goblet of Fire, so we're afraid as well."

Harry just nodded his head.

"You have more punishment coming, so head on over to the corner."

"Yes sir."

Remus walked out of the study a few minutes later and nodded his head towards the kitchen.

"Did Harry say anything?" Remus asked.

"That he was scared."

"Of us or Voldermort."

"Both, which is really sad."

"I know Ariadne was saying the same thing. She had to be there for Harry because of his nightmares and we seem to take away their freedom the second we think they are in danger."

"I think we need to talk to them and forget…"

"No Sirius, sure we haven't made things easy for them," Remus admitted, "but what they did was too dangerous to let it go. I do have an idea to let them have their freedom and keep them safe."

"And what's that?"

Remus told him the idea, making Sirius smile brightly. He liked it.

"Alright, times up. Your daughter is waiting. Once you're finished would you please bring them to me, so I can handle Harry."

"Sure thing," Sirius said as he grabbed the paddle, brush, and slipper.

"Daddy…" Ariadne tried hearing the door open.

"Ariadne, I know you were just being a good sister, but baby I can't chance losing you."

"Yes sir."

"So bare that little bum and let's get this over with."

The first swat with the paddle reignited the fire Remus set and took Ariadne's breath away. She knew she wasn't going to get through this. Her bum already hurt way too much to let her father finish this spanking,

"Daddy…I'm…sorry…I…had…to…help…Harry."

"Helping Harry would have been to tell us the truth. Ok baby, you have five with the brush now."

"OW…please…I…"

"Five with the slipper and we're all done."

She answered Sirius with sobs. The second he was finished he pulled his little girl into his arms. It felt so good to hold on to her in his arms, he honestly never wanted to let her go. The second she was finished crying, Sirius gave her one last hug before saying.

"You need to head back to the corner soon as Remus is finished with Harry I'll come and get you. We really need to talk as a family."

"Yes sir," Ariadne said walking over to the corner.

Fifteen minutes later Sirius, Remus, and Harry walked into the study. Both Harry and Ariadne's cheeks were stained with tears and their eyes were red and puffy.

"Do we have to sit?" Ariadne asked hoping the answer was no.

"I'm feeling generous today, so no," Remus said giving them both a smile.

Harry and Ariadne gave him a grateful smile and waited for what they had to say.

"Ok, you're both grounded for two weeks. I know that seems light for this, but understand why you didn't tell us, but we sure as hell don't want you to think anything was ok about what you did," Sirius began.

"Once you're finished with being grounded, I'm going to give each of you a port key, that way if you have a problem you'll be able to get back to the quarters in seconds," Remus said.

"So two weeks and I'm free too," Ariadne asked hopefully.

"Yes, we lifted your grounding when you got home," Sirius said smiling.

Harry and Ariadne smiled brightly. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. They were going to have their freedom in two weeks. Except for the smacking they really got off easy for this.

"Just so you know I'm going to have the map with me at all times, so you need to stay where you're supposed to and if you go into the room of requirement make sure you tell me first," Remus said.

"And Harry, if you have any more dreams we need you to tell us," Sirius said firmly

"I will, I promise."

"If he doesn't I will," Ariadne said smiling brightly.