Into Emerald Flames
Chapter Eleven: Bonds of Brotherhood
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Beta read by: SiriusBlackIsAwesome.
A bit of sweetness for Valentine's Day. Very short looking, but it looked longer on paper. *shrugs* oh well, I hope to update soon.
-l-Third-l-
If you had looked at the old raid from months ago, you would have seen them. One of them, as red as fire, with bright black eyes, leader of two other dogs, both of them an inky black, and brown eyed. They trotted around the raid site, noses to the ground. The red one, Strawberry, returned to the grass, muzzle lifted, ears pricked.
The single bark, loud in the stretched silence. But it called a pair of dog and wolf. The wolf was a head taller than the black, shaggy dog that ran at its side. The two Marauders, they ran in, sniffing around as well.
Padfoot padded into the shattered greenhouse, and momentarily sniffed at the white lily, which next to it lay a black rose. Before the dog could investigate further, the wolf howled, and the dog bolted away, muzzle lowered to catch the scent.
They chased the scent to the greenhouse and then to the house, and were able to trace most of what happened.
James had met Ressa at the greenhouse, something went down between them, and James shot off in one direction, while Ressa remained there, then fought more Order members before they captured two and took off.
Moony whined, sniffing at a bit of Death Eater cloak, torn by some sort of spell. The scent wasn't easily detected, but faintly it smelled of people, lots of people. And fear, only detected by dogs and wolves, there was the fear-scent.
Moony turned to Padfoot. " There."
Padfoot whined. " There?"
Moony dipped his head, wagging his tail slightly. Padfoot responded with a bark, then took his place at Moony's side, changing back so they could disapparate. The wolf's golden eyes gleamed with excitement, while Sirius's were solemn.
There was the usual, awful feeling of disapparation, and then they landed, Sirius as Padfoot again, staring up at the large building. It was tall, dark gray, and made of solid brick. A dome shape at the top, and that covered the hole that went right through the whole building for disapparation only. It loomed above the pair, and Moony was first to move, more daring in his wolf shape.
He trotted forward fearlessly, nudging the door open after a second. Padfoot followed, slightly more cautious since he'd never been here other than capture. Moony took the lead, his brown tail just vanishing into the darkness. Padfoot blended right in, except for his gray eyes, which stood out against the blackness.
The mission, that's why they were here. The phoenix's orders, at which Padfoot half wished he could fly. Fly away from this war, and all the problems in life. From having a heartbroken, half living friend, to having a family that hated him, disowned him, and went as far as nearly killing him. Then add on a brother who had gone in too deep into the Dark Arts, and you nearly had his life completed. Break away from this life, take flight into another's, and see how hard life could be.
They were instructed to find her, the girl who had broken his best friend. Who had turned him into stone, and had been able to make his friend have nightmares. Some of them about Death Eaters, and others when Lily was a Death Eater. Then that nightmare came true, when she caught them, trapped them down in the basement and denied her old name. The nightmares continued, and now, they were filled with the fear that she could kill him. For Sirius to lose his best friend, that would crush him. James was like his brother, the brother he never had after Regulus was pulled away into the Dark Arts, and the Dark Lord's orders.
Padfoot sighed. This was a bad idea. Sure, he'd had his share of moments over the years, but this was just insane. Well, next to him dropping pies on Mrs. Norris, it wasn't that bad of an idea, but it was still in the top five. It made no sense. From what he could smell, there were hundreds of different people in that one building.
Finding one, that was near impossible. And add on the fact that there were probably a thousand rooms as well, and they might as well be looking for a wand in a haystack. The chances of finding her, and her alone, that wouldn't happen. Plus, there was no saying what was in there. Sure, he'd seen the inside once. But that one time wasn't enough to know where he was actually going. Moony however, he was trotting ahead, not taking any notice of where he was going.
Padfoot had to half-suspect that it was because Moony had a stronger connection to Lily. But still, he was the rational one. Usually he would think this through, not wing it. In a case like this, even Padfoot knew that winging it was not quite the best idea.
Yet he still padded forward, each pawstep seemed to take more of an effort. Fear prickled at his fur, and all his instincts told him to run. If Snape saw them, and he was sure to be with Lily, they would be dead. How were they supposed to find her anyway?
A scream alerted Moony, and he jerked his head up, in the process of going up the stairs, and he froze, muzzle lifted.
" STOP!"
Yet the screams didn't stop, they increased. The Cruciatus curse, he suspected, especially from the continuous screams.
Dread filled him, what if those were Order members? Surely the Death Eaters wouldn't try it on themselves, no, they would want someone fresh. Someone who wasn't resistant to the pain yet. Padfoot signaled this to Moony with his teeth and a jerk of his head. Moony's eyes widened, and they sprinted, paws pounding on the stairs, toward the screams.
Moony turned the knob, and the door flew open. All eyes flew to the wolf standing in the doorway, and standing there, two Order members, strapped to a pole, one that seemed to hold up the building, they were covered in scratches. That wasn't Moony's concern. He was more concerned about the man, who wasn't screaming anymore, but stood, shaking and foggy eyed.
That was never a good sign. Padfoot gave a sharp whine, and when he saw the girl, Mary, he snarled, baring fangs. Mary was one of the Order, and she was being used like this? Moony launched himself at another Death Eater, jaws open to kill.
Padfoot tore through the ropes that bound the prisoners, when there was a scream. Moony was blasted backwards, and slammed into the opposite wall, crumpling to the ground with a yelp. The next instant he was up, gold eyes burning with fury, teeth exposed and ready to fight.
Moony growled, deep in his throat, eyes narrowed as the Death Eater who had blasted him back walked forward. There was movement in the crowd, who had been lined up to test the curse. Dark hair, gray eyes, and the man was only a bit shorter than Padfoot as a human. Padfoot snapped his jaws in realization. This wasn't just any Death Eater.
Padfoot stepped forward, passing Moony to face his brother, Regulus Black, hackles raised, snarling, his teeth gleaming in threat. Eyes of the same color and shape as his brother's, fury burned into them, and even deeper, a sorrow that didn't fade.
