Chapter 13

Ron stared at the red curtains and sighed for what felt the millionth time. After the confrontation with their professor, they had immediately left Hogsmeade and gone back to the castle. Harry had hidden underneath the invisibility cloak and hadn't said a word the whole time, but it wasn't as if he or Hermione had been in the mood to talk either. He hadn't even argued with her as he rescued his rat from her manic cat. He had glared at her but nothing more. He hadn't wanted to disturb Harry and frankly he was not in the mood for a full blown argument between Mione and him. She seemed to think along the same lines because her all-knowing and sometimes annoying comments were almost non-existing.

As soon as they were up in the boys dormitory Harry had grabbed something from his trunk and hidden himself on his bed behind the crimson curtains. The same curtains he was currently staring at, or rather, still staring at. He had even brought dinner up for Harry. He had chosen food he knew Harry liked from the dinner table, but the plate was sitting untouched on his nightstand. He didn't get any answers when he tried talking to Harry. He had even pleaded, yet the curtains remained closed. Bloody curtains.

Harry had placed some sort of enchantment on them which shocked anybody who tried to touch them. Ron cursed the curtains once again and he cursed Hermione for teaching Harry the enchantment in the first place. He stood up with a grumble and swiftly changed into his pyjamas before he made his way over to Harry's bed once more for one last try before going to bed.

"Harry?" He asked tentatively. Once again he didn't receive an answer. Maybe Harry was already asleep.

"If you want to talk I am here." He murmured softly even though he felt stupid for talking towards closed curtains ... again. "Good night!"

With one last look towards Harry's bed, he crawled into his own bed. Ron was careful not to squash Scabbers who had made himself comfortable on his pillow. He pulled his curtains closed and crawled beneath the cosy and warm blanket as his head hit the pillow next to Scabbers who continued sleeping undisturbed. His eyes fell shut yet sleep did not come easily. His mind was too busy to find rest.

He lay in the dark and stared at nothing. He didn't dare move around a lot he was scared to squash his rat. His mind was going in circles. In his mind the events off the day were replayed over and over again. With another sigh he closed his eyes and willed his thoughts away. Just as he was about to drift off into much needed sleep, he heard something. A creak. But not just any creak, it had come most definitely from their door. At first he thought that it might have been Harry but after a few seconds he noticed that the steps were heavier and they were coming towards him.

Dread settled heavily in his stomach. He didn't know who it was but his gut instinct told him that it was not someone with good intentions. He would have even liked it more if the footsteps belonged to Malfoy and not to the person he thought they might belong to. Scabbers continued sleeping next to him.

The footsteps stopped next to his bed. With a small inhale of fear he screwed his eyes shut. He heard the nearly silent opening of the curtains of his bed. He could hear breathing above him. His nose even noticed the faint smell of firewhiskey that was barely detectable in the air. He heard movement as the person above him shifted.

"I know you're awake!" A raspy voice whispered. Ron's eyes flew and his gaze fell on the mass murderer Sirius Black. Shaggy black hair was framing the gaunt pale face and cold storm grey eyes studied him. Before Ron had the chance to scream and call for help a hand cold from the winter air clasped over his mouth. He watched Black wide eyed and a small scared whimper escaped his lips. Black rolled his eyes. Ron was absolutely terrified. He couldn't move his limps were frozen in fear. He could hear his own fanatic heartbeat. The person preventing him from screaming was a cold blooded killer. Fear shot through his spine at the thought of what he might do to him. There might not even be a finger of him left.

"Now what shall I do with you?" Black's cold voice penetrated the fog of fear only to heighten it. The cold eyes stared at him mercilessly. Ron's eyes were wide and he couldn't suppress a terrified squeak. He screwed his eyes shut in fear.

It was silent and it seemed as if Black made no move at all. At that moment Ron heard quite chuckles that someone was trying to suppress. Tentatively he opened one eye. Black's eyes were alight with teasing laughter as he tried to suppress his chuckles.

"You're way too easy to trick!" He muttered with a lopsided smirk which made him less terrifying and made him seem more human but only for a moment.

"Relax, squirt!" Black said and smiled a smile that showed too many teeth and didn't help relax Ron in the least. "I'm not here for either you or Harry." Black said and his gaze lingered on Harry's bed.

"I'm here for someone else." Black tore his gaze away from Harry's bed. Ron saw anger and longing in the gaze before the indifferent and cold expression was back in place. A small spark of anger shot through Ron as he heard Harry's name fall from Black's lips. This man had cost Harry his family. Because this man had betrayed his best friend, Harry had to live with the Dursleys.

Black's hand was reaching for something to Ron's right. It was his fault Harry was parentless something which he had always taken for granted. Because of him Harry had been alone and miserable. The spark ignited the flame. Anger was swirling through his veins momentarily banishing the fear that had paralyzed him. He acted without thinking something for which Hermione would probably scold him later on. He bit into the hand that was clasped over his mouth. Black hadn't expected that and with a yelp let go of Ron. Everything after that was a blur of activity.

Scabbers had woken up and as soon as he had seen Black he had jumped from the bed. Black had cursed and drawn his wand. To Ron's surprise he didn't point it towards him but towards the rat, the spell barely missing it. Black let loose more spells but Scabbers was faster and escaped through the door. Black cursed and ran after the rat and out through the door, leaving an owlishly blinking Ron behind.

The room was empty as if Black had never been there. It looked like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Blinking slowly, Ron raised his hand and pinched himself. The pain was real, so it hadn't been a dream. Ron had no idea what he was supposed to do now. So he did the first thing that came to his startled mind. He screamed.

oOo

' "C-Can I s-sit with you guys?" A squeaky and stuttering voice asked from behind them. James and Sirius turned around. A small chubby boy with a shy smile was standing behind him. He was wringing his hands nervously. He seemed just as nervous about the sorting as every other student. James didn't understand why everyone was so nervous. Was he really the only excited one?

"Of course you can, after all our boat still has free seats!" James said with a grin. Sirius and another pale brown haired boy who had avoided eye contact and conversation as much as possible were already sitting in the boat. As soon as the boy had clumsily taken seat next to him in the boat, it gently started to move... '

oOo

James felt the air burn in his lungs as he stumbled as quickly as his slightly drunk limbs could carry him through the empty hallways. He needed to get Remus to help him catch Sirius. He didn't know what Sirius was planning with or without thinking, but he knew that the consequences would not be good. Sirius' rash actions had always ended in some kind of disaster, the willow incident in fifth year being the prime example of all.

His gut instinct told him that something bad was about to happen.

"Shit!" James cursed again. "Bloody idiot!" He didn't know whether or not the insult was solely direct at Sirius or at himself for drinking too much. He nearly tripped over a loose stone in the corridor which he wouldn't have missed had he not been drinking. A few quite profound curses left his lips that might have even made Sirius blush ... or not.

"James?!" The startled call interrupted his stumbling along the hallway. James let out a breath of relief as he saw Remus run towards him. Before Remus had the chance to question him James started talking.

"We need to find Sirius, now!" Remus immediately picked up on James slightly fanatic emotions and without asking any questions took action.

"I will look in the higher floors! You take the lower ones!" After he issued those instructions they parted ways as quickly as possible. They had to find one loyal mutt before the catastrophe James feared would take place.

oOo

'... Without anything pulling or pushing them, the boats glided through the dark water. The little lanterns each boat had were the only light source. The warm lights' reflection looked like liquid gold on the water's surface, disturbed only by the small waves the boats made as they moved forward towards Hogwarts.

James stared into the liquid darkness. He thought he had seen a darker shadow swim beneath the surface. He frowned. He saw another shadow quickly swim and dive into the deeper waters.

"Sirius, Sirius!" James waved him over. "Look at that!" Sirius hastily moved to James side, not caring that the boat was swaying dangerously. The chubby boy let out a scared squeak as the boat swayed from the sudden change of position. Sirius together with James leaned over the boats railing and peered into the darkness of the water below them. Another shadow swam beneath the boat and disappeared into the depths.

"What do you think that was?!" Sirius asked in an excited voice, his depression regarding the sorting blown away. James knew that Sirius was afraid of ending up in Slytherin like the rest of his family, but he didn't believe that his friend could be sorted into Slytherin and he felt a small amount of pride for already being able to distract him from his fear. James let a small satisfied smile linger on his lips for a second before answering Sirius question.

"Maybe something like sirens?" James guessed with a questioning look on his face.

"No, they're probably Selkies" A voice said softly. James turned towards its source. The pale and quiet boy had spoken. In the dim light of the lantern James could still see that he was pale and there was a sickly quality to his skin. His brown hair was lightly hanging into his golden eyes. Carefully as if too fast movement hurt, he came over and leaned over the edge to stare into the water along with them. The three of them watched as another shadow swam through the water and disappeared beneath another boat.

"The merpeople of the south are called Sirens. They live in warm waters. The ones living in Ireland are called Merrows." Both Sirius and he were listening to the boy's words with interest. "And the ones who live up here in Scotland are Selkies. I heard a whole colony of them live in the lake."

"You're like a walking encyclopedia!" Sirius whistled with good humour. The boy's cheeks took on a slightly pink color ...'

oOo

Remus was standing behind McGonagall as she interrogated Ron about what he saw. Remus had only come here because he thought it might have given him some kind of clue as to where Sirius had pursued the traitor. Yet every bit of information he got was useless. He whipped nervously on his heels. He needed to get out of here. He needed to continue to look for Sirius. Yet McGonagall and the students would definitely notice were he to disappear.

At that moment McGonagall's focus shifted towards a quivering Neville Longbottom and Remus couldn't suppress the wince of guilt as he looked at the terrified boy. All eyes were now on the terrified boy and Remus saw his chance. Instead of going for the portrait hole, he went up the stairs towards the boys' dormitory because he had remembered what Sirius had told him before he had gone to look for James on the astronomy tower. Harry had finally gotten a hold of the marauders map.

Silently he sneaked into the dormitory. He immediately singled Harry's bed out simple because of the picture of Lily and James on the nightstand. He touched the map with his wand and muttered the achingly familiar words.

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good!" The words flowed easily from his mouth as if the last twelve years he hadn't spoken those words never existed. His eyes immediately searched for the dots with the familiar label of Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. As soon as he found them, he summoned his patronus in order to send a message to James before he hastily left the dormitory.

Wormtail was definitely running towards the forbidden forest and Padfoot was hot on his tail. It smelled like a danger.

oOo

' ... "Eh guys?!" The chubby boy squeaked fearfully. James turned towards him and immediately noticed why he had squeaked. The boat had tilted dangerously because of the uneven weight distribution. Three people on one side and one on the other might not have been the best idea. If even one of them took one wrong step or made any hasty movement, they would overturn. He only saw Sirius smirk out of the corner of his eye but he instinctively knew what was coming next. With one deliberate move from Sirius, their boat overturned and all four boys landed in the water with a loud splash. James went under and for a few moments all he saw was dark water and bubbles. In the back off his mind he feared he would lose his glasses but the thought was not as prominent as the thought of needing air, of needing to resurface. With a few strokes he emerged and took a gasping breath. He stroked the wet hair that stuck to his forehead out of his face and noticed that luckily his glasses were still there. Even with the water droplets obscuring his vision, he could still make out the forms of the others.

"Everyone all right?" James called as he swam over to the pale boy and helped him reach the boat.

"Yes, expect for the fact that I've got half the lake in my lungs." He said with more sarcasm than James had thought him capable of but James wasn't intimidated by it. He clearly saw the hidden amusement in the golden eyes. James grinned.

"Sirius?" He saw a hand raised in answer to his call on the other side of the overturned boat.

"Just peachy!" came the amused call of Sirius followed by the chubby boys saying that he was all right as well. Before he had the chance to say anything else, he was pulled out of the water. A strong and big hand had grabbed him. He turned around and stared into the barely illuminated face of the gamekeeper of Hogwarts, Hagrid. James smiled sheepishly and raised his hand in greeting.

"Hi!" he said in an awfully chipper tone to which Hagrid just raised one bushy eyebrow ... '

oOo

He ran as fast as his short legs could carry him. He jumped down stairs, ran underneath furniture and never turned around, his little feet always tapping on the floor, his small claws clicking on the cold stone. His long tail whipped nervously behind him as he ran. His nose was filled with the different smells a human was unable to detect. He was able to smell the scent of the animagus hunting him. His sensitive ears could hear the slowly closer coming paws pounding on the floor, like a drum that would bring his doom if he didn't escape.

If he didn't escape, the grim that hunted him would not be a death omen but certain death.

oOo

'Hagrid had fished each of them out of the water and now they were standing on steady waterless ground again. The students each got out if their boats and now stood on the shore of the black lake staring towards the huge castle

"Ehhh I think I lost my shoe ..." The chubby boy said in embarrassment as he wiggled the toes of his shoeless but sock wearing foot. James suppressed a snort, he would most definitely be the first student to be sorted without his shoe.

"At least you don't have seaweed stuck in your hair!" Sirius grumbled as he pulled the slippery green weed out of his longish black hair.

"Don't worry they won't notice after all we are all a tripping mess!" The pale boy said with an encouraging smile.

"Oy, James did we do introductions?" Sirius asked suddenly. James ragged his brain for a moment but he couldn't recall introducing himself or being introduced to the other boys. He couldn't always call them the chubby boy and the pale boy. His mother would scold him for bad manners, for not properly introducing himself.

"Nope!" James said popping the p.

"We should know the names of the boys we take a bath with!" Sirius exclaimed with a wink and a cheeky smile. A snort escaped the pale one while the chubby boy chuckled nervously. James laughed.

"You've got that right mate!" James said with a grin. "All right, I am James Potter, 99% a future Gryffindor!"

"I am Sirius ... Black and I will not ever be in Slytherin!" Sirius said fiercely. James grinned. The pale boy smiled slightly.

"My name is Remus Lupin and I'm not sure where I will end up." Remus' voice had gotten quieter towards the end as if he believed that he wouldn't be sorted at all. James frowned slightly. Something was off about his expression but before he could speak the last boy introduced himself.

The chubby boy held out his hand and with a shy smile said: "I might become a hufflepuff like my mum but I'm not sure. My name is Peter Pettigrew". Hagrid's booming voice interrupted them and they hastily followed him up towards Hogwarts, towards their much anticipated sorting, towards their future and towards seven wonderful years in whatever house they were sorted into.'

oOo

Sirius felt the air rush in and out of his lungs. He felt the blood and adrenalin pump through his veins. He could feel the anger that consumed his mind. He cursed himself as he ran after the rat. He should have just grabbed the rat while it had been asleep but Ron had been awake and he couldn't simply ignore him.

The stench of Wormtail was like a thick fog in front of him, an unmistakable trail he followed. His scent had changed over the last twelve years, as if the scent of rat had become stronger than the scent of man. The rat was in front of him running as quickly as its short legs allowed it to. It was scurrying across the hallway floor. Even when Sirius lost sight of it as he rounded around the corner, the scent clung to the air like miasma.

They ran past classrooms and portraits, the calls of 'grim' following him as he chased the rat. With his ears, he could hear his own and even the faintest trace of the rats breathing. He could hear as the small claws hit the ground in fast succession as the rat ran. He growled low in his throat. Sirius nearly managed to catch the rat with his sharp teeth as they crashed down the stair but the rat avoided his teeth by a hair's breadth. He caught empty air as the rat leaped away from him. He snarled and resumed the chase after it.

Only dimly was he aware that they had just run past the Great Hall. His mind only saw the traitor in front of him. He only saw the person that had betrayed them. He could only focus on the person who had lead death to the person he loved more than anything on this Earth. With a boost of energy, he leaped towards the rat who squeaked in fright. But Wormtail had always been good at escaping and quickly he turned to the right. Sirius crashed into the suit of armour that was standing at the wall. The crash resounded through the hallway. With an angry howl, Sirius jumped out of the pieces of metal and went after the rat that now had a head start. It went almost unnoticed by him as the cold stone floor of Hogwarts became the soft grass of the meadows surrounding the castle. The half-moon illuminated the night together with thousand little stars still it could not scare off the darkness of the night. They could not erase the shadows that mingled in the forbidden forest as Sirius followed Wormtail into the thicket they knew so well when not the half-moon but the full moon illuminated the dark sky.

In the thicket, Sirius had to rely more on his nose than on his eyes. The scent was his unfailing guide, leading him closer and closer to the traitor. He leaped over the giant roots of the oldest trees, over rocks and fallen trees, never once losing the scent that he loathed so much. He dashed through the thicket as the rat ran away from him. It was only because he was so obsessed with the rat and the hunt that he overlooked the marks on the trees, marks which the marauders had made during their explorations of the forest.

The forest around him grew thicker, less light from the stars shone through the trees leaves and the dead and rotten trees were littering the forest floor. He didn't notice the change immediately. Only when he saw the first spider webs did he realize in which part of the forest he had followed the traitor. The acromantulas' lair was close.

The bloody rat had led him right to the spiders, right to the ones that would rather eat him than a tiny little rat. He suppressed the snarl that wanted to break free. He didn't need their attention. It would be difficult enough to navigate through their lair without being noticed. Peter had probably thought that he would give up following when he was faced with the deadly poison of the acromantulas. Well, the rat thought wrong. Subtly his muscles shifted underneath his thick black fur as he silently made his way through the dark forest. His paws careful not to make a sound as they softly moved across the forest floor. He avoided touching any of the thin and nearly invisible spider nets that littered this part of the forest. A single touch to the sticky substance would make vibrations pass along the threads that were spread out towards the tree tops were the spiders were waiting. The vibration told them were their prey was and he would like to avoid becoming the pray of the night very much. The scent of Peter was still strong in the air. It stuck to the leaves covering the floor. Silently, he followed the invisible trail. His ears picked up the unnatural rustling of the leaves and the spiders that moved over him on top of the tree branches.

It felt like hours as he carefully maneuvered through the dark forest when it could only have been a few minutes. He was slowly but surely closing in on the rat.

As he rounded around a big slowly rotting tree stump, the smell of the rat got stronger and stronger. The rat was sitting next to a spider web a few meters in front of him. Sirius barely managed to suppress a growl as he watched the rat. His muscles stiffened anticipating the leap with which he would attack and catch the traitor.

Yet something stopped him. The rat seemed to be waiting patiently for him and that just felt wrong. It only took a few seconds for him to know what was wrong. It looked like an evil grin hushed over the rats face before it plugged at the spider web threads like musician might plug at a harps string. The vibrations moved up along the thread and disappeared into the darkness. It would only be a matter of seconds till the spiders would descend upon them. Instead of waiting for the unavoidable, Sirius leaped towards the rat who started running once more.

Now there was no longer solely the sound of the forest surrounding them but also the sound of rustling which grew louder and louder. The spiders were coming. Sirius could hear them running on their eight legs. It was ironic how quick the hunter could become one of the hunted. Sirius ignored the sense of incoming danger as his mind focused only on the rat that was running in front of him. He jumped over a fallen tree landing gracefully on his feet before he continued his pursuit. His ears heard the crawling of the spiders that followed him while his nose and his eyes were only following the trail of the rat. The leaves rustled loudly over his head.

He heard it before he felt it. A spider had fallen on his back, its eight legs digging into his fur as it set out to bite. Sirius reacted instinctively, rolling to the side and squashing the spider with his weight before it could inject the paralyzing venom into his body. Still that maneuver had cost him time and now he saw the spiders coming for him whereas before he had only heard them. With an angry snarl, he jumped to his feet and avoided the poisonous fangs of the spider that had come scurrying out of the bushes, which had targeted his leg. He leaped on top of it and quickly ripped the little acromantula's legs out. Another one tried to jump on him from above. He moved to the side and swerved the incoming attack. As retribution, he ripped out four of the spiders legs with his teeth. The disgusting taste of the hairy legs filled his mouth and he spit them out in disgust. Those three spiders had only been the vanguards, the rest would reach him soon.

As if the interruption hadn't happened, he ran after the trail of Peter. Just because some spiders were hunting him, it did not prevent him from hunting Peter. The sound of spidery legs hitting the forest floor followed him through the night. He ran through a hollow tree which, at its end, a marked stone stood. The marauders had marked the end of the spiders territory here over 16 years ago. Now the borders had expanded. He ran through thick bushes and leaped over a small stream. He could still hear the spiders faintly following him but their sound became more and more distant as he reached the current border of their territory. At some point they gave up and stopped following him yet Sirius did not slow down. He still had a rat to catch.

The scent lead him in the direction of a small clearing. As he carefully stepped into the clearing, his muscles tense as he awaited the next trap. He was breathing hard from the hunt but the adrenalin continued to flow through his veins. In the feeble light of the half moon and thanks to his better eyesight as a dog, he could make out the man that was standing at the other side of the clearing. The scent that clung to the man like a thick cloud of miasma was the scent of the rat. Peter Pettigrew was standing in the clearing.

He had changed. He looked worse than him after twelve years of Azkaban. He was still short but had lost considerable weight. His mousy brown hair had thinned out and he even had a bald patch. He was so nervous he was shaking, which was just, Sirius thought with a menacing snarl. His watery blue eyes were widened in fear. His pointed nose twitched in fright. But the most prominent change was his scent. His scent was different. What once had been a scent of camaraderie now stunk of betrayal and dark arts.

"G...G-Good evening P-Padfoot!" He squeaked.

With a growl Sirius shifted till he was standing on two legs with his wand raised in the direction of Peter. His storm-grey eyes were glaring at the smaller man.

"Evening, Wormtail!" Sirius voice was oozing with fake pleasantry underneath it a storm of hate was brewing. His wand was pointed at the traitor. His eyes never once left the form of the man he had once called his friend.

A memory of a broken oath floated across his mind renewing his all-consuming anger.

' ... "Upon this blood of ours we solemnly swear to be brothers forever. To love and trust each other, no matter what happens. To forgive each other, to never betray each other, to stand by each other and to always be up to no good!" ... '

A.N.: Thank you sooo much for the reviews up till now.