Part Fourteen
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Dumbledore went briskly to business.
"Minerva?" He looked towards the shocked McGonagall. "We must try to find Mr. Lupin. Would you go into the forest? Ask the centaurs for help - I'll alert Madam Pomfrey. I would like to speak to Mr. Lupin as soon as he is fit."
"Of course, I'll go right away - but what about these three?" She looked from Snape, to Sirius to Lily. "They should go back to the castle immediately."
"Of course they must, and I will accompany them and I'll alert the other teachers to what has happened, thank you, Minerva."
Sirius stared blankly at Dumbledore, barely noticing Professor McGonagall transform back into the tabby cat and run back towards the passage entrance.
"You aren't going to stay here and try to find them, Professor?" He asked loudly.
"I am going to accompany you, Miss Evans and Mr Snape back to the school," Dumbledore said calmly but firmly. "I will achieve nothing by staying here. We were too late - James and Voldemort are gone. We have little chance of chasing them down - especially if James has gone of his own consent."
"But he wouldn't have, Professor, it can't be…" Lily spoke up in a small voice. It was the first time she had spoken since they arrived at the house. "James would never go along with Voldemort… not for a second."
"I don't think so either, not in the way that you mean," Dumbledore answered softly. "But I believe that Voldemort tricked James into going along with him. I think it highly likely he used the Imperius curse. A dark wizard such as him would not think twice about using one of the unforgivable curses - even on a schoolboy."
Lily shivered thinking of the three unforgivable curses they had been taught about in Defence against Dark Arts. How many would Voldemort be prepared to try on James?
"We have to find him, Professor!" Lily cried out. "We can't leave James to face Voldemort alone!"
"We won't leave him to fight alone," Sirius added fiercely.
"You will do as I say, Mr. Black!" Dumbledore told them, almost ferociously. "James is indeed in great danger," he added more softly, "but we must make sure the castle is safe for all the other students. Lord Voldemort has appeared on school grounds tonight and abducted one person - I will not permit such an intrusion again. As soon as the other teachers have everything under control I can promise you that I will do everything in my power to recover James. Now we must go."
The followed Dumbledore single file out of the Shrieking Shack and back into the tunnel that led back to Hogwarts grounds. On the minds of each and every one of them played thoughts of danger and of fear.
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Dumbledore left them quietly in the great hall.
"Go back to your common rooms, and try to sleep - if you can. I will see you all again tomorrow. The grounds are out-of-bounds for every student - that includes you Mr. Black - and there will be a severe punishment for anyone caught disobeying. I cannot impress this upon you enough - remain inside the castle! As for Remus Lupin…" Dumbledore looked across at both Snape and Lily. "Two of you have heard things tonight that you will have found profoundly shocking, and I am sorry for it. But some secrets are kept for the best of reasons. I will, of course, be discussing the issue with you both further when things are quieter, but in the meantime I must stress one point. You will not repeat one word of what you have heard tonight to another student in this school. If I hear that anybody else knows about this, I will know whom it came from. Am I understood?"
Both Snape and Lily nodded their heads. Sirius couldn't help looking at Snape to see how he took this news (being sure Severus was just dying to go and tell his other Slytherin cronies the latest news about the Marauders), but his face was impassive.
Dumbledore had finished but as the three pupils separated - Snape to go to the Slytherin common room, Sirius and Lily to the Gryffindor room - Dumbledore called Sirius back.
Sirius waved to Lily to go on, then walked cautiously back towards the centre of the great hall.
"Don't worry, Mr. Black, I am not about to lecture you. I am sure that your stupidity tonight with Severus Snape is being punished enough at the moment. I know you are concerned for your friend -, as am I. And I have no doubt that at this very minute you are hatching a plan to escape the teachers and attempt to rescue James. Of course, I must advise against that," Dumbledore said kindly, continuing before Sirius could begin to deny anything; "But more importantly than anything you may have in mind, I must implore you not to involve Lily Evans in it."
Sirius looked up at Dumbledore, surprised for once in his life.
"It is imperative that Miss Evans is kept well away from any contact with Lord Voldemort and that she remains here, safe inside the school. Before you plan any heroics of your own this evening, I must request that you protect the safety of one friend better than you did that of another tonight. Am I asking too much?"
"No, sir," Sirius replied, humbled and ashamed of himself, and not for the first time that evening. "I'll do my best to look after her."
"And I will do my best to look after James," Dumbledore sighed. "Good luck, Mr. Black."
"And you, Professor!" Sirius called after him.
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Lily was waiting for Sirius in the common room. It was nearly empty, most students having gone to bed, except for a few seventh years and a teacher guarding the entrance outside. Peter was hanging round nervously, not quite believing what Lily had just told him.
"Where have you been, what did Voldemort want?" she demanded of Sirius, as soon as he got within whispering distance.
"Nothing. Just had a go at me about Snape and my stupid trick. This whole thing is my fault after all."
"That's all?"
"Yes," Sirius lied, not looking at her. He looked at Peter instead.
"Is…iiiiii - is it true what Lily says?" he stammered. "Has Voldemort taken James?"
Sirius nodded grimly and clapped a reassuring hand on the smaller boy's shoulders.
"He's done something alright. That slimy Snape said James agreed to go with him - but that's not true! Dumbledore thinks Voldemort used the Imperius curse, and I agree with him. What else could make James go along with any type of dark wizardry? It's ridiculous!"
"And even more dangerous for James, if he doesn't know what he's doing!" Lily added desperately. "We have to help him, Sirius. We have to find him!"
"Dumbledore will find him," Sirius told her confidently.
"How? And when? By the time he gets the school secure and tells everybody that needs to know, James could be anywhere! We have to start looking now! Go back to the Whomping Willow - retrace their steps - anything!" She gripped a hand to Sirius' arm, her nails digging in painfully.
"Bbbbbut we can't," Peter whispered fearfully. "We're not allowed out of the Gryffindor tower, and even if we could get out, Voldemort could have apparated as soon as he got into Hogsmeade - they could bbbbe at the other end of the country by now!"
Lily shook her head. "Not with James. He can't apparate and you can't take someone with you."
"And if they used a portakey it should still be around somewhere," Sirius added, his busy mind ticking over. "And we can get out of the castle! James' invisibility cloak, Peter! We can use the Zonko's passage - nobody knows about that! We made a pact remember? We agreed that if anything like this happened we would help each other. We have to try and help James now. Remus is out of action, but you and I can still go!"
Peter shook nervously but couldn't think of a way to get out of it. After all, he had sworn the pact too.
"And I can come along - three heads are better than two," Lily said determinedly, but Sirius shook his head.
"Oh no, no, no, Evans. You stay here. James would eat me alive if I let you come along on such a suicidal plan as this - not to mention what Dumbledore would do! No. Peter here is different - the Marauders made a deal, but I'm not putting another friend of mine into untold danger tonight. First Remus, then James, now you. I won't allow it."
Lily stood staring at Sirius, quietly fuming.
"You won't allow me, or let me do anything, Sirius Black!" she hissed. "I care about James just as much as you do - and I have just as much right to help him as you have. Refuse to take me if you like - I'll go on my own!"
Immediately Lily headed for the portrait hole, determined to get underway.
"Don't be ridiculous, Lily!" Sirius called over to her. "You won't get five hundred yards!"
"We'll see, won't we?" Lily said, turning her flaming green eyes upon him.
Sirius sighed to himself, looking at her. "Okay, okay. I guess you have to come with us if you're so determined. At least then I can keep an eye on you. Hang on a minute - keep an eye on her Peter. Honestly," Sirius mumbled, "Redheads!"
He launched himself up the stairs to the boys' dormitory, hurrying to find James' old invisibility cloak.
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To be… ah you know the rest. Please Read/Review.
(A/N: Looks like every parts going to be a cliff-hanger of some sort, until this all gets resolved. (sighs) Oh well… sorry folks.)