A Change of Heart

Chapter 38: Carpe Umbrus

I guess I'm severely sorry for the big delay. I really just had no umph for this story but dang I had no idea so many people liked this story sooooo I guess I'll try my best. It's better than doing absolutely nothing the rest of the summer, right? Right. I'd advise to at least read the last chapter or the last few chapters before reading this one. Because surprisingly enough (not), I had to do the same thing.

"How much longer do you think we should give him, mate?" Sirius' eyes traveled up toward the staircase along with the low sound of his voice.

"I don't know…He has to eat some time though. We can't just let him stay up there like this," responded James, eyes locked as his friend's.

"But how can we get him to come down? It's been over a week and a half…we've gotta think of something…quick." Both sat down upon the stairs they had just been staring transfixed with moments before. Their hands flew to their chins, stroking them gently, as if such act would conjure up an idea quicker. For the many years they have repeated this ritual, not once has it worked.

"Save your breath, guys," Remus' voice echoed along the stair way as he carefully stepped between his two friends.

He looked like he had gone through hell and back. No transformation into a werewolf could have ever made him like he did just then.

His hair was in a vicious competition with James' famously known messy hair. His usual stand--which was always up-right, shoulders back--had seemingly disappeared and made its way into a more hunched-over form.

His pale skin looked much like the pages of a book, for it looked like it was yellowing quickly.

Worst of all: His odor could be sniffed out half way across Hogwarts.

No words were exchanged for a few moments until James decided the silence was worse than anything else at that moment and spoke up, his voice squeaking slightly, "Moony…m-mate…you…are you…okay…?"

"James, in all my years of being your friend…I don't think Peter could have asked more of a stupid question than you did just now."

"Ow," Sirius whispered under his breath.

"I was only trying to help."

"How can anyone help? Not even the 'Great Dumbledore' knows what to do…how can anyone else help?"

"Look, we're your friends, whether you decide to treat us like it or not...and me and Prongs refuse to let you go out this way. We brought you food. Well actually, we brought you food like four days ago…so the food has a sort of stench to it now…not that you don't too but—I mean—well, we can all go to the kitchen and…and get something else, right?" Sirius looked uncertain of himself but began walking toward the common room and out of the portrait hole.

"…Where is everyone?" Remus broke the new found silence again, beginning to make his way out too.

"Just asleep I'm guessing…it's nearly three in the morning," James responded to Remus, both boys lingering behind Sirius as he kept his pace quick and steady.

"Oh…I…I guess I didn't realize. Is there any word about…Ma…Ma..." he dropped his voice even softer, closer to a whisper and locked his eyes onto his hands, trying to prevent tears from welling up in his eyes as he spoke her name, "…Maria?"

"No…not a word…I…I don't know how no one can know where she is…it's just…it's too…"

"I know…I'm sorry, Prongs…I'm sorry I've been difficult…it's just so hard…and…and I can't—" His sentence was cut short.

"James! James! Wait!"

All three boys turned to find Cat running full speed toward them, quickly running out of breath. She stopped right where James and Remus had, bending over, hands on her knees, trying to regain her composure. "Have…you…seen…Lily?" she said in between breaths.

"No…why?"

"Oh bloody hell…" she said under her breath, "James, anyone…you've gotta go into the forest with me, please."

"The forest? Why? What's going on?" James asked, with more urgency.

"She's gone mad! I swear! She keeps saying stuff about how she's having dreams and visions of Mar…" she let the name fade as she glanced over at Remus, his head hanging low, avoiding all contact. She continued, "Of…Maria…in the forest…she kept saying she has to go out there and look. I called her crazy and told her not to…that there wasn't any way that she could be…but she kept pushing it... we went to bed anyway, I woke up a couple of hours later and she was gone…I've looked everywhere I can think of…and now I know that's where she went. She's not in the right state of mind. She could get hurt out there! It's so dark and she doesn't have her wand. Please…we have to go get her…I can't lose her too…"

"Okay…we'll go…we just need to let Remus go rest…he's…" James paused to turn to Remus…and miraculously, according to James, he was already gone. His footsteps could be heard echoing down the corridor as he rushed to go to the forest to aid Lily in her search, along with the rest of his friends.

"Moony's has got to be madder than Lily ever could be," Sirius said, as he passed up Cat and James, chasing after him. The other two followed in suit, their wands tightly gripped in their hands.

"Lily! Where are you Lily!" Cat's voice came out raspy and weak.

They had been out there for over an hour. All had their wands held high over their heads, searching the ground desperately for any sign of her.

"I'm worried, you guys…the sun…it should be coming up in a few hours…and we haven't even come close to finding her it feels like," her voice trembled as she spoke. She sat down on the biggest rock she could find next to her and bit her lip in frustration.

"It's okay, Cat…don't worry so much…it'll be fine. I promise you. It's going to be fine," Sirius' voice was soothing as he spoke. He sat beside her, pulling her into his arms to hold. As unwilling as Sirius was to admit it, he was terrified. Everyone he held dear to him was slipping from his grasp and quickly. Maria is gone, Lily has left, and Remus is not himself; to lose Cat too would just be too much for him to handle.

He held onto her tighter, feeling like he had to protect her and that being the only way he could. The smell of her hair surrounded him, and he began to get lost in that moment. All he could focus on was Cat's shaking body and his arms around her.

"W-w-we've gotta keep looking…" Cat spoke up eventually, her head still resting on Sirius' chest, wiping her tears so that no one could see. Her legs were shaky as she tried to stand. James offered to help her up, but she declined saying, "I'll be fine…let's keep looki—" only to trip over another rock and land into a bush.

"Ow," that voice definitely wasn't Cat's voice. She fidgeted in the bushes looking around. She let out a scream and out rolled from the bushes Cat and Lily. Tears streaming down Cat's face openly now, wiping the dirt from her cheeks.

"Lily!" and as odd as it was for them to find Lily in a bush so close to them all this time, not a word was asked about it. Everyone huddled around the girls helping them up quickly.

James held a tight grip on Lily's arm, her knees being weak and unstable as she stood. "I…I found her guys. I swear I did. I just...I was coming back for help…and…and I don't know what happened…but I landed in the bush and…and…"

"Whoa, whoa…Lily slow down," Cat said, pulling some leaves from her hair, a wave of relief falling across her. "What do you mean?"

"Maria! I found her! Why are we just standing her? We've gotta go get her. What if she's hurt? Come on…please!"

"Lils…"

"Please, Cat…I found her. I swear I'm not mad. I promise you…just look…"

"Okay, looking…can't hurt…" she said faintly, "show the way."

After finding her balance once again, Lily led her group of friends along a thick patch of trees. It took nearly an hour traveling behind Lily, and for that hour, it was completely silent excluding the rustle of a tree or the snap of a branch from now and then. The sun was approaching dawn faster by the minute.

An abrupt stop occurred by Lily at the base of one of the larger boulders in the forest, causing a collision to build up. One after the other hit the individual in front of them, also creating a chain of "ow's" from each of the tired trekkers. "We're here," Lily said, picking herself up and dusting off.

"I don't…see anything," Sirius said for the whole group, "It's a big rock. That's it."

"No, Sirius. Not a rock."

"What is it then?" Remus said with a sense of urgency and desperation.

"Follow me," she said, although it wasn't necessary. She traveled around the boulder searching intently around the edges for something, Cat's wand held steady in her hand illuminating the ground beneath her.

"Found it!" She shouted causing birds to fly from the trees in fright. They all crowded around her once again trying to get a look at exactly what she had found.

"Another rock? Lily, I'm starting to think that you're a bit more fascinated in the rocks than you are in finding what you need to find."

"No, Sirius, you twit…this is it."

"Well I must admit, Maria's gotten a little more…short…squatty and…well…grey," Sirius pondered.

"Oh shut it, Padfoot. That's not funny," Remus retorted, hitting him upside the head with all the strength he had left. He felt the weakest of them all and was struggling to even stand at this point.

Luckily it hit some sense into Sirius and he quickly kept his mouth shut.

Lily knelt down on the dirt beside the rock, roughly the size of a chest. She placed her back against the rock and pushed off the side of the boulder, inching the rock away until finally a large gap was shown.

"How did you find this?" Remus said in astonishment.

"I told Cat…it was in my dream. Took forever to find, but I did." With those as her last words, she slipped into the darkness of the hole leaving her friends in awe.

"What are you guys waiting for?" Remus said getting on his hands and knees, crawling in too.

"Carpe Umbrus, right guys?" Sirius spoke quietly, as everyone trailed inside. "Right…" he answered, and followed inside too.

"This…this is impossible. It's…it's completely illogical," Cat whimpered over the body of Maria, who, indeed, was in a hollowed out boulder.

They all examined the "room" they were in. A hole at the top of the boulder, only about 8 feet from the ground, had been dug out and you could see the sky turning a more pink-ish, purple-ish color.

"She won't wake up…and I didn't have my wand…I couldn't get her out of here on my own," Lily's whisper filled the room in an eerie sort of way.

And then Cat spoke aloud what everyone had been thinking, "Is she…alive?"

Five hands leaped to Maria, searching for a pulse, and five sighs of relief followed soon after.

"You know what always wakes a person up?" James said suddenly, hope starting to rise within.

"What's that?" the group said in unison.

"This!" With one swift motion, James turned to Sirius, pinching his arm tightly. A loud yelp proceeded after and Sirius flew to the wall of the room, rubbing his arm tenderly.

"That wouldn't ever work!" Sirius yelled angrily, but to his surprise and everyone else's Maria let out a faint, "Keep it down…ten more minutes…"

"Oh my word! It worked!" Cat said, her breath taken from her.

"Of course it worked. I told you that would wake up anyone. Does anyone have any chocolate?"

"James, now is not the time to be thinking of sweets. We all know you did well, but you can be rewarded later. First let's help Maria," Cat's tone had authority to it as she crossed her arms.

"Not for me, you bugger," James continued, "It's for Maria. It'll make her feel better. I swear, sometimes I wonder how we're related."

Cat blushed a deep shade of red, but luckily no one had the time to notice being it was still dark in the cave-like room, and everyone's attention was placed on Maria.

"Oh…no…no one has chocolate…but we should get her back to the castle quickly," Lily said, watching her friend with anxiety even still.

"Am I dreaming…?" Maria asked with a shaky voice, rubbing her head, her eyes not quite fully awake.

"No…you're not," Remus responded, kneeling down and holding her in his arms as tight as she could bear it.

In the few moments left in that cave, the sun rose, and they all began their journey back to Hogwarts.

Thank you for the patience with me. Or for some of you, not so much patience but that's all right because that pushes me I suppose. I'm starting the next chapter right...now. And thanks again, Mariam. You're such a lifesavor, kiddo.

FYI: Carpe Umbrus means: Cease the Unknown