Author's Note: tw for sharp objects digging into people and subconscious self-harm (scratching).

/\/\/\/\/\

The four Marauders stood there staring up at the stone door, taking in the S-shaped snake carved on the front. It looked especially eerie in the flickering torchlight. It almost seemed moving, almost seemed… alive.

"Well, maybe this is a Slytherin dungeon," Sirius half-joked.

The bad feeling grew worse. Remus wasn't really sure what it was, just—something. Something. There was something beyond the door that was wrong.

"How do we get through?" James pushed at the door, grunting loudly.

"Um, we—we shouldn't," Remus blurted out, staring up at the door. The wolf was very agitated inside of him, pacing around and urging Remus to get out of there. It had been relatively quiet this whole time, not offering any help for the situation they were in, until now. Now it was upset. Very upset. "There—I think there's something—something behind that door."

"People?" Peter asked.

"N-no. Something big. Something bad." He took a few steps back, heart pounding. This was worse than the skeleton. Whatever it was, was without a doubt worse than the Vinctum. "Something dangerous."

All three of them gave him strange looks. "How can you tell?" James asked.

Remus wrapped his arms around himself. "I don't know. I—I don't know but—but we can't open that door."

"It probably leads to the castle," Sirius said gently, grasping Remus's shoulder. "Maybe it leads into the Slytherin's dorms or something, and that's why it feels bad."

Remus smacked Sirius's hand away. "No! It's not funny, it's not—" He stopped as the sensation grew worse. "Oh Merlin. No. We—we have to go."

That's when he realized he could smell something, something vaguely… reptilian… something that made the wolf want to run. And if a werewolf wanted to run it had to be something very dangerous.

James turned back to the door and tried digging his fingers into one of the cracks to pull. "C'mon, Remy, you're strong, you can open the door—"

"NO!" he shouted, startling all three of them. "No! I'm—we—that door—no!" He backed up even more. "Come on, we have to go. Please. Please, come on." All he knew is that he had to get his friends as far away from whatever was behind that door as soon as possible.

Then his mind drifted to the book he found in another tunnel. Hogwarts, a History with the section about the Chamber of Secrets ripped out.

Chamber of Secrets. Where supposedly a monster lurked. A snake on the door. Remus's jaw dropped as he stared. No, it couldn't be! The Chamber was a myth!

So are Vinctums, a voice reminded him.

"What is it?" James asked, seeing the look on his face.

They'll laugh their arses off if I suggest it's the Chamber, he thought uneasily. No, he couldn't tell them the connection he had made. Not that it really was a connection. Probably mere coincidence. The Chamber wasn't real.

"There is something—something there." He managed to tear his gaze away from the snake to look at his friends. "I swear there is. I don't know what but it's… it's really freaking me out. We should go."

"Go?" Peter asked. "Leave the only door we've found?!"

Remus took in a sharp breath. "There is something behind that door that is freaking me out. Me. A werewolf!"

James put his hands on Remus's upper arms. "No offense, mate, but you do kind've freak out over everything. Grades, girls… life…"

Remus glared angrily at him, wanting to argue. "No, I—" Unfortunately James was right. "Look. Okay, look. It's not only me freaked out, it's the wolf."

"The… wolf?" Sirius asked.

"I sometimes sense the werewolf inside of me," he said, realizing this was yet another aspect of his lycanthropy he had never really told them before. "I can't really explain it very well. It's like this… darkness… inside of me. It's the wolf. It—I feel it, when I get very angry. And—and—and whatever is behind that door is upsetting that. The monster part of me. The werewolf part of me. Not just me, Remus Lupin, resident ball of anxiety and panic, but the wolf!"

They were staring again, with varying degrees of confusion.

"I know—I know it sounds crazy—"

"No, it doesn't sound that crazy," Sirius reassured him.

Remus ran his fingers through his hair which had dried into a horrible state of tangled fluffiness. "Either way, it's freaking the werewolf part of me out as much, if not more."

James looked back at the door then at Remus then the door again. "Oh."

"Yes 'oh'!" He clutched his wand, eyeing the door too. "Can we please go?"

"Where are we going to go though?" Sirius asked. "Where? This was the last passage! Okay, wait, doesn't it seem weird that we didn't find this until we went down the last passage?"

"No, there's one more," James said, rubbing the back of his head. "I doubt it will go anywhere but we can try. If—if it doesn't go anywhere we'll come back here."

No we won't, Remus thought as he put the torches out. Not if I can help it.

They backtracked to the junction that had the final passage. They went down, found a T-section, went down one side and came out the other. It was a big circle. Like alllll the other passages, except the big stone door. James, Sirius, and Peter gave Remus long looks and he pressed himself back against the wall, shaking his head.

"No."

Sirius put his hands on Remus's shoulders. "Remy, it's the only door."

"And there is something behind it!" he said, gripping his hair, tugging a little too hard. "Don't you believe me?"

"Yes," James said. "But—"

"But nothing. I'm not going through that door." Remus stuck his chin out. He had no idea what could be beyond and he had no intention of finding out. "And I shan't help you open the door, either. If you want to go past it and—and get killed that's your business!"

"How else are we going to get out of here?!" Peter cried out.

"I—you—you don't know for sure there's another exit beyond," Remus said, tugging at his hair even more. Sirius still had his hands on him which gave him the feeling of being trapped. "Maybe all that is past the door is a big room and a thing!"

"A thing," James echoed.

"Yes!" Remus tore himself away from Sirius. "A THING! A big, monstrous thing that scares a WEREWOLF! There's got to be another way out. One of the—there's got to be an exit somewhere!"

"Where?" Sirius asked. "Where? We've looked all over!"

Remus looked at the walls and went over, rapping his knuckles against it. "There has to be hidden rooms behind some of these walls, we—we can try to—to figure out a way in."

James folded his arms. "You're strong, but strong enough to break down a thick stone wall?" Remus stared helplessly at the wall, knowing he couldn't before they started going hungry. James reached for him. "Remus—"

"No!" He staggered away. "No. I'm not going!"

With that he turned on his heels and ran off, away from the passage that led to the stone door. He didn't care about stupid it was to go off on his own in a maze. All he wanted to do—all the wolf wanted to do—was put as much space between him and the door as possible.

He heard his friends following him, calling his name.

He kept going, darting down passages until he ended up at the stairwell. As he stared at it, the others caught up to him, Sirius yelling at him for running off like that.

"There—we can figure something out through the cavern," Remus suggested, thinking of the lake, thinking of how it had to somehow connect to the Black Lake. "Please. Give—give me some time to think, at least? To—to try to come up with a plan that doesn't involve—" running right into the arms of Slytherin's monster, "—the stone door? Please? An hour, a—a half an hour."

James opened his mouth but it was Peter that spoke. "I think that's probably a better idea." They were all a little startled. "What? I think we should trust him, if he thinks going past the stone door is dangerous then—then maybe we shouldn't."

Remus gave him a grateful smile. James and Sirius reluctantly agreed and soon they were sloshing their way back to the cavern. It was awful getting back in the water, but better there than the stone door. At least this time they knew what to expect and the trip back through the partially submerged passage wasn't quite as bad, though with as tired as they were it did take them more effort to push their way through the water. At one point they stopped, hearing a splashing sound ahead of them.

"What was that?" Peter whispered, hand reaching out, fingers digging into Remus's shirt.

"P… probably a fish?" James asked.

"If—if there are fish why didn't we see or hear them before?" Peter whispered.

James hesitated then went underwater, his light looking very strange. Soon he came back up. "I didn't see anything," he said.

"What do we do?" Sirius asked.

None of them spoke as they huddled up together, looking at the darkness beyond their light. There wasn't any more splashing, no sounds whatsoever except the gentle lapping of the water and a dripping somewhere.

"We should go back," James said. "To the stone door."

"No!" Remus stepped forward. "No, it was only a fish."

Sirius snagged his arm, pulling him back, nearly sending him under the surface. "You can't be sure."

"I'm more sure that whatever splashed in the water is safer than whatever is behind the door. I—I can lead the way." He pulled free from Sirius and kept going, hoping they couldn't sense how nervous he felt… wondering if whatever was behind the stone door could get out other ways… though he thought if it was whatever was behind the stone door, his wolf would get agitated again.

When he reached where the splashing was, he hesitated before plunging forward. Nothing touched him, nothing moved, and they didn't encounter anything else before reaching dry land again.

Most of the magelights had faded and Remus put a few up to give them light. To give him some light as he stared out at the smooth, dark surface of water. The others sat down while Remus stood, trying to think of something. Peter sat near Remus, while the other two went off to a far off section for some semblance of privacy. Remus figured they were mad at him, which was fine. Let them be mad at him, he was only trying to save their lives.

Bubble-Head charm, he thought, tugging at his bottom lip, ignoring the fact his hand was grimy, bloody, and disgusting. He tried the incantation on himself with no result. Not that he expected one, as he wasn't a hundred percent sure what the proper wand movement was. Plus it was a sixth year spell. It was something he'd need to seriously practice for a while to use correctly.

Not to mention he couldn't swim so he'd have to hope the others got out safely without being there to help if whatever spell he used to get them in the water started wearing off.

"…dying would please your parents?" he heard James whispering.

Sirius was very quiet and Remus thought he wouldn't answer. Until, "I think they'd prefer it if Regulus was the Black Heir. Of course, considering the predicament we're in, that very well may happen."

"Sirius, I…"

"What?" Sirius snorted. "You know perfectly well my parents aren't exactly the caring sort."

"Yeah, I guess, it's just…"

"Anyway, enough of that," Sirius said quickly, before James could say anything else on the matter. "What do you think is behind the door?"

Remus held his breath, waiting for James's answer.

"Nothing. I think he's just… really on edge and anxious. Which I get, after what happened."

"He almost died."

"Yeah."

"I'm glad you—you—" Sirius stopped, unable to finish the sentence. "I couldn't have done that. I… can barely swim. I don't think I could have done that."

"I've been swimming most my life. Good thing my dad literally threw me in the duck pond when I was a toddler and told me to 'go for it'." James let out a laugh. "Mum was screaming at him. But I kicked and got back to the edge and said 'again!'. He—they—my—" Then James stopped, getting choked up. "We'll get out of here. Won't we?"

"Of course. You'll see them again soon."

Remus walked away from them even though he couldn't really get away from their voices. Nothing, he thought, clenching his teeth. James didn't believe him. On edge because of my near death experience, right. He began pacing as he tried to figure out a way out. If he couldn't figure something out before time was up then the others would go and—

What am I saying? I'll end up going with them despite the danger, he thought, wrapping his arms around himself as he stared down into the water. One for all, all for one, and four to the end.

If we can't go underwater… He switched his gaze to the dark ceiling. "Lumhalden!" He shot a light out at where he thought the pipe was. The ceiling arched high above them, the pipe a dark circle somewhere above the center of the lake. The pipe was far too narrow for a LiftAway. But if one of them somehow got up there, they could bring the broom back.

After a few minutes Peter went over to the others and all three were discussing the stone door, what might be behind it, and how to get past. Whether they'd need a password or if Remus would be able to get it open with his strength. Remus kept his eyes on the ceiling, acting as if he hadn't heard them make decisions for him. I'd go with them if they open the door, but I am NOT opening the door, they'll have to find another way.

He began pacing again, rubbing his arms then pushing his hands inside his sleeves to scratch at his skin while he tried to think, tried to think harder! There had to be a way back up through the pipe! Ugh, why couldn't it be big enough for a LiftAway? Why does it have to be so narrow?!

Then he stopped in his tracks.

Narrow.

He slowly held up his hands, holding them out to where he remembered the sides of the pipe were. When he had been sliding down he had tried to put his hands against the sides to slow his descent. It didn't work as he had been going too fast to really do much and his elbow had been hurting at the time. But…

If I'm not sliding down… if I… could I? He stared at the dark hole for another few seconds then ran over to his friends.

"I think I can go back up the pipe!" Peter smiled though James and Sirius definitely looked doubtful. "No, I can!" He pointed up at the ceiling. "It's too narrow for a LiftAway."

"Yes, we went over this," Sirius said.

Remus grinned. "I can put my hands and feet on the side. I used to do it at home, in the doorways!" He spread his arms and legs. "Like this! I used to climb up the inside of some of the doorways in my house like this when I was younger. Plus I can have a partially inflated LiftAway to help me. While I can't have it inflated enough to properly carry me up, it—it could help me climb!"

They got to their feet, looking back and forth between Remus and the ceiling.

"That seems like a dangerous plan," Peter said, grimacing.

"No, it could work," James said. "I know what you're talking about. I used to do it too. No, that could work. Then I could go get—"

"Your broom," Remus finished for him. "I mean, I can go get your broom—"

"No, I'll climb," James said, rolling his sleeves up.

"I can climb," Sirius offered. "I'm the oldest, I should do it."

Remus grabbed his left arm, holding it up. "With this injury? Don't be ridiculous. No. It makes the most sense for me—"

"No, it makes the most sense for me," James cut him off. "I'm the most athletic."

"I'm the one who got us into this," Remus said flatly. "Besides. You may be more athletic but I am stronger. And smaller. The LiftAway will help me the most. Plus—" He stopped himself before saying it. "Plus it makes the most sense for me."

"Plus what?" James asked.

"Nothing," Remus said.

Unfortunately Sirius worked it out very quickly. "Plus you're a werewolf," he said.

"What does that have to do with climbing a pipe?" Peter wanted to know.

Sirius raised an eyebrow and Remus averted his gaze. "Am I right?"

"Um. Well. It—it—"

"I'm confused," James said, scratching his head.

Sirius kept staring and Remus pressed his lips thin, not wanting to answer. "Fine," Sirius said. "Am I right in thinking the 'plus' you didn't say is you heal?" Remus ducked his head, nodding. "He thinks it'd be safest if he goes up because if he falls and gets hurt, he'll just heal up while we wouldn't. Right?"

"Yes," Remus whispered, rubbing his elbow miserably.

"Remus!" James gasped out.

Remus took in a deep breath. "What? It's true! We're all damn lucky none of us got seriously injured in that fall!"

"But there's water," said Peter, obviously confused. "How could we get hurt?"

"You can still hurt yourself falling into water," Remus explained. "Or one of us could have easily knocked our head against the metal pipe. There are loads of ways we could have gotten hurt, which means it makes the most sense for me to take the risk."

"Aren't you afraid of heights?" Sirius asked.

Remus shuddered, wishing he hadn't been reminded of the heights thing. "I'm not going to argue about it. Besides, James, if you fall and do get hurt, who can save you? Sirius and Peter aren't as strong as swimmers. You need to be ready to swim for me."

"All four of us fell in the water without injury!" he argued.

Remus craned his neck back, looking at the drop. "Perhaps it isn't far enough to cause injury however, do you want to risk it? You want to bet your life on it?" His voice hitched a bit as he spoke and he felt tears threatening to well up at the thought of James breaking his neck by hitting the water wrong, or cracking his head against the pipe and being unconscious when he plunged into the water. "My life is the only one that can be bet on it." He looked back down, staring into James's eyes. "Please."

James looked absolutely furious. "Fine," he hissed out. "You really think this is safer than—than the stone door?"

Remus jutted his chin out. "I think jumping off the Astronomy tower is safer than facing whatever is behind that stone door. Yes. This is safer."

Within five minutes James, Sirius, and Remus all had LiftAways attached to their waists. The plan was for all three of them to float to the pipe, and James would help him get into the pipe with the mostly deflated LiftAway. Sirius was going up because Remus had conjured up some rope and was thinking if he used a permanent sticking charm on the end he could maneuver it up the pipe and stick it, and that could help him too.

The first thing they did was use a length of rope with the sticking charm to get it attached near the pipe, so when the three boys began floating they could drag themselves over. Remus sorta hoped he had misremembered the size of the pipe, and the LiftAway would be big enough but the closer they got to it the more he knew that wasn't going to happen.

Once they were bunched up at the bottom of the pipe, Remus sent a magelight up. The pipe was slightly angled, but straight enough that he could sorta see the opening into the tunnel. It was… a lot longer of a way up than he initially thought.

Remus cut the rope, leaving an inch permanently stuck to the cavern ceiling. Sirius used another permanent sticking charm on the newly made end, and Remus used the levitation charm to get it up, being very careful not to let it touch the edges. It was slow going but finally he reached what he was sure was the top part of the broken section of pipe. He stuck it to the pipe then tugged at the rope. It held firm.

"I can do this," James said as Remus began deflating his LiftAway.

"You need to be ready to save me if I fall," Remus pointed out. "You promised you'd save my life again anyway, remember?"

Then suddenly Sirius swung him around to face him. "Be careful," he said, silvery eyes boring into Remus's soul.

"I—I will," he promised, feeling rather delirious as the urge to just kiss him surged through his body. What the hell?! "I'll be fine."

He began sinking down and both boys grabbed him, pulling him up awkwardly. He used the rope to help haul himself up. The permanent sticking charm was strong but he didn't want to rely too much on it, because he wasn't sure if it was all the way to the broken section.

His legs flailed as he started drooping more and it took a lot of effort to push the mostly deflated LiftAway up into the pipe then pull himself up. With James's help he managed and soon his feet were pressed up on either side of the pipe.

He flicked the LiftAway's switch to stop it from deflating more. It barely tugged at him, nowhere near as much help as he thought it might be.

"All right there?" Sirius called up.

Remus looked down past his legs at his friends' pale faces trying to peer around their LiftAways. "Yes. I'm going now!"

This was stupid. Stupid, dumb, and reckless. But I can do it, he thought as he pulled himself upwards, shuffling his feet up the sides of the pipe. It was very clear that the LiftAway was getting too much in the way so he deflated it all the way and shoved it in his pocket. So much for that.

Here goes. He grit his teeth and began slowly pulling himself up, sliding his feet, trying not to wince in pain at his bare foot getting scraped up. Thank Merlin he was a werewolf, and the rust wouldn't infect his bloodstream. Maybe should have borrowed a shoe.

"All right?" Sirius called again.

"Yes, I'm doing all right," he promised. His foot hurt and his arms were already tired but he was fine. He had to be fine. He had to do this to get his friends out of the… whatever the hell the maze was. And to keep them away from whatever the well was behind the door.

Grunting, he pulled himself up some more then gasped as the pipe rattled. He swayed and then put a hand out for extra balance.

"What was that?" James asked.

"Nothing," Remus shouted down past his legs. "The pipe shifted a little, it's okay."

He waited a moment then began pulling himself some more, a little quicker. At one point he stopped to wipe the blood off the bottom of his foot onto his jeans then resumed his journey. Which didn't last very long, at least like that. He had just pulled himself up another couple of feet when he heard a loud cracking sound. The pipe rattled harder and the rope went slack. Remus began sliding down and he threw his hands out against the sides of the pipe, managing to stop himself.

"WATCH OUT!" he screamed, leaning back as the rope went past him along with a broken section of pipe which clipped his shoulder, cutting a two inch long gash. He sagged, using every last reserve to keep himself held up. "WATCH OUT!"

"What the—"

"AAACK!"

"JAMES!?"

"I'm fine!" James panted out, and Remus heard a distant splash. "It punctured my LiftAway. I'm going to go back down to the floor."

"I'm staying here," Sirius added. "In case…"

"You can't catch me if I fall," Remus snapped, then took in a couple of deep, calming breaths. "Okay. As long as everyone is fine. I'm going to keep going. Wait. Here. Catch this." He pulled the LiftAway out of his pocket. Pushing himself back, he got his wand out to use the levitation charm on it. Weakly. Slowly it floated down the pipe and he removed the spell when he heard Sirius shout that he got it.

Now he really had to do it like he did in the doorways. Inch by inch he made his way upwards, hands and feet against the pipe. His arms began aching like nobody's business but he was getting closer.

Somewhat.

You can do it, you can do it, you can do it! Also note to self: learn spells to breathe underwater. Or the summoning spell to summon James's broom.

He thought back to the last time he had done this at home. How old had he been? Eight? He remembered his mother giggling as he shimmied his way up the inside of the doorway. He had slid a little and jerked his foot hard against the wood to stop himself which wound up cracking the wood. The two of them stared at the crack for a moment before Hope walked over, helping him down. Lyall had yelled at Remus that night, berating him for being so careless with his wolf strength.

Remus hesitated for a second, glancing at the pipe around him. He had broken some of the pipe already, though that was without his strength. What happened if he put his hand too forcefully against the metal and bent it? Buckled it? Broke it? Sent himself tumbling down?

No, don't think of it. Focus on climbing. Okay. Ouch! No, you're fine Remus, you're fine.

The pipe felt so closed in around him and for once he didn't feel safe inside a confined area. He felt trapped. Dizzy. It was difficult to breathe. He wanted to cry, to let go and tumble down the pipe into the cold water.

Think of them. Think of your friends.

He pushed himself up another foot or so, his arms and leg shaking now. It would have been easier if he didn't need to be careful about pushing too hard. He had to have enough pressure to carry himself along without putting so much strength against the pipe that it potentially broke.

How much longer could he do this? Would it have been better to let James go up? Would he have been able to do this? He probably would have had an easier time—except, no. If James had gone up and things had gone the same way that would mean James would be the one hit by the bit of pipe and gashed open. And he wouldn't have been able to heal from that.

Whoever was supposed to keep up this pipe did a crap job! I wonder who put this pipe here and why. Why did they abandon it?

Trying to keep himself from making too many loud sounds—not wanting to worry his friends—Remus pushed himself farther. He wanted to scream or cry or yell. His body was wobbly, feeling like it was getting weaker with each passing second—

He took another brief break, only resting for a couple seconds before pushing himself up more. The blood really didn't help. The rust also didn't help. At least the gash had healed so there wasn't more blood dripping out.

His arms ached, his legs ached, and he desperately wanted to stop. To rest. It felt like he had been in the pipe for an hour though it couldn't have been very long at all. How far to the top? He glanced up, feeling like the light above him had gotten even farther though he knew he was closer.

Look, the top is right there. A few more feet. You can do it.

Gritting his teeth, he continued pushing himself up.

I wonder who made the tunnels above. Why? Were they really looking for the Chamber? Well if they were, they certainly found it! I wonder how they got out of this mess?

"Almost there!" he called out. He could see the edge of the pipe now. The jagged edge that cut Sirius which was… strangely poking outward. That made no sense. The jagged edges should be going inward, not outward; that made it look like someone had blasted their way out of the pipe which was—

Not important, he chided himself as he carefully sent out another magelight to see where to grab. There was a section that wasn't quite as broken as the rest. It wasn't… smooth… but not quite as… sharp.

Okay. Okay Remus Lupin. You can do this. You have to do this. You'll heal. It's only a bit of pain then it'll be fine.

He steeled himself then pushed himself up the last bit before reaching over, grabbing the edge of the pipe. A piece sliced into his skin and he bit down on his tongue to prevent himself from crying out, knowing it would worry Sirius. He grabbed with his other hand and it got sliced up too.

Swearing softly he pulled himself up, crying soon from the metal digging into his flesh. The pipe creaked ominously, bending a bit under his light weight. He kicked against the other side of the pipe to propel himself forward and then he was on the tunnel floor.

"Shit," he whispered out loud. "I did it. I did it. I DID IT!"

"Remus?"

Laughing and crying all at the same time, he sat up, ignoring the blood pouring from his hands. "I did it!" he called down the pipe. "I—" Something hit his head. Nothing big, just a small bit of rock. "Incoming!" he called out as the rock clattered down the pipe. Now where did that come from?

He looked up and saw what happened immediately. The rope had been stuck to the top section of the pipe, in the ceiling, and Remus pulling himself on the rope had broken the bit of pipe off. That seemed to loosen some of the rock around it which must have been weakened from the tunnel blasting.

Remus pushed himself away from the edge of the pipe, seeing and hearing the rocky ceiling of the tunnel shifting a little. There were spiderweb cracks that spread as he sat there staring, bits of fine rock drifting down.

Oh.

Shit.

A million thoughts raced through his head before he conjured another length of rope, this one draining his energy as he made it as long as he could. "Change of plans!" he shouted as he tore off part of his sleeve. He used the sticking spell and stuck the folded up sleeve to pad a section of the edge of the pipe where it wasn't sharp. He then let the rope fall down the pipe. "I'm going to pull you guys up!"

"What?!" Sirius's voice was far away. "That's stupid! Go get the broom!"

"I don't think I have time!" he shouted back. "I don't know the way back to the pit where we left it, it'll take ages to find it! Get the others. I'll pull you up!" Would that work? They had two LiftAways. "Does the rope go down to the water?"

"What's going on? Why don't we have time?"

"Does the rope go down to the water?!"

"Yes!" Sirius snapped back. "Now why are you insisting on dragging us up instead of getting the damn broom?!"

Another small rock fell. Remus swallowed, trying his best not to let his fear consume him.

"Because I think Peter was right. Now get the others!"

He stood up, tying the rope tight around his waist. He thought about how long it might take to pull them up through the pipe versus how long it would take him to find his way out of the tunnels. It had taken a long time for him and Aegis to get to this section in the first place, and even longer for the Marauders. He seriously doubted he'd be able to get to the pit and back again, and fly down there for a rescue… first off, would there even be enough room in the pipe for James to maneuver the broom well with a second person on the broom? Even if he could he'd have to go down, get another, go down, get the third.

They did not have time for that.

"I'll come up first," Sirius shouted. "Then Peter, then James!"

"Just hurry!"

Remus took several steps back, wrapping the rope around his arms, bracing himself. Okay wolf, I need all your strength. You destroyed my life, now you're going to help save theirs.

The rope went taut then heavy. Remus slipped a little then he pulled back, gritting his teeth so hard it hurt. He took a step back then another step. Sirius's weight was heavier than he expected and the rope bit into his arms and hands. He was exhausted, dizzy, sick, and hurting, but by God he was going to get them out.

Go faster, he thought. Come on Sirius, climb faster!

Except with his injured arm it would be hard.

"I'm going to pull you up!" he called out then, without waiting for a response, began backing up, pulling the heavy rope. There was a slight yelp and he paused. Sirius said he was fine so Remus resumed pulling until—

Sirius's wavy hair popped up at the edge and the weight lessened as he grabbed onto the tunnel floor, dragging himself up.

"What's the rush?!" he demanded, panting hard.

The tunnel decided to answer by sending another bit of rock down.

"Cave-in," Remus said lightly. "Come on, then. Up, up."

"Shit!"

"Yes, exactly, now hurry up please!"

He pulled Sirius up the rest of the way then they sent the rope back down for Peter. With Sirius helping (sorta, with one arm) it was a lot easier. They kept having to warn Pete when rocks fell which was happening a lot more.

There was a loud crack as a large chunk of rock above the pipe shifted down slightly.

Oh God no, no, no, Remus thought, his stomach clenching as he was terrified they wouldn't have time to get James out.

"Oof!" Peter appeared at the edge and Remus held onto the rope while Sirius went over to pull Peter up.

More rocks fell, one of them the size of Remus's fist.

"James, change of plans," he called down after sending the rope down for the last time. "Wrap it around your waist, knot it, and hold on tight!"

"Excuse me?!"

"HOLD! ON! TIGHT! Ready?"

"I think so?"

Remus made sure the rope was firm around his waist and arms then he turned around, digging his feet into the ground as he rushed forward; he was fully pulling James up, not wanting to wait for James to climb. Like what he did with Sirius, only faster. Much faster. Sirius and Peter stared with wide eyes, while James shrieked as he was hauled up the pipe. Remus heard more rocks falling, the pipe shaking, and the ceiling shifting.

"SHIT!" Peter screamed as the rope went slack.

Remus fell forward and rolled over, heart pounding. No. No. NO!

"JAMES?!" he sobbed out, rolling onto his backside, afraid James had fallen.

But no, James was there. Peter had screamed because rocks were falling faster and bigger now; one struck James's shoulder.

Sirius ran over, grabbing James with his right hand, getting him to his feet.

"Run!" Remus shouted and the four of them ran as the tunnel behind them rumbled and shook, rocks falling. The shaking made it hard to move so they all dove to the floor, huddled together as they watched the tunnel cave in behind them, mere seconds after getting James out of there.

Then the rumbling stopped. The tunnel finished collapsing, and the pipe was buried under tons of rubble.

All four boys stared in shock. Then Peter began crying. Remus followed suit, then James, and finally Sirius. They all clung to each other tightly, sobbing. Remus wasn't sure how long they were like that until they pulled apart, wiping their faces off and taking in deep breaths.

They looked back again at the collapsed section of tunnel, at the dust settling.

Then Peter wiped his nose and, with a sniffle, pointed at the cave-in and said, "I told you so."