Chapter Six

The day dawned so bitterly cold that icicles hung from the castle's overhangs, the sky a steely dim white. The grounds were covered in layer of fragile white frost, so that the last scant blades of grass pushing up from the rock-hard ground crunched underfoot. Now well into December, hardly anyone ventured into the frozen grounds.

Severus could see Regulus hovering near the Willow from a mile away - wrapped in a heavy dark green travelling cloak, hopping anxiously from foot to foot well out of the tree's reach, shooting apprehensive glances at it's flailing, creaking branches. The boy couldn't have been more obvious. Raising his eyes heavenwards in annoyance, Severus strode forward quickly and silently towards him. He knew that to anyone who happened to glance idly out of a window in the castle at that moment they would be extremely visible.

"Black!" he hissed furiously, and Regulus swung around, grinning widely, nervously.

"Snape," he began, but before he could get any further, Severus grabbed hold of his cloak and dragged him around the tree and out of sight of the castle.

"Are you completely stupid? Waiting here in a travelling cloak, of all things? Bloody hell…" Severus said, exasperated. Regulus looked sulky.

"No one saw me leave," He muttered. "They wouldn't have been looking for me,"

"It doesn't matter whether they were looking for you or not! Anyone can look out of a window!" Severus snapped, scowling. But he did not push the matter and instead began to look all around him, left and right, his eyes fixed on the ground. Regulus gave him an odd look.

"Erm….what are you looking for?" He asked, obviously keen to get going.

"A stick," Severus replied shortly. "A long one."

Regulus eyes widened in apprehension.

"Why? Merlin, I didn't know I was that visible from the castle, you don't have to go mental over it."

Severus finally located a long, thin branch lying near enough to the Whomping Willow that he had to duck as low as possible to reach for it under the tree's thrashing limbs. He pulled it out and shot Regulus a contemptuous look as the younger boy took several steps back.

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm not going to hit you with it, you idiot." He snarled.

Regulus visibly relaxed. Then his brows contracted again.

"Then what are you doing?"

Severus sighed and turned to face the Willow.

"See that knot? Right down at the bottom, near the base of the trunk? Watch," and he used the stick to reach through the dangerous branches of the tree until it touched the knot gently. To Regulus' amazement, the tree froze completely, and Severus strode forward quickly, dropping the stick. Hurrying after him, Regulus watched as he lowered himself through a large gap in the roots, which he now saw led to a low underground passage. Gaping, he followed Severus through into the passage.

"Lumos," Severus muttered in the dark. He heard Regulus slide through the gap in the roots behind him .

"Come on. Light your wand," He bit out, striding ahead. He heard Black whisper the spell and begin to follow him.

"How did you find this?"

Severus grimaced in the darkness. The one question he'd hoped would not be asked. Memories flooded his mind, of half crouching as he hurried down this same tunnel, unknowingly heading towards Remus Lupin in his werewolf form….Memories better forgotten.

"By chance,".

The rest of the journey in the tunnel passed in silence, until it finally began to twist upwards and the two emerged into a building, eliciting yet another gasp of surprise from Regulus.

"This - this is the Shrieking Shack!"

He seemed to suddenly register what he was saying, and lifted his wand defensively, an expression of fear creeping over his face.

"The ghosts-" He whispered, but Severus was too wound up from another sleepless night combined with irritating presence of Regulus Black to let him go on, and he whirled around.

"There are none! This place is empty! Hurry up," He said, striding out of the door. Regulus made a face and followed him out to the hill on which the Shack was situated, overlooking the village of Hogsmeade.

"How d'you know?" He asked, unwilling to let it go.

"Because - because -" Severus was momentarily lost for words in his frustration. "I just do. Stop asking me so many bloody questions,". He glared and Regulus held up his hands, surrendering although a defiant glimmer flashed in his eyes.

"Alright, alright…We need to get a move on. It'll take us about an hour and half from here," he began to make his way down the hill. Severus frowned.

"What, you mean walking?"

Regulus looked taken aback. He stopped and stared up at Severus.

"Well…we've got no other mode of transport have we? It's not like we can go zooming around on brooms in plain view of everyone."

Severus shot him a disbelieving look, but once glance was enough to tell him Regulus was being serious. Annoyed, he motioned Regulus to come back up the hill. When they were face to face, he took out his wand.

"I'm not walking" he stated. Not sure what to say, Regulus shrugged. "I'm not walking for an hour and a half to get to this 'gathering'. That's ridiculous," Severus continued. Regulus flinched and opened his mouth, but Severus motioned him to be silent. "Now. Where is this thing happening?" He demanded.

"I-I…Well, I've got an address. I've never been there before. I just have this," Regulus admitted. He delved into his pocket and produced a torn-off piece of parchment. Taking it, Severus frowned as he read; The Fourth Field, Dolohov Grounds. The Gathering will take place here at 2.00 o'clock, Friday the 15th of December.

"Dolohov's pretty much an open supporter of Voldemort. He's rich too, massive house and all that. His grounds aren't that far from here. Bellatrix sent me a map with the route marked out and everything…I just reckoned we'd walk, you know…" He trailed off.

Severus stared down at the parchment in his hands. Something was nagging at him, some clue he knew he was missing, but that he could not quite place.

"I know who Dolohov is. I remember him - a friend of Lucius' " He muttered, his concentration elsewhere… Merlin, wit was driving him mad! What was it he couldn't see about all this? And then it clicked. So obvious… He almost laughed out loud.

"Black, you must be one of the most stupid beings on the planet. This isn't just an invitation - it's a portkey."