In incredulity, I stared through the hole I'd made.
"What is it?" James demanded.
"It's Adhara!" I reached my hand out and managed to touch her feathers. "How did she find us?"
"Never mind that, do you think we can use her to take a message to Mum or Dad?" James was pacing around restlessly; I could hear him. "We don't have any paper or anything…"
"I know!" I yelled suddenly.
"Ouch! Keep it quiet!" James said angrily. "We don't want Pettigrew down here, you know."
"Sorry. I just thought of something, that's all. I'll give her my bracelet. Mum gave it to me last Christmas, she'll recognize it."
"Good idea," James agreed. I took my bracelet and thrust it through the hole.
"Adhara, take this to Mum! Mum, Adhara, go, please!" I didn't know if she could understand me, but she took the bracelet in her beak and flew off. I watched her go. "Oh, please get there," I whispered.
Clouds rolled in and it began to rain. I put the bricks that I had removed back so that the rain wouldn't come in and make me wet. Since the mortar was gone, it wouldn't take long to get them back out. But the blackness that fell once more in the cell seemed even darker now.
Light appeared again, far off, the torchlight that accompanied our meals. I was a bit surprised; it hadn't been that long since we'd last been fed. Perhaps Pettigrew thought we'd be willing to do whatever he wanted us to. If he did, he was sadly mistaken.
But it wasn't Pettigrew or any of the guards we'd seen. The person who stood now in our tower prison was a woman. She was a rather beautiful woman, too. She had very light blond hair and blue eyes. Her red lips were curled in scorn as she looked at us. When she finally spoke, her voice seemed colder than the stones on which I lay.
"So," she said. "The Black twins. I had wondered when I'd meet you, but your mother doesn't seem to invite many of her old school friends to visit." She smiled spitefully. "Of course, who could blame her? Why would any of them associate with her, other than the werewolf..."
"Don't say things like that about my mother!" James yelled. From the shadows, I knew he'd just leapt to his feet and was shaking his fist at the woman.
"As impetuous as your father," the woman said, again smiling. "Perhaps you should remember where it got him. He could have been one of the most powerful men in the world, you know, if he'd chosen. I wasn't even that surprised when I learned he'd married your mother. He and his friends never knew what was best for them."
"Better in Azkaban than a traitor," I said bravely. "Better dead than working for – for Voldemort!" I yelled the name as loudly as I could.
"I see we have lots to work on," the woman said unpleasantly. "I'm glad Pettigrew fetched me before he could botch the job too badly." She laughed. "We'll be spending more time together later, dears. Goodbye for now." She swept off out of the cells, taking the torch with her.
"Who do you think that was?" James asked quietly.
"I have no idea," I whispered back. "I don't like her at all, though. And – I mean, I really hate Pettigrew, but he seems different, somehow. He's evil, but he's such a coward that even when he's threatening us I'm not too scared. But her, she's different."
"Yeah," James said quietly. "She's evil, too, but she's really terrifying. I think I'd rather face Pettigrew."
"Me too," I said, and shivered. It wasn't from the chill.
Jenny flew against the storm. She had no idea where she was anymore, and was having to employ every trick she'd ever learned, just to stay on. She knew she should have landed when the sky first began to darken, but she'd hoped to outrun the storm. Now it was too later; she'd never land safely in this. All she could hope to do was outride it.
I really don't have any more sense than Sirius does, she thought fiercely. Much good I'm going to do James and Lily if I get killed like this. She couldn't see anything more than a foot from the end of her broom, the winds were spinning her about, and she was sopping wet. She also hadn't eaten since she'd left her home that morning. She had no idea how high above the ground she was, either. She peered through the storm, trying to see what lay ahead of her.
Suddenly, in front of her, she saw a gigantic tree. She tried to swerve away, but she was too late.
Crash! She smashed hard against the trunk and fell eight feet to the ground. Something in her arm cracked, and she felt a burst of pain. She let out one shout of anguish, and then everything went dark.
Padfoot was curled up under a tree, trying to avoid the storm. His senses, however, were very alert, so he heard the distant shriek, barely audible over the storm. It was a woman's voice, terrified and in pain.
Padfoot knew whose voice it was, knew instinctively that Jenny was out there, hurt. He loped off in the direction the scream had come from, still in dog form. Really, in this storm, there wasn't any other way to travel. He had no idea why Jenny would be there, in this storm, but didn't waste any time pondering the matter.
He arrived at the foot of a great tree on the outskirts of the small wood. Jenny lay still and white, her left arm bent at a horrible angle behind her. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was very irregular.
In an instant, Padfoot transformed and Sirius crouched by his wife. He felt her pulse, noted that it was strong, and pulled out his wand. He hadn't wanted to use magic, for fear of who it might attract, but now he had no choice. With a few well chosen spells, he shut the wind and rain off from the two of them. He did his best to make Jenny more comfortable, straightening her broken arm out gently. He looked at it, considered setting it while she was unconscious, and rejected it as beyond his capabilities. With another wave of his wand, the air inside the magical shelter warmed considerably.
Now Jenny' breathing was more regular, and Sirius sighed with relief. He wondered why she was out here, and glanced around to see if there was any trace of how she'd arrived. He saw an old broom lying near the foot of the tree.
"So she flew in a storm like this," he mused, shaking his head. "How she can say that I'm an idiot when she goes and pulls a fool stunt like that…"
He heard a soft noise from behind him and turned. She was blinking slowly, trying her best to sit up.
"Don't move," he said. She stared at him.
"Sirius?" she whispered weakly. "What are you doing here?"
"Same thing you are, I'm sure," he said softly. "Waiting for the storm to die down so that I can keep hunting Pettigrew." Jenny grinned and then grimaced in pain.
"Is my arm broken?" she asked.
"Yes," Sirius told her. "I needed you awake before I could set it. Whenever you feel up to it, I'll try."
"No point in putting it off," Jenny sighed. She started to struggle upright again. Sirius helped her, setting her back against the tree.
"So, why were you flying in this weather?" he asked her.
"I thought I could outrun the storm," she said. "And I didn't want to have to wait for it to be over. I've done enough waiting in the past three weeks."
"Are there any developments?" Sirius asked sharply. "Is that why you're here?"
"Pettigrew sent me another letter," she sighed. "He knows you're after him still. He –offered us a deal; if we promised not to oppose Voldemort, our children would be released and we'd be allowed to live as we liked."
"Jenny," Sirius began slowly, "You know that I could never ever agree to those terms."
"Of course I know that!" she snapped, her eyes full of tears. "And I won't either. Even if we could trust Pettigrew –or Voldemort, for that matter – I wouldn't agree." She broke down crying. "But oh, Voldemort's taken so much from me. My parents, my best friends, you for all those years… and now he's trying to take my children."
"He won't," Sirius promised, drawing her close to him and speaking softly. "We'll get them out, Jenny, I promise we will." He stroked her hair gently. She sobbed harder for a moment, then drew back from him.
"Let's set this now," she said, indicating her arm. "At least then that'll be over with."
"All right," Sirius said. "This – I'm not very good with those healing charms, Jenny, and I'll have to put a cast on it, because I know I can't heal it all the way."
"All right," she agreed. "What do you need me to do?"
"Hold very still," he said. She nodded, held out her arm, and bit her lips. He took her arm as gently as he could, pulled it out straight, and concentrated. "Ossum restitui." he muttered. Jenny gave a cry of pain, briefly, and then sighed. Sirius conjured up a cast around the arm, and she leaned back.
"Well, I sure won't be able to fly now," she said ruefully, looking at the arm. "Thank you, though, it feels a lot better."
"I'm sorry I had to be so rough," he apologised.
"That's hardly the worst I've felt in my life," she commented dryly. "So, exactly where are we?"
"A little forest about ten miles from the castle where I think the twins are being held," he said. Jenny leapt up.
"Where?" She looked ready to dash off immediately.
"Jenny, we'll never get anywhere in this storm. We have to wait for it to blow over."
"Do you know anything about this castle?"
"As best as I can tell, there are about thirty of Voldemort's supporters in the castle. There could be more, though."
"Thirty to two?"
"Pretty good odds, I'd say," Sirius said, trying to grin. For just an instant Jenny caught a glimpse, in his eyes, of the man who she had know years ago. She smiled too.
"Well, they sure made a mistake when they kidnapped our children," she declared. "Even if Voldemort himself is there, he won't stop us."
"How could he?" Sirius asked. "The two of us together… invincible, I'd say."
"Or at least very very stupid," she agreed. "Then I suppose I should try to get some rest if we're leaving when the storm gets over."
"I agree," Sirius said. "I think I'll curl up as a dog, if you don't mind… it has a few advantages, one being that it's a lot more comfortable when you're sleeping out of doors."
Jenny smiled. "You know, I've heard a lot of women say that they've married dogs, but I think I'm the only one who actually has in the history of the world." They both laughed, and then Sirius transformed. He watched Jenny lie back against the moss and closed her eyes.
Padfoot was nervous, though. Something was not quite right. Animal instincts told him not to sleep, so he lay down and kept alert, ready to jump up at the slightest threat to him or Jenny.
A few minutes later he peered into the bush around him, sniffing the air. Something was nearby, but the storm was blowing the scent away from him. He could go try to find it, but that would leave Jenny alone. So he lay down again, still alert.
Suddenly something burst into the small sheltered area that he'd made. It was long and gray and covered in fur. Moony! the part of Padfoot that was a man realised. How could he not recognize the werewolf, when he'd seen him so often all those years ago? The wolf was making whimpering noises; it seemed to half-recognize Padfoot, but was torn between animal instincts and whatever bit of Remus remained. Then it spotted Jenny, who had not yet woken up, and dashed toward her, animal instincts winning out. Padfoot threw himself in front of the wolf, snarling. That woke Jenny up. She stood quickly and tried to climb the tree, but the first branch was too high for her to manage with her broken arm. She pulled out her wand and held it ready, but the two canines were so close together that she wasn't able to do anything to help Padfoot. Moony snarled and bit, trying to get free of the great black dog so that he could go after the human woman, but Padfoot refused to let him escape. The struggle took only a few minutes, but to Jenny it seemed an eternity. Finally Moony ran from Padfoot, whimpering. Perhaps running was the only way it could escape being torn between the desire to hunt and any human thought struggling through the wolf-mind. The black dog chased the wolf a short way before returning to the clearing and lying down, exhausted. He was too tired even to transform. Jenny knelt at his side.
"Oh, Sirius," she whispered as she saw the blood and the cuts on him. "My dear Sirius. Thank you." She treated the cuts as best she could and made him lay his head in her lap. Then she stroked his fur, her hand gentle and warm.
Jenny opened her eyes slowly. The sun was shining down. She stretched her arms above her head, her muscles stiff and sore. She'd gone to sleep sitting against the trunk of the tree and that was not exactly one of the most comfortable positions to be in.
Sirius raised his head from her lap, and she smiled at him. He stood too, and changed from dog into man.
"Last night," Jenny asked uncertainly, "was that Remus?"
"Yes," Sirius said. "I just hope he's all right."
"I was very scared there," Jenny admitted. She tried to think about what she was feeling, but couldn't. She'd had a glimpse last night of a side of Sirius he hadn't told her about; she wasn't really sure how she felt about the fact that he was an Animagus. Why can't I just say something to him? she wondered. I used to be able to say anything to him, to talk to him about everything, but now…She thought for a moment about this. It's been twelve years, she reminded herself. I've changed, he's changed… he has changed more than I have. What did Azkaban do to him? He isn't the same man I knew. She thought about the way they had been years ago, at school, how Sirius had been a joking, laughing prankster, but how he could be a devoted friend and comrade. He was alone in Azkaban for all those years, with nothing but Dementors around him. I still have nightmares about the times I've met Dementors, and those times were for a few minutes each. What would it have done to him, year after year? I'd have gone crazy. I think anyone else would have gone crazy, but not Sirius. But it has changed him. What does this mean for me, for the twins, for our lives? She couldn't find any answers.
Suddenly there came a crackle from behind her. She whirled and saw Remus, looking tired and gray, with a cut or two on his arms.
"Remus!" Sirius called. Jenny hurried over to her friend and tried to look at the cuts.
"I'm sorry," Remus was saying. "I found a hut in the woods a few days back, put some spells on it to keep me in, but it was too old, and last night I managed to get out. I – I might have killed you." He wouldn't look Jenny or Sirius in the face, and tried to pull his arm from Jenny. She hung on, regardless of the fact that she wore a cast.
"Nonsense, Remus," Jenny said firmly. "Sirius was here, wasn't he? I wasn't harmed in the least – which is more than I can say for you."
"How did you get here, anyway?" Remus asked. So Jenny told him about the second letter, and leaving to find the twins herself, and the storm.
"Sit down," Sirius said. "We've got to think how we're going to get the children out." So Jenny and Remus both sat on the ground and listened as Sirius began to outline his idea.
A hand was on my shoulder, shaking me awake. I opened my eyes and squinted, because whoever was waking me held a torch right above my head and the light was dazzling. I was hauled to my feet by the guard. James was also being woken, by another guard.
"Where are you taking us?" James asked, but neither answered. They marched us through the door of our prison and down a long, windy stair. I kept my eyes open, looking for a way to escape, but had found none when the guards halted in front of a pair of massive oak doors. One of the guards knocked shortly. The doors swung open. The beautiful woman we'd seen some time ago was in the room. green silk hangings decorated the room and soft flute music played in the background. She nodded to the guards, who left James and me and shut the doors.
"How nice to see you again," the woman said. "Sit down." She gestured to two comfortable looking seats. I glanced at James, who shrugged and sat. I followed suit.
"Why don't you have something to eat?" the woman invited, pointing to the table full of food beside us. Fresh fruits and delicious-looking sandwiches stood next to piles of chocolates and cakes. My stomach growled, but I didn't touch the food.
"And risk you poisoning us? No thanks," James said, crossing his arms.
"My dear children, I swear that nothing in that food will harm you," the woman said.
"I'm sure all of Voldemort's supporters can be trusted to keep their word," I said sarcastically.
"I never break my word," the woman said coldly. "And you keep a more civil tongue when you speak to me, young woman." I thought of sticking my tongue out at her, but didn't.
"Very well," the woman said, "as you won't eat…" she clapped her hands and the food vanished. The fire leapt up a little, and the room began to fill with sweet scents. The warmth, soft music, and good smells made me feel a little sleepy.
"Now, let us talk." I glanced at James. He still had his arms crossed, and didn't open his mouth. I mimicked him.
"Your mother has no doubt told you all about the Dark Lord," the woman said softly. "Hasn't she?"
"Of course," James said. "He's evil, and you're evil."
"My dear boy, I am no more evil than you are." She smiled at James. "It's simply that you are on the side that opposes us. If you were on our side, you would know that we are good, and that he is destined to rule the world."
"Not if I have anything to do with it," I muttered. I didn't mutter softly enough, though, for the woman shot me a glance, and a sharp pain crossed my head. I shook my head.
"Perhaps you do not know the full extent of his powers," she said simply, and turned back to James. "And of course your mother has not told you everything she knows. Why would you say that my master is evil?"
"He kills people," James said simply.
"My dear boy, your father has tried to kill several people in his life, and has not succeeded thanks only to his friends. How is he any different from my master?"
"My dad wouldn't do that!" I shouted.
"Wouldn't he?" the woman purred, smoothing her green silk dress. "When he was only sixteen, he tried to kill an enemy… it would have succeeded had a friend of your father's not risked his own life to save the other boy." She smiled coldly. "Your father was always interested in doing what he wanted, no matter what the cost to anyone else."
"That isn't true," I said. "If it were true, Mum would never have married him."
"Oh, yes, your perfect mother," she said softly. "Does it ever occur to you, my dear, that you may be a little too uncritical of your parents?" I didn't answer. She smiled again and pushed a loose tress behind her shoulder. "After all, your mother and father are not perfect."
"Well, at least my parents haven't tried to take over the world!" James answered. "Not like Voldemort." He scowled at her.
"No, but then neither has my master," the woman said softly. "He doesn't want to take over the world, you know. He just feels that it is his duty to help our kind against the Muggles. The current rulers of our kind are doing nothing to prevent Muggles from learning secrets that would make them dangerous to us. There are many more of them than of us, you know."
"He's evil!" I cried. She glanced at me again, and again a pain split my head. She snapped her fingers. The music increased in volume just a little, the perfume became more intense, and the room got warmer.
"Evil is a hard word," she said softly. "What do you call evil?"
"Well, bad," I said, struggling to think. "Doing things that hurt others."
'Then life itself is evil," the woman said slowly. "All life lives by killing other life. Humans live off of each other, exploiting each other for profit and satisfaction. Every relationship in life is based on struggling for power over others. Is that not evil?"
"No, that's not right," I said. I felt as though my brain was full of wool. "That isn't right… What about love?"
"What is love?" she asked softly. I noticed that her words almost fit the rhythm of the music.
"Love, it's when people care for each other and would do anything for each other," James said slowly. "It's the strongest thing in the world."
"But that is simply ridiculous," she said reasonably. "If you'd do anything for someone else, that means you might get hurt yourself."
"That's right," I said. "That's what makes love special."
"But that isn't wonderful," she said, again in a smooth, reasonable voice. "That's just silly. And if someone really loved you, would that person hurt you?"
"Of course not," James said.
"Well, let me show you some things," she said quietly. Suddenly, in the middle of the room, I saw images, about three feet high. I recognized them as my parents, but about sixteen years younger.
"Well, if that's how you're going to be, I don't see why I should bother talking to you anyway," my father was shouting.
"Just like any man," Mum yelled back. "Tell a girl he loves her, be wrong about one thing, and then walk out. Can't you apologize?"
"You're the one at fault here!"
"I am not!" She reached out and slapped him, hard. "I'm leaving now." She turned to go, and the scene faded. Another replaced it. It was my mother, all alone, talking to herself about how jealous she was of Lily. I thought she must be about fourteen years old in this image. It too faded, quickly, and was replaced by a different scene. The woman showed us about six different pictures of people we knew hurting each other.
"So you still think love is something good?" she asked softly. She snapped her fingers, and in an instant I remembered every time my brother had hurt me somehow, or been mean, or just selfish. And my heart filled with despair as my head filled with confusion, and I wanted to give up and say that she was right.
"No," I whimpered. "You aren't right. Love is good, it is. We are good, and you are evil. We're on the good side."
"But don't you see?" she asked softly. "These things you call good have bad in them, and the things you call bad… well, think of the times you've gotten out of trouble by lying, or gotten something you wanted by being selfish? Isn't that good? So if bad has good and good has bad, how can anything be evil or good?" My head spun with her words. "There is no good side, and no bad side. You are just being fooled by your mother and other adults because they want to use you." She smiled sweetly. "After all, good and evil are things made up for children, and you aren't children any more. Come with me, my master can set you free, make you powerful beyond belief… Come and be free." She stretched her hands out to us, and I wanted to take one. Then something hard flashed in her eyes. For an instant, I knew exactly what was happening, and jumped to my feet.
"No!" I yelled. "You won't make us free, you want us to be your slaves! And maybe bad is good and good is bad, and maybe nobody on earth loves anyone else, and maybe this whole world would be better off with Voldemort ruling. But I don't care. Even if no one else on this planet is good, I'm going to try to be. And I think that love is real. Maybe that makes me a fool, or a puppet, but I'd rather be a puppet to my mum and dad and their friends than a pawn of yours!" And I picked up a pillow and swung it at her head. Of course, a pillow is not a very good weapon, but she seemed startled.
"You tell her, Lil!" James shouted, and tried to hit the woman. She ducked out of reach, muttered something under her breath, and James stood frozen.
"What did you do to him?" I shrieked.
"Nothing permanent, girl, but I was making good progress with him until you ruined it. I suppose you'll never learn, any more than your mother would, but I think your brother shows promise." She clapped her hands and the guards came back in. "Put her in the North Tower," she said coldly. The guards marched me off. I struggled as best I could, but it was hopeless. I worried about James. Surely she wouldn't be able to make him turn to the dark side? Please be careful, James, I begged, knowing that he couldn't hear my thoughts anyway.
The guards were taking a long time to get wherever they were taking me. We climbed about seven staircases, walked along miles of corridors, and finally went up another staircase, twice as long as the last. At the top was a room with a trapdoor in the ceiling. One opened the door, the other pushed me in. The door slammed back down and I was alone.
I looked around. The place where I was reminded me strongly of a cage. Iron bars were all around me, but between them I could see sky and land. The only solid surface was the floor; the walls and ceiling were networks of the bars. I shivered, because I was up so high that it was terribly windy and cold. The ground was a very long way below me. I knew that this cell would be twice as bad as the other as soon as a storm came, for I would freeze and be soaked. There was nothing I could do, though, so I sat down and stared at my shoes. Things had never looked so bleak.
Oh dear, another cliffie…. I'm busily writing away, on this and Magical Mischief Makers. I have some lovely miserable bits coming up. Meanwhile, I'm feeling depressed, so the sad bits will be very sad…. And some interesting bits coming up in both stories with temptation…. As for the woman, well, you know her already… I'm referring to her as the 'Emerald Witch' in my own mind. Anyone else read The Silver Chair? Apologies for anything I plagiarized too badly, but CS Lewis was a great writer and can spare a few ideas.
Anything that belongs to JK Rowling is not mine. Anything that isn't hers is mine.