The Casting Stone

by Thing1

4/10: And in then end....

7. The Casting Stone 7

The Casting Stone 7

Okay, I had most of this written & was inspired to get it down on paper (or screen – why split hairs?) I'm still sticking to the Sunday night schedule, so this is non-standard, but I do like to get these out when I can if possible.

And I *sob* had to do something to get my mind off of the Raiders' loss today against the Ravens. (weeps quietly) I feel like I've been trodden on by Death Eaters…. Congrats to you, Peoples of the Year, but…but…(dissolves into tears and runs away so the keyboard doesn't seize up)

P.S.: Amanda, there is no such thing as false hope.

***

Remus didn't sleep at all that night, as he was too wound up waiting for Katie and Harry to arrive. Thrilled to see his wife and worried about Draco and Harry completely going off on each other, he sat up all night reading and making notes about Egyptian guardian spirits. At least Draco and Sirius seemed to have settled down, though I notice that Draco is avoiding Liz now. She said he was very unhappy with her trying to reach out and discuss the incident with the guardian from the other night. Draco refused to speak with anyone about that, and it was in fact Sirius who had told them to just leave him alone. Remus supposed that Sirius might in fact sympathise with Draco about his issues with Lucius more than Draco would have imagined because of Sirius' own poor relationship with his father. He'll never mention it though; at least Draco might talk to Katie. Draco is well aware of the fact that Katie and her own parents have a strained relationship at best. Malcolm and Roarke seem to be the only safe topic of conversation, and even that has had bad moments.

Remus finally stood up and went out on the back lawn to watch the sky. He listened carefully for any sounds or movements that might be out of place. Draco had told them that he had also seen the odd muggle Remus and Sirius had met at the shore, and that he was closer to the house. Remus knew that the house would be invisible to Muggles, thanks to the wards, but there was something different about this one that made him worried that he could in fact see them. What is it? He's not a squib; we could feel that.

Remus started pacing impatiently. He hated spending time away from Katie, so he was glad she was coming despite how he preferred her staying safely at home. Watching the children; keeping them safe. Before the fall of Voldemort he would never, under any circumstances, allow both of them to be away from Malcolm for any length of time. If Katie was needed elsewhere, Remus stayed home and refused to leave. He even refused to allow Sirius to watch Malcolm alone for more than a few hours, something he knew hurt Sirius a bit, but which Sirius did understand. That last night, when Remus and Katie had taken Malcolm to Mrs. Noyes before they all left, he had wept bitter tears, terrified that something was going to happen to the boy despite every precaution they had made. That would have been more than I could bear.

Even though he was three, Malcolm could tell that there was something very disturbing happening, and had remained uncharacteristically silent and solemn when Remus and Katie kissed him goodbye and tried to make it sound like this was nothing important, and they would be back very soon. He had simply nodded at them, patted them each on the cheek, and quietly stood next to Mrs. Noyes, taking her hand. Even Katie had needed a few moments once they got outside to control herself, but they had just set out more determined than ever to end this and move on.

Remus had expressed his concerns to Katie that Malcolm would see their leaving this time as something just as bad as that night had been. But Katie assured him, in her quick note telling him when she and Harry would be there, that this was not the case, that Malcolm was thrilled to be going to see her parents, and that he was much happier in general after Remus had sent him a long letter he was diligently pounding through on his own and refusing any help with. Says he feels very grown up about being allowed to go there and just be with them. And he seems to have become very protective of Roarke, and is taking his role of big brother very seriously now. Remus had to laugh at that, considering Malcolm's whole attitude about the baby to date. He had been curious at first when they told him he was going to get a sibling, but the curiosity had worn thin after about a month when he realized that nothing was going to happen for quite a while yet. His interest picked up again as Katie started to get bigger, which rather amused him, but in the end when they introduced him to Roarke, is only comment was "that's it?". After that he ignored the baby and instead turned his focus back to 'Daddy, when am I going to be able to do my own magic?'. Katie forbade Remus and Sirius doing anything to test this, and told them on no uncertain terms that when it happened, it happened, and she was in no rush for the two of them to start teaching Malcolm more mischief than he already had a handle on. Remus suspected that Sirius wasn't quite sticking to that agreement, but had yet to catch him out.

Suddenly Remus caught a glimpse of some movement off on the horizon to his right. He turned and stared, thrilled to realise that in fact that was Harry and Katie. Finally.

They flew up silently and landed a few feet in front of him. Remus practically jumped forward and threw his arms around Katie, who laughed and returned his embrace.

"Oh, love, thank goodness you're so warm!"

"Very happy to be of service. Harry? How are you?"

"Fine, thanks, but I'll just go inside to warm up if that's alright with you."

Harry smiled as he walked past them towards the house. Remus was distracted for a moment as Katie pulled him closer for a kiss, but he had to reluctantly pull back and turn around after giving her a quick apologetic look.

"Harry! Just a minute. There's something you need to know…."

Harry didn't stop. "I know already. Ron and Hermione came over for dinner last night and I got the whole story."

Remus looked back at Katie.

"What? You thought I was just going to show up here with him and let him find Draco here? Not a chance. He's actually rather angry that he wasn't included in the first place. Hermione and I thought it best he get this out of his system before he got here. Lucky for you; he was utterly infuriated that this was kept from him. And, prepare yourself, he's really cross with Sirius, so watch it."

"So glad you could make it to our happy little adventure."

"Well, I am glad to be here, so there."

Remus did kiss her now and they stayed in the garden talking softly for a while before going back up to the house as the sun started finally rising in the distance. Harry was in the kitchen making tea and helping himself to some food. Remus looked at him, and it was obvious that Harry was in fact tense and rather upset. He looked more like James than ever, now that he was full grown, although he had a set to his face and a look in his eyes that was a little darker than any expression James had ever had. James was an eternal optimist, no matter what. Harry had just been through too much to ever look that carefree. His expression was more that of Sirius. Nothing to do about that. But he did smile at Remus, at least.

"Harry, you know we didn't do anything to upset you deliberately."

"Of course I know that, Remus. Really, I'm fine. And I'm glad that Draco has been such a help. We wouldn't be here without him. That isn't lost on me. Nor are the other things he's done. Still…."

"Still we can't like everyone, I know."

"Remus, who on earth don't you like?" laughed Harry.

Katie smiled at this. "Oh, can I answer this one?"

"Certainly not. Behave, good wife."

At that moment Sirius came into the kitchen, looking happier than Remus had seen him since this whole adventure had started.

"Harry!" He gave Harry a tight hug, then pulled back to look at him. In light of what Katie had said in the garden, Remus watched them closely. But Harry smiled the same smile he usually did when he saw Sirius and said hello warmly. Remus looked at Katie who just shrugged.

"And Katie-girl," said Sirius, now moving to give Katie a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "How are Malcolm and Roarke?"

"Splendid, thank you. Malcolm sends his love and can't wait for you to get home. And Roarke is growing like a weed; it's starting to frighten me. She's already put on several inches and quite a few pounds in the last few weeks." Remus felt a slight twinge at that; if this trip went on right to the equinox, then he would have seen his daughter for less than half of her life.

"Sirius, can I talk to you?" Harry asked quietly, now frowning again. Sirius looked a little nervous when he saw the expression, but nodded. They left to go somewhere to talk in private, leaving Remus and Katie to themselves. Remus knew better than to try and involve himself in their conversation, so instead he went over to Katie and showed her where the coffee was kept. He just wrapped his arms around her and stood quietly behind her while she made the coffee, enjoying having her back with him.

"Warmer now, love?"

"Drastic improvement, but don't go anywhere just yet, will you?"

"Not a chance."

He was just about to start in on telling Katie everything that had happened when she jumped a good few inches off the ground as one of the little griffins suddenly leapt onto the counter and started munching on coffee beans right out of the still open tin.

"Um, Remus?"

Remus laughed and reached over to pat the little griffin, which made a happy sounding gurgle, but didn't take his face out of the tin.

"Charles! Get out of that! We eat that for gods sake!"

Remus turned to see Draco come up next to them, holding the other griffin firmly in one hand as he dragged its mate out of the coffee. Draco gave Katie one of his rare open smiles.

"Hello, Katie. Have a good flight?"

"Draco! How are you? Want something for that sunburn? And, dare I ask, what are you doing with those?"

Draco smiled and put the griffins on the table holding out a finger at them to get them to sit still, then turning back to Katie and Remus once they sat down obediently.

"I'm fine, the sunburn looks worse than it feels, and these little wretches have decided to adopt me."

Katie had to giggle. "It's flattering, Draco. Griffins are notoriously shy, you know."

"You would hardly have guessed that from these two. This is Charles and that's Elvira. Seeing what recent events here have been like, the names seemed to work for them."

Katie raised an eyebrow. "Charles and Elvira? As in "aren't you dead, dear?" Charles and Elvira?"

"Quite."

Katie was laughing merrily now, patting the little griffins on the head while they cooed and gurgled at her.

"I'm not getting the joke here, am I?" said Remus, looking at Draco. I just thought he liked those names.

"Remus, love, Charles and Elvira are the two lead characters in a Noel Coward play called "Blithe Spirit". It's about a Muggle who tries to discredit a 'medium' but it backfires when she manages to summon the spirit of his dead wife into his home. His new wife is most displeased. Utterly hysterical play. Draco, how on earth you are familiar with this work?"

"Credit to you for that, actually. It was your suggestion that I find something to distract myself with last winter that had nothing to do with anything that was happening to us. So I went to a Muggle play when I was in London, after another session before the Council. I read the description of that one and found I couldn't resist having a laugh at it. I was very surprised to find that I, well…."

"Enjoyed it?"

"Immensely. I have been reading more of the man's work. He is delightfully rude and irrelevant."

"I know; I adore him. Good for you."

"Yes, well," Draco smiled again, but suddenly looked uncomfortable. Remus knew Draco disliked anyone 'knowing' too much about him, and hated having any conversation focused on him. Remus changed the subject.

"Draco, Katie didn't come here alone. Harry is here as well."

Draco didn't say anything for a few moments as he started to pull things together to make breakfast. Finally he nodded. "I guess I should get out a few more eggs then. Of course he's here; this is important to him. He's concerned for Black and wants to capture Pettigrew as well."

Remus nodded and gave Katie a quick look. He started to say something else, but Draco held up a hand to stop him and gave another small tight smile. "Really, Professor, I expected Potter to show up sooner rather than later. I'll do my best to keep out of his way. Or, if you would prefer, I could leave. You have what you need from me…."

"Draco, you are forbidden to leave. We need you."

"Very good, sir."

***

They spent the morning explaining to Harry and Katie everything that had happened and showing them their work to date. Harry said little, but Katie became very caught up in the mythological links to what they were pursuing. She was also very interested in the mysterious Muggle who seemed to be lingering nearby after listening to their accounts of his behaviour and how he had felt odd to them.

Finally Liz looked at her watch and stood up.

"I need to be getting into town, as I expect a response today from Callum regarding this boat we need at the American Express office."

"The what?" asked Sirius, Draco, and Harry in unison.

"The American Express office. It's a muggle company that you can use as an address for mail when you travel. Brian knew about the wizard community, but not Callum. I couldn't very well send Pig to him with a letter and expect him to know what to do with it, other than call the RSPCA. Pig would have been more than a little put out with me, I think."

Sirius and Harry went with Liz. Remus noticed that Draco visibly relaxed once it was just Remus and Katie with him. Nothing to be done about that. We're all adults and we'll manage. Draco and Katie spent the afternoon working on the mythology leads Draco had started, while Remus started setting up for attempting to open the guardian again, with much stronger protection charms. He only stopped when Katie came outside to speak to him near sunset and put a hand on his shoulder.

"What, love?"

"Talk to me about this odd man you've seen."

"Katie, I…." He was going to insist it was nothing, but he knew that wasn't true and obviously Katie didn't think so if she'd bothered to bring it up again.

"Draco says he felt very dark, but he was definitely a Muggle. Is this what he felt like to you?"

"Yes, but I was ill at the time. He was very agitated, and he didn't make much sense."

"Schizophrenic?"

"I'm not sure what you mean, Katie."

"Schizophrenic, Remus. Lunatic."

"Now that's a word I know," he teased, but Katie didn't smile. "Are you asking if he seemed mad?"

"More than just mad. Dangerous. Did you feel threatened by him?"

"Not particularly, but I did have a nightmare that night, and he was in it; but that may have just been coincidence."

"What was the nightmare?"

Remus looked down and sighed. "Same one, Katie, love. Only this time the Muggle was there with the others watching me, and when I transformed, he howled at the moon."

Katie nodded and ran a hand down his cheek. "Remus, did you give any thought as to why this man bothered you so much?"

"Yes, but…."

"I think he's possessed some how, and probably has no idea what's happening. It may very well be Peter's doing. Perhaps we should find this man tomorrow and see if we can possibly talk to him. Muggles don't take well to our curses, you know that. It sounds like he's been driven mad by one of our lot somehow; that's why he feels odd."

"He said something strange to me, you know."

"Which was?"

"'You too'".

"Then he recognized you and Sirius for what you were; it is a wizard that's been after him. We'll find him tomorrow. If nothing else, maybe I can do something for him. The poor man probably has a family somewhere going wild wondering what's happened to him."

Remus suddenly thought of Malcolm and felt himself cringe. Katie nodded and kissed him.

"Exactly. We need to see what we can do for the boy."

***

That evening Liz had some interesting news for them.

"Well, this is good, and this is bad. We need to decide what we want to do. Callum knows exactly where we can get a boat. He's already arranged it, actually. But as we speak he is on a flight down here, as he wants to come with us."

"Certainly not," scowled Draco. "He'll get himself killed."

"Not necessarily, Draco," said Sirius in the same quieter tone he had been using with Draco the past several days. "The fact is, he's the only one who sails, isn't he?"

"Don't we have enough to worry about without adding to the list 'concern that Liz's stubborn Muggle friend will meet a sticky end'?"

"Shut up, Malfoy."

Liz jumped in quickly before Draco could say anything to Harry.

"Draco has a good point, but so does Sirius. There's a simple solution. Two, actually, but Katie needs to help me."

"Oh this should be interesting, Liz."

"Katie, we can easily bind him to the boat and then wipe out his memory. Not very sporting, but our best bet in the circumstances. As far as Callum is concerned, we're just a bunch out of tourists who want to cruise the Med and relax. That's why he wants to come. Actually, um," Liz blushed and stopped for a moment. "Truth is, he's just dying to meet Sirius. Callum was Brian's best friend."

"Am I to be approved? Because if he's around all he's going to meet is Padfoot, and I can't wait to hear your explanation of that!"

"Sirius! First off, Callum has no idea who 'Sirius Black' is, despite the Muggle reports. He never pays attention to that sort of thing. Secondly, even if he did figure it out, he'd probably think it all very thrilling that I was engaged to a fugitive. He's a total anarchist; he'll accept our word that this is a false accusation and he'll savour proving the authorities wrong."

"Interesting friends you have, Liz."

"Well, look at you lot!"

Remus had to interrupt at this point. "Alright, look. Liz, when is Callum expected to get here?"

"Tomorrow afternoon."

"Then we'll worry about it then. My vote goes to bringing him with us on the boat, because I am certainly not capable of doing any sailing, and then wiping out his memory. Draco, I think if we bind him as Liz suggests, we'll be fine. But Liz, you need to be sure you're comfortable with allowing him to come. He will not understand exactly how much danger he could be in. Tonight, we need to open that gate and talk to that guardian so we know exactly what is going to happen if we try to find this island. And have any of you thought about this yet; how is Peter getting all of this information by himself? Either he already knows it, and he's at the end of our trail waiting, or he's got company with him. What we are about to do is not something that can be done alone, especially not by a wizard like Peter. He's not strong enough."

Sirius stared at Remus for a moment, then kicked the table leg, startling the griffins who jumped up and clambered onto Draco.

"Thanks so much, Moony. No, I hadn't been thinking about that, but now I am."

Katie glanced at Remus. "I told you we need to find that strange Muggle."

"And I didn't argue with you, love. Now, back to our guardian. Draco, I know that you and Katie were looking even deeper into the language to try and get an understanding of just who might have cast the spell, so we know who we are speaking with."

Draco nodded and looked at Katie, who indicated that he should do the talking.

"We've been looking more into the formal names on the spell, to try and ascertain how they might pertain to the actual spells being utilized in this instance. Most of the formal names that are visible are Set. The Egyptian dark lord."

Harry winced, but didn't add any comment himself.

"But the Egyptian myths are more complicated than the Greek ones. Every deity has multiple names and multiple purposes. This makes it frustrating in trying to determine exactly what the Greek builders of these sites intended, or if in fact it was Egyptians who came here to do the work. However…." At this Draco did stop and look at Katie, who continued.

"We focused on the fact that the temple you found was underwater, and why that might be the case. Wizards have been secreting such places for centuries where Muggles and even other wizards would be least likely to find them. But this site is on Muggle maps, so it's not hidden. But it is ruined, except for the room we needed. Interesting, yes? And then we come to the ghosts who are in there. They are watching that place, and tried very hard to keep Remus and Sirius out of it. Then they tried to kill them when they failed in keeping them out. You can't order a ghost to do something. But you can place a vengeful spirit in a location by deliberately killing it. And how better to place a ghost underwater than to drown a sailor? For that, you need to sink a boat. And for that, you need a catastrophe. Such as a storm. This all speaks in great detail about storms, and what's going to happen if the storm is unleashed. I think that this translates to Typhon, mes amis."

"Was he god of the winds?"

"No, no, Aelous was the god of the winds, that's different. That's why your lungs have aeroli, you know. Anyway, Typhon was the god of storms – particularly storms at sea. Draco, wasn't Set the storm god in Egypt?"

"They said he was responsible for sand storms, yes."

"Close enough. So, in the end, we are probably dealing with a wind sprit. Ta da, as the case may be."

Remus gave her hand a squeeze and smiled. "Very nice. Both of you. That does change things, I think. If we're not careful, we'll start a typhoon here, it that it?"

"Exactly. That may not stop us, but it will alert any wizard or witch in the area that we are here. So. Shall we?"

They all went outside and took a few minutes to just relax and concentrate on what was about to happen. Remus pulled Katie to him and just revelled in feeling her against him again.

"Remus, love, are you worried about something?" She whispered as he kissed her ear quietly.

"Always."

"Oh stop that, it's not true. Wait until you see Roarke when we get home; she's going to look just like you. I'm very, very happy about that."

"She should be more fortunate to look like you, love."

"Nonsense. I love you."

"I love you, too. Thank you for everything you've made so amazing in my life."

"You're welcome. Thank you for the same."

"Always."

Remus kissed her, momentarily blocking out everything else going on around them, before he sadly let go and stepped away from her. She winked at him and moved to stand next to Draco and Harry. Remus caught Sirius giving Liz a small kiss on the cheek before he stepped up next to him.

"Moony? You're in charge here. Are we ready to go?"

"Yes. Padfoot, be very careful in what you say when you read that spell, old friend. I think we're going to do much better tonight that we did before, but there is still a chance that this is something that can take us all by surprise. Draco and Liz confirmed that it is dark magic. I'm worried that maybe, well…Sirius, you might be it's next target. It will know how to hurt you. Are you ready for that?"

"Yes."

"Padfoot…." Remus wasn't sure what to say next and just looked at Sirius calmly. Sirius smiled widely.

"Don't fuss. We're going to be fine."

"Right then."

Sirius, Liz, Draco and Katie went to stand on the inside of the circle. Remus had fussed slightly over their positions, but Katie and Liz pointed out that it would be better to be perfectly balanced, and Remus and Harry were actually best, because of their strengths, on the outside of the circle in case something happened. Harry can force the spell back on itself better than all of us put together, love, if it comes to that. That's his particular strength. Probably has a lot to do with what James and Lily did for him, you know. I'm sure it does.

Sirius and Draco faced each other as they had the previous attempt. Katie, as a healer, was best at the North, while Liz stayed at the South. Remus stood behind Katie outside of the circle and Harry stood behind Liz.

Again, after Remus had carefully lit the protection fires, Sirius started to read the incantation that would bring the guardian spirit back to them. Remus watched Draco carefully as the stones again rose into the air and began to orbit an invisible centre point. But Draco's face was set in grim determination. From experience, Remus instinctively knew that there would be not trouble with Draco this night. He was glad that Harry was outside of the circle, because that would have been the Guardian's next obvious target, and Harry was still very shaky over some things. Remus loved Harry and knew him to be a powerful wizard, but this might not have been something he was up to just yet. Sirius was the obvious next target for the guardian. Remus couldn't help but think 'good bloody luck' if the guardian chose to go after Liz or his Katie instead. Last mistake you'll ever make, I can promise.

It was odd to hear Sirius' faint brogue being replaced by the foreign language. Remus kept getting distracted every time Sirius didn't roll an 'r' or drawl an 'e', but as soon as the mist began to form in the centre of the stones again, he thought of nothing else while he focused. This time, the mists took a very long time in forming any shape. The last attempt, Remus had noticed that they quickly moved towards Draco and spoke to him before any of them could do anything. Everyone's concentration seems to be keeping it in check.

Finally, to Remus' carefully managed horror, the shadow moved towards Katie, and took on an odd anthropomorphic shape. He couldn't make it out, but he hadn't seen Lucius either, so he was sure whatever was happening, Katie could see it. Because her back was to him, Remus couldn't see her face. He took his eyes off of the shadow only for a second to glance at Sirius. Siruis had finished his reading and was watching the shadow with a quietly surprised but closed expression. Damn it; what does Katie see?

Finally, it spoke, in a cold, flat voice. Remus only heard a whisper, but was sure that those inside the circle heard it clearly. He looked over a Harry, who seemed just as puzzled and was also straining to hear.

"I serve the Lord of the Northern Sky. What do you wish?"

"We seek the island you have concealed. We seek it's secrets."

Katie's voice was strong and clear, and Remus felt much better for it. There was a pause before the shadow responded.

"I have concealed nothing."

"There is an island here, spirit. We need to go there. Can you show us the way?"

"Have you no fear of death, small one? You are very frail."

"I am strong enough to travel. Will you show me the way?"

"What will your little ones do, frail one, without you?"

Remus had to be very careful at this comment not to do something stupid.

"They will endure. And they will find you."

There was a long pause while the shadow wisped about in the firelight slowly. Finally it seemed to retreat backwards into the still orbiting stones.

"Seek me in your dreams; you will find me there."

Remus suddenly felt immensely tired. He stumbled a bit, trying desperately to stay awake. But it was no use. Darkness overwhelmed him, and he never even felt himself hit the ground.