The Casting Stone

by Thing1

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

14. The Casting Stone 14

The Casting Stone 14

A quick clear up because I had questions: If you could care less about the actual geography/history in this fic go to the next paragraph - Kom Ombo & Ombos are not the same place; sorry if that was confusing. Kom Ombo is near the Egypt/Sudan border; the Greeks called the place Ombi and it's original name was Nebet. Ombos was the Greek name for the ancient town of Nebyet, the home of Set, and that's farther up the river and that's where we are – just north of Thebes (now called Luxor – the site of the Valley of the Kings). The names are too similar, I realize, and I didn't help by blending their mythology a bit for the sake of the story, sorry. The Ptolemies did, truly, rebuild the temple at Kom Ombo for Sobek the crocodile god, but they did not do anything like that at Ombos – that's just for the story's sake. Does this change anything? Not a bit – I just don't like loose ends.

Well, thanks to Cassie Lee, I had to do this; Sirius' POV. Once she put the notion in my fevered brain, it went from there. He is a little stressed from this; but he's still Sirius… Message here – I do read every review (thank you, thank you) and I do take suggestions – hint that I'd be thrilled to death to hear from all 61 of you on the author alert list (goodness!) because you do impact this: I've got the plot sketched out, but I make adjustments….!

Soundtrack this time: AfroCelt Sound System. The countdown to St. Patrick's Day begins for all us 'purebloods' (LOL – as if we Celts would ever turn up our noses at anyone who wanted to raise a bit o'cain with us! Last year Padrig almost vowed to give up drink for Lent – then checked the calendar & declared "God, in his infinite Mercy, would never demand such a price". He said he'd give up empty promises instead. Hwyl!)

Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling, and gain nothing from her; nor am I Virgil, who has a few lines in here, bless his old heart. Only in America would I fear legal retaliation from someone dead for 2000 odd years.

Summary: Sirius and Katie meet back up with Draco and Remus, but there is no sign of Peter at the place where the Spelldoor brought them. After carefully marking how to find the location again, they leave the temple to consider their next actions and wait for Liz and Harry to return from Cairo with any news and, perhaps, some assistance. Sirius & Draco's tentative truce starts to disintegrate a bit as they argue over what may be in store for them next, and when Harry returns with some devastating news, Sirius practically kills Draco…but Remus stops him, don't worry.

***

Sirius exited the temple complex and just managed to resist the urge to run to the gate where they had agreed to meet. He had found nothing inside; no Remus, no Wormtail, nothing. Please, let him just be sitting right there, looking calm and thoughtful as always. I don't even care about Wormtail right now; just let Remus be okay. Please….

But there was no one at the gate. Sirius tried to convince himself that this was better than walking up and finding Katie and Malfoy standing there alone, but he still felt empty and wretched. He stood under the gate and just tried to calm himself for a few moments. He was so cold; and exhausted. The last few days had been very disturbing to him, but whether it was the distraction of Maccreedy, their proximity to Wormtail, or the arguments with Liz he wasn't sure.

Liz was angry with him at being so put off by Callum, and he had tried to just laugh it all off, but it was no use. Every time he looked at Callum, he saw Brian. He saw the handsome and intensely happy man that Liz had fallen in love with, had married, and that Liz would still be with had he not been killed. Were Brian not dead, Liz would not be here. Despite everything, Liz had brought Sirius more hope than he had ever imagined would be his after the hell he had lived through in Azkaban; he could not see his life without her, but Callum was a constant reminder that she was basically a miracle for him. Nothing had been farther from his mind than some sort of future with anyone when he met her, and he had been taken aback to discover how she just sort of snuck up on him. Liz had once commented that Sirius was being over dramatic and that surely Sirius would have no trouble in finding a lovely and entertaining companion to share his life with. Sirius remembered that he had burst into tears at that comment, and told her in no uncertain tones that he was convinced, without a doubt, that she was the only woman he could ever feel so deeply for.

Can you imagine Remus without Katie? Can you see him with anyone but her?

No.

That's what I feel for you, Liz. No one else. Never.

Shortly after that, Liz had given Sirius his own promise ring. Brian never had a promise ring, Sirius. Only you. And now she had finally demanded a date be set to get married, no matter what. Sirius had never entertained the idea of doing that until he was acquitted, and had forbidden any discussion on it for the past two years because they had enough to worry about with Voldemort, and it was just to depressing to think about in case they never could clear him. And, amazingly, for two years Liz had humoured him. Not one peep until yesterday morning. Then, in typical Liz fashion, she had trumped him and ended the silence on the subject with one simple statement. I never ask you for anything, Mr. Black, nor do I make silly demands, but this is over and I want you to tell me this instant what day we are getting married because I honestly don't give a rat's ass what other people think you may or may not have done, if you'll pardon my use of that unfortunate phrase under our current circumstances. Sirius had just looked at her, and then for some reason had simply said 'November 12'; he had no idea what day of the week that was, but it was his parents' anniversary and all he could think of at the time.

Sirius finally stopped staring at the temple entrance to look at his ring. He absently traced a finger across it, feeling the delicate tracings of the carvings and thinking of the inscription on the inside. I burn for you as the summer sun; our light has no end. Liz had chosen that inscription carefully, knowing that nothing troubled Sirius as much as darkness. Still. Liz lived entirely for the moment; Sirius was consumed by the past. This was one thing he thought they might never come to terms with, but that they had balanced between themselves.

It was quite dark now, here in the Egyptian desert, and Sirius shuddered a bit. Dawn couldn't be far away, but the moon had set already and there was only the light of the stars now. Sirius turned to look above him and study the sky. Almost instantly he saw Sirius; his star. Why his parents had chosen that name, what they had been thinking, he had never figured out. He remembered something he had read as a child….

The Dog Star, that burning constellation, when he brings drought and disease to sickly mortals, rises and saddens the sky with inauspicious light.

Virgil had been less than complimentary, but here in Egypt Sirius, or Sothis, as they called that point, had much happier connotations. The companion to Osiris, or Orion as he was known in the West, Sirius was the star of Isis. The rising of Sirius was the start of the New Year, the herald of new promises and hope. Maybe as a child that was why he had become so attached to the Egyptian culture, as he had thought his name rather stupid, but obviously these people liked it. But, remember, it is also to mark the place in the sky where the dead live….

He was suddenly struck with the clear and vivid impression of standing on top of the astronomy tower with his friends gazing up at this same spot. They couldn't have been more than 14 at the time, but already they were so sure of themselves. Sirius was overcome by sensations, staring up at the star above him, which he had thought were lost forever. The amused look in James' eyes that no layer of glasses could ever hide. Lily's rather dangerous and infectious laugh. Remus' shy and hesitant smile slowly evolving into his fearless and most mischievous smile, as he came up with an ever more daring and outrageous plot….It wasn't as if he could see things, but more like he felt them; just as Remus had described how he saw the world, a mass of images and sensations collapsing in on one another all at once, all with meaning, and all with feeling.

And, unbidden with the others, were sensations of memories of Peter as well. Small, oddly quiet Peter, who had been their loyal friend despite of his rather reclusive tendencies. Houghton and Scott might have been more appropriate companions, but it was Peter Pettigrew who had joined them in everything; it was Peter Pettigrew who had worked so hard with James and Sirius to perfect the Animagus potion, who had been their shadow, and who had shown as much daring and courage as the rest of them when he was of a mind to. And who had endured years of Sirius teasing him with seeming good humour, with Remus nagging Sirius to lay off and defending Peter every step of the way. And James. Be fair; James cared for Wormtail too. He trusted him, as did you…We were both wrong. We were all wrong. Maybe if I hadn't been so hard on him…no; Peter knew he was our friend. And he chose not to be in the end. He made his own choice; he picked his own failure. Be grateful for this; be grateful that Wormtail couldn't kill Remus too that night…and he's not going to now.

Sirius was deeply relived that his reflections were broken as he heard footsteps coming in his direction from the temple complex. He strained to peer into the darkness, to see who might be approaching. After a few moments Katie appeared near him in the shadows. She came up to him, Elvira hopping from her shoulders to settle on one of the stones near them. He didn't miss the look of sadness on Katie's face when she realized he was the only one standing here.

He held his hand out and Katie gave a small smile then came over to take his hand and lean against him, letting him wrap his arms around her softly. Katie rarely let anyone but Remus or Malcolm touch her, and Sirius wondered if she really needed comfort or if she was just humouring him. But she didn't pull back, so he carefully tightened his grip a little and gave her a small kiss on the forehead. She only fussed a bit, turning so she could lean her back against his chest and gaze back at the entrance of the temple.

"He's fine," whispered Sirius.

"Yes."

"Really."

Katie gave a small laugh and squeezed his hand. "I know that; I can feel it. Am I to convince you too?"

Sirius had to smile at that. Katie was such an interesting addition to his world; a total mystery that only Remus understood. She was as unique an individual as he had ever met, including Liz, and she was as perfect a match for Remus as anyone could have imagined. Passionate, yet closed; wild, yet controlled. Her raw intelligence scared Sirius at times, but he still adored her and the total joy she gave Remus was one of the most cherished things in his life. Sirius thought of Malcolm; Katie had been determined to have children, Sirius knew, from the moment she had raised the subject, and Malcolm was turning out to be a fascinating blend of both his parents. How such an adored child had turned out to be so unspoiled was a testament to the natures that created him. Roarke would no doubt be the same, and Sirius chuckled thinking about it. I can't wait for her to get a little older.

"What?"

"Nothing much. Trying to think of happy things and distract myself, you know. I was thinking about how my younger godson has turned out to be such an intriguing blend of you and yours. And wondering what Roarke will be like."

Katie turned to smile at him. "Probably more than Mr. Filch can handle, I imagine."

"Oh, Katie-girl. What we missed not having you with us at Hogwarts."

Sirius felt bad immediately for saying this. He knew that this was a subject that Katie did not like to discuss. She may be one of the strongest people I've ever met, but I know this still hurts her; that she still has so many issues with her parents because of what they did to stop her going there. Stupid to have mentioned it.

But Katie was giving him an amused look.

"Sirius, I doubt we'd have had much to do with each other at Hogwarts."

"The Gryffindor common room isn't that big, Katie. No chance we'd have missed you. Or what you obviously do to our Moony…."

"What makes you think I'd have been there?"

"You, my sweet, are without a doubt exactly what Godric Gryffindor had in mind."

Katie laughed softly and gave him a shy smile, but shook her head. "Rubbish. Most likely I'd have been with Liz in Ravenclaw. And, considering the tales I've been regaled with over the years, I feel safe in telling you that at that age I would have found 'the marauders' utter boors, so you can get romantic notions of my swooning over Remus at the Yule Ball right out of that fevered head."

Sirius had to smile back.

"I don't believe a word of that. You'd have been giving Macmillan nightmares right along with us. And Remus looked rather dashing in his dress robes, which was noted by a Ravenclaw or two as I recollect. I would have been in awe of you, I suspect. Come to think of it, I may have been a little frightened of you. Lily terrified me for years, you know."

"Of course," continued Katie quietly in what Sirius always called her 'healer's voice', "I was such a sullen little prat I may have been a Slytherin."

"Not a chance."

"Not all Slytherins are bad people, Sirius. You can't assume that; it's not fair."

Sirius stared up at the sky, noting that the Dog Star seemed to be brighter here than anywhere he had ever seen it, mulling Katie's implied message. Remus and Katie's ongoing mission to get me to let up on young Malfoy. I figured out that Remus sees a lot of himself in Draco's struggles, but that's his and Draco's business. Not mine. But it's not lost on me; Remus wouldn't care so much about Draco if he thought there was nothing there worth caring about. Remus doesn't believe in lost causes; he's too damn pragmatic for that.

Katie said nothing further and quietly took her wand to start a small fire in front of them. Sirius was about to protest when Katie put a finger to his lips.

"Shush, Padfoot. We're alone here, and I'm freezing. And I can't stand the dark anymore." Sirius heard her voice shake slightly at that and tightened his hold on her a bit. She gave a small laugh and shook her head. "No offence; it's not you. I'm grateful to have you here, always; but…."

But I'm not Remus. I know that.

Before he could say anything, however, he heard a call from the darkness that was better for both of them than anything he could have possibly thought to say.

"Katie?"

Remus' voice sounded far off yet, but it was unmistakeable. Katie jumped forward away from Sirius and moved to stand at the far side of the fire.

"Remus?"

Remus appeared a few moments later, smiling, and wrapping his arms around Katie. Draco was a few steps behind Remus; Sirius saw that he was paler than usual and looked strained. Did something happen?

"Moony, are you two alright?"

Remus looked up briefly at Sirius and gave a grin before turning his attention back to Katie. "Yes," he said quietly, kissing his wife and nuzzling her cheek, "I'm fine. Any sign of Peter for you two?"

"No."

Remus stepped back from Katie and sighed, still holding her hand. "Well, that's to be expected. This place is huge, and Peter may have cleared out of here the instant he arrived. That would be the prudent thing to do under the circumstances. I don't think…."

"We're not exactly where we need to be," finished Sirius, scowling again.

"Did you really expect the Spelldoor to take us exactly where we needed to be?"

"No, I guess not."

Remus held up his wand. "Draco and I found some writing back there that seems…interesting. Something about werewolves, which keep seem to be popping up in all of this. Ironic, don't you think?"

Katie gave him a rather cryptic look and shook her head. "What does it have to do with Peter?"

Remus gave a sad smile. "Probably nothing. But maybe it may have something to offer us, love."

Sirius was taken aback to see that Katie started crying at that comment, looking up at Remus with an expression of astonishment. She didn't make a sound, but tears slowly moved down her cheeks as she shook her head.

"What do you mean?"

Remus wiped the tears from Katie's cheeks and looked at the others. "Maybe nothing. We'll talk about it later. We can't stay here. Sirius, where exactly are we, do you know?"

Sirius looked up at the sky then took out a small book of star charts and flipped through the pages for a few moments.

"We're in the Western Desert outside of the ancient city of Ombos. This is Thebes, or Luxor as it's now called, about 150 kilometres to the south west of us. We're well hidden here, and I doubt the Muggles suspect anything lives so far from the river, or lived, as the case may be. "

Remus studied the chart for a moment, and then looked at Sirius. Despite Remus putting up a cheerful front and everything, Sirius could tell the moment he looked deeply enough into his eyes that Remus was exhausted and strained.

"Luxor has a huge wizard population, doesn't it?"

"Last I heard. You can't suggest…."

"We're not going anywhere near there, but it makes me wonder if maybe there aren't wizards engaged in cult activities living there or around here. This place is a little musty, but it is intact. That suggests someone's keeping an eye on it." Remus glanced over the desert in the direction of the Nile to the East. "Those mountains look good enough. They're far from here, but probably the least likely place we might accidentally run into anyone." He glanced at the wand Sirius held with a puzzled expression.

"Sirius, where did you get that?"

"It's Liz's. Harry brought it back after they apparated up to Cairo and Liz said she'd get another there. And here I was doing so well; hadn't lost a wand in almost two years…." Sirius stopped as Remus grinned at him and took a wand out of his back pocket.

"We can't have you misplacing the only wand you managed to choose for yourself, now can we? I can't stand to listen to you whine about cramps in your arm from 'improper' wands."

"How?"

"The old werewolf gave them back to us on the island. Or rather he gave them to me. Why were you transformed, anyway? Oh, never mind that right now, it's unimportant. Mark this place down on your map, and then let's get over to those hills and find a spot to camp so we can discuss what to do next."

***

They found a rather large niche on the side of the mountain that faced the valley in the direction the old temple. The wards on the complex were excellent, hiding the entire site from view once they had passed its boundaries, so they had no idea as to its real size and make up. Sirius took that as another rather foreboding sign. These wards have been kept up, just like the ones on the island. Perhaps the caretaker tends this site as well? Don't be silly, Black.

Sirius noted that Draco had gone completely silent once again, and was starting to look drained despite the colour that had come into his face from their adventures outside. He spent most of his time sitting quietly by himself, though he would instantly get up to help Katie with something if she asked him to, without comment. Katie and Remus had gone, very briefly, to Luxor to collect some food and blankets from the Muggle market, leaving as quickly as possible and hoping they were not noticed.

"What a pain to have left so much back on Paros, and too far to apparate. Blast." Katie grumbled as she took stock of what they had brought back with them.

"Perhaps we should drop Mr. Maccreedy a note via the 'American Express Office' and see if he'd be good enough to ship what you want on to us."

Sirius gave Draco a rather dangerous glare, but shut up when he saw Katie smiling at him.

"Draco, I'm quite certain that Liz and Sirius have done an excellent job of wiping his memory of the past week, so mystery notes aren't going to get much response from him, now are they?"

Draco gave a thin smile and went back to work on whatever he was doing. Sirius had seen that Remus had given something to Draco, a parchment with a rather complicated looking collection of hieroglyphics that Remus had copied from inside the temple. Sirius was a little irked that Remus did not discuss it with him, as he assumed that this had to do with Remus' earlier comment about werewolves. But Remus and said that he and Sirius needed to focus on mapping the temple and trying to figure out their next move.

"Sirius, Peter's got to be near here somewhere. We need to figure out how to find him. It is possible, of course, that he's gone to Luxor. If he has confederates working with him, that makes sense. All he needed was the location at the moment, and now he's got it. There is the possibility that he really is still in the temple somewhere. Draco's trip underneath the temple through that ossuary strongly suggests that there is a vast complex underground. We know that the ancient Egyptians carved any number of large temples and tombs into rock surfaces. The fact that it's flooded also tells us that there must be some sort of aquifer under the sand. That's how these people could survive out here. Even wizards need water."

"Remus, you know this map doesn't function quite like our Marauder's Map did. I can't get it to work the same way, you know, tracking people because the space is too big. But I think, I think, that if we map out the temple and the other sites, we can at least charm that with the same spell. That way, at least, we can start to see who might be near us once we go in there. But it took us months to map out all the corridors and rooms of the castle; we don't have months."

Remus shook his head and squinted in the direction of the valley floor, shielding his eyes from the glare of the midday sun. Sirius was not happy to see that the lines around Remus' eyes seemed deeper than they had at the start of this, and the dark circles under his eyes from the transformation, which usually faded somewhat after a day, seemed as fresh as they had the pervious morning. Haven't my problems caused Remus enough grief?

"Well, obviously we can't get detail on that map, but we can get at least the general outline, and if you and I go back out there we can get an idea of the total layout. That way, while we may not be able to see exactly where anyone is, we can at least know where in the complex they are and work from there, right?"

"Right. Shall we go?"

"Not today. Let's lay low and stay scarce for a bit. You know we can see if anyone actually approaches the place by daylight anyway, though I would be stunned if anyone actually did. Liz and Harry should be back this evening or first thing tomorrow anyway and that gives us more bodies working on this."

"Moony! How can we share our secret like this?!" Sirius said in mock indignation.

"Considering we're all adults now I don't feel too bad about doing it, dear Padfoot."

Sirius gave a chuckle and followed Remus' gaze over the sands. They sat there in silence for a bit before Sirius heard Remus laugh quietly and he stood up.

"Remembering times we spent discovering corridors?"

Remus shook his head. "Actually, I was thinking about what your expression is going to be on the morning of November 12. This will be fun."

"Why are you saying that to me in your 'dangerous ideas' tone of voice?"

"Was it?" said Remus, with a very innocent expression, "I can't imagine."

***

Sirius and Draco, in a rare moment of agreement, demanded that they be allowed to sit up and do the watch that night in shifts, as Remus obviously needed more rest and he slept better with Katie there, not getting up and moving about. Katie noted that 'good night's sleep' and 'camping on solid rock' didn't really fit together, but Sirius didn't hear a peep from either of them all night while he sat watch and they did tend to chat if they weren't asleep.

Sirius saw nothing all night, but he did hear faint howls and cries from the valley floor occasionally. Jackals. They never seemed to get closer, but Sirius couldn't help but think of the enchanted jackals back on the island. He hadn't seen any such similar avenues at the temple when they were there, but it had been night and they had not yet had the opportunity to explore the total site. It also made him wonder why he had been compelled to transform back on the island. When the doors had opened and plunged the room into darkness, there had been such a strong canine sense that he had immediately shape shifted. And when he had woken up, he seemed to just want to stay that way. Thinking back, it all seemed to connect to the presence of the caretaker. Sirius remembered him telling Remus that he was demonstrating 'good faith' by not forcing Sirius to transform back, but the more he thought about it, the more he thought that in fact he was somehow preventing Sirius from regaining human form. Certainly he was only interesting in speaking to his 'fellow' werewolf, although Sirius felt in the man's presence what he suspected most people figured werewolves were supposed to feel like. Cold, dark and detached. He wondered what the old man had made of Remus.

Dawn finally came. There was something oddly transcendental about watching the sunlight creep over the mountains and slowly spread across the valley floor, seeming to soar quietly out of the Valley of the Kings, directly behind them in the East. He heard someone getting up, and turned to see that Draco, as per his custom, was up as soon as the light reached a certain brightness. He caught Draco's eye, and the young man came over to sit next to him after a slight hesitation.

"Yes, Black?"

"You've been very silent the past day or so. Is something bothering you?"

"Worried about my concerns, Black, or trying to see if my conscience is unsettled? Isn't that what you always suspect?"

Sirius took a deep breath and stopped himself from saying what he really felt like saying.

"What are your concerns, Malfoy?" he finally said tightly.

"I imagine the same as yours. Whatever is down there doesn't want to be found. And now that it seems that there truly is some 'Casting Stone' involved, or some hideously powerful magical object of some sort, we may all be walking into a rather horrific trap. This is not built here for the aesthetic appreciation of the idyllic scenery. It is here to keep us out."

Sirius nodded. "True. But do you really want Wormtail getting his hands on it?"

"I can only hope Wormtail trips some particularly nasty spell and destroys himself before that happens. Though I realize that may not be the optimal solution to the real reason we are here."

"A living rat will be better than a dead one. But perhaps we'll just have to make do."

Draco gave a small sort. "You're no idiot, Black, and neither am I despite your opinions. The Percy Weasleys of the world may not take a dead rat as 'proof' of your innocence. Only of proof that you didn't kill him 19 years ago. You need the bastard alive. I only hope his life doesn't come with a cost to it." Draco stood up and moved away from Sirius at that.

What cost? One of our lives? You would think like that wouldn't you, Malfoy. Worried about your own damn hide I suspect; you invited yourself, you can leave whenever you want.

Sirius stayed where he was and gave a small start when Remus suddenly appeared next to him a while later. Sirius was happy to note that he seemed much healthier than he had the day before.

"Looking much better, Remus."

"Thanks. I'm also famished, which I believe you and Katie take as an excellent sign of my condition. Honestly, you'd think I was some sort of invalid the way you fuss instead of a nearly indestructible dark creature. I'm going to make breakfast for us. Do me a favour and go make Katie get up in a few minutes. She was rather rude to me when I made the suggestion just now, but you may have better luck."

Sirius laughed and nodded, watching Remus get up and go over to get some food ready for them. He also noted out of the corner of his eye that Draco reappeared once Remus was there and went to speak with him in hushed tones about something. Probably that translation he's keeping mum about. After a few more minutes he decided to brave the task of waking Katie up.

"Katie-girl? Your beloved says you've been rude to him and he's nursing his wounded pride on the other side of the camp and asked that I bully you into getting up."

Katie opened one eye and gave him a rather amused look. "Remus' wounded pride? I doubt that highly." She gave a small groan and tried to stretch a bit before thinking better of it.

"Little stiff? Not one for camping?"

"Oh, it's the dream of every woman to sleep on a rock eight weeks after having a baby, Sirius."

"Katie! You're a strong young thing, I can't image you haven't bounced back nicely."

"After you give birth, Sirius, we'll discuss the lingering effects of the experience on the body in length," she said in a rather testy tone and curled up more in the blankets. "Gods, I think the ground actually got harder during the night."

"Shall I tell your pillow to lay off making breakfast and come back here?"

"Breakfast? Now we're talking a reason to get up."

***

Liz and Harry had not reappeared, making Sirius a little nervous. They had said before they left that they really should only need a few hours in Cairo. Sirius worried that maybe tracing back to them using Liz's wand as a guide wasn't working right because the location they were at was so thick with natural magic. Then of course he worried that things back at home had taken a turn for the worse and Percy Weasley had snapped and done something unfortunate. They won't come back at all if that's the case; they won't risk it and we're on our own.

Remus, as usual, knew he was on edge and had a plan for the day and an explanation of why Sirius' pouting wasn't going to change it.

"Sirius, I know you're worried that they're not back yet. But I need you at the temple doing the mapping, and you're the only one who can read any hints that help to clarify how we find the real site. We'll only go for a few hours, I promise. And, I know you won't like this either, but I'd like Draco to come with us because he will help us cover more ground, and he is more sensitive to some of the darker aspects of all of this. He knew immediately on the island that those jackals were not what they seemed…."

"His suggestion of how to hold them didn't seem to do much good."

"I can't make up my mind on that one. It has occurred to me that they did not attack us as we tried to enter because of what I am, not because the spirit-binding curse Draco suggested held them. But I do trust Draco, Sirius. I'm still uncertain as to exactly why you don't."

"I don't like Draco, Remus. I didn't say I don't trust him."

Remus watched him quietly. Don't push it, Moony. I know you know all I really trust is your faith in him. Getting into a debate won't help our situation. Harry told me that Draco does have a motivation for wanting to see Wormtail suffer beyond his 'concern' for you; Wormtail hurt him, now he wants to hurt Wormtail. That's motivation for Malfoy that I do understand.

"And I understand that you don't want Katie in any more danger…." Remus cut him off with a sharp wave and scowled.

"Sirius, that's not part of this at all. In fact, I'm more concerned leaving her here alone if you must know. My preferred location for Katie, particularly in situations like this, is right were I can see her. And she's not going to be happy being left here, but she will understand."

Sirius sighed at this, hearing the implied message clearly. I understand too, and I'll shut up and live with it as well, Remus.

***

Sirius, Remus and Draco spent the day at the complex. As they suspected, it was gigantic, and appeared totally deserted. They spoke little and Sirius felt the silence of the place starting to get to him. It didn't help that both Remus and Draco were very wary and tended to seem to drift as they moved and make no sound, even on the flagstone courtyards. Sirius found that unnerving, as Dementors didn't make a sound when they moved, either.

They stayed outside, mapping the outlines of the buildings only, to keep with Remus' suggestion that if they got a layout of the place they could use that to cast a spell to at least see if people were in there and in what area. There were almost no markings on the outside of the temple, so Sirius could find no descriptions or incantations that might suggest to them possible entrances to secret chambers or the like. They did find, in the centre courtyard, a huge black statue of Set.

"I swear that's the same statue of Set I saw in my dream when the Servant of the Lord of the Northern Sky came to us. Look, that's the same incantation I wrote, isn't it, Sirius?"

"Yes." Sirius glanced down at the ground under their feet, but it seemed solid enough. "Remus, didn't you fall into a pit somewhere around here?"

"Just there, actually. Perhaps there's an entrance to the underground complex near here? Or that could just have been a dramatic little touch."

Sirius shook his head and moved back from the statue. "I did learn a few things from my mother, Remus, and one of the key things she told me was that true visionary dreams like you had that night waste no detail. Either the entrance is right here, somewhere, or the clue is, like you suggested earlier, that we aren't going to find anything until we do get inside the underground complex. I sincerely hope it isn't all flooded like the section Draco went through, or that the only entrance we find is under that water."

"Here, here," said Draco quietly, then moved on.

Finally, near the end of the day, they returned to the camp. Harry and Liz still had not appeared, and even Katie looked a little put off by this.

Unable to sleep, Sirius sat up at the far side of the camp and worked on the map, glancing around him from time to time, hoping to hear Liz or Harry calling out, asking where they were. Stupid, really; Harry would never do such a thing, and neither would Liz. He tried to distract himself by reflecting on the fact that Harry seemed, for the first time in months since they had had that horrific argument, to be his normal and good-natured self again. Sirius knew his occasional periods of intense fretting over Harry annoyed Harry to no end, but sometimes he just couldn't stop himself. He justified it by thinking that James and Lily, had they been there, would have had the same reaction to seeing their child so unhappy or putting himself at unnecessary risk. I'm not their substitute, I know that; but I think I've finally settled into the role James intended for me if this had to happen. That I do see Harry as my own, and were he my flesh and blood, I'd be just as bad. I think Harry finally figured that out, so perhaps that's why I've been forgiven. He's not getting preferential treatment because I feel lingering guilt over what happened. He's getting flat out parental treatment.

Suddenly Sirius looked up as a figure apparated near where he sat at the edge of the camp. As if sensing his thoughts, Harry was there in the shadows. Sirius jumped up and moved closer, but suddenly stopped a few feet away. Something was very, very wrong.

"Harry? What is it? Are you okay? Is Liz?"

Harry hesitated a moment before answering. Sirius could not make out his face as Harry's back was to the moon and that caused deep shadows to fall across him.

"We're fine," he finally said very quietly.

"What then? Weasley?"

Harry shook his head and seemed to glance around.

"Where are Remus and Katie?" He asked in an equally quiet voice.

"Asleep over in that direction, closer to the rocks so the wind doesn't kick up too much…why?"

Harry hesitated again and seemed to shake his head for a moment, before looking back up at Sirius. Sirius suddenly felt extremely nervous about what Harry had to say.

"Sirius…" Harry's voice shook with a miserable tone that for some reason shook Sirius to his very core.

"Malcolm's been taken."

No.

Sirius stared at Harry and found himself, for some insane reason, wishing he had heard him incorrectly. But Harry turned a bit and now moonlight lit his face enough so that Sirius could see that he had heard him perfectly. Harry looked ill, and his eyes were starting to fill quietly with tears. Sirius felt like screaming.

Sirius couldn't bear it; he could not loose Malcolm. And he could not watch what loosing Malcolm would do to Remus and Katie. It might kill him. Remus, who has survived so much loss and so much tragedy, could not survive the loss of his beloved son. Not without some part of him being destroyed beyond hope of ever being found again.

Sirius started to shake, feeling his own tears now, but just stepped closer to Harry and grabbed his arm.

"What happened?" he was amazed he could speak with such a steady voice, as he started to hear the voices quietly begin their humming and buzzing in the back of his head, and he went numb with cold.

"Malcolm was with his grandfather, in London. Right in the middle of St. James Park. Mr. Davies isn't sure what even happened, only that he felt very odd for a moment and then suddenly Malcolm was gone."

Sirius could hardly believe it. "One of us attacked him in broad daylight? Just grabbed Malcolm in front of Muggles?"

Harry nodded. "As best we can figure, but it all happened very fast, and whoever did it didn't use magic openly so as not to alert the Ministry, but they must have done something. They didn't have much choice but to do this in the open, did they? Out in the open was the only place they could get to Malcolm; the Davies' home is too tightly guarded with wards."

Sirius started to cry finally and shook his head, trying to understand this. "However did this must have known Mr. Davies was a squib, then, and unable….Oh gods, Harry!"

Harry was crying now too and nodded. "Sirius, there's more. But you have to promise me you're just going to listen to me when I tell you this. You need to be strong now for Remus and Katie…this is going to…"

"This might just kill them, Harry."

"First of all, Mr. and Mrs. Davies have taken Roarke and gone to stay with Ron and Hermione, so they're safe. That was Dumbledore's insistence, and for once they listened to him and did as he asked. They are very, very upset as you can imagine."

Sirius just nodded.

"As soon as he realized what had happened, Mr. Davies contacted Arthur Weasley…."

"Why the hell didn't he go to the Ministry?!"

"In his mind he did, Sirius. And he did the right thing…considering everything. Sirius, if he'd gone to the Ministry and demanded something be done, the first thing they would have done was ask where Remus and Katie were. What that would have set in motion could have had terrible consequences for all of us."

"This is Malcolm, Harry! I don't give a damn what they do to me!"

"It's not just you, is it, Sirius?"

Sirius snarled. "Does Percy have any, any, idea what he's done?"

"Yes, actually, he does. Let me finish. This happened while we were with Bill in Cairo. Actually, we were just about to leave. Mr. Weasley and Dumbledore convinced the Gringott's branch to let them use their travel network, as we all know it's the fastest way to move long distances in short amounts of time. We immediately went back to London, and started to see if there was anything we could do without getting the Ministry involved. We felt very certain that Wormtail must have something to do with this. He must know Remus has a family, and since our run in with him on that island, it fits. The timing, at least. He knows this is probably the only thing he could do to stop Remus, or to control him. So as soon as he got here, he contacted someone."

"To help him."

Harry stopped at this and looked a little pensive. "We're not sure about that. He may just have deliberately set something in motion; at least…."

"What then?"

"Sirius, promise me…."

"Harry! What aren't you telling me!"

"Mr. Davies described the one person he remembers seeing just before Malcolm vanished. A woman who was walking near them. We all…we recognized the description. She is a known Death Eater, but she has never been directly accused of a crime. We went to see if we could find her, to ask her questions… but she's vanished, too."

"Who?"

Harry gave Sirius a miserable glance, and said almost in a whisper, "Narcissa Malfoy."

Sirius thought he would explode with fury on the spot. He gaped at Harry for a moment, then turned to run back to the camp. Harry made a grab and caught him on the shoulder.

"No! Wait!"

"Draco!"

"No – no, Sirius; I truly, I honestly feel that Draco is no part of this."

"Malcolm has been stolen, Harry! Malcolm! And that horrid boy – he's led us into some trap…."

"I don't believe it."

Sirius pulled out of Harry's grip and ran to where Draco lay asleep. Unable to control himself, Sirius reached down and grabbed Malfoy by the neck of his robes, pulling him to his feet and shaking him in fury.

"You bastard! How dare you! I swear to you right now, Malfoy, I don't care what they do to me; if Malcolm is harmed in any way I will kill you with my own bare hands!"

Draco, who had been struggling against him as soon as he grabbed him, stopped moving the instant Sirius said Malcolm's name and stared at him with a look of fear and confusion.

"How long? How long have you been lying to us?! From the start, Malfoy? Is this something you've always been thinking of, something you've been scheming for years? How convenient for you; we've killed Voldemort, and we so conveniently killed your father for you, too!"

Draco started to struggle again at that, but said nothing. Sirius could feel Harry trying to stop him, but he just shook him off and continued to throttle Malfoy, ignoring the bites of the griffins as they squealed at him and dug their beaks into his legs trying to get him to stop.

"You wretched and evil boy. You think I'd let you do it? You think I'd let you get away with hurting Malcolm? With destroying his family? Is this some sort of sick payback? Tell me you didn't help set this up! They wouldn't have dared attack a magician in broad daylight! Only a squib! You knew, you knew the Davies were harmless!"

"Sirius!"

Sirius managed to stop himself for a moment and turn to see Remus standing there, Katie just behind him. They were staring at him with expressions of shock, and Sirius could tell that what he had just said was sinking in. This is not how they are supposed to hear this some small same part of his brain registered. Nobody moved for a few moments, then Remus looked at Draco with an expression that chilled Sirius to the bone; a look of disbelief , utter shock and total fury. But Remus quickly looked away from Draco to Harry, and Sirius saw Harry instinctively take a step back from him.

"Remus, Katie; listen to me. Someone has taken Malcolm, and we suspect…we suspect it was Narcissa Malfoy. But Draco has nothing to do with this. I don't believe that for an instant."

Remus didn't move for a few moments, then turned without a word to wrap his arms around Katie, who just stood with her eyes closed and her hands on her mouth. She gasped when Remus touched her and her eyes flew open. Sirius felt his heart break again at her expression.

"Not Malcolm," was all she said. "Not my boy. No."

Harry started to cry again softly and nodded at her slowly. "I'm sorry Katie, it happened yesterday. But we're doing everything we can. Liz is still in London with Dumbledore; she'll be here later to tell us what's being done. You all need to just listen to what I have to say."

Sirius looked back at Remus, but he was standing with his back to them, holding onto Katie tightly and did not move, although Sirius could see that he had started shaking. Katie nodded at Harry, starting to cry silently herself and moving to grip Remus' arm.

"When we went to Malfoy Manor to see if Narcissa was there, we discovered that she had not been seen in several days. Tenquill told us that she had become increasingly anxious that Draco was nowhere to be found, and that no one could tell her where he might be. She became very concerned that Draco had run into some sort of foul play at the hands of some of our lot; payback, rouge justice, I'm not sure."

Sirius suddenly became aware that he still held Draco, and was stunned to see when he turned that Draco was sobbing. He let go out of reflex and Draco feel to his knees, weeping.

"I told no one – on one­ – where I was going! Not even Tenquill! I told my mother I'd be away, then be back … back for her birthday. Then I left!"

Harry looked at him quietly, then went on. "Narcissa was becoming more fervent in trying to figure out where Draco had got to. She finally went to the Ministry a week ago to demand they look for him. They ignored her request and expressed absolutely no 'official' concerns about the matter. That infuriated her, and she started making her own inquiries in earnest."

"Dumbledore naturally did anything he could do to try and stop 'unofficial' speculation, as he doesn't want an active effort made to find Draco, obviously. Being Lucius Malfoy's wife doesn't garner Narcissa much sympathy in the community with anyone, including the former Death Eaters. I think even if the former Death Eaters were interested they would be very, very reluctant to reach out to her under the current atmosphere. So nobody really said anything and everyone sort of expected that Draco would just show up one day and that would be that. Besides, the Ministry was still working at the Manor, per his instructions and his invitation, so they didn't feel it was anything to be concerned about."

"Then, about four days ago, Mrs. Malfoy went to see Kaylee Pratins in prison, to ask if she had any idea where Draco might be. Narcissa Malfoy and Kaylee Pratins were friends in their Hogwarts days, both in Slytherin of course. Percy Weasley supervised the visit. He has said nothing further on the subject of Sirius and Remus somehow being in league with Pettigrew, but he is becoming more and more anxious, and wild speculations about Draco were not helping, knowing what he does about Remus and Draco's acquaintance. Needless to say, when Narcissa Malfoy showed up, Percy was right there. Mrs. Malfoy and Mrs. Pratins discussed where Draco might be, and it was nothing much until Pratins brought up Remus' name, saying that she had seen Remus with Lucius a few times, and maybe he knew where Draco might be. Narcissa just about exploded and called Kaylee an imbecile and didn't she know that Lupin was one of Dumbledore's closest confidants? But at that, she suddenly stood up and ran from the room, not stopping when Percy told her to wait. She apparated before she could be detained, and was not seen again until…well…."

Harry took a deep breath and waited a moment to keep his composure in check before continuing.

"Percy went wild at that incident. I think he finally realized that he really was mistaken about Remus and Sirius. In a typical 'Percy moment', he announced he thought the most prudent thing to do would be to publicly announce the 'truth' behind Sirius' conviction, the true circumstances of what was happening that moment, that Pettigrew was in fact alive, and basically let the Ministry arrest you all then sort it out."

There was a long silence before Sirius finally looked back up at Harry. He couldn't bear to look at Remus again.

"What the hell stopped him?" he asked in a shaking voice.

"Malcolm. It was when Malcolm disappeared along with Narcissa. That stunned even Percy, and he has been working non-stop since to try and track Narcissa, even though Fred and George, rather cruelly, pointed out he has no idea what he's doing. They're coming back with Liz to help us with this, as the general opinion is that Narcissa must be in contact with Peter somehow. Peter saw Draco on the island, I remember the look on his face when he caught sight of him. He must have gotten word to Narcissa, and this is her…retaliation. Sirius, she knows better than anyone that Lucius considered you and Remus two of the biggest threats to Voldemort and the Death Eaters. She may even know that it was…." Harry stopped for a moment and looked at Malfoy quickly. Draco met his gaze with a confused look, but Harry quickly turned back to Sirius.

"When Pratins brought up Remus' name, that must have suddenly made Narcissa suspect her worst fears may be true. That you and Remus weren't done, and that Draco was next. She must have been searching for any word on where the Lupins were, but of course, could find nothing. That would have made her more anxious and probably more suspicious. Then word gets back to her that Draco has been spotted, exactly where she feared he would be. In the company of Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Not out of choice; he's been captured by you, or something, in her mind, I'm sure of it. So, when Pettigrew confirmed that Draco was with you, she acted immediately. You stole her son, so now she's taken yours. The one good thing we can assume, and that I do believe with all my heart, is that Malcolm is okay. Because she wants Draco back, she'll keep Malcolm safe for an 'exchange'.

Katie shook her head. "She might kill him out of spite…." She wept harder at that, and Remus tightened his grip on her, though he still didn't turn to face any of them. Sirius couldn't stand it.

"Don't say that, Katie! And don't believe that. Harry's right; and despite everything, Narcissa is a mother too….She understands what it means…."

Draco stood quietly. He had stopped crying, but looked completely floored by everything and rather frightened. He looked at Harry quietly, seeming to ask permission to speak. Harry gave a nod and Draco spoke slowly and in very subdued tones.

"I think Potter's right as well, Mrs. Lupin. I think she assumes I am here against my will. My behaviour in the final confrontation with Voldemort, my actions, as you know are not public record. My mother has no idea that I am responsible for father dying that night, and for letting the League know exactly what Voldemort was trying to do. She believes with all her heart that I will uphold my 'responsibilities' as the Lord of Malfoy. Maybe I have somehow encouraged her in that. I explained that I was gutting the house and turning things over to the Ministry to get them to 'shut up'; to give a show at compromise and acquiescence. But I did promise her that the family papers, those hidden in the office, would be untouched, and I have allowed no one in there. Obviously, the most damning and the most dangerous pieces of the Malfoy heritage are there. But as I told Professor Lupin, I was simply saving that work for last."

He paused a moment.

"I am more profoundly sorry for this than I can ever say…." His voice broke and he stopped for a moment to regain his composure. Sirius saw him swallow hard, and then his head came back up. The cold, hard mask of old was back, and his eyes glinted dangerously. "I will not let her harm your son."

Sirius felt the urge to grab him again, but Remus finally turned around. His face was wet, and set in a dark mask, but when he spoke, it was in his usual quiet tones.

"Draco, this is a shock I hope you never have to bear. I do believe that you have no part in your mother's actions, and that your intentions in this affair are honourable. I always have. Sirius, if you cannot share that faith, understand this. If you do kill him, then Narcissa will kill Malcolm."

Sirius stared at Remus, and Remus gazed back at him without a single flinch. Sirius also understood that if he so much as snarled at Draco again Remus might very well break his neck. After a few moments, Remus turned back away and just continued to hold Katie, who had closed her eyes again and who now turned in his arms to embrace him fully herself.

Harry stepped closer to Sirius and Draco, and motioned for them to follow him away to the other side of the camp. They stood there for a few moments in silence before Harry looked at Draco.

"Draco, it's not your fault."

It was not lost on Sirius that Harry addressed Draco by his given name.

"Do you think Narcissa has, in any way, been helping Peter from the start?" Sirius said quietly.

Draco shook his head, but said nothing. Harry spoke up in agreement with him.

"We can't tell, but her making inquires as to Draco's whereabouts, and even going to the Ministry looking for answers makes me suspect that's not the case. She probably shares her husband's opinion that Pettigrew is insane and dangerous. But he's no doubt told here where he is, and that we're following him, so it seems that this is where she will come with Malcolm."

"Sirius, what happens now, though, when she gets here and finds out that it's all true? That there really is something unbelievably powerful hidden at Ombos? It was bad enough to have to worry about Wormtail getting his hands on it, but at least we didn't really have to worry about legions of Death Eaters joining him in the search. If Narcissa Malfoy, however, makes the suggestion…."

"Yes. But right now her concern is not the Casting Stone, it's Draco."

"But for how long?"

"Until we find Malcolm."