The Casting Stone 15
Well – dare I say this – we're on the home stretch. All the set up is there, all the hints, suggestions, ideas…but I'm not done quite yet. Yes, this is Sunday's instalment early again, as we're off for the weekend. No two chapters.
Katie has a fit, but comes to earth soon
enough. Sirius finishes enchanting the
outline of the temple, desperate to see if just maybe…. Fred & George Weasley join them, to help
find Narcissa and Pettigrew, and they all return to the temple complex only to
meet up with another of our sordid little tale's characters; who has some
choice words for them. And they do locate Malcolm. And the author does
something she never does, which is start in one voice and end in another. She does this because not doing so would
incur the wrath of the 'Dragon Huggers', and she has enough pressure in her
life. So this is a really long bit!
***
Remus stood there in the darkness, trying to just keep his focus. Malcolm… He tried not to picture what they might have done to him…tried to just think that Narcissa would want to make sure that Malcolm wasn't hurt…. Katie had finally started crying in earnest and was sobbing as she grabbed handfuls of his shirt, rocking slightly. Remus felt his grief start to shatter his concentration, and he felt vaguely dizzy as sensations ran through his mind, all of Malcolm. It was a terrible assault on his senses, as he heard his son call out for him, laugh at nothing in particular; Remus could smell him, feel the warmth of Malcolm's skin as he held Remus' hand tightly, balancing carefully as he learned to walk…. Thousands of images; thousands of memories of moments coming forward in a rush, and all with the unceasing undercurrent of total fear and desperation that these might all he would be left with of his beautiful little boy.
He was brought back when he heard Katie say something. Katie; this must be more than…this is more than either of us can handle.
"What did you say, Katie?"
"He could have stopped it," she gasped, wringing Remus' shirt even tighter.
"Katie…."
"He could have stopped it! Just because they can't do magic doesn't mean they can't see it! Doesn't mean he can't take precautions! But he knows what's best, doesn't he?" She finally looked up, and Remus could see total fury in her look.
"This is his fault! His stupid
pride! Had he not turned his back – had
he stayed in the community!" Remus was startled at the bitterness in her voice;
he knew that Mr. Davies taking Katie and leaving England when she was 10 to prevent
her going to Hogwarts, was something that Katie was likely never to forgive her
parents for. But he thought that what
with Katie going out on her own, getting her own education and her parents
finally returning to England, that some peace had been made on the issue. Mr. Davies had even told Remus a few years
ago that he regretted his actions; he did not think that what he did would
cause such a rift with his only child. But while Remus deeply appreciated how Mr.
Davies felt in deciding to remove his family from the remorseless attitude of
the community because he and his wife were squibs, he did not think that Mr.
Davies was right in extending his own bitterness by keeping Katie and her
talents away. But Katie had told him that they just didn't get it, and never
would, so it wasn't worth his concern. Remus worked quietly to try and mend the rift with his wife and his
in-laws, but it was always a touchy subject. Malcolm was their only neutral ground; the Davies clearly loved their
grandson very much. They must be feeling terrible…but this may
be something Katie will never forgive…she's right; they could have been more
careful, but how could they possibly have suspected? Katie can't blame them; she can't hold that much bitterness. It no more their fault than Draco's.
"Don't blame your father. Narcissa…."
Katie shook her head and wiped her face angrily with her sleeve, gasping for breath through her tears.
"How can you not blame him, Remus? You trusted him with the life of your son, and look what happened!"
"I don't blame your parents, Katie and I won't stand for you saying this! They love Malcolm as much as we do."
"They will probably end up resenting him and breaking his heart too. If they haven't got him…got him…."
"He is not dead, Katie."
Katie buried her face on his chest again, wrapping her arms around his waist. She didn't speak for a moment, and then pulled back a bit to look up at him, still with a dark look.
"I'll kill them, Remus;" she said weakly, "If Malcolm dies because of this…."
"Do not say such things. I need you. Roarke needs you. And Malcolm needs us."
He could finally feel his own tears
stopping, and moved his arms so he could cup her face with his hands. So
small and delicate, but so strong. We're both strong; we need to stop this, and find him.
"Smile for me, Katie, love. I need you to smile for me. Please."
She hesitated a bit, and then smiled at him, reaching up to caress his cheek softly.
He smiled back at her shakily. "Thank you. I love you. We've got to find Malcolm. And he'll be just fine; I promise you, Katie. I promise."
"I promise you, too," she whispered.
"That's my girl. Now, let's go talk to Harry and find out everything we can about what happened, and start to figure out what we're going to do to get Malcolm back."
***
By mid-morning they had heard every detail of what had happened from Harry, and discussed possible next steps in trying to figure out where Narcissa was. Remus felt reasonably calm, and Katie had quieted down, but he knew that they both must just be exuding anxiety and fear. Draco looked about as miserable as Remus had ever seen him, despite he and Katie both assuring him that this was not his fault. Draco said nothing to them, simply nodded and went to sit as far from the others as he could, keeping the griffins with him. Even they were uncharacteristically silent, seeming to respond to Draco's mood. The only noise Remus heard out of them all morning was a small barrage of scolding cries aimed at Sirius when he walked to closely by Draco.
Sirius looked worse than anyone else, and kept crying quietly, even as he worked diligently on the spell map. Remus knew that this sort of shock still affected Sirius deeply, and considering how much Sirius loved Malcolm, this was about as bad as it could be for him. He refused to talk about it though, and Remus let him get on with his work. Harry eventually joined him, and just sat next to Sirius silently as well, a hand resting on a shoulder.
Finally, nearing noon, Liz reappeared. She apparated near to Sirius, who still kept her wand with his in his pocket, followed closely by Fred and George Weasley. Liz ran over to Katie immediately and hugged her, but Remus was rather surprised to see she was actually smiling.
"Liz? Good news?"
"Yes! We've just been in Luxor to meet with a 'contact' of Bill's. Colourful doesn't begin to describe him, but he's a fantastic old gossip and he knows everything that happens in that town. Katie, Remus, Narcissa was seen arriving there with a small dark haired boy. She's nowhere to be found now, but I think that's very good news."
Katie gave a little hiccough and nodded. "Oh, it is Liz. Thank you."
"There's a lot more," she said, taking off her pack and throwing it to the ground casually, then turned to Sirius. "Are you alright?" she asked him softly.
Sirius shook his head, but still said nothing and just wrapped his arms around her tightly. Remus turned to greet the twins.
"Fred, George; thank you. This is more than we can ask…."
"Nonsense," said Fred.
"Utter rubbish," added George, giving a kind smile.
Remus couldn't help shaking a bit looking at George. He and his wife had just had their first a few days after Roarke was born. Instantly he was assailed with memories of the sensations of the night Malcolm was born. He took a deep breath and smiled back as best he could, trying to keep his voice even and light.
"Sarah's not been left alone at the store, has she?"
George shook his head. "No, she's got help. But honestly? I think she'd rather be on her own."
Fred grinned. "Mum's there. She demanded it; said she needed to feel she was doing something to help."
The idea of Molly toiling away in the dreaded joke shop actually made Remus feel slightly amused, and deeply grateful. Of course, Molly understands what this is like….
"Well, I'm sure Sarah does appreciate the help somewhat."
"I doubt it," sighed George, with an amused look. "Between Mum telling her to sit down and rest every 5 minutes and quizzing her about who Fred might be seeing and if it might be serious every 10 she's definitely doing hers for king and country."
"George, you should be home right now…."
"No, I'm fine right where I am, thank you. But the faster we get this all settled, the better I think." George gave a customarily broad smile and moved away to speak with Harry. Fred chuckled and just shook his head at Remus and Katie.
"Fred, the baby…."
"Is rather dull at the moment, in all honesty, even if George swears he smiled when he set off some fireworks over his crib to entertain him."
"He set off fireworks to entertain a newborn?"
"Katie, this is good old George you're talking about. I thought it was just gas myself."
Remus had to smile a little, thinking that Sirius might have tried something like that himself had he not feared Katie's wrath over such a stunt. "Fred…."
"Remus, please. George is exactly where he wants to be, just like me. And of course, all of this is just all that more upsetting to him now."
"Yes of course."
"Roarke's stunning, you know. I was lucky to see her before I left. She's a really lovely baby, and I honestly don't think babies are all that attractive. I thought you'd want to know that she's lovely and happy and healthy."
"Thank you, Fred. We do appreciate that. I'm sure young Bryson is lovely himself."
"Ah, a man of faith in sensations over aesthetics. That's George's department, sorry. My new nephew looks like a goblin, actually, but George doesn't mind a bit. Never tell Ginny this, but I suspected she was a changeling for months when she arrived. Terrified me."
Katie finally laughed. "That's elves, Fred."
"Whatever," he said happily. "Lucky she turned out so spanking in the end and dad didn't let me toss her in the bin for the sake of the family pride."
Fred looked over at Draco, who had not moved, but who was now speaking quietly with Liz. Remus could tell from Liz's expression that she was trying, as they all had except for Sirius, to convince him it wasn't his fault. Sirius hasn't said a word to him since I made it damn clear he'd better just back off. Probably for the best. Remus glanced at Sirius, standing a few feet behind Liz, arms crossed and staring at his feet. At least Liz is back; that should help him.
"How's Malfoy?" asked Fred.
"Not good. He blames himself for this, but it is not his fault."
"No. I actually feel a little sorry for the blighter. He looks awful."
Liz finally asked that everyone take a seat so she could tell them what they had learned in Luxor.
"Right. Where all of this puts us, will be up for discussion when I finish. So bear with me. Fred, George, jump in if I miss anything. Over the past week three of our Death Eaters who were here in Luxor, ones who fled England after the death of Voldemort to avoid prosecution, also seem to have gone completely underground. It could be coincidence, but I don't think so. We know that Pettigrew had to have some sort of help, and he knew Egypt was the final destination in all of this, he just needed to find out where."
"I asked about any word of strange cult activity, but the response was a little mysterious. What was it he said, Fred? George?"
"We are a mysterious place and we have many fantastic things under our sand" deadpanned Fred. "Dramatic old duffer, he was."
"Very. Then I asked about Set and he was rather taken aback by that. He said that Set was not something to be playing around with, but we had more or less figured that out. Even the locals don't like to talk about him. Then he started saying more interesting things."
"We are in one of many spots across this country where most people simply refuse to come. Historically, terrible things happened here. One of the worst, and one that still lingers it would seem in the collective consciousness of the wizard community, was something that happened when Alexander the Great conquered Egypt. Thebes was once one of the greatest historical centres of the old wizarding world; many of the most powerful old wizards and witches came from here or came to here to study. This place is very rich in natural magic, both light and dark. And it was one of the few places where the wizards and the Muggles lived openly among each other. When Alexander came, however, he did something horrific."
"He ordered the wizards killed."
"Yes – I never knew that before."
"We didn't either, until the island. The Caretaker told us about this. It was orchestrated by a dark wizard named Demoncles, right?"
"Yes. But it gets more interesting. The last stand was here, at Thebes. Unfortunately, the wizards were no match for the general's skills. They were cornered and killed to the last one. Demoncles demanded that Alexander give him Egypt as his reward for his loyalty. Naturally Demoncles wanted this place in particular. Alexander refused, and Demoncles turned on him. He killed all of his Muggle troops, as some sort of final parting shot at Alexander, then marched into the desert beyond the tombs of the pharaohs."
"Where we are now?"
"Exactly where we are now. He was looking for the ancient stronghold of Set. You knew that too?"
"Yes. The Caretaker says they vanished into the desert."
"Almost. One wizard did come back, about a year later. But it was almost impossible to get anything coherent out of him. He claimed that they had found something, but that everything had gone wrong, and the others were all dead."
"That's it?"
"He didn't have the chance to explain anything else. They killed him the next day."
"Why?"
Liz looked a little uncomfortable and gave Remus a sad look. "He was a werewolf. In those days, they just…."
"I know."
"I'm sorry; it would seem that there is an abnormally high fear and loathing of werewolves here. The strange old wizard wouldn't elaborate and we decided not to press the issue. He did say that this valley is considered to be haunted by the spirits of the wizards who were 'killed by the Servant of the Lord of the Northern Sky', for daring to challenge his master. Whatever happened, however those men died, this place is absolutely forbidden. Over the years there are other stories of people who have vanished out here, but for the most part they have simply stayed far away."
"But he did tell us the story of what happened the last time someone was known to have come here. Despite the rumours of meeting a nasty end, three wizards who were treasure hunting in the area claimed to have found an amazing temple in this valley, untouched. They spoke about it having amazing treasures, there were even doors made of solid silver, just sitting out here."
Draco looked up at that, and glanced at Remus. "Liz, there are doors of solid silver in the temple."
She nodded. "I don't doubt that somehow they did manage to stumble across this place. Most people wanted nothing to do with it, or with them. They were told not to return out here, and not to spread dangerous lies. They did not take the warnings seriously, though, and for whatever reason came back here. Only this time they brought an artefact back with them. One clearly marked as a ritual object for the Lord of the Northern Sky."
Sirius finally spoke up, in a voice of total disbelief. "They stole something from here? Were they completely mad?"
"I doubt they'd qualify for the brightest in the bunch. But greed obviously spoke louder than fear. Wizards, of course, refused to touch it. At the very least it was stolen; at worst it was cursed by Set. That's about as bad as it gets. But Muggles, of course, would have no idea not to touch such a powerful magical object. They got a Muggle American interested, some sort of professor. He was thrilled to actually see such an ancient article attributable to Set. Most objects associated with him from the first time are gone."
"Probably for a good reason," said George.
"Exactly. Anyway, the three wizards agreed to get more for him, but they refused to take him to the site. He wasn't very happy about that, but there wasn't much he could do. Two of the wizards went back, the third one stayed with the American. No doubt to keep him in sight and make certain he didn't try and follow them or something. They were supposed to be gone for three days. When they hadn't returned after six days, the American said he had to leave, because he was supposed to start work. He took whatever it was they had originally sold him, and left for Greece."
"Greece?"
"Don't jump ahead Remus, but I think you've figured out where I'm going. The third wizard, now angry and worried that maybe he'd been doubled crossed by the other two decided to go back to the temple and see what was up. What he found…well; he found his confederates, but they were dead, and had been for several days. He found them laying face down in a courtyard in front of a huge statue of Set."
"We've seen that," said Sirius.
"At first they looked like they were just lying there, but when he turned them over, he saw that in fact they had been ripped to shreds."
There was a pause before Liz continued.
"Terrified for his own life now, the wizard fled and immediately decided to go to Greece, to get back whatever it was they had taken from the temple so he could return it. He caught up with the American, but it was too late. Something had already been there, and had taken the artefact back. It had also taken one of the students."
"Jack!"
"I think it must be. This happened three years ago."
"The American professor lived, though. We know that, because he was only just killed last month, back in Greece."
"I've no idea why the Caretaker took Jack instead of killing the professor. I don't think it really matters, anyway."
"What happened to the last wizard?"
"He fled into northern Europe, presumably to try and put as much distance between himself and Egypt as possible. But only weeks later he was discovered dead in his bed at the inn he was staying at. It looked at first like his neck had been crushed; but his mouth and indeed his lungs were in fact filled with sand. The best guess is that the bruises on his neck were made by him as he struggled, trying to breathe."
"I think it was when he was in Europe that he somehow met with Wormtail. We know that three years ago Voldemort was primarily located in the Balkan mountains, and of course Pettigrew would have been with him. There's no date on that letter, we know, but it fits. I imagine that as soon as Peter heard this man's story he started thinking in earnest about the possibility that the Casting Stone was real. What he sent to Lucius was a rough outline of what he'd ascertained to that point, asking as we know for help in pursuing it."
Draco scowled. "Why didn't he just ask Lord Voldemort? Why bother father with this at all?"
Remus answered him in quiet tones. "Draco, if it was a wild goose chase, Voldemort probably wouldn't have been happy with Peter. I don't think he wanted to say anything to Voldemort about it at all unless he could deliver him the actual object. Peter always…. Peter didn't like risks. He preferred sure things. He preferred 'knowing' what was going to happen. Risking the wrath of Voldemort was not something he could handle. So he tried to get someone bigger and stronger to help him. All very Peter."
Liz glanced at Sirius as Remus said this, but Sirius didn't move, only watched Remus with a dark look. Liz continued.
"So, here's what I think. Pettigrew is down there somewhere even now. He knew of the temple and, no doubt, he knew some of the layout from the wizard who succeeded in finding that place. But he had to go through the path from the Peloponnese because he needed to get onto the island to find the spells to get what he wanted; the spells to open the most secret places. What I can't figure out is how Pettigrew got his hands on Jack. Lucky? That seems exceptionally good luck."
Remus sighed. "It doesn't matter; Peter got what he needed. And he got one up on us when he so shrewdly got Narcissa involved in this. Although, he hasn't proven to her that Draco is here."
"That's why I think Narcissa is with him," said Liz.
Sirius stood up. "We can settle this quickly enough. Let me finish the map, and see what it shows us. Remus?" He looked hesitantly at Remus. "I'll get this finished all that much faster if you help me. Feeling up to it?"
Remus stood as well and gave Sirius a slight smile. "Yes."
They went over to where Sirius had the map spread out and a small collection of objects for spells.
Remus tried to concentrate, but he was still being plagued with images of Malcolm. He glanced up at Katie every few minutes, to see how she was doing as much as to ground himself. She was sitting with Liz leaning up against one of the cliff fronts, talking. She seemed fine, but Remus could feel how upset she still was.
Suddenly Remus had to stop what he was doing and just put his head in his hands, starting to cry quietly again. It was just too much; the idea that he may never see Malcolm again was just too horrifying. Sirius stopped what he was doing and shifted to wrap an arm around his shoulders.
"We'll find him, Moony," Sirius whispered softly.
Remus nodded, wiping his cheeks and trying to get his breathing back under control. We will. We have to. I can't…I'm not even going to consider it. I can't bear it…. He's so little. Remus felt a fresh wave of tears, but Sirius just remained silent, keeping his arm over his shoulders.
"I keep thinking about how little he is, Sirius. I can't stop thinking about what this must be like…but…"
"Please, don't do that."
"It's not that…I just…I remember being so little, and so scared; I keep remembering that night."
Remus hesitated here. He had never, despite everything, told Sirius about when he was bit. Or James; the only person he had ever told was Katie. Told of the desperate fear, of knowing that he was being hunted; of knowing he was about to die.
Sirius moved back from him and pointed at Katie. "Get out of here. Go be with Katie and generate positive energy. I'm nearly done, and then we'll go get Malcolm."
Remus stood up without another word and went to sit with Katie and Liz. Liz smiled warmly at him as he sat down and pulled Katie close.
"Malcolm will be tracking mud through the front hall in no time."
Katie smiled at that. "I don't think I'll be able to tell him off for doing it for months."
"Months?" said Remus in a teasing tone. He suddenly felt that if he could get Katie bantering with him again, everything would feel all right. Katie didn't bite, however, and he tried not to let that depress him further.
"Liz, were there any ideas on where Narcissa went?"
"Katie, I am convinced that Narcissa, in all likelihood, is with Peter. Our best bet is that Peter told her that Remus is after him, so if Narcissa sticks with him, Remus will undoubtedly turn up. That would be my move at least. It also means he has the added help of a very strong witch in all of this."
"That means she's taken Malcolm into that place!"
"I think Malcolm's safety is actually her primary concern. She 'knows' that if Malcolm is killed, Remus will no doubt kill Draco in an instant."
"Remus! Katie!"
They stood and ran over to Sirius, who was smiling shakily. Remus heard the others come up as well.
"Got him."
They looked at the map. There, in one of the far buildings, were five little dots. One labelled 'Wormtail', one labelled 'Narcissa Malfoy', one labelled 'Pyrs Duchon', one labelled 'Chavez Diturgio', and the last one labelled 'Malcolm Lupin'. Remus stared at the dot for a few moments, them smiled at Katie, who was crying and smiling at the same time.
"Shush, love. See? He's just fine. Does anyone recognize the others?"
Harry glanced at the map. "Pyrs Duchon is a low-level Death Eater from Germany. One of the ones nobody bothered to follow when he went missing. I don't know the other. Liz?"
Liz stepped forward and smiled at Katie and Remus before looking at the map. "No idea. Probably another bitter little man like Pettigrew. Let's get down there. But I do have to ask one thing. Remus, Sirius, you made that map originally with Peter. Could he have reproduced it like you have? Is he looking at something himself to see when you appear? Because we could end up in a draw here, unless there's a way to prevent you from showing…. I'm guessing by those grins there is a way."
"Yes."
"I knew it!" said George. "I knew you could do it, but I never did figure it out. Damn and blast."
Harry smiled.
"You figured it out?" asked Fred. Then he glanced at Sirius. "Or did you get help?" Harry just continued to smile.
Remus chuckled quietly, shaking his head. "I doubt, actually, that Peter has done something like this but to err on the side of caution would be best. I did most of the spell casting on the first map, but Peter may have been paying more attention than I thought. Sirius? Care to do the honours? You are the one who figured this bit out."
Sirius was still grinning and gave Remus a little bow.
"Sirius did this?"
"Well, James would have without a doubt, but Sirius sort of beat him to, well, having a need to hide where he was from us, shall we say."
"Oh of course. Teenagers."
"Don't say that like you weren't one yourself, Miss Harker, and stand here."
"Wait," said Draco, "Can't Peter just do the same thing?"
"No," said Sirius. "Remus was the map keeper. Wormtail never saw it unless we were all together, so he never knew we could do this. The one time, the one time, we let him hold it, we lost it. All that brilliance locked in a filing cabinet," he muttered angrily as he proceeded to charm each one of them.
"We're grateful it was there," said George, brightly.
"Yes, if it's any comfort, Misters Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs were our heroes and our inspiration for years." Said Fred, holding one hand over his heart. "Well, maybe not Wormtail," he added.
"Never let your mother know, or I may wish I was back in Azkaban. Right, that's all of us. Now, let's go get Malcolm. He's our first concern."
"Sirius…."
"Katie, don't say anything to me. I want to know my little marauder is safe. Then I can really savour what I'm going to do to Wormtail."
***
They stood at the entrance to a large building on the left of the main temple complex, on the far side of the courtyard from the gigantic statue of Set. There were two sets of doors, open, and leading in different directions.
"If we go in two groups of four, then at least it's an even fight when we meet up with the others. Harry and Draco will come with Katie and me. You four take the other side. Because we have no idea what the insides of these places look like, we have no idea who might reach that area first. I suspect it's probably going to be underground. Any questions?"
"What's our timing on this?" asked Fred, moving to the entrance of the corridor. "Do we meet back here after a few hours, no matter what?"
"We're not coming back here," said Sirius, brusquely, "without Malcolm."
"Sirius, don't be impractical. If they find Malcolm first, how would we know, and vice versa. I think it's going to be dark in about 6 hours. I don't think we should be here, or at least split up, after dark. So lets say 5 hours? This building isn't that big…."
"Liz, there are significant underground complexes," said Draco, quietly.
"True. All the more reason to avoid getting split up if we can help it. See you in five hours and good luck!"
"Good luck to you as well." Sirius grabbed Remus' arm and gave a squeeze, smiling at him.
"Soon."
"Soon."
Remus, Katie, Harry and Draco entered the building. The first few rooms were small and had no adornments except the reliefs on the walls. It was not lost on them that this building was lit dimly by small fires in sconces.
"Think Peter did that?"
"I'm going to hope he did and keep moving forward."
After a while they found a huge pair of silver doors. Remus stepped back and looked at the others.
"Someone care to get this?"
Draco stepped forward, his griffins at his heels. "Allow me."
Draco waved his wand, and the silver doors swung open silently. Remus looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Draco gave a faint smile, full of bitterness.
"I discovered when I came up through the ossuary that these doors are shut with a very old dark holding spell. They present no issues for me." He moved forward silently through the doorway.
Remus looked at Harry when he heard him sigh, but Harry said nothing and just followed Draco into the corridor beyond the doors. After a few feet the corridor started downwards sharply. They held the walls for balance and carefully walked down the steep slope. After what seemed several hundred feet, the corridor evened out again. There was another set of doors.
This time, the doors were carved from wood, and covered with spells. Draco looked backwards over his shoulder at them.
"Curses. Lots of them. And real ones, not ones for show. No possibility of getting in here without breaking them. Give me a moment to get the idea of them, if I can."
Harry looked at Remus with a rather pleased expression.
"You know what that probably means?"
"Peter's going to need help. I bet that's what he was doing on the island! He was trying to bring Jack with him through the gate. I knew we should have insisted Jack come with us."
"Katie, exactly how were we going to get a reluctant werewolf to follow us against his will?"
"Oh, Harry, Katie's actually rather skilled at convincing werewolves to do things they have no intention of doing…."
"Remus!"
"Well, just the one it would seem."
"Exactly what am I talking you into?"
"Blue in the dining room for a start."
"That's a gorgeous colour! And I did not coerce an acceptance of it out of you!"
Remus was so thrilled to have Katie bantering again he couldn't stop himself. She must be feeling much better.
"Then there's the fact that you also convinced me to actually do all the painting."
"Waving your wand about for 20 minutes is not exactly back breaking work, love."
Remus did laugh now and winked at Harry, who smiled at him. Remus leaned down to whisper in Katie's ear, "Feeling better?"
Katie gave him a radiant smile. "Much. Let's go get our little boy, shall we? Draco, no curses on the doorway there we can't handle?"
"Pretty standard. Give me another moment here."
Remus looked over at Harry, who seemed to be considering something.
"What is it, Harry?"
"Well, if Wormtail had managed to get his hands on Jack, and used him to open these doors, wouldn't we have seen Jack on the map? Maybe one of the others can read all this."
Katie shrugged. "There's probably several ways of getting where we're going. We just seem to have chosen the hard way," she said sounding a little irked. "But you could be right."
Draco suddenly said something and the wooden doors shimmered slightly. Then he again waved his wand as he had at the previous set of doors, and the doors opened.
"I think that's got it."
Before anyone could stop him, he moved forward quickly through the doorway, and stopped on the other side. Remus watched him carefully to see if anything was wrong, but Draco seemed unharmed.
"Alright, Draco?"
"Yes. This way."
The tunnel was lined with finely crafted masonry, and, as in the other corridors, poorly lit with small fires in sconces along the left wall. Draco and Harry took the lead, and Remus didn't feel like arguing with them. Eventually they reached a cross roads, where two other tunnels ran off of the one they were following and stopped.
"Which way?"
Remus was about to answer when Draco gave a
small sound and his head shot up to look over his shoulder. Remus followed his gaze, and almost didn't
believe what he saw. Well, we knew he'd turn up eventually.
The Caretaker stood quietly, arms crossed, staring at them from the centre of the corridor in front of them. Nothing was said for long moments as they studied each other. Finally, the Caretaker spoke in a low and grating tone.
"Young one, I have been waiting for you."
Remus stared at the man, feeling the hair on the back of his neck go up and his blood boil a bit in a subconscious response. On the island he had not felt threatened by this man, but now there was a decidedly dangerous air to him. Remus' emotions were running too high for him to keep all his mannerisms in check; he growled at the man low in his throat and bared his teeth at him slightly as he stepped forward in front of the others to put himself them and the old wolf.
The Caretaker raised an eyebrow and gave a rather lopsided grin, revealing sharp and somewhat elongated canines that Remus had not noted before.
"You are making your companions nervous with such displays. I doubt they have ever seen you as you truly are. Even your mate there."
Remus couldn't see Katie's response to that but she must have shown something on her face because the Caretaker waved a hand absently and said in the same drawling voice. "You stink of him, my dear. You are very clearly marked. Now," he took a few steps towards them and stopped directly in front of Remus, but still out of striking range, "I have, purely for the sake of you," he said pointedly, looking hard at Remus, "not ended this little game just yet, but my patience is wearing thin. Soon it won't matter what I want or what I choose. When those fools back there 'succeed' in their efforts, they are going to unleash things you could not imagine. Even you, dark one," he added, looking in the direction of Draco. He continued to look at Draco for a few moments, seeming to think about something. Then he glanced at the griffins and smiled faintly. "Interesting gifts you have there. Pay them mind, they should serve you very well."
Draco said nothing.
"Why are you with them and not your mother?" he continued in a neutral tone.
"That is my choice," came Draco's cold reply from Remus' left. "You know where my mother is?"
"Yes. Just in that direction," said the Caretaker, pointing to the corridor on their left. "With your cub, young one. Why is that?"
"She's taken him from us; we're trying to get him back."
The Caretaker gave a small laugh. "She stole a werewolf's child? Is she mad?"
"She thinks we've taken her boy."
"Well she's come to probably the worst place possible after having committed such a crime. They will know."
Remus stared at him. "Who will know?"
The Caretaker gave a sigh, and then turned to walk up the corridor he had just indicated, motioning for them to follow. Remus looked back at Katie, Draco and Harry, making it clear that they were still to stay behind him.
"Haven't you figured this out yet, young one? You seem very bright to me, if confused. You were bit, I take it; surely had you chosen this path you would not try so hard not to be what you are."
"Chose?"
"Yes. Some of us chose to embrace the power offered to us by the wolf. The strength, the speed, the senses, and the near indestructible life given to us. I embraced it with all I had; I chose to come here, and to be chosen."
He stopped walking and turned very quickly, stopping inches from Remus. Remus resisted the urge to flinch or back down, just met the cold look and stayed silent. He deliberately became a wolf….
"You are gloriously strong, young one," he said quietly. "A will to match the gifts of the wolf. That's rare, especially among the di; the given. Jack is just as strong, but he is taking a while to adjust, sadly. He still has no idea how beautiful he is when he stops fighting – when he can no longer fight."
"Beautiful death."
"Yes, beautiful death."
"He cannot live like we do, you must know that."
The Caretaker gave a feral grin. "Oh, can't he? You've no idea how he can live."
Abruptly he stepped back and looked over his shoulder down the corridor. "You have a little time yet, young one. Find your cub, and leave. By now, you should have his scent and can do without me. I have other matters to attend to." He gave a quick flick of his wand and vanished before anyone could say anything else.
Katie came up next to Remus and put a hand on his arm. "Remus? Can you smell Malcolm?"
Remus closed his eyes for a moment and concentrated. If he's near…I love the way he smells….Oh, gods; there he is!
"Katie! He is near – and he's alright," he added quietly, hearing the relief in his voice. "He's alright. Let's go. Now."
They started up the corridor. Under the meagre light of the few fires that burned along the walls, it was difficult to make out much. They passed a few false doors before Remus came to halt in front of one niche. He couldn't stop himself from slamming one hand against the wall in frustration, as he instinctively knew that Malcolm was somewhere behind it.
"There must be another entrance near here; I can't smell through solid rock!"
He turned to see that Harry and Draco were inspecting the wall next to the niche carefully. Harry looked up with a smile. "Right here; this is just a spell wall. Now, I guess the most important question is can you tell if there's anyone else in there?", he whispered.
Remus thought about it, then shook his head. "I'm not sure," he whispered back. "There are other scents…but they could just be lingering here. We know they were all together a little while ago. I'm not quite as, um, tuned into those as I am to Malcolm."
"Understandable. Look, let's get the spell covering the door down, carefully, and see what happens. Katie? Is that okay?"
"Do it now," was all she said.
Harry muttered under his breath and waved his wand over the wall. It shimmered for a moment, and then melted away, revealing another one of the silver doors. Draco stepped forward to test it.
"Charmed shut. Stand back."
As Draco raised his wand, Remus caught another movement out of the corner of his eye up the corridor. He turned quickly, just as a spell shot past him and crashed into the wall, sending up a cloud of dust and spraying them all with shards of plaster as the relief was blown apart behind him. There were some shouts, and he blindly turned to flatten himself against the far wall opposite the door. He could hear movement all around him, recognized Harry's voice calling out a hex from somewhere in front of him, and caught the distinctive squeak of the griffins coming from the opposite side of the corridor.
"Draco!"
He got no answer. By now the dust had settled enough and he could make out Harry and Katie, moving quickly past him up the tunnel. But they were stopped immediately when another blast came from the darkness ahead of them, this time deliberately aimed at the ceiling in front of them. The old rocks started to fall, and Remus grabbed at Harry and Katie, pulling them both backwards quickly as the whole roof started caving in. He heard Katie scream in frustration, felt her try and pull from his grasp to go back to the door, but the rocks were falling there too. They were forced back further as sand now began pouring through the gaping hole in the masonry; Remus had a vivid recollection of the moment in his vision where he had been drowned in the sand. Without thinking he simply dragged Katie and Harry back even further, trying to ignore the choking feeling the dust and flying sand gave him as he breathed it all in.
They stood in the corridor, not saying anything as the sand slowly stopped running through the ceiling. Malcolm…and Draco.
Harry finally looked at Remus. "Did Draco get that door open?"
"I don't know, Harry."
"Let's find another way in there."
Katie stared at the pile of sand. Remus felt the raw fury coming off of her and suddenly the sand in front of her started to shift slightly.
"Katie! Don't do that, there's no way to get through this…."
Katie took a deep breath and turned to look at the wall next to her. "Harry? Are there other false walls here? An entrance into an adjoining chamber?"
"Let's look."
***
Draco scrambled to get away from the advancing sand pouring through the doorway. The room he had entered was reasonably large, with a large enchanted fire burning in the centre. He tripped over Elvira as he struggled to keep his feet, but managed to just avoid falling into the fireplace.
"Do be careful you two!" he whispered harshly. He straightened quickly and held his wand in front of him, scanning the room to see if there was anyone else in there. At first glance he saw nothing, and certainly nobody came forward to him. He felt oddly relieved that his mother was not there. But Professor Lupin was so convinced his son was here….
Draco stepped forward to have a closer look at the far side of the room. Then he saw a small figure seated on a ledge, and moved forward quickly. It was Malcolm. Dirty, exhausted looking, and obviously frightened, but unhurt. Thank you; whoever, just thank you.
"Malcolm, it's Draco. Remember me?"
Malcolm actually raised an eyebrow at that. "Yes of course," he said quietly. "Is daddy with you?"
"No, Malcolm. He and your mum are somewhere else. Let's go join them, shall we?" He reached forward and helped
Malcolm down from the ledge. Draco was
astonished at how light the little boy felt, and it made him just all the more
aware of how young he really was. Not
even four yet, and mother does something like this.
"Is he okay?" asked Malcolm in a worried voice, twisting his hands on his shirtfront and giving Draco a very anxious look. Draco, pay attention. The boy has no idea that all we care about is him; he just thinks something bad has happened to the others.Maybe it has; you've no idea what's happening back in that corridor. But saying that to Malcolm will only hurt him more than mother already has. Draco dropped down on one knee in front of Malcolm and forced himself to smile at the boy. It really was quite astonishing how much he looked like Katie, although his expression was definitely his father's.
"Malcolm, your mum and dad are just fine; they are very concerned about you," Draco hesitated when he saw that statement just seemed to upset the child more than comfort him. He sighed. "Malcolm, I promise you they're fine. And I can just imagine how big their smiles will be when they see you."
That seemed to relax Malcolm a bit, and he gave a hesitant smile himself and nodded.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
Draco couldn't help but wonder if maybe Malcolm was just being brave. From what little interaction he had had with the child, he knew that Malcolm was exceptionally perceptive to the feelings of others, and he may just be telling Draco he was all right because he could sense that Draco was anxious about him.
"Are you tired, Malcolm?"
"Just a little…"
"Alright. Let's go; we'll need to find another way out of here. Stay right here next to me, won't you? I need to make certain that there are no spells in front of us." Among other things.
Draco carefully moved further into the chamber, and, as he had hoped, saw that there were in fact two other doors leading into the room. He decided they should take the one on the right, as it would most likely lead back in the direction they had come. Or it will take us to another structure. But the one on the left is closer to the side of the corridor where we were attacked from, so they're probably that direction. Get the boy out of here; then you can come back to deal with mother and Pettigrew.
Draco turned back to Malcolm, and saw that he was watching Charles and Elvira, who had come to stand in front of him and we looking at him closely.
"You've griffins!" said Malcolm, full of admiration.
Draco, for whatever reason, suddenly remembered that Malcolm's favourite toy was a rather battered looking stuffed griffin.
"Are they yours?"
"They're…staying with me at the moment."
"What are their names?"
"This is Charles, and this is Elvira."
"May I pet them?"
How polite. "Yes of course."
Malcolm knelt in front of the griffins. He finally smiled, and reached forward to pat Elvira carefully. Draco couldn't help but notice how small his hands looked. Elvira cooed at Malcolm and shuffled forward to nuzzle his knee. Malcolm seemed delighted at this, and Draco felt slightly better seeing that the boy really did appear to be fine.
"What's your griffin's name, Malcolm?"
"Boo."
"Boo?"
Malcolm shrugged. "Yeah. Not much."
"I think it's a nice name."
"Sirius says it's a silly name."
Draco concentrated very hard on remembering that Malcolm absolutely adored Sirius, and would be put out if Draco said anything too harsh about him.
"Does he? What did he suggest?"
"He says I can call it whatever I want, but he calls Boo 'the damn griffin'. But never in front of mummy."
"No, I doubt your mum would approve of his doing that."
Malcolm smiled at him with a tired look. "She'd have a fit, daddy says."
Draco had to smile back at Malcolm, amused by his no-nonsense attitude. "I bet she would. Stand here a moment while I get that door open." Draco opened the door he had selected and waited a few moments to see if anything was going to happen.
"Wait right there with Charles and Elvira, would you? I just need to check something." Malcolm didn't move as Draco stepped forward through the doorway, testing for spells. He waited a few moments, and then came back in.
"It's okay."
Malcolm astonished Draco by reaching up to take his free hand and start towards the door. He felt very awkward, but decided that Malcolm probably needed a little comfort right now. Draco could remember when he was very little that he had loved to hold his mother's hand, until he was told he was too old for such things and he needed to stand by himself.
They went down the corridor for a while, not speaking. Charles and Elvira went first; Draco had tried to get them to stay behind him but they would just skitter past him, clucking at him. After about 20 minutes of walking, Draco was wondering why they hadn't seen any other doors or corridors. And he was worried that the Caretaker would suddenly reappear, although that may have been helpful. He seems to have an affinity for Remus; perhaps he'd help me in getting the boy out? Draco glanced down at Malcolm, and noted that he seemed to be dragging a bit, though he still made no sound.
"Malcolm? I know you're very tired, would you like me to carry you?"
Strong thing. Probably won't take the
Sorting Hat more than a second to put the boy in Gryffindor.
Malcolm considered this a moment. "No, thank you. I'm okay." Definitely Gryffindor.
"You let me know if you get too tired. We do need to keep moving and find your mum and dad, but I think they'd be unhappy if you were …hurt, you know."
Malcolm nodded solemnly. "Yes, daddy gets very fussy sometimes."
"It's only because you mean so much to him, Malcolm."
"Is your daddy fussy too?"
Was he? Yes, but not like that.
"Yes, he was. I suspect all daddys are."
Malcolm looked a little sad, and Draco tried to think of something to cheer him up a bit. Sadly, my least favourite subject. But it might work.
"Sirius is going to be very happy to see you, too."
Malcolm gave him a very surprised, but happy, glance.
"Sirius is here too?"
"Yes?"
"Is Sirius okay?"
"Yes, Malcolm, last I saw him he was just fine."
"Sirius doesn't like you at all, Draco."
"Yes, I know that Malcolm."
"Well, I think he's being silly. But he's grumpy about a lot of things, not just you."
"Mr. Black does tend to sulk, I have noticed."
Draco and Malcolm came to a halt in front of a large pair of wooden doors.
Now what?