The Loneliest Number

Darkness on the Road to Nowhere

the lone astronomer

Disclaimer: I don't own anything… it's J. K. Rowling's.

Summary: Well… it's continued from 'You Hope She Knows'. We get the rearranging I promised… but that doesn't mean you're all gonna like everything…it actually means you're likely to hate it!

* * *

…Babys' got blue skies up ahead

But in this I'm a raincloud

Ours is a stormy kind of love…

-U2, Sweetest Thing

* * *

Sirius and James didn't visit Remus and Allya that night- Sirius was serving a detention and James couldn't control two werewolves by himself. Even their influence on each other was weak- they howled, growled, bit, and clawed as they usually did while alone. In fact, on Sunday at midday, when they were turned back, they were both bleeding heavily from numerous cuts and scratches, as well as bruised to the point that their arms were nearly blue.

"You two look horrible!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed when she unlocked the door that day.

Allya nodded, her eyes hollow and mind preoccupied with a hundred million things she'd rather not have talked about. "Fix me?"

Various taps of the nurse's wand later, and Allya and Remus were back to functional capacity, although Ally was still pretty beat up. "Thanks."

"You should take it easy today, both of you…" Ally and Remus exchanged looks- it wasn't like either of them had been planning anything else…

" 'Pepper imps'," Allya said dispassionately to the Fat Lady. She and Remus stumbled blindly into the Gryffindor common room- well, she stumbled blindly- her eyes were very swollen from whatever she'd put herself through. No one could remember Ally ever looking that bad.

Sirius was lounging on the sofa, either waiting for his friends to return or sleeping off the aftermath of several detentions. He jerked his head as Allya and Remus walked in, and sprang up to his feet. "What happened to you?" he asked, about to take her in his arms but noticing Remus there in time.

"He knows, Sirius," Allya said hoarsely, hugging him anyway.

"He- oh," Sirius said, pressing his lips together and looking over at Remus. He (Remus) shot another questioning- and somewhat hurt- look at both of them.

"I can't do this anymore," Allya said, sniffing, but not avoiding his eyes.

Sirius nodded. "I know." Still, his voice was almost as hoarse as hers was…

"I'm sorry," she said simply, to both of them, and ran up into the girls' dorm.

"We're in far too deep, you know."

"I know."

It didn't help much, Allya would later reflect, that when she got to her dormitory, it turned out that Lily had bewitched the ceiling and walls to sing Three Dog Night songs, punctuated here and there by the Beatles or another such group.

Allya had to snort sharply after listening to the words. She wrinkled her nose and brow in thought and sighed, staring up at the ceiling. Two is not almost as bad as one, and three is by far the loneliest number.

She reached out and drew the curtains around her bed closed, then buried her face into her pillow and sobbed.

The thing about Allya's tears was… a long story. It started with her birth mother…

The woman- her normally brilliantly glossy red hair damp with sweat, knew that her unborn daughter was in grave danger. The child's older sister- only older by a few moments, to be sure, but still older- was safe already. However, larger than her sister as she was and always would be, Aylla had managed somehow to damage something inside her mother, endangering her only living relatives' lives.

Clarysse 'Red' Wood that the child still within her had to live if the other did. That was the rule with twins in her family… the Diviner, Allya Jade, had told her so. Balance was important, especially with the powers converging as they were. And so she made a very difficult decision, knowing it would kill her.

"Phoenix tears," she whispered, 'forgetting' about her deathly allergy. "Bring the phoenix tears…"

Moments later, Clarysse Wood was no more. In her place was a child- christened Allya Jade after the woman who had predicted her birth- and no ordinary child. She was destined to be a great Diviner, like the woman she was named after… though considerably less famous. And she was enchanted- had been before she was even born.

One percent of her body composition was made up of phoenix tears… that, combined with her mother's love and willingness to die for her, had enchanted her- or, her tears, to be precise. Only visible to those who loved her…

And so Allya had been adopted and grown up, and Aylla had also been adopted and grown up, and as they became older they differentiated in ways that no one could comprehend. All through Ally's life she had had the means to tell if someone truly loved her… her 'parents' had, of course, and a few of her other adopted relatives. Of course, most of this turned to revulsion when she became a werewolf at age twelve… and all of it changed again at Hogwarts, where already two could see the tears.

But by then there were only two. Ally's parents were dead, her other relatives were out of touch… that was the way she liked it.

But there were still two, and her brain was nearly exploding just thinking about it.

If only all three of them could fight over Lily, Allya thought dully, then I wouldn't have this problem. Her mind seemed to have a will of its own- it wanted to contemplate more. Simply letting her imagination run wild was common for Allya, but not in that way.

Remus- well, there was a guy you could trust. He'd never betray any of your secrets, he was sensitive and caring and probably the sweetest guy you could ever meet. His deep dark secret made him a bit depressed sometimes and he could have been classified as a 'tragically handsome' figure, but put together with the right people at the right time and he could be as lighthearted and funny as anyone.

And then there was Sirius- bright, funny, cute, and a hundred thousand other adjectives still couldn't sum up Sirius. Sirius was Sirius (though not serious, not unless it was really important) and there were no two ways around that.

Remus. Allya loved him so much that it was a physical ache at times… but, although he'd only meant to protect her, he had ended up hurting her in a way that no one else could. Allya didn't like being vulnerable.

Sirius. He was so much fun to be around, and she did love him, true… but not in the same way…

She shook her head. You're reading too much into this again, she admonished herself. Sighing, thanking the Greek gods that the music had stopped, she grabbed her cloak from her bedpost and rushed out through the common room with the intention of taking a nice afternoon walk.

The shouting match in the Gryffindor Tower was not at all what she'd expected. James, Lily, Sirius and Remus were spaced evenly around the common room walls, Mioré at the entrance to the common room, stock-still and her face as pale as her silver velvet hair ribbon. While Sirius and Remus were absolutely quiet and stock-still, James and Lily were screaming at the tops of their lungs. The normally quiet couple was making quite the scene.

"I'm telling you, James, I didn't know he was going to do that!"

"Well, it's not like you did anything to stop it from happening! And you should have known, given his history…"

"James. Brady. Kissed. Me."

"And I bet you enjoyed it, didn't you?"

Lily's emerald eyes blazed with poisonous fire. "Maybe I did."

"Maybe it's over," James said, still angry.

Her response, nonetheless, silenced the room. "I see no 'maybe' in our future, James Potter."

When both of the irate sixth-years had left the room, Allya had to blink in surprise. "Tell me that's not going to happen to me," she said slowly.

Sirius and Remus regarded her with non-amused expressions.

"I would…"

"Except…"

"That I know it already has," Allya finished softly. She took a deep, cleansing breath, and blew the loose hairs out of her eyes. "Well. This has been a disastrous Sunday for the couples of Gryffindor Tower."

"You're telling me."

Defense Against the Dark Arts on Monday morning was torture- well, the Gryffindors had that class with the Slytherins (Potions was now held with Ravenclaw) and Professor Quinn generally hated everybody (except his top students, for example Remus and Allya), James and Sirius in particular. This particular day, he was picking on the very Irish, very red-headed, very Slytherin girl to Sirius' right, Siren O'Maley.

"Miss O'Maley. The essay you wrote on ways to kill a vampire was so grammatically incorrect that I am reassigning it for Thursday…" Professor Quinn went on and on insulting Siren's spelling and misuse of the English language for so long that even the Gryffindors got bored.

"Sod off, Professor Quinn," Sirius finally exclaimed.

Professor Quinn turned a shade of absolute purple, rounding on his student. "Would you care to repeat that, Mr. Black?"

Sirius stood up. "I said, 'sod off, Professor Quinn.' Sir." Neither title held any grain of respect.

Professor Quinn blinked, shocked for the second time by the sixth-year Animagus. "P-Professor Dumbledore will be hearing of this, Mr. Black…"

Siren skipped out of the DADA classroom merrily, a huge grin on her face. It was a stark contrast to the normally sour expression she wore, and even the severe ponytail at the back of her head seemed to be bouncing with glee. "A Gryffindor told Professor Quinn off… and he didn't do anything! I could sing…"

Sirius raised an eyebrow at her. "I wouldn't advise it… you never know, Filch might make up some rule about singing in the hallways being forbidden…"

The redhead's smile only shrank a miniscule amount as she stuck out her hand. "Siren O'Maley. And you are the notorious Sirius Black."

Sirius dropped to one knee and kissed her hand- Siren's slightly bemused look was well worth it. "Am I that well known?"

She laughed- it sounded unnatural coming from her, as if she didn't get a chance to laugh a whole lot. "Severus Snape has been raving about you and Potter for years… I owe you one for the sodding off bit. Feel free to call in the favor any time."

Sirius nodded, something inside telling him not to deny her this. "I'll take you up on that some time," he answered, and then they went their separate ways.

"…and then she just walked away," he finished, breathing a sigh of relief that it was finally over.

Remus grinned. "Another one to add to the list, eh, Padfoot?"

Sirius looked mortally offended. "Me and a Slytherin?" he asked, aghast. "Never. No way. Not going to happen…"

A malicious glint appeared in Remus' eyes. "Not even now that Mioré has been, er, seen with Monsieur Graves?"

"She- what?"

Remus gave Sirius a big, feral grin. "Ah… payback is a bitch, eh, Sirius?" He smirked and stalked off towards the portrait hole, thinking, What goes around, comes around. About five feet from the portrait hole, before it had even closed fully behind him, he stopped dead in his tracks and swore loudly.

Sirius came running, having Remus use language like that only on very few occasions, and repeated Remus' curse a trifle more graphically.

Beneath the suit of armor at the base of the Gryffindor tower was a silver velvet hair ribbon, a green skull-and-snake floating in midair beside the word "NO" up above in huge letters, and a note.

Her mind and soul shall be mine with time,

And her body won't be saved.

You know you shan't see her again

'Less drastic steps be taken.

A warning then I give you

Unless you're at your very best

You'll not live longer than she

Lupin, Potter and the rest,

But if you feel you must seek me out

These clues I send to you

To prove that I am worthy of

The challenges of two

For two challengers there shall always be

It is the way things are

One born of the darkest dark,

And one started much lighter.

The clues, they follow as they are

And if you're to see them through

You must have constant vigilance

You must not be overconfident

To yourselves you must be true.

So journey through the Haunted Wood

Do not be deterred

A darkened rose shall lead your way,

But it's dangerous, be wary-

For I'll kill you if you're heard.

I'll kill you if the word gets out,

I'll kill Mioré all the same.

She'll die if you tell Dumbledore-

You'll die if silent you remain.

So come, Potter, Lupin, Black,

Come Evans, Nightrunner, all-

But be warned, for when you first slip up

Your Ministry will fall...

- N.O.

Remus and Sirius exchanged nervous glances. "Emergency meeting?" Sirius asked finally, trying to hide his extreme nervousness and despair.

Remus could only nod.

"She's what?" Allya's surprised, outraged, and more than scared outburst might have attracted attention to the room behind the picture of Sir Cadogan, but it was the wrong time of day for people to be wandering that hallway. "Oh, shit, oh, shit, oh, shit shit shit…"

"That's what I said," Sirius said numbly, staring down at the parchment in his hand, although that was not what he had said by a long shot. Sirius' curses tended to be a bit more graphic. "What're we going to do?" He did his best to hide the tears welling up in his eyes, but everyone else was fighting them too, so nobody noticed.

A new figure entered the room, silhouetted for a moment in the corridor, but quickly slid the portrait shut behind her. "We're going after her," Siren answered, sitting on the floor. "I know what's been done and I, too, want vengeance."

Sirius blinked, trying to clear away what he thought must have surely been a strange dream. It was real. "Well then," he said softly. "Might I ask what you have to be vengeful for, and how you figured out who exactly was behind this so that you know it's them you want vengeance on?"

Siren simply glared. "I think those are rather personal questions."

Sirius had the good grace to look abashed.

"My uncle," O'Maley answered anyway. "Nyirman O'Maley. N.O."

Lily, James, and Remus maintained the silence they had held all evening. Finally, only Allya spoke. "Then we will go," she said resolutely, and the planning began.

"We have to tell Dumbledore," Lily said with finality.

"We can't tell Dumbledore," James counted. "Mioré will die if we tell, remember?"

Lily fumed in silence. She and James were back to their bickering selves.

"We leave in one hour," Siren decided for them. "Unfortunately-" she paused for a moment, thinking, "or maybe fortunately in this case, I've been to visit him from Hogwarts and can lead the way. We leave in an hour."

It was somehow, at the same time, the longest and shortest hour of their lives.

"Cut it off," she ordered Lily, refusing to show regret. "I mean it. We're going on a trek through the Forbidden Forest. Knee-length hair won't help me any. It's impractical."

"But-" Lily began, fidgeting with her wand.

"No buts," Allya interrupted. "Do it already, before I change my mind…"

In a matter of moments, the blonde's hair was only to her shoulders. She tied it in a tight ponytail, as Lily did with hers. They grabbed their cloaks, their wands, and Allya took a tube of Esipret's Goo, just in case.

In the common room, Sirius had succeeded in wearing a hole through the rug. "Are you about ready yet?" he asked, as Lily and Ally descended from their dormitory.

"Quite," they answered together, so the five of them left the Gryffindor Tower.

They met up with Siren in the hallway just before the main exit onto the grounds. She had a sort of camouflage motif going on- she had done a Darkening charm on her hair and clothing. Slipping out from under an extremely crowded new invention (co-invented by Allya, James and Sirius)- the Invisibility Blanket- Lily, Remus, Siren, and the inventors ran out across the grounds and into the woods.

It was cold, it was dark, and it was not at all pleasant, yet still they followed Siren O'Maley through the clumps of trees. Every step seemed to take a lifetime, every minute lasted an hour, every breath was breathed in silent agony for fear of being discovered.

Siren climbed up atop one of the trees, ignoring the prickling sensation at the back of her neck that meant danger was near. There was no moon that night- and a good thing, for it made telling the directions from the stars that much easier. For but a moment she was alienated, silhouetted against the black-and-silver sky, a lonely astronomer with her head in the stars and her feet nowhere near the ground. The way she liked it. "We're here," she called down, then scrambled down to join them.

The next tree over was the one that she was looking for. A simple branch snapped off with a wave of a wand and a few muttered words, and a trapdoor opened in the forest floor. She shivered, knowing what lay below. "After you," she said, and down they went.

Mioré could not remember ever being so cold in her life. Ever. She could not remember such pain as that which had been thrust upon her that night. She could not remember much of her past life, in fact, which worried her, because she knew that she was not as young as she used to be and should have had a past of some sort.

She tried to smile a little- at least she still had enough cognitive ability as to be worried- but couldn't. Her efforts were made too painful by her bottom lip, which she appeared to have bitten through. The blood was running unchecked down her neck and onto her robes.

Disgusting, Mioré would have thought if she could have. Yuck.

The man approached her again, intent on making the young girl as miserable as possible, then killing her in front of her friends when they got there. Her residual life-forces would go a long way towards prolonging his already-aging-beyond-belief Lord's life. She is in Azkaban because of those friends, he thought with a hatred that could not be denied. I will see them all dead before I leave this world.

Still, as he muttered, "Crucio," for the third time and thought of the challengers that were coming- two of them, he knew, there were always two- he could not help but wonder if Felicity Lorell would have done the same for him.

The five shapes trailing behind Siren O'Maley stopped as still as she did, when she did. Well trained, are they? she thought to herself. Perhaps not as well as Voldemort's Junior Death Eater club, she continued the thought with a grimace at her father's master, but well enough.

The vicious three-headed dog her mentally unstable uncle had christened, 'Pumpkin' loped out of the shadows of the catacombs near the dungeon, intent on destroying the intruders.

Siren gave a start- she hadn't thought of Pumpkin when planning this insurgency- but it was no matter. A swish of her ebony wand and her harp was in front of her, strings waiting to be plucked. In a matter of moments, Pumpkin was asleep. A simple charm performed by Lily while Siren was still playing, and he was sure to stay that way for a while.

"That was close," Sirius whispered, stepping out of the shadows but further into the darkness.

Siren nodded, wiping the sweat from her brow. "Too close," she said, and they continued.

Aside from that, and an encounter with a troll and a Death Eater ('Obliviate' on the troll's memory of seeing them and 'Petrificus totalus' on the Death Eater, who was then rendered invisible for twenty-four hours courtesy of one of Lily's charms- the spells themselves were done by James and Sirius respectively) everything went smoothly. They reached the main dungeon, the one where they expected Mioré to be held, approximately two and a half hours after leaving Hogwarts. It felt like much longer.

The man who must have been Siren's uncle was busy watching Mioré writhe in agony for the sixth time that night. He seemed to be enjoying it immensely- he also seemed peripherally aware, because the moment the six would-be rescuers tried to slip into the room, he turned and cracked an evil grin. "Well, well," he said. "What have we here?"

Allya's blood turned to ice the moment he spoke. There was something not… right about that man. She could sense it in the way that he formed his words, it was in his being, it was in his soul.

Siren, too, froze. Her uncle fixed her with a stare and she could not even remember her own name, let alone what she had come to this awful place for.

The silence was shattered by a footstep and one boy- no, one man's- call to evil. Sirius. "I challenge you to a duel," he announced, his voice strong in the hollow room. "Who's my second?"

The bonds that seemed to have held her in place before were broken, as were all family ties she might have had. She did not care. The O'Maleys were known for being cruel and even her younger brother- he was ten- had expressed interest in joining the Dark Lord's circle. So they were no longer her family. "I'll back you up, Sirius."

"Foolish child," Nyirman O'Maley sneered at Sirius. "Avad-"

"Petrificus totalus," Remus said, in the same voice one might say, '… and the scones at tea today were simply magnificent, weren't they, darling?…'.

Nyirman O'Maley hit the floor hard, and as soon as Sirius had Mioré tucked into his arms, they sped off into the darkness of the catacombs.

It was unclear to them in later years how they got past the troll again- and the Death Eater might still have been roaming around invisible- and the three-headed dog got Remus pretty badly, and Allya had to half-carry him back up the trapdoor in the forest… and then there was still the matter of the trek back up to the castle.

Drawn by the scent of blood- Remus' and Mioré's- many new things appeared on their way back.

A giant spider lunged out at them from the darkness- "Stupefy!" James yelled as Lily screamed. Somewhere in the distance one of the wolf-pack howled… a Boggart was similarly reduced to dust by the six of them- Mioré was still unconscious- the moon, a banshee, the man that must have been Siren's father, to name a few of its transformations. The moon did the can-can with a little black top-hat, the banshee did a great rendition of Carmen, and Siren's father got an Elvis-like hairdo and sequins.

By the time they got up to the castle, it was daylight. Professor Dumbledore met them at the front gates, somehow aware of everything that had happened. They all went to the infirmary or to their dorms, and none were heard from for an entire week. This was good, because no one would have been much heartened to hear of their endured hardships.

And so life went on, as life does.

But for seven of them, life would never be the same. As a wise woman once said, there were dark times ahead.

THE END