(Disclaimer: I own nothing

(Disclaimer: I own nothing.)

(Author's Note: I love writing this story! I don't really have anything to say except sorry these chapters are coming out so slowly! I'm going to try to write as much as I can this weekend. Ok, later babes and stay crunk with lotsa love from Sea Chelle!)

Chapter Eighteen

Remus found that he was lying in the grass when he awoke the next day. His clothes were in tatters and his mind was whirling. He couldn't remember the events of the previous night and this made a surge of panic run through him. In hysteria, he looked all around him. He was in clear space with no one in sight. The boy was so scared, he could scarcely move.

Had he bitten anyone? What had happened last night? Where was he? How was he out on the loose and not in his basement? What was going on?

All these questions ran through his mind and many more. He closed his eyes and tried to ease his racing heart and steady his breathing. Remus looked around again. This forest looked familiar. Yes, he knew where he was; he was in his neighbor's backyard. Now, what happened the night before? As much as he tried to remember, all he could see was an image of a woman who was inhumanly beautiful with hair that seemed to be made of the stars and a dress that seemed to be made of water. She was the person that had come out of his dream.

Slowly, he made his way back home. He had to think things through. He knew what to do, he'd owl James, Sirius, and Peter. They were his friends; they were people he could trust. The thought of them still made him wonder why they chose him as their friend. Out of so many others, it was he that they chose. The thought warmed his heart. These were three people all his life he could trust and rely on. Always.

Sirius woke up and looked around. Where was he? He was in a room. Next to his bed there was a large window covered from sight by emerald green curtains lined with silver. The walls were painted light green and the design of two snakes intertwined lined the top. A door was also there, but he had a feeling that it wouldn't budge if he tried to open it. He sat up in his bed.

What had happened? Oh yes, he remembered. Rogue's master had knocked he and Hallie unconscious when she refused to leave. Refused to leave? He still couldn't believe it. Why had she stayed? They were enemies, were they not? Then he remembered how their relationship had changed. Things would never again be the same between them both.

It was then that he heard a scream next door. He rushed to the door and to his surprise, it opened sending him sprawled to the floor because of the strength he had put into opening it. Sirius ran to the room next to his and stepped in to see Hallie standing on her bed with wide eyes holding her sheets to her tightly.

"Hallie? What is it? What's the matter?" he asked in a panicked rush. She looked at him with fright upon her face.

"Mouse," she squeaked. He rolled his eyes. Then something hit him; he had opened the door with both his right and his left hand. Looking down, he saw that the splint that Hallie had conjured for him was gone. He moved his wrist all the way around and found that it didn't pain him a bit. "Rogue fixed it," said Hallie. Sirius turned his gaze to her.

"Why?" She shrugged.

"Don't ask me how a madman's mind works."

"Right, only for how a maniac witch's mind works." She glared at him and sat back down on her bed with a bounce.

"You aren't funny."

"Who said I was trying to be?" Her glared intensified. "Where are we?" he asked after a short while. She shrugged again.

"In a room." The boy rolled his eyes.

"No kidding. That was almost exactly like your dungeon answer." She looked at him inquiringly.

"Do you know where we are?" Sirius looked at her for a moment before shaking his head. She blinked at him with large sapphire blue eyes and he stared back with his deep coal black ones.

"No."

"Then what makes you think I know?" He shrugged.

"You just act as if you know everything." She threw a pillow at him.

"Shut up."

"Why don't you for a change?"

"You're so mean," she said.

"You're so mean," replied Sirius.

"I don't like you," she told him.

"Wow, I thought you hated me, but now you just dislike me…I must be getting more handsome by the moment…" She threw another pillow at him, which he easily caught. "You throw like a girl."

"I am a girl."

"You don't look like one."

"I know, I look like an angel." Sirius choked with laughter making her glare at him some more. "What're you doing in here?" she asked him suddenly.

"I heard you scream," was his answer. He averted his gaze from her searching stare.

"So? I thought you hated me, what would you care if I screamed?" He sighed.

"I don't hate you, Hallie," he said quietly. "I thought you knew that." She grinned.

"Oh, right, you just dislike me." He saw a chair next to the door and took a seat.

"Why did you stay? Why didn't you leave when you had the chance?" Now it was her turn to avert her eyes from his wondering glance.

"Because." He smiled.

"Because…admit it, you like me," he joked. She looked at him square in the eyes at this comment.

"Sirius, I couldn't leave you here. Someone so ugly as you are…it scared me to think what the two madmen would do to you." He started to laugh and she joined him.

"This is serious, you know," Sirius said. She grinned.

"No, you are."

"That was cheesy."

"I know, but I felt like saying it so deal." Rogue had chosen that moment to step into the room.

"Ah, I should have known. The two children are together like always." Sirius jumped up and looked at the tall man. "It's time for breakfast, follow me." He turned around to walk away.

"Breakfast?" asked Sirius in incredulity. Rogue looked at him.

"Indeed, boy, breakfast. Now follow me."

"Don't think I'll eat anything you or that other guy gives me to eat! You'll poison us!" said the boy. Rogue laughed a cruel and mirthless laugh.

"Of course not, you foolish child. He has a use for the both of you. He won't kill you until your purpose if fulfilled. Now follow me, it's time for breakfast." Sirius looked at Hallie who looked back at him. She stood up and followed Rogue.

"What can it hurt? They'll kill us sooner or later anyway." He blinked at her in shock, which made her grin. "He doesn't have my amulet yet."

Celeste ran home as quickly as she could make her legs go. Her whole body ached from the previous change. A werewolf bit her. The thought made her shiver and new tears come to her eyes. It wasn't fair. Everything was fine, it was perfect…and now…it wasn't. What would her parents say?

"Mum! Dad!" she cried when she stumbled through the doors of her home. Immediately, her parents were at her side.

"Honey, what is it?" asked her mother.

"Lestie, are you all right?" questioned her father. And then they gaped at where the werewolf had bitten her. Its teeth had cut through the material of her robes and it was a bloody mess.

"What happened?"

The girl broke into sobs. "A-a were-werewolf! It bit me!" she sobbed. Her parents gaped at her.

"C-Celeste…are you certain?" inquired her father cautiously. Her mother had stepped behind the tall man who was retreating from her.

"Yes, I saw it right before it bit me," she said between sobs. Celeste stepped closer to her parents wishing for a hug but they backed away quickly. "Mum? Dad?" she asked in disbelief. They kept backing away until she was left there. And for the first time in her life, she felt what the word alone truly meant.

It was a few days later and Peter was still in the cell. Only now he was able to move around a bit, but very slowly and not very much. The pain was still there. Then came the voices. He heard them and went perfectly still so they wouldn't know he was there. The cell door opened and blinked at the bright light. "Hey, guys, over here, there's a boy here," said one of the men. Another came over. They looked at him and he looked back with eyes large with fear.

"It's okay, buddy," said the second man, "we're here to help."

"You have to leave," whispered Peter tensely, "he's going to find out you're here, and he'll get mad. You must leave at once." The two men looked at each other and then back to him tenderly. The first man conjured a stretcher. "He'll just hurt me again if he knew you were here."

"It's over now, it's over. No one's going to hurt you anymore." He bent down to help Peter up but the boy stumbled. "Are you all right? What's wrong? Where are you hurt?" The boy looked away as the tears came to his eyes again.

"He – the – he used the curse on me again," Peter whispered almost inaudibly. The two men looked at each other in surprise.

"What curse," asked the second man.

"The torture one." The man rubbed his face.

"Well, he won't anymore. You're Peter, right?" he asked. The boy tried to nod, but winced because of the ache.

"Yes, I am." The two men helped him onto the stretcher.

"Well, Peter, you're going to be taken care of now. Your father won't hurt you anymore, never again."

Peter closed his eyes and lied down, enjoying the softness of the stretcher. His father wouldn't hurt him anymore, never again, the man said. Was this true? The boy fell asleep with such a wish that this was true that tears came to his eyes. All his life, he had wished for someone to speak those words to him, and the day had arrived. Life would be better now; it would be much better. But how wrong he was.

They were alone at the long table. Sirius looked at Hallie. "Tell me the truth, Hal, why didn't you leave when you had the chance?" She played with her food and then looked up.

"I couldn't leave you here by yourself. It didn't seem like the right thing to do. I'd hate myself if I did leave you here alone. Honestly, I don't know why I stayed. I hate this place. I hate everything about it. I hate Rogue and I hate his master. But I couldn't leave…I'm not sure why." Sirius was surprised that she hadn't made a sarcastic comment like she did before. "I couldn't leave you, Sirius. It isn't what friends do to other friends." He looked at her and smiled.

"Thanks, Hallie," he said softly. She didn't smile back but played around with her food again.

"But I want to go home, I don't think I could stay here another day."

"Don't worry, we won't be, we're leaving tonight."

"It has come down to desperate times, and when there's desperate times, it calls for desperate measures. Fawkes, do you think you can find them? Where they were taken and whom they were taken to trouble me. I didn't think it would happen, that he would return, but apparently, he has. Can you uncover their location for me please?" asked Professor Dumbledore. The phoenix bowed its graceful head. "Thank you, Fawkes." The bird elegantly flew off into the afternoon air. "Godspeed, Fawkes, and go with my faith."

"Another attack, this time on a muggle village. Seven dead and thirteen injured," reported Leo, reading from the Daily Prophet. Arthur sighed and shook his head. Molly shivered.

"Why aren't they doing anything to stop him?" asked Lily.

Arthur said, "The Ministry's doing everything they can. You – Know – Who just has so many supporters and is so powerful that it's hard to get him."

Leo nodded. "It's also so hard to track him. They don't know where he'll attack next. They don't even know where he stays or who he really is." Lily looked at James who had his head rested on the table.

"James, are you all right?" she asked him softly. He jumped up in alarm.

"Huh? What?" Molly laughed.

"He's fine, he was just asleep." The group broke into laughter. James looked around in confusion but when no explanation came, he rested his head on the table once again.

Dumbledore waited anxiously in his office for Fawkes' return. In his hand he held another snow globe that had appeared on the same armchair the past one had come from. He gazed into it and noticed a difference between the two. In the one he held, there were only two figures present, the red head and the untidy dark aired one. They were chatting idly.

What had happened to the dark haired woman and the silver headed man? An idea came to him and he put the globe down on his desk. Briskly, he strolled out of his office and to the Gryffindor common room where he greeted the Fat Lady. "Good afternoon, madam."

"Why hello, headmaster! What brings you here today?" she asked with a smile.

"I need to speak with James Potter actually. Equidistant," he said.

"Indeed," replied the Fat Lady and she allowed him in. Dumbledore saw James sitting with Lily on the couch talking about something or other and felt a smile tug at the edges of his mouth.

"Hello, Mr. Potter, Miss Evans," he greeted. They looked up at him in alarm. "Miss Evans, it's really very important that I borrow Miss Forester's snow globe, do you perhaps know where it is she has put it?" Lily nodded.

"Yes, sir, I'll be right back." She ran up the steps to the girls' dormitory and a short while later, she came back down with the snow globe in her hand. Lily handed it to the professor.

"Thank you. Now, Mr. Potter, if I may have a word with you please?" The boy nodded and followed him out of the room with a last wave to Lily who picked up her book to read. Dumbledore led James to his office where he held the snow globe out to the boy. James looked at it in puzzlement. "Just look into it, tell me what you see."

James looked at the older man and saw twinkle in his bright blue eyes. Sighing, the boy did as was told and felt as if he were being taken away from himself and put in a whole different setting.

"There's a purpose for everyone in this world, a purpose that must be fulfilled," said a voice that rang into his mind. His surroundings were a blur of greens, silver, and black. "And your purpose is to see, and to help me. I've been trying to find you, for a very long time now. I'm locked up; he trapped me here, forever immortal until I am freed.

"I did no wrong, I did not harm her. I could never have harmed her. She was my life, and though I told her I wanted nothing to do with her again, I did. I lied. When one is so caught up in a rage such as I was, one will say things never meant to be said or things that weren't meant. I said both. I still love her, and always I will, but she never knew that, I never had the chance to tell her, or give her my blessing.

"As I said before, I will say it again, I did no wrong. She is locked in the amulet, and I need it back. I've been set free, but not free to wander and find the Alloy Child on my own, and so, I've created a servant who has been helping me. I need to find her; I want to set her free. That is for all to see, I wish her no harm, no hurt, no pain. Though my heart was torn from me when hers was given to someone other than I, never in my life have I wished for harm to befall her. She was my life.

"Sometimes late at night, when I would watch her sleep, thoughts would run through my mind. 'Why did she choose me? She was one of a kind; one in a million, and she was mine. I always wondered when another man would steal her heart and take her away. I suppose I always knew the day would come, but it hurt so much that I got angry, I never thought it would be so soon.

"That day, I felt as if I was ripped apart inside, like I was a hollow shell. Never in my life have I felt that way and never again I hope shall I feel the pain again. She was mine no longer, but his. My own brother…he took her away from me. I blamed him of course, for her leaving me, but deep I my heart I knew the truth. Rowe and I were just not meant for each other. Maybe I loved her like no one I've ever loved, or maybe she was meant for me, but I not for her. It is unclear to me, but I will never forget her, and I hope she shall never forget me either.

"Soon after the two were married, she disappeared. She was gone and trapped in an amulet by the Imprisonment Curse. I did no wrong. There was jealousy in the world and between our little group. Ric was in an insane rage at the loss of her, just as I was, and he accused many. First off, he blamed everyone except me, and I suppose this was because he didn't want it to be me. But in the end, all that was left was me. I was the only one with reason to imprison her, and he turned on me.

"'Our trust has broken, never again will I call you brother,' were the words he spoke to me. I wished to never feel the pain of being abandoned, but yet that day, when these words escaped his mouth, I felt the same hurt and pain I felt when Rowe left me. He trapped me, not in an amulet but in my home where I should forever dwell, wishing for death to take me into its fatal and dark grasp, but it would never come. I was to be immortal and to live with what he blamed me for.

"'But I did no wrong,' so many times I repeated to myself to keep sane. It was the only thought to comfort me, though, very little comfort it gave. My heart, my life, and everything and everyone I loved were taken from me. I had no control. Everything was ruined.

"You see why I must prove myself. I must free Rowe from the Alloy Child and to do so, the two halves must become whole. The one who placed the curse upon her was sure to keep her captive forever and so to have the two parts separated and hidden was a very intelligent touch. It impresses me even now at the brilliance of the scheme.

"Rowe must be freed and I truly and sincerely hope that all will become well. When the halves come together, we four will be reunited and she will be freed.

"That is why I need you. Your purpose is to put the halves together and free her, only you can do so. You must find the second half, for the first is already in my possession. But for us to work together, you must trust me. I did no wrong and I will repeat this statement forever until someone believes me. All I want is to have her set free; I do not care of the fate, which holds me.

"You see, we're all part of a plan. It is as if we're part of a storybook where soon the ending will come and all will either be well, or in ruins. Sooner or later we will all play our parts in the story, and it will reach the end. But like a book, there are the conflicts; the plots, the different settings and time periods, all are significant and very important.

"Fate has everything planned out. And sooner or later, we are all placed into the hands of fate. I need not find you know, for you know your path, and where to go. You must come, and all will be right in time. I am waiting for you, James Potter, and Fate is writing her story."

The voice faded away and James broke away from his aberration. He blinked rapidly and tried to sort through all his questions and thoughts. After a short while, he looked up from his lap and to Dumbledore who was just looking at him serenely. "Did you see anything?" asked the elderly man.

James looked at him for a while still thinking through the thoughts racing through his mind. "Professor Dumbledore, I know where Hallie and Sirius are."

(Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews! But guys, guess what, I got my first FLAME! OMG! Lol…I know…it scared the crap out of me…I was like…oh! But…I guess we all get them. I was just like…yikes! Anyways…thanks to everyone, I'll do the thank you things next chapter 'cause I have to get off. Bye!)