ICLYLM chapter 28 "Good, Bad, and Ugly"
A/N: I have had some major big, ultra-important deadlines and just returned from out of state. I will continue to work on the story and post as I am able but recent and continuing events in my family may make it difficult. I ask your patience if posting gets a bit spotty. Thanks.
I will replace the last chapter with the re-formatted version.
Ayod, did I forget to thank you last time? Sorry.
I haven't even read this over... sorry if I should have...
Ripper put his head down on his paws and sighed. If he could have his choice they'd be in the woods tonight. He, Blackie and Brownie usually spent the night in the woods when the humans in the house were screaming so frightfully. Every instinct in them told them something horrible was happening. The instincts passed down through countless thousands upon thousands of years said "Run!" Blackie and Brownie, however, had said "stay." They needed to stay with the strange dog/man until he woke back up. So, stay they did, trying not to listen to the terrble shrieking coming from the mansion.
Eventually the humans stopped the hoarse yelling and an unnatural silence descended upon the gray light of early morning. Blackie crept out of the shed to see what he could see before the sky became too light. He used his nose to figure out where Snuffles had been the previous day and eventually found himself outside the French Doors. In the dim light of a dying fire he could see there was a thin man seated in a chair turned mostly away from him. On the floor around him lay several other men. They seemed to have been dropped in untidy heaps and none of them moved much... save for some occasional twitching. The one whose face he could see had a line of blood running from nose and mouth.
Blackie crept back to the shed wondering what, exactly, made humans behave the way they did. It made no sense at all to him and he guessed it never would. Meanwhile, the sooner they woke the man/dog and got him away the better. He and Brownie agreed that the convenient shelter of the sheds and outbuildings was no longer worth the price of being near the evil place.
Brownie had more faith in humans than he. She had a kind and gentle human. She would still be with her human had the old woman not died. Blackie, on the other hand, had known nothing but cruelty at the hands of humans until he escaped. Ripper had been dumped out of a speeding car on the edge of the woods. Blackie secretly thought he knew why Ripper's owners had done that, but he kept his own counsel on the matter.
Still, Ripper had his uses, Blackie mused as the small dog energetically began to sniff, lick, and poke the dog/man, encouraging him to wake up. When the man/dog finally showed signs of rousing Brownie rambled over and began to nudge his head with her own. Finally, the part-dog sat up, blinking. None of the dogs make a noise for a few moments until, finally, Snuffles spoke,
"My pack... the ones who came to help and the ones from the bad place... did they get away?"
"The two men from the woods and the man and woman from the big shed all disappeared before we helped you come here last night," Brownie answered calmly.
"What happened, after?"
"You slept all night and well into today. We've been waiting for you to wake so we could all leave this evil place. We will not be coming back." Blackie said firmly.
"What about the men in the evil place?" Snuffles asked.
"One sits in a chair, the rest lie on the floor not awake, twitching." Blackie reported unemotionally, "By now, they might wake, too."
"I must go and see."
"Are you nuts?" Ripper piped up. For once, Blackie agreed with the little dog.
"Why?"
"One of the men is not evil he is... pretending to be in their pack to get my pack-mates out. He was not there last night. I must know if he is there now."
Blackie sighed and Brownie gave him a meaningful look.
"Fine," Blackie said, "We will wait here."
"No, no, thanks so much but no," Snuffles ruffed, "You go on ahead and get out of here. You are right to never come back."
"We will wait."
"You've done too much already!"
"She," Blackie said, nodding toward Brownie, "Always tells me humans are more good than bad. You make me think she could be right. I also think the humans who are bad are very, very bad and I don't like them. I will stay to help you get the good human away from the bad ones."
Snuffles was taken aback and moved by this. There was nothing he could say, however. He simply nuzzled Blackie and trotted to the door. "I'll be back soon," he said.
Snuffles wasn't intending to rescue Snape, per se. He wanted to know if he was still there and where so he could report back to Dumbledore and come up with a plan to get him out. The dog snorted when he realized that he, Sirius Black, was intending to rescue Severus Snape of all wizards. He slowed as he got closer to the house, listening.
There were sounds of stirring coming from it: shuffles, thuds, even groans, but no one seemed to be talking. That couldn't be good. Then again, Voldemort had doubtless been quite angry the night before and he wasn't above taking out his anger on the death eaters. Truth be told he expected, from Blackies mention of twitching, that they had been exposed to the unforgivable Cruciatus Curse. Voldemort's minions weren't likely feeling too good this morning, that was for sure.
He crouched low and began to make his way across the lawn toward the french doors. About half-way he heard the sound of the latch on the side door. He froze for a second, then lay as flat as he could in the overgrown grass. Swiveling his eyes he saw Malfoy stumble out onto the porch followed by a barely upright Crabbe and Goyle. They must be leaving, foul gits. Snuffles was glad they weren't in any shape to be keen-eyed or observant.
Of course, one doesn't have to be to spot a black dog as large as a bear crouching in the overgrown half-dead grass. Malfoy certainly didn't. He saw the cowering dog and a sneer lifted the corner of his mouth. A stray dog wasn't much compared with last night, but it would do. Malfoy reached into his robes and withdrew his wand.
With an evil look of satisfaction he waved it at Snuffles and uttered a curse that caused the animagus to howl piteously and sent him flying more than half-way back toward the shed from which he had come. Malfoy lifted an eyebrow as he regarded the now still form of the black dog many yards away. Another curse, perhaps? No. He had best save the rest of his energy lest he be unable to apparate. He certainly didn't want to hang around here with Voldemort in his present mood. With an angry swing of his wand he was gone... Crabbe and Goyle following soon after.
A few moments after that the three stray dogs moved carefully from the shed to the fallen Snuffles. The large dog was not moving, but he was breathing.
"Ripper, watch the house for men," Blackie commanded as he grabbed the man/dog's collar firmly in his teeth. Brownie did likewise. A short time later they had dragged the man/dog to the shed and been joined by Ripper. The rest of the afternoon Blackie and Brownie experimented with Ripper and some of the mouldy burlap sacks. They finally decided that they could drag the man/dog to the woods if they put him on one of the sacks and pulled it along. They would do so after dark. The the man/dog woke up they would tell him to get someone else in his pack to come back for the good human.
