Don't own anything recognisable from JK Rowling's Harry Potter books.

Chapter 13

Crucio.

Egan Parsifal drew closer to her, pulling hair from her head.

"I'll use some of your hair and produce a polyjuice potion, then kill Harry. Then I'll come back and see to you."

"How are you going to kill me?" She asked, willing Sirius to hurry up and find her.

"Its up to you. I can use Avada Kedavra or I can use Crucio long enough to kill you!"

She paused, hoping to get more time.

"Or maybe I should use both. I've always had a soft spot for pain." He raised his arms up menacingly. "Crucio!"

A pain ran through Pat that was bigger than she had ever felt before. The petrificus wore off and she fell to the floor writhing in pain.

It was a combination of emotional pain and physical pain. All the feeling she had felt when her parents had left her had no comparison to the emotional pain, and a million sharp knives stabbed and tore at her skin.

"You can scream if you want to, no one will hear you!" The wizard stood casually leaning against the wall watching her thrash about in pain.

She screamed loudly.

"There you go. That's what I wanted to hear." He approached her and smiled, he took the potion that he was holding in his hands. And turned into her.

Egan saw the fear in her eyes. "Don't worry!" Her own soothing voice came out of his. "I'll come back for you!"

He released the crucio curse, and Pat's body slumped.

He (or She) put Sybil in the cage using "Wingardium Leviosa" and walked from the room a different way than they used to get in.

~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~

"Are you sure this is the way to go?" Snape's silky voice asked for the third time. They were heading down passages that were darker than anything they had ever seen before. Even Lumos was no use to them here. Sirius was leading them using the map; they took any route that was not shown.

Sirius stopped dead, turned around and thumped Snape straight on the nose; he was satisfied, but only for a moment, to see the blood pouring from it. "Come on! Hurry up!"

~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~

Pat was still motionless on the floor when Mrs Norris moved towards her face. The cat looked in the direction where Parsifal had left and meewed. Pat moaned in pain, her eyes glassed over. Her vision swam, and she sighed quietly as the blackness engulfed her, as she became unconscious. The cat walked over to another part of the room, where they had come in and started to yowl loudly.

~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~

"Shhhh. Do you hear that?" Sirius stopped. He heard the howling of a cat. "Mrs Norris." He exclaimed. "Let's go!"

They drew nearer the noise, and when Sirius saw the cat he ran towards it. "Cleo??"

He went in the room and saw Sybill in a cage. He then noticed Pat on the floor in pain.

"Cleo?" He said softly.

Snape grabbed Sirius back. "Someone's used Crucio on her."

Hooch and Sprout took hold of Sirius' arms as he sank to the floor in despair. Severus and Albus crouched over Pat muttering to each other.

"She was under it for quite some time. She may suffer side effects."

"We must try to do something."

Mrs Norris creeped out of the door, Sirius was the only one who noticed. "Mrs Norris." He muttered, and followed her down the passageway.

~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~

"Pat!" Harry yelled joyfully when she approached him. "Thank god you're back! Sirius has been going nuts!"

Pat smiled at Harry. "Avada.."

Mrs Norris pounced on her neck, digging its claws in and drawing blood. "Arggghh!"

Pat threw the cat brutally. It collided with the wall heavily.

"Avada…"

"Expelliarmus!" The wizard's wand flew into Sirius' hand. "Filium Intorquere!"

Pat became rigid and fell to the floor as millions of tiny threads wrapped themselves around her.

"What?? Sirius what are you doing?" Harry looked puzzled at Sirius.

As soon as Mrs Norris had attacked Pat, Harry had drawn his wand from his sleeve and it was now aimed at Sirius.

He looked around and saw the cat laid unconscious against the wall, and the claw marks in Pat's neck.

"Just aim your wand at Pat and say "Vraie Persona" Harry, you'll understand."

Harry trusted Sirius, and when he had said the words which made you show your true face, Pat's features melted away and Parsifal's appeared.

"Stupid Cat!" He yelled. "She stopped me once before. I should have killed it when she stopped me from killing you!"

Sirius gave Harry a swift hug to calm him down, and took his wand from him.

"Where's Pat?" Harry asked in a state of shock.

"She's in a room not far from here. He put the crucio curse on her." Sirius answered. "I'll show you."

Sirius picked up Mrs Norris and cradled her in his arms. He took Harry back through the passages to the room where Pat was.

Dumbledore and Snape were still around her.

"Is she okay?" Harry asked.

"Sirius?" A small groan came from Pat's lips.

"Yes Cleo, my darling. I'm here." Sirius sat beside her cat in one hand and her hand in the other.

"Never ever leave me again." She stroked his cheek softly and fell into a deep sleep.

"Will she be okay?" Sirius asked Dumbledore.

"We'll take her to the infirmary. But she should be fine."

The wandered back through the tunnels, Pat and Sybill on stretchers. Mrs Norris still in Sirius' arms.

She seemed to be getting heavier as they went back through the tunnels.

Sirius conjured another stretcher.

"Funny?" He muttered. "Cats aren't usually this big."

They reached the potions classroom, and in the light of the lanterns Sirius was shocked to see… a woman?

"Picking them up everywhere aren't you?" Snape said in a smooth voice that was slightly nasally due to the bloody nose.

~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~

"Sirius?" Pat moaned. She forced her eyes open, and looked at the white ceiling.

She was laid in a bed in the infirmary.

Every muscle in her body ached. "What am I…?" She asked, but realised that no one could answer her.

Madam Pomfrey wasn't in the room. She sat up slowly, the bedclothes pooling around her stomach, and looking around the room she saw a sight that made her smile despite her pain.

She saw Sirius sat on a chair asleep, his arms wrapped tightly around an also sleeping Harry.

"Sirius." She whispered, not wanting to wake Harry as well. "Sirius."

He stirred, and slowly opened his eyes. "Cleo?" He smiled. "You're awake!"

"Yes, what happened? Did you stop him?" She put her hand up to her head to try and stop the throbbing.

"Don't worry about that now." He saw her frown. "Yes we got him, he's in Azkaban now."

She smiled. "And Harry? Is he okay? No lasting effects?"

"I'm fine Pat. Although I could do with sleeping in my bed for a night." Harry opened his eyes and grinned at her.

"Good you're up!" Sirius exclaimed. "You can get off me now! I think I'm going numb."

Harry laughed and jumped off him.

"You… how many nights have I been here?" Pat asked.

"Uhhh…"

Madam Pomfrey chose that moment to come through the door. "Harry! Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Class? But it was Friday?" Pat asked confusedly.

"Yes and now its Thursday. You've been in here for six days!" Madam Pomfrey told her, and gave her a clear potion to drink. "It's a painkiller."

"Thanks." Pat took it all in one gulp. She knew all about the painkillers that Professor Snape made. "Yuck!" She grimaced as Madam Pomfrey took the glass vial away.

Harry grinned in sympathy. "Snape really hasn't heard about taste buds has he? I'd better go, I'm late."

He left waving at Pat and Sirius, Madam Pomfrey with him.

Sirius was still sat on the chair, watching Pat as she struggled to find a place that was comfortable. "Are you okay?" He asked her softly, his worry showing on his face.

"Yeah, except…" She paused.

"What?" He leaned forward in his chair.

"Why are you so far away from me?" She asked.

"Huh?… I mean, what?" He gaped at her.

"I said, why are you so far away? I mean, there's a big bed with me in it here… you over there…" She looked at him and raised her eyebrows at him suggestively. "Wanna cuddle?"

He grinned at her, his moods lifting to his usual self. "So hospital beds do it for you eh? Should I get a white coat?"

"No… it's the stethoscope that does it for me." She grinned.

He got up off the chair and walked over to the bed. "You sure I'm not going to hurt you?"

"Physically no you won't hurt me. Emotionally, we'll see."

"That was a bit deep." He said to her, perching on the bed.

"Well trauma does that to you!" She grabbed his clothes and pulled him towards her until he was laid on the bed beside her. "Do you want to know how I thank someone for saving my life?"

He turned so that he was on is side facing her. "I may do. It depends."

"Really?" She asked him, her eyes twinkling with mischief. "And on what does it depend?"

"On how much more information we need for our experiment."

A strange woman that Pat didn't know (but who seemed familiar) came in, and stopped with embarrassment.

"Umm… Hi?" Pat said.

Sirius looked up. "Oh, so you're up as well?"

The woman nodded, "Yeah, Madam Pomfrey declared me healthy."

Sirius looked at Pat and smiled at her confusion. "Do you remember your Ministry Spy? This is Mrs Norris." He turned to the woman "Or should I say Edwina Smith now?"

"Eddie if you wouldn't mind. It was hard enough staying a cat for so long, let alone answering to that stupid name!" She laughed. "Nice to finally meet you Pat. I've heard a lot about you. Sirius doesn't seem to be able to stop talking about you!"

Pat grinned at her. "I know, sickening isn't he?"

"Wouldn't kick him out of bed though!" The woman laughed.

"Ladies! Ladies! There's plenty to go around!" Sirius interjected.

Pat put her arms around him. "No there isn't, there's just enough for me."

The other woman laughed.

"You should be thanking Eddie! Not stopping her from having me! She saved my life!" Sirius teased Pat.

"What?" Pat asked looking at Sirius in horror.

"Hush!" Eddie interjected. "It was nothing!"

"Nothing!?!?" Sirius said. "She found out that Egan, through Sybil, was going to inject me with a potion, which would kill me." He frowned at Eddie. "You could have saved me in a nicer way though!" He looked at Pat with puppy-dog eyes. "She tripped me up!"

"Ohhhh." Pat cooed. "Did poor Sirius hurt his bottom?"

Sirius narrowed his eyes at Pat, but couldn't keep it up for long and joined Pat and Eddie in laughter.

Pat offered Eddie the seat that Sirius had just left, much to his frustration.

Noticing Sirius' face Eddie declined.

"No, no. I must be going. The ministry said I could only stay until I was mended. I'm leaving today. I just wanted to say that the ministry says you san stay until you are healthy. When you come back look me up. I could always use a good natter! See ya!"

"How long until I'm well?" Pat asked Sirius. Her amusement fading.

"A couple of weeks, maybe more maybe less."

A/N

WOW!! I was incredibly embarrassed when I checked my reviews and found many reviews for chapter 11 intermingled with chapter 12… ones that I hadn't thanked you for, so I figured I would do it now…

JoeBob1379 Thanks for the e-mail; it really cheered me up when ff wasn't working!! I know not having a computer stinks!!! I'm currently on holiday from my placement so I'm able to write more, but soon it will just be me and good old-fashioned pen and paper!! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter!!

Dagon another new reader!! Thanks for reviewing!! Only one more chapter to go, but then the Severus fic should start!!!

Siriuslyinlove thanks for reviewing!! I love Elvis, and I just thought that Jailhouse Rock fit well in there!! (Also thanks for reviewing ch 12!!) Pat will survive! I can't cause Sirius pain!! (As demonstrated in this chapter!)

Heather I'm glad you think my story is plausible!! Even tho' HP is set in a magical world JK still manages to ground it in some way and makes it believable, and I try to do the same thing!

TheChicaChic Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad I could introduce you to the world of Sirius Black!!

Cosmic Diva Thanks for returning to my story!! I hope you caught up okay!!! (There are probably loads of continuance errors that I haven't noticed!! So sorry!) And no need to hint!! Chapter 12 was supposed to have been posted a couple of days before you reviewed the last story!! (Stupid computer not working again!!)

And thanks to the people who reviewed chapter 12!!

Mrs Grim I'm dead impressed!! I haven't heard the word Wowsers since… well the days of cookies and milk with Scooby-doo cartoons after school!!! I absolutely detest Filch… ugghhh *shivers in disgust* which is why I had to get Sirius to have a go!!! If I could I would have written in a wrestling arena WWF stylee and get Sirius to rip the ever-loving shit out of him…. Ahhh well!! Sweet dreams!! (Have a good time in France btw!!)

Blondie in Disguise Thanks for reviewing.

Jelsenium Thanks for the compliment! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

And thanks to anyone I've missed!

Love Krusty. xxx.

P.S. I don't know Latin! I have attempted to come up with spells, but if anyone does speak Latin out there then excuse the grammar!!!