Chapter Twenty-three; Allies and Enemies
Harry led the Gryffindors into the narrow passage, holding his glowing wand out in front of him. Ron followed at his heels with Ginny and Neville right behind him. Luke and the twins came next, followed by Katie and Alicia with Hermione and Phoebe bringing up the rear.
Harry felt a little thrown by their decision to come along. He certainly hadn't asked them to, yet here they were, included two he barely knew, apart from sharing a house with them. Luke looked pale but, seeing Harry looking back at him, gave an encouraging smile. Phoebe was hurriedly tying her long blonde hair back into a ponytail to keep it out of the way, Hermione whispering to her, suggesting spells and incantations that might come in useful. Phoebe was listening raptly and suggesting a few spells of her own, comparing notes on appropriate duelling spells.
Let's hope we don't have to use them Harry thought grimly. If we can just hold out until help arrives, no one will have to risk getting hurt.
They'd reached the end of the passage. Harry reached out to open the wall but suddenly jerked his hand back as though it had burned him. Ron grabbed his shoulder from behind.
'Harry, what-'
'Shh!'
Raising his hand for quiet, Harry inclined his head to the wall, straining to hear. There was silence. Slowly, he pressed his hand to the wall. With a gentle push it slid silently over. He could see a small section of the corridor. It looked empty … no - wait … there was someone coming.
Two black cloaked and hooded figures walked passed, heading swiftly to the portrait of the Fat Lady. Harry held his breath, leaning forward slightly. One of them suddenly looked back over his shoulder and Harry quickly drew back, his heart jumping up into his throat. Had the Death Eater sensed that someone was watching? Had he seen him?
A few nerve-racking seconds passed … Harry slowly edged forward, peering down the corridor, half-expecting the Death Eaters to pounce on him the moment he looked. When nothing grabbed him, Harry thanked each and every one of his lucky stars for not making a complete mess of this self appointed mission before it had even started.
The Death Eaters had stopped in front of the Fat Lady's empty portrait and were conversing in low voices; one gesturing to the empty frame, the other shaking his head.
The first raised his wand, casting a shimmering red haze over the portrait. It glowed briefly then faded rapidly. If it was supposed to open the entrance Harry was surprised that the Death Eater didn't try it again. The second Death Eater murmured something dismissive like he hadn't expected the spell work anyway. He then grabbed his companion's arm, whispering urgently and gesturing back up the passage. Together they turned from the portrait and hurried back towards where Harry and the others were hidden.
Harry twisted round. The group looked anxious and pale.
'Two Death Eaters,' Harry whispered. 'They're coming this way. As soon as they're within range we hit them with Stunning Spells, okay?'
The group nodded and drew their wands. There wasn't a lot of room in the narrow passage so Ginny and Neville knelt on the floor to allow George and Luke a clear shot over their heads. Harry and Ron flattened themselves up against the wall, pointing their wands sideways at the narrow opening.
The low voices had become audible.
' - think we can still get through that way?'
'It'll be a bit of a squeeze but I doubt anyone else knows where it is.'
'Can you even remember where it is?'
Harry frowned, glancing over at Ron who looked back, brow furrowed in confusion. Where they just so scared that their brains were playing tricks or was that -
The wall suddenly moved - several voices cried 'Stupefy!' - blasts of red light shot through the archway - the cloaked figure standing there quickly flung himself out of the way as Harry shouted 'No! Stop! Don't shoot!'
To his immense surprise the Gryffindors instantly obeyed but they kept their wands trained on the opening.
A startled and very familiar voice exclaimed, 'What the hell was that? Padfoot, you hurt?'
'Yeah,' came the breathless response. 'But it's just my dignity, nothing to worry about.'
'Who's there?' demanded the other man, directing his question to those within the hidden passage.
It took every ounce of self-control for Harry to reframe from leaping joyfully out into the corridor. 'It's me, Harry!'
A black-cloaked figure slowly appeared in the doorway. Harry quickly turned to the Gryffindors hastily gesturing for them to lower their wands. 'It's okay! He's a friend.'
Cautiously, the man reached up and drew back his hood.
'Professor Lupin?' Katie almost dropped her wand.
'Hello everyone,' said Remus calmly. 'I trust you're aren't simply sneaking out of your dorms just for the fun of it?'
'Hell no!' said Luke, pushing his way forward. 'We thought you were a Death Eater … or are you?' Nervously, Luke raised his wand again but Remus simply smiled.
'I can assure you, I am not a Death Eater.'
'Then what's with the robes?' Luke inquired suspiciously.
'What better way to sneak around a castle that's full of them?'
Luke, Phoebe, Katie and Alicia still looked a little uneasy but Neville immediately lowered his wand. Harry looked to the second cloaked figure who had just appeared behind Remus, and even though the deep hood obscured the man's face, Harry could tell that he did not feel that this was the time for explanations or introductions.
'Speaking of Death Eaters, may I remind you all that we are in a castle full of them? They probably heard you down in the dungeons. I think we'd better get out of here before someone comes looking.'
Without hesitation Harry, Ron, and Hermione emerged from the passage and hurried after Remus. The rest of the Gryffindors nervously eyed Remus' companion but quickly followed, the passage closing behind them. Remus led them down several deserted corridors and into a disused storeroom. Working quickly, he locked them inside, cast a number of Silencing Charms over the room, and lit the torches before turning to the group.
'Is everyone all right? Anyone hurt?'
'No, we're fine,' said Harry. 'Remus, how did you -'
A chorus of startled screams suddenly rang out; Katie, Alicia and Phoebe recoiled from the group, wands pointing straight at Sirius who had just lowered his hood. Luke and Neville fumbled for their own wands, Luke stepping in front of the girls and commanding 'D-don't move!'
Sirius raised an eyebrow, looking rather amused.
'Pretty gutsy, even for a Gryffindor,' he said, chuckling.
'Luke, everyone, will you please put your wands down.' Remus spoke calmly, moving slowly to stand just in front of Sirius, facing the wands.
No one did as he asked. All of them were staring wide-eyed and scared at the infamous Azkaban escapee.
Harry rolled his eyes, strode over to Sirius and gave him a hug. Sirius, a little surprised, returned the hug. The Gryffindors' mouths fell open in unison. Harry grinned at their stunned faces. 'Everyone, I'd like you to meet Sirius; my godfather. He isn't a murderer and he's not going to hurt you.'
Alicia and Katie exchanged a look, lowering their wands only slightly.
The Weasleys quickly jumped to Sirius' defence.
'He's innocent -'
'It wasn't him that killed all those Muggles -'
'He was framed!'
Sirius detached himself from Harry and stepped over to the group. They didn't recoil. Point for them, he thought with a smile.
'Look, if I were going to hurt anyone here wouldn't I have done it by now? Okay, I don't expect you to believe that I'm innocent, God knows I don't have any proof, but I am here to help.'
They didn't look entirely convinced but since the Weasleys, Hermione and Harry weren't in the least bit perturbed by a convicted murderer's presence, they seemed to reach a silent agreement to accept his words on faith. Neville tucked his wand into his belt and stepped forward.
'Well, since Harry seems to trust you, I guess I can too,' he said, offering a hand to Sirius, which he shook.
'Hang on,' said Katie. 'How did you two even get inside? The place is crawling with Death Eaters.'
'Good question. We arrived just as the Dark Lord came out of hiding and attacked the castle. Remus and I sneaked up behind the Death Eaters waiting to enter the grounds, stunned two of them, pinched their cloaks and masks, and came in with the rest of them.'
'The faculty have been imprisoned in the lower dungeons,' said Remus. 'From what we could gather they've been put into an enchanted sleep with at least a dozen Death Eaters keeping an eye on them. Other than that they appear to have been unharmed. I doubt they're the Dark Lord's priority so they should be relatively safe, for a while at least.'
'We came up here hoping to get into Gryffindor Tower but the Fat Lady's pulled a disappearing act, so Remus suggested we use the secret passage and I nearly got hexed into next week bumping into you lot.' Sirius grinned to show he wasn't mad at them, much to the group's relief.
'What were you all doing lurking in that passage anyway?' asked Remus.
'Err, we were going to try and find some way of getting a message to the Ministry but we weren't sure of how we were going to do that. Unless you've got a better idea?' said Harry hopefully.
'No. Alerting the Ministry is probably the only thing we can do right now, but that requires opening the Floo channels and the only place we can do that is Dumbledore's office.'
'But the entrance is on the second floor and we don't have the password,' said Hermione.
'We'd need to get there first,' said Alicia. 'How are we going to manage that? Sneaking down several floors full of Death Eaters hardly falls into the 'Easy Plan of Action' category does it?'
'No, but it is necessary, though certainly not impossible.' Remus looked to Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley brothers. 'I trust each of you can recall the contents of a particular map to a certain degree?'
'Yeah, but there aren't any passages that'll take us down to the second floor from here.'
'True, but our ability to move about the castle undetected will undoubtedly give us an edge. We can't leap out there, wands at the ready and fight our way down. There are far too many Death Eaters to take on and defeat in one-on-one combat. I'd say that stealth is our weapon in this game.'
'So what you're saying Moony, is that we need to even up the odds?' Sirius asked with a trace of mischief kindling in his eyes.
'Exactly. Not only will it reduce the odds of our getting caught, it will give the Ministry the best possible chance of getting through and helping us. Now we don't need to kill anyone, just put them out of action. Is everyone here familiar with Disarming, Stunning, and Paralysis Spells?'
*
'What was that?'
Alan Yewstray turned to his young partner, Ray Gradstone, with an exasperated sigh. This young Death Eater was proving to be nothing more than an annoyance and a pain in the neck to train. Yewstray had risen quickly up into the senior ranks of the Dark Order and felt cheated when the task of training a new recruit had fallen to him. Patience was not something he was overly familiar with.
'What?' he snapped.
'That noise, didn't you hear it?' Gradstone looked up at the ceiling. 'I think it came from upstairs. Sure you didn't hear anything?'
Yewstray glared at the boy. 'Yeah, now that you mention it, I did. Sounded like an irritating little brat who doesn't understand what 'be quiet and follow your superior's orders' means.'
The teenager looked only slightly abashed. Nervously he pointed upstairs. 'Shouldn't we go look?' he asked. 'Might be someone up there.'
'Fine, get out of my sight.' Yewstray snarled, his patience reaching the end of its very short tether. 'Report back in ten minutes.'
'Yes Sir!'
Yewstray grimaced. Gradstone was barely nineteen yet he had all the annoying enthusiasm of a five-year-old in a toyshop. He eagerly went up the nearest staircase to the seventh floor, wand held up in front of him. Idiotic kid. He didn't have a clue. His eagerness was sure to get him caught if he were ever sent out on his own. No wonder he had needed an experienced Death Eater to baby-sit him. Too bad Yewstray had drawn the short straw. Yewstray resumed his patrol, marching up and down the sixth floor, glad of a few minutes peace and a cigarette.
*
Stepping onto the seventh floor, Gradstone brandished his wand, pointing it at every door and in all directions, hoping to catch an unwary student off guard. He felt extremely disappointed that the passage was empty. Certain that he had heard something, Gradstone flattened himself against the wall and edged down the corridor, ready to hex the first person he saw.
Gradstone had graduated from Hogwarts only a year ago but his memory of the castles ever-shifting layout completely failed him. He had a vague idea that the Gryffindor dormitories were around here somewhere … or was he thinking of Ravenclaw Tower? Damn it. Being a Hufflepuff, Gradstone had never known for certain. Having a memory like a leaky cauldron hadn't helped. Not to mention the fact that his superiors obviously knew it. But Gradstone was hardly stupid enough not to realise when someone considered him a liability. That was why Yewstray had sent him up here, wasn't it? Not that his enthusiasm for the status and power that came with being a respected Death Eater was in any way dampened.
I'll show them. I can do this just as well as the next Death Eater. It's probably only a bunch of students after all. No problem.
Pausing by a closed door, Gradstone cast a Transparency Spell and was again disappointed to find no one there. He turned to go back the other way … and found his way barred by a Death Eater.
Quickly, Gradstone stepped back and bowed deeply. Always show respect to the elders; that was the first rule he'd been taught and it was a lesson well worth learning.
'Sir, my apologies, I did not see you there.' he said swiftly, filled with child-like awe at the Death Eater's ability to move without making a sound and wishing fervently that someone would teach him how to do that.
A gruff voice came from the depths of the hood.
'Who sent you up here?'
'Yewstray, sir. I heard noises and he sent me to investigate.'
'Alone?'
'Yes, sir.'
The Death Eater seemed to be considering him when a slight creak of a door opening caught Gradstone's attention. He turned, wand raised, but was met by a hazy cloud of sparkling blue dust. It flew into his eyes, swirling gently around him. Gradstone swayed slightly, his eyelids growing heavy … an irresistible urge to lay down washed over him. Slumping against the wall, the young Death Eater closed his eyes, slid to the floor in a heap and knew no more.
Sirius had stepped back as soon as the Sleep Spell had wafted out the nearby classroom, covering his face to avoid accidentally inhaling the dust.
'Should be out for a couple hours,' said Remus, stepping out and waving his wand to clear away the remains of the cloud. 'Fred, George, take him back to the storeroom, bind him, then come back here.'
The twins hastened to obey, levitating Gradstone and floating him off down the corridor. Hermione conjuring a gag to muffle the snoring as they passed.
Sirius beckoned to the rest of the group, leading the way down the stairs.
*
Yewstray strode back to his post and was instantly irked that Gradstone had not yet returned. Damn kid was probably playing at being a Senior Death Eater. He could just see him kicking down doors and expecting prisoners to fall at his feet, forgetting to report back. That kid was asking for at least ten minutes under the Cruciatus curse if he didn't learn not to follow through on such childish ideas.
Dropping his cigarette, Yewstray gave it a hard stamp to put it out when he noticed a number of odd little coloured balls rolling down the passage towards him. Drawing his wand Yewstray stepped nimbly out of the way, letting them roll past. Looking ahead, the balls appeared to be coming down the staircase at the far end, bouncing silently down each step and rolling slowly towards him. Two yellow ones bumped into his feet. Stooping, Yewstray cautiously picked one up. Closer inspection revealed that they weren't balls at all. They appeared to be seeds.
The yellow seed in his hand split - several thin vines shot out and wrapped tightly round his hand, binding his fingers together. With a startled yelp, Yewstray tried to rip them off with his other hand only to have that bound as well. His wand was snagged by another vine and dropped to the floor. Seeds at his feet burst open - the narrow vines reaching and ensnaring his ankles, pulling tightly. Yewstray opened his mouth to shout for help when a clump of sticky webbing shot through the air, wrapping over the lower half of his face. The vines pulled and he fell to the floor, unable to move.
Several figures came swiftly down the stairs. Five students and a man that Yewstray thought for a moment was a fellow Death Eater. Crouching beside him, the face of Sirius Black regarded Yewstray thoughtfully, casually reaching for his dropped wand.
'Don't mind if I borrow this for a while, do you?' he asked with a grin, twirling the wand idly with his fingers.
Yewstray mumbled something through the webbing over his mouth, fury in his eyes that shifted to amazement as the Boy Who Lived appeared at Black's side.
With a wave of his wand, the webbing stretched over Yewstray's eyes and ears. A moment later he was rendered unconscious with a Stunning Spell.
'Well done, Neville. I wouldn't of thought of using Tangle Vines,' said Sirius turning to Neville who blushed furiously. 'You come up with any more ideas like that, you let us know, okay?'
Luke and Phoebe had just hidden the Death Eater away in a nearby cupboard when Remus, Hermione, and the twins caught up.
'Padfoot, this would be quicker if we split up,' said Remus as he Summoned the unused seeds and returned them to Neville.
'Right, Harry, you stay with me.' Sirius said quickly.
'Ron, Hermione, you two with me. The rest of you stay with Sirius. None of you are go off on your own, understand? Padfoot, if you'll take the west side, we'll take the east wing. We'll try and secure a clear route down to the second floor.'
The group obediently spilt up. Ron and Hermione both whispering 'good luck' as they passed Harry and followed Remus through a tapestry-covered passage. Harry watched them go, silently praying that it wouldn't be the last time he ever saw them.
'Come on, quickly now.' Sirius took the lead, moving through the shadows, the Gryffindors following. Harry gripped his wand tightly as he hurried after them, wondering if there was any chance at all of getting everyone out alive.
He certainly hoped so.
*
To Be Continued
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Please review
All comments and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated
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Author's Notes
Lil Lupin – *groans* Sorry, Lily, I really don't think I'm going to hit my deadline for this weekend. Chapter 14 has hit a major mental block. *Voltora's pencil snaps* Damn it! I'd like to get started on chapter 17, but that'll mean you'll have to wait even longer for chapter 14. Thanks for my first Latin lesson; haven't actually read it yet but I'll definitely be reading it over the weekend!
Evol norgara – Oooh, I'd never been to mugglenet.com before, so I checked it out the other day; great site! I sat and read all the editorials, great stuff! I'll definitely be going back again. ^_^ You're a Slytherin person? Can't complain if you're supporting Gryffindor! ^_^
Elbereth94 – Thank you! Glad you love it!
Christy – Yay! Neville's such a sweet guy, he's definitely got more guts than he realises. I'm sure JK will make that more obvious in the last three books. (Assuming that he doesn't get killed, of course – now there's a nasty thought!)
Von – A cowardly Gryffindor, eh? Craig's just a minor character here, but he's certainly attracted a lot of hate from people. You're wondering why the Hat put him in Gryffindor? Why did the Hat put Peter Pettigrew in Gryffindor? Or Neville? Neville hardly seemed to fulfil the 'courageous' requirement for Gryffindor House but slowly we've seen him come out of his shell and be more assertive. People change, given time.
*Voltora gets up on her soap-box*
At eleven you may have some prominent characteristics but have others hidden away – by the time you reach eighteen or nineteen, you aren't the same person; you've grown up, had experiences, made choices and whether or not it's for the better is anyone's guess. Different characteristics may emerge while others diminish. Pettigrew, and indeed my character Craig, may have had what it took to be worthy of a Gryffindor when they were young, but experiences have affected them in such a way that they come across as very cowardly in a lot of situations. The Hat's evaluation of your character at age 11 isn't the be all and end all.
Ever wondered why the Hat would put Hermione in Gryffindor when she has more than enough brain power to be a Ravenclaw? My theory? Her courageous nature may have been buried beneath all the brains but could be brought out of her in the right situation, thus Gryffindor would be the best place for her to develop. Would she have become such a confident and brave witch had she been Sorted to Ravenclaw? My guess is possibly not.
When I was eleven, there was not a chance that I was ever going to be considered as a Ravenclaw type person; I'm simply not that brainy. Nor would I have been judged a Slytherin, not being particularly ambitious. So that leaves Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. Personally I don't know which House I would have been best suited to. Now at nineteen, I think I'd have had a chance at being a Gryffindor because of how much I've changed over the years, although I'd never of thought 'yep, Gryffindor's the House for me'; I was too damn quiet and shy! Maybe I'd have been a Hufflepuff; they're nice people. ^_^
*Voltora gets down off her soap-box*
Samie – *laughs and claps* That was great! Wish I could include something like that. But if you're looking for a crazy-must kill people-type character, you may like the sequel to Tell No Lies. It's called Take It Back, and it's already posted but you might prefer to wait until this one is done before you read it – the opening chapter is likely to completely spoil the ending of this one! ^_^
Evil spapple pie – Sorry, I really can't say! I want to! But I can't! Hey, hold up! Don't slap my character! *Hands Evil an over-sized Beaters bat* Here, use that! ^_^
In answer to your question, SF stands for Sirius Fic, which is my current fic project. It doesn't have a title yet but Sirius is the main character so it's been dubbed Sirius Fic for the time being, or SF for short. ^_^ It's twenty chapters long, based on Sirius when he's sixteen. It does include the other Marauders (yes, Peter as well, unfortunately – I couldn't leave him out.) and it will be at least a PG-13 due to domestic violence and child abuse (not sexual). Certainly 'darker' than the rest of my fics so far. I haven't finished it yet; I've hit a mental block on chapter 14, so it's still seven chapters off completion. I'm not going to post any of it until the entire fic is complete so I doubt it'll be posted until about the end of May.
Voldemort not being sarcastic? My fault. I'm not a sarcastic person by nature so it's a little difficult to get a character to be sarcastic, unfortunately. Still, I do try.
Corrie – Glad you like it! ^_^
Dragon-gurl – *Voltora scrambles for a pair of earmuffs and shoves them over her ears* Wow! That was loud. All capitals tends to be taken as shouting and I'd say you've temporarily deafened me. *lol* ^_^ So happy you're enjoying this!