Chapter 26
The next morning dawned bright and cold for all of the students who were still at Hogwarts, which was a small number. As soon as the sun was peaking over the tall trees of the forbidden forest, Harry was awakened by someone calling his name quietly. Recognizing the voice immediately as that of his godfather, he slowly opened his eyes and found himself looking into the blue eyes of the man he had come to see as his surrogate father.
"Morning Harry" he said gently as he settled into a chair beside the bed
"Morning Sirius" Harry mumbled, obviously still drowsy and not quite awake as he awkwardly pulled himself into a sitting position on the bed while trying to keep the warmth of the blankets wrapped securely around his thin frame.
Sirius caught his struggle and his brow furrowed in worry.
"Are you still cold Harry?"
"A little, but I'll be fine, don't worry" he said with a small smile, finally looking awake
"Are you sure? I could stay here if you would like" offered Sirius, hoping that Harry would ask him to stay, not just so that they could spend some time together, but also not wanting to let the boy out of his sight for a moment in fear that something else would happen to him.
"No Sirius, you know you have to go with Remus and Snape. You're the only one who has ever had any experience interrogating death eaters. You know as well as I do that neither of them will be able to get anything useful from Shaw without using a truth serum, and we need the names of any other traitors that may have escaped us" he said in a firm voice, making him sound more like the parent than Sirius, which brought a grin to the older mans face before he spoke again.
"Ok, I give in, you have a point. But promise me that if anything happens, you'll contact one of us immediately. Dumbledore and Poppy will be here until the day of the trial, they are both being asked to testify." he began, but was interrupted by a smirking godson
"I know Sirius, you've told me this at least twice a day for the past week" he chided gently, amused by the pout on his godfathers face
"I'm just worried about you Harry, we both know that you have a tendency to get into rather, how should I say this, interesting and dangerous situations" he said, with a smirk that mirrored the boys on his own face
"True, but I don't think I'll be doing much trouble making for the next couple of weeks, especially since Ginny will probably mother me more that you and Madame Pomfrey combined"
"I beg your pardon young man! I do NOT mother you!" Sirius exclaimed in mock outrage before asking under his breath "Do I?"
At this, Harry couldn't contain himself and he started to laugh at the almost horrified expression on the mans' face.
"Face it Sirius" he gasped out between burst of laughter "You do mother me, but don't worry, I don't think you as any less of a man because of it"
At those words, Sirius almost pounced on Harry like a dog would have, until he remembered that his godson was injured and needed to conserve his energy, so he settled for taking a seat on the bed beside him and gently brushing a long lock of ebony hair from the boys face, revealing the long and ragged looking scar that ran from his cheek bone to his jaw.
As they sat in silence for a moment, Sirius couldn't help but wonder how this seventeen year old boy had managed to not only survive all that he had, but also continue to harbor a semblance of innocence somewhere deep in his soul.
An innocence that could very easily be overlooked completely if a stranger were to just take a glance at him, with the long black hair and scarred face, innocence could be completely ignored.
But if you were to look deep into the emerald eyes, beyond the pain, despair, and anguish, one could glimpse the child that was hidden and had never had an opportunity to shine completely.
Sirius rarely saw this himself, and almost always Harry was in the company of Ginny when he allowed his shields to drop completely and just live his life to the fullest, relishing in the peace that the love shared between him and the red head brought him.
"Sirius, what are you thinking about?" Harry finally asked as his godfather continued to gaze at him as a father would his son.
"Just what that little comment about me mothering you means" he said in a serious tone, not even allowing a hint of a smile to grace his features "that comment means that as soon as you are well enough, you will be suffering the wrath of a full grown Marauder who also happens to be a professor at your school, meaning that I don't have any rules to follow, and I can get away with anything" he said in a threatening whisper, amused by the fleeting look of terror that crossed Harry's face before the boy spoke up.
"You may be a Marauder Sirius, but I have my own connections and I can guarantee that I will win this battle" he said with a wide grin
"Connections? What are you talking about Harry?" he asked, truly confused by the younger boys words and confidence
"Oh, let me see here, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, the rest of Gryffindor, Remus, all of the other professors who have been waiting on the opportunity to get revenge on you since you were a student, and a pair of twins who just so happen to own a very successful joke shop and would be only more than willing to give their partner some free products. All I have to say, is let the war begin!" he said, his smile getting even larger as Sirius visibly gulped and paled a few shades as he realized that Harry most defiantly had the upper hand on him.
Before he could say another word though, to try to take back his threats, Remus and Snape came through the door, ready to leave for the ministry.
"Padfoot, what's wrong, you look as thought you've seen a ghost" asked Remus, concern evident in his voice as he took in the pale face of his best friend, but it was Harry who answered him.
"Morning Moony, Professor, Sirius here just found out that it was probably not a great idea to threaten me with pranks when I listed off the names of people in the castle who would only be more than willing to side with me in order to get some revenge on the infamous Sirius Black, a.k.a. Messer Padfoot" he said with a cheeky grin on his face
"Uh oh Padfoot, what on earth have you gotten yourself into this time" said Remus with a wide grin on his face as well.
"As much as I too would like to exact my own revenge on Black for several embarrassing moments throughout the years, the minister is awaiting us" said Snape in his normal oily voice, although his expression clearly stated that he was willing to aid with any prank played on Sirius, which caused the ex-convict to gulp again before turning back to Harry.
"I guess I had better go, be careful and take care of yourself while I'm gone. Ginny, Hermione and Ron will be here later this morning to help you get back to the tower, I'll owl you if we get anything interesting out of Shaw. Look out of yourself while I'm gone" he finished as he stool and gave Harry a tight hug before joining Snape and Remus at the door.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine mum" Harry said cheerfully to his godfather before he was out of earshot, but he raised his voice to where it could just be heard by the other two men, both of whom gave Sirius amused glances.
"This means war" were the only words Sirius spoke before the trio was out the door, but he could hear Remus ask why Harry was calling Sirius mom, which caused the boy to smile to himself before he lay back down in the warmth of his bed and immediately fell asleep once again, his mind light and carefree for the first time in too long.
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Ginny was getting quite irritated at her brother and his girlfriend. They were supposed to meet her in the common room at nine that morning so that they could go and get Harry, and it was now nearly nine thirty and neither of them had made it out if their respective dormitories. She had been pacing back and forth in front of the fire for nearly an hour now, since she hadn't been able to sleep much after the sun had come up in anticipation for seeing Harry, and she allowed another exasperated sigh escape her mouth as she glared up toward the boys dormitories again for a moment before turning her eyes on the girls. She was pleased to see that Hermione was descending the staircase though, but refused to allow the pleasure show on her face as she glared at the older girl.
"It's about time Hermione! I thought you were the responsible one who was never late for anything this important" she accused, and was more than a little shocked to see a faint blush creep up her face and her mouth opening and closing several times before she managed to speak.
"Sorry Gin, um, we were, um, up late last night" she said, hoping that this was a good enough excuse for the younger girl.
"And just what were you and my big brother up to last night that caused you to loose so much sleep Hermione" she asked accusingly, a smile playing on her lips at the older girls obvious discomfort.
"You know, we were, just, we were, um, taking advantage of the empty common room" she explained, the blush increasing before she too got a smile on her face as she looked at the younger girl.
"Like you and Harry have never done the same thing" she said accusingly
"But it's not Harry and I that we are talking about right now, it's you and Ron and what you were ding that caused me to have to wait so long for you to wake up this morning"
"Ok, I apologize Ginny, what do you say we go and wake Ron up" she said, with a mischievous glint in her eye that she could only have learned from the twins as the pair made their way up into the forbidden boys dormitory.
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Within ten minutes, the trio was making their way down the winding corridors to the hospital wing, chatting adamantly about Christmas which was only a week and a half away. They compared gift ideas for the rest of the Weasley family and Harry and tried to guess what each had gotten for the other, but none of them were near successful.
When they walked into the infirmary, they were mildly shocked to see that no one was sitting beside Harry's bed, even though there had always been someone present at his side since the instant he had been brought in.
"They must have already left" Ginny whispered quietly to the other two, speaking of the trio that was heading for the ministry that morning
"Probably, they wanted to get an early start, but I wish I could have wished them luck" said Hermione in the same whispered voice
Ron though, had other things on his mind.
"Who wants the honor of waking him up, because after last time, I am not going near him" he said as he starred at the bundled up form of his best friend who was sound asleep in the bed furthest from the door.
"Not me!" exclaimed Hermione instantly and both her and Ron turned their gazes on Ginny who was looking at the couple with wide eyes.
"Me?" she croaked out as she continued to stare
"You're his girlfriend Gin, it's your responsibility" said Hermione forcefully as she almost violently nodded her head
"WHAT! I already had to wake up Ron and now I have to wake up Harry?" she exclaimed as she shot the older girl an accusing glare. Hermione had failed to wake up the red headed boy after several attempts of sweet talking in his ears and Ginny had been impatient so she had conjured a glass of ice cold water and poured it over her brothers head, causing him to be wide awake in about two seconds flat.
"You weren't forced to wake me up you know" snarled Ron in a fake threatening tone
"Well, Hermione's methods weren't working so I decided to improvise a little" she said innocently, flashing her brother a wide grin.
"You know, with the three of you arguing, it's impossible for a person to get any sleep" said a groggy voice from the far side of the room and instantly, all three looked up to see Harry sending them a grin from his bed.
"Harry!" exclaimed Ginny as she launched herself onto her boyfriend and pulled him into a tight hug. Ron and Hermione followed her with smiles on their faces as well
"Gin, I can't breath" gasped Harry after a few moments and Ginny reluctantly stood up and took Harry's hand as she pulled him from the bed.
"So what were the three of you arguing about this time?" he asked them as he gathered up his cloths and walked behind the curtains next to him to change.
"Well, um, we were, um, just, um" began Ron hesitantly while he shot questioning looks to Ginny and Hermione.
"Spit it out Ron" said Harry in amusement as he walked from behind the curtain and sat back on the bed to put his shoes on.
"Well, we were just trying to figure out who was going to wake you up, needless to say, none of us were very anxious for the job" said Ron finally, without taking a breath.
Harry grinned before saying "What's to worry about Ron, I wouldn't have cursed you" he said with the smile still on his face as he saw Ron's relieved expression before he continued "too badly anyways" and that caused all but Ron to burst out laughing as he paled and his mouth fell open in shock.
"Come on guys, let's get to breakfast, I'm starving" said Harry when he was finished dressing, not realizing the looks of concern his friends sent him as he pulled his heavy winter cloak over his shoulders even though they were all quite warm and had no intentions of going outside. They were soon smiling though when Harry told them about the conversation with Sirius that morning and described the look of horror on his face when Harry threatened to pull a prank on him. The next week was spent discussing what exactly they could pull on the ex-convict and sitting curled up in each others arms in front of the roaring fire. Ginny with Harry and Ron with Hermione, both couples feeling a sense of peace and security that had been missing for far too long.
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The night before Sirius and the rest of the group from the ministry were due to return to the castle Harry and Ginny went to bed early and left Ron and Hermione alone in the common room for several hours before they both decided to get to sleep as well so they would be well rested to begin preparation for the prank on Sirius. After a long and passionate kiss in front of the fire, Ron made his way into the seventh year boys dormitory and was getting changed into his pajamas when he heard a muffled gasp of pain from Harry's bed.
Startled, he pulled the scarlet hangings aside and looked down on his best friend. Harry was covered in sweat and throwing his head from side to side almost violently while muttering the word no under his breath repeatedly. Ron instantly knew he was having a particularly bad nightmare and before he realized what he was doing, he grasped the other boys shoulder in his hand in an attempt to wake him up.
Ron immediately felt as though the world were tilted upside down and he were falling headfirst into an unknown abyss, and he squeezed his eyes closed instinctively so that he wouldn't loose everything he had eaten for dinner. After a few short moments though, he felt his feet his the hard ground, followed by the rest of his body with a loud thump.
Breathing deeply for several minutes, he lie still and tried to figure out what had just happened, but seeing as his eyes were still closed, he was unsuccessful, so he pried them open and sat up on his knees as he looked around.
He was sitting in what appeared to be a large stone chamber of some sort with a huge fire in the middle, casting shadows all around the room. There were no other people around him, but he could hear voice coming from the other side of the fire but due to the glare, he couldn't see who they belonged to.
He got shakily to his feet and looked around him again trying to figure out what had happened when he had grabbed Harry's shoulder in the dorm. The place he was in was cold and damp with stone walls and a domed stone ceiling. The ground was a hard compact dirt and the entire place smelled of something evil. Just then, he caught sight of someone walking toward him and he started calling out to the other person frantically.
"Excuse me, could you tell me where we are?" he asked the form as it approached, but he received no answer. He was about to try again when the figure walked into the light of the fire and Ron got a good look at his clothes. He was wearing black robes with the dark mark stitched onto the front of them, marking him to clearly be a death eater.
Shocked, Ron stumbled backward as he screamed in terror, expecting to be killed immediately, but to his surprise, the man ignored him completely and continued on his way, stopping only a couple of feet in front of Ron who was frozen in place.
'What is going on here' he mumbled to himself as he watched the man pull some sort of iron rod from the fire, half of it glowing a bright orange color.
Curious, Ron watched him turn and walk back in the direction he had come, and deciding there was nothing better to do, he followed the man to the far side of the large fire where he saw a crowd of probably fifty other black robe clad figures gather in a half circle facing one of the walls.
He silently approached the wall and maneuvered along it until he was standing in front of several death eaters who didn't even seem to realize he was there.
Standing in the middle of the crowd were two men who were also facing the wall. One had long silver blonde hair and Ron recognized him immediately as Lucius Malfoy. The other though, had short cropped sandy blonde hair and stood quite a bit shorter than Malfoy, and Ron knew he had never seen him before. Suddenly, the shorter man began to speak and instantly all the whispered conversations around him ceased.
"This is your last opportunity boy" he said in a hiss "tell us how to escape from this prison you brought us to and I will all you to leave as you are, refuse and I will do to you that which you despise the most" he threatened
Ron couldn't see who he was talking to, but he pitied who ever it was a great deal because this man seemed to be one who would follow through with whatever threat he made. He then heard the familiar voice of his best friend come from just in front of the two men.
"I will never tell you how to escape from here, no matter what you do to me. You will never leave this place to torture and kill innocent people again, I swear my life on it" Harry's voice was hoarse and cracking, but his words seemed to anger the man even more.
"Very well Potter, but know this, we may all very well die here, and you may or may not escape with your life, but no matter what, you will from this point forward be seen as a traitor by the whole wizarding world, weather you are found dead or alive. Lucius, do it" he said to the other man who inclined his head slightly and both men turned their backs and joined the others in the group, giving Ron his first clear look at his best friend, and what he say made him start to shake in horror.
Harry had his back to the stone wall and his arms drawn over his head and held in place by a thick black chain that seemed to glow an almost red color. His right arm was obviously broken, bending in several odd angles with dried blood caked on the arm of his robes. The rest of his clothing was shredded over his body and through the ragged fabric, Ron could make out dark bruises and bloody cuts marring every inch of exposed flesh. The once prestigious Hogwarts crest that adorned the front of the robes was barley identifiable due to the fact that it was completely soaked through with dark red blood.
His legs were bent at the knees as though he couldn't support his weight, but again, the right one was not bent in a natural angle and was obviously broken. All in all, Harry Potter was a mass of blood, bruises, and broken bones and Ron was amazed that he was still alive.
Suddenly the answer as to where he was hit him like a ton of bricks, he was inside Harry's nightmare, a nightmare of the time he had been missing with you-know-who. But where was the evil wizard?
Before he could answer that question though, he saw Malfoy once again approach Harry, holding the piece of iron that the other death eater had brought from the fire earlier, it was still glowing bright orange and Ron was terrified to see what was about to happen but couldn't seem to pry his eyes away from the scene in front of him.
Once directly in front of Harry, Malfoy looked over his shoulder and nodded his head at the shorter man who in turn waved his wand at the chains holding Harry and his left arm fell limply to his side. Malfoy then went to grab his arm, but instead went flying backwards into the crowd of men behind him and dropping the iron bar on the floor.
Furious, he disentangled himself from the others and stalked back to Harry, but before he could do anything, the other man began speaking again, with a cruel smile twisting his lips. "Now, now Harry, that wasn't very polite. You should know by now that you can't escape from me like you have so easily done the past four times we have met. You are playing by my rules this time, and for refusing to abide by those rules, you will pay dearly" and with that, he turned to the men behind him, four of which instantly drew their wands and cast the cruciatus curse simultaneously on the black haired boy before them.
Harry's entire body tensed up in pain and his legs gave out under the little weight they had been supporting, causing his entire body to be held up by the chain attached to the wrist of his broken arm. Every muscle in his body then began to twitch and shake under the force of the curse.
Malfoy then raised his own wand and aimed it at the boy's already bloody chest where he said a curse under his breath and began to wield his wand like a knife and cut into the flesh in long lines and curves, as though he were drawing a picture and coloring it with blood. Once there were several more designs on his chest, he drew closer to the boy and aimed the wand at his face where he used it to make a deep and ragged cut beginning at his cheekbone and continuing until he reached the jaw bone, causing a new river of blood to course down the pale skin and become soaked up by the black robes.
Ron was in a state of utter shock as he watched what was going in front of him. He knew that some terrible things had happened to Harry while he had been gone, but even in his most terrible nightmares he couldn't have imagined it being this bad. How could Harry have survived this at all? He now understood perfectly well why his best friend had been so distant and jumpy when he had returned and felt a deep pang of regret for ever saying that he attacked him. Hell, if he had been in Harry's position he would have never been able to trust anyone ever again.
After several minutes of the cruciatus curse, it was lifted and Malfoy once again approached with the iron pole, which Ron only now realized was a brand, but what of he couldn't tell from his position. Malfoy grabbed Harry's arm roughly, and this time the boy was too weak to even begin to resist him. He twisted his arm until the underside was visible and before Ron could comprehend what was happening, he heard the terrible hiss of burning flesh and the acrid odor penetrated his nostrils, his dinner once again threatening to make an appearance.
Malfoy held the brand in place for several moments before removing it and revealing a mass of bloody and blistered skin beneath it. The entire time, Harry had only moaned in pain, and tried weakly to free his arm from the pain. Malfoy then dropped the brand once again in the dirt and while still holding Harry's arm tightly pulled a bottle of some black potion from his robes and uncorking it with his teeth he proceeded to pour it over the burnt skin, and only now did they get a real response from Harry, who began to scream at the top of his lungs until he was forced to stop and take several ragged and gasping breaths as he starred at his arm in disgust, and Ron followed his gaze.
The black potion was seeping into the skin and slowly began to manipulate itself and began to form shapes on the bloody skin. Even through the blood though, Ron could tell what shape the lines were forming, and he could only watch in shock as the dark mark embedded itself into his friends flesh. Horrified, he looked at his friends face and saw tears in his eyes the instant the mark finished forming. In that instant, his eyes became dead and his spirit seemed to break, leaving only a bloody and broken shell behind for an instant before he lost consciousness. Malfoy then pulled two other bottles from his robes and forced them down Harry's throat before the other blonde man returned Harry's arm to its chain and all the death eaters turned their backs on him, laughing and going back to the fire.
Ron then felt the world tip upside down again and within seconds found himself once again standing in his dorm room with his hand grasping Harry's shoulder, but Harry was no longer thrashing around or moaning, so he looked to his face and Ron found his eyes locked with emerald green ones.
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A/N: Hey guys, I know this took longer to post than usual, but it is nearly twice as long! Thanks for reviewing the last chapter. Hope you enjoy this one and please remember to review, I really appreciate any comments you have!
The next morning dawned bright and cold for all of the students who were still at Hogwarts, which was a small number. As soon as the sun was peaking over the tall trees of the forbidden forest, Harry was awakened by someone calling his name quietly. Recognizing the voice immediately as that of his godfather, he slowly opened his eyes and found himself looking into the blue eyes of the man he had come to see as his surrogate father.
"Morning Harry" he said gently as he settled into a chair beside the bed
"Morning Sirius" Harry mumbled, obviously still drowsy and not quite awake as he awkwardly pulled himself into a sitting position on the bed while trying to keep the warmth of the blankets wrapped securely around his thin frame.
Sirius caught his struggle and his brow furrowed in worry.
"Are you still cold Harry?"
"A little, but I'll be fine, don't worry" he said with a small smile, finally looking awake
"Are you sure? I could stay here if you would like" offered Sirius, hoping that Harry would ask him to stay, not just so that they could spend some time together, but also not wanting to let the boy out of his sight for a moment in fear that something else would happen to him.
"No Sirius, you know you have to go with Remus and Snape. You're the only one who has ever had any experience interrogating death eaters. You know as well as I do that neither of them will be able to get anything useful from Shaw without using a truth serum, and we need the names of any other traitors that may have escaped us" he said in a firm voice, making him sound more like the parent than Sirius, which brought a grin to the older mans face before he spoke again.
"Ok, I give in, you have a point. But promise me that if anything happens, you'll contact one of us immediately. Dumbledore and Poppy will be here until the day of the trial, they are both being asked to testify." he began, but was interrupted by a smirking godson
"I know Sirius, you've told me this at least twice a day for the past week" he chided gently, amused by the pout on his godfathers face
"I'm just worried about you Harry, we both know that you have a tendency to get into rather, how should I say this, interesting and dangerous situations" he said, with a smirk that mirrored the boys on his own face
"True, but I don't think I'll be doing much trouble making for the next couple of weeks, especially since Ginny will probably mother me more that you and Madame Pomfrey combined"
"I beg your pardon young man! I do NOT mother you!" Sirius exclaimed in mock outrage before asking under his breath "Do I?"
At this, Harry couldn't contain himself and he started to laugh at the almost horrified expression on the mans' face.
"Face it Sirius" he gasped out between burst of laughter "You do mother me, but don't worry, I don't think you as any less of a man because of it"
At those words, Sirius almost pounced on Harry like a dog would have, until he remembered that his godson was injured and needed to conserve his energy, so he settled for taking a seat on the bed beside him and gently brushing a long lock of ebony hair from the boys face, revealing the long and ragged looking scar that ran from his cheek bone to his jaw.
As they sat in silence for a moment, Sirius couldn't help but wonder how this seventeen year old boy had managed to not only survive all that he had, but also continue to harbor a semblance of innocence somewhere deep in his soul.
An innocence that could very easily be overlooked completely if a stranger were to just take a glance at him, with the long black hair and scarred face, innocence could be completely ignored.
But if you were to look deep into the emerald eyes, beyond the pain, despair, and anguish, one could glimpse the child that was hidden and had never had an opportunity to shine completely.
Sirius rarely saw this himself, and almost always Harry was in the company of Ginny when he allowed his shields to drop completely and just live his life to the fullest, relishing in the peace that the love shared between him and the red head brought him.
"Sirius, what are you thinking about?" Harry finally asked as his godfather continued to gaze at him as a father would his son.
"Just what that little comment about me mothering you means" he said in a serious tone, not even allowing a hint of a smile to grace his features "that comment means that as soon as you are well enough, you will be suffering the wrath of a full grown Marauder who also happens to be a professor at your school, meaning that I don't have any rules to follow, and I can get away with anything" he said in a threatening whisper, amused by the fleeting look of terror that crossed Harry's face before the boy spoke up.
"You may be a Marauder Sirius, but I have my own connections and I can guarantee that I will win this battle" he said with a wide grin
"Connections? What are you talking about Harry?" he asked, truly confused by the younger boys words and confidence
"Oh, let me see here, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, the rest of Gryffindor, Remus, all of the other professors who have been waiting on the opportunity to get revenge on you since you were a student, and a pair of twins who just so happen to own a very successful joke shop and would be only more than willing to give their partner some free products. All I have to say, is let the war begin!" he said, his smile getting even larger as Sirius visibly gulped and paled a few shades as he realized that Harry most defiantly had the upper hand on him.
Before he could say another word though, to try to take back his threats, Remus and Snape came through the door, ready to leave for the ministry.
"Padfoot, what's wrong, you look as thought you've seen a ghost" asked Remus, concern evident in his voice as he took in the pale face of his best friend, but it was Harry who answered him.
"Morning Moony, Professor, Sirius here just found out that it was probably not a great idea to threaten me with pranks when I listed off the names of people in the castle who would only be more than willing to side with me in order to get some revenge on the infamous Sirius Black, a.k.a. Messer Padfoot" he said with a cheeky grin on his face
"Uh oh Padfoot, what on earth have you gotten yourself into this time" said Remus with a wide grin on his face as well.
"As much as I too would like to exact my own revenge on Black for several embarrassing moments throughout the years, the minister is awaiting us" said Snape in his normal oily voice, although his expression clearly stated that he was willing to aid with any prank played on Sirius, which caused the ex-convict to gulp again before turning back to Harry.
"I guess I had better go, be careful and take care of yourself while I'm gone. Ginny, Hermione and Ron will be here later this morning to help you get back to the tower, I'll owl you if we get anything interesting out of Shaw. Look out of yourself while I'm gone" he finished as he stool and gave Harry a tight hug before joining Snape and Remus at the door.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine mum" Harry said cheerfully to his godfather before he was out of earshot, but he raised his voice to where it could just be heard by the other two men, both of whom gave Sirius amused glances.
"This means war" were the only words Sirius spoke before the trio was out the door, but he could hear Remus ask why Harry was calling Sirius mom, which caused the boy to smile to himself before he lay back down in the warmth of his bed and immediately fell asleep once again, his mind light and carefree for the first time in too long.
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Ginny was getting quite irritated at her brother and his girlfriend. They were supposed to meet her in the common room at nine that morning so that they could go and get Harry, and it was now nearly nine thirty and neither of them had made it out if their respective dormitories. She had been pacing back and forth in front of the fire for nearly an hour now, since she hadn't been able to sleep much after the sun had come up in anticipation for seeing Harry, and she allowed another exasperated sigh escape her mouth as she glared up toward the boys dormitories again for a moment before turning her eyes on the girls. She was pleased to see that Hermione was descending the staircase though, but refused to allow the pleasure show on her face as she glared at the older girl.
"It's about time Hermione! I thought you were the responsible one who was never late for anything this important" she accused, and was more than a little shocked to see a faint blush creep up her face and her mouth opening and closing several times before she managed to speak.
"Sorry Gin, um, we were, um, up late last night" she said, hoping that this was a good enough excuse for the younger girl.
"And just what were you and my big brother up to last night that caused you to loose so much sleep Hermione" she asked accusingly, a smile playing on her lips at the older girls obvious discomfort.
"You know, we were, just, we were, um, taking advantage of the empty common room" she explained, the blush increasing before she too got a smile on her face as she looked at the younger girl.
"Like you and Harry have never done the same thing" she said accusingly
"But it's not Harry and I that we are talking about right now, it's you and Ron and what you were ding that caused me to have to wait so long for you to wake up this morning"
"Ok, I apologize Ginny, what do you say we go and wake Ron up" she said, with a mischievous glint in her eye that she could only have learned from the twins as the pair made their way up into the forbidden boys dormitory.
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Within ten minutes, the trio was making their way down the winding corridors to the hospital wing, chatting adamantly about Christmas which was only a week and a half away. They compared gift ideas for the rest of the Weasley family and Harry and tried to guess what each had gotten for the other, but none of them were near successful.
When they walked into the infirmary, they were mildly shocked to see that no one was sitting beside Harry's bed, even though there had always been someone present at his side since the instant he had been brought in.
"They must have already left" Ginny whispered quietly to the other two, speaking of the trio that was heading for the ministry that morning
"Probably, they wanted to get an early start, but I wish I could have wished them luck" said Hermione in the same whispered voice
Ron though, had other things on his mind.
"Who wants the honor of waking him up, because after last time, I am not going near him" he said as he starred at the bundled up form of his best friend who was sound asleep in the bed furthest from the door.
"Not me!" exclaimed Hermione instantly and both her and Ron turned their gazes on Ginny who was looking at the couple with wide eyes.
"Me?" she croaked out as she continued to stare
"You're his girlfriend Gin, it's your responsibility" said Hermione forcefully as she almost violently nodded her head
"WHAT! I already had to wake up Ron and now I have to wake up Harry?" she exclaimed as she shot the older girl an accusing glare. Hermione had failed to wake up the red headed boy after several attempts of sweet talking in his ears and Ginny had been impatient so she had conjured a glass of ice cold water and poured it over her brothers head, causing him to be wide awake in about two seconds flat.
"You weren't forced to wake me up you know" snarled Ron in a fake threatening tone
"Well, Hermione's methods weren't working so I decided to improvise a little" she said innocently, flashing her brother a wide grin.
"You know, with the three of you arguing, it's impossible for a person to get any sleep" said a groggy voice from the far side of the room and instantly, all three looked up to see Harry sending them a grin from his bed.
"Harry!" exclaimed Ginny as she launched herself onto her boyfriend and pulled him into a tight hug. Ron and Hermione followed her with smiles on their faces as well
"Gin, I can't breath" gasped Harry after a few moments and Ginny reluctantly stood up and took Harry's hand as she pulled him from the bed.
"So what were the three of you arguing about this time?" he asked them as he gathered up his cloths and walked behind the curtains next to him to change.
"Well, um, we were, um, just, um" began Ron hesitantly while he shot questioning looks to Ginny and Hermione.
"Spit it out Ron" said Harry in amusement as he walked from behind the curtain and sat back on the bed to put his shoes on.
"Well, we were just trying to figure out who was going to wake you up, needless to say, none of us were very anxious for the job" said Ron finally, without taking a breath.
Harry grinned before saying "What's to worry about Ron, I wouldn't have cursed you" he said with the smile still on his face as he saw Ron's relieved expression before he continued "too badly anyways" and that caused all but Ron to burst out laughing as he paled and his mouth fell open in shock.
"Come on guys, let's get to breakfast, I'm starving" said Harry when he was finished dressing, not realizing the looks of concern his friends sent him as he pulled his heavy winter cloak over his shoulders even though they were all quite warm and had no intentions of going outside. They were soon smiling though when Harry told them about the conversation with Sirius that morning and described the look of horror on his face when Harry threatened to pull a prank on him. The next week was spent discussing what exactly they could pull on the ex-convict and sitting curled up in each others arms in front of the roaring fire. Ginny with Harry and Ron with Hermione, both couples feeling a sense of peace and security that had been missing for far too long.
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The night before Sirius and the rest of the group from the ministry were due to return to the castle Harry and Ginny went to bed early and left Ron and Hermione alone in the common room for several hours before they both decided to get to sleep as well so they would be well rested to begin preparation for the prank on Sirius. After a long and passionate kiss in front of the fire, Ron made his way into the seventh year boys dormitory and was getting changed into his pajamas when he heard a muffled gasp of pain from Harry's bed.
Startled, he pulled the scarlet hangings aside and looked down on his best friend. Harry was covered in sweat and throwing his head from side to side almost violently while muttering the word no under his breath repeatedly. Ron instantly knew he was having a particularly bad nightmare and before he realized what he was doing, he grasped the other boys shoulder in his hand in an attempt to wake him up.
Ron immediately felt as though the world were tilted upside down and he were falling headfirst into an unknown abyss, and he squeezed his eyes closed instinctively so that he wouldn't loose everything he had eaten for dinner. After a few short moments though, he felt his feet his the hard ground, followed by the rest of his body with a loud thump.
Breathing deeply for several minutes, he lie still and tried to figure out what had just happened, but seeing as his eyes were still closed, he was unsuccessful, so he pried them open and sat up on his knees as he looked around.
He was sitting in what appeared to be a large stone chamber of some sort with a huge fire in the middle, casting shadows all around the room. There were no other people around him, but he could hear voice coming from the other side of the fire but due to the glare, he couldn't see who they belonged to.
He got shakily to his feet and looked around him again trying to figure out what had happened when he had grabbed Harry's shoulder in the dorm. The place he was in was cold and damp with stone walls and a domed stone ceiling. The ground was a hard compact dirt and the entire place smelled of something evil. Just then, he caught sight of someone walking toward him and he started calling out to the other person frantically.
"Excuse me, could you tell me where we are?" he asked the form as it approached, but he received no answer. He was about to try again when the figure walked into the light of the fire and Ron got a good look at his clothes. He was wearing black robes with the dark mark stitched onto the front of them, marking him to clearly be a death eater.
Shocked, Ron stumbled backward as he screamed in terror, expecting to be killed immediately, but to his surprise, the man ignored him completely and continued on his way, stopping only a couple of feet in front of Ron who was frozen in place.
'What is going on here' he mumbled to himself as he watched the man pull some sort of iron rod from the fire, half of it glowing a bright orange color.
Curious, Ron watched him turn and walk back in the direction he had come, and deciding there was nothing better to do, he followed the man to the far side of the large fire where he saw a crowd of probably fifty other black robe clad figures gather in a half circle facing one of the walls.
He silently approached the wall and maneuvered along it until he was standing in front of several death eaters who didn't even seem to realize he was there.
Standing in the middle of the crowd were two men who were also facing the wall. One had long silver blonde hair and Ron recognized him immediately as Lucius Malfoy. The other though, had short cropped sandy blonde hair and stood quite a bit shorter than Malfoy, and Ron knew he had never seen him before. Suddenly, the shorter man began to speak and instantly all the whispered conversations around him ceased.
"This is your last opportunity boy" he said in a hiss "tell us how to escape from this prison you brought us to and I will all you to leave as you are, refuse and I will do to you that which you despise the most" he threatened
Ron couldn't see who he was talking to, but he pitied who ever it was a great deal because this man seemed to be one who would follow through with whatever threat he made. He then heard the familiar voice of his best friend come from just in front of the two men.
"I will never tell you how to escape from here, no matter what you do to me. You will never leave this place to torture and kill innocent people again, I swear my life on it" Harry's voice was hoarse and cracking, but his words seemed to anger the man even more.
"Very well Potter, but know this, we may all very well die here, and you may or may not escape with your life, but no matter what, you will from this point forward be seen as a traitor by the whole wizarding world, weather you are found dead or alive. Lucius, do it" he said to the other man who inclined his head slightly and both men turned their backs and joined the others in the group, giving Ron his first clear look at his best friend, and what he say made him start to shake in horror.
Harry had his back to the stone wall and his arms drawn over his head and held in place by a thick black chain that seemed to glow an almost red color. His right arm was obviously broken, bending in several odd angles with dried blood caked on the arm of his robes. The rest of his clothing was shredded over his body and through the ragged fabric, Ron could make out dark bruises and bloody cuts marring every inch of exposed flesh. The once prestigious Hogwarts crest that adorned the front of the robes was barley identifiable due to the fact that it was completely soaked through with dark red blood.
His legs were bent at the knees as though he couldn't support his weight, but again, the right one was not bent in a natural angle and was obviously broken. All in all, Harry Potter was a mass of blood, bruises, and broken bones and Ron was amazed that he was still alive.
Suddenly the answer as to where he was hit him like a ton of bricks, he was inside Harry's nightmare, a nightmare of the time he had been missing with you-know-who. But where was the evil wizard?
Before he could answer that question though, he saw Malfoy once again approach Harry, holding the piece of iron that the other death eater had brought from the fire earlier, it was still glowing bright orange and Ron was terrified to see what was about to happen but couldn't seem to pry his eyes away from the scene in front of him.
Once directly in front of Harry, Malfoy looked over his shoulder and nodded his head at the shorter man who in turn waved his wand at the chains holding Harry and his left arm fell limply to his side. Malfoy then went to grab his arm, but instead went flying backwards into the crowd of men behind him and dropping the iron bar on the floor.
Furious, he disentangled himself from the others and stalked back to Harry, but before he could do anything, the other man began speaking again, with a cruel smile twisting his lips. "Now, now Harry, that wasn't very polite. You should know by now that you can't escape from me like you have so easily done the past four times we have met. You are playing by my rules this time, and for refusing to abide by those rules, you will pay dearly" and with that, he turned to the men behind him, four of which instantly drew their wands and cast the cruciatus curse simultaneously on the black haired boy before them.
Harry's entire body tensed up in pain and his legs gave out under the little weight they had been supporting, causing his entire body to be held up by the chain attached to the wrist of his broken arm. Every muscle in his body then began to twitch and shake under the force of the curse.
Malfoy then raised his own wand and aimed it at the boy's already bloody chest where he said a curse under his breath and began to wield his wand like a knife and cut into the flesh in long lines and curves, as though he were drawing a picture and coloring it with blood. Once there were several more designs on his chest, he drew closer to the boy and aimed the wand at his face where he used it to make a deep and ragged cut beginning at his cheekbone and continuing until he reached the jaw bone, causing a new river of blood to course down the pale skin and become soaked up by the black robes.
Ron was in a state of utter shock as he watched what was going in front of him. He knew that some terrible things had happened to Harry while he had been gone, but even in his most terrible nightmares he couldn't have imagined it being this bad. How could Harry have survived this at all? He now understood perfectly well why his best friend had been so distant and jumpy when he had returned and felt a deep pang of regret for ever saying that he attacked him. Hell, if he had been in Harry's position he would have never been able to trust anyone ever again.
After several minutes of the cruciatus curse, it was lifted and Malfoy once again approached with the iron pole, which Ron only now realized was a brand, but what of he couldn't tell from his position. Malfoy grabbed Harry's arm roughly, and this time the boy was too weak to even begin to resist him. He twisted his arm until the underside was visible and before Ron could comprehend what was happening, he heard the terrible hiss of burning flesh and the acrid odor penetrated his nostrils, his dinner once again threatening to make an appearance.
Malfoy held the brand in place for several moments before removing it and revealing a mass of bloody and blistered skin beneath it. The entire time, Harry had only moaned in pain, and tried weakly to free his arm from the pain. Malfoy then dropped the brand once again in the dirt and while still holding Harry's arm tightly pulled a bottle of some black potion from his robes and uncorking it with his teeth he proceeded to pour it over the burnt skin, and only now did they get a real response from Harry, who began to scream at the top of his lungs until he was forced to stop and take several ragged and gasping breaths as he starred at his arm in disgust, and Ron followed his gaze.
The black potion was seeping into the skin and slowly began to manipulate itself and began to form shapes on the bloody skin. Even through the blood though, Ron could tell what shape the lines were forming, and he could only watch in shock as the dark mark embedded itself into his friends flesh. Horrified, he looked at his friends face and saw tears in his eyes the instant the mark finished forming. In that instant, his eyes became dead and his spirit seemed to break, leaving only a bloody and broken shell behind for an instant before he lost consciousness. Malfoy then pulled two other bottles from his robes and forced them down Harry's throat before the other blonde man returned Harry's arm to its chain and all the death eaters turned their backs on him, laughing and going back to the fire.
Ron then felt the world tip upside down again and within seconds found himself once again standing in his dorm room with his hand grasping Harry's shoulder, but Harry was no longer thrashing around or moaning, so he looked to his face and Ron found his eyes locked with emerald green ones.
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A/N: Hey guys, I know this took longer to post than usual, but it is nearly twice as long! Thanks for reviewing the last chapter. Hope you enjoy this one and please remember to review, I really appreciate any comments you have!