Okay, here is chapter 11. The next chapter is the last, and as soon as my beta gets it back to me I'll have it up.

As for this chapter, I hope you enjoy it. I had a really hard time trying to get out all I wanted to, and Emily said it seemed too rushed. I tried to make that better. So, without farther adu…..

Chapter 11

Dementors at Hogwarts

It had been almost two years since Sirius broke out of Azkaban. He lay on the bed with nothing but a single sheet draped around him. He recalled the reason he was at this place.

"Contact Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher, the old crowd. And lay low at Remus Lupins", Dumbledore had said. He thought about it, and to his recollection, there were no members of the old crowd left, except him and Remus and Arabella and Mundungus. He rubbed his eyes, contemplating what the new course of action would be. What were they going to do now to stop Voldemort?

"Good morning," Remus stood in the doorway with some tea and a plate of toast.

Sirius smiled. At least that was going well. Remus stayed with Sirius in the Maldives until Sirius had to be closer to Hogwarts. Remus found himself a job working in a Muggle factory. His money had run out and nobody in the wizarding world wanted to hire a werewolf. He worked everyday except Saturday and Sundays. It was quite depressing for Sirius, who had nobody to talk to and nothing to do all day except brood about Voldemort. Remus crossed the room and placed a kiss on Sirius' mouth.

"I didn't hear you get up last night. The nightmares seem to be going away," Remus put a bite of the toast in Sirius' mouth.

"It's cause I'm not sleeping alone," Sirius said with his mouth full. He remembered the night in the Maldives, on the single mattress in the corner of the small hut. The first night his lover reclaimed him. He could still fell the anxiety when Remus moved close to him and whispered, "Are you sure you're ready?" He wasn't sure. But he knew he wanted to feel Remus again. To feel something other then despair and pain. He nodded his head slowly.

Remus made love to him. To every part of him, with every part of himself. Sirius felt something he couldn't ever remember feeling before. It was like his first time, like he was 16 again. His body ached. He wanted the moment to go on forever. It was like nothing he remembered. He was lost with Remus inside him.

Hours later Sirius lay awake in the bed. There was only a thin sheet separating their flesh. He watched Remus sleep recalling the past hours they'd spent together. In eachother's arms. Making love the way they used to before Voldemort threatened them. He felt the welcomed ache in his legs and thighs. An ache he feared he'd never feel again. He leaned in and kissed Remus' cheek, gently. Surely heaven couldn't be this wonderful. Not better then this moment. It was all he'd ever wanted. Sirius leaned in and meshed with Remus. He put an arm around him, making sure this was real, afraid he may wake up in Azkaban and have this all gone. He once more touched his lips to Remus' cheek and drifted off into the most peaceful sleep he'd had in 13 years.

"I have to be to work in 15 minutes," Remus said. He looked at Sirius. Then felt a twinge of sorrow for all the years they'd lost. "You just re-entered the world, and it's already gone back to the way it was before. You never got a chance to experience the security of not fearing Voldemort."

"That was a false sense of security, as I understand." Sirius stood now, completely naked, and crossed the room.

Remus noticed. Fifteen minutes, that's not enough time to do anything about the naked man standing in my bedroom, he had to tell himself. He threw some robes at Sirius, hoping he would get the hint. Sirius threw the robes on. Only moments later, they heard Arabella calling from the fireplace in the entryway.

"Is anyone there? Remus?" Arabella's head lay in the green flames. And even though the flames distorted her color, Remus could tell she was flushed.

"What is it?" Remus asked. Sirius followed and was studding right behind him.

"An attack on a Muggle school in Surrey." Arabella held in the emotion that was in her voice.

"God, no. Are they sure it was Voldemort?" Remus crouched closer to the flame.

"Yes. There were 20 children on the grounds at the time. Luckily school was out for the summer holiday or there would have been several more. They were having some sort of carnival thing. All the children were killed, Remus. And they left a message, painted on the side of the school." She caught her breath. "GIVE US HARRY." She couldn't hold the emotion anymore. A sob escaped her.

Sirius closed his eyes in disgust. "They killed children." Was all he could say.

"What are we doing about it?" Remus asked.

"Dumbledore sent Mundungus over right after he heard. He hasn't heard anything back from him." Arabella looked concerned. "That was nearly 40 minutes ago. He should have told Dumbledore something by now."

"I'm sure he's fine," Remus said in a flat tone that suggested anything but he was sure.

"He doesn't want any of us going to check it out yet. Dumbledore will go himself and see what he can find. But he doesn't want to risk any more of us." She looked at her hands. "There aren't very many of us left," she said softly.

"Don't worry, Arabella. He'll work it all out." Sirius said. She nodded sadly, and then her head was gone from the fire.

Only mere seconds later Hedwig, Harry's owl, landed on the windowsill. A note from Harry was in her paw, and rewarding her with some toast, Sirius took the note.

Sirius,

Everything is quiet here. I'm ignoring the Dursley's and they are ignoring me, so I'm happy.

Ron said he and Hermione are going to Bulgaria together to see Viktor Krum with her parents. Seems a bit odd to me, but okay.

Don't know what it means, but my scar hurt again. This time it was a horrendous dream.

Voldemort and Wormtail had blown up a school. They were talking about taking children next and targeting the British government.

Harry.

Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts started uneventfully. And none of the students seemed to notice the extra security surrounding the castle. There was a large black dog guarding the doors constantly. Only a few people, including staff, knew who the dog really was.

However, three weeks into the school year, the worst was confirmed.

It seemed like a normal clear Saturday in September. It was starting to cool off, but that didn't stop the student's from taking advantage of the grounds. A large group of first year Ravenclaws didn't seem to think anything abnormal was going on when the lake started to bubble. It was only moments later when they realized, and then it was too late.

The sky clouded over and it seemed like it was dusk rather than mid day. And before anyone could register what was happening, Dementors started walking out of the lake by the hundreds. The young Ravenclaws ran weakly into the castle, followed by the other students that were out. The mayhem was eminent. The large black dog guarding the doors ran inside the castle and up a corridor where he changed back into a man. Sirius gave the password to the stone gargoyle and saw Dumbledore, flanked by Severus Snape and Professor McGonagall. "You've heard, then?" Sirius asked, voice raspy from running.

"Yes, how many are there?" Dumbledore asked walking briskly.

"Couldn't tell. Hundreds. I've never seen so many Dementors. Even when I was in Azkaban." Snape gave Sirius a harsh look when he mentioned Azkaban. As if it reminded him why he hated Sirius. They got closer to the Great Hall and Sirius transformed back into a dog, just as Harry, Ron and Hermione reached them. They all walked in silence to the Great Hall, and were brought upon a horrible site. Dementors filled the grounds. They were gliding toward the castle, but there were still students outside, running in fear from them.

"Severus, I will collect the remaining students while you try and keep the doorway free."

"Yes, Professor," Snape said. He stood in the doorway, held out his wand and shouted "Expecto Patronum". A large white wispy object floated out of his wand. A woman with long flowing hair. She looked like an angel. She shooed several Dementors away, but clearly this wasn't going to rid them all. Snape stepped aside and dozens of students ran inside, teary eyed and screaming. As Snape conjured another Patronus he noticed Dumbledore was walking with someone. Someone who was very large. It was Hagrid. He appeared to be unconscious, but he wasn't cause he was walking. It just seemed like nobody was behind those eyes. When they reached the door Dumbledore said, "Close the doors and lock them." He walked with Hagrid to an empty classroom, eyes following them along with Sirius in dog form, Harry, Ron and Hermione and Professor McGonagall.

"What happened?" Harry asked looking into Hagrids vacant eyes.

"He was walking several students to the castle. A Dementor approached them. He got in front of the students," Dumbledore's voice went soft, "and was Kissed.

Professor McGonagall put her hand on his shoulder in sympathy. A tear was in Dumbledore's eye. It was hard for anyone to really understand how much Hagrid meant to Dumbledore, but seeing this display, one could get an idea. The room was quiet except for the sobs that escaped everyone.

Sirius paced back and forth in Dumbledore's office. Remus and Arabella had come in as soon as they got the news something was amiss. Snape stood in a corner, arms crossed on his chest. Dumbledore was at his desk, looking concerned.

"If there are so many Dementor's here, who's guarding Azkaban?" Sirius asked. The room fell silent. They all knew the answer, even Sirius when he asked it. Nobody was guarding Azkaban.

"How could they get in to Azkaban?" Remus asked.

"If the Death Eaters took care of whoever was working for the Ministry, maybe put them under the Imperius? They could offer the Dementors plenty of happiness in the students at Hogwarts. How could they resist?" Sirius still paced, not looking at anyone.

"I thought the grounds were protected," Arabella said, a quill perched in her hands. Her memory not what it was, she had to keep notes now.

"The enchantment that protects the school is only protects it from humans wanting to cause harm. Most animals don't leave the forest." Dumbledore looked at Remus and gave a small smile. "Dementors are not human. They were created by a warlock 300 years ago to guard Azkaban. They don't die. They aren't born. They don't age. They are just created, and then can stay around forever."

"There has to be a way to get rid of them," Sirius said.

"The Patronus will scare them off, but there isn't any way to rid them. Even if each of us produced at Patronus, it still couldn't hold off all those Dementors."

"So what does this mean," Snape finally spoke.

"It means Voldemort is using the Dementors to get onto the grounds. If it's true, if he has broken everyone out of Azkaban, he has gained quite a few in number," Dumbledore looked at Arabella. "Have you heard any news on Azkaban?"

Arabella shook her head. "My guess is that the Ministry is still trying to hide as much as they can, though I can't imagine how they intended to keep this a secret."

Sirius stopped pacing. Everything in him went still, except his voice. "What if the Ministry is on his side?"

"They can't be?" Remus said, looking into his blue eyes.

"Not all of them, obviously, but what about Fudge? I was there last year when Fudge was giving you such a hard time about Voldemort's return." He looked at Dumbledore. "I never trusted that man," Sirius sneered. With good meaning, it was because of Fudge Sirius went to Azkaban without a trial.

"It's possible," Dumbledore said, "But I don't think the Minister of Magic would turn sides willingly."

Sirius sighed and started pacing again. "Not turn sides, but maybe to cover up the fact that Voldemort has returned, he made it quite easy on him." Sirius shook his head, "I don't know."

"He may be on to something," Snape said from the corner. Sirius stopped and looked at him. That was the last thing he had imagined hearing from Snape. "We had a hard time with the Ministry before. I think it wouldn't hurt to keep them out of our affairs, for now." Snape looked at Dumbledore.

"I agree. We will be working top secret. Nobody but those in this room can know what we are doing. Nobody." Dumbledore said. "Meanwhile, I need to see how Professor Flitwick is coming along with the locking charms on the doors. We have made announcements that nobody is to leave the castle for any reason. All classes will be held indoors and Quidditch has been canceled until further notice." Dumbledore sighed, clearly he wasn't happy with this, but the safety of the students was the most important thing.

"Can we stay in the castle? To be closer to Harry?" Sirius asked.

Dumbledore smiled, "Of course. We'll prepare a room for you and Remus in the staff wing." Remus blushed. He was still getting used to the idea of being with Sirius again, and now there was no hiding it from Snape and Arabella. As if they didn't know already.

Remus sat in Arabella's office and looked over stacks of students' essays. He and Arabella had agreed to split the Defense against the Dark Arts job. This way Remus was able to quit his Muggle job.

He had his quill poised in his hand and read a third year's essay. The best way to kill a Blood Sucking Bugbear is by using a coagulating curse. Remus smiled. Then stopped. Something nagged him in the back of his mind. He jumped up, spilling ink all over his robes, but not caring as he could to a cleaning charm later. He ran out of the office, amidst glares from him for students in class and Arabella who didn't look too happy to have him disrupting her class. Without saying a word he left the classroom and ran down the hallway. He ran directly into Harry, who didn't have a fourth class today.

"Harry," Remus said, out of breath. "Where's Sirius?"

Harry looked at him concerned. "We were supposed to meet up in his room for tea. But he just sent me an owl saying he had some important business to do and he had to cancel."

"Can I see the note?" Remus asked, having a hard time standing still. Harry handed Remus the note. It was in Sirius' handwriting. It looked real, but something still didn't feel right.

"Follow me," Remus said, running back into the Defense Against the Darks Arts class and back to the office. Harry followed.

Remus sat in a chair by the fire. Somewhere he could be completely relaxed. He looked at Harry and said, "I need you to be absolutely quiet." He closed his eyes and concentrated on Sirius.

He saw it in his mind. A room. It was dark. There were no windows. No doors. Interesting, how could they get in without doors, he thought. He took a deep breath. He saw Sirius in the room. He looked like he was putting up a good battle, but he wouldn't make it. There was a stone sculpture in the corner of a badger. "Concentrate," he told himself out loud. "A room with no windows or doors. A badger."

Harry's eyes widened. "What?"

Remus came back into consciousness. "Do you know where it is?" He asked desperately.

"The dungeons in Hogwarts. There is a trap door in the floor of one of them. There is a badger statue in it. We took it out of the corridor going up to the Hufflepuff common rooms earlier this year."

"Are you sure?" Remus asked.

"I'm sure there is a badger, I'm not sure that's where Sirius is." Harry sighed.

"It'll have to do." Remus grabbed his wand, then stopped and looked at Harry. "May I borrow your invisibility cloak?" He asked in a tone much more calm then he felt.

"Of course," Harry said. They ran out of the office, disrupting the class once more and went up the stairs to his common room. A few moments later he returned carrying a shiny silver cloak.

Remus took it and ran down several flights of stairs, Harry at his heals. "What are you doing?" Remus asked.

"I'm going to help you get Sirius," he said as if it were only common knowledge.

"No, it's too dangerous," he didn't stop walking, they were descending the stairs at quite a quick rate. "I need you to get Dumbledore and Arabella. Tell them where I've gone. We will need an army." He stopped and looked at Harry. "Don't try and help with this one, Harry. It's too risky." He received an assuring nod from Harry and he was gone.

~*~

"Crucio." Screams echoed out of the cave. "Hurts, doesn't it?" The deep voice of Shimson said amused. "If you tell us what we want to know, we won't have to do it again."

Sirius was bound to a concrete wall with metal bindings. Peter stood next to him, a sort of confidence in him Sirius never knew he had. "Where is Harry, Padfoot?" Peter asked, emphasizing the last word. Padfoot.

Sirius felt sicker now at the sound of his nickname from a mortal enemy. His body ached, but now is soul hurt too with the reminder that Peter had once been like a brother to him. He imagined that was the same reason Voldemort and all the Death Eaters called him Wormtail. The nicknames James gave them. So he'd never forget how he betrayed the one who loved him. "I won't tell you," Sirius tried to sound strong, but in truth he just wanted it to be over.

"Fine, we'll just kill you then, and go after Remus. He'll tell us." Peter looked into his eyes.

"He won't tell you," Sirius said defiantly.

Shimson raised his wand. Sirius knew what was coming. He knew he was about to feel the agony of Crutaius again. He closed his eyes and braced himself. "Crucio," Shimson shouted again.

Sirius screamed. So loud that nobody heard the door in the cave open. Someone was in there now, hidden, invisible.

"Still not telling?" Shimson asked. "What if we keep you alive just long enough to get your lover in here. We could let you watch us kill him. That could be fun," he glared into Sirius' eyes.

Sirius was torn. He knew they would go after Remus. The last thing in the world Sirius wanted was Remus to go through this. But he had to protect Harry. Sirius was afraid one or two more Cruciatus Curses and he would give Harry up. He closed his eyes, trying to clear his mind, trying to make sense of these feelings and block out the pain. He thought he felt something inside him. Something warm and comforting. His eyes shot open. Someone else was in the room with them, he could feel them. But he couldn't see anyone. Just as Shimson raised his wand again a flash of red light shot out of a corner and a voice yelled, "Mortificus." Shimson fell to the ground twitching. The old look of fear flitted onto Peter's face.

"Who's there?" Peter yelled.

Sirius knew. He recognized the voice. It was Remus. The last place Sirius wanted Remus to be was here. He wasn't sure how Remus even knew where he was. But another part of him leapt with joy. Now, maybe, he stood a chance of getting out alive.

Peter ran across the room to where the red light shot from, but there was nothing there. "Remus is that you?" Peter asked in a snarly voice. "We were just about to come for you," he reached out in front of him and grasped air. He repeated it several times, hoping to be able to feel Remus. "You have Harry's cloak, I see. How lucky I would be if he was there with you. Harry? Are you here too?" Peter kept grabbing for the air.

Sirius was reeling in pain, trying to keep his mind clear. He felt someone touch him, gently, softly. He trembled. Remus was still hidden but whispered to him, "Don't worry. Harry is safe. We have to hurry though." Sirius tried not to change his expression. Tried not to give Remus away. Only moments later the warmth from Remus body was gone. A red light shot across the room again, this time from the other end of the cave. Remus must have moved fast. "Relashio" followed the red light. Sirius fell to the ground.

Peter ran across the room to the spot the light came from. Remus was not fast enough this time. Peter tackled him and pulled the cloak off. Remus took one terrified moment, the found all the strength in his body to stand up. Peter fell to the ground. Remus looked across the room at Sirius, who was so weak he couldn't walk. He was crawling to the body of Shimson. Remus tried to reach for the cloak, but Peter's foot blocked him. Peter had a look of triumph in his eyes. He held up his silver right hand and smiled grimly.

"Remus, you know something? Silver is poisonous to werewolves. All I have to do is run my beautiful silver arm across a cut on your body and you are dead, Remus. I've heard it can be quite painful to die from poison. You'll have to tell me," Peter pulled out his wand and ran it across Remus' cheek, cutting a painful gash in it.

Remus flinched from the pain and crossed his eyes to the floor, where Sirius had grabbed the wand of Shimson and was crawling toward Peter.

Peter raised his arm. Remus could already feel the weakness from just having the silver that close to him. He felt nauseous, not sure if that was from fear and loathing or from the poison of the silver.

"Mortificus" was shouted from Sirius, who surprised himself with the volume of it. Peter fell to the ground and Remus ran to Sirius.

"Harry was supposed to have rounded up Arabella and Dumbledore. They should be waiting outside the cave. We have to hurry. They have a bug in them that lets Voldemort know when something has happened to one of them. There will be a dozen more here in a second."

Sirius tried with all his strength to stand up, but he couldn't. Remus bent down and picked him up, draping his head over one arm and his legs over the other. "You said Harry was safe," Sirius said.

"He was told not to come here. He is hiding," Remus pointed his wand at the invisibility cloak and said, "Accio." The cloak flew up over them.

Under the cloak Sirius reached his hand up to touch the gash on Remus' cheek. "Does it hurt?" He asked.

Remus carried him down the cave, looking into his face he smiled. "Yes, but not as much as it would have hurt if I'd lost you."

Sirius tried to pull himself up to give Remus a kiss, but couldn't. He kissed his hand and placed it over his cheek. "Thank you for saving me," Sirius said. "And I don't just mean today."

Remus knew what he meant. He felt the same way. His life would never be as full and as honest as it is without Sirius. He kissed Sirius forehead gently, then hurried out of the cave, where Arabella Figg, Neville Longbottom Ron and Fred Weasley and Hermione were standing watching in awe. It took only a moment to realize what they were watching. Dumbledore stood in a duel stance. Standing only feet from him, also in duel stance was Voldemort.