Apologies for leaving you with that cliffhanger but my poor typing fingers couldn't take anymore! Anyway, all of the action is here now so hope you enjoy. I decided against splitting this part up because I couldn't find an appropriate stopping point. Thanks very, very much once again for all of your great reviews and advice. Very sorry if you have sent me a question I haven't answered I do try my best, oh yeah the reminds me, Hermione 'db'- the spell from chapter 6 I believe means split.
Ok so on to Chapter 8…
Chapter 8 : Deadly Mistakes
Sirius jumped at the sudden bang that had come from the door behind him. The faint click that followed indicated that the door was now locked shut.
'How the hell did he do that?!' he hissed.
'He crawled past us just before the door slammed' came Remus's annoyed reply 'I felt him push past me before the door slammed but I didn't have time to act'
Sirius snatched the Marauders Map from his friend's grasp and examined it carefully in the light of his wand. The map showed that Jones had just left the school building and was making his way across the grounds, unaware that the two men he had just faced knew of his whereabouts and where he was heading.
'He's running straight to the spot where he held Sonny' Remus determined glancing over his friends shoulder. 'We'd better get a move on it won't take him long to realise she's escaped.'
The point on the map that represented Sonny Potter was still moving at a very slow pace towards the castle. The mixture of the Sedative Draft and her own fear and tiredness were holding her back, it was only to be hoped that the density of the forest would work in her favour rather than Jones's.
A simple 'Alohamora' released the door from its sealed state and in no time Sirius and Remus were running across the first floor of the castle. Luckily everyone had now either retired to their common room or office so they encountered no trouble whilst moving around the school.
Out in the courtyard the wind was growing cooler and a light shower began to fall absently to the ground. The summer sun, although still providing sufficient light, was slowly setting beyond the greying clouds.
Remus stopped, with his hands resting on his kneecaps he struggled to breathe. Sirius's stamina and determination were far beyond his own. His friend looked at him with diminishing patience as he struggled to break back into a run. A lump burned in the back of his throat as he continued the journey into the forest, yards behind his sprinting companion.
Sirius stopped at the edge of the forest and allowed Remus to catch him up, according to the map Jones had not yet reached the spot at which he had left Sonny, but he wasn't far off.
'Sonny is still way back out there' Sirius announced motioning his hand to a point at the very top of the map. 'We're going to have to be very careful, I don't have to remind you of some of the monsters we encountered when writing this thing. With luck we'll be ok, Jones doesn't seem to have run into anything.'
They began to walk through the shallower edge of the forest deciding to find Sonny first rather than chase Jones. As they continued further into the forest it began to grow dark, not due to the pending night but because the thick trees were almost completely blocking out sky and sunlight.
Remus wiped his brow as sweat began to run down his face, thankfully Sirius too had grown too tired to run and they were both now walking at a quickened pace. The humidity within the forest was making their quest unbearable and they were still far from finding Sonny, fortunately this was also the case for Malus. With the added advantage that they actually knew Sonny's position in the forest it was becoming increasingly likely that Remus and Sirius rescue would be successful but they didn't want to grow too confident, there were many dangerous creatures roaming the forest. They couldn't afford to take the dangers lightly.
Time began to drag on uncomfortably to the two friends as they travelled onwards. Since they had left Hogwarts the plant-life in the Forbidden Forest had grown rapidly, over taking most of the pathways and clearings they were familiar with, meaning they had to re-explore certain areas and work around those that were unfamiliar without straying off their route. Twice they had found themselves travelling in circles. Sirius checked the map every so often to keep an eye on Jones whereabouts. During the first half of their journey he had been running in the wrong direction entirely but he was now following a path similar to their own. He too seemed to have slowed down, tired of running.
Sirius continued to walk on ahead of his friend, calling out directions. The hard earth beneath them began to give way to long roads of tree-roots and strange yellow plants which lay in tangles over its surface. Sunlight was now completely blacked out and the two men resorted to using wand light to find their way.
They soon approached a large mound of earth, which lay covered in thick, knotted tree-roots. It stood like a twenty-foot wall between the men and their desired path. After searching the area thoroughly Remus decided that they had no choice but to climb it. Judging by the worried expression he wore Harry could see that Remus climbed as badly as he ran, but their friend's sister's life was at risk, there was no other option.
Sirius entwined his fingers and held his hands palm side up so that Remus could use them as a stirrup to hoist himself as high as he could up the surface of the earthy- mound. Using the gnarled roots as footholds they began to climb their way to the top, stopping every so often to determine the easiest and quickest route.
Sirius tried to remain focused despite the pain that was crippling his him as he heaved his body upwards. Harry could see large, blue indentations in the skin on his godfather's hands from where the tough, woody roots had dug into them, almost cutting off his circulation. Remus on the other hand was not coping at all well. He began to curse loudly and cry out in agony. Sirius looked back over his shoulder at his friend whose face had become contorted in agony.
'That's strange.' He thought silently to himself 'It's not like Moony to react so strongly to pain. Even during his transformations he doesn't like to show any weakness.'
A dull ache began to course down Lupin's back, continuing to his ankles. His arms began to grow weak and tingly as though he was suffering from pins and needles. He stopped moving and held onto the branches beneath him for dear life.
'Oh God' he thought 'How could I be so stupid? How could I forget?'
'Padfoot!' he yelled out 'I'm,…..I forgot…..'
Remus struggled to get out his words. The pain he had gained from the splintering roots coupled with this new feeling were overtaking his senses. He felt like he was loosing his mind.
Harry watched the scene terrified. What was happening? Why was Remus in so much pain? Sirius already seemed to know the answer. He let go of his supports with one hand and leaned backwards extending an injured palm to his friend.
'Remus hold on you need to get to the top. It's not too far, I'll pull you.' Black called out, but there was no reply.
He hung there, suspended in time, waiting for his companion to take his hand, unable to turn his head far enough to keep him in view.
'How could we be so stupid?' He scolded himself silently in his mind. 'We were so pre-occupied with this whole Jones thing, but how could we forget?
If only the trees around them hadn't been blocking the sky they would have noticed.
They would have seen the orange sun fade behind the commencing rain-clouds. They would have seen that it had been replaced by a glowing, white, full-moon.
It was too late.
Sirius panicked his aching fingers clamped to the tree-roots that supported him for dear life. If he fell now that would be it. There was at least an eighteen-foot drop to the floor. What could he do? He had to move quickly but he couldn't afford to be careless for a fully formed werewolf was now clawing it's way towards him, it's yellow teeth bared.
There was no way he could transform now, he couldn't be sure whether his claws would be strong enough to cut into the thick roots and he certainly couldn't hold them with his paws. He would have to stay human and hope that there was enough of Lupin left in the creature to persuade it not to attack.
Harry could not believe what he saw. Could this be Lupin?
The ferocious creature growled deeply, arching its body as though preparing to leap. It seemed to be having problems holding itself up, probably suffering from the muscular pain that Lupin had acquired as a human.
'Remus' Sirius whimpered, fear burning up in his eyes. 'Come on Remus'.
The animal ignored his pleas and in a split second leapt forwards. It's long body sprung upwards, brown and silver fur flashed past Harry's eyes.
'God no', the young boy thought. 'God don't hurt Sirius.'
As though hearing Harry's prayers the werewolf narrowly missed Sirius with it's steely claws and instead dived clear of the mound. Harry watched as the creature skidded headfirst down the other side of the soil obstacle. It landed in a heap on the forest floor but seemed unhurt as it scrambled straight back to its feet. The sheer force of the werewolf's' pounce knocked Sirius off balance. He struggled to regain his grip, holding onto his life with his fingertips. As the werewolf strolled off along the forest path unaware of his friends trouble, the last of Sirius strength diminished and he fell back to the foot of the hill.
Harry looked on in terror as Black's lifeless body lay limply on the ground below. Was Lupin still aware of why he was in the forest? Would he, as a werewolf, know that he had to find Sonny? The Marauders Map had shown that Jones was following the friends' path. What would happen if Sirius did not regain consciousness and was found by the madman? He couldn't bear to think.
Remus walked on through the forest. The rest of the journey was bizarre. Harry followed warily as the animal slowly wandered through the trees completely unaware of the reason it had entered this place. The boy grew increasingly emotional.
Remus had to come back.
He had to. He could not abandon Harry now he was needed. He had to save Sonny.
The only hope left was that Sirius would revive and find Sonny alone, for where this animal was going was anyone's guess.
After what seemed like an eternity of endless wandering the wolf suddenly began to pick up speed, it's eyes fixed on something up ahead.
Harry saw that it was another wolf. Not a werewolf like Remus, but a common wolf. He could recognise the difference easily because they had studied wolves in the third year when Snape had taken over a few of their Defence Against The Dark Arts lessons.
What would a common wolf be doing in the forest? It was hardly in the same calibre as the rest of the evil creatures within the wood, with the exception of a few centaurs and unicorns.
The wolf sat a few feet ahead with it's back to them, unaware that it was being watched. It sat silently, it's head fixed as though looking straight ahead.
Just then, from out of the darkened shadows before the wolf came a gut-wrenching cry that made Harry scream loudly.
'No. No leave me alone. I just want to go to school', the sobs of a young lady could be heard in the distance, cutting through the thick night air.
Sonny.
The realisation pounded within Harry's head. The wolf had her. Remus carried on padding his way towards the wolf. As they got closer to the animal it turned its head hearing the crackling of leaves beneath Lupins's paws. Its eyes bored into Lupin's, they looked almost afraid. Harry couldn't help but think it strange that the creature was capable of such human expression.
Remus approached the animal and sniffed at it in way of greeting.
As Harry approached the scene a wave of sickness came over his body. The wolves sat at the head of a small clearing, a ring of plant-less earth surrounded by smaller trees. There, lying in the middle of the ground, lay Sonny Potter
She was still wearing the same robes that she had to the wedding.
God, that seemed like such a long time ago.
Her black hair flattened to her head by severe perspiration. Her face was white, bordering yellow and her bloodshot green eyes peered out fearfully from beneath their thin, swollen lids. Large red marks weaved their way across her shaking arms and blood ran down the side of her face from a large gash in her head. She was obviously heavily drugged and fought to make the slightest of movements.
The wolves both looked down upon her body.
Harry hoped for a miracle, he hoped that Remus would recognise Sonny and remember, but from the vacant stare the beast held it was obvious that such a miracle was impossible. In fact what Remus actually did shocked Harry so deeply that he felt he couldn't move.
Arching his canine frame, Remus bore his claws and began to growl loudly. He lowered his head to meet the frightened gaze of the young woman.
She began to sob loudly and tried with all her strength to raise her arms and shield her face.
Harry turned to look at the other wolf and what he saw turned his blood cold.
The animal stood perfectly still and, looking upon Sonny's helpless body, licked its lips playfully. If Harry had not thought that such an idea was madness he would almost swear that the beast was smiling.
It took only a matter of moments for Remus to pounce. It was as if he was showing off to the other wolf, trying to impress it. He landed heavily onto Sonny's stomach.
She opened her mouth to cry and then seemed to lose the energy to do so. Large claw marks appeared in her robes, blood seeping through them onto the ground beneath her. She breathed heavily as though she was mentally trying to control the pain.
Harry ran to her side. He wanted to help her. He wanted to pick her up and run back to the castle. He wanted to find Sirius and tell him what Remus head done. Sadness filled his youthful eyes, realising that, of course, he couldn't.
'Bloody memory', he cursed.
Once again, he realised there was nothing he could do. He collapsed into a heap on the floor.
'Remus no, Remus don't' he whined.
As if mocking Harry's pleas Remus struck again, slicing his claws across Sonny's face. A sickening rip could be heard as Lupins claws tore open her cheek.
Harry couldn't look; he turned his head to face the trees behind him where he saw a sight that revived a slight glimmer of hope in his heart.
There in the trees stood a large, black dog carefully surveying the scene.
It was Sirius.
Realising what was happening Sirius pounced into the centre of the clearing, knocking Remus from his victim. The second wolf fled, fearful of the much larger animal.
The scorned werewolf tried to put up a fight but Padfoot foiled his attempts, inflicting a large deep wound upon his friend's canine shoulder. The wolf fell to the floor shrieking in agony, licking at its bloody injury.
The faithful, black hound sat down by the injured girl and placed a friendly paw upon her heart.
The sight of the girl moved Harry to tears. She lay there perfectly still, completely white but for a blue tinge around her motionless lips.
The dog looked down upon her sadly, his large, black eyes gazing into the thin sliver of emerald visible from beneath her partly opened eyelids.
Sirius slowly bowed his canine head.
'She's gone' Harry thought sadly 'She's dead. Remus did it. Remus killed her.'
Harry closed his eyes trying to block out the pain. Trying to block out the image of the dead girls body from replaying in his mind.
'No' he yelled 'No, no, no.'
And to his surprise his was not the only voice that spoke. Somewhere echoing in the forefront of his mind came a second voice, a man's voice shouting those exact same words.
'No, no, no'A strange sensation came over Harry's body. The cold, dampness of the forest evaporated from around him and was replaced by a sense of secure warmth. A strong smell of incense wafted thought the air. The voice became louder and more prominent, more real.
'No! No!' the voice continued. 'Why, why did you do this Harry?'
Harry opened his eyes quickly, shocked at the mention of his name. He found himself in a large room, surrounded by bookcases.
He was back, back in Dumbledore's office and stood before him was none other than Professor Remus Lupin.