A/N: Arsinoe - Thanks for chiming in! Welcome to the party!

Scotty - Hello and thanks. Glad to have another country heard from!

Ingrid - Thanks. Hey! You're an East Coast girl too?

Musiscript - Thanks for the review. Ask and Ye shall receive. More Sirius/Marlina coming up next chapter!



Challenge Update - Tantz has submitted a story in response to the challenge I issued a while back. Our three favorite wizards have to work together to go and rescue Harry after he's been kidnapped by Voldemort. Go check it out! http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=283739











The Nemorosi Witch's Apprentice ~*~



Remus, Marlina, Hermione and Keath ran for everything they were worth as the swarm of mangabeys poured out of the doors of the castle and pursued the foursome across the grounds. At first they ran only with the intent of trying to stay ahead of the poisonous animals behind them, but then Remus had an idea.

"The lake!" He called out as he changed direction suddenly. "Head for the lake!"

The others understood his meaning, and as much as the thought of plunging into the cold water in March didn't appeal to any of them, it was certainly better than the alternative.

Remus ventured a glance behind them as they neared the lake and didn't like what he saw. The pack of mangabeys was too close, and some of them were moving to cut the small group off. "Damn! This way!" Remus changed direction again, and now they were angling back toward the castle.

They made it to the outer wall and skirted along it trying to make it back to the doorway, but a cluster of the faster mangabeys had leaped in front of them and they came skidding to a halt as they found they had to retreat again. "Back! Back!" yelled Keath, as Remus hexed the nearest of the creatures.

They reversed direction only to find themselves becoming nearly surrounded and they backed themselves against the wall. Remus drew Marlina and Hermione to stand behind himself and Keath, and the two wizards faced the large group of snarling animals that was slowly, but steadily advancing.









The four young Gryffindors in the tower could hear the snorts and growls of the mass of animals clawing at the other side of the door behind them, and they hoped that they could manage to hold the door closed long enough so that either the beasts would get tired and go away, or someone would finally come to rescue them.

"Who's idea was it to come up to this bloody tower anyway?" Asked George.

"Yours." The other three answered in unison, as another large 'thud' shuddered the door they were leaning on.

"Oh, yeah." George said quietly. "Well you can't say this wasn't a more lively party, now can you?"

The other three each shot him a look and braced against the next tremor of the door.

Harry was wondering if there were any way to get word to someone below to let them know of their predicament, but he could think of no way to get message out of the tower. He was about to resign himself to the fact that the four of them were about to have a very long and tense wait, when he suddenly heard distance voices coming from below the tower. "Hold on! I think I hear someone below the tower." He said. "I'm going to call down to them to see if they can send someone to help us."

"Good idea, Potter." Said Fred.

Harry flung himself off the door, and ran to peer over the wall. It was fairly dark and he couldn't see a whole lot, but he could just make out people running on the ground below. "Hey!" He yelled down. "We need help in the tower!"

It dawned on Harry just then that there were not only people running below him, but people, and...mangabeys. Lots of them. It was only a minute before the small group of people was backed against the wall below the tower.









Remus and Keath were doing their best to keep the closest animals at bay. They had melted the first three or four, and the rest of the pack had started to hesitate from charging in when they had seen what had happened to their fellows.

They heard the distant voice call to them from the tower.

"Harry?" Hermione called back. "Is that you?"

Mangabeys snarled all around the group of four when she spoke.

"Hermione?" Came the reply in the form of a question.

Remus called up next. "Harry! Get out of the tower and go get help as fast as you can! We've got about three dozen of these...infusio!" He paused and then continued. "We're trapped and I don't know how long we can hold them off!"



Harry called back down, now afraid for the group below him. "I'm afraid we can't, Remus. We're trapped in the tower by a bunch of those things ourselves!"

"Are they sending help?" Ron asked Harry from where he was pushing against the door.

Harry shook his head. "Remus and Hermione are trapped with a few others against the wall."

The three Weasleys looked devastated.

A scream rose out of the darkness, and it sounded like Hermione. Harry leaned back over the wall, calling frantically. "Are you ok?!"

Nothing for a moment and then Remus's voice again. "We're fine. Just a close call."



Harry's mind raced.

"Harry." Ron called quietly.

He wished he could think of a way to get down from the tower.

"Harry!" Ron called a little more insistently.

How on earth were they going to help Hermione and Remus?

"HARRY!"

Harry looked at Ron and saw why he'd been trying to get his attention. The door was slowly being pushed open.











Lorien walked quickly down the hall, hoping that she could locate Remus quickly to find out about the antidote they needed for Sinistra. The sounds emanating from the great hall were getting louder as she got closer, and she was beginning to think that there was entirely too much screaming going on. Something was not right.

She quickened her pace and would have rounded the corner had not Severus come rushing at her, carrying a bleeding first year with a staggering fourth year girl hanging on to him for dear life.

"Here!" He handed her the younger child, and yanked the older girl toward her as well. "Go! Take them! Get back to the ward and get Poppy if you can!" He was already moving away from her. "There are going to be a lot more, Lorien!" He was gone again.

Cho Chang came rushing at her next, helping a Ravenclaw classmate that was bleeding from a horrid-looking gash across her shoulder.

"Come! Quickly!" Lorien headed for the hospital wing, carrying the smaller boy. "What's happening?" She asked as they hurried along.

"Mangabeys!" Gasped Cho. "Lots of them in the great hall. It's a nightmare!" She was nearly sobbing.

"Aren't the professors dealing with them?" Lorien asked frantically.

"There are just too many. Dozens." Cho whispered.

They made it to the infirmary.

"Poppy!" Lorien called as they blew through the door.

Madame Pomfrey looked up from where she was monitoring Sinistra and frowned. "More mangabey attacks?" She went and helped the staggering Slytherin girl to a hospital bed, and started to look at her wounds.

"Yes! The great hall is full of them!" Lorien called to her. "There are a lot more injured coming."

Poppy looked at her gravely and nodded, turning her attention back to the patient in front of her.

Lorien stopped the bleeding on the shoulder of the girl with Cho quickly and turned to the injured boy on the table. "Cho, were you scratched or bitten at all?"

"No." Cho replied.

"Do you know any first aid spells?" Lorien asked her as she worked.

Cho nodded. "I can do a little wound healing."

"Good. We might need your help." Lorien said.











Harry flung himself against the door and Ron, Fred, and George redoubled their efforts, and the door closed all the way once again.

"How are we going to get out of this one?" Fred looked at George, who didn't appear to have an answer.

Harry was worried about the door staying closed, but he was also worried about his friends below them in the darkness. They didn't at least have the luxury of a door between them and the mangabey pack.

Harry knew there was no way they could get past that many animals in the stairs, and they couldn't climb down from the tower. There was also no place higher that they might climb out of the tower to. They'd have to fly to get out of the tower.

Fly.

Fly on a broom.

It suddenly occurred to Harry that he might be able to summon his broom.

He frowned again. He might be able to get two of them out of the tower at once, but the remaining two would never be able to hold the door.

It was then the idea came to him. He had been about to summon his broom which was wandless magic. It wasn't the only wandless magic that Harry knew. It just might work. Harry had to try it, since there really wasn't time for anything else.

He spoke to his three companions quickly. "Do you think you can hold the door for just a minute? I have an idea."

He got three nods and three looks of confusion, and he launched himself back toward the wall. "Are you ok, Remus?"

"At the moment!" Came the not very convincing answer.

"OK!" Harry called down. "Hang on! I'm going to try something!"

He stepped away from the wall a little and tried to calm his racing heart, as he looked up at the sky with it's heavy cloud cover.

Harry took several deep breaths and closed his eyes as he raised his arms toward the sky.

"What the heck is that all about?" George whispered.

"Shhh!" Hush up!" Ron replied. "He knows what he's doing."

Harry tried to remember everything that Lorien had told him when she had been coaching him during his lessons. He knew that this was probably the best chance they had of getting out of the tower and of helping Hermione and Remus.

He pictured the area surrounding the Astronomy tower. He pictured the storm clouds overhead. He concentrated and took one last deep breath, and then Harry summoned the rains.

He pulled his arms down steadily and drew the water to him as Lorien had instructed, and after about five seconds, rain began to fall. It fell on the tower, slowly at first, but as Harry felt the first raindrops on his face he felt his confidence grow and he concentrated harder. The rain increased steadily, and when he finally risked opening his eyes, he could see that for a distance maybe thirty feet in all directions from the tower, it was pouring.

"Harry!" Ron called to him. The door was opening again.

Harry merely smiled and as he increased his efforts one more time, he beckoned to the three brothers.

Ron thought Harry had gone off the deep end when he cast the wandless spell, but as he stared at his friend across the tower, he realized that Harry was getting wet. Soaking wet. There was no way the mangabeys could get to them in the rain.

Evidently Fred and George were following a similar thought process and the three boys looked at each other briefly and then threw themselves off the door and raced to Harry's side. They were instantly drenched.

Angry mangabeys slammed the door open and raced into the tower, only to be faced with the deluge that was assaulting the observation deck. The first ones through started screaming and melting, but the next set in line couldn't back up as the ones behind them poured out of the stairwell and shoved them forward. It was only a minute before the platform was covered with writhing, shrinking balls of fur.

Cries echoed up out of the darkness below the tower, and it took Harry a minute to realize that they were cries of excitement and relief.

Ron peered over the tower's edge and could just make out the few remaining mangabeys that were being neatly hexed by Remus and company. He called down. "Alright there, Hermione?"

"Never better!" Came her excited and relieved answer. "Was that Harry's doing?"

"Yeah!" Ron called back down. "Thinks he's a Nemorosi wizard or something!" He turned and grinned at Harry who smiled sheepishly back.

Fred and George were also smiling. "Very cool, Potter." Fred said.

"Hey, any of you gents want to get out of this bloody tower?" George asked. "I think I've just about had enough of this place for one night."

They all agreed and raced out of the observation deck.









Remus, Hermione, Marlina and Keath could not have been happier when it started to rain. For a brief moment they thought it was a fortuitous blessing from mother nature, and then it occurred at about the same time to Remus and Hermione what was taking place when they saw the only spot it was raining in was the area around the tower.

Most of the mangabeys were instantly melting when it started to pour, and Remus and Keath were quick to jump forward and finish the last handful off. When the last toxic beast lay in a shrinking pile of fur in the rain, Marlina jumped forward and grabbed Remus in a hug, laughing out of relief.

Hermione suddenly realized that in her own joy at seeing the last monster shrink practically into nothingness, she had flung her arms around Keath's neck and was becoming quite aware that she was clinging to the handsome young auror. He certainly didn't seem to mind and she found the next moment a bit awkward as she let go. She wasn't really sure what to say at that moment, and thankfully Remus came to her rescue. "Anyone for getting out of the rain?" He asked.

They laughed together at Remus's comment, and then they decided that they needed to get inside and dry off and headed for the castle entrance.











Things in the great hall were still in a desperate state after the arrival of the third large pack of mangabeys, and the number of wounded had been rapidly rising despite the best efforts of the valiant staff. A large number of students had made it out of the room, but most of them were still trapped as they tried to avoid the snarling, slashing creatures.

Some of the uninjured had managed to help some of the wounded out of the hall, and a steady stream of bleeding students was now making it's way toward the hospital ward.

Severus had thrown himself back into the room not far from where Sirius had transformed back and the two of them found themselves desperately waging battle against the seemingly endless number of toxic creatures as the bedlam raged on.

It was a only moment later when the crash of nearly deafening thunder shook the room, and the rain began to fall.

In a downpour.

Inside the great hall.

The noise in the room dropped to a quarter of what it had been as those who weren't crying watched every last mangabey writhe and wither and then all but disappear.

Severus stood there soaked to the skin as a very wet Sirius looked at him with an expression that probably mirrored the surprise and relief that he was now feeling. The surprise he felt anyway, until he glanced at the doorway. Sirius followed his gaze.

Dumbledore stood there in his dressing gown, whisking the rain away now that the last of the fur covered terror was gone. He blew out a deep breath and then spoke. "Now," he started. "If all of you that are uninjured would kindly assist someone who is, it is imperative that we get them to the hospital wing as quickly as possible. No running. No panicking. Just walk quickly and please stay calm. I believe the danger is past."

He spoke once more as he looked around the room. "Teachers, if you would all please rapidly proceed to the medical wing, I believe that our good Mistresses of the Healing Arts may need some assistance. Students, the rest of you will please return to your dormitories and remain there until your Head of House instruct you otherwise."







Sirius glanced in the direction of a wounded seventh year Gryffindor who had collapsed on the floor, and had every intention of going to her, but as the adrenaline started to recede from his veins, he found that he was unable to move from the spot. He shook his head as he felt a wave of dizziness, and made an effort to move forward once again. He nearly fell as he staggered, and barely kept his balance on the wet floor.

He was pressing his eyes tightly shut when he felt someone grip his arm firmly, and when he opened then, two Ginny Weasleys were trying to lead him toward the door.

"Damn!" He knew that the double vision was not a good sign, and he allowed the young girl to guide him out of the room and into the hall.









In the hospital wing, Lorien and Poppy were barely keeping up with treating the wounds and other symptoms that the arriving injured students had. That all changed quickly once the mangabeys had been destroyed by the headmaster, and now a wave of bleeding, crying and limping students was being escorted into the ward. They rapidly ran out of exam tables and hospital beds, and as the rest of the faculty arrived, they went about conjuring pillows and blankets for the least injured to use on the floor.

Lorien set Cho Chang to work doing the best she could to help a couple of younger students with relatively minor injuries, and as most of the rest of the staff saw to making the injured as comfortable as possible, McGonagall and Dumbledore himself tended to some of the injured.

"Where's Lupin?" Poppy asked Lorien, sounding a little desperate.

"I don't know. I never had a chance to find him." She replied as she hurriedly went to the next patient. She looked up as new arrivals entered the ward, and was alarmed when she saw Sirius helping Ginny Weasley. She was even more alarmed when she realized that it was the fourth year Gryffindor that was helping the older man. She wanted to go to him immediately, but he was at least still on his feet, and she had several patients that needed their wounds addressed more.

Severus swept into the room a moment later, and Lorien beckoned to him.

"Severus." She said quietly, pulling him aside for just a moment. She wanted to keep her voice down as most of the younger students didn't realize that they now faced life threatening problems with the toxin they'd been exposed to. "None of the antidotes or standard remedies are doing much. Poppy says that she thinks there's a special antidote for mangabey toxin. Are you familiar with it?"

Severus shook his head. "I admit that I was not aware that a unique one was necessary. I thought mangabey toxin responded to bezoar derivatives."

"We've tried that. Minimal response." She said. "Severus, have you seen Remus? We need to find him because Poppy thinks he knows what the antidote might be."

Severus scowled at the thought that Lupin might be familiar with a poison antidote that he was not, but one look around the room told him it didn't matter. If by some remote chance Lupin knew, they had to put his knowledge to use soon. "I'll see if I can find him." He replied, and hurried back out of the infirmary.











A/N: More soon! ;)