There were more and more reports of Voldemort's terror as the year went on. Soon James and I weren't the only ones to lose out loved ones to his rein of fear. Most people wouldn't even call him by his name. He was simply You-Know-Who. I continued to use his name; I needed something to curse under my breath as the papers brought forth more news of disappearances and death.  The feeling of panic was all around. Every day we heard of another new disappearance or murder. The Daily Prophet was littered with pictures of smiling faces, families, and underneath every picture, the articles spoke of death.

Hogwarts was safe, we were safe. Everyone knew that Voldemort hated and feared Dumbledore, that he would never do anything if Dumbledore was around. As long as Dumbledore was there, we were safe.

There were signs he was coming closer, signs that he was closing in on Hogwarts. In Hogsmeade, two children were found, dead. Their screams had echoed through the village, from deep inside the forest. I remember we were in Hogsmeade, sitting in the Three Broomsticks, when the children's bodies were carried home to their mothers. The little boy was seven, and the girl was three. They'd been tortured.  We were horrified and sickened by the crimes.

That night, Dumbledore spoke to the school. We were no longer allowed to visit Hogsmeade. We were restricted to the castle grounds. Dumbledore even found Remus an abandoned corridor that he could transform in. It was too dangerous to go out to the tree. So instead of exploring Hogsmeade and the grounds, we explored the school. I'm still amazed we didn't get caught. But we were careful. We used the Marauder's map. It came in very handy. But one day Filch, the caretaker, caught Peter with it, and confiscated it. It didn't matter. We knew it by heart anyway.

The real world had become a war zone. But inside the school, life managed to proceed as normal. We attended classes, and did our best to forget what was going on outside the castle. I managed until Christmas.

Christmas came and went.  We were still on break and I was approaching my seventeenth birthday. James's was September first, and Remus's was November first.  Peter's was April first.  There is something about the Marauders and the first days of the month.

I had heard nothing more from Voldemort since his warning. I had almost forgotten why he was after me, or that he was after me at all. And so when that morning had begun like any other.

James and I had early Quidditich practice. Dumbledore had placed a protection charm on the field so we could still play after all the house teams had begged him to let them play. And James had insisted that since it was our final year, there was no way we could let the Slytherins win.  So we were late for breakfast and didn't really notice that Remus, Lily, Erin and Peter were missing until the next day. They still didn't show up at breakfast. We had been practicing all day and doing our homework well into the night so we hadn't seen anyone except our team all day. But the next morning we started to get worried.

We sat down at the table and watched the storm of owls carrying the mail, come flying through the window. I didn't notice at first when a large black owl dropped a letter on my plate. James nudged me

" Hey, you got a letter."

"Huh?"

"Look." I picked it up. It said            To Sirius Black,

From Tom Riddle.

"Who's Tom Riddle?" James asked.

"Dunno."

"Open it." I ripped it open and pulled out the parchment.

Written on the parchment in what looked frighteningly like blood were two words.

Avada Kedavra

I dropped the parchment and watched it burst into flames, a weird high pitched laughed floated in my ear, sending shivers up my spine. I felt like I was flying, I felt a rushing sound and the world began to spin. A shiver ran up and down my spine but I couldn't move. I couldn't speak or even breathe. I heard the laughter again, the world stopped spinning and I saw an open meadow. I could hear no birds, I saw no animals. Instead I saw four dark shapes lying on the ground. A light flared and I saw my friends pale faces, bound and gagged. Voldemort laughed again.

" I have a proposition for you, Black. Meet me in the forest tonight alone and unarmed, and I will spare your friends. Do not come and you will see them die a very painful death." He reached down and touched Erin's check. She flinched and glared at him. Remus struggled against his bonds. Voldemort grinned and pointed his wand at him. He muttered some words I couldn't hear and Remus's eyes widened in pain. His face was twisted and he whimpered against his gag. The girls and Peter stared in horror at Remus as he jerked in pain.

"STOP IT!" The words tore from my mouth. Voldemort smiled and released Remus from his torture. He slumped limply on the ground.

"That is but a small dose of what they will experience. And I promise you I will make you watch every second of it. Now be a good boy and run on down to the forest," he said with a mocking tone to his voice. He pointed the wand again at Remus. I closed my eyes but that couldn't block his screams, which even though he was gagged, I heard clear as day.

"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" The screaming faded and instead I heard voices. They seemed to be saying my name. Slowly, the voices dropped so only one was calling me.

"Sirius, are you okay? Padfoot!"

"Sirius, listen to me. Open your eyes." I did so. I was lying on the floor, holding my hand over my ears, James and Professor Dumbledore staring down at me. The rest of the school was looking over their shoulders. Professor McGonagall held my head in her hands. She helped me get up.

"Sirius, what's wrong? What happened?" James asked. I opened my mouth to tell him everything. Voldemort had our friends. He wanted me to meet him. What he had done to Remus. But my mouth refused to speak the words I wanted. Instead…

" Nothing. I'm fine. I just feel a little dizzy, that's all." No, I thought, that's not right. I'm not fine. The others aren't fine. I need to help them. I need to tell some one.

You don't need to tell anyone. Just go to class. Nothing's wrong. A voice in my ear told me. Before I could do anything I felt my feet start walking. James ran up beside me, we went through the rest of the day in silence. The next morning in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Darns reviewed us about the Unforgivables. He told us about the three curses. When he told us about the Imperious curse I realized something was wrong.

Don't worry, just relax. Don't think about the lesson. The voice was getting stronger.

Then another little voice spoke. No, I think I will listen.

NO, you can't. You can't. Get up. Leave. Now. The voice sounded angry and it was louder

No, I don't want to leave.

YES!

"NO!" I shouted. The whole class turned and looked at me. And for a second the voice lost its hold on me. I panted, then not wanting to waste any time in case it came back I ran out the door. I didn't stop until I reached Dumbledore's office. Unfortunately I ran into Beaker who was coming out  of the passage, hidden by the stone gargoyle. He grabbed me by my robes and shook me.

"How dare you do that? How dare you show such disrespect for a teacher? Fifty points from Gryffindor." At the moment I didn't care.

"Dumbledore. I have to see-"

"No, he's busy."

"No, you don't understand. I have to."

" No. You don't understand." He said as he dragged me along the halls away from the haven of Dumbledore's office. We passed James on the way down the stairs. I gave him a pleading glance and then we were out of sight. I realized we weren't going to Beaker's office when he opened the doors and pulled me outside.

"Wait, where are we going?"

"Never mind that."

"But I can't go outside. Dumbledore's orders. No one can." He laughed

" Don't worry. By the time he knows about it, you won't be around to get in trouble." My eyes widened as I took in the meaning of his words. I tried to struggle but he was strong. So I did the only think I could. I kicked him in no place a man ever wants to be kicked. I turned to run but I felt something hit me and I fell into darkness.