I have a few issues to tend to before we get on with the story, all right?
First, the long, long, long delay to this chapter. I'm really sorry about that. I have excuses, if that counts any. First my trip got extended and then well when I came home, my computer turns out to have caught a virus some time and I was trying to fix that up and I had so many things to catch up on… time just kind of flew by. And then I ended up in the middle of that blackout, you know, the one where most of Canada and some of US got their electricity shut off. However, I updated now and I intend on returning to my regular updating schedule of once in two-three days. I honestly hope that people didn't give up on my fic because of the delay and I am truly sorry.
Second, the reviews… WOW. I mean that. Wow. Before I left, I didn't really have time to update new chapters but I read a few of the reviews that had been written so far and I'd expected maybe two more or so, as is the usual average but wow. Now I got 108 reviews and 13 people have me as their favorites! I'm really, really honoured. Thank you guys so much! You're amazing. It makes me feel worse for letting you down and not updating this long and I hope you still want to read this. Now, before you get too bored, please read and review the latest chapter! Thank you!
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"Well, well, well." Lucius continued. "I've been wanting to meet you again, Potter. You see, me and my partners here aren't too happy with your latest stroke of heroism." Harry moved slightly in the direction of the castle. "Vulnero!"
Harry felt a surge of pain in his left arm; the mirror he was holding fell out on the ground but he paid no attention to it. Harry clutched his arm instinctively and then looked for the result of the spell. His arm was bleeding; there was a cut along it. He looked up at Lucius, who was smirking, apparently proud of his work. Harry gathered up all his will not to look as if he was in pain. He didn't want to give Lucius that pleasure.
"Where's your master?" Harry spit out. He looked at the Hogwarts castle. They couldn't just not notice this, could they?
Lucius glared at him for a moment. "It's none of your business." He snapped, and then returned to his mockingly calm tone of voice. "We just came here to have a bit of fun." Seeing Harry glancing up to the Hogwarts castle, he added, "don't worry; no one from that wretched excuse for a school will be able to see us. I made sure of that." Lucius laughed mockingly. "Look at you, the Boy Who Lived, all alone… Where's your fan club? Or that damned godfather of yours, Sirius Black, isn't he? Still hiding, I presume. He never was worth much, was he now?" Harry remained quiet, staring at Lucius with all the hatred he could muster. He felt it best not to speak at the moment, as the only coherent things that would've come out of his mouth would be extremely rude words. "Say something." Lucius began to get annoyed at the boy's silence. "Do you want your mommy? Wish she was here to save you again?" Harry didn't move. "SAY SOMETHING!" Lucius bellowed, losing his temper. "Crucio!"
Pain flowed through every inch of Harry's body, taking over his mind. He knew he must've screamed but he didn't hear himself through the mess that seemed to have erupted all around him. Everything was getting mixed up and he thought he saw two animal shapes emerge somewhere but he was no longer sure what was going on in reality after that. All of a sudden, when Harry was giving up on trying to hold on to his sanity, the spell ended. His vision brightened up and he could definitely make out shapes fighting, though he still wasn't sure what they were. Twitching from the after-effects of the spell, Harry felt around for his glasses that seemed to have flown off sometime in the process. Finding them and putting them on, he looked around.
The first thing he noticed was the mirror lying beside him and the image of a dark, torn up room could be seen in it. Harry put the mirror in his robe pocket; then he looked up and wondered how he could have noticed such a small thing as a mirror in the first place. Close beside him, a few Death Eaters were fighting off a wolf, which seemed extremely pissed off. It didn't look like an easy task and a couple of them were lying on the ground, apparently unconscious, with several bruises on them.
Several more Death Eaters were pulling something out of their robes and disappearing a bit further away, (Harry guessed that they had gotten illegal portkeys), and he didn't need to wonder why too long. A large black dog that looked suspiciously too much like a Grim was rounding in on them. The Death Eaters that had not disappeared were standing their ground, throwing all sorts of spells on the animal, but it seemed to be in the middle of a fit of murderous rage and was next to unaffected by them. Harry got up, pulling out his wand so he could help out Remus and Sirius, but never got that far.
"And where do you think you're going?" A voice hissed from behind him and Harry's happiness faded. He turned around to face Lucius and pointed his wand at him but he wasn't quick enough.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry's wand flew straight into Malfoy's hands. The boy was still experiencing after-effects of the Cruciatus Curse and reacted slower than usual. Lucius took out a shiny object that looked like a wristwatch. He then grabbed Harry's hand and pressed something on the watch. Only then did it dawn on Harry what the object really was. He saw Sirius running towards him, but knew it was too late when he felt himself and Lucius get pulled away. The last thing Harry saw before everything disappeared into a blur of bright colours was Sirius's desperate face as he helplessly watched his godson disappear.
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'He left. He left with Harry. He got away with it.' Sirius was staring numbly at the now empty space in front of him, where his godson and Lucius Malfoy had stood just a second ago. Internally, he was cursing himself for letting Harry out alone. Why? Why had Harry not thought to use the mirror as soon as he'd seen danger? Why did he have to come back for the stupid thing alone anyway?
Sirius looked around. The Death Eaters that had been there just a second ago, had now disappeared as if on cue. Then Sirius heard the sounds unmistakably made by two people running. He tensed and readied for another fight but, thanks to his canine abilities, smelled the scent of the newcomers, and relaxed. It was Hermione and Ron.
"Sirius? Where's Harry?" Hermione, gasping for air, asked him. Ron came up close behind her and they both stared at the dog. Sirius glanced at Remus with caution; he wasn't sure how the werewolf would react to the two people present. However, the shock of Harry's kidnapping seemed to ground Remus and the only wolfish thing about him was his appearance. He trotted towards the three and lay down as a sign that it was all right. Sirius transformed from his Animagus form.
"Harry forgot the mirror you gave him and he told us he'd go get it and… well we waited but he didn't come back and we were getting worried about him and - where is he?" Hermione said all this extremely quickly; she seemed extremely unnerved by the look on Sirius's face.
"Death Eaters – they… We have to get to Dumbledore, all right?" He glanced back at Remus. " Get Dumbledore and come with him to the Shrieking Shack all right?"
"What's go-" Ron started but Sirius cut him off.
"I'll tell you then. Please, just… hurry up." Hermione opened her mouth to say something but Ron dragged her away towards the castle. Sirius and Remus, meanwhile, headed back to the Shack; they couldn't afford being spotted. They had guessed that Lucius and the rest of the Death Eaters had put some sort of enchantment on the grounds so they were temporarily invisible and untraceable from the castle but they didn't know how long it would stay effective. And while Sirius sat waiting for Harry's friends to come back with Dumbledore, feeling more helpless even than he had in Grimmauld Place, Harry was unconscious far away from him, in a locked room while his biggest enemies were discussing the weapon they were to use to kill Harry in the next room.
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The following week was chaos. The situation was soon known to everyone, though only the Order and few selected others knew the whole truth about Friday night. Media wasted no time in warping the event into a heroic and tragic incident, where Harry fought off dozens of Death Eaters on his own but was captured in a near-death state and kidnapped by the Dark Lord himself… The extent of the global knowledge of the facts from the incident was that Harry was kidnapped and Death Eaters had appeared on Hogwarts grounds. From there, everyone made up his or her own theories, each more bizarre than the previous.
"They're acting like it's something to celebrate!" Hermione exclaimed to Ron and Sirius, tears glistening in her eyes, as she and Ron went to join Sirius on the torn up couch of the Shrieking Shack. "He's all alone in there; it's not like he can just defeat Voldemort from the inside and escape without a scratch!" She continued in exasperation.
"Trelawney seems to get it." Ron said bitterly. He had just had to sit through a Divination class that consisted of Professor Trelawney predicting Harry's horrible fate. She improvised on Harry's absence by predicting that Ron would see the whole thing, 'as the Powers had whispered in her ear'.
"Ignore them." Sirius said for what seemed like the hundredth time. It had been five days since that fateful Friday and the three catching up on each other's processes became a daily event. Every effort was already being made to track where Harry and Lucius had disappeared that night, but it had been useless so far. The timing couldn't have been worse; on top of all the recent events, Sirius still had Saturday's trial, and though he had barely given it a thought, others had.
"Any progress?" Ron asked.
"No. Portkeys are supposed to leave a trace, even the illegal ones, but these didn't. There's nothing. It's like they disappeared into thin air." Sirius shook his head. "We're barely in contact with Dumbledore; he's trying to work out something with the Ministry but I bet that's a tricky business."
"Did you try using that mirror thing?" Ron asked.
"Tried that on Saturday. It didn't work. Which means he's either unconscious, unreachable, or…" Sirius broke off, staring into a corner of the Shack. Hermione's eyes began watering again.
"But he can't be… We'd - we'd know if he… I mean, if he was… then Vo-Voldemort wouldn't be hiding anymore would he?" Ron said uncertainly. Hermione and Sirius looked a little reassured by this.
"Yeah, I guess that's true." Hermione said, cheering up slightly. "So, Sirius, what about the trial?"
"I talked to Kiara today about that." Sirius sighed. "I think we rushed into this too fast but she figured it'd be fine. There's going to be about fifty people present at the trial, most of which are impartial, but many are inclined to side with Fudge and a few others are said to be in league with Voldemort so that's not too encouraging. Also, apparently, Fudge had ordered Dementors for the trial." Sirius shuddered. "If I lose… they're giving me the Kiss right away."
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All righty, coming up next chapter (which I hope to get up really soon) will be Allen's first DADA class with Hermione and Ron, the trial and, well, Harry and where he disappeared to and all. So that should be fun ;)
Padfoot10, mm popcorn… the Death Eaters didn't like sticking around with a Grim there, they are only wizards after all, and they're still mortal lol. Tropic, sorry, I updated now though. GinnylovesHarry, dreaming is always good. Dreams are my saviors. Thank you and keep up hopes, JKR isn't totally cruel and I believe that if Sirius doesn't come back, his death will be validated at least. Burning-Yami-Rain, Lucius is… evil, I don't know what's with him. Thanks. Smiley, thank you!!! Don't feel stupid, I think the majority of the readers cried about Sirius. Yes, he may be a character in a book but he just seems so real… Renton Kenobi, oh my gosh, I'm really sorry. Thanks for caring that much and I hope you're reading this chapter! shining-star20, thanks and sorry about the delay. Hywel, wow, thank you so, so much! Kandice! Hey! More Lucius for you here! I'll try not to imprison him this time, so maybe he'll return some other time ;) Prongs621 thanks :). Kaitlyn, lmao aww thanks! Ali, sorry, but I did have fun if that's any consolation lol. Lady Sandrilene (nsi), you're right, but, well, I wrote about 3 different post-OotP stories (or started them anyway) and some of those have more angst in them and I guess by the time I wrote the second chapter, I got most of that out and I just wanted to get Siri back. Besides, there's a reason why the book just fell into his lap lol. [I may post the other stories after I finish this.] Sirius-Hotness, aww thanks :) Padfoot79, that he is ;) Tillia KaWaii, lol yeah he probably would have said something like that. I'm making him too generous. Three whole points! Thank you, thank you, thank you, and I hope you're still reading this! Trella, all in good time my friend lol ;) Mornel thanks!
I think I might start one of those update list things. Anyone want to be on a mailing list for updates? If more than three people want to, then I could do that! ;) Please review! Thank you all so much for waiting and for reading this! I'll try to update really quickly and I will as long as that damned virus doesn't cut me off from the comp. ;)