Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter; it all belongs to JK Rowling. I suppose I own the plot, in a way.

Summary: In dark times, prophecies predicted the rising of five who would have the power alone to defeat evil. They were the Pack.

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~ The Pack ~

Chapter Five: Chamber of Terror

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Dumbledore and Ron were waiting on the fourth floor, near the Astronomy tower. Beside them was a large window, and they were both staring outside, Dumbledore gravely, Ron looking positively green with apprehension.

Hermione felt a swoop of fear as she and Harry raced down the corridor to join them.

"Sirius and Remus should be on their way into the grounds right now," she said quickly. "What's wrong?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Death Eaters. Two of three of them. They're in the Forbidden Forests and we must go there. I'll keep a watch for Sirius and Remus and take them in with me, otherwise they won't know where to go. And use the Scar-Location Charm you've learned this year, it will help."

Hermione squeezed Ron's arm reassuringly. "We'll go ahead and find them." She assured Dumbledore.

The three teenagers glanced at each other, exchanging a silent message of determination. This was their first task, their first chance to find the Death Eaters and discover Voldemort's location, or plans, as a team - as the chosen team.

They nodded at Dumbledore. Harry leaped up onto the thick stone windowsill and took his Firebolt from Ron, who joined him. Hermione was going to take the ground.

"Harry!" Dumbledore spoke. "If you find them - they must be brought back alive."

Hermione turned around and raced down the corridor, summoning Nearly Headless Nick to take her down the quickest set of reliable stairways into the grounds. Once out, she glanced up and was reassured to see Harry and Ron swooping above her, their shadows oddly comforting against the sunlit ground.

She discarded her outer robes and ran full-fledged in the jeans and shirt she wore underneath, speeding as fast as she could towards the dark Forbidden Forests. Once she was inside, she heard the sound of broomsticks landing in the trees.

"This is a large area!" She yelled up to them. "We have a better chance of finding them if we split up and take different directions."

She could tell by the brief silence that neither Harry nor Ron liked the idea of her hunting Death Eaters down on her own. Then Ron yelled back: "All right, but send blue sparks up if you're in trouble. We'll find each other best that way."

After hearing that, Hermione agreed and took off into the trees. She wasn't sure how she was going to find the Death Eaters, and she slowed down. It would do to burst at them after they had heard her running footsteps or her voice. Then she remember what Dumbledore said about the Scar-Locating Charm, and closing her eyes, pictured the Dark Mark in her mind.

"Solidate." She murmured. Opening her eyes, a smoky version of the Dark Mark hovered thinly in front of her. Not bad . . . she thought, and then pointed her wand at the wisp and whispered: "Locate."

The Dark Mark began to move, leading the way to the nearest living organism that was branded with the identical 'scar'. It was a clever spell, but she knew that the Death Eaters could use it to find Harry.

She hurried after the speedily moving wispy Mark, hoping that she wouldn't run into giant spiders or centaurs or the like. She was running when another Dark Mark appeared out of the trees at her side and collided (and merged) with hers.

Somebody had obviously thought they had found a Death Eater because a voice bellowed: "Stupefy"

Hermione ducked the jet of light and glowered at the approaching carrot-haired figure. "Ron, you prat, it's me!" she hissed angrily. "Do try not to Stun the members of your own pack."

"Blimey, sorry, 'Mione." He grinned sheepishly. There was a cut on his cheek, some thorn had obviously got to him. That was when Hermione realized she was in a similar state of disarray. However, what she next noticed was that the merged Dark Marks were speeding away, and with a glance at Ron, they raced after it.

They had been chasing the elusive Mark for about a moment or two when a clearing sprang into vision and a sort of cliffside. Embedded in the rock was what looked like a cave, its entrance covered in moss and hangings.

And standing outside were Dolohov, the Death Eater who had knocked Hermione unconcious at the Ministry, and none other than the famous Rodolphus Lestrange.

"Lestrange and Dolohov," Ron muttered as Hermione ground to a halt and stopped him as well. "Could we be any luckier, do you think?"

The two Death Eaters seemed to be thinking along the same lines, without the sarcasm, of course. "My, my," Lestrange drawled, his voice cold and cutting, "Granger and Weasely. Truly a pleasure, I must say, to meet such honorable members of Dumbledore's pitiful army. Impedimenta!"

Hermione cast the Shield Charm at the same moment, and Ron looked at the Death Eaters mockingly. "We're not members of the Order." Ron smirked, and Hermione cringed, knowing that he was about to blurt out what they actually were. "We're the Knight and the Angel. Expelliarmus!"

"Reducto!" Dolohov screeched and the jets of light hit each other mid-air and bounced off against the surrounding bark and rock. He growled and began to move sideways, like he was trying to corner them, Hermione thought with scorn.

"Knight and Angel?" Lestrange mocked, grinning a yellow, filthy smile. "Surely even amateur little school children like you too have outgrown famous nicknames? Or does Potter still overshadow you both to unbearability? Knight and Angel - of what"

"The Pack." Ron said quietly.

Hermione groaned. "Ron!" she hissed.

The expressions on the two Death Eaters' faces confirmed her suspicions. Voldemort had read the prophecy, probably recently, and the flicker of fear told her that they did indeed fear the power of the Pack. And now that they knew who two of the Pack were . . . they would stop at nothing to kill or capture them.

"The Pack . . ." Lestrange repeated softly. "The Pack. Well, well. The Dark Lord will reward me for this indeed!" He pointed his wand at Ron with deadly intent. "Avada Ke - !"

"Protego!" Hermione screamed before he could finish. The spell was deflected, and the green light hit the trees behind her harmlessly.

"You can't save yourself forever, Granger," Lestrange whispered dangerously. "Over and over I can scream the curse, and you cannot block my voice fore - "

"Silencio!" Ron bellowed. Lestrange's voice broke off and his mouth opened and closed in outraged silent rants. Hermione might have found it funny had they not been in such a dangerous situation; she remembered, after all, what Dolohov had done to her even without his voice . . .

Dolohov, however, tugged his companion's arm. "We must inform the Master!" he yelled. "We must go and warn him of the Pack's identity, quickly!"

Lestrange glowered at them for one moment, then his thin lips curved into a mocking, cruel smile and he and Dolohov turned and disappeared into the cave in a flash, the vines and moss falling down to black any further entrance.

"We have to stop them!" Hermione cried. "They can't get to Voldemort and tell him! Come on!"

Before they could run, however, a voice yelled "Impedimenta!" in the trees behind them, followed by another yell of "Protego!", and then the beginnings of a "Stupe - " before a Crack! cut the voice off and silence returned.

Hermione shot a nervous look at Ron. She was positive they'd just heard Harry, but what if he'd also let slip that he was the Leader of the Pack - another Death Eater might have already gotten back to Voldemort, Disapparated -

Just then, Harry burst out of the trees, his face flushed from running. "I heard your shouts." He panted. "But Nott caught me on the way - he Disapparated - somehow - before I could stop - "

"You didn't tell him about the Pack, did you?" Ron asked, looking rather guilty. Harry shook his head, and Hermione felt a surge of relief. There was still time to get to Lestrange and Dolohov in the cave . . . oh where were Sirius, Remus and Dumbledore?

"Come on; we have to find those two." She murmured and hurried to the cave entrance. "Reducto." The vines and moss disintegrated. They hurried inside, and found themselves facing an empty room-like place with four narrow passages leading off in different directions. There was no sign of the Death Eaters. "Okay, so we take four of these - and yell if anyone runs into them; it should echo in here so we'll here each other."

It was agreed upon and they each took different passages and began to run. Hermione, in her urgency, didn't even register the fact that Dolohov and Lestrange had probably already Disapparated, and could possibly have intended to lead them into this chamber, into a trap . . .

And seconds after the three teenagers disappeared down their various passages, Sirius arrived at the entrance of the cave with Remus and Dumbledore close behind him. Remus and Sirius, being much younger and faster, decided to take two of the passages and race after the teenagers, while Dumbledore agreed to stay in the entrance cavern and wait for some sign of any Pack member or Death Eater.


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Ron found himself standing in a cavern that twinkled with forbidding, atificial fairy lights at the end of his tunnel. It seemed to be empty, but with the lights glowing unsteadily, it was hard to see completely clearly.

And then he saw it. The small dark shape on the floor. As he stared at it, horror-stricked, it began to grow, grow, grow . . . until it towered above him with eyes that bulged and gleamed menacingly, and pincers snapped horrifying, silky, sticky web shooting out from the glands.

A spider.

"Aargunh." the noise that escaped his throat was halfway between a yell and a choked moan. A spider . . . it couldn't be . . . it couldn't have chosen this cavern of all - why him? A spider . . . it was going to kill him.

"Stu - stupe - fy." he croaked, but his voice was hoarse and breaking and the spell had no effect except to make the spider snap its pincers louder and inch towards him. He backed into the wall, cold sweat draining his body's moisture, fear pounding his heart into a pulp, and he looked into the spider's eyes in defeat.

And in those eyes he saw a face. It was Hermione, screaming in pain as she rolled over on the floor, under the terrible Cruciatus curse. The image changed - Sirius, bleeding and wounded as a dog, turning into a man, motionless. Remus - howling at the moon, eyes tortured, teeth bared, drool slobbering over him as he lay helpless . . . Harry, screaming in agony as a jet of deadly green light hit him -

This is not a real spider! I can fight this - I can run! I have to stop panicking, only then can I escape and find the others!

He forced himself to glare at the spider, forced his hands to stop trembling, and pointed his wand steadily. "Riddikulus!" he yelled.

The spider stumbled, but it wasn't a Boggart. Ron stared, horrified. What was this creature, if it wasn't a Boggart? However, the stumble gave him the moment to see his escape route and with skill he must have picked up from playing Keeper, he dived to the floor, turned a completely somersault under the spider's legs, and raced out through the passage - through the way he'd come . . .


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Harry raced down the passageway and spotted the sliver of light at the end of the tunnel. He exploded into the lit cavern, only to find eerily floating candles hovering around, and two shadowy figures standing in a dark corner.

His wand extended. "Lestrange?" he snapped. "Dolohov? Come out and duel like men, why don't you?"

The figures quivered, as if in laughter, and then they moved and slowly, painfully slowly, they stepped out into the light. Harry's wand fell to the floor as his hands dropped limply with his jaw.

A pretty redhaired woman with green eyes and a thin black-haired man with hazel eyes stared back at him. Only they looked rather different . . . rather pale . . . but solid. They were here! Like Sirius, they'd come back!

"M-Mum?" he choked softly. "Dad?"

They were silent, looking at him quietly. He stared at them, wondering why they weren't talking to him, and then, to his horror, he saw something flicker in their eyes. Something that looked horribly like disappointment.

"Oh Harry," his father murmured in an ethereal-like voice, "What's happened to the boy we thought would bring us joy? Why did you have to be born special, why did you have to be the one to defeat Voldemort? Why, Harry . . .?"

Harry stared, his palms feeling cold and clammy. Then his mother spoke, and her words were crueller than James's: "You brought us death, Harry, nothing but pain and death. You killed us, Harry Potter, and now you're trying to fight like a hero? You're not a hero, Harry, you're a murderer. You murdered your own parents."

"No!" he gasped. "I didn't - I didn't want - I couldn't have - No! I didn't kill you, Mum! Don't say that; you loved me! Everyone says you both loved me, how can you say that I would ever kill you?" Tears were filling his eyes at the cold, hard look on their faces, pain was smothering his heart -

"Loved you, Harry?" James scorned, laughing. "Loved you? Never, Harry, we were afraid of you . . . and we were right."

"We were right." Lily echoed softly.

Harry clutched his head. His parents would never say that, these weren't his parents - something - some demon was just playing on his guilt, playing on his pain, playing on the innermost demon that plagued him with the question: was it his fault that his parents died? This cannot be real, Harry! He forced away the tears. Your parents wanted you to live, they LOVED you! They gave their lives for you, you know that! These people are NOT your parents!

The tears continued to fall and he continued to clutch his head, forcing the voices away. But he no longer knew whether they were tears of grief and guilt, or tears of relief because he'd finally faced his darkest fear - he'd finally accepted and realized that it wasn't his fault.

This isn't real . . .


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Remus stumbled and nearly fell to the floor. Regaining his balance, his turned around, wand aimed, to see what - or who - had forced him to trip.

He found himself looking at Ron. Ron was lying, sprawled on the floor, soaking in blood from what looked frighteningly like bite wounds. He was trying to sit up, struggling to breathe - and Remus felt cold fear grasp his heart.

"Ron!" he cried, hurrying towards the boy. "Ron, what happened? We came after - stay with me, Ron, don't give in!"

Ron's eyes flickered open, and Remus saw terrible fear enter his eyes. "Get away from me, werewolf!" he screamed. "You did this to me, you tried to kill me - get away from me!"

The words rang in Remus's ears, filling his mind and heart with cold, numb horror. The words were familiar, but they were more cruel, more angry, more pained this time - had he hurt Ron? Had he really attacked the boy?

Above Ron, he saw a shape form. The moon.

No, Remus prayed.

And then, Ron disappeared, only to be replaced by Hermione. She was wounded and bitten like he had been, and she was sobbing. "Please, Remus, please - don't do this - don't kill me, Remus, please - "

"Hermione!" his voice was strangled. "I would never - I'd never do that - this can't be happening!"

Hermione changed, into Harry, groaning and staring at him with a terrible look of disbelief and betrayal in his eyes, bleeding, bleeding. Remus felt his kneess buckle and he fell to the floor. "How could I have done this?" he moaned. "I didn't! I know I would never hurt them!" . . . Harry became Sirius, a limp, gored dog, lying dead and motionless . . . "This wasn't me, this isn't real!"

He struggled to his feet. "You didn't do this, Moony," he told himself, his inner voice regaining his natural calm. "It wasn't you. Run, Moony, you have to run now."

And he ran, away from the screams of pain and the accusations because they were the one fear he could never get past and the one fear that he would die before he allowed it to realize.


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Hermione hurried towards the flashes of movement and shadow she could see in the opening at the end of the tunnel. Soon, she entered the cavern and stared around in astonishment at the sudden complete darkness she found herself in.

"Lumos." She muttered and a glow fell across the cavern. The beam of light illuminated a large object in the middle of the cavern and Hermione walked slowly towards it. It was a large bowl, filled with gleaming liquid. Curious, she bent towards the liquid and looked inside. A flurry of images suddenly appeared and they cleared and focused, and Hermione found herself staring at a sort of scene playing out inside.

With a start, she realized that she was there, standing in the middle of a field. Then, other people slid into view. Harry, Ron and Remus were bundled a few feet away from her, tied tightly together with ropes. There was something writhing at her feet, something she was pointing her wand at.

"Kill him . . . torture him . . . kill him . . ." a voice whispered. Hermione felt a chill run down her spine. That voice wasn't hers . . . it was cold and terrifying - Voldemort. He was commanding her, telling her what to do - she was under the Imperius Curse, unable to fight it off and doing his bidding for him.

And what she was doing came into focus and Hermione felt cold, terrible sweat break out all over her body and she began to shake violently. Her wand was pointed at Sirius.

And the words escaping her lips were cold recitations of 'Crucio' and then - 'Avada Kadavra'.

"No!" Hermione screamed, backing away from the bowl. She had killed him! Unable to fight off Voldemort, she had tied her friends up and tortured and killed the man she loved! Did the bowl and its mysterious tell the future? Was that the future that lay in store for them?

I couldn't . . . no . . . I can't kill him . . . I can't lose him . . . how could I do that . . . It had been her greatest, most deep fear ever since she had fallen in love with Sirius. She had always been terrified of losing her control over herself and doing something terrible . . . something unforgivable, that would break her heart forever . . . and she had done it.

Her body was shaking with violent tremors and she sank slowly to the floor, curling up against the wall. She tried to tell herself it wasn't real, that it couldn't be the future, that she was too strong to remain under the Imperius Curse, but the fear was too powerful, too deep, too great.

Forgive me . . .


*

Sirius felt his heart pounding as he raced down the corridor. If the Death Eaters had gotten to the rest of the Pack, if something had happened to Hermione -

Whoa, where did that come from? He froze in the middle of a chamber that was illuminated by spooky lanterns and shadows. Hermione? Why did I think of her first? Come to that, why can't I STOP thinking about her? My God . . .

His thoughts had taken an abrupt turn as he saw the curled-up, shadowy shape on the floor. It wasn't moving, but lay there, still, like a rock. Only the rock had a very distinctive shape.

Sirius's throat closed up as he stumbled towards the shape and dropped to his knees beside it. Slowly, his hand shaking and his wand trembling violently, he reached out and felt the soft, smooth skin of a female arm, and he barely realized tears of fear and pain were stinging his eyes and he turned the shape around onto its back.

Not her . . . please not her . . .

Hermione lay spread-eagled on her back now, staring up at him with open, glassy, unseeing eyes. Her skin was cold and unmarked, but Sirius didn't have to find a pulse to know that she was dead. He was too late . . . too late . . .

"'Mione, don't do this, wake up!" he pleaded hoarsely, his voice breaking with grief. "Don't be dead, don't die on me! I need you, don't you understand? I need you! Wake up, please!" He pointed his shaking wand at her. "Enervate." Nothing happened. His tears were falling now, snaking down his face in salty streams of pure anguish and grief. "Hermione, wake up, please, wake up for me! 'Mione, please! I love you!"

Merlin's beard, I love her! he realised in shock, realizing it was completely true. And - and she's dead . . . His chest ached with pain that was almost unbearable, something seemed to be shattering inside him. He was dying too . . . he couldn't live without her . . .

"Sirius!" the voice penetrated his numbed, fading mind and his eyes opened to see Remus and Ron, crouching beside him. "It's the chamber, Sirius, it's a chamber of fear, of terror! What you're seeing, it's not real! Hermione's not dead, we still have to find her - and Harry! Sirius, snap out of it!"

Finally, he heard the voice and he forced himself to understand. The tears dried on his face and he looked up to find two pairs of concerned eyes looking at him. Hermione's dead body was nowhere in sight. Pleasure and relief like nothing he'd ever known washed over him.

He climbed to his feet, and clenched his jaw. "Then let's find them."


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Hermione forced herself to stop crying, to stop the sobs. She couldn't go on like this, what if one of them found her and tried to take her back? Then she'd go on fighting, and she'd end up killing -

She swallowed hard and stood up, tears still leaking out of her pain-filled eyes. She brushed them angrily away and retrieved her fallen wand. It was time to prevent the horror of killing them, it was time to make a sacrifice, just like they'd always made sacrifices for her . . .

It was time to end this.

"Avada - " she croaked, her hands trembling as she pointed the wand at herself. "Avada Kada - Ava - oh God - Avada - "

"Hermione, no!"

That male voice, strong and intense, pierced her heart like an arrow. He was here - if she didn't do this soon - she'd kill him! She had to do it!

But something was preventing her. His hand, capable of setting her body aflame, closed around her wrist and the other gently tugged her wand away. "It's not real, Mione," he whispered huskily, holding her close to him and letting the safe warmth of his body hold her, fade away her fears, give her hope . . . "Nothing you saw is real. I'm here for you, and none of us are going anywhere."

"I'll - I'll hurt you," she whispered brokenly, looking up at him.

"Never," he growled. "You'd never do that, you have to have faith in the purity of your heart. You'd never hurt us, and I'm not going to let you think so. It's all a nightmare; a chamber that preys on our deepest fears. Dolohov and Lestrange led us here, hoping to drive us mad and get us to kill each other - or ourselves - and reduce Dumbledore's army's strength. But it hasn't worked. Harry's with Ron and Remus, and they're fine."

Hermione looked at him, a seedling of delight sprouting inside her. "Everyone's okay?" she asked softly, letting him hand her back her wand and gently lead her back to the passageway.

He stopped walking for a moment and turned to her. With a slight smile, he kissed her on the forehead. "Everyone's fine." he promised. "And we always will be."

And in that moment, as they walked together and joined the rest of the Pack, Hermione found her hope and the strength to quell her demons in truly believing him.


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TBC.

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A/N: Wow, long chapter, I think. More soon (as soon as is humanly possible for someone juggling 10th-grade exams, homework, etc), and please review and give me your much-appreciated feedback. Enjoy the story!