Author's Notes: I went back and added a prologue, and it's pushed everything up a chapter.
This chapter took years to write, but it's probably my favorite so far. And it's actually pretty long, when you consider that absolutely nothing happened… Ah, well, maybe next chapter. J
And don't worry, I'm not actually going to write myself in.
Chapter 3:
Somewhere below the feeling of confusion and vague terror that had dominated his emotions for the past half hour (and it was hard to believe it had only been half an hour), Sirius Black was starting to get annoyed.
He had no idea what was going on. Less than thirty minutes ago he had been enjoying a butterbeer with the charming-if-petite Leslie Hills and the glamorous Olivia Wood, and now he was stuck in a cell in some bloody dungeon and he had no clue as to why. It was extremely irritating. He didn't know why the Death Eaters, if that is indeed what they were, had apparently targeted him and his friends. He didn't know where they had taken him, and he didn't even really know how he had gotten here. He didn't know where Peter was and why he wasn't with them. Most importantly, he didn't know, assuming their captors really were Death Eaters, why he was still alive. And he had absolutely no clue as to who the wizard in front of him was.
Surprisingly, it was the last of these that irked Sirius the most. The kid didn't look any older than they were, he was a couple of inches shorter than James, had a thin build, dark hair, and wore a nondescript baggy tee-shirt and jeans. His appearance would have been altogether unremarkable and unimpressive if not for the brilliantly green eyes that shone from behind the round frames, clearly visible even despite the poor lighting and the shadow the wizard was casting (deliberately, Sirius thought) onto his own face.
But what the wizard lacked in formidability he made up for in creepiness. He was undeniably creepy. It was creepy the way he seemed to know who they were, creepy how he kept staring at Remus, while completely and deliberately ignoring him and James. The odd mixture of emotions that flickered past his features was creepy, and the way he wouldn't answer any of their questions, but just stood there, lost in thought, as if the situation meant a lot more to him than it did to them, was creepy. And the dungeon would have been creepy enough without him in it.
"Who d'you reckon he is? I've never seen him before in my life, and he looks around our age, so he should go to Hogwarts."
"Just because you don't remember seeing him doesn't mean he doesn't go there, Sirius," whispered Remus. "And anyway, maybe he goes to Durmstrang or Beauxbatons or something. He must go somewhere if he can do wandless magic like that. Have either of you ever heard of anything like that spell? And he said it was his friend's?"
"I haven't. Why do you think he keeps on staring at Remus like that? And why did he ask us to prove who we are, when we don't even know him?" said James.
"I don't like him," whispered Sirius. "He's creepy."
"Do you think he knows where we are? Or why we're here? Or where Peter is?" said James.
"Are you sure he was with us?" Remus sounded desperate.
"Pretty sure…"
"Yeah, he was definitely with us," answered Sirius, shifting around uncomfortably. They exchanged nervous looks.
"Who were those guys in the hoods? Death Eaters, do you think? That blond guy was definitely evil enough." James said uneasily.
"If they were Death Eaters, I don't know what they'd want with us. I mean, we're all pureblood, right?" Sirius was staring at the stranger with his eyes narrowed. "D'you reckon he's one of them?"
"I don't know…" Remus whispered slowly. "That still wouldn't make any sense. It looks like he's in the same situation as we are… Why did he want to know how old we were?"
"Do you think he has a wand?" said Sirius abruptly.
"If he did, he wouldn't be wasting his energy with that wandless spell." James pointed out.
"Yeah, but if he is one of them…" Sirius trailed off suggestively.
"Then what? He doesn't seem to be doing much at the moment. I have no idea why we're here, but if they'd wanted to kill us I reckon they would have done so already… probably…" An uncomfortable silence filled the air when James finished speaking, and all three of them stared at the stranger nervously.
Quite suddenly he looked up at them and took a step forward, as though he'd come to a decision, a determined look on his face. Again, he addressed Remus, occasionally glancing at James, but not looking at Sirius at all "Right," he said. His voice was neutral and Sirius got the impression that he was working hard to keep it that way. "I need to know if you are who you say you are. I know that you two," he glanced quickly at James and Sirius, then looked back at Remus, "are unregistered Animagi. I want to see you transform – the Animagus transformation can't be imitated." Sirius just stared at him, dumbstruck. "Right now," he added, sounding slightly irritated.
"How d'you – but nobody – how did you… ?" James regained the use of voice first, but Sirius was first to regain his composure. "Who are you, and why should we trust you?" He asked defiantly.
The stranger was still addressing Remus, who just gaped back at him, horrified. "Do you have much of a choice?" he said evenly, apparently nonplussed.
However unwilling Sirius was to acknowledge it, he knew that, no, they didn't have much of a choice. If it wasn't for this guy, whoever he was, they'd still be standing around in the dark. Sirius had no idea how the stranger could have found out that he and James were Animagi. Nobody knew except him, James, Remus and Peter. Just when I thought he couldn't get any creepier… thought Sirius. But since he already knew, there wasn't much that they could do about it… and he did seem to have a much better idea of what was going on than they did, even if he didn't seem too willing to share at the moment …
Sirius glanced at his friends; Remus wore a tense, worried expression, and James was chewing his lower lip. "Who else would we be, if we weren't who we say we are?" James asked suddenly.
"Death Eaters." was the answer. Nobody said anything for a moment.
"Well?" the stranger said finally. "Are you going to transform?"
Sirius turned to James. "Couldn't hurt?" he said. James nodded.
Sirius couldn't take the tension anymore. He wondered vaguely how the stranger was going to see him change when he wouldn't even look at him, transformed with a little pop, and jumped on the stranger, lolling his tongue and wagging his tail madly. The wizard staggered a few steps back, startled, and dropped the little ball of light, which, to everyone's surprise dropped to the ground and rolled away a few feet. Sirius could see Remus staring after it, as he leapt back and sat obediently on the floor, tail still wagging, not wanting to push his luck. The stranger shot him a pained look and summoned the charm back into his hand with a little flick of his wrist. "Alright, you do it too," he said to James, sounding slightly nauseous. "Great," he said after James transformed, although Sirius thought he sounded as though he had hoped all along that they actually were Death Eaters. "You can turn back now."
Author's Notes: Next chapter: Portkey! – Anti-climatic, I know…