~*~

The Book of Carmen

Chapter XI: Screams

~*~

The next thing Peter knew was that he was running, hard and fast. His lungs ached and pleaded for him to slow. However, after what had just happened Peter was going to keep running forever.

It had happened so fast that Peter barely understood what had transpired. He had been standing over Remus about to deliver the fatal blow that he had been dreaming about for months, when the shack seemed to fill with light and then it exploded. Peter found himself buried underneath wood and dust. That was when the figure appeared above him. Half-blinded by the night and dust, Peter could not see who, or what, stood above him. He realized that a large cut on his forehead must have bleed into his eyes because everywhere he had looked he had seen red. The figure reached towards him and in doing so filled Peter with a fear unlike which he had ever known. It burned inside of him, choking him and causing him to vomit. It was this fear that led him to hand over the Book of Carmen and it was the same fear that kept him running now.

The road ended, but Peter did not slow. Instead he headed straight into the forest, anxious to put as much distance between him and the thing he left back at the remains of the Shrieking Shack. His robes were soaked with blood, sweat, and vomit, and branches tore at his face. He might have kept running until he passed out, if it wasn't for a tree root that jutted upwards from the forest floor.

His foot caught the root and his ankle turned viciously, popping loudly as he tumbled onto the forest floor. He screamed in both pain and surprise. He lay on the ground for several minutes as he tried to catch his breath. It was then that he heard the noises. All around him he heard the sounds of twigs splitting and the crunch of dead leaves. Peter knew that something was coming towards him.

He tugged at his leg in an effort to free it from the root, and finally wretched it free. He tried to walk, but his ankle buckled at the slightest amount of pressure and Peter toppled to the ground once more. Grunts and snorts rang in Peter's ears and the sounds of claws scraping stone renewed the fear in his heart. It was then that Peter began to crawl.

He crawled about fifteen meters until exhaustion overtook him and he was forced to stop in a small clearing in the forest. Under the silver light of the full moon he saw three of his stalkers materialize from the dark wood. They approached his frozen form, teeth and claws bared. The largest of the three shrieked into the night, a piecing cry that brought Peter's hands to his ears. The ground beneath him trembled, a foreboding sign that other dark creatures were coming. Peter peered into the forest that surrounded him and his eyes widened in horror when he saw more shadowed forms, still masked by the darkness of the trees. So many…Peter thought. Peter edged away from the creatures, slowly using his hands to pull his body backwards. He hadn't traveled very far when he felt his back hit something. At first he thought it was a tree, but then a scaly skin brushed against his bare neck. He peered upwards and found himself looking into a pair of sallow eyes. Peter screamed, a scream that was soon silenced.

~*~

A red sun rose the next morning. A rogue ray found its way through the Gryffindor window and beat against the closed eyes of Sirius Black. He fought against waking, turning his face away from the light. He reached out to touch Selene, but his hand found only air.

You will be there when I open my eyes, he said to himself. He opened his eyes and the room slowly came into focus. He blinked back sleep and realized that he was alone on the bed.

He whipped his head around to Harry's bed. Harry still slept, and there was no trace of Selene. Sirius got up from the bed and searched the rest of the room and the bathroom for any sign of his wife. There was none. In desperation he ran into the common room and then up the stairs and into the girls' dorm. She wasn't there either. Sirius made his way back into the common room and stood in front of the fire, his hands clenched on the mantle. There was always the possibility that she had merely gone downstairs and that she was in the Great Hall or perhaps talking to Dumbledore. However, Sirius' instincts told him that she was not in Hogwarts.

Sirius was so transfixed by his thoughts on Selene that he didn't hear Harry approach, "Sirius?"

Sirius turned and looked at Harry, "Good morning," he said, but the greeting lacked sincerity.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Selene…"

"Came back? Where is she?" Harry interrupted and looked behind Sirius as if he were hiding her.

"She came back, last night. But she is gone again."

"Gone? Are you sure?"

Sirius nodded.

"What did Dumbledore say?" Harry asked.

"I haven't talked to him yet."

"Well maybe he's seen her. Maybe she didn't leave after all," Harry said looking hopefully at his godfather. Sirius nodded, but he did not share Harry's optimism.

The two walked in silence towards Dumbledore's office, both lost in separate thoughts. Harry was thinking about whether or not he should tell anyone that he had heard the Book of Carmen. He wondered what it meant, if the Book was affecting him in the same manner that it had affected Selene. The mere thought of this made his skin tighten. Harry remembered his last encounter with the Book and how it had penetrated his mind. He could only imagine how it would affect a Magmanos, how it would affect Selene. Harry glanced upwards at Sirius and wondered what his godfather was thinking. Harry knew that Sirius didn't believe Selene was still in the castle, and that he was coming with Harry just to placate him.

They approached the door that lead to Dumbledore's office. Sirius mumbled the password and they heard stones scratching against each other as a staircase emerged that allowed the two to access the actual office. After the noise stopped Sirius began to climb the stairs, but Harry held him back, "Do you think she's safe?" Harry asked.

Sirius sighed, "The truth?"

Harry nodded.

Sirius leaned against the wall, "Honestly, I do not know."

"You don't think she's up there," Harry said, indicating Dumbledore's office.

"No I don't."

"Where do you think she is?"

"I don't know," Sirius answered with a hint of frustration in his voice.

"I hope she's safe."

Sirius nodded, "Shall we?" he asked, motioning towards the staircase.

Harry nodded and followed Sirius up the stairs. When they at reached the top Sirius rapped on the door lightly and waited until someone opened it. That someone was Will McGinn. Sirius noted that Will looked exactly how he himself felt, drained. No doubt he'd been poured over some book all night researching the Book of Carmen. If his bloodshot eyes weren't a give away, his ink-tinted hands were.

"Have you seen Selene?" Sirius asked.

Will shook his head and brushed a strand of hair away from his eyes, leaving an inky trail across his face. "No. Why? Has she not returned?"

Sirius didn't answer but pushed himself into the office. "Good morning to you too," Will mumbled sarcastically. Harry followed Sirius, giving Will a slight smile as he passed him, wondering why Sirius did not like the gangly wizard.

Dumbledore's office had always been cluttered, but now it was a mess. Great dusty volumes of books littered the floor with pieces of parchment jutting out of them as bookmarks. Bottles of various potions were stacked on tables as well as various other oddities, which Harry couldn't name. An odd collection of keys hung from Fawkes' perch, the bird himself was napping on a shelf above all the mess. The room looked as if a bunch of pixies, or a couple of Weasleys had ransacked it.

Dumbledore was sitting at his desk eating a piece of dry toast, and seemed oblivious to the mess that surrounded him, "Sirius, I was hoping you would stop by this morning. Toast?" he asked, offering Sirius a piece.

"Selene is missing, again." Sirius said turning the toast away.

"Again? To be missing again would mean that she would have had to come back," Will said closing the door.

"She came up to Harry's room last night."

"And?" Will asked.

"We talked," Sirius said flatly, indicating that was all the information he was going to give.

"When did she leave?" Dumbledore asked.

"I'm not sure. When I woke up she was gone."

"It seems to me that once you found her again, you would have wanted to make sure she didn't get away," Will said.

Sirius felt his jaw tighten. He really didn't like this man. "What would you have me do? Lock her in the room? Perhaps chain her to the bed?" his comment was meant sarcastically, but Will didn't take it that way.

"If it would have helped."

Sirius tried to keep his temper in check and in doing so was forced to speak slowly, "You have not forgotten that Selene is on our side, have you?"

"Is she?"

That was the final straw. Unfortunately for Will, he happened to be standing only an arm's length away from Sirius and before he knew it, Sirius hit him square in the jaw. The punch knocked him off balance and he crashed to the floor. "Sirius!" Dumbledore yelled, rising from his seat, "We do not have time for this!"

"He doesn't understand!" Sirius yelled back, pointing to Will.

"No you don't understand!" Will said, scrambling to his feet. "I haven't slept in three days. The headmaster and I have been through every book known to wizard and Muggle alike trying to find out more information about this damn Book. The only thing we know for sure is that if the thing that lives inside the Book gets out, two thousand years of hate and anger are going to come out with it." He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at the corner of his mouth, "It will be chaos, Mr. Black. Voldemort's reign of terror will be nothing more than a child's game compared to the evil that will be unleashed. And the one person who can release that evil is Selene, and you let her go because you are too blinded by your love for her to see what she is becoming."

"And what is that exactly?" Sirius sneered.

"A conduit for evil."

Sirius started towards Will again, but Dumbledore held him back. "We are solving nothing by arguing. Will, I assure you that Sirius is fully aware of the seriousness of this situation. And Sirius, you must trust me when I say that Will is here to help Selene, not harm her. We are all frustrated by this situation, especially considering Selene's disappearance and the fact that he have not heard from Remus."

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.

"His transformations have been very difficult for him since the Book of Carmen has been in his possession. He was supposed to check in with us this morning, but we haven't heard from him." Will said.

"What time was he supposed to have contacted you?" Sirius asked.

"Almost three hours ago," Dumbledore said, meeting Sirius' eyes. They both knew Remus was punctual to a fault. Even if he had been ill from the transformation he would have contacted them. Something was wrong.

"I'm going to find him," Sirius said. Dumbledore nodded and Sirius left the room quickly, kicking up loose papers as he left.

"I'm going with him," Will said and left as well.

Dumbledore turned to Harry and smiled, "Toast?" he asked.

"No, thank you," Harry said. Fawkes cooed above him and Harry and Dumbledore both looked at the great bird.

"Well it doesn't surprise me that you're hungry," Dumbledore said to the phoenix, who flew down to Dumbledore's desk and rested on a pile of papers. Dumbledore turned to Harry, "Would you like to feed him?" he asked.

Harry nodded, "What does he eat?"

"Almost anything," Dumbledore said, walking to a cabinet. "This phoenix has a sweet tooth, and is rather fond of chocolate. However," Dumbledore reached into an antique cabinet and pulled out a small sack, "this is what he is most fond of." Dumbledore handed the bag to Harry who opened it. A wonderful smell reached his nostrils.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"Rare spices. A friend in Egypt gave this particular mixture to me. I once helped him capture a nehebkau that had taken up residence in one of the pyramids, he gave this to me in thanks."

Harry took the bag over to Fawkes who straightened and spread his wings in anticipation. Harry poured a small amount of the mixture into his hand and the bird nibbled, tickling Harry's palm. Dumbledore stroked the majestic bird's feathers as he ate. "Is there something bothering you Harry?" he asked.

"How did you know?" Harry asked.

"You have a certain look about you. James had it as well, when there was a problem that he couldn't solve."

"I just wanted to ask you if anyone else has heard the Book of Carmen speak to them, besides Selene."

"Not to my knowledge. Why do you ask?"

"I have," Harry said hesitantly.

"Heard the Book of Carmen?

"Yes. What do you think it means?" Harry paused, "Does the Book of Carmen…want me to?"

Dumbledore smiled, "No, I do not think so. Last November Selene transferred some of her magic to you. Apparently, a small piece of it still resides within your blood. This allowed you to hear the Book. However, since you are not a Magmanos and are not evil the Book has no ties to you. It doesn't know you heard it. Do you remember what it said?"

Harry nodded. The phrase had haunted his dreams ever since the day on the Quidditch field,  "Comon to us, min suna ond dehter, comon to eower wyrd."

Dumbledore's hand paused above Fawkes, who looked up at him between nibbles. Harry followed the old wizard's eyes as they drifted across the room. The words had affected Dumbledore, but he hid any emotions that the words had mustered. "What does it mean?" Harry asked.

"Come to us, my sons and daughters, come to your fate."

"So the Book is drawing them here," Harry said, feeling his skin crawl.

"It appears so," Dumbledore said.

"What does it mean by 'your fate,'" Harry asked.

"The evil in the Book believes that its fate is to be released back into the world, perhaps it wishes the same for its children."

Harry emptied some more spices into his hand, "We can't let that happen."

Dumbledore returned his gaze to Harry, "No, we can't."

~*~

Sirius flew down the staircase. He regretted leaving Harry, but he knew he would be safe with Dumbledore. Sirius was concerned for Remus, but was also glad just to be doing something. He hated sitting around and waiting for something to happen. To many of his years he had not been able to do anything to protect the people he cared about. It was maddening to not be able to do anything in Azkaban, but pure hell to have to sit around now that he was not in a cage. He was almost out of the building when he heard footsteps behind him.

He paused and waited for whomever it was to reach him. It was McGinn, much to Sirius' disappointment. "What do you want?" he snapped.

"I'm going with you," Will stated.

"Why?"

"Because if there are anymore monsters like the Beithir out there you are going to need my help," Will said and pulled out his wand. Sirius' eyes were drawn to the wand that Will held. It was an unusual wand in that it had a white emblem blazed on the handle, "I used to be an Auror at the Ministry."

Everything suddenly fell into place for Sirius. He now knew why the man seemed so familiar to him. He lunged at Will and pinned him against the wall. "It took me a while to figure it out. But I know who you are," Sirius said, only inches from Will's pale face. Sirius tightened his grip, "You see, the walls of Azkaban are thin so when you finally stop screaming you can hear the screams of the others. And some of those screams echoed your name, William McGinn. What you did to them, what you did to others…"

"You don't understand," Will said. "They were dark times."

"If they were dark out here, they were pitch in Azkaban. Do not lecture me on dark times."

"I live with regret everyday of my life," Will said, his eyes watering, "I now fight against the Ministry."

"You might have won Dumbledore over with that bullshit, but not me. I don't have to trust you," Sirius said and pushed hard against Will's bruised jaw, "Stay away from me, Harry, and Selene."

"Are you threatening me?"

Sirius smiled, "Yes, yes I am." He released Will and continued walking towards the door. He was about open it when Will called from behind, "You were sent to Azkaban for crimes you didn't commit, and now you are hunted. After all that you've been through are you going to judge me on my past actions, without knowing the full truth?"

Sirius paused, "When it comes to my family I am." He then opened the door, but never walked outside. Instead he stood still, visibly shaken. The light from outside was glaring and Will found himself blinded, so he stepped to the side to see what Sirius had encountered, the shadow was that of a man, but Will couldn't tell who it was.

Sirius looked at the man in front of him. His clothes were torn, rags that were held together by some miracle. His skin was dusty and cut and a huge bruise was beginning underneath his right eye. He was in such bad shape that Sirius hardly recognized him. But the man's pale gray eyes gave him away.

It was Remus.

"Sirius," Remus said and winced, placing a hand to his ribs.

"Remus, what happened?"

"It's gone Sirius," Remus said and then collapsed into his friend's arms.

~*~

Yes I know, another evil place to leave it. The good news is that Remus is alive. Yippee!

Is Peter dead? Well, technically I didn't say he died; I only implied it, heavily. He could have figured out a way to get out of it, perhaps he did. But he does not return for the remainder of this story. Draw your own conclusions.