Bravo, cynical, two cookies for you. Old English was the language in question. However, it is not Chauceresque, that was Middle English.

I have to admit that I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I hope you enjoy it!

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The Book of Carmen

Chapter XX: Between a Roc and a Hot Place

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Another green light flashed briefly and Remus could hear the muffled sounds of a struggle through the thick castle walls. Remus had no love for Severus Snape, but did not wish the man dead. He found himself quickening his pace. The flashes of light became brighter and larger as the two wizards drew closer to the battle, where they saw Snape being forced into a corner by a very large beast.

"Not you again," Sirius said looking at the monster.

The creature turned at Sirius' voice lifting its head and shrieking into the hallway. Remus clamped his hands over his ears. "That's a Beithir," Remus whispered.

"I know," Sirius replied evenly, "we've met."

 The creature started to approach them and Remus and Sirius began to step away with much trepidation. The beast limped towards them and Remus could see large patches of exposed skin and the reflection of white bone. Snape had wounded it badly, but the beast paid no attention to its wounds and closed the distance between it and the two wizards. "How's Snape?" Sirius whispered, keeping his eyes on the monster in front of them.

Remus peered behind the massive body of the Beithir and saw Snape lean against the far wall, breathing heavily. The right side of his robes were torn to rags and his right leg was limp. Remus shrugged, "He's fine."

"What spell do you suggest we use?" Sirius asked.

"Conjunctivitis," Remus answered, "it should be strong enough."

Sirius became aware of the dull throbbing that was still present in his right arm, "I don't think so."

"How about Stupefy?"

"No, we need something stronger," Sirius said. The beast was getting closer, and Remus realized that it was herding them into a corner.

"Relashio?" Remus suggested.

"Stronger."

Remus took a step back and felt his foot hit the far wall. They were running out of room and time. "How about Bana delivered in short staggered bursts?"

Sirius nodded, "On three?"

Remus readied his wand, "One…two…three!"

Orange sparks shot from the wands of Sirius and Remus and tore through the Beithir. The beast took a few steps closer to the wizards until Remus could feel its hot breath on his face. However, the spell was too powerful and the Beithir let out a last shriek and then fell, dead. They made their way over to Snape and picked him up off the floor. His wounded leg scraped against the wall as they lifted him and he let out a moan and then spat, "Careful you halfwits."

"I guess a 'thank you' is out of the question," Remus said draping one of Snape's arms around his neck to support the wizard. Snape recoiled at first, but after trying to support his full weight he toppled, and then relented to let Remus help him. "I'm not too happy about this either," Remus said trying to keep Snape balanced. "A little help here Sirius?"

But Sirius wasn't paying any attention to them.

"Sirius?" Remus said with impatience.

Sirius held up a hand silencing him, "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"It sounded like a thud, like something was trying to get inside the castle," Sirius said. They listened for a minute but none of them heard anything. "Never mind, I suppose it was just my imagination." They started to back down the hallway when they heard the unmistakable sound of shattering glass. Three pairs of eyes looked towards the ceiling where the sound had originated. "What's above us?" Remus asked.

"Dumbledore's office," Snape said.

"That's what I was afraid of."

The three moved as quickly as they could down the hall, but Snape's added weight slowed them. "Put me down," he said as they turned the last corner of the hallway.

"No," Sirius said, "There might be more creatures in these halls, and I will not have your death hanging over me."

"You might have Dumbledore's death hanging over you if you don't get there and help him!" Snape yelled, clutching his leg. "Dammit Black, put me down!"

Sirius looked at Remus who nodded. They eased Snape onto the floor. "We'll be back," Remus said.

Snape sneered, "I'm sure."

They made sure Snape was armed and then fled down the hall to Dumbledore's office. Remus felt somewhat relieved when he saw that the door to the office stairs was intact. However, as they climbed the stairs, his relief turned into dread as they could hear the obvious signs of a struggle behind the office door. Sirius grabbed the doorknob, "It's jammed."

Together he and Remus threw themselves against the door forcing it to open partially. Once they managed to crack the door, a small ribbon of smoke escape from inside the office. "Fire," Remus said and together he and Sirius pushed against the door using all of their strength. Their feet were sliding against the floor and a veil of sweat broke across their faces as they pushed. At last the door broke free spilling the two wizards into the office. When Remus looked up he found that he was face to face with a giant black bird. He and the bird stared at each other for a few moments, each as surprised at the other one's presence in the room. The bird struck at Remus with its sharp beak, but he had expected such an action and dodged it with ease.

Sirius struck the bird with a curse and it staggered backwards away from Remus. Remus moved quickly to Sirius' side. "What is that?" Sirius asked.

"It's a Roc."

"Let me guess," Sirius said as he watched the bird recover from the spell, "does not play well with others?"

"Not especially," Remus said and then scanned the room quickly and discovered that the great tapestries in the office were the source of the fire and a soot covered broken lamp on the floor was the most probable cause. "Headmaster?" Remus called, but received no answer.

Remus felt Sirius tug at his sleeve and turned to see the great Roc spread its wings and start to lift from the ground. The creature's wingspan stretched across the entire room and blew small pieces of glass into Sirius' and Remus' faces.

The Roc hissed and struck at the two wizards, who fell to the ground to avoid being sliced by its talons. Unfortunately the wings of the Roc had fanned the small fire, which was now devouring the tapestries at an alarming rate. Remus suddenly found it very hard to breath in the smoky air. "Sirius, find Dumbledore, I'll keep this damn bird off your back."

"What about the fire?"

"It's not the pressing concern right now," Remus said, dodging another blow from the bird. "Hurry!" he added shooting a green light at the bird above him. Sirius left his side and soon disappeared into the smoke.

Sirius coughed as the smoke entered his lungs and his eyes burned as he peered into the thick fog looking for Dumbledore. He dropped to all fours and started to hunt for the old wizard on his hands and knees. Somewhere behind him he heard the bird hiss as Remus attacked it, and hoped that Remus would be able to hold it off until he found Dumbledore. He was beginning to fear that Dumbledore wasn't on the bottom level at all. He looked up and saw that the second and third levels of the office were encompassed in flames as the fire jumped from bookcase to bookcase. If Dumbledore was up there, then it was already too late to help him. Sirius had almost fallen completely into despair when his hands rubbed against cloth. Now blinded by the smoke, Sirius moved his hands up the cloth and was relieved to find that it was the robes of Dumbledore. Blinking back smoky tears he put his ear to the man's chest and realized that he was breathing steadily.

Sirius wrapped his arm around Dumbledore and pulled him back towards the door. The lack of oxygen was making him weak and Dumbledore became heavier with every step. "Remus!" Sirius yelled, "I've got him!"

There was no answer. Sirius could still see the huge black wings beating rhythmically and the swirls of smoke that ringed them, but he could not see his friend. Sirius shifted Dumbledore's weight, "Remus, answer me dammit!"

He was about to set Dumbledore down and look for his friend when the bird cried out and Sirius felt the floor's echo as the beast's body fell. He waited for a few moments, his eyes searching the smoke when a hand shot out of the smoke and grabbed his shoulder. Sirius jumped, but was relieved to see Remus' face. Remus was covered with ash and his face was cut, but he appeared to be all right. "Let's get out of here," Remus said. Sirius nodded and found his way towards the door.

"Is it dead?" Sirius asked as he opened the door.

Remus nodded, "Yes."

Sirius and Dumbledore went through first. Remus was about to step through when the ruins of a bookcase from the second level fell, blocking the door and forcing him to take a step back. He used his wand to extinguish the flame. Sirius reached for his hand to help him over the pilings, but as soon as Remus took it, he was snatched backwards into the smoke by a gigantic claw.

Sirius set Dumbledore down a good distance from the door and went back into the room, stepping carefully over the charred bookcase. "Remus!" Sirius yelled and then coughed. If he didn't find Remus soon the Roc would be the least of their problems.

"Sirius!" Remus yelled from somewhere in front of him. Sirius reached out but turned around quickly when he heard a crash to his left. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Remus answered to his left, "but watch out, it is headed in your direction."

No sooner had the warning come than the beast rushed Sirius and knocked him backwards. Sirius sprang to his feet quickly, but the Roc was too close to him for his wand to be effective. If he was going down, he was going to go down fighting. Sirius made a fist and punched the bird in its massive jaw. The bird's head snapped back with the force but it recovered and hissed at Sirius like a snake. It reared its head back and was about to strike when Remus appeared from the smoke and pieced the creature's eye with his wand. The creature screamed and tried to shake its attacker, but Remus held tightly to his wand. "You picked the wrong office to break into," he said and then, without removing his wand, cried "bana," and orange sparks surged from his wand directly into the Roc's skull. It toppled to the ground. "This time," Remus said, breathing hard, "stay dead."

Sirius and Remus collapsed outside of the office, and breathed in the clean air. From his position on the floor Remus tilted his head up, so that he was looking at Dumbledore upside down, "Is he alright?"

"I think so," Sirius said crawling over to Dumbledore and checking his pulse, "what about the fire?"

Remus shook his head draping one arm over his eyes, "We can't extinguish it from outside, and I am not going back in there. The best we can do is seal the fire inside and let it burn itself out."

"Agreed," said Sirius. He walked over to the door and tapped his wand against the wall. "Freosan," he muttered and the door and the walls surrounding the office glowed blue. "How did that thing get in there?"

Remus removed his arm and stared at the ceiling, "The glass."

"What?"

"There was glass all over the place in there. It must have come into the office through the window."

They were silent for a moment, "Snape," Sirius said.

"Pardon?"

Sirius didn't answer. Instead he stood and started walking down the stairs. "Sirius, where are going? Wait!" Remus called after him.

Sirius found Snape exactly where he had left him. "Is the headmaster okay?" Snape asked. Sirius responded by grabbing his collar and bringing him to his feet. Snape gritted his teeth and screamed as his leg rubbed against raw stone. "You bastard," Sirius said forcing the other man into the wall. "You put that salve of yours on the doors, but you forgot about the windows!"

"How dare you accuse me like that, I did not forget them! There is not a single exterior window in this castle that is not protected."

"Oh really?" Sirius said dragging Snape back towards Dumbledore's office. Snape screamed as his leg was forced to bear some of his weight. "Let me show you how protected this castle is." Sirius pulled the wizard up the stairs leading to the office and was confronted with a somewhat confused Remus who had been tending to Dumbledore.

When Snape saw Dumbledore his eyes grew wide and he slumped down against the wall, "I swear, I coated each window," he said.

"Well that Roc had no trouble getting inside!" Sirius yelled.

"I swear!" Snape snapped back.

"He's telling the truth," Dumbledore said, surprising the other three. "I watched Severus coat the window in my office. The Roc came in anyway, heedless of the danger, its mind not its own."

"You mean that Selene sent it?"

Dumbledore nodded weakly. "Did you get it?"

"Yes, it is dead," Remus said.

Dumbledore shook his head, "No. Did you get the book?"

"What book? We didn't see any book," Sirius said.

"There was a book, the one that contained the spell to save Selene. Did one of you find it?"

"No."

"It could still be in there," Sirius said. "Perhaps it survived the flames." Sirius moved to the door, but Remus stopped him.

"Sirius, it is an inferno in there. If you go in there you will be killed. You won't have enough time to cast a simple extinguishing charm. The book is gone."

"No!" Sirius said, slamming Remus into the stair well.

Remus winced but his voice remained even and calm, "Sirius, we will find another way, but you have to stay calm. We need to get these two to Pomfrey. Then we can come up with a plan, a plan that will save both Selene and your child."

Sirius nodded and released Remus, looking ashamed.

Remus smiled, "Don't worry, your forgiven." He then asked, "Sirius, can you take Dumbledore?" Sirius nodded and helped Dumbledore to his feet and then helped him walk down the stairs. Remus looked at Snape, "Well I guess that leaves us," Remus said offering his hand. Snape looked away. "Unless, of course, you'd like to stay here until the next beast shows up to finish you off."

Snape glared at Remus, but took his hand and slowly the small group made their way back to the comforts of Orballa.