Disclaimer: J.K.Rowling's. Not mine (well, most of them, anyway). Not making any money, so please don't sue. Just read and review. OK?
A/N: As stated before, I'm in desperate need for another beta. Someone who speaks English as his/her first language. Because I really need someone to watch over my use of this beautiful language. Anyway... This chapter, as always, is beta-read by... you guessed it... Luinthoron(!). Thanks, big brother!
--Altair
Chapter Twelve: Found!
The Dark Lord entered the room filled with Death Eaters with a sneer on his face. He let his eyes wander over the crowd that had gathered themselves before him, searching the lines of Death Eaters for a certain man of whom he knew that he'd be there, for the first time, but whom he did put very high expectations into. He searched the crowds for his new "old" Death Eater. For Remus Lupin. And, not that he'd expected it otherwise, he did find him. Even with masked faces and hooded heads, he always knew who was there and who was who - something the Death Eaters had never been able to sort out and that they feared - a gift he had always been rather proud of.
He went to stand in front of them, not taking his eyes off the Death Eaters, not event for a second. The intimidating look in his eyes was required to ensure him everyone's attention to 110 per cent. This was too important, he couldn't let anything go wrong. Even tough his Dark Army had been victorious since the New Invasion had started, even tough he gained more and more power with each new day, even tough more and more people joined up his Side, even then he didn't feel like he had won. Not with Dumbledore still out there in Hogwarts. Not, when he couldn't name Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry his own. But he would be very soon. Because this time, he had it all planned, and with this plan, nothing could go wrong.
Professor Dumbledore was sitting in his office when he heard the knocking sound on the door. He was surprised, to tell the truth. He hadn't been expecting any company, and he doubted any of the teachers coming up just now. It was class-time, after all. And he was very sure, that nothing bad had happened inside the school walls. He lifted his eyes from the parchment he had been working on and directed them on the office door.
"Come in!" his merry voice rang through the door and into the ears of the person standing there. He opened the door and stepped in, looking tired. Dumbledore looked up at him from behind his desk.
"Sirius?" The Headmaster's eyes flashed with concern, but only for a second. The merry-old-man mask was back right away. But Sirius had already noticed it. "Sirius, where were you? You were to report to me two days ago. You had us all worried," the old Professor continued. "Especially Harry."
"Sorry, Headmaster..." Sirius couldn't help it. He felt like a schoolboy again, called to the Headmaster because some prank he and the other Marauders had played. The thought of the Marauders made him smile for a moment. And then it made him remember that he was a grown up man, and the reason for the delay of his return. He looked at the old man behind the desk. "Albus, the reason why I couldn't come earlier... well, I heard some rumours and I had to check them. And it was a good thing I did. I have good news for a change."
The old Professor seemed interested. "Really? Good news? Well, I'd suggest you'd tell them, then. We could use some good news. We haven't had any in months, I think."
"Like I said, I just had to check this. I would never have forgiven myself, if I hadn't. And I think even Harry will see this when he hears the news. Remus is... he's alive. And I found him!"
All was going according to the plan. Remus had been infiltrated into the school and no one had shown any suspect yet. They had questioned him about his disappearance, but temporary amnesia was a good enough explanation to avoid further questioning. He had told Professor Dumbledore all about the Muggle hospital, about nice Doctor Lilith and about how the wizards in black robes had found him and killed her. And that he still didn't understand how he had managed to get away without being caught. And that seeing the wizards performing the Killing Curse had brought back all the memories that had still been hiding somewhere in the darkest corners of his mind. He had acted very carefully for months, teaching Defense again and trying to get into the heads of his students. He was covering the Dark Arts in his curriculum now, trying to show his students, that it was a powerful resource that they should use to its full extend. He never told it in class, of course, but he could see, that many of his students were already considering using the Arts, not only the Defense. And this was his tactic. Not to propaganda the Arts, the students would have gone to the Headmaster right away, if he had. But to show them the possibilities and to let the students themselves decide.
Most of the students he had already attracted to the Dark Arts were Slytherins, as he already had expected. But they weren't the only ones. He could see the fire in the eyes of those, he could corrupt. There were Ravenclaws and Gryffindors, too. Not to forget the Hufflepuffs, willing to work as hard as necessary to achieve their goals. He was trying so hard to make his Master proud of him, to redeem himself in His eyes. He had been forgiven for his weakness. He hadn't even had been put under the Cruciatus curse. His Master had been generous and welcomed him back like a lost son, not like the traitor he had felt he'd been for forgetting about his Lord and associating with Muggles...
Remus stood up from the chair he had been sitting in, grading homework of the students. There had been a knocking sound on the door, hadn't there? His keen hearing hadn't failed him. James' son was peering into the room through a narrow gap between the door and doorframe. Remus smiled. He had found liking in this boy, even though he was to be killed soon. To be honest, he still couldn't understand how he could like someone who had destined his Lord to suffering for so long, but it made his job easier. It had been after his first Death Eater gathering after his amnesia. His Lord had ordered him to follow Him to a dark room in the mansion. He had taken seat in an enormous chair just in front of a large fireplace. Just one flick with his wand, and there had been a fire big enough to illuminate his Lord and him, but too small to let Remus get a glimpse of the other presence he had sensed in the room. A bodyguard, he reckoned, but didn't dare to ask. It was then, that his Lord had told him about Harry's dreams. And he had assigned Remus to find out how much he saw. Remus didn't really remember James, but he had been told that James, Sirius, Peter and him had been best friends at school. They had been working for Dumbledore, but Remus and Peter had joined Lord Voldemort and become his spies. James and his Mudblood wife had been working as Aurors and that had put them on Lord Voldemort's hit list. They had gone into hiding with their son after the raid where Lord Voldemort's pregnant fiance was killed. But his Lord had sworn to avenge Victoria and his child at any cost. Their secret-keeper was to be Sirius, but there was a last-minute change, leaving Peter in the role of the secret-keeper. The change had been made, because Sirius had suspected Remus to be a spy of his Lord. Well, he had been right, but seeing that Peter had betrayed James and What's-Her-Name, he had reckoned he was wrong about Remus. That had made Remus trusted by the enemy again. And now it was his turn to serve his Master. To collect information and bring it to his Lord and in the meantime, to attract more students to the Dark Arts, so that they would join his Master after graduation.
"Yes, Harry?" Remus opened the door. "Another nightmare? Or couldn't you just get any sleep?"
Harry opened the door and entered the room. Remus could see the silvery textile sticking out from his pocket. James' invisibility cloak. No wonder, he had not been caught by the caretaker. Harry had visited him often since his arrival and putting together pieces from what the boy had been talking about, he had learned about the origin of the cloak and about the Marauders' map. He had, of course, reported this to his Lord immediately.
"I just couldn't sleep. I wondered..."
"Yes, Harry? You know you can always come to me with your problems. I know I'm not your father or Sirius, but I'm always there for you, too." He tried to look as sincere as possible. OK, he was being sincere. He'd be there to listen to the Harry. This was his job, after all. And he really liked the boy. And the boy hadn't a very long life expectancy anyway.
The world was sinking in chaos. The war had already crossed the borders of England and was affecting all human beings, Wizard and Muggle alike, all around the world. There were wizards who insisted, that the wizarding community should come out from the hiding and join forces with Muggles. But their government always overruled them. It had come to a special state, where all the wizarding governments had agreed to the foundation of an international council of their leaders. This wasn't just another war, Lord Voldemort had brought about the World War Three. At least, the wizarding community knew, what they standing up to. The Muggles had no means to know what they were fighting against. They were fighting their own compatriots, trying to stay alive. No-one knew what was causing people all around the world to attack others. You couldn't trust anyone in the Muggle world. Not even your own family members. There was a war where everybody was fighting everyone just to stay alive. It wasn't as if the Muggles had known what had caused this. They had no means to know about the Second War of You-Know-Who, as most of the wizarding world tended to say. Only few people called it the Second War of Voldemort. The Muggles called it just World War Three.
The Dark Lord was sitting in his chair by the fire, watching the flames dancing, sipping his brandy. A rustling noise came from the shadows behind him. He didn't turn from the fire. He already knew who was there. Nobody else could Apparate in here besides him and this man.
"I've been expecting you," he said, raising the goblet to his lips. The man in the shadows nodded. "I know, my Lord. And I can only apologize for coming so late. The meeting today was longer than expected, my Lord, and it would have been suspicious, had I asked to leave earlier..."
"I know," the man in the chair answered darkly. He looked up from the goblet and glanced over to the fire. "But that doesn't mean I have to like the waiting." He stood up and went over to the fireplace, adding some firewood into the flames. He straightened up, but didn't return to the chair. Instead, he remained by the fireplace, leaning on the mantelpiece, observing the flames. "I have waited for too many years. It's time to act. I want Hogwarts and I want Dumbledore. And most of all, I want the Potter-boy dead!"
He hadn't seen his Lord in such mood for a very long time. The way things were, it seemed, that his Lord was preparing to attack. The question was, when? And would he be allowed to fight at the side of his Lord, at last? He had been waiting for years to do so. But he had been always been forced to keep himself from intervening, just because of the cover. The cursed cover he had to keep intact. But he didn't say any of it aloud. "Yes, my Lord," was all he said, accompanied by a deep bow.
A/N: It could take some time until I upload a chapter for this story again. As I already said in my profile, I will first finish "Hermione's Diary". Anyway, for those of you who have waited for this chapter to be uploaded, you must know, that it might have taken longer, had not a very sweet person sent me an e-mail and asked me to hurry up. That's why this chapter is especially for *~* Dy *~* . It was for her, that I made myself take some time away from my duties and finished this chapter that had been waiting in my computer for months. Thank you again. And please, review
--Altair
A/N: As stated before, I'm in desperate need for another beta. Someone who speaks English as his/her first language. Because I really need someone to watch over my use of this beautiful language. Anyway... This chapter, as always, is beta-read by... you guessed it... Luinthoron(!). Thanks, big brother!
--Altair
Chapter Twelve: Found!
The Dark Lord entered the room filled with Death Eaters with a sneer on his face. He let his eyes wander over the crowd that had gathered themselves before him, searching the lines of Death Eaters for a certain man of whom he knew that he'd be there, for the first time, but whom he did put very high expectations into. He searched the crowds for his new "old" Death Eater. For Remus Lupin. And, not that he'd expected it otherwise, he did find him. Even with masked faces and hooded heads, he always knew who was there and who was who - something the Death Eaters had never been able to sort out and that they feared - a gift he had always been rather proud of.
He went to stand in front of them, not taking his eyes off the Death Eaters, not event for a second. The intimidating look in his eyes was required to ensure him everyone's attention to 110 per cent. This was too important, he couldn't let anything go wrong. Even tough his Dark Army had been victorious since the New Invasion had started, even tough he gained more and more power with each new day, even tough more and more people joined up his Side, even then he didn't feel like he had won. Not with Dumbledore still out there in Hogwarts. Not, when he couldn't name Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry his own. But he would be very soon. Because this time, he had it all planned, and with this plan, nothing could go wrong.
Professor Dumbledore was sitting in his office when he heard the knocking sound on the door. He was surprised, to tell the truth. He hadn't been expecting any company, and he doubted any of the teachers coming up just now. It was class-time, after all. And he was very sure, that nothing bad had happened inside the school walls. He lifted his eyes from the parchment he had been working on and directed them on the office door.
"Come in!" his merry voice rang through the door and into the ears of the person standing there. He opened the door and stepped in, looking tired. Dumbledore looked up at him from behind his desk.
"Sirius?" The Headmaster's eyes flashed with concern, but only for a second. The merry-old-man mask was back right away. But Sirius had already noticed it. "Sirius, where were you? You were to report to me two days ago. You had us all worried," the old Professor continued. "Especially Harry."
"Sorry, Headmaster..." Sirius couldn't help it. He felt like a schoolboy again, called to the Headmaster because some prank he and the other Marauders had played. The thought of the Marauders made him smile for a moment. And then it made him remember that he was a grown up man, and the reason for the delay of his return. He looked at the old man behind the desk. "Albus, the reason why I couldn't come earlier... well, I heard some rumours and I had to check them. And it was a good thing I did. I have good news for a change."
The old Professor seemed interested. "Really? Good news? Well, I'd suggest you'd tell them, then. We could use some good news. We haven't had any in months, I think."
"Like I said, I just had to check this. I would never have forgiven myself, if I hadn't. And I think even Harry will see this when he hears the news. Remus is... he's alive. And I found him!"
All was going according to the plan. Remus had been infiltrated into the school and no one had shown any suspect yet. They had questioned him about his disappearance, but temporary amnesia was a good enough explanation to avoid further questioning. He had told Professor Dumbledore all about the Muggle hospital, about nice Doctor Lilith and about how the wizards in black robes had found him and killed her. And that he still didn't understand how he had managed to get away without being caught. And that seeing the wizards performing the Killing Curse had brought back all the memories that had still been hiding somewhere in the darkest corners of his mind. He had acted very carefully for months, teaching Defense again and trying to get into the heads of his students. He was covering the Dark Arts in his curriculum now, trying to show his students, that it was a powerful resource that they should use to its full extend. He never told it in class, of course, but he could see, that many of his students were already considering using the Arts, not only the Defense. And this was his tactic. Not to propaganda the Arts, the students would have gone to the Headmaster right away, if he had. But to show them the possibilities and to let the students themselves decide.
Most of the students he had already attracted to the Dark Arts were Slytherins, as he already had expected. But they weren't the only ones. He could see the fire in the eyes of those, he could corrupt. There were Ravenclaws and Gryffindors, too. Not to forget the Hufflepuffs, willing to work as hard as necessary to achieve their goals. He was trying so hard to make his Master proud of him, to redeem himself in His eyes. He had been forgiven for his weakness. He hadn't even had been put under the Cruciatus curse. His Master had been generous and welcomed him back like a lost son, not like the traitor he had felt he'd been for forgetting about his Lord and associating with Muggles...
Remus stood up from the chair he had been sitting in, grading homework of the students. There had been a knocking sound on the door, hadn't there? His keen hearing hadn't failed him. James' son was peering into the room through a narrow gap between the door and doorframe. Remus smiled. He had found liking in this boy, even though he was to be killed soon. To be honest, he still couldn't understand how he could like someone who had destined his Lord to suffering for so long, but it made his job easier. It had been after his first Death Eater gathering after his amnesia. His Lord had ordered him to follow Him to a dark room in the mansion. He had taken seat in an enormous chair just in front of a large fireplace. Just one flick with his wand, and there had been a fire big enough to illuminate his Lord and him, but too small to let Remus get a glimpse of the other presence he had sensed in the room. A bodyguard, he reckoned, but didn't dare to ask. It was then, that his Lord had told him about Harry's dreams. And he had assigned Remus to find out how much he saw. Remus didn't really remember James, but he had been told that James, Sirius, Peter and him had been best friends at school. They had been working for Dumbledore, but Remus and Peter had joined Lord Voldemort and become his spies. James and his Mudblood wife had been working as Aurors and that had put them on Lord Voldemort's hit list. They had gone into hiding with their son after the raid where Lord Voldemort's pregnant fiance was killed. But his Lord had sworn to avenge Victoria and his child at any cost. Their secret-keeper was to be Sirius, but there was a last-minute change, leaving Peter in the role of the secret-keeper. The change had been made, because Sirius had suspected Remus to be a spy of his Lord. Well, he had been right, but seeing that Peter had betrayed James and What's-Her-Name, he had reckoned he was wrong about Remus. That had made Remus trusted by the enemy again. And now it was his turn to serve his Master. To collect information and bring it to his Lord and in the meantime, to attract more students to the Dark Arts, so that they would join his Master after graduation.
"Yes, Harry?" Remus opened the door. "Another nightmare? Or couldn't you just get any sleep?"
Harry opened the door and entered the room. Remus could see the silvery textile sticking out from his pocket. James' invisibility cloak. No wonder, he had not been caught by the caretaker. Harry had visited him often since his arrival and putting together pieces from what the boy had been talking about, he had learned about the origin of the cloak and about the Marauders' map. He had, of course, reported this to his Lord immediately.
"I just couldn't sleep. I wondered..."
"Yes, Harry? You know you can always come to me with your problems. I know I'm not your father or Sirius, but I'm always there for you, too." He tried to look as sincere as possible. OK, he was being sincere. He'd be there to listen to the Harry. This was his job, after all. And he really liked the boy. And the boy hadn't a very long life expectancy anyway.
The world was sinking in chaos. The war had already crossed the borders of England and was affecting all human beings, Wizard and Muggle alike, all around the world. There were wizards who insisted, that the wizarding community should come out from the hiding and join forces with Muggles. But their government always overruled them. It had come to a special state, where all the wizarding governments had agreed to the foundation of an international council of their leaders. This wasn't just another war, Lord Voldemort had brought about the World War Three. At least, the wizarding community knew, what they standing up to. The Muggles had no means to know what they were fighting against. They were fighting their own compatriots, trying to stay alive. No-one knew what was causing people all around the world to attack others. You couldn't trust anyone in the Muggle world. Not even your own family members. There was a war where everybody was fighting everyone just to stay alive. It wasn't as if the Muggles had known what had caused this. They had no means to know about the Second War of You-Know-Who, as most of the wizarding world tended to say. Only few people called it the Second War of Voldemort. The Muggles called it just World War Three.
The Dark Lord was sitting in his chair by the fire, watching the flames dancing, sipping his brandy. A rustling noise came from the shadows behind him. He didn't turn from the fire. He already knew who was there. Nobody else could Apparate in here besides him and this man.
"I've been expecting you," he said, raising the goblet to his lips. The man in the shadows nodded. "I know, my Lord. And I can only apologize for coming so late. The meeting today was longer than expected, my Lord, and it would have been suspicious, had I asked to leave earlier..."
"I know," the man in the chair answered darkly. He looked up from the goblet and glanced over to the fire. "But that doesn't mean I have to like the waiting." He stood up and went over to the fireplace, adding some firewood into the flames. He straightened up, but didn't return to the chair. Instead, he remained by the fireplace, leaning on the mantelpiece, observing the flames. "I have waited for too many years. It's time to act. I want Hogwarts and I want Dumbledore. And most of all, I want the Potter-boy dead!"
He hadn't seen his Lord in such mood for a very long time. The way things were, it seemed, that his Lord was preparing to attack. The question was, when? And would he be allowed to fight at the side of his Lord, at last? He had been waiting for years to do so. But he had been always been forced to keep himself from intervening, just because of the cover. The cursed cover he had to keep intact. But he didn't say any of it aloud. "Yes, my Lord," was all he said, accompanied by a deep bow.
A/N: It could take some time until I upload a chapter for this story again. As I already said in my profile, I will first finish "Hermione's Diary". Anyway, for those of you who have waited for this chapter to be uploaded, you must know, that it might have taken longer, had not a very sweet person sent me an e-mail and asked me to hurry up. That's why this chapter is especially for *~* Dy *~* . It was for her, that I made myself take some time away from my duties and finished this chapter that had been waiting in my computer for months. Thank you again. And please, review
--Altair