'This is it', Bill murmured, squaring his shoulders.

'Yup', Sirius said, in a falsely cheerful voice.

'Lucky we haven't seen any Dementors', Tonks added, 'I'm glad the Death Eaters took them with them when they ran away.'

'They're probably meeting at Azkaban to get reinforcements', remarked Remus, 'if they believed our Bringing-Back-The-Dead ruse, then they think Dementors would have no effect-you can't take happiness from something that's not alive.'

'Let's just hope they continue to believe that.' Snape said, smiling thinly. Bill made a face as he looked at the Potionsmaster.

'Couldn't you have made yourself look like someone who's not related to me?' he groaned.

'Do you think I want to look like a member of your family? We want it to look as though this party is no threat', Snape snapped, 'so looking like your dear, brainless brother Charles seemed as good a way as any. Anyway, I only had samples for a few Order Members with me, and the rest are rather more powerful. Powerful figures will draw The Dark Lord's attention on us much sooner.'

'But...Charlie!' Bill felt revolted, 'Charlie may not be top rank in the Order, but he's not stupid. I bet he's a a lot smarter than you are-all you can do is brew potions. And you're not so great looking yourself, Snivellus.'

'Bill', Eva reprimanded him sharply, 'be quiet.'

'It's weird hearing Snape's voice coming out of Charlie's mouth', Bill moaned, 'I'll never feel the same way about Charlie again!'

'Shut up', Sirius ordered, 'all of you. I need to think.'

They were standing on the edge of a cliff, which overlooked the dismal wastelands which they must cross. They had trekked along the entire cliff edge, and found no way to get down other than by climbing-for broomsticks will not work in such a foul, lifeless atmosphere as the wastelands. In fact, all forms of magic-except for potions, which don't involve wand use- are less potent in the lands of Azkaban.

The prisoners had been of little use to them. Five of them were very young- obviously new recruits. Oliver Wood seemed to have a bone to pick with one of them in particular-a Marcus Flint, ex-captain of the Slytherin quidditch team. The rest were wizards who were not known to any of the company, and who seemed to be of too low rank to have any information. The Dark Lord had heard about a group of wizards and witches who were heading towards Azkaban, and had sent an army of Death Eaters, with Dementors, to frighten them. Their leader, Jacob Krane, had hoped to catch the Order members before they reached Helga's Hollow, but had failed.

'I probably gave him a better death than his master would have done', Sirius muttered thoughtfully, when he first heard this.

The captives did not know that there was no spell to bring the dead back to life, and were absolutely petrified of Sirius and his comrades, for fear they would sacrifice one of them to do the spell again. It suited Sirius to hold this unspoken threat over their heads-it made them so much more willing to talk. It amused him that Voldemort's men betrayed their master so easily.

Snape had avoided them carefully, in case one of them might realise he was using Polyjuice Potion, or recognise his voice. So far, so good.

Sirius had tried to find out if the Death Eaters knew a way down from the cliff, but to no avail. Now, he heard the captives whispering to one another in an agitated manner, trying to figure out a way to escape, and this gave him an idea.

'The spirits could help us get down from this cliff', he said, loud enough for the Death Eaters to hear, 'we could call on them right now, if we sacrifice.'

'No!' Squealed Marcus Flint, 'no, don't kill us, please! We'll help you! We'll show you how to get down!'

'Ah', Sirius said, grinning wickedly, 'so you do know a way down!'

'Yes', Marcus replied breathlessly, ignoring the angry looks that his superiors were shooting him, 'yes, I know the way down, it's a secret, you haev to cast a spell...'

'Unbind him', Sirius told Remus, who obeyed immediately. Marcus stumbled forwards, rubbing his wrists, his eyes darting from one side to another, looking for a means of escape.

'Lead us to the right place', Sirius commanded. He and Bill frogmarched Marcus onwards, until the young Death Eater told them to stop.

'Any tricks', Sirius warned, 'and we will sacrifice you first.'

Marcus let out another squeal, and began to blurt out the details of the spell.

'Y-you wave your wand like this', he pretended to be holding a wand, and pointed it firmly at the ground beneath his feet, 'th-then you say V-VIA SEMITA really loudly, and...and it'll open...'

At a nod from Sirius, Bill pulled out his wand, and pointed it at the rocky ground. 'VIA SEMITA!' He shouted. At once, a crack opened in the ground, and widened so rapidly that Bill could not move away quickly enough, and he plunged downwards, into the pitch black hole.

'BILL!' Sirius roared, throwing himself flat on the ground, and trying desperately to see down into the hole. There was no answer-nor did he hear Bill hit the ground. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Marcus begin to edge away. As quick as a flash, he was on his feet, and he threw Marcus to the ground, not caring how much he hurt him. 'If he's dead', he snarled, almost throttling the terrified Marcus, 'if he has broken one bone in his body, I swear I'll-'

'What happened?' Remus shouted. The others had been making their way at a more leisurely pace towards the place where Marcus had led them.

'This', Sirius growled, kicking Marcus in the ribs, 'this piece of scum forgot to tell Bill that you need to move out of the way after you cast the spell.'

Marcus groaned. Everyone ignored him. Sirius, Remus and Eva hurried forwards to the black hole, and all began to shout Bill's name. There was no answer.

'Gimme some light', Sirius shouted, cursing the fact that he had no wand anymore.

'Lumos', said Remus and Eva together. The light from their wands, however, only penetrated the darkness within a few inches of them.

'Give me your wands', Sirius said suddenly, 'I'm going down.'

'You can't!' Eva protested, 'you'll fall like he did!'

'Hey Flint!' Sirius shouted roughly, 'I'm guessing there are footholds down to the bottom of the cliff?'

'Yes', Marcus gasped, clutching his bruised ribs, 'on the far side of the hole-just don't kill me!'

'There are worse things than death, Flint', Oliver said grimly, coming forwards, while Tonks and Snape held the other prisoners.

Sirius grabbed the wands from his friends, and hurried to other side of the crack. He gently lowered himself down, feeling around with his feet for a place to stand. He found a small ledge for his right foot, then a tiny crevice for his left, a bit further down. 'Here we go-Remus, my vault is number 568, I'm leaving half my gold to Harry, and half to the Order-plus you and Eva can take some to buy yourselves new wands', he declared grimly, 'just in case the worst should happen.' Before Remus could answer him, he descended into the darkness.

'Sirius, this is madness! Let us throw you some rope!' Remus called down to him, 'to make sure you're safe.'

'No point', Sirius called back, 'you know magic doesn't work so well out in the wastelands-I'd hate for a rope to give way if it was holding me and Bill. You'll all be coming down this way if it's safe-apart from Flint-we can chuck him down, the way Bill fell.'

Clutching the wands in his left hand, he proceeded slowly downwards. After about fifteen minutes, he thought he heard a noise below him.

'Bill?' He called cautiously, 'is that you?'

There was a groan, and the sound of more movement. 'Sirius?' Murmured Bill's voice, some twenty feet below Sirius' feet, 'where aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!'

'BILL!' Sirius roared, almost letting go of the cliff in his anxiety, 'answer me, Bill!'

'Oh my God', Bill gasped, from even lower down this time, 'I was obviously on a ledge-I moved, and fell off-only just managed to grab onto something!'

'Don't move an inch Bill', Sirius ordered, then shouted up to his comrades, 'I FOUND HIM!'

'What happened?' Bill whispered, sounding as though he was in pain.

'Flint forgot to tell you to move-the ground opened up, and you fell. Are you injured?' Sirius asked shortly, edging past a lump of protruding rock.

'My left leg hurts like hell', Bill gasped, 'I think it's broken, so I can't climb down. And there's blood all over my face-I can taste it in my mouth. I must've landed on my face. And ow!'

'What?' Sirius asked anxiously.

'My bloody earring must've snagged on something', Bill cursed, 'I can feel blood from my ear dripping onto my robes.'

'You sound a right mess', Sirius remarked, finding the ledge where Bill had landed. It was wide enough to sit down on, so Sirius hunkered down, and held the two wands aloft. About five feet below him, he could just make out the top of Bill's head.

'Look up, Weasley!' He whispered. Bill glanced up-he was right, his face was a mess. His nose was crooked, and something sharp had obviously cut into his cheek. 'It's not pretty, is it?' Bill joked feebly. Sirius could see that his knuckles were white from trying to hold on to a narrow ledge of rock, which had clearly saved him from plunging to his death.

'I reckon you'll have a nice jagged scar down the right hand side of your face', Sirius said lightheartedly, lying down on his stomach, and sliding forwards, until he could go no further without falling. He would not be able to reach Bill. He stood up again, 'but then, the ladies always do like a man with an heroic story.'

He stood and thought for a moment, then came up with an idea. 'Right-o, Bill', he said briskly, 'I'm going to climb down so I'm level with you, and you're going to climb on my back.'

'I'm almost a foot taller than you, and a fair bit bigger', Bill said faintly, trying despearately to maintain consciousness, 'there's no way it'll work.'

'I promised your father I'd bring you back safe', Sirius replied, 'and I'm going to do just that. So shut up...and do...what I say...'As he spoke, he was swinging down to where Bill was hanging on for dear life. 'Okay then', he said, holding up the wands so Bill could see him, 'hop on.'

Bill did not exactly hop, but he very carefully and quickly let go of the cliff with one hand, and placed it firmly on Sirius' shoulder. Sirius moved closer to facilitate him, and he was able to crawl across, and onto Sirius' back.

'Is everything okay down there?' Remus shouted worriedly.

'We're fine', Sirius called back, 'start coming down whenever you want.'

Slowly and painfully, they moved down the cliff. Thirteen years in Azkaban followed by one of near starvation, and another of sitting around the house all day, had done nothing for Sirius' fitness. Bill felt as though he weighed a tonne, and every movement brought fresh beads of perspiration to Sirius forehead. How much further down could they possibly have to climb.

'Sirius, I'm killing you', Bill protested, 'just let go of me, it can't be that far to the ground. It's not possible to give a grown man a piggy back down a cliff!'

'Nobody thought it was possible to escape from Azkaban', Sirius grunted, 'but I managed it. Don't you talk about the impossible to me, William Weasley!'

As he spoke, his right food touched solid ground, and with a gasp, he squatted down and allowed Bill to roll off his back. They were half-way through the cliff-the crack had only split a part of the cliff in two-and so would have to walk through a dark, narrow tunnel (built by God knows who)to get out into the half-light of the wastelands, but Sirius did not care. He had done it. He had saved Bill.

Remus was the first to land next to them. He quickly unpacked two torches, and lit them with his wand, to cast light on the injured Bill. 'He'll live', Remus announced, after much examination of the patient, 'broken left leg, a couple of squashed toes, broken nose, torn ear-your mother warned you not to wear those earrings!-a deep gash in his cheek, bruised ribs...I'm guessing he hit off a few obstacles before he landed on that ledge.'

'Yeah, there were some bits that stuck out', Sirius agreed.

'Will you two do me a favour?' Bill moaned, 'will you get Oliver to kill the Flint kid for me?'

Remus laughed. 'Same old Bill', he remarked.

**********************

The entire party were soon at the bottom of the cliff, and after making a stretcher for Bill, they hurried through the tunnel, out into the daylight again. Here, Remus made a splint for Bill's leg, and created two crutches out of the air. Also at this point, Oliver Wood settled some old scores will Marcus Flint, then left him unconscious in a heap at the foot of a cliff, having fallen victim to one too many Stunners and Hexes from Oliver's wand.

'Now all that lies between us and Azkaban is the wastelands, and the sea', Sirius said, 'I don't think we need these prisoners anymore. Sna-I mean, Charlie! You know what to do.'

Soon, all ten Death Eaters lay unarmed and unmasked at the foot of the cliff, after Snape had force-fed them all (including the unconscious Marcus, just to be sure) an incredibly strong, irriversible Sleeping Draught, which would take days to wear off. They would have no chance to return to Azkaban, and give any information to their master about their captors, without crossing paths with Sirius again-something which the powerless wizard was sure they would not relish.

'On we go then', he said softly, 'to Azkaban.'

"The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began

Now far ahead the road has gone

And I must follow, if I can."

Taken from the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, by JRR Tolkien.

(If you're gonna quote, you may as well quote a master!)