Chapter 4: Saving the Stone

Silently, Sirius followed Dumbledore down a set of grey stone steps, with James and the others following closely behind him.

They were in complete darkness but for the candlelight that shone above them as they descended into the depths of the mysterious, underground cabin. The staircase spiralled, twisting sharply so that Dumbledore was rarely in sight. Sirius could just hear the whisper of James' heavy breath above the rapid beat of his own heart.

When the group finally caught up with its leader, they found themselves in a large, unlit room. Dumbledore had already seated himself upon a large tattered sofa which lay in the centre of the room. Several bookshelves lined the wall opposite the staircase and an array of large, grotesque statues littered the floor.

Moody withdrew his wand. A shot of golden sparks shot from the end, igniting a large log-fireplace and several candlesticks. He sat down by Dumbledore's side and indicated that the rest of the group should also seat themselves. Using their wands, the new recruits each summoned a chair and formed a circle.

The other Order members were clearly as unnerved as Sirius, whose heart had not stopped racing since Moody's abrupt entrance. Alice perched nervously on the edge of her chair, Benjy Fenwick's bright blue eyes widened as he anticipated some form of address. James cast a sideways glance at his best friend. It was hard to tell whether he was nervous or excited, he simply raised his eyebrows and ruffled his hair, as if almost bored with the suspense. Sirius felt he could not feign indifference, the hairs on the back of his neck pricked and his hands shook. He looked into Dumbledore's twinkling eyes, willing him to speak.

But he didn't.

The Headmaster simply surveyed the group with interest, his long, bony fingers resting on his knees as if, he too, were waiting for something to happen.

Sirius began to feel nervous.

Why wasn't anyone speaking?

What was going on?

He pushed a stray lock of long, black hair from his eyes, his face grew uncomfortably hot. His eyes flickered from Benjy, who looked dangerously near bursting, to James who was now resting his head on his palm, staring disinterestedly at Aberforth's collection of books. It was only when Sirius looked at Moody that the reason for such a lengthy silence became apparent.

The usually gruff Auror was glaring red-faced at the floor, the back of his head turned towards Aberforth. Dumbledore, who had also spotted the problem, was looking at both Moody and his brother with clear amusement.

Aberforth Dumbledore was beaming at Moody as though he had never seen a human being before in his life. Every now and then he would wink in the Mad-Eye's direction or raise his eyebrows suggestively. Moody was clearly pretending not to have noticed but as the silence went on, the others in the room quickly became aware of his embarrassment.

'Perhaps,' Dumbledore said quietly, 'You would like to give the briefing Alastor, as it is your information that has brought the group here.'

'Right,' Moody began, his voice was hoarse, although his cheeks were definitely pink. 'This is what we've got men….and women, sorry Alice. You may, or may not, be aware of the likes of Nicholas Flamel and his lady wife. Along with Dumbledore here, he created the Philosopher's Stone, the only one in existence, guaranteed to provide its owner with ceaseless wealth and immortality.'

'Yeah, we all know about that,' James confirmed, finally paying attention to the rest of the group. 'Flamel's famous for his work as an Alchemist.'

Moody nodded, 'Yeah. Well, he's been keeping the Stone in a safe at his place but, since You-Know-Who came to power, he's been employing a group of Aurors to guard it. Trouble is that one of the Aurors is starting to look a bit dodgy. I'm not convinced that his loyalty lies with us, I know for a fact that he's friendly with the likes of Rabastan Lestrange'

'Do you think the Lestranges are Death Eaters?' Alice asked politely.

'Yes I think so,' Moody replied.

'I know so,' Sirius added darkly.

Moody raised his eyebrows, 'You know them?'

Sirius slouched in his chair uncomfortably, 'Sort of.'

Although Dumbledore was already well aware of Sirius's parentage, Sirius did not think it wise to announce his relation to the Lestrange's to the rest of the Order; he didn't want to lose their trust.

'Ever heard them speak of a Heraticus Dolohov?'

Sirius nodded, his heart felt suddenly very heavy. His first day in the Order and, already, the Black family name was getting him into a sticky situation.

'He's a Pureblood Activist,' Sirius explained. 'He originally joined the Ministry to train as an Unspeakable but it didn't work out, so he became an Auror, with a lot of help from Lucius Malfoy Senior.'

'Yeah', Moody growled, 'Malfoy groomed him alright, placed him at the centre of things. If he is a spy, we're in real trouble'

'What do we do?' Benjy asked eagerly. 'We could try and discredit Dolohov, but that could take months and we'd need solid proof that he is a spy.'

Moody growled softly, 'Even if we tried it wouldn't work; not with old man Malfoy pulling the Minister's strings. Nah, no chance of that. We need to move the Stone.'

'How are we supposed to do that?' Frank Longbottom cried. 'Where would we move it to?'

'Gringotts', Dumbledore replied. 'I have arranged for the Stone to be enclosed in a high security vault. Storing the Stone is not the problem. Transporting it, unfortunately, could prove dangerous. If Voldemort realises that the Stone has been moved, which is highly likely, you will doubtlessly be ambushed.'

Alice gasped loudly, prompting Moody to ask, 'Are you all willing to take this job on? If any of you have doubts for Merlin's sake say so now. I can't lead an operation if my guards are gonna get the wobblies half way to Gringotts. Are you in or out?'

Moody glanced around the circle; his wide eyes looked almost menacing. A positive murmur ran around the circle, indicating that all members were willing to take part.

It suddenly occurred to Sirius that it was now well after two in the morning. He tried to stifle a yawn as Moody got to his feet and began to shuffle pieces of parchment, attaching odd sheets to the wall with a Sticking Charm.

Aberforth got up and carried an artist's easel into the centre of the gathering. There were several similar easels propped against the wall, each empty but for one, which held a portrait of a young, dark-haired boy. Aberforth was obviously a keen painter.

Moody unrolled a large map and attached it to the wooden frame so that all of the group could see it.

'This,' Moody stated, pointing at the map with his wand, 'Is Flamel's place; A large castle in the centre of London. It's a bloody big place so we need to make sure that we know our way around it before we actually get there.'

Judging by the size of the map Sirius guessed that Moody's interpretation of 'bloody big' would be perhaps more correctly defined as 'colossal'.

 The castle had five floors as well as a spacious attic, cellars and dungeons. A web of corridors divided each floor, turning the whole building into an impossible labyrinth.  Flamel had no fewer than thirty one kitchens, fifty bedrooms and, curiously, one hundred lavatories. The attraction of endless wealth had obviously gone to his head.

'The Stone is situated up here,' Moody continued, ignoring the open mouths around him. 'Right up on the fourth floor in the left hand corner.' (He indicated to the point on the map with his wand) 'Luckily there is a lift between the second and third floors so we need only climb fourteen hundred and seventy seven steps.'

James nearly choked on his tongue 'Fourteen hundred….'

'To get into this part of the castle,' Moody continued, ignoring James outrage 'you will need to remember thirteen passwords and will need to perform nine complex charms.'

'But,' James continued to protest.

'If you can't handle that Mr Potter, you are quite welcome to leave.' Moody snarled, baring a set of badly damaged teeth.'

'No, no carry on,' James replied coolly.

'Right, now the most important factor here is time. The Aurors take scheduled half hourly breaks, lasting for half an hour each. We need to conceal ourselves whilst Dolohov is on duty. Potter, I believe you have an Invisibility Cloak. I want you, Black and Fenwick to use that, the rest of you can use one of mine.' Moody nooded towards James.

'As soon as Dolohov is off premises we take the Stone. We will have approximately one hour of safe time. Dolohov will return to his shift and realise the Stone is gone after half an hour; he will have to stay on duty for another half an hour, but during his next break he will, doubtlessly, inform Voldemort that the Stone is missing. After that hour is up we need to have our wits about us. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!' Moody roared making everyone but Dumbledore jump.

Aberforth seemed quite impressed by Moody's display of aggression and clapped his hands together with glee. James, on the other hand, seemed decidedly pissed of by Moody's illusion of superiority and scowled at him with great dislike.

'Right,' Moody said as he got to his feet. 'I'll leave the rest to Albus…er, Aberforth, could I have a quick word about the …erm…layout of this room.'

Aberforth almost squealed with delight as Moody lead him off into a dimly lit corner of the room.

The older Dumbledore lounged gracefully upon the shabby velvet sofa and spoke lightly, with great calm.

'I must admit, you have all made me feel terribly proud tonight. Never had I imagined that you could take on such a task without a trace of doubt in you. You have shown great courage and commitment and my pride makes me feel ashamed, because I ought to have had faith in you all along. I have no right to be proud of you, because I can not be accredited for the courage you show. I did not teach you to be brave and compassionate; you found these qualities within yourselves. Now…'

Dumbledore stood in the centre of the circle, his wand poised. I want to quickly run through the spells you will need to perform to gain access to Flamel's quarters. I will also inform you of the passwords Alastor spoke of. Who can remember how to perform 'Exemplum Colloportus?'

For almost an hour the group practiced a variety of advanced spells and charms. Those who had managed to fathom the spells needed to gain entry to Flamels' castle went on to practice methods of defence that may come in useful during the foreseen Death Eater attack.

It was only when Moody rejoined the circle with a tearful Aberforth that the group became silent and seated again. Aberforth, eyes rimmed with angry red flesh, was now looking at Moody with utmost loathing as he clutched the portrait of the handsome dark boy to his chest with such might that his knuckles whitened.

'He says I have to throw it away Albie,' Aberofrth wailed. 'He says it's taking up too much space.'

Dumbledore's face filled with distaste as he surveyed the painting. 'You will get rid of it Aberforth, because if you do not, I will burn it.'

Dumbledore did not sound threatening, nasty or even the slightest bit cross. He remained positively calm and collected.

'Noooo. Albus you can't. You know who this painting shows, don't you brother? You know that it's….'

'Silence!' Dumbledore raged, abandoning his peaceful aura and replacing it with utmost rage.

'Now look here Dumbledore,' Moody said placidly. 'There's no need for fuss. Let's just say he keeps his painting in his room out of our way. I was just a bit unhappy about it lying around our work area that's all.'

Dumbledore didn't speak. Aberforth took this as a good sign and skipped merrily into a nearby room before returning, minus his painting.

'Thank you Ally!' he gushed. 'You are by far the kindest man I have ever met.'

'No I'm not,' Moody growled (although his cheeks regained a definite pink quality) 'and it's Alastor, or Moody to you.'

'Of course Alastor, whatever you wish! You only have to ask and I'm at your service!'

Moody sat down heavily and began to cough, a hopeless attempt at trying to drown out the sniggers of Misters Potter and Black.

'You will all travel to Flamel's house by broomstick.' Dumbledore stated, trying to ignore Moody's predicament. 'The house is not connected to the Floo network and it is protected with an Anti-Apparation Charm, for obvious reasons. The same goes for Gringotts. I wish you all a safe and trouble-free journey. I will meet you all back here in four hours.'

With that Moody led the gang back out of the house and up to the cliff tops. The sky was now completely dark, not a single star shone upon the deep, black void. Hogsmeade village was now completely invisible but the imposing structure of Hogwarts Castle hung in the distance.

'Right,' Moody sighed. 'We'd better get going. We're heading due west for thirty miles and then south-south-east for twelve. I'll keep up a lead just in case you get lost or veer off course, although the wind is low so that shouldn't be a worry. James, you're a whiz on the old broomstick, you pick up the rear. Now, summon your brooms, we've dithered about enough already.'

Obediently each member of the group summoned their broomstick and mounted without delay.

'This is it' Sirius thought to himself.  'After months of waiting, begging and pleading, this is finally it.'

There was no time for regret. No time for second thoughts and no time for lost nerve. Without a moment to spare Moody kicked off from the ground, followed closely by Aberforth with James trailing behind.

The wind whistled through Sirius hair as his broom climbed higher and higher into the night sky.

He had no idea what was going to happen, not a clue what to expect. All he knew was that he was risking his life, and he prayed that they would all get home safely.

A/N Ok, I'm going to wrap it up there! Once again I've found myself with too much info to fit into one chapter. I'm not too sure that I'll be able to fit any 'Present Sirius' into the next chapter (big battle scene coming up…with death and other nastiness) so I think chapter 6 will have to be a summary chaper ie. Sirius's reflection on all of this 'Past-y stuff) Sorry if this seems to be veering off course a bit!

Oceanjewel: Sorry about the ending! I don't like to write long chapters, cos if you're anything like me you'll get bored half way through them, and there's just too much to fit in! Hope you enjoyed this one as much as the last. Thanx for reading!

PrincessSkywalkerOrgana: I know Remus wants to help Sirius, I just don't think Sirius is the type of bloke that likes to accept help-he'd rather stew and feel sorry for himself (and there certainly won't be any 'ship-ness' if that's what you mean!) I'll keep adding on if you keep reading!

Polkat: I think I've covered the cave thing haven't I? Yes, the Black's do seem to be a millstone for poor Sirius. I hope Aberforth has been suitably gay, just sorry I don't have the time or space to make him worse….cos he's off to a 'better place' soon.