To Walk Through The Fire

Richard Lupin was a patient man under normal circumstances. He could sit back if necessary and wait calmly until it was time for him to act, but today he found himself unable to sit back and simply do nothing. He felt like pacing, like apparating somewhere – anywhere – and actually do something to bring his sons back. He could not simply sit back and wait until Albus Dumbledore had found something out.

The Hogwarts headmaster had been relatively silent since his last announcement that they might need more time to track Remus and Janus down than they probably had, and Richard had understandably been a little hesitant in addressing him and thus disturbing him any further. Dumbledore needed to track down the location of his mysterious 'associate', and if that was the only way to find his sons then Richard would be the last person on earth to disturb him.

Serena was sitting on the sofa that stood against the wall, her knees drawn up and her hands resting against her stomach, staring blankly out of the window. She was still frighteningly pale, her lower lip trembling ever so slightly, but for the life of him Richard could not think of anything to say or do that would make her feel better. He himself felt like curling up somewhere and cry his eyes out, so how was he supposed to give comfort to somebody else? The only thing that would make the two of them feel better was if Janus and Remus came back, quickly and unharmed. And if they brought Harry back.

Shortly after they had arrived in Dumbledore's office, Serena had called up her mother in the fireplace and had asked her to take care of Julia for the time being, so at least the child was taken care of and not around for whatever was about to happen next.

A little more disturbing had been their attempt at locating Janus' partner, Lucas Spalding. While Dumbledore had told them that Remus had had no problem to contact his home from the fireplace a number of days ago, this time they had not been so lucky. For minutes Richard had knelt in front of the fireplace and had called up Lucas' house, but without any reply. From previous attempts to reach his son at work he knew that it was pretty hopeless to get a connection to Lucas if he was at the Department. It was nearly impossible for him to reach his own son even if he knew that he was just one door next to the unrelenting secretary, reaching somebody whom he was not related to was a nearly impossible feat, Richard knew. The Department was making a real fuss about their Unspeakables, doing everything to create even greater myths and mysteries around them to keep it a secret how the Department really worked.

Dumbledore had not shown any real reaction when Richard had finally given up his attempts to try and reach his son's partner, but Richard could not help the feeling of urgency that overcame him. He had the sinking feeling that they needed to contact Janus' partner, he only hoped that Dumbledore would find a way to do so.

While Richard had been occupied with the fireplace, Dumbledore had for a short while rummaged around in one of the cupboards behind his desk, then had returned to the map on his desk with another wand in his hand. His own wand was lying next to the map, and the second wand he had fetched didn't look like it belonged to the Hogwarts headmaster. Actually, it was an old wand and it was clearly broken, split in half nearly all the way through, though Richard could not tell by what. Richard was not the most experienced person when it came to fighting, but if the damage this wand had sustained had happened during a duel, then he wondered how the person holding it had survived an attack like that.

If he thought about it, then surely the wand had once belonged to the person Dumbledore was trying to track down, there was no other logical explanation. A clever choice for an object to perform a tracking charm – there was hardly anything more closely connected to a person than their wand. If they didn't manage to track the mysterious person down with this, then it would become difficult to track him down at all. Tracking Charms worked easily in a close range, but the farther a person was away from the one who tracked him, the more difficult it became to perform a successful tracking charm. It required an object that was strongly connected to the person's magic – that was why the wand was such an excellent choice. That was one reason why no tracking charm had worked to bring up the Harry's position. The child had no wand yet, the most personal things they had had of him had been his clothes and toys and they simply had not been strong enough.

But Dumbledore had been right, if his 'associate' – and by now Richard was really curious who this mysterious person was – had travelled a long distance by portkey or apparition then it would take quite some time until the tracking charm could come up with any results.

Richard wiped his sweaty palms on his thighs, for the umpteenth time praying that they would have a result soon.

Dumbledore was watching the map in front of him intensely, his own wand in his hand and the broken one lying on a spot in the upper part of the map – Hogwarts, Richard supposed. Now they needed to wait until something moved.

Dumbledore suddenly moved away from the desk and stepped over towards the fireplace. He threw some floo powder into the flames and started a call.

"Ministry of Magic, Auror Department, Kingsley Shacklebolt."

The flames in the fireplace flickered, and after maybe half a minute suddenly the head of a tall, bald and dark skinned wizard appeared in the fireplace. He smiled at Dumbledore, a broad smile which showed a lot of straight white teeth, but there was a note of worry in his eyes.
"Dumbledore. We don't have any news on Potter's whereabouts, I'm afraid. Or do you know something?"

"Maybe, but I would not want to discuss that over the fireplace. Could you come into my office for a moment, Kingsley?"

The dark wizard nodded.

"Sure, just give me a moment."

"Thank you. The password is 'liquorice'."
Dumbledore stepped back to his desk and looked at the map again, the line on his face hardening as he realized that though the tracking charm was in place there was still no movement that would reveal the location of Janus' and Remus' position.

Maybe five minutes passed, then the flames in Dumbledore's fireplace turned green an in a swirl of robes and soot Kingsley Shacklebolt came out of the fireplace, coughing slightly. He straightened up and smiled at Dumbledore while he dusted his robes off with a wave of his wand.
"I swear, those Ministry fireplaces have not been cleaned since the last goblin rebellion. So Dumbledore, what are the news?"

Then Kingsley saw Richard and Serena and turned a curious gaze on them. Dumbledore followed his gaze and came forward from behind his desk.
"Kingsley, those are Richard and Serena Lupin, Remus' father and sister-in-law. This is Kingsley Shacklebolt, and old friend of mine who works in the Auror Department."
The three of them nodded at each other after that introduction, then Kingsley turned towards the Hogwarts Headmaster again. Dumbledore gestured him to sit, his gaze shifting towards the map every other moment to check whether something had changed.

"I'm afraid we don't have much time, but I need to give you at least a short insight into what happened today. This morning, Remus got himself released from hospital. He was at his brother's house when about an hour ago an owl delivered a letter and a parcel. Unfortunately the object in the package was a portkey that took Remus and Janus to an unknown location."

If Kingsley was surprised, then he did not show. He merely nodded and waited for Dumbledore to continue.

"I have the letter here, but I doubt that it will be of any use in finding out who sent it or where those persons are. But while I was at the Lupins', I got a signal from Fawkes and when I returned I found this message from Severus."

Dumbledore handed the two scrolls of parchment – the letter that was sent to Remus and the one he had found on his desk – to Kingsley and waited for his reaction. Richard meanwhile tried to think from where he knew the name Severus – if he had understood it right, then this Severus was Dumbledore's associate who had left the letter. He was sure that he had heard it before, but for the life of him could not focus properly at the moment. There would be a time for thinking about that later.

Kingsley read the letters carefully, taking his time with the note that had been left for Dumbledore in his office. He handed the parchments back after a while.
"You think those are connected?"

Dumbledore nodded.
"It's too much of a coincidence not to be. I'm fairly sure that wherever Severus was called to is the same place Remus and Janus have been transported to."
"But they were careful enough not to tell him beforehand, and now you try to track him down." Kingsley gestured towards the map and the wand which were still lying motionless on the desk. Dumbledore nodded.

"Yes, but from what it looks like Severus probably apparated somewhere and then took a portkey, so it might take some more time until the tracking spell finds him again."

Kingsley got up from the chair he had sunk into and walked over towards the window, staring out for a moment. He tapped his right foot on the floor, scratched his bald head and turned back to Dumbledore.

"You don't know anything about the number of Death Eaters we're talking about here, do you?"

Richard's head snapped up, alarmed, but Dumbledore only shrugged slightly.
"Not after what happened in Azkaban, no I don't."

Kingsley thought again.

"I can raise my entire unit, but that's only about ten men, and that already implies the unlikely chance that I can reach and alert those who are not on duty tonight as quickly as we might need them. I'd have to stir up the department a bit to raise more capacities, but that would mean involving more people. I could try to keep Fudge out of it considering how he stands to all this, but I can't guarantee that it'll be successful."

Dumbledore sighed, then nodded. "It has to be done, I'm afraid. I'll let you know as soon as the tracking charm reveals something. There is one more thing, though."

Kingsley nodded at the older wizard. "Go ahead, then."

"It might be helpful to alert Janus Lupin's partner, Lucas Spalding. You know that I don't have any close connections to the Department of Mysteries, I was wondering whether you could help me out there."

Kingsley frowned. "Why not call them up from here?"

"You know what the Department is like, Kingsley. Either they won't even connect me to him at all, and even if they do they will immediately know that something out of the ordinary is going on. And at the moment I'm not so sure that it would not cause even more harm if the Department got wind of what happened to Remus and Janus and involved themselves." He looked very seriously at Shacklebolt. "I am worried that whatever is currently happening to Harry, Remus and Janus is something of very great importance, and I would rather have people I trust take care of finding them."

"All right, I'll try. You sure Spalding is at the Department?"

Dumbledore shrugged slightly. "We tried to reach him at his house earlier, but nobody responded to our calls. My guess would be that with the momentary situation as it is, he surely is at work."

Kingsley nodded again and got up from his seat. "As good as done already. Doge's secretary has a sister-in-law in the department archive who rather...fancies me, so to say. I'll have her send Spalding out to me without giving cause for suspicion. I'll let you know as soon as I talked to him."

"Thank you, Kingsley."

Kingsley only waved Dumbledore's thanks off.

"Nothing to thank me for. We'll talk later, then. Mr. and Mrs. Lupin." With another nod into the direction of Richard and Serena, Kingsley stepped back towards the fireplace and flooed away. Richard turned a worried glance on Dumbledore.

"You think they're in real danger, don't you?"

Serena looked up at them, the scared look on her face growing even more pronounced. Dumbledore leaned against the desk and nodded.
"Yes, I do. You know what happened in Azkaban that made it possible for Sirius Black to escape?"

Richard shook his head. "Not really. I only know that he escaped, not how. Remus had that seizure before Janus had the time to tell anything more, and afterwards he didn't make any move to tell more about it. By now I know not to ask him anything related to his work if he doesn't tell it on his own."

Dumbledore threw another glance at the map on his desk and only when he saw that still nothing had changed in the position of the wand did he turn towards Richard and Serena again.

"I wouldn't have thought that he told you. I myself had quite a struggle to find out a bit more about it, though for a moment I wished I had not." His blue eyes darted from Richard to Serena and back again, silently telling them that whatever they would get to know now was not meant to leave this office.

"Azkaban was raided, presumably by those Death Eaters who were able to escape imprisonment after the war. Not all the Death Eaters who were imprisoned in Azkaban escaped that night, but the number of the ones who did still is large enough to worry about. And if my assumptions are right, then those Death Eaters are assembling somewhere right now."

Richard shook his head.

"But what does that have to do with Harry, Janus and Remus?"

"Naturally, the Death Eaters would have a great interest in Harry as he was the one who brought their master down six years ago. But they sent the portkey after Harry was abducted, so there must be another interest involved. I'm afraid I know just as little as you do as to why Remus and Janus were taken, we don't even know if the portkey was designed for them both or only for one of them."

"But why do you think that their abduction has something to do with that associate of yours?"

Dumbledore sighed and looked at Richard for a moment, then turned his eyes on Serena. After a long while he spoke again.

"As I said to Kingsley, it would be too much of a coincidence if those two events were not connected."

That was Dumbledore's answer for the moment and Richard could tell that he was not willing to reveal anything more to him. Just why the headmaster was making such a secret about who this Severus was and where he had been called Richard could not tell, but he could feel his little patience fading. If there was one thing he could not stand then it was this uncertainty, he simply needed to know what was happening to his sons and his grandson, three people who meant more to Richard than his own life.

Richard sank back into his chair with a loud sigh. As he lifted his hands to wipe some strands of hair from his face he realized that they were shaking badly. The way things were turning, chances that he would see his sons and grandson alive again were not getting better. On the contrary. Richard struggled hard to fight down the urge to scream out loud. Harry was just a small child, he had not harmed anybody. And Janus and Remus...

Richard forced himself not to think about it and willed down the tears that had started to mist over his eyes. He would face those thoughts when there was no hope left to see his sons alive again, not a moment earlier. Right now there was still hope left, Janus was an experienced man when it came to such situations, surely he would do anything in his power to bring Remus, himself and if they were lucky even Harry out of there and back home.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Janus couldn't discern whether it was a cry of pain or one of rage which his brother was uttering. It sounded like something strangely in between, a lot more angry than earlier when Remus had discovered Harry, but still too pained to be purely angry. Janus didn't really understand his brother's reaction, he had no idea why there were silent tears running down Remus' cheeks, though he doubted that his brother was even aware that he was crying. Remus' eyes were focussed on the man who had stepped forward, the small pale figure who was still trembling slightly due to all the attention that was suddenly focussed on him. Janus followed Remus' gaze, he too stared at the man and tried to find out who he was and why he was able to provoke that kind of reaction from Remus.

There was not very much illumination in the room and the man was too far away for Janus to see everything clearly, and most of the man's figure was hidden beneath his wide and shapeless black robes anyway. But Janus could see that the man was small and a bit overweight – Janus would have called it podgy had the man been any younger. His hair was very thin, surely soon he'd be bald, and strangely colourless. It could have been a mousy brown or an ashen-blond, Janus was completely unable to say. His eyes were extremely bright and from this distance seemed pale as they quickly darted around the room as if he was searching for a way out. The man's appearance reminded Janus strangely of a small rodent and he could not help but shudder, as strange as it sounded for an experienced fighter like Janus to shudder at the sight of an obviously very afraid small man who didn't seem to pose any real threat.

Somewhere he had seen the man before, but for the life of him Janus could not remember where.

Remus had not once turned his eyes away from the man since Malfoy had beckoned him forward, though the man stubbornly refused to look into Remus' direction.

Janus was shocked to find that his brother was sobbing openly now, tears still running down his face and his breaths coming in short, heaving gasps. With every breath he took Remus moved back and forth, as if he wasn't getting enough air, and the little colour which had remained on his face had completely faded by now. Janus ran a short mental list of what his brother had been through in the past days and had not even finished that list when he came to the conclusion that Remus was well beyond the limit of what he could take. No matter who that man was and why Remus reacted to him like he did, this was too much for him.

Janus turned slightly to get his brother's attention as his gaze strayed over to where Black was still lying against the other wall and he started slightly. Black was staring at the small man just like Remus did, though he was not crying. But though the overwhelming attribute of his gaze was an extreme blankness, Janus thought that he discovered a glint of recognition there. Did that mean that Black also knew the small, balding man? What did that mean?

Janus turned towards his brother and raised his bound wrists to place them on Remus' shoulder – ignoring the slight pain in his joints as he overstretched his bound wrists and elbows uncomfortably – and gently drew his attention. Their guard kept his wand trained on them but didn't say anything.

"Remus?"

It took a moment until Remus finally broke his stare and turned his amber eyes on his brother.

"Yes?" His voice sounded strangely detached and distant, as if his mind was not completely in the here and now.

"Who is this?"

Remus' eyes flickered back to the small man for a short moment before Janus squeezed his shoulder and drew his attention back again.

"Remus, who is this?"

Remus' breathing was still harsh and laboured and his voice broke slightly as he spoke, nevertheless there was much anger in his voice as he replied.

"Wormtail."

"Who?" Janus was not sure if he had heard right, that name meant absolutely nothing to him.

"Peter Pettigrew."

That name, on the other hand, meant quite a lot to Janus.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Up and down; up and down; up and down.

Richard was pacing Dumbledore's office, just as he had done for the past twenty minutes, constantly walking up and down the room while he was nervously chewing his right thumbnail. His left hand was holding his right elbow against his chest as if to hug himself. Twenty minutes since Kingsley Shacklebolt had left Dumbledore's office and still they were not a step closer to finding his sons. Not a fucking step.

And the office seemed to be getting smaller with every time he paced it up and down.

Serena was still sitting on the sofa, staring off into space and Dumbledore was still watching the map from behind his desk. Taking one deep breath, Richard crossed the room once more and stepped beside the older wizard. Until now, he had remained silent, mostly for Serena's sake, but now he simply could not keep his fears at bay any longer. He desperately needed some answers, and though he was more scared than he remembered ever being he could no longer stand this uncertainty. And if Dumbledore's explanation would reveal something bad, then there was no use in sparing Serena from it now, she'd have to deal with it sooner or later anyway.

Dumbledore looked up as Richard approached, his clear blue eyes behind the half-moon glasses not sparkling like they usually did, but looking sadly at Richard.

"Anything new?"

Richard could already see that the broken wand on the map had not moved yet, but still he had needed to ask. Dumbledore shook his head. "Still nothing. If Severus has travelled too long by portkey or if he had to change the means of transportation too often then it will take even longer still until we will know where he went to."

"And you are convinced that Janus and Remus don't have that time."

Dumbledore nodded gravely. Richard had not yet read the letter that had been left by this Severus, the letter which had convinced the Hogwarts headmaster that Janus and Remus were trapped and in mortal danger. He guessed that Dumbledore had his reasons not to show him the letter, and he didn't really need to read it. He trusted Dumbledore enough so that he didn't need to see it with his own eyes. But he wanted, no he needed, an explanation.

"Albus, what exactly are you so worried about?"

Dumbledore looked somewhat surprised at that question but Richard quickly shook his head.

"Of course I can imagine that you're worried. So am I, believe me. I'm worried sick about the three of them, but there's something else I get the feeling you're not telling me. What did this Severus write in his message that makes you so sure that Janus and Remus are running out of time?"

With a sigh Dumbledore sank into his chair and looked for all the world like somebody who was going through a hard struggle with himself.

"Albus, it's my sons we're talking about. The two single most important people in my life. I need to know what might be happening to them."

Dumbledore didn't answer immediately, and Richard realized that he was desperate enough to beg.

"Albus", he pleaded, "if I already accept that I could lose both my sons tonight, the least you can do is tell me what is going on. I have a right to know."

Dumbledore nodded with a weary sigh. "I know." He looked over to where Serena was sitting on the sofa, her eyes now turned on them instead of at the wall. Then the older wizard nodded and started to speak.

"You are right of course. But you have to understand that there is an important reason why I was hesitant to tell you anything further, the safety of others depends on it."

"All I care about at the moment is what is happening to Janus and Remus. And Harry. Nothing else is important to me now and whatever you tell me now will not leave this room. But I need to know."

Dumbledore's eyes darted over to where Serena was sitting and she nodded resolutely as well. It seemed as if the shock about what had happened to her husband was slowly subsiding, and as her thoughts became more focussed again she too wanted to know what was happening to Janus.

Dumbledore let his eyes wander over the portraits on the walls for a moment, the nodded and stepped behind his desk, thinking for a moment as if searching for the right words which would not reveal too much.

"All right, and as we will surely have to wait for some moments longer there is still the time. You have to know that Severus is an old acquaintance of mine, somebody I have known for a very long time and one of the few people who have my utmost trust. He is also a Death Eater."

Richard and Serena both looked startled at this revelation but Dumbledore continued as if he had not realized it.

"He has always been a very reliable associate and his connections have provided the resistance with very important information during the war. He left me the letter and sent out Fawkes to find me because tonight he has been called to a gathering for the first time ever since the war ended. Richard, I am talking about a Death Eater meeting Severus was called to, and even though he was not told about the location beforehand he was very sure about the reasons. Many Death Eaters have escaped Azkaban the night Sirius Black did, and Severus is convinced that they will attempt to bring Voldemort back."

Serena gasped at the mention of the Dark Lord's name – though Janus used it as well there were few occasions when the Dark Lord's name was mentioned at their home. And Serena had been raised like most other witches and wizards of her generation in fear of Voldemort's name. Richard too looked shaken, but he only took a moment before he regained his speech.

"And you think that this is why they took Harry?"

Dumbledore nodded. "When the curse that was meant to kill Harry failed and Voldemort fell – it made Harry special. He does not know it yet, and I had hoped he would not have to deal with it for a long time to come, but now it seems that it was a foolish hope. I don't think that what remained of Voldemort's forces know exactly what they are dealing with, but if they manage to resurrect their master by using Harry, then Voldemort will become even more powerful than he was before. And once Voldemort is able to get hold of a physical body again, I'm afraid that he won't have the mercy to spare Harry's life."

Richard swallowed hard.

"But why would somebody send a portkey to bring Janus and Remus there? Why take the risk that they might save Harry if that might destroy their plans?"

Dumbledore shook his head with another weary sigh. "I don't have an answer for that, Richard. But from all I know about Voldemort's followers, they would not take the risk of somebody rescuing Harry and thus ruining their plan. What they have done to take their people out of Azkaban and to get hold of Harry has taken too much planning, the people who are in charge are not stupid enough to let that much work be ruined."

Richard nodded defeatedly, still too many questions in his head for him to feel comfortable. He wanted to resume his pacing, wanted to play all he knew and all the questions he had around in his head again while he walked up and down, but at that moment the fireplace in the corner roared to life again and for the second time that day Kingsley Shacklebolt stepped through. Dumbledore went forward to greet him again, and Richard noticed that Shacklebolt's eyes immediately darted over towards the map on the desk to see if something had changed.

"Kingsley, what is it?"

"You owe me big time for this, Dumbledore. I had to promise Sheila – she's the sister-in-law of Doge's secretary – to take her out for a date before she agreed to search Spalding out for me. And there's something fishy going on, Dumbledore."

"Why's that?"

"The Department is one big uproar from what it looks like at the moment. Seems that they already know about Lupin vanishing, though they don't know where he is. But strangely enough, Spalding has not shown up at work today either, or if he did then nobody saw him. But he definitely is not in the Department at the moment. Sheila said not so long ago Ryder was shouting around in the corridor for somebody to find Spalding and bring him to his office, and he must have sounded really pissed. You sure Spalding is not at home?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, we are."

"Then he's missing."

"Strange coincidence, don't you think, Kingsley?"

Shacklebolt shrugged. "No, actually I don't. But you're asking me too much if you want to know what is going on. But I need to get back to the Ministry now, I still need to try and alert three of my men. I set up Doge to alert his own unit already, then I'll see what else I can do to raise some more men."

"Thank you, Kingsley. I'll let you know as soon as we have anything..." Dumbledore fell silent and four pairs of eyes immediately turned towards the desk behind the old Hogwarts Headmaster.

The wand on the map had begun to move.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Remus felt as if somebody had forcefully pulled his heart out of his chest and was now stamping it into the floor.

Harry had been kidnapped. They were trapped here. Harry was dead. Sirius had trapped them here, surrounded by Death Eaters. Janus had thought he was responsible for all this. Sirius had killed Harry.

And Peter was still alive.

But Sirius had killed Peter, had killed him just like he had killed all those muggles – just like he had killed Harry – so why was Peter here now, very obviously alive? Remus' brain seemed to have stopped working because he simply could not come up with an answer that left none of his questions open. Too much had happened during the past hours, his mind was overloaded with all that new information.

And now Peter was standing there, staring around in that nervous manner he had already had during their first years at school. Was standing maybe three feet next to where Harry's body lay and that alone made the hairs on Remus' neck stand up. For some strange reason he didn't want Peter to stand near his godson. He wanted nobody near Harry now, he wanted to get out of those blasted ropes and get over to where Harry was lying, he wanted to take the small body into his arms no matter how pale, dirty and cold he probably was by now. Remus only wanted to bury his face in the unruly black hair, breathe in its sweet and clean scent that was so uniquely Harry, to hold Harry's body and to rock him back and forth and hum a lullaby, just like he had always done when Harry had a nightmare. Remus desperately wanted to hold Harry in his arms and to pretend that he wasn't really dead for as long as reality had not caught up with him.

But he could not even get out of his bonds, and there Peter still stood so close to his godson, too close to Harry's body for Remus' liking. Much too close.

After what seemed like an eternity during which nothing had moved, suddenly the tall man who had beckoned Peter forward spoke again. Remus wouldn't have recognized him as Malfoy on his own, he had never had any direct contact with the man, though he had fought in the Order of the Phoenix during the war. Malfoy had always been one of the Order's main targets, one of the Death Eaters they had tried to uncover, but though he knew what Malfoy looked like Remus could not recognize him by his voice alone. But Remus was fairly sure that this was the Death Eater Janus had earlier identified as Malfoy. The one who had kicked him, though Remus didn't want to pursue this line of thought any longer at the moment.

Remus' eyes widened as suddenly Malfoy dropped to his knees in front of Peter and bent his head.

"Master", he breathed out, barely audible. Had it not been for his sensitive hearing Remus might not have heard it immediately. "Your most faithful servants are here to pay our respects, here at the hour of your return."

Remus' throat closed up and his heart seemed to stop beating, completely caught by the strange display in front of him. What in Merlin's name was going on here?

One by one the remaining Death Eaters also sank to their knees, bowing their heads until only Peter was still left standing in their middle. The only other person in the room who was still standing up was the guard who was keeping an eye on them, but he too had lowered his head slightly to pay his respects.

Something seemed to happen to Peter at that moment, something Remus had never seen happen with Peter ever before. His posture straightened, stretched with a confidence Peter had never possessed. Remus had known Peter for more than ten years, and he had never seen him even remotely confident. Peter had always been the one to stand slightly in the background behind his friends and that had been the position he liked. Not in the spotlight like James or Sirius, Peter had never felt at home when somebody else's attention had been focussed on him. Never.

But now he seemed as if he had only waited for this to happen, for the other Death Eaters to fall to their knees in front of him, as if towering over them had been the position he had only waited to take for the entire evening. Peter stretched out his hands to his sides, a gesture that reminded Remus of a priest who was giving the blessing to his congregation.

Then Peter opened his eyes and Remus could not suppress another small shocked cry. Next to him, he heard Janus gasp, but neither Remus nor Janus were able to take their eyes off the strange display in front of them.

Peter's face, the always so chubby and cherubic round face, appeared to be more defined, sharper and a lot more threatening than Remus had ever seen it. And from below the strands of his thin, mousy-coloured hair a pair of red, slit eyes were staring down at the kneeling Death Eaters. A shiver ran down Remus' spine and he felt his hands starting to tremble despite his tight bonds. Only moments ago Remus had been convinced that his old friend was standing there, unchanged over the years during which he had been supposed dead, but now he was sure that something more serious was going on here. This was not Peter anymore, this was something else. This was not Peter – not wholly – this was something far darker, far more evil than Peter could have ever become. It took away Remus' breath simply to look at it and his heart was beating wildly in this throat. For a short moment, Remus managed to tear his eyes away from the shocking display in front of him and look over towards his brother. Remus was still angry at what his brother had done, at how little he had trusted him, but in his momentary confusion he needed the reassurance that at least Janus was able to make sense of all this. After all, Janus was the one who was trained for situations like this one, he was his older brother for Merlin's sake! If anything, that should be reason enough for him to have a reasonable explanation for what was going on here, shouldn't it?

But Janus didn't even look at him, he had his gaze fixed on Peter as well, staring wide-eyed at him just like Remus had done. There was no reassurance he could give Remus, that much was clear from the way his older brother was staring ahead in pure shock. Janus seemingly didn't know what was going on either, had no explanation for what was happening to Remus' former friend. And that thought only served to increase Remus' fears even further.

Movement from where Peter was standing drew Remus' attention and he turned his head back again. Peter looked from the left to the right, his eyes also sweeping over the bound captives near the far off wall. For a moment they rested on Remus, causing a huge shiver to run through his body and his blood to feel suddenly cold. Just as the gaze started to feel unbearable Peter looked over to where Sirius was lying, then turned his attention back at his Death Eaters.

"My faithful servants", he began and his voice was cold and high-pitched, strangely body-less. Not Peter's voice. What was going on here?

Peter let his red-slit eyes roam around the room once more, then made two steps to his right and in  one smooth movement drew his wand. As he pulled it out Remus' first thought was that this wasn't Peter's wand. The wand Peter had used at school had been shorter, maybe only 9½ inches long, and it had been of a similarly plain mouse-brown as his hair had been, but the smooth piece of wood in his hands now was far longer and had a dark-brown colour which gleamed reddish in the light of the torches.

But then Peter turned the wand on Harry and Remus stopped contemplating what was happening.

"No", he breathed out and despite the way his arms and ankles were bound Remus managed to get to his knees. He was still completely helpless and immobile, but nevertheless their guard turned his attention towards Remus.

"No", Remus whispered again, tears running down his cheeks, as Peter pointed his wand straight at Harry's chest.

"Enervate!"

Remus was taken aback, but before he could wonder about the choice of spell his attention was drawn by something far more important.

Harry began to move.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Dumbledore reacted with a speed one would not have expected from a man of his age, but still with all his quick reflexes he could not beat Richard who stood beside the desk so quickly that nobody really saw him move. His heart was beating so loud and fast that the others in the room surely had to hear it as well. His chest clenched painfully and he bit his lip hard.

Please don't let them be dead. Please let my sons be alive.

The broken wand moved southwards on the map until it came to rest somewhere in the middle of Essex. Dumbledore quickly waved his wand over the map and changed it from a map showing all of Great Britain to one that showed Essex in detail. Again the wand started to move across the map, and again Dumbledore enlarged the area the map showed. This procedure was repeated until the map was detailed enough to show exactly where this Severus was being.

Richard stopped biting his lip as the coppery taste of blood flowed over his tongue. Whatever he had expected, it surely had not been this. The broken wand seemed to rest in the middle of nowhere, next to a small town with a name Richard did not recognize. Little Hangleton. No, he had never heard of it before.

Slowly, Richard lifted his head and looked first at Shacklebolt, then at Dumbledore. Something seemed to pass between the two men.

"That what I think it is, Dumbledore?"
The Hogwarts headmaster nodded. "The Riddle House", he said lowly. "Of all the places they chose the Riddle House. We need to hurry."

Kingsley immediately stepped over towards the fireplace, but before he could floo away Dumbledore's voice stopped him.

"Kingsley?" the tall dark wizard turned around and lifted an eyebrow.

"We're going to need far more than merely your men and Doge's. Send every man you can get down there, no matter if the men are supposed to be under your command or not. No matter if Cornelius finds out or not. And make it fast."

Shacklebolt nodded and stepped into the fireplace, a moment later he was gone. Dumbledore turned his eyes on Richard then.
"The Riddle House?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Tom Riddle was Voldemort's real name. If those Death Eaters are really intending to bring him back to life, there is the most likely place for them to succeed. I had not expected them to try something like this early. I need to hurry. If they really succeed...it might be better if I was there."

Richard gripped his wand tightly and stepped beside him.
"I'm going with you."

Dumbledore opened his mouth to protest, but Richard shook his head. "I'm sure we don't have time for such a discussion."

Dumbledore looked at him for a moment, then he nodded reluctantly and grabbed a paperweight form the desk.

"We'll portkey to the Ministry, from there we'll see."

He placed the paperweight on his palm and stretched it out to Richard. As Richard put his hand on the smooth stone, Dumbledore turned his gaze towards Serena who until then had stood silently next to his desk.

"Mrs. Lupin, could you please go down into the infirmary and tell Madam Pomfrey what has happened? She'd better prepare the infirmary for our arrival, maybe her skills will be needed tonight. Maybe yours as well."
Serena nodded silently, glad that there was at least something she could do during the nerve-wracking wait for news on her husband. As she walked towards the door, Dumbledore tapped the tip of his wand against the paperweight.

"Portus!"

There was a soft blue glow from the paperweight, and after a second's wait Dumbledore and Richard vanished, Richard with the sickened feeling in his stomach which only a father can have who doesn't know if he'll ever see his children again.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

With wide eyes and bated breath Remus watched how Peter pointed his wand at Harry, said the revival spell and lowered his wand again.

What in Merlin's name...?

Then Harry moved and Remus thought that his heart would burst with all the conflicting emotions that were racing through it. If Harry moved, then Harry was alive, wasn't he? He had to be, there simply was no other explanation.
His pup was alive and now he was all alone surrounded by a horde of Death Eaters. And next to him Peter was standing with whom something was going on which Remus didn't want to see his child involved in. Remus didn't care that he could hardly move in his current situation, he didn't care that he was hardly able to move at all. Harry was alive and that meant he had to get to his side. He didn't care if he had to crawl to get there.

Janus jerked forward as he saw what his brother was about to do, he tried to hold him back and pull him out of harm's way at the same moment, but Remus was already out of reach.

Their guard had his wand out and pointed at Remus within the fraction of a moment.

"Petrificus totalis!"

Remus sank to the ground right where he was, the Full Body bind for the second time that evening making him completely unable to move. His eyes were the only part of his body which was not affected by the curse, and they remained fixed on what was happening with his godson.

Harry slowly sad up, his incredible green eyes wide open and darting around the room in fear. With mounting concern Remus saw how the child trembled and how he cradled his left arm against his body as if it was hurt. Then his eyes fell on Remus and something flickered across his face.

"Remus!"

Harry scrambled to his feet and started towards his godfather, but the Lucius Malfoy who still stood next to him stretched out his hand to stop him. He grabbed Harry by his already injured arm and yanked him back forcefully. Something snapped as Harry's arm was bent at an angle it was never meant to be bent and Harry screamed in pain. Remus helplessly writhed against the curse that held him in place as Malfoy pushed Harry back onto the floor and towered above him, hand lifted as if he was ready to strike him.

Harry cradled his arm against his chest again, tears streaming down his face and leaving their marks in the dirt that clung to his cheeks, pulled up his knees and tired to cover away from the tall Death Eater.

"No, please. Leave me alone, please no. Please, Remus! Help me, Remus!"

"Leave him alone!" Remus forcefully struggled against both bonds and curse that held him in place at the sound of his godson's voice creaming for him. Malfoy turned his head, looked at Remus, then turned to face him.

"Ah, Lupin. Obviously it takes another kind of curse to keep you in your place, doesn't it?"

Remus looked down and realized that he had somehow fought his way out of the Full Body Bind and was now kneeling in his previous position again. With a quick and seemingly often-practiced movement Malfoy brought his wand level with Remus' chest.

"Crucio!"

White-hot tongues of searing pain shot through Remus' veins, a worse agony than any of his monthly transformations could ever be, but with the last bit of strength and self-control he had Remus bit on his tongue and forced himself not to cry out loud. Harry should not hear him scream in pain, the child was already scared enough as it was. If he succeeded Remus could not tell, but he tried as hard as he could, biting his tongue and cheeks until blood filled his mouth.

It seemed like an endless stretch of time until the curse was lifted, though in fact it had probably lasted shorter than earlier with Lucas. Panting, Remus lay on the cold and dirty stone floor. Malfoy was still standing in the same position, and Harry was still sitting curled up in a tight ball, staring at his godfather from wide green eyes. Remus swallowed and tasted blood, but still he tried to smile encouragingly at Harry.

He still could not quite grasp what had really happened to his child, but as long as Harry was alive he would do anything to bring him out of there alive. Malfoy lifted his wand again, but one shake of 'Peter's' head stopped him.

"Save it for later, Lucius. Now we have something more important to do. You can enjoy some pleasure time with Spalding and the Lupins once we're finished here."

Malfoy nodded and stepped beside the cauldron without paying any more attention to Remus.
'Peter' stood on the other side and his red eyes watched impassively as Malfoy lightened a fire underneath the cauldron. The other Death Eaters re-formed the circle around them, but still the gap remained open for Janus, Lucas and Remus to see.

After a moment had passed, Peter suddenly made a step forward and climbed into the huge cauldron, shedding his robe as soon as he had sunk down into the liquid inside. Malfoy took the offered piece of cloth, folded it and placed it on the floor, then he lifted his hands announcing that he was about to speak.

"The moment we've all anticipated for more than five years has come at last! Tonight we shall bring our master back to his power, and that happened he will be even stronger than before. The new will show the wizarding world what power we possess. Not long, and the wizarding world will be at our master's feet!"

The Death Eaters cheered again and Remus felt something knot in his stomach. It could have been an after-effect of the curse, but he was fairly convinced that this sickening feeling came from his fear of what was about to happen next. It suddenly all made sense, in all its brutal clarity it hit him. This was not Peter, that thought had been right, but what really possessed Peter Remus would have done better without knowing. The only explanation for what was going on here was that something had taken hold of Peter's body. Something – or someone – who didn't have a body of their own anymore. And someone who was called 'Master' by a bunch of Death Eaters, someone whom Lucius Malfoy seemingly went any lengths to bring back. Remus swallowed hard, not daring to really think it. Voldemort. It had to be Voldemort. And if the Death Eaters managed to pull this through...

Malfoy turned towards the double-winged door at the other side of the room and raised his arms again, his wand pointing at the old wooden constructions.

"Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!"

Malfoy twirled his wand and pointed it at the door. For a long moment nothing happened, and Remus already allowed himself the faint hope that this would be the end of it, that something unforeseen had happened. Slowly, he tried to rise to his knees again, but at that moment the doors flew open with a loud bang.

A small whirlwind blew into the room, spinning above all their heads twice before Malfoy directed it towards the cauldron with a wave of his wand. The whirlwind stopped just above where 'Peter' had vanished and a bit of dirty-greyish-brownish dust fell into the cauldron. A loud hiss sounded through the air, small sparks shot from out of the cauldron and the soft glow that emanated from the liquid turned into a vivid, clear blue.

Malfoy then turned towards the other assembled Death Eaters, his eyes sweeping over them as if he was searching for something. At a nod of his head, a Death Eater stepped forward and beside Malfoy. Malfoy pulled a knife out of the folds of his robes and gestured the man to roll up the sleeve of his robe. There was a slight quiver and shaking as he did so, but the Death Eater seemed to forcibly restrain himself and the shaking subsided as he stretched his arm out over the cauldron. Malfoy placed the dagger into the man's right hand and stepped back a slight bit.

"Flesh of the servant, willingly given, you will revive your master!"

The Death Eater hesitated only for one moment before he held the knife against the middle-finger of his left hand and exerted pressure. Remus looked over at Harry, and with quite some relief noticed that the child had his eyes closed tightly and thus didn't have to see how the man cut off his own finger. Yet the small scream the Death Eater uttered and his panting breaths which were coming out in half-sobs were enough indication that something not suited for a seven-year old had just taken place here. And surely Harry had heard it.

Behind Remus, Janus was watching the same display with an equally sickened feeling in his stomach, but he forcibly swallowed down the bile that rose in his throat. The potion was now gleaming a bright red, bathing the entire chamber in an eerie glow.

From where he was sitting, Janus saw how his brother was shaking, saw how Harry was trying to shut out what was happening around him. And Janus guessed that it was not going to get better from here.

"Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will resurrect your foe!"

Malfoy stepped closer to where Harry sat, the knife back in his hand and held in a dead-grip. Janus' throat constricted as he realized just what was happening here. If they managed to complete the rite, then Voldemort would return to power. And they would all be dead. And from what it looked at the moment, completion of the rite was not far away anymore.

And Janus knew that it was not in his hands, that he could do absolutely nothing to influence things anymore. Breathlessly Janus watched how Malfoy approached Harry with the knife. The child cradled his injured arm more closely to his body, eyes wide in fear and fixed on the knife-blade in the tall wizard's hand. Malfoy grabbed Harry's uninjured arm and pulled him to his feet, then he tried to drag him over to the cauldron. Harry fought back with the little strength he had, but to no avail. Tears were running down Harry's dirty face and as Janus closed his eyes he felt something wet and hot run across his own cheek. He knew what was about to come, and there was nothing he could do to save Harry. Probably they'd all be dead by the end of the night. They'd be dead and Voldemort would be back.

Harry still struggled against Malfoy's hold, but now the Death Eater had him pulled to the cauldron. He held Harry's head by the hair and with the other hand he pressed the tip of the knife against Harry's arm.

"Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken", he repeated. Harry squirmed, Remus screamed helplessly, and Janus felt as if somebody had knocked him forcefully in the stomach.

And then everything happened very quickly.