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ATTENTION!!! I had emergency eye surgery last week (July 17th and 18th) and so I'm taking a while to get back on top of things. The House Points will be added to the chapter when I get the chance. It will be this week, I hope. (note added on July 28th. I'm a bit late, but the Points are up now)

Gryffindor-100 Points- Caprice earns 10 Points for having seen a movie that I have not, and still finding time to study; FrogFoot earns 10 Points for being diligent and keeping careful notes

Slytherin-190 Points- Bookofdays, is awarded 10 Points for being such a quick study; RivanKnight is awarded 10 Points for attempting to register a, very well done, OFC as a member of the House Points contest (what a Slytherin!)

Ravenclaw- if you reviewed and I didn't count you tell me, or review this chapter and get some points for your House.

Huffelpuff- if you reviewed and I didn't count you tell me, or review this chapter and get some points for your House.

Chapter 37:

Sirius was suddenly thankful for the, usually extra, stools that cluttered the lab. Pulling two closer to the stool he had become used to using, he motioned for the boys to each take a seat. He dropped his head into his hands and felt the cool smoothness of the single bead that had been braided into his hair. The bead that had somehow saved his life. Taking a deep breath he tucked the braid with the green bead behind his left ear and began by telling Harry what had happened at the Wizengamot. It was that or try not to break down again while telling them about what had happened to Remus.

//The Dementors knew he was there, Fudge had signaled them that it was so. They came into the Wizengamot Hall knowing that he was there, and so, when Alastor Moody ended the Fidelus charm it made no real difference. The other Wizards and Witches present were not about to get in the way of a full company of Dementors, even Fudge cringed back from them as they surrounded the platform.

"Sirius Black has come, with Witness testimony, to be retried," Alastor thundered to the assembled members of the Wizards' Council. "Legally, morally you are obligated to hear his case before passing judgement or carrying out sentence."

The smell of Azkaban was thick in the air. Madness and death. A few of the figures shrouded in tattered grey robes and rags drifted onto the actual platform where Sirius stood. He could no longer tell if Moody was still there or had run like Fudge. //

"No Harry," Sirius smiled, a little, at the question. "There were not a hundred Dementors. I don't care what 'The Sorcerer's Source' said, there were maybe twenty. They did enter the Hall, and they did come up to the platform where I was standing…"

//Several days before, when the Fidelus charm was being placed on him, Sirius had asked Remus to keep his wand. He could not sneak it past the wards on the Wizengamot Hall.

Now, one of the Dementors seemed to have been elected or chosen somehow, because only one actually reached up and drew back it's hood.

The indentations where eyes had never been. The skin around the mouth that could not be called lips and covered no teeth. The hands that reached out to frame his face were slick as though with rot. The way it touched him though, the way it held his face, was so… gentle that he could not find the will to fight. There was no point in fighting, but the touch drained him of the will to fight. A slow tear slid down his cheek. For himself? For his failure to avenge his dead friend? For Harry? Sirius knew only that he was about to end. Not die, just end.//

Sirius swallowed again and continued. "It did come up to me. And it did lower its hood, but it did not actually do more than touch me." Harry was sweating. 'Harry has encountered Dementors also,' Sirius remembered. Lying to him would not work, Harry knew what it felt like, what it did to a person. Fortunately his godson did not have twelve years of experience to draw upon. Sirius consoled himself with that…

//The only thing holding him upright was the fact that he could not move. The demon tilted his head for him and another tear slipped down his cheek. For Lilly, or Remus, it was too much. He could not even think. Something odd happened then. A weight he was not accustomed to pulled at his hair, the bead.

The dark green bead swung forward as his head was being tilted. The arc of the movement was interrupted by the Dementor's hand. Then there was a keening wail that echoed down to the soul of every Wizard and Witch who was frozen in place, watching the nightmare being played out before them. The Dementor's cries were taken up by the others of its kind present, and the Hall was filled with the sound, or feeling, no one was sure afterward which it had been.

The Dementors seemed to almost fade from the room. The Witness Orb that Alastor had placed in the projector, was activated. Sirius' own memories were laid open for the assembly to judge him by.

The recording opened with the tangy honeyed voice of Cardigan. She gave her name, Witness Identification Number, and the standard oath that, what was to be presented was the truth. Somewhere Alastor had gotten a hold of some chocolate and was pushing it into Sirius' mouth. As Cardigan's voice continued on, steady and soft, he began to recover enough to stand back up. He had apparently fallen but could not remember doing so.//

"It suddenly released me, I'm not sure why, and the Dementors all left the Hall. Albus was there and he called for the legal retrial. I'm not sure if anyone would have been rational enough to hear my case if he hadn't taken charge…" Conveniently leaving out the flash of auburn and blue streaked hair and glimpse of gray knit sweater, as someone darted out of the hall, Sirius let his words trail off.

Ron felt like an intruder, this was really a conversation between Harry and his godfather. But from what he understood, getting out of the away would be impossible. When it became obvious that Sirius was done with his tale, Ron quietly asked what Snape had meant, about them falling if the door had shut.

Sirius groaned and combed his fingers through his hair, knocking the braid out from where he had tucked it behind his ear. "That, Ron, was the male." A bitter and bemused look crossed his face, "I guess Harry's told you about the conversation he sat in on, with Remus, the Headmaster and me?" Ron nodded, Sirius shrugged, "It is just easier to call them both Snape and leave it at that. But, he is, and is not the same as your professor Snape. It's hard to explain. But basically we can't come here or leave unless either he or the female open the doors."

Ron's eyes sparkled in that way they did, when he was on the trail of something that would most likely get him in trouble. "The female, she fills in for Professor Moody right?"

A startled gasp drew their attention to the door at the back of the lab. The female stood rigidly in the doorway, her hand still on the latch.

Sirius got the distinct feeling that something very wrong had been said. "I'm sorry," he started, "they already knew about the male and, I just thought, that…"

The male came up, close, behind her. "The Headmaster, Alastor Moody, Lupin and Black they all know of you. What do these two matter?"

His voice was calm, but she did not relax, "I am not to be known of. I need to be safe."

Keeping his hands up, palms facing his chest, the male used an elbow to shove her aside. Finally in the lab he moved to the wash basin. Stripping off the bloodied gloves, he threw them in to the fresh biohazard-red bag, stepped on a pedal on the floor that activated the faucet, and began to wash off the blood that was dripping down his forearms. "She keeps you safe enough," he spat the words without turning to face her.

"You protect him well enough to not have a place to throw accusations from," she sneered and closed the door. "You eat every lash meant for his back, and dare say that I am aiding and abetting the enemy?!"

As she was removing and throwing away her gloves he sighed and leaned, heavily, on the edge of the washbasin. "It is well past dark. Have you ever written to a full Were?"

"Aye," she nodded. Handing him the towel she waited for more. To her eyes he was fighting for control, already.

The male's voice faded as he seemed to speak to himself next. "Lupin is a Half Were, he'll need another Half Were to donate blood, but he'll need another Were Canid to donate the skin grafts." With a shake of his head he was back to giving the female her orders. "Use my Paramorph, they will know it. There is a pack in the Forbidden Forest, headed by lord Keen Ear and lady Death Bite. Request Black Shawl, Gray Legs, and Pebbles. End the contact with the offer that I will return the mark that I hold- do not forget to mention that he is an Omega Zed. We don't need another front for the war."

"Death Bite," the female repeated. "Isn't that a Beta style of name?"

The male had opened his robe and, touching a certain point in the collar of the frock coat and vest beneath, the buttons undid themselves as he nodded. "Lord Keen Ears' first mate was her sister. The lady, True Scent, died in battle. Against a Dingmaul, I believe." Finally able to get at the buttons of his stiff white undershirt, he manually undid the top three and held the collar away from his throat. "Come Benefit, I have need of your service."

As it emerged, claws at the wrists of its wings tugging at the shirt and tangling is the male's hair, Sirius, Harry and Ron watched with rapt attention. Membranous wings ribbed with fine bones, were joined at the shoulders. There was a long, slender, neck and a delicate diamond shaped head. Tiny fan like ears spread from the sides of it's head and it looked around warily at its audience. Blinking bright blue, with slitted pupil, eyes it finally freed its self of the male's shirt and crouched on his shoulder. Its fore legs had what looked like three fingers and a thumb, all tipped with little claws. Its hind legs were jointed, much like a cat's, so that it walked on its toes. The long whip of its tail curled twice around the male's neck.

Once his shirt and vest were closed the male reached up and with one finger he stroked the creature under its chin. "Benefit, I don't need to introduce any of them to you?"

In a whispery, feminine, voice it replied, "Black, Sirius, Gryffindor. Potter, Harry, son of James and Lilly Potter, all three Gryffindors. Weasley, Ronald- Ron, son of Arthur and Molly Weasley, they were before. I would imagine though, that they were Gryffindors as well." She lay back her ear fans and turned her head so that the edge of her jaw could be rubbed.

"I must go soon," the male gently rubbed the jaw, then along her neck. "I am returning, but I will not be able to feed you for several days. Take care and keep warm."

The female straightened her cloak and motioned for Harry and Ron to follow her to the door. The little female Paramorph leapt from her master's shoulder and glided, on partially unfurled wings, to the female's shoulder. Harry and Ron were too stunned to do anything but follow. The Paramorph let her tail hang limply down and cast a quick glance back at the male Garom before the female Garom had them all out of the lab and on their way to the dungeons.

When the door shut Sirius nervously paced for a bit, then leaned back against the wall. The male was looking tired even to Sirius' eyes, and that could not be good. "I didn't want to ask while Harry was here, but…Remus…" his jaw tensed and he waited for whatever news he would get.

"I believe it will live," the male stated as he began to pull together familiar, blood sample taking, implements. "It will be, ah, tricky. Neither of us is used to working with the living and neither of us has had any serious healing related medical training."

"Can I see him?" Sirius balled up his fists as the male took his time in answering.

"There really isn't enough of it for you to see." He stopped and turned faintly glowing blue eyes to Sirius, "You look at things so strangely. I wonder some times, what you look like to each other. It must certainly be other than you look to me."

"And how do I look to you?" Sirius hadn't meant it to say it out loud, and certainly had not meant it as a deeply philosophical query. But the male seemed to have taken it that way. 'Why does he take everything I say and work to use it against me?! And why in Merlin's name am I letting him distract me?!'

Voice soft as night, the male raised one hand slightly. "I could show you." He took a hesitant step forward before catching himself and quickly yanking open a drawer and rummaging through its contents.

The door at the back of the lab opened and Sirius jumped in his skin, 'Did he hear someone coming? What did he mean, he could show me, show me what?'

Fenny stepped half way through the doorway and addressed the male. "Sir, do you think that I could give him something for the pain? The poor Were-"

"No," the male snapped. "I need it to keep breathing. The pain relievers that I have here would also affect its blood pressure and we can't afford to cut things any closer as it is." He slammed the drawer shut, but managed to do so quietly. "How are its pulse and blood oxygen saturation levels?"

For one blinding flash all Sirius could see was his hands strangling the male, but it would do no good. The male was, again, the only help he could look forward to. 'He has always called Remus an it, Remmie said so. But to not give him any sort of pain killer?! That's monstrous. He's a-' The male was suddenly standing very close and Fenny was gone.

"Whatever else I may be," the male leaned in and whispered. "I saved your life. And you now carry my mark." He flicked at the bead in Sirius' hair.

"I thought," the male was too close, way too close. 'Why is he so close?!' Fenny was gone they were alone.

He relaxed enough to let a faint smile pull at his lips, and took another step closer to Black. Raising his hands to the stones on either side of Black's head his frock coat fell open around them both.

Sirius had to close his eyes, the light from the male's eyes were too bright. "I thought, that it was a Credit." Sirius barely moved his mouth.

The male turned his head to the side to avoided clashing noses with Black, and still managed to keep from making physical contact. "Credits are disks with symbols carved into them."

Sirius started to shake when the male's cool breath feathered against his lips. 'Would he force me into a non-con?!'

"A Mark can be nearly anything, from Dragons' teeth, to stone beads. My mark is a facetless green-amber bead. Usually tied in the hair at the left temple. You haven't spent much time on the dark side of the moon have you…pet?" He barely breathed the last word and thoroughly enjoyed the fact that Black actually seemed to think that he would bridge the gap between them.

Sirius nearly gasped when, suddenly, the other body left his personal space. Without once touching him.

~

In less than ten minutes the door to the stairwell opened and three Weres walked in, followed by the female. They were limping slightly and two refused to sit, instead choosing to lean against the slab. The female Garom held a smallish glass container. She paid Sirius only the partial courtesy of nodding once to him, then she too slipped into the room beyond.

As the door was shutting the male's voice could be heard softly demanding to know what had taken so long, and the female's reply that she had taken the skin samples and grown the grafts in the Potions classroom.

The three Weres and Sirius glanced around the lab at the cluttered tables, looked at the space in the wall where the camouflaged door was located, and tried not to stare at each other.

"Sirius Black," he broke the silence.

"Pebbles," the male Were leaning back against the slab nodded. He was not smiling but he did seem sort of friendly.

"I'm Gray Legs," the she-Were beside Pebbles smiled brightly. She reached out her hand, as though to offer it to Sirius, but winced and gingerly touched a spot on the back of her right hip instead.

Pebbles nudged at the shoulder of the sulking woman who had taken the stool. "Black Shawl." She snapped over her shoulder at him, "What does some Omega Zed have over Keen Ears?"

Gray Legs groaned and rubbed a hand over her eyes. "Black Shawl, we have been over this, it's not the Omega Zed we're here for. It's Dark Blood. He holds lord Keen Ears' credit and we are here to earn it back."

"Excuse me," Sirius broke in, "Omega Zed? What does that mean, are you talking about Remus?"

Black Shawl rolled her eyes and carefully turned away from Sirius. Pebbles shifted his weight.

Gray Legs shook her head and smiled, "Please don't mind them too much. They are naturally a little leery of a Zed. We use the terms Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Omega to describe an individual's rank within the pack. Omega Zed is the rank of one who has not joined a pack. They are lower than any member of a pack. Even Omegas, like us, can legally dominate them." She smiled again, it seemed to be a nervous habit. "Omega Zeds prefer to keep their Human names and live on the fringes of Human society."

"But aren't you Half Weres?" Sirius was trying to follow the, obviously simplified, explanation that Gray Legs was trying to give him. 'Sounds just like the Muggle biologists descriptions of non-Magic wolf packs.'

Pebbles was suddenly nervous. "Yes," he said sternly, "we are Half Weres, but we are members of lord Keen Ears' pack, because we wanted to accept our new selves. Omega Zeds all try to fight their instincts, calling them unnatural and foreign. We have accepted who and what we are. Omegas do not infect others, only Zeds are known to do such a thing."

"I didn't mean to-"

The female flung the door open and headed for the cabinet where Sirius knew they kept the gloves and hoses.

'Remus said they were called lines…'

"Gray Legs," she pulled out the expected gloves and sealed packages of lines. "Get on the slab, I'll draw you first. You should be nearly healed up by now."

She muttered something in the affirmative and Pebbles got out of the way as her sleeve was rolled up and alcohol filled the air. The Weres obviously did not appreciate the cleansing aspect of the pungent disinfectant, and Black Shawl look nearly ready to complain.

The needle that the female used was a larger gauge and the line was a thicker diameter than any that Sirius had seen used before. It took only about fifteen minutes for the pint of Half Were blood to be transferred into the bag. By the time Gray Legs was done Black Shawl was ready to take her place. Unhappy as she may have been, she was not uncooperative. The female took the first pint of blood into the back room while the second was being drawn. She took some time, so Sirius figured that she was also setting up the transfusion for Remus.

~

Fenny would have to finish the last of the transfusions, time was nearly up. The male and female hurried Sirius (against his objections) and the three Weres, up the spiral staircase and into the dungeons. Sirius knew the way back to his rooms, the Omegas could follow their noses, the male could hardly walk.

Together they stumbled into the Potion Masters' shared study, then headed for their separate rooms.

~

As he had expected, Snape felt the brand on his arm as his first waking sensation. Clenching and opening his fist, he drew his wand and summoned his clothes. Stepping from his room, he heard a slight scuffling in the bedchamber opposite his own. 'So it's not a private summons…not sure if that's good or bad.'

Joining Snape in the study/sitting room she said two words that resolved Snape's ambivalence. "Lupin survived."

~

His mask effectively hid the extra pallor of his face, and he was able to control the trembling in his hands before they apparated to the Death Eater gathering. Cruciatus was something he had faced before.