The wolf howled at the edge of the Shrieking Shack. It feared nothing; sensing everything and aware of its own strength. Its nose twitched and sniffed.
There was prey, it knew, somewhere within the ghostly-lit streets.
An antlered head nudged it away. The movement disturbed hidden recesses of its mind. The stag, the bear-like dog and the rat. 'Friends´- tugged at the edge of the wolf's mind. The wolf turned and obediently followed.
Full moon in mid-March. Moonlight bathed the wild countryside around Hogsmeade silhouetting the odd quartet as they galloped towards the jagged mountains.
The wolf halted suddenly, ears pricking, its hair standing on end.
A jet of green light flashed through the darkness as a shadow sprinted from the edge of the hill. Humans. The wolf snarled. Shoved by the dog and the stag, it moved reluctantly into the shadow of the tress.
The next jet of light caught the man squarely on his back. 5 masked and hooded figures approached the prone man.
"Morsmordre!" yelled one. A skull entwined with a serpent blossomed and hovered in the sky. "You see?" he said turning to the fallen man. " You know what the the sign portends. Tell us what we want to know and you may live longer." The man remained silent.
"Crucio", said the cold voice behind the mask. The scream the man let out was so high-pitched, it was almost soundless.
The horrified dog almost loosened its hold on the wolf. The stag kicked him sharply. Don't, it seemed to say, it will kill them all.
"---no point," panted the tortured man. "Only Dumbledore knows where the Order is and who's in it." Gasping, he tried to stand.
"Then your life is of no use to us, isn't it?" sneered another voice. He reached for his wand. "Avada Ke- …" he broke off with an oath.
The rat had darted out and bit his leg.
His wand dropped. The man on the ground immediately Summoned it. "Accio, wand" he cried weakly.
The wand zoomed to his hand, even as 4 Stunning Spells hit him. In the shadows, the stag pushed the wolf further away at the same time as the dog released it to race towards the fallen man. Moonlight shimmered on his glossy coat making him look just like –
"The Grim!" yelled one of the five masked figures. Snarling, the dog bounded towards them. They fled and Disapparated before he could reach them.
Sirius assumed his human form. Peter was already bending over the unconscious man.
"Wormtail?" he asked. "Is he alright?"
Peter's round face was ashen.
"He's dead," he squeaked. " The man's dead." His breath hitched. "I have never seen anyone die before." He turned away looking like he was about to throw up.
Sirius swore softly under his breath as he checked the man's pulse himself.
"The Hogsmeade people will come. They will see that," his voice rose hysterically as he pointed to the Dark Mark. " they will think we had something to do with this. We have to go now!"
"Don't be absurd," Sirius snapped. "We can't just leave him." He could see lights snapping on in the nearby cottages.
"They will take us to Azkaban!" Peter grew still more agitated. " We were with a werewolf! No one will believe us."
"Stop it," Sirius sighed. Peter's paranoia did have a grain of sense, he mused. James could not hold back Remus for long especially with the scent of so many humans. Their continued presence would make no difference to the unfortunate man.
"Alright," Sirius gave in. " We go back and –" he swore again at the prospect. "- tell Dumbledore."
They left Remus at the Shrieking Shack. The night was still alive for at least an hour and there was to time to be lost. All the way up the tunnel, Peter gabbled hopefully.
"If we keep all this quiet, no one will even know we were there at all. What if Dumbledore expels us? We only have one month left till the N.E.W.T.s…"
James and Sirius both tuned him out.
They crept in through the kitchens under the cover of James' Invisibility Cloak. Although what they had to say to the Headmaster made them prime candidates for expulsion, there was no point, James reasoned, in getting caught by Filch first. Sirius held the Marauder's Map, checking it periodically for teachers, Filch and his cat Mrs Norris.
"Ok, all clear," he whispered. "Looks like Dumbledore's already up and about in his office."
It was nearly dawn. They reached the gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's office.
"Peppermint toad," said James wearily. As the Head Boy, he had direct access to the password required to see Dumbledore. The gargoyle stepped aside without demur. Faced with the door, James glanced hesitantly at Sirius.
"I suppose," he said softly, "we have to tell him?" He had the impression that given half a reson, Sirius too, wished to leave.
Sirius took a deep breath. "No other choice." Peter whimpered. Before any of them could knowck, however, the door opened.
Albus Dumbledore looked at them soberly, his piercing blue eyes taking in the state of their robes and their tired faces.
" You are not quite who I expected at this time of the day," he said pleasantly. It took a lot to discompose Dumbledore's calm. "Come in."
The trio trooped in, feeling even more nervous under that amiable but sharp gaze. On the walls were portraits of past Headmasters of Hogwarts all of whom appeared to be still asleep although Sirius could have sworn clever-looking Phineas Nigellus had opened an eye and winked at him. Dumbledore snapped his fingers. Three straight hard-backed chairs appeared. They reminded Sirius rather unpleasantly of the seats at the Wizards full court.
"Well?" Dumbledore inquired. "An explanation seems to be in order."
Sirius cleared his throat unsure how to begin. Should they start with how they all became illegal animagi or just tell him about what happened that night? Before he could say anything, however, Peter rushed in to fill the pause.
" We …we were at Hogsmeade tonight," he stammered. " keeping Remus company." Dumbledore raised his eyebrows at this, peering at them through his half-moon glasses.
"Oh we weren't with him," Peter glibly lied. " WE just stayed outside the Shrieking Shack but it helped, you see , to know we were there." James kicked him sharply but he continue on. Sirius glanced at James warningly. We can't interrupt without exposing Peter an outright liar.
Dumbledore remained impassive. "Anyway," Peter continued. "We saw …saw someone being chased by a group of wizards. Hooded and masked. They…they killed him."
"They questioned him first, " James broke in, finding his voice at last. "He told them that there was no point that you are the only one who know where the Order is ..whatever that means."
A touch of worry crept into Dumbledore's eyes. "Did you happen to see what the man looked like? And where did this happen?"
" At the outskirts of the village," Sirius answered. "Closer to the mountains, there is a cave I believe –"
"Quite a distance from the Shrieking Shack," Dumbledore commented. " What did the man look like?" he repeated. Peter merely looked terrified as if he was seeing the dead, glazed expression on the man's face again.
"Average height," Sirius began, frowning as he tried to be as accurate as possible. "Dark hair, graying a bit, on the thin side, dark brown eyes.."
" I see," Dumbledore sighed softly as if the description had confirmed his suspicions.
"Who was he?" James asked.
"That, I am afraid, I am not at liberty to tell you," Dumbledore said. " Excuse me for a while. There are some people who must be informed."
He left, pale blue robes sweeping behind him.
"Well, that was smart," growled James sarcastically as soon as the door closed behind Dumbledore. "You lied to him." Peter looked hurt.
" I didn't lie ," he said defensively. " I just… ahh… …omitted some information." His pointy nose quivered. It made no difference to err…what he needed to know."
"Well done," came a voice from the portrait of Phineas Nigellus, now standing up looking amused. The trio jumped. " Although I would have expected such survival instincts from Slytherins not Gryffindors."
"Shut up," said Sirius roughly.
"Always a pleasure to see you, my great-great grandson," replied the wizard with a half bow.
Sirius turned his back to the portrait. The options in front of him were both unappealing; ratting on Peter or duplicitously telling Dumbledore nothing about their illegal animagi transformations.
"Let's just leave it," he finally decided. "It's too late to retract and it would make no difference to Dumbledore anyway." James looked troubled but nodded. Peter heaved a sigh a relief as Phineas nodded approvingly.
" I am so glad you have some sense of Self-preservation," he said. "One of the Blacks beings expelled – it would have been a stain on the family honour."
Sirius longed to throw something at him.
p.s Wow...Really didn't expect the reviews ..Thanks so much. I still can't find the typo..hehe..
The story will take some time to build up..hope you will all stay for whole ride. Thanks again for the input.