Chapter 22: Faint Few Steps
Waking up, Remus ached as if the wolf had run riot during a particularly violent transformation.
Not full moon he thought dazedly. Not for a week yet.
Where am I?
The windowless wood paneled room smelled familiar. He reached up to rub his eyes and found that his hands were bound. And he remembered.
"You are awake," a masked figure emerged from the shadows. "The Sleeping Draught must have been too weak. Or is it a werewolf trait to resist sleeping potions easily?"
He considered not answering but decided that it would be better to keep conversing. "The latter, if you must know." He struggled to sit up, wondering as he did so, how much longer he had to live.
"We are not going to kill you," sneered the Death Eater.
A Legilimency student, he deduced.
"That's right. I am advanced enough to decipher clear cut thoughts like yours so there is no point in hatching escape plans," the masked figure added. "Not to worry, you still have a role to play and you would be no use to us dead."
The voice that had nagged at his mind..
"Bellatrix," Remus whispered, finally recognizing it.
The Death Eater slowly removed her mask.
"Hello, Remus," she said cordially belying the icy cold in her dark eyes.
Despite his finely honed self-control, her presence shook him. He had known there were Death Eaters in Hogwarts but to face a schoolmate whowas a potential murderer brought the fact forcefully home. Yet, the fact strager comforted him. It didn't real; that she could cold-bloodedly cast a spell that would end his life.
"Try me," Bellatrix said, lazily amused
They had learnt how to fly in the same class, dueled in Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"I let you win," she screeched angrily.
He merely quirked an eyebrow in ironic assent; a trick he had picked up from Sirius that never failed to irritate his cousin.
"You didn't take Legilimency and Occlumency in school," he said irrelevantly.
Bellatrix calmed down enough to give an inelegant snort. "Dumbledore can teach me nothing. He is a petty conjurer compared to my Master." He voice softened. "No one can defeat my Master."
Remus turned his face away – the adoring look in her eyes sent sharp chills of fear down his spine. She could delve into his thoughts across a room without using a wand; something Dunbledore's top students were incapable of. His only hope was to break eye contact.
"The Dark Lord has greater powers than those who follow rules can ever hope to attain," Bellatrix continued as if repeating a lesson. "Look at me!" she suddenly snapped. "Imperio!"
Turn around. That's all you have to do. The cajoling of a warm voice was irresistible. He felt his head acquiescing; there was nothing to fight. His grey eyes met Bellatrix's.
"Very good," she smiled as she broke the spell. Remus silently cursed himself. Why couldn't he fight?
"Don't feel bad. You know only a few strong characters can resist an Unforgivable," Bellatrix smiled widely knowing that there were no better words calculated to make him feel worse.
Remus glanced away from her, taking in the four damp walls. No door.
Portus Spell, he thought, only the wizard who created the door can see it.
He could hear a faint clatter, soft footfalls far above…a scent he knew well…Butterbeer?
"Are we under the Three Broomsticks?" he asked.
Bellatrix clapped her hands delightedly. "I knew you'd guess. I even wagered with Snape; he thought you would take 20 minutes. I said 10."
Snape. Of course. How else would they know about his lycanthropy?
"I am gratified that you rate me so highly," he said drily.
"I do like you, Remus. Guard duty with anyone else would have been so boring – I might have to entertain myself by practicing the Cruciatus."
Remus could not decide whether she was joking. He rather thought not.
"What does Voldemort want with me?" he asked abruptly.
"You want me to just tell you?" she asked, her upper lip curling. "That so dull."
"Let's play a game, shall we?" she continued. "Tell me what you think he wants with you. If you guess right, I will unbind your hands. If you are wrong," a fiery whip suddenly materialized in her hand. "You must let me have some fun. No permanent damage, of course."
The wolf within him snarled. Kill before you are killed, human.
"I think I'll pass, thanks," he said rather unsteadily, caught between the wolf he had always suppressed and the crazed look in her eyes.
He barely heard the swish of the whip before a jolt of pain shot through his ankle. Blood trailed round a ring of broken skin.
"You don't have a choice, my dear," she said sweetly.
"You are mad," he whispered. The wolf burned with rage.
Kill the monster.
He wasn't even sure which one is more dangerous.
"Weak fools always think so," Bellatrix said snidely. "Will you play?"
Far inside, the wolf howled.
Twinky, used to surprise visitors 40 years serving two Aurors at the Potters' mansion, almost jumped out of her skin when 6 witches and wizards tumbled out of the living room grate.
"Master James!" she squeaked. "I is so happy to see you, sir!" The duster she was holding clattered to the floor. She flushed and hurriedly retrieved it.
"Hey, Twinky," James grinned despite himself. He tickled the baby elf Twinky had strapped to her back with an old belt of his. "Hello, Winky." The wrinkled baby elf tried to bite his finger. "Where are…."
"James!" a sweet-looking silvered haired witch swept into the room. "You said you wouldn't home for a week. How are you settling in, Sirius? And this must be Lily. You are just pretty as James described. ..goodness ..what happened?" she took in the sober expressions of everyone in the group belatedly.
"I think we had better sit down," Mr. Potter interjected as he limped into the room. His hair was almost completely gray. It should not have disconcerted Lily but for some reason it did. James parents seemed as sweet as he had described but they were so..old.
Between the six of them, they recounted what had happened. James' parents, true to their Auror training, elicited much just listening.
"We need to find him but we don't have any idea how to start," Sirius finished.
Harold Potter leaned back on his favourite chintz chair thoughtfully. His wife, on the other hand, immediately fluttered into action.
"We must tell Dumbledore at once, he will alert the members of the Order," she said as she hurried from the room.
"Order?" James echoed rather stupidly at his mother's retreating back. Of course, Dumbledore's movement against Voldemort. How could he have failed to see that his parents would be part of it?
"What is this Order all about, anyway?" Sirius asked. "Dumbledore only gave us generalities."
"I am surprised he told you anything at all," Harold Potter said. "The Order refers to the Order of the Phoenix – a movement that Dumbledore started to resist Voldemort. Your mother and I are not actually active members – we are well placed to establish contacts within the community – so we network and provide information. The core members of the groups itself are small in numbers. Its so difficult to recruit when half the wizarding community have some sympathy with Voldemort's pure blood supremacy ideas. The core group has their hands full tracking down Voldemort and working out how to protect potential victims. Fortunately, he hasn't been attacking indiscriminately or that frequently. Yet."
James and Sirius exchanged looks – knowing exactly what the other was thinking – the Order sounded overstretched and small yet …
"Why didn't Dumbledore want us?" James asked indignantly. "It sounds like they need all the help that they can get."
His father raised an eyebrow. "Last summer, as I recall, your main topic of conversation was whether or not you should put Bulbatox powder in that Slytherin boy's pyjamas and speculating whether Lily Evans will agree to go out with you." James looked cross while Lily stifled a giggle. "It's not bad, you are only 17, for Merlin's sake. But when you fight, you must believe wholeheartedly in your cause, not because its an exciting thing to do at the moment. We don't just need to make up numbers in a fight, we must have an aim, something to believe in, or we would be no better than Death Eater anarchists."
Dumbledore had said the same thing, Sirius recalled. Maybe they had been irresponsible young berks. He didn't particularly care. What was important was---the howl touched the faint edges of his senses.
"Did you hear that?" he asked, looking round.
"Hear what?" Alice asked.
Sirius ran his finger through his hair, listening harder. The group stared at him. "Nothing."
If the wolf was trying to communicate, it was more likely that it could reach his canine packmate rather than any of the others.
There was nothing but silence now.
"Anyway, about Remus," James continued, shooting his friend a curious glance. "Will the Order help us? We have to start now."
Harold rubbed his nose absently. "The way I see it, there are 3 places to start. We can go back to the Evans; track down the residues of the spells…"
"Residues?" Lily asked.
"All spells leave a trace – a signature – if you will, of the wands which cast it. I suspect the Aurors on the case will have performed the basic Residue Checking procedure but we can always go back and check. A Disapparating Spell might even leave behind an indication of the direction they aimed at. However, I am not hoping for much. Dark Magic users, especially have always learnt to cover their tracks well."
James frowned. "And the other ways?"
"We can perform a Finding Spell and see if we can locate his whereabouts on a map. It's a complex spell …"
"James and I can do it," Sirius said, mentally berating himself for not thinking of it sooner.
"The third way," Harold Potter continued.
The group looked at him expectantly.
"Think," he said. "Who are likely Death Eaters? What did the attackers say? Is this a random capture? Anyone hates Remus or the 4 of you? What is the most probable motive for this? Voldemort is not a fool who wastes resources just for the fun of capturing, killing or torturing. The more we know of his plans, the closer we are to Remus."
Olivia Potter re-entered the room. "No one in the Order had any idea this was going to happen. Even Dumbledore was thrown off. What do they want with the boy?"
No one had an answer.
"Well," she said, after a glum pause. "You might as well clean up and have a good meal…goodness knows its hard enough to think on an empty stomach. I'll show you to your rooms."
p.s Thanks so much for faithful reviewer Lilykins...glad you are enjoying the story :)