Disclaimer - It's not mine. It never was.

A/N - I actually do not have much to say at the moment, other than thank you for reviewing my stories. There are a couple of special THANK YOU's at the end of the chapter. Have a look and see if you're down there.

Later,

A.A.

Sable blanched white when she realized who, or more appropriately what, was circled around the fire in the clearing. She felt Remus tense under her hand and heard the low growl of warning. 'Death Eaters!' she though frantically. 'This is NOT good! We need to get the Hell out of here! Now!'

Remus was panicking in his own right at the sight of the gathered group of known killers. Like Sable, he was more concerned about keeping his hide in tact long enough to get the heck out of the forest, but his mind strayed to James, Sirius, and Peter. They were nearby, because he could smell them. Glancing around to the other side of the clearing, he could not see his friends. He shook his head and started to back up from the hiding spot, pulling Sable with him. She offered him no resistance and also began to back away.

-Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the clearing…-

James, Sirius, and Peter were crouched down in the underbrush, surveying the people standing in the small clearing. There were thirteen people in black cloaks and white masks standing around the blazing fire, and one in a deep green cloak. Beside the group lay two large burlap bags that kept moving and squirming. Muffled cries would be heard often, along with stifled sobs, and it did not take the boys long to figure out that it was two people in the bags.

Standing at the head of the group of Death Eaters was a man in a deep green cloak. It was obvious that he was the leader of the group, because when he raised his hands, silence was heard. Not another of the cloaked figures moved. He walked amongst them, and the others bowed respectively. No one moved after rising from the kneeling position. Sirius watched the man as he moved among his followers. He was a normal sized man, but what caught his attention the most was the red slits that originated from under the hood on the cloak. The leader wore no mask, but the hood of his green cloak was pulled down far enough to shadow his face in darkness. The red, serpentine slits glanced around the gathering, flashing dangerously every time the fire light flickered on them.

The boys looked at each other and shook their heads, each one knowing it was time to get the heck out of the forest. They were about to turn around and leave when the leader of the group spoke out a name they were all very familiar with.

"We have come, Lord Voldemort." said a man closest to the end of the group. "What do you wish of us?" His voice was cold and calculating, and possessed the high society drawl that many people were familiar with. Voldemort nodded to the man and retook his position at the head of the group.

"My faithful followers, tonight is a night of joyous occasion. Tonight, we welcome another into our circle. He is a man who also believes in the sacredness of the purity of wizarding bloodlines." The hooded man looked down the line and his sight stopped on one man in particular. "Come forth, Avery."

On the side of the clearing, Sable turned around and saw the man walk forward from the crowd. 'Avery? As in Marcus Avery?!' she thought angrily. 'That bloody Slytherin bastard is becoming a Death Eater?' Remus seemed to think the same thing, because he turned from the retreat and looked back into the clearing. Sure enough, the two students saw a young man step forward and kneel in front of the man now recognized as Voldemort.

"I am at your service, my lord." he said respectively.

"Why do you wish to join our cause, Avery?" came the cold voice of the most wanted wizard in Europe.

"I wish to purge our world of the filth that has been allowed to litter it. I want to bring honor back to the eldest and purest of the bloodlines." he replied.

"And by what means do you intend to accomplish this task?"

"I shall do whatever it takes." he said.

"Do you pledge yourself to me?" he asked coldly, looking down at the eighteen year old boy as if trying to find a flaw in his disposition.

"Yes, my lord." he replied.

"So be it, then." Voldemort said, turning and retrieving his wand. "Bare your forearm, Avery, so that you may receive the mark of the honor that is to be bestowed upon you." Avery stood and pushed the sleeve of the black cloak back, revealing his left forearm to the man in front of him, and never flinching once. Voldemort pointed his wand at the appendage and muttered an incantation. Before anyone else knew anything, a bright green light shot from the tip of the wand and towards Avery's arm.

James and the other two boys watched as their Slytherin classmate withstood the obvious pain he was feeling. He had removed his white mask when first being called out from the group, and now beads of sweat ran down his face. The pain he was going through was obvious for any and all who watched him, yet the young man held firm, never wavering in his stance and determination. Finally, after over a minute of the excruciating pain, the incantation was over, and the dark mark had been tattooed onto the boys arm. The black skull and snake smoked slightly, showing that it was a fresh reminder of the path its owner had just chosen to follow.

By now, Sable was visibly shaking in her shoes. She turned back around and yanked on Remus' fur. The wolf turned to look back at her, wondering what was going on.

"Remus! We've got to get out of here! Now!" she said quietly. Remus looked back towards the group and saw the proceedings begin again. 'She's right. If we get caught, we're both going to be killed.' he thought. 'It's time to get out of here.' He stepped back and began walking away from the clearing as silently as possible. His only thought was to get Sable away from the Death Eaters, then he could signal James and the others to clear out. When they were far enough away from the clearing, Sable pulled off the invisibility cloak and they broke into a full fledged run, not looking back and praying that they had not roused anyone else's attention in their hasty leave.

-Meanwhile, back in the clearing…-

Avery let the sleeve go back down on his arm as he replaced the white mask he had discarded only moments beforehand. When the mask was firmly in place, hiding his features, he finally let his face show the pain that he was feeling. Of course, no one else knew this, because the mask hid his face. Voldemort actually smirked at the boy before turning to the Death Eater closest to him.

"Bring forth the Mudblood and the Muggle." he said evilly. The man did not hesitate to act on the order, and quickly retrieved the two squirming burlap bags that held the captured people. After depositing the bags in front of the group, he untied them and roughly pulled the people out of the bags.

The boy's eyes went wide when they saw what it was inside the bags. Two young women were thrown to the ground in front of the newly initiated Death Eater and the leader of them all. One of the women looked no older than twenty-five. She had thick red hair that was cut short, and dark blue eyes that were red from crying. She did not wear robes, only Muggle clothing. Her face was streaked with bloody whelps and cuts. The blood was caked to her face and mixed in with the grit and grime from the inside of the bag. It was apparent that whoever had kidnapped the girl had not been gentle with her, since there were numerous bruises lining her forearms and hands. Her eyes were wide with fright and confusion.

'She must be the Muggle girl.' James thought, looking at the girl carefully. Beside him, Sirius was standing still as a rod, and watching the proceedings with a look that would be interpreted as disgust, no matter what species he had been. Peter, ever the brave one, was hiding underneath a group of leaves, and letting out little squeaks of fright sporadically. All three of the boys knew they needed to leave before they were caught, but none of them seemed to think of the consequences of their actions. Their attention was drawn back to the gathering when a soft female voice came wafting through the air.

"Let us go, you monsters!" the other woman said fiercely. "We've done nothing to you!" The assembled Death Eaters actually laughed at the woman. She had long blonde hair that had been plaited and hung down her back. Like the other woman, her face was bloody, and caked with grit and grime. But unlike the other woman, she wore a set of blue robes that were torn in some places.

'She must be the one they called the Mudblood.' Sirius thought. He watched as the woman tried to stand up to face her attackers, but her legs were weak, and she barely made it to her knees. Avery seemed to think this was funny, because Sirius picked up the sound of the Slytherin's chuckle from his position in the secluded spot.

"Actually, my dear, it is people like you who make us monsters." came Voldemort's cold voice. "Your type are the scum of our society. You should not be permitted to live because of your tainted blood. And you will not live, for much longer that is. Either of you for that matter." The dark headed woman seemed to glow with indignation. The woman beside her however, only cringed and started crying again. The witch looked down at the other captive woman and her face became hardened. Unlike the crying woman beside her, she knew what was going on; and it only served to make her angry. They had confiscated her wand when they kidnapped her, so she had no means of defending herself, or the other woman beside her.

"Leave her out of this." she said fiercely. "She's not a witch. She doesn't even know of our world. Why punish her for something she is ignorant of?"

"To prove a point." Voldemort said simply. "Because of Muggles like her, half-blooded wenches like you exist."

"What do you want with us?" she asked again. The woman knew she was going to die. She had no means of defending herself, and they were surrounded by a pack of cold-blooded killers. She said a silent prayer to God and waited for her last moments on Earth.

"You two have the distinct honor of helping one of our newest Death Eaters practice his curses on." Voldemort said with a sigh. "In fact, I tire of this waiting." He turned to the new Death Eater still standing to his side, and motioned for him to step forward. "Avery, if you please, do clean up the trash."

"Happily, master." the boy replied. He pulled his wand out and pointed it at the woman lying on the ground. "Avada…"

Before he could get the rest of the curse out, a hand came out of the blue and slapped him hard across the face, knocking the mask off and to the ground. Avery was shocked at the woman's brashness. Some of the Death Eaters snickered, but quickly shut up as Voldemort's glare swept over them. Avery stared at her and made no move to touch his now burning red cheek.

"Leave her alone, you monster!" she said. "She's done nothing to you."

"It seems you have a feisty wench on your hands, my son." Voldemort said, as though he was amused.

"Aye, and she's going to pay for that." Avery ground out. "Just for that, she'll not only see the other one die, but she'll feel what it is like to cross a respectable wizard of pure blood."

"Respectable, my ass." she bit out. "I know dogs that are more respectable than you. You and the rest of this bunch are nothing more than a rag-tag band of heartless murderers!" Avery's patience seemed to snap at that, and he backhanded the girl, knocking her to the ground with a resounding thud.

"You'll pay for that, wench." he ground out. Avery pointed his wand to the woman and muttered a spell. She was immediately suspended in mid-air and facing the girl on the ground. Once again, he turned back to the still cringing Muggle and lifted his wand. "Avada Kedavra!" he yelled. A bright green light exited from his wand, and hit the woman directly in the chest, causing her to cry out in pain before her body went completely slack and sank back down to the ground; her once tear filled eyes now lifeless and devoid of any emotion, even the fear that had gripped her only moments before. Avery turned to the still suspended woman and smirked. She still had the look of defiance in her, but now it was tinged with fear.

"So you see, Mudblood, there is no point in trying to stop us." he said. "We are going to wipe your kind out of the wizarding world and replace the purebloods as the dominant, and only, families of magic." The woman only shook her head in disgust.

"Do you really think killing me is going to change anything?" she asked. "There are just as many half-blooded witches and wizards in our world as there are purebloods. Are you willing to wipe out half of our population in order to achieve your goals?"

"We will do what it takes to rid the world of the filth you half-breeds have brought." Voldemort said stoically. Avery nodded in agreement.

"You really are pathetic." she said sadly. "I pity you, all of you. You're punishing people for something they can't help; it's not our choice that people like me were born to a Muggle and a parent with magic in their blood. How much lower can you go?"

"Pleading for your life, now, are you?" Avery said, sounding amused. "Just like a Mudblood. No self respect at all."

"No, I'm not pleading." she said evenly. "There's no point. I know I'm going to die. There's no way out of it."

"Glad to know you've figured it out, Mudblood." Voldemort said.

"Yes." she said evenly. "It's just a pity that my captures are a bunch of yellow-bellied suckers to afraid of giving someone a chance to defend themselves to the death. You took my wand, and are going to attack me when I have no means of defending myself." She looked around at the group of men and shook her head. "You might as well be attacking a baby!" This seemed to be the last straw for Avery. He raised his wand up and pointed it at the girl.

"That's enough!" he said fiercely. "You weren't brought out here to lecture us like a mother hen!"

"Yeah, I was brought out here to die at the hands of merciless bastards. Funny, I'm still living; something must have gone wrong." she said sarcastically, eyeing the boy. Avery shook his head in annoyance and anger.

"Crucio!" he shouted. The light that escaped his wand nearly blinded the gathered group. The only thing that was heard was the young woman's cries of pain. Her strangled voice rose through the surrounding area and caused the hair on James' and Sirius' backs to stand up. Her body had been released from the suspension charm and was now curled up on the ground. Her knees were drawn up into her chest as wave after wave of pain racked her body. After a minute or so, Avery lifted the curse on her. "Do you still feel like lecturing us now, wench?" he asked her.

The woman glared up at him as the pain receded from her body.

"Bastards." she muttered.

"It does not seem like she's learned her lesson, my child." Voldemort said, sounding disappointed, but the hint of amusement in his voice was not missed by the gathered crowd, or the boys hiding in the bushes. "Perhaps you should try again."

"Of course, Master." he said. "They need to learn their place after all." He pointed his wand at the girl again and waved it. "Crucio!" Once again, the woman's body tensed up and she screamed in pain. Curling up in the fetal position on the forest floor, the woman withstood the waves of intense pain that she was being subjected to.

Avery let the curse stay on longer this time, much to the delight of the fellow Death Eaters around him. When he did remove it, the girl once again tried to sit up. But the curse had weakened her, and she was only able to push herself up on her hands and knees and raise her eyes towards the perpetrator of the pain she was feeling.

"Any last words, Mudblood?" he sneered, looking down at the girl. "You're about to die."

"Go to Hell, the whole lot of you." she gasped out, clutching her stomach in pain. Avery actually smiled as he raised his wand once again and muttered a curse. For the second time that night, the bright green light enveloped a woman's body. And for the second time that night, it was only moments before her bruised and battered body lay on the forest floor, unmoving and completely unaware of its surroundings.

Voldemort stepped up to the young man's side and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Very good, Avery." he said, his voice cold and despondent of any feeling. "You have proven your faithfulness to me. Now, you are truly one of us." Avery nodded and looked down at the bodies of the two women, disgust plain on his face.

Sirius, James and Peter watched as he stepped back into the group of cloaked figures, but not before kicking the lifeless witch's body out of his way. The boys were still in their Animagi forms, so there was no form of communication for them to go by. But when they looked at each other, it was apparent what was on their minds. Before they could move an inch, the howl of a lone wolf was heard over the night time forest. As the sound reverberated through the trees, the Death Eaters in the clearing looked around, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound.

James looked down at Sirius and nodded. That was the signal for them to get the heck out of the forest. James figured Remus must have figured something was wrong, and cleared out with Sable. The boys nodded to one another, and began to back away from the secluded spot they had been hiding in. Another howl was heard, and Sirius gently grabbed Peter in his mouth and placed him on his back. The boys took one last look into the clearing and broke into a dead run away from the group of Death Eaters. They had seen enough death and destruction to last them for a good long time. But at the moment, their own concern was to get as far away from the forest as they could without getting caught in the process.

** Back in the Clearing…**

Voldemort moved to the front of the group and addressed them once more.

"Now that the initiation ceremony is over, you are free to go." he said to the assembled men. "Everyone may go, except for you four." He pointed to the four cloaked members closest to him, and the four nodded. "Marco, take the bodies of the Muggle and the Mudblood and make them a present for the Minister of Magic. I think he may like to see them." Another Death Eater pulled out his wand and with a swish, the bodies disappeared, as well as the man Marco. The remaining men nodded, and promptly disappeared from around the fire. Voldemort turned to the four remaining members and nodded. They removed their masks and bowed to their Master. "Report." he barked.

"The plan is set into motion, Master." Lucius Malfoy said. "We will have Robbin's parents in a matter of days."

"Very well." he said coldly. "Severus. I assume that the potions are ready to be administered?"

"Yes, master." Snape replied. "I awake your instructions."

"And the girl," he said quickly. "Where is she?"

"Robbins is in her Common Room now." Flint said.

"Are you sure of this?" Voldemort asked, eyeing the boy.

"Our source told us that she is there." Snape said evenly. "He has yet to steer us wrong about his information on the girl. He is quite close to her, and she does not suspect him in the least."

"You have faith in this 'source', I take it?" Voldemort asked skeptically.

"Yes, Master." Snape said.

"This had better work, Severus." Voldemort said icily. "My patience with this plan is wearing thin. And you know what happens when my patience wears thin."

"It will work, Master." Snape said, not a crack in his voice. "The Polyjuice Potion is will be ready to be administered in two days time, and Robbins will be in our hands by this time next month."

"Very well." he said. "This is your last chance, Severus."

"I will not fail you, Master." Snape said, bowing to the man again. Voldemort inclined his head and turned to Avery.

"Your first task, Avery, is to help Severus and Cody with this plan to bring Robbins to me." he said to the boy. "They will fill you in on what is going on, and what they have accomplished so far. You are to do whatever Severus tells you to do, seeing as how this is his idea." Avery nodded and said nothing, silently accepting his job. Voldemort looked at the four men in front of him and shook his head. "I want this girl in my hands by the next full moon. Do I make myself perfectly clear?" He asked them.

"Yes, Lord Voldemort."

"It will be done, Master."

"She will be here, I assure you, my Lord."

"Yes, Master." were the responses he received. Voldemort, seemingly satisfied with his underlings, inclined his head and stepped back from the group.

"Lucius, I awake word of the girl's parent's capture. You are to bring them directly to me once they are here." he said, eyeing the blonde man.

"Yes, my Lord." Malfoy answered.

"Then I leave you three to hand me Robbins." he said, eyeing the other three boys.

"It will be done, Master." Flint said, bowing his head.

"Very well." he said icily, picking up the white mask at his feet. "You are dismissed." The four men nodded once again, bowed and disappeared into thin air. Voldemort looked around the forest and shook his head.

"You will not thwart my plans for much longer, Dumbledore." he said quietly, staring at the shadowy forest. "I will have my way." He smirked and took his wand out of his robes, pointing it to a nearby tree. He muttered an incantation and a bright light hit the bark of the tree. With a satisfied smirk, he took one last look around the forest and disappeared, leaving a smoking Dark Mark engraved into the bark of the ancient tree; the only trace as to the group of people who had been there only moments before.

*** Meanwhile, at the entrance to the Whomping Willow ***

Sable was pacing around the alcoves of the courtyard, out of sight of anyone's roaming gaze.

'Not that anyone is going to be up at this time one night!' she thought. She looked at her watch and sighed. 'Or morning, for that matter.' Remus was sitting in the shadows, watching his girlfriend pace back and forth. A thousand thoughts kept running through his mind.

Why were Death Eaters in the forest?

Should they tell Dumbledore what they had just witnessed?

What are they going to do about Marcus Avery?

And most importantly, where are James, Peter, and Sirius?

These were the first and foremost things in his mind. He had sent the signal up almost ten minutes ago, and still the boys were not back. They could not get back into the Shrieking Shack without getting under the Willow. And Peter was the only one small enough to reach the knot on the trunk that deactivated the swinging branches. He was about to go looking for his friends when he heard the unmistakable sound of hooves and paws running across the ground. Apparently, Sable heard it also, because she quit muttering and pacing and waited for the three boys to show up.

Two minutes later, James and Sirius came bounding into view, with Peter trying to hang on for dear life from the shaggy fur on Sirius' neck. Without a sound, Peter dropped to the ground and scampered up to the knot on the tree that immobilized the branches. After prodding it, sufficiently stopping the deadly branches from attacking, Sable and the Marauders entered into the well worn path that led to the dilapidated old building on the outskirts of Hogsmeade.

The second all five of them were back in the building and the trapdoor was bolted, Sable ripped the invisibility cloak off of herself. She took a few deep breaths and shook her head to clear her thoughts. She had heard the screams of a woman while she and Remus were running out of the forest. She had no doubt in her mind that it was one of the people who had been tied and gagged in the burlap bags she had saw in the clearing. The woman's cries still rang in her ears, and she shook back the tears on anger that had threatened to escape. She turned to the boys and looked at each one of them.

"What the Hell just happened?" she asked them quietly, wishing she had something to drink because her throat was so parched from running. The boys only looked at her. She turned around and wrapped her arms around herself.

Her mind was a whirl. She had no doubt that the two people in the bags had been killed. She also knew that the Death Eaters were searching out half-bloods like her, and eliminating them. She took another deep breath as the tears of anger and fear finally made their way out of her. Her mind never registered the three 'pops' that signified the boys changing back from their Animagi forms. In fact, the only thing she noticed was when Remus rubbed up against her leg. She looked down at the wolf and ruffled his fur. "I told you it was a bad idea to go into the forest, Remus." she said quietly. "See what you get for not listening to me?" The wolf only nodded his head, vowing silently to himself that he would never take her into that forest again.

James, Sirius, and Peter slid down the walls and sat on the floor of the shack. Sable quickly dried the tears on her face and turned back to them. They were all exhausted, and it showed plainly on their faces. Sable sat down and Remus lay down beside her, her hand absently petting and scratching his head and ears.

"Are you guys okay?" she asked, looking at the boys. They looked up at her and nodded solemnly.

"Yeah, if running into a group of Death Eaters in the middle of the forest is anything to be okay about." Sirius said sarcastically.

"You guys seen them too, then?" she asked. The boys nodded.

"Yeah, we hid in the underbrush until we heard Remus, then we split." James said. Sable said nothing; she just leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes.

"We need to tell Dumbledore." she finally said, breaking the silence.

"Are you nuts?" Sirius asked, eyeing the girl. "How would we explain that we found a Death Eater meeting in the middle of the forest?"

"How are we going to explain that Marcus Avery is now a Death Eater is my main concern." James said. "If he's already been branded, there is not telling how many more there are in Hogwarts!"

"Guys, this is not good." Peter said, shaking his head. "We can't tell Dumbledore without giving ourselves away. How would we tell him what happened without incriminating ourselves?" Remus seemed to agree with him, because he nodded and looked to Sable with a sad expression.

"I don't know." Sable said firmly, "But I've got news for all four of you. If I find out any of you have decided to wander back into the forest in the middle of the night, I'm going to hex you into the next millennium!" The boys actually nodded, agreeing that they did not want to come across something like that again. It was bad enough to read about the attacks in the papers, but to come up on one so close to the school…….well, that was a little much. Sable glanced down at her watch and shook her head. It was almost dawn, and Remus would be changing back soon. She hugged her boyfriend-turned-werewolf and took a deep breath.

"We can't do anything about it right now." she stated. "Dawn is only a few minutes away. We can worry about this after we get back to the castle and get some sleep." The boys seemed to agree, because no one said anything else about it. They grew silent, waiting for Remus' final transformation for the night to take place.

An hour later, Remus began to change back. As before, Sable was right beside him, coaxing him through the tiring process. Unfortunately, this time, the young man passed out before the transformation was complete.

With the breaking of the dawn's light over the tree tops, Sable conjured up a stretcher and the boys placed their exhausted friend on it. After unbolting the trap door, the group of friends made their way back up to the castle without anyone knowing any better.

They took a short-cut through the castle and wound up at the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room in no time. There was no one else up at this un-godly hour of the morning, so they met no resistance when going up to the boy's dorms. After using a couple of cleansing spells to get the grime off of their clothes, and getting Remus into his own bed, Sable collapsed onto the spare bed in the boy's dorm that James had once occupied before becoming Head Boy. She did have sense enough to pull the curtains around the bed incase Pomfrey decided to come check on Remus in a few hours, as she had been known to do before. The other three Marauders soon followed suite and were asleep in their own respective beds within minutes, Sirius and Peter in the dorm, and James in the Head Boy dormitory.

Before the first tendrils of sleep began to wrap around her conscience, and drag her into oblivion, Sable tried to shake her head clear of the sights she had saw that night. And one thought dominated her mind.

'I'll be damned if I ever step foot into that forest again! I don't care if Remus gets pissed as all Hell! He is not dragging me back in there again!'

Okay people. How'd it go? You guys still hanging in there with me? I hope so. Anyway, please review. I simply love it when I check my mail and find that someone has reviewed one of my stories.

Later.