Disclaimer- It's not mine. It never was.
A/N - Okay everyone, here is the next chapter in this wonderful story. I'm afraid that there are only three more chapters left to this story, this one being the first. As some of you can probably guess, I don't think many of you are going to like the way I end the story. Just a warning...
Later,
A.A.
Chapter 43
By the time Snape had gotten Sable back to the dungeons, his cold demeanor had come back. He marched her down to Remus' cell, where Flint was standing guard for the night. Snape pulled the cowl of his cloak up once again, covering his face from sight and slipping something into Sable's pocket. She said nothing, only acted as though nothing had happened. He had already told her on the way down to the dungeons to act as though she were scared of him, or else their cover could be blown. Sable, never for once in her life thinking that she would be listening to a Slytherin by choice, complied, and walked with her head down, eyes trained to the ground.
"Pour it down his throat after you knock him out." He hissed quietly before they got too close to Flint.
"What's it for?" Sable whispered, wondering if it was poison or something.
"To cover my ass." Snape growled. "It won't kill him. Just knock him out long enough to let you escape without being seen." Sable said nothing, only nodded slightly in understanding as they came closer to Flint, who looked to be in a large amount of pain. "Flint?"
"Hey." The Quidditch player said, wincing as he pulled the keys from the pocket of his cloak. Although Sable was still looking at the ground, trying to keep up the submissive, scared act, she could tell that Flint was cringing every time he moved, almost like someone had beat the crap out of him. 'Hmm. Well, old Voldie did say that he would punish Avery and Flint for rough handling me.' Sable thought with a morbid sense of satisfaction knowing that the two boys had been punished for hurting her. 'Wonder what ugly did to them?'
"Sable?" Remus called, jumping to the door of the cell when he heard them outside. "You alright?"
"I'm fine, Remus." She said quietly, acting as submissive as possible for the full effect.
"Back up, you filthy animal." Snape ordered. "Your little tramp is coming in with you!" There was a quiet shuffle as Remus scuttled away from the door so that Flint could put her in there. The door opened and Remus saw the hunched over form of Flint, as well as the form of someone else who pushed Sable into the room with him. Remus was still too worried about what had happened to his girlfriend to notice that the other Death Eater was the very student at Hogwart's that he hated the most. "You will be retrieved in the morning for your next lesson, ungrateful woman. And I would suggest that you be on your best behavior because I will not be so lenient the next time we meet." Snape slammed the door to the cell shut, and Flint locked them in again, securing the lock and the other magical wards that held the door shut. Remus caught her as she stumbled into the small cell, stopping her from falling onto the stone floor.
"Sable, are you alright?" Remus asked, looking her over as best he could in the poor light of the cell. "They didn't hurt you, did they, whoever that was?"
"No. I'm fine. A little shaken up, but fine." she answered quietly.
"Do you now who it was that brought you here?" He asked, sitting her on his lap. "Who's your 'teacher'. And what in the world is he supposed to be teaching you?"
"I don't know." Sable lied easily, shifting slightly so that Remus could not see her face.. "I haven't seen his face." She knew that it would probably be for the best to tell him that Snape was the one who was helping them out, but she knew that with Remus' immense dislike of the Slytherin Prefect, it would probably do more harm than good by telling him.
"It's something you're not going to learn for a while." came Flint's annoyed voice. "You don't need to know who it is. You just need to listen to them. Now shut up! I've got a bloody headache, and your constant yapping is making it worse."
"So go get a damned potion for it!" Remus yelled angrily. "Surely whoever your other master potion brewer is has one on hand to give you. Hopefully he laced it with some arsenic or something else."
"Shut it, you filthy wolf!" Flint growled. Remus was about to retort when Sable put her hand over his mouth and shook her head, going back to her normal self.
"Quit biting our heads off, Flint." she said, fully expecting to hear the muttered curses from the boy. "It's your own damn fault Voldemort punished you for rough handling me. Just go get a damn potion for the headache, will you? Your bitching is giving me a headache." Remus gave her a confused look, but she only shook her head and held up a finger to stop his questions. "Go on, Flint. Remus and I can't do anything. And there's no point in making us all miserable. So get the hell out of here."
"You stupid bitch!" Flint growled. "Keep talking and I'll..."
"You'll get another Cruciatus Curse on your head, is what you'll get." she smirked. "Go ahead, leave a mark on me again, and I'll guarantee Voldemort will give you more than a damned headache to complain about! Anything that happens to me during your watch is your responsibility anyway."
"Shut the hell up!" Flint yelled. Sable remained quiet and a few minutes later, the two captured teens heard the unmistakable sound of feet shuffling down the stone floor. When the sound faded, Sable heaved a sigh of relief and got off of Remus, who was thoroughly confused by now.
"What's going on, love?" he asked, watching as she fell to her knees in front of the pile of soured hay and began to sift through it. "What are you doing?"
"Getting us the hell out of this place." she said firmly. "Where the hell is it? He said that it was under here!" Remus was completely confused by now, and starting to wonder if the Death Eaters had put some sort of spell on his girlfriend, she was acting so odd.
"What are you looking for?" Remus asked, coming to get beside her. "And who are you talking about?"
"One of the Death Eaters." Sable said. "He's a spy for Dumbledore, and he told me that he's going to get the Headmaster to get us out of here, along with a whole bunch of Aurors from the Ministry. We have to get out of this cell and up to the entrance hall quickly." Remus sat up and looked down at her, not wanting to believe what she was saying, but silently hoping that she was not lying to him.
"So why are we searching around in a pile of hay?" Remus asked. "What's under here?"
"A container of concentrated acid." Sable said absently, throwing another handful of the foul smelling hay behind her.
"And what are we going to do with it?" Remus asked. "Are you sure this isn't some sort of trap, love?"
"We're supposed to use it to melt the lock on the door, but I've got a better idea." Sable said, completely ignoring that second question he had asked her.
"We don't have our wands, love." Remus pointed out. "We can't do anything without them."
"Flint's got them." Sable said firmly. "We have to get them from him. He took them from us when they attacked my house."
"And how are we going to do that?" Remus asked, beginning to believe her for some odd reason.
"See those shackles over there?" Sable asked, nodding towards the manacles that had been used on her earlier. "Ahh, I found it!" She held up a bottle of clear liquid, a triumphant grin on her face.
"What about them?" Remus asked, eyeing the silver chains eerily. He did not want to have to touch the bindings, knowing that the silver would make him sicker than Sable if it come into contact with his skin.
"That's how we're going to get Flint." she said. "Those dammed things weigh a ton. We're gonna get Flint in here, then knock the Hell out of him with those things. After that, we've got to get to the entrance floor and hide until he gets here with Dumbledore and the Aurors. What time is it?"
"A little after eleven." Remus said, glancing at his watch.
"Good, we don't have long until midnight." she said.
"Sable, love, this is nuts." Remus said finally.
"Do you have a better idea?" she snapped. "Cause I'd sure like to hear it."
"It's just that...we're not sneaking around Hogwarts." he said, scratching his head. "This place is full of murderers wanting a reason to kill us. And who says that this Death Eater is really a spy for DUmbledore? He was marked with the Dark Mark, for Merlin's sake! It could be a lie. We can't trust him."
"Remus, what exactly do you call this?" she asked, pointing to her stomach, where the two snakes twined around her waist. "It isn't exactly a fucking birthmark! I'm marked too, so are you not going to trust me now?"
"I didn't mean it like that." He said, wishing he could retract the words.. "But why can't we just stay here until Dumbledore gets here with the other Aurors?"
"I don't know, but he told us to get out of here, and I'm doing it." she answered. "Hush. Here comes Flint." Sure enough, they could hear the returning footstep of the Slytherin Quidditch player, along with a whole lot of muttering.
"Well?" Remus asked, looking to her. "What do we have to do to get him in here?"
"Just start yelling that I'm not breathing or something." Sable said, laying down on the stone floor. "He'll come in and I'll knock the shit out of him when he turns me over."
"Fine." Remus said, kneeling besides her. "I hope this works."
"It will." Sable said reassuringly. "Just watch."
Cody Flint shook his head in aggravation as he looked at his watch. It was almost a quarter afer eleven, and he was ready to get some sleep. He had just come from Snape's quarters, easily acquiring a headache potion for the migraine that was coming on.. 'Now I've just got to deal with these blasted animals tonight.' he thought. 'Wonderful!' Voldemort had put the Cruciatus Curse on both him and Avery for not following orders, and shackling Sable with the silver cuffs. The evil wizard had left it on for so long, that Avery had passed out after only a few moments under the intense pain. Flint though, had been used to it, seeing as how anytime he screwed up, his master put the curse on him, and had managed to stay conscious.
"Although you have a killer headache afterwards, no matter how used to it you get." he grumbled. He walked over to the chair beside the holding cell and sat down, glad that the two prisoners inside seemed to have shut up.
"SABLE!"He heard Lupin's panicked voice yell suddenly. "SABLE! WAKE UP! WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU! WAKE UP, SABLE! COME ON, WAKE UP! TELL ME WHAT'S WRONG! OH SHIT, SHE'S NOT BREATHING! COME ON GIRL, SNAP OUT OF IT! I TOLD THOSE BASTARDS TO KEEP THE SILVER AWAY FROM YOU! SABLE! SNAP OUT OF IT! WAKE UP!"
"What's going on in there, Lupin?" he called out, jumping up from the chair and looking through the small opening, only to see Remus kneeling beside Sable, shaking her violently. "What the hell's wrong with her?!"
"She's not breathing, you imbecile!" Remus yelled, still shaking her.
"Why not?" Flint asked. "What's wrong with her?"
"It's a delayed reaction from when any werewolf comes into contact with silver." he said. "You assholes put the damn silver shackles on her earlier. So come do something before she dies!" Flint's heart started to race with the thought of what would happen to him if the girl died. He unlocked and opened the doors, rushing in and pushing Remus aside.
"You stupid bitch!" he cursed her, rolling her over. "You better not die!"
"I don't intend on it, you bastard!" Sable said after a split second, swinging the heavy manacles up and hitting the boy square in the side of his head.
Flint never saw it coming, and dropped to the floor like a brick, falling on top of her. She managed to pull herself out from under him while Remus relieved him of their wands. Sable climbed to her feet and took her wand from Remus, using a charm to flip Flint onto his back and open his mouth.
"Now what are you going?" Remus asked, watching as she removed the container of liquid Snape had passed her before putting her back into the cell.
"Covering up our tracks." she said. "And covering our friend's ass." She poured the liquid down Flint's throat and discarded the container, leaving the boy on the stone floor. "Let's go." They left the cell after locking Flint in it, and headed upstairs.
"Sable," Remus said suddenly as an idea hit him. "Can't we just Apparate out of here?" Sable shrugged and turned to him.
"We can try." she said. Remus walked over to her and grabbed her hand, focusing on the place he wanted to be at. Unfortunately, the swirling pull usually felt when he Apparated was not present. He opened his eyes and looked around, shaking his head. "So much for that idea."
"I didn't think it would work." Sable said wearily. "The spy guy told me that there were anti-apparating wards on the mansion. I had already thought of that earlier." Remus shrugged and they continued on carefully, their wands were out and ready, and Remus had already cast the Disillusionment charm as a form of protection. They got to the entrance hall without any problems, seeing as how it was almost midnight, and many of the Death Eaters had left. But when they managed to get to the entrance foyer, their luck seemed to run out. Standing by the door were four men with black cloaks over their shoulders. The hoods were not pulled up, so their faces were showing. But neither Remus not Sable could place them.
"Now what do we do?" Remus whispered fiercely. "They're right by the entrance. We can't get out."
"We hide." Sable said, nodding to a small cupboard underneath the stairs leading to the top floor. "We have to wait until midnight before Dumbledore gets here anyways. The closer we are to the entrance the better." So, the two teenagers crept into the small cupboard and shut the door as quietly as possible. It was a tight fit in the little room, and they could feel the layers of dust on top of everything in it. Remus used his wand and cast a lighting charm, so that they could see exactly what was around them.
When the light finally flooded the small room, Sable's eyes were immediately drawn to the boxes of antiques surrounding them. She picked up a silver goblet and brought it to Remus.
"Whose family is this?" she asked, pointing to the intricate carving of the crest on the cup. "I've never seen it before." Remus lifted the Disillusionment charm and looked back at the goblet, a frown on his face.
"It's the Zabini's." he said, glowering. "A bunch of aristocratic purebloods who rank right up there with Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy." Sable nodded and put the plate back, not wanting to know anything else about their captors.
"What time is it?" Sable whispered a few minutes later.
"11:47." he answered.
"All we can do is wait." Sable said, watching through the keyhole as the shadows of the men moved across the wall. Her hand strayed to the shell necklace that had been given to her by the water sprites in the Forbidden Forest all months weeks ago. Miraculously, it had remained on her neck during this whole ordeal with the Death Eaters. Remus noticed her fidgeting with the center shell and covered her hands with his own.
"You're nervous." he whispered. "Calm down."
"I'll be fine." She said absently. "I'm just trying to figure out how to get my parents bodies out of those holding cells.
"We'll get them after Dumbledore and the Aurors get here." Remus said. He looked down at his watch and frowned. "11:53."
"Just a few more minutes." Sable muttered. "Just a few more minutes and we'll be free."
"They sure are taking their damned time getting here." Remus said. Sable was about to respond when the worst possible thing could happen.
"They've escaped!" came Avery's strident voice from the doorway leading into the dungeons. "They've escaped! Find them immediately!" Sable cursed as the men in the foyer turned towards Avery, their wands drawn.
"What was that, Avery?" one of them asked. "They've escaped? How?"
"I thought Flint was on guard duty down there." another growled.
"Flint was knocked out cold." Avery said, coming up to them and frowning. "They lifted their wands off of him as well."
"Shite!" the tallest of the men said, glancing around the room. "Find them before Lord Voldemort has all of our heads!" They all spread out and began to hunt, but it was not long before the grandfather clock struck midnight, and the dings and dongs of the pendulum was soon mixed in with the roaring sound of exploding doors and sparking spells. The Death Eaters searching the mansion quickly congregated in the entrance hall in confusion, until Voldemort himself appeared in the middle of the throng.
"It's the Aurors from the Ministry." One of his underling reported. "Led by Albus Dumbledore. They've found us."
"Brace yourselves, my followers." Voldemort said, pulling out his own wand in preparation. "Our powers and strengths are not yet great enough to take on that many. Avery, Misha, retrieve Ms. Robbins and let us retreat. Kill the wolf."
"They've escaped, sir." Avery said slightly, bowing his head under the glare his master sent him.
"They what?" Voldemort hissed. "Well find her..." Before he could finish the sentence, the doors of the mansion flew open and Ministry Aurors rushed in, firing curses and hexes at the black cloaked individuals.
The air was a whirl of color as the spells bounced off of each other. Sable and Remus watched out of the small crack in the door as Dumbledore used one curse to bind and vanish half a dozen Death Eaters. The rest of the Aurors quickly spread out and began dueling with the other Death Eaters who were present. After about ten minutes of dueling, Voldemort called from one of the balconies to his followers below him.
"Retreat!" Yelled Voldemort. Dumbledore looked up in time to catch the malicious smile of the aging wizard. "You will rue the day you crossed me, Albus Dumbledore! I will come back to purge our world of those unfit to learn the teachings of our forefathers. Mark my words, Albus, we will meet again!" Dumbledore seemed to care little for the other man's showy speech, and quickly began to ascend the steps, only to find Voldemort gone by the time he reached the top balcony. Slowly, each one of the men in Death Eaters robes Disapparated away, seeing their master gone, until only the Ministry officials were left, along with Dumbledore, Remus, and Sable.
"Albus!"called one of the Ministry witches from the bottom floor. "They've all disappeared! There is no one left here!"
"Spread out and find my students." Dumbledore said firmly, his eyes furrowed in concern. "We will worry about the rest of the culprits later!" The Ministry members barely had time to move before Remus and Sable burst from the closet.
"We're here!" Sable said, looking up to the headmaster. "We're right here!"
"Ms. Robbins, Mr. Lupin!" another curly headed Ministry witch said. "You are alive. Thank Merlin!" Dumbledore came down the stairs and stood in front of the two teens.
"Are you two injured?" he asked, looking them over for any bruises.
"We are fine, headmaster." Remus said. "But what happened? Where did all the Death Eaters, and Voldemort, go?"
"I'm afraid they Disapparated." he said.
"But, Remus and I tried that, and it didn't work." Sable said, her confusion evident in her face. "We couldn't leave the mansion."
"It's more of Voldie's handiwork." came Alastor Moody's annoyed voice as he walked up beside Dumbledore and the students. "Only people marked with the Dark Mark could Apparate out of here."
"But...I....." Sable began to say, only to be shushed by Remus, who shook his head, not wanting her to tell everyone that Voldemort had put his mark on her. If she was going to tell anyone, he figured Dumbledore would be the smartest decision. 'Besides, there's no telling what the Ministry would do if they knew she was marked as a Death Eater.' he thought.
"Headmaster," Remus said, turning to face the old man. "Sable's parents are still in the dungeon. We need to go get them out."
"Voldemort killed them." Sable said sadly, as though the fact had finally hit her that her parents were no longer alive. "He told Avery and Flint to put them in the holding cell in the dungeon."
"I see." Dumbledore said, nodding towards Moody and another Auror that had appeared beside him. "I will send Moody and Phillastines to retrieve them, Ms. Robbins. You needn't worry."
"I'm going with them." Sable said, stepping up to the two Aurors that had nodded in Dumbledore's direction. "I'll show them where they are."
"Very well then, Ms. Robbins." Dumbledore said. "Phillastines, Moody, will you kindly accompany Ms. Robbins back into the mansion to retrieve her parents bodies?"
"Of course." said the African American Auror who Sable had pegged as Phillastines.
"Let's go, little missy." Moody said, his magical eye rolling all around in his head. "We've got more work to do before tonight is over with. Might as well get them out now."
"I agree, Alastor." Dumbledore said. "I will take Mr. Lupin and await your arrival back. I have some questions he may be able to answer."
"We'll be back shortly." Phillastines said, turning and following Sable towards the now quiet and deserted mansion. Remus watched as they disappeared back into the dreary mansion, then turned to follow the headmaster further away from where the Ministry officials were working. It was no time before another man in Ministry robes caught sight of them and came over. The man was quite tall and dressed in purple robes. If Remus remembered right, this man was Kenos Transtorian, the current Minister of Magic.
"Albus, did you retrieve the children?" he asked quickly, almost frantically.
"Mr. Lupin is here, and Ms. Robbins is currently with Moody and Phillastines, retrieving her parents bodies from the dungeons." Dumbledore said, turning back to the mansion. The two men spoke a little longer, and Remus began to get anxious to see Sable again. He was just about to ask Dumbledore to go back in when the first explosion happened, causing Remus, Dumbledore, and the Minister of Magic to spin around and watch the sight before them.
The entire first floor of the mansion had exploded into a bright orange fireball. Glass went flying, and people were knocked down from the force.
"Oh, fuck!" Remus yelled immediately. "Sable!"
"Mr. Lupin!" Dumbledore said forcefully, putting a hand on the young man's shoulder to stop him from running into the burning building. "You can not go in there! You'll be killed!"
"She's still in there!" Remus yelled frantically. "Get her out of there, Headmaster!"
"Stay here, Remus." He said, pulling his wand and following the Minister, who had took off as soon as he saw the explosion. "I can't risk losing a student's life. I'll find Ms. Robbins." Dumbledore took off, and Remus watched as the mansion slowly begin to collapse, despite the efforts to stop the fire.
The next couple of minutes were pure torture for Remus. All he could see was the burning building, and the Ministry officials using every charm, hex, and curse in the book to put the fire out. His heart was racing and he frantically looked for any sign of Sable, or Dumbledore, or anyone else who had went back into the mansion. Around the ground level, the witches and wizards were running back and forth, trying to calm the flames that licked at the old, aristocratic mansion hungrily, devouring the wood and mortar. A sickening crack was heard over the din of the area, and Remus watched as the top floor of the building gave way, and the entire second story collapsed inwardly.
"Sable!" he yelled. "Dumbledore!" Remus watched as, moments later, Dumbledore and the Minister of Magic walked out of the burning mess, Phillastines and the Minister being levitated behind them, as the first floor of the building caved in and it all fell down to where the dungeons had been located. Remus ran towards them, shaking his head in anger and fright. He still didn't see Sable.
"Where is she?" Remus asked frantically, looking at the old man for an answer. "Where's Sable?" Dumbledore looked over at Alastor Moody, who said nothing, but only took Phillastines and the Minister's unconscious forms to where medi-witches were standing by.
"We couldn't find her, Remus." Dumbledore said sadly. "I'm sorry, but....we lost sight of her in the smoke. She disappeared from view, then we wound up on the first floor at the entrance."
"No. No. NO!" Remus said, shaking his head. "She's in there! You've got to go back in there. She's still in there!"
"Mr. Lupin, Remus, please." Dumbledore said sadly.
"You don't understand!" Remus yelled. "She's got to be alive. She can't be dead! No, this can't happen!"
"Remus, calm down!" Dumbledore said. "I'm sorry, but...the only way she could have gotten out was to Apparate out. And only those that were marked with the Dark Mark were capable of Apparating out of there."
"No, this can't happen." Remus said, tears forming in his eyes as he watched the mansion collapse inward some more and continue to burn.
"I'm sorry, Remus." Dumbledore said sadly. "But....if she got out of there, it would be the closest thing to a miracle that I have ever seen."
"Sable, come out of there, please...." he begged.
A/N - Okay, people. Here is the latest chapter in this crazy story. I just hope I haven't lost anyone in it yet. Things are starting to look bleak, aren't they? Wonder if our wonderful couple is going to be able to pull out of this one? We'll see soon enough.
Later,
A.A.
Please remember to review.
