A/N: Sorry this has taken me so long to update! Please review, and thanks to everyone who has.
Chapter 22
"Right, does everyone understand what we're going to do?" James asked the others. As soon as they'd all agreed on a plan to safe their friends, the six teenagers had snuck out of school and away from their parents to implement it. Sirius had remembered Remus telling him once that the village his grandparents lived near was surrounded by some sort of magical sheild that kept people from Apparating into (A/N: I don't know if that is really possible, but for my purposes it is). Not many people knew about the sheild; in fact, most of the villagers weren't even aware of its existence. Therefore, they had reasoned that the Death Eaters who'd attacked the Lupins' house couldn't have gotten far from the village - after all, they would need somewhere to keep Remus when the full moon came, and they wouldn't want to take the risk of some of the villagers seeing them. Now, the six of them were standing on the other edge of the woods from Remus' grandparents' house, an ancient castle-like mansion just visible through the trees. They suspected that this was where the Death Eaters were holding their friends.It was, after all, the perfect hiding place; not too far from the village, but far enough away that it couldn't be easily found.
In fact, the only reason they'd been able to find it was because the Marauders used to visit Remus' grandparents over the summer. They used to love exploring the forest surrounding the village, and had found this mansion the summer after their fourth year. When they'd realized that it was abandoned, the four boys had turned it into their headquarters of sorts. Sirius could remember spending hours exploring its seemingly endless rooms, even the dungeons. He'd never thought that knowledge would ever come in handy, but he was glad now that they'd taken the time to learn as much as they could about the house. Still, Sirius felt oddly cheeted. He'd spent one of the best summers of his life in this place. Having it turned into a haven for Death Eaters felt like a horrendous crime - almost as if it were Hogwarts that was housing a bunch of murderers who wanted to kill his friends, instead of an abandoned mansion in the middle of nowhere.
"Yes, James, we understand," Lily gritted in annoyance. "It's not as if the plan is all that complicated. Peter's going to transform into Wormtail, sneak into the house, and try and find Remus and Michelle. When he does, he's going to make contact with them before sneaking back out and getting us. Then, we'll wait for nightfall, when the Death Eaters should all be asleep before sneaking back into the house and hopefully getting Remus and Michelle out of there before the full moon rises. Does that sound right to you?" (A/N: Not only do the girls now know that Remus is a werewolf, but they also know that the others are Animagi - let's just say they were told everything after the events in the Forbidden Forest, okay? Okay)
"Yes," James said, ignoring Lily's tone. He knew she didn't mean to snap, just as he didn't mean to continuously remind the others about their plan. They were all scared and worried, though they tried not to hide it. "Right then. Pete," he whispered, turning to Peter, who was white and shaking both from nerves and cold. "Good luck, mate, and be careful."
Peter nodded in ackowledgement, as the others voiced similar sentiments. Just as he was about to transform, Grace rushed up to him and hugged him hard, before kissing him quickly on the cheek and whispering, "Please be careful, love."
He blushed a little, but nodded and whispered back, "I will." With that, he transformed and scurried off to the house.
"Remus, what are we going to do?" Michelle whispered. The two of them were currently sitting on the hard stone floor of their cell, Remus' arms around Michelle.
"I don't know," he breathed. As he continued to examine the room - he'd been doing that for hours, now more out of boredom than because he thought he'd actually find a way to escape - a feeling Remus had been getting about the place became stronger. There was something about this room, something he couldn't quite place, that made it feel as if he'd been here before. But that was ridiculous, wasn't it? Remus had never been held prisoner by anyone before, so he certainly had never been inside a jail cell. But knowing that didn't make the room feel any less familiar. "I don't know what we're going to do, love. But I'm sure we'll be found soon. After all, the Ministry's bound to have been alerted to the attack by now, and I'm sure they've got people looking for us." Actually, Remus wasn't at all sure of that. The fact was, they were just a couple of teenagers as far as the Ministry new. In the middle of a war, why should they worry much about a couple of unimportant kids when Ministry officials disappeared nearly everyday?
"You're right, as always," Michelle sighed. "I'm just being stupid. We'll be out of here in no time, right? Preferably before the full moon, that is. No offence," she added immediately.
Remus snorted. "Don't worry, Shelly. I want to get out of here as soon as possible, too. The thought that I might end up killing you scares me to death," he whispered, tightening his arms around her and feeling tears start to blur his vision.
Suddenly, Remus heard a light scratching sound. It was almost like a small animal was trying to get into the room, through the bars on the bottom of the door. He looked around and spotted a rat, squeezing through the bars. A very, wonderfully familiar rat. Sitting up, Remus grinned as he quietly exclaimed, "Peter!"
Michelle whipped around and spotted the rat. She grinned as Peter transformed back into himself. Hesmiled at his friends. "He guys. Guess what? We're getting you out as soon as we can."
"We? Who else is here?" Remus asked bemusedly.
Peter looked at him strangely. "Who else? James, Sirius, Lily, Jennifer and Grace, of course. I hope you didn't expect me to be able to get here on my own. I'm flattered, really, but I'm no match for a bunch of Death Eaters, Moony. Anyway, the others sent me in to find you, because as a rat, I'm obviously much less conspicuous than they are. I wasn't supposed to stay and talk but I heard you guys a minute ago, and decided to let you know that we're going to get you out. After I leave you, I'm going back to them. We'll all come back in when it gets dark, so there'll be less of a risk of being seen by the Death Eaters. Don't worry, Moony," he said, spotting the worried look on his friend's face. "With any luck, we'll be out of here before the moon rises. Then, I'm going to getthe girls back to your grandparents' house, and Sirius and James will take care of you. Sound good?"
"Sounds great, except for the fact that this place is swarming with Death Eaters, and we don't even know our way around," Michelle pointed out.
Peter gave her an odd look. "What are you talking about? Of course we know our way around. We're in that old mansion we foundwhen your grandparents had us all overafter fourth year," he said to Remus.
Remus' eyes widened, as he realized why the room had seemed so familiar. "Well, now I know why this place was looking so familiar."
Wormtail nodded. "Right, well, I'd better be getting out of here. The others are probably wondering what's keeping me. I'll see you guys in a bit," he said, before transforming back into a rat and squeezing back through the doors and out of sight.
Once Peter was gone, Michelle turned to Remus and said, "Well, I don't know if I'm relieved or not."
Remus knew what she meant. "I know. I'm glad to know that someone's trying to save us, but I'm not at all happy that our friends are risking their lives against a bunch of ruthless murderers for our sakes."
Michelle nodded as they both began to pace the room worriedly.
"Where is he?" Grace whispered worriedly, as she pulled her cloak tighter around her to ward off the cold. Night was about to fall, and Peter still hadn't returned. It was freezing, and the snow had begun to fall, making the forest look like some sort of winter wonderland.
"I'm sure he's okay, Grace," Jennifer breathed, trying to comfort her friend. "That house is pretty big, and who know's where Remus and Michelle are? It's probably just taking Pete longer than expected."
"Well," Sirius said, "if he doesn't come back soon, I say we should go in there anyway. The moon is going to start rising soon, and we don't want Remus and Michelle trapped together when it does."
The others nodded in agreement. Suddenly, Lily, who'd been staring at the house in intense concentration, saw a small animal coming their way. It was Peter. "There he is!" she exclaimed quietly, pointing out the small, scurrying figure to the others.
They all breathed in relief. Peter transformed a moment later, and approached the group, grinning. "They're there," he said. "And they're both okay, just worried about getting out."
"That's a relief," James said, allowing himself to smile for the first time in hours. "Great job, Pete."
"Yeah, mate. We couldn't do this without you," Sirius said, slapping Peter on the back in his happiness at hearing that his friends were still okay.
"No problem," Peter said, pleased at being able to do something helpful. "They're in the cell at the far end of the dungeon. Unfortunately, that's the only one we never found the key to, so we'll have to try and steal it from one of the guards the Death Eaters have positioned there."
The others nodded. "How many guards are there?" James asked.
"Two outside the dungeons," Peter said. "And two at each entrance to the house. I don't know if there are any others - I didn't bother to find them, because I wanted to get back here as soon as possible, so we can get them out."
"Right, then," Jennifer said, pulling out her wand. "What are we waiting for? Lets go."
The others nodded, and Peter and Sirius both transformed into their Animagus forms, heading back to the mansion. They were going to try and get around the Death Eaters in their animal forms, while James led the others to a secret entrance to the dungeons the Marauders had found while exploring the house. As James pulled open a trapdoor that was hidden on the forest floor, letting the girls jump down first, he could only hope that they managed to get to their friends in time. The fact that they were a bunch of underage wizards up against who knew how many Death Eaters no longer mattered. Their friends were in danger, and they weren't about to let them go without a fight.
A/N: Hope you liked it! I didn't actually plan to end the chapter here, but after writing it, this seemed like a good place to stop. Anyway, like I said earlier, please please please please please please please review!
