Chapter 10: Meanwhile

It was the little things he noticed first. Things like his ear itching terribly. Or someone breathing nearby.

He inhaled deeply, through nose and mouth, and got the scent of burned cloth, dust, and a faint whiff of something floral. Lavender, he thought.

A wisp of memory came back to him –

Even wearing basic black Hogwarts robes, she seemed to float down the stairs. Or maybe it was that he wasn't looking at anything but her smile. The smile she kept for one person only. How was it that such a girl had become interested in him, little, insignificant him?

She posed at the bottom of the stairs, leaning her head over to one side. He knew what she wanted, and the common room was empty, so he could do it without fear of anyone making noises at them.

She giggled as he kissed her neck. "That tickles."

"You smell nice."

"It's lavender. My mum sent me a sachet from home – she said so she doesn't have to smell all my dirty clothes when I unpack." Evanie grinned. "But I sent everything to the laundry yesterday, so I'll just have two sets of dirties. Surprise her."

Peter drifted reluctantly out of this very agreeable moment from before the feast into the present, which wasn't nearly so enjoyable.

To begin with, he couldn't scratch his itch, because his hands were tied behind his back.

And Evanie, he saw as he opened his eyes, was lying next to him, similarly bound and apparently still out. He recalled that she'd accidentally knocked him onto a potion ball while trying to put out a fire on his robes.

I'm not that important. You should have run while you had the chance.

But obviously, she hadn't. And now they were both here, wherever here was. Peter had a feeling it didn't really matter, except that it would likely be the place where they both died. But he had a look around anyway.

It had the look of a place under construction, or renovation. A pile of boards lay in one corner of the room, and sawdust and other debris were everywhere. There were large holes drilled in some of the walls, near the floor, and a corner missing from the door.

Evanie moaned softly, getting all of Peter's attention. He pushed himself awkwardly closer to her. "Selene?" he called quietly. "Selene, wake up."

"Mmmm?" She opened her eyes and smiled at him. "Wormtail."

His nickname had never sounded so good, Peter thought.

"What happened to us?" Evanie tried to sit up, failed, and frowned. "I'm – we're tied up!"

"Death Eaters," said Peter, squirming slightly and managing to get himself into a more upright position. "Death Eaters took us. Here, hold on." He rotated himself in place, using his feet, and leaned back until he felt the cloth of her robes under his fingers. "Try sitting up again."

With both of them working at it, Evanie was upright in a moment. Peter turned back around to face her. Her face was solemn. "We're going to die, then," she said quietly. "I'm a half-blood – you're–"

"Pure, but not by much. Three of my grandparents were Muggleborns."

"So they're going to kill us, aren't they?"

"Yes. Probably. For fighting back as much as anything."

"So what are we supposed to do? Lie down and let them walk all over us?"

"Or go over to their side. That's what they think, anyway."

Evanie snorted. "I'd rather die."

That's a distinct possibility.

"Peter–" Evanie suddenly looked excited. "I have an idea. We could get away, we could escape!"

"How?"

"You can do it. You can change into Wormtail. Then the ropes won't hold you, and you'll be free. You can let me go, and we can try to sneak out..." She stopped. Peter was shaking his head. "Why not?"

"I can't, Selene." He hated telling her this, hated dashing all her hopes, but it would be crueler to hold out a false hope. "I can't transform when I'm scared. I never could. And I'm scared to death right now. There's no way I could change."

As he had expected, as he had known would happen, Evanie's face crumpled into lines of disappointment.

I disappoint everyone. I've never really lived up to anyone's standards. Not even my own.

Maybe it's better for it to end this way...

"Peter."

He looked up. Evanie was looking at him, with such a strange expression that he had to stare at her for a long moment before he figured it out.

Confidence. She looked confident.

"I know you can do it," she said. "I know you can save me."

Peter shook his head again. "Evanie, I'm no good at being a hero."

"Yes, you are," she said firmly. "You're my hero. And I'm not letting you be anything but good."

Disbelief and – could it be hope? – rose in Peter.

I haven't disappointed her. She still believes I can do it.

And I can't let her down.

I suppose I have to do it, then...

Peter closed his eyes and began to mentally recite the incantation he'd taken from the book on Animagus transformations – was it only two years ago? It seemed like so much longer...

As he thought the words, he imagined the changes in his body. The shrinking, the growing of the fur and the tail and the front teeth, the relocation of his ears and his nose –

There was one moment of pain, as his front paws were briefly in a place where no rat's front paws should be, but the ropes were tied far too loosely now, and a quick squirm freed him. There were only three more words to say – two – one –

"You did it!" cried Evanie's voice happily.

Peter opened his eyes to see his goddess looming far above him.

I did it.

I really did it.

Rats couldn't smile, but Peter managed anyway.

He scurried up to her and patted her knee with a paw. Hold still, he was trying to communicate. I'll get you loose.

The ropes which bound Evanie were thick, but coarse material. Probably conjured, Peter thought, stopping to spit.

Definitely not proof against a pair of powerful gnawing teeth.

Evanie was free in less than fifteen seconds. Peter changed back, she turned to face him, and they held each other for one moment, saying silently everything they couldn't say aloud.

"What now?" asked Evanie when they let go.

She trusts me to lead her.

It was a heady feeling, and not one Peter was used to, but he throttled it back a bit.

I have to be careful. I could get her killed if I'm not.

Or I could get killed myself.

But that was a secondary concern at the moment.

"We should see if there's anyone else here," he answered her. "We can't have been the only people taken. Then we should look for a way out. We can't count on being rescued."

Evanie nodded. "Because we don't know how the battle went." She looked faintly ill. "We might even have lost."

"Not with Dumbledore there," said Peter as confidently as he could. "He's too strong. But it might have gone badly even if we won. So we have to think in terms of being on our own."

And, if we can't get out, taking as many of them with us as we can.

But that he didn't say aloud. There was no point in scaring her.

"Reconnaissance first, then," he said instead. "I'd better do it – I can get places you can't."

"What should I do?"

"Good question." Peter thought about it for a moment. "Let me see something." He turned rat again and slipped out through the missing corner of the door.

It was a long, empty hallway, faintly lit by the occasional candle in a sconce on the walls. He ran down the hall, peering into the other rooms. All seemed empty, except for piles of building materials.

He returned to Evanie. "You can hide in one of the other rooms along here," he said. "I'll find a safer place as soon as I can."

"All right."

His goddess ensconced behind a pile of bricks, Peter took off running.

He was going to get her to safety, or die trying.

The wall looked funny. It was all fuzzy, and jagged, as if parts of it were missing.

He blinked and realized that the "fuzzy" bit was due to his glasses being not where they should be.

That's odd. Where are they?

He tried to touch his face, to see if they'd just slipped down his nose, and couldn't.

What the – I'm tied up!

The battle came rushing back to him – pulling Lily back into cover, getting distracted by what she claimed she'd seen, spinning at Remus' shout just in time to see her go down at a Death Eater's wand –

And then he maneuvered me out of cover. I'm such an idiot. That one's so old it remembers the Founding of Hogwarts – and I fell for it!

He groaned in frustration at his own stupidity.

"Who's there?" asked a voice behind him.

James rolled quickly over, wincing as he squashed his hands somewhat, and squinted at the speaker, praying he was wrong with his identification of the voice. Black robes, white face, dark red hair...

His heart plummeted, landing in the vicinity of his knees. I wasn't wrong.

"James," said Lily, relief and profound unhappiness warring in her voice. "They got you too."

"Yeah. 'Fraid so."

"I think I see your glasses." Lily sat up and spun herself around by pushing her heels against the floor. "Hold on, I'll try to get them for you."

James waited where he was, watching her shape move along the floor awkwardly, then return. He rolled onto his stomach to turn his face as upright as possible, and in a few moments his glasses were perched on his nose. He felt like they were going to fall off again any minute, but at least he could see.

"Thanks," he said as Lily turned around again.

"Don't mention it." Lily's face, now that he could see it clearly, was tight with tension. "So, I know your dad is an Auror. Does he ever find people who were taken by Death Eaters?"

"Yeah. Sometimes he does."

"Ever find any live ones?"

"Once." James considered lying, but Lily was sharp – she'd catch him out and demand the truth. He might as well skip the intermediate step and just answer her questions.

"Who was it?"

"They didn't know his name. And he couldn't tell them. He was probably a Muggle, though. Acted like he'd never seen magic before." James hesitated, then decided to add the final detail. "He died pretty soon after they found him."

Lily nodded. Her face said she'd expected nothing else, but still didn't like it. "And... what about the others?"

"What about the others?"

"What had happened to them? Before they... died?"

"Why are you asking about this?"

"Because I want to know what's going to happen to me. I hate just sitting here, not knowing. Maybe if I know I can't do anything about it, but at least then I'll know!"

James shook his head. "No."

"No what? No, you're not going to tell me?"

He nodded.

"Why not!"

"A lot of reasons. First, it would take too long to tell you everything. Second, you'd be sick halfway through. Third, this means you're giving up." James scooted a bit closer to Lily."You can't give up. Not ever. That gives them an automatic win. There has to be something we can do – there's always something."

"Like what?" Lily laughed shortly. "Wandless magic?"

"Maybe." James pounced on it. I have to keep her thinking positive. She'll go all despairing again if I don't. "Can you do anything wandless?"

"No." Idiot, her tone implied. You should have known that.

"Nor can I. On my own. But maybe we can do it together."

"Together?"

"I read somewhere about combining magics," said James, taking a few words he'd heard his mother say once and running with them. "It said that brothers and sisters, or really good friends, or people in love with each other – like us – can sometimes combine their magics. In times of great need. And then they can do things they might not be able to do alone."

"Like wandless?"

"Yes. Like wandless. You're great at Charms – what's one you've always been able to do?"

"You mean one that might help us now?"

"Yeah, that'd be nice." James grinned. This is good, she's getting her sense of humor back.

"Incendio," said Lily certainly. "I can always do that one, even if I'm half asleep. Mum used to joke that I'd burn the school down one of these days."

"All right." James turned himself around the way Lily had done. "Grab onto my ropes," he said over his shoulder. "Then think Incendio really hard. I'll do it too. The both of us might just be able to do it."

"I'll try." James heard the noises of Lily turning, then felt a small, cool hand interpose itself between his bound wrists.

I was so making that up.

But what's the harm in trying?

"Incendio," he muttered under his breath, willing the ropes to burn. "Incendio."

"Incendio," he heard Lily whispering. "Come on, Incendio."

Fire. Anger is like fire. Maybe it'll help if I get her mad.

"They can't do this to us," James began quietly, over Lily's repeated murmuring of the spell. "They can't take away everything we were going to have. Our house – you remember that little place in Godric's Hollow I showed you over Christmas? My grandparents lived there, it belongs to my family. We could move in as soon as we were married. And then children. I think a boy to start, then a girl, then a couple more boys, maybe twins. But Voldemort doesn't want us to have it. He wants us to die. He wants us to lie down and make it easy for him. Are we going to?"

"Incendio!" Lily hissed as if it were her answer.

"Damn straight!" James was getting angry himself – this wasn't how his life was supposed to go. He was supposed to have everything he wanted, or at least be able to get it by working for it. No damned jumped-up Dark moron with a fancy-dance name and megalomaniac tendencies was going to ruin his future with the girl he wanted to marry...

He yelped and yanked his hands apart, slapping at the flames on the sleeves of his robes.

"It worked!" Lily gasped.

"Sure did." James grinned.

I'll have to remember that.

He flexed his fingers – not too much damage there, he should be able to handle a wand, if and when he got hold of one. But first things first... "Hold still, I'll get you untied."

What is it with waking up to people calling my name?

"Sirius."

"Wha's wrong, Letha, m'I late for class?"

"Not quite." Aletha's voice sounded odd – as if she were clinging to control of it with her toenails and teeth, Sirius thought muddily. "What's the last thing you remember?"

He thought back. The battle – his calling her over to his hiding place – she'd been Stunned and Summoned, he'd caught her and pulled her back, he'd gotten them both back to cover –

"Regulus!" His eyes shot open.

"He must have Portkeyed us here," said Aletha, who was sitting a short distance away with her hands behind her back – tied there, Sirius realized, as he discovered his own were as well. "He woke me up to gloat a little. Apparently, he's just recently gotten a chance to get in with the Death Eaters. We're part of his entrance fee." She frowned. "He said he tried to use something else, but Voldemort said it wasn't enough."

Sirius expressed his feelings with one short, Anglo-Saxon word.

"Yes, I know what you'd like to do with me," said Aletha in a patient tone. "I'd like to do it with you too. But I'm afraid we don't have time right now."

Sirius couldn't help but laugh.

What a wonderful girl I found. Captured by sadistic wizards, no chance of escaping, and she's still cracking jokes.

But wait. Maybe there is a chance.

"Have you seen Regulus again?" he asked, sitting up with some effort.

"No. I haven't seen anyone since he left. He said he'd be back to take us to the ceremony."

Ceremony. Not good. But if we never get there... "He said it would be him?"

"Yes, I think so. Does it matter?"

"Hell yes, it matters." Sirius rolled his shoulders, trying to get rid of the stiffness without his hands being free. "The little bastard owes me his life."

Aletha's eyes widened. "That's right, from February – and that puts him in your debt–"

"Wizard's debt." Sirius nodded. "If I can call it in on him..."

"We might have a chance." Aletha angled her head towards a corner of the room. "I was looking around. We may not have wands, but I see some very nice boards over there."

"A spot of head-bashing, eh?" Sirius put on an old lady falsetto, and got a laugh from Aletha.

The door crashed open. Regulus Black charged in and slammed it behind himself. "You," he said, pointing at Sirius with his wand. "Up. The Dark Lord wants to see you."

"What, now?" Sirius pouted. "But I'm not dressed properly."

"Shut up. On your feet."

"You're in no position to be giving me orders, Reggie."

Regulus gave a short, breathy little laugh. "No position? No position? I have a wand, you don't. You're tied up, I'm not. And my friends are all over this house, and yours aren't. Now get the hell up!"

"No."

Regulus' wand was pointing in another direction now. At Aletha. "Get up," he said nastily. "Or she gets a beauty treatment she'll never forget. Maybe a skin bleaching." He snickered.

"Regulus Alphard Black, by the power of a life debt owed, I conjure you to drop your wand," Sirius said in his firmest tones.

The wand fell from Regulus' hand. He stared at it, then at Sirius. "What the hell? I don't owe you anything!"

"Remember February? That dog that protected you from the werewolves?"

"Yeah. So what?"

"That was me. I'm an Animagus. I saved your sorry arse. And now I'm calling it in."

"Prove it," said Regulus, picking up his wand again.

"How?"

"Transform for me. Show me you're really the dog."

"I can't do it like this." Sirius wiggled his arms. Paws couldn't be put in such a position without major harm to the animal involved.

"All right." Regulus aimed his wand at Sirius. "This goes straight on her," he warned. "As soon as you're loose. Try anything, she's dead."

"I won't." Sirius braced himself.

"Diffindo!" Regulus had his wand jammed against Aletha's temple almost before the spell had left it.

Sirius sighed in relief as the ropes around his wrists split and fell off, and took a moment to rub the circulation back into his hands.

"Show me."

"All right already, hold your horses." Sirius reached inside himself. Romping with Moony, chasing Prongs and Wormtail, Aletha's hand stroking his ears...

He opened his eyes to a mostly-colorless world, with sounds magnified several times and scents at least a hundredfold. Regulus' face was devoid of emotion as Sirius changed back.

Finally he stood up. "I was never here," he announced. "I won't get here for another minute. I'll be coming around that corner." He pointed to the left of the door.

Sirius nodded. "No tricks," he warned. "No telling anyone."

"No tricks." Regulus stared at him. "This cancels all debts between us, then."

"It does."

Regulus turned on his heel and left.

"What was that?" asked Aletha, staring after him.

"No time now – let me get you untied–" Sirius fell to his knees behind her, fumbling with the knots, which fortunately weren't complicated. "Come on, we have to be out of here before our minute's up–"

Aletha darted to the corner she'd noted as soon as she was free and grabbed two boards off the pile, handing one to Sirius as they ran out the door and around a corner to the right.

"What was that about?" she whispered to him as they ran.

"Reggie agreed to let us go in return for my saving his life. If anyone asks, you found a rough place in the boards and cut your ropes on it, then let me loose, and we got away ourselves. He was never there, we never saw him, none of that happened."

"Oh, so I get to be the hero in the made-up story?"

"If you want me to be, that's fine."

"No, I think I can manage it."

They rounded another corner and froze.

A figure in a white mask and black robes was staring at them.

Sirius shielded Aletha with his body, trying to push her back around the corner, but she wouldn't move. "Go," he hissed at her. "Run – I'll hold him off–"

"Aren't you a little short for a Death Eater?" asked Aletha.

The figure giggled. Death Eaters usually didn't giggle.

Nor did they take off their masks to reveal –

"Evanie!" Sirius sagged in relief, then realized the situation had actually just gotten worse. "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for Peter – he went out a second time and didn't come back – are you all right?"

"Yes, we're fine." Aletha was at the younger girl's side, examining her hands. "These are some nasty burns. How did you get them?"

"Peter's robes caught fire during the battle. I put them out with my wand, but my sleeve caught before I did, and my hands got a little burned."

"You probably won't be able to use a wand, then," said Sirius with regret. "Even if we had one you could use..."

"We do," said a voice behind him, making him jump.

"Wormtail!"

"Hey, Padfoot." Peter grinned, pulling two wands out of his robes. "Stole these out of spare robes I found lying around. I guess some of these blokes carry two."

"Not any more, they don't," said Sirius, returning Peter's grin. "You keep one, Wormtail. Selene, you feeling up to the other?"

Evanie examined her hands critically. "No," she said regretfully, shaking her head. "I'm really not. I'd just drop it, and that's no good."

Sirius sighed. "Rock, paper, scissors?" he said to Aletha. "Winner gets the wand?"

"Padfoot?" hissed a voice from around the corner.

"Prongs?"

"No, it's the Easter Bunny."

"Oh, goody. Do you have chocolate for me?"

"Save it, you two," said Lily, coming around the corner with James right behind her. "I'd say nice to see you, except... you know. Can I have that wand?"

"Sure," said Peter, handing it over. "What about Prongs?"

James rattled his pockets. "Prongs is fully loaded," he said. "Found some nice hefty chunks of brick. Ought to make some good dents in Death Eater skulls."

"Excellent." Sirius nodded. "So we're all here, then."

"All except Remus," said Evanie. "And Danger."

Aletha frowned. "Are you sure?"

"Well, we haven't seen them," said James. "And Moony hadn't been taken when I went down – he warned me about the bloke behind me, the one who took you out, Lily. Still, it does seem odd that we're all here and they're not..."

"Hold this," Sirius said to Aletha, handing her his board, and transformed.

He was back in human shape almost immediately. "They were here," he said. "Their scents are all along this corridor."

"Which way were they going?" asked Lily.

Sirius changed again, took a few sniffs, and pointed with his nose.

"That's our way, then," said James. "Stay close to the walls, everyone, and if you see something moving, hit it first and ask questions later. It's a lot more likely to be an enemy than a friend."

Peter changed and ran ahead to the corner. "All clear," he hissed, turning human again and waving them onward.

Sirius changed back to human and took his board back from Aletha. "One last game," he said to her. "Hit 'em hard and take no prisoners."

Aletha thumped her board gently against his in the Beaters' salute. "No quarter, no surrender," she answered.

Nerves stretched to their limit, the six young warriors moved through the headquarters of their enemy.

(A/N: So it's not a long chapter. But it's a chapter. I have to be up early tomorrow, so I have to go to bed early, so I don't have time to write a long one. And I might not have time to write one at all tomorrow... just a warning... but, then again, I always might. :cackle:

And I did mean cooking oil, but it doesn't really matter. How about thunderstorms? How's that for a topic?

Oh, and don't get excited if you get an update note for LwoD tonight – I'm putting an A/N on it to explain about not updating until after HBP. Hugs!)