Chapter Seven
The man looked thoughtful before answering Harry's question. "The common cold." Harry didn't know how to react. So he just kept still, staring into space. "So," the man said, grinning. "How'd I do?"
"How did you know?" Harry finally asked, though he already knew the answer.
"Do I have to tell you again?" The man asked, sounding a bit annoyed.
"Are you really?" Harry now had clear evidence that this was Sirius. Only the real Sirius would have known that; not an impersonator. Harry smiled. "I'd come over and hug you," he paused, glancing at his leg. "But I don't dare move." His grin getting wider, Sirius sidled over towards Harry, wrapping his arms around the boy and squeezing him gently. He planted a kiss on the top of Harry's head.
"I've missed you."
"I've missed you, too," Harry replied. "And I didn't mean what I said before—" Harry took in a deep, shaky breath and slowly let it out. Need he really bring that up again?
"It's all right," Sirius said in a soft voice. "I know you didn't."
"I was just upset," Harry continued. "I really, really didn't mean it."
"I know," Sirius said. "Just let it go."
"What happened?" Harry finally asked. "How are you-I mean how is this—" He let out a frustrated sigh.
"How am I here?" Sirius looked into the shadows at the other side of the cell, thinking hard. "I'm not entirely sure. I just remember waking up in this…cell," Sirius explained, looking disgusted. "How did you end up here?"
"I bumped into 'you' on the streets," Harry said, not feeling in the mood to go into an in-depth explanation. "Except it wasn't 'you'. It was Lucius Malfoy changing his appearance to look like you."
"So that's it," Sirius said in an understanding voice. They both stayed in quiet silence until Harry spoke up.
"What's going on?" he asked. "What's Malfoy going to do?"
"I don't know," Sirius admitted. Harry looked around, hoping to find someplace Sirius could crawl through and get out, or climb. His eyes wandered the walls until he had to bend his head back to look up.
"Do you see that?" Harry asked in a quiet voice, just in case Lucius Malfoy was nearby and could hear. Sirius followed Harry's gaze until he saw a beam of light not too high up, but not too far down.
"Why haven't I seen that window before?"
"Siri," Harry started slowly. "Why don't you try climbing the wall?"
"I don't think I'm going to be able to carry you," Sirius said, glancing up at the window once more. "And I doubt I could climb the wall. There aren't steps I could walk on to get up to the window, Harry."
"Don't worry about me," Harry said. "And just try to climb up. It's worth a try."
"And leave you here? I don't think so."
"Do you have to be so stubborn?"
"'Fraid so," Sirius replied with a grin. "And you can forget about me leaving you here."
"It could be your only way out," Harry pointed out. "So we're going to find a way for you to reach that window."
"Don't you mean 'we'?" Sirius asked with raised eyebrows.
"No," Harry said. "I meant what I said. You."
"No way," Sirius said defiantly. "I'm staying here with you." Harry groaned. "So," Sirius said conversationally. "Have you visited Isabella yet?"
"Actually, I haven't," Harry admitted. "With everything that's been going on."
"I see," Sirius said. They both fell into another awkward relapse of silence.
-
Remus sat with arms folded across his chest on the couch. He felt annoyed that he couldn't do anything to help Harry, wherever Harry was. First of all, though, he had to find out where Harry was and then figure out a way to help the boy. He groaned inwardly as the doorbell rang. Getting up from the comfy couch and abandoning his thoughts, he opened the door to see a young woman standing on the porch.
"Oh," the woman said cheerfully. "I don't believe we've met. My name's Isabella O'—uh…Jessup."
"Remus Lupin," Remus responded distractedly.
"Are Harry and Sirius around?" Isabella asked, biting her lip. A habit that was all to familiar to Remus, since Harry would sometimes do the exact same thing. "I was hoping they'd come over sometime. It'd be nice to see them. So, I decided that I'd come over and visit them."
"Actually," Remus started. He paused, wondering if Isabella knew about Sirius's 'death.' "They're, uh, not. Just missed them."
"Oh," Isabella said, looking disappointed. "Will you tell them I came by?" Remus nodded. "Thanks." Remus nodded again, shutting the door and walking back to the couch. There had to be some way he could find Harry. Remus already had a suspicion that it was a Death Eater who had kidnapped Harry, but which one?
-
Harry drummed his fingers against the concrete floor, leaning against thebrick wall. He was hungry, thirsty, bored and his foot throbbed. He had no idea how long he'd been in the cell for, but to him it seemed like an eternity already.
"Just climb already," Harry instructed to Sirius for the umpteenth time. So far, every time Sirius said no.
"No." Didn't seem like his answer was going to change, Harry thought. He glanced sideways at Sirius, who was leaning up against the wall beside Harry.
"So what are we going to do?" Harry asked. "Wait for Remus or somebody to come 'rescue' us?"
"Looks that way," Sirius replied.
"Who knows how long that could take," Harry said, sighing. "I don't even know where we are. Who says that Remus is going to know? Or Dumbledore?"
"We'll just have to wait and see," Sirius said resignedly. Harry sighed again, only one thought was reeling through his mind at that moment: what was Lucius Malfoy planning to do with Sirius and Harry?
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A/N: Thank you for your wonderful reviews so far, and I hope I'll be hearing more of them! Well, hopefully you enjoyed this chapter, and again, thanks for the reviews!