Chapter Eleven

"How are you holding up, Harry?" Sirius called out. He fell down on the grass, panting. He didn't know how long he had been walking around the maze for, but he knew it was sometime in the evening.

"All right," Harry replied from somewhere in the maze. "A bit tired."

"You haven't been the one walking around a maze for practically all day," Sirius muttered under his breath. He leaned back, wanting to rest against something, but remembered what Harry had said. Don't touch the walls of the maze. Sirius wondered why or how Harry knew this, but didn't stop to question.

"How are you doing, Sirius?" Harry asked.

"Fine…just fine…" Sirius replied, hauling himself up. He came to three passages: one on the left, one on the right, and one that was straight in front of him. Which one would lead me to Harry? Sirius wondered. It was hard to tell what direction Harry's voice was, since it seemed like Harry's voice was everywhere when he spoke. So, he decided on straight.

"Harry?" Sirius called out, seeing if he was any closer. Harry didn't reply. "Harry?"

"Mmm?" A sleepy voice mumbled out. Harry's voice wasn't that far away, Sirius realized happily.

-

Harry groaned at hearing Sirius's voice, which wasn't that far off anymore. "Mmm?" He called back sleepily. He let his eyes flutter open, knowing that he wouldn't be able to fall asleep on the ground. No matter how grassy it was, he just couldn't get comfortable.

Harry had tried to stand on his feet several times that day, and each time he stood he always fell back down. His hands were now cut badly, and blood seeped out of the cuts without a care. Why were the maze walls in the form of branches, but every time he touched the 'branches' they always felt like thorns?

"Harry!" Sirius's desperately relieved voice broke into his thoughts. Harry was surprised to see Sirius in front of him.

"Sirius," Harry said, returning the hug that Sirius had given Harry.

"You look horrible," Sirius said, frowning. Harry let out a laugh.

"Thanks, Sirius." Sirius didn't crack a smile.

"What happened to you, Harry?" Harry held out his hands, letting Sirius see the cuts all over his hands.

"See why I told you not to touch the branches?" Harry asked.

"You should listen to yourself next time, Harry," Sirius replied, helping Harry up.

"I tried to stand up," Harry said. "How was I suppose to know the branches were really thorns?" Sirius opened his mouth to reply, but Harry shushed him. "Do you hear that, Siri?" Sirius listened intently, hearing a faint noise in a distance.

"Yeah, I do," Sirius replied. "What is that?" Harry gave his head a faint shake before a look of realization crossed his face.

"Oh, no," he breathed. "It's Malfoy." Sirius froze.

"Damn," he muttered. "I forgot about him."

"I did, too," Harry admitted. "I was more focused on getting us out of there."

"We better hurry," Sirius said. "I really don't want to go back in that cell again." Harry laughed.

"Me neither."

"Right or left?" Sirius asked.

"Well, when we took left last time and seeing where it had taken us, I'll say right," Harry decided. He cursed under his breath as they reached a dead end. "Maybe we should've went left," Harry said. His hand immediately went up to his scar as it started to burn.

"Harry?" Sirius said tentatively. "What's wrong?"

"My scar," Harry managed to say through the pain.

"Your scar usually doesn't hurt unless Voldemort's around," Sirius said.

"I know," Harry said. "We should go, Siri. I hear him; he's pretty close," he continued, talking about Malfoy.

"How are we suppose to find the finish before Malfoy finds us?" Sirius asked, feeling annoyed as they came to three more passages.

"Let's take…left," Harry decided, flinching as his scar started to burn again. He wondered if they'd ever find the finish of the maze as they kept coming to dead ends and more passages.

"Right or left?" Sirius asked a few seconds later, sounding bored and tired.

"Right," Harry replied, yawning. "Wait," he suddenly said, stopping Sirius from walking. His godfather looked at him oddly.

"What is it? Do you feel sick?"

"No," Harry responded. With difficulty, Harry let go of Sirius's neck and fell down on the ground clumsily.

"What are you doing, Harry?" Sirius laughed, watching his godson try to lift the grass up. "Is the sun getting to you, kid?"

Harry scowled. "We've already passed this spot, Siri."

"So you're saying we're going around in circles," Sirius said. "Well, we'll just not go around in circles anymore. So, what are you doing to the poor grass, Harry?"

"Every time we pass this spot, the grass is always a bit loose here," Harry explained. "I wonder why."

"Harry—" Sirius cut himself off as Harry was able to lift a large patch of the grass up to reveal a trapdoor, unsurprisingly the same color and texture of the grass around it.

"If the door is already the same texture and color as grass, why were they trying to cover it up with, well, grass?" Sirius asked, referring to the previous owners of the house as 'they.'

"I dunno," Harry replied, lifting the door up. "But let's just be thankful we found it, all right?" With help from Sirius, he was able to go through the trapdoor; Sirius close behind.

"It's a tunnel," Harry said. "Wonder where it leads to."

"Hopefully to the outside," Sirius said. "One with no mazes or any booby-traps."

"Yeah," Harry agreed. They two came to a door, one which was a heavy, wooden door. Sirius turned the handle and opened it, hoping that when he did, he'd see the brilliant rays of sunshine. The outside; freedom. Harry froze when he saw who was on the other side of the door, and suddenly he felt all hope was lost.

"Harry Potter," the man wheezed. "And…Sirius Black."

-

A/N: Thank you very much for the reviews so far—I hope I'll be hearing (seeing) more of them!

I don't know when I'll post the next chapter, maybe in one or two days. I have a lot of projects due, and I'm just getting over the flu. Thanks again!