THE VICIS CLOCK

BY ABAY

-Chapter-Six-

-In the Hands of Evil-

Enjoy!

--- Location unknown

With another last spin, Harry fell to the ground on his bloody leg, causing it to erupted with pain, but he was too drained and frail to even muster a cry of pain. And the more he tried to move or drag himself to his feet, the more his head would start to spin out of control, and the more his vision would began to move in and out of focus. He couldn't tell where he was anymore. All he could see was a road of never ending darkness.

Despite all feeling of ill and anguish, Harry tried to get up, he tried to leave this wretched place he landed himself into, but his body refused to move. He did his utmost to fight the restlessness and sleep that was dominating every inch of his body, but his efforts were inadequate; he was worn too out.

Get up, a determined voice cried in the back of his head. Get up; you've got to leave this place!

He knew that the voice was right; he knew that it was not safe for him to linger in this foreign place, for Voldemort and his Death Eaters, he knew, were pursuing him at this very moment. But his body beseeched him to rest. It begged him for piece of mind and heart. And it too cried in a weak voice imploring him for mercy, claiming that it could not go on.

And though he knew he would regret his unsound decision later, Harry found himself listening to the second voice, wanting to lull himself into a soothing sleep. And not moments later, Harry stopped struggling to keep himself conscious and slumped on the soft ground, falling into a deep slumber.

Ah, it was bliss, not to feel, not to think, not to worry…

--- Hogwarts: The Quarters of ''Alastor Moody''

Hours had passed since Bartemius Crouch had received news from the Dark Lord informing him that Harry Potter had escaped; disapparated to some unknown location. And now his orders were to wait here, for it was the most likely place for Potter to turn up in.

So here he was, sitting in his 'office', keeping one eye on Potters map of Hogwarts and the other trained on the door for it could see through all barriers impeccably.

Thus far many witches and wizards came and left the grounds of Hogwarts. Most who Barty remembered were Aurors or high ministry officials, but they did not worry him in the least…what worried him now was the arrival of Remus John Lupin, for the man was a besmirched beast, a werewolf, and creatures of that kind were keen and sharp…He would have to avoid the fiend lest his role of deceptions be disclosed.

Remus Lupin walked into the grounds of Hogwarts only to be greeted by utter and complete silence, not even the rustle of any animals could be heard. Slightly unnerved by this stillness, Remus treaded upon the grass faster, his footsteps invading the hushed silence as they echoed into the distance.

Turning left, Remus could now see the dark slit house of Hagrids' hut from within the darkness. Heart beating faster with every motion, he walked even more hastily, wanting to meet his old friend soon and hear what ill news he had, though he wished he did not have to.

Reaching the gigantic brick hut, a loud snore reached his ears, signaling to him that Hagrid was fast asleep in his bed, but he did not turn back, for he had not come here to speak to Hagrid, though he did enjoy having chats with him ever since his childhood days at Hogwarts. No, Remus was here to meet his old friend Sirius Black, who had distinctively told him to meet him by the pumpkin patch, which was were he was standing right now, yet he could not see any sight of a black dog anywhere.

Spinning around in his spot, Remus searched for Sirius' whereabouts. "Sirius!" he hissed in an undertone. "Sirius! Sirius, where the—"

A bark from behind him caused him to jump slightly in fright, and he turned around to find a black dog looking at him. He glared slightly at it, but the dog disregarded his piercing glare and barked yet again.

"Keep your voice down!" he whispered to the dog striding towards it, but the dog made no retort. Instead, it turned around and trotted away, then turned its shaggy head to him, barked again and nodded his disheveled head, urging Remus to follow him.

Swearing slightly at Sirius' blatancy, Remus ran after him, glancing this way and that, hoping that no one heard Sirius' barks and had come to investigate.

Finally, Sirius had stopped by the whooping willow -- though he stood a good distance away for the tree would start to clobber them if they trespassed its territory-- and only moments later, he skidded to a halt right beside him, slightly puffing. Impatient as he always was, Sirius nudged him in the leg, indigating to Remus that he should hurry up.

"Alright, alright," he said as Sirius nudged him for thesecound time.

Igniting his wand with light, both he and Sirius blinked slightly, having been accustomed to their dark surroundings. Squinting, he looked around for a twig, which was not difficult to find as there were so many of them lying around on the ground, waiting to be picked up. Bending, he grabbed any random twig he could find and poked it with his wand, making it expand and lengthen greatly in size until it became quite a long stick.

Remus held the long stick at its end and moved closer, though very attentively, towards the whooping willow, and as carefully as he could, he held out the stick and stretched out his long arms. Swiftly, before the tree could even react, he pressed the knot he knew all to well with the stick, immobilizing the tree completely.

Sirius soundlesslyslid through a gap in the roots and quickly, before the tree could batter him with its thick branches, Remus went after him, entering the shrieking shack, only to find Sirius Black standing in front of him looking more ragged and thinner than ever.

--- The Quarters of Albus Dumbledore.

Albus Dumbledore sat in his chair behind his magnificent desk with his blue eyes closed as he raised the tip of his wand to his forehead, transferring a thread of hoary memories into a pensive which swirled with faces. Sighing deeply, he lowered his wand and placed it gently upon his desk.

He had been at this for an hour. Pacing…and looking into his pensive…Pacing…then looking into his pensive again, forhis mind was disturbed tonight with the news Severus had brought him, and he was searching for the solution to his problem…Or seeking for his problem to be more precise.

Hours ago, Severus had come to Albus with a lengthy report. He told him all about the reaction between Harry and Tom Riddles wands. He told him of what he referred to as 'ghosts' blossoming from Riddles wand, though Albus new they were far from the form of ghosts or spirits. And furthermore, the most astonishing thing that his spy informed him tonight was that Harry had disapparated, where no one new.

This of course, was all passed on to the very anxious godfather, who Albus feared might do something reckless, for the man was on the edge, itching to help his godson in any way possible. But Albus would not have Sirius running across the country aimlessly,becuase the man, although exceptionally intelligent and bright, would be a hindrance more of a help. It would not do Harry well if he came back and found his godfather soulless, and Albus carried about Harry too much to let him loose what was dear to him.

Now knowing Sirius Black from his days of Hogwarts and his working days with the Order of Phoenix, the man was hasty and uncontainable. He would always jump into what he thought to be solutions without any second thoughts, and only when Albus told him that the Auror squads, and other Ministry Officials would be out there searching for the boy, did Sirius calm down from his frenzy and listen to sense.

Going back to the situation at hand, he had deduced that this news was both dire and good, for now that Harry was out of Riddles reach, then he was by far much safer, and all that was left of his task was to locate his apparition point. But Severus, unfortunately, had come with more grim news, making the situation more complicated indeed, for he had heard from fellow Death Eaters that there was a spy among their ranks…right here…at Hogwarts…and the question was; who was Voldemorts spy?

--- The Shrieking Shack.

After Sirius' long winded explanation of these nights passed events to Remus, Sirius slumped back into the worn out and tattered bed, laying back his head. He let out a heavy sigh of weariness, leaving him to pace up and down restlessly in the dingy room that was specially made for his transformations at his days at Hogwarts, as Remus was sure his old friend had done night and day.

He turned around to Sirius, opened his mouth to speak, but shut it and went back to pacing, not even acknowledging the dust rising up to his robes. He knew no words that could ease his friends sorrow right now, for he knew that no words could relieve his own misery.

"We should have killed Wormtail that night…"

Hearing Sirius abruptly speak, Remus stopped in the middle of the room, and turned around slowly staring at Sirius. "What?"

"I said we should have killed Wormtail when we had the chance," Sirius said tonelessly, gazing at the ceiling, as though the prospect of murder was something quite normal.

"It was Harrys' wish to spare Peters life," he said, staring at Sirius.

"That doesn't matter!" Sirius cried, standing up suddenly. "Don't you see? This would have never happened if I'd have killed him!"

"This isn't your fault, you didn't know that any of this would have happened!" Remus said firmly, banishing any thoughts of guilt from Sirius' mind.

"I know," he said sighing and running a hand down his grubby face. "It's just that I can't do one thing Remus, one damn thing to help my godson!"

"I…Don't worry Sirius...Harry's already fought his way out of Voldemorts grasps…I'm sure he'll pull his way through this," Remus said, in what he hoped to be comforting though he knew his words were less than enough.

With weary grey eyes, Sirius looked at him, and sat back down slowly onto the bed, thinking of what Lily and James would think of him now. Sighing deeply for what felt like the millionth time tonight, hemuttered dejectedly, "I hope so Remus…I hope so…"

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--- Authors Note ! ---

-..-..-

Hah! I think that this is the quickest update yet! I'm so proud!

Regarding the issue on how Harry disapparated, it's going to be answered…and something else happens too before he disapparates out of the graveyard, which will be revealed in later chapters-- (for others who had read this before, you'll know what it is)

Anyway, that's all I have to say for today, but there's the usual last thing! Please Review, I'll really appreciate it, because your opinion always matters.