Disclaimer: Don't own. 'Nuff said.

Author's Note: Dramatic, semi-pointless chapter.

The Tales of Werewolves
Snowing Blood and Sweat

Bill ended up having to carry Andrew after fifteen minutes, since the five-year-old's legs couldn't keep up.

Dom didn't want to admit it, but he was having trouble breathing as he ran. It wasn't as if his chest was getting tight, it's just he found he was breathing slower, and was running out of energy to run.

"Wait. I need a break." Dom said. "I think I did something to my ankle." They stopped.

He slouched down against a wall, and then bent to grab his ankle, but mainly so he could put his head between his knees to see if it'd help.

"You right?"

"Yeah. Fine."

There was a loud rumble that vibrated from the main chamber to where they were. Andrew tightened his grip around Bill's neck.

"Andy… Choking."

"Sorry." Andrew said sheepishly, loosening his grip. "But I'm scared."

"We all are, Andy. C'mon." Said Dom. "I think I can run on my ankle until we get out."

They started running again. They ran and ran, and the air started getting heavy. After a good two hours of on and off running, the air suddenly got very fresh.

"There." Bill pointed to a dead end, where a small opening was letting in a sliver of light. "Is it save to blast it?"

Dom looked at the roof. "Yeah, it'll hold." They took their wands out of their belts and blew the opening bigger.

Snow was falling slowly and Dom shivered in the cold air. He was glad that he didn't just wear his pyjama pants that night, and had the sense to put his shirt on and throw a robe over the top.

Bill searched in Dom's pockets. The young heir of Slytherin had fallen asleep and Bill was worried.

When they were running, even though Dom had tried to hide it, he could tell he was having trouble breathing.

But Bill had enough tact (probably from his mother) not to say anything.

Bill had started getting really, really worried, just before Dom had fallen asleep, the fever had started and he also started retching.

Every time Bill had mentioned it, Dom had snapped at him, and he had to confiscate his wand for safety.

His hand closed on Dom's handkerchief. One think that always bothered Bill about Dom, was that he was so logical and level headed, sometimes too much so.

Now it was Bill's time to be level headed, and he was dreading it.

There was a strong gust of wind and he shivered violently, Dom hadn't hesitated in his shivering for the last hour or so.

He wiped the sweat from Dom's forehead and pulled his friends' Slytherin robe closer around his body.

Looking over at the glittering Dark Mark in the sky, Bill shivered again and wondered how many people had died this time.

He shook his head and tried to focus on the problem at hand. Bill's mother, Hermione, had told him about all the different bonds, and Vampire ones were supposed to get worse over time.

Dom coughed harshly in his sleep, spraying bright red blood on the snow. It contrasted remarkably.

Bill figured the reason it was happening so quickly was because of the time difference between then and the Seventies.

After hours and hours of research, Dom was almost sure he knew how to bring Sirius back from behind the veil. He hadn't told anyone, but Bill knew.

The problem Dom was having, was trying to find a way to smuggle what he needed (and himself) into the Department of Mysteries.

Dom coughed again. Bill winced. Andrew sleepily pulled on the edge of his older brother's robes.

"Is Dom dieing?"

Swallowing thickly, Bill assured his brother

Swallowing thickly, Bill assured his brother that Dom was 'just a bit ill', and wasn't actually dieing.

There was a flash of light and another Dark Mark went up, closer this time, where they knew a small Muggle village was, or used to be.

Bill grabbed Dom's shoulder and shook him lightly. "Dom." Satisfied at the sneeze he got as a response, Bill got Andrew up on his feet and dried all of their damp clothes.

"Wha…?"

"We gotta go. Now."

Dom groaned and he rose. "Why?" He asked hoarsely.

"There's getting closer, and there's no time for arguments." He stood, "If we're lucky we can get somewhere sheltered before sundown."

"Yeah, 'if we're lucky' it's a fucking one in a million chance we find some where at all, before sundown or not. Grow up and start being realistic." He snapped, and shrugged Bill's hand off as he was helping him up.

Dom leant against the tree and coughed, putting one hand to his chest.

"I'm sorry."

"Nuh, I'm sorry. It's just hard." Dom was glad he was wearing his glasses, so Bill couldn't see him eyeing hungrily the blood he had coughed up. "C-Could you find an animal of some sort for me?"

"Why."

"Be quiet Andrew, you wouldn't understand this. Sure, Dom."

Bill took Andrew off with him to look for a rabbit or something, while Dom sat back down in the snow and put his head in his hands.

He got the feeling he wasn't going to die, and a feeling like that could only be a good thing in his case. He was mostly right about these things, so he took a bit of comfort in the feeling.

He looked up at the sky and snarled at the two glittering Dark Marks glittering at him. He was so hungry, and he imagined the other two were as well. He coughed again, and watched the blood splatter the snow next to him. He swallowed, and then retched bring up stomach acid and blood.

He gasped and picked up a bit of snow, and ate it. His burning throat numbed a bit from the cold. The tips of his fingers were turning blue and he breathed on his hands, trying to ignore the way his breath made steam, like Sirius's cigarettes made smoke.

He sniffed the air, and even though his nose was partly blocked, he could smell the Death Eaters up-wind.

He looked around for his handkerchief and found it on the ground, and wiped his sweaty forehead. His vision started going blurry, and his closed his eyes.

"Fucking Hell."

Dom came walking up, dragging a dead rabbit. "We transfigured some food for ourselves. This is for you."

He threw the rabbit at Dom's feet, and Dom practically pounced on it, bitting it and sucking the blood out. Bill wrinkled his nose in disgust and covered his little brother's eyes.

"Charming."

"Shut up." Dom licked the blood off his lips. "I think I can manage one more transformation, so if you don't mind, could you carry me? I don't think I can do it on my own."

"Yeah, okay."

Dom struggled preform the Animagus transformation, but he eventually did it, leaving him fading in and out of consciousness. Bill wrapped Dom the snake around his neck and picked Andrew up on his back.

He started walking in the opposite direction then the caves.

Ministry members flooded a small town where the Death Eaters were supposedly heading. They were all too busy to notice a Hogwarts student with a five-year-old on his back, and a limp snake around his neck.

Bill sneaked around the outskirts of the town. The people had gathered in the centre, ready to activate a portkey, ready to evacuate.

Harry and Draco had trained Bill to notice small differences in the air to indicate where the magical barriers were. He had spotted a collection of broken bricks, and there was a tiny gap between then and the ground, barely big enough to fit his little finger in.

Gently using sticks to take the bricks away, but prop them up so the officials wouldn't detect the shift in the field. He dug into the snow and left Dom and his brother in as safe place.

Bill squeezed through. He swore at how much he had to push his chest into the ground because it completely knocked the wind out of him.

He returned to where he had left Snake-Dom and Andrew with some potions, food and a blanket.

Ten minutes away from the town, Bill had set up some shelter with soggy bark. He wanted to go to the Ministry officials, but it would be very bad if they got Dom. Technically, Dom wasn't completely legal.

He used a spell to enlarge the blanket to cover Andrew, who was waking up, and the snake Dom, even though he wasn't sure snakes needed warmth when they were sick. Andrew sat up, yawned and wiped his nose on his sleeve.

"Don't use your sleeve, Andy." Said Bill, fully aware of how much he sounded like his mother. "Here." He ripped off a strip of his clothing and held it to his brother's nose. "Blow."

Andrew blew his nose noisily, and Dom stirred, coiling himself more tightly. Bill looked at them both worriedly. Bits of snow were blowing in, and he wondered how long it would take for his Patronus he had sent out to reach an Order Member, and then for them to find him.

He hoped they would be there soon. Andrew was getting the sniffles, and Bill didn't think he could look after two sick wizards.

Sighing as Dom coughed again, Bill went out from under the bark and into the dusk light and lightly falling snow and got down on his knees.

His mother had introduced the concept of religion to him, and given him the choice of believing or not. He did believe in God, but only prayed when he felt like there was no hope and he was desperate.

He put his hands together in his lap and closed his eyes. His was mouth moving, but wasn't not letting the words take shape in the form of sounds.

Hermione, McGonagall and Katherine were sitting in the lounge at Grimmauld Place. They weren't talking, but each knew what the others were thinking.

Hermione, with dried up tears on her face, and coffee in hand, was clearly worrying about Bill, Andrew, and to a slightly lesser extent, Dom. She had thrown her hair up into a loose bun, and her hands were shaking.

Kath was fuming about the fact that only the guys had gone out and they had to stay inside. Despite the fact that she was six months pregnant, she still wanted to go out. Or to be able to drink, either way, she would be happy.

McGonagall was worrying about all the student, and the responses she would be getting from the parents to the notes she sent home with the children. She was organizing the next steps in her mind. She had decided to stay behind to look after Hermione, who was on the brink of a nervous breakdown, and Katherine seemed to be fuming.

Molly was somewhere in the house, working off her nervousness by cleaning everything in site, and Severus was in one of the guestrooms.

He had been injured defending the students and his leg had been blown off, naturally freaking out most (but not all) of the kids.

They had gotten him a fake leg and a cane, but he was still having trouble using it properly. The one thing he didn't mind though, was that he didn't have to go out to search for Dom and the Weasley brothers.

Kath had only gone downstairs to drink her hot chocolate, and to let him finish his book in peace. He was feeling helpless, and vulnerable, and he hated it.

The whole experience was reminding him of why he fell in love with Kath though. She wasn't treating him much differently to normal, and didn't pity him, but very little, helpful things she did without going out of her way, showed him she was mindful to it and cared.

Just as Severus put his now finished book on his bedside table, the door opened and Kath walked in. He moved over and made room on the large bed for her.

"Hi."

"How are you?"

She lay next to him and sighed. "Stupid fucking people. Just because I'm pregnant, it doesn't mean I can't fight. They've left all the women here too."

"You need to be here for them when they get back." Severus sat up and Kath leaned against him. She took a sharp intake of breath. "What? Is everything alright?"

"I'll never get used to that." She took his hand and placed it on her swollen belly.

He smiled at the feeling of their child kicking from inside. He looked at Kath, who had closed her eyes.

"You know, there's something incredibly attractive about a pregnant woman." He breathed into her ear.

Kath tilted her head to the side. "It's the breasts, isn't it?"

Severus smiled and kissed the top of her head. "Maybe."

"You not supposed to admit it, Sev. You're supposed to say, 'It's your natural glow'."

Smirking, Severus kissed her again. "Well… that too. But you can't deny the breasts are utterly fantastic."

Kath whacked him lightly in the chest. "Yeah, real cute, Sev. Real cute."

A/N2: I kind of wanted to add in something not dramatic. I think I did okay. Severus' leg was spur of the moment because I'm really getting into 'House, M.D' and 'Neighbours' and a guy from both shows have a limp.