Chapter 12: Return of the Marauders

Caught Rosier leering at some third-year Hufflepuff. She seemed scared of him, leading me to believe that this isn't the first time he's done this. I threatened to hex his bits off if he didn't leave her alone and he sneered at me before walking away. According to Pandora, he's very... shifty when it comes to the younger girls - often making lewd comments towards them. I'll have to keep an eye on him.

Leo staggered down the corridor, cradling his injured hand to his chest. Six hours had passed before Umbridge had decided to release him, and it was then he knew that bringing up Fudge was a good way to release her unholy wrath. He hadn't thought that the black quill could cut much deeper than it had before, but he was proven wrong. Six hours of doing nothing but slicing repeatedly into his own hand had damaged it quite badly. He swore by the end of it he could see bits of white that he was quite sure was bone. The wound had yet to heal, and he could tell by her sadistic smile that she was quite pleased with the result.

To hell with Quirrell, she's worse. He gritted his teeth as he continued down the stairs. Honestly, at this point, I'd prefer the Cruciatus Curse. It was a testament to the amount of pain he was in that he was willing to endure the thing he feared most rather than continue Umbridge's detentions. While the Cruciatus Curse was indeed painful – excruciating and unbearable while it was occurring – at the very least the pain had been spread around to the point where he wasn't able to focus too long on one part of his body before another started hurting. This was far worse.

The pain was localized to one part of his body and continued to smart something fierce any time it was slightly moved. He bit his lower lip as he took a step, his hand hitting against his chest and shooting another wave of pain through his body. You can do this, Leo. He told himself firmly, doing his best to ignore the pain as he continued down the stairs. All you have to do is get to the entrance hall, go out the doors, walk down the grounds, go through the Willow and down the tunnel, and then you're free. Dad and Uncle Sirius will take care of everything, but you have to make it to them first.

He managed to push himself down the stairs and to the entrance hall, feeling distinctly light-headed by the time he arrived. He blinked the blurriness from his eyes, shaking his head as he tried to push away the darkness slowly clouding his vision. Why am I so tired? He pondered, nearing the double doors. It's barely eight. He opened one of the doors with his left hand, trying not to jar his right too much. As he exited the castle and closed the door behind him, he spared a glance down at his right hand, surprised to see that he couldn't even see it through all the blood. Oh. Guess that explains it. Blood loss. He realized blearily.

He walked through the courtyard, across the bridge, and down the grounds before he finally had to stop and take a breather. He sat down, blinking at the Whomping Willow swaying ominously in the distance. Too tired... He sighed, trying to keep his eyes open. Can't pass out here... need to tell Dad...

He withheld a cry of pain as he slowly moved his right arm, flicking his wrist and letting his wand fall into his loose grip. He pointed his wand as straight as he could, concentrating on the memory of Sirius being set free.

"Expecto patronum," he whispered.

Knight burst forth from his wand, looking around the grounds for an enemy to fight. He turned his head to look at Leo, approaching him slowly and staring at his hand with an expression that could be construed as concern. Or maybe I'm just projecting. Leo conceded tiredly as he lowered his hand.

"Find Dad. Tell him I'm on the grounds and I need help," he told the wolf.

Knight stared at him a moment longer before nodding and racing away. With a sigh of relief, Leo laid back on the grass, wand slipping from his grasp. He stared up at the stars, watching as they grew darker and darker before vanishing altogether. He distantly heard movement around him, voices echoing as though talking from the end of a very long tunnel. He longed to wake up and answer, but his body and his eyelids felt too tired and he couldn't quite muster up the strength. Just let me sleep a little longer. He sighed internally.

He lost track of time as he slipped more fully into the darkness, welcoming its painless embrace that promised nothing but safety and rest. Voices echoed in the distance once more and he turned his head away from them, not wanting to be bothered. A wave of cold suddenly swept over him, jarring him from his slumber. The voices became clearer, and he was acutely aware of a hand running itself through his hair gently. A warm, furry body was pressed against him on his right side, and he became dimly aware that his hand no longer hurt, but it did feel quite heavy.

His curiosity now piqued, he let loose a groan as he slowly opened his eyes with great difficulty, wanting nothing more than to close them again and sink back into the darkness. He blinked a few times, trying to rid himself of the fuzziness as he heard voices around him again, this time more coaxing. He sensed movement on his left, and allowed his head to flop that direction, spotting familiar grey eyes and black hair.

"Uncle Siri?" he whispered.

"Hey, kiddo," Sirius replied, trying to plaster a smile onto his rather pale face. "You gave us quite a fright."

"Sorry," Leo mumbled.

The man shook his head.

"Don't apologize. We're just glad you're awake now."

"How long was I out?" Leo questioned with a small frown.

"Well, we got your Patronus about an hour ago," Sirius informed him, glancing at someone behind the teen. "Cas knew something was wrong and bolted out of here after it told us where you were. Don't think I've ever seen him look so terrified in all the time I've known him."

"Terrified for good reason, Siri," Cas's voice rumbled above Leo. "He lost a lot of blood."

Leo turned his head, blinking up at his father, who was staring ahead at one of the grimy walls of the Shrieking Shack. One of his hands was brushing through the blonde's hair, sweeping his bangs out of his eyes. Leo felt comforted by the gesture as he turned his head to the right to see Moony laying beside him. His hand was resting upon the werewolf's back, heavily bandaged and feeling quite stiff. Judging by how high up we are, I reckon we're on a bed. He realized as his eyes roved around the room in a dazed sort of way.

"Where're Harry and Draco?" Leo inquired, not seeing them anywhere.

"Should be here any minute," Sirius replied with a small shrug. "Figured they'd wait until after curfew -"

He broke off as sounds were heard below them, and several voices spoke. Leo frowned as he heard Ron and Hermione among them. What're they doing here? He frowned as he heard footsteps climb up the stairs. The two, alongside Harry and Draco, found their way to the room where Leo and the Marauders were located. They all stared at each other for a moment before Draco and the Trio rushed over to him.

"How long did she keep you for?" Harry inquired at once, staring down at his hand.

"Six hours," Leo grimaced as he tried to sit up before being shoved back down by Sirius. "I've got a double on Monday too now."

Harry winced.

"Did she find out what you wrote?"

"Nah, I mouthed off. Couldn't help myself," Leo shrugged, trying and failing to smile.

"Bloody hell, mate," Ron raised his eyebrows. "You've got issues."

"I knew you had no sense of self-preservation, but I didn't think you were a masochist," Draco shook his head, looking a mixture of disappointed and irritated.

"What're you lot on about?" Sirius frowned, looking around at everyone. "Do you know what happened to him? Do you know who did this to him?"

The teens all exchanged a look before Leo gave a hollow-sounding laugh.

"Suppose you could say I did this to myself," he said bitterly. "Don't worry, it won't happen again, I've got it sorted."

"But, Leo -" Hermione protested.

"It's being handled, so drop it," Leo stated in a sharp tone. "What're you and Ron doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be off doing homework or something?"

Everyone else exchanged a glance, not seeming at all comforted by his previous statement. Nonetheless, Harry informed him that it would've been impossible for him to sneak away from his best mates, not to mention the fact that he wanted them to feel more included. He'd even told them that they were Animagi. If Leo had had the strength to, he would've yelled at Harry for revealing their secret and resolved to do so at a later date.

"And Hermione wanted to know what the Marauders would say about my scar," Harry finished.

"What about your scar?" Sirius frowned, glancing at Cas whose expression remained impassive.

Harry quickly explained how Umbridge had touched him the previous night after their detention and that his scar had hurt.

"Well," Sirius began slowly, looking at his brother. "I know it can't be fun when it hurts, but I don't think it's anything to really worry about. It kept aching all last year, didn't it?"

"Yeah, and Dumbledore said it happened whenever Voldemort was feeling a powerful emotion," said Harry, ignoring, as usual, Ron and Hermione's winces. "So maybe he was just, I dunno, really angry or something the night I had that detention."

"Likely, given his plan with Sturgis failed," Cas informed them.

"So Podmore was trying to get through the door," Draco frowned in thought. "Was he Imperiused?"

"Not sure, but it's likely," Cas nodded. "None of our lot could get close enough to examine or talk to the bloke. It was a desperate move on Voldemort's part, one I don't think he'll want to repeat. Anyway, I don't think Umbridge had anything to do with your scar. She's no Death Eater -"

"She's foul enough to be one," said Harry darkly and the other teens nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Yes, but the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters," said Sirius with a wry smile. "I know she's a nasty piece of work, though — you should hear Remus talk about her."

Moony gave a low growl, stopping only when Leo rubbed his bandaged hand over the werewolf's ears. He then turned to frown at Sirius.

"Does Remy know her then?"

"No," said Sirius, "but she drafted a bit of anti-werewolf legislation two years ago that'd make it almost impossible for him to get a job were it not for the fact we've kept his condition a heavily guarded secret."

Leo's eyes narrowed and, for a moment, he debated throwing out his plan involving Minnie in favor of just blasting the fat toad out the window. Cas's hand stopped its movement for a brief second before resuming, his expression quite thoughtful now.

"What's she got against werewolves?" said Hermione angrily.

"Scared of them, I expect," said Sirius, smiling at her indignation. "Apparently she loathes part-humans -"

"Hilarious, given she looks like she is half-human," Leo snorted before glancing up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Maybe one of her parents is a merperson? That would explain a lot -"

The others laughed, much to Leo's relief. It had been getting a bit too heavy for his liking. Sirius was the first to stop, though he was still smiling widely.

"So what are Umbridge's lessons like? Is she training you all to kill half-breeds?"

"No, because that would mean we're actually learning something," Draco rolled his eyes. "She's not letting us use magic at all."

"All we do is read the stupid textbook," said Ron.

"Ah, well, that figures," said Sirius. "Our information from inside the Ministry is that Fudge doesn't want you trained in combat."

"So, what? Fudge thinks Dumbles is building up his own private army?" Leo questioned in a tone of mild disbelief, receiving a nod in return. "That's a load of bollocks. Dumbledore wouldn't train a bunch of kids to fight in his war... would he?"

He glanced up at his father, unsure. The others followed his gaze, staring at the man as he continued to stroke Leo's hair, his gaze thoughtful as he stared at the open door. He gave a small hum as he did this, his brow furrowing as he seemed to deeply consider the question. He didn't speak for quite some time.

"I think..." he began slowly. "Dumbledore would want you trained to fight, if only so you could defend yourselves in the outside world. He wouldn't force you to join the Order – his army – though. Fudge may see Dumbledore arming the students as a declaration of war, so I don't think Dumbles would actually change the curriculum in so drastic a way that it would tip him off what he was doing."

Everyone was silent as they pondered this. Dumbledore wants us prepared for war, not to fight but to defend. Leo frowned, looking down at his right hand. Not that I'll be able to do much fighting until this heals up. He tried to move his fingers but found that the bandage made it quite impossible to do more than twitch the tips. It was at that moment that Harry asked about Hagrid and his whereabouts.

Cas explained that he was on a mission to recruit the giants and had yet to return. They had expected him back by now, but giants were notoriously difficult to deal with so there was really no set time for the man to come back. Madame Maxime had been with him, but the two had split up on the way back. He assured the group that Hagrid was most likely fine and on his way back as quick as he could, otherwise Maxime wouldn't have left him alone.

"Don't go asking too many questions about Hagrid," said Sirius added, "it'll just draw even more attention to the fact that he's not back, and I know Dumbledore doesn't want that. Hagrid's tough, he'll be okay."

"Yeah, if the man can handle Fluffy, he can handle anything," Leo grinned brightly. "Besides, worrying about him won't help. We need to focus on what will help: ditching Umbridge."

"Black, I don't think you should-" Draco began.

"You can't," Cas interrupted. "The Ministry has a modicum of control now. Umbridge can't be fired, and there's no way in hell that she'd ever leave her post. She has too much opportunity to gain power. You might be able to get away with a few other things, but Umbridge is here to stay."

The students scowled before Hermione glanced at her watch and alerted them that it was getting quite late. Cas nodded and helped his son sit up, taking out his wand and siphoning the blood off of his clothing before turning to Hermione and Draco.

"His bandages will need to be changed every few hours. Can I count on you two to make sure it gets done?"

Hermione beamed as she nodded alongside Draco.

"Good," Cas nodded in satisfaction. "Once the bandages are removed, all you have to do is tap his hand with your wand and say 'Ferula'. Got it?"

The two nodded again, at which point Leo indignantly asked why he couldn't do it himself. Cas reminded him that he didn't have any practice spell-casting with his left hand and didn't want to risk him mucking it up. He also stated that, since Leo's wand was primarily for dueling, healing spells might not be as strong.

"Draco's wand is hawthorn, which is suited to healing magic," he went on to explain. "And while Ron's willow wand has the same properties, I don't really think he has the right... expertise needed to properly execute the spell like Hermione does. No offense."

Ron shrugged, seeming quite relieved that he hadn't been picked for the task of making sure Leo's hand stayed on the mend. Hermione, meanwhile, looked positively ecstatic at Cas's inadvertent praise of her abilities. Cas then dismissed the group – though not before handing Leo his wand back and telling him not to transform until his hand was fully healed – to head back to the castle. The boys practically carried Leo across the grounds since he was still quite shaky on his feet. They dropped Draco off at his common room before proceeding up the grand staircase, passing through the Fat Lady's portrait, and entering the common room.

Leo was quite pale and had broken out in a cold sweat by the time they arrived. Hermione felt it would be best if he just slept in the common room, not wanting to risk having him on his feet any longer than necessary. He heartily agreed and was quite relieved when they deposited him on the couch. Before the three went up to their dorms, Hermione carefully unwrapped his hand, her hand clapping over her mouth when the last of the bandages fell away. He winced when his hand came in contact with the air and hissed for Hermione to hurry up and wrap it again.

She jumped slightly at this before taking out her wand and tapping his hand, watching in idle fascination as bandages wrapped themselves around his hand and wrist, securing it in place and restricting his movement. Leo gave a sigh of relief as he fell back on the couch and promptly passed out.

He was awoken the following morning by Hermione changing his bandages again before he was forced to eat the mountain of food Ron and Harry had brought with them to the common room. It mainly consisted of various meat dishes, which Hermione said would help boost his iron count. Leo wasn't quite sure what she was talking about but ate the food presented to him without complaint before falling back to sleep.

He repeated this pattern throughout the rest of Sunday. Hermione would awaken him to change his bandages, after which he would eat whatever food the boys had nicked from the kitchens then go back to sleep. Twice, Harry had to help him upstairs to use the bathroom before leading him back down where he promptly fell back to sleep.

Hermione woke him again at half-past eleven to change his bandages for the last time before she headed off to bed. Once she was done, she went over to Ron and Harry, who had been slowly muddling through their homework all day when they hadn't been helping take care of Leo.

"Nearly done?"

"No," said Ron shortly.

"Jupiter's biggest moon is Ganymede, not Callisto," she said, pointing over Ron's shoulder at a line in his Astronomy essay, "and it's Io that's got the volcanoes."

"Thanks," snarled Ron, scratching out the offending sentences.

"Sorry, I only —"

"Yeah, well, if you've just come over here to criticize —"

"Ron —"

"I haven't got time to listen to a sermon, all right, Hermione, I'm up to my neck in it here —"

"No — look!"

Hermione was pointing to the nearest window. Leo, Harry, and Ron all looked over. A handsome screech owl was standing on the windowsill, gazing into the room at Ron.

"Isn't that Hermes?" said Hermione, sounding amazed.

"Blimey, it is!" said Ron quietly, throwing down his quill and getting to his feet. "What's Percy writing to me for?"

"Whatever it is, it can't be good," Leo yawned tiredly.

Ron crossed to the window and opened it; Hermes flew inside, landed upon Ron's essay, and held out a leg to which a letter was attached. Ron took it off and the owl departed at once, leaving inky footprints across Ron's drawing of the moon Io.

"That's definitely Percy's handwriting," said Ron, sinking back into his chair and staring at the words on the outside of the scroll. He looked up at the others. "What d'you reckon?"

"Toss it in the fire," Leo said dismissively.

Hermione heartily disagreed, telling him to open it while Harry nodded in agreement. Ron unrolled the scroll and began to read. The farther down the parchment his eyes traveled, the more pronounced became his scowl. When he had finished reading, he looked disgusted. He thrust the letter at Harry and Hermione, who leaned toward each other to read it together. Leo sat up slightly, eyes narrowing as he managed to read bits and pieces of the letter over the duo's shoulders. What he read was not at all to his liking.

Harry looked up at Ron.

"Well," he said, trying to sound as though he found the whole thing a joke, "if you want to — er — what is it?" He checked Percy's letter. "Oh yeah — 'sever ties' with me, I swear I won't get violent."

"I might," Leo scowled. "I always knew Percy was a prat but to turn his back on his family – to tell you to stop being friends with people who he has met and knows are perfectly sane all for the sake of power... Well, you're well shot of him I'd say."

"Give it back," said Ron, holding out his hand. "He is —" Ron said jerkily, tearing Percy's letter in half, "the world's" — he tore it into quarters — "biggest" — he tore it into eighths — "git." He threw the pieces into the fire.

"That's an understatement," Leo remarked dryly before frowning. "I'm more worried about what the Prophet'll say about Umbridge. If it elects her as the new headmaster, I'm leaving the school. I swear."