Chapter 33, really?! My original plan was about 15 chapters and possibly a sequel of maybe 10 chapters… but here we go. Chapter 34 is already in the works.

A huge thanks to Ambush99 for her amazing betaing skills and support.

Chapter 33

His parents would have scolded him for blindly following the orb. Lily would have been livid. Moody would've killed him, saving whatever lay at the end from finishing off the job. Sirius would have called him a bloody idiot, but somehow he thought he knew whatever lay on the other side wasn't evil nor was it going to hurt him. He pulled his jacket closer to his body as a bitterly cold east wind cut into him. As tired as he was, he knew he had to go on. The orb was guiding him. To what, he did not know, but somehow he felt it would eventually lead him to Sirius. With that motivational thought in mind, he increased his pace. He walked all day, his pace was unrelenting. He barely stopped for food or water. As long as the orb continued to guide him, he would not stop. He needed to find Sirius, and he knew it would lead him to Sirius.

It was nightfall by the time he had reached a large forest. Utterly exhausted, he sank down to his knees and let his head fall into his hands. What if the orb was just a pipe dream? What if it was just a hallucination? What if Voldemort had sent it and he was leading himself to his own death? Then what? Who would be there for Sirius at his darkest of hours? Why hadn't they told others of their plan? Why hadn't he persuaded Sirius to tell Remus or someone he was a horcrux? If he died, then what? Would the world of magic fall? He took a breath and looked up at the moon. It was only crescent shaped, so at least Remus would be at peace for several days before it turned full. He looked to his left, the orb was still there, but it was hovering with some form of urgency, as though the time was nigh. As though it needed him to act quickly.

"What do you want from me?!" he yelled at it. "I've followed you, but you haven't given me anything! Just tell me what I need to do?!"

As though the orb could understand him, it started moving towards the forest, pausing to see if he was following. James sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. All he wanted to do was sleep, yet he knew he couldn't. He had to continue. "Fine," he growled, picking himself up from the ground. "Fine, I'll fucking follow you!" With great effort he followed the orb into the forest, stumbling over tree roots, too tired to pull his wand out and light the way. He had no idea how long he had been walking when all of a sudden the orb stopped and shone over a frozen pond.

"What?!" James said, biting back a laugh. "A fucking, frozen, shitty pond, that's what you've led me to?! Really?!"

He punched a nearby tree in frustration. "Damn," he hissed. His senses heightened as he heard a twig snap. Pulling out his wand, he spun around searching for the source. He squinted into the darkness, only lit by a dim moonlight. "Sirius?" he whispered, as a familiar figure walked towards the pond. His hair was a lot shorter than he ever remembered but he looked alert, he looked alive. James watched as he paused on the banks of the pond, before Sirius pulled out his wand, broke the ice and dove in.

"Fuck!" James exclaimed, rushing up to the frozen pond. "You bloody idiot!" Without hesitating, he threw the backpack down and dived into the pond. He felt his lungs restricting as the icy water hit him. He ignored it, and pushed deeper into the pond. He barely felt the stabbing pain from the freezing waters. All he cared about was the figure he had seen moments ago. His friend. His brother in all but blood. His hand made contact with a body. Seizing it, he kicked hard towards the surface, dragging his friend with him. He gasped as his head broke the surface, his lungs drawing in vital oxygen. Taking a couple of short strokes, his feet hit the muddy floor. With some difficulty, he dragged his unconscious friend onto the frozen banks.

"Sirius!" he said urgently, tapping his friend's cheek. "Come on mate, don't bloody do this to me!"

He stopped and frowned at the small, golden object, seemingly pulsating on his friend's chest, as through it either wanted to rip a hole in it, or cut his throat with the thin golden chain. He grabbed it, but it only seemed to cause it to try and push itself further into Sirius' chest.

"What the fuck?!" James exclaimed. He seized the locket with both hands and yanked, forcing it to yield its grip on his friend. The locket seemed to be alive, looking for its new host. Not wanting to be its next host, he threw it as hard as he could away from them.

"Sirius!" James said urgently, as he watched his friend begin to cough. Quickly he turned his friend onto his side, as he began to cough up the muddy water from the pond. "You bloody idiot," he whispered.

Sirius drew deep, painful, gasping breaths into his oxygen-deprived lungs. His greying vision began to come into focus again. He heard a voice close to him, yet he could not make out the words. The person touched his shoulder, yet he didn't have the strength to fight it off. His hand went to touch the locket, yet it was not there. Where was it? Who had taken it? Were they going to deliver it to Voldemort? Would they tell him of his plan to destroy the Horcruxes? Would his plan fail? In one smooth, swift action, Sirius was on his feet, his wand pointing dangerously at whomever he presumed had taken the locket. "Where the hell is it?!" he yelled.

James pulled himself to his feet and stared at his friend in disbelief. "What?" he said, as he faced his friend, his wand lowered.

"The fucking locket, where are you hiding it?" Sirius snapped, taking a couple of steps towards the man.

"The locket? What, the thing that was trying to bloody kill you?! I got it off you," James yelled back.

"Why the hell would you do that?!" Sirius snarled, his whole body shaking.

"Because it was trying to either rip a hole in your chest, or slit your fucking throat. I don't know about you, but I didn't think it was a good idea."

"Where the hell is it?" Sirius demanded again, seemingly ignoring the person's revelation. His tense and dangerous demeanour not changing.

"I threw your precious locket over there," James snapped. He watched his friend walk over and snatch up the locket before he tackled him, slamming him to the ground. With his knee on Sirius' chest he effectively pinned him to the ground. "Now, you are going to bloody tell me what the hell is going on!"

"Piss off!" Sirius spat. "Get off me you bastard."

"No," James bit back. He pointed his wand in his friend's face and, with his free hand, gripped his chin forcing him to look at him. "Sirius, tell me what's happening. Let me help you."

"James?" Sirius said in a small voice, all of the hostility in it before now gone.

"Yeah mate, it's me. It's Prongs," James said softly, as he eased his pressure on Sirius' chest.

"What are you doing here?" Sirius asked, in a slightly bewildered voice.

"Looking for you."

"Why?"

"You didn't think I was going to let you do this alone did you?" James replied, as he pulled Sirius into a sitting position. He took a moment to look at his friend. He had obviously lost weight, he had dark circles under his eyes but he didn't look unhealthy. "Mate, are you alright? What happened there?" he said, referring to his friend's somewhat drastic mood change.

"I didn't know it was you."

Sirius voice was so soft he didn't catch what he said. "What?"

"I didn't know it was you," Sirius repeated, pulling his knees up to his chest, his hand loosely wrapped around the locket.

James frowned. "You didn't know it was me?"

"It's stupid, I know but.." Sirius paused and took a breath, as he rubbed a hand over his tired face. "I don't know."

"It's the locket isn't it?" James said, looking down at his friend's hand.

"It's weird, I don't know, but it's like it's trying to possess me," Sirius said in a near whisper. "You think I'm crazy don't you?"

"No," James said shaking his head. "No I don't mate. I had a hard job getting that bloody thing off you, and when I did I swear it was looking for a new host."

"It tried to…?"

"Yeah, that's why I threw it away from us," James said, watching his friend carefully. "It's a horcrux isn't it?" He watched him slowly nod. "Shit, I mean good you've found one but it's a fucking evil thing!"

"It's part of Voldemort's soul," Sirius said looking away.

"Not all horcruxes are evil," James said, laying a hand on Sirius' shoulder. "You're not evil."

Sirius looked away, not wanting to reveal the dreams he was having. The ones when it felt like he was Voldemort. Feeling his every thought. Seeing his every action. He'd wake in a cold sweat, shaking, feeling as though he had carried out the murders. He could still hear the victims' tortured and terrified last screams. See their pain and fear-filled faces.

"Sirius!"

"Yeah," Sirius replied distantly, blinking several times as he tried to pull himself from his thoughts.

"What were you doing in that pond?"

"The sword."

"The sword?"

"Godric Gryffindor's sword, it was in the pond."

James frowned. He knew his friend was a proud Gryffindor but he didn't think he'd do anything reckless just for an artefact. "Mate, I'm not following."

"I think the sword can destroy Horcruxes," Sirius explained. He looked around, desperately scanning the bank. "It's over there," he said, pointing to the nearby bank.

James adjusted his glasses, noticing the sword for the first time. He guessed he'd been distracted by his half-drowned friend, and then by the same friend trying to attack him. "Sirius," he said quietly. "Mate, give me the horcrux," he said, holding out his hand. "Let me carry it. Let me share the burden."

Sirius stared at James' open palm for a moment. Doubt swirled around his head, telling him he couldn't trust James. That he would take the horcrux as his. He closed his eyes as he tried to force the thoughts from his head. No, James was his friend. He wouldn't take it from him. He would never betray him. Swallowing hard, he turned his hand and carefully dropped the cold, heavy metallic object into his friend's open palm. "Don't wear it," he warned. "It does weird things to…" he trailed off and looked away.

"Okay, I'll just stick it in my pocket," James said, as he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You stay here a moment, I'm just going to pick up the sword." He watched his friend nod in acknowledgement. He quickly jogged over to the bank and retrieved the sword. "I've got a tent in my bag. It's pretty small but it'll do."

"Mine's a couple of minutes from here," Sirius said looking up.

"Lead the way," James said, throwing out his hand, pulling his friend to his feet.

"Mate, I'm sorry about, well, earlier," Sirius said, as he bent down to pick up James' bag.

"Don't worry about it, it's not your fault. We'll destroy the bloody thing and it won't be able to hurt you anymore."

Sirius nodded, as he made his way through the forest with heavy legs. His feet were numb from his earlier swim, causing him to be clumsy.

"You okay, Sirius?" James asked, as he caught Sirius as he stumbled.

"Yeah, just cold that's all."

"Tell me about it," James said, shivering slightly. "Please tell me your tent is warm."

"Oh yeah, it has all the latest mod cons. Underfloor heating and everything," Sirius said with a slight smile.

"Piss off you idiot," James joked. "All I asked was if it's warm."

"Yeah it's warm. I've got a fire going."

"Good," James replied as they rounded a clearing. He found a small smile as the tent came into view. "Can…?"

"No," Sirius said, shaking his head. "I've set up blood wards. Only you and I can see it."

"Come on mate," James draped his arm around his friend's shoulders. "Don't know about you, but I could murder a tea or something stronger."

A few minutes later the tent was steaming with wet clothes. Both men sat close to the fire, their hands held out towards it. "I think the feeling has finally returned to my hands," James said, as he rubbed them together. "Seriously Sirius, jumping into a frozen pond has to be seriously one of the most stupid ideas you've had."

Sirius let out a bark-like laugh. "Will that joke ever get old?!"

"Nope," James replied, leaning back against the bed.

"Anyway, I got the sword didn't l?"

"You did, but might I recommend you don't go swimming with some stupid locket around your neck, and maybe wait until the summer."

"I'm not sure Voldemort got that memo," Sirius replied with a grin.

"Did you leave him off the distribution list again?"

"Must have," Sirius joked.

"No wonder he's so pissy, he never got the Christmas party invite."

"You're such a twat."

"Oh that's nice," James said with a grin. "Insult the man who saved your life."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Are you actually going to bring anything useful to the table?"

"Yeah, I've got Super Noodles," James said as he tossed a pack at his friend. "It's better than whatever you have here. Anyway, what the hell is that? Squirrel?!"

"Yeah, Padfoot caught it."

"Squirrel?!"

"Better than whatever Prongs could catch. Can Prongs actually catch anything?!"

James sighed dramatically as he slung an arm around his friend's shoulders. "Well I guess we will be eating squirrel on a bed of noodles." He stood and grabbed the squirrel from the line, and started cooking. It wasn't long before the tent was full of the smell of cooking meat.

"Well, that was...," James said as he wiped his mouth.

"Fucking disgusting," Sirius finished, as he polished off the remains of overcooked squirrel and soggy noodles.

"Can't Padfoot catch something better next time?"

"What, like deer?" Sirius said with a sly grin. "Well, after all Padfoot is a deerhound."

James grinned and shook his head. "You are a sick individual my friend."

"James."

"Yeah."

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"Coming out here. Finding me."

"As I said, did you really think I was going to let you do this alone?" James said, draping an arm around his friend's shoulders. "No mate, no way. I am going to be there to the end, whatever that might be."

"Prongs, you…" Sirius stopped and looked down. "You..."

"I will be there for you until the end. I know what you have to do and I hate it, but I cannot change that. But I can be there for you, and I know that sounds pointless, childish even but that, that's all I can offer you."

"Thanks," Sirius managed.

"Of course," James said, pulling his friend closer. "Get some rest, mate. I doubt you've had a lot of it over the last couple of months. Let me take watch tonight."

"Thanks," Sirius replied, his eyes already drooping, his head resting on his friend's shoulder. He knew he wouldn't sleep long, he never did, but he wasn't alone anymore.