Best-Laid Plans
I froze in place, frantically looking around for somewhere we could hide, but there was no way we would all be able to fit under a bed together like last time, and we wouldn't be able to get Mison underneath in time anyway, not in the state he was in.
Mison's head lifted and then fell forward again, too weak to stay fully awake for long.
I looked quickly at Sirius still supporting his other side.
"In there," he nodded to the closest prison cell on our right.
In a second he was dragging us all back through into the acrid stench of one of the small dingy chambers yet again.
As soon as we were in, he quickly lowered Mison to the ground and ducked out from underneath his arm.
Pointing his wand at the cell bars, he called out, "Talpa Abscondo."
I watched as the air in front of them seemed to ripple slightly before returning back to normal. But before I could work out exactly what he'd done, Military himself had stormed back through the entrance door right next to us.
Only a brief hand gesture from Sirius warned me to keep still.
"The sooner this is over with, the better," Military grunted as he passed us, clutching a dusty maroon coloured bottle of something I was pretty sure wasn't pumpkin juice.
He turned around to check on Regulus's two friends, who had followed him back in, but as he did his gaze seemed to land on Sirius.
My chest constricted as Sirius just stood his ground, standing still as a statue, his hand readied on his wand in his pocket as they locked eyes, but weirdly Military's focus just seemed to slip away from him, continuing in as if nothing had happened.
As soon as he and the two hulking Slytherins had gone past and were out of my sightline, I heard his barking voice speak again, the sound of it more muffled this time, clearly at the other side of the room.
"Open it," he snapped, his order quickly followed by the creaking of the trap door hinge, and finally the heavy thud of the door against the floor.
It was at that point I knew whatever spell Sirius had cast over us must've worked, because they were all making their way down towards Mison, apparently unaware of the fact they had just walked straight past him on the top floor with us.
Glancing briefly down to check Mison was still unconscious, I crept over to the bars to see what was going on.
I could just about see Zachariah stepping down onto the hidden staircase first, closely followed by Avery and then finally Military, his balding stubbled head disappearing into the hole.
When we finally heard the sound of their footsteps fade down the stairs, I knew it would only be a matter of time before they got down there and saw the object of their murder mission gone, and then it wouldn't be long before they started to question just how he had managed to get out with no wand and no strength to even move.
I doubted even Sirius's charm would be enough to keep us hidden if Military really started looking for us.
Knowing there would be no chance of escape once they resurfaced, and with the image of our abandoned dead bodies flashing yet again in my head, I felt a shot of adrenaline throb through my chest.
Opening the cell door, I ran towards the trap door faster than I'd ever moved in my life.
I wasn't sure if Sirius called after me, or whether he reacted at all, because I couldn't hear anything over the static white noise deafening in my head.
When I was just over halfway, I reached out with my wand.
The heavy wooden door flipped back in place over the top of them in response, blocking their exit.
Already at my side without me even noticing, Sirius thrust his own wand out and hit it with a locking spell I had never heard of.
His head shot around towards me. "Now that was just reckless," he said accusatorily, his eyes wild with disbelief at what I'd just done.
"Come on," I urged, pulling him back towards Mison.
There wasn't time. We needed to get out.
"Urrgh," Mison groaned, opening his eyes briefly as we picked him back up and finally made it to the door that led out into the corridor, stumbling outside as it shut behind us.
I breathed in the clean, familiar smelling air gratefully, not thinking I would ever get to see the outside of that horrific room ever again.
"My locking spell is good, but it won't hold them forever," Sirius warned, reminding me I couldn't get too comfortable while the corridors around us were empty with everyone still in the hall.
"We need to get him to the Hospital Wing," I replied.
.o.
It seemed to take us forever to get across the castle, dragging the Professor along at what felt like a snail's pace. And every noise behind us felt like it would be the last one we'd ever hear.
When we reached the closed door to the hospital ward neither of us had the energy or time to knock, and we barraged clumsily through, unable to stop until our legs bumped hard against the bed directly in front of us.
Mison's torso lurched forwards from the impact, sprawling over the width of the bed.
Working together Sirius and I lifted his feet, spinning him around until his head was safely on the pillow.
"Is he still breathing?" Sirius asked, looking at him doubtfully.
Mison let out a staggered sigh in response.
I looked around the room in search of the nurse, and spotted a bulge in the blankets of a bed a few rows down.
It took me a second to recognise the sleeping face as Mary's.
Seeing her there, safely tucked in a bed away from Anthony's inadvertent threat, felt like a small mercy considering everything else that was going on.
It meant Regulus had stuck to his word that he would get her to safety, even if he hadn't hung around any longer than was necessary.
"Where's Pomfrey?" I asked, seeing absolutely no sign of her.
Sirius scanned the area, jogging over to her private room and looking inside.
When he came back out with a shake of his head, I let out a noise of agitation..
Pulling his wand back out of his pocket, Sirius strode determinedly over to me. "Wait here," he said. "I'm going to get help."
"No, I'll come with you," I replied, already taking a step towards him.
"Then who's going to watch over Mison?" he asked, knowing he had me this time.
I glanced over my shoulder at the Professor's frail body, his closed eyelids flickering in silent agitation.
If anyone came looking for him, he probably wouldn't even realise they were there let alone be able to defend himself.
"They'll have broken out by now and know they've failed," Sirius said. "Who knows what they'll do if someone makes the mistake of crossing their path? I need to warn the professors."
"I know," I admitted. "It's just..."
...I'm worried about you. I don't want you to get hurt.
But my words wouldn't come out.
When I trailed off, he studied my face, waiting for me to finish my sentence.
"Just be quick," I said instead, keeping my expression guarded so he couldn't see the fear on it.
He nodded, already starting towards the exit.
"Sirius!" His name escaped my mouth before he even had chance to reach the door.
He turned around immediately, a look of concern on his face as he looked to Mison, obviously thinking something awful had happened to him.
"Be careful," I said, feeling stupid that I'd called him back just to say that.
But for some reason my words made the corner of his mouth tilt upwards.
"Always am," he replied, and then he was gone.
.o.
Perched on the very edge of the chair meant for visitors next to Mison's bed, my eyes traced a never ending triangle from the door, up to the clock, and back to check on the Professor again while I waited for any signs that Sirius was coming back.
Ten whole minutes had passed since he'd gone, and I was clock-watching like I'd never clock-watched before.
"Unnh," Mison groaned in pain.
I put a tentative hand over his. His skin felt frighteningly thin underneath mine, the bones and ligaments sticking out against my palm.
"It's okay," I muttered to him, "It'll be okay."
I picked up the glass of water I had conjured from the bedside table and brought it to his lips. Just like the last time I'd tried it, the drop of water simply dribbled back out of the corner of his mouth.
It was like he was too weak to even swallow.
With nothing else to do, I pushed away my feeling of uselessness by performing yet another circuit of the room with my eyes. It was only when they eventually landed back on Mison that I noticed something had changed.
His painful moaning had stopped. In fact, all of the shuffling caused by his slight movements had stopped.
I peered at him properly. He was completely still.
"Professor?" I shook his hand gently.
It was only then that I noticed the congealed blood at the top of his hairline, disguised amongst the dirt on his face. He had a head injury. How could we have not seen this earlier?
Fumbling with his wrist, I pressed my two forefingers on the soft spot I had always seen them use in films. It was hard to still my own breathing long enough to focus on what I could feel, if anything.
Eventually I felt the feeble movement pulsating weakly under my fingertips.
I exhaled a breath and closed my eyes in relief.
Please, I begged him silently. Hold on just a little while longer.
A noise heading along the corridor toward us made my head shoot up and in a second the door to the wing had opened.
The feeling of euphoria I had when I saw Sirius step through it was almost indescribable. I was even more grateful when I saw he was followed by Madam Pomfrey.
As she bustled her way to Mison's bedside, her attention was focused squarely on the Professor, moving faster than I had ever seen her move.
"You're back," I said, not bothering to hide my relief as I stood up to meet him.
"Why, did you miss me?" he asked, doing his best to smile.
He nodded towards Mison. "How is he?"
We watched Madam Pomfrey fussing over him, already trying to spoon feed him some kind of medicine she had fetched from her cupboard.
"I don't know," I said honestly. It looked like, similar to the water I had given him, he wouldn't or couldn't swallow it.
"Give us some space please, children," Pomfrey said brusquely, shooing us back from the bed as she pushed a stray hair back from her face with the back of her hand. It was easy to see she was stressed, and I had never seen her stressed before.
I felt a surge of grief pass over me. He wasn't going to make it.
"McGonagall and Flitwick have gone to find Saunderson, or Rookwood I guess," Sirius told me in an undertone, distracting me from my bleak assessment of the professor.
"What about Zachariah and Avery?" I asked.
"The priority is on Rookwood, but the professors think wherever he is it's likely they'll be with him."
I nodded.
"I really hope they catch him," I stated savagely, "he needs to pay for what he's done."
I looked again at Mison and his abused body, barely clinging onto his life. They had ruined him. And for what? A pile of worthless worksheets.
I turned my head away to prevent Sirius from seeing how close I was to breaking down.
I had never openly cried in front of him before, at least not from anything other than anger. And if he knew I was crying now then he didn't say anything.
Instead I found myself blind-sided when I felt him place a hesitant arm around my shoulders.
It took me right back to our earlier hiding spot under the bed, when he had held my hand at the moment I'd most needed it.
After having him ignore me for so long, it was hard to reconcile that person with the one he had shown me that evening. The one he was still showing me now.
I closed my eyes, trying my best to block out anything that wasn't the comforting weight of his arm around me.
Time seemed to move more quickly than it had when I was alone, and half an hour had passed before McGonagall showed up.
The minute she walked into the hospital wing, her eyes moved from Professor Mison's prone form, to Sirius and I stood just off to one side, at just enough of a distance to avoid being a nuisance.
When she saw us still holding one another, she raised a sharply arched eyebrow, and Sirius instantly dropped his arm to his side like he had been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to.
Moving her attention to Pomfrey, the two women seemed to be swapping information with just their eyes, both of them casting their gaze over Mison, until Pomfrey shook her head ever so slightly.
McGonagall's face turned sombre in reply.
"I trust you will do your best, Poppy," she told her, "just as you always do."
Looking back at us, she said, "You two, come with me."
Without waiting for us to answer, she had already started to make her way back out of the wing, and we had to hurry to catch up.
"Have you found any of them yet?" Sirius asked her once we'd all started back off down the passageway outside.
"The two named students have been apprehended," she replied matter-factly, refusing to slow her pace or mention anything of Military.
"What will you do with them now you've got them then?" Sirius asked, not taking her hint.
"Though that information no longer concerns you," she said pointedly, "they are currently being questioned. In the meantime, I have questions that require answers."
The way she was talking was almost as if we were in trouble, and I noticed Sirius didn't speak again until we reached our destination.
.o.
Rather than take us to her office, it came as a shock when we arrived instead at the entrance to Professor Dumbledore's.
"Bertie Botts," McGonagall said authoratively, and the gargoyle immediately stepped aside to let us onto the rotating staircase.
I had only ever been in the Headmaster's office once or twice before, and the last time had been at the end of fourth year.
I could still remember his reluctance to allow my transfer out of Hogwarts to a non-magical school.
The idea of meeting with him again now made me feel more than a little nervous.
"Professor Sprout has managed to make contact with Durmstrang using the Floo network,"McGonagall told us once we stepped into his office, "The Headmaster should be with us shortly."
Sirius and I sat down in the chairs in front of the desk as she temporarily took Dumbledore's seat opposite.
Each and every one of the portraits on the wall were all busy snoring softly, making it overtly clear to us that we could talk without fear of them overhearing, even though we all knew they were faking it.
"Now," McGonagall said, settling herself in, "Tell me everything you know of what has happened this evening, and the events leading up to it."
I glanced at Sirius, wondering what he had already told her when he had gone to fetch help, but then McGonagall spoke again in explanation, "Mr Black's earlier rendition of events was understandably rushed and altogether incomplete."
"What about Rookwood?" Sirius asked, refusing to have his own questions silenced any longer.
"I have left the search for 'Professor Saunderson' in Professor Flitwick and Professor Slughorn's very capable hands," she replied, saying the name Saunderson with as much contempt as she could manage. "Now, if you don't mind-"
"What do you mean?" Sirius pressed, "Surely he should be the number one priority right now, not getting some kind of statement from us."
"Thank you, Mr Black; I am quite capable of prioritising without your help, and right now it is crucial I understand exactly what has happened if we are to question him successfully."
"You can't question him if you haven't caught him," Sirius retaliated. "He shouldn't have been allowed in the school in the first place. He should've been fired as soon he made us risk our lives in that tournament."
"Now that's quite enough," she said sharply, reaching the end of her fuse.
But even as I flinched at the possibility of her losing her cool with us, I thought back to my conversation with her, weeks ago. Lily and I had both warned her about the anti-Muggle worksheets Military was giving out to students. And then she pretty much saw for herself what he was putting us through during the assault course.
Every time I had thought she would step in and stop what he was doing, she did nothing.
The two of them stared at one another for the longest time, each of them waiting for the other to blink.
When McGonagall spoke again, her voice was surprisingly measured.
"While I understand your concerns," she said, clearly working hard to keep a lid on her anger, "it is simply not possible to dismiss a teacher on speculation alone. While we may have had our reservations regarding his teaching methods, he had been given a letter of recommendation from Professor Dumbledore himself."
She let out a short, irritated breath through her nose.
"Which of course, we now know to have been a forgery," she added.
With a will of steel in her eye, she looked back at Sirius, and then at me.
"Trust me when I say he shallbe found," she told us staunchly, "And I will be front and centre to watch them throw the book at him. But for now, the very best course of action is to do as you are told." She punctuated each of her last five words.
"Now," she said, "are you going to co-operate and tell me everything you have witnessed, or am I going to have to drop Veritaserum in your next meal?"
There was something in the way she said it that made me question if it was really a joke.
I found I had to ready myself to speak to her, trying to put the relevant events in a logical order.
Even though I would've preferred Sirius to do most of the talking, I was well aware he only knew half of the story.
The only person who had seen Avery and Mulciber using Imperio on Anthony first-hand when he attacked Mary had been me. And I was the one Regulus had told about what had really happened to Professor Mison, after I had pushed him to admit it.
I was intrinsically involved, and it was mainly the fault of my own nosiness.
When I had finished telling them anything and everything I felt might be useful to the case, with Sirius helpfully interjecting whenever he knew I'd missed something, McGonagall's expression remained dissatisfied.
"You say Regulus Black told you where Professor Mison had been taken?" she asked finally.
I looked at Sirius briefly, knowing he would be listening very carefully to what I said about his brother.
"Regulus had overheard Avery and Mulciber talking about what they'd done," I replied. "I ran into him outside of your office just as he was coming to warn you about what they were doing, but you weren't there."
"And that was the younger Mr Black's only involvement?" she asked, the skeptism clear in her voice.
"Yes," I replied definitely. "He was trying to help."
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the look of restrained confusion on Sirius's face, obviously wondering why I would lie for his brother, but I didn't meet his gaze.
In all honesty, I wasn't really sure myself why I didn't tell her that Regulus had known about Mison's kidnap for weeks and done nothing, and in all likelihood would've let him be killed just so he didn't have to deal with the consequences of being a snitch.
It just felt like he didn't really deserve to be punished for something that wasn't really his doing. And if he was telling the truth, and he really had been trying to get them stop, then at least he wasn't completely evil. Just scared and misguided.
"If that is the case," McGonagall said, not letting the subject drop, "Then what did you mean by your earlier theory that he had blackmailed Professor Mison with a mystery note?"
I cursed silently.
I had conveniently left that part out of my story, forgetting I had already gone to tell her about it at the time.
"I must've got it wrong," I said weakly. "Maybe it really was just about homework."
"Indeed," McGonagall replied tartly. Seeming to write me off as a lost cause, she continued, "In any matter, he will have his own questions to answer in due course, and I am sure Professor Slughorn will want to know exactly what has been going on between the students in his house."
She put her scrutiny back on us.
"As for you two," she said, "let me start by saying I most certainly do not condone your actions this evening. Attempting a rescue of this kind unaided was an incredibly foolhardy thing to do; something that could have resulted in the loss of more than one life this evening. In light of this, I have no choice but to-"
"It wasn't Sirius's fault," I interjected quickly.
Both McGonagall and Sirius looked at me, the Professor's mouth still half open in the shape of her interrupted next word.
I knew before she said it what was going to happen, and I couldn't in all conscience let Sirius be expelled along with me. All he'd done was agree to help me when I needed him most. It wasn't fair.
"I convinced him there wasn't time to fetch help," I continued determinedly, ignoring her irritable stare.
"As persuasive as I am sure you can be, Miss Morland," McGonagall answered wryly, casting a knowing eye at Sirius, "I am equally certain of Mr Black's own strength of character."
"He was the only reason we managed to get Professor Mison out of there alive, Professor," I persisted honestly.
"If he did not want to do it, he simply would not have done it," she replied, shutting me down once and for all.
"And I am more than confident both you and he knew the correct response in your situation would have been to alert a teacher. However," she added, and both our ears pricked up at the unfamiliar sound of lenience in her voice, "as this has already been a stressful day for all involved, I am willing to postpone this conversation for another time. After I have discussed the consequences of your actions with Professor Dumbledore."
"Thank you, Professor," I muttered as I saw her look again at the large stone fireplace across the room, still scanning for any signs of communication from the Headmaster, though it was still filled with nothing but ordinary orange flames.
Just then, there was a soft knocking sound on the other side of the office door, managing to catch us all unawares.
"Come in," McGonagall called, her tone instantly alert.
The door opened slowly, and a meek-looking fourth year Hufflepuff stepped hesitantly into the room. Her eyes landed on each of us in turn, lingering on Sirius ever so slightly longer than was necessary until a blush crept onto her face.
"Yes?" the Professor prompted her fiercely, clearly disappointed by the new arrival.
"Professor Flitwick gave me a note to give to you," the girl replied quickly, looking startled by the sharpness of her tone.
She stood there for a second more until McGonagall added, "And? Where is it?"
"Oh," the girl said, her blush intensifying as she peered briefly again at Sirius, "It's here."
Pulling it out of her pocket, she inched towards the Professor with her arm outstretched.
McGonagall took the rolled up parchment from her, and realising her job was finished, the girl allowed herself one last furtive look at Sirius before she left the room, closing the door a little harder than was necessary.
"Sorry!" we heard her faint voice call through the door before she hurried away.
McGonagall looked less than impressed by the whole thing.
"If only you could use that inexplicable magnetism of yours for good, Sirius," she lamented drolly, "you would be near unstoppable."
Picking up the spectacles that hung on a chain around her neck and placing them on the edge of her nose, she unravelled Flitwick's note.
Sirius and I just sat there waiting while she read it in silence, and I could sense his restlessness to find out what it said.
Eventually she placed her glasses carefully back down until they hung at her chest again, "Professor Flitwick has cause to believe Rookwood has fled the castle," she addressed us finally.
Not waiting for our reaction, she added, "It would also appear he has been abusing his position as a teacher to intercept the Hogwarts post, as a stash of letters from both students and teachers have been uncovered in his office."
She paused. "I'm afraid to say there was a letter from you amongst them, Miss Morland."
"Why would Rookwood stop one of my letters?" I asked.
"All of the correspondence found have one thing in common," she replied, "They all contain information pertaining to the name Saunderson or Professor Mison, however remotely that might be."
I tried to think back to the letters I had sent over the last month. The only one I could think of had been the one to my mum.
To start with I couldn't imagine what I'd said that could've possible triggered Military's spying charm. Then it dawned on me. I had told her what I'd seen between Regulus and Mison; as well as the fact I believed the Ministry to be involved somehow.
I had a nasty feeling I'd even written about my suspicion Military'd had something to do with Mison's disappearance, though at the time I couldn't have guessed just how close I'd come to the truth.
When I shared my realisation out loud, Sirius's eyes lit up with understanding, "That's why they went after you."
I sent him a questioning look.
"Well why would anyone bother impersonating Mison just to show themselves to you?" he asked. "I mean...why you out of everyone? It's not like you're Head Girl. You're not even a Prefect."
"Alright..." I said, starting to feel like he was rubbing it in.
"But if they thought you were onto them, then that makes sense," he continued. "They must've known you'd pass it onto the rest of us."
I thought back to how strangely the 'Professor Mison' I'd seen outside his office had been acting, with his formal use of my surname and cagey answers. The truth seemed so glaringly obvious now.
"At least now I get why Ant attacked me in Hogsmeade that day," I murmured.
When McGonagall looked at me to elaborate, I reluctantly added, "I'd been following the two Slytherins to see what they were doing."
Her face looked visibly peeved at what I'd done.
"And that day I caught Javerhops following you across the grounds," Sirius said, leaving out the part where he had been transformed into Padfoot at the time, "You were probably close to one of their meeting points. They must've made him do it to scare you off."
"Miss Morland, you are starting to make me wonder whether you go intentionally looking for trouble," McGonagall said accusingly.
Casting her watchful eye on the fireplace yet again and seeing it was just as Dumbledore-less as before, she rose from her seat.
"I suppose we had better a call it a night," she said, clearly fed up with waiting. "You will be wanting to eat, no doubt, seeing as how you skipped dinner."
We got up and followed her to the door.
"I will make accommodations for food to be brought up to your common room, just for this evening," she said. "But understand this is by no means our last discussion on what has happened. Professor Dumbledore will likely wish to speak to you both upon his return."
She opened the door, ushering us through it.
"I can only hope you have both learnt a valuable lesson this evening," she said as we stepped out. "And I would hope in future you learn to keep yourselves away from hazardous situations, rather than consistently plunging headlong towards them."
I noticed she was looking primarily at me as she said this.
"Just as well Cheryl did plunge headlong towards it, in this case though," Sirius pointed out, "otherwise Mison would be dead now."
"Quite," the Professor retorted testily, "And let us just hope the newfound teamwork that has blossomed between you both is able to continue past the mere threshold of this evening," she said caustically, shutting the door on us.
With the door now inches from our noses, Sirius turned to me.
"I think we might've upset her," he observed.