Disclaimer: I don't know why they don't just PUT a blanket disclaimer on the site we all know I don't own any of the HP characters or themes this is just my take on how things should have been.

Authors note: okay if you're not willing to help me DECIDE about serious I guess I'm on my own

Chapter thirteen

Captive Truths

By Empathicallychosen

Betaed by aerohead1980

"Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil."-- Aristotle

(o)(o)(o)

No one moved or spoke. They didn't know what to say. They just sat in the chairs in front of Dumbledore's desk frozen. There was really nothing they could say. What were you supposed to say after hearing a story like that? What was the next logical course of action? How would they protect Harry, Ron and Hermione from meeting the same fate as so many others who had been punished for Guinevere's mistakes?

It was at that moment Dumbledore broke through their musings and reminded them there was nothing that could be done at the moment, (he told James in secret that when Harry was born it would probably be for the best if he cast the Fidelius Charm using himself as a secret keeper to preserve the children' and to keep their empathic gifts a secret). In the meantime, he strongly advised that they forget about all of this for a while and enjoy their Hogsmeade weekend. The group was startled, they had almost forgotten about their plans to visit the wizarding village.

Whatever Dumbledore had told Harry, Ron and Hermione while they had been alone in his private study, it certainly seemed to ease their minds about being empaths. But Harry was still very upset about what had happened to Peter at breakfast that morning.

"Harry, I swear on my honor as a Marauder that Peter is going to be fine," James said compassionately.

For a few seconds there was definitely a certain relief in Harry's eyes, but it flickered away almost immediately and Harry hung his head. While Sirius, Olivia and Remus tried to comfort Harry, Victoria headed up to get her cloak. She also decided to check on Peter and get some definite confirmation for Harry. Lily tapped James on the shoulder. Lily suggested that instead of leaving Harry, Ron and Hermione with Hagrid it was probably a better idea to take them to Hogsmeade. James agreed. Harry, Hermione, and Ron had other ideas.

"I don't know," said an apprehensive Hermione. "You aren't going to leave me in the shop like last time are you?"

"They left you in a shop," repeated Olivia incredulously.

"We turned around and came right back remember sweetheart," replied Sirius.

"But Padfoot, Hagrid was going to let us feed the cockatrice today," said Ron apparently torn between the two adventures.

"Cockatrice," repeated a mortified Lily.

Peter leaned back in his hospital bed thinking. Victoria had spent 15 minutes lecturing him about being more careful when Olivia came up to the hospital wing to hurry her along and to inform Victoria that there had been a change in plans and Lily and James had decided to take Harry, Ron and Hermione into Hogsmeade with them. Peter was irate to say the least.

Who did those sniveling little pipsqueaks think they were muscling in on their Hogsmeade trip and after that green-eyed little worm had tried to poison him too... Nicholson was such an idiot how could he have let the little runts escape! It was just too bad the remaining Death Eaters weren't going to be in Hogsmeade today. Then Nicholson's brother could drag those monsters off and Peter would have three years to convince James not to have children. Then it hit Peter. All he had to do was inform Blake Nicholson that James was planning to take Harry, Ron and Hermione away from the castle that afternoon and with a little luck Peter would never have to deal with them ever again.

It took James quite a while to convince Harry and Ron that they would much rather go to Hogsmeade then hang out with a smelly old cockatrice. But fifteen minutes later, Harry, James, Ron, Lily, Victoria, Hermione, Olivia, Remus and Sirius were browsing in Honey Dukes before heading to the Three Broomsticks. James was showing Harry all the different kinds of sweets they had for different types of creatures. He was particularly fascinated by the blood pops. Hermione and Victoria were picking out some ice mice for Crookshanks with the other girls and Ron was supposed to be helping Sirius stock up on sugar quills, but when Sirius and Remus returned a few minutes later they were frantic. They just turned around for a minute and when they turned back Ron was gone.

"What do you mean he's gone? How could we possibly lose two different kids on two different shopping trips," asked James, wildly scanning the crowds for any sign of their redheaded charge.

It was Remus who spotted him first. He was being led away by a very frightening looking man who seemed to take no notice of the crowd who stared but did nothing to help the boy.

"Moony save me," Ron called as Remus and the others struggled to keep up with Ron and his abductor.

The chase went on until they reached an abandoned alleyway where the teenagers were overpowered by a handful of death eaters. The last thing James remembered before being rendered unconscious was the sounds of Ron crying and Hermione screaming and Harry hiding behind James.

Sirius woke up with a splitting headache and a ringing in his ears. It took him a while to remember why he was laying on a corse stone floor. Still a little disoriented, Sirius slowly sat up trying to ignore the sharp stabbing pain in his chest and the wave of dizziness that washed over him. While he waited for his vision to stop swirling Sirius focused on the noises coming from outside. He was very certain that they were still in Hogsmeade because he could still hear the voices of Hogwarts students drifting in from the Street.

Finally his eyes refocused and he was able to concentrate on his environment. Wherever they were being held Sirius knew one thing for certain, from the description of the place they were not being held captive in the same house Harry, Ron and Hermione were in the last time they were kidnapped. The last room had sounded more like a torture chamber than anything else. This room, though slightly below habitable, was still undeniably a bedroom with no torture devices anywhere in sight.

Well that's something, Sirius thought to himself trying to find something positive to focus on.

Sunlight barely poked through a gap in the boarded-up window. Even the little bit of sunlight that poked through that wretched excuse for a window could do nothing to salvage the molding, brown floral wallpaper that was peeling off the wall right before their eyes. Underneath the window was the only piece of furniture; a dilapidated bed with coffee stained sheets.

Victoria was propped up against it trying to create a makeshift bandage out of a scarf for Olivia who had a great deal of blood oozing from her forearm. James was a few feet away trying to ignore a large purple bruise on his leg visible from a tear in his trousers while he examined a gash on Lily that spread down the whole right side of her face. Remus was sitting alone on the other side of the room brooding over a black eye and a split in his bottom lip. But to Sirius's horror Harry, Ron and Hermione were nowhere to be found.

"Where are they," asked Sirius even though he already knew the answer.

His heart was jumping around in his stomach as though Sirius had swallowed a fish.

"A bald man took them away an hour and a half ago," Remus informed him.

There were definitely clear signs of stress in Remus's voice.

Before Sirius could respond, before he could even begin to process the information there was a group of footsteps on the stairs. Two sets of the footsteps sounded like they belonged too very heavyset individuals. Everyone froze. The footsteps stopped right outside their door. The tension in the small room was so thick that none of them could breathe. Next there was the sound of somebody fumbling with the locks. Apparently that person couldn't get the knack of it, because they swore rather loudly. Finally the door opened and two very frightening men pushed Harry, Ron and Hermione roughly into the room.

Upon seeing that Sirius was all right, Hermione, although still obviously shaken, looked very relieved to see him.

"Padfoot your alive," she squealed racing over to him.

"Of course I am kid. It takes more than tall, dark and gruesome over there to keep me down," Sirius said hoping his voice didn't betray his true pain.

Padfoot tried to smile as reassuringly as he could, but his main objective was to shield her from the kidnappers who were obviously inebriated. Apparently, James and Lily were on the same page. When Harry stumbled over to them Lily picked him up, walked over to the bed and sat down on it placing herself between Harry and the Death Eaters.

Poor Ron looked to be in the worst shape of all three kids. He was as white as a sheet, his cheeks were stained in tears and his arms were covered with finger shaped bruises, but he refused to go over to Victoria who had beckoned him. He seemed determined to put as much space between himself and his attackers. He walked right past everyone and huddled himself in one of the far left corners using the bed as a buffer.

As far as Sirius could tell however, Ron had sustained no visible injuries that needed immediate medical attention. Therefore he turned his attention back to their captors. They were staring at Lily and snickering like a pair of schoolgirls. Very ugly schoolgirls.

"Oh look, the little future boy thinks his mudblood mother and blood traitor father are going to be able to stop us this time," snarled the least menacing of the thugs.

Sirius groaned.

"Well --hic-- there's nothing --hic-- they can do -- hic -- any more -- hic -- because -- hic- they're just ickle--hic-- teenagers," said the second man who had lost his power to intimidate Sirius the moment he opened his mouth.

Lily stared at James.

"James what is that schnockered tub of lard talking about," she demanded.

James opened his mouth to reply when the more sober man started speaking again. He seemed to be overjoyed.

"You mean you're perfect boyfriend hasn't told you? Well then allow me. When we nabbed the little rug rats the first time we took them from a little Muggle village in the future. Your future. Scarface over there is your little boy," he said pointing to Harry.

Lily's eyes went almost as wide as Ron's. For a few minutes she just stared blankly at the peeling wallpaper and then, slowly, she looked over at James who nodded. She turned to Harry and looked him in the eye and saw her eyes staring back at her. It was then Sirius knew for certain that the cat was out of the bag.

"Come on Sebastian, I think it's time we leave these two lovebirds to squabble," said the first man. "Besides I'm sure Dylan is back with that other keg by now."

He was just about to leave when he turned around so suddenly that he knocked his companion to the floor with such force that the floor shook.

"Hey wolfie."

Remus blanched.

"Take care of carrot top over there. We need him ready for the big event tomorrow," the Death Eater continued.

The man threw some kind of salve at Remus who caught it numbly. Sirius felt a surge of rage wash over him as the door shut with a snap. Remus refused to look in the direction of any of the girls, aside from Hermione for fear they would see him as a monster. After he finished examining the ointment to be sure it wasn't anything dangerous he busied himself by attempting to remove the marks from Ron. But Ron was not going to have any of it.

Apparently the Death Eaters had forced Ron to use his powers to destroy one of the villagers' homes and Ron didn't think he was worthy of healing. Furthermore, Ron announced that he was no longer fit to be called a Marauder. Ron was so convinced that it took nearly 20 minutes to persuade him otherwise.

Meanwhile Olivia was saying all sorts of terrible things to James because he had not told them the truth about Harry and the others.

"Leave him alone Livi. I understand why he did it," Lily commanded.

"You do," James asked hopefully.

"Yes. I would not want our relationship to be based entirely on Harry either. But that's not important right now. Now we should be focusing on getting the kids out of here before the big event tomorrow," said Lily in a very authoritarian voice.

"I have a plan, but we have to wait until nightfall. Those goons should be completely plastered by then."

"What does plastered mean," Harry asked in that innocent way that made Lily smile.

James frowned.

"Well," he said. "You know how you told me your Uncle Vernon drinks a lot of funny colored water sometimes and he starts acting weird? That's plastered."

Harry shivered. "I don't like plastered."

"Neither do I ," James agreed. "Normally getting plastered is a very bad thing, but this time it's okay. See, when wizards and witches get plastered they can't do magic very well. Which means they won't be able to stop us from getting away. Anyway, after I break the door down everybody run --"

"Just how do you expect to do that? The Death Eaters broke your wand remember," asked Victoria.

It was clear that she to was feeling rather snippy.

"Remus, I think we need to tell them the truth," said James watching his brother carefully.

"Well after that wolfie remark we have to, don't we," snapped Remus bitterly.

"Okay listen Moony, we can work on your personal issues later, but right now I really need a potion for my headache so can we get on with the story please," interjected Sirius.

Remus nodded and slowly but surely he recounted the night Fenrir Greyback turned him into a monster. At the end of his tale Remus looked up at the girls shamefully. Lily was not pleased. And the only reason she was angry with Remus was for not entrusting them sooner, which came as a great relief to the desperate lycanthrope.

"YOU JERK! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! ALL OF THESE YEARS I'VE BEEN YOUR FRIEND! YOU COULDN'T FIND FIVE MINUTES TO TELL ME ABOUT ALL OF THIS," Victoria roared.

The two of them had been friends even before the Marauders ever came into play and Victoria was obviously deeply affronted by Remus's silence.

"Tori, I --"

"Save it Remus, just save it," said Victoria as a silent tear roll down her face.

Once Victoria had calmed down, Sirius and James jumped in with their side of the story, explaining just how they (along with Peter) had become animagi. The fact that Peter could even begin to master something so complicated left Victoria positively dumbfounded. Lily was beginning to get extremely ticked off by all the secrets, but she said nothing. Livi on the other hand, couldn't say enough about how endearing she found the illegal gesture to be, which shocked everyone.

By the time all the talking was finished it was dark. The group waited until they couldn't hear anyone on the other side. Then Sirius glanced at James who nodded and with a pop both boys were gone. Where Sirius stood was an enormous bear-like dog. That made Victoria jump almost five feet in the air because, although she knew it was Sirius, she was still a pureblood and it was hard to shake the thought of the superstition she had grown up hearing about from her mother.

Lily marveled at the Majestic stag that stood before her. She just couldn't get over the fact that the handsome animal before her was really her boyfriend. Gently she reached up and traced the outline of the spectacle markings around his eyes.

"Are you sure you can do this," she asked gently.

Prongs made a gesture that could only be interpreted as a nod of his head and Lily stepped back.

Sirius, or rather Padfoot, had his head pushed up against the door, clearly listening for any indication that the Death Eaters were not in fact completely intoxicated. Padfoot gave Prongs his cue and James began ramming the door. The first time James smashed his antlers against the door Lily winced. Both because of the headache James was bound to get in the morning and because she was certain that somebody must have been listening, and if that was the case then surely they would have heard the terrible racket the prisoners were making. However, it appeared that she was wrong.

It took Prongs five more times bashing his head against the door before it finally came tumbling down with a loud crash. Prongs and Sirius transformed back into themselves. Physically picking up the small children, they ran. They didn't have to bother because all the Death Eaters, except for a handful, were so drunk that they had passed out. And all except for two of the remaining Death Eaters were too inebriated to stand up. The two that had chased them didn't make it past the front yard before casting several hexes and hitting each other right between the eyes.

Nevertheless, Remus, James, Sirius, Lily, Olivia and Victoria didn't stop running until they reached a shop they recognized. In fact it wasn't a shop at all. It was the pub where they had promised to meet up with Peter hours earlier. Madam Rosmerta was closing up for the night when she saw the nine of them running down the street. Her jaw dropped at the sight of them and she stepped aside to let them in.

"What on earth happened to you," she asked, offering the group a seat at one of the larger tables.

"Death Eaters Ma'am," Remus panted.

Rosmerta gasped. As soon as Sirius caught his breath he asked if they could use her fireplace to get back to school. Of course she agreed, but not before insisting that they rest a minute first. No one needed telling twice before they sunk down into their seats. They were all so exhausted that it took every ounce of strength they had not to fall asleep. Madam Rosmerta disappeared behind the counter for a few minutes and then came back carrying nine mugs of hot chocolate.

"There you are dear, this will warm you up," said Madam Rosmerta kindly handing a cup of cocoa to Harry who was visibly shaking from the cold.

Rather than drinking from the cup, Harry simply stared at it.

"It's all right Harry, you can drink it," said Lily encouragingly.

"He's just a little shy," James informed Rosmerta, who seemed a little offended that Harry was so standoffish towards her and her hot chocolate.

When James made to pay for the drinks she refused his money, insisting that it was the least she could do. The hot chocolate was nice, but none of them felt truly comfortable until they were back in Dumbledore's office. Harry took a seat on a sofa Dumbledore had conjured and started contentedly stroking Fawks's scarlet plumage. After a few minutes Harry looked up at James (who was busy trying to convince his parents through the fire that everything was all right), and said something that shocked everyone in the room. Simply because after what they had just gone through, Sirius at least had been certain that Harry would refuse to go shopping ever again.

But a furious kind of pride welled up inside Sirius when he heard Harry say; "I think next time we go to Hogsmeade we should take your invincibility cloak with us."

There was no denying Harry and the others certainly belonged in Gryffindor.

"You mean invisibility cloak Harry. James's cloak is an invisibility cloak," Remus said rubbing his eyes from exhaustion.

"That's what I said, invincibility cloak," Harry yawned before surrendering to a night of peaceful dreams thanks to a Phoenix lullaby.

Okay that's the end of 13 we are amost done. Now if everyone please form an orderly line we are going to form an angry mob and string Peter up by his toes.

Please please read and review

next chapter blue moony How wonderful would life be if ther were just no full moons. Can the trio accomplished their goal?