Chapter Six-
"Wake Up" - Coheed and Cambria
When I woke up, I was shivering and cold; naked in a dungeon, of sorts, covered in wetness. I coughed, and then noticed someone in the room. There wasn't a lot I could say or do to make light of the situation, but when I realized I wasn't alone, I thanked god I at least didn't have morning wood in front of the bitch who soaked me with a bucket of dirty, cold water.
"Narcissa, where the fuck am I?" I demanded, angrily, disorientated, and a bit tired, to say the least. She threw me pants then marched out. I slipped them on, aggregately before she stomped back in, dragging a body where muffled sounds came slurring from his mouth.
Sirius. She threw him down in front of the bars, then removed his gag and unbound his hands; one shot up to his throat, the other reached for hers. She shoved him back unceremoniously. He rolled his eyes and then turned to me, whispering because I knew he wasn't capable of talking. His throat looked bruised in some areas
"They want my pledge to join the Death Eaters." He crackled. My eyes widen, my mind was sent reeling.
"And what?" I snapped angrily at our situation. "They're going to torture you until you cave in?" He didn't shrug his shoulders, but he didn't agree either.
"They've seemed to foresaw this and have offered me something in return. Something developed that'll help you." Narcissa kicked him, and he let out a gust of air in pain, but smiled at me. "Apparently I'm not supposed to tell you what it can do." His voice, by now, still sounded painful but was much stronger. I wanted to touch him, but didn't dare in front of his family. He pulled off his torn tee-shirt from his body and offered it to me; to hide the scars he knew I couldn't stand. I pulled it on, tenderly. He nodded at me. I caught glimpse at something sticking out of his jean pocket. Cigarettes. He followed my stare, and whipped them out, offering me one. I took it for once, feeling this was a sort of toast to him.
"Don't do it." I said, carefully. He grinned.
"I wish I could tell you more, but the bitch over here will use her claws on me again." He lit mine before his. "Let's just say it'll be a fair trade. After this, you'll have no irony left in you." He said, my eyes narrowing as I processed his words. That was all I needed to know. Narcissa sunk her nails into his skin. He hissed, but rose from his spot carefully and then backed up into her by mistake. She smiled at his pain; I growled.
"Too much information at once, cousin." She stated, steering him out and simply into the hallway down two cells. "Go back to Potter and sit tight."
"James?!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. There was no reply back. Sirius turned and looked back before walking in, frowning.
"He's indisposed." Sirius said, in what would be a light tone not given the situation. I held on the bars, talking calmly but I knew my face would betray all.
"Narcissa, let me tend to him." I said. She leaned close to my lips and whispered against them, daring me to shy away.
"I'll let you fix, forgive, fuck- whatever you want to Potter if you promise not to convince Sirius to change the deal." My eyes darted to her tongue; it reeked with poison like an adders. I leaned forward to bite it harshly, to make her hurt, but she pulled back- I felt disgusted with myself. Reacting like this was a Sirius-type of a move; I was a pacifist. But they were instigators, holding my best friends captive. "Watch it, lycan!" I closed my eyes, trying to breath.
"I won't convince him." I said, finally. She tilted her head to regard me and I wanted to regard myself. Opening the door, I flew to Sirius' cell to glance at James. He was unconscious, the least of my worries. It looked as if half of his flesh on his right arm had been eaten off to expose the bone. A potion wound. It smelt like salty, burning, disaster. I covered my mouth with one of my hands and took the outstretched wand from Narcissa. I continued to stare at Prongs, pondering. I glanced at Sirius for advice. His back was facing Narcissa and without moving his head once, he mouthed perfectly readable words to me. In spilt seconds, he shot into action. Grabbing the wand from my tight hands, he stunned Cissa.
"Someone ought to have heard her fat body hit the ground. What can you do for James?" He asked. I thought quickly.
"Not much, he needs to see a real doctor. The most I can do is…give him a spell that'll allow him to feel no pain for an hour. Depending on where the fuck we are, that could be enough to get us a plan to break the fuck out of here." Sirius seemed to be counting after my words.
"It was just past dawn when they caught us. We had transformed back and were dragging you when we got ambushed, and it was still fairly dark. Couldn't be more then thirty minutes from Hogsmeade." I nodded.
"That's plenty." I revived James and he started to scream but Sirius, reacting quickly, shoved his hand in his mouth for him to bite into and be silent. I knew both of them were hurting, but it worked extremely well. "Voidious." I said. James had ceased biting down and Sirius withdrew his hand back wickedly fast. James sat up, staring at his leg in total wonder.
"What the-"
"Prongs, we've been made." He laughed, as I tore the sleeve from Sirius' shirt to make him a binding.
"You make it sound like we're about to be killed."
"We most likely are." I answered, softly. James' eyes flashed and he raised his wand arm and suddenly noticed his cavernous wounds.
"Holy shit!" He shouted. "Where's my wand?" I rolled my eyes, at the fact that he was more concerned with the missing stick then his missing flesh, but it wasn't the time to laugh at him.
"James- shh." I covered his mouth with my hand and leaned in closer to him and Sirius. "This is what we have to do. Prongs, since you're the most hurt, Sirius and I will cover you as far out as we can- you get to the woods and run like all mighty hell for the school and get help. Dumbledore. Make up a decent lie, not like last time-"
"Don't complain if you want to get out alive." He said, trying to make light of the situation. Sirius stood up and took his Narcissa's wand from her pocket before contemplating her lightly. As hard as he could, he drove his foot into her thin side.
"Bitch." He said, forcefully. James gave her one too.
For good measure, I broke her nose with the heel of my foot. Sirius looked at me, worriedly. James was inquisitive.
"What?" I asked, ashamed by the burning look from Sirius. "Let's just start getting out of here. I'm tired." I chastised. I didn't add to the fact that I was afraid we would probably never make it out.
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She cackled, like one of those old hag witches in muggle movies, and temper forgotten I reached out and clocked her a nice one right in the side of the jaw and there was a sickening crunch. She screamed in pain and of course, I brought the wrath of her lover boy down on to me, totally defenseless with no wand. I fell to the ground under the Cruciatus curse and writhed in pain. When it was lifted, I placed a hand on the lower half of my chest but stood up as fast as I could and barked out a command at them.
"Tell me where you took Sirius to."
"What makes you think Sirius is the one in danger, and not yourself?" All they could do was laugh. I prayed for an instant that I had the agility enough to kill her. Instead, I ended up with my arm around her throat and I placed her in between Lucius and myself. She whimpered. I felt ashamed, but it was what had to be done. There were evil; they weren't humans. Why should I care if I cause them pain? What I was doing, putting them in this position, was the lowest blow of all, but then again- they had done it to Sirius and for that, I couldn't begin to forgive. "Give me my wand or I snap her neck. And don't act like I couldn't do it." I spit out at him. He stared, stunned, and I think he half considered not giving me the wand. I would've taken no time. Same with Sirius. We would never risk each other's lives. Lucius handed over and I held Narcissa out in front of me for a few minutes, planning my best exit. I shoved her into him as hard as I could, then tore down the hallway and through the first door I saw. 5 Death Eaters, in a circle around Sirius who was holding his own. He caught the edge of a stinging hex and I saw it burn but he didn't stop, ever. I took out two Death Eaters from behind who hadn't noticed me with lucky stunning hexes, but then the battle really started going. And not to mention the fact that Sirius had just gotten hit with a stunning spell. Oh fucking Merlin, help us. I slid across the room on my knees and at the same time shot a reviving spell towards him, narrowly avoiding one of the three unforgivables. He cracked his eyes open, remembered we were in the midst of a fight and stood up. Only two left; instantaneously, we took them both out- Sirius using the ever trustworthy stupefy, me clonking them in the head with a piece of the walling.
"If James made it to the castle, he should be back in fifteen minutes. Think we could survive that long?" I asked Sirius. He bit his lip.
"We've got to." He answered me back. I nodded in agreement. The doorknob jiggled and I glanced at Sirius before we tore out to the one on the other side, into another hallway.
"Pick a door!" I shouted. He grinned.
"Behind door number three is-" he had screamed loudly, using his joking tone. He peaked into this door, turned back and then he guided me into door two instead. We watched as Narcissa and Lucius went into three and down a second hallway, starting to open different doors. Ingenious. I glanced around the room we were in and then found myself starting to shake just a bit, reached out and turned Sirius properly around to face what I was staring at.
"Holy mother of fucking shit." I swore. I took a note in case there was a next time.
Let me pick the rooms.
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James had gathered up full speed until he saw the steps of Hogwarts, bathed in the fresh light of the early morning- breakfast had to just finish. He distransfigured into himself and did not bother to check his clothes. When he walked in he shoved his way through the throngs of kids. And no one besides him seemed to be able to ignore the condition of his arm. Finally getting annoyed, he barked loudly.
"I'm head boy! Get out of the way, I have to speak to professor Dumbledore! NOW!" They flew away from his area, all to one side of the staircase as he barreled up. He stopped at the gargoyle outside the professor's office and shouted as many sweets as he could. Not bothering to remark on how strange it was that he password was 'candy fags' he flew into the office without knocking on the door. Strangely enough, Albus was perched at his desk, simply staring off into space.
"Mr. Potter, I thought you were going home for the holidays, I had no idea you were-"
"Professor, please. I need your help now. I can explain on the way. Sirius and Remus are in trouble." He didn't ask; he believed James wholeheartedly and then together they swept from his office to the grounds. He was surprised by the agility in which Dumbledore could run- James was almost out of breath; however he had barely stopped moving yet. As they were entering the forest, James remembered he had to explain what was going on. He couldn't stop to breath. "Sirius and I went to check on Remus when we knew his transformation was complete and walked into a trap. Narcissa Black and Lucius Malfoy attacked us and we were moved to an underground dungeon, hidden underneath the Hog's Head."
"The Hog's Head?" He asked, incredulously. James nodded before continuing, noticing the uneasiness written in his eyes.
"Yes. Well, they offered Sirius a deal. His service to Voldemort for a potion that'll stop Remus' transformations…forever."
"Did he take it?" Dumbledore asked, sharply. James didn't answer. "James, listen to me. I can handle it from here; get back to the school and tell Madam Pomfrey to be expecting two more students besides yourself and then warn Professor McGonagall to make sure the rest of the students are safe. Tell her to follow protocol three."
"What's protocol three?" He asked, inquisitively. Then suddenly, his leg gave a slight twinge. The spell…it was slowly winding off.
"Make haste." Dumbledore said. He gave James a confident look before apparating. James grumbled, mostly to try and make himself less worried for his best friends.
"Could've saved you a lot of time if I told you to do that sooner."
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Sirius looked mildly surprised, but not scared. My heart was beating faster, but Sirius found the nerve to smile. A Gryffindor forever.
"Voldemort. At last, I meet the man who has my whole family whipped like a dog." His eyes seemed to search through Sirius' mind, with not a single ounce of privacy.
"You'd know everything about dogs, wouldn't you?" Sirius didn't seem very impressed but I knew he was scared now. "Yes, I daresay I'll be adding another member of the Blacks to MY family soon enough."
"In case my dear cousin and he oldest lover haven't informed you, I never gave an answer. I don't trust you as long as you have to make other people do your dirty work."
"My dear boy, what would make you think I'd waste my precious time on you?" Voldemort quipped, grinning. "Gratifying though it is to say that I can read your thoughts; and you'd do anything in the world to save your boyfriend." Sirius, in this moment in which he faced death, took out another cigarette.
I loved/hated those fucking things.
"You're god damn right I would, Tom-" suddenly as Sirius took his first drag he was then on the ground, twisted horrendously and though not screaming he was sweating in pain, face contorted into a horrid position.
"HOW DARE YOU?!" He asked. As if his temper never flared; he lifted the curse. Sirius could barely stand on his own. I picked up his cigarette and held it, taking a drag for myself. He looked at me sorely but not weakly and continued.
"Sorry Voldymelts." Another Crucio curse. Another drag. I passed it to him. I couldn't let him do this alone.
"Moldeworts." I countered. I tasted Voldemort's curse; Sirius tasted curls of smoke.
"You-Know-Poo." As Sirius bathed in his sweat, I bathed in the scent of nicotine and tasted Sirius' saliva on the butt of his fag. Faggot. I couldn't care less anymore.
"Tom Marvolo Riddle." Glancing between the two of us, we were clueless as to who had said what. Our answer came from Voldemort himself.
"Albus Dumbledore." Smiling as if we had won for now, Sirius started to mock the situation.
"Sirius Tristan Black." He took a drag to himself.
"Remus John Lupin." I took a drag to me.
"Get out." Dumbledore said simply, not rudely or babyingly; quite approvingly, actually. As if he was surprised to see us so well. I made to comment on the other Death Eaters, but he already suspected my question. "They're taken care of by the Order. Go."
"The Order?" Sirius questioned as I dragged him out.
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We emerge into a bath of light, and the first thing I notice is the snow has melted away and the sun is beating down on my face harder and sharper then the Death Eaters.
"I hate the day." Sirius lamented to me as we walked hastily to Hogwarts to check on James and ourselves. I kept a steady hand on Sirius' shoulder to help with his bleeding, and m fingers felt sticky and warm. He swayed a bit and pulled away from me to collapse against a weeping willow. "Fuck, Moony." He was panting as hurriedly as Padfoot would. "I didn't want to bother you but…I can't walk…" He admitted. I rolled up his jeans, precautiously.
He had broken his leg somewhere in between that large, huge, calamity. I growled, furious he had walked on it for so long to begin with, and then binded it together. He looked thoughtful.
"That spell might come handy later on in life." He muttered. I whispered him the incantation. He grinned and I softened my expression. He looked grumpy now. "Are you my boyfriend or my mother?"
My eyebrows shot way up.
"Neither, the last time that I checked." I answered, nonchalantly. He looked irritated. He stood back up gingerly and then continued to walk, slowly. I kept the same pace as him, though he was annoyed with me. When we reached the Shrieking Shack, he asked for another reprieve of walking. I agreed and we went inside. He sat down on the bed and I sat in the corner by the window, gazing out into the daylight. I enjoyed the morning.
I thought, he may tire of me now as our December sun is setting, because I'm not who I used to be. I grabbed the closest book to me from the ground and read.
"Are you going to be my boyfriend?" He asked me, finally. I closed my book and looked at him, basking in the shade of the room as I enjoyed my little sunbeams. I sighed.
"Athos, Porthos, and Aramis." I answered. Sirius looked mildly surprised at me, a rare occurrence.
"You keep amazing me today. You're not yourself, talking irrationally, threatening women- maybe…maybe you're scaring me." He stated. I gave him a regretful smile.
"James is Porthos, arrogant but likable, a bit materialistic of a being, likes all women but loves only one. Talkative, loyal as all hell, and brave." I summed up. Sirius nodded in agreement, looking harsh.
"What does this have to do with-"
"And you; you're Athos. You'd rather die then ask for help. You're so handsome, you're intelligent and kind. Impatient. You love life, love all your friends, left a life of standing to be who you want to be- a good man. You…" I faltered. I threw the book I had, 'The Three Musketeers' at him, angrily and lovingly at the same time. He caught it and stared for a few seconds. "You're infuriating! You lecture Aramis-"
"You mean you?" Sirius asked, harshly. "I'll admit, you fit Aramis well." He threw the book back in my lap, a few pages torn out. "Kind and gentle, until set off into ill-temperedness. You're a bloody genius, rational, serious, the most unsociable Marauder-"
"Musketeer-" I corrected, feeling personally attacked as I had just done to him before. Lectured as harshly as I did to him.
"That's what I said, in the history and most of all, god forbid anyone think you have a love life and-"
"I stick to my beliefs!" I interrupted, frantically. He scoffed.
"Oh yes, your beliefs. Everything's a sin, everything isn't worth fighting for-"
"You're WRONG." I amended, defending myself more then the character. "He fights for the king, his loyalty to his country, his blood-"
"Only because his friends make him. He'd rather hide behind theology, BOOKS, and Spanish Wine!"
"Let me remind you, Athos…" I said, vehemently but still poised enough. Contained, just like Aramis. "That he saves lives."
"Saves lives of those he claims to love, but let's no one close and loves no one truly."
"You mean no women, for he loves his friends."
"Ah, there's another similarity. He does not love women, the same as you." He broke away from me. "How'd we even get into this? What does this have to do with anything."
"Athos, Porthos, and Aramis were the greatest of friends! Like brothers."
"Brothers?" Sirius questioned, cynically. "That's what you regard me as?" I couldn't look him in the eye, but I took his palm and handed him the other half of his present to me.
Romulus. He took it, graciously yet disapprovingly, but said no more. He fastened it on with more detestation then I found necessary.
"As you wish, Aramis. You're the god-in-training." He turned from me and gestured that he could walk. "It's your decision, I will not make it for you. But I hope, my brother, that you'll one day become as true to yourself as D'artanagn. For now, remain a coward, but I will not." To be true to his word, he pressed on.
I denied him, as he knew I would and it hurt as much as I knew it would.