Disclaimer: As usual, I own nothing.

A/n: Sorry for the long wait, but I have a job now (argh). Also, keep in mind that things are not always as they seem, and that dead authors can't write more. Oh, and the cowboy-ninja-pirate thing is not mine. It's from a guy named Garth Graham. Very funny.

For not the first time in his life, Sirius Black was grateful he was not afraid of heights. And that his upper-body strength was above average.

And honestly, is there some Dark Lord's Guide to Fortresses that I missed? Step one: Shadows. Step two: Huge, looming cliff…

He'd laugh at himself, except it would echo – and echoing was the last thing he wanted right now. Hanging off the side of a cliff, the only thing keeping him on being own two hands and whatever foothold he could sustain for a time, was not an advantageous position.

I need help, he admitted finally, and tried not to think of the comebacks his family would say to that.

"Help!" he managed to call out. "Somebody! Anybody!"

Lynx stopped abruptly, so that Wolf crashed headlong into her and both went tumbling snout-over-paw.

What, Wolf demanded, when they finally got untangled. Was that

I thought I heard something, she answered.

You did. Me hitting the ground.

She shifted suddenly back to human and leapt lightly onto the cliff face, hands and feet nimbly fitting into holds.

Are you insanehe asked as he watched.

Yes. You're in Sane as well. Welcome. We've been expecting you.

You've lost your mind, Wolf remarked casually in response to that.

Can't lose something you never had! she answered cheerfully.

By this time he had also started to climb the rock face. Mind telling me why we're climbing up a cliff? he asked finally, when they had made it about a third of the way up.

Of course not, she answered, but said nothing.

You're being difficult! He informed her after a moment, and was rewarded simply with a sunny smile. Fine, will you tell me?

Yes. I think I heard someone calling for help.

And if it's a Death Eater? He shifted weight to his left foot and shoved up higher, grabbing a hand-hold while she did the same a few feet ahead.

We'll push him off.

Behind her, Wolf rolled his eyes. You have a morbid mind, love.

Why, thank you. And if its not a Death Eater, they had to fall from somewhere. There's our way in.

Wolf had to admit it was a solid plan. You're scary, you know that? Brilliant, but scary.

Oh dear Godric's socks, Lynx said suddenly. She was more than a few feet above him, so he settled against the rock and tapped in to look through her eyes, which she let him do gladly.

She saw Padfoot, hanging by only two hands off a very precarious ledge.

"Padfoot," he said, aloud but softly enough that he didn't break his godfather's concentration.

"Harry?" Sirius looked to the side in astonishment. "Greeneyes what are you doing up here?"

"Climbing."

"Obviously. I mean, how did you get here? And don't say 'with your hands'. I know all your best lines."

"You taught me all my best lines," Wolf shot back. "This is where I Apparated to. Lynx and I were looking for a way in to help fight."

"Great, I always knew I liked you," Padfoot said to Lynx. "Now a little help would be much appreciated."

"Coming right up," Wolf answered promptly, and went to work on the idea Lynx had just sent him.

Padfoot breathed a sigh of relief, and jumped as he felt something warm wrap around his waist. He looked down; it was fire.

"I hope you know what you're doing," he said to his beloved godson lightly.

"Me too," Wolf's voice answered.

Well, that isn't reassuring, he thought, before he stopped thinking at all as the rope of fire hauled him up to Wolf and Lynx, and didn't disappear until his hold on the rock was steady.

"Okay, never do that again," he ordered when he was sure he could talk again.

"Will do," Wolf answered. The rope of fire twined around his godson for a moment, reminding Sirius of a cat wanting to be told how brave and clever it had been. Wolf let the fire swirl around his hands for a moment before dismissing it.

"Cool trick," Lynx quipped with a grin. She had used the time to lever herself farther up the rock wall, and was now peering curiously at the hole he had fallen out of. "Nice hole. Where'd it come from?"

"I thought the place needed a bit of renovation," Padfoot answered lightly, giving Wolf a hand up to the next foothold. He could see the flashes of light in the distance that signified the battle, but they weren't in the room anymore. "Got a plan? Or is this pretty much a spur of the moment thing?"

"Spur of the moment," Wolf and Lynx answered – in unison and without missing a beat.

Padfoot shook his head at them and climbed in through the hole, breathing in a sigh of relief once his feet were firmly on solid ground.

"It's creepy enough when Remus and Danger do that," he told them, grabbing his godson's hand and pulling him up through the hole before reaching down to help Lynx.

"Thank you," Wolf's voice said through Lynx's mouth.

Sirius shook his head again and let go of Lynx's arm, turning around to take his godson into his arms for a long moment. "Be careful, cub," he said finally, and let him go.

All the humor fled from Wolf's eyes and he took Lynx's hand solemnly. "Always, Padfoot. Good luck." The humor came back. "Don't go falling through any other holes…"

"Without you there to see, I know," Sirius finished with a weak chuckle. "Go quick."

Then he grabbed his wand back up and cheerfully went to go throw himself back into the battle.

Moony fought through his pain, literally, by taking it out on any Death Eater that had the misfortune to meet the end of his wand. His spells had never been this strong or this powerful.

Aletha must be feeling the same, he mused distantly as he saw one of her spells fling her adversary into a crumbling rock-wall.

Everything he thought or felt now was distant or half-felt at best, and even the sounds had faded back into almost nothing, until –

"Why don't you die!"

Remus disarmed and stunned his latest enemy, and turned to see Bellatrix fighting spell-for-spell with –

No…he thought, shocked. That's not possible! But his head and his heart both wanted to believe that Sirius was standing there, smiling mockingly at his cousin.

"Luck, I guess," the apparition that looked like Sirius said in Sirius' voice. Then his hand flickered towards Moony and the werewolf had to grin.

"Get back to fighting, flea-bag" indeed.

Oh, there had to be a story behind this, but Moony couldn't afford to be distracted for a more than a few moments, so he quickly turned back to the battle before he gave the Pack anything else to mourn.

Danger was smiling at him from across the room where she had just knocked out a Death Eater.

Its really him, love, she told him, and any last doubts fled his mind.

But he still had to ask…How do you know?

Our favorite snakey friend.

Sangre?

Remus got the impression that if she wasn't so busy with the battle, she'd come over and smack him. Instead he turned just in time to see Padfoot send a wink at a stunned Aletha, before Moony changed into his lion Animagus form and proceeding to ravage the opposition.

"Where now?" Lynx asked quietly after the closing door muffled the sounds of the battle behind Padfoot.

Wolf closed his eyes for a long moment before turning and pointing in the opposite direction of the battle. "There. A little higher up, but the presence of Voldemort is coming from over there."

"All right," Lynx nodded decisively. "We'll go there, beat him, stop the battle, and get back to Hogwarts in time for lunch."

Wolf watched her walk towards the door he had pointed to with muted amazement and amusement.

I'm going to marry that girl some day…

You better believe it, mister.

Eavesdropper.

Lynx turned around and lifted an eyebrow at him. I neither drop from eaves nor drop eaves on anyone, thank you very much.

Literalist.

Name-caller.

Lord Voldemort looked up and hissed slightly. There it was again, that foreign feeling, that…he fought the urge to shudder. Whatever it was, it was too good – it didn't belong here, in his fortress. It was an intruder.

:Nagini,: he called. The large snake lifted her head, tongue flicking out to taste the air as he called.

:Yesss, massster?: she answered in adoring tones.

:Go. Find the intruders. Bring them to me.:

The snake quickly went to do as told, and Lord Voldemort leaned back in his chair, contemplating.

It is not as though my Death Eaters are winning or losing the fight to any great extent. He smirked. Even the great Albus Dumbledore can't compete with sheer numbers, and numbers I have.

He had identified the foreign presence as soon as he had called for his snake: Potter. However, it was Potter in a state he was unused to sensing; it was Potter in love. Sure, Potter had felt love, adoration, and affection for people, but he had never been in love as completely as this presence was now.

Which only meant this was the foreign, otherworld intruder.

Even more excellent. My plans can only continue quicker for it. Potter is of little or no threat, he can be disposed of easily.

He turned back towards his mirror and cast the spell again. Time to put the final stages of his plans to destroy both Potters in motion.

For one brief, paralyzing moment Aletha was in complete shock. Her inner emotions waged war with themselves until she pushed them away under firm Healer's resolve. It was only during a slight lull, when Sirius had pushed his way towards her, that she allowed herself to look at him.

"I saw you fall," she said simply, flatly.

"You did," he answered, his gray eyes sparkling. "I fell and caught a ledge. Wolf and Lynx climbed up and helped me." He grabbed her hand and brought it up to the firm line of his jaw. "Letha, it's really me."

She smiled, briefly. "Should've known you're too stubborn to die."

"Damn straight."

"Wolf and Lynx are here?" she continued.

"Here, going after Voldemort," he confirmed. His face was completely sober now and she nodded. She didn't like the thought of her Pack-son going off to fight Voldemort, but their fight was here and now.

Good luck, cub, she thought in the direction of Harry (wherever that may be). Don't do anything stupid without us there to make fun of you.

If she hadn't turned off her pendants in time for the battle, she would have seen all of the carvings of the cubs shining like supernovas.

There. Harry nodded firmly as the last student below fifteen was safely behind the closed and locked – magically or otherwise – portraits and defenses. All of the younger students were as safe now as they were ever going to be.

"All clear," he said into his DA galleon (hanging on a thong around his neck). It had taken Hermione all of two seconds to turn them into communicating devices. "All the Gryffindors are locked up. Check in."

"Hufflepuffs are safe, Harry," Ron's voice said.

"Ravenclaws are as well," came Luna.

"Any Slytherin that didn't feel like kicking or cursing me is safe too, if anyone cares," Ginny's voice said sardonically.

"All right," Harry said, half his mind on what he was saying and half on the area around him. "Remember our strategy. Luna and Neville, take the Hufflepuffs and patrol the south part of the castle, Hermione and Ron, the east, the teachers have the west, and Ginny and I have the north. No one gets in without us knowing."

"I'll make sure all of the secret entrances are blocked as well," Hermione (who had one of the maps – Luna had the other) said.

"Good idea. Ginny, I'll met up with you beside the statue of Bartleby the Barmy, okay?"

"Got it."

"And has anyone heard from the Pride?" he asked, worry creeping into his voice despite his best efforts.

Neville finally voiced what he and the rest didn't want to. "Nothing."

For some reason he couldn't identify, that sent a chill down his spine. "They have their secret passages in, right."

"Right," Hermione said slowly and regretfully.

"Then lets lock down the doors."

Ron's voice was small when he spoke up again. "I like 'em, Harry. They're just regular people like us, trying to deal. Hope nothing happened to them."

"Me too, Ron," Harry said as he tucked his Galleon back underneath his shirt. "Me too."

But he had the awful feeling that something already had.

Do you smell something?

We're in Voldemort's fortress. I'm trying not to think about what I smell.

Lynx crouched into the shadows and shifted forms for a moment. She became human again a second later and mouthed one word to him: Nagini.

Wolf grinned like his form, all of his teeth showing. Lynx matched him tooth for tooth.

Here snakey, snakey, snakey… He heard Lynx think 'loudly'. Come see nice Ginny. I got a surprise for you. A nice, sharp surprise.

Dibs.

No fair, you killed the Nagini in our world.

Ninja, pirate, cowboy you for it.

Which one wins again?

Cowboy beats ninja, ninja beats pirate, pirate beats cowboy.

Right, got it.

As the snake continued its examination of the corridor at least 100 meters from them, the two mentally took three steps away and threw images at each other.

Lynx threw one of her all in black, with knives on her wrist and a katana in her hands. Wolf threw one of him with a red bandana, eye-patch, and full swarthy regalia.

Yes! Lynx mentally claimed victory and crouched again, her form changing without thought.

As she approached the snake reared back and hissed at her. Lynx lifted a paw and spread the toes, making sharp, lethal claws pop out. She wiggled them at Nagini in a come-hither gesture. Wolf heard her thought in his mind.

Bring it on, snakey.

He pulled his dagger from its sheath in his pants as he crouched down as well, ready to have support if need be.

There was no need.

A few scuffling sounds later and Lynx came back, dragging the now limp and fully dead body of the once-terrifying body of the large snake with a highly satisfied look on her face.

Dinner? she offered, grinning mentally.

No, thanks. Snake gives me constipation.

Their humor died the closer and closer they got to the spot Wolf was being drawn to. He put his Occlumency shields up to full, imagining them as all-encompassing flames protecting him, leaving only his connection with Lynx open.

The hallway in front of them was completely deserted, silent even from the sounds of battle. They could see the door to the room were Voldemort was: light from the flames that lit the room flickered out into the pitch dark corridor.

This doesn't feel right, Wolf said solemnly in her mind.

Lynx nodded tensely. He couldn't see it, but he could feel it.

It's too easy, she answered. And if it's too easy…

…we're being expected. He finished. So we don't let him know that we know that he knows we're here.

Any other time, and you wouldn't be able to say something like that without a comment.

He handed his dagger to her and called the Gryffindor sword to his hands. It belonged there, and wanted to be there, so it answered his call in a small burst of flame.

The name Godric Gryffindor glittered, the flames dancing like blood across the blade. Wolf repressed a shudder, and hoped it wasn't an omen. He nudged the door open with his foot.

"Hello, Potter," Voldemort said the moment he stepped into the room.

"Riddle," Wolf answered curtly. Lynx too her place by his side, both her wand and the dagger at the ready.

Red eyes narrowed but he didn't respond with his usual burst of anger.

"I see you've come to join our little get-together," Voldemort continued in a level, pleasant voice, as if they had come to join him for tea and biscuits. "And dear me, I forgot to provide entertainment."

"The only entertainment I need a dance of blades, Tom," Wolf answered calmly. "But if you want, we can watch a movie first. It has a nice ending. The bad guy dies."

"Oh, if it's a movie you want, it's a movie you shall get," Voldemort said, and waved his wand towards the mirror behind him. It enlarged to full length, and showed a white fox – doused in dirt - slipping beneath the roots of one of the enormous trees in the Forbidden Forest.

Wolf stiffened as he recognized his brother's Animagus form, but otherwise made no outward sign. Voldemort knew anyway.

"Ah! I see you recognize one of our stars!"

"You can't scry into Hogwarts," Wolf said firmly, and shook his head slightly like a dog trying to clear its ears. "I'm not going to be distracted by gimmicks."

:However, lying in Parseltongue is impossible,: Voldemort literally hissed now. Wolf felt Lynx stiffen at his side as she picked up the translation from his mind. :And I am telling you that the images in this mirror are all true.:

Wolf watched the mirror now, unable to look away. Snow Fox picked his way across the floor of the forest, silent as his form allowed him to be, and crept up on a Death Eater party.

And he watched as Lucius Malfoy – looking decidedly like he had been knocked over the head - crept up on Lunaand knocked her unconscious.

She's with the Pride, Lynx said in his mind when his emotions roiled violently. She's with the Pride. They wouldn't leave her. She'll be fine.

The pendants, cold against their skins, were of no help.

And so they watched.

They watched as Starwing was given to the Death Eaters. Watched as they tortured her.

…watched as Draco leapt to her defense and was cut down by his father. Watch as Fox was overpowered and had his dagger wrestled from him.

…watched as Malfoy gained the upper hand. Watched as Fox reached out to Luna just before his father dealt the killing blow.

They watched in horror as Starwing screamed and fought against her attackers so violently that they cut her down, a flash of green ending it all.

Watched as Meghan was caught and held against Neville. As Neville was tortured and Meghan was forced to watch. As Meghan was overpowered by Dementors in time to see Neville take his last, rattling breath.

They watched as the man who had betrayed so many people picked up the cat that was his sister and tossed her like so much garbage into the middle of a group of Death Eaters. Watching as they changed her back into his human sister and kicked her.

…watched as the red hawk circling above screamed defiance and plummeted, quick as a shot, for the Death Eaters. Watched as it dodged one purple curse, two –

…watched as it snapped open its wings to rake with its vicious talons or change back to human, whichever was more effective, and have a purple curse hit its mark. With a spurt of blood and a scream of agony Redwing fell to the ground, human again, with his arm separated from his body.

Lynx snapped. With a scream not entirely sane she threw herself at Voldemort. He made a motion with his hand and sickly green magic struck out at her. She flew into a wall and her connection with him abruptly wavered.

That was the last straw. Wolf felt the animal part take over as anger swept up into primal rage like nothing he had ever felt. This man had killed his parents.

Had killed his sisters. His brother. His Pridemates.

And perhaps the worst of all, he had touched Wolf's mate with his sick magic. He had tainted her.

He would die for this, and everything else he had done.

Wolf's vision turned red – flames licked up the side of the sword –

-- and watching it all, safe in his other universe, Wolf's Voldemort held his hand over a bowl of shimmering green liquid and laughed.
A/n: Heh. Remember. Dead no writing. Um...you love me::runs and hides::