Thanks again to my new reviewer :) The next chapter will again be focusing on Remus's view on the Marlene/Sirius relationship, in case anyone's annoyed about the lack of reaction from Sirius at the end of this chapter.
No matter how many times he saw it, the chill that went through him never lessened. Remus shivered as he crouched in the shadows across the road from the darkened house. The Dark Mark above stared down at him, as if its creator were also watching him through its eyes.
Beside him, Sirius was unmoving, the emotion in his eyes unreadable as he stared at the scene before him. His hand hanging by his side clutched tighter on his wand and Remus immediately knew what he was going to do and reacted in split second as Sirius tried to bolt forwards.
"No, Sirius, we need to wait for the others," he hissed, lunging forward and grabbing his arm tightly in an effort to pull him back.
"We can't waste time waiting for them, she might be dead by now!" Sirius said desperately, pushing Remus away roughly as he made a break for it across the deserted road.
"No!" Remus bellowed, forgetting to keep quiet as he tore after him, "Sirius! It could be a trap!"
As they got to the front door, Sirius stopped dead in his tracks. Remus drew to a halt just behind him and he drew his wand, seeing what Sirius was seeing. The front door lay slightly ajar, as if extending a mocking invitation to them. His heart began thudding in his chest.
"Watch my back," Sirius hissed urgently and slowly pushed the door open, whispering, "Lumos!"
The empty hall lit up as he entered the house, Remus close behind him. Aside from their footsteps, the entire house was silent – it only added to his increasing sense of foreboding as they crept in further.
"Homenum revelio!"
Sirius's strained whisper made Remus jump and he tightened his grip on his only weapon, waiting for one of those masked murderers to appear, say those two words and see that green flash.
Nothing.
His heart dropped. The spell was meant to reveal any living human beings hiding in the house. Nothing… also meant the unfortunate family were gone or…
"They're not here," Sirius said fiercely, turning to head back for the front door, "We need to get back to the Order, tell them we need to mount a rescue-"
"Sirius, they could be-"
"No!" he yelled whirling round to face his ashen friend, "They've been taken by Death Eaters and we need to find her before it's too late!"
"We can't go back without checking the house," Remus argued back, his hand on the doorknob to the McKinnon's living room. For a moment in the poor light, Remus thought he could see pleading in Sirius's eyes as he turned the handle and pushed the door open. It swung open slowly with a horrible creak, like something out of a bad horror film, Remus thought grimly as he took his first cautious step inside.
But the horror of what awaited them inside was all too real.