Disclaimer: Do you really think J.K Rowling would have made you wait this long for an update? …Well… maybe she would have – I wouldn't know – but I'm still not her.

Sirius and Remus were freaking out.

Now, this was a pretty usual occurrence as they had a history of freaking out at any number of things – dementors, Harry, attacks, Harry, Harry's grades, Harry, Blast-ended Skrewts, Harry. At the moment, they were, once more, freaking out about Harry – or more specifically about what he had done/was doing. No, the only unusual thing about this was the location and the circumstance; normally they weren't freaking out in the middle of Lord Voldemort's castle, being dragged down to a death eater meeting by a stoic werewolf who was refusing to meet their eyes. It was a good thing Harry had cast a silencing spell on them.

Finally, after a while of Lucas ignoring them while they tried to get him to un-silence them, they were mouthing any number of obscenities. They realized that A) Lucas was not a wizard and could not un-silence them and B) they still had their wands and could un-silence themselves. After doing so, Sirius and Remus looked at each other and then at the expressionless Lucas before Sirius finally let out a growl, ripped off his mask, and slammed Lucas up against the wall.

"Why did you let him do this?" Sirius pushed Lucas back and leveled his eyes with the werewolf's, his voice quiet and deadly. "Why did you let him risk himself like this?"

Lucas looked completely unfazed, as if being slammed into a wall by an enraged ex-convict and his werewolf best friend was an everyday occurrence. He did, however, look at Sirius strangely for his question. "What do you mean, 'Why,'?"

Sirius looked even angrier at this, and Remus didn't try to quiet him when he yelled at Lucas. "He doesn't need to do this on his own!"

"He has Draco with him," Lucas cut in.

"Draco isn't going to risk his own life to protect Harry. And Harry's planning something; we all know it! He doesn't need to do this. Why didn't you try to stop him?"

Lucas pushed Sirius back, forcing the man away a few steps, and glared coldly. "He doesn't need to do this? I've only known him about a day, and even I know he needs to do this! No wonder you let him get sent to Azkaban." Sirius growled and brandished his wand, but before he could act, Lucas swung his fist, catching the marauder in the eye. Instantly, Sirius was on the ground; and Remus' wand was at Lucas' throat, keeping the angered werewolf from his friend.

"You know it's true," Lucas said, a calm in his voice belayed by the fact that he was breathing heavily. "Harry's a grown man now. He knows what he has to do, and it's something only he can do – alone." Lucas' expression softened. "I know you want to help him, but you're not going to do any good by trying to make him explain himself, change his plans, or attacking me. You can help him just by being there when he executes whatever it is he's planning on doing."

Sirius continued to glare at the werewolf for a short while before looking down. "You're right," he said, his voice full of self-condemnation. "It's just… hard to think of Harry as able to do things this dangerous on his own, completely without my help. I don't want to let him risk himself like this."

Lucas smiled warmly, as stark contrast to how he had been acting just a few moments before. "And I'm sure he appreciates that you care and knows you would do this for him if you could. But how are you supposed to do that if only the supposed 'Chosen One' can?" Lucas paused at the looks Sirius and Remus gave him. "Yeah, werewolves know things; you wizards keep quite the extensive gossip network. Not that hard to find out anything, really."

Lucas started walking again, and Sirius followed a bit forlornly. Remus walked behind the two, silent, and face scrunched up in thought. Sirius looked back at Remus. "How are you taking all of this so calmly?"

Remus broke out of his thoughts and glanced over at Sirius, who was looking at him questioningly, almost accusingly. Remus might have taken offense had he not known Sirius so long and known he was just extremely nervous and worried, a feeling the wizard still wasn't accustomed to. "Well, it's just… did we really expect anything else from Harry?"

"What do you mean?" Sirius was at a loss.

Remus looked up at the ceiling and stretched his fingers behind his back before heaving a sigh and ripping his own mask off to peer at Sirius earnestly. "You know Harry's always been independent and self-sacrificing. He's always tried to do things on his own and keep others form getting hurt. Did you really think Azkaban would have changed his very nature? Believing he could do something that is so against his very being is…"

Remus looked down and swallowed before staring Sirius straight in the eye again. "…Is a mistake we've both already made once. We should try not to do it again."

Sirius glanced down, an ashamed look on his face at the mention of what he'd done. "I know; it's just… Azkaban was so horrible. How can it not be affecting him?" Like it did me.

Remus heard the unspoken phrase underlying Sirius' words. "He was only in there for three years, Sirius. Not twelve."

Sirius nodded. "I know; I know. But I had my animagus form, and he didn't. But it still doesn't seem to have affected him in the least. It should have done something to him."

"And maybe it has," Remus responded. "He could just be better at hiding it. We've both known that Harry has always been good at pretending to be alright when he's not."

"He's certainly had enough practice at it," Sirius mumbled regretfully beneath his breath.

Remus continued with a thoughtful look once again on his face. "Besides, I'm beginning to think that Azkaban wasn't that bad for him."

Both Lucas and Sirius looked up sharply at this. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, he…" Remus seemed to be struggling to get across what he wanted to say. "…I agree with you. He shouldn't be this sane after a stay in Azkaban. And… it would be so easy to write this off as Harry being Harry and having his ability to do the opposite of whatever's expected of him; but while I think that has something to do with it, I don't think it's the whole story."

"Darn it!" Sirius turned to Remus furiously. "Quit with all the vague responses already! If you don't think that's the whole story, then what is it?"

Lucas reached forward and clamped a firm hand over Sirius' mouth. "You need to keep quiet," he hissed, shaming Sirius into looking down. "Why does everyone keep forgetting that we're in the middle of Voldemort's freaking castle? There's something wrong with the whole lot of you." Lucas released the hand he'd had on a now shame-faced Sirius and turned to glare at Remus, who looked down as well.

"And you should just get to the point. How much longer are you two going to make us wait here, arguing about Harry, when taking our sweet time could get us –and him by extension– in an extreme amount of trouble." Both Remus and Sirius flinched, and Lucas leaned against the wall once more, arms crossed. "Now get talking. What's this idea you have about Harry?" Lucas sounded rather tired, as if acting as the voice of werewolf reason had exhausted him.

"Well," Remus started softly, sounding subdued. "You saw how he – how he was with the dementors at Azkaban, Sirius. He seemed to… like them. He looked reluctant to leave. He even hugged them!"

"I definitely remember that," Sirius laughed bitterly to himself, recalling his absolute panic at seeing his godson with his arms wrapped around a soul-sucking monster.

"Wait, so the guy I'm entrusting my entire clan to is a guy who hugs dementors?"

"Oh, be quiet," Remus shot an exasperated look at Lucas. "We both know he's just as sane, if not more sane than the rest of us. I mean, the dementors didn't attack him, so he obviously knew somehow that he wasn't in danger. That's is why I think there must be something going on between him and the dementors."

"Like what?" Sirius asked. "A truce or something?"

"Perhaps. Maybe something entirely different." Remus sighed. "I wish he'd trust us enough to tell us, but who knows what he's thinking.

"Yeah," Sirius agreed. "And after what we did to him, he probably likes having something over us to freak us out."

Remus nodded sagely. Finally, Lucas made an irritated noise and grabbed Sirius' mask and slammed it back onto his face, causing Sirius to yelp in protest. Remus quickly slipped his back on when Lucas turned to do the same to him. "Now let's go. We've spent way too much time here as it is."

And with that, Lucas grabbed Sirius and Remus by their shoulders and dragged the two by their shoulders down the hallway. They stopped a few minutes later in front of the door to Voldemort's meeting room. "Wait a minute," Remus stopped Lucas from opening the door.

"What?" Lucas seemed annoyed. "If we wait any longer, we'll be late. We probably already are late."

"Are you allowed to sit in on death eater meetings?" Remus asked carefully. "I mean, is it a regular, normal thing? You're not going to get Avada Kadavera-ed as soon as you walk in?"

Lucas blinked and stared at Remus for a short while before blinking again. "Darnit, you're right," he suddenly said, face-palming. "He'll known something's up if I walk in there with you two." Lucas sighed and stepped away from the door. "You two should go on in. He'll know for sure you aren't death eaters if you were to walk in with me."

"Then what will you do?" Sirius asked.

"I'll just wait out here until it's over," Lucas responded, a strange mixture of relief and displeasure in his voice at not being able to see Harry kill Voldemort. "And when Harry comes by, I'll…" Lucas trailed off, eyes widening in shock.

Remus and Sirius glanced at each of in confusion before a hysterical cackle of laughter caused the two to turn around abruptly and in horror. There, with the door flung wide open, laughing madly as if she had never seen something so hilarious, was none other than Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Well, well, look who we've found lurking in the hallway," she giggled in an odd way, almost as if she was intoxicated with her own glee. "A traitorous little werewolf and his little friends. Seems those three who came to Mulciber earlier about their missing robes weren't lying after all. I suppose it's a pity now that they're dead." She grinned maliciously, looking not at all like it was a pity. Quickly, she reached down and viciously ripped the masks off the two wizard's faces. "Only death eaters get the honor of wearing these noble masks."

Suddenly, a smooth, cold voice sounded from inside the room. "Is that so, Bellatrix? Why don't you invite our… guests inside?"

"I knew that Potter was planning something!" she exclaimed in elation, bouncing forward in an exuberant way, wand out. Before the surprised three could do anything, she stunned them and grabbed Sirius and Remus' wands. She then un-stunned them, chains shot out of her wand, and the three were quickly tied together in a rough manner. "I knew as soon as the brat attacked me in Gringotts, and Draco came to me with such a sudden interest in the great honor of feeding the dark lord's snake, that something was going on!"

"That you did, Bellatrix." If anything, Voldemort sounded almost… amused. Sirius shuddered. "Now bring them inside." Sirius shuddered again as Voldemort's voice quickly morphed into something commanding and anger-filled, promising death by the thousands if Bellatrix dare keep him waiting any longer.

Sirius flinched as Bellatrix floated the three of them through the door, taking special care to make sure Sirius hit his head on the door frame, before dumping them unceremoniously on the floor in front of Voldemort's throne. Voldemort stood up and drew his wand, walking around the fallen three in a manner akin to the way a cat might circle an injured bird on the ground.

"Now let's find out what our little friends know about Harry and Draco. It will be… fun. Consider it like that infernal muggle game 20 Questions."

Sirius looked up, masking his fear with triumph. "20 Questions? Now I know Dumbledore was right about you being a half-blood. No pureblood would ever know what that is. You lying half-bl–" Sirius was knocked backward as Voldemort backhanded him.

"Quiet, blood traitor!" he ordered, eyes flashing in red rage. "I have no need to justify my blood purity to the likes of you!" Voldemort suddenly turned to Lucas, who stared evenly back at him, a low, almost un-hearable, growl rumbling in the back of his throat. An animal smirk slid onto the wizard's face, and he reached down to pull Lucas up by the neck. A bruise began to form immediately under the cruel grip.

Lucas grunted in pain as he found himself staring into soulless red eyes. Lucas spoke before he could stop himself. "What color were your eyes before you turned dark?"

Voldemort's eyes widened in pure surprise before narrowing again in anger as he flung Lucas back onto the ground. Lucas gasped as his shoulder hit the floor, no doubt earning him another bruise; but the werewolf could only wonder exactly when those eyes had gone from an innocent young child's eyes to an evil being's eyes. Voldemort held his wand out in front of Lucas, a cruel smirk once more on his face.

"Now let's see what the pathetic little werewolf has to say about our other little guests." Behind him, the death eaters seemed to lean forward in anticipation.

Draco walked down the hallway angrily, arguing with himself.

He's going to die.

Why should you care? It's just Potter.

But he's still going to get himself killed. And when he does, Voldemort's going to be pretty angry that you killed his favorite pet snake, which also happens to have held part of his soul. Oh, that's right; that's why I care.

But why are you so sure he's going to die? He's Potter; he never dies no matter how much dangerous crap he goes through. Maybe I should just trust him and hang in for the ride. I'm already pretty screwed as it is… Great, now I'm starting to sound like a Gryffindor.

Draco stopped and stared down at his hands, wondering just when he'd become so… so caring. Ugh. He was spending way too much time with Potter. Draco shook his head and kept walking, ignoring the strange looks the few death eaters remaining in the halls were giving him. He stopped in front of the large double doors that opened into the meeting room. Heaving a long-suffering sigh and hoping he wasn't so late that Voldemort was going to torture him, Draco pushed open the door.

Draco blinked. He suddenly found himself being faced by more than a dozen different wands, all held by various death eaters. In the middle of the room, Voldemort sat on his throne, looking extremely smug – or, as smug as someone without a nose or eyebrows could.

"Draco," the dark lord drawled. "Why don't you step in for a visit?" It wasn't a suggestion.

Draco's eyes scanned the room, glancing over Sirius, Remus, and Lucas, who were tied up with chains in the corner. Lucas was unconscious, seemingly knocked out by Voldemort's torture. "…Surrounded by idiots," Draco muttered under his breath before taking off his mask. Voldemort stood up and slinked over to where Draco was standing. "I apologize for my tardiness, my Dark Lord," Draco drawled, eyes firmly on the wall, his body posture decidedly relaxed and unforced. To any who didn't know better, he would seem the epitome of calm.

"And why were you so late, Malfoy?"

"I was simply feeding you snake Nagini, and I lost track of time while I was admiring her beauty." Draco's voice remained serious, though his eyes flashed mockingly.

Voldemort's eyes narrowed. "And where is Nagini?" His voice lost its seductive edge, becoming harsh and venomous.

Draco didn't even blink. "She didn't seem to be feeling well. It must have been something she ate." Draco turned his head to meet the gaze of Voldemort.

Voldemort glared at Draco murderously as he pointed his wand at the young wizard. Draco tried to maintain his calm posture as he felt Voldemort's mind reach out and touch his. Draco quickly tried to pull his mind back in panic, but the weight of Voldemort's mind pressed on him, crushing him.

Draco gasped and fell to his knees as Voldemort forced entry into his mind. He couldn't help the low keen of pain that exited his mouth as Voldemort began to roughly sift through his thoughts and memories. He clutched at his head, fighting to expel Voldemort's invading force form his mind.

Sensing no chance of getting rid of the foreign force, he instead tried to protect some of his memories. With Voldemort's power stretched throughout Draco's entire mind, intertwined with his memories, Draco was able to save a few key memories of Harry and his mission. Through the searing pain, Draco vaguely sensed a sort of emptiness in Voldemort's mind, as if it was riddled with holes like Swiss cheese

Draco hesitated slightly before reaching outwards with his consciousness towards one of the holes. Darkness engulfed him, and he pulled back with a cry, even as memories flooded into his mind.

Pain. Ripping, tearing, splitting pain. A loss of self. Torn in half. And then into quarters. And into pieces of six. A fire burning from the inside out. Death, tainting life. Destroying. Losing humanity. Emptiness. Nothing.

Draco screamed, the pain echoing throughout his mind. He shuddered and convulsed as an ache racked his body. And as the torture became too much for his mind to bear, Voldemort was forced to withdraw his own mind as the pain began to affect him too. Immediately, the pain stopped, and Draco stilled. Voldemort reeled back, clutching his head.

The death eaters froze, unsure of how to respond, until Bellatrix ran forward. "My Lord, My Lord!"

How mentally taxing that experience had been for Voldemort and how disoriented he was showed in the fact that he allowed Bellatrix to touch him, if only for a moment. For that moment, Voldemort almost believed he was back in the past, back in a time where people were unafraid to and willing to touch him – all the way back to that brief time in Hogwarts before he'd decided to rule over them all.

But then, awareness of his surroundings returned, and the moment ended. Voldemort pulled back, causing Bellatrix to fall back with a muffled gasp of pain as he backhanded her across the face. Instead of darkening in anger, her gaze only brightened – this was the dark lord Bellatrix knew, cold and cruel, her dark lord. With a satisfied and adoring smile, she pulled herself to her feet and stood behind Voldemort, lovingly caressing the already forming bruise on her cheek.

Voldemort didn't even notice her presence again as he moved forward and lifted Draco into the air via his wand. Draco cried out as an invisible pressure seemed to surround him, crushing him and adding further hurt to his already pain-riddled mind. Voldemort rotated Draco in the air until the Slytherin was face to face with him. With one hand, Voldemort beckoned roughly behind him.

"Lucius!"

The trembling death eater hesitantly moved forward, fearing what was to come if he obeyed, but fearing even more the retribution he would receive should he disobey. His mask sprang from his face, and he was dragged forward at a faster pace not of his own will. Voldemort turned his head to glare at the trembling blond now slumped at his feet. Draco was forced to keep his head up as Voldemort pulled his father up by the collar and turned him around, also, to face his son.

But Draco's eyes were blurry and unseeing, lost in the painful haze provided from Voldemort's excursion into his mind. Lucius tried to turn his head at the sight of Draco, but Voldemort forced him to stare right into his son's face.

"Do you see you son, Lucius? Do you see how he's betrayed me?" Voldemort's voice was deceptively soft and sugary, but an edge ran underneath, promising pain and death. "And somehow, I can't help but feel that the blame lies not only with him, but with you and your family."

Lucius started at that – no matter what the circumstance, Malfoy's always took pride in their family, their name. They were purebloods, some of the last; and nothing could be allowed to tarnish the name Malfoy. "N-no!" Lucius finally found his stuttering voice, indignant at the thought of Draco's failure and wrong choices shaming the Malfoy name. "I-I had no idea of what he planned. I raised him as a pureblood, loyal to the wizarding world and to you, my lord! His traitorous actions are of no fault of the Malfoy house. You cannot –"

"You do not decide what I can and cannot do." Voldemort's voice filled with venom and contempt. "And you do not decide what is and isn't your fault. I do. And I say that this boy is a blight on your family name. He has tarnished it, but so have you and your wife, allowing such a traitor to be born and raised in your household. His absconding is you fault, as well as his. Blood traitor."

Voldemort stared into Lucius' eyes as he said the last two words, and he seemed to take a twisted kind of pleasure out of the absolute panic, fear, and horror that showed plainly on Lucius' face. "No, my lord! Please don't, my lord! I-I can fix it! Cast him out of the family! Renounce him! Don't, my lord!"

Voldemort's eyes narrowed even more at the don't. "I told you that you don't give orders. And you no longer have the honor of calling me your lord." Voldemort pulled back and let Lucius collapse to the floor. "Perhaps I should just end you misery right now."

"N-no, my lord! My Dark Lord! Please don't. Anything but – I would rather be – my Lord! Ple –"

Voldemort cast a silencing spell on Lucius and glared at him coldly. "A true Slytherin, a true pureblood, would rather die. Coward, you're no better than a squib." Voldemort kicked Lucius to the side, knocking him out cold. And he turned his eyes back to Draco, viewing the boy in cold disdain. "And you, turning your back on Slytherin and pureblood principles alike, scurrying over to Potter's side. A coward, just like your father."

Draco, despite his half-conscious haze of pain, managed to catch one word. Coward.

Coward.

He'd heard that word far too many times before. But not anymore. Not now. "'M not coward," he mumbled through gritted teeth.

"What did you say, blood traitor?" Voldemort asked in a mocking voice.

"I'm not a coward! I may be a Slytherin; I may be a traitor; but I'm not a coward!" He looked around the room, making sure to make eye contact with everyone in the room – or at least as many people as he could without having to turn his head too much. "We all know I'm no longer one of you; you can't manipulate me any longer. And you can torture me however much you want, but I think you saw how that turned out."

Draco deliberately sent a smirk in Voldemort's direction against his better judgment, but the dark wizard merely stood still, regarding Draco as he would a bug. Draco continued with his voice hoarse. "I backed a Gryffindor, and I will own up to it. I'm not a coward," he repeated again. "Nothing I can say now will keep you from continuing to attempt to torture me and then kill me later once Potter arrives. Unless, of course, he kills you before you do."

It seemed as if Draco's eyes were sparkling with a morbid type of mirth. Voldemort, seeing that Draco was finished, threw the young wizard into a wall with a crack. Draco gasped softly in pain, and Voldemort stalked forward before stopping a foot away from Draco's fallen form. "The only reason I don't kill you now, blood traitor, is that I would like to give Potter the pleasure of watching."

Draco let out a shaky laugh, and his eyes widened slightly as he coughed up a splatter of blood, no doubt the result of being thrown into a wall. "Blood traitor is no longer an insult to me, Voldemort."

"Crucio."

That rage-filled word was the last thing Draco heard before passing into the blissful numbness of unconsciousness, a haughty smirk still on his lips.

Voldemort sat on his throne idly, radiating impatience that was growing by the second. The surrounding death eaters glanced between each other uneasily. Voldemort had been forced to stop torturing his prisoners; any more and they would have been dead before Potter arrived.

Lucius had been moved to another room to be finished off later when the dark lord next had an urge to torture, maim, or kill. But now, as death eaters did not engage in chit chat, the room was silent, and there was nothing to do but wait. And wait. And wait. They were waiting a long time.

The prisoners, off in their own corner, watched Voldemort's frustration visibly grow. Black merely rolled his eyes at the pureblood impatience, and the werewolf seemed merely to be trying not to draw too much attention to himself or the others. Lucas was still unconscious, but the Draco had woken, seeming to feel better than ever as he sent condescending and knowing smirks towards the death eaters. Draco seemed to be laughing at them for their paranoia. But just when they thought the fear that Voldemort might turn on them might come true,

*Knock, knock*

Everything stopped, Voldemort included. Was it Potter? After a moment, Voldemort motioned for the death eaters to open the door. No sooner had the door just begun to swing open that in skipped… Luna Lovegood.

"Hello, there," she smiled softly as she pranced into the room, gait lively and wand undrawn. No one seemed to know how to react. She arrived at the corner where Sirius, Remus, Lucas, and Draco were tied up; and she looked at the three contentedly. "Hello, how are you four?"

Sirius stared in outright disbelief. Remus raised an eyebrow. Draco just smirked.

"Oh, dear, you're bleeding." She pulled her wand out of a pocket in her robes and vanished the small stain of blood that was on the corner of Draco's mouth. Draco's eyes traveled down to where the blood had been. He looked back up at Luna. She smiled. He smirked. And beside them, Sirius and Remus couldn't help but feel as if some unholy alliance had just been formed.

Suddenly, Draco recoiled slightly as a burning hex shot past his face, scorching the wall. Luna didn't blink; she just turned her gaze over to Voldemort who was glaring at them both angrily, wand pointed at the five prisoners. –Well, three prisoners, one unconscious werewolf, and one unexpected… guest? …person? …whatever.

"Oh, I apologize." If it was at all possible, Luna's cheerful tone had taken on a thin, icy edge. "As you are lord of this castle, I should have asked your permission to visit with my friends. May I stay and wait for Harry with them?"

Voldemort stared at Luna, motionless, as if contemplating the enigma that was Luna, her sudden and subtle change in demeanor, and her words. After a few minutes, Voldemort finally lowered his wand and pointed his hand at two death eaters to his left, who jumped. "Tie her up. Once Potter gets here, she's dead."

Luna smiled, and the icy atmosphere that had seemed to leak into the room dissipated. "Thank you, but there's no need to bother. I'll just tie myself up." She flashed a smile at the room before sitting down on the floor next to Draco, brushing off her skirt, and pointing her wand at herself. A string of chains shot out of the wand, twisting around her, pulling her arms tight against her body. The chains then connected with the others,' tying the five together. She released the wand from the hand tied up against her thigh.

Draco raised an eyebrow, as if to inquire as to where she'd learned a spell like that. Luna just smiled benignly.

One of the death eaters picked up her wand and stashed it away in his robes. Voldemort turned his attention back to the door, seeming to have decided to ignore Luna in favor of waiting for Harry to arrive.

Sirius seemed to be asleep, apparently having decided nothing was happening that was worth the effort of staying awake. Remus' gaze was still darting around the room, occasionally landing on Sirius in disapproval. Lucas seemed to be coming to, and he stared around the room confusedly from under heavy-lidded eyes. Remus winced in sympathy, and Luna offered him a sweet smile. Lucas still looked completely out of it, having actually been out of it for several hours, completely missing a lot that had happened.

Draco had resumed his full, haughty posture, still looking at the death eaters smugly and knowingly. He seemed to have regained confidence in himself thanks to Luna wiping the blood off his face, restoring his regal appearance. And Luna just sat there, dreamy smile on her face, humming slightly despite being tied up.

And that was that.

Boom!

A blast from a wand caused the door to burst open, splintering in the process and causing the death eaters to draw back in fright. Sirius woke up with a violent start; Remus jumped; Lucas flinched; and Draco looked startled briefly before resuming his bored stare at the death eater. Luna giggled.

Voldemort, though, didn't flinch; it seemed as if he'd been contemplating the door and Harry coming so long that he was mentally prepared. –Or frustrated beyond belief with Harry's lateness. "Why did you have to destroy my door? It was my favorite door."

Perhaps he had been trying to sound imposing and display his irritation at the same time, but it just came off as rather whiny. Harry stood his ground easily, posture confident.

"I think your repertoire of insults need updating."

Voldemort grinned cruelly and gestured around the room. "I do not believe you are in the position to be making suggestions, brat."

Harry's eyes roved the room before landing on the five in the corner. His eyes returned to Voldemort. "What are you doing with them?"

Voldemort laughed, and Lucas suppressed a shudder. "Why, entertaining them, of course."

Harry's eyes traveled back to the five and remained on Lucas and Sirius. They both sighed; Harry was probably staring at the bruises on the two, including Sirius' black eye. Luna smiled encouragingly at Harry, but the slight tremble that went through her body did not go unnoticed by Draco, who, in a rare moment of compassion, scooted closer to her in reassurance. But he also kept his head held high, viewing the situation with an indifference and haughtiness he did not feel.

"Ok, look," Harry began, looking nervous. You could practically see his mind racing with what was probably thousands of scenarios, actions, and reactions – most of which probably ended with Lucas, Luna, Remus, Sirius, and Draco dead.

Draco snorted at the panic in Harry's eyes for the five, even as it reassured him that the Boy-Who-Lived still considered the Slytherin an ally – or, as Harry would probably put it, a friend. …Idiotic Gryffindor.

Sirius seemed to be in a panic himself, struggling to find a way to reassure his godson and help him, even as he was the one chained up, silenced, and injured. Remus was doing his best to stay completely calm and keep a straight face, while simultaneously shooting Sirius quelling looks. Luna was now looking at Harry with some concern in her gaze, but she continued to smile at him encouragingly, compassion and affection in her gaze.

"Are you going to stand there and monologue, evilly mapping out your malicious desires, or can we get this over with?"

Voldemort pulled out his wand. "A man of action, I see, Potter. Just like your father. And – lucky you – you get to die like him as well."

Harry's face turned furious, and he looked as if he would like nothing more than to mutilate the dark wizard.

"Oh, yes," Remus and Lucas flinched when Voldemort turned to them; Sirius glared; Draco sneered; and Luna… winked. "But before you die like your dog of a father, perhaps I should give you a chance to venture into the past a bit – more specifically, your mother's past."

Voldemort's wand pressed up against Sirius' throat, and the wizard shook slightly with a mixture of anger, hate, and tension. "I wonder how she felt, watching her husband die, knowing she couldn't save her son." Voldemort stepped and aimed his wand at Sirius, and, if anything, Sirius grew more nervous. "Well you'll find out exactly how she felt soon enough, now won't you? Ave–"

Sirius shut his eyes tightly, not wanting to face the sickly green light that would cause his demise. But he couldn't help, in his human curiosity and fear, but open them just before the spell hit – only to see Harry jump in front of him. His eyes widened in horror, and a loud scream ripped its way out of his throat.

The smile on Voldemort's face twisted and grew. "–da Kadavera!"

And the green light of the spell hit home.

So…uh, hi…um…awkward. Ok, look, I apologize profusely, both for the horrendous amount of time since my last update and for the lack of plot development. I especially apologize to anyone who I told I would be getting out the chapter sooner than I did – I sincerely did mean to get it out then, but it just didn't work that way. Now, for the plot development, I feel that this was an important chapter for things that will come later, even if nothing truly new happened. It… sets the stage, if you will, for future happenings. And don't worry, in the next chapter, the plot will be furthered.

Ahh, the next chapter. Well, okay, the reason I took so long in getting out this chapter is 1/3 procrastination/laziness on my part and 2/3 writer's block. Ahh, writer's block. I'd never really had it before now, but now I know it's a jerk. I kept trying to write this chapter, but nothing seemed to be working; I was writing, like, a paragraph a day. It felt like I was forcing the words out. So I would appreciate any advice on this chapter, as I feel that some parts don't flow as well as they could.

I also ask advice on writer's block. How do you beat it? I tried everything I could, but it still took forever to write this chapter. And, unfortunately, I still have writer's block at least somewhat, so help would be very welcome. I would also love any ideas anyone has on the next few chapters to the ending, as that may help my writer's block as well. Oh, and pointing out any grammar/spelling mistakes would be wonderful, too.

I have another question for you, readers. As I have said before, I wish to fix all of the spelling and grammatical errors in this story and repost it. However, I also have some plot holes I want to fix – namely in the first chapter with how Harry got sent to Azkaban. I know how I want to fix it, but that would create problems for the rest of the chapters, as I would have to change plot in later chapters. So, unless I repost all of the chapters at the same time, new readers would get confused with later chapters. Or I could just post this story again as a completely new story with extremely similar and sometimes identical but not exactly the same plot.

Advice? What should I do? Unfortunately, I am still somewhat a noob here on Fnet, so I would appreciate it. So, here's the sparks notes version of this author's note (it feels like all my author's notes are extremely long):

Sorry for the wait

Please don't complain about the lack of plot development; not every single chapter can be filled with plot furthering stuff – we do need filler chapters.

Feel free to complain about the wait. I would complain about the wait. Just please be civil.

Advice and input on the issues stated above, please? I really need it.

Thanks to all reviewers.

Hopefully the next chapter will be out sooner, but no promises other than not to put it on hiatus or abandon it.