"Are we ready?" Hermione asked, hoisting her bag onto her back.
"I think so. Let's pack up the tent and get going," Harry nodded. The trio and Tyler walked outside. Harry took down the tent, packed it away, then pulled out the picture Cheyenne Hudson had given them. "Let's go." He closed his eyes, focusing on the house, turned sharply, and disappeared. Ron, Hermione, and Tyler followed suit.
"I know we're at this house, but where are we?" Ron wondered, gazing around. The street they were on was deserted and oddly dark for being late in the morning.
"I don't know. I'm hoping it doesn't matter because there's no one around," Harry shrugged, looking up and down the street. "Come on, guys." He led the way through the large wrought iron gates and up the stone steps to the wooden door. For being abandoned, it looked almost brand new. Harry turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. The four ducked inside.
"It's so weird. There's no one around for miles of this place," Hermione said as Harry locked the door.
"That'll make things easier for us then," Harry replied.
"How?" Hermione furrowed her eyebrows.
"We don't have to worry about someone finding us," Harry shrugged his shoulders casually. "All right. Everyone choose a room and look." They split. Hermione went to the living room, Ron to the kitchen, Tyler to the basement, and Harry went upstairs. He pushed open the first door on his left and stepped in. He looked around. He was in what looked like had once been a library. Something had clearly happened. There were books strewn all over the floor collecting dust. Some had been burned. It was obvious if they were touched they would crumble into ash. There were large scorch marks on the walls and floor as well. "What happened?" he muttered. Harry left the room and walked across the hall. He opened another door and walked in. It was a bedroom.
"Harry!" Hermione and Ron shouted.
"What?" he called back offhandedly. He was slowly moving towards the bed. There was something strange on the sheets.
"There's nothing here! This place is empty and has been for years!" Ron yelled, sighing. Harry didn't answer. He had reached the bed and was staring down at it in shock.
"Full moon in five days. Whatever they're planning will happen on the full moon, I know it," Remus mumbled to himself. He wasn't the only one. Seth was running around, his arms always full of papers, and muttering to himself.
There was a knock on the door. "Remus? Moony, are you all right?" Sirius called.
"Yeah, fine," Remus said quickly and absently.
"Moony, you've been in here for eight hours straight. This isn't good for you," Sirius replied.
Sirius jumped back in alarm as the door swung open. "I have to do this. I have to stop Tyler and Greyback. I have to save Harry and his friends," Remus slammed the door before Sirius could speak.
Sirius sighed. "I get that you want to catch Tyler and Greyback, but confining yourself in your office for eight hours isn't the way to do it. You'll go insane," he said quickly and quietly. "If you haven't already."
Sirius jumped again as Remus reappeared. "The full moon is in five days. Something is going to happen that night." The door closed again, cutting off Sirius' response.
He was getting annoyed. "Remus, this is crazy. You're the one who told me that we can't help Harry with what he's doing even though we want to. I know you want to help Harry, but we can't. He can take care of himself. He's strong. He can handle Tyler." Sirius got ready to jump back when the door opened but it never did. "Remus?"
The door opened, more slowly, for the third time. "Look, Sirius. I'm busy. I'll talk to you later," Remus said and softly closed the door.
"Okay. See you, mate," Sirius sighed.
"Mr. Black?" a woman came up behind him.
"Yes?"
"I'm Michelle Hayden. I work for Mr. Lupin. I'm worried about him. He rarely sleeps. It seems all he can think about is Fenrir Greyback and Tyler Grey," she told him.
"I know. He just really wants to finally catch Greyback. Tyler is currently traveling with Harry and his friends. He doesn't want anything to happen to Harry, Ron, and Hermione," Sirius put his hands in his pockets as he spoke.
"He hasn't been himself since your nephew left," Michelle said.
"I've been told the same thing about myself."
"I understand it if you two aren't acting the same. I know your nephew is your life," she smiled.
"Yes, he is. We'd die if anything happened to him. We've all already been through so much," Sirius nodded. Michelle smiled sympathetically then walked away. Sirius left the department and headed for his own. He went to his office and sat down, absently twirling a quill.
"Sirius?" Tonks said.
"Yeah? What's up?"
"This just arrived in the post. It's for you. From Malfoy," Tonks handed Sirius a thin envelope.
"Thanks," Sirius tore it open and pulled out the letter.
Black,
It's almost been a month since Potter left with our friends. Our plan to have Barty Crouch Jr. capture them failed, but that's no surprise. He was weak. They were lucky when they escaped us after the wedding. A certain Tyler Grey showed up. Now Tyler is with the famous trio, but for a reason. There is a plan in process. In a few days it'll come together and the famous trio has no idea.
Lucius Malfoy
"Damn it!" Sirius cursed.
"You should call Harry and warn him, Sirius," Tonks suggested.
"Yeah. Thanks, Tonks," he nodded and she walked away. He turned on his Communicator.
"Name please."
"Harry Potter." As he waited, Sirius leaned back and twirled the quill again.
There was a ton of blood on the sheets. As he stared, Harry had a feeling someone had been murdered and it had been by werewolves.
"Incoming call from Sirius Orion Black. Accept or decline call?" his Communicator said.
Harry ignored it. He couldn't stop staring at the blood stained sheets. He suddenly felt the need to know where they were. "Where are we? It's not safe here," he muttered.
"Harry?" Hermione shouted.
"Up here!"
"Incoming call from Sirius Orion Black. Accept or decline call?" the Communicator repeated.
"What's going on?" Hermione entered the room.
"We're in danger," Harry said.
"When aren't we?" she raised an eyebrow.
He held up the sheets and she gasped. "It's fresh."
"Werewolves?" she whispered.
"I think so. I haven't searched everywhere up here, so help me and we'll leave," Harry stated, dropping the sheets.
"Okay," Hermione nodded and they finished searching the floor.
While searching a drawing room, the Communicator spoke again. "Incoming call from Sirius Orion Black. Accept or decline call?"
"Ugh!" Harry groaned. He pulled his bag off his back and retrieved the device. "Decline," he said.
"Call declined."
Harry rolled his eyes. He had to stop contacting his uncles. It was too dangerous. He would only contact them if the need was vital. "Anything, Hermione?" he called, walking back to the hall.
"Nothing. Someone found everything and took it. Question is, who?" Hermione shook her head.
"I don't know where to go next," Harry sighed as they slowly walked back downstairs.
"Cheyenne said something about Lovegood. Maybe we should go talk to them," Hermione remembered.
"Sounds good. We just need to find out where they live," Harry agreed.
"Ginny knows. We could ask her," Hermione replied.
"No. It's too dangerous to contact everyone now. We only will if we absolutely have to," Harry dismissed the idea. "We have to find out ourselves."
"Hey, Harry. I think we've got something over here," Ron said when Harry and Hermione arrived downstairs. He was in the kitchen.
"I though you looked in here, mate?" Harry asked, making his way to Ron who was by a cupboard.
"I did. I was doing a quick run over to make sure I didn't miss anything," Ron nodded.
"So what did you find?" Ron opened the cupboard. "Um, it's an empty cupboard," Harry frowned.
"Not quite," Ron pushed on the back of the cupboard and it slid out of sight. There was a small square on the back wall.
"What is that?" Harry wondered.
"I didn't press it, but it's like a button or something," Ron stated.
"Push it," Harry said. Ron obeyed and pushed the square. For a bit, nothing happened, then the house began to shake. Harry and Ron grabbed the counter to stay standing. Their eyes widened as the kitchen floor began to open. Soon the house stopped shaking and there was a set of stairs leading down under the kitchen floor.
"Whoa," Ron and Harry gasped.
"Hermione, Tyler, come on. We've got something," Harry said and Hermione and Tyler walked into the kitchen.
"That's interesting," Tyler said.
"Let's go," Harry started down the narrow staircase, the others following. The stone stairs were steep and slippery with water. They walked slowly so they wouldn't fall. Hermione slipped on a stair and almost fell had Tyler not grabbed her arm and helped her.
"Thanks, Tyler," she smiled.
"No problem. Watch your step," Tyler replied. Ron rolled his eyes and Harry sighed. After a few more minutes, the four of them came to the bottom of the stairs where there was a large steel door.
Harry pulled on the handle but it wouldn't budge. He pulled out his wand. "Alohomora." There were about four clicks and Harry pulled on the handle again. This time the door opened a crack. Being large and made of steel made the door heavy and Harry pulled on the door very hard to open it. As it opened, yellow light flooded out onto Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Tyler.
"Wow," Hermione said as they entered the room. It was very large but only one small chest occupied the large space.
"Weird," Ron added. Harry walked towards the chest. It was gold with black stones all over it. The stones glittered in the yellow light. He placed his hands carefully on the sides of the chest and opened the lid. There was a single piece of parchment inside.
What you seek,
Used to lie here,
But it has been gone,
For over a year.
"That's just perfect," Harry groaned.
"Now where do we go?" Ron asked.
"I seriously don't know," Harry sighed.
"AHHHH!" Hermione screamed. She had been leaning on the wall when it suddenly opened behind her. She fell backwards.
"Hermione!" Harry, Ron, and Tyler grabbed for her arms but missed. She fell into the darkness. "HERMIONE!" they cried as she disappeared.
"That's the first time Harry's declined a call. Must be busy. He better watch out. Tyler is all bad," Sirius said to himself.
"Sirius," Tonks knocked on the door.
"You seem to be here a lot lately. What's up?" Sirius grinned.
"Umm, Sirius-" Tonks breathed deeply. "Remus is in the hospital."
"What?"
"He was attacked in his office twenty-five minutes ago," Tonks replied.
"By who?" Sirius asked.
Tonks hesitated. "Seth Ledger."
"Seth?" Sirius repeated. "No way."
"It was him, Sirius. He was found in Remus', office, his wand out, and pointing at Remus who was unconscious and bleeding. He had been hit with 'Sectumsempra'," Tonks nodded.
"Is Moony okay?" Sirius asked, pulling on his cloak.
"He was still unconscious when I left."
"Was it just 'Sectumsempra'?" Sirius wondered as they walked outside to apparate.
"I don't know. I left after I saw him and found out what happened," Tonks shook her head.
"Let's go." They had arrived at the Apparation point and disappeared.
When they arrived, Tonks lead the way. "He's on Kingsley's floor." They took the elevator up to the fourth floor. She stopped at room six seventy-two.
"Excuse me. Are you family of Mr. Lupin's?" a Healer asked coming out of the room, holding a clipboard.
"Yes, we are. I'm Nymphadora Tonks. I was here a few minutes ago," Tonks nodded.
"Oh yes, of course. Miss Tonks. And you are?" the Healer looked at Sirius.
"I'm Sirius Black."
"Pleasure. I'm Healer Emma Parker," she said.
"How is he?" Tonks asked.
"Stable. We've given him blood replenishing potions and potions to help with the pain. He might wake up within the hour," Healer Parker replied.
"What exactly happened?" Sirius wondered.
"We're not sure. We have to wait until he wakes up to know," Healer Parker shook her head.
"Thank you," Tonks smiled.
"I'll be back in twenty minutes to check on him," Healer Parker left. Tonks and Sirius entered the room.
"Sirius?" Tonks put her hand on Sirius' shoulder. Sirius had stopped short when he saw his best friend. Remus was asleep in the bed. He had cuts and bruises all over his face. He had a black eye. He was hooked up to an IV machine, the needle in the back of his right hand. Sirius could also see cuts on his neck.
"My God. Remus," Sirius breathed.
"I'll get Sanders to take over for a couple hours," Tonks said and left to talk to Sanders.
Sirius pulled a chair to the side of the bed and sat down. "Oh, Moony. I can't believe Seth did this."
"No one can," Tonks had returned. She sat in a chair on the other side of Remus' bed.
"Where is Seth?"
"In one of the interrogation rooms. Walker and Ferns are watching him," Tonks answered.
"I'll have to talk to him after," Sirius said. He stared at Remus when he stirred.
"He'll be okay, Sirius," Tonks stated softly.
"How do you know that? Healer Parker didn't say anything about him being all right. All she said was that he was stable," Sirius frowned.
"She also said he should be awake within the hour," Tonks pointed out.
"How about you both stop talking about me like I'm not here?" a quiet, hoarse voice said.
"Remus!" Sirius and Tonks exclaimed.
"Hi," Remus said, his voice no more than a whisper.
"I'm so glad you're all right." They smiled.
"I don't feel all right," Remus groaned.
"Ah, Mr. Lupin. You're awake," Healer Parker walked in.
"Wish I wasn't," Remus groaned again, grimacing in pain.
"Need more pain meds?" Healer Parker smiled. Remus nodded. The Healer pierced the IV tube with a needle and pushed a fluid into it. "Better?"
"Yes, thank you," Remus sighed in relief.
"Mr. Lupin, there are Aurors here to see you. They need to know what happened and so do I. I need to know what curses were placed on you," Healer Parker stated.
"All right," Remus nodded. Aurors Brent Bernard and Monica Hale walked in.
"Hello, Mr. Lupin," Bernard greeted.
"Hi."
"We'll make this quick. What happened?" Hale began.
Remus sighed and shifted his position. "I was in my office working on a case when Seth knocked on the door. He walked in and told me he had a lead on the case. When I looked at him, he had a glazed look in his eyes and he was holding his wand. He didn't speak after saying he had a lead, except when he sent spells. He disarmed me. He hit me with cutting curses, the Cruciatus curse, and 'Sectumsempra'," Remus explained shortly.
"Are you sure those are the only curses used, Mr. Lupin?" Healer Parker confirmed. Remus nodded.
"Are you positive it was Seth Ledger? Maybe you were mistaken," Bernard said.
"Seth was seen in the office standing over Remus with his wand out," Tonks replied.
"I'm positive it was Seth as much as it pains me to admit," Remus nodded again, a look of hurt in his eyes.
"Mr. Lupin, you will have to stay here for about five days," Healer Parker stated, making Remus groan. "You lost a lot of blood since you were bleeding freely for six minutes from the 'Sectumsempra' curse before you got here. Not to mention the Cruciatus curse. You have to stay," she smiled.
"All right," Remus said.
"Now, Mr. Lupin needs to rest. Everyone please leave," Healer Parker told everyone.
"I'll see you later, Moony," Sirius smiled and left with Tonks.
"Hermione! Are you okay?" Harry called into the darkness. He, Ron, and Tyler were all knelt by the opening in the wall, peering into the dark.
"I'm hurt! Something went through my leg! It's too dark, I can't see!" Hermione cried.
"Stay still! We're going to find a way to you!" Harry stated.
"Okay!"
"We have to hurry," Ron replied.
"I know. Light your wands," Harry said, lighting his own. The three small lights combined were bright and Harry could see a bit. There were holes in the wall. There were no stairs. If they wanted to get to Hermione, they would have to climb down using the holes. "We have to climb down," Harry told them.
"Great. We can never have a normal minute. Let's go rock climbing," Ron rolled his eyes.
"We have to go slow and one at a time," Harry said.
"I'll go first," Ron volunteered.
"Be careful, mate," Harry stated. Using his wand light, Ron found the first holes and climbed down. He moved slowly, not wanting to fall. he used his small light to find each hole on the wall. Finally he made it to the bottom.
"Ron!" Hermione cried. Ron moved to her side and hugged her.
"I'm down!" Ron shouted.
"You go, Tyler," Harry told Tyler.
"All right," Tyler nodded and slowly climbed down the stone wall. "Come down, Harry!" he yelled when he was at the bottom. A few minutes later, Harry joined them.
"This is stupid, we need more light," Harry said "Lumos maxima!" his wand light was three times brighter. Tyler and Ron did the same and the three lights lit the whole room. Harry looked at Hermione's leg. There was a long, thin piece of steel protruding from her upper leg. It had gone right through.
"Oh my God," Hermione gasped at her injury, all the colour draining from her face.
"We have to get that out," Tyler said.
"What?" Hermione shrieked. She was crying. "No way is anyone ripping a piece of steel out of my leg!"
"Hermione, we have to. We have to heal it," Harry responded.
She looked at all the boys, her eyes wide. "Okay. Okay, take it out," she nodded. Ron placed her in his lap and she grasped his hands. Harry took his black tie from the wedding out of his bag and tied it tightly about the piece of steel. Hermione had tears staining her face. Harry grasped the steel. He was glad it wasn't a wide piece. It was no more than three inches wide. "Ready?" Hermione nodded and squeezed Ron's hands. Harry gripped the steel tighter then pulled up sharply. Hermione screamed as loud as she could in pain then lost consciousness.