Blood Ties
Part 34
Rating, summary and such are same as before.
Note 1: Can't believe it took me this long to do a update. RL doesn't like me, just as my thesis refuse to let go of my butt... anyways, hope you like it!
Note 2: Again, thanks Joahn for beta-reading the story!
Review: Thanks for everyone's reviews. Again, I'm really really sorry the late update. I will definitely finish the story, so don't worry (even if it may takes a bit of time...)
Sirius in his dog form bit into werewolf Lupin's arm and tried to pull it away from the gang, but the werewolf easily swung the dog away from him. He turned back towards the gang, but Sirius appeared in front of him, baring his fangs as he growled, giving the werewolf his last warning.
The werewolf growled back, clearly not about to give up. The black dog growled the last time and shot forward, his paws clawing onto the werewolf's chest, the force knocking the werewolf onto the ground. The werewolf rolled to his side, his teeth reached for the dog's neck and bit into it without mercy. The dog howled in pain as the werewolf held it up high before swinging his head and threw the dog away like a rag doll.
"Sirius!" Harry screamed, once again trying to reach for Sirius when the werewolf swung his claws towards Harry. This time, a fire ball shot right past Harry, almost burning his ear off as it reached the werewolf's claws. The werewolf's hand retreated, but the fireball seemed to have angered him more as the beast's eyes stared at the gang in fury.
Harry's mind raced as he watched the angry werewolf, when suddenly he heard another howl from nearby. The werewolf, who was about to advance on the gang, halted and turned its attention towards the calling. When the howl came the second time, the werewolf turned and ran into the Forbidden Forest, not bothering to even spare a glance at the gang. Seeing that the werewolf was gone, Harry immediately ran towards where Sirius had disappeared to, ignoring the frustrated call from Snape.
The gang watched as Snape stormed off to the infirmary, before turning towards each other, the worry on their faces mirrored each other. Professor Snape had taken them back to the castle, and ordered them to stay while the headmaster and other professors went to look for Harry, Lupin and Sirius.
"We have to find them." Buffy turned towards Ron and Xander. "You two stay..."
"I'm good! I'm good!" Xander tried to sit up from his bed but Buffy pushed him back down easily.
"No Xander. You hurt yourself enough for a day."
"And we're not going anyway." Buffy turned towards Hermione with a raising eyebrow. "Didn't you listen to Professor Snape? He said we have to stay here! Besides, other professors are looking for them right now."
"Hermione's right." Willow agreed from her place next to Hermione. "I'm sure the Dementors are looking for them too. Are you going to be able to fight them?" Buffy pouted. "We have bigger problem. Buffy, do you remember the name of the necklace you're wearing?"
Buffy's face darkened immediately. "Who cares?"
"It's the Gem of Socian." Hermione answered. "Why?"
Willow nodded. "Of course." She looked around. "BUFFY!"
Buffy blinked. "You do realize I'm standing right here, right? You don't have to shout."
"Not you." Willow dismissed the blond witch, and continued searching for something the others have no idea of. "BUFFY! C'mon out!"
"Did she hurt her head?" Ron mouthed to Xander, but the black haired just shrugged.
"It's okay! Buffy!"
Buffy, in a true 13-year-old child style, started stomping her feet. "I said I'm here!"
"Yes Mistress?"
The others couldn't spin their heads fast enough to the sudden appearance of the house-elf next to Willow, but Willow paid no attention to her friends as she addressed her house-elf. "In the trunk, at the corner, get me the book with the black leather cover."
"A book, Mistress?" Willow nodded. "Yes, Mistress."
The others watched as the house-elf disappeared into thin air. Hermione frowned, her brain quickly processed what she had just heard. "You know about the gem?"
"One of the by-products of the mischief of my great-great-great-grandfather. I know the name sounds familiar, but I wasn't sure until I saw the necklace under the moonlight. Look." Willow moved towards Buffy and held up the gem gently. Under the weak moonlight from the windows, a golden rose appeared within the reddish gem. "The symbol of my family. The rose will only show up under the moonlight."
A light bulb appeared on Ron's head. "So... you can take it off her?"
"Mistress."
Buffy the house-elf popped up again before Willow could answer, and held out a book that was about as thick as a dictionary. Ron raised an eyebrow when Willow quickly turned towards the end of the book. "You read the whole thing?"
"Kinda light reading."
"You're crazier than Hermione."
Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Hey!"
"Shh!" Buffy ordered before turning back towards Willow who quickly scanned through the pages with a grin slowly developed on her pale face. "So? Can you take this damn thing off?"
"I think I can do better than that." Willow looked at her friends, and no one could miss the resolve in her eyes. "I can give you back your magic."
"Wait a minute!" Xander suddenly shouted, causing everyone to turn towards him. "Willow has a house-elf! And she's called Buffy!"
Hermione rolled her eyes, so did Ron. Willow looked over towards Buffy, and for the first time since the meeting with her father, Willow saw hope in Buffy's eyes. The hope did not last long though as her eyes widened. "Wait. I got named after a house-elf?!"
Harry ran down the darkened path until he reached the quiet clearing. Moonlight shinning down from the night sky, and it did not take long for the young student to spot Sirius Black lying next to the calm lake. "Sirius!"
Harry rushed forward and kneed beside the un-moving man. "Sirius..." He took his dirty hand into his own, and sighed in relief when he noticed the small movement on the man's chest.
The relief did not last long though when he felt a chill creeping towards him. The lake froze, a thin layer of ice forming right in front of his eyes. Slowly, he looked up at the disappearing moon, and watched in horror as hundreds of Dementors circled above, surrounding the young student and the escaped prisoner.
Quickly drawing out his wand, Harry pointed at the sky, at the groups of Dementors that were closing in. "Expecto Patronum!" A silver shape left his wand, repelling the first two that were diving towards them. But it did not last long as the silver light disappeared, leaving them vulnerable. A Dementor took the chance and swooped down, knocking the wand from the young boy's hand.
Harry dropped the wand, his butt hit the ground as he fell, the charm that had once been in his pocket fell out. The boy crawled backwards, his palm covered the now glowing charm. He looked down, surprised, before picking it up quickly and held it towards another Dementor that was approaching. The Dementor hit Harry's palm head on, and let out an unholy scream as the charm burned the head of the dark creature, but the force from the Dementor was more than enough to knock Harry back again, the charm thrown away, lying useless on the ground.
Losing the two things that could protect him, Harry watched helplessly as the Dementors once again dived down from the sky. Just as the first time he met them, the young boy could feel pain all over him, swallowing him alive. He screamed, watching as Dementor after Dementor swooped down and breathed on he and Sirius. The unconscious man that had not moved except for the pained expression on his face. Black spots quickly spread through Harry's vision as he falls to his side, and just as he lost his consciousness, he could see bright light exploded from the other side of the lake, one single voice echoing in the wood.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
"Sirius!"
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
"Harry?"
Harry's eye lids shot open, and the boy pushed himself up so fast that his friends that had leaned forward immediately jumped back. "Harry! You're okay!" Buffy squealed, and before Harry knew it, the blond rushed forward and hugged him, so hard that he could not breathe.
"Buffy! Buffy! He's turning blue!"
"Oops." Buffy released Harry, her face flaming as Hermione pulled her back. "Sorry."
"It's...it's okay." Harry smiled as he coughed, looking around, realizing he was in the hospital wing. Xander and Ron were on the other side, both sitting on their beds, while Buffy and Hermione were surrounding him. Slowly, memories ran back into him, and his eyes widened at the conclusion that he had made just right before he lost his conscious. "I saw my dad!"
"What?"
"He sent the Dementors away! I saw him across the lake!"
The gang looked at each other, speechless. Hermione shook her head and turned towards her friend. "Look, Harry, they've captured Sirius. Any minute now the Dementors are going to perform the Kiss."
Harry's face paled immediately. "They're gonna kill him?"
Hermione shook her head again. "No. It's worse. Much worse."
"Worse?" Hermione opened her month, but no words come. Harry looked towards others, but none of them seemed to want to say the words. "Tell me. How it can get worse?"
Buffy licked her lips nervously before she finally answered Harry's question. "They're going to suck out his soul."
"No..."