It took Severus, Sirius, and Harry, when he'd finally decided that sitting in his room wasn't going to help him feel any better, three days to re-ward the house so that no more unwanted visitors could get in. By the time they were through, all three were physically exhausted.
"Severus, I just figured out a way to find Gawain." Sirius slowly walked over to the bookshelf, where Gawain kept all of his and Lily's old Hogwarts books. "I don't know why I didn't think of this before." He pulled a tattered black book off of the shelf and sat back down.
"Ah, the "Marauders' Guide to the Marauders and Friends"…I haven't looked at mine for years." Severus didn't mention the reason he hadn't looked at his copy for years, but it was fairly evident that he didn't want to see that so many of them were dead.
Sirius nodded and paged to the page labeled 'Winter'. "Let's see…Official Marauder Name: Winter…Official Marauder Mate: Lily…Official Marauder Jr.: Harry… here it is…" Sirius flipped to the fourth page of Gawain's "Official Marauder info". "Current location of Winter, also known as Gawain Malfoy is the Shrieking Shack, Hogsmede."
Severus and Harry looked at each other. "The only person who would have even thought to take him there would be another Marauder, Uncle Severus. You know who that means…" Harry cringed. "Pettigrew."
"We've got to come up with a plan. Harry, did Minerva mention when Hogwarts professors are required to return?" Sirius looked at his nephew.
"We're going back in four days, teachers are supposed to report in two." Harry yawned. "She's been named official headmistress now, you know."
"Of course she has…who else wants that job?" Severus began quickly paging through the "Marauders' Guide to the Marauders and Friends." "I have an idea. We'll have to go tomorrow morning, after we've gotten a good night's sleep. What I have in mind is going to take a lot of magic."
"Alright then…You two plan, while I go to sleep." Harry walked slowly up the stairs, stopping at the door to Ginny and Hermione's room. "May I come in?"
"I'll come out there, 'Mione's sleeping," Ginny whispered. She appeared through the door, wearing a bright orange shirt that clashed horribly with her pretty hair and a pair of red and gold pants with little flying snitches. "Did you want something, or do you just need to talk?"
"Just talk. Let's go into the library." For whatever reason, Gawain had placed his library on the second floor, right near the bedrooms, a fact which Hermione loved.
"Sorry about the pajamas, Harry. I couldn't find the shirt that goes with this, so I had to borrow one from Hermione."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware that Hermione supported the Chudley Cannons. I think she stole that shirt from me, because I'm pretty sure that I got that for my birthday from…Moony, I think."Harry's eyes got misty for a minute, though he pressed on. "Ginny, before Ron was killed, I made a promise to him. I promised him that I'd take care of Hermione for him, and that I'd tell the girl that I like exactly how I feel about her."
"Which girl would that be, Harry?" She tried to hide the fact that she knew it would be her.
"Well, for starters, she has this gorgeous reddish hair that sparkles in the sun, chocolate brown eyes that make me smile every time she flashes them my way, and the worst taste in pajamas that I've ever seen. And I've seen some pretty bad matching, considering I shared a dorm with her brother for four years." Harry grinned at her. "She also has six older brothers, though if all of them feel the same way about me and her as the one who told me to tell her all of this, our possible relationship won't be a problem."
"If you're trying to ask me to go out with you, Harrison Orion Abraxas Black Malfoy, the answer would be yes. I don't know many other girls who fit your description, and I sure hope Ron doesn't have anymore sisters." She through her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. He hugged her back.
"Thank you. Shall I walk you to your room, my fair lady?" Harry held his arm out for her.
"Of course, kind sir."
Once both of the teens were soundly asleep in their beds, Minerva and Molly grinned at each other. They had been researching a few things for Severus in a different part of the library, and though they heard every word, Harry and Ginny hadn't even noticed they were there.
"I think they are both on their way to healing, Minerva. This will be so good for them. If only Arthur were here to see this! He loved Harry like his own son."
"Now we can focus on the future a bit easier."
Harry, Severus, and Sirius left very early in the morning. The women of the house had gotten up early as well, to make sure they ate and to give them final warnings to be safe. "Don't you dare do anything stupid, Harrison Orion…"
Harry put a finger to his girlfriend's lips. "There's no need to use my full name every time you're worried for my safety, Ginny dear. Do you think you'd like it if I called you Ginerva Molly Weasley all of the time?"
"No, I wouldn't." She gave him a hug and one final warning of safety before letting Hermione lecture him on proper wand technique just in case he got into a situation where he was backed into a corner by himself.
"The poor boy…not only does he have a new girlfriend who could give our dear and departed sister a run for her money, but he's also got his own Moony, complete with the incessant lecturing." Sirius sighed. "It's a good thing he loves them, otherwise he'd go crazy."
"Indeed. Harry, we've got to go."
Since Harry couldn't apparate, Severus Side-Along Apparated him to a secluded location just outside of Hogsmede. "We're going to sneak in from the back of the building, where there are no windows. That way, if anyone is watching, they won't notice us until it's too late for them."
"If you need to use magic, do it. Since you aren't a resident of England anymore, the Ministry can't regulate you."Sirius appeared seconds later. "Let's go."
It was still relatively dark, so the three were able to get all the way down the hill behind the Shack without anyone noticing. "Alohamora." The back door opened, and they snuck in, Severus in the lead, Harry in the middle and Sirius following, his back to Harry's so that no one could sneak up on them.
When they arrived at the same room they had been in two years earlier, Severus stopped. He opened the door slowly. What he saw appalled him. Wormtail was there, along with Crabbe and Goyle, the adult versions. They had tied Gawain and someone else to the bedposts, and it appeared that the Death Eaters had also beaten them. Severus counted to three under his breath and then the brothers and their nephew immobilized the three Death Eaters. Sirius and Harry quickly untied the two victims while Severus held his wand at the three stupid men who were now sitting on the floor, unable to move.
"Sirius, is that you?" The black-haired man who Harry had just finished untying looked up at Sirius. A look of realization dawned on Sirius' face.
"Regulus? I could have sworn you were dead."
"I've been hiding since Lily died. I don't want to be a Death Eater, Sirius," Regulus whispered.
"We'll ascertain that once we get you two out of here. Can either of you walk?"
"I think I have a broken leg, Siri. If Harry helps, I can walk just fine." Harry wrapped his arm around his father's waist and the two of them headed out of the room, leaving Sirius, Regulus, Severus, and the three Voldemort supporters.
"Regulus, follow Harry outside. They'll be heading toward the back," Sirius whispered, with some apprehension. He didn't necessarily want to leave Regulus alone with Harry until they knew what side he was on, but at the same time, Harry could defend himself if necessary.
"Now…it's time for the two of you to go." Severus let Crabbe and Goyle go since they were relatively harmless and Voldemort wouldn't be able to find Gawain's house if he tried anyway.
"You, on the other hand, aren't going anywhere." Sirius glared at the sniveling man on the floor. "Why, Peter, do I have the sinking suspicion that it was you who killed Moony and Arthur Weasley?"
"It was me… I killed the muggle-lover and the werewolf."
"Do you want to know how many times you've broken the Marauder Code, Wormtail? Do you want to know how much pain and trouble that's caused for the rest of us? Do you want to know that the only reason Midnight and I aren't going to kill you right here and right now is because of Harry?" Sirius screamed.
"The Marauder Code was a foolish, childish thing. Who needs friends when you have power like I have?"
"That wasn't a foolish thing, Wormtail, it was a Blood Oath. When a blood oath is with that many people and that many years ago, do you have any idea what could happen to you if we break our blood bond with you?" Severus sneered. "What do you think, Padfoot? Shall we?" Sirius nodded.
"We hereby, as the eldest living members of the group made up of Moony, Padfoot, Prongs, Midnight, Winter, and Lily, break any and all links we have with you through the Marauder Code." A bright white light enveloped all three of them.