Chapter Three

When Anton arrived in the Albanian forest, he was brought to the entrance of a small cave. It was a dark night with the tall trees blocking the moonlight from filtering down, Anton listened to see if he could hear anything, when only silence greeted his ears he ducked into the cave and adjusted his eyes to brighten in the dark. In the future were it was dark every hour of the day, it had been a necessary extra to have his eyes manipulated to see in the dark and to see the traces of magical signatures, and it was a decision he never regretted.

Inside the dank cave was a small space that Anton could hunch in while he studied the walls. The entire wall of the cave had tiny tunnels burrowed into it, each was about 10cm in diameter and crawling with rats.

Anton pulled his wand out and pointed it at the wall.

'Accio' Anton muttered flicking his wand,

nothing happened for a few minutes until quite suddenly a dead rat came shooting out one of the tunnels, it was rotting and blood covered with bugs crawling all over with it. Anton pulled the compass out and searched for Peter, this time the compass signalled that Pettigrew was straight in front of him.

Anton channelled his energy and summoned a ball of fire in his hand, the fire burned in a hot ball lighting the cave with an intense glow. Anton thrust the fireball at the

rat, the rat ignited with the flames and burned hotly for about 30 seconds, when the flame died down the only thing that was left was of the traitor was a cremated husk.

Shouts sounded in the distance and lights flared through the forest.

'I saw fire!' came a shout 'over there!'

Anton cursed under his breath and clicking his fingers he vanished the remains before sticking his head out of the cave, outside a group of people were blasting trees out of their way with wands. Anton shoved his own wand in its holster and crawled out of the cave, this time instead of just summoning a small portion of fire Anton surpassed his previous effort.

He placed his hands together and slowly drew them apart, in between his hands a sphere of fire grew with every centimetre he separated his hands. When the glittering inferno had reached roughly a metre in width he hurled it towards the voices and disaperated in the noise that followed the fireballs explosion against a patch of trees.

He apperated back to London, with the reasoning that if he went anywhere he might as well go near the people who were the most dedicated to the downfall of Voldemort. Anton landed just outside the Leaky Cauldron and pushing the door open he strolled into the pub desperate for a meal and a hot shower.

'What can I help you with?' Tom the barman asked smiling as Anton approached the bar.

'If you've got a spare room for the night I'll take it,' Anton answered 'and a firewhisky would be appreciated.'

'I reckon I've got both of them' Tom answered pulling a glass off a shelf and filling it with a shot of whisky 'rooms to be paid in advance 3 galleons per night, 4 if you want breakfast'

Anton pulled his wallet from his pocket and counted out the required amount for the barman 'can I play how many nights I'm staying by ear?' he asked.

'Eye ye can,' Tom said carefully 'but if you cause any problems you'll only be welcome the one.'

'Understandable,' Anton acknowledged 'but I doubt I'll be the one to cause trouble.'

Tom handed a large key to Anton and slid the firewhisky in front of him

'That'll be a room for the night and 5 sickles for the drink' he said holding out his hand.

Anton dropped thirteen galleons into the expectant hand and picking up the drink he downed it in one swallow, placing the empty glass on the counter he pushed away and limped slightly to the stairs, the pain that had been building back up only slightly numbed by the alcohol.

The clock next to the stairs displayed the time to be half ten, the bar was still packed and amid the noise Anton's presence had hopefully gone unnoticed.

Upon entering his room Anton only had the energy to pull his boots off, sighing at the rawness of his body Anton dropped back onto the four-poster bed and slipped quickly into a dreamless sleep.

-=-=--=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-

The next morning pulled Anton groggily and painfully awake, the ache that had originated from his side was now a throbbing burn. Anton pulled himself out of the comfort of the bed and stumbled into the bathroom slowly shedding his clothes as he went.

Stepping under the heat of the water soothed Anton's aching head, and it was only then he dared to look down at his side. Pulling the waterlogged bandage off he surveyed the wound in surprise, were the knife had entered was a deep gash the colour of which was inky black. The veins that had extended from it had become tinged with the dark blackness.

Anton made a face of disgust at the lesion before averting his gaze, instead he focused on getting completely clean, the warmth of the water making him sigh in delight. When he stepped out of the shower exactly five minutes later he ignored the towels at the side and as an alternative summoned fire to dance under his skin warming it pleasantly and evaporating the water droplets hanging on his skin.

After scourgifying his clothes Anton pulled them on and headed downstairs for some breakfast. The Leaky Cauldron was already full by the time he arrived, the early shoppers were passing through and the other guests were already shovelling food down their throats. Anton ordered his own breakfast and sat down at a vacant table, a paper had been left on it and Anton picked it up curiously to read the headline.

Patient walks out of St Mungo's Unnoticed in Serious Condition!

Anton groaned out loud at this and tugging his hood further over his face he scanned the article:-

A patient that the hospital has refused to identify yesterday walked out of a private ward only minutes after waking up from a deep coma!

We question why exactly patients in serious conditions are not monitored more closely, if one can walk away from the third floor what exactly is stopping those that pose a risk to themselves and to others?

Though St Mungo's refused to comment our inside source told us that the patient is rumoured to be 'Anton Lukyen' Lukyen was recently hurt when…

It carried on to repeat what it had said the day before, Anton folded the paper up ignoring the section that read 'maybe Mr Potter should pay a visit to St Mungo's to help explain his delusions.'

Anton looked up to see his food arriving, he quickly ate the fried breakfast and left the pub with his body feeling properly fed for the first time in ages.

Next though he had a problem, if he entered any apothecary to obtain pain relief he risked the possibility of being recognised. Biting the bullet Anton stood up from his table and left the Leaky Cauldron to arrive back in Diagon Alley.

It was a Saturday morning so it was busy with shopper's, young children that had not yet left for Hogwarts were being shepherded around by parents with the promises of ice cream if they were good.

Anton weaved in and out of the jostling crowds unsure of the layout of some of the less familiar shops, eventually the sign he had been searching for made itself known.

Amrahan's Apothecary

Harry ducked into the dingy shop and mentally adjusted his eyes to the gloom, there was a man standing behind the till watching him closely with a curl of distrust in his lip.

'Can I help you?' he asked waspishly.

'I'm hoping you can,' Anton replied 'I'm looking for simple pain relief potion.'

'Pain relief.' repeated the man turning to the bottle lined shelves 'do you want pain relief or pain blocking? Though pain blocking can be more volatile.'

'I'll have the pain relief,' Anton said pulling out his wallet 'medium strength please.'

'I'll give you Lavacion potion,' the shopkeeper said pulling a small red bottle down from a shelf 'its fast acting and effective.'

'How much?' Anton asked calmly.

'Nine sickles,' the man replied placing the bottle in a brown paper.

Anton handed the amount over without question and after receiving the potion he left the shop to stand once again in the warm sun. The uncomfortable thing about wearing a cloak in the summer was the fact that it was unpleasantly hot, Anton pulled the cork of the bottle and took a swig of the potion.

It burnt his mouth on contact, a vile stinging flavour that tasted foully like ash. Forcing the revolting concoction down Anton retched slightly in disgust.

The only positive thing about the Lavacion potion was that it did ease the pain he was suffering, with his mouth still smarting he started walking towards Knockturn Alley and the shady customers that haunted the area.

Anton swept down the narrow alleyway ignoring the witches and wizards who were selling cheap rubbish from trays.

'A sickle a pack!' a witch shouted steeping in front of Anton 'just a sickle!'

'Not interested,' Anton replied trying to get past her 'now move!'

Before Anton could get rid of the grubby little witch she shot out a filthy hand and shoved a dirty cloth into Anton's hand, before he had time even to blink the familiar pull of a portkey tugged at his navel and he vanished from Knockturn Alley leaving behind a very pleased Death Eater.

-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-

Anton landed in a lane with a thump, it was an empty dirt track road with no sign of modern day life. He turned round searching for anything that would tell him where he was, Anton cursed the witch under his breath, and then cursed himself at his own stupidity to allow a dark witch to get so close.

'You're supposed to be an expert' he berated himself quietly 'what a genius to get tricked so damn quickly!'

Anton concentrated on trying to dissaperate but found something was blocking his power. Anton immediately switched into full alert as his situation became painfully apparent, this was no usual occurrence and he was in danger.

He was waiting barely a second when the land around him became filled with Death Eaters portkeying in. Anton pulled his wand from its holster and dropped into a battle stance as one of the Death Eaters stepped forward.

There were about twenty of them give or take and they all had their wands out, bad odds but not as bad as he'd previously faced and escaped from. Ignoring the pain in his body he geared himself up to fight. The Death Eater that had moved forward began speaking in a cold voice.

'Anton Lukyen, you have been identified as having strong powers' he said his eyes glinting at Anton through his mask 'we are giving you a chance to join the side of the Dark Lord and serve under him in the coming battle.'

'And if I refuse?' Anton asked calmly shifting his weight to centre himself.

'You will be killed,' the Death Eater replied smoothly 'you will never have this chance again, so I advise you to do the right thing.'

'The right thing,' pondered Anton 'and in who's opinion is it right?'

'The Dark Lords,' another Death Eater barked 'so you'd better decide soon as we're getting tired of waiting.'

'In that case,' Anton said conjuring fire in his spare hand 'I choose the wrong way, it seems to suit me more.'

Anton hurled the ball of fire at a Death Eater setting their robes on fire instantly, the other Death Eaters all started to raise their own wands and attempt to curse Anton. Anton dodged beams of spells as quickly as possible while throwing as many of his own silent curses back at the Death Eaters with his wand, at the same time he summoned fire ball after fire ball, throwing these with remarkable speed and accuracy.

A smashing sound echoed through the battle scene and other wizards apperated onto the road as the wards fell. Anton recognised them immediately as the Order of the Phoenix, they joined the fray with their own wands held high. Anton focused on his own battle, a Death Eater was duelling with him, now the others had been distracted it was a much more even footing.

'Incendio!' the person yelled.

The spell hit Anton who hadn't even bothered blocking it, the fire licked around Anton but didn't burn him. As the Death Eater was staring shocked at Anton, he used the opportunity to launch his own attack, throwing off his cloak he slammed a cutting hex into the person's arm bringing them screaming to the ground. As the individual pushed himself back up Anton threw a bone breaking curse into their neck, it snapped instantly but the man remained breathing, if he didn't move there was a chance he could be saved.

Anton turned back to the rest of the fight, a lot of the Death Eaters had fled the scene leaving their comrades to the mercy of the light wizards. One Death Eater was starting to shout a curse his wand aimed at the back of Sirius Black. Anton's heart constricted as he recognised his Godfather, without stopping to think Anton summoned a large ball of fire and hurled it as hard as possible at the Death Eater. The fire ball smashed into the Death Eater knocking him off his feet and throwing him at least thirty feet to land in a heap.

The moment the fire had left Anton the pain had thundered back at least five times more powerful than it had ever been, the sudden blow sent him falling to his knees. The rest of the Death Eaters had either been incapacitated or killed, Anton put his hand to the searing pain in his side, when he drew his hand back it was coated with blood so dark it was tinged with black.

'Shit' he said in a conversational voice, people were rushing towards him with Sirius at the front.

Before they reached Anton he felt the darkness drawing him in and sucking his energy.

The next thing he was aware of was being slumped on the hard ground with someone applying hard pressure to his side. He was feeling and seeing everything with a detached sensation, Sirius was next to him calling to him worriedly.

'Anton, don't die!' he commanded his voice highlighting his panic

Dying, that was an old concept to Anton, he didn't feel like he was about to die, but then again if Sirius's and the others faces were anything to go by, it appeared that he was very close to dying. Anton felt a laugh of disbelief fall out of his mouth, the laugh turned to coughing, a coughing which racked his whole body painfully. The coughing stole his breath and left him gasping painfully for air, people were shouting in alarm and Anton felt a tug of a portkey, he fell into blackness without the energy to stay awake.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The pain was there the moment the blackness set him free, there was no freedom from it. Anton was somewhere but he didn't know where, his eyes were clenched tightly shut against the pain little things were digging into his arms that felt remarkably like the tubes he had in his arms earlier. Anton moved his hand less than a centimetre and the small movement sent blinding white pain through his head, he gasped roughly at the pain, his breathing was rough and ragged as if the effort was a step too far.

'Anton,' a voice said softly from somewhere by his ear 'can you tell me what hurts?'

'Ev…ery…th.i…ng h…h…urts' he whispered painfully not moving as much as possible.

'I need more pain relief,' the voice said full of authority to someone else 'this is ridiculous, he shouldn't be in this much pain!'

'Anton,' the voice said once again close to him 'are you allergic to anything?'

When Anton didn't answer the voice said more sharply 'Anton! Answer me, are you allergic to anything?'

'R..oo…t o…of n…n…n' Anton trailed of as tiredness tempted him with unconsciousness.

'Stay awake!' the voice said shouting slightly and bringing Anton back slightly from the darkness 'What are you allergic to? Root of what? Come ON! Root of What?'

'Ni..gh.t…in…dr…a..d.e' Anton groaned out with the pain still bursting through his body, white hot lances of pain.

A hand grabbed one of the tubes he could feel digging into his arm and pulled it out roughly, Anton cried out as it jarred his body.

'We've been pumping that potion into him for twenty minutes,' another voice said nervously 'its main ingredient is the Root of Nightindrade.'

'I know that!' the main voice said annoyed 'get me a bezoer…'

Anton slipped back into unconsciousness welcoming the painlessness of it.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--

'Wakey wakey!' sang a voice into his ear 'time to wake up!'

'Sirius!' that was Lupin's voice 'he needs rest not you hounding him.'

'It's been ages,' Sirius moaned loud enough for Anton to hear 'how am I supposed to thank somebody for giving me my life back, it they look like they're about to leave their own!'

'He's not dying anytime soon,' Lupin chastened him 'just very ill.'

'He was out for nine days last time,' Sirius grumbled loudly 'how long are we meant to wait this time?'

'You heard what Healer Rowley said,' Lupin said tiredly as if they'd had this conversation before 'first he has to wake up from the coma like state and then he'll need lots of rest afterwards to recover.'

Anton listened with interest to the conversation, at least he'd changed something this time. Sirius had been declared a free man when he was still alive. He shifted and was this time rewarded to no stabbing pains.

'Wakey wakey!' Sirius sang again but with less enthusiasm.

'He's not going to wake up just because you're singing,' Lupin laughed 'though that could be enough to scare him awake.'

'Or frighten me to death,' Anton said loudly causing somebody to crash into something in surprise, he opened his eyes slowly to see Sirius picking up a tray off the floor looking embarrassed. Anton stifled down the look of joy that was threatening to creep onto his face and instead looked expectantly at the two men.

'Let me guess,' he said flickering his eyes around the white room 'St Mungo's?'

'I think you arrived this time with even worse injuries than last time,' Lupin said seriously 'you were even closer to dying this time than last time.'

Anton couldn't help the smile that spread across his features 'I should keep a record,' he joked his voice weak 'I've lost count of the amount of time I've nearly died.'

'You stopped breathing,' Sirius said sitting back in a spare chair next to Lupin his face grim 'twice!'

'And then you nearly died because of the Root of Nightindrade,' Lupin added unsmiling 'it started shutting your body down.'

Anton looked down at his body, it was once again dressed in blue pyjamas, the number of tubes that had been pressed into his arms had almost doubled in number, each channelling bright colours into his blood. Lifting one of his arms it felt heavy and unresponsive, Anton poked one of the wires untrustingly.

'I wouldn't do that if I were you,' Lupin warned 'those potions are keeping you from reverting to the mess you were, I don't think the Healer's would be to happy if you dislodged something.'

Anton dropped his hand back to his side and looked at the two marauder's closely 'How much pain relief am I under?' he asked suspiciously.

'You've got enough in you supply the whole of Hogwarts for a year,' Sirius answered a small smile reaching his eyes 'but when they bring you of it, all of that lovely pain is going to come flooding back.'

Anton groaned and dropped his head back in his pillow 'how long have I been here this time?' he yawned.

'Four days,' Lupin said quietly 'and that yawn had better not be one of your creations because it's not working if it is.'

'We're gonna stay here and make sure you don't run away again,' Sirius said grabbing a grape from the side of Anton's bed.

'I didn't run away,' Anton said trying to be convincing 'I had something important to do!'

'Just think though,' Sirius said smirking 'if you hadn't left you probably wouldn't be stuck here now.'

'Is that supposed make me feel better?' Anton said stifling another yawn.

'No it's the annoying truth,' Sirius replied 'you should get some sleep you're on your last leg.'

'I think I just might,' Anton agreed sinking back into the comfort of the pillows 'though I don't see why you both have to stay here.'

'We're not taking any chances this time,' Lupin said firmly 'you look harmless, but I'm learning there's more to you than meets the eye.

You don't know,' Anton thought to himself 'just how true you are.'