A/N) Thank you for the comments! Here is the next chapter...

Marked

Chapter Eight

The sun was setting and light gave way to darkness as Sirius was levitated through the Forbidden Forest. He still couldn't move or speak; all he could do was glare at his cousin. He knew it was the end for him but a part of him hoped there would still be a chance of rescue. James wouldn't let him down. Surely Prongs must have realised I'm missing by now? Of course I wouldn't even be in this position if I hadn't let Regulus get to me!

A part of him wondered then if his brother had deliberately provoked him but he dismissed that particular traitorous thought immediately. Regulus didn't want him to die yet he couldn't help the position he had been pushed into by their parents. Regulus' good intentions had ultimately led Sirius to the point where rescue was practically impossible. Unless he could get out of his bindings and perform wandless magic.

My dear cousin won't untie me. She won't give me a chance.

"We're nearly there Sirius!" she crowed, laughing joyfully.

Sirius shuddered at the sound of her voice. The silencing charm was still in effect and he doubted they would remove it until they were in a more secure area. He noticed with some concern that they were now moving away from the forest, slowly walking up a crumbly, rocky path.

They were heading into the mountains.

Stars twinkled above them in the night sky and Sirius closed his eyes as the air around him got cooler. There was one thing he could try… He was an unregistered animagus. If he could just change his hand into a paw, maybe he could slash the ropes binding him? But if he did do that he would give away his most important secret. He cursed quietly to himself. Unfortunately his arms were clamped to his sides so it would be nearly impossible to get the claw to slice through the robes quick enough to escape.

Even if he did get away he didn't have a wand. Though he could perform wandless magic he wouldn't be able to fight against three Death Eaters at once no matter how powerful he thought he was. Sirius had his limits. No, he would have to save his strength for another fight.

That's if I survive to another fight…

The reality of his situation was slowly grinding into him. When they reached their destination, Sirius knew he would be in for a world of pain. His cousin wanted him to suffer and she would make sure she did. No one would be able to stop her this time. If Sirius' parents really wanted him dead and to suffer for his disobedience before the end, Bellatrix Lestrange would take those orders to mean 'kill him slowly'. Sirius didn't care about his own pain: he cared about what his friends would think if his cousin went through with the idea of leaving his mutilated body to find after they were finished with him.

They would blame themselves for letting him to go off on his own. James would forever hate himself for leaving Sirius with his brother, knowing talks with his brother usually led to Sirius needing time out. Remus would be consumed with guilt that he hadn't thought to stop Sirius either and Peter… Well, Sirius couldn't think what Peter would feel if Sirius died.

Finally they emerged out onto an overriding clifftop after finding their way up and around a rocky path before climbing up one last ledge. Embedded within the cliff was a small opening, leading into a bigger cavern. Bellatrix used her wand to levitate Sirius inside. As he floated past her, she manically grinned at him and then laughed, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Sirius shuddered. She couldn't contain her glee. He felt sick.

He was placed in the centre of the dark cavern. Within a few moments light was burning brightly in torches situated around the walls. Sirius realised with some concern this cave must have been where Bellatrix had been hiding whilst keeping an eye upon Hogwarts, waiting for an opportune moment to grab him. She had been preparing for this moment.

He watched as the three Death Eaters cast protective charms around the cave before Dolohov and Rodolphus Lestrange walked out of the cave and vanished, leaving him alone with his crazy cousin.

Sirius swallowed, a bit of fear settling into his gut, as he watched his cousin approach him. Her wand was raised and pointing directly at his chest.

He couldn't move.

"It wouldn't be fun if I kept you silent," she said almost sweetly. "How about it Sirius, would you like your voice back? I would love to hear you scream."

He bristled, stiffening himself for the pain he knew was about to come. He felt the silencing charm lift and then –

"Crucio!"

Hours passed, perhaps even a day since he had been taken.

Sirius' voice was hoarse and his body shook constantly. Bellatrix had long since taken the ropes away that had wrapped around his body, instead tying his wrists together in front of him. She had also removed the majority of his clothes, leaving him wearing just his trousers, though they had been ripped up to above his knees though he doubted it wouldn't be long until she removed the shredded mess just to embarrass him further.

Blood was smeared across his body, down his legs, over his face and covered his chest. He was shaking, unable to control himself due to the multiple torture curses she had used on him. It was just him and Bellatrix in the little cave.

The others had not returned. Clearly she was savouring the chance to have him to herself and make him suffer for his betrayal.

Coldness washed over his body. She hadn't just used the torture curse on him; she had also used the bone-breaker curse as well. He was certain his legs were broken as well as a few ribs and at least his left shoulder was dislocated. She had gleefully shown him the knife she would use to slit his throat with when she was finished.

A part of him wanted it to end because he was so fed up with the pain. He was still losing blood and he could feel it dripping from the open wounds that scattered around his body.

For now he was on his own. He had just seen Bellatrix leave the cave but he was too weak to try to escape. Even if he could move he wouldn't be able to leave. His injuries were extensive and enough to be so he would be leaving a trail of blood behind. His captors would find him easily.

But then he felt something buzzing in his trouser pocket and he heard his name. "Sirius Black!"

Understanding dawned on him as he realised exactly what it was. Luck was on his side. Bellatrix had not found his Two-Way Mirror. He breathed a deep sigh of relief. He couldn't reach it in his position, his arms too weak, too hurt to move. But there was a way to activate it without holding it. They had charmed the mirrors as such.

Swallowing down blood, Sirius spoke one word. "Prongs?" To speak through it face-to-face they had to say each other's proper name whilst holding the mirror but if they just wanted to talk without seeing one another, all they had to do was state their nickname. Since Sirius couldn't reach the mirror he had no choice other than to go for the non-visible route.

"Padfoot? Where are you?" James' voice came back, muffled from the mirror being in Sirius' pocket.

Sirius didn't have the strength to reply but he forced himself to. "Help…. Please help…" He rarely begged but his situation caused for it. He couldn't escape on his own.

James' voice came back urgent and scared. "We can't help you if we don't know where you are!"

Sirius coughed, more blood spluttering out of his mouth. "Mountains…" he managed. "Not… far… from… Hogwarts." Breathing was difficult. His vision was getting dark. What strength he had he was rapidly losing just from a simple conversation with his best friend. "Don't…know…how…much…more…I…can…take."

"We're coming, Padfoot. We'll get you out. I promise," replied James. "See you soon."

Sirius moved his head slightly. "Yeah…"

Unconsciousness claimed him.

They slipped out of the castle under James' invisibility cloak instructing Wormtail to give them fifteen to twenty minutes to get underway before going to the Headmaster and telling him what they had done. Their plan was simple. Fly to the caves. All three clutched a broomstick under the cloak. The only one of them who couldn't really fly was Lily but she had agreed going by broomstick would be the best option. They intended to leave the Castle by the front gates before mounting their brooms and flying up towards the mountains.

James clutched his own broom whilst Remus had Sirius'. Lily had gone to her own dormitory and taken one of her class-mates broom. She had left a note apologising saying she would return it later. She did feel guilty about deceiving her friends yet she felt the situation they were in warranted it. In the end Sirius' life was at stake. The longer they delayed, the higher the chance was Bellatrix Lestrange would kill him. He'd already been gone nearly a day.

Leading them through the grounds James paced quickly. There was a class of fourth years down by the edge of the forest for a lesson and it would look suspicious if James, Remus and Lily just walked out into the grounds. It was necessary to use the invisibility cloak.

Once they past the lesson and were lower down the hills, James threw the cloak off, tucking it into his robes and started to run, broomstick in hand to the front gates. Nearly fifteen minutes had passed since they had left Peter. Time was running out. They couldn't be caught before they had left the grounds. Lily was a little slow and James reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her along faster.

Within minutes they had reached the front gates, looming high above them, gargoyles sitting on each side. They were shut and as James tried to open them, he realised they were magically locked.

"Damn. I can't open them." His plan was rapidly falling to bits. "The charms are too strong."

"Of course," said Lily. "They wouldn't want students just walking out of the school would they? I bet they are charmed that if anyone did open them it would alert Professor Dumbledore straight away."

James kicked a stray piece of bark. "I didn't think this through!"

"We could just fly over," suggested Remus.

Lily shook her head. "No. That would alert the Headmaster too."

"Then how do we get out without alerting anyone?" asked James.

"Well, I don't think it really matters since Peter is telling Dumbledore any minute now," Lily pointed out, "but we can open the gates without alerting them if you are really worried about it. I'm excellent at Charms, remember?"

James' eyes widened. He had forgotten her talent at the subject. If there was anyone who could break down any type of security spell it would be Lily Evans. Her talent was uncanny. Even Professor Flitwick proclaimed he had never seen anyone of her talent in a very long time. It showed Lily had the power to work out a way to get through the Headmaster's charms without alerting him.

Lily held her wand and began to mutter under her breath. James could not discern a word from her but stood beside Remus waiting as patiently as he could. Finally after what seemed like hours but was actually a few minutes there came the sound of a lock turning and the right gate opened.

"Have I ever told you how brilliant you are, Lily?" asked James, grinning madly.

Lily threw him a sneaky look. "I think you've mentioned it at least once a week since we met." She stepped through the gates and the two boys followed.

James looked back as the gate closed.

"I've managed to key the wards so the defences return as soon as the gate closed. If I've done it right, which I think I have, Professor Dumbledore won't know how we got out," explained Lily.

James looked up at the mountains hovering in the distance over the Forbidden Forest. "Come on." He straddled his broom and rose into the air with Remus following behind him.

He looked back and saw Lily rising slowly into the air. She had a firm grip on the broomstick but a worried look on her face. She nearly slid off the side.

James moved back towards her. "Just think where you want to go. The broom will respond to whoever is using it."

Lily nodded. She rose into the air and moved forward, not as gracefully as James but enough she'd be able to get on without stopping their progress.

James came up beside her. "Are you ready?"

She nodded.

James turned his head to the mountains. "We'll make for halfway up the mountains. There are several caves there that Sirius could be held in. I'd rather arrive on foot and not fly straight into any trap either." He aimed his broom towards the Forbidden Forest. He shouted to the other two flying beside him. "We'll skim the top of the Forest."

We're coming, Padfoot. Just hold on a little longer.

"Sleeping are we? Do you believe I will leave you alone if you are?"

Sirius was dragged awake as his cousin gripped his hair and pulled his head up. He was drowsy and was feeling the blood loss.

"You don't have long left, cousin… In fact I probably haven't got much time left with you before you die. I had better make this count, hadn't I?" she giggled, dropping his head.

Sirius groaned as she rolled him onto his back. He bit back a scream as his blooded flesh made contact with the muddy cave floor. What was she planning now?

He saw a glint of silver in her right hand. She placed it on his chest, just above his right nipple. Bellatrix leaned down over him and licked the blooded wounds on his face. He shivered. He hated her doing that but she seemed to enjoy the taste of it in her mouth. She wanted to know what dirty blood tasted like.

His vision was blurring again and little tears gathered at the corner of his eyes.

She pressed the knife down on his chest, giggling madly, and then to his horror she began to carve into his skin.

With each letter she etched into his chest, she licked the blood off the open wounds, savouring the taste before continuing with her work. When she was done, she gripped his chin with her blood soaked hands and forced him to watch as she licked his blood off of her knife before leaning close to his ear, running her hands through his hair and whispering to him: "You are a little blood-traitor aren't you?"

And with dread in his stomach, Sirius knew exactly what she had carved into his chest, marking him forever.

Lily was relieved when they arrived halfway up the mountains, eagerly planting her feet on the path winding upwards towards a plethora of caves. She had never flown for so long before in her life. Relived it was over for now Lily joined James and Remus in placing their brooms against the wall. They wouldn't need them now unless they got Sirius out.

James led the way up the winding path, coming to a stop as they found a small opening in the rock face. James ducked inside but seconds later re-emerged shaking his head in disappointment. As they wound up the path, getting colder with every passing step the higher they went, Remus held out a hand, stepping forward and sniffing the air.

Lily watched him curiously.

"What is it Moony?" whispered James.

"I smell… blood… pain…" Remus' face was white as he turned back to face the others. "We're close."

James pushed forward, turning a corner and coming to an overriding clifftop and climbing up one last ledge. Ahead of them was a dark cave and all of them could feel the magic oozing forth from the cave.

"Protective barriers…" said Remus.

James turned to look at her. "Lily?"

She knew what he wanted her to do.

"If you can break through Dumbledore's wards you can do it with Death Eaters ones," James pointed out.

She nodded and raised her wand. She had become adept at casting non-verbal spells, working through the barriers held across the front of the cave, countering each defensive with an attack of her own, before managing to bring the whole lot down in one go, once she had figured out the configuration of the wards.

"They're down," she confirmed.

"Remus?" James asked. "Is he…?"

Remus sniffed the air again. "He's there. Padfoot is in there… and… he's dying…"

Lily blanched. She wanted to ask why James was asking Remus to smell for him but a part of her already knew why, had always suspected… It meant Severus had been right after all and at this moment she didn't really care what Remus Lupin was. He was her friend and would remain so.

"Wands everyone," advised James, stepping forwards.

Carefully and cautiously they inched into the cave.

To be continued...

Please don't kill me! Please let me know what you think!

Bellatrix is insane... And there is a reason why this story is called 'Marked' after all. What has she carved into Sirius' chest?

It was said Lily excelled in Charms so I figured it wouldn't be out of the realms of possibility for her to be extraordinary especially in infiltrating wards. I think Lily, if she had lived, would have been someone special... And the whole broomstick thing... that's the only method of transport they can use to get ahead of Dumbledore. Though they would have started Apparition lessons they are not qualified to do it and flying to a destination they are not sure of on where the exact place is, is a lot better than making an unauthorised Port Key.

The next chapter should be posted next week, however I am on holiday so I'm hoping I will have internet connection but if not then I will a week on Friday when I'm back.

Until next time,

the-writer1988