A/N) Wow, I'm surprised people are still reading this! I actually didn't expect anyone to still be reading it, so I must extend my thanks to everyone who reviewed. I still haven't found the plan to this story so I must have not moved it from my old laptop when I bought a new one, so that's a shame. The good news is, is that I have the ending in my head (but that won't be for ages) and I know what will happen in the next chapter.

I should also say that I will be on holiday next week. I may or may not take my computer with me, but if I do there is no guarantee of an internet connection either, but either way, I will be hard at work on writing this story. I hope to get another chapter up before I go away though to make up for the lack of updates for so long :)

And now onto the chapter...

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Confrontation

"So, we won't be getting away then," said Sirius, lamely. He held his wand aloft, his eyes watching every Death Eater in the circle around them. You knew this was a trap and yet you still came...he berated himself.

"Will you come quietly or will we have to stun you first?" asked Voldemort, twirling his own wand in his fingers.

"What do you think?" spat Sirius, his eyes glaring at the monster in front of him.

"Sirius, I don't think it is a good idea to bait him," whispered Remus, even as he tried to stand on his own two feet without his friend's aid.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "You think?" He was angry at himself; annoyed that Voldemort had thought of setting up Anti-Disapparation Wards and at his own stupidity for not attempting to break them down himself.

"Surrender and perhaps your death will not be as painful as it would be if you fight me," smiled Voldemort.

Sirius grimaced. "You told me just yesterday at the Ministry that you did not want to murder a pure-blood wizard like me. Still dealing in lies? Is that why barely half of your former followers have returned to you?"

Voldemort laughed softly. "You are the guardian of Harry Potter and I know he sees you as the father he never had –"

"And because of you he has no parents!" shouted Sirius, anger coursing through him. He didn't care he was facing the worst Dark Wizard of all time. He didn't care it was likely that he would die any minute... If he was to lose his life he would go down telling Voldemort exactly what he thought of him. Yes, he was scared, but that didn't mean he wouldn't shut up, despite Remus' continued prods of his elbow.

The Dark Lord chose to ignore his outburst, though his red eyes flashed. "To get to Harry Potter, I need you. He will come for you, just like you came for your friend here... exactly as I planned... By the end of the week Harry Potter will be dead, and so will you." Voldemort's eyes moved to Remus' bloodied face. "But your werewolf friend can be disposed of..." He raised his wand. "In fact, he is of no more use to me..."

"NO!"

Sirius pushed Remus to the forest floor even as a wash of green light flew over their heads, impacting against the tree they had been cornered against. He covered his friend's body with his own, but knew it was already a foolish thing to do because it would be so easy to get to Remus. He raised his own wand, determined to cast a shield charm but a masked Death Eater got there first.

"Expelliarmus!"

Sirius' wand flew from his fingertips and into the darkness, even as he tried to keep a grasp on it.

"Give it up, Black. You are defenceless!"

"I will not move!" Still, Sirius did not move from shielding Remus' body with his own. All they had to do was stun him and move him away from his friend, but obviously they didn't want to do that – they wanted him to see Remus die.

"Very well, Black," said Voldemort, moving towards him, pointing his wand directly at Sirius. "Crucio!"

Sirius screamed, writhing on the ground. He became aware of rolling away from the protection he had been giving Remus and the torture curse was lifted. He raised his head from the ground and attempted to scramble to his feet but a booted foot belonging to Lucius Malfoy stepped onto his back, pushing him to the ground, keeping him trapped on the forest floor.

Voldemort slowly approached Remus. "I give you one chance to join me, and if you do, I will spare your life."

"I would rather die than fight alongside you!" spat Remus, glaring hatefully up at the Dark Lord, blood dribbling down his chin.

"Very well," said Voldemort smoothly. "You will die then." He raised his wand.

Sirius struggled violently but knew he would be too late –

POP!

POP!

POP!

Identical yells of 'STUPEFY' echoed all around him. The booted foot on Sirius' back fell away and he looked up.

Voldemort whirled as Albus Dumbledore strode into the clearing, his robes wrapped tight around his body and his wand held aloft, his wizened eyes locked upon the Dark Lord's own. Behind him stood Kingsley Shacklebolt, Hestia Jones, Bill Weasley, Alastor Moody and Nymphadora Tonks, each brandishing their own wands, keeping the Death Eaters that they had not stunned covered.

"Hello Tom," Dumbledore said quite calmly as if Voldemort was a little boy who needed telling off.

"Dumbledore!" Voldemort was enraged.

"I suggest you leave while you still can, Tom," continued the Headmaster.

Sirius began to crawl towards Remus. The wards that the Death Eaters had constructed around the forest must have been broken down without them knowing allowing the Order of the Phoenix to give them a surprise attack. They shouldn't let themselves become complacent... a mistake of Voldemort's in the past and one that he had repeated this night.

He risked a glance back over his shoulder as he grasped Remus' arm. He saw Voldemort's calculating red eyes looking at him. He swallowed. He knew instantly that the Dark Lord would not let him go that easily; that he would keep hunting him in order to get to Harry. He had been saved for now, but the Dark Lord would not forget and would not stop until he got what he wanted.

"I will not forget this, Black!" With a resounding POP, Voldemort disappeared from the forest; his followers that had not been stunned followed him, with two of them moving swiftly towards their fallen comrades and Apparating them out.

"You let him go?" seethed Sirius. "You could have killed him!"

Dumbledore chuckled. "You know full well that only Harry can destroy Voldemort." His gaze darkened. "But he will not let you go, Sirius. You need to be careful."

"I know that, Albus, but I think we have more important things at stake here," said Sirius. "Like Remus for one."

"Of course," said Dumbledore motioning for Kingsley and Hestia to come forward. "Please take Remus to St. Mungo's and stand guard. We cannot be sure that he will be safe if left on his own."

The two Aurors acknowledged the orders, walked over to Remus and lifted him by the arms before Dis-Apparating.

"Sirius, I need a word with you," said Dumbledore.

"I already know what you are going to say," he replied. "I shouldn't have come but I couldn't have left him here. Voldemort will be back for me but I'm an Auror, and it is my job to take risks. Now, if you excuse me, I need to get back home." Sirius knew it was rude of him to just leave but the Headmaster had tried to stop him from finding Remus and that could have cost him another friend. He had already lost James to his own foolish choice all those years ago... he couldn't lose the only friend he had left.

Turning away and walking into the darkness, Sirius chose a carefully concealed spot and Disapparated back to Grimmauld Place.

"Sirius?" Harry jumped up from the table, concern written across his features. "What happened to you?"

"I got into a bit of a fight with a few Death Eaters and Voldemort," he said casually. His face was covered in dirt and grime from where he lain on the forest earth.

"WHAT?"

He shrugged. "It's nothing to really be concerned about. I got away didn't I?"

Harry shivered. "The thought of losing you..." He couldn't bring himself to finish so he started again. "You're the only family I have left..."

"I know and you won't lose me. I was there because werewolves have joined Voldemort." There was no harm in telling Harry this. He'd find out soon enough anyway. "Remus was undercover there... we heard that the werewolves that were against joining Voldemort were killed... I went to find Remus."

"Is he alive?" asked Harry fearfully.

Sirius nodded. "He is. He's at St. Mungo's... but what I should tell you is that it was a trap for me... and Voldemort very nearly got me if not for Dumbledore's intervention. I have to ask you this again, Harry, but please, do not come after me if I am captured... I'm not going to hide while there is a war to be fought. I have to take risks but you don't. It is imperative that you survive and go onto fight, whatever happens." He grasped Harry's shoulders tightly. "And this time, promise me, please?"

"I did promise last time," answered Harry, confused.

"Actually, you never said the words 'I promise'," grinned Sirius.

"Oh... I was hoping you missed that..."

"Nothing gets by me, Harry. James would kill me if I let it go. He took his promises very seriously, he did."

"What promises?"

Sirius sighed. "You're deviating, Harry."

Harry bit his lip. How could he promise his godfather such a thing? How could he promise to leave Sirius in Voldemort's hands or not avenge him if he was killed? He'd be alone again; hadn't Sirius after-all, gone out to get revenge when he had found that Wormtail had betrayed his best friend? But then he got thrown in Azkaban for something he didn't do...

"Harry." Sirius' voice was stern. He was not going to let this go.

"I promise."

Sirius patted him on the shoulder. "Good. And to answer your earlier question, your father made a promise when he was twelve to marry Lily. He never broke it. It took him several years of convincing to get her to even like him, but he managed it in the end. And I hope, like your father, you'll keep your promise and not break it."

Harry couldn't reply to that. He was certain Sirius knew that he would not keep the promise he had just made... He just only hoped that Sirius was careful enough so that he wouldn't have to break it.

To be continued...

Please let me know what you think!

Coming up next the war takes a turn for the worse...

the-writer1988