Guess who's back~
I want to send out a huge, special thanks to the amazing and talented Kanathia, who's been working with me to get the rest of this fic finished. The credit for this chapter goes to her! Go give her your love, guys. Enjoy!
Harry and Hermione tried to fight their way past the whipping branches of the whomping willow to no avail. Any time they made progress and got close enough to the tree that they could see through the roots and into the hole Ron had disappeared into, they were smacked backwards by the thrashing plant.
Harry was beginning to think the whole thought of diving after Ron a bit mad and perhaps unachievable when, out of nowhere, a fluffy tail caught both his and Hermione's attention. Hermione let out a sob as Crookshanks moved into the striking range of the tree. However, the cat skipped up to the roots, expertly avoiding the deadly swings, and pressed his front paw against one of the many knots. Instantly, the tree froze. The cat slipped beneath the roots without waiting for the humans.
The two shared a look before bolting for the entrance; They weren't sure how long the tree would remain frozen and didn't want to try their luck at having to press the knot themselves.
The hole opened up into an earthen corridor. It was dark, barely bright enough to see their hands in front of them. Somewhere in the distance, they could hear Ron's yells. Harry breathed a sigh of relief. At least that meant his red haired friend was still alive. "Lumos." Hermione muttered beside him and he quickly whipped out his own wand and mimicked the spell.
They started warily down the hallway, wands drawn, moving cautiously but with haste. There was no telling if Ron would become dog chow if they lingered. Slowly, the earthen path turned into stone and even then it felt as if they walked on forever. Minutes passed and Harry was sure they had to have passed from Hogwart's borders. He shivered as they reached another hole. It led up and they could see just a bit more ambient light through it. It was the first wood they'd set eyes on since they'd moved away from the tree as well.
They climbed slowly, wincing each time a floorboard squeaked beneath their feet. The yelling was gone now replaced by an eerie silence.
"I think we're in the shrieking shack." Hermione whispered, her voice just barely louder than a breath.
She pointed down as they stood beside each other topside. Apparently she didn't feel it safe enough to continue talking. A thick layer of dust covered the floor, undisturbed for many years, and through the middle of the room, stretching into the hall, ran a clean streak like something heavy had been dragged through it. Harry nodded at Hermione, catching on to what she meant with her silent stares. The dog must have pulled Ron through the dust. If they followed it, they would find their friend.
They set off, following the marks and occasional paw print.
The trail ended at a door behind which they could hear quiet shuffling and a whimpering sound. Harry and Hermione shared another look. Harry held up his hand with three fingers extended. He put them down and then extended one again, then the second. On the third they burst into the room, wands extended, to be faced with a terrified Ron and little else. Ron laid next to a large bed clutching his leg and rocking slightly.
Hermione gave a little gasp and rushed forward.
"Ron?!" Harry exclaimed with a rush of relief.
"Are you okay?" Hermione demanded, eying his leg, which was resting at an odd angle.
"Where's the dog?" Harry asked, gazing about behind Ron.
Ron was pale and stuttering, and his eyes were locked at some point just above and behind Harry's head. He lifted a trembling finger. "I-it's not a dog. It's a trap!" Ron finally got out. "It's him!"
Harry whirled around to come face to face with none other than Sirius Black.
The man gave a crazed grin as he slammed the door shut behind the room's new occupants. Harry was left to scuttle backwards a bit in surprise.
"Expelliarmus!" Black cried and both Harry's and Hermione's wands flew from their grasp into Black's waiting hand.
Evra Von was completely lost. He was determined to help Darren by at least retrieving his corpse, but he couldn't honestly say if he was going in the right direction.
He'd been sort of counting on Sirius to help with the whole 'location' thing. After all, Hogwarts was a massive place and this was his first time wandering the grounds. It didn't help that the sun had set several minutes ago and the shadows cast by the trees he was surrounded by were throwing off his depth perception.
He wanted to throw caution to the wind and exit the canopy, but he knew provoking the wizards would only end with raising the body count. Or would they keep him alive to do studies on him? He shivered at the thought. Either way it wouldn't be a pleasant experience for him.
He stopped and untangled his cloak from a tree branch. He had to be almost there, right?
Things were getting a bit crazy in the room. Harry was trapped in the room with an escaped convict, two professors, his best friends, and a rat that the two conscious men in front of him were convinced was actually another human.
Oh, and Lupin was a werewolf.
The crazy factor was through the roof. At least he was armed now. He felt much better with his wand securely lodged in his hand. His eyes darted to Snape, who was laying unconscious on the bed. It was certainly the first time he'd ever seen Expelliarmus do that to someone.
"What are you going to do to him if I give him to you?" Ron asked anxiously, clutching the supposed 'Pettigrew' tightly to his chest.
"Force him to show himself." Lupin responded calmly. "If he really is a rat it won't hurt him."
Ron clutched the rat tighter for a moment before finally relinquishing him. Lupin gave him a reassuring smile. He took Scabbers back toward Sirius who was practically dancing with joy at having long last found his prey.
"Together?" Black asked.
"I think so." Lupin agreed. "On three. One, two, THREE!"
Together they both shot blue sparks from their wands. Scabbers hung in mid air for a second before his form began to twist and contort.
Everyone in the room watched in morbid fascination as the rat elongated and began to take on human form. Ron's face was practically laced with disgust and slight anger. Understandably so. He'd walked around with Scabbers, nee Peter clinging to him for years.
The man began to fidget almost immediately as the spell released him for its grasp. His large eyes turned from one person to the next pleadingly.
"R- Remus… S- Sirius…" he said focusing on his former friends. "My friends…"
"Some friends…" Harry muttered darkly.
Crepsley wandered about, loathe to admit that he was still unsure about what to do. Evra had stormed off with the wizard they'd found inhabiting the decrepit old house they'd also taken temporary residence in. But he hadn't said where they were going. He was sure the piece of paper he'd found near the front door was a note… probably. He hadn't had much luck figuring out its contents though.
So he'd wandered about, a bit concerned for the snake boy, hoping that Evra had gone looking through the village again.
After several hours though he had to admit, the chances that Evra was here in this small village and Crepsley had missed him during his multiple checks were slim. So he gave up for the moment. He would return to the house and hope Evra would be on his way shortly. He needed to plan a way to rescue Darren after all and that took time. Time that was significantly being eaten at by his fruitless search for Evra.
Larten approached the house on the narrow, winding road that led out of the village. This house was the only one built in this direction, and the villagers seemed keen on avoiding it so it had provided a nice resting point.
His nose twitched as he easily made it over the fence and into the overgrown yard. He rubbed it, ignoring the smell of human. The stairs creaked under his weight and he forced his way through the window next to the front door after checking that there was no one to spot him. The entrance hall was empty. He took a few steps in and suddenly the overload of human scents was confusing. He couldn't still be smelling people from town- he was too far out. He blinked at a sudden cascade of voices sounded upstairs and raised an eyebrow. For a split second hope rose in his chest. Maybe one of the people up there was Darren… but no. None of those scents belonged to his assistant.
Had the rightful owners of the house returned and found either Evra or the wizard 'Sirius'? No… that was improbable. The house had been too long abandoned for that. Perhaps children had wandered in as some sort of test of bravery? He made his way to the stairs curious about who was in his provisional abode. He hoped that whoever it was, they at least hadn't started a fight with the young snake boy. Or worse yet, found out he was a snake boy. They would probably try to ship him off to a laboratory out of curiosity.
He hastened his approach.
It wasn't hard to locate the group. Their voices were loud, obviously uncaring about being caught. They were in the last room at the end of the hall. Crepsley wasn't distracted enough to not notice the absence of dust. He raised an eyebrow at the gleaming streak of clean floor. Something had been dragged through here.
He was perhaps halfway down the hallway when he smelled the blood. Someone inside was injured, but not overly so. There'd been a fight then?
He approached more cautiously. Someone in the room may be hostile.
"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED! DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!"
Crepsley jerked back at the ferocity of the tone.
"You should have realized that if Voldemort didn't kill you then we would." A much calmer man said icily. "Goodbye, Peter."
A moment's pause sounded in which Crepsley collected himself.
A young boy's voice screaming 'No' had him entering the door faster than he would have cared to admit. He'd never really care for children in the past. Perhaps Darren was having some effect on him.
Everyone in the room seemed more than a little shocked at the new arrival, wide eyes turning to focus on him.
"What on Earth is going on in here?" he demanded, scanning the room's occupants.
Two men stood in front of him, one significantly more haggard looking than the other. Another man laid unconscious on the only bed in the room and that was where Larten could pinpoint the smell of blood coming from. Three children were there; two boys one girl. One with dark hair and glasses was standing defensively in front of a fourth man, who was kneeling (or rather, cowering) on the floor.
"Merlin's beard…" said one of the two men standing closer to him. "Larten Crepsley."
"I beg your pardon…" Crepsley replied a bit taken aback by the man's odd swear. "Do I know you?"
"Oh, er…" the man started as if suddenly realizing he'd spoken aloud. "I suppose you wouldn't recognize me… It's been a long time."
"Larten Crepsley?" the only girl in the room spoke leaning forward inquisitively. "The Mr. Crepsley that Darren talked about?"
Larten could see fear in her eyes and the slowly dawning comprehension on her two companion's faces.
"What has that foolish boy been saying about me this time?" Crepsley said with a huff.
The three children flinched at his tone, or perhaps something else entirely. They wouldn't meet his eyes now.
"I don't…" The most presentable of the men took a step forward catching Larten's attention. He was curious looking and didn't smell quite human. There was something familiar about the face too. "Why are you here?"
Crepsley regarded him for a long moment. "I have my reasons." He supplied vaguely. His eyes travelled to the man beside the speaker, the haggard looking 'Sirius'. "I do not suppose you know where Evra has gone?"
Everyone in the room was sharing glances while Crepsley kept his gaze locked on the ragged man. Sirius shifted awkwardly as if just remembering something he shouldn't have forgotten. Crepsley's eyes narrowed.
"He er… might be on the grounds looking for…"
"Darren…" Crepsley finished for him with a bit of surprise. "How on Earth did he get past the barriers?"
"I might have shown him a secret passage…"
"Who in Merlin's name is Evra?" The brown haired man asked confused.
"I think we're getting a bit sidetracked." Sirius admonished, seeming to jolt from a daze. His gaze swung back to the man huddled on the floor. "First I finish what I came for, then we find the kid."
"No!" the kid said boldly shaking his head. "You can't kill him!"
"Kill him?" Crepsley repeated blinking back his shock.
"We'll take him to the castle. We'll give him to the dementors. He can go to Azkaban."
The shrunken man on the floor hurried to the boy's feet and began to grovel. "Thank you, oh thank you." He said clinging to the boy's clothes.
Crepsley sneered at the man. He found his actions distasteful. There was no honor in groveling.
"Get off!" the boy said kicking out and forcing the man to relinquish his hold. "I'm not doing it for you. I reckon my dad wouldn't want you two to be murderers… not for him…" The boy gestured to the sniveling lump on the floor.
Crepsley watched as the boy and the brown haired man talked. He examined the familiar face trying to place where he'd seen it and what that smell was. So familiar and yet so distant. Crepsley nearly flinched when cords shot from a stick in the man's hand. Wizards. He shook his head, but his eyes stayed locked to the man. Surveying.
It was when the man tilted his head up and the ambient light around them allowed Crepsley a better view of his face that Crepsley felt a spark of memory. The curve of the nose and the tilt of the chin were familiar but in a much older face. "Lupin." He said with what he was sure was an unnerving smile as the others stopped at the word and turned toward him almost apprehensively.
Yes, he remembered the man now. But he'd been naught but a child when they last met, stricken by a rare disease. Time certainly changed a lot, but that scent suddenly made sense. Lycanthropy. The man before him was a werewolf.