Chapter 11: Rescue

Albus stood at the window, watching Dalen. He was sitting on the quidditch bleachers watching as Draco and Nick flew circles overhead. He smiled sadly as he watched the child, Dalen was captivated, watching the birds flying freely in the sky rather than the two rivals. A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.

"Headmaster. I must speak with you." Severus stood in the doorway, his black robes clean and intimidating as ever.

"Yes Severus?" He asked, the twinkle in his eyes dimming slightly.

"I need to collect Dalen. He is safe now. Bellatrix has been apprehended." Severus replied, his voice soft and caring. The hair on the back of Albus' neck started to prickle.

"Who are you, my boy?" He asked reaching for his wand, but whoever it was that was standing in his office was quicker. Albus toppled over as the body bind hit him full force. Severus' face twisted in a mockery of a smile.

"I am a victim of theft. I have only come to retrieve what was stolen from me." The imposter hissed, kicking Albus in the head. The world went black.

~~~A Light is Born~~~

The room was dark, it had been ever since Black had left, snuffing out the lights. He had lain there for two days before the darkness began to eat at him. It felt like someone had snuffed out his sight. Black had tucked him away in the small compartment hidden in the walls.

Severus trembled inside the cage. His body was covered in blood and bruises, the pain made moving almost impossible. Sirius Black had left four days ago after Bellatrix had not returned at the arranged time. He was hungry, but the memory of Dalen laying in his filth, emaciated and desperate for death helped him push through. His hunger was nothing compared to his godsons.

The door banged open and death eaters stepped through the hole in the wall, Severus watched them blearily not quite aware of his surroundings due to the dehydration.

"Severus? Can you hear me Severus?" It was a voice of a man, he recognized the voice but couldn't quite place it. The speaker seemed so far away.

"Nod if you can hear me my friend, please" Severus nodded, "thank merlin." It was relief. He didn't want to upset the voice.

"Accio cup. Aguament!" As his eyes drifted shut he felt a cup press against his mouth. "Open up my friend, it's water. You need to drink." Water. Yes, that sounded good, just a little sip of the water. He felt the cool liquid spill across his tongue and he sighed softly.

"Thank… you." He rasped, licking his lips.

"Your welcome my friend. I will stay with you until our wards master arrives. How bad are your injuries Sev? I have a few potions." Lucius asked quietly, whispering in the near silence of the abandoned house.

"He likes to use a whip. I am merely grateful that he was only seeking revenge. If he was truly trying to break me then he would have done far more. He told me such things Luc. He told me every detail of hat he did to Dalen. Every detail. Is he…?" Severus cut off, unable to imagine what could happen if Black got his hands on the child again.

"He is safe. Marvolo sent him to Hogwarts." Severus jerked back, a hiss of pain escaped him at the sudden movement but no more.

"You sent him to Hogwarts? You fool! Black knows that Dalen has been sent there. Not to mention the fact that he knows every conceivable way into the castle! He will have Dalen again before the week is out." Severus pushed against the bars, desperately trying to summon the little magic he had left to open the door.

"Severus! Severus! Calm down. Only Lilly, Draco and Nicholas know that he is there. He will be attending private lessons with Lilly and eat with them as well. He is safe." This calmed Severus only a moment before he remembered.

"Polyjuice." He whispered, "does Albus know about my capture? Does he know about Dalen?" At Lucius' shake of the head Severus howled in rage, beating his already battered body against the sides of the cage. There was a wild, untamed look in the eyes of his friend.

"Black plans to go to the headmaster as me and demand for Dalen to be returned to Marvolo! You are fools! He stupid dunderheaded children!" Lucius backed away from the cage. His friends fit worried him. Then it all sank in. Black knew where Dalen was. He would go and take Dalen back. He would undo a years worth of healing and progress.

"Avery! Yaxely! Go to Marvolo, tell him that he needs to bring Dalen home now! He is in danger, Black knows." The two men paled and apparated on the spot.

"It will be alright friend. They will get to him on time." The two stayed together in complete silence after that. Severus drifted back to sleep, comforted by his friends presence and days of exhaustion creeping up on him. He remained unaware as the telling crack of apparation signified the arrival of the ward master. He slept on as he was lifted from the small cage he had spent the last two weeks in.

~~~A Light is Born~~~

Dalen watched Lilly warily. He had seen the looks she kept giving him. They weren't like the looks Master Black and Master Potter gave him. Those looks usually were followed by the Other Pain. Nor were they the looks of his Severe man or his angel, or even his father. The looks Lilly gave him made him want to crawl back into the cage he had slept in before. They made him want to run and find his Daddy. His father bad ordered him not to go home until they were sure it was completely safe for him.

The Floo flared. It was the old man. Dalen scuttled away in fear, it was the old man! When is an old man not an old man? When does he stare at you like you are an old friend if you have never spoken? When is an old man... Not an old man? Dalen shuddered and stared at the flames from his ingenious hiding spot beneath the table.

"Lilly? Lilly please, I must speak with you." The not old man called. Dalen listened carefully and was rewarded with the sound of heavy footsteps on the ground.

"Coming!" Lilly slowed to a stop and sat cross legged in front of the green fire. "What is it?"

"Joyous news. Dalen can go home, Sirius Black has been apprehended and imprisoned. He will face justice before the week is out." Dalen could see from his spot under the table that Lilly had the look again.

"If you would like to step through the floo with him then I could send him home safe and sound. Severus is here to pick him up." Dalen felt the hairs on his neck start to stand up and prickle with unease. It was the feeling that he got whenever Master Black was too close.

"Alright. I will come through immediately, would it be alright if Nick comes and Draco as well? They would like to see their friend off." There was a moment of silence before Albus replied.

"Excellent, I will come through now. DALEN! NICK! Grab your shoes. We will be heading to the headmasters office. Dalen is going home." Nick came barreling down the hall from the shared bedroom. Dalen, on the other hand, shrunk back under the table. Desperate not to be found.

~~~A Light is Born~~~

The floo trip was quick, the fire expelled the three travellers from its green flames as smoothly as it had sucked them in. Dalen froze. He recognized the magic Immediately. Lilly gasped beside him, Albus lay unconscious on the floor right in front of the fireplace. Sirius Black stood in front of them, his wild hair sticking out like he had been electrocuted. His wide, inhumane grin made the three newcomers flinch. Dalen whimpered and dropped into the familiar kneeling position that he had perfected long before he could even remember.

"Sirius." Lilly whispered. Her shock and fear evident in her face and voice. Dalen whimpered from his spot on the floor.

"You have been such a naughty boy, haven't you freak?" Sirius taunted. His hand twisting harmfully in the cowering boys hair.

"Such a bad freak, bad creature, bad, bad, bad!" Dalen muttered, slamming his head against the floor. Lilly was paralyzed, she couldn't even speak. The man that had taken her memory of her son was standing right in front of her and yet, she could do nothing. She could only watch, helpless to step forward and stun the bastard senseless. Nick had no such troubles. He darted forwards and tried to disarm the man he had once called godfather. He was unconscious before he had uttered the spell.

"Mustn't hurt Master Black! Mustn't talk back, mustn't fight or try to leave." Dalen hissed to himself as he reigned the feral magic back in. "Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry..." He repeated as he crawled and kissed Sirius' legs.

"Oh pet. You haven't forgotten. But, I cannot give you your treat, oh no. You disobeyed your masters and got one of us killed. Not to mention the fact that you left your cage. I thought we trained you better than that creature." Sirius coo'd.

"Yes you did, you did. My fault, my fault, my fault. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry." Dalen whimpered.

"In time perhaps I could grant you a scrap of mercy for your crimes, but not now. Come pet, let us get you home." Sirius murmured his hands running through Dalen's long locks. The child whimpered even as he leaned into the mad mans hand.

"Get your disgusting hands off of him. Harry is mine! You took him from me! I will not let you take him again!" Lilly shouted in both rage and fear. Her mind going a million miles per hour.

All she saw was red.

Then there was black.

Then there was nothing.

TBC

A/N:I am so sorry. Sirius just got into my head and I couldn't get it out. I am sorry!