February 22, 1979
Evening
The sky was a rich pink and orange when Remus, Liam, Sibella, and others warped into view, letting go of the metal pitcher that had served as their portkey. The air was thick with the smell of the evening, of pine and grass and fog, and Remus felt his spirits lift wildly as he looked up at the yawning sky above him. Real room to run.
Others arrived one by one around them, their portkeys dropping to the grass as they too took in their surroundings, laughing at the space, and the freedom. Remus took a deep breath, and allowed his feelings to fade, as he focused on the task at hand.
He had tried to dissuade whoever he could from attending, but a good half of the previous meeting had shown up. A lot of the absent, he knew, preferred to self-isolate, and were eager to try the effects of the long-rumored potion on their own before going anywhere unfamiliar, where they wouldn't be sure they could trust themselves. Remus was grateful for that, and set himself to dissuading those who did try to show up. For a while he had stood outside the gathering hall and tried to lock the door, or lied and said the plans had been canceled. But Liam had arrived soon and coaxed him inside, where the rest were ready and waiting. Some of them, the purists, were drinking in anticipation, but Remus focused instead on those who looked nervous.
He had brought up his own doubts, expressed skepticism, his discomfort with Greyback, and gained several sympathies, but Liam, again, had approached him wherever he stood and brought his contagious high spirits with him.
"This is a big night for me," he'd said to Remus, his face glowing despite the wear of the full moon's approach. "And I want you with me, to make it perfect."
Remus watched Liam's face glowing in the sunset, remembering when the sight had brought him warm and fluttering feelings when they'd first met and the boy's optimism had given him hope. He didn't want to believe that the same boy could fully know the implications of what they were doing, but he had to be sure.
"Will we be the only ones running tonight?" Remus asked Liam suddenly, an idea occurring to him.
"Oh, there are a few more who have already arrived," said Liam, gleeful at Remus's engagement.
"Ah, sorry, what I mean is will it be only werewolves running? It's just that I remember Grey – Fenrir mentioning that we were taking the potion in order to increase our numbers?" He raised his voice a little. Sibella turned curiously, and he could tell other people were listening, a few of the purists with eager looks in their eye at the thought of prey. Liam looked caught offguard.
"Oh, well ah, it was meant to be somewhat of a surprise, but we do have some volunteers who have come to the premises."
"Volunteers?" asked Sibella. Liam looked around at her.
"Yes, certain wizards seeking more power, you know, we wanted to start with a small group and see how that went for the first run."
"I thought we would just be running," said Sibella, but Liam had moved on to speak to another group arriving. She exchanged looks with Remus, who looked around to count how many others had heard the conversation. A cold disappointment had settled in his stomach. Of course Liam knew what they were doing. He had organized it, after all.
Once Greyback arrived, they knew the full pack had come through, and followed him north. Remus did a mental count of the pack, landing on twenty-two. Twenty-two fully adult werewolves who would transform that night. If he had to guess, he thought he could hold off up to three by himself, but there was no way he would be able to fend off the full pack.
He hoped the first team had done their job, so that his would not be necessary.
His hopes quickly died as they reached a small wooden stable where Greyback had begun arguing with two men.
"What did I say?" Greyback was growling furiously. "Undamaged!"
"It was an accident," said the taller of the two men, and Greyback moved like he was going to hit him, sending the man cowering. But Greyback, aware of the crowd's eyes on him, stopped himself quickly and straightened. He turned to face the pack.
"Does anyone know how to fix bones?" he called out. "We've had a small injury."
Remus stepped forward quickly, but before he could speak, Sibella raised her hand, calling, "I can!"
She extricated herself from the crowd and followed one of the men Greyback had been arguing with into the stable while Greyback turned to the rest of them, clapping his hands together.
"Brothers and sisters, welcome to the first, and most assuredly not last, of our pack runs!" he roared.
Several purists howled enthusiastically while the rest of them clapped. Remus was looking at the stable, trying to see a glimpse of a cloak, or the spark of a wand. Where was the first team? Were they lying low? Or had they been captured, too?
"Like I've been telling you all week, we have full run of the grounds here. We're enclosed by walls to the south, east, and west, and due north you'll find a house. The house is off-limits. Anywhere in between is ours!" continued Greyback. "And as the full moon approaches, I have a surprise for you all." He walked to the stall door as it opened, and Greyback's associate emerged with Sibella. Greyback exchanged a few words with the man, who nodded, but Sibella returned to the crowd looking shaken. Remus moved to try to get closer to her.
"What happened? What was it?" he asked quietly. Sibella shook her head.
"There are people in there," she said, confused.
"What people? Who did you see?" asked Remus, his heart pounding.
"There was a girl with a broken wrist, but she was filthy. She didn't look like a volunteer, " said Sibella.
Remus threw caution to the wind.
"Sibella, listen, they're not volunteers, they've been kidnapping–"
"Got something to share with the group, Remus Lupin?" called Greyback from the front. Remus looked up sharply.
Greyback stood with an arm around Mariah, who looked, as Sibella had said, filthy and pale. Her hair was matted, her robes covered in mud, ripped, and stained. Her face was dirty, with red marks as though she had been gagged, and she was holding her arm in a funny way. Remus realized she had been the one with the broken bone. Her eyes met his through the split in the crowd, and he knew that his charade was over.
"I do," he said loudly, stepping forward. "They want us to hunt and infect these people, who they kidnapped off the streets and imprisoned against their will."
"Well what did you expect? Volunteers?" asked Greyback, and a few of the purists laughed. Remus saw Liam laughing nervously. "If we want to gain respect we need to grow our numbers, and if we want to grow our numbers, we need our wits about us, and we need prey." He shoved Mariah forward half a step. "Everyone, meet the potioneer! You have her to thank for the Wolfsbane Potion that will keep you in your human mind this full moon. But what about the next full moon? This witch is no wolf, not yet. If we want to keep the means of production amongst our own kind, we need one of us at the cauldron."
"Please don't!" pleaded Mariah suddenly, and Greyback slapped a hand over her mouth. Remus noticed a few people in the crowd move suddenly at the motion. He felt the tension. There were definitely dissenters.
"I won't do it," said Remus loudly. Greyback rolled his eyes.
"I had such hopes for you, Remus Lupin, son of Lyall Lupin," he said, making sure the crowd heard Remus's father's name. "But it turns out you're a turncoat and a liar, ready to bury your gift and stand with the wizards who locked you up in a basement every month of your miserable life."
"I never lied to you," said Remus. "I've been a werewolf since I was a child, because of him." He pointed at Greyback. "And yes my father did make things harder for us. And he did regret it, as you made sure of. But every meeting I came to, I felt community," he said, addressing the crowd. "It was the first time I felt seen, like I could relate to someone. It was the first time I felt normal, and like I could have the things the world has always told me I couldn't. And I'll always be grateful for our time together. But even with all of that, I can't relate to you, Fenrir Greyback." He turned back around to face Greyback. "I was infected against my will, and while I have grown to accept myself for who I am with the wolf inside me, I also know that to live with it is a curse. And I will never allow myself to pass that curse on to another person as long as I live."
Some in the crowd began to boo, yelling profanities and jeering at Remus. But others exchanged looks and murmurs. Liam looked stricken.
"Enough of this," said Greyback. "Ulysses, Gregor, bring the others."
The two men at Greyback's side began to open the stable doors, pulling out more people, bound at the wrists and ankles. They laid them on the ground next to each other. Remus spotted Benjy Fenwick among them. Greyback withdrew a red scarf from his robes, and tied it around Mariah's hands, binding them behind her back.
"You don't have to do this!" Mariah said to the crowd, looking at Remus. "Please, help us!"
Greyback shoved her to the ground next to the other prisoners.
"We have twelve targets, ripe for the catch. How many of you have ever had the chance to hunt before?" he asked. "How many of you have gotten to feel the thrill of the chase with the moon in your blood?"
"I agree with Remus," said Sibella loudly, and Greyback's smile disappeared. "I think we should let them go. I didn't sign up for this."
"Me, too," said another woman in the back.
"Can't we wait and see if the potion works first?" asked a man in the front, avoiding looking at the prisoners on the ground. "If it works as well as they say, then maybe...I just don't understand why the hunt, if they just need a small bite…"
"Would you ask a wolf why it hunts?" asked Greyback. "Would you ask a bird why it flies or a fish why it swims? It's in our blood!"
"Why are you doing this, Remus?" asked Liam, and Remus saw that his face was contorted in pain. "I thought you were my friend!"
"I was your friend," said Remus softly. "But you lied to me."
"No, you lied to me!" exclaimed Liam, shaking.
"You lied to all of us!" shouted Sibella, trembling with anger.
Remus felt his own hands shaking and snapped his eyes to the sky, where the colorful haze of sunset had finally faded, revealing the moon, pale and round against the dark sky like a vulture eye staring relentlessly upon them.
They were out of time.
"Leave the girl to me! The potioneer is mine!" he heard Greyback shout.
Remus felt a convulsion and dropped to the ground, but with his last bit of sanity threw out his wand hand with his eyes on Mariah.
"Relashio!" he cried as he felt his bones break.
Night
Sirius transformed into a dog the minute he Apparated to the forest outside the Lestrange estate. He couldn't risk anyone seeing him there – not anyone from the Order lest they report him to Dumbledore, nor the Lestranges, who would kill him, most likely.
He flitted between the long shadows of the trees, grateful that it would soon be dark. As a black dog, he often stood out in the daytime, but at night he did not have to hide. He remembered the Lestrange grounds being large, but ran around the south end of the wall all the way up the east side to get a feel for just how much land they were dealing with. It was bigger than he remembered.
It was near the halfway point of the eastern wall that he caught the first scent he recognized. Musty, and wooden – Moody for certain. He followed it, sticking close to the wall as the sky darkened and the shadows pooled into each other. Then something strange caught his attention. Another scent, unmistakable after so many years in the Shrieking Shack with Remus.
But where was the first team? Sirius knew he was near the werewolf pack now, and he smelled Moody's scent all around him, but something was wrong. He tried to isolate Moody's scent, following it away from the wall, further north. The longer he walked, the more the sense of wrongness flooded him with concern. Something was not right.
He stopped when he heard voices, near the front gate of the property, and when a small breeze washed past him, it brought a whole new scent, overpoweringly familiar: James.
"–any second now, what are we supposed to do?" he heard then, very faintly. He moved closer. To look.
A large group of figures were standing in a circle in the shadow of a large oak. They were wearing hooded cloaks to protect their identities, as the Death Eaters were known to hunt down the families of those who defied them. Sirius counted quickly, and realized that all three teams were present. Something was very, very wrong.
"We're outnumbered," he heard Moody's voice say. "We'll have to try to infiltrate another day and catch her when they're at their weakest after the moon. When the rest of them have lost interest."
"But by then it will be too late!" hissed Lily's voice.
"Sometimes we have to prioritize. If we can't keep her whole, at least we can keep her alive," said Moody, and Sirius heard him take a step with his wooden leg for emphasis.
"And what about Benjy?" asked James.
"Benjy knows what's at stake," said Fabian. "As should you all, if you're going to be a part of this."
"I...are you sure?" asked Lily, and Sirius saw her turn to the other two cloaked figures. "Are you sure you saw Him?"
"Certain," said Frank Longbottom's voice hoarsely, and Sirius felt his heart skip a beat. So that's what this was about. The house had company.
A howl erupted from the property, then, followed by another, and then another. Sirius flexed his claws into the earth beneath him, and pushed off sharply, running back towards the wall.
"Run, now!" shouted Benjy, on his feet as soon as Remus's spell caused his bonds to relinquish their grip.
Mariah was on her feet and running without a second thought, her arms still bound with the red scarf. Remus's spell had been patchy. Mariah could see the other captives struggling to their feet, but some of them were still bound at the wrists like her.
"This way!" she shouted at them, but they had heard Benjy's shout and some of them were already running alongside them, though none of them were running as fast as they should have been.
For a minute all Mariah could hear was the pounding of her heart in her ears, but then she heard it, the rumbling of paws hitting the dirt. It was not like before, the heavy breathing of a man running a mile, but an animal snarl, and the quick measured breathing of a predator in its natural element. And it was approaching far too quickly.
"We're not gonna make it," she gasped. She saw Benjy's eyes widen and knew that he knew it too.
"Faster!" he wheezed, looking over his shoulder. "Faster!"
They heard a scream, along with the loud sound of an impact and the tear of fabric, but they didn't look back, lest it slow them down.
Mariah tripped over the roots of a large oak and fell forward, landing on her chest. A hand hauled her to her feet, and she heard Benjy say, "Come on!" dragging her until her feet caught up with her. Mariah didn't have room to think. The air was thick with howls, now. She knew they either had to speed up, or slow them down.
A minute later she heard the gallop again, the soft, powerful paws against the dirt, the hungry breathing. She tried to think of something, anything to slow him down while she ran. She glanced over her shoulder. The dark figure of the wolf was close behind, closer than she expected, and faster than anything she'd ever seen. She knew she would be pounced on any second.
But suddenly, she saw something run in from the side and throw itself at the werewolf. Another werewolf, with thick black fur! The first yelped sharply as its assailant dragged it down by the ear.
Mariah turned back around, running faster. The potion had worked! What Remus had said was working! Not all of the werewolves were pursuing them, and if that was the case, they might have a chance.
That optimism sharply dove as she saw the pointed rooftops of the Lestrange house over the treeline and realized how far they still were.
"We're not gonna make it," she wheezed. Benjy looked around at her.
"Take off your clothes," he said suddenly, slowing to a stop and removing his shirt.
"What?" asked Mariah, alarmed.
"Swap clothes with me, quick! We have one shot at this. We need to throw them off the scent," he said, wrenching the scarf down off of her wrists, freeing her. Mariah pulled off her filthy robes without another word, throwing them to Benjy and pulling on his discarded shirt and pants.
"What are you doing?" she asked. Benjy pulled on her robes, throwing the red scarf around his neck.
"I'll distract them," he said. "Keep heading to the house."
"What! You can't hold them all off!" protested Mariah, but Benjy had already taken off westward, running at full speed, the red scarf flailing in the wind as he disappeared into the darkness.
"Shit, shit, shit…" breathed Mariah, her heart pounding in her ears as she turned and continued sprinting towards the house.
She ran for what felt like forever, straining to hear over the wind in her ears and the beating of her heart for any thundering paws, ragged breathing, or revelatory howls on her heels. But the forest was silent, and the only footsteps were her own crashing through the underbrush.
After a long while she heard the trickle of water, and a minute later hit a clearing – a wide manicured lawn encircling a fountain spouting complex arcs of water into the air, landing in a wide basin at its base. Beyond it, a wide regal staircase led to multiple sets of doors deep set underneath a jutting balcony. She'd reached the house. Faint with relief, Mariah skirted the fountain, heading for the doors.
Something heavy fell sharply to her left, exploding in a wave of shattered glass. She shielded her face reflexively, but felt a searing pain as a piece of glass sliced across the skin of her forearm.
She heard cackling from the balcony, and made for the edge of the stairs, where they could not see.
"Mudblood or half-breed?" she heard a woman ask, laughing.
"Couldn't tell, missed," said a lower, sulky voice Mariah recognized as Rodolphus Lestrange.
"It hardly matters," said the woman. "I thought we'd see more blood than this."
"We'll have to move the south wall for the next one," said Rodolphus.
Mariah crept up the stairs, away from the distant echoing voices. She reached a door and tugged, but it was locked. She didn't dare throw her weight against it, lest the party upstairs hear her, but her nerves wore thin as she tugged and tugged.
"Please, please Alohamora. Please. Alohamora, please!" she whimpered with growing desperation.
She heard it again, then, the gallop of padded feet on the soft grass, and she turned just in time to see the werewolf's fangs gleaming in the moonlight as he dove towards her.
Remus was running faster than he ever had in his life. The night air whipped through his fur with abandon and he relished in how the ground vaulted underneath him as he ensnared the long grass in his claws, shoving it back and relinquishing his grip with powerful speed. He felt free, intoxicated. He felt his mind slipping despite the potion, and it was with force that he kept his focus on the mission.
A brawl had broken out just after transforming, and he knew the potion had worked. He'd seen Sibella in her midnight black wolf form leaping at one of Greyback's associates – Gregor, Remus thought he had been called – as he had leapt to pursue the captives. Others had leapt at her, which had caused more to leap to her defense. Remus had been about to until he realized Greyback was missing.
He'd passed the first body 50 feet north of the stable, where a werewolf had lost control and ripped them apart. This confirmed something Remus realized he'd been fearing from the lycanthropic purists – that plenty of them, human mind or no, simply desired to kill for sport.
Remus forced himself to keep running, faster, faster still, following Mariah's scent, trying to catch Greyback's.
He spotted a werewolf ahead and hurtled towards it, snapping at its leg. He caught his jaws around its foreleg and brought it crashing down with an ear-splitting whine. He didn't know who this wolf was, but he hoped it had not been one of his friends. He tightened his jaws, feeling the bone crunch in his mouth with a feeling in his gut that was both sickened and satisfied. Certain the werewolf would not be able to chase at full speed, he left them there to nurse the wound.
Mariah's trail took a sharp turn westward, and Remus followed it, his alarm growing as he caught Greyback's scent once more. He slowed when he heard a sound.
There was a horrible squelching up ahead. Remus moved slowly, his eyes peering through the darkness, able to see clear as day. He spotted a hulking shape that could only be Greyback. He was enormous, and shaggy, hunched over a body strewn in several pieces across the ground. Remus smelled the air wildly, smelling Greyback, smelling Mariah, smelling blood, but there was something else. He saw the red scarf, then, and stepped closer, a growl growing in his chest. But then Greyback raised his head, and he saw a face. It was Benjy.
He stood very still, feeling the wind blow in the silence. Greyback looked around, smelling the air, but Remus knew he was downwind. After a moment, Greyback returned to the body, and Remus backed away very slowly, making sure he had a significant distance before breaking back into a run.
He caught it then, the scent on the wind, and the sound of voices coming from the house. By the time he reached it he'd caught another scent – Liam's – and panic spurred him to move faster.
A jet of light hit a branch above him, and he dove out of the way as it came crashing to the ground. Another jet of light ruptured the ground at his feet and he leapt away, twisting to avoid a third that nearly hit his head. He heard whistling and jeering, and realized there were people on the balcony of the mansion ahead. But he also saw something that made his heart stop – a large russet werewolf stalking towards a small figure at the doors to the mansion.
Remus dove to avoid another jet of light, pivoted, and dove again as a curse burst the earth beneath him. He ran in a leaping zig-zag to avoid the spells the drunk Death Eaters shot from the rooftop. A sharp pain throbbed in his paw, but he ignored it. A large object hit him in the shoulder, but he shook it off. Everything was focused on Liam. He saw the werewolf brace for a jump, and launched himself forward.
He closed his jaws around Liam's foreleg and jerked him down the stairs sharply. Liam tumbled to the ground, but was back on his feet in a second, launching himself at Mariah again. Remus seized a chunk of Liam's shoulder and wrenched him down once more, jerking his jaws sharply. Mariah had pressed herself flat against the door, still jerking at the handle frantically.
Liam whipped his head around and snapped his jaws at Remus, who let go in surprise. Before he could grab hold of Liam again the russet werewolf had pinned him, snapping at his neck. He felt sharp teeth pierce his skin and whimpered sharply. He was wriggling too much for Liam to get a good grip on his throat, but he knew if he stopped moving it was all over.
Something hit Liam sharply from the side, throwing him off, and Remus scrambled back to his feet in time to see a large black dog tumble across the ground.
'Sirius!' thought Remus. But before he could move, Liam had regained his footing, growling viciously at this new threat. Sirius was growling back, but it was obvious he was no werewolf. And Remus did not want to wait and find out if werewolf bites worked on Animagi.
Liam dove at Sirius, but Remus leapt to intercept him, his own jaws latching around Liam's throat. With a strong jerk of his head, he threw Liam out from underneath the safety of the balcony.
A loud bang caused Remus and Sirius to jerk around. Mariah had managed to break down the door, disappearing into the Lestrange mansion. Remus gave Sirius a look, and the black dog bounded after her. Remus, meanwhile, turned back around to finish what he started.
Liam was on his feet again, but unsteady. His growls interspersed with whimpers, and he took a few unsteady steps backwards. Before Remus could move, a jet of red light shot from the balcony above and struck Liam hard between the shoulderblades, and he was blasted aside, his body falling limp.
Remus expected Liam to get up and charge him again, but three more jets of light followed the first, two of them hitting Liam's body and causing it to flail and roll to the side. Remus felt a new anger boiling in his belly and he skirted the edge of the shadow of the balcony, darting forward and fastening his teeth around Liam's neck. He dragged him back underneath the safety of the balcony. One or two spells shot his way but missed.
Liam wasn't moving. Remus tried to look for a sign of breathing, but a distant scream made his blood freeze. Liam, dead or injured, was no immediate threat. With one last glance, Remus bounded away to the other end of the balcony before sprinting back into the dark. A few spells shot after him, but he was too fast. He had done all he could as a friend, and now his job lay with the Order. Sirius would take care of Mariah. There were others who needed his help, now.
Mariah took the stairs at a run, gritting her teeth against the pain in her shoulder. She had thrown her body at the door with full force to get it open. It didn't feel dislocated, but that didn't mean she wouldn't have strain and massive bruising later.
The door opened to a stone cellar with a narrow set of stairs that spat her out in a long hallway lined with shiny dark tile. She looked both ways, trying to gauge which would lead her the way out. She ran right.
Her bare feet slapped the tile and she slowed at the corner, pressing herself flat against the wall as she spotted a doorway up ahead. She shuffled along the wall to the doorway, peering around the corner, her heart hammering in her chest.
It was another long hallway, this one lined with nearly floor-to-ceiling portraits. Mariah leaned back against the wall, forcing herself to breathe slowly. Running through a room of portraits in the wizarding world was nearly as bad as running through a sports arena.
She heard a sound echo down the hallway she'd just come from and froze. She couldn't stay here. Gritting her teeth, she entered the next hall, craning her neck to see the first portrait's occupant. A tall witch in heavy gold brocade with tumbling dark curls slept with her pale face in one hand, eyes closed as she snored lightly. Mariah felt a rush of relief and tiptoed past quickly.
The large, hollow-eyed man in the next portrait had his head sunken into his chest as he slept. The next woman with wispy white hair had her mouth hanging open slightly, but her eyes were closed. All along the hallway generations of Lestranges and relations dozed lightly. Mariah could see the next turn beyond the arch at the end of the hall.
Footsteps behind her nearly made her jump out of her skin. She looked over her shoulder, but no one had emerged into the portrait hall yet. She took a few steps backwards towards the archway. She was so close. And then she felt eyes on her, and looked up to see the portrait of Falco Lestrange – as the label dictated – staring down at her from two beady eyes above a long pointed beard.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" he asked, yawning. Mariah shook her head dumbly.
"I…I…" she stuttered, but Falco Lestrange had taken in her disheveled appearance. His beady eyes hardened.
"Intruder!" he shouted. Mariah faltered and nearly slipped on the dark tile in her scramble to run. She hooked around the archway and through the door as the cries of "Intruder!" echoed through the hallway after her.
She emerged into a rotunda with a central spiral stair and looked around wildly. There were four doors to choose from. She took the next door to her right, but skidded to a halt halfway down as sharp footsteps reached her ears from the next exit. She spotted a closet door to her left and opened it, slipping inside and holding her breath.
"...only the finest. Of course only the finest for him, who does she think she is? If she thinks I don't know what she's doing, trying to get rid of me, she's got another thing coming…"
Mariah covered her mouth with her hand as she recognized the voice of Rodolphus Lestrange. She barely breathed as the footsteps passed the door. The footsteps stopped, and her heart skipped a beat.
"...What's that racket?" grunted Rodolphus, and Mariah knew he had heard the screaming portrait. As his footsteps took off at a quicker pace, she opened the closet door with a shaking hand. She had to get out now, before he sounded the alarm.
But more footsteps were approaching. She shut the door quickly again, pressing herself into the thick winter robes that hung behind her. In a spurt of desperation she began to search the pockets, praying for a wand. Her hand found something long and wooden just as the closet door opened.
"Mari-ooph!"
"Sirius! Oh my god!" Mariah laughed in relief, but stopped when she realized she'd just knocked the wind out of him with an umbrella to the gut. She threw the umbrella aside and embraced him.
"Good to see you, too," he wheezed. "Come on, we've got to get out of here."
With his wand in one hand and Mariah's hand in the other, Sirius took off down the hallway at a stealthy run. Mariah struggled to keep pace with him, her legs aching from days and days of running and her shoulder throbbing painfully. They kept close to the walls, emerging at last into a large entrance hall. Massive mahogany double doors lay ahead.
"Quick!" hissed Sirius. They hurried across the hall, and Sirius unlocked the door with his wand, pushing it open. The hinges groaned and Mariah felt her heart in her throat, but soon enough she could see the front gardens, the road, and at the end of the road, the front gate, set apart from the darkness of the forest beyond by the silver gleam from the moonlit sky.
"Stop right there," said a loud, derisive voice, and Mariah felt her blood freeze in her veins. She and Sirius looked around to see Snape, wand outstretched, descending a stair to the upper floor behind them. "Drop it."
"You first," growled Sirius, pointing his wand at Snape. Snape raised an eyebrow, descending the stairs slowly.
"What's going on here, then?" said another voice, and Mariah saw Rodolphus Lestrange exit the hallway. He drew his wand as he spotted them. "Ahhh, Sirius Black. Come to join the festivities?"
"What, your full moon tailgate? 'Fraid not," said Sirius. Mariah felt his other arm pushing her slowly behind him, towards the open door. Both Rodolphus and Snape stepped closer. Rodolphus noticed Mariah and chuckled under his breath, shaking his head.
"And of course, of course, the Mudblood whore, always stepping where she shouldn't. My cousin's not here to get in the way this time."
Mariah felt Sirius's elbow pressing into her ribs, pushing her behind him. Rodolphus took another step towards them.
"You know there's something I've been wondering a long, long time…" He stepped forward once more. "What kind of dark magic this Mudblood's been using to worm her way into the purest bloodlines in all wizardry. I say it's high time I found out."
All at once, Sirius shoved Mariah backwards through the door, his wand shooting red sparks into the clear, cold sky just as Rodolphus bellowed 'Crucio!' Mariah tripped over the sill, falling backwards onto the landing. Sirius's anguished screams filled her ears, but she scrambled to regain her footing on the slick marble stairs, the front gate in her sights. She launched herself from the bottom stair, sprinting for her life.
She'd made it halfway down the path before something hit her from behind, causing her body to freeze, and she fell to the ground hard.
Footsteps crunched lazily across the dirt and gravel path as Mariah tried not to breathe the dust into her lungs. The steps halted at her elbow, and she heard the rustle of robes as her assailant knelt to a crouch.
"Let's have some fun, shall we?" Rodolphus growled chillingly in her ear.