Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

A/N: Thank you to all my awesome readers for coming back to the next instalment, and hopefully those new to this story.

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Today's adventure: Hogwarts

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Chapter 7

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April 20, 1993

Hogsmeade, Scotland

Sirius was standing on the overgrown, broken cobblestone street. The man was looking around, slack jawed. A tear looked ready to fall.

Harry walked over to where the Three Broomsticks used to be. Only a stone foundation full of dead grass just coming back to life as spring comes back to Scotland was in its place. Crouching down, he rolled over a stone. It was mossy and aged.

"It's all gone," Sirius said.

Harry had been suspecting it, but seeing it was something different.

When they went to Grimmauld Place and a Muggle family was living in it, Sirius had laughed. He laughed so hard he sat in the middle of the road, laughing and crying in his laughter. When they tried to find Diagon Alley, there was a row of skyscrapers. Sirius had taken him to Redhill. It pulled at his heart to see Hermione. Harry watched and followed her under his invisibility cloak for a while until he was certain she wasn't a witch. He couldn't feel her magic. What got him was that she was still Hermione. She sounded like her. Had many of the traits but had a few girls that she hung out and seemed to really like her.

After that, Sirius and him had decided to find Hogsmeade and Hogwarts.

Looking around, Sirius had summed it up.

"Yeah," Harry agreed.

It was all gone. There were a few shells of stone buildings that hadn't collapse in on themselves. Everything else were just stone foundations, if they were visible at all.

Looking towards Hogwarts, the forest had grown up and even overgrown some of the castle. From the town, it was obvious that the great hall, Gryffindor tower and most of the school was just rubble. The only tower to still be standing, and it was only halfway so, was Ravenclaw tower.

"It's all gone, Harry," Sirius said, sounding like he was in shock.

Harry stood up and walked over to his godfather. "I would like to go up to Hogwarts."

"There's nothing there, pup," Sirius said, sounding so lost.

Apparently, Sirius had really thought this was all just a big joke. Harry had had his suspicions, but Sirius hadn't believed it. "I still want to go up," Harry told him.

The only places around here that drew his attention was the school and forest. There was something about it that still felt like magic. There was no feeling of that in Hogsmeade. Harry could tell the town had been dead for a long time. The fact that there wasn't a railroad or station was a sign that no one had lived here for probably the last seventy years, or more, remembering that Hermione had said the Hogwarts Express was built in the nineteen-twenties.

"I don't know what you expect to find. I'm not sure we aren't the last wizards in the world. I didn't find anything around Washington, D.C. The Central division of the MACUSA hasn't bothered you or me, even though you had clearly done magic before numerous Muggles, and now the three most significant magical places in the United Kingdoms are rubble, lived in by Muggles or don't exist," Sirius said, clearly disturbed by their findings in the last twenty-four hours.

"I still want to go there. If the basilisk is still alive, we can't leave it, and I want to see if there is anything in the Chamber of Secrets. I never went back down there, but what if we can find something? Old wands, or texts or something. We know a lot of magic, Sirius, but I don't want to give up on what we know," Harry told him.

Sirius put a hand on the back of his neck and looked up at the school. The forest really had taken over most of the grounds and was encroaching on the rubble of Hogsmeade. To him, that was unnatural. Why wouldn't Muggles inhabit here? Harry also didn't know of any other forest on the British Isles to look like this one, or to be as large.

"Not sure I have a good feeling of this," Sirius told him.

"Not sure I do either, but there is still magic here. Can't you feel it?" Harry asked him. "It's the only place I have felt it so far."

Sirius snorted. "I can't fault you that."

They both regarded where they were to go. "We can't apparate there."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Too dangerous. If there is any magic left, there could still be wards, or we could land on a floor that isn't stable anymore, or there might be a creature we don't want to meet," Sirius told him.

"Like a basilisk," Harry asked, remembering how large that thing had been.

Sirius gave a nervous chuckle. "Like a basilisk. You said that seeing it's reflection petrified people?"

"Yeah. Seeing it through a lens did the same," Harry confirmed.

With a nod, Sirius conjured two pairs of sunglasses. "Lily bought me a pair like this the Christmas before, you know. I don't know why wizards never realized this before," Sirius commented.

"I don't know. Maybe my glasses protected me some when I fought it the first time. I thought I caught a glimpse of its yellow eyes before Fawkes came to my rescue," Harry replied.

"Hmph. Maybe." They both put on the mirrored sunglasses. "The main drive still seems intact," Sirius observed.

"One way to find out," Harry said.

Even as apprehensive they both seem to feel, they started to walk down what was left of High Street towards the woods. Only a few hundred yards outside of town, and a few hundred yards shy of the main gates, the trees started to encroach the cobblestone drive.

The outskirts of the forest didn't hold any foreboding or malice. It felt like a young forest encroaching on open lands. Lots of small trees, with a few older ones. Thick undergrowth. The only thing unnatural about it was that the forest was in full leaf coverage in April, just like the Forbidden Forest had been year-round from where they came. Within a hundred yards, the overhead foliage became darker. By the time they met the old gates of Hogwarts, it was a filtered twilight, like the deepest parts of the forest were in full daylight. Much of the undergrowth was now sparser and dominated by mosses, lichens, young trees struggling to make the light far above and bushes that didn't seem to mind the dim light.

"It's a little spooky," Sirius said, his wand out as they looked at the mangled iron that had clearly been rusting away for years.

"What do you think did that?" Harry asked.

"Not the foggiest, but whatever twisted the metal like that was big and powerful," Sirius told him.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Harry told him.

The forest was spookily quiet as they walked through. Harry had only ever heard it this quiet when they had been around the acromantula den, but he didn't see any signs of the giant spiders. Not even a cobweb.

As they approached the school, the forest thinned some until they walked up to the old causeway. It was in pieces, only about ten feet or so on either end left standing. They looked around. The forest was higher and looked denser around the lake and the far side of the school. There was something about it that made Harry weary.

"We can walk around the edge," Sirius suggested.

"We could." Harry wasn't very enthusiastic. Looking over the edge, he said, "I wish we had brooms."

Sirius nodded, joining him. "We could fly."

"Is there something you aren't telling me? I am pretty sure wizards can't fly without something enchanted to fly on," Harry said.

"True. You ever play hover rock?"

"What is that?" Harry asked.

Sirius got a boyish grin. "We used to hover rocks over the lake and jump from rock to rock to get across the coves."

Harry's eyebrow rose. "That is a hundred-foot fall," Harry said.

"Life isn't really fun without a little risk," Sirius replied, swishing his wand. A half dozen rocks floated up from the overgrown rubble below.

"You're mental, you know that?" Harry said, swishing his own wand and casting, "Wingardium Leviosa."

Sirius would have to teach him how to do non-verbal casting.

Another half dozen rocks and sections of bridge floated up. They could now make it a good third of the way. Sirius did an elaborate wave. "Age first."

Harry chuckled. "I thought it was beauty?"

"Well, you certainly aren't the beauty between the two of us," Sirius said cheekily.

"Bastard," Harry gripped, looking at the rocks and stonework. "I probably am older than you."

Sirius gave out a bark of laughter. A second later there was the sound of something large snapping. Looking around, a group of crows rose into the air a good half mile or so into the forest, cackling like mad.

They both stopped to watch, listening intently for any other sound and scanning the trees for any movement. After a few moments, the birds landed in another tree, and it grew silent again. Sirius didn't look like he was goofing around anymore. "If we are going to do this, it's now or never."

"Right," Harry agreed, jumping onto the first of the large rocks. He had to balance for a second as it shifted under his weight, but it stayed steady enough for him to regain his footing. "Just like a walk in the park," Harry muttered to himself.

"You know, the Black Lake is a lot softer to land in," Sirius said, following him as Harry made his way towards the last one. As he got there, he swished his wand while repeating the spell, and a moment later seven more rocks and broken stone works levitated up.

It was a high stakes game of hopscotch to make it across. Harry had just landed on the far side, breathing out a sigh of relief, when he heard Sirius' boots slipping. Sirius gave out a cry of surprise. Harry turned to see Sirius falling backwards.

His wand flicked. "Accio Sirius!"

Nothing happened. Hadn't Hermione mentioned it only worked on inanimate objects. Sirius started to fall, a look of utter terror on his face. "Accio Sirius' clothes," Harry bellowed. Sirius fell for another second while his spell covered the distance. There was a look of shock on Sirius' face as he was jerked to a stop and then pulled, rather rapidly, towards Harry.

Harry knew this would hurt, but at the speed Sirius was flying towards him, and the fact Harry had not been able to master 'arresto momentum' yet, his only option was to catch Sirius. His godfather ploughed into him with a yell, taking them both down.

They rolled over and came to rest against a crumbling balustrade. Harry let out a grunt at the sudden stop. "Bloody hell, Harry. Get out of the way next time," Sirius grumbled as he got up, extending a hand to Harry.

"Next time remember to tie your bloody shoe before we do something like that," Harry groused back.

Looking down, Sirius gave a sheepish grin. "I miss magical shoes. Never had to worry about them coming untied."

"Just double knot it."

There was another crash in the forest. Harry looked up to see a few trees shaking closer to them. When nothing happened after a moment, Sirius said, "You know where you want to go?"

"Yeah. It looked like the second floor is still mostly intact," Harry told him, brushing himself off as they took off at a brisk walk. Most of the school was in ruins. A corridor here or there on the ground floor of the main keep was mostly together but choked with rubble. Grasses, vines, thorns, bushes and trees had invaded most of it, overgrowing what was left.

A chittering red squirrel yelled at them from a large tree in the old courtyard.

Sirius didn't pay any attention to the thing. Harry snorted at it and the thing took off to higher branches. "I really wish I knew what happened here," Sirius said. "Hogwarts stood for a thousand years. Now it looks like it's been abandoned for hundreds."

"I think it has," Harry said.

Some rats, more squirrels and a few birds looked on or took off as they made their way to the bridges connecting the East wing. They looked passable, and only one section seemed unstable as they passed over it.

"Watch your step," Sirius said, going first this time.

"Says the wanker that fell last time," Harry retorted.

"We could come back next fall," Sirius said and got a groan in response.

The second floor along the outer wall towards Hogsmeade was in decent shape, though it worried Harry that it looked like it was in such good shape, with some of the rubble moved to the side of the hallway.

"Ladies first this time?" Harry offered.

Sirius gave him a grin. "Go ahead."

"Coward."

"Just helping you work on your courage," Sirius teased, stepping in first, his wand lighting up.

"Lumos," Harry followed.

It wasn't hard to find the old girls' bathroom, or the sink. Open, he hissed at it, and a second later the sink made a grinding sound as it moved. This had them both look around when they thought they heard a snort.

"You hear anything down there?" Sirius asked, uncertain if it might be the basilisk.

Harry shook his head. "Nothing. Last time it wouldn't shut up."

Sirius nodded. "Just jump or is there a better way down?"

"Just jump," Harry told him, stepping over the black hole and falling in, like he had three years ago. Only this time, the pipe wasn't slick with slime. It was dry, causing his pants to heat up as he slid down. When he reached the bottom, he hit a pile of dirt and rolled.

"Bloody hell, Harry. Can't you not be a Gryffindor for once," he heard Sirius yell down.

"It's safe," Harry called up.

A moment later, Sirius had joined him, looking a little grumpy. Harry gave him a cheeky smile. "What's wrong? You don't like a good adventure anymore?"

"I prefer you to be alive. I've almost lost you a few times now. I don't want to risk it again," Sirius told him.

The concerned look on his godfather's face had him feeling a little sheepish. "I'm sorry, Sirius. I wasn't trying to worry you."

"I know, pup. I'm just looking at things differently now that we are here and may not have anyone else to come to our rescue," Sirius said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Merlin, Lily said this would happen one day."

"What?" Harry questioned, wondering what his mum had told Sirius. "That we would be exploring the ruins of Hogwarts?"

"That I would start feeling responsible and grow up," the man said rather dejectedly.

Harry let out a soft laugh. "I hear that happens to all of us."

Sirius chuckled. "Not by choice. I thought you said there was a pile of bones last time?"

"There was. The pipe was all slimy too. You think the basilisk died?"

"We can hope," Sirius said, shining the light from his wand down the largest tunnel. "That way?"

"That way," Harry agreed.

Without the Lockhart issue, they made it through the rough-hewn passage rather easily and came to the large metal doors of the Chamber. It was the only thing so far that looked untouched by time. "He was rather ugly," Sirius commented of the sculpture of Salazar Slytherin in the door.

"The one inside is even worse," Harry commented.

Open, Harry hissed in parseltongue again. The snakes that held the thick bolts in place slithered like he remembered. The scraping sound was accompanied by a hiss from the snakes that Harry didn't remember. The master returns.

Sirius shook as though spooked. "That sounds rather creepy, you know."

"You aren't the first to tell me that."

As the door opened, they were hit by a burst of stale, dusty air. Harry was very confused. "Let me go first," Harry said.

"You sure? If that thing is still here..."

"I may be able to talk to it," Harry told him.

Looking in, the chamber was pitch black. In the wand light, they could make out what looked like cloth covered crates and other things. He made his way down the ladder. Looking around, he saw a torch on the column. "Ignaflam," he incanted. The small bit of fire leapt from his wand, hitting the torch, which resisted his fire for a moment before bursting into an orange flame. It lit up about a twenty-foot area, showing piles of stuff under cloths.

Sirius came down. "Nothing yet?"

"No. But this is different," Harry told him. "All this stuff wasn't here last time, and it was moist, not dry."

Sirius pursed his lips. "What do you think that means?"

Harry shrugged. By now, the orange flame had started to change colour, and after another moment it was green, like he remembered before. There was a spark of light from the next torch, which slowly spluttered into a green flame. They watched in wonder as others sparked into life, then with growing horror as the area where the pool had been came into the light.

"Dear Merlin," Sirius uttered.

Harry was just as aghast. There were skeletons. Dozens. Perhaps hundreds, of skeletons, many in decayed robes. He could see wands scattered around the floor, of by the sides of some of the skeletons, or even still in hands.

Harry was not proud to admit that he lost his lunch. Followed soon by Sirius.

After a bit, they approached the skeletons. "What happened," Harry asked.

Sirius walked around the bodies and towards the empty pool. "By the looks of it, these were professors or older students. They were all facing the door," Sirius commented about the ones closest to the door, looking at the direction most skulls were facing. He was careful not to disturb any of them. "It looks like they were trying to protect the younger ones. Most look like they were children."

Sirius put his hand over his mouth.

Harry didn't say a word.

"They were all children. Hundreds of them," Sirius said. "I don't think this was the basilisk."

Harry nodded. "I don't either." The bone piles he had seen before had all been haphazard. These still looked to be mostly intact.

"What the bloody hell happened?" Sirius said angrily.

"They were suffocated by the Muggles," a woman said.

Harry spun to see the Grey Lady entering the Chamber.

"What do you mean?" Sirius questioned.

"It happened many years ago. There are only three of us left, but I haven't seen little Guinevere in a while," the ghostly woman said with a frown. "Maybe she has passed on like the others. The magic of the castle grows weak while the wild magic of the forest grows stronger."

Harry shook his head slightly. "What happened here?"

The woman looked to him. "I thought all magic had been snuffed out in wizards," she said. "The last ones that tried to enter this chamber died many years ago."

"How many years?"

"What year is it now? It was seventeen-oh-two when the last student walked the halls," she told them.

"Bloody..." Sirius uttered before sitting down on the dusty floor.

"Bollocks," Harry swore. "That's almost three hundred years ago."

"Two hundred and ninety-one," Sirius replied. "You are telling us that Hogwarts fell two hundred and ninety-one years ago?"

"If it is one thousand, nine hundred and ninety-three, then yes," she said, sounding even sadder. "It has grown very lonely, and I forget at times why I stay."

"Bloody fuck," Harry muttered. "When was the last time you saw a wizard?"

"Many years. I do not know when. Shortly after the Inquisition took down this, our last fortress, those that survived tried to make contact with anyone else, or to see if there were any artifacts or books left. Headmaster Hardwick Black had the house elves take anything down here they could as we watched Hogsmeade burn. He was the last parselmouth there was and opened the chamber to try and protect what he could. That is until one of you opened the chamber? Maybe both? You have the grey eyes and black hair most Blacks possess."

"Talk to Harry. He got us in. Are there any wizards or witches left?" Sirius asked.

"I do not know. I only know what is left here, which is not much of my mother's or father's legacy. I can only say that if you were able to get in here, it was the last Headmaster's wish for you to use this saved knowledge and artifacts."

"Bloody hell," Sirius said. "And all these people?"

"Murdered by the troops. They were able to follow them down here, then set fires in the caves when they couldn't break through the doors. All we could do was watch them suffocate. Ten of their number joined us, but I think they have all gone now. I may be the only one left," she mused, looking around the chamber.

Harry looked around, sad at the people that had died in here. In almost three hundred years, all the signs of their trauma had disappeared, leaving behind just their bones. "What of the basilisk?"

"Slytherin's guardian was killed on the lawns protecting the school. Thousands of Muggles died, but their guns and cannons were too many for the remnants to survive. All the children and a dozen adults were sent down here, hoping they would survive.

"If any are left, we need to find them," Sirius said after a few.

"It's been almost three hundred years. Who would be left?" Harry asked, looking around.

"Somewhere. Someone. The Muggles couldn't have killed them all," Sirius said.

"We were one of the last places I knew of in Europe. The witch trials in the Colonies had already killed many, and the Inquisition on the continent had killed off thousands and were closing in on Durmstrang, Beauxbatons and the fortresses of Greznoble and Rothfang. Outside of those areas, Headmaster Black didn't think there were many left. Only those that had managed to hide themselves," the Grey Lady told them.

This really seemed to deflate Sirius.

Harry looked around. "Sirius, we can't leave all this stuff down here and they should all be buried."

Sirius let out a long breath. "Yeah," his godfather said. "You start looking through what's in here. We can't take it all right now, but I can enchant something with an extension charm, and we can shrink what we can."

"Sure. Are you going to...?" Harry started to ask, nodding to the skeletons.

"Yeah. Uhm, if we are the last, it might be best if we check the wands here to see if any still work," Sirius said.

Every witch and wizard knew how important wands were, but many would lose their power over a few years after their companion died. Harry looked at the ones scattered around the floor and among the bones. "Sure," Harry said. "Accio wands," Harry said softly. A large pile built at his feet. There really must have been two or three hundred of them. Probably all the younger students were accounted for. He had a sick feeling in his gut to look at the pile. He didn't have the heart to test them here. Not before the dead that once possessed them.

He looked around and found an old burlap bag that he started to put them all in. Sirius got up, looking around the chamber. Walking over where the pool once had been, Sirius nodded grimly.

"I feel like a graverobber," Sirius muttered, flicking his wand. Coins of various sizes, jewellery and a few bags or pouches came to him.

Harry understood. They needed funds. Sirius had mentioned how uncomfortable he was relying on Hammond. There must have been a few hundred galleons worth. It would be useless now, except to maybe melt them down.

While Sirius levitated the skeletons in as whole a condition he could into the pool, Harry took off some of the cloths on the piles. He caught hundreds of empty paintings. Either the inhabitants had found somewhere else to go or they had lost their magic. Under the next tarp he found crates full of scrolls, books and manuscripts. Thinking they might be important; Harry made a mental note to take them.

As he looked through things, Harry had a thought. "Excuse me, Grey Lady. Are there any house elves left?"

The ghost shook her head. "Without any wizards to bond with and the failing of the castles wards, most passed a long time ago. There might be a colony in the forest, but I don't wander further than the castle."

"Thanks."

On it went. About an hour in, Sirius joined him. Harry looked over to see the pool had been covered with stones. "What have you found?"

"Most of those crates are books and stuff. Probably from the library and whatever the professors had," Harry told him.

"That should be important," Sirius agreed.

"These crates are full of artifacts. Some of them still feel like they have magic. Others I have no clue," Harry told him.

Sirius investigated a crate. "I think we should come back for them. I have no clue what most of them do."

When they took the cloth off the next pile, it was full of armour and weapons. Almost immediately Harry's eyes were on a silver sword with a silver braid wrapped hilt and a large ruby in the pommel. Harry recognized the sword immediately. Sirius whistled and looked at another sword. "There are dozens of goblin-made blades here. They must be priceless now."

His godfather took up one that had an opal the size of a galleon in the pommel. The sword was long and thin. "I've seen this one before."

"It was the headmaster's. A fencing blade," the Grey Lady said. She hadn't left them yet.

Harry took the Sword of Gryffindor. The power and rightness he had felt that day he had killed the basilisk spread through his hand. The ruby flashed, then was back to normal. "A true Gryffindor," she said.

Sirius gave an appraising look to Harry before raising the fencing blade up. "My father spent many years trying to train me to fence. He said it was one of the things a Lord of the Blacks should know."

Harry lowered the sword. "I wish I knew what the Potters should know."

Sirius gave him a sad smile. "I wish I could have been the godfather you deserved, Harry. I can teach you what I know, but without the old grimoires and family histories, I only know what Uncle Fleamont and Aunt Euphemia taught me. Not that any of that matters now."

Harry went to put the sword back and the Grey Lady said, "The sword has claimed you as its master, young Gryffindor. I would treasure such a blade."

Looking up to her, he nodded after a moment. Finding a scabbard with a belt that it fit in, Harry put the belt over his shoulders so that the sword was on his back.

The sound of scraping echoed into the chamber. Both Harry and Sirius turned towards the door. "What was that?"

The Grey Lady regarded them. "You did defeat the lindworms that live in this part of the forest?"

"Lindworms!" Sirius yelled.

"Bloody fuck!" Harry swore.

A rumbling growl echoed around the chamber this time. Harry looked around at all the stuff around them. As far as they knew, this was the last of any magic in the world. "Sirius, we can't let it in here," Harry said, turning to his godfather.

"One lindworm will be enough to deal with, never mind if there are more," Sirius replied.

Harry gave out a frustrated growl. "Shrink and pack anything we can," Harry told him, taking out his wand. He knew how to shrink things.

"How long before they get here?" Sirius asked the Grey Lady.

"The caves are long and many. They could be anywhere with how they echo," she told them.

"Reducio!" Harry said as he flicked his wand at a crate of scrolls. Sirius took up a satchel on the floor and started to cast an expansion charm on it. "Reducio! Reducio!" Harry kept repeating. They were able to get thirteen crates, all the goblin-made blades, coins, jewellery and the wands into the satchel before it sounded like the scraping was getting closer.

"Time to go, pup," Sirius said.

"Sounds good. I'll close the door behind us," Harry told him, hoping to come back. They scrambled up the ladder. Close, Harry hissed and the door started to close.

"How close do you think they are," Sirius asked. He shook his wand and it lit like a bright electric torch. Harry copied him, "Lumos!"

Harry caught the sudden movement out of the corner of his eye. "NO!"

His wand came up and Sirius was hit with a gust of wind. The jaws of the giant dragon like head just missed closing over Sirius' head. Sirius landed a few feet away, rolled and hit the wall. A loud screeching roar ripped through the tunnel as the front leg of the creature grabbed the door to the Chamber of Secrets. There was a metallic screeching. The lindworm, a creature many meters long, with the front legs, neck and head of a dragon, and a tale close to thirty meters long that reminded Harry of the basilisk, was taking up the tunnel from where they came. At the sound of the screeching metal, the monstrous head turned to the door it was holding. It did the same screeching roar as it fought the door.

Harry didn't wait, knowing that lindworms were just as resistant to magic as dragons. Rushing to Sirius, he helped the man to his feet as the lindworm fought the door.

"Did you catch the make of that broom?" Sirius asked, shaking his head.

"Not the time," Harry warned, pulling Sirius away. The thing roared at the door before there was the sound of the door being bent and then ripped off its hinges. The damage to the door and wall caused the ceiling to groan and chunks to fall out. They scrambled to avoid the falling rocks

Sirius grabbed the sword he had put on his belt. "That is a big lindworm," he said, looking over their shoulders.

"Admire it's size later. We need to get out of here," Harry demanded.

They rounded a bend, their torches lighting up to gaping black holes. Harry plunged down the tunnel to the left at the fork. "Where are we going?"

"No bloody clue," Harry shot back. It sounded like the lindworm was taking out its temper on the door as the ceiling came down.

"Then how do you know we are going the right way?" Sirius panted.

"I don't," Harry said, shinning his light around, looking for another passage or any way out. There was a roar that echoed behind them. "I think it realized we got away."

"I always thought you might be as smart as Lily," Sirius shot back.

They took another left at the next fork, only because it was going up, and the other way looked to be going down. Over their panting, they could hear sounds of pursuit. They huffed up a sudden incline, passing a few other tunnels. A roar and the sound of scratching and scraping echoed around them. Harry couldn't tell if the lindworm was still behind them or before them now. Sirius was starting to lag, then he stumbled into the wall, clutching his side. "I am... not... as young," he huffed.

"We have to move," Harry told him.

Sirius shoved the satchel at him. "You go," he said, pushing Harry. Harry stumbled.

"Bloody hell I'm leaving you behind," Harry said.

"You are just as stubborn as James," Sirius accused, as the sounds got closer.

"And you can turn into a dog," Harry countered.

Sirius shook his head, before morphing. He was still panting in his dog form but started to run. The screeching roar shook the cave and loose stones fell on them as he took off after his dogfather. By the time a light was growing before them, Harry was stumbling and grabbing at his own stitch in his side. Sirius was lopping as fast as he could. The screeching roar was so close, Harry turned to see it in his light.

"Bombarda!" Harry roared, sending his spell into the ceiling. The cave shook and Harry watched as a large rock fell onto the lindworm's head. The whole cave started to collapse.

"RUN!" Harry yelled. He pumped his legs as fast as he could, Sirius getting a sudden burst of speed. Small rocks peppered him as they ran towards the light. A rock hit his shoulder and Harry stumbled forwards, rolling out the cave into the late light of a Scottish day. He landed hard on his back, breathing heavily and wincing at the pain in his left shoulder.

The large grim collapsed next to him. His tongue was hanging out of his mouth as he panted heavily.

"I... have... to... run... more," Harry said.

The grim made a snort. That was when they heard the creature trying to dig out of the cave. Harry was tired. He was pretty sure he might have broken something with getting hit in his shoulder and Sirius was too weak to stand. Pushing himself up, Harry tried to lift his left arm, and found it didn't want to. He gritted his teeth against the pain. He had been hurt worse than this before and it was nothing like Voldemort's Cruciatus curse.

He was worried that he didn't know any real spells that could help, until he realized the sword was still on his back. Shoving his wand into his holster, Harry drew the sword. He winced as he took it in both hands. Sirius was still trying to get up but was too tired. Gritting his teeth more, he waited for the thing to claw its way out. When the rocks at the entrance shifted, Harry braced himself.

It was another moment before a wall of rocks pushed out. A bloody muzzle poked out. Harry looked at the battered lindworm. The horn and skull over one eye was crushed and the eye was bleeding. There were cracks in the scales over the centre of the snout, where Harry had seen the first big rock fall on it. It sniffed and when it turned to him, its one good eye caught sight of him. It made a disturbing sound in its throat before giving a screeching roar.

"I've faced worse," Harry said back to its anger.

Raising the sword, he brought it down as the thing lunged for him. Side stepping the strike with the instinct of a Seeker dodging a bludger, the sword came down on the centre of the muzzle as its claws closed on air. The goblin made and enchanted blade cut through the hard scales. It reared back, almost pulling the sword out of his hands. He did fall as he was thrown back. The screech of pain echoed in the woods.

Harry landed and rolled, pushing to his feet. The lindworm growled, turning faster than anything he had ever seen, striking at him again. Harry swung the blade up, connecting with its neck as he stepped to the side again. He was about to bring the blade down when its tail suddenly lashed out and he was flying through the air. He landed hard, the wind rushing out of his lungs and a shooting pain ripping through his right shoulder.

The beast roared. It was a raged filled roar of pain. Harry tried to move but found himself struggling to breathe.

"Not Harry, you bleeding, bloody arse," Sirius suddenly yelled out. Harry rolled enough to see Sirius moving, sword in one hand, wand in the other. Harry had never seen anyone know how to handle a sword, but the sword that once belong to Headmaster Black sung through the air, cutting into the flesh, while his wand created shield after shield to block the tail, the claws and the snapping mouth.

Feeling air rush into his lungs, Harry took greedy breaths, trying to force himself up. The fight lasted another moment before Sirius suddenly plunged the rapier into the centre of the head of the Lindworm. The thing slumped to the ground, the tail falling limp in mid-snap at Sirius. Sirius twisted the blade, then pulled it out. Dark red blood dripped from the blade. "I'll have to teach you how to really take care of these things," Sirius commented.

Harry gave a pained smile. "You're still old," Harry muttered, holding his arm.

Sirius chuckled before he swayed a little. "Nothing to it."

Harry watched as the man stumbled over and then collapsed. "Sirius!" Harry yelled, forcing himself to his feet. Stumbling over, he fell to his knees at Sirius side. The lindworm was mere feet away. "Sirius!" Harry yelled.

The man was panting, his eyelids fluttering. "Bloody fuck," Harry said, recognizing the symptoms of magical exhaustion. He was too tired and too hurt to do much. "You just sleep. I'll take care of things," Harry grumbled. He reached into the pocket in his jacket. He pulled out a medical kit, a canteen and a can of soup. Sirius had enlarged that pocket for him, but it had been full already with camping supplies in case they had to stay in a cave for a few days to determine what was going on. Thus, he hadn't put any of there new treasures into it.

"Accio branches," Harry incanted when he pulled his wand. After that, he doubted that anything else would bug them for a while, so he took some Nurofen, hoping it would cut through the pain. Harry never thought he would miss the fowl tasting potions of Madam Pomfrey. He then got a fire going with the sticks he had summoned. It was a little painful to breathe, but Harry knew he had to stay awake to keep an eye on Sirius, so he got the soup sitting on the side of the fire.

He hoped Sirius would not be out long, but if it was magical exhaustion, they might be here all night.

Sighing, Harry stirred the soup in the can with a spoon.

-oOo-

Next Chapter: Lex starts to get a little suspicious of Harry, while Harry starts his training in earnest.