Thank you Gypsyrose98 for your comment! :) No worries, the boys will definitely get rescued in this chapter ;)

I've been wanting to update earlier, but work and real life prevented me from that…but here's chapter 13 now, one of the longest so far! Currently working on chapter 14, sad to say goodbye to this story soon…

Remus had lost all track of time. He only knew it must be in the morning, meaning he had spent most of the night observing Dumbledore.

It had taken longer than he thought, but from the noise coming from his office, it sounded like Dumbledore was finally feeling the effects of his horcrux being destroyed.

About time…

He had had enough time to come up with a plan, what to tell the headmaster, and when he heard Dumbledore cursing from the inside, he knew he couldn't wait any longer.

He knocked, and then opened the door- which Dumbledore never kept locked for him.

"Good morning, Albus", Remus started, not commenting on the fact that the headmaster looked like he just had a stroke, "I'm very concerned about Sirius, he…"

"I don't have time for you right now, Remus", Dumbledore interrupted him, more rudely than he had ever spoken to him, "please come back later."

"Sirius has just vanished from the dorms!", Remus went on as if Dumbledore hadn't said anything, "and two other boys are gone, too! We need to search for them!"

"He's probably hiding somewhere", Dumbledore hissed, looking like he was about to faint any second, "leave now! I am not feeling too well."

"Where would he hide? Along with Thomas and Luke?", Remus kept pressing, seeing that Dumbledore was getting close to explode- and he didn't have to wait much longer.

"I have other issues than your nephew playing pranks!", the headmaster screeched, his eyes sparkling with insanity, "and for Luke- if you see him, bring him to me! Bring him to me!", he sounded manic now, and Remus took a step back, and now Dumbledore began pulling on his beard, still screeching, "bring me Luke! I need Luke! I need Luke!", he wasn't aware that Remus had already left his office, needing to tell the Founders right away what he had found out- that Dumbledore didn't seem to be involved in Sirius' kidnapping, and if he wanted to see Luke- he wasn't the one using the Polyjuice…

There was light…so much light…

Sirius blinked, shielding his eyes from the brightness. Where was all of it coming from? Wasn't it still the middle of the night?

I hope it's not Pettigrew again.

He turned to his side where Tom was still fast asleep, snuggled closely into him.

"Tom!", he whispered hoarsely, "wake up! Wake up!"

The other boy groaned, slowly blinking at him, still dazed from sleep, "what…the light…"

"It might be Pettigrew coming back", Sirius tried to sound braver than he felt, "probably coming back for me."

Tom stared at him in horror, and the Black could see that he had started to slightly shiver, "to…kill you?"

"Or both of us", Sirius croaked, fear making it difficult to speak, "listen, remember what I told you to tell Remus and…"

"You gotta do the same for me", Tom interrupted him, panic in his tone, "and…tell Gryffindor all…that, what you…said."

The light was becoming brighter, and there were footsteps now, echoing from the walls.

"I'm sorry about Snowy", Sirius blurted out, "and…for being such a jerk to you."

"I'm sorry for calling you a loser, you're not", Tom hastily replied, "and…for being so mean."

The footsteps got closer, and louder, and the light…so much light…

Tom grabbed Sirius' hand, not able to hide the terror he felt much longer, and Sirius took it, and then the boys snuggled into each other, sitting next to each other on the mattress, both shaking with fear, keeping their eyes closed from the burning light.

Tom was fighting against the tears, thinking about all the other things he needed Sirius to know but couldn't tell him, all the things, like…

Tell Gryffindor I wanted him to be proud of me.

"I already am, my boy."

And then the light suddenly turned warm- and how was that even possible? And there were more footsteps, and when Tom opened his eyes in shock, there he was.

"You and Sirius got me worried, Tommy", and then Gryffindor smiled, a real, genuine smile, and he wanted to cry, badly, this was all too much, and then he heard Sirius next to him sob, and he watched somewhat in a daze how Gryffindor very gently pulled Sirius in a hug, "I know, sweet boy…I know…it's over. It's all over."

And then Salazar was there as well, and Tom thought he must clearly be dreaming all of this, but then Salazar picked him up, and hugged him, and he was crying now as well, and there was more light…and he closed his eyes, and soon later, everything became dark again.

"Albus?"

No response.

"Albus!", Minerva McGonagall was losing her already low running patience by now, "please open the door! What is going on?"

Dumbledore, who had been lying unconscious behind his desk for hours, just groaned, not even bothering to get up. His whole body was in agony- and he had a feeling he knew why that was.

My horcrux…my soul. You are gone!

There was only one person who knew that he had constructed a horcrux- the person he had forced to pretend to run around as Luke Lightwing for the past weeks.

Peter Pettigrew.

Dumbledore knew something had been wrong when Pettigrew had not come to him to receive the rest of the Polyjuice, and when Remus Lupin had told him Luke had disappeared, his worst fear had become a reality.

Pettigrew had never been eager to participate in his scheme, he had only done it because he had threatened and blackmailed the Animagus, and he should have known that Pettigrew would take revenge at some point.

But, to destroy his horcrux? How had he even managed that?

Dumbledore had no answers for these questions, and that was the worst part of it all.

The other part was that he had no idea how to explain the disappearance of the boy to his parents, or anyone else. At least the body was hidden well, after he had taken it out of the dungeons and put it in the hallway to the Chamber.

"Albus! The parents of Luke Lightwing have contacted me, and they wish to speak to you as soon as possible!", McGonagall's voice was loud and clear through the door, "apparently, the boy has been missing. This is serious!"

There it was…sooner than expected.

He coughed, knowing he had to respond to McGonagall somehow, or she would become more suspicious than she already was, "I…apologize, Minerva. I…am quite ill, I…need you to take the lead on the school", he coughed again, "please…investigate this matter."

He could hear McGonagall shooting questions at him, and he groaned, turning to the side. He had never felt worse than he felt now, and Minerva's insistence was not helping, either.

Finally, she left after yelling something at him through the door, and he closed his eyes, just wanting to forget.

"Are they still asleep?"

Salazar nodded, and then he took a seat next to Godric on the couch, exhaling, "just one day…", he said quietly, "and he managed to almost kill both of them."

"Well, I'll make sure I don't almost kill him later", Godric replied, a dark tone in his voice, "Pettigrew will pay for what he did to them, that I can promise."

"We still need information from him, please don't forget that", Salazar reminded him softly, "if Dumbledore did not help him, and it looks like he didn't, there had to be someone else."

Godric sighed, "I know…", he looked into the flames of the fireplace, "thank goodness we found them in time…and thanks to Severus who was clever enough to search the

Shrieking Shack after he searched Hogsmeade, and realized it had a hidden basement."

Salazar nodded again, and for a few minutes, there was a silence.

"I'm worried about Sirius", Godric finally said, still looking into the fire, "compared to Tom, he's in much worse shape. Pettigrew must have really enjoyed torturing him."

"He seems to be more traumatized than Tom as well", Salazar added, "and did you see that chain on his leg? Pettigrew wanted to make sure he felt every second of the Crucio, without being able to move."

Godric had already opened his mouth to respond when a noise at the door interrupted him, seconds later, Aurelius had come into the room, "where are they?"

"Good morning to you as well, son", the Gryffindor couldn't help but sound slightly amused, "they are both still asleep."

"And…how are they? How badly injured? What did…"

"Have a seat, Aurelius", Salazar's voice was gentle, "I know you are worried about the boys, but they are well taken care of. I gave them some healing potions earlier, along with a dreamless sleep potion. They will feel well rested once they wake up."

"But…the injuries…"

"Tom is going to be just fine in a few days", Godric replied after a short pause, "but, Sirius…"

Aurelius immediately looked alarmed, "what about him?"

"He's been tortured quite severely", Salazar told him quietly, "he was terrified when we found him, and that adrenaline from the fear must have kept him functioning for a while when he was awake- but as soon as we got there and saved him, he became unconscious from the pain."

Aurelius made a choking sound, "that…damn rat, I will…"

"I know, son. I know", Godric just looked at him, understanding in his eyes, "Pettigrew will get what he deserves, you can trust me on that."

Aurelius seemed a bit more relaxed upon hearing that, but his face was still pale and worried.

"I…want to go see them, please Father", he eventually said, and Godric just nodded, having the feeling that his oldest would probably go and see the boys anyways, with or without his permission.

"Just promise me to be quiet."

They all went up the stairs minutes later- Salazar had wanted to check on them as well, and when Godric slowly opened the door to Tom's room, Aurelius inhaled sharply at the sight of the boy in his bed, his tousled, messy hair, the dried blood on his face, and his hands, covered in dirt.

Tommy…

Tom was sleeping peacefully, the healing potions doing their job, with Salazar, Godric, and Aurelius watching over him for a while, unknown to the sleeping boy…

Where…am I?

Sirius tried to remember, tried to understand what had happened, but his mind was completely blank.

He was lying in a bed, the most comfortable bed he'd ever been in, and the room he had woken up in looked like a boys' bedroom- there was a bookshelf, and there were toys, and some Quidditch pictures on the wall, and a very fluffy rug with little snitches on the floor.

The broad windowfront showed a park- a grass field, and trees, and a lake in the distance, all covered in snow and ice.

Sirius tried to sit up, but the dizziness he immediately felt made him think again, so he put his head back on the pillow, groaning quietly.

What…happened?

He had been at Hogwarts, of course- and…in the bathroom? And then…Luke, something about Luke…and Tom.

He groaned again, his head starting to hurt. Wherever he was now, he was comfortable- and besides his headache, not in any pain.

But then his stomach started to growl, and he realized he was starving. When was the last time he had eaten something?

Bread…and some potatoes…

He blinked at the sudden memory flash of eating stale bread and some cold potatoes off a dirty plate, and it had been so dark…down in that cell.

The cell…Pettigrew…and Tom…

"Tom?", he hadn't realized he had said that out loud until he heard his own voice, hoarse and strained.

And seconds later, the door opened, and in came Salazar Slytherin, carrying a tray with food, drinks, and something that looked like potions.

"I figured you must be waking up by now", Salazar gave him a warm smile, setting the tray down next to him on the bed, "how are you feeling?"

"I…my head…", he blinked, closing his eyes for a few seconds, "where's Tom?"

"Tom is next door, I think he's taking a nap right now", Salazar replied, "he's doing well. You've been asleep for more than a day; those healing potions must have knocked you out a bit."

"More than…a day?", Sirius repeated, still trying to organize his thoughts, "what…actually happened?"

Salazar sat down on the side of his bed, and he told the boy about the last 48 hours- the destroyed horcrux, Luke being dead, and Severus Snape finding the hidden basement in the Shrieking Shack, and alerting them immediately.

Sirius had started to eat while Salazar talked, enjoying the sensation of warm, home cooked food in his stomach.

"But…Pettigrew…"

"He's imprisoned in our dungeon- with no way out, not even as a rat", Salazar told him, and Sirius sighed in relief, "so…it's over?"

"For you, it is, yes", Salazar smiled at him, Sirius did not need to know at the moment that there were still some unanswered questions, and that Dumbledore was not completely defeated yet, either. Sirius had to heal though, that was all that mattered right now.

"Why don't you close your eyes for a little bit again", Salazar eventually suggested after Sirius had finished all of his food, his drink, and taken another healing potion, "you need to rest."

"O…oaky", Sirius easily agreed, since he did feel tired from the conversation and from eating all that food, "just…for a little bit…", he was asleep before Salazar had picked up the tray, and the Founder smiled at the tired boy, "sleep well, Sirius…"

And while Sirius slept peacefully again, Tom was wide awake. He had only been tortured once and had not been affected by their imprisonment as much as Sirius, so he was feeling quite normal again already- at least physically.

He had been napping and resting for most of the day, and now he had gotten bored from lying in his bed, and decided to find something to do.

Dressed in his silky pajamas, he went down the stairs, marching into the hallway- and straight into Godric Gryffindor.

"Shouldn't you be in bed, Thomas?", he did not sound upset, though- more mildly amused.

"I was bored", Tom admitted, and Godric sighed, "come with me- I was going to talk to you anyways."

Tom frowned, "about what?"

"We won't discuss that in the hallway- come with me."

He shrugged, but since he did not have anything better to do, he followed the Founder into the living room, sitting down on the couch opposite from him.

"How are you feeling?"

"Kind of bored", Tom repeated, "I've been lying in bed all day. I am not in any pain anymore, though."

Godric looked him silently for a moment, secretly grateful that Tom was seemingly not traumatized by his capture- but then again, he had been through all kinds of hell before, in his other life.

"You're going to kill Pettigrew, right?", Tom eventually asked, not liking the way Gryffindor was looking at him, "can I watch?"

"Absolutely not", Godric replied instantly, "but there is something else you can do- the same thing I asked you to do before, actually."

"The…deal?", Tom didn't want to mention what Sirius had told him in that cell- he actually wanted to forget everything they had discussed that day, including him crying over Gryffindor not being his actual dad.

"We have Pettigrew- but we still don't have all of the answers", Godric replied, still looking at him, "it appears that Dumbledore did not help Pettigrew in kidnapping you and Sirius- and we suspect that someone else did. Furthermore, we have no proof that it was Dumbledore who killed Luke."

"You…want me to find proof that it was him who killed Luke?"

Gryffindor nodded, "besides, since Luke cannot return to third grade, and we need to keep Sirius here for a while longer, it would be too suspicious if you suddenly disappeared as well."

"Why…does Sirius need to stay here?", Tom asked, even though he wasn't so sure he wanted to hear the answer.

The Founder sighed, "he's been tortured quite severely- and it is going to take some time for him to heal completely. He'll go back to Hogwarts when I think he's ready to."

"Pettigrew…kept the food and water on my side, so he couldn't reach it", Tom said after a long pause, looking down, "you'll kill him, right?"

"Yes, Tommy", Godric's voice had gone soft, thinking to himself that maybe he had been wrong, and this all had affected the boy more than he thought it did.

"Is there anything else Pettigrew did? Or said to you?"

Tom immediately put his guard up again, "I…don't remember", he lied, steadily looking down.

Oh, Tommy…

Gryffindor silently debated if it really was the right decision to send Tom back to Hogwarts with Aurelius- he did need him to get information on Dumbledore, but it wasn't a priority- it never had been.

He knew Aurelius would take care of the boy, and having a normal schedule again might help him, too…besides, Sirius would need most of his attention now, and he was looking forward to taking care of the boy. Godric was aware that he needed to have a strong relationship with both boys to avoid any jealousy between them in the future- a future where he hoped Tom and Sirius would become brothers.

Hopefully…

"I don't mind going back to Hogwarts for a bit", Tom finally said, thinking it would be easier to forget everything that happened when he was around the other students again and could focus on his work, "I missed a lot of class time already."

"We told the school that you were sick and went home for a few days", Godric said, "and Remus Lupin said the same about Sirius- his alleged nephew."

Tom nodded, thinking that made sense- and he was glad he didn't have to come up with another lie, "and…Luke?"

"I'm certain his parents have been informed of his…absence by now", Godric replied, his voice heavy, "they deserve to take their boy home and bury him."

Tom nodded again, "it's…crazy that Pettigrew was Luke this whole time, and we didn't even realize it", he mumbled, "he was always kind of quiet and in the background."

"Purposely."

"All that makes a lot more sense now", Tom looked to the side, "you'll kill Pettigrew, right?"

"Yes, my boy. I will."

He didn't comment on the my boy, not wanting to think about what that meant- what any of this meant.

"I…should get dressed, and…can I go back today?", he needed some distance from Gryffindor, from all…this, and he needed it quickly.

The Founder could sense the boy's confusion, and even though he wanted to pull Tom into a hug, and tell him how much he loved him, how worried he had been, how excruciating that day had been for him- he knew it wasn't time for that, yet. Tom had to come to his own conclusions, on his own terms.

"Aurelius can take you back after lunch", he told the boy, "and if you need anything, you…"

"Thanks", Tom almost jumped from the couch, hastily heading for the door, "I'll be fine."

Like you've always been, hmm?

Godric made no attempt to stop the boy, he knew Tom would figure it out eventually…his boy was a smart one, after all.

"You're insane."

Remus just shrugged, "maybe I am- but I am not going to watch this a second longer. It is nauseating."

"How do you want to explain that, Remus? To the parents? To the school?", Snape had gotten up from the couch, helping himself to some more tea, "look here, Luke's been missing for a while, but we found him- and never mind the fact that he looks like he's been dead for a month", his voice was dripping with sarcasm, and Remus rolled his eyes.

"I do not intend to explain anything- we take Luke out of the hallway, and then we just…leave him."

"Leave him where?"

"In…front of McGonagall's office, maybe?"

"Why not just put him in the Great Hall for everyone to see", Snape replied sarcastically, "this whole idea is insane, Lupin."

"Remus", he corrected, "besides, have you thought of his parents at all? Dumbledore is still hiding in his office, and McGonagall keeps stalling an actual investigation- while they are here, searching the castle themselves because no one else does."

Snape didn't respond- he had seen Mr. and Mrs. Lightwing, they all had- Luke's parents had been frantic with worry when they had been alerted about Luke's disappearance. They had two older kids, their oldest son Lionel had graduated from Hogwarts three years ago, and the older sister Leandra was a seventh grader in Gryffindor. Luke had always been the baby- spoiled and protected by his family.

Leandra and her friends had started a search as well- which of course had been unsuccessful.

"I cannot keep watching that family going through hell, searching for Luke, while he's been dead for a month", Remus added quietly, "it…it is killing me to see them all like this."

"I…understand", Snape said after a pause- because he did. He knew what it felt like to lose someone, that day he had found Lily…

"They need to take Luke home, Severus", Remus looked at him, "thinking of him in that hallway…alone, forgotten…I…I can't get those pictures out of my head."

Snape felt a sudden pang of- what was that? Sympathy, surely. It had to be sympathy, because he did not have any feelings for the Lupin, he certainly did not.

"I understand", he repeated, somewhat distracted, "and…I will help you, Remus."

I cannot believe I am saying that.

"You are? Thank you, Severus!", Remus shot him a grateful smile, "I was thinking we go get him tonight, we put him in a big blanket, and then we will carry him over to McGonagall."

"She will get the shock of her life", Snape couldn't help himself but feel a bit spiteful at that image- he had had enough unpleasant encounters with the Gryffindor Head of House to last a lifetime.

"Yes, but she could have led an actual investigation, and this could have been avoided", Remus replied, and Snape realized he liked this side of the Lupin- him standing up for something, and following through with it.

"I agree", Snape simply said- so hours later, he found himself next to Remus carrying the body of Luke Lightwing back out of the dark and cold hallway it had been hidden for the past weeks.

The smell of the body was still unpleasant, but the blanket covered most of it. Luke was still surprisingly heavy, and Snape felt himself sighing with relief when they had reached the staircase that was leading up to McGonagall's office. No one had seen them so far, as it was after midnight. Not even Filch or his cat had been around, thankfully.

Almost there…

"We're almost there", Remus whispered behind him, and Snape smiled to himself, nodding at the Lupin.

They carefully placed the big blanket with Luke inside right in front of her office, exchanging a look between them as they placed him down.

I cannot believe what I'm doing here.

Snape stepped back from the body, not realizing he had stepped on a part of the blanket while doing so. He stumbled, holding on to…something out of reflex, and…that something turned out to be the doorknob, and then the door swung open with a loud, unforgiving noise.

"Severus?"

Both Snape and Remus went pale at the same time at the sight of a very stern looking Minerva McGonagall in the doorway, the body of Luke at her feet, staring at both of them in utter astonishment.

It had started to snow, and Sirius was watching the snowflakes slowly falling down on the ground from his very comfortable bed. It was a peaceful sight, and he enjoyed it quite a bit- but after staring at the snowflakes for about thirty minutes, it became boring.

He had taken another long nap, but even though he had been doing nothing but sleeping, eating, and taking healing potions, he still felt weak and dizzy- and restless.

"I see you're awake."

Sirius carefully turned his head to avoid his headache getting worse and came face to face with Godric Gryffindor. He hadn't really spoken to the Founder since he had rescued him from that hellhole, and Sirius had to swallow when he remembered how he had sobbed and let Gryffindor carry him like he was a little boy.

"Yeah, I…just woke up", he finally replied, "been doing nothin' but sleeping it feels like."

"You need to rest, Sirius", Godric replied calmly, sitting down at Sirius' bedside, "you've been through a lot."

"I've been resting", Sirius responded, a hint of annoyance in his voice, "all I've been doing for the last days is resting. These…healing potions aren't working."

"They are- but they cannot do miracles", Godric still kept his voice calm, "Pettigrew tortured you quite excessively, and the only thing that will help you right now is staying in bed and relaxing."

"But this is boring", Sirius didn't care that he sounded like a whiny toddler, he was tired of being tired- and of doing nothing.

"Hmmm…how about a story then, wild boy?", Gryffindor sounded amused now, "a very exciting story about a brave boy who fought a dragon with his bare hands."

Sirius blinked, not wanting to admit that the idea of a dragon story sounded pretty awesome, "fine. You can tell me a story", he said graciously, and Gryffindor had to laugh, "generous of you, little boy."

And then he began- and Sirius was soon hanging on his lips for every word, getting more and more delighted by the story, and when he finally ended, Sirius was fast asleep.

He got a few more stories that day from Gryffindor- each of them more exciting than the last one. But Gryffindor did not only tell him stories, he also told him about his work at the Ministry, and what was going on at the Manor, and the owls at the owlery.

The only thing he never mentioned was their capture- and Pettigrew.

"What's that?", Sirius eyed the object in Gryffindor's hands critically when the Founder entered his room again, as he did several times a day, and Godric chuckled, "what do you think it is?"

"A waste of time."

"Playing chess is never a waste of time, wild boy", Gryffindor corrected him mildly, sitting down with the chessboard on Sirius' bed, "this is the perfect opportunity to learn for you."

"I…don't want to learn, though", Sirius replied, eyeing the chessboard with disdain, "that's…boring."

"You can make that judgment after I taught you, Sirius", Godric replied drily, setting up the board, "let's start with the pieces and their functions."

Sirius groaned, leaning back in his pillow, "I'll never get this anyways. I'm not smart enough", he eventually mumbled, quietly enough that he thought Gryffindor wouldn't hear him.

"You're plenty smart, Sirius", the Founder responded calmly, "and I think it's about time everyone sees that, hmm?"

The boy bit his lips, not having an argument against that. And then Gryffindor patiently started to explain how the game worked- and he listened, asking a few questions in between, and before he knew it, he was learning how to play chess.

"A word, Thomas."

Tom immediately rolled his eyes, he would never get used to being called Thomas, "what do you want?"

"For you to drop the attitude, for a start", Aurelius' tone was sharp, "and an explanation."

"About what?"

"Your behavior in McGonagall's class today, boy."

"You mean the stupid teamwork? I was supposed to work with Sirius on that, but he's not here, so I decided to work by myself. How is that a problem?"

Aurelius sighed. He had thought it would be good for Tom to come back to Hogwarts- but since he'd been back, he had been even more standoffish and to himself than before. He ignored his classmates, the other Gryffindors, he did not join in any of their fun but only kept to himself and his studies.

"I understand that you miss Sirius…"

"I don't", Tom interrupted him harshly, "can I go now? I have an assignment for Professor Flitwick to finish."

Aurelius sighed again. He knew the boy was lying- Sirius had been the only one Tom had had some kind of relationship with, even though they had mostly been fighting.

"I'm worried about you, Tommy", he used the nickname on purpose now, "and it is not healthy for you to isolate yourself from everyone like you have been- and I'm intending to change that."

Tom bit his lips, not liking at all where this was going, "change…what? I don't need you to change anything. I'm fine."

"You're not fine", Aurelius replied, his voice soft, "but I think I found the perfect opportunity for you to make some new friends and have fun."

"If you think you can force me to play Quidditch like you did with Sirius, you are…"

"Not Quidditch, no- but I want you to try out for the Christmas play. The last try outs are today."

Tom went pale, "you…you must be joking. The Christmas play? Forget it. I'm not doing that. I hate acting, the whole thing is a waste of time. I won't do that. I won't."

"You will, Tommy", Aurelius was smiling now, "you will try out today, and you will try your very best, too- otherwise, you and I are going to have a long talk in my quarters later."

He balled his hands into fists, fuming inside, "you think I'm afraid of you? After what Pettigrew did to me? I'm not."

"It's not about being afraid, Tom", Aurelius replied mildly, "and I daresay you'd change your mind fairly quickly once I put you over my lap and make you count, hmm?"

Tom was trembling now, wanting nothing more than to punch the older boy, "I've never done any silly acting before, McLaggen won't take me anyways", he eventually spat out, not wanting to comment on what Aurelius had said, "there's plenty of Gryffindors who actually want to do this nonsense, and he's going to have them participate. Not me!"

"Well, in that case you have nothing to worry about, right?", Aurelius' voice was still mild, "and you can just as well try out this afternoon."

"Are you going to leave me alone if I do?", Tom didn't even try to sound respectful, but when Aurelius raised his eyebrows, he had to swallow.

"You're asking for a spanking, boy."

"You…you can't do that."

"You'd be surprised", he said drily, "now, the tryout is at 4 PM in the Common Room- you will be given a monologue to read, and if you do well, you're going to be part of the Christmas play this year."

I'll make sure I won't do well, then.

He kept thinking that when he walked into the Common Room hours later- realizing with disdain that there were about a dozen other Gryffindors who had shown up. Colin Creevey and Ginny Weasley were there, and Parvati Patil, along with Lavender Brown.

He tried his best not to roll his eyes when he sat down next to Lavender, hating that Aurelius made him participate in this ridiculousness.

Cormac McLaggen stepped forward now, explaining that this was the last chance to try out, and that they had about seven more roles to fill. Everyone would be given the same monologue to read to keep things fair, and their monologues would take about three minutes to read. Decisions would be made by tomorrow and announced on the board in the Common Room- and rehearsals would begin in two days.

Tom suppressed a yawn, he wasn't going to make it to rehearsals anyways, he'd read his stupid text and then forget this nonsense had ever happened.

"You will get ten minutes to practice your monologue, and we will call you in here one by one after your time is up", Cormac now said, and Tom remembered again that he could not stand Cormac McLaggen- he was just as full of himself as Aurelius was.

Pauline, the co-director, was handing out the texts now, and then they all went to their own little corners of the Common Room, practicing.

Tom chose an armchair by the fireplace, his eyes scanning the text in his hand. He had expected some silly, maybe even comedic thing- but the text was anything but. It was dark, almost brutal- it was a first-person point of view describing the hunting of a dragon through a haunted forest, and even though Tom had wanted to ridicule any text given to him, he was soon enthralled with the story.

Sooner than expected, it was his time to perform, with Cormac, Pauline, and Fred Weasley, who had been recovering from his illness, being the judges. Aurelius was there as well- of course he was- leaning by the door with crossed arms, an amused smile on his lips.

Good luck, Tommy, he mouthed in his direction, and Tom felt the urge to stick his tongue out at him- but he had other things to worry about now.

He had wanted to do badly, he had- but as soon as he started reading, the forest became alive around him, and the dragon was there, right there, wanting to escape his fate, he couldn't help but act like he was there, he was hunting the dragon, he was racing through the woods, he was…him.

He didn't even realize he was done until he heard someone clapping- and when he looked up, they were all clapping, Cormac, Fred, and Pauline.

"That was…spectacular!", Fred stated, sounding clearly impressed, "well done, Thomas!"

"Yes, well done indeed, Tommy", Aurelius was next to him suddenly, still smiling- but now his smile was…proud, almost, "I think you made it, fierce boy. Congratulations."

Well, shit.

Lol…Tom didn't think that through, clearly ;) in the next chap, there will be more Godric/ Sirius H/C, Pettigrew will be back, aaaaand McGonagall's reaction XD

I'd love some feedback from you! Read you soon! :)