Reckoning Night

Chapter 6

Sam stared at the book in her hands, not sure what to make of this. "Well ... what does it say?"

Daniel faltered for a moment. He had obviously not expected this question. "Uh. Actually, I don't know. Yet. My references are still in the hotel room. But that's not the point."

Sam looked from the book to Daniel, and suddenly felt something "click" inside her mind. Of course, she was once again failing to see the woods for the trees because she was getting too caught up in details. "The point is, what would the writings of an alien race be doing in a wizarding library?" she said.

"That is one huge, honking coincidence, if you ask me."

"What if the wizards really have something to do with the race of the Ancients? Anything at all? It would put a whole new spin on this."

"Several things seem to indicate that. We have an artefact of the Ancients currently influencing the magical forces or whatever they are called," Daniel said. "And we find a book with the writings of the same alien race in the library of a wizarding school."

"Not to forget that the aliens are called the *Ancients* when we currently happen to be looking for *ancient* magic!"

Daniel frowned. "But how does this help us? We could ask one of the wizards if they know the language in this book, but I doubt it. If they did, they would have been able to translate the writing on the artefact themselves, and Dumbledore told me they couldn't."

Sam tried to bring some kind of order into the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle. "Okay, let's do this systematically. What sources of information do we have about the Ancients?"

"I recall only two. Ernest's planet, which is inaccessible, and the 'Place of our Legacy', where Jack got all the stuff downloaded into his brain. Which didn't help us much."

"Well, the Asgard said the device wasn't made for humans," Sam reminded him.

Daniel nodded. "Just another crazy idea, but ... we already know the magic of these wizards here has a very long history on Earth. Now, if magic and the Ancients really do have some sort of connection, couldn't it be that the wizards were -- long ago -- sort of 'created' by the Ancients? The Ancients are not any old alien race, remember -- they built the Stargates, after all! They could have as well been proficient in genetic engineering, for example."

Picking up Daniel's train of thought, Sam went on, "If the database of the Ancients we found wasn't built for 'normal' humans, maybe the ones it *was* built for were their own 'creation', the wizards?"

"Yes, it's possible ... The database *could* distinguish between a human and a Jaffa, after all, so maybe it can also tell Muggles and wizards apart?"

"This is all just pure speculation, though. Why exactly would the Ancients build such a device? All it did with Colonel O'Neill was to make him spout muddled Latin and enter a bunch of new Gate addresses into our computer until he couldn't communicate at all anymore. How does this make sense from the Ancients' point of view?"

"Think, Sam. You just said it yourself -- if we assume it was built for the wizards, they might have a different reaction to it than Jack did. Think of the people on Cimmeria -- the intention of the Asgard was for their people to figure out how to contact them when they were advanced enough. What if it's the same with the wizards?"

Now Sam felt even more excited than before. "That would mean we might be able to contact the Ancients like we contacted Thor? They might be a powerful ally, not only against Voldemort, but also against the Goa'uld in general!"

"Yes," Daniel said. "Either that, or maybe one of the wizards could use the knowledge from the database to at least disable the negative 'gate'."

"Or maybe even build a weapon that could defeat him. And maybe it would eliminate the threat of the Goa'uld from the entire galaxy." Sam couldn't stop herself from grinning. "There might be something in it for us. Colonel O'Neill is going to like this!"

-----

After they had all caught up on sleep for a bit, Jack was busy explaining to Agent Devlin why it was not a good idea to try and catch the Goa'uld on his own. He didn't really mind if the NID agent went off and got himself killed out of stupidity, but he didn't want to be responsible for it. Other than that, he told him as little as possible, and generally made sure he stayed out of his way.

Professor Dumbledore had informed them that they'd better not wander through the castle on their own. There were a few individuals among the students who would have liked to cause them anything from simple ridicule to serious harm simply because they were Muggles, and Jack agreed that he'd rather not take the chance. Apparently the castle also had its own Poltergeist, who was now under strict orders to leave the Muggles alone. And as a final security measure, they could choose to have their food brought to their rooms, or eat at the staff table in the Great Hall. Jack chose the latter option, mainly because it made him feel less like a prisoner in this place, but also because he wanted to talk to Dumbledore about an interesting theory Daniel and Carter had told him before they had crashed into bed.

The staff table was overlooking the Great Hall where the students were eating. Some of them were darting curious glances up to where they were sitting.

Since Dumbledore already knew about the Stargate project thanks to Daniel, Jack could tell him about his experience with the Ancients' database and why Sam and Daniel thought it might react differently to a wizard. Snape, the bad-tempered teacher from yesterday night, was sitting right next to Dumbledore, and Jack had the distinct impression he was trying too hard to look as though he was not listening. However, since he already knew everything Dumbledore knew, Jack didn't much care. By the time he had finished explaining everything, he was done with the opulent breakfast, and some of the students were already leaving the Great Hall, but Snape was still there.

Dumbledore looked thoughtful. "This is an interesting theory."

Teal'c said, "I do not understand, O'Neill. Has Daniel Jackson not said the wizards have been marrying regular Tau'ri humans for many centuries?"

Jack nodded. "I get what you mean, Teal'c. How would the device be able to distinguish between a Muggle, and someone who has over generations become so much like this Muggle that he does not differ a lot anymore? What if the same happens as what happened to me, and we can *not* find a way to reverse it?"

"This is true," Dumbledore confirmed. "Wizards have much Muggle blood in them these days. However," he added after a brief pause, "there are those who call themselves the 'pure-bloods', some of which can trace their ancestry of wizards back many generations and pride themselves to have fewer Muggle blood than anyone else."

Snape leaned over to Dumbledore and hissed, "You are not seriously considering to send Draco Malfoy to save the world?"

Dumbledore looked at Snape with a twinkle in his blue eyes. "Contrary to Mr Malfoy's attitude, there *are* more pure-bloods in the Wizarding World than him." He looked back at Jack and Teal'c. "You remember the prophecy we told you about?" When they nodded, he continued, "Well, it's not entirely true that it applies only to Harry Potter. There is a second boy named Neville Longbottom, who was also in consideration for a while."

"He was never marked as an equal," Snape said immediately.

"I am aware of that fact," Dumbledore said. "However, Mr Potter is currently unconscious in the hospital wing and not available to fulfill the prophecy. And his mother was a Muggle-born witch, so it would have been risky to send Harry to this planet."

"And Mr Longbottom," Snape said, contempt oozing from every syllable, "would misfire even the simplest disarming spell when faced with the Dark Lord."

Dumbledore watched the student tables over the rim of his half-moon spectacles. "Mr Longbottom might not be prepared for a duel to life or death." He paused briefly, letting his eyes wander over the students. "Mr Longbottom is, however, a pure-blood."

At that moment, Snape went paler than he already was. He exchanged an alarmed look with Dumbledore as he gripped his left forearm fiercely.

-----

After lunch, Neville decided to stop by the hospital wing before the Transfiguration exam started. He hadn't had a chance to visit Harry yet since he had been herded back to bed with the others last night and there hadn't been enough time after breakfast. Madam Pomfrey was nowhere to be seen when he stepped through the doors, just Harry's prone form lay lonely in one of the beds. He had lost almost all colour from his face and looked very small and fragile. Hesitantly, Neville stepped closer to the bed, not sure if Madam Pomfrey would come charging in and chase him away. When nothing of the sort happened, he stood next to the bed, looking down at Harry.

It had only been a few days ago when he had told Harry how glad he was that it wasn't his shoulders the fate of the Wizarding World was resting on. "If you don't wake up soon, they will start looking for a new saviour, and someone will tell them about the prophecy and my part in it," he whispered, more to himself than to Harry, who couldn't respond anyway. "Please wake up!"

Frankly, the thought of having to take Harry's place scared him. He began to understand how it must have been for Harry to feel this pressure for his whole life. Or at least the time he spent in the Wizarding World. And Neville was convinced he didn't stand a chance against a horde of Death Eaters, let alone He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself. He hadn't even practised any advanced spells like Harry had done, at least not beyond what was required for the NEWTs, and even those he had difficulties with. Snape was right. He was a "nothing". He was not "the One".

"Please wake up, Harry," he said again, as if his plea alone would perform the miracle that Madam Pomfrey couldn't do.

Harry didn't stir.

"Oh, there you are, Mr Longbottom," came suddenly a voice from behind him and he turned around. Nearly Headless Nick was hovering near the ceiling. "The headmaster has sent me to look for you. He wants to talk to you."

Neville felt a clump of lead drop into his stomach. Why did Professor Dumbledore want to talk to him? Had he done anything that was against the rules? Or maybe ... maybe he wanted to ask Neville to take Harry's place. He swallowed. "Thank you. I will go see him."

"No, stay here," Nick said. "He is on his way. I will let him know you are here."

Neville sat down heavily on the bed next to Harry's. There was no other reason why Dumbledore would want to talk to him. It had to be about the prophecy.

Dumbledore must have been in the area because he entered the hospital wing just a few moments later. To Neville's surprise, he was followed by three people he didn't know. From the way they were dressed, he assumed they were the Muggles who had been staying at Hogwarts since last night. What did they want here? Did they also want to talk to him?

Dumbledore's worried look alarmed Neville, and he stood up quickly.

"Neville, I assume you know about the prophecy, and your role in it?"

Bingo. Neville swallowed and nodded mutely.

"We have reason to believe that Lord Voldemort is planning something big, possibly even today."

"I can't do it," Neville said quickly.

"You haven't heard me out yet."

"Sorry."

"Let me introduce you to Dr Daniel Jackson, Captain Samantha Carter, and Teal'c."

Now that Neville got a closer look, he noticed that the first two looked decidedly sleep-deprived, and sort of crumpled, as if they'd just got thrown out of bed. However, he still didn't have a clue what they had to do with him.

"They are here to lend us their assistance," Dumbledore continued. "Time is of essence now -- we don't know how much we still have. We have to expect the worst."

Neville wondered why Dumbledore was beating around the bush. "Are you saying You-Know-Who is going for a full-scale attack on the school, and I'm supposed to stop him?"

"Once and for all."

"No way." Neville was tempted to cross his arms to emphasize his point, but that would make him look like a snotty brat, so he didn't. "I don't stand the slightest trace of a chance. You'd be better off asking someone more capable than me."

"Strange, this is what Professor Snape said, too." Suddenly, the familiar twinkle vanished from Dumbledore's eyes. The situation must be graver than Neville had thought. Dumbledore sounded almost sad when he said quietly, "Trust me, Neville, if *I* could kill Lord Voldemort myself, I would have done so a long time ago."

"But--" Neville stumbled over his own words. "Harry is the Boy Who Lived, not me. I can't kill You-Know-Who any more than the rest of the Wizarding World."

Dumbledore stepped closer to Harry's bed to take a long, sad look at him. Without taking his eyes off him, he said, "The responsibility is enormous, I know. I will not force you to do anything, but you must decide for yourself what is easy and what is right."

Neville swallowed again. He remembered those words from the end of his fourth year. Back then, he hadn't thought he would ever have to make this decision. He opened his mouth to say something, but he wasn't sure what.

Then, Dumbledore said, "I do agree with you, however, that, at the current state of things, you have no hopes of surviving a battle."

Neville's mouth snapped shut and he blinked. Wasn't this what he had been trying to say all along?

"And this is where our friends come in." He gestured at the three visitors.

"We want to take you to a planet far away from here, Neville," Captain Carter picked up. "There is a repository of knowledge that a powerful alien race has left behind."

Neville stared at her, unsure of what to say. Finally, he settled on a lame, "What does this have to do with me?"

"Neville, you say your skills aren't honed enough to match those of Lord Voldemort," Dumbledore said. "This additional knowledge might give you the edge you are looking for."

Before Neville could say anything. Dr Jackson went on, "You should know that we've tried dealing with this knowledge before, but we nearly lost Jack in the process because it wasn't fit for regular humans."

"However," Captain Carter continued, "we have reason to believe it might work differently on a pure-blooded wizard such as yourself."

"We believe this alien race might have been directly involved in the origin of the wizards on Earth. We have encountered a situation before, where the people in question were able to contact a powerful ally. We are kind of hoping this might be possible in this case, too," Dr Jackson said. "At the very least, you might be able to figure out how to bring back the balance of light and Dark magic, since the device that is causing the disturbance is from the same alien race."

Neville frowned, trying to digest the torrent of information. "You keep saying 'might'. What if it doesn't work?"

Dr Jackson grimaced. "In that case, you're stuck with an enormous amount of Latin in your head, you'll slowly lose the ability to communicate, and ... we don't know what happens then because Jack was rescued in time."

"The problem is, we can't contact those rescuers whenever we need them," Captain Carter said. "It's risky, and it might not work at all. We are giving you the opportunity, but you don't have to do it."

Neville looked from one person to the next. Captain Carter and Dr Jackson suddenly didn't look all that tired anymore. The one called Teal'c, who hadn't said a word so far, was watching him with an unreadable face. Dumbledore looked at him expectantly. Harry still wasn't moving.

Neville took a deep breath.

"Well, it's out best shot." He looked back at the captain's expectant face. "Isn't it?" Neville didn't believe he was "the One", and he knew even less spells than Harry did since he hadn't been preparing for the battle. And when even those spells started failing with increasing frequency, he knew he wouldn't stand a chance. If Dumbledore thought it was worth a try, he'd do it. "I'll take any help I can get."

For a moment, there was silence, and Neville wondered if he had said something wrong. Then Carter said, "Good. Colonel O'Neill is currently out of grounds talking with our superior, but as I know him, he'll manage to get permission to take you offworld."

Well, these were a weird bunch, Neville decided. All this effort to convince him to go to this planet, and they weren't even allowed to do so yet?

But he needn't have worried. As if on cue, the man who was probably Colonel O'Neill came into the hospital wing together with Professor McGonagall, holding one of those small mobile felly ... telly ... whatever in his hand. He waved it triumphantly at his friends. "You were right, Daniel, it started working as soon as we were far enough away from the castle."

"What is this, a mess hall or a hospital?" came suddenly the indignant voice of Madam Pomfrey from behind them.

"I am sorry, Poppy," said Dumbledore apologetically, but smiling at the same time. "It seems like Harry magically draws all people towards him."

"Yes, just like he draws the trouble," Madam Pomfrey huffed. "Out, all of you!"

She chased them out of her domain and shut the doors behind them. They followed Dumbledore outside the castle.

"What did General Hammond say?" Dr Jackson asked Colonel O'Neill.

"It took a while to explain everything, and to convince him of our plan. But when I told him we might be able to make contact with the Ancients, he was all for it."

"When do we go?" Neville asked.

"As soon as possible," Dumbledore said. "We have no time to waste. Neville, remember, no wand and no magic while you're among the Muggles. Borrow some Muggle clothes from one of your friends." He summoned a small branch from the nearby Forbidden Forest and said, "Portus." The branch glowed blue.

"What, like now?"

"Since Professor Snape is gone, Potions class is cancelled today, anyway, and you will be excused from the Transfiguration exam," Professor McGonagall said. "You can re-take it at a later time." She sounded like she had no doubt there *would* be a "later time" for him.

Dumbledore handed Colonel O'Neill the branch. "All of you have to touch this. It will transport you to Cheyenne Mountain. I will go at once and inform the American wizarding authorities, so that they don't get distressed over an unannounced Portkey."

Colonel O'Neill took the branch with a rather skeptical expression, but he nodded.

"Hide it somewhere and use it the same way when you want to go back. It will take you straight to Hogsmeade," Dumbledore added. "Good luck." He walked away, probably to his office to give the American wizards a call.

"I say we leave Devlin here for now," Colonel O'Neill said. "He's not going anywhere. He doesn't need to know about what we are going to do. It won't take longer than a few hours, anyway."

Silently, Neville wondered how exactly they were going to reach a far away planet in the matter of a few hours, but he reckoned he'd find out soon enough.

-----

"Remus, stop wallowing in self-pity and come over for a minute. Dumbledore has called."

Sirius' voice snapped Remus out of his brooding and he looked up. His mind tried to process the information. Dumbledore? What could he want? If he also started playing shrink on him...

Professor Dumbledore's head was waiting for them among the green flames of the fireplace. When he saw them, he came right to the point.

"Sirius, Remus, I have distressing news. Lord Voldemort has summoned his followers this morning. Severus returned briefly this noon to let me know Voldemort has heard about Harry's condition and is now gathering his forces for a strike on Hogwarts."

For a moment, Remus forgot his own troubles that had been bothering him. "That is just like him, taking advantage of his enemy when he is down."

Sirius looked at him and replied deadpan, "Honestly, he would be a fool *not* to take advantage of it."

Dumbledore interrupted them, the urgency clearly audible in his voice. "We don't know when this is going to happen, but it is very likely sometime today. For now we are letting classes continue so that the students will not worry, but we need everyone who is capable of protecting the castle, especially now that the Dark magic is so strong. The Order members are coming, but I'm afraid we cannot count on the regular Aurors from the Ministry because they are busy keeping some Death Eaters at bay in southern England. A diversion, undoubtedly."

"You want us to come, too," Sirius concluded.

"If Remus is in any state that allows him to, yes."

"I'm coming," Remus said without a moment's hesitation. He'd be a bit hindered by the aftereffects of his transformation, but at least there would be no danger of accidentally harming -- or killing -- someone again.

"Me too," said Sirius just as quickly. Dumbledore's head disappeared from the fireplace so that they could step into it to be transported to Hogwarts.

-----

"This feels almost like Gate travel," Colonel O'Neill remarked when he let go of the Portkey. It was early morning in Colorado, when Neville and the SG-1 team arrived there. The Portkey had fortunately transported them to a fairly secluded spot on the Mountain, where they couldn't be seen from the men at the entrance, but it also meant they had to walk a fair bit.

The entrance turned out to be a tunnel that was guarded rather well. So well that Colonel O'Neill had to make a call to General Hammond, his superior, for Neville to be let through. The same happened inside the mountain when they had to pass yet another checkpoint. The lift took them down to level 11, where they were checked yet again. They finally ended up on level 28 which was apparently the lowest they could go.

They walked through several domed grey tunnels that were only dispersed by the various pipes snaking along the ceiling and the markings on the floor. Passing soldiers gave Neville curious stares, and he thought he could as well be wearing his robes still, it wouldn't have attracted any more attention. However, when Colonel O'Neill glared back at them, they quickly went on with their business, and Neville felt a bit better.

"General," Colonel O'Neill said, greeting a slightly thickset looking bald man who had come out of one of the doors in the corridor.

"It's good to see you, SG-1," said the general. "Is this the one you've been talking of?" He looked at Neville with interest.

"Yes, sir. His name is Neville Longbottom."

"You didn't mention he was quite so young," the general said with surprise, but a smile tugged at his lips. "How old are you, son?"

Neville realized belatedly that the question was directed at him. "Uh, seventeen. Sir," he added hastily.

"Sir, it doesn't really matter, does it?" Captain Carter said. "Cassie was much younger."

The general studied them all for a moment and then nodded. "Very well. I trust your judgement, colonel. I do insist, however, that all of you go through the routine medical check before showing him the Gateroom at all, no matter in how much of a hurry you are. Including a CT scan. Just in case." He turned and walked back through the door he had come from.

The infirmary was on a different level, so they had to walk back to the lift. There, they were greeted by a woman in a white coat, who was introduced to Neville as Dr Fraiser. Neville reckoned she was the Muggle equivalent of Madam Pomfrey, but the physical differences couldn't have been more striking. Where Madam Pomfrey was big and bulky, Dr Fraiser was petite and slim. However, she radiated confidence and seemed to know exactly what to do with them. After a series of tests, which all seemed highly unusual to Neville, she declared them as Goa'uld-free and ready to go off-world.

Neville was given a dark green uniform to wear, and followed the team to the locker rooms to change.

"Sorry about all the fuss," Dr Jackson apologized. "The general wanted to make sure none of us was hiding a Goa'uld. Sam has already confirmed that, but I guess that's not good enough for him. Can't blame him."

"Why can Sam tell if someone is a Goa'uld?" Neville pronounced the foreign word with some difficulty.

"That's a long story," Dr Jackson said. "Let's just say one Goa'uld can sense when another is near, and Sam used to be something like a Goa'uld for a short time."

They went back to the lowest level and through some huge doors into an even huger room where Neville froze for a moment at the sight that greeted him. The room was at least two stories high and had two large windows in one wall which were overlooking a gigantic stone ring standing vertically on the opposite side with a metal ramp leading up to it. Currently, the inner part of the ring was spinning, and red lights were lit up along the outer rim.

"Chevron seven locked!" came a voice over the speakers, and with a whooshing sound, a fountain of a blue-ish substance burst horizontally from the inner part of the ring. Neville instinctively took a step backward, startled, but the fountain stopped going forward when it had reached the end of the ramp and retreated back into the ring, leaving a shimmering pool of water standing vertically inside the stone ring.

Captain Carter seemed to have noticed Neville's astonishment. She laid a hand on his shoulder in a reassuring gesture. "This," she said, "is what we call a Stargate. Don't worry, it's not dangerous. The worst that could happen to your is a little nausea."

Neville thought that didn't sound very encouraging, but he smiled bravely and nodded. "We're going through that ... thing?"

"Yep," Colonel O'Neill said from behind Neville.

"And that will take us to a different planet?"

"Yep."

"SG-1, you have a go," came the general's voice from the speakers. "Good luck!"

Colonel O'Neill walked up the ramp, the rest of his team following him together with Neville. Colonel O'Neill, Dr Jackson and Teal'c stepped into the water-like surface and vanished. Captain Carter stayed with Neville, who touched the surface hesitantly. He looked at her, and she gave him an encouraging nod. "Don't hold your breath," she said. "You'll be on the other side in no time."

Neville pulled himself together and took a determined step forward, right into the blue shimmering. Part of him expected to actually step out in the other side of the Gateroom, even though that wouldn't have made much sense since he then didn't have to go through in the first place.

But there was no room on the other side. He was immediately drawn into a vortex, pulling him forward, letting planets, suns and galaxies fly by faster than the speed of light. It felt almost like a Portkey, Neville thought.

-----

On the other side, Daniel watched the Stargate in anticipation, waiting for the young wizard. Neville emerged from the event horizon so abruptly that he nearly stumbled down the steps of the dais the Gate stood on, but he caught himself in the last moment. He glanced around, taking in his surroundings, looking as astonished as Daniel himself probably had when he had stepped through the Stargate for the first time. They gave him some time to get his bearings.

"You have to look through this," Jack explained, pointing at the round opening that was protruding from the wall like a gigantic wart.

Carefully, Neville stepped towards the Ancients' knowledgebase, eyeing it skeptically. "There are lights," he said when he looked through the opening.

Daniel felt a sense of déjà-vu when the arms shot out from the device and grabbed Neville's head.

"Don't fight it," Daniel said quickly. "It won't hurt you. It's downloading the information into your brain."

He heard how Neville's breathing quickened, but he didn't struggle. The arms retreated and Neville turned around, blinking in confusion. "What now?"

They all looked at him for a moment, waiting for something to happen.

"Did it work?" Sam asked hesitantly.

"Last time I tried it, I passed out afterwards," Jack added.

"I'm not sure," Neville said, frowning. "I don't feel any different."

"Maybe it takes some time to take effect," Sam suggested, not sounding very convinced.

"Or maybe it only works once," Jack said.

Daniel peered through the opening. "But he said he saw lights, just like you did. They are gone." He felt himself being hauled away from the device abruptly by a riled colonel.

"Don't chance it!"

"The lights are gone?" Sam asked, scrutinizing the device, but she didn't dare to step too close. "Are you sure?" Daniel nodded.

"They were there in the beginning, I swear," Neville said defensively.

"We believe you," Daniel assured him. "Let's just hope it worked."

"Let's go home, then," Jack decided. Sam dialed the Gate and the wormhole whooshed open. They all went back to Earth with mixed feelings. General Hammond greeted them with a, "Welcome back, SG-1. Were you successful?"

Jack replied, "Actually, we are not sure, sir. Neville didn't show the same reactions I did."

"And what are you planning to do now?"

"With your permission, we'd like to go back anyway. We're going to take some zats and a few unobtrusive weapons. With some luck, the Goa'uld will show up today, and we can get rid of him once and for all, which will do our wizard friends here a favor, too." He nodded at Neville, who looked a bit unconvinced.

"Agent Devlin won't be too happy about that," Sam remarked, not sounding like she was very sorry about this at all. "I'm sure he counted on getting a live Goa'uld for his NID friends."

They all went through the routine medical exam yet again, and then, with General Hammond's reluctant agreement, borrowed some weapons from the armory before traveling back to Scotland with the Portkey Dumbledore had given to them.

-----

It was getting dark outside. The moon was disappearing behind clouds every now and then. There was an air of tension over the whole castle, adding to the still warm and stale air outside, providing the perfect conditions for a storm later on. Even though the moon wasn't quite full anymore, it was still making Remus' body ache dully.

"See anything yet?"

Remus stepped away from the window and looked at Sirius. "No, I'd be surprised if they showed up before it's completely dark."

But it didn't look like Sirius was listening at all. He was staring at a point beyond Remus' ear, out of the window. Remus followed his gaze, but saw nothing. He looked at Sirius with a raised eyebrow. "What is it?"

Sirius blinked at Remus as if he saw him for the first time. "What are we doing here? Weren't we just somewhere else?"

Remus frowned. "No..." he said hesitantly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Sirius assured him quickly. "Maybe these constant headaches are affecting my memory."

"Are all the Slytherin students in their dormitories?" came a voice from behind them. Professor McGonagall was approaching them, lighting the magical torches on the wall on her way.

"Last time we checked, they were," Remus said.

"I don't think they are going to try sneaking past the Slipping Charm again," Sirius grinned, his eyes lit up with mischief. Remus realized that it felt good to finally see any sort of smile that actually reached his eyes. Lately, Sirius had been far too ... serious, for lack of a better word. Which was not surprising, given the recent events.

Professor McGonagall eyed them with a searching look, looking very much like she had when they were still students and caught doing something that was against the rules. "I hope you are taking your task seriously while Severus is gone!"

They both assured her they were, and her face softened a bit. "You-Know-Who believes the key to victory is still Harry Potter."

"Who just happens to be unconscious and defenceless at the moment," Sirius said grimly.

"The wards around the castle will be strong. They are based on ancient magic."

"But we don't know how long, and they have been breached by the Imperius Curse before," Remus said.

"And we don't know what else Voldemort has planned," Sirius added. "And what has changed with the influence of the Goa'uld."

McGonagall sighed and nodded gloomily, then went on her way, lighting the rest of the torches. Still, the pressure that hung over the whole castle didn't go away even though it looked less gloomy now.

"I'm going to check on Harry," Sirius said.

"Again? You've been checking on him every half hour since you're here."

But Remus went with him, knowing how much his support meant to Sirius. Watching Harry lie there unresponsive and almost like dead wasn't easy for Remus, either.

They were on their way to the hospital wing when suddenly everything went dark. Startled, Remus stopped short and gripped Sirius' arm. He listened intently but heard nothing but his friend's breathing. Carefully, Remus let go of Sirius' arm and stepped towards where he assumed was a nearby window. Sure enough, the moon was still shining dully on the Forbidden Forest, but its light seemed to stop at the castle walls. It didn't fall tough the window, lit nothing on the inside.

"Lumos," Sirius said tentatively, but no light came out of his wand.

The lump that had formed in his stomach started infesting his innards as Remus was filled with growing dread. He stared sightlessly in the general direction where he knew Sirius stood. What was going on?

-----