The Return of the Marauders

A clawed hand reached around the corner, and a huff of drool-scented hair fogged the cold dungeon air. The face that peered through the gloom was spotted with dark fur, and the black eyes pierced the darkness with ease.

All told, Ramona Lupin would have frightened any midnight stroller in the Hogwarts corridors, and it was the last thing she wanted to do. "I wish I wasn't here," she muttered.

"C'mon," came the whispered voice of James Potter as he brushed past, one hand brandishing the Marauder's map. "The way is clear. I think you're just stalling."

Sirius Potter walked past, absently chewing on an apple he'd nicked from the kitchen. "I don't think, I know she is."

Ramona started to protest, and then felt a hand on her shoulder, and she turned back to look into the face of Mildred Worple, the last of the New Marauders. "I know you're scared, but you did promise to come along."

"It's all right for you!" Ramona flared, her canine-like teeth flashing. "You can just shift forms and pretend to be a real bat! No one would know the difference!"

Mildred offered her a wan smile. "Well, not completely. I don't have a reflection in a mirror or a window. At least, not a very clear one." She smiled at Ramona's stupefied look. "Haven't you ever noticed that I don't hang around the girl's bathrooms very much? While the rest of you stay to chat, I'm in and out fast, lest somebody notice I don't have a reflection."

"I guess I didn't notice," Ramona muttered. She snuffled a bit, and then panted, her long red tongue hanging out of her mouth. "Any other side-effects of your heritage?"

Mildred shrugged. "A few. I'd wager at least one of them is the same one you have," she said, pointing at the leather gloves Ramona was wearing, and raised her own hands, which were similarly attired.

"Wow," Ramona said in her gruff, wolfish voice. "I can't believe I've got a friend like you!"

"Me neither," Mildred remarked, smiling fondly at the older girl.

"Hey!" Sirius hissed at them from around the corner. "If you two are finished gossiping, James has got the trapdoor open, and there's a staircase leading down!"

The girls came quickly, and followed Sirius Potter down a flight of stone stairs into a stone chamber. James Potter was there, with his wand extended like a torch, a bright light from it illuminating the room. Mildred and Ramona shielded their eyes, their own vision already superb in almost total darkness.

The room was twelve feet square, and boasted three passages in one wall, each one surmounted by a colored disc; each colored disk was emblazoned with the Slytherin crest. There was red, blue, and black; and each passage curved off out of sight: the red passage curved to the left, the blue went down, and the black curved to the right.

"Eeney, meany, miney," James said.

"Moe," Sirius said, and looked at his twin with a grin.

"Care to explain that?" Ramona asked.

Mildred guffawed, and the twins joined in, chuckling. Finally, Mildred explained the rhyme and its use in choosing, and Ramona groaned. "My grandfather's Muggle-born; but I never heard of it before."

"It's okay," Sirius Potter said, absently patting Ramona on the head. "Our Mum's always berating our Dad for his Muggle upbringing; sort of a sore point with her. Still, Dad's made use of his heritage more than once."

"I'll say he did!" Ramona remarked, thinking of Harry Potter's exploits during the war, now required reading in her History of Magic class.

"So which passage do we take?" James asked, trying to steer the conversation back to the adventure.

"I vote for red," Mildred said.

"You would," Sirius said, pulling on her long red hair.

"I like blue," Ramona said.

Mildred suddenly shifted forms and flew down the blue passageway, occasionally screeching. After a moment she was back. "It ends in a pool of water about twenty feet back."

"Well that's out, unless somebody feels up to kifing some gillyweed." James remarked.

"Wait here," Ramona said, and ran down the black-emblazoned passageway. The other three Marauders waited, and after a few moments she was back, breathing hard. "There's a really bad drop-off about fifteen feet back. From the smell of it, I think it's a cave."

"Must go to the Chamber of Secrets, or the cavern it's connected to." James said.

"Which leaves the red one," Sirius said, looking at his friends. He hefted his wand. "I'll go first."

"Like hell," Mildred said. "Ramona and I have the natural night-vision. Why do you think we explored the other passages ourselves? I'll go first."

"No," Ramona said, flexing her clawed fingers. "Let me go!"

The Marauders edged along at first, but were soon walking normally, in single file; the boys were in the middle, occasionally examining the stone walls for any kind of markings, while Mildred took the rear. Save for an occasional serpent crest, the walls were bare.

After nearly an hour's walk, Ramona called back, "The floor is edging upwards, and I can smell pine trees. This might come out in the Forbidden Forest!"

James and Sirius looked at each other, their eyes wide and frightened. "Oh no!" James said, holding his wand at the ready.

"What's the flamethrower spell again?" Sirius asked.

"What?" Ramona asked. "What's this?"

"Our Dad got caught in the Acromantula colony once. He said there were so many spiders he wanted a flamethrower to protect himself. That remark was the only thing that saved our Uncle Percy, when he was Headmaster here. A few years ago when the spiders attacked Hogwarts School, he used his wand to make a giant flamethrower and burned the spider legions so badly they had to retreat; but he ended up burning himself in the process. That's why he had to retire early and let Professor Merrythought take over."

"Wow!" Mildred exclaimed.

At last the Marauders came to a trapdoor that Ramona pushed at, but wouldn't open. The boys started to move forward, but she growled at them. "I can do it!" she snapped. With a grunt she pushed, and then shoved against it with a Herculean effort, and the trapdoor flew open.

Ramona stepped out of the trapdoor and glanced around, then called down to her friends. "It's okay, this is some sort of tower room."

As the rest of the Marauders clambered out of the tunnel, idly shutting the trapdoor behind them, Ramona looked at the place, clucking her tongue. "This place is dirtier than the shrieking shack," she muttered. Cobwebs hung from the ceiling and walls, and the dust was inches thick everywhere. A few couches and chairs littered the floor, some of them overturned, but most just sitting on the floor.

"Look at the walls," Sirius said, raising his luminescent wand. He was pointing at battered shields and tapestries hanging from hooks, all of them showing strange designs or devices. "I've never seen heraldry like that before."

Mildred came up beside Sirius, looked, and then gasped. "I have! That's vampire heraldry!" She pointed, naming names, "Crimson Crescent, Children of the Moon, Night Feeders, Black Dahlia," she whirled and looked around the place, her eyes wide and staring. "This is a Compact House! Places like this were used for mediation, to settle problems between the clans during the Vampire Wars. It's forbidden to outsiders! We need to get out of here now!"

Scuttling came from across the room, and the Marauders whirled, in time to see an acromantula emerge from a staircase. Sirius and James screamed at the sight, and in an instant the spider--the size of a small bear--leaped across the room at James Potter, its pincers extended for a quick kill.

Incredibly, Ramona hurled herself in the way, and succeeded in the deflecting the monster's path. The creature landed on the trapdoor, and then Mildred stupefied it with her wand.

"What was that for?" James asked, as he helped Ramona to her feet.

Ramona shrugged. "Marauders help each other," she muttered.

More scuttling sounded from overhead, and Sirius muttered a curse word. "We've got to get out of here. Let's move that spider and go back into the tunnel."

"Oh no," Mildred said, pointing at the spider she'd spelled only moments before. It was already beginning to move its feet.

"Dad always said they were resistant to magic," James muttered.

"There!" Ramona pointed at a doorway. "Let's go!"

The students bolted out the door and into the dark forest, just as more spiders came scuttling down a staircase and into the room.

They ran blindly through the dark forest, occasionally seeing clearings, but the giant spiders behind them never let up. Thorns and tree branches tore at their clothes, limbs whipped across their faces, and strange forest creatures stared at them in surprise. The only thing that kept them going was the perpetual thought of just what would happen if their pursuers caught them; and it gave them speed which more than matched their arachnid pursuers.

Occasionally the moon appeared amidst the trees, and an occasional star peeked through the arboreal ceiling. All sense of direction was lost--only the the thought of running faster and faster kept them going.

Finally, the Marauders had to stop to rest. Mildred looked about and voiced their common fear, "I don't think Hogwarts is anywhere nearby!" She spread her hands, "I'm going to fly above the treetops and see if I can't get a sense of where we are." She became a bat, and flitted away.

"I always get a chill when I see that," James said.

"I think it's cool!" Sirius said. "Makes me wish we were all animagi." His brother looked at him with a, don't start that again, look.

Ramona was leaning over, gasping for air, and then suddenly fell to the ground, facedown.

The Potter twins cried out her name and dropped to the ground beside her. As they rolled her over, Sirius gasped and pointed at a red-and-purple blotch on their friend's blouse. James felt for a pulse, and then, cautiously, pulled up Ramona's shirt, slightly. "She got bit by the acromantula! Not much, but enough to put her down."

"You mean she's dead?" Sirius cried out.

"No, she's alive. Barely." He forced a smile. "All that exercise must have worked the poison through her system faster than normal. Hopefully there's just enough poison to knock her out. But she needs Madam Pomfrey. Fast!"

Sirius Potter glanced around, and then screamed, pointing.

An acromantula was scuttling towards them, pincers extended.

James whipped out his wand and shouted, "Flamma magna!" A roaring tongue of fire jetted out, turning the giant spider into a tumbling ball of flames. It stumbled and stopped, burning.

"Good job, bro," Sirius Potter exclaimed, slapping his brother on the shoulder. He glanced about. "I think that was the only one. I don't see any others!"

"Thank Merlin," James said, cupping Ramona's face.

After a moment, the boys moved closer to the fire, welcoming the heat. James sat with Ramona's head in his lap, talking to her, trying to wake her up. Sirius watched him for a moment, and then stood up, his wand extended, looking about for other threats.

"James," he said, and he pointed.

A vampire stood in the cold night, twenty feet away, hissing like an unwatched teakettle.

Sirius looked around, and saw another vampire emerging from another end of the clearing. They had surrounded the Marauders, and were grinning at them with hungry expressions.

"Maybe we should have listened to the warning about the Forbidden Forest after all!" Sirius exclaimed.

James glanced at Ramona, but she was still unconscious. The acromantula venom had paralyzed her, as well. But they couldn't leave her alone with these things. "Wake up, Ramona! Please!"

"Don't come any nearer!" Sirius said, pointing his wand.

The vampires laughed, and hissed balefully.

Then a bat dropped out of the night sky, blurred, and Mildred was standing beside Sirius. "Put it away, Sirius, I'll deal with this. Help James with Ramona!"

"Sister, you intrude on our catch!" The lead vampire was approaching steadily, his fingers flexing meaningfully, his eyes hard and oppressive.

Mildred stepped forward, and made a gesture Sirius had never seen before, and then spoke in a ringing voice, "Mildred di Sanguini!" She gestured absently toward James, Sirius, and Ramona. "Reteina," she said, as well as a string of words which Sirius didn't recognize, but which caused the vampires to halt. The lead one questioned Mildred in a guttural tongue, which she answered in clipped, bitter tones that Sirius thought had a stinging slap in it. After a few more verbal exchanges, the lead vampire bowed to her slightly, and then motioned to the others. One by one they disappeared into the forest, looking oddly chagrined.

"We have to get her out of here," James said, looking up for the first time. "Madam Pomfrey needs to take care of this wound."

"Allow me," said the vampire, moving forward.

James started to protest, but Mildred motioned for him to put down his wand. "It's all right. He wants to help."

"Indeed," said the vampire, in a voice that sounded almost kind. "But for us, you would have left here long ago after slaying that one," he gestured at the still-burning acromantula. "I have caused you to endanger your friend's life by my actions. I ask your pardon." He pulled out a golden wand and gestured, "Mobilicorpus!" Ramona's body levitated, and he gestured with his free hand. "Come! I will show you the quickest way to the castle."

"The fault is partly mine," Mildred explained as they ran. "I would have recognized the territorial markers if I'd been paying more attention. We strayed into their territory when we were escaping from the spiders, that's why there were suddenly no more acromantulas. The one that bit Ramona must have gotten caught up in the chase and ignored the warning signs."

"Indeed," said the vampire who'd hurriedly introduced himself as Vincent. "We would have killed it ourselves, had you not done so. Since Hagrid introduced them, the spiders have been steadily increasing in numbers to the point where there might well have been war in the forests, had Headmaster Weasley not done battle with them some years ago. He did not manage to destroy them all, but their numbers were severely reduced. There!" he pointed through the trees, at the bright lights of Hogwarts school. "I will accompany you to the edge of the castle, but I cannot venture inside. The treaty with Hogwarts forbids it. You must carry your friend the remaining distance."

"No," James protested. "None of us have mastered the mobilcorpus spell. By the time we reach the infirmary, Ramona might be dead!"

Vincent shook his head. "And if I venture inside the castle, I will be dead. My debt to you does not include my life. I am sorry, but I cannot enter the grounds. There is nothing else I can do!"

"No," Mildred said, "it's all right. My grandfather invited the Viscount himself in at one point; he took full responsibility for his actions, and I know the spell he used. I will take similar responsibility for you inside Hogwarts, Vincent, if you will swear not to molest any of the inhabitants." Mildred raised her right hand in a ceremonial gesture, and Vincent did the same. Their hands clasped, and she tapped both their hands with her wand, causing them to glow. She uttered a spell in the Vampire tongue, and there was a small flash that passed between them. Then they released, and the party made a beeline for the infirmary.

**

"Well, it was close, but she's going to be all right." Madam Pomfrey looked at the three students and then at the vampire with a very disapproving look.

Ramona Lupin, still in her were form, was sleeping in a bed, her head resting on a fluffed pillow.

"I trust you won't go wandering near the forest anymore?" Professor Merrythought asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"No, Professor," they all said, looking embarrassed.

Professor Merrythought frowned at them. "Twenty points from Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, each! All four or you will do detention with Mr. Filch, in one week's time!" Then she turned to their guest. "Hello, Vincent. Still the avid draughts player?"

"As always," he answered, grinning slightly, his incisors showing in an almost cute way. He gave the headmistress a courtly bow. "Fancy a game tonight?"

"You're acquainted?" Mildred asked, her jaw dropping.

Professor Merrythought smiled. "Vincent was my date to the Christmas Ball in my Sixth Year."

"I thought you said the treaty forbade you coming into Hogwarts!" Sirius exclaimed, gasping.

"It does. But Melinda here invited me, which is allowed under the treaty's provisions." Vincent took Professor Merrythought's hand and gave it a gracious kiss, and offered his arm. "I think we have time for a fast game before sunrise." The two of them left, chatting amiably.

"All right, that's enough for one night," came the sensible voice of Madam Pomfrey. "Out, and let Miss Lupin rest!"

"Mildred," asked Sirius, as they headed toward the main staircase, "what did you tell the vampires back in the forest? One minute they were ready to attack us, and then you stopped them. I saw you gesture toward them, and then it all turned into very quick talk."

She seemed a bit embarrassed, but explained. "Well, the first part was a sort of formal greeting. That's what the gesture was, in part anyway; it was also a declaration of what tribe I belonged to. The next part was my explanation that you three were my retainers, part of my family grouping. That meant they couldn't touch you without incurring the wrath of Viscount Sanguini, who has something of a reputation in the vampire tribes."

"Wow," said James.

"Anyway, once Vincent understood that we were of noble blood, he was bound by a sort of mutual obligation to lend aid to us. All the tribes observe that rule, otherwise they all fall back into civil war, which nobody wants." She sighed, and then said, "If you want more information than that, you'd better read my grandfather's book. That's where you'll find all the explanations about codes and rituals."

"You know what?" Sirius said, looking at Mildred, "You're really cool!"

Mildred looked at Sirius and then she impulsively kissed him. Then, looking embarrassed, she ran away toward Ravenclaw tower leaving the Potter twins staring after her in stunned perplexity.