The Unknown Witness

Chapter Eleven: All That You Can't Leave Behind

Hermione felt something sharp press into her back and she moved, not by choice, but by some automatic feeling of co-operation that infiltrated her body through the surge of fear that currently engulfed them all. She hadn't seen Ron look so pale, not even when lying unconscious on the chess board whilst on the quest for the philosopher's stone all those years ago, when her scream of anguish then had echoed longingly round the chamber as she and Harry were forced to leave him behind. Ron was devoid of all emotion he was simply standing there, wide-eyed and concentrating on nothing but the scene that lay ahead of them. But even if she had the energy to utter such a sound as a scream of horror again, she would never, ever have dared. They were in the face of pure and total danger now, and Hermione could see that everyone knew it.

Harry was standing some distance away right on the edge of her vision, unchained. He was facing the Dark Lord who sat upon his throne, surveying his realm of control with such a look of self-satisfaction it made Hermione cringe. But not as much as Voldemort himself. She finally dared to look into his face, to see the image that had haunted her best friend and all the wizarding folk that she knew for all the time she'd known them. What they feared the most. His glowing red eyes were narrowed into slits of complete and utter contempt and Hermione wondered how Harry didn't crumble under the evil of his gaze. He was obviously much stronger than even she had ever realised. The skin of the evil sorcerer was stretched across his face, highlighting every bony detail as if he were a reanimated corpse, living on revenge and power. She shuddered in his presence. This man, this thing, he was the devil.

'Bring them forward!' Voldemort cackled again as Harry's friends finally came into view. He felt his stomach sink and shrivel at the sight of them in chains, hope truly edging out of their faces and the despair that replaced it heart-breaking. Hermione held her head high while nothing was registering on Ron's face except for the subtlest flicker of fear. But they knew better than to show anything likened to weakness in the presence of the Dark Lord. They did actually treasure their lives.

'So Harry...' Voldemort allowed his glare to focus on The Boy Who Lived again. 'Not only are you so stupid but as to walk into my trap, you are determined to bring your friends down with you? Stupid, stupid boy. Your death will be well deserved.'

Harry could have sworn he heard Ron make a sudden movement at this hideous declaration, his chains chinking together as he jerked at the suggestion of his best friend's death. At least one person wasn't going to let him go down without a fight. But then Harry never doubted that this was not the case. He could see Sirius scowl.

'But first we have an issue to attend to.' said Voldemort, raising one hand from the arm of his throne. 'We need to address the muggle...'

At this, a couple of Death Eaters seized Claudia by the arms and dragged her up to stand next to Harry, the two of them and the Dark Lord forming a triangle as they faced what each other had to offer. All of them held a hand in this game. Poker faces all round.

'Ms Darlington...' Voldemort hissed in a sly, coaxing manner. 'Have you had time to consider my offer or would you like reminding?'

Claudia made no response, the usual blankness that resided in her eyes seeming stronger still under the onslaught of evil. Voldemort nevertheless continued.

'Ms Darlington, may I remind you that I am the most powerful wizard in the world? That me alone, the heir of the greatest of the Hogwarts four have injected more fear into society than has been seen since the days of Salazar Slytherin himself? But of course,' he suddenly became sickeningly bitter, 'being a Muggle, you wouldn't know any of that, would you?'

Yet again she chose not to answer whilst Harry felt the blood of anger pounding in his ears. She may be a muggle, he thought through narrow eyes toward the Dark Lord, but she's a hundred times more powerful that you could ever be. At least she has a soul.

'You were witness to one of the most hideous and unexpected wizarding crimes since the days of Grindelwald,' Voldemort uttered, almost with a sense of pride towards his most pathetic minion. Harry could see Wormtail's chest swell. 'Through this you put a substantial amount of my operation at risk. Therefore you have a choice. If you take the memory charm, I will reward you with gifts beyond your wildest dreams. Your sight, your freedom. Your life. You will know nothing of the nightmares that have plagued you all your years. You will know nothing of the pain. You will have your life back and live long in blissful ignorance. How so many in your position would long to have that choice...'

'Why?'

The outburst was so unexpected, even the person who spoke it looked surprised. Ron immediately lost the rest of the colour he had on his face, his childhood freckles evaporating out of sight as the reality of the real world and the dangers it held sunk in, innocence never to return. Voldemort turned on him and looked a little surprised himself, Hermione sensing Ron somehow straightening his back as the Dark Lord's eyes lay upon him. In the shadow of Harry Potter, people often forgot the strengths of a Weasley. They never gave in that easily.

'If Wormtail being found out is such a risk,' Ron continued in one breath, 'why don't you just kill him?'

Voldemort didn't react, but simply chuckled to himself at such an up front manner. 'Why, my red-headed friend?' he said, as slyly as he'd addressed the witness. 'Why? Because when Wormtail entered my service, I promised him everything he'd ever want. That is what the dark side can deliver. I have better ways to torture those who pose a danger to me than death, friend of Harry Potter. They have better ways to make up for their mistakes.'

Harry saw a slight flicker of a frown cross Hermione's otherwise pale, stony face, but dismissed it as a figment of the light. Voldemort dismissed his last comment and continued right on track.

'Nevertheless, Ms Darlington, that option is open to you. Ignorance and freedom through the memory charm and your birthright in your hands are open to you in this very instant. But,' he hissed, his face getting more snake like with every single syllable, 'If you chose to decline my more than generous offer, it isn't going to be pleasant. I am well crafted in the acts of death and torture, Ms Darlington, and adore an opportunity to further my skills in that field.'

Claudia face didn't react, but her voice just confirmed the obvious. 'You're going to kill me?' she said.

'Not just you, Ms Darlington, not just you.' He raised an eyebrow. 'I am going to let you enter hell with the deaths of everyone else in this room on your shoulders. They will suffer just the same for your lack of co-operation. If you are especially reluctant, I may even let you hear them scream...'

Claudia swayed but did little else, merely feet away on Harry's left and looking desperately, desperately lost. But then she spoke again.

'If I say yes,' she said, the control on her voice astonishingly, 'and take the charm, will the others go free along with me?'

Voldemort smiled smugly again. 'Of course.'

Claudia paused again, her head set rigid in face of the abyss. If Harry hadn't known better, he would have seen a moment of fear flicker across her eyes. But Claudia remained rigid. He could hear Arabella breathing hard on the other side of the chamber, her breaths coming in short gasps of apprehension while the others dared not to utter a sound or even help the muggle with the choice to end all choice. Justice and death of her and her friends, or freedom and naivety leaving the others to fight another day? After all, Harry could almost feel Claudia thinking to herself; they did all right without her knowledge before. They'd be able to prove Sirius' innocence some other way, for sure. She wasn't central to the cause. She sighed.

No, thought Harry furiously in her direction at he stared at her intensely. Don't believe him Claudia. You can't trust him. We'd be better dead to him anyway. He's merely playing for time. Either way we die. Either way he wins. Don't trust him Claudia...

She spoke.

'My Lord,' she said with such sudden humbleness that Harry felt his stomach drop further in dread, 'Thank you for offering me a choice. But I am afraid,' she let out a world-weary sigh as Harry closed his eyes. 'I'm gong to have to decline.'

Harry snapped his head up to attention as the words entered the air, his eyes suddenly bulging in mild disbelief. He glanced over at the others who had all jumped a little at Claudia's words, something indescribable flashing across Sirius' face in particular that seemed to bring it alive in the light of all that was dark. It was completely alien, as if he'd recently got it back but had never been able to show it until that moment. It was hope. Claudia almost smiled slightly in his general direction before she faced the Dark Lord again, blissfully unaware of the true horror of his face but feeling the power of his wrath nevertheless. And at this declaration, he was steaming.

'You choose to decline?' he said, his voice remaining dangerously quiet washing Harry's skin with its ice-cold anger. 'You choose to decline?'

Claudia stood firm. 'Yes,' she said.

'Then I'd better give you a taste of what is to come...'

And with that he whipped out his wand again and pointed straight at the others.

'Luptandio!'

And Remus fell. His knees seemed to buckle in an instant as he crashed onto the floor, his chains still binding him as he twitched and howled in a way Harry had never heard before or since. It was worse than the Cruciatus curse, much, much worse. Claudia simply shut her eyelids and quivered at the sound, knowing deep down it was her responsibility. The guilt she would have to carry for her decision. And judging by the snarl that was present on Voldemort's face, this was just the start.

Remus was screaming as if he was being devoured from the inside out, but as Harry watched he found this description horrifically accurate. As Remus stretched out his fingertips against the flow of pain, the flesh almost erupted. A shadow of black was growing out of the skin as he let out another agonising howl. His back arched as he suddenly reared up like a wild animal, fighting against the pain that was so obvious in the dead of his eyes. They were shining out beneath the fresh layer of fur that crept across his face and blemished his features, hiding all of Remus from view except for the pain in his eyes. His human eyes. The wolf-like snout. It didn't mix. Harry was vaguely aware of Hermione screaming and struggling against her chains to get to her beloved professor, beneath of the din of the laughing Death Eaters. But he suddenly found himself unable to do anything except stay rooted to the spot and watch while Remus Lupin transformed into a werewolf.

'You hear that pain, Ms Darlington?' said Voldemort slyly as he lowered his wand but allowed the curse to continue, Remus now snapping wildly at the ground, his mouth portraying violence whilst his eyes pleaded confusion. 'You did that to him. You. You demanded pain and I simply turned the evil in your dear friend Remus into his outer shell. The ultimate pain, you know, denying your true identity....'

And as if to answer it, the half wolf that was Remus gave a howl of pain that was reminiscent of a wolf's call toward the moon that would forever dictate his life. Claudia shivered.

'Of course I couldn't push his transformation all the way. This is merely a half spell. Like only the half moon. This is forced. But to do something like this, to act against nature? Ultimate pain.' His eyes were glazed for a moment as Remus whimpered between that of a canine and a muffled human cry. Harry could see Arabella on the verge of tears. Voldemort almost shook himself from the distraction to address Claudia again. 'Do you want to change your mind?'

There was silence. Complete and utter silence. Claudia swayed a little on the spot but didn't answer, her lip beginning to tremble like a small defenceless child, unable to truly face her foe and put any visual image to the horror he wished to inflict upon her. She was utterly, utterly lost. All Harry wanted do to was tell her it was gong to be all right. Here there was a woman old enough to be his mother and he felt it was his place to do the comforting. In the world Harry existed in, he had had to grow up fast.

'Take the charm, Claudia.' said a voice, suddenly piercing the darkness and causing every single pair of eyes to swing and focus upon its source. The voice drew breath again. 'Take it and get out of here.'

Harry stared. His Godfather, his head held high and darkened eyes twinkling brightly with determination, took a step forward away from his companions to address the unknown witness. Arabella, now crouched by Remus' side and trying to calm the half-turned wolf with a gentle stroking motion merely lifted her head to watch, the tears truly glistening on her normally cheerful face. They looked completely out of context. Remus whined. Harry could in fact hear poor Lucy shaking, her fear for her sister, her friends and herself being clearly manifested by the metal of her chains clinking as she shivered. Hermione and Ron didn't even flinch. It was as if they were expecting this, as if they already knew. But for Sirius and Claudia, it was as of there was no one else in the room.

'Take the charm.' Sirius repeated as clearly as the day. 'Just go.'

'No...' Claudia repeated with just as much clarity, turning to face him. 'I know where you are,' she said, her eyes fixed hungrily on his as of they were the only thing her blindness allowed her to see. 'I've always known where you are. I can feel it. It's like a second sense. And as long as I can feel that, I'm never going to abandon you.' She smiled, her eyes still ice-white but for the first time since meeting Claudia Darlington in that darkened hospital room fourteen years ago flashing something like a smile across the irises. 'I'm your witness.'

He sighed, knowing it was a losing battle he was attempting to fight. And smiled. 'I know.'

'Seeming as though you two are so touchingly close...' interrupted Voldemort, the evil glint in his bright red slits growing stronger at the thought, 'I think he will be the first to die.'

But Sirius was too fast for him. Too fast for the most evil wizard to have walked the face of the earth since the days of Slytherin himself. Too fast for his own good. As Voldemort raised his wand and uttered a curse that would strike fear in the heart of many just at the sound of its syllables, Sirius pulled out the Animagi card and played it to his full potential. He vanished. Voldemort's spell just hit air and then cracked into the wall of the chamber, causing debris to scatter and every direction and Harry to duck and throw himself upon the cold stone floor with his arms over his head. All he could do was glance up and watch as Sirius Black, snarling all the way in his dog-like form, made for the Dark Lord's throat.

'Sirius!'

Voldemort yelled out a strangled cry as the dark shadow of Padfoot easily slid out of the chains that had bound his human form to launch his attack, just as Voldemort rose and performed the deadly curse that went shooting off in completely the wrong direction. Sirius knocked the Dark Lord flying; weapons and all, sending Voldemort thumping painfully into his throne and straight upon the floor, horrified. The heavy weight of Sirius was soon upon him, the dog exposing his claws from the dark recess of his paws and striking the Lord within an inch of his life. Voldemort could do nothing. But it didn't mean his minions couldn't.

'Curse him!' he managed to screech as he tried to wrestle the mongrel off while desperately clinging onto his wand. 'Seize him!'

The Death Eaters raised their wands, but didn't respond. They simply stared. They couldn't attack the attacker without bringing harm to their master himself. The pair of them were in too close proximity: the spell could deflect off one onto the other. But surely Voldemort was more powerful than that? What was it that Voldemort said in the summer? Harry thought to himself in a flash as his muscles willed him to move, to do something, but his brain was lacking in ideas. You know my goal - to conquer death... The words echoed painfully in Harry's head as quick as a bolt of lightning. However it was shortly resolved by a rumble of resolution. But I was willing to embrace the mortal life again before chasing immortal... of course. The Death Eaters wouldn't be able to take that risk. Voldemort could be killed. But as the realisation of this possibility began to sink into Harry's already frantic mind, a number of things happened. And it all began with a wand.

Sirius and Voldemort continued their fatal dance. Sirius barked, an angry cry as he attempted to mutilate the Dark Lord again, swiping with his paws and teeth with more savagery than Harry had thought possible. He could hear Lucy's muffled scream, the Death eaters pleading their case to their master as they stood by and did nothing. He could sense Claudia standing as stock-still as them all. But despite the subtleness of the motion it accompanied, one sound overrode everything. He looked down.

Almost like a trickle, an object was approaching him; heart-breakingly slow as the darkness kept it hidden nearly until it reached the tip of Harry's shoe. But there was no mistaking it once it reached its destination. Eleven inches, Holly, Phoenix Feather. His wand. His chance. Sirius' hope. He used it.

'Libero!'

And the chains that bound his friends disintegrated around their wrists and crumbled to dust upon the floor. The Death Eaters guarding them almost jumped back in shock. They were ready to fight now.

'Accio wands!'

Arabella cast her hand out away from her as the objects obeyed her command, suddenly tearing themselves away from the servants who held them as they arched into the air and back to their rightful owners. Ron in particular grabbed his with vigour and prepared to face the fray, but not before casting a confused frown upon his forehead as the Death Eaters around them got ready for their attack.

'But how?...' he whispered to no one in particular.

'Wand-less spells, Ron,' said Hermione quickly, raising her own fusion of nine and a quarter inches of Silver birch and dragon heartstring. 'We're magic. It's in our blood. We don't need our wands for everything, but it does take a lot of practise...'

But she didn't get a chance to finish before the battle begun. Ron quickly turned and hexed a Death eater who was attempting to sneak up on Hermione from behind, the spell hitting the offender square in the face as he fell, screaming as the Furnunculus curse took effect. Ron shivered. Hermione however was not deterred but simply applied her theory, a clever combination of the Reducter curse and a banishing charm that sent the enemy flying back into the chamber wall. Lucy had found her sister and pulled her away, sensing the muggles were out of their depth and wanting to protect the witness. They didn't want to go though all this for nothing. Even Arabella, somehow energised by this sudden turn of events, swung round on two Death Eaters and froze them on the spot, the punch that followed strong enough to send both crashing to the floor and knocking them unconscious in its wake. She nodded to the half-wolf Remus, whose human eyes flashed in understanding as he took to flight himself, snapping more viscously than Padfoot ever could causing a great many Death Eater to flee in pure and utter terror. In reality they had no stomach for the forces of the dark, and Voldemort seemed to know this. He bellowed his frustration.

'I have had enough!' he cried, as he managed to finally free a spider-like hand and grasp Harry's godfather painfully round the throat.

'No!'

Harry had to get there. He had to help Sirius. He had a wall of Death Eaters to get through first, but that was unlikely to stop The Boy Who Lived. He rapidly shot out spell after spell, all the knowledge and preparation that he hadn't been able to apply in the midst of the third task suddenly proving essential. He felt a fire of rage burn in his chest. He had to get to Sirius. There was nothing else to it, except...

'Lucy! Look out!'

Arabella's cry raised the Muggle's attention just in time as a larger figure cloaked in black begun his silent approach. Claudia had just scrambled for the wand that remained in her pocket when Lucy got to the threat first, her eyes flashing furiously at whatever he was intending.

'Take that!'

She promptly turned on the spot and viciously brought up her knee, causing the Death eater to suddenly reel back in unexpected pain as she followed it up with a neat upper cut that was the last thing the enemy was expecting. A stunning spell from the direction of Harry finally finished him off, but not without a note of self-satisfaction infiltrating the voice of innocent Lucy.

'And that...' she said, giving the limp body of the fallen Death Eater a good healthy kick, 'is what you get for messing with my sister!'

But the moment of jubilation over this little victory was incredibly short-lived. Harry finally cut down the last of the Death Eaters between him and the Dark Lord, sending them fleeing for their lives or simply diverting their attention, and was about to come to his godfather's aid when Voldemort took the initiative. He suddenly smiled. And with Voldemort, that was never, ever good.

'Alas, my canine friend,' he spat, his personal pleasure from what he was about to undertake dominating his snake-like features, 'All good things must come to an end...'

And then he raised his wand and muttered an incantation. It just happened so fast. The piece of transfiguration was something Harry had never heard before, but it must have been powerfully dark as it temporarily blacked out the scene. All light seemed to evaporate in the wake of its evil and then proceeded to suddenly flash back, causing Voldemort's newly transfigured wand to glint a little in the light, the sharp edges of the knife foretelling all the future. It was raised and then its horrible damage inflicted as Voldemort used it to pierce poor Sirius' flesh. Again. And again. The form of Padfoot toppled backwards, weakened by the wound, as Voldemort stabbed again, the look of murder flashing across his eyes as he launched a fresh attack. Except this time, Harry was ready.

'Expelliarmus!'

So simple, yet so effective. Voldemort's hand let go of the knife as if it were in fire, sending it flying across the chamber and hitting the ground in an equally blinding light that forced it to transfigured itself back into his wand again. Lord Voldemort was tool-less, but certainly not out of ideas.

'Very clever, Mr Potter,' he said in a drawl that made Harry's stomach churn as he slowly made his approach, 'Very clever indeed. But as your friend observed earlier, without a wand at hand a truly great wizard is far from powerless. Reducto!'

Harry ducked as the spell was shot out from Voldemort's fingers and went soaring over his head and impacted against the wall, covering him in dust. He straightened again with eyes blazing as the others still fought gallantly out of the corner of his eye to come to Sirius' aid. The dog was painfully clambering back onto his feet.

'Fast reflexes too, I see, so much like your father...' Voldemort sneered at the thought. 'I can see why you excel at Quidditch. Always a sport for the fast, indeed, and most definitely for the stupid. This time you won't escape. Imperio.'

Voldemort said this lazily as Harry for the briefest of instants felt as if he were floating away. But he supposed as the command was not issued from a wand, its effects were hardly able to penetrate his skin as he simply shook himself right and gripped his wand tighter, the veil of peace lifting from his mind to be simply replaced by the chaos. If Voldemort was astounded, he did not show it. Harry wondered for a moment whether that face was able to show any emotion at all. For then the furious battle commenced.

Harry threw everything he could at Voldemort, the desperation to break off the escapade and come to the aid of his injured Godfather painfully obvious in his voice, the tone quavering even as he issued an impediment curse that Voldemort batted off easily. The volley of spells was fast and furious, as much as the cries from the other side of the room were as everyone fought their own private battle to get to the person of priority. Claudia got up to run just as another reductor curse helped lower the stability of the cavern ceiling. The cracks were beginning to arch frighteningly over Harry's head when at last it happened. Sirius leaped haphazardly for the Dark Lord's unprotected wand and let his bloody teeth close up around it.

Voldemort suddenly wrenched. It was as if some higher being had finally pulled a string, tagging the puppet of the Dark Lord back and sending him plunging to the floor like a real-life voodoo doll. As if someone else was inflicting the damage upon him. Harry could see Sirius putting every last ounce of strength he had into holding his grip on the wand, his teeth creating grooves in the fifty-year-old wood and in their wake creased Voldemort. The wood was beginning to splinter as the Death Eaters began to flee in terror. All except, for once, the rat.

'Seize him Wormtail!' Voldemort screamed as pain washed over every inch of his body, 'Kill the dog, I order you!'

He was clearly out for retaliation, and Wormtail was not going to deny his master of such a noble cause. The small shabby wizard delved into the depths of his black Death Eater robes and pulled out his own weapon, a battered wand that had certainly seen much better days. Indeed even Wormtail fumbled with it, the wood clattering clumsily to the floor as he swept down to pick it up again, murmuring his apologies

'But I'm just not used to it, my Lord,' he whimpered, 'I - '

'Just kill him!'

And with that Harry ran and threw himself in front of his godfather, arms spread out at his side as he turned to face the traitor with his eyes ablaze with fire. Wormtail flinched.

'Kill them both!'

Wormtail's face paled as he raised the wand high.

'Avada Kedavra!'

Then it exploded. It was as if the wand just wouldn't except the command it was given, bucking like a horse afraid of a strange rider and obviously showing its discomfort. It fizzed as Wormtail yelped in surprised, still clutching the wood as the green light of the killing curse gradually engulfed the whole magical creation. It worked its way slowly towards his glinting metal limb, the occasional spark bouncing off the gauntlet. The light illuminated his pale pointed face in its eerie forest glow, the duck egg-like tint it gave his features portraying nothing less than pure and utter horror. The wand burned down to his fingertip as he finally let it go, the last crumbs of the creation trickling to the ground just as Sirius finally splintered the wood through and through. Voldemort stumbled, weakened severely, and the Death Eaters began to fight back.

Few had remained in the room whilst the others led their assault, being ill prepared and out of practise in battling with the will of the good. But with their master down and powerless to do nothing but command, his screams of vengefulness echoing painfully round the chamber, they were compelled to fight like they never had before, anything to prevent the group from reaching the injured Sirius. And they did. Arabella had her work cut out as finally Remus pounced, allowing his animal instinct to take hold of his human mind for an instant as he swiped the enemy down with the most powerful of canine claws. Ron and Hermione merely fought to protect their cover, both watching each other's backs and working so seamlessly as a team Harry if he hadn't known better would have thought they could read each other's minds. But Lucy amidst the chaos did something no one would ever have predicted.

Her tight grip on Claudia had gone as her sister had fled to Sirius' side, sweeping up the dog in her arms being careful not to tear the wound. She'd known instinctively where he laid and calmed the twitching corpse, breaths still being drawn by the dog but painfully drawn out ones at that. Lucy had to do something. She couldn't cower in the corner like the insignificant person she felt as everyone around her waged their own private battles. The wizards among them merely fighting for their lives with magic as their tool, with Harry facing the killer of his parents and a thousand more besides, waiting to seize his chance. Anything to help the boy along his frightful way. Then she saw it.

Just feet away from the throne of the most evil man alive, lay his tool of utter deception. The little glimmering fusion of wood, sand and glass that had helped them walk right into the depths of hell itself. The time turner merely lay flat on its side, motionless, an innocent object unaware of the destruction it caused once manipulated by the purest of evil. And she was barely a couple of steps away. She swooped down and picked the time turner up, an unforeseeable anger suddenly seizing her limbs as with all her might and without a moment of consideration for the consequence, she threw the time tuner at the wall.

It smashed.

It didn't just smash. It devastated. The breaking of the glass caused light to rip through the scene, almost as blinding as that which robbed poor Claudia of her sight and just as damaging in its force as the ceiling began to tremble, the dust pouring in like rain in a tropical storm. Total collapse was imminent. It was as if a million year's of magic were opened up in that moment, filling the room with its destructive elixir that threatened the lives of every person in it, whether embracing the mortal life or not. There was nothing else for it. They prepared to simply run.

Voldemort, however, was rooted to the spot as the cracks in the ceiling became ever more threatening, powerless to stop it without the magnifying capabilities of his wand that lay broken in a hundred pieces merely metres from his feet. He was frozen, petrified.

'Do something!' he screamed.

Harry looked over his shoulder as he pulled Claudia to her feet, her arms still holding a tight grip on the weakened Padfoot, desperation becoming clearly set in the menacing red eyes of his nemesis as he found his minions deserting him for their lives. Even in a flash the plump figure of Pettigrew evaporated, fearful for both his life and the wrath of his master at his failure to complete his task sending the traitor on his merry way. Remus, although still wincing in the pain of his half transformation, still had enough human left in him to decipher from good and bad. He still knew who he was. He therefore was forcefully nudging Arabella toward the door as Harry led the muggles. Hermione ran over to him, her hair as wild as ever and reflecting the panic that had taken up residence in her eyes.

'Oh Harry...' she began over the rumble as the first part of the ceiling gave way, her eyes beginning to fill with premature tears of terror and dread. 'Is Sirius...?'

'Let's get out of here,' Harry answered roughly, unable to match Hermione's stare. Instead he took Claudia's hand, Lucy now helping her carry the injured weight of his Godfather, and ran, faster than he'd ever run in his life, even faster than in the church yard just those few weeks before. Hermione took the hint as she in turn grabbed a bewildered Ron, his arm sweeping down and grabbing at something on the floor before he took off, returning the object to his pocket as the small group dashed frantically for the door where the werewolf and the Auror were waiting.

'Let's blow this joint,' said Arabella with the smallest flicker of a smile. And that was something she didn't need to tell them twice.

And as the group began to flee, Voldemort rose again. He roared, a sound so inhumanely possible it was as if the higher powers simply wouldn't allow it. Instead they masked it with the sound of crashing rock as the ceiling finally gave way upon the head of the Darkest Lord of them all. He was drowned out as the trickle of storm became a flood, rocks showering down and crushing everything in its wake. It was devastating. It ruined everything. And as the rocks around him finally crushed him into oblivion, the Dark Lord's mind was set. His last conscious thought was revenge. Revenge on Harry Potter. And death, if that were the conclusion of this piece, would certainly not be the end of it.

***

The torches had gone out. The dishevelled group, running at a limp as Remus the half-wolf led the way with his superior vision in the night, didn't even bother to try and hide their presence. They just had to get out. It was the only way.

Lucy now had hold of the sleeve of the Death Eater's robe that Claudia was still wearing, flaring out behind her as they ascended the stairs towards freedom and the dawn. Both carrying the dog between them, she was her sister's guide, a role she'd adopted for the past fourteen years. That moment was hardly the one where she would finally concede that appointment. Instead she performed the task with a higher sense of urgency than she'd ever done before, almost dragging Claudia along like a mother leading a child away from the edge, the grip on her sister's free hand with her own so tight it was almost painful. But no matter what she wouldn't let go. And Claudia let her.

As Arabella lit her wand ahead of Harry to help guide the group towards the sky, Claudia cradled the head of the shivering Sirius to her chest as if she were cradling a new born, Lucy supporting the rest. The blood was beginning to stain her robe, its sweet, sticky scent filling the air with its poison possibilities. She held onto the fallen dog tighter, as if her touch was the only thing keeping him alive. If she let go, he would too.

But Harry, little Harry, the fifteen year-old boy with a sparkling smile, the emerald eyes to match and a world of responsibility on his shoulders, didn't have time to think. He didn't have time to consider the pain in his side where a falling rock had hit him. He didn't have time to consider whether Voldemort would ever have escaped. He didn't even have time to consider the fate of his Godfather, lying unconscious in a blind woman's arms with an injury that had every possibility of becoming very fatal. He didn't have time to think at all. For in that moment, the Dementors were suddenly right on their trail.

It was Hermione who spotted them first, her muffled scream alerting Harry as he spun round and saw them coming. The soulless creatures almost glided the distance between them. No human-like sound echoed from their lips, except a horrifying rasping and wheezing as they drew their cold breath and sucked all emotion from the air. The group were swept with a horrifying cold, the words of Ron briefly echoing in Harry's ears 'I felt weird... like I'd never be cheerful again...' before his words were cut off by the screams of his dying parents. And if that wasn't a sound that would ever provoke Harry into action, absolutely nothing would. He raised his wand on high.

'Expecto Patronum!'

The silver streak of Prongs rode again. Harry's Patronus almost exploded from his wand, as if it wanted to be there as much as Harry wanted it to be. The Dementors reared at the sight as the silver stag charged at their ranks, breaking them up and forcing them back. Harry shivered, his eyes wide and illuminated by the light as he tried to absorb as much of the ghostly image of his father as he possibly could in that instant as it drove the Dementors away. They were gone.

But yet the Patronus seemed to linger, cantering slowly toward them with its head raised high and wide eyes bulging as if it couldn't believe the sight. They all stood motionless for a moment as they became captivated by the scene. Even Ron, whose hand had seemed permanently fixed upon his pocket, let his hand fall loose as calm washed over the group. Remus turned and stared as the Patronus walked between them, its gentle grace filling them with positive energy. It bowed its antler-laden head to Remus and Arabella then Ron and Hermione, before fixing its attention on Sirius, still unconscious in Claudia's blood soaked arms. The dog breathed with a shudder as the Patronus approached, more tenderly than it had the others and seemed to smell his scent. With the very tip of its silver nose it nuzzled at Sirius' neck, stirring him slightly and easing the pain of his breath. For then it stepped silently back, and with one last look at Harry, the image of Prongs was gone.

'Harry...' said a voice, that of Arabella in the lead after what seemed an eternity of silence. 'We've got to go.'

As Harry felt his feet move to follow his treasured friends, his body recognising the danger of their pause, his mind was still firmly fixed in the spot where Prongs had been standing just a minute previously. The way its eyes seemed to flick towards each of them in turn, the way it seemed to linger. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, he thought. He'd seen them all tonight, in one way or another.

Up another flight of stairs, confused yells of orders and pain echoing right behind them, and they were there. Remus' ability to follow their previously laid scent was at that time a godsend, leading them back to the darkened corridor and the rope, their only way out of hell. Arabella lifted the human-minded werewolf out of the pit first, pushing up into the ceiling and watching him disappear as his grip in the bog surface was enough to pull himself free. Next was Lucy, the apprehension at the thought of leaving her sister behind painfully painted on her face, but dismissed by the ex-Auror who held the rope steady as she climbed and sunk into the mud above, soon coming clear the other side. Claudia, still shaking from the dementors, carefully wrapped Sirius' body in the loose material in her now detached cloak, passing the body down to Arabella as she gave the witness a leg up. An anonymous hand from the heavens above pushed back through the bog to give the witness a hand. Then Arabella followed in her footsteps, a quick encouraging glance giving her all the assurance she needed before ascending the rope, showing formidable strength as she slung the bear-like canine over her shoulder and struggled to the surface. Then Harry turned to his friends.

'You first,' he said.

'No.' came the short, sharp reply.

'But - '

'Don't argue, Harry,' Hermione continued, expanding on Ron's blunt manner. 'You deserve to get out of here just as much as Ron and me. More so. Just go.'

And with the flash of determination Harry only saw in Hermione's cinnamon eyes in times of extreme provocation, Harry found himself unable and unwilling to argue with both of Gryffindor's finest.

'Watch your backs.' he said, pulling the rope towards him. And then the Boy Who Lived was gone, leaving Ron and Hermione to finally make their escape.

'Go on,' said Hermione, passing the rope to Ron. He looked timidly uncertain, an odd spark in his normally sarcastic eyes that made Hermione feel uncertain in herself. He didn't move.

'Go!' she hissed, physically placing his oversized hand s on the rope, 'Just do it!'

But as he finally heeded to her fierce advice and began to ascend the rope, the enemy finally arrived. The thumps of the footsteps made by the running Death Eaters were hardly ever mistakable, causing a flash of fear to cross both their faces as Ron neared the top of his climb. He stopped.

'Hermione...'

She pulled out her wand and waved is menacingly. 'Just get the hell out of here, Ron Weasley,' she growled, but still unable to cover up her terror. 'Otherwise I'll force you. You know perfectly well that I can.'

The Death Eaters rounded the corridor. They were merely ten seconds away. Time for drastic action.

'Not without you. Come on!'

And as the Dark Lord's minions finally reached their dead end and saw the escaping figures, Ron grabbed Hermione's wand hand, wood and all, and pulled her up with all his strength as the rope dangerously tensed beneath his fingers. It wasn't going to hold for much longer. He hoisted her up with one arm, showing more strength than Hermione thought humanely possible as he gritted his teeth against the effort as somebody above obviously heard the shouts and got the hint. The rope was being pulled. And as Hermione just fastened her legs around the rope and Ron, they were dragged up through the ceiling and up toward the dawn.

***

The end of the storm was coming. Although dark thunderous clouds were pouring their load onto the bog as Harry finally heaved his companions out of harm's way, the breaking dawn in the distance, far into the east, seemed to emit a beam of hope. He fell back onto the bog that simply dented a little at the impact, breathing hard as he saw Remus shiver back into a man, the lack of moon meaning he could not contain his wolf form any longer. They were all running. Arabella was on the edge of the bog, searching frantically for something Harry suddenly felt he didn't want to know about as the rain that trickled down his neck and steamed up his glasses cleansed him of the dark. He saw Hermione and Ron simply lying on the ground, awe struck at their dramatic moment and both quite unsure what to make of it. Lucy was running opened arm toward Claudia who stood to the side, her knees slowly giving way as Harry watched in slow motion as her sister caught her before she collapsed to the floor, her arms free of the dead weight she had been carrying. And as Harry got up and everyone began to move away, he saw his Godfather.

'Sirius?'

Harry's voice felt odd in his throat, strangely timid as it entered the night air as a cloud of condensation. He stumbled as ran toward the limp body of his godfather on the ground, Sirius shuddering back into his human form as he put every ounce of strength into regaining his consciousness. Disbelieving choking noises began to emerge from Harry's throat as he felt his legs give way at Padfoot's side.

'Sirius? Sirius? Wake up! Sirius! I...'

Harry felt frantically along his body, finding the leathers ripped and shredded just like the animal's skin, the fluid that was escaping rapidly now glistening horrifically on its surface. He placed a hand over Sirius' stomach where the stab wound lay wide open as he tried to coax him into consciousness, his eyes wide and staring. Suddenly Sirius stirred a little, the dry specks of blood at the side of his mouth crackling as his face dissolved into a vague attempt at a smile.

'You did good Harry...' he whispered, blinking the blood from his eyes. 'You did good...'

'What are you talking about?' Harry muttered back, his eyes franticly examining his wounds as pure desperation set it. 'You did good too, Sirius. You did great. You're not giving up on me? Oh god, you can't...'

Sirius tried to take a deep breath but it came out as a rattling drawl. 'Harry, don't be stupid. Look at the obvious. You did good... Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs...'

'No!' Harry lifted Sirius' head into his lap with his spare hand, the other not leaving his wound. 'Don't do this to me! You've all I've got left! Sirius...'

'Get Claudia and her sister out of here, Harry. They didn't choose this. It's not their fault. Get them out of here...'

'But...'

'No buts, Harry. Go.'

Harry so wanted to argue. So much that the tears instantly sprang into his eyes and trickled down his face. But as his Godfather closed his eyes, he knew it would be no good.

'Harry! Harry! COME ON!'

Hermione's piercing cry echoed through the air like a knife. He looked up through the blaze of tears at her desperate face. He heard the footsteps below the bog began their angry approach and knew that the time had come, the others already preparing to make their hasty escape. He looked at Hermione and she instantly understood.

'I'll never give up on you, Sirius,' he whispered hoarsely, finally removing his hand from where it had come to rest on Padfoot's stomach. The blood had taken over his own skin, running down the lines of his palm as it seeped from Sirius to mingle with the mud. Harry felt all the air being virtually knocked out of him as he desperately denied the inevitable. 'Sirius, just hold on a little longer... We're going to get you out of here. We have to... ' He took a deep, wrenching breath and closed his eyes against the tears. 'You're the closest I've ever had to a Dad.'

He pulled him off the peat ridden floor and held him close, biting down hard on his lip to try and stop the pain as he rocked him slowly on the spot like a mother reassuring a baby. 'Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, I...'

He pulled up the heavy body as he felt it breathe a weary, heaving sigh. 'It's too late, Harry.'

And then he was gone. The twinkle of the marauder had gone out.

'Harry! Come on!'

He felt Hermione's hand grab his own and pull him up off the floor of the bog, the tears still blinding his vision as he felt his feet pound the floor absently as they made their escape. It felt like they'd been running for miles. He was vaguely aware of Lucy and Claudia's outlines up ahead, Remus and Arabella clearing their path with Ron lurking somewhere in between. They were all looking at the scene, disbelieving what it contained but unable to accept its consequences.

'Harry,' Arabella was saying. 'We've got to go! They'll be coming up here at any moment! We can't...'

'We can't go without him.' Harry finished. And by some extraordinary strength he'd never found before in his scrawny little body, he sprinted back to the centre of the bog. He proceeded to heave up the heap of his Godfather and swing him heavily over his shoulder. He could feel the blood dripping down his neck and mingling with the rain water as his knees almost crippled underneath the weight, staggering across the bog to the others through the storm, each step causing him to sink even more dangerously into the depths of the peat. But he would never, never drop his Godfather.

Then suddenly, blindly, he found himself supported. And in a final flash of lightning he saw another individual sharing his burden, taking Sirius' limp body under the other shoulder and helping him pull it away from the hell. It was Remus. His face was twisted into a horrific form of determination, as if he alone would carry this load through the burning desert and die from the inside out before giving it wholly up. And one look into the marauder's face told Harry that no demand for explanation was necessary.

'Over here, Harry!' Arabella was yelling, an old battered tyre at her feet she was looking at anxiously, the last syllable almost turning into a scream as the hands of the chasing pack begun to emerge from the bog. Ron and Hermione were holding each other up against the elements, the rain that made the ground so unstable soaking Hermione's bushy hair to a mass of wrung out curls, plastered across a face which it framed in an expression of utmost distress. She looked at Harry, tears intermingling with the rain upon her face. She was speaking, but Harry couldn't hear the words above the thunder. In fact, she was screaming, Ron yelling himself hoarse alongside but their voices instantly lost to the wind. But another voice was echoing in Harry's ears, uttered in his moment of terror not even a few months before but a sound more welcome than the song of Fawkes himself...

'Do it now.' It whispered from the depths of his memory, an echo of the Patronus that had passed them just moments before, 'Be ready to run... Do it now...'

And Harry wasn't going to argue with that. With a new surge of energy that seemed to pass between him and Remus, the pair of them lunged forward with every last effort they could muster, as if it were to be the last movement they made. They dove, taking Sirius with them, dragging themselves up to the levels of their friends as the first Death Eater dragged himself from the bog. The man had his wand raised.

'Avada...'

But he was unable to finish his curse. The lightning struck a tree on the bog, scattering the scene with sparks as Harry shielded his eyes from its brightness, the Death Eater collapsing in its wake as they finally drew level with Arabella, Hermione, Ron and the sisters, all looking like the bearers of death. He grasped Sirius' wrist even tighter, Padfoot's face peaceful and calm in the sparks of the rabid storm. He was squeezing the limb to unbearable levels, and could see Remus doing the same thing. Their eyes met for a moment, and they both made to grab the tyre.

Harry hadn't known it was a portkey. He hadn't really known it was there. All he knew, however as the familiar jerk around his navel and the swirl of colours greeted his eyes, was that it was taking him far away. It was removing him from danger. It was going to make him face the truth of what just occurred. And he prayed it wasn't as horrific as thought.

***

The chamber was finally silent. Deadly silent. The stone had ceased to move, finally settled in their rock fall that created a whole new bed of boulders and dust that seemed to simply project a form of long lost tranquillity. At the end of the longest day, there was peace.

Nothing could have survived that, any observer would have said. Nothing could have lived. The rock fall was sudden, unexpected, unavoidable. It could have crushed every bone in the body if anyone was unfortunate to be caught in the midst of its wake. Any normal person would have simply shook their head and slowly walked away.

But the less accepting of the world would have stayed. And they would have been right to trust their instinct. For a hand, a single, pale, spider-like hand that was protruding from the rubble, slowly began to wake.

***

To be continued...