Faded into Blackness

Chapter Two:

His feet slamming into the ground, the sudden force causing him to stumble slightly Sirius appeared silently behind a row of tall trees. Glancing quickly around him in the darkness his sharp eyes told him that he had appeared on the edge of what looked to be a vast grassy park of some description. It rose steadily up and away both in front of him and to the left and he could just make out the tall forms of trees lining the edges. Dropping the brick he was still holding in his right hand onto the ground with a soft thud, he looked around for somewhere to hide and saw a road a little ways off to his right and then, finally, behind him some more bushes in front of a low stone wall. He moved silently away from where he had been standing to survey his surroundings and tried to seclude himself as best as he could in the shadows cast between the bushes and the wall and waited, listening to the steady rumble of the traffic travelling along the road behind him, on the other side of the wall. He did not have long to wait however and moments after he had hidden himself there was a soft pop quickly followed by a muttered curse and looking around Sirius saw a man appear where he had done so only moments before, also clutching a single red brick. Glancing around, the man's gaze fell on the discarded brick and he looked at it curiously for a moment before casting around again clearly looking for something.

Brow furrowing the man stared into the darkness for a long moment before he shrugged absently and stepped aside just in time to avoid being hit by the second man who appeared suddenly out of the air next to him.

"Where's Paul?" he asked as soon as he had regained his footing. The first man shrugged.

"I haven't seen him. There's a key here though" he said and pointed to the brick " He must have gone on without waiting." The second man grunted.

"Bloody typical. One of these days.." he was cut off by the simultaneous arrival of three more men who stumbled into each other as they appeared. The first man spoke again.

"Right. Lets get going shall we.....haven't got all night to hang around this dump."

Still waiting quietly in his hiding place amongst the bushes Sirius watched intently as the five men began to trudge slowly up the hill and across the park away from him until, after a long moment they reached a small cluster of trees standing approximately half way up the grassy slope. Halting, they spread out forming a loose kind of circle around the largest of the trees and then paused looking around, seemingly waiting for something.

With an almost indiscernible pop Sirius was quickly replaced by the form a large black dog and stealthily moved out from behind the bushes and was about to try to edge closer to the group when the unmistakable sound of a car door opening and closing reached his sensitive ears. Turning his head to look in the direction of the road his stomach dropped as his eyes picked out the tall figure of a man stepping quickly away from a haphazardly parked car and heading towards the park and the small gate visible in the iron railings. Pushing the gate open the man stepped through the small gap and then closed it again as gently as he could. Remaining still Sirius continued watching as the man began to move slowly, but purposefully across the park and straight towards the group of undoubtedly dark wizards.

Growling softly, Sirius had no choice but to follow the foolish muggle.

"This has got to be one of the stupidest things you've ever done you great prat. Could've been at home now, nice cup of tea, bit of telly but nooo just had to stop and go wondering across a dark park, freezing you're bollocks off didn't you?"

Moving as quietly as he could across the grass Harry found himself disturbed by two things. First of all was the fact that he was talking to himself, muttering almost inaudibly under his breath but talking nonetheless; the second was the fact that despite the conversation with his clearly more intelligent inner voice, he was still walking across the park and towards what had to be a group of highly dangerous people. He shook his head but kept going and moments later Harry was as close to the group of dark figures gathered around the trees as he thought he should get and stopping at what he hoped was a safe distance away he glanced around quickly looking for somewhere to hide. Seeing a large tree stump several paces to his left he moved as swiftly as he was able to do so in the darkness and crouched down behind it, feeling grateful for his ebony hair that would enable him to blend more easily into the shadows. Curling himself up as small as was possible for his six foot frame to get he turned his attention back to the group and blinked; then rubbed at his eyes, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Where there had moments before been only five black cloaked figures there now appeared to be seven. Harry looked around quickly and seeing no other figures approaching turned back to the group and stared trying to work out where the other two had materialised from. He was still trying to work it out moments later when one of the figures lifted an arm and the terrible sound of a pained and terrified screams ripped through the quiet darkness of the night, startling Harry and almost making him lose his balance.

Eyes widening in horror Harry felt the blood drain from his face as he watched one of the figures convulsing madly for what seemed like hours but which was in reality mere seconds, before dropping like a lead weight to the ground. The soft thud as the person fell to the grass was accompanied by the unmistakable sound of laughter. Anger surging through him, intermingling with the cold fear already present Harry rose to his feet, stepping out from behind the stump as he did so.

Thinking of nothing but the screaming body Harry opened his mouth to shout, though he wasn't sure what, when suddenly his path was blocked by the figure of an enormous black dog.

Sensing a quick movement off from the side of him Sirius had turned his head just in time to see the muggle he had been following step out from behind his tree stump hiding place thus revealing himself to the group by the trees. Wishing he could curse properly as a dog and desperately hoping that he would be able to save at least one innocent life tonight he threw himself in front of the man and began to advance quickly towards him growling and snarling as fiercely as he could, hoping to scare him away.

The screaming abruptly cut off and as it did so he heard voices shouting from behind him and he knew that they had been seen. He did not turn around though and although he could not see the muggle's face clearly in the shadows surrounding them Sirius felt a certain amount of relief and satisfaction as the smell of fear emanating from the person increased significantly.

Startled, Harry was sure he felt his heart stop briefly as the enormous dog growled at him with increasingly ferocity. He took another step backward and then hearing a shout looked up briefly only to see he that the figures near the trees had spotted them, they now seemed to be pointing straight at him.

" Dammit!" he swore "Stupid bloody dog."

Thinking quickly he weighed up his options as he took another step back away from both the dog and the shouting figures and was preparing to turn and run when his was foot caught on a raised tree root and he fell over backwards, hitting the side of his head harshly on the sharp stump as he went down. Blinking furiously as his vision swam he cleared his eyes just in time to see a flash of bright white light and then Harry felt something rush through the air straight past his face and hit the tree bark at his side with a resounding crack, sending shards flying in all directions.

He winced at the pain in his head and pressed a hand to his temple where he could feel the blood under his fingers, running down the side of his face. Frantically, Harry looked around for the dog but instead only saw yet another man standing with his back to him pointing and shouting in the direction of the advancing figures. There was another flash of light and a bang and then confused and frightened Harry was stumbling up onto his feet, still clutching his head and half running, half stumbling back in the direction of his car. Not giving a second thought to the stranger he had left behind holding off his pursuers.

Breathing a small sigh of relief Sirius had managed to stun a third wizard at the same time that he heard the muggle behind him stumble to his feet and take off, running back down the hill to safety. Turning, he leapt nimbly over the stump and crouched down behind it, using it as a shield. Throwing off random curses and hexes he watched until the man was safely back at his car before he took a deep calming breath and apparated away, instinctively picking up the small leather wallet resting by his foot as he did so.

Remus Lupin had been sitting quietly in his office for over an hour, carefully marking his fifth year's essays when there was a loud bang and his office door was flung open, banging against the wall, to admit an extremely agitated looking Sirius Black. Looking up quickly Remus was alarmed to see that his long-time friend was pale and sweating and that his hands were trembling from around a small black object that he was clutching so tightly in his white knuckled fingers that it was impossible for Remus to clearly make out what it was. Concentrating instead on his friend he saw that Sirius was now pacing frantically backwards and forwards in front of his desk and talking so rapidly that Remus could only make out snatches of what he was saying. Pushing his chair back he stood quickly and moved around his desk to stand in front of the other man and stop his pacing. Reaching out cautiously he placed what he hoped were claming hands on his friend's shoulders and looked into his wild and desperate light blue eyes, his own brow creasing with equal parts worry and confusion.

"Sirius! Calm down and tell me what's the matter."

Sirius took a deep and unsteady breath and his voice trembled when he spoke.

"I was. in this park, spying....they were torturing this man and I saw this...this muggle watching so I ..I tried to scare him away, growling you know? And I, I did, he ran off but he dropped this" He held up the object he was still clutching in his hand and Remus saw that it was actually a small black, leather wallet, the kind muggles had. He reached out a hand and took it, examining it carefully as Sirius continued to speak.

"And...I looked in it and Oh God Remus....It's him. It's him"

"Who?" There was a pause and Remus felt something heavy and ice cold drop inside him, his stomach turned over and anticipation surged through his veins almost making him dizzy in its intensity.

"Harry"

Remus just stared at his friend and then looked back down at the seemingly innocuous wallet he was still holding. With now trembling fingers he slowly opened the small leather holder and his eyes fell on the muggle driving license held behind the small plastic screen; it's picture staring innocently up at him with a pair of unmistakable green eyes.

Drawing in a sharp gasp of breath Remus reached out a hand to feel for the edge of his desk and sat down heavily on top of his fifth year essays still staring at the wallet.

One of the first things that Harry noticed when he returned to consciousness the morning following his little sojourn in the park was the dull throbbing that seemed to be emanating from the side of his head. Cautiously, he used his arms to push himself up into a sitting position resting against his wooden headboard and groaned softly. Reaching his hand up he gingerly pressed his fingertips to his temple feeling the ridges of a small cut and a large bump just under his hairline. Wincing, he cautiously opened his eyes and squinted against the bright winter sunlight streaming through the window, past the curtains he had been too shaken to close the night before. Looking around his eyes rested on the clock on the bedside table and he swore loudly at the LED display blinking innocently up at him and telling him that it was 10:23am. Harry was very, very late for work.

Scrambling across his bed as quickly as his stiff limbs would allow him to, he stumbled across the room, down the hall and into the shower, managing to wash, dress and throw some ibuprofen down his throat in record time, slamming out of the door to his flat as the clock clicked over to 10:44. Settling into the drivers seat of his car Harry started the engine, quickly drawing away from the curb. He was still let but at least he would now smell nice while the DCI was busy ripping strips off him.

Sure enough when Harry arrived in the incident room, out of breath and sweaty from his stumbling dash across the car park he was immediately summoned into Anderton's small office by a shouted, or rather more accurately bellowed; "Inspector James! Get in here!" that occurred so immediately upon Harry's stepping through the door that Harry suspected his superior to have rigged up some kind of surveillance system. Either that or he had simply seen his wayward inspector arrive through the window that looked out onto the car park.

Wincing at the pounding in his head, that had increased with the shouting and now seemed to be doubling with every step he took, Harry shuffled across to the door and took a deep steadying breath before knocking twice, gingerly and stepping inside the warm room.

Anderton was indeed standing at the window facing the car park, his back to Harry, his hands deep in his pockets. Not daring to sit down uninvited Harry shifted forward slightly, closer to the desk and cleared his throat nervously.

"Um...Sir?" he asked.

"I expect you've got a nice excuse worked out to explain your lateness this morning haven't you Harry my lad?"

"Uh..well, sort of." Harry began hesitantly. "You see I sort of, well I got into a spot of bother yesterday on my way home and I well, I overslept. Sir"

Anderton turned around to fix Harry with a stern glare that quickly melted to one of concern as he took in both Harry's dishevelled appearance and the purple and black swelling that marred his inspector's pale face.

"God Harry!" he exclaimed, clearly startled. " What the hell happened to you? Are you all right?" Anderton's booming voice seemed to echo around the inside of his head and Harry winced once more, gasping involuntarily at the new wave of pain radiating from his left temple. He closed his eyes and pressed a hand to the side of his head, grimacing as he tried to will the steady throbbing away.

"You should sit down."

Harry jumped at the sound of the new voice, though the words were spoken softly. Startled he opened his eyes and turned his head slightly to the right to see a man of about forty-five sitting calmly in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs placed in front of Anderton's desk. He noticed the man was thin and pale, almost gaunt looking, though his face was open and friendly. He had light brown hair streaked liberally through with flashes of silver grey. His hazel eyes were warm as he looked at Harry with concern and he was gesturing towards the second, empty chair.

Smiling slightly at the stranger, Harry decided that it was probably best not to nod at him in greeting and instead settled himself into the proffered chair with a relieved sigh and looked back towards his boss, questioningly.

Anderton was now also seated behind his desk and was studying Harry worriedly

"Are you alright?" he asked again.

Harry nodded quickly before wincing as he remembered that he was not supposed to be doing that.

"I'm fine, really. Just a bit of a headache." he answered unconvincingly.

"Hmmm" he could tell that Anderton was clearly not convinced but Harry merely folded his hands neatly in his lap and glanced pointedly at the stranger sitting next to him. Anderton sighed.

"Right, well before you tell me exactly what happened last night" he paused and gave Harry a pointed glare, which the younger man ignored in favour of examining his finger nails. "I should introduce you to Professor Remus Lupin." he nodded in the vague direction of the other man but kept his eyes fixed on Harry. "Professor Lupin is a leading expert on cults and cult activity and has kindly agreed to help us on this case." Anderton, finally now turned to Lupin. "Professor, this is Detective Inspector Harry James. He'll be your main liaison while you're here working with us."

Smiling, Professor Lupin turned to Harry and the younger man could not help but notice how the smile seemed to make Lupin look years younger as it warmed up his face.

"Please" he said holding out his hand; "Call me Remus. Professor Lupin makes me feel old and stuffy.

Harry smiled warmly liking this man and shook the offered hand.

"Harry" he replied. "It's good to have you on board Remus."

He was staring; Remus was aware of that fact, though he could not seem to stop doing it, even if he was aware of little else. But then, who could really blame him? He was fairly certain that anyone else finding themselves in the position he was in would be doing the same; even Severus Snape he thought, successfully managing to suppress a snort. He half listened as Anderton went through the pleasantries of who he was supposed to be to the younger man, and continued to observe Harry quietly.

When Sirius had come bursting into his office the night before, clutching that little black wallet, Remus had not even dared to believe what he was being told. He had not even believed it in the hour that he had just spent in this office waiting, and if he was perfectly honest with himself he was not altogether sure whether he really believed it now, even with Harry, familiar green eyes and lightening bolt scar, sitting no more than two feet away from him. Observing his best friend's godson, Remus was surprised at how little the boy; well man now, had changed in the last eight years. He was more assured in both the way he talked and how he carried himself yes, but he still had that same air of vulnerability surrounding him, coupled with that misleadingly light frame that had served him so well during his years as a seeker.

".....Harry James. He'll be your main liaison while you're here working with us."

Remus snapped back to reality to see both Harry and DCI Anderton looking at him expectantly. He smiled slightly and offered his hand.

"Please. Call me Remus. Professor Lupin makes me feel old and stuffy."

Harry smiled and shook his hand. His grip light but firm.

"Harry." he said. "It's good to have you on board Remus."

The exchange was brief and polite but as Harry let his hand go and turned his attention back to the older detective Remus felt that familiar ice fill his stomach once again, and he closed his eyes briefly against the sick feeling clenching his heart and sighed. He had hoped that it was all just an act and that as soon as they were on their own Harry would chew him out for looking for him and Remus in turn could scold the younger man for running off and then drag him back to Hogwarts and Sirius, kicking and screaming if necessary. But, it was not to be so for whilst he still had no idea what had happened to Harry in that final battle or why he did know that in those few moments when he had had the younger mans undivided attention and Remus had been able to look him in the eye he had found no sense of recognition in that green gaze. Nothing other than a professional politeness.

Remus groaned inwardly, despair filling him. Harry did not know him and Remus would have to consider that likelihood that the wizarding world's hero did not even know such a world existed in the first place. This was going to be a lot harder than he had first thought. Remus successfully managed to repress another sigh and with conscious effort turned his attention back to the conversation underway between the other two men.

".....so I followed them and.." Harry was cut off abruptly as Anderton slammed his hand down on his desk suddenly, making his coffee cup jump a few inches to the left.

"Harry" For god's sake; how many times do I have to tell you to stop putting yourself in these positions?" He roared.

Remus saw Harry wince at the noise but his gaze never wavered. He stared at his superior almost belligerently.

"And how many times has it paid off?" he returned. Anderton said nothing and Remus could have sworn he saw Harry smirk for a moment and then he continued his story. "Anyway," he said, "They met up with another two, and I couldn't really see what they were doing because I didn't want to get too close." he directed a pointed look at Anderton who grunted but again said nothing. "But it looked like they were torturing someone. They were definitely all wearing cloaks though, and hoods covering their faces."

Anderton sighed. "So what happened here then?" he asked waving a hand in the general direction of Harry's bruises.

Harry snorted, " Well, this man was screaming, horribly" he shuddered " And I couldn't just stand there and watch while they killed this guy could I? So I got up and was just going to intervene when this bloody great dog..."

Remus could not help but chuckle at the indignant look on Harry's face as he went on to describe how the dog, who was undoubtedly Sirius, forced him back down the hill and eventually sent him running for his car.

"So what do you think Remus? Any ideas off the top of your head?" Anderton asked suddenly. Remus frowned.

"A couple" he replied." But nothing concrete. I need to get a bit more specific information from Harry here and then do some research. I'll let you know as soon as I've come up with something. Shouldn't take too long." He stood and held his hand out for Anderton who stood and shook it.

" Thank you Professor." Remus nodded and Anderton turned to the still seated Harry.

"Inspector James" he barked and Harry shot to his feet; Remus noticed him sway slightly and rest a hand on the back of his chair.

"Sir?"

"You will go with Professor Lupin and tell him everything you know. I don't want to see your face again until tomorrow so I suggest you work from home. Understood?" Harry looked unhappy but nodded anyway.

"Yes Sir." he said and then turned to Remus" If you'd like to follow me."

Remus gathered his coat and together they left the office.

It had been about forty five minutes since they had left the incident room and Remus found himself ensconced in Harry's small and sparse living room surrounded by files, with apologies for the lack of heating and a warm cup of tea clasped in his hands. Harry was currently deeply engrossed in studying his various case notes while Remus continued to surreptitiously study Harry.

"Aha!" The younger man's triumphant exclamation startle Remus out of his reverie and his hands jumped slightly causing some of his hot tea to slosh out over his fingers and he winced.

"Oh" Harry said seeing him and handing him some quickly found tissues. "Sorry about that but I thought I might have lost this." He held up a manila file with a flourish." It's the autopsy report of the last victim. I want you to have a look

at the symbol carved onto the body, see if you recognise it ok?" He waited for an answer.

Remus simply nodded and putting his tea down reached for the folder. Opening it he quickly leafed through the pages and then froze as his gaze fell on the picture Harry had indicated. There, carefully etched into the chest in all its glory was the dark mark. Remus swallowed thickly. No one had mentioned this.

"Remus? Are you all right? Do you recognise it? You're as white as a ghost." Blinking himself back to reality Remus focused his eyes on Harry's concerned face.

"No...I uh." he stammered." Could I use your bathroom?"

Harry's forehead creased into a frown and he looked very much like he wanted to say something but instead he merely shrugged, leaning further back into his own chair.

"Sure" he said "Through that door. First on your left."

"Thanks." Remus said, getting to his feet and heading quickly through the door indicated.

Finding the bathroom quickly in the small flat, Remus slipped inside then closed and locked the door behind him. Moving to the sink he ran the cold tap and cupping his hands splashed water onto his face and then stared at his reflection in the mirror above the sink while he tried to collect his thoughts.

He had known that there had been a new spate of murders, everyone knew that but nothing had ever been said about the reappearance of the dark mark. Why had Snape never mentioned it? Then another thought struck him. Did Snape know about it? In either case, it was not good news and he was sure his reaction must have aroused Harry's suspicions. Remus had no idea what he was supposed to say to him now.

Patting his face dry with a towel he found haphazardly tossed on a rail Remus took a deep breath to compose himself and made his way slowly back to the living room. Entering he closed the door quietly behind him before he turned to

face Harry; and froze.

The young inspector was standing in the middle of the room a look of fury etched onto his pale face. In one hand he was gripping Remus' black coat, in the other, Remus felt his stomach turn over and he swallowed; in the other Harry was holding up his own, small, black wallet.

"Where" he bit out through gritted teeth, green eyes blazing; "did you get my wallet?"