A Promise Worth Keeping

Chapter Nineteen

"Have you gone off your trolley, Lupin?" demanded the Auror, furiously.

"Not at all," responded Remus in a level voice. He didn't break eye contact with Sirius. "I simply feel the action you were taking was premature."

Did that mean…? Sirius wondered, a tiny flicker of hope starting to grow.

The Auror snorted again. "So he'd got two wands and says the rest of them have only got three between them. And you're saying we should believe him? After what he's done? Lupin, this guy's Dementor food and he knows it. He'll say anything."

"Perhaps," said Remus. Behind him Snape snorted.

There was a pause as nobody said anything. Sirius felt the shrieking anxiety for Harry increase more than ever. But he said nothing, waiting to see what they were going to do.

Eventually Remus asked, "So, what happened at the cottage?"

With an effort, Sirius tried to think coherently. "Er, Malfoy and his thugs… knocked me out… brought us here."

"Why?"

Sirius swallowed hard, fighting back the nausea that arose at the thought of what Malfoy had been getting him to do. "Malfoy wanted to do some sort of ritual…" he began.

"You mean he was going to kill the boy don't you?" Snape broke in. "And what were you doing while this was going on?" he continued sarcastically, "Trying to stop him? Standing watching? Or perhaps you were actually doing the ritual yourself, Black, hmm? I can't think of any other reason why Malfoy would bring you along, that's if he's here at all."

The flicker of hope died. Sirius stared at the man in horror and shook his head slowly. "No…I…" But what could he say? I would never kill Harry? It was hardly true after all. Not now. The longer he hesitated, the less convincing he became. And all the while, Harry was in danger, could already be dead.

Remus had narrowed his eyes and his arm, still out-flung, began to waver. Sirius trailed off, eyes now flickering over all the men. This wasn't going to work. He wasn't going to be able to convince them. They weren't going to help. He slowly started to inch back on his hands, and then reached down into himself and shifted his shape. Instantly he sprang to the left, out of the way of the curses he knew they would fire at him.

But they were fast. And he was hit on his hindquarters by a Reductor Curse that sent him crashing to the ground again with a yelp.

"Got the bastard!" somebody whooped in triumph.

With a huge effort, fuelled by panic and adrenaline, he staggered up, even as someone else flung a Stunning Curse at him. They missed, but only just. And then he ran on three legs, as fast as he could, into the birch and alder scrub he had come from only minutes earlier.

The vegetation was too thick for the men to follow him, although he could still hear them moving through the grass at the edge of the scrub, whispering to one another. But he soon lost them, slowly crawling through the undergrowth into a patch of scrub where there was a bit more space. He winced with every movement, his right hip rapidly stiffening. Then he stopped to take stock of himself. As far as he could see in the dark, the skin wasn't broken, but when he licked it, it was tender to the touch. Spots danced before his eyes. Whoa! He had to do something about the injury. He looked up. There was just enough space to transform, and he did so. Instantly, in the dark he was almost completely blind, even as his eyes adjusted. He swore violently when he reached inside his robes for the wand, and suddenly realised he had left it on the ground. Bugger. A lot of use he was going to be to Harry if he couldn't even walk properly - always assuming Harry would even let him get near enough to be any use.

With another wince, he sat up; shoulders crouched against the branches around him. This wasn't helping. He listened for a moment; from some distance he could hear furtive sounds of movement. The stupid bastards were focussed on him. Well, if he wasn't in any fit state to help Harry himself, he had to draw them towards where they would be able to help. Remus was a good man - he would make sure Harry was all right… afterwards. He would talk Dumbledore out of sending the boy back to the Dursleys. Wouldn't he?

Sirius transformed again and began to slither through the undergrowth on his belly, ignoring the wetness of the ground, and the ache from his hip. But it got wetter and wetter as the birch disappeared amidst pools of water of what was clearly turning into a peat bog. He turned, realising his sense of direction was off somehow. He hadn't come this way. He sniffed the air. All he could smell from ahead was the smell of bog.

Eventually he managed to get back onto drier ground and the scrub began to thin. He could see the moon now and saw immediately how he'd gone astray. He was on the wrong side of the patch of scrub and if he was going to be able to lead Remus and the others to the stones he would have to work his way round to the other side again. Slowly he began to do this, but to his horror stumbled, spots dancing before his eyes again. NO. He couldn't pass out here; this was too important. For all he knew Malfoy had a Portkey and would disappear with Harry as soon as he caught him, to carry out his ritual somewhere else. That was better, think about that; think about what would happen to the boy if he didn't manage to get those fools after him again.

He barked twice. The sound echoed through the trees and there was a shout from far behind him. That was better. Come on you fools. He forced himself to walk, keeping his weight off the injured leg as much as possible. And then he was clear of the trees, on the path. A glance at the moon showed which direction the stones would be in and he stumbled on, towards them, and, he hoped, towards Harry.

---

Blinking his eyes in disorientation, Harry leapt to his feet, heart hammering in his chest. How on earth had that happened? He was now standing among the trees about thirty metres behind where Malfoy was standing yelling. He saw Sirius jump to one side knocking one of the other wizards down and then the black dog was running away from him, through the stones. Anxiously Harry watched as the wizards started firing spells at it, but it was fast and they missed. Then it barked once, loudly. With a start Harry remembered what Sirius had said - that if he barked or yelled to try and get into the trees and hide. He ducked down and began to draw back.

It was hard to see where he was going. Although the half moon was bright, it didn't cast a lot of light, and he didn't want to make too much noise. He was sure it wouldn't take Malfoy and his men long to start coming after him. Then he stumbled on a fallen branch and landed awkwardly on his hands. "Ow!" he exclaimed, as he climbed to his feet again, rubbing his palms, stinging from landing on the rough grass, and then froze. They might have heard him.

Slowly he began to move again, peering into the gloom. A dark shape loomed to the left, and Harry realised it must be the tent. He certainly didn't want to go there, so he turned and headed in the opposite direction. After a while, the trees started to get smaller and thicker and closer together, branches getting more and more tangled. It was beginning to look like a good place to hide, Harry thought.

He burrowed his way through the undergrowth, until he was satisfied Malfoy wouldn't be able to follow him, and sat down on his hunkers, realising he was still shaking. He closed his eyes, but all he saw was the image of Sirius standing before him, tears in his eyes and a knife in his hand. Harry didn't understand why Sirius had been doing what Malfoy told him to. Then a horrible thought struck him; had Sirius been pretending all along? Tears welled up his eyes and he didn't even try and stop them when they started to roll down his cheeks. For a few moments he simply sat there in silent misery, feeling the certainties he had built around him come tumbling down.

But then he blinked, and thought, no, that couldn't be right. If Sirius had been pretending, why did he warn him, why did he bark? Why did he attack that other wizard? Harry clutched hold of this train of thought and held on to it like a talisman. He sniffed and wiped his face with his sleeve. If Sirius was risking his life drawing them away, for him to just sit there, blubbering like a baby waiting for them, was stupid. Harry didn't know much about the things magic could do, but he was pretty sure that Sirius was risking his life. He shivered and it wasn't just from the cold, but he didn't know what to do.

Suddenly, in the distance he heard voices. They were too far away for him to make out what they were saying, or even who it was, but he felt the clutch of fear in his stomach again.

"…sure he went this way," someone said, much closer now.

Oh no, they were coming this way; they were going to find him! Harry swallowed hard, trying to stifle the panic he felt, but not really succeeding terribly well. He started to crawl away from the direction the voice had come from, trying to be as quiet as possible. He had little faith in the cover of darkness; for all he knew they had some spell they could use that let them see in the dark. It just made it harder for him to know where he was going.

"What was that noise?" someone else asked. The voice sounded familiar, but Harry wasn't sure which of the wizards it was.

He froze. They must have heard him. He stared into the gloom wishing with all his might for a see-in-the-dark spell. But magic didn't seem to work quite like that, or not for him anyway. Above him, a breeze stirred the branches of the trees and he shivered again, this time mostly from the cold.

Then in the distance, Harry heard two loud barks, followed by a shout. He frowned; the shout hadn't sounded much nearer, so the wizards must have split up. From much closer at hand, came the sound of someone running off through the undergrowth.

Cautiously, Harry started to move again. Before long the scrub thinned and he was almost back out in the open. He stopped. He wasn't sure if he wanted to go any further away from the shelter of the scrub. But he realised he was completely lost, couldn't have said which direction the stones were in if his life depended on it. Which, he thought with a flutter of panic, it probably did.

He stared through the trees, trying to pick out something that would tell him where he was. Then, Harry's eye's widened in terror as by the light of the moon he made out the tall shape of a man standing less than twenty metres away. There was no pale gleam from the man's face, so he concluded he was standing with his back to him. As quietly as he could, Harry started to move away. He kept his eyes on the man, but he never even shifted his position.

But then, when he took his next step, there was a crack, that sounded as loud as a gunshot, as Harry stepped on a stick.

"I can hear you, Potter," the man said and turned round. It was Malfoy.

Harry bolted. He didn't care now which direction he ran in, so long as it was away from Malfoy. But in the dark, fear is a poor guide, and he soon fell, tripping on a tuft of rough grass. He couldn't stop a whimper of terror and behind him, Malfoy laughed. Then he said something that sounded like "Imperio!"

But the spell must have missed as Harry staggered to his feet again and ran on. The trees were much thinner now, and suddenly, he was out in the open and ahead were the stones of the circle. He faltered for a moment, suddenly not sure which way to go. His eyes flickered over the stones. He couldn't see anybody. It would be much quicker to simply cross the circle; he'd be further away and under cover again before Malfoy caught up with him. He couldn't hide on this side of the circle for sure, not with Malfoy prowling around.

Making his decision, Harry ran out between two of the stones.

---

As Meredith fired another curse at the disappearing form of the dog, Snape turned to Remus and said, "I trust you're satisfied, Lupin. If you had allowed Meredith to do his job, we would have Black and then it would have been a simple matter of finding the boy."

Remus glanced at the other wizard, inwardly squirming. "There's no need to rub it in, Severus," he responded. "I'm quite well aware of that."

Remus could now see Meredith making wild hand signals, which he interpreted to mean they should circle round the patch of scrub after Black. He waved in acknowledgement and walked off to do just that, leaving Snape standing on the path. After a moment he heard the man follow.

He really did not want to talk about what had happened. He'd made a mistake, which could still cost Harry his life, if they didn't find him soon. He'd allowed the fact that he clearly still wanted Black to be innocent to influence him yet again. But now, the fact that Black had run spoke volumes for the real state of affairs. Then he stopped dead. Which wasn't to say -

"Ooof!" Snape exclaimed as he walked into him. "What are you doing, Lupin? Get a move on!"

Remus turned round to look at Snape and said in a low voice, "What are we all doing going after Black? What about Harry?"

Snape sniffed. "I'm sure given what we heard earlier, that he's perfectly capable of looking after himself."

"I would imagine all that indicates is that Black wasn't being completely untruthful," Remus responded. "Malfoy and others must be here too, and it's likely Harry somehow got away. It doesn't mean he's safe."

Snape shrugged. "If you are trying to suggest we go and look for him, why don't you just say so, Lupin?"

Staring at Snape for a moment, Remus then said in as calm a voice as he could manage, "Let's go and look for Harry."

"As you wish."

The three Aurors had disappeared amongst the trees. Remus suspected they would be quite happy to have the 'civilians' out of the way. He walked with Snape, back to the path. Then they cautiously followed it.

When the stone circle came into view they stopped. Remus stared at it. It really was a most impressive place, and would be even more so during the day. The stones increased in height until on the opposite side of the circle they ended in the massive flanker stones separated by another huge stone lying on its side. Remus swallowed, remembering Snape's evidence. The position of the middle stone seemed to be intentional, but it gave it the horrible look of a sacrificial altar, whether that had been its original intent or not.

In the dim light he couldn't see anyone else. He glanced at Snape and the other wizard shrugged and carried on towards the stones.

Suddenly a shape stood up from where it had been crouched beside one of the flanker stones. "What the -?" it started to say.

Immediately both Remus and Snape raised their wands and yelled almost at the same moment, "Expelliarmus!"

No wand shot through the air, but the shape was flung backwards by the force of the spell into the flanker stone and then slumped forwards onto the ground. Remus looked at Snape. "Where did his wand go?" he asked.

Snape shrugged. "Perhaps Black was telling the truth and he didn't have one." His tone suggested he didn't think this likely.

The two of them cautiously approached, but the figure on the ground didn't move. As they neared the stone, Remus could see a large, dark splodge of something wet on it that hadn't been there before. He reached out and touched it, while Snape bent over the figure. Something came off on his fingers. Blood. And other material. He made a face and turned round as Snape said, "It's Avery. He's dead."

"Probably because half his brains are on the stone," Remus commented.

Snape snorted. "Well that's one of them down. Four more to go, if Black was telling the truth about there being five of them."

Remus looked down at the body. Snape had rolled Avery onto his back and he lay there, sightless eyes staring up at the moon. "What are we going to do with him? he asked then.

Snape looked up. "We're not going to do anything with him," he told Remus. "If they come back, and find him it'll give them something to think about."

A slight breeze blew through the stones and Remus shivered, listening for any sounds of movement coming from the woods. There was nothing. However, Harry couldn't have gone in the direction they had come from, otherwise they would have seen or heard him, which they hadn't. He picked a direction at random. "Come on," he said to Snape. We need to find Harry."

Snape shrugged and stood up, wiping his hands on his robes. They left the circle and walked through the trees for a few minutes in silence. Then up ahead, Remus could see a dark shape looming, like a building. Of course, there had to have been somewhere they had been holding Harry.

"Is that you Avery?" a voice asked, from the direction of the building.

Remus smiled to himself, and taking careful aim with his wand, muttered "Stupefy!"

Something fell to the ground with a loud thump.

The two wizards ran forwards, and Remus saw a crumpled shape lying on the ground in front of what looked like a tent. When he reached the man, he asked Snape, "Do you know him?"

Snape prodded the body with his boot. "His name's Macnair. Works for the Ministry these days, I believe. Nine years ago, he was another one of those, like Avery who claimed to have been under the Imperius Curse." His tone made his contempt clear.

In the distance a dog barked. The sound was immediately followed by a shout. "Looks like those clowns have found Black," Snape commented then added in an acid tone, "Perhaps this time they'll get a chance to knock him out."

Remus didn't bother to reply, but picked up Macnair's wand then set about conjuring manacles and leg irons for him. When he had finished he muttered, "Mobilicorpus."

There was another shout, much closer than the first. "They're coming this way," Snape said.

Remus shook his head. "No, they're going towards the stones. Come on!"

They ran through the trees, Macnair's body floating along behind them. Up ahead, the stones came into view and the two wizards stopped. Remus put up a hand to silence Snape before he said anything. Someone was muttering, not too far away. He moved until he could see the flanker stones where they had left Avery's body. Someone was bent low over it, cursing.

Then the man stopped. Someone else was running through the trees opposite, towards the circle and they weren't taking much trouble to hide the noise they were making. Because of their position, Remus couldn't see who it was, but he raised his wand. Beside him, so did Snape.

So did the man beside the flanker stones.

Suddenly a small figure ran out between two stones on the other side of the circle. It was Harry. He didn't seem to have noticed the man standing in the circle. As soon as he realised it was Harry, Remus flung a Stunning Curse at the man. He missed, as the man stepped forwards to fling a Blasting Curse at the boy.

But then, at the same moment as the man yelled his curse, a dark, canine shape shot out from the direction of the path and without a moment's hesitation, hurled itself between Harry and the man. The dog took the full force of the curse and fell to the ground with a yelp.

"Sirius!" Harry screamed.

At the same moment as the boy screamed, from behind Remus, Snape yelled, "Stupefy!" And the other wizard collapsed.

Remus ran towards Harry. The boy had fallen to his knees beside the dog and was moaning, "Please don't be dead; please don't be dead!"

Harry looked up at Remus, his face chalk white in the moonlight, his eyes dark with misery. "Why did he have to go and do that?" Tears started to trickle down his face.

Remus felt stunned, almost unable to believe what he had seen. "He saved your life, Harry. That curse would have killed you." His eyes fell to the shape lying beside Harry.

The dog didn't move.