Enigma's Love

Enigma's Love - Part 5 - Secrets in the Shadows

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Special thanks LazarusBlackblade for his help with this chapter, providing me with inspiration and skeleton when I needed it. The spell comes from The 21 Lessons of Merlin.

The end of the third year was filled with joy. Hermione received the highest grades out of the five with Anastasia following close behind. Harry and Cesare were about even and Ron brought up the rear. Leaving Hogwarts wasn't a sad occasion for Harry this time. This year he was getting off with the Lupins and moving into his new home.

During the summer, when Hermione and Ron weren't over at Remus and Dory's, the Lupins were taking Harry to all the magical events that he missed while at the Dursleys. The first thing was the World Quidditch Cup which England had hosted for the first time since Merlin knows when. Then it was to Romania to see the dragons, Italy for a little fun on the beaches and some rather interesting muggle history, and then finally at the end, a small trip to Salem, Massachusetts to show the kids some American wizarding practices.

All this time, Dory and Remus had definitely taken notice of one thing - Harry and Anastasia getting closer, especially when they sat together on the train, just before Dory and Remus apparated as close as they could to beat the kids to Hogwarts.

Fourth year classes were basically a continuation of the third year in preparation for more advanced classes in the fifth year. Remus was again teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, which thrilled the students immensely since they thought he was the best they ever had. Hogsmeade visits became more common and more often than not, the twins and Harry were asking Remus and Dory for money. They knew full well that Cesare was stocking up on pranks and sugar with Ron. Remus always thought that he was trying to resurrect the Marauders, even after Remus and Dory had taken the map away from them. Anastasia and Hermione would always be getting a new book, or in Anastasia's case, another bit of magic to practice with. Since her second year, it had been Tarot cards and she was doing quite well with them. As for Harry, if it wasn't Quidditch or new pranks with Cesare and Ron, it was something for Anastasia.

The fourth year ended with the same peace as the third, without any knowledge of what was to come.

The fifth year began as a celebration. Harry, Hermione, and Anastasia all decided to take Ancient Magic and Spells, Hermione and Anastasia for the challenge and interest...Harry for the same with the added bonus that his girlfriend was in the class. Cesare and Ron would have rather had fun instead of spending long hours slaving over ancient texts for Professor Domenica Lupin.

The celebration did not last long though when 15-year-olds have too much energy.

One night after the castle was dark; Harry, Cesare and Ron decided that it would be fun to practice quidditch in the hallways of Hogwarts. The three boys flew recklessly around the halls on their brooms, just trying to stay out of earshot of anyone who could deduct house points. They were doing quite well until Ron's broom stalled and crashed into a trophy case, successfully knocking it over with a loud bang. The three boys quickly got off their brooms to see if they could fix it before anyone showed up and saw it. They quickly looked over the mess and realized that they were truly in trouble. One thing caught Harry's attention, an old signet ring that had rolled out of a beaten-up trophy. He reached down to pick it up to get a better look at it when the sound of footsteps approached.

"What is going on here?!" McGonagall stated angrily as Harry quickly pocketed the ring.

"Nothing, Professor...honest," Cesare piped up, trying to be as convincing as possible.

"It was an accident, we swear," Ron added.

"I doubt that highly," she replied scoldingly. "For this, 50 points will be deducted from Gryffindor - EACH!" McGonagall reprimanded. "And you will be serving detention with me tomorrow night. Make sure you bring plenty of parchment and ink, for you will be writing quite a bit," she finished before making her exit. The three boys then made their way quietly back up to the dorms, not wanting to incite any more professors.

In the darkness of their room, Harry finally got to look at his discovery. It was an old, gold ring with the Gryffindor lion on it. It intrigued him so and he wanted to find out more about it as he slipped it on his finger, feeling a brief surge go through him. He brushed it off as nothing and fell asleep.

The next night, Ron, Harry, and Cesare were in McGonagall's office ready to face whatever she threw at them. Each was given an enormous book on a famous witch or wizard and ordered to write two rolls of parchment on the one they received. Ron and Cesare were audibly complaining as they began to write but Harry was surprisingly silent as he read about Godric Gryffindor. Slowly he read about his house's namesake's bravery and courage, absorbing every word. After a few pages, Harry came upon something very interesting - a picture of the ring he found the previous night. The paragraph under the picture stated that Gryffindor was never found without this ring and had the ability to transfigure into a lion on occasion. Now, his punishment became something so much more.

The next evening, the young quintet sat in the Gryffindor common room discussing what Harry had found and examining the seemingly simple ring.

"Do you realize how lucky you were to find this?" Anastasia spoke up. "That ring had to have been sitting in that trophy sing Godric was here."

Harry nodded as he was working on cleaning it up a bit, bringing back the luster he thought it should have. "The book said Gryffindor could transfigure himself into a lion. I wonder if this ring has anything to do with it."

"Probably," Hermione added as she took the ring from Harry's hand to examine it better. "Did you feel anything when you out it on? Like a power surge or something?"

Harry nodded again as he took the ring back. "It wasn't very big though, it was very slight."

"That's enough for it to have some sort of power," Hermione replied. "Now the question is what does it do."

"You said that Godric Gryffindor could change into a lion," Cesare stated. "Maybe that ring allows you to do that without having to painfully transfigure yourself," he suggested.

"It's worth a shot to try, right?" Harry asked his friends, eager to see if it worked.

"Just don't eat us if you become a large, hungry cat," Ron added to much laughter in the room.

Harry then took that as his cue to try. He stood up and walked to the center of the room, closing his eyes to brace himself as he whispered a spell to try to see if it worked. "Morpheus Leo!"

A gold light suddenly flashed over the room and Harry was pushed down onto his hands and knees as light brown fur began to cover his body. The other four watched in amazement as their friend grew fur and claws and a mane, eventually ending up as full grown lion with a human mind. The other four didn't know what to do, if it was safe to approach him or not. Anastasia was the first to bite the bullet and approach him.

"If you can still hear me Harry, you better not bite me or that will be the end of our relationship," Anastasia warned as she stuck out her hand to stroke the lion on the head through the black mane. The lion nuzzled against her under her gentle petting, almost as an acknowledgement that he heard her.

"What in Merlin's name do you think I would bite you?" Harry said from within the lion's body, making Anastasia jump back.

"You can still talk in there?!" Ron spoke up.

"Yes and I don't know how, so don't ask," Harry replied. "But this could be very cool," he continued before he murmured a quick "Morpheus Humanus" and returned to his human form. The five of them then made a pact that night, not to reveal what that ring could do, secretly calling themselves the Marauders Reborn.

For the next three nights, Harry would sneak out in lion form and wonder the castle grounds exploring under the cloak of night and without fear of injury. It wasn't long before rumors of a lion started buzzing around the student body and among some of the professors and people got curious to see if they were true. One night, Harry was quietly walking around the grounds when he heard several voices. He whipped his head around to see several Slytherins, including that stupid git, Malfoy, coming straight towards him. He took off on a run since he could move faster on four legs rather than two but they followed. He tried to lose them but was rather unsuccessful. As he ran he was desperately wishing that he had his Invisibility Cloak at this very moment. The Slytherins managed to chase him right into the castle, where Harry's blood froze in fear. In the precious few seconds he had from being able to run faster than the Slytherins, he tried to think of where he could go to escape or at least change back. Then his ears picked up on the voices again and he took off, running blindly through the corridors. Harry ran so fast that he never noticed the throw rug in the middle of the floor and ended up slipping on it and crashing into the wall. But instead of hitting the wall, he went through it.

Harry stood up quickly and transformed back into human form and looked around where he had gotten himself. He had no idea where he was but all he knew is this place didn't feel right. He stood in the middle of a darkened, ominous chamber that was lit only by a few torches. It was bitterly cold and the hallways that spurned off the chamber seemed to have their own wind coming up from them. He quickly decided that he did not want to be there at that moment and walked back to the wall and felt around for the door and left as suddenly as he came in.

Harry made no stops as he ran back to the Gryffindor Tower to tell everyone what he had found. The girls had already gone to sleep but there was no way he was not going to wake Ron and Cesare to tell them. He ran up the stairs to the boys' dorm and made his entrance very well known. The sound of Harry's rather obtrusive had Ron and Cesare sitting straight up in bed, ready to pound their friend for waking them.

"I found a secret door in one of the walls," Harry spat out before his friends could get to him to assault him for waking them. "I want to show you," he continued as he walked back to the door, this time with his Invisibility Cloak, watching his friends reluctantly crawl out of bed and slip on their sneakers and robes over their sleep clothes.

They exited the dorms under the cover of Harry's Invisibility Cloak back down to the door Harry had just discovered. When they gazed upon the intricate wall paper, the door was well hidden until Cesare spotted the writing above it.

"The prophecy has begun..." Cesare translated aloud from the Ancient writing it was written in and then looking to Harry and Ron in confusion. "What prophecy?"

Neither Ron nor Harry could answer and Cesare wanted to find out more. He walked closer to the hidden door with his hand extended to feel for it. As he stepped closer to it, a strong wind that was riddled with the forces of darkness came up from the depths of the door and took hold of Cesare and sucked him into it. Harry and Ron desperately tried to pull him back, yanking on his arms hard but only resulting in making him scream in pain, and then they lost their grip and he slipped behind it.

Once he was inside the chamber, the wind let go. Cesare stood up and tried to find the door that he just went through, only to find solid wall. "How the bloody hell do you get out of here? There's no door!" he screamed back through the wall as he frantically felt for any sign of a door.

"Don't know...maybe a spell. I'll get Anastasia and Hermione. They pay more attention in your mother's class than I do," Harry called back before he ran off back to the dorms. He quickly made his way through the portrait and up to the girls' dorms. He knocked frantically on the door until it opened and he was greeted by the face of his girlfriend, Anastasia.

"What is it Harry?" she asked tiredly.

"Your brother is sort of stuck in a secret door that I found and we need you and Hermione to help get him out because we think it needs an ancient spell."

Anastasia understood as she walked over to wake Hermione, but she did not truly know if she could do anything about it since her knowledge was still somewhat limited.

They walked with Harry to where Ron was waiting, talking to Cesare through the wall. Anastasia saw the writing over the door, just like her brother did, and just as much confusion as he.

"Cesare, what did you get yourself into this time?" she called out mockingly at her brother's "misfortune."

"Just get me out of here," he called back angrily. "This place is not exactly welcoming and I am not getting good vibes from being in here."

Anastasia and Hermione stepped back and took out their wands and aimed them at the portal, trying any of the simple ancient spells they knew to see if would open. Their wands activated and produced a wide range of colored sparks with each spell but nothing recreated the door. Both girls became increasingly frustrated and slightly afraid when they looked to Harry.

"We're going to have to get my parents," Anastasia said despondently as she put her wand away in the belt of her robe.

A sinking feeling settled in the pit of Harry's stomach. The last thing he wanted to have to do was to go tell Remus and Dory that he had locked their son inside the walls of Hogwarts but he knew Anastasia was not going to let him get off so easily as she was dragging him down to her parents' office with Ron and Hermione following close behind.

They approached the door in the Professors' wing and knocked quickly. Harry was wringing his hands quite nervously, fearing their reaction from waking them up in the middle of the night and for telling them about Cesare. Within a few moments, a very sleepy-looking Remus opened the door. He leaned against the door frame in a pair of pajama bottoms and a t-shirt as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, wondering why the four nervous looking Gryffindors were here at two in the morning.

"Is there something I can help you four with?" he asked wearily. "Especially since I believe curfew was quite a few hours ago."

Anastasia subsequently pushed Harry forward. "Dad, Harry has something to tell you."

Remus opened the door and led the young quartet into the dark living room. He lit a few lamps to illuminate the "confessional" and to make it look a little less frightening and then sat on the couch opposite of the kids. "Now what do you have to tell me," he said in a tired voice.

Harry desperately was searching for the right words to phrase this so it wouldn't sound so badly but in reality he was just stalling. Anastasia gave him a quick jab in the ribs and he thought, 'Just say it fast...maybe he'll miss most of it.' He then took a deep breath and began to speak.

"I found a ring that belonged to Gryffindor and I can change into a lion with it and someone saw me so I ran and I found a secret door and then I told Ron and Cesare about it and then the door sucked Cesare in and now he's stuck inside and we can't get him out," he spat out as fast as he possibly could without stopping, like when you pull off a bandage.

Remus looked more stunned than angry, which was kind of a relief for Harry. What made Harry nervous though was that he didn't say anything. Remus got up off the couch and went into the bedroom and closed the door behind him which left several minutes of agonizing silence, until a very loud "WHAT!" came from the bedroom. Remus then reemerged with Dory following behind him, tying her robe around her.

"Harry, show me this door - right now," Dory demanded.

Harry once again made the trip to this now damned door. He silently pointed it out and then stepped back to hide among Ron, Hermione, and Anastasia. Dory examined the door carefully with her wand and then noticed the writing over the top.

"Bloody Hell!" she swore under her breath. "I thought this was a rumor or superstition. It wasn't supposed to exist."

Remus was wondering what was going through his wife's head at that moment. "What is it?"

"We have to see Dumbledore right away," she replied flatly, trying to keep the fear out of her voice. "Cesare, just stay calm. We will get you out of there," she called through the wall but received no answer. They had to believe inside that he was alright.

As dawn was fast approaching, the kids returned to bed to sleep for what few hours they could before they had classes and Remus and Dory headed to Dumbledore's office after quickly dressing and recomposing themselves for what could lie ahead

Dumbledore was a bit surprised to see two of his professors so early in the morning, but welcomed them warmly. "What do I owe the pleasure?" he asked as he sipped his tea.

"There were rumors of an ancient prophecy when we were students here. We are wondering if you know anything about them," Remus started.

"Nothing is coming to mind. Why do you ask?"

"A secret door has been found by Harry Potter and now Cesare is stuck in it. We don't know how to counteract it," Dory said nervously.

"The only comfort I can offer you is that the truth may lie amongst the many volumes in the library. I believe that the answer you seek may still rest in the unread volumes of Hogwarts' History," Dumbledore responded in an almost sad tone of voice, his sympathies going out to two of his former students. "As always, I will offer my assistance in any way that you need it."

Remus and Dory looked directly at each others' eyes and they knew they would not see the light of day until they found the answer to this riddle. He embraced her tightly as he turned his gaze back towards the Headmaster. "I believe someone will have to cover our classes for a few days, we have a bit of research to do," he whispered, hiding the fear in his voice from what they may find.

Within a few short hours of the meeting with Dumbledore, their mission had begun. Dumbledore said he would cover Dory's classes while Snape, much to Remus' dismay, covered his. He secretly promised that he would make it up to his students somehow. Remus and Dory had sentenced themselves to the dark corners of the library, searching through every page of Hogwarts History to find this damned prophecy.

For three straight days, they ran over many lines of text without even a hint of finding anything. The two of them looked so haggard and worn down that people were beginning to worry about them. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Anastasia came in at least once a day to check on them but they were hardly noticed. They were worried like everyone else and in shock. It wasn't often you saw two professors looking like students studying for the N.E.W.T.s.

There were piles of books stacked up around them, almost hiding them. Rolls of parchment were laid out with enchanted quills doing the writing so Dory and Remus didn't have to. Neither one of them was in their robes, but in muggle jeans and t-shirts. Dory had pulled her dark brown hair back into a ponytail to keep it from distracting her as she succumbed to her deep, worrisome thoughts. On occasion, you could see one or both of them catching a small nap on the table since neither had really slept since it happened. The children always felt that they shouldn't ask how they were doing just by watching them. They saw the worried, tired eyes and pale skin with a ghostly pallor and the signs of obvious frustration and knew anything that distracted them would not be taken well.

On the evening of the fourth night, there were a few signs that were turn for the better. For some reason, Remus took out the Marauders' map, if only to talk to Cesare and convey their love. He ran his fingers over the small script that was barely visible on the outside of the walls of the drawing where it spelt out, "Cesare Lupin." Then he looked up to the top where a message waited for him. His eyes widened with anticipation because there was only one person who would communicate with him like this - Sirius Black. He knew full well that he had been released from Azkaban over a year ago but could not tell where he was for some reason. Dory was just coming out again with one of the oldest books in Hogwarts, the Original Charter, when she saw Remus' expression.

"Did you find it?" she asked hopefully.

"No, but someone found us," Remus stated. "Listen to this..."

"Mister Padfoot wishes to convey to his friends, Mister Moony and Mistress Enigma, that should his help and friendship be required or desired, all they need to so is send him an owl and he will be there forthwith."

"Call him," Dory said as she opened the book.

Remus grabbed a quill and parchment and quickly scribbled out a note to Sirius.

"Padfoot,

Your presence is respectfully requested at Hogwarts as soon as you can. We need you desperately. Please help us.

Moony"

He quickly summoned an owl from the Owlery and sent it on its way and then turned back to Dory who had buried herself in the transcript, searching for even the last glimmer of hope.

Cesare was becoming increasingly impatient as he was stuck in that hole. He had lost track on how long he had been there and the only comforting feeling he had was a wisp of his parents' voices and sending their love. As he was just about to drift off to sleep once again, he was jarred out of his drowsiness by an evil force. His eyes widened as he fell back against the wall when a shadowy but solid figure came from the darkness of the tunnels and flew by him and out of the chamber. He was petrified with fear, so much so the Cesare was transmitting it to his sister with one word on his mind - Voldemort.

Anastasia had fallen asleep from sheer exhaustion, a common place occurrence since Cesare had gotten locked inside the wall. Her dreams did not allow her to rest, her nightmares keeping her awake with the throws of terror. This night was no different but the dreams were.

Deep in the abyss of the nighttime world, Anastasia's mind was in overdrive. In her dreams, she felt terror as she watched a dark, ominous figure come out of the shadows and escape into the school.

Anastasia bolted upright in bed, gasping for breath out of fear of what she had just seen. She saw what Cesare had seen and shared his fear. Voldemort had come through the door and went into the school.

Harry had been sleeping just as badly as Anastasia since Cesare had gotten trapped. Guilt constantly plagued him. His dreams kept telling him that it was his fault. He tossed and turned every night but felt even more horrible about waking anyone else up to calm his fears. This night though, he was ripped from his sleep by a fierce burning of his scar. The pain ripped through his head, bringing tears to his eyes. Now he had to tell someone. He carefully slipped out from under his blankets and crept quietly out of the room. When he opened the door, he found he was not the only one who could not sleep. Anastasia stood across from him in her door way.

"I saw what Cesare saw," she said abstractly.

"My scar hurts," Harry responded as he walked closer to her.

"We have to tell my parents and Dumbledore."

Harry silently agreed and took her hand as the snuck out of the Tower and headed down to the library.

"I found it!!!!" Dory cried out excitedly, startling Remus so badly he practically fell out of the chair. Remus got out of the chair and walked over to stand behind her so he could read it over her shoulder. Deep within the original charter, between the lines of the text, written in Dragon's Blood ink, laid all the secrets and answered.

"The prophecy was formed by Salazar Slytherin," Dory explained as she internally translated the text. "He had created a door that no one else knew about so he could bring in all of his dark magic without being detected. He was able to slip in and out of Hogwarts without being noticed with a secret key. He made the key out of something that no one would ever suspect, Gryffindor's Ring. It saw it as a corruption of everything that was good and pure and no one would ever be able to figure it out. At the end of his life he hid it, as well as the door and placed this curse on it - 'This is the key to open the door for all evil. When one pure of heart takes this ring and uses it, the door will open and never close. The door will open and allow those of Darkness to come into Hogwarts and begin its destruction.'"

Dory looked up with terror in her eyes. Harry had the ring and used it. A sick feeling swept over her as those words went through her mind again and again. Desperation now guided her. According to the Charter, there was no way to stop it, but there had to be something, anything that could work, Cesare's and Harry's lives depended on it as did all of Hogwarts. She was just about to throw herself back into the stacks when Harry and Anastasia came running into the library. It wasn't very hard for both Remus and Dory to notice how visibly shaken the two of them were. "What happened?" she asked concerned.

"Voldemort is in the Castle!" Anastasia blurted out without warning. "Cesare saw him come through the door and I saw it in my dream and Harry woke up with his scar hurting."

Dory went numb with fear as the book dropped out of her hand to the floor with a loud crash. Remus quickly picked it up and placed it back on the table, trying to sort out what heard. "We don't have much time," he stated flatly. "Dumbledore has to know."

"I'll tell him," a voice replied from the door.

Dory and Remus' heads whipped around to a very welcome site - Sirius Black.

"How did you get here so fast? We just owled you." Dory rambled as she gave him a quick hug.

"Your husband must be going blind. If he had looked a bit more carefully at the map, he would have seen me hanging out in Hogsmeade," Sirius replied as he gave Remus a playful punch in the arm and then immediately hugged one of his best friends.

"We knew you didn't have anything to do with James and Lily's deaths. We knew it was Peter all along," Remus responded as he hugged Sirius back.

"Now, enough of these pleasantries," Sirius continued, "I believe our help is required for once. Got any ideas on how to stop this, Enigma?" he said as he looked to a frazzled Dory. "I'm betting that you already have this all hacked out."

"Not exactly," she replied dejectedly. "All I know that in most cases, when you destroy the key, you also destroy the door. That's the only thing we can try. But now..." She paused as tears welled in her eyes. "We have to get Voldemort back in before we close it or else everything we know is destroyed."

Silence swept over the room, only the sound of breathing was heard when Dory said that name. No one even noticed Dumbledore coming into the room.

"What do you need?" Sirius spoke first.

Dory swept her eyes around the room, looking towards Remus, then Sirius and Dumbledore, and then finally Harry and Anastasia. "I need the ring that Harry found," she said as she held out her hand to Harry for him to put the ring in it. "And I need you to get Wormtail. He has to get Voldemort back into that door. I hate to do this, even to him, but he has to be a decoy," she stated to Sirius. "Once he is back in the portal, we need a magic barrier to keep him in while Harry and I go into it to get Cesare and do what ever we have to in order to stop that bastard, from the inside," Dory finished with fear lacing her voice. She knew deep down that once they closed that door and destroyed the ring, they may never get back out.

Time was of the essence as their plans went into action. All the students were locked down in their dorms, with the exception of Anastasia, Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Those four were temporarily moved into the Lupins' quarters so Dory could teach them what they needed to know before they were to face the Dark Lord. Sirius was already off hunting down Peter, no matter how much he did not want to see the little rat again after what he did to James and Lily and therefore Harry.

Sirius did not have to look far. He found the traitor drowning himself in butterbeer at the Leaky Cauldron. He did not hesitate for a moment when he approached him. "You're coming with me, Wormtail," he stated firmly as he stood over his smaller friend.

"What makes you think I'm going with you?" Peter retorted coldly, never looking up from his drink.

"Because you betrayed your friends for your so called master and now you owe their son. You will do this Peter or else I will make sure Crookshanks does eat you next time," Sirius warned forcefully as he leaned over the table and focused his gaze eye to eye with Peter.

"I owe Harry nothing," he replied simply, backing up from the far larger former friend.

"You took his parents away and made his life the worst it could possibly be. If it wasn't for Moony and Dory, his life would still be a living Hell," Sirius warned, getting ever angrier as he spoke. "Now you don't think your goddamn master would want one of HIS minions in debt to Harry Potter, now do you?" he continued, hoping that this would be the final nail.

Peter reluctantly got up from his chair to face Sirius. "What do you need me to do?"

"That you will find out from Dory." Sirius replied as he dragged Peter back to Hogwarts.

By the time Sirius and Peter had returned to Hogwarts, the battle plans were in place. Dory and Harry had already changed into their robes. Dory had gone into the violet dress that she wore when she stayed with Remus on the full moon and the black Gryffindor robes she still had from her school days. She was surprised that they were still in such good shape. Over all of it, she wrapped a black hooded cape. Harry had also changed into his black Gryffindor robes in preparation for battle. Sirius practically threw Peter up the stairs to Remus and Dory's office and shoved him to the floor once they were in the door, giving Harry and Anastasia quite a start.

"Hello Wormtail," Dory stated coldly as she stood over the pathetic mass on her floor. "Did you have to hex him, Padfoot, or did he come on his own?"

"No hexing, just a few threats," Sirius replied as he shoved Peter with his foot.

Dory nodded to Sirius to show that she understood. "Now, this is what you have to do. Voldemort is loose in this castle and we need you to get him back in the door he came from," she stated simply.

"And if I refuse?"

"Your life means nothing to us as it is and we will just send you to Azkaban for the rest of your days. Let the dementors deal with you," Dory replied as she gave Peter one of the most vicious glares that Remus or Sirius had ever seen.

Peter had no way out of this one, no matter how hard he tried. He silently nodded and was promptly picked up by Sirius and then he and Remus led him to the door.

"Now, you know what you have to do. Not only does Hogwarts depend on this but the life of my son does as well," Remus warned. "You screw up, and I will not be beyond doing things to you that would make even the worst Death Eater flinch."

Little did Peter know, but he was not alone in that hallway. Remus and Sirius disappeared into the darkened crevices of the hallways that the door was located and joined Dory, Dumbledore, Harry, Anastasia, Ron and Hermione, all ready for action. The portal opened as Peter moved closer to it and Cesare saw this as well from the depths of the chamber, but unable to leave it. He took his wand out from the waistband of his sweat pants and readied himself for anything that was to come.

"M-Master...I need to speak with you..." Wormtail called out fearfully.

Voldemort had sensed Peter's presence from the second he entered the castle and knew he was in the portal. From the shadows within and outside the chamber, everyone saw his shadow come from many different directions in Hogwarts and reassemble to one solid being right in front of the door.

"Be careful, Cesare. He's back," Anastasia sent her brother through their telepathic twin link.

"Thanks for the warning. I'm ready for him," Cesare returned.

"What do you want, Wormtail? This had better be important." Voldemort hissed as he walked in the door.

"NOW!" Dory screamed.

Everyone but Dory and Harry aimed their wands at the damned door, crossing the blue lightening coming from them into one powerful blast as they formed a semi-circular border to prevent Voldemort from coming back out. At the same moment, Cesare saw the Dark Lord enter and tried to perform the same spell that everyone else was by himself.

"Use our link, Cesare. Use all our power to keep him busy until Mom and Harry get in there," Anastasia called to her brother.

"That will help unbelievably," he responded a bit breathlessly, out of fear.

Voldemort saw the blue lights coming from the wands and immediately took notice of Dumbledore. Rage burned inside of him as he turned to Peter. "You have betrayed me," he hissed as he moved in on him. "For that you will pay dearly..." Voldemort growled as a flash of bright shot from the end of his wand. The next instant, Peter lay dead on the ground, slowly vanishing into dust. "I demand loyalty Wormtail," he hissed as the Dark Mark blazoned across the sky above Hogwarts.

Harry and Dory then broke into the circle, walking towards the door. Before walking through, Dory stopped and turned to Remus, embracing him tightly as she kissed him. "I love you always," she whispered as she pressed her cheek against his.

"Come back to me," he whispered in her ear as tears welled in his eyes.

While her parents were exchanging last moments of love, Anastasia called out to Harry. "Be careful. I don't want to lose you."

"I will," Harry said simply as Dory walked back up behind him.

Dory and Harry then stepped forward towards the door and stepped through it; there was no turning back now. The portal was still open when Dory took out the ring and handed it to Harry. They both looked back once more, hopefully not for the last time, and then it was time.

"Harry, levitate the ring," Dory instructed as she took out her wand and began the spell. "Faint light gleam over hearth. Ghosts of Arden pass through and show your distant forms. Misty Loda, House to the spirits of men, when ghosts vanish like mists on a sunny hill, close your doors!" she cast as red bolt came from the end of her wand directly at the ring. "I'm sorry Godric," she whispered as the bolt hit the ring and shattered it, the pieces turning from gold to stone. The second the bolt hit the ring, the wall sealed up tighter than the day it was built. As silence swept over, Dory could swear that she heard a few faint sobs from the other side.

"Mom!"

Dory and Harry looked up to the direction form which the voice came and saw Cesare running towards them. Dory ran up to him and hugged him tightly and then Cesare gladly hugged his best friend Harry, forgetting about the damned ring that started all of this. The trio started walking forward slowly, wary of every dark corner. Just before they came to the end of the chamber, Harry stopped suddenly, pressing his hand against his scar and grimacing in pain.

"He's near, isn't he?" Dory asked him. Harry nodded but pushed on.

A few steps later they were stopped again by a dark mass on the floor. Dory pushed the two boys back so she could take a look at it. She whispered 'lumos' to illuminate the end of her wand and she gasped and stepped back when the light hit the mass; all that was left was a silver hand next to a pile of ash. "Goodbye Wormtail." Dory whispered as she urged them to move forward. The chamber never seemed to end though; it seemed to get longer.

"How very cute. Three little Gryffindor pure hearts all in a row," Voldemort hissed from the darkness, his voice gradually coming closer. "How very brave of you, locking yourselves in here to face me. How heroic, or should I say foolish." Then he appeared before them. "Damning yourself to a trapped fate. There is no other way out, at least that you know. Good night, brave little Gryffindors, may you have a good time in the afterlife," he hissed as he turned to go back into the shadows.

"You will not win this time!" Dory screamed out. Voldemort heard her scream out and he whipped around quickly, sending a bolt out of the end of his wand, aimed for Dory's heart. She turned quickly so the bolt only hit her arm, but leaving a bloody wound in it wake as Dory let a blood curdling scream of pain.

"I challenge you to defeat me..." his voice echoed from down the tunnels. "...if you ever want to get out of here...you must conquer the Labyrinth of Terror."

Harry and Cesare looked at Dory, who was pressing her right hand over her bleeding left arm. "If he wants a fight, he's going to get it." Dory said in a near growl as she conjured up three brooms. "Be careful you two. This labyrinth is dark and filled with dark magic. It will try to trip you up by feeding off your nightmares, your worst memories, and your deepest fears. Just follow your heart and you will be fine," she reminded them she mounted the broom and instructed them to do the same and then took off down the tunnel which they heard Voldemort from.

The tunnels were dark and winding, lit only by the occasional torch. The only way they had an idea of which way to go was which direction made Harry's scar hurt more. Then the light disappeared and an image replaced it - the destroyed remains of Godric's Hollow and the corpses of Lily and James. Dory cringed at the sight and rapidly turned her head to not look at it, hoping Harry hadn't seen it.

"Harry, don't look at it," she yelled to him, trying not to scare him. "Prongs...Lily...if you can hear me, help us out a bit here," she thought to herself as the moved forward at breakneck speeds.

As they moved deeper into the labyrinth and closer to Voldemort, the images got worse. Remus' dead body, tragedy befalling many of Dory's family, including her children, Sirius being tortured to death, Hogwarts soaked in blood, the eclipsing full moon...death and destruction...so much so that it6 was almost unbearable.

Then they entered another chamber where Voldemort stood waiting for them. The hopped off the brooms and Dory quickly made them vanish. Harry noticed the shimmering blue light behind Voldemort and pointed to Cesare and Dory that was the exit. Now they had to get past him and lock him inside. Dory kept her gaze locked on Voldemort's eyes as she removed her hood and directed the two teenagers to start making their way to the door.

"You do pretty bloody well against children. Let's see how you fare against a fully trained witch." Dory spat at him as a violet bolt shot from the end of her wand.

"Stupid little Enigma. Trying to avenge your friends' deaths? You'll have to do better than that," he retorted as he reversed her spell onto her.

Dory quickly ducked out of the way and signaled for the boys to go through the door.

"No! Mom, you need us!" Cesare retorted as he and Harry refused to leave, seeing Dory clearly struggling.

"Go now...I will be right behind you," she screamed as she turned back to Voldemort when she saw them go through the shimmering blue light. Fire burned in her eyes as she glared at the Dark Lord. "Now for you..." she hissed as she started backing towards the portal. "In each of us, two natures are at war - the good and the evil. All our lives, the fight goes on between them and one of them must conquer. In our hands alone lies the power to choose, what we most want to be, we are. There is a fine line between good and evil..." Dory cast as she held her wand in readiness to attack Voldemort. "This time, the pure heart and love conquers darkness...you will not harm anyone ever again - Petrificus Totalis!" she screamed. Voldemort's body was temporarily frozen and Dory jumped through the portal.

She hit the floor of the Slytherin Dungeon hard, temporarily dazing her. Dory quickly recovered though, remembering that she had to close this door as well to prevent him from ever coming back out. She transfigured her wand into a dagger and then subsequently slit her right palm open with it, placing the blood over the shrinking portal and beginning the spell she used on the first door. "Faint light gleam over hearth. Ghosts of Arden pass through and show your distant forms. Misty Loda, House to the spirits of men, when ghosts vanish like mists on a sunny hill, close your doors!" And the wall was restored to simple bricks and mortar as Dory collapsed to the floor, exhausted.

Draco Malfoy had heard the commotion coming from what was their common room and came to investigate. He saw Professor Lupin lying on the floor with her son, the wolf pup and the damned celebrity Potter next to her.

"Potter! Wolfie! What happened...get stuck in a bloody wall?" Malfoy spat out as Harry stood up and went toe to toe with him.

"Stuff it Malfoy! For your information, Voldemort is stuck in the blasted wall."

Dory was slowly regaining consciousness and heard what Malfoy had said. She noticed that none of the students had seen Snape enter the room, but she had. "Severus, you should really teach your students some manners. I am quite tired of hearing the insults out of Mr. Malfoy's mouth," Dory rasped out from the floor as she pushed herself up, blood soaking her left sleeve of her robe and holding her right hand close to her chest, with her wand still enclosed within her fingers.

Snape noticed the blood on her hand and moved to help his once nemesis into a chair as he handed her a handkerchief to wrap around her bloody hand. "My lord Domenica, what did you do to yourself?" he exclaimed as he slowly turned her hand to see the self - inflicted wound.

"This is the nicest you have ever been to me in a while, Severus. Maybe I have misjudged you all these years," Dory whispered as she watched Snape clean the wound in her hand.

"I still haven't forgotten all you and the rest of the Marauders did to me when we were students but I am not below helping out someone I have known for twenty years. Is there anything I can do for you to help?" Snape said surprisingly kindly.

"Can you get Remus for me?" Dory whispered. "He is probably making himself sick with worry by now."

Snape nodded and then left the room only to return a few moments later with Remus and Anastasia behind him. Remus and Anastasia rushed over to Dory, Harry, and Cesare and could not hide their joy that they were safe, hugging them tightly. This scene was though to be quite sickening by Draco, who was promptly silenced by a look from Snape, who knew that they had every right to be happy.