The Last Marauder

...Rescue

"Remus?"

Sirius asked once more in disbelief. His voice broke and his legs nearly gave away.

The man lying on the plank bed didn't react but it definitely was Remus Lupin. He was in a really bad shape.

Remus had lost a lot of weight, his robes were filthy and torn, he had bruises everywhere and there was dried blood on his face. No sign indicated that he was still alive.

Carefully, Sirius stepped closer and moved a trembling hand towards Remus' throat to check the pulse. For one desperate moment he thought that he had come too late, that he had failed his friend again, because his fingers could not detect any trace of a heartbeat. But just as he was about to draw his hand back - there it was. A pulse!

It was weak but it was there. A wave of relief spread through Sirius. Now he realized that Remus was also breathing flatly. His friend's breaths now came out with a rattling sound that indicated that something inside his body was not working the way it was supposed to.

"Remus!" Sirius carefully shook his friend but he didn't react.

"Black, we have to get out of here, we don't have time! Just take him and let's go!"

Sirius overcame his paralysis when he heard Draco's voice and he carefully lifted Remus up. He didn't weigh very much anymore.

Harry had watched the whole scene in disbelief. Why was Remus here? Why was he alive? Was he actually alive? But Draco was right, they needed to get back to Hogwarts as fast as possible. Or anywhere, just out of here.

They left the dungeons as fast as they could, but Sirius took care not to shake Remus too much.

"Where can we disapparate?"

Draco turned around. "Not inside the Manor. We'll take the quickest way out, at two hundred metres distance from the house it is possible to apparate."

They ran out of the dungeons, crossed the hall and soon reached a back door that was hidden under the tapestry. Outside they ran as fast as they could until they reached a group of trees.

"Here you can disapparate."

Draco turned around again, but Sirius' voice held him back.

"Draco, wait! You come with us!"

Draco shook his head.

"I can't. He's going to kill me if I do."

"I think he's going to kill you for what you've just done if you don't come with us. Listen, we don't have time to discuss this, all right? Just take my hand."

Harry and Draco each took one of the hands that were still holding Remus. Apparating with three people at once was difficult, but not impossible. Sirius focussed hard...and they found themselves at the gates of Hogwarts.

"Draco, run ahead and get Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey! I come as fast as I can!"

Draco vanished and Sirius dragged himself and Remus along towards the castle, Harry supporting him at his side. By the time they reached the entrance hall, Snape came running towards them.

"Neither Dumbledore nor McGonagall are here Black. But what has happened, Mr. Malfoy was rather...oh Merlin, is that Lupin? Let's bring him into the hospital wing as fast as possible!"

He conjured a stretcher for Remus and they stormed off, Sirius being thankful that for once Snape had decided not to ask any questions. And mentally hitting himself that he had not thought about conjuring a stretcher himself. He hoped that the rough transport towards the castle had not worsened Remus' injuries.

Madam Pomfrey let out a surprised scream when she realized who was brought to her by Snape and Sirius, but she overcame her shock immediately and started giving out orders.

"Professor, Sirius, please stay here, I might need your help. Put him onto that bed and take off the shirt. Does any of you know exactly what has happened to him?"

Both shook their heads and Sirius started pulling off Remus' shirt. Much to his surprise, Snape came to help him.

"It's better if we don't move him that much."

When they had removed the shirt they saw the full extend of what had been done to him. His chest and stomach were covered in hex marks, bruises, cuts and dried blood, and it could be guessed that his back didn't look much better.

Madam Pomfrey started examining him.

"As far as I can see, he has four broken ribs on the right side and three more on the left which are not new. But he must have been beaten today, I fear that he is bleeding internally."

As if to confirm Madam Pomfrey's suggestions, Remus coughed and bright red blood spilled out of his mouth onto the sheets. He coughed once more.

Sirius suddenly had a feeling which he could not place immediately, but it made him shiver. He had the feeling that something was horribly wrong and then he realized in a shock that he could no longer hear his friend's rattling breaths.

"Remus?"

He hurried to Remus' side but it was true, Remus had stopped breathing.

Madam Pomfrey looked very concerned.

"We have to hurry, it's worse than I thought. The broken ribs puncture the lungs. He is bleeding into his body, we have to remove the pressure of the blood from his lungs, otherwise he won't be able to breathe anymore. Professor, do you have a potion with which we could flatten his breathing after we have done so?" She didn't even look up when she asked him but continued her rescue attempt with her wand.

"Yes." Snape stormed off the hospital and ran towards the dungeons.

Madam Pomfrey continued muttering spells and waving her wand over Remus' chest and Sirius believed he could read from her expression that she feared she couldn't do it fast enough. Sirius knew that the nurse cared very much about Remus, she had developed a very soft spot for the boy who had spent a lot of time under her care during his school days.

Sirius stood at the foot end of Remus' bed and watched her, his concern increasing with every moment that passed by without Remus breathing. He felt useless, he wished there was something he could do.

Eventually, Madam Pomfrey uttered a long spell and pointed the wand at Remus' chest.

Immediately, he coughed again only that this time he didn't cough blood. Relief spread through Sirius.

"I have mended the ribs and the intestines that were hurt, but I'm still worried about his lungs. If he breathes too heavily it might increase the injury and it won't heal. Ah Professor, just in time."

Snape ran towards them, a phial with purple liquid in his hands. He shook it, took of the cork and lifted Remus' head before he spilled it down his throat. Shortly afterwards, Remus' breath came more flat but regular and Madam Pomfrey seemed to relax a little.

"Well, one thing less to worry about. But there are more things to be done. Before I can take care of the smaller bruises and the hex marks, I need your help. His shoulder is dislocated, we have to relocate it. It will be easier if you two do it, but first I'll put him under an anaesthetic. Otherwise he'd maybe stress his lungs too hard due to the pain and I don't know whether I could bring him back another time."

She made Remus drink another potion.

"Sirius, lift him up into a sitting position and then hold his shoulder steady please. Don't worry, you won't hurt him with it. He's asleep now. Professor, do you know how to relocate a shoulder?"

Snape nodded and when Sirius had carefully put Remus up and gestured that he was ready, he twisted the arm a little, searched for the right angle and then pushed the limb back into the joint. It slid back with a sound that made Sirius shudder. Luckily, Remus didn't feel the pain this had to be causing. He let his friend down onto the pillows again and gave Madam Pomfrey a questioning look.

"I'll take care of him now, thank you for your help. Why don't you go and take a rest?"

"Madam Pomfrey, what about Remus? Will he be fine?"

"I'll do anything I can, I promise. It's on the edge, but I cannot judge his chances now, first I have to find out what exactly has been done to him. I don't know how he will react to the blood loss and I don't know what will be when he wakes up. If he wakes up. Has he been awake when you found him?"

Sirius shook his head and Madam Pomfrey sighed.

"We'll have to wait Sirius. I cannot judge yet what has been done to his mind, his body is giving me worries enough. Leave now, I have to look after him."

Sirius nodded and turned around. Harry and Draco were standing on the opposite wall and had witnessed the entire treatment. Both were white like tablecloths. Much to his surprise, Snape went towards them.

"Is any of you two hurt? Mr. Malfoy? Mr. Potter?" As both shook their heads he nodded.

"Good. I will inform Dumbledore about this and the three of you look as if you need to sit down and eat and drink something. Then I would like to hear what has happened."

Sirius lay his hand on Harry's shoulder and Snape pushed Draco out of the hospital wing into his office. Fortunately they didn't meet anybody on their way. They sat down in armchairs in front of the fireplace and Snape conjured tea and sandwiches from the kitchens. He quickly wrote a note and sent it off with his owl before he joined them and gave them a questioning look.

Sirius and Harry quickly told him everything that had happened that day in the yard and at Malfoy Manor and Snape didn't interrupt.

When Sirius had finished, the Potions Master rubbed his palms against his face as if he was thinking very hard, then got up and threw powder into the fireplace.

"Fudge, are you there? I need to talk to you immediately!"

Fudge's head appeared in the fireplace.

"Professor Snape?" Fudge appeared to be angry. "I don't have time right now, whatever you want will have to wait!"

"No it won't. You will listen to me now! You will take all the Aurors that are available and go to Malfoy Manor. There you will arrest Lucius Malfoy and everybody else whom you find there."

"You have gone nuts. I can't simply arrest Lucius Malfoy without a reason."

Snape sighed.

"Lucius Malfoy has kidnapped Harry Potter. In addition to that, he has kidnapped Remus Lupin two months ago, faked his death and since then has tortured him. If that is not reason enough I don't know what is."

Fudge shook his head.

"Potter is sitting beside you and Lupin is dead. Are you completely out of your mind?"

"Potter is sitting beside me because Sirius Black took him out of Malfoy Manor with the help of Draco Malfoy. Remus Lupin is doing bad, but he's still alive and here at Hogwarts as well. I cannot fill you in to the details now, just for once overcome your incompetence and move your ass! I'm fed up with you sitting around and ignoring the obvious! Go and arrest Malfoy and if he's not there start searching for him. There are people who can testify against him. And go and search for signs of the other Death Eaters, they might try to go into hiding. It seems that Voldemort is at least temporarily banned."

"I would have never thought that you would believe Black, you of all people. He's not a reliable witness."

"I believe my eyes and I have seen Remus Lupin and what has been done to him. And though I might not be the closest friend of Sirius Black I know that he's not lying about this. It's none of your business whom I believe and out of what reasons I do so.

I was left in charge for this school and recently, Harry Potter, one of my students was kidnapped; Remus Lupin, a former Professor was tortured and they, Draco Malfoy and Sirius Black, Harry Potter's guardian, came here to search for help. It is my responsibility to give them that help. Now if you would please start to do something, I don't have all day to talk to you until finally the facts trickle through to you!"

"All right. But if you're wrong, you'll face the consequences!"

Fudge's face vanished and Snape sank back into his armchair.

"Incompetent fool!" He turned to Draco.

"Mr. Malfoy, I know that this is hard for you but..."

Draco shook his head.

"No, don't say how sorry you are and that I have to understand what must be done. I'm old enough to understand what is going on, I understand the extend of what I myself have done and I would not have shown Black where Potter was kept if I hadn't. I just ask you to believe me that I didn't know anything about Lupin. I didn't know that my father kept him as a prisoner."

Snape nodded. "Yes. Do you have any idea where your father could have escaped to? I don't believe that he has stayed at your Manor, he should have guessed that we would inform the Ministry."

Draco shook his head.

"I'm afraid I have no idea. He never gave me very much insight into his businesses, but I think he has taken preparations in case that he would have to flee. He could be anywhere."

Draco looked up from the floor he had been watching and met his professor's gaze.

"If you don't mind, I think I would like to retire now. This evening has rather...confused me."

Again, Snape nodded. As a prefect, Draco had his own small room in the Slytherin dungeons, so he wouldn't meet any of his housemates yet. Nobody knew whether any of them had already received the latest reports from their parents.

Sirius rose.

"I'll look after Remus now. I don't think I'm needed here anymore, am I?"

"No, not now. I'll send Dumbledore to the infirmary as soon as he arrives here."

Sirius left and Harry went after him.