The Marked

...never let on how insane it was

In that tiny kinda scary house

By the woods

By the woods

By the woods

By the woods....

-January (Black Dove) Tori Amos

When he awoke, the first thing Seamus was aware of was the hardness which he lay upon. The beds in the Hospital Wing were far from luxuriously soft, but now it felt as if he were laying on bare concrete or a slab of stone. This first observation led to his second one. He obviously was no longer at Hogwarts. With a groan, he opened his eyes, shocked and disturbed at the sight that lay before him.

The ceiling was coated in peeling red pain. A sing, naked bulb swung from it's fixture, casting a grotesque yellow rinse over everything. Every now and again the light given off would fade away briefly, as though it were at the end of it's lifeline.

It was the room from his dreams.

He was given no longer time to dwell on this as at that moment, a door, seamlessly hidden in the red walls swung open and a young man walked in. He looked slightly familiar to Seamus. He was a few years older than himself, so perhaps he had gone to Hogwarts.

"I see you're finally awake. Good." As soon as he opened his mouth and showed his horrid set teeth, Seamus recognized him immediately. He couldn't quite remember his name, but he'd been captain of the Slytherin quidditch team a until he'd graduated, a year late, two years back. "We've been waiting for you." Seamus didn't bother to ask who "we" could possibly be. If it was who he thought it was, he would rather stay in the dark.

The former Slytherin turned and stuck his head out of the open door and hollered, "Oy! Wormtail! Get in here!" A few moments later the man from the Hospital Wing came shuffling in, looking slightly indignant at being called in such a manner. "The little Gryffindor is awake."

"I can see that, thank you Mr. Flint." Wormtail was frowning. "Should we go on with the plans, you think? Or should we wait?"

"Why shouldn't we go ahead? We've got everything we need." It amazed Seamus that Flint could talk without those teeth of his getting in the way.

"I think we should wait. He'll be very angry to find out we did it on our own!"

Flint rolled his eyes. "Quit being such a baby, we know what we're doing. Don't you want to be free of this wretched thing once and for all?" The younger man gestured to his forearm. Wormtail seemed hesitant. "Oh that's right, I forgot." Flint sneered. "You'll never speak out against your master, will you?"

A new voice joined the quarrel. "What, may I ask, are you two imbeciles doing with the door wide open? Another petty argument, I dare say?" The speaker entered the room with all the grace of a swallowtail butterfly fluttering about on a sunny spring day. His appearance, however, was more that of a moth, creature of the night. A travelling cloak, only slightly rumpled from purpose, was latched with a serpent clasp at his throat. His features, pale and pointed, were handsome, but eerily so. Silver-gray eyes narrowed down at the scene before him. It wasn't the man's appearance that struck Seamus, however, it was his voice. It floated along as though coming from the air itself. It seemed another bit of his dream had come to life.

Wormtail was the first to speak. "Marcus was about to-"

"Ask Peter here how soon you were to arrive," Flint interrupted and finished.

The man lifted a perfectly shaped eyebrow. "Indeed? Somehow, I doubt it. But, nevertheless, I see our little project is awake. Good. Wormtail!"

The man, now with a given name, jumped at the harshness of the tone. "Yes Lucius?"

"Go and collect the necessary tools for the extraction. Marcus, go and help him. See to it that you don't break anything this time." The two nodded and hurried out the door leaving Seamus alone with the man named Lucius.

"So, little boy, finally awake. Good. The extraction only work if you're conscious."

Seamus couldn't help it, he had to ask. "Extraction?"

Lucius's sneer flickered for a moment, as though he weren't suspecting Seamus to speak. "I see you've still enough strength to speak. Remarkable. The extraction, though, is a truly genius process. Delving himself came up with the theory, and used it to alleviate the growing pressure in himself. He recorded it in a private journal which somehow made its way into young Marcus's hands."

Seamus was going to inquire more, but before he could Peter and Flint came back in. Marcus was holding a small, leather book that looked ancient, and Peter had some sort of chain looped around his hand and was also carrying some sort of red stone.

"Here you are, Lucius," Flint handed over what Seamus assumed to be Delving's journal while Peter also relinquished his bundle.

"Ah, thank you." Lucius set the book on the ground in front of where Seamus had pulled himself up into a sitting position against the wall. The man then sat the large gem down on top of it and took out his wand.

"Now then, boy, in order to extract from an unwilling subject such as yourself, it is necessary place them under a trance. You won't feel anything, however you will most likely feel more than a little worn. Not that I care." He drew his wand, a vicious smile on his face. "Initium."

Seamus's vision hazed out. He was conscious, but felt nothing. Vague, featureless shapes swum in and out of his vision, but he saw them without actually seeing anything. His thoughts seemed locked away deep in his mind, and his limbs felt as though they were made of granite. Time was impossible to tell. Then, all at once, it ended.

Feeling surged back into Seamus's limbs, and the haze slowly began to leave his sight. The most amazing thing, however, was the absence of something that had been there before. His head no longer hurt! And all feelings of drowsiness he was feeling before was replaced with a dull ache in his ligaments as though he had been travelling on foot for days without resting. His mind, which had been clouding more ever since he'd been Marked, was now clear as a night sky.

Lucius was leaving, his cloak trailing through the air behind him with a soft swish. Peter was looking slightly apprehensive as Marcus collected the now open journal from the floor. The gem and chain were now both gone, presumably with Lucius.

"Quit worrying, Wormtail! In a few moments, Lucius will have us free forever! And then, the world will be ours for the taking! Not even little Harry Potter, with all his luck, will stand a chance."

"Yes, I suppose. We should be going to help Lucius."

"Yeah alright." Flint turned to Seamus. "Don't bother trying to escape. This cell is only accessible from the outside. Lucius just drained away a good deal of your pent up, energy, so even you won't be able to force it open. Good day."

With that, the two left the room, closing the door behind, which immediately faded away into the wall. Seamus was left alone with his thoughts and a single dying light bulb.

***

"Now really Professor Lupin! Sit still! I can't tend your injury if you keep fidgeting about like that!" Madame Pomfrey's patience, already running on fumes, was about to snap at the young professor.

"It's not that bad, Madame. If you would just let me go..."

"I will do no such thing! Now. Sit. Still." The tone of the woman's voice left no room for argument, so Remus sat while she cleaned the wound on his temple and rubbed some sort of medicine on it, and then finally covered it up with a bandage. "Now then, the wounds a little too deep for a immediate fixer-upper, so leave that there for a few hours and it will be as good as new. Now you may go."

"Thank you, Madame." Brushing his brown hair out of his eyes, he hurried out of the Hospital Wing, flinching only slightly when his bare feet had once more come in contact with the icy cold stone floor of the school. As quick as possible, he made his way to Dumbledore's office where the Headmaster and Sirius were already discussing the situation.

"Ah, Remus, glad to see you're alright. Sirius told me you had been injured." Dumbledore's voice was light enough, but Remus noted that no smile graced the elder man's features.

"It wasn't that bad..." He shrugged and took a seat next to a worried looking Sirius. He took in his friend's expression and added, "Really, Padfoot, I'm fine."

"Whatever you say..." The animagus's eyes trailed down Remus's blood soaked shirt, but said nothing more.

"Have you had any luck?" Remus was eager to find Seamus. If Wormtail had gotten him...

"Well," Sirius shrugged. "Yes and no. We don't have any solid facts to go on, other than you saw Peter, Peter attacked you and then Seamus disappeared. Other than that, it's all guess work."

Dumbledore continued. "We're assuming Peter used some sort of portkey to leave-"

"But portkeys on school grounds only work to other places on school grounds," Remus interrupted.

"Exactly. Which leads us to believe Seamus might not be too far away. There is absolutely no way Peter could have apprated them away, and he hadn't time to physically remove the boy from the Hospital Wing without being seen by Sirius."

"So...you think he portkeyed himself and Seamus near the edge of the grounds and then...apparated somewhere else?"

Sirius shook his head. "That's what I thought, but the Headmaster's put up extra wards. Any apparation within twenty-miles, not including within the town of Hogsmeade, sets of all sorts of alarms in here."

"But there's no way he could have made to Hogsmeade in this weather." It was bitterly cold out, and snowing something fierce.

"Exactly," Dumbledore repeated. " If Pettigrew portkeyed somewhere near the edge of the grounds, he could have made his way into the Forbidden Forest."

"...and you could hide in the Forest for ages and not be found," Remus concluded.

Sirius was looked as though he didn't like the sound of the conversation. "I don't know...how did Voldemort get followers this without our noticing? Maybe-"

"-maybe it's not Voldemort." Remus was looking thoughtful.

"But you said yourself it was Wormtail in the Hospital Wing!" Padfoot was looking at his friend as though he were crazy. Perhaps that blow to the head had done more damage than they had originally thought...

"It was. But...what if some of Voldemort's followers were tired of bowing down to him? What if they had somehow heard about Seamus's condition and decided to take a chance?"

"That's a lot of 'what if's' Moony."

"Actually Padfoot, it was only two."

"Semantic nonsense!" *

"If you two are through," Dumbledore's voice was slightly jovial, despite his meaning. "I'm expecting Severus back from an emergency meeting any minute now." At this statement, Sirius looked mutinous and a knock on the door sounded out. "Ah, there he is now." He raised his voice. "Come in!"

The door to the office opened and in walked Severus Snape, looking haggard and angrier than normal at the sight of Sirius.

"What is this mutt doing in here at this hour?"

Sirius was offended. "Hey! I'll have you know I'm a pure-bred-"

"Sirius! Now is not the time!" As much as he loved his dear friend, sometimes his childish bantering really got on Remus's nerves.

"There has been a situation, Severus," Dumbledore informed the Potion's Master. "How went the meeting?"

"Miserably." The sallow-skinned man stopped there, glaring at the two Marauders. "Might we speak about this in private, Headmaster?"

"Whatever you have to say, may be said in front of Remus and Sirius. Really Severus, all this boyhood rivalry is nonsense!" He drew up another chair for Snape. Right between Sirius and Lupin. "Why don't you have a seat and inform us about the meeting?"

The man sighed in distaste, but sat down all the same. "It appears three Death-Eaters have abandoned Voldemort. The Dark Lord was ranting and raving about how he would reap revenge. The strange part is, two of the traitors were Lucius Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew."

"Two of Voldemort's most loyal subject," Dumbledore mused. "Who was the third?"

"Young Marcus Flint."

"It seems your assumption was correct, Remus." The Headmaster looked pleased with the young professor.

"Assumption?" Snape looked vexed. Dumbledore went ahead and filled him in on the current situation at the school. "I see...I must admit I had my doubts that Lucius and the other two were deserting out of the goodness of their hearts. Although, I don't understand how Lucius got to Peter."

"You believe Lucius to be the head of the operation."

Snape merely gave him a look that said, "And you don't?" He took a breath. "Wormtail was particularly obedient. Lucius would have had go to extreme lengths to get him on his side. Why should he go through all the trouble when he could have any other, much braver Death Eater go with him?"

Sirius was looking thoughtful. "He must have needed Peter specifically."

"Why would he need him?" Snape's trademark sneer had found its way back onto his face.

"Who else could sneak around the school?" Sirius seemed to be on one of his famous strokes of genius. "You all say Lucius Malfoy's son had an encounter with him, a vision? That's probably where he found out that the Curse had resurfaced! From his son! Draco would have informed of the encounter. But Lucius Malfoy could hardly come strutting around here, he's no longer a School Governor, so he needed some one who could. Wormtail! It would have been easy for him to lounge around for eternity with no one knowing. But where does Marcus Flint come in?"

Snape sat with a look of complete shock on his face while Remus and Dumbledore began to talk to each other.

"Where did that come from?" The Potions Master asked his arch-nemesis.

"What?" Sirius seemed startled at having been so bluntly confronted by Snape.

"THAT!"

"Oh!" The animagus grinned. "I wasn't one of the top students of our year for nothing, you know."

"No, that was because where one of you three's brains failed another picked up."

"Hey!"

"Now, now, boys," Remus intruded, ignoring the glares he received from both men. "Albus has an idea."

"Severus," the Headmaster began, "I trust you are familiar with a Location Potion?"

The man scoffed. "Of course I am. But Lucius is no fool, he would have put a Fogging Charm around them."

"True, but given our presumed closeness to the hideout and your particular expertise in the field-" at this Sirius snorted, but all ignored him- "I'm sure you can find a way around it."

Snape looked smug. "Well, I can try. But it could take several days."

"Work as fast you as can. In the mean time, I suggest we all get some rest. We're going to need our strength soon, I dare say."

***

After a bit, Seamus clambered up, endlessly pleased at being able to stand after so long. He ran his hand all along the lengths of the four walls, searching for any sign of a crack or crevice. At one point, he summoned up all his strength and concentrated on opening the door that was no longer there. The wall had shook slightly, and the faintest outline of the entrance had shown before dying away. It seemed Marcus Flint had been telling the truth. Giving up hopes of escape, he sat down against the wall once more.

He'd been playing with his sleeve when he'd noticed it. His skin. The green and silver had at the time of his capture been all the way down his left arm and to the tips of his fingers, it had gone just past right elbow and down near his navel as well as wrapping around his back as far his shoulder blades. Now however...the coloring reached just to his ribs, not even his right shoulder, and just to the left one. It didn't even touch his back yet. And the Mark was glowing with dulled light rather than brilliant one from before.

He was mesmerized by the sight, and only barely acknowledged the fact that the door had opened and the man named Lucius had entered the red room.

"Boy! Look at me."

Seamus looked up. Lucius was no longer wearing a cloak but instead resplendent robes of dark gray. His arms were crossed and his eyes were once more narrow. It struck Seamus that he had seen this man some where before. And then he noticed he was holding what seemed to be a necklace.

"Do you recognize this?" The man asked the boy.

Seamus realized that, in fact, he did. It wasn't just a necklace. It was an amulet that appeared to be made from the chain and the red stone that had been brought to him earlier. The stone, set in a frame of gold, glittered in shades of blue and purplish-pink when the dull light hit it. But the truly remarkable thing was...there almost seemed tom be a light coming from within the gem.

"Er...yes."

"Do you understand what it is and what I did with it?"

"Um..." While talking was much, much easier, he couldn't think of what to say. "It's a gem and...you turned it into a necklace?"

The man sighed. "Truly worthy of the title Gryffindor, you are."

He knew that it was meant as an insult, but Seamus couldn't help but feel proud at it. "Thank you!"

"This is a Keepsake. Do you know what a Keepsake is?"

"No." Somehow, Seamus doubted this man took sarcasm too well.

"It a gem, like this garnet, that is used to hold vast amounts of personal energy. I've used it as the final step in the extraction."

"Wow...it makes a pretty necklace." The words just came tumbling out.

"Silence! Stupid boy. Although, what more could I expect from a dirty half-blood?"

Seamus said nothing to this, but returned the glare he received with a steely one of own.

"It's really too bad my wife is so fond of our son, otherwise young Draco wouldn't have to put up filth like you."

So that's where he had seen him! He looked exactly like his son, Draco Malfoy! And...in his first vision. The man in it had definitely been Lucius Malfoy. It seemed that was one vision that wasn't going to come true, as he recollected on Flint and Wormtail's conversations.

"I wanted to show you something else, boy." He pulled up the sleeve of his robe, where a Mark of his own was clearly seen. The Dark Mark. "I take it by your horrified expression you recognize this." Watch." He slipped the necklace around his, and closed his eyes. The garnet glowed brighter, and he withdrew his wand, touching the tip of it to his Mark. "Dimmito Affinitas."

Before Seamus's eyes, a red light shot forth, latching on to the skull and snake and drawing them off into the air where the disappeared. Seamus couldn't believe the sight.

"And that is called mutiny."

*- Extra brownie points to anyone who can tell me where I got the quote!

Author's Notes: Another chapter, another shock. I hope. The story is almost done! But have no fear! A sequel is in the works already, complete with Seamus siblings and ROMANCE! ^_^ Give me some review-love and I'll hurry the next chapter despite school starting in two days.