Chapter Fourteen
"The Search Continues"

Page Two

"Stop!" yelled a voice from the end of the corridor to their right.

Hagrid froze; his fist remained poised in the air, ready to strike Black again. He looked to the right and saw Harry running down the corridor, towards the mass of three tangled bodies that were Black, Hagrid and Lupin.

Harry pulled Lupin briskly from Hagrid's back.

"Harry, stop, this man's a murderer!" exclaimed Hagrid.

"No, he's not!" yelled Harry, still straining to push the giant of a man off Black's chest, who was whimpering in pain.

"What?" asked Hagrid.

Black lay, motionless on the floor. He had been knocked almost senseless; however, he kept a weary, blackened eye on Hagrid and Harry.

"Sirius didn't kill my parents!" gasped Harry, extremely out of breath.

"Not directly, but he's guilty all the same!" yelled Hagrid, casting a look of loathing towards Black. Black flinched and tried to cover his face with his black and blue arms in an attempt to guard himself from the wrath of the gigantic man on top of him.

"No, no, no, it was Pettigrew! Peter Pettigrew!" said Harry, shaking his head.

"Sirius switched the Secret-Keeper job with Pettigrew, Rubeus," said Lupin, clutching his chest and rubbing a stitch in his side. "We came to help Harry. Minerva sent us a letter," Lupin reached inside his cloak and pulled out the letter he had received from McGonagall. He handed it cautiously to Hagrid, who wrenched it from Lupin's hand, still skeptical and read it silently. He turned to Harry and said, "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"Yes, I'm positive. Now stop fighting, we need to find Draco," said Harry, getting to his feet again.

"Draco?" said the three men in unison, although Sirius sounded more like he grunted than like he said a coherent word.

"Yes, Draco is still in here somewhere and so are the bodachs. Now come on, we need to find him before it's too late."

* * *

Ron and Professor Malfoy were just arriving at the infirmary by this time. They burst through the door to find Madam Pomfrey pulling the curtains around a bed.

Just then, Hermione walked into the infirmary from Madam Pomfrey's office carrying a small block of chocolate in a plastic bag. Upon seeing Ron, she dropped the chocolate, ran over to Ron and threw her arms around him.

"Thank heavens you're alright!" she exclaimed. Ron was feeling downright embarrassed, his cheeks flushed a brilliant shade of red in seconds. Hermione must have noticed the awkwardness of the situation because she quickly released Ron and said, "Did everything go as planned?"

"Yeah, I sent the note and all that," he then leaned over to Hermione and whispered, "You won't believe whom the note was for!"

Hermione looked puzzled and intrigued, but before she could ask any questions Malfoy butted in.

"Alright, how am I supposed to get my son back in one piece?"

"Mr. Malfoy," a scratchy voice came from behind the curtain. The curtain swung back to reveal Professor Snape who was lying on a hospital bed, unable to move. "I don't think there is anything we can do at the moment but wait."

"But," snapped Malfoy, "there must be something we can do."

"I'm afraid Professor Snape is right," said Madam Pomfrey, "we're running low on able bodied mercenaries. With the deputy headmistress in the state that she's in and, Professor Snape, with your condition, we don't have any forces left."

"What about all the other ruddy Professors around here? Aren't they good for anything?" yelled Malfoy.

"I'm afraid they'll be no good," said Madam Pomfrey gravely. "Minerva and Severus were our strongest forces. If they can't handle what's in there, no one can."

Snape sighed, "If it weren't for that bloody Vold-"

Ron immediately turned to face Snape, a very large piece of chocolate in his hand.

"Professor, it's time for your next dose," Ron sputtered, interrupting Snape as he shoved the chocolate into Snape's mouth.

"Lucius, perhaps you should wait in my office," said Madam Pomfrey, trying not to draw attention to Ron's peculiar action. "I think it would be best for everyone."

"Alright," sighed Malfoy, "let me know if anything changes." He trudged into Madam Pomfrey's office feeling totally helpless.

Ron quickly turned to Snape who was still gagging on the large chunk of chocolate that Ron had shoved so abruptly into his mouth.

"I'm sorry, Professor, but I didn't want Professor Malfoy to know that You-Know-Who is involved. He's already upset enough."

Snape finally swallowed then said, "Just don't ever do that again."

Ron looked around the room and he noticed something was missing. He gave a startled jump, then exclaimed, "Madam Pomfrey, where's Professor McGonagall?"

Madam Pomfrey didn't answer for a moment. She turned to Hermione who just stared back. Madam Pomfrey finally cleared her throat and said,

"She got a nasty blow to her head, Ron and that gash she got on her shoulder was really awful. She lost a lot of blood -"

"What?" interrupted Ron, "She's not...she's not dead, is she?"

"No," said Madam Pomfrey, "But there isn't much I can do. We're almost out of chocolate and it would take almost all of Honeyduke's to help her and even then I don't know if that would help. I've put her in a safe place for now."

Ron fell back onto the bed behind him. His eyes scanned the room, hoping to find a cure. His eyes finally landed on Snape, who had his hands over his face and his entire body was quivering.

"Professor?" asked Ron quietly. "Are you okay?"

They all turned to look at Snape.

"I'm fine," he said in a quaking voice. "I just need some rest… I need to be alone."

"Okay, Professor," said Madam Pomfrey. She turned to Ron and Hermione, "You two, out."

Ron and Hermione didn't argue. They stood up and went out to the hall. As Ron reached the door, he turned back. "Madam Pomfrey," he said cautiously. "I need to talk to you, privately."

"Yes, Weasley. I'll be right there," replied Madam Pomfrey. She turned to Snape and said, "If you need anything, give a yell."

Snape nodded his head behind his hands.

Madam Pomfrey joined them quickly in the hall.

"Madam Pomfrey," said Hermione. "Something happened back in the Slytherin dormitory that has us worried."

"Yes," said Madam Pomfrey slowly. "What's that?"

Ron explained about how Dumbledore had really been an elf in disguise. Madam Pomfrey clasped a hand to her mouth, shaking her head.

"If the elf was Dumbledore," said Hermione. "Where's the real Dumbledore?"

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