Mischief Managed Year Two Part One: The Poisoned Truth

Chapter Sixty-Six- True Gryffindors

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Sirius' eyes went wide. He took off running before Remus could decide if he should stop him or not.

"Sirius, we don't have wands!" he called out in warning. Remus was unsure what could have caused such a scream from the grounds, but knew it couldn't be anything good. After this morning he half expected Greyback to be down there, waiting for him. But there was no way Greyback could have sent him that thing....at least he hoped not... But what if it had been Greyback? What if Greyback knew where Remus was?

"AHHHHHHH!" Came another anguished shout. Remus pulled himself away from his fear. The sound of such raw screams touched a part of him that was somehow braver than he ever thought he could be.

"Please, someone help!" A small boy's voice screeched into the night.

"That's Regulus!" Sirius explained and ran even faster. Remus sped up too, hearing the horror in Sirius' voice. The heir was always the first to try to convince anyone who asked that he 'didn't give a damn about Reggy.' Remus knew it was a lie, but he wasn't aware how much it was until Sirius sounded as choked and horrified as he presently did!

"REGULUS! REGULUS, ANSWER ME!" Sirius screamed. His voice cracked as he nearly lost his balance, which would have caused him to tumble down the semi-steep hill towards Hagrid's and the forest. Remus snagged his friend's wrist, keeping Sirius from falling down the hill. Once secure, both of them were able to see most of Hogwarts grounds spilling across the dark grass in the dim moonlight. Each stone and tree seemed to be crawling with shadows.

"There, Sirius, there," Remus explained, pointing to four little figures staggering towards them. Remus held on tightly to Sirius' wrist, stopping his friend from rushing to them.

"Let me go, Remus," Sirius growled out.

"Sirius, you can't help them if you get badly injured. At least scan the surroundings first." Remus instructed, forcing himself to keep holding onto his friends as Sirius tried to yank away. The werewolf's heart hammered uncomfortably as he scanned the grounds.

"How are you doing that?" Sirius asked, momentarily distracted. Remus let him go, realizing they had moved far enough away from the castle and its torches and flickering flames that gave enough light. Damn. He was saved from answering though as a figure appeared at the bottom of the hill, being held up by two others, and let out another agonized scream.

"Sirius!" Regulus sobbed, not appearing to be too hurt as he started running up the hill. Sirius forgot about Remus, snatching his hand away and rushing down to meet Regulus. The brothers hugged tightly, the younger one sobbing.

"Reg...Reg what happened?" Sirius asked, tone tense with worry.

"The tree...we were following...then...so much blood...We can't stop it...have to help..." Regulus tried to explain, not seeming to realize he wasn't making much sense.

But he had made enough. Remus hadn't thought this night could get any worse.

The werewolf forced himself not to run away even though he really wanted to. His legs shook uncontrollably but he somehow was able to make his way to the group of Slytherins. They were badly banged up. He tried to behave like Madam Pomfrey always did, almost rolling up his sleeves before realizing that would be a bad idea because of his scars. Remus stepped into the faint circle of wand light from two of the first years' wands. Hopefully that would take care of one problem at least.

"You need to lay him down right now," Remus commanded, far too used to awful injuries to let these first years handle one so badly. At least one of them had known enough not to remove the piece of splintered wood sticking out of the top of the boy's eye.