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Remus was led unceremoniously through the castle, up and down again with his head forced down. While he managed to keep his focus on where they were in Hogwarts he soon lost track, more concentrated on keeping his ears peeled for a professor. As they walked through the castle, it became apparent the Slytherins were just as skilled as his roommates in avoiding professors when needed.
Rosier walked behind him, his wand digging painfully into Remus' back. Mulciber walked side-by-side with Severus, quite pleased with the boy who seemed to have jumped to first place with whatever competition they were putting the first years through. Remus knew about the competition because Rosier had a bad habit of muttering bitterly to himself when he was jealous. Remus got the rundown on the strange club driven by the seventh-year Slytherin students. Apparently, the club consisted of like-minded purebloods who were given tasks to fulfill in order to make the Muggle-born students' and friends' lives worse. These 'tests' given to the younger students so they could gain approval and prestige ranged from stealing homework to hexing Muggleborn students. It was disgusting but mostly made sense in how it operated, with its militaristic usury approach to friendship.
The Gryffindor only remained lost as to who this dark lord was. A seventh year? Remus didn't think so. Besides, if that was the case Dumbledore wouldn't be gone for the weekend. More likely than not, it was a cruel parent who supported their child's cruel extracurriculars.
They had all pulled the hoods on their winter robes up over their heads except for Rosier. The older student was forced to give his to Remus so he looked, to the many students passing in ones or twos, like a Slytherin. As they entered another corridor, Remus wasn't entirely sure where anymore, he finally heard a professor. Recognizing the voice, he grappled whether the Slytherin Head of House would help or not. This was both because Professor Slughorn didn't seem to even know he existed and he wasn't sure if the older man would favor his house students, especially over a student who didn't have famous relatives and did poorly in potions.
"Professor Slughorn!" Remus yelped, deciding he had to at least try. It was common knowledge that professors were expected to stroll around the castle from time to time to keep an eye on students, but if there was any professor that didn't abide by that rule it was the amused sounding man greeting his students pleasantly. This probably meant they were somewhere in the dungeons, which only furthered to fill Remus with dread.
"Huh? Well, hello boys. Up for a late-night stroll? Best be getting back to your dorms," came the good-natured chuckle of their clueless professor.
"Sir, help!" Remus shouted. Rosier jammed the tip of his wand hard into his captive's side, muttering "Silencio."
"Yes, sir. Help me with my potions project next class period please," Severus quickly interceded, negating Remus' attempt at help and successfully impressing Mulciber all over again. Remus felt his irritation with Severus grow and felt quite betrayed.
"Oh? Yes, yes, of course, Severus my boy. Though I doubt you need much help. You're one of my best students," came the professor's reply.
Remus tried to speak and was going to move around, something to draw the professor's attention. But someone had cast a full body lock curse on him, probably Mulciber, and he was panicking too much to think clearly.
His vision went black and splotchy as Remus began to hyperventilate. If there was one thing that sent him back to that dilapidated house with the shadow man, it was not being able to move. He wasn't aware of Slughorn leaving, of being carried like a board quickly up even more stairs and into some sort of room.
As soon as he could speak and move again Remus flailed and screamed like he was dying. He imagined it was quite a sight, a wild terrorized boy wailing and flailing like a mad man.
"Stop that or I'll curse you again, you freak!" Mulciber sneered at him, standing above him and looking at him with contempt.
Remus forced his screams to quiet into insane-sounding moans by covering his mouth with his hand to stifle them as much as possible.
"Geez, what a weirdo. He acts as if we're going to kill him or something. Rosier, tie him up. I need to go tell the seventh-years we finally have Sirius and James in the bag."
There was malicious disgust in the older boy's voice as he left with his friend Avery. Now Remus was at the mercy of Severus, who was looking anywhere but at him, and Rosier, who was looking at Severus with contempt.
Rosier now had Remus' wand in his pocket and his survival instincts were kicking in again. The Gryffindor found himself calming down as he tried to think of his best way out. He didn't fight back as the two boys roughly shoved him into a chair and conjured ropes to wrap tightly around his wrists, mistakenly not binding him to the chair due to his feigned compliance.
Remus was begrudgingly impressed by Severus' spellwork, as they hadn't learned that spell in class yet. But he felt too betrayed to really give him much credit. Remus wished he didn't understand Severus' position. It would make it easier to just be mad at him. A stifling quiet stretched through the room, the tension between Rosier and Severus clear. Remus was just about to open his mouth, a plan to escape beginning to form in his mind, when the door slammed open. Avery stalked in, his face dark.
"Time to make the Mudblood bleed," he announced.
"I believe he's actually a half-blood," Severus interjected rather timidly. Remus wondered why he even bothered.
"Same difference," Avery shot back.
A fist connected with Remus' gut and he inhaled sharply. He had been punched and pummeled by many people. Avery's punch was nothing special, even if Remus pretended it was for self-preservation. It quickly became clear that Avery resorted to physical violence simply because it gave him satisfaction.
"Shouldn't we just hex him, Avery?" Severus interjected again, a little sharper. "Why not save your punches for James and Sirius? They are the ones that humiliated--"
"SHUT UP SEVERUS, OR MY FIST WILL FIND YOU NEXT!" roared Avery, intense bitter rage rolling off him along with a sickening smell of sweat. Again and again and again Avery sent his fist flying at the scapegoat before him. However, Remus' resolve not to give the Slytherin a sense of achievement by screaming soon stopped Avery cold.
"Why aren't you screaming?" the older boy demanded, stopping long enough to pull his wand from his cloak, then jabbing it at Remus as if expecting him to be scared by this.
"Because you punch like a girl!" Remus retorted with as much animosity as he could muster. It might not seem like it to the others, but Remus had considered his position carefully, really he had. But he needed them all blindingly mad, mad enough to miss him untying his ropes. Remus had his father to thank for that particular skill. However, usually the paranoid training Remus was put under mere months after being kidnapped seemed needlessly traumatic. This time it would pay off though, the determined werewolf was certain of it.
Avery snapped. The Slytherin punched him so hard the chair tipped over. Remus could suddenly remember sobbing as a scared boy, tied tight to a chair as his father shouted at him to get out of it and to do better. By the time his mum; Hope Lupin, had returned home from a night with friends, she found her son's wrists raw and bleeding. Had discovered her child crying on the kitchen floor and her husband gone.
It had been the last time his mum had left home for years, and the last time she ever went out with friends. Guilt twisted in Remus' gut, recalling the painful memory. Later that night he had snuck to the stairway banister when he was supposed to be in bed and heard his father and mother yelling. Remus liked to pretend they hadn't fought as he grew up, and most of the time they hadn't. But when he was forced to remember when they actually got in rows, he was forced to remember that it was all because of him.
"Er, should we silencio him?" Rosier spoke up timidly.
It was only then Remus caught up to the pain. He had been knocked sideways, his shoulder probably dislocated, and realized he had at last given in to screaming in pain.
"No, I want to hear the filthy Mudblood scream."
Clearly, both Rosier and Severus were uncomfortable but they were both younger and not in power. When Avery kicked Remus from his position in his tipped-over chair, they both quickly retreated to the edge of the room.
Remus wheezed out an apology, as he was beginning to fear he'd be beaten to death. But the boy seemed blinded by rage. Pain spread across Remus' body like a fire and he twisted against the ropes, forcing himself to focus on trying to get away, to get out of the rope. While Avery's kicks weren't particularly powerful, each one, due to Remus' position on the floor, winded him.
"Shut UP!" an irate Avery bellowed, pulling his leg back to deliver another punt as Severus slipped out of the room looking pale.
Remus' vision was starting to blur. It wasn't the pain that was the worst part, no, the main problem was rather the fact due to the persistent attack he couldn't get enough oxygen in.
"Avery, stop!" Mulciber shouted, his earlier air of authority fractured by surprise.
Remus inhaled violently, finally given the chance.
"He's a filthy Mudblood who deserves to die! Don't tell me to stop, I'm doing my job and the Dark Lord will be proud!" Avery declared.
"Avery, it isn't the time for that. Stop it!" Mulciber urged. Finally, Avery seemed to realize killing a student would get him expelled from Hogwarts.
"Bloody hell!" Avery muttered, then stormed out of the room. Mulciber didn't check to see how badly Remus was injured. The boy just charged after his friend, leaving Remus alone with Rosier and Severus who had slipped back into the room.
"So they pit....you first years against each other. Why?" Remus choked out after he had gotten enough oxygen in. His shoulder was causing him the most pain, and he tried to stay still to alleviate it.
"That's a damn good question!" Rosier admitted, ignoring the dirty look Severus sent him at spilling information he probably wasn't supposed to. "I can't believe I'm losing to a lowly half-blood!"
Rosier walked over to Severus and the two of them soon got into an argument. It didn't even need any more prompting from Remus. It seemed they had agreed not to try to outdo one another, both having had been in the lowest positions. Only now, Severus seemed to have a higher standing and apparently Rosier had been jealous because Lucius had seemed friendly with Snape from the get-go. In retaliation, Severus was saying it was because Rosier was slow and lazy that he wasn't given higher standing. Pretty soon, neither of them were paying any attention to Remus.
So the young werewolf wasted no time.
His wrist was badly swollen which made the process agonizingly slow. Remus was covered in sweat by the time he was finished, but he was now free of the rope. He was ready to make his move to escape, but at that moment the door opened again.
"What are you fools shouting at each other for?" Mulciber questioned angrily upon entering again.
"It's not fair that Severus should be higher than me just because of some coincidence," Rosier whined, sounding very much like a pouty kid.
"We make you firsties work for it because you need to learn respect. Are you saying Bellatrix, the most honored student in the Dark Lord's eyes, is wrong?" Mulciber challenged. Rosier quickly shook his head and shut up.
Remus held his breath as Mulciber walked over to him, horrified he'd be caught with his hands untied. The cautious boy knew if he was found out now any chance at escape would be over.
"Well, at least Avery did us a favor in knocking out the mouthy little twat. I sure see why he's friends with the blood traitors. They deserve each other."
"Is Bellatrix on her way?" Severus asked quietly. Mulicber turned away from his inspection of Remus and walked back towards the two Slytherin first years.
"Yes, she is. She'll decide how to deal with the Mudblood and blood traitors. This one here is a particular disgrace, due to his corrupting the idiotic and weak Black heir. But it's more important we get James and Sirius here so she can...talk to her cousin away from others. While she's making Sirius see sense, we'll hex that arrogant James Potter into next week. I can't believe those filthy first years thought they could get away with mocking us as they have been," the utter contempt for Remus and his friends wasn't surprising, though the Gryffindor's fear for Sirius grew. Bellatrix was insane if she really thought she could somehow 'make Sirius see sense.' The alternative sounded downright dangerous for the young Black. Then Mulciber's tone changed to one of quiet awe, "With Bellatrix's help, we'll get to actually meet the Dark Lord!"
It was the reverence for whoever this 'Lord' was in the older boy's voice that made Remus feel ill. It sounded less like some approving parent and more like some sort of savior they were rallying behind.
"I have a good idea. Can we discuss this without the...Mudblood possibly listening in?" Severus interjected calmly before Mulciber, who seemed ready to break out into a rant, could continue.
"He's passed out, you git. But let's hear it."
Remus couldn't hear what Severus whispered, but Mulicber seemed to like it a great deal. If it meant they would leave, then Remus was all for it.
He counted the seconds as Rosier, who seemed little more than an errand boy at the moment, was told to go fetch something. Several minutes later, five to be exact, he returned. Remus didn't dare look, but he heard something being set down and the quick retreat of several footsteps before the door shut and locked.
It took him a while to peel himself away from the chair, his body aching. Remus opened his eyes as he sat up and rubbed his wrists, satisfied that they weren't terribly red and raw. If he ever talked to his father again, maybe one day he could tell him that his training had come in handy.
Remus had never understood why his dad had been so convinced Greyback would come for him again, especially when his mum had been so adamant about getting kidnapped being a freak accident. He let out a sigh, feeling bad his mum wasn't right. He had been kidnapped two times...if this even really counted.
Now that the Slytherins had retreated, the loud click having signified he was locked inside with limited options, Remus just found himself irritated. What kind of awful children did something like this? Sure, James and Sirius harassed and pushed the buttons of the older Slytherins, but this sort of payback wasn't equivalent by any means. It wasn't fair! Remus had to get out of here. At that moment he was so angry about all of this he even considered trying to get the lot of Slytherins behind this in serious trouble with the professors. But as he balanced precariously on his knees, Remus knew better than to do that. A werewolf couldn't afford to cause the trouble and retribution that telling would lead to. Realizing he had been getting lost in his thoughts, which he did not have time for, Remus forced himself to his feet and then froze.
Something was rising out of a large chest that had been placed near the tipped-over chair. He blinked his eyes a few times, sure he was just being paranoid with himself in the darkroom. But remembering the way the Slytherins had been very quick to retreat, he reached for his wand, only to realize it wasn't on him. His wand was still across the room where Rosier had shoved it in between two books on a shelf.
Remus was sure they had put him in this room with some sort of curse-activated trap or creature to guard him. But Remus forced himself to stay logical, and acknowledge the Slytherins wouldn't have some monster hidden to torture other students with. Overcoming his fear as the shadowy shape started to elongate, Remus slowly began moving across the room towards his wand.
His fingers had just curled over his chance at defending himself when he heard a sound and whipped around quickly. Remus stood before none other than the Shadowman, who had haunted his nightmares for as long as he could remember. Any sense whatsoever left Remus. Pure panic and fear that he didn't think possible spread throughout his body, taking over him completely.