Lupin turned back to Sirius, reached out, and clasped his hand hard.
'You?re all right? And Harry?'
Sirius filled him in quickly on the events of the day, while Lupin stared in amazement. He looked over briefly at Fleur when her part in events was mentioned, but she was staring firmly away, her eyes filled with tears. He decided not to ask her anything.
'So we?re going to meet them outside,' said Sirius finally. 'I just came back to fetch you. Although it looks like you?re doing all right for yourself. And I think that werewolf over there fancies you.'
Lupin was taken aback. 'What? Pete?'
Sirius grinned. 'No, the pretty one in the blue.'
Lupin rolled his eyes. 'And even in the midst of a truly bleak situation, you?re trying to find me a date. Touching, it is.'
Sirius grinned again; Fleur scowled. Then she said, 'It might not be so easy as you think.'
'To get Lupin a date?' said Sirius. 'Being a bit hard on the poor man, aren?t you? Hes not that unappealing.'
'No, to get out of the castle,' said Fleur, flushing a little across the tops of her ivory-pale cheekbones. 'There are very few exits and those are 'eavily guarded. What we need is a map.'
'We?' said Sirius lightly, trying not to give the word too much emphasis.
Fleur looked down. 'I would like to come with you, if you would 'ave me.'
'Of course you can; we can use your assistance in getting out of the castle,' said Lupin, touched by how unhappy she seemed. There was also a slight gnawing anxiety at his heart when he remembered talking to her about her desire to get her hands on a source of power. Perhaps if he?d been a bit more helpful, she wouldn?t have taken it quite so far. But that line of thought was profitless… 'We have maps here,' he added quickly, gesturing back towards the table where Pete and Isabel were standing, looking at some sort of chart.
'How do you know that the other werewolves won?t turn on us?'
Sirius hissed in a whisper as they made their way back towards the table. 'Aren?t they in thrall to the Dark Lord?'
'I put Will-Strengthening Potion in the Every Flavour Beans,' said Lupin, under his breath. 'They don?t know it yet.'
Sirius grinned. Lupin was visited with a sudden idea. He looked over quickly at his friend. 'Have you still got those Zonkos Pencils, Sirius?'
'Only one.' Sirius produced it from his pocket and handed it to Lupin. It was odd to have one of those pencils back in his grasp after twenty years. He remembered the feel of it, the sense that magic was flowing out of it as he traced it over the map of Hogwarts that Peter had torn out of a copy of Hogwarts: A History. The first Marauders Map. Now he bent the soft nub of the pencil to the map of Slytherins castle, although at Fleurs suggestion, he traced only the ground floor where the exits were. He felt the pencil spark with energy in his hand as he followed the lines that indicated corridors, doors, stairways and exits, and watched the tiny dots that testified to the location of the castles occupants spring into existence and movement. It was only when he had traced the gardens and the walls that surrounded them that he noticed something strange.
'Sirius,' he said, beckoning his friend over, 'look at this.'
Sirius looked over his shoulder, started, and swore. Lupin didn?t blame him. Outside the walls of the castle were a veritable heaving mass of dots, indicating hundreds, perhaps a thousand, people gathered outside the walls. And if that wasn?t odd enough, there were three dots gathered towards the front of the mass that bore the names Virginia Weasley, Draco Malfoy, and… Benjamin Gryffindor.
'What the…?' Sirius muttered, but Fleur at that moment interrupted him by quickly crossing the room, and yanking aside one of the heavy velvet draperies covering the windows. The werewolves yelped indignantly as bright silvery moonlight speared into the room, but Fleur ignored them, gesturing wildly for Lupin and Sirius to join her. They hurried across the room to the window, and Lupin held the heavy drapery aside as he peered out into the gardens.
And nearly fell over. Beyond the walls, he could see a heaving mass of figures milling about — dozens, hundreds — the moonlight gleaming off bright armor and silvery weapons and brightly-colored pennants that held their own light as they snapped in the breeze, each adorned with a dark red flag bearing a golden lion. Gryffindor.
'Its an army,' Sirius whispered, amazed. 'Ginny went back in time and got an army. How?d she do it? What an amazing girl.'
Lupin shook his head. 'They?re just milling about, though. What are they waiting for? Why don?t they attack?'
'They cannot get in,' said Fleur positively. 'There are wards up all around the castle that prevent an attacking force from entering.
They will never be able to get in. The Snake Lord knows this; he is probably not even worried.'
Lupin glanced at her. 'Is there any way to take the wards down?'
Fleur nodded slowly. 'Only Slytherin can take them down. Or…'
'Or what?' asked Sirius, turning to look at her. 'Or you can?'
She shook her head, trembling all over. 'I can try, but when I attempt to disobey an express order….you do not know the pain, it is blinding, scorching.' She looked down at the ground. 'I wish I could 'elp you. I 'ave much to atone for.'
Sirius looked at Fleurs bent head, then over at Lupin, who was wearing a thoughtful expression. 'Remus,' he said slowly. 'Have you got any more of those purple Every Flavour Beans?'
* * * * *
Draco did what Harry had suggested, and ran. He was quite aware of Ron running behind him; the red- headed boy had very long legs and Draco was impressed with the speed with which he zipped down the corridors.
