We've Got A Big Mess On Our Hands

[Kris Lupin]

Kris sat up and pushed him, she glared at him feeling hurt. "Where were you?!" She had needed him to stop her from being taken but he wasn't there. "I bet you were with that girl." She crossed her arms still glaring at him.

[Sirius Black]

Sirius hung his head as a wave of guilt washed over him. It was true; every word of it. He couldn't deny it. It was all his fault. He wanted to confess everything to her, and unburden himself from the misery of what he'd done. But he had a sudden flash of Remus ripping him limb from limb. Of course, that was crazy; Remus would never do something like that. He wasn't even capable of it, unless there was something Remus wasn't telling him. But he'd certainly never speak to him again. And Remus was too good of a friend to lose.

He also didn't want to lose Kris. He wanted to take this chance to make it up to her somehow. So he opened his mouth and let the lie spill out. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to leave you, it was only for a minute. I went to the bathroom, and ran into Peter here, and we just started talking... I didn't mean to be gone so long. But I'm here now."

[Kris Lupin]

Kris didn't know if she could believe him and she looked at Remus and hugged him. She was shaking from still being scared she was afraid that Norah would return before they was able to leave.

[Remus Lupin]

Remus hugged her back happily. "I'm just glad you're OK," he said. He helped her to her feet. "She didn't hurt you or anything, did she? Are you OK to travel? We really shouldn't linger her very long, in case the psycho comes back."

[Kris Lupin]

"No, I really just hurt myself by struggling with the ropes on my wrists." Kris said as she looked at the raw redness. "H-how did you find me?" She was also wondering where her father was and what Norah wanted with him. Kris glanced at Sirius and wondered if he was lying to her.

[Remus Lupin]

Remus frowned as he looked at the wounds on her wrists. "We can have Madam Pomfrey look at those when we get back," he said. "Apparently, Dad sent an owl to Dumbledore when he got the ransom note. Dumbledore thought you were here, but that it would be better to come looking for you today instead of last night, because she'd be with Dad, and you'd be left alone. So we snuck out this morning under James's invisibility cloak and took the Knight Bus to Diagon Alley. Then we walked down here, under the cloak and found this place. But we wouldn't have known where you were in here if not for Sirius. He recognized the woman who kidnapped you when she was talking to the people at the front desk and saying not to clean in room 118."

[Kris Lupin]

Kris bit her lower lip. "She made some kinda potion.. I think we should find them... I don't know what she wants from him but she said she can take peoples magic temporarily."

[Remus Lupin]

Remus widened his eyes. "Really? She can take other people's powers away? I didn't know that was possible... I thought she was a muggle, anyway?" He frowned. "I don't know if we should get involved. I mean, we're all a bunch of underaged wizards... But do you think she's gonna try and take Dad's powers away?"

[Kris Lupin]

"She's a squib a-and I think that potion she made can take their power.. I don't want Dad to do anything when he doesn't need to." Kris took his hands and looked into his eyes, "He's our only father, Remus, please.." Tears formed in her eyes as she thought of what Norah might do or want.

[Remus Lupin]

Remus sighed. He was worried about Kris, and he thought she needed to rest after her ordeal. But he also knew that, if there was any way they could help their father, they should try for it. A tiny, bitter part of him, however, couldn't help but think that whatever their father had to do, he deserved it for the way he had sent Kris away and lied to Remus. "OK," he said. "We'll try to find him. Do you have any idea where she was going to meet him? I know it's somewhere in Diagon Alley, but where?"

[Kris Lupin]

"I don't know, but we have to find him and stop him from doing whatever she wants." Kris looked at them. "How did you guys get through the alley?"

[Remus Lupin]

"We hid under James's invisibility cloak," Remus replied, signalling to the others. As he did so, a thought occurred to him, and he frowned. "Only, can we really fit five people under that thing? I didn't even think about it... it's going to get awfully crowded under there..."

[Sirius Black]

Sirius shrugged. "It doesn't matter. We'll find a way. We may have to stand really close and bend down low, but we'll make it. We only need to use it in Knockturn Alley, anyway. Then we can take it off. Come on, we really should get going. Once we're out of Knockturn Alley, we can go looking for your dad."

[Kris Lupin]

Kris looked at Sirius, she would tell Sirius the truth soon, she would probably tell him after the full moon. She hated him not knowing who she was, she looked at the floor, she wanted to tell him right then but she didn't know if she could trust him at that moment.

[Sirius Black]

Sirius saw that she was still not talking to him, and figured she was still mad at him. And he knew all too well how much he deserved it. He decided not to push things right now; they could talk more once they were back at school. But for now, the important thing was getting out of this place.

Pulling out the invisibility cloak, he spread it out and put it partly over himself. His legs still stuck out, so they could find him. "Come on guys, get under. We gotta get out of here."

[Remus Lupin]

Remus grabbed Kris's hand and led her over to the invisibility cloak. "Go ahead, you get under first, OK?" he said. He stood aside and waited for her to go under the cloak. He was still worried about having enough room under there, but it wasn't like they had a choice. This was the only safe way to get out of Knockturn Alley.

[Kris Lupin]

Kris nodded, she went under the cloak then waited for Remus. She hoped they would get to their father before he agreed to anything, she was worried about what Norah would want.

[Remus Lupin]

Remus followed her under the cloak, then motioned for Peter and James to get under as well.

Once everyone was under the cloak, it seemed obvious that the cloak was no longer covering their feet. Remus frowned. This would be very obvious, even in the darkness of Knockturn Alley. "We're going to have to bend down a little more," he said. "We can't go out there like this..."

[Sirius Black]

Sirius, as the tallest of the kids, bent down low. There was no doubt it was going to be a difficult trip, with all five of them huddling under the cloak. But there was no other choice. They would have to make do.

Once he was sure everyone was settled and no one was visible, Sirius led the way out of the room and out into the hallway. Then they walked down the hall and back to the lift. No one was around, so Sirius pushed the button for the lift and waited for it to arrive.

[Kris Lupin]

Kris bit her lower lip and wrung her hands as she waited for the lift to arrive, once it did she had to keep herself from running to it. She kept having to remind herself it was too dangerous to be seen in the dark alley let alone be seen at all. She didn't know which button to push so she waited for one of the boys to do it.