Chapter 14 - Curing Sirius and Remus

The rest of Sunday passed by slowly for the members of the dysfunctional family, but some progress was made. Neville was the first to make any headway.

"Ah, look here Gred, if it isn't young Neville."

"Indeed Forge. What do you need young Neville?"

"Well, you two. Harry and Hermione request a meeting at your earliest convenience and they said to say that it concerned the Marauders."

"The Marauders? Hmm…what do you think ickle Harrikins has up his sleeve?" George asked.

"Well, Forge, I don't know, but if it has to do with the Marauders then it must be important. Neville, tell Harry and Hermione we can speak with them at lunch tomorrow if that is possible."

"Okay, I will. Just so you two know, that is still very creepy how you two do that."

"We know," both twins said in unison as they exited the common room.

Neville just shook his head and went to inform Harry about the new development. Meanwhile in the library, Hermione had finally made some progress on a spell to hopefully aid in flushing Dumbledore's influence from Sirius and Remus's minds. She also found a ritual that could be used to stabilize people's minds, and she thought that it could work to keep Riddle as Riddle for the duration of her husband's meeting. Hermione copied down every detail of information and went off to find Harry to see about going to lunch.

"How did your research go, Mione?" Harry asked as he dug into the shepherd's pie that was being served in the great hall.

"Well, I found a spell that should flush Dumbledore's influence from Sirius and Remus's minds. Also, I found a ritual that, in theory, could stabilize Riddle as Riddle."

"That's great, Hermione. We need to tell the others, then tonight we can get Sirius and Remus back to their old selves again."

Both of them ate quickly, giving nods to the members of 'the family.' They knew the message was received and they would meet in the Room of Requirement later that night, so as not to draw attention to Severus constantly entering Gryffindor Tower all the time. The rest of the day seemed to pass too slowly for Harry and Hermione's liking, but both rushed through dinner and ran to get the Room ready. At eight o'clock, Neville and Luna both entered followed by Minerva. Five minutes later Severus entered the room without a sound.

"Well? What's the plan?" Neville asked.

"Severus, Minerva, Hermione and I will go down to the grounds and go through the passage to the Shrieking Shack. Hopefully, Sirius and Remus will be back with us by midnight. If not, then we are in deep trouble."

"What do you want Neville and I to do, Harry?" Luna inquired.

"I want you to go back to our quarters and Neville to go back to our common room. Act like nothing has happened, Neville. Get it?"

"Got it," Neville replied.

"Good. Uncle Sev, Grandma Minnie, are you two ready to go?"

"Yes," Severus replied.

"Only if you never call me by that name again. Ever," Minerva threatened.

"Got it," Harry said nervously, imagining the tortures that lay in store for him should he call her that again.

"Then, let's go," said Hermione.

The six of them departed the Room with Neville and Luna breaking off to go to their respective places. It took the other four about twenty minutes to get to the Shrieking Shack, and when they got there, they saw that Sirius and Remus were asleep.

"Well, this should be easier on us to do. We may not have as much resistance as we did with the Longbottoms," Hermione said.

"Yeah, we should get on with it. I would like to have my godfather and other uncle back."

They tied Sirius and Remus to chairs, while Harry sat across from Sirius and Hermione across from Remus. Severus had opened their eyes with a spell after giving them a potion to keep them asleep. He and Minerva were going to monitor the four to make sure that nothing happened.

"Good luck, you two," Minerva said.

"Thanks, Grandma Min," Harry replied.

Harry and Hermione both performed Legilimency on the two.

In Sirius's mind…

"Sirius, are you in here?" Harry called out, after landing in a room similar to the Gryffindor common room.

"Yeah, pup, I'm here. What are you doing here, though? I sent you a letter to meet me in Hogsmeade, but you never showed. Albus came and said that you were at the castle serving a detention. Then after that nothing."

"No, Sirius, I came a little later because Hermione was taking forever in the bookshop."

"Pup, what's happened?"

"You and Remus aren't acting like yourselves on the outside. I think when you are conscious you are under one of Dumbledore's curses, which doesn't seem to exist when you are asleep."

"You think we are under the Imperius?"

"Probably."

"How do we get out of it?"

"Well, there is a spell Hermione found that I think we can perform while you are unconscious to release Dumbledore's hold. We are going to perform it while we are in your heads."

"Oh. Okay. Is it going to hurt?"

"In theory? No."

"Heh. Aren't you supposed to comfort me?" Sirius asked as he lay down on one of the couches.

"Nope. Hold on. Deleo ex animo influentiam malam."

Sirius started to writhe in pain and after thirty seconds, a dark vapor exited his facial orifices. The vapor started to coalesce until it formed into a shadowy-looking Dumbledore. A light appeared from Harry's hand and shot straight towards Dumbledore and caused him to dissipate into thousands of little pieces. After about five minutes, Sirius woke up and looked around groggily.

"What happened, pup? Is he gone?"

"Yeah, Sirius, he's gone. Now, I need you to imagine a door or exit to this place and we'll get out of here."

"Okay," Sirius replied imagining the portrait hole.

Both of them walked out and woke up in their own minds. Severus and Minerva were shocked that it took so little time with Sirius.

Meanwhile… in Remus's mind…

"Remus, are you in here?" Hermione called out, after landing in a room similar to the Shrieking Shack.

"Yeah, Hermione, I'm here. What are you doing here, though? Sirius sent you and Harry a letter to meet us in Hogsmeade, but you never showed. Albus came and said that you were at the castle serving a detention. Then I remember nothing after that."

"Remus, we came a little later because I took a while in the bookshop."

"Hermione, what's happened?"

"You and Sirius aren't acting like yourselves on the outside. I think when you are conscious you are being controlled by one of Dumbledore's curses, which doesn't seem to exist when you are asleep."

"You think we are under the Imperius?"

"Probably."

"How do we get out of it?"

"Well, there is a spell I found that I think we can perform while you are unconscious to release Dumbledore's hold. We are going to perform it while we are in your heads."

"Oh. Okay. Is it going to hurt?"

"In theory? No."

"Heh. Aren't you supposed to comfort me?" Remus asked as he lay down on the dilapidated old bed.

"No. Hang in there. Deleo ex animo influentiam malam."

Remus started to writhe in pain and after thirty seconds, a dark vapor exited his facial orifices. The vapor started to coalesce until it formed into a shadowy-looking Dumbledore. A light appeared from Hermione's hand and shot straight towards Dumbledore and caused him to dissipate into thousands of little pieces. After about ten minutes, Remus woke up and looked around sleepily.

"What happened, Hermione? Is he gone?"

"Yeah, Remus, he's gone. Now, I need you to imagine a door or exit to this place and we'll get out of here."

"Okay," Remus replied imagining the door to the Shrieking Shack unbarred. They walked downstairs and walked out waking up in their own minds. None of the others were shocked that it took so a longer time with Remus than with Sirius, due to his lycanthropy.

"How do you both feel?" Minerva asked.

"Like I got hit by a hippogriff," was Sirius's reply, while Remus's reply was "It felt like a transformation."

"Well don't worry. You are both free of his influence and can go back to the manor. I suggest that until we get out for summer that we don't meet. It would be too risky, especially with the third task coming up," Harry said.

"Agreed," Remus replied at the same time as Sirius.

Both Sirius and Remus were going to apparate in the morning back to the manor, as Remus was too tired. The other four said their goodbyes, although slightly forced on Severus's part, and departed for the castle. It was nearing ten o'clock, and they all decided to discuss things in the morning, again in the Room of Requirement. When Harry and Hermione entered their quarters, they saw that Luna wasn't up, and were thankful they could go straight to sleep. They quickly got into night clothes and cuddled into each other as they drifted off into the sweet arms of Morpheus.

(A/N Here is the update for the week. Look around next Sunday for the update of Independent Destiny. Latin translates to "I erase the bad influence from his mind." Thank you to all who have stuck with me and reviewed. Please continue to read and review).

Riddle Potter 23