~
T.J. was going to be leaving that afternoon, but Lily still had a quick question for him. She dodged James, and approached T.J. by the Great Hall entry doors. “T.J., I have a question. You said that you were in Scotland, and then Alex commented on your tan. But you can’t get a tan in Scotland!”
T.J. looked surprised and uncomfortable for a moment, then glanced around at the near-empty hallway, and bent down. “That’s because we aren’t in Scotland. Auror’s can’t really disclose where they’re being trained, for obvious reasons. And we’re right, too. We have people stationed all around up there, and many suspicious characters have shown up lately.”
Lily whispered back, “Then where are you stationed? Or can’t you tell me?”
T.J. whispered even lower, “I’m not supposed to tell, but I suppose it couldn’t hurt. I have a strong feeling you may be going there in a few years, anyway. Over in the Caribbean, there’s an island the Muggles don’t notice. Not a word about this to anyone now, understand?”
Lily nodded; proud to be trusted with such an important secret, and the thought that one day she might be training with the best of the best.
As James caught up at last, and promptly dragged Lily away, someone in the shadows behind a forlorn suit of armor was also very happy. T.J. had left to fetch his bags, so she stepped out into the light. “Isn’t that interesting,” she said as she smiled to herself. “Thank you, Mudblood, for that useful piece of information. I would have had a hard time getting it myself.” Bellatrix chuckled again and went to find the nearest owl.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That night at dinner, James seemed jumpier than ever. Sirius was gorging himself as always, but Remus was picking at his food. Lily noticed their strange behavior, but ignored it. She really didn’t want to know. Peter was glancing back and forth between the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables, loudly whispering to whoever was listening, “Just you wait! You have to see this!”
Needless to say, the Gryffindors had caught on pretty fast, and all eyes were on the Marauders. Meanwhile, Bellatrix and Amos had worked their way up to the front of the Great Hall. “Excuse me everyone!” Bellatrix called out. “There’s something I have to say.”
She struggled onto the staff table, while the teachers looked on in shock. “I am madly in love with Amos Diggory, and I just managed to work up the courage to say so.”
Amos beamed, and hopped up beside her. “I’m so glad the feeling is mutual, then. But I need proof before I can willingly kiss an evil Slytherin witch.”
Bellatrix nodded, and by now all of the Great Hall’s attention was focused on the pair of them. The Marauders looked on hopefully and greedily, ready for the truth serum to take effect. “I’ve been shagging Rodulphus Lestrange since second year.”
The teachers gasped, as did the younger students. Sirius looked sick. “That’s disgusting! I don’t need to know that!”
Amos shook his head sadly. “Well, that is a shocker. But once again, I can’t keep a secret from the one I love. I cheated at the Quidditch Cup last year.”
Bellatrix smiled. “I love how open and honest you are! But I must admit, I once seduced Severus Snape to get what I wanted.”
Amos laughed. “And I lied about having a pair of pink boxers!”
“And I-” Bellatrix was cut off by the Silencing spell McGonagall sent her way, who was looking a little green. Flitwick had managed to decipher what damage was done to them, and took off the spells they were under. At this, the two students both looked horrified.
“Will Mr. Potter, Lupin, Black, and Pettigrew please report to the front of the room?” she called out.
Albus held up his hand. “Minerva, if I may, why are you calling these particular boys up?”
McGonagall glanced at him. “Surely you can’t be serious, Albus.”
“Actually, I am!” Sirius called out, before he was shushed by his friends. (“That joke was overused by second year, Sirius,” James whispered loudly.)
McGonagall looked flabbergasted. “Well, no, I just assumed-”
Dumbledore nodded. “As did I, Minerva. But innocent until proven guilty is the way of things, from the last year.”
Bellatrix was angry at the thought of the Marauders getting off, but Amos was just confused.
“Now, Minerva, I believe dinner is over. The students are free to go.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peter sat in the library, already struggling to keep up with his friends academically. The room was almost empty, and was dark and solemn, excepting the random candle flickering in between the bookshelves.
“Hello, Peter.”
He turned around and saw Stephanie Robins looking at him. “Yes? Do you need something?”
Stephanie nodded. “You see, there’s a Hogsmeade trip coming up, and I need someone to go with. Would you be interested?”
Peter was slightly shocked. He’d had a girlfriend or two over the years, but it never seemed to work out. And here was Stephanie Robins, a girl who most definitely was in a different league than he was, and she was asking him out on a date. “Err, well, yes! I’d love to!”
Stephanie smiled. “Excellent. I’ll see you at five on Saturday, then?” Peter nodded. Stephanie turned around, but paused. “I’m in a little fight with my friends now, so would it be okay if we hung out with yours instead? You know, Sirius? And James and Remus?”
Peter nodded, still dazed. “Yeah, that would be fine.”
Stephanie’s smile grew even wider. Her dark brown hair shook as if she was trying to hold back laughter. Since it was so dark in the room, Peter wasn’t able to see her friends huddled in the shadows, listening to every word.
She finally turned away and headed back into the dark labyrinth of books, her shadows at her feet. Once they were out of earshot, Stephanie burst out. “Did you see the look on his face? He was so shocked! I can’t believe he bought it!”
Her friends laughed as well, and stepped into the light. “But why Peter? Couldn’t we have gotten someone more… socially acceptable?”
Cruelly, Stephanie retorted, “Because Pettigrew is the only one dumb enough to fall for it! Do you think Lupin wouldn’t be able to see through our scam?”
Her friend humbly shook her head, and Stephanie’s eyes glowed. “Now all I have to do is wait for Saturday, and Sirius will be all mine…”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Can you believe we got off like that?” Sirius exclaimed. “I mean, Dumbledore all but knowingly let us off the hook!”
James laughed along with him, and slapped Remus on the back. “I have to admit, that was one of the best yet!”
The three laughing boys were quickly stopped by the sight of Lily and Alex shaking their heads and tapping their feet. “I assume you are going to explain this to us?” Lily said disapprovingly.
“Oh, bugger off, Evans. I saw you laughing along with the rest of us.” Sirius said, rolling his eyes at her.
Lily turned red, and James stared at her. “You laughed at one of our pranks?” Needless to say, this was very rare.
“Well, it was slightly amusing…” Lily trailed off. After a prod from Alex, she burst out, “And I couldn’t believe the look on Amos’s face! Did you see it? It was hilarious!”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bellatrix glared at Rodolphus’s head, sitting in the Slytherin fire. “You were supposed to get rid of the girl in the woods. If you had done your job, the Marauders wouldn’t even try to mess with us. They’d know who the supreme power in our world was.”
Rodolphus glared right back at her. “I wasn’t the one who forgot their alertness training. You should have seen that spell and blocked it. And what’s this I hear about you seducing Severus Snape! You know I never liked the look of that snake.”
“It was vital to our plan to demolish the Gryffindor tower almost three years ago.” Bellatrix retorted.
“And you remember how that turned out! Avery lost his eyebrows for a week! You betrayed me for a potion that didn’t even work!”
Bellatrix sighed. “Look, we have to focus on the situation at hand. How do we get even?”
“We don’t get even. We eliminate the source.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author’s notes:
Again, I’m sorry this took so long!