Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, Agatha Christie or Queen. I only own the OCs. Nothing more, nothing less.


-x-
The years of care and loyalty
Were nothing but a sham it seems
The years belie we lived a lie
I love you 'til I die
Save me, save me, save me
I can't face this life alone
Save me, save me, save me...
I'm naked and I'm far from home
-Save Me by Queen
-x-


There have been several times when I have questioned the Marauders sanity, and this was one of those times.

They are planning their annual Halloween prank, and from what I've overheard, they are planning on topping last year's pranks. Let me tell you, The Mutant Candy-Corn Incident is something I don't want to go through again.

"Now, come on guys, we don't want anyone to get hurt," Remus said. "We don't want a repeat of last year."

Ah, I was wondering when Remus was going to say that. Last year, they had planned on charming the candy-corn to say, "Boo! Happy Halloween!" but they didn't get the spell completely right (they blame Peter), so the candy-corn still said "Boo!" but they also tried to bite your fingers off. I've still got some scars…

Anyways, I'm 'working' on my essay about the properties of Amortentia with Lily, Annette, and Vic in the Common Room during one of our free periods.

I felt rather content, eavesdropping on the Marauders while pretending to be doing my essay, and observing the hilarious facial expressions Vic makes when she gets stuck on a part of her homework. Annette was staring off into space, probably dreaming about Alexander Wood. She honestly needs to just ask him out and get it over with.

"Um, excuse me, are you Elaine Thomson?" a first year asked me.

I smiled at him, "That's me."

"Dumbledore wanted me to give this to you," he said as he handed me a letter.

I smiled and said my thanks before he scurried off to who-knows-where.

As I read the note over, I couldn't help but mutter, "Why does he want to talk to me?"

I looked up from the letter and saw three faces of concern staring back at me.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked.

"I don't know, Dumbledore's asked to speak with me," I said sounding utterly confused.

"Well, don't keep the man waiting! Off you go!" Vic said.

"Yes ma'am!" I said as I saluted her.

I quickly got up from my chair and hurriedly walked to the Headmaster's office.

-x-

"Ah, Ms. Thomson! Come in, come in!" Dumbledore said as Elaine entered the office.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Elaine asked as she closed the door to his office.

"Yes, I did. Please have a seat," he gestured to one of the comfy armchairs.

After she sat down, he spoke, "I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but…"

-x-

Elaine entered the Common Room looking pale but her eyes were flashing in anger. She was gripping a letter rather tightly; it was probably the source of her anger. Lily, Vic, and Annette were in the exact same spot as she left them, except they were now laughing about something Vic had said.

"What's wrong, Elaine?" Annette asked, as she was the first person to notice that she had returned.

"What's wrong?" Elaine hissed as she walked over towards the table. "This is what's wrong!" She slammed the letter onto the table making everyone that was in the Common Room jump. She then stormed off to sit in one of the couches in front of the fire.

Vic, Annette, and Lily all winced. Lily was the one that usually lost her temper, but Elaine hardly ever got angry, and when she did it was the 'OH-SHIT-SHE'S-GOING-TO-KILL-SOMEBODY!-EVERYBODY-RUUUUNNNN!!' kind of temper. Lily's temper was more like 'I-am-a-redhead-I-have-a-temper-so-somebody-MIGHT-get-hurt'. Usually that somebody was James Potter, but he does handle it rather well…

Vic grabbed the letter and quickly started to read it. Once she started reading the second page, a frown started to form on her face. Lily quickly grabbed the first page from Vic's hand and started to read it with Annette looking over her shoulder.

Once they all finished reading, they all had grim looks on their faces. They then cautiously made their way towards the extremely angry Elaine, and sat down near her.

They all sat in silence, waiting for her to speak.

"They never told me that they were getting threats," Elaine whispered angrily.

"Are you saying that they led you to believe that everything was fine, but it clearly wasn't?" Annette whispered.

"Sort of," Elaine whispered back. "My father is a blood-traitor who married a muggle-born, I knew that they would have gotten threats just because of that, but I didn't know…" she trailed off.

"You didn't know that they were getting death threats," Lily said.

Elaine nodded. "I knew they were trying to keep me safe, but in reality it just put me in more danger," she said.

"How?" Vic asked, not really understanding what Elaine was trying to say.

"The threats, at least the really bad ones, started up near the end of fifth year," she said. "Since I had no knowledge of it, every time I left the house, I could have come home to some rather sticky situations," she sighed.

The three girls couldn't help but shudder at all of the 'sticky situations' that plagued their minds.

"You would at least think they would have hinted that there was a possibility of them going into hiding," Annette said.

"You would think so, but they didn't," Elaine looked at the clock. "We should get going, the period is almost over."

Lily looked at Elaine, "Are you sure you want to go to classes?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I'll survive," Elaine smiled at her, hoping that would stop Lily from worrying.

Lily just glanced at her one more time before sighing and shouldering her bag.

-x-

Staring intently at the Common Room fire with a blank expression on your face usually means you want to be alone, or on the very rare occasion you want somebody to come talk to you.

It was ten o'clock and I was in my pajamas, alternating between reading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (one of my guilty pleasures. Lily has her trashy romance novels while I've got my detective thrillers) and staring into the fire.

Vic and Nett had Quidditch practice so they turned in early. Lily also went to bed early. The clock chimed the half hour and as if on cue, the Portrait Hole opened and I heard someone mutter, "Ouch, Padfoot! That was my bloody foot!"

Padfoot.

I sigh. This encounter with the Marauders will either be a nightmare or a blessing in disguise. I was hoping no praying that it would be the latter.

I continue to stare into the fire while I wait for the Marauders to saunter their way over. I felt the couch dip, and I chanced a glance to my left. Remus was sitting next to me and James was sitting on my other side. Sirius was haphazardly sitting in one of the armchairs.

"I'm knackered. I'm going to go to bed," Peter said. "Night guys, Elaine."

"Good night Peter," I said calmly as I gave him a smile as he walked towards the boy's staircase.

It was silent for awhile; it seemed that everyone was listening to Peter's footsteps.

Once Peter's footsteps could no longer be heard, James spoke.

"What did Dumbledore want?" he asked.

"Been eavesdropping, have we?" I smirked as I looked at James.

"Actually during practice Baker and Harper mentioned it," Sirius said.

I looked at him and sighed. Way to go and ruin my triumphant moment. I took the letter out of my book and stared at it for a few seconds. I gave it to Remus who had yet to speak.

"Read it," I told him.

"Hey, why does he get to read it? I was the one that asked you," James said rather childishly.

"Because Remus is my voice-of-reason, that's why," I said slowly as if talking to a five year old instead of a sixteen year old.

I didn't even have to look at Remus to know that he was smirking. James pouted. How mature.

I rolled my eyes, "Don't worry, you'll get your chance to read it."

Sirius looked over my book. "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd…sounds like a rather morbid book," he said.

I blushed. "It's a guilty pleasure of mine. Agatha Christie is an amazing author," I said.

"What is it about?" he asked me, sounding genuinely interested. I was taken aback. Sirius Black interested in reading a book?!

"Here, read the back cover," I said as I handed him the book. I looked at Remus and he had a frown on his face.

He handed the letter to James and still said nothing.

James now had a worried expression on his face. Great, now I've got two Marauders worried.

I looked at Sirius and he was reading the first page of the book. "You can read it if you want to," I said to him.

He jumped a little, as if he had been caught doing something he shouldn't be doing. "No, you're reading it right now, I don't want to-"

I smiled at him, "Relax. I've already read it. I know what happens in the end."

Silence. You know, I don't think I've ever heard (or seen for that matter) the Marauders be this quiet before (well, except when they're doing some prank, but that's besides the point). It's almost unnatural.

James then handed the letter to Sirius, and he read it as well. There was now a grim look on his face now.

Sweet Merlin, I don't think I've ever seen the Marauders so solemn and well, serious! Oh, great. Now they're all staring at me.

I looked down at the ground. "They never mentioned that they were in danger," I whispered.

"Not even hinted?" Sirius asked.

I shook my head.

"They didn't tell you anything at all?!" James asked, he sounded a little angry.

"I knew that they were getting threats, they just hid the severity of them from me," I added.

"They could have gotten you killed because of that," Remus spoke for the first time. I could tell he was trying to control his anger.

I looked up at him, "I know. They were trying to keep me safe, but they inadvertently put me in more danger."

More Silence. For the love of everything that's holy, I'm starting to get really annoyed with these silences.

"I think Dumbledore was the one that persuaded them into hiding," I said as I stared into the fire.

"Why?" Sirius asked.

"Because usually what Dumbledore says is the best way to go, and you would be stupid not to listen to his advice," I said.

The room became silent. Okay, I am not going to be the one to break this next silence! I REFUSE! Okay, so I'm being over-dramatic, but come on! Continuing a conversation isn't rocket science!

"What about you?" Sirius asked.

"What do you mean, 'what about me'?" I asked him, confused.

"What are you going to do during breaks, or when school's over?" he asked.

It was as if I felt all of the color drain from my face, "I-I don't know," I stuttered.

"I guess during breaks, I could stay here, but for the summer holidays…I have no clue," I said. "I don't even know if I'll ever see my parents again."

"Hey, don't think like that. Of course you'll see your parents again," James said. You would think that someone who has been chasing a girl for six years with no luck would be bitter. Hell, he has every right to be bitter!

"Alive? I don't think so. You very well know that usually people who go into hiding usually never come back," I said rather bitterly.

James opened his mouth to speak, but snapped it shut.

I sighed. "See? You can't even deny it," I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"It's late and we have classes tomorrow, I'm going to go to bed," I said to them all as I got up from the couch. I gave them all a small smile and then crept my way up the girl's staircase.

-x-

"There has to be something we can do," Remus whispered to James and Sirius once they heard Elaine's footsteps fade away.

James stared at the fire, racking his brain to see if he could do anything.

"She was right, you know," Sirius said softly. "About people who go into hiding never come back…"

Remus and Sirius exchanged a grim look.

James was still thinking when an idea came to him. He got up from the couch. "I've got an idea!" he said.

"What is it?!" Remus and Sirius said in unison. They both looked at each other oddly.

"All I need to do is send an owl, and then maybe, if they say yes…Then Elaine won't have to be alone!" James mumbled.

"Come on guys, let's head up to our dorm, and I'll explain to you my idea," James said as he started walking up the stairs.

"This better be good," Remus muttered to Sirius.

"Yeah, usually his ideas make perfect sense to him, but when he tries to explain it to us, it's complete nonsense," Sirius mumbled back to his friend as they followed their friend up.

"I heard that, and trust me, this one will work," James said.

Remus sighed, and muttered something about how a certain someone should use that excellent hearing in their classes.

"Oi! I pay attention in class…Sometimes," James said.


A/N: Wow! This is a heck of a long chapter! I hope this chapter is a good as the first one!

Like it? Love it? Want to burn it? Let me know!