Hello everyone! I'm back with another chapter.

Another big thank you to my faithful readers for taking the time to read this and review it. It really means a lot to me.

Now, this chapter will deal with fleshing out a few characters and showing their own interpretations and perspectives. While I am glad people have been happy with my input on Lily so far, keep in mind that from her own perspective, she was hurt by someone she trusted, so she isn't really considering how any of her own actions made her look. The same goes for Snape. As this story is to high light some of the key factors in his life that had a severe impact in what he came to be, I wish to unravel his reasoning for his poor choices. As a survivor of many unfortunate abuse incidences, I can greatly relate to the decisions he made to try and escape it. I see Snape actions similar to teenagers who deal with depression via hurting themselves or doing drugs, in that it is all self destructive. There is nothing stable or truly rational about Snape, a halfblood with no money, joining the death eaters (made up of mostly wealthy purebloods) and intending to somehow keep Lily in his life. That's no different than someone cutting or abusing substances in my opinion; you hear nonstop about the dangers of it, how bad it is for you, but you cling to it anyway because it has given you brief reprieve from a very difficult time in your life and you do not wish to think about the future consequences in the here and now. That's how I see Snape.

Blah, blah, blah, I do not own.


If Someone Cared Enough

Chapter Three: Serendipitous Findings

"Well that was a lovely experience," Simone drawled sarcastically, wandering back from her first detentions in the hospital wing, "Really I was hoping to clean something a little less disgusting than a bedpan if I'm being honest."

"Most of them had already been lightly cleaned with a charm, Sim," Thea pointed out, scurrying to catch up with Simone's brisk stride, "And you got to wear gloves for scrubbing them. You got off easy considering what Filch would have had you do."

Simone hummed her ascent, "Yes, well I'm not sure Dumbledore is aware of how much Pomfrey likes me or else he'd hardly consider working with her to be a punishment. At least you were just in charge of organizing the salve cabinets." Simone gave Thea a sideways glance, "You know you didn't have to volunteer to clean in there just to keep me company. I made sure you wouldn't serve detention."

Thea smiled, her eyes crinkling at the sides in a manner that had endeared her to many of her friends, "I just thought you would prefer to have someone to talk to while you do all that work. Besides, it isn't as fun in the dorm without you."

"I do not doubt that; very few have my sparkling personality and incorrigible charms," Simone replied, flipping her hair over her shoulder dramatically.

Thea giggled, "So care to tell me why we are taking the long way back to the dungeons? We're several floors off."

"Don't think of it as the long way; think of it as...the scenic route," Simone offered, "I personally enjoy a like exercise and some sight seeing late at night. Also, I'd rather not run into Stevenson in the dormitory again before he goes to bed or I might be tempted to hex his testicles off."

"Still mad he sneezed on your toast this morning?" Thea asked.

"Livid," Simone replied.

"Well I'm sure he didn't mean it. He has allergies. I think—," Thea trailed off stopping mid stride.

Simone stopped, realizing Thea was no longer following, "Thea?"

Thea didn't answer, she just continued to stare ahead of her.

Simone turned, following Thea's line of sight, "What is it—oh..."

{page break}

"—you call everyone of my birth Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any different?"

It felt like Severus' mind had shut down on him at that question. What could he say to that? That she was different because he loved her? Because she was the first friend he ever had? Because out of every muggleborn, halfblood, and pureblood in the school, she had once been the only person who didn't judge him for being poor, a half blood, Slytherin, or unattractive. Once; she had been that person once. At one time she was his everything, but in recent years she had began to pull away. More and more she fed into her other friends biased against anything even remotely dark. The idea of knowing dark magic to protect oneself from it was unheard of to them, sounded utterly absurd to their ears. His desire to be stronger came off as cruel and evil to them because they rarely had been the underdog as often as he had. And Lily was siding more and more with them, refusing to even hear him out. She saw what her friends wanted her to see, ignorant to the fact that there was more to the world than black and white.

Severus didn't want to be a Death Eater to harm innocent people, but was it so wrong to want to hurt those that had wronged him? Lily sided with 'the light' because she wanted to fight against those who wanted to hurt her, so why was he wrong for wanting to fight against those who wished him harm? Was it his fault that those who hurt him were hypocritically claiming to be a part of the light? Or were his very own father? And how could Dumbledore be on the rights side when he so casually weighed the value of his very students' lives and decided one's life matter more than the one who nearly lost theirs? Lily was so busy defending Potter as the lesser of two evils when compared to Slytherins, that it was apparent her stipulation for what made you a bad person wasn't about your cruelty, but rather who you were cruel to and if you used light magic to do it. Potter could flay Severus alive, but as long as he did it with a simple letter opening charming or a paper shredding spell, he would be 'better' than any of those Severus hung out with.

But...he thought about Simone's words from earlier. Was he really making the wrong choice? All he wanted was to belong; to be respected. Not loathed, not tolerated, and especially not pitied. As some low class half blood he didn't stand a chance of greatness; not when even Slughorn, a man who's connection had helped many go from nothing to something, barely even acknowledged his existence. Being a Death Eater would give him a fighting chance to make it in the world. But what if Simone was right? Would his pureblood friends actually let him outshine them with his natural abilities when they so profoundly lacked any skill? Was he pushing Lily away for empty promises?

Severus must have hesitated too long, because Lily's eyes grew harsh and unforgiving and she turned her back on him to leave.

"Lily," he called out, "Wait, please...I—"

"Goodbye, Severus," Lily said coldly. Without looking back, she climbed through the portrait hole and was gone.

Severus was left standing in the corridor by himself, hand still outstretched for the one true friend he ever had.

"You're different because you actually cared," Severus said quietly, letting his hand drop to his side. Slowly he slid to the floor where he stayed for several minutes.

Soft footsteps approached him from behind and a cold hand touched his shoulder.

"Come on, Snape," Simone said gently, "Let's go back."

Hardly listening, Snape stood up as if in a daze, his eyes sad and empty. He barely noticed as Simone draped an arm around his shoulders, did not feel Thea's hand in his own, never heard the portrait hole open a second time or the pained yelp that followed.

Others were with him, but he had never felt so alone.

{page break}

"Bloody bugger it all!" Sirius cursed loudly as he walked back to the fireplace.

Lily who was lingering by the window pensively, turned her head ever so discreetly in his direction but otherwise gave no indication to let the others know she was listening in.

"What now, Padfoot?" James asked in amusement, not even pretending to pay attention to his charms homework.

Sirius, frowned rubbing at the side of his face, "I heard Mary say that Snivellous was out there, so I thought I would go give him friendly little greeting."

Lily barely kept herself from flinching. She knew she shouldn't care about what happened to Severus anymore, but she couldn't help it. It really was low of Sirius to go bother Sev right after their friendship ended; she'd hate it if someone decided to have a go at her right now at least. And that awful name, didn't the boys ever get tired of it? Lily twitched...she's used that name too today, hadn't she? But...that wasn't her fault. She was mad and hurt, how could he call her that wretched word?

"What? Snape's out there?" James said with a start, rising to get out of the armchair, "Maybe I should go say 'hello' as well."

Remus frowned lowering his book, "Maybe you guys have done enough today..."

"Are you kidding? He's practically asking for it. Who does he think he is, showing his face around here after we trounced him?" James asked excitedly.

Lily grit her teeth. Couldn't James leave well enough alone?

Sirius shook his head, "Don't bother, mate. He's not alone out there now. See this?" He pointed to the angry red mark blossoming across his face, "That bitch Serapeum sent a pretty bad stinging hex at me before I had even stepped out the door. Talk about one nasty bird."

"What?" Lily's head snapped up. That girl was out there right now? Had she been spying on them?

Lily rushed to the portrait hole, ignoring James calling out for her in surprise.

Pushing the portrait open slowly, Lily peered cautiously around the frame.

There off down the hall, Severus was walking away being guided by two girls. The shorter of the two was hard to make out, but there was no mistaking that mocha skin and raven black hair on the other. It was the same Slytherin from the lake who had caused such a stir. Thinking on it now still rankled her. Lily was the one who had her feelings hurt so terribly, and yet she was the wrong one in that girl's eyes? Who did this Simone girl think she was?

Almost as if she could hear her thoughts, Simone turned her head just so and made eye contact with Lily over Severus' shoulder. For a long moment neither of them blinked. Then a cold, flinty look overcame Simone, her eyes narrowing and her lips pursing like she had a particularly unpleasant taste in her mouth. Directing as much venom and dislike as she could with her gaze, Simone finally broke their staring contest with a roll of her eyes, turning her head away and leading Severus further down the hall and out of sight.

{page break}

For the next few days, whenever the students weren't tearing their hair out over exams, the talk in the halls consisted of the dour Severus Snape and his unlikely new companions.

Wherever the unfriendly young man went, he was seen flanked by Simone and her timorous friend Thea. It was anyone's guess as to why the rich and standoffish pureblood was even bothering with a scowling nobody like Snape, but everywhere one was seen, so was the other. Walking together between exams, eating in the Great Hall with one another, even spotted sitting shoulder to shoulder on the steps outside reading tomes from the Library. Though it should probably be noted that all of the physical contact was on Simone's part. The normally reserved girl had taken to being particularly chummy with Snape, linking arms with him when they walked and flinging an arm over his shoulder when talking to him. At one point, she gave him a chaste hug, though it was obvious she had only done it for her own amusement at seeing Snape struggle out of her grip.

Yes, it would seem Simone had taken Snape under her wing. Any time not in exams was spent with her as Snape's ever present guard, Thea never far behind, though the quiet girl was more respectful of Severus' personal space. Simone not only served to keep the bullies away, but also Snape's other Slytherin acquaintances. Mulciber and Avery kept their distance from Snape whenever Simone was present, baffling much of the student body; what reason did too hulking and nefarious Slytherins have to be wary of Simone?

"You think she's shagging him?" Sirius proposed one morning at breakfast.

Several seats down, Lily nearly choked on her pumpkin juice.

"What ever would make you think that?" James asked aghast.

Sirius shrugged, "Well she's a pureblood, that means if she's anything like my 'perfect' little brother, she's got a betrothal arranged. It isn't unusual for some purebloods to pick a nobody to mess around with for a little fun before settling down. You know, someone worthless enough to be unable to challenged the betrothal, so there's no worry about commitment or angering mummy and daddy."

"Yeah but she could at least find a better nobody than Snape," James said, shuddering in disgust, "I mean, she's a right bint, but she's attractive enough to have her pick of some far better looking blokes."

"Maybe she's doing it on a dare. Can you come up with a better reason why she's suddenly attached at the hip with him?" Sirius asked.

James frowned, thinking about it, but coming up with nothing.

Remus rolled his eyes, stirring his porridge, "Do you really think Snape's sex life—or lack there of," he added when Sirius mock gagged into his eggs, "Is really any of our business?"

"I just think it would be a shame if she hooked up with a greaseball like Snivellous; that Serapuem girl is a bitch but she's got a nice pair, if you know what I mean," Sirius waggled his eyebrows.

"An idiot could pick up on your implications, Pads," Remus deadpanned.

James guffawed and Pettigrew snickered childishly while Sirius just gave a 'what can I say' shrug of his shoulders.

As the Marauders descended into a fit of rancous laughter, Lily aimlessly picked around at her breakfast, suddenly not hungry. Her eyes kept flitting over to the Slytherin table.

Sure enough, Simone and Thea were with Severus, sitting on either side of him chatting merrily. Severus himself didn't appear to have much to contribute to the conversation, barely acknowledging them, but Simone didn't seem to care too much. In fact, she was apparently quite amused by his lack of response, bouncing whatever she was saying off of him like a sounding board. Whenever Severus actually looked in her direction, Simone's smile would grow wider, pearly white teeth flashing.

Lily stared at them from across the hall. Was it really possible there was something between them that Lily didn't know about? Simone had never shown an interest in Severus before the day at the lake, but now she followed Severus everywhere. Or more like led him everywhere. Where Sev once trailed after Lily, now he allowed Simone to drag him wherever she pleased. She was even beginning to have some sort of influence on him. His face looked a little less greasy lately and his hair was shiny instead of stingy; Simone must have been providing him with some type of product. Was he really willing to go through all those changes for a girl he hardly knew? Had he really replaced Lily's friendship with some sort of illicit affair with a snobby pureblood like Serapuem?

At that precise moment, Simone happened to look up and catch Lily's gaze. Giving a mean, mocking smile full of teeth, she leaned over and pulled Snape into a side hug, resting her head on his shoulder affectionately as Severus tried to wriggle away.

Lily pushed her plate away from her on the table; suddenly she had lost her appetite.

{page break}

Simone sighed for the hundredth time. Kneeling under one of the beds in the hospital wing, she was trying unsuccessfully to charm away an off-color stain that had formed on the floor beneath. Pomfrey had assured her it was a spilled potion, but judging by the reddish tint that turned a sour yellowish brown around the edges, Simone wasn't about to rule out it being a far less pleasant fluid.

Simone gave her wand another flick, muttering yet another cleaning charm. Still the stain remained.

"This is ridiculous," she complained, straightening up, "Give me one of those muggle solvents, they clean things just fine. Heck, give me—what's that drink muggles like? Cola! Now that cleans blood off the sidewalk, I hear."

Thea smiled from where she was turning the bed sheets down over by Pomfrey's office, "I thought that you would be happy she let us use magic to do this. After all, Potter and Black aren't allowed to at their detentions with Flich."

Simone sneered, "You mean before Dumbledore ended their sentence?"

Simone couldn't say it really upset her; she knew the old coot would do it. If anything he proved her right, which she was quiet happy to gloat about to Thea in their spare time. Better yet, being overruled had served to piss McGonagall off. Dumbledore clearly saw some sort of benefit to keeping Potter and Black in his pocket with special treatment, but whatever it was, Simone hadn't a clue. Perhaps to have access to better funding when the boys inherited their families' fortunes? Either way, by choosing to overindulge them, Dumbledore only succeeded and isolating a friend and confidante. That meant a better chance of winning over some adults into actually protecting Slytherins; once they saw how biased and inadequate their headmaster was at least.

"Anyway my point was that magic doesn't fix everything," Simone said, gesturing to the stain on the floor, "You can't always wave a mess away. Not even house elf magic can clean every mess; why do you think they still scrub and wash things by hand? I think this is an instance where some spit and polish would actually work better."

Thea giggled, "You just don't know any decent cleaning spells."

Simone shrugged, "I'm an heiress. Before Hogwarts I rarely even had to dress myself, let alone clean." She adjusted to a more comfortable position, ready to take a break, "So what do you think Severus is doing?"

Thea cocked her head thoughtfully, "Reading most likely."

Simone snorted, "You mean brooding. I swear, getting him to smile is like pulling teeth from a Hungarian Horntail, only more dangerous. Can you believe he used that Langlock spell on me?"

"Well he did ask you to be quiet," Thea pointed out.

"Still it was rude," Simone pouted.

At the sight of Simone's silly face, Thea broke out into a fresh fit of giggles.

Simone flashed Thea a cheeky grin then frowned, a thought occurring to her, "He better not be hanging around Mulciber and the others."

"He hasn't sought them out since that day by the lake," Thea mused, "Perhaps he's given your words some thought. I mean, you've practically beat him over the head with it every day since then."

Simone clicked her tongue, "I just want to get through to him. He's pushing away everyone and throwing away any good in his life for people who couldn't care less about him. You noticed none of them intervened on his behalf when Potter strung him upside down, right? They're only using him and they aren't good for him. That whole Movement is crazy."

Thea smiled softly, "It's nice that you care so much about him. Treating him kindly, giving him attention. No one should be lonely," she trailed off, eyes glazed and far away.

Simone's eyes softened, "Everyone deserves friends Thea. Hey," she called, getting Thea to look at her, "Everyone."

Thea took in a shaky breath, her eyes watery, "Y-yeah. Everyone." She fumbled with her wand awkwardly, "I should de-wrinkle the privacy curtains..."

"Oh for goodness sake!" Madam Pomfrey's voice broke the tension, "Now of all times?"

The matron came bustling out of her office, skirts billowing around her feet.

"Something wrong Ma'am?" Thea asked nervously.

Pomfrey huffed, "Just the usual nonsense. Some Ravenclaw fourth years decided to have an eating contest with the candies they got from Honeydukes and one of them ended up trying to eat Drooble's blowing gum by mistake. Now he's got his face stuck to his mattress; don't ask me how because I haven't the foggiest idea!"

"Sounds like your average school night," Simone murmured, standing up.

Pomfrey nodded, "Yes, only I just found ran into some trouble with a Doxy in my office. I took out the blighter, but I've still got hundreds of eggs to get rid of before they hatch, and who knows how soon that will be?"

"We can do it," Thea offered, always the helpful one.

Simone nodded, "We have some time left before curfew, and it isn't like the eggs can bite you like the parents. Let us handle it while you handle bubble boy."

Madam Pomfrey hesitated, "Well I suppose that falls under cleaning the wing. And it's true the eggs are relatively harmless. Fine," she relented, "Take the spray on my desk; doxycide kills the eggs too. I'll take care of whatever you didn't finished when I get back. Just be careful."

"We always are," Simone drawled, brushing off her robes.

Giving the girls a quick thank you, Pomfrey swept out of the hospital wing, the doors closing loudly behind her.

Simone turned to Thea, gesturing to Pomfrey's office, "Shall we?"

When they entered the office, Simone pointed to separate corners of the room, "You start at that end and I'll start over here. We'll search every corner and meet up in the middle."

Thea nodded, "Right."

They spread out and began searching, spraying any cracks and corners eggs were found stuck to. There were also a few clumps stuck to the bottom of Pomfrey's chair and underneath her desk and under the tea table off to the side. The job became monotonous and dull, but it was better than fighting off hatched Doxies at least.

"It looks like there are some over by that filing cases," Simone said after some time had passed.

"On it," Thea replied. Going over to the cases, she noticed some of the eggs seemed to be wedged into the drawer itself. They appeared half crushed, probably folding in on themselves as the eggs grew bigger in such an enclosed space. Still, there was the chance that the Doxies inside would still survive and they couldn't have that happening.

Trying to figure out the best way to remove the eggs, Thea prodded the cluster with her wand tip carefully. While she expected to be unsuccessful in removing them, she didn't expect what happened next. She must have prodded too hard or given her a wand a bit of a shake, for it sparked suddenly and with a crack the drawer burst open, spewing files all over the floor.

"Thea!" Simone cried concerned from all the noise.

"I'm fine," Thea assured her friend, "The drawer just popped off. My wand must have countered the spelling locking it; there must be a fracture in my wand core or something. I'll pick this up, you focus on the eggs."

Kneeling down, Thea began picking up the spilled files and arranging them back in alphabetical order. She tried not to pry and avoided looking at the names on the files, though she did spot a few familiar names here and there anyway. However, when she reached down for the remaining files on the floor, she was dismayed to find one of them open. It laid face down on the floor and when she picked it up, there was what appeared to be a page from different file stuck in it, probably having slid out of it's own file as it hit the floor. Thea went to pull the page from the file to put it in its rightful place only to find a very familiar face was staring sullenly back at her from a moving black and white photo.

Severus Snape was written in bold at the top of the file in Pomfrey's handwriting. The name of the folder it was peeking out of; Remus Lupin.

Now, there was something one should know about Theadosia Mnemosyne. Timid and sweet though she may be, her family had inherited a rather worrisome reputation in high class pureblood society for a very unique gift they had. Rumored to have been intended as a curse bestowed upon their ancestors which backfired, it was referred to as the gift of "Serendipitous Findings". Whatever the origin behind this unexplained ability, the fact was this: Thea's family had an astounding knack for accidentally and unintentionally stumbling upon, coming across, or just plain dredging up information on others; information often unknown or forgotten or that the person wanted to forget. This consisted of scandalous affairs, bank records for fraud, hidden lovechild's and the like. Basically in the Mnemosyne's presence, secrets didn't stay secrets for long.

When first beset with this interesting enchantment, Thea's family had treated the gift with care, it was a gift befitting the many Hufflepuffs scattered across the family tree. Gradually Huffflepuff loyalty waned as Slytherin ambition took over. But alas, as many family members thirst for power grew, the more temptation set in and the ability was used for espionage and blackmail. Ambition turned to greed, and greed to malice. Thea's family embraced the gift with relish, choosing to utilize their unexpected findings to run a cut throat campaign through high society to keep friends in line and enemies on edge. It ensure them seats on the Wizengamot, favors from outstanding families, and protection from retaliation, many fearing they would unearth something unsavory and use it as revenge. All pureblood families warned their children of it, especially Slytherins. Mulciber and Avery actually avoided Snape the past week because of Thea, not Simone.

Thea herself had no love for her ability, finding it invasive and mean, but that didn't mean she could prevent it from happening. Which is why she found herself in such a pickle at that moment, looking down at her new friend's very personal medical file.

Thea moved to close the file, knowing she had no right to look through something so private. Pomfrey could sort the mixed pages out later. But...there was something about the file in her hands. It almost felt like it was fate, like something wanted her to read it. A hesitant glance at the papers again and a name jumped out at her from several places in both Remus' file and Snape's.

Whomping Willow.

Thea swallowed thickly. She had heard about the incident a few months prior, the one where James Potter had reportedly saved Severus' life at the Willow. Everyone assumed that Snape had foolishly gotten himself attacked by the tree—Potter's bragging recollection of events always conveniently left out what he had actually saved Severus from, but something always seemed off to her. Why would Severus go to the Willow knowing the branches would attack him? When rumors fist started it was clear it had enraged Severus to be accused of putting himself in danger like that, but he never offered a different version to counter the claims. Why couldn't he speak out in his own defense? Was it something to do with the Potter? Or the headmaster? As far as she knew, Lupin's name never came up in the Willow story, but here he was in the medical records regarding the event.

Another quick glance at the pages. Yes, both boys records mentioned that tree.

Against her better judgment, Thea began to read.

"No..."Thea murmured, her face paling, "This...this can't be right...this can't be..." Thea flipped through the pages, "No...it's all here. It's all true...and Potter calls himself a hero?!"

"Thea?" Simone asked, finished with her side of the room, "What's wrong?"

Simone's eyes fell upon the files in Thea's shaking hands, her fingers clenched so tightly around the paper her knuckles were turning white, "Thea, what is that?"

From outside the office, the doors to the hospital wing opened and the clicking of Pomfrey's heels could be heard.

Panicking and with more than an irrational amount of rashness, Thea hastily waved her wand over the files in her hands and duplicated them. Shrinking the copies down and stowing them in her robes, she shoved the originals back into cabinet with the rest of the gathered files and spelled it shut again.

Simone watched on in shock and bemusement at her friend's uncharacteristically Slytherin sneakiness, "Thea, what on earth has gotten into you?"

"Shh!" Thea hissed, turning around nervously as Pomfrey walked into the office.

"Well, that's been taken care of," Pomfrey said wearily, "I swear I don't understand how students can get into so much trouble. So were you able to get the office cleared of eggs?"

"Mostly, Ma'am," Simone replied, casting a curious glance at Thea from the corner of her eye.

"No matter, I'll get the rest of it. Thank you very much for your help, girls. Now, I do believe it is just about curfew; you best be heading off to your dormitory," Pomfrey looked over at Thea, "Are you alright dear? You seem a bit peaky."

"I'm fine," Thea said quietly, "I guess I just worked myself up worrying about if one of the eggs hatched while we were here."

Pomfrey nodded, seemingly satisfied with her answer, "Well then, off to bed with you both."

Both girls scurried out of the wing.

'Good thing Thea's naturally twitchy,' Simone thought.

{page break}

"Sorry you had to do round with me, Remus," Lily said, "Alice ended up with a terrible migraine from all this exam madness. She couldn't even bear a flicker of a candle without feeling sick; we sent her to bed and turned out every light."

Remus and Lily were on patrol through the lower floors of the castle. As prefects, it was their job to ensure no students were lingering about the halls after curfew or sneaking out.

"It's fine, Lily," Remus replied amiably, "I was free tonight anyway, so you weren't pulling me away from anything important. Besides, it wasn't like I would be getting any studying done with all the fuss being made in the common room."

"The younger kids are still celebrating that their tests are done, huh?" Lily asked, amused.

Remus rolled his eyes, "They have no idea how lucky they are. Tests were so much simpler before we reached fifth year. Exams are much harder now. And does there have to be so many of them?" He threw his hands up dramatically, causing Lily to laugh at his antics.

Sobering, Remus turned to Lily, "So how have you been doing?"

Knowing what Remus was referring to, Lily looked down, "I'm alright. Hurt, I suppose. I guess I shouldn't really be surprised though, not with the friends he keeps."

"They really are a bad bunch," Remus said.

"Yes," Lily agreed, "They are. Really, this was all for the best; he was changing and I couldn't hang onto what we had knowing that. It's toxic."

"But letting go is easier said than done," Remus pointed out, giving Lily a knowing look, "Am I right?"

Lily looked away, "I miss him," she admitted, "But I never thought he would ever say that to me. It hurts. I need to move on."

Remus bit his lip, hesitant, "Look, Lily, I'm not one to sing Snape's praises, but I don't think he meant to say what he did."

Lily whirled around to face Remus, aghast, "Are you defending him? What he did was awful!"

"He was under a lot of pressure at the time," Remus admitted, "My friends weren't exactly helping matters."

"What they did had nothing to do with me, and yet it was ME he lashed out at. I was trying to help him!"

Remus held his hands up placating, "I wasn't saying what he did was okay. Just that...well emotions were high at the time..."

"That's no excuse," Lily insisted.

"Just one little peek!" a voice traveled down the hall to them, causing Lily and Remus to look up in surprise.

Coming down the hall to them were a pair of Slytherins, seemingly lost in a rather serious conversation.

"Seriously, Thea, why won't you let me look?" Simone asked, trying to reach an arm around her friend to snatch the file.

"No, Sim," Thea said, holding the file out of reach. She had already removed Snape's page and stowed it out of reach of Simone's grasping hands, "It isn't mine to share; I shouldn't have even done this...I don't know what came over me."

"I just want to see what it is that has you so upset. I rarely see you so hot under the collar," Simone said.

"Like I said, it isn't mine to share!" Thea repeated.

The arguing pair finally realized they weren't alone, a bit startled to find two prefects staring at them.

"What are you two doing here?" Lily asked.

Simone crossed her arms, looking down her nose at the redhead, "Not that it is any concern of yours but we just left Madam Pomfrey's and are headed to bed; the dungeons are this way. Or have you forgotten?"

Thea said nothing, her eyes locked on Remus with an unreadable expression on her face.

Lily flushed slightly, "Well then what's that you have there?" she gestured to the file in Thea's hands, "It doesn't sound like you're supposed to have it."

Simone stepped in front of Thea, hiding her from Lily's gaze, "That, Evans, is officially none of your business and I would do well to keep my nose out of other peoples' business if I were you. I won't have you two of all people trying to boss me around."

At those words, Remus stepped forward, "Hey now, you can't go around talking to a prefect like that. We do have authority over you. Now if that folder isn't something you should have, then you should probably hand it over."

"Oh so now you care about rules," came an icy voice.

Thea glared at Remus, lightening flashing in her normally kind and peaceful eyes.

"Thea?" Simone questioned.

"You have the gall to pull the prefect routine now, after all the times you have skimped on the job at the cost of others' safety and feelings?" Thea stormed past Simone, striding right up to Remus until they were standing nose to nose, Thea standing on her toes to look the taller student in the eyes.

"How many times have you turned a blind eye to what awful things you're friends were doing, huh?" Thea asked, "How many times did you let them get away with things, simply because you were too cowardly to do the right thing? Is it that you feel indebted to them? Do you think you owe them your compliance in their actions. Don't answer that—I already know," She waved the folder in Remus' face.

Remus caught sight of the name on the file and paled, realizing what the documents were.

"After all they have done, after what they did to him, you still stand by them? Tell me, were you in on that prank? Did you think it was funny, nearly getting him killed? And then you just sat back while Potter walked around with his inflated ego playing at being the hero? Have you no shame?!"

"I didn't...I mean..." Remus stuttered.

Thea wasn't done with him yet, "You know, normally I would have felt bad for someone with your condition, lord knows you can't help it, but to think you let someone use it to do something so heinous and still sit back while they torment that poor boy after all the injustice he already faced. No wonder he hangs around such bad eggs; why would he side with the light when the bloody good guys are attempted killers?!"

"You are terrible," Thea continued, "It's not your condition that makes a monster, but how you behave. You of all people should know what it is like to suffer and yet you watched someone else be subjected to pain, humiliation, and isolation day after day for the last five years and did nothing about it; even found it funny occasionally, I'm sure. Are you that bitter that you found it cathartic to see someone else getting the mickey taken out of them instead of you?" She shoved the folder into Remus's hands, "Take the bloody file, you know what's in it anyway."

With one last harsh look at the boy, Thea pushed past him and walked away.

"And since, unlike you, I am a nice person," Thea yelled over her shoulder, "Your secret is safe with me!" She continued to stomp away.

"But Thea, I never got a chance to see it!" Simone called racing after her, "What did it say?"

"It isn't your business, Sim," Thea called back.

"Oh come on!" Simone pleaded as the pair disappeared around the corner.

Remus stood there shell shocked, clutching the documents tightly in his hands.

"Remus," Lily asked softly, "What was she talking about," she glanced down at the papers, "Are these your medical files? What was she doing with them?"

Remus stared down at the file, dazed, "Sirius did warn me to avoid her. She's got a strange habit, an ability, of finding out things you don't want her to. I guess it was just a matter of time before she found this out..."

"What is it?" Lily asked, impatient, "Remus what was she talking about. She said someone almost got killed; Remus..." her friend did not respond, "Remus, what did you do?!"

Remus stared down at Lily, conflicted, "I-I didn't mean to...I...it wasn't me who did it..."

Eyes softening, Lily placed a hand on Remus arm, "Remus, you can tell me. What happened?"

Standing in the flickering torch lights, Remus took a deep breath.

"I may have made some bad choices over the years," Remus admitted, "Lily...there's something you should know..."


And so the plot thickens. *strokes a tweedly mustache*

I hope no one minds the unique little ability I gave Thea. To be fair, it can't make her much of a special snowflake as she has no control over it at all. And yes, her family was once a family of Hufflepuffs; in fact Thea almost was one, but she managed to convince the hat...somehow *shifty eyes* So it makes sense that a family of "particularly good finders" would be 'cursed' with so odd a gift.

Fun fact: Thea's last name is the personification of memory in Greek myth. Thea's ability allows her to (unwillingly) find out secrets people would rather not reveal or remember.

Tune in for the next chapter!

Read and review please. Your reviews keep me warm at night.