AN: I don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter 6

The next night, I try to get in a little nap before my "adventure" with the boys, but I find that I'm too on edge to sleep. I hear Andromeda snoring softly a few feet away. I haven't told her or anyone else about my plans for tonight because I feel so foolish for letting my pride and quick temper land me in this situation.

The clock strikes one, and I slip gingerly out of our bedroom. My heart begins to beat faster as I tip-toe through the Slytherin common room and sneak out into the dungeons. Surprisingly, the guys are already there, waiting for me.

"You actually came," says Potter, shocked.

I turn to appraise him, narrowing my eyes, and notice that his glasses are gone. This draws my attention to his eyes, which I see are intense blue ones, like Rodolphus's and yet not quite the same. Ja- Potter's eyes are a deeper blue; they remind me of stormy seas. He is holding some sort of shiny cloak in his arms and looking at me expectantly. Are his hands shaking? I don't think I've ever seen him appear so nervous before.

For some reason, looking at him in this vulnerable state evokes a sense of pity in my heart for Potter. I feel like I should punch him, curse him even, but somehow I just find myself wanting to talk to him – to ask him why he's done all that he's done. Who am I kidding? He's bothered my friends and put Severus through hell the past two weeks. I feel my anger begin to grow – anger at myself that I cannot bring myself to punish this jerk.

"Well, I couldn't let you boys have all the fun," I reply, and I turn to Sirius. "What's this little adventure anyway?"

All four guys smile and exchange knowing glances. "We're going to go for a little walk in the woods," explains Sirius.

The woods? "How are we possibly supposed to sneak out of the castle and into the ForbiddenForest without getting caught?" I demand.

Potter speaks up. "With this," he answers, offering me a folded piece of parchment.

Against my better judgment that this might be a prank, I take it from him. There is an elegant scroll across the front of it: "Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot & Prongs are proud to present The Marauder's Map." Odd names. I unfold the map, and a birds-eye view of Hogwarts appears on the parchment. It even has the current location of everyone on the school grounds. Still gazing at the map in my hands, I move toward the hidden entrance to the Slytherin common room. My name on the map does the same.

"Incredible," I breathe. Only when the boys begin to chuckle at my fascination do I realize how silent they had been a moment ago, watching my reaction. "Wherever did you find this?" I address the lot of them.

Remus Lupin speaks up. "James found it in the Gryffindor dormitories at the start of the school year," he informs me.

I shift my gaze back to Potter. "Y-yeah I dropped something under my bed, and when I looked underneath, I saw the map…it was all dusty under there; someone probably left it there awhile ago."

"Four someones," I correct him. "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. What strange names. They sound more like pets than people."

They say nothing, but I notice puny Peter Pettigrew, who's standing behind the others, squirm uncomfortably. Does he know something about those names?

Before I have the chance to ask him, Sirius exclaims, "Alright then! Enough talk – let's go before the sun comes up, shall we?"

We leave the dungeons and use the map to see if anyone is coming our way, but we pass no one and scurry out of the castle undetected. The night sky is completely covered in clouds, hiding the moon and the stars from view. This total darkness gives me an uneasy feeling, and we all have to use our wands to light the way. As we near the woods, I wonder aloud, "Why are we going into the ForbiddenForest?"

"Because we can," answers Sirius. Boys. As if they didn't attract enough trouble, they actually have to go looking for it. Honestly. I look over at James Potter, the typical troublemaker, and realize that he's been strangely quiet all the way out here.

"What's that you're holding?" I ask him, as the five of us set foot inside the dark forest.

He seems surprised that I'm actually initiating a normal conversation with him. "Uh…it's an invisibility cloak," he manages to say. "My dad passed it down to me when I started school at Hogwarts. I brought it just in case we lost the map or something."

I extend my hand toward him. "Can I try it?"

"Sure!" he responds, gladly handing the cloak over to me. I pull the cloak on so that it's covering my whole body.

He laughs. "Bellatrix! You're gone!" he teases. From the safety of the invisibility cloak, I stare at his face. All traces of bitterness and mockery are gone. He's actually laughing with someone and not at them…at me, that is. What could have possibly changed him so drastically in the past day? I haven't the slightest idea, but I decide that I don't mind this side of James Potter.

I laugh along softly with James as I remove the cloak and hand it back to him. Then, I notice that the rest of our little group is gone. "They left us?" I ask, a bit worried – not so much about being in the dark forest, but about being alone with James. I'm not sure how exactly to act towards him anymore; this sudden personality change of his has got me so bloody confused.

"Don't worry," he assures me. "I know where they're going."

"And where's that?"

"You'll see," he promises me with a grin. All of a sudden though, his face is somber. "I really need to ask your forgiveness, Bellatrix. The entire time I've been at Hogwarts, I've been…pretty awful to the Slytherins…especially those closest to you…especially Snape."

My eyes widen in astonishment that he's offering an apology. Is he really serious? Or is he about to hit me with the punch line?

"I realize that it was a cruel thing to do to them and to you as well," James continues. "My biggest weakness is jealousy, Bellatrix. I've got really strong feelings for you. It's taken me five years to realize that. At first, I wanted to impress you. I didn't really know why, other than the fact that you're tough. I wanted to show you that I could be just as much of a bad-ass. Then, I started getting jealous of everyone that you're really close to, so I took out my frustration on them."

He takes a deep breath and sighs. "I was feeling really bad about treating your family like that," he adds. "Then two weeks ago, Sirius and I started hanging out, and I felt a bit better because I was being nice to him…on the other hand, I guess I more than made up for it by tormenting Snape. I honestly thought he and you…that doesn't excuse what I did though – what sort of hateful person I've been for the past five years. I just hope that, one day, you can forgive me, Bellatrix."

I feel dizzy with confusion. Does he mean all those things he just said? Does he? He's right – liking me does not excuse what he did. However, if he truly meant those words, and he isn't trying to pull one over on me, doesn't he deserve a second chance? But how can I even be considering that when only yesterday he was my biggest enemy? I just keep coming back to one thought: is he being honest with me?

"Why…why should I believe you?" I half-whisper, afraid my voice will break. "Why should I believe any of this?"

He steps closer to me and rests his hands on my shoulders. He's so close that I have to look up to meet his gaze. Those stormy blue eyes seem to be raging with some powerful emotion. "Because, quite honestly, I love you, Bellatrix Black," he tells me, just before taking my face in his warm hands and planting the gentlest of kisses on my unexpecting lips. The kiss lasts more than just a few seconds, and after a moment, I realize that I'm kissing him back. Instantly, I pull away to look at his face, and gazes at me intently.

Breathless, I try to sort through my thoughts. "Wow," I say, "That's…a lot to process."

Then, I do something I don't think either of us expect; I burst into giggles.

He, in turn, smiles at me, before becoming serious again. "Do you think you could ever forgive me for all the pain I've caused?" he asks, doubt obvious in his tone.

I look up at him thoughtfully. "I think," I admit, "that you and I should just turn over a new leaf – completely start over. Hi, I'm Bellatrix."

Chuckling in disbelief, he replies, "Well, hello there, Bellatrix, I'm James."

"Pleasure to meet you, James. You can call me Bella."

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Walking deeper into the forest with James, I notice that a bit of light begin to shine down through the trees. Finally. Those clouds from earlier must have parted, and now we can see more of our surroundings in the silver moonlight.

James stops walking. "Bella," he begins uncertainly. "There is something you need to know…about The Marauder's Map."

So they do know something. "What is it?" I prompt him.

"I didn't find it under my bed. We…we've been working on it for the past two weeks."

"You guys made it?" I say, amazed. He nods. "Wait, so you four are…"

"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," he finishes for me.

"What's with those names? And why didn't you all just tell me this in the first place?"

"Because," he replies, "it'll be easier to show you."

"Show me what?"

"This way," he answers simply, taking me by the arm and walking to a large clearing in the middle of the forest, where the full moon illuminates everything. Suddenly, my breath catches in my throat. Standing in the center of the clearing is some sort of large beast that looks strangely like a wolf but almost half…no. This can't be happening.

"James!" I whisper frantically, whipping out my wand.

James doesn't seem worried in the least, though. "Don't worry, Bella; he won't hurt us. He's had his potion today, haven't you, Remus?" he says calmly.

Remus? "Remus is a werewolf?" I ask, shocked.

"Yeah," he confirms, "Remus is Moony."

Moony. Like werewolves and full moons. The full moon! No wonder they wanted to come out here tonight. Wait a minute. If Remus is Moony the werewolf, then what about the rest of them?

"And what about the rest of you?" I demand.

"As soon as I found out about Remus's…condition, I wanted to do something about it. Something to make him not feel like so much of an outsider with us. So, Peter and I worked the whole summer on our big experiment."

"What sort of experiment?"

"We're animagi," he replies. "We can each transform into an animal, like Remus does, so that we can keep up with the big guy whenever there's a full moon. Sirius is working on it, too. He hasn't had as long as we've had to practice, but he's not doing too shabbily."

It's then that I notice the shaggy, black dog standing off to the side, with a squeaky rat.

The dog's fur is nearly the same color as Sirius's dark hair, while the rat reminds me of rat-faced Peter. I stifle a laugh.

"Padfoot and Wormtail," James introduces them respectively.

Padfoot, or Sirius, comes up to me, wagging his tail and panting. He jumps up on me, knocking me over. James laughs at my disheveled state, and I can't help but join in.

"So what about you? Prongs?" I question him.

He looks at me, hesitating before closing his eyes in concentration and transforming into a large stag with enormous antlers. Prongs. Of course.

Looking over at "Moony," I think of how difficult Remus's condition must be to live with, and I realize that, if James would do this for his friend to support him and include him – if he would do something so dangerously difficult and illegal for wizards our age – then maybe there's some good in him after all.

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