Chapter 7. Awareness

"Ah Mr. Malfoy," Tenebrae said. "I trust you bring good news."

"Of course Tenebrae." Malfoy said, his voice giving James the impression that he was not extremely fond of the Professor. "The ones we approached were more than happy to join."

"Excellent," Tenebrae said. "They will become great recruits once they come of age. The Dark Lord will be pleased."

James's eyes widened. Malfoy was recruiting students, no doubt Slytherins, to the Death Eaters, or at least Death Eaters in training. And Tenebrae was a Death Eater too. James pulled out his wand instinctively, despite the fact that neither of the people in the room had noticed him.

"What's happening in the real world? What's the Dark Lord's next step?" Malfoy asked Tenebrae.

"I'm afraid I cannot share that information with you Lucius, it is only for those the Dark Lord truly trusts." Tenebrae said, pride slipping into his voice. Malfoy physically deflated for a second, but quickly composed himself, and excused himself. James followed him out the door, just avoiding getting the back of his foot caught by the shutting door. He then turned away from the Slytherin and ran to Gryffindor tower. He pulled of the Cloak and stuffed it into his robe pocket while he told the Fat Lady the password. James then sprinted through the common room and up to his dorm where he found Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Frank. Frank and Peter were playing chess and Sirius and Remus were betting on them.

Sirius saw James enter. "Frank, leave." He said shortly. Frank looked up in indignation.

"Sirius," James said. "You can't just kick Frank out, it's his dorm too."

"But I thought you were gonna tell us about you know what." Sirius responded.

"I am, but we can't just kick Frank out everything we need to talk about something secretive" James said. "Frank, we're gonna be talking about something top secret, something you can't tell anyone about unless we tell you that you can, understand?"

Frank nodded, obviously wondering what was so important that he had to be sworn to secrecy. Once James was certain that his dorm mate wouldn't say anything, he told his tale, giving Frank some background information on why he was following Lucius, and leaving out the fact he had an Invisibility Cloak, saying instead that Fabian put a Disillusionment Charm on him.

When he finished his tale he waited for their responses. Remus was first to say something: "So you think Professor Tenebrae is a Death Eater?"

"It seems like it. We might have to keep watching him but-" James started before he was interrupted by Sirius.

"Are you kidding? He's definitely a Death Eater, what else would he be talking about the Dark Lord and sending Malfoy out to get students to join the Death Eaters?"

"Well he didn't specifically say to join the Death Eaters." Remus pointed out.

"It was implied." Sirius responded.

"It does sound like that." Frank agreed.

"Definitely," James said. "But there's only one issue with that, why would Dumbledore hire a Death Eater?"

Sirius thought for a moment. "It's possible he didn't know. Or maybe Tenebrae didn't become a Death Eater until after he was hired." Sirius said logically.

"Wait, if Tenebrae's a Death Eater, won't he try to hurt students who are against them?" Peter asked nervously.

"Nah." James said. "If he hurt students he would lose his job and it would make it clear he's a Death Eater. It wouldn't be worth it for him."

"The bigger issue is what his plan is. Whether he was a Death Eater before he was hired or he became one after doesn't matter. Why does Voldemort want someone inside of Hogwarts?" Frank asked.

"But guys, we don't even know if he actually is a Death Eater." Remus said. "Or maybe he's a spy for Dumbledore."

"Why would Dumbledore need a spy? It's not like we're at war." Sirius asked.

"Maybe not now, but from the way things are going that might be coming up." Remus responded darkly.

They were all quiet for a minute, each thinking of what their future would be like if the Wizarding World went to war. James was first to break the silence, "We don't know anything like that is going to happen for sure but we should definitely keep looking into it. Maybe I could owl my dad and he could look into it from the outside." he said.

"That would probably be the best thing to do." Remus said. "We can let the professionals deal with it, at least for now."

"But don't you guys want to be the ones to stop him?" Sirius asked. "I don't want to just sit around and 'let the professionals deal with it'."

James didn't say anything for a minute. "How about this," he started. "We can keep looking into it ourselves, but we keep my dad posted so he can look from the outside. Then, over break, we can compare what we've found and we might be able to prove that he is a Death Eater." Everyone seemed happy with the suggestion and the conversation ended. Frank left to go hang out with Alice and the Marauders were left alone.

"Why the hell did you do that?" Sirius asked once he was sure Frank was gone.

"Do what?" James asked though he knew what Sirius was talking about.

"Let Frank in on our conversation!" Sirius responded. "It was our secret stuff!"

"Sirius we can't just go and kick him out every time we need to talk. Plus his dad is an Auror." James said calmly.

"But-" Sirius started.

"No Sirius. And it's not like he's joining the Marauders, by he is our friend, our dorm mate, and our House mate. We have the same classes and see each other daily. Having some topics that we can talk about in front of him would make our lives a lot easier. I'm not saying we discuss Remus's secret with him, just some things like stuff about the Death Eaters." James finished and looked at his friends' reactions. "How about we take a vote" James suggested. They all nodded. "All in favor of allowing Frank to listen and be a part of some conversations that involve Marauder business, as long as it is agreed upon by us before hand say I."

"Aye."

"Aye."

"Aye."

"Aye. I guess." Sirius said.

"Great." James said. He then pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill and wrote down this new rule of theirs. He handed I around so each of them could sign it before putting it in his bedside table drawer. "There," he said. "Now we have that documented."

From that moment on Frank became one of the few people outside of the Marauders that was trusted enough to talk with them in at least one matter that they considered top secret. It was a great honor and privilege, and it made James and his friends want to help him even more when they saw Mr. Potter, a grim expression on his face, and a tearful Augusta Longbottom walk into the Entrance Hall the following morning, Dumbledore leading them to his office.

A/N: Sorry it took so long but here's chapter 7. What do you guys think about me involving Frank in the story more? Like it? Hate it? Tell me by reviewing. Oh, and though there most likely won't be one next chapter, any prank ideas you have you can put into a review and I might use them (and give you credit of course). Thanks for reading!