A/N: Relatively short chappie, this one. But very necessary to the plot. Hee hee hee…

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. But I think I'm doing a good job of faking it.

"SIRIUS BLACK!"

I set down the jeans I was folding with a sigh. My half-full suitcase was lying on the bed—the winter holidays started tomorrow. Even through the closed dormitory door I could hear the familiar sounds of Jen and Sirius conducting one of their shouting matches.

"Your turn," Ari said from where she was lying on her own four-poster, turning a page of her magazine with a flick. I sighed again, more dramatically this time, and she looked up now.

"I was the one who stopped the argument about Quidditch tactics last week, remember? It's your turn this time. And—" she threw a camera to me, which I caught one-handed. "—make sure you take some good pictures. I have an excellent one of Jen looking like she's about to bite his head off." And she gestured to the wall, on which, indeed, hung a picture with Jen's mouth so wide it could easily have swallowed the smirking Sirius whole.

"Fine," I said resignedly, striding out of the dormitory.

As I took the steps down two at a time, the shouts echoing up the spiral staircase grew steadily louder until, by the time I had stepped into the common room, they were almost deafening.

Jen and Sirius stood in the middle of the room, yelling their heads off, while people around them sat there unconcernedly. Some of them had looked up from their books and were watching the match with mild interest, but most were still reading or studying. Even the cowardly first-years had gotten used to this behavior by now, and many used it as a source of nightly entertainment.

"You bloody pervert!" Jen was bellowing, fists clenched. As usual, Sirius did not seem angry. In fact (again, as usual) he was watching her slowly reddening face with obvious pleasure. Sighing for the third time, although the noise was lost amongst all this shouting, I made my way forward between the chairs and tables.

As I approached the two, who did not seem to have noticed my presence at all, some of the people watching the event booed me, or called out, "Hey! It's just getting to the good part!"

I sized up the situation, snapping a picture or two as I watched. Jen was, indeed, reaching her third trimester of anger—she was moving closer and closer to Sirius, her face slowly reddening into a shade that would have looked stunning on a dozen roses. This was the time I had to pounce, before things really got out of hand.

Just as Jen began to say, "I can't belie—" I stepped nimbly between the two, back to Sirius.

"Jen, it's 8:30. Yelling hour is officially over." Before she could react, as was the custom, I put my arm around her shoulders and steered her away quickly. A handful of people began to clap, and Sirius gave a low and solemn bow. Just for good measure, I hexed him over my shoulder as we reached the stairs. The sound of all his joints becoming perfectly rigid was drowned by a dull chatter as people turned back to their neglected studies.

"Welcome back," Ari said, grinning, as we entered. "I'm relieved to see you're all still in one piece."

"So am I," I nodded, rolling my eyes at Jen's back which was striding furiously over to the window. Sitting once again on my bed, I smoothed the clothes that lay patiently in my trunk.

"So what was the argument about this time?" Ari asked, looking at me because Jen was still facing the window, face mutinous.

"Dunno," I replied with a shrug. "I only caught a couple of words. Something about Sirius being a 'bloody pervert'."

"Well that's original," Ari said sarcastically. "What's got into you, Jen? Lost your touch for fighting with the wanker?"

"No!" said Jen fiercely, turning around in a whirl. "He was being perverted! After having humiliated Marya Banks in front of the whole sodding common room!"

"Oh, so you didn't start it?" Ari asked in surprise.

"No I didn't bleeding start it!"

"That's odd," I commented, frowning. "Are you sure you're feeling okay, Jen?"

"NO!" she shouted for the third time. "I'm pissed at that git who has the nerve to call himself human! Honestly, like Marya didn't have enough people debasing her as it is!"

There was no reply to this, for it was perfectly true. Marya was a shy, sweet girl who we had gotten to know in the previous years, mainly because our foursome were the only ones who stood up for her against the rest of the world which seemed to take no greater pleasure than in taunting and humiliating her.

"What did he say this time?" Ari asked.

"Oh, the usual," Jen stormed, looking like an ax-murderess. "First he started going on about how she had failed the Potions test, and then he went into his prewritten list of insults concerning her looks, and by the time he got around to asking her loudly across the common room whether her face had always looked like that, or if she had been run over by a hippogriff recently, she was on the verge of tears. That was when I stood up and told him to leave her the hell alone. And then one thing kind of led into another."

"That—that—" I fumed, trying to think of a word low enough to describe Sirius. "That jackass!" There was silence, as all of us quietly seethed in our hatred.

"I'm so glad you yelled at him, then," Ari said fervently after a few moments. I nodded vehemently, and then another thought struck me.

"Is Marya still down there?" I asked, faintly sure of the answer.

"No," Jen confirmed sadly. "She ran out of the room when I started yelling at Sirius and everyone's attention was distracted onto us. Dunno where she went."

"I'm going to go find her," I said firmly, then stood up and left, walking down the stairs again. Crossing the common room, I shot Sirius a look of pure hatred. He did not notice, but James did. I caught his eye too and glared at him, burning with anger. Not staying to see his reaction, I exited the room.

The corridor was deserted, its silence saddening me. I was sure that Marya would not have gone far. Trying every empty classroom on the floor, I was about to open the door of the last one when a noise issuing from within it caught my ear. Leaning gingerly forward, I pressed my ear against the oak door.

"—don't understand why it has to be done right now, My Lord…" The voice was female, and yet heavy, sagging with cruelty and dark anger. It sounded familiar, although I could not quite place the tone. Something in the submissive and venerating quality of the voice held me breathless with intrigue. I shoved silently closer to the door.

"Because in three days it will be too late—he will already have transformed." This voice sent a chill running through my flesh and I shuddered. It was high, with a nasal quality, and the icy indifference in it made me almost consider listening no further just to escape that voice.

"Can it not be postponed until the next moon?" the woman's voice asked. It was obvious that she was taking a very great risk in asking this question. I could almost feel her anxiousness as she awaited the reply.

"No, it cannot," the other voice responded dangerously, as if warning the woman to question no further. "It must be taken care of now." There was a pause, as she seemed to build up courage to continue.

"But…why Snape? Might he not be useful to our cause?"

At the sound of the name I knew, my gasp had already escaped into the frozen air. Luckily the cold voice had cut in threateningly at that moment and engulfed the sound.

"Severus already knows too much, and I fear his loyalties lie…elsewhere." The word, undulating in its frosty slither, sent a shiver up my spine.

"Is it really necessary, though, to—"

"It is necessary to obey me without question!" the voice said, suddenly angry. "Unless you wish to meet the same fate as your beloved Serevus…"

There was silence for a moment in which I waited, not daring to breathe lest I fail to hear what came next.

"Yes, my lord," the woman said softly, cowed. "I will do what you ask of me, my lord."

"See that you do," the other replied. There was a hint of threat in its voice. "I shall speak to you again in three night's time, when all has finished."

Leaning on the wall next to the door, I quickly disillusioned myself. There was a chink of glass on wood inside the room, followed by a short pause and then quick footsteps. The door opened, and a mane of thick dark hair came into view, a hand protruding from the robe beneath it to quietly shut the door.

I was trying to breathe silently as the figure strode away, robed in shadow. There was no sound from within the room, but I dared not walk away in case the person still inside heard my footsteps.

After ten full minutes of absolute silence from the room, I crept carefully forward. Trying to make my motions as silent as liquid I raised my wand and touched the doorknob, half expecting it to curse me the moment my fingers brushed its polished surface. Breathing deeply, I counted backwards from three. When I reached zero, I flung open the door, already brandishing my wand.

It was empty.

Stepping cautiously inside, I checked behind the door. Moving silently among the rows of desks like a ghost, I peered beneath each. The room was windowless, and quite deserted.

The person with the terrifying voice had vanished.

My breathing now coming rapidly, I walked backwards out of the room. As soon as I had cleared the doorway, I turned around and tore back to Gryffindor tower.

A/N: And the plot thickens! Hee hee hee…

Anyways, I'm terribly sorry for making Sirius hate-able in this chapter. But he has to be, at first, so the girls can be justified in disliking him. He'll redeem himself soon, don't worry!