A/N: THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN CHANGED SLIGHTLY. I finished writing the 12 chapter to realize I needed to change some things in this one, so- enjoy!

CHAPTER 11- DARK MAGIC

"Full moon tonight!" Remus said brightly one Friday afternoon, just after their last class. He'd been in an exceptionally good mood lately, for recently Remus had realized something about himself that no one else had yet. Except maybe the other person it concerned, and the feeling seemed to be mutual. But Remus could think about that later.

"Yeah!" Sirius responded gleefully. "Where to tonight?"

"How about down by Kathar, we haven't been there in a while," James suggested from where he lay on his bed, reading a Quidditch magazine. The boys were hanging out in their dormitory, happily anticipating their coming adventure.

"Um," Peter spoke up, "I don't think that's the best idea."

"Why not?"

"B-because," Peter reasoned, his mind doing some wondrously fast thinking. "It's not the happiest place, and with the d-death-eaters around, it might be dangerous-"

"Oh, but this will be such the best-" Remus exclaimed happily.

"You sound like Julia," Sirius commented, looking up from the enlarged picture of Severus that he was charming. After a few choice words muttered by Sirius, the poster-sized picture Snape was wearing a large red hat and had no shirt on. His chest was beyond hairy: it was really quite disturbing.

There was a flicker of something in Remus's eyes, but he just continued on, "-We should add to the Marauder's map, really. We could add the whole town of Kathar-"

"Nah, not enough room on the parchment," James said, turning the page in his magazine. "But we could make a new one."

"Be better if we made one of Hogsmede," Sirius put in his opinion. The picture Severus was now twirling about in a fluffy pink tutu.

"Yeah, but we can't go there again, after what happened last time," Remus said. The others stopped what they were doing to let the guilt sink in a bit. Upon their last visit to Hogsmede Remus had slipped away from them and come very close to biting a little wizard boy who was walking home from a friend's house.

"Point taken," James said after a moment. "Then Kathar it is."

"But-" Peter started, but Sirius interrupted, saying, "Honestly, Wormtail, what's gotten into you? Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Oh, fine," Peter gave in, but in the back of his mind there was a nagging, biting feeling telling him not to go.

"So, Jamsie," Sirius began in a taunting voice, abandoning the picture of Snape dancing about and singing Gloria Gayner at the top of his lungs. "How're you and Lil doing?"

James rolled his eyes and groaned, but he smiled a bit too. "Great."

Sirius threw a pillow at his best friend. "Disgusting, really. I can't believe how mushy you two are, walking around like you're in love-"

Remus, Peter, and James laughed at this.

"Sorry, but we are," James responded, grinning.

"WHAT?" the others shouted. James and Lily had decided not to mention to anyone what they'd decided that night they walked home- they'd had enough drama for the day. After that it just didn't seem necessary to tell the boys. The girls knew, of course, Lily couldn't help but tell them. But James had preferred to keep it to himself a bit longer.

"That's great," Remus said sincerely. Peter's beady eyes were very un- natural looking for they were wide with shock.

"Not really?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, really," James responded. Sirius stared. "Well, congrats."

"Thanks," James said. "But you seem to have your hands full with Maggie these days, I should be congratulating YOU. Didn't I see you two behind greenhouse three last week-?"

"Shut up!" Sirius cut him off, a look of madness in his dark eyes. "You didn't, it must have been someone else-"

"Oh just admit it, Padfoot," Remus said, rolling his eyes and smiling at his friend. "You LOVE her. You WANT her-"

"Ugh," Sirius tried to act disgusted, but the blush of red in his face gave him away. "Maybe just a bit."

"I knew it!" James shrieked. They were really starting to sound quite girly.

"Speaking of the Maggie and Lily, oughtn't we go tell the girls some excuse why we won't be around later in case they get suspicious?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, especially if they come 'round looking for us," Peter agreed. The four of them sobered up a bit and headed for the door, Sirius lugging the picture of Snape with him (who was shrieking in a horribly off-key voice, "Oh as long as I know how to love I know I'll stay alive-").

"I think I'll put this up in the common room," Sirius said casually. "You know, a little entertainment."

**************

After Sirius placed the picture of Snape in front of the empty fireplace they found the girls in the back of the common room, whispering together in giggly voices.

"I think they're discussing us," Sirius muttered to Remus and James, who were on either side of him, as the boys approached. As if to confirm his suspicions, Julia, Elisabeth, Lily and Maggie looked up and giggled hysterically at the sight of the boys.

" 'Lo," Lily greeted them through her laughter. "What's going on? You look like you're up to something."

"I was about to say the same to you lot," Sirius said, eyeing them suspiciously. "And rightfully, I think-"

"Oh, we're just having a girl talk," Lily said, but she avoided their eyes as she said this, James's in particular. They'd just been discussing Jack Lestrange, a particularly good-looking Slytherin. Not that Lily had said anything to betray James, she had in fact put in her opinion that James was the best-looker in all of the seventh year, but she still felt guilty.

"Oh no," James said, laughing. Lily walked over to him and pecked him on the cheek, asking, "What are you all up to?"

"Not much, really," James said, slipping an arm around Lily's waist and pulling her closer, kissing the top of her head. "But we won't be 'round later on, got a project to finish up for, er-"

"Defense," Sirius jumped in. "Whettle's given us extra work for blowing up Malfoy's book-bag last week."

"Honestly, it was just a bit of fun," Remus said, and the girls laughed while the boys grinned evily. Julia smiled at Remus, and his cheeks flushed up a bit.

"And it was only on accident we sprayed his face with ink, we didn't mean it," Peter said, and the others laughed again.

"I'm sure you didn't," Maggie said, her eyes flicking towards Sirius. He was looking at her warmly and smiling.

Elisabeth, who never missed a thing, caught Julia and Remus's glance, as well as Maggie and Sirius's. And of course, there were James and Lily with their arms around each other, whispering their own little conversation. Elisabeth couldn't help feel a bit jealous at Julia and Remus, for she had a crush on him. But she was taking care of that.

Remus- Elisabeth thought for a moment. Wasn't there something she'd been thinking earlier, something about Remus and tonight-

"Tonight's the full moon!" she said abruptly, remembering. The others, who'd been chatting, looked at her.

"I know," Remus said casually. "I'm going down to the grounds later on."

"But what about your project?"

"Erm, they're working on it," Remus said, nodding to James, Sirius and Peter, who nodded in turn.

"Oh, Peter too?" Maggie asked curiously. Peter shot her a look, but the others took it as "Oh, you mean you're actually letting PETER help you?" That wasn't, in fact, what she meant.

"Yes, Peter's a good wizard," Remus lied, frowning at Maggie a bit. Julia looked back and forth between them.

Elisabeth cleared her throat. "Well this is all fun, but I've got to be off." Checking her watch, she headed towards the dormitory stairs to get her cloak, saying over her shoulder, "I've got somewhere to be, I'll see you all in the morning."

As she disappeared up the cold stone staircase, the others looked at each other in silence, wondering about Maggie's hard feelings against Peter and Elisabeth's mysteriousness.

"Hadn't you better get started on your project?" Maggie asked after a moment, still staring at Peter.

"Maggie, lay off," Julia said. Maggie's eyes flared for a moment, but instead she said, "I'll see you all later, I've got something to do." With that she turned and strode off through the portrait hole, heading to the grounds.

"What was that all about?" Sirius asked.

"I have no idea," Julia shook her head. Unseen to everyone else, Peter gulped.

**************

"There goes Madam Pomfrey."

"Okay, off with the cloak then-"

"No, hang on, she's not completely gone yet-"

"Ow, Peter, that was my FOOT!"

"Sorry, I tripped!"

"Shh!" James hissed. "There she goes-okay-see Remus?"

"No, he's probably in the tunnel. On three?" Sirius put in.

"Yes, I think so," James nodded. "One- Two- Three-"

They pushed off the cloak and began transforming, James quickly shoving the invisibility cloak into his robe pocket.

Anyone who looked out of their dormitory at that moment would be very startled, indeed. Standing on the grounds just before the Whomping Willow were a glowing, silvery stag, a giant dog that very much resembled a grim, and a tiny, beady-eyed rat.

Prongs nodded his head towards the Willow, and Wormtail slunk forward, weaving under the Willow's wildly flailing branches to touch the knot on the trunk.

Prongs and Padfoot prepared themselves to tackle Remus, just in case he'd temporarily lost his mind. But they'd been doing this with him so long that Remus was more or less in his human mind when he emerged. He even snuffed a laugh as he watched Peter weave through the moving branches.

The boys met in a small circle on the lawn by the forest, as if to make sure everyone was ready, and in a moment James took the lead as they wove through the trees, heading to Kathar.

From the shadows a small figure with long hair watched them go, her smile not nearly as nice as it usually was.

*****************

As the animagi reached the small, mostly wizarding town of Kathar, they instantly knew something was wrong. The usually brightly-lit little street had gone dark and dim, and in the air there was a scent of ill- intentioned potions brewing. Not to mention that their animal-instincts had definitely picked up on the uneasiness of the forest, as though every animal was lying quietly in its den, too frightened to come out.

Prongs stopped as they reached the edge of the forbidden forest, which ran right alongside Kathar. Moony and Padfoot slunk up to either side of him, though Wormtail hung back. His little rat body quivered in fright, and he squeaked a few times as if to say, "Let's go back."

Padfoot growled silently at him and took a cautious step out from the cover of the trees. The wind whistled down the empty street, blowing cold snow from the eaves of the houses.

A moment later Prongs came up next to him, sniffing the hair and stamping his right hoof a few times. Padfoot nodded, acknowledging that he'd understood Prongs's concern. He growled a low growl and inched forward, beckoning the others to follow.

As they slunk along the tree line towards an open field that ran for miles to the west, Prongs backed up by Moony, just to make sure he didn't get any crazy ideas. Wormtail scurried on behind them, his whiskers twitching nervously.

As they came upon the field and easily stepped over (or under, in Womtail's case) the low, broken down fence, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs suddenly felt extremely uneasy. There was no doubt a spell had been placed on this field, warding trespassers away; but the fact that they were in animal form heightened their resistance to the spell. Ever the curious mischief-makers that they were, the four slunk towards the far end of the pasture, where they could just make out a group of black-robed wizards standing in a circle.

******************

Back at the castle Julia and Lily were sitting awake in their dorm, talking quickly and quietly about Remus.

"I have a feeling Elisabeth's after him," Julia whispered. "And I can't help but wish she didn't, I like him so much!"

"Maybe she's not, really," Lily suggested, though she didn't believe it herself. "Elisabeth has been acting strangely lately, particularly around Remus and Julia."

"She's weird now," Julia voiced Lily's exact thoughts. "She doesn't smile as much as she used to, or laugh."

"You don't think she's gotten into something bad, do you?" Lily wondered, but before she could get an answer there was a knock at their door.

Jumping off of her bed and walking softly to the door, she called out, "Who is it?"

"Violet," a voice answered, and Lily opened the door. There stood a frenzied looking Violet, her usual optimistic manner and brightly lit eyes completely vanished. Instead she was breathing hard, and her skin was paler than the moonlight.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked, extremely concerned. She beckoned for Violet to come in, but the girl seemed to not be responding.

"I was just at the grounds- with- with a friend- and I saw a girl from your dorm down there- and when I try-tried to talk to her-" Violet's breath was coming rapidly, as though it was paining her to talk. "-she, she had a wand- and on her arm- my friend's still there- I ran- I tried to get to Dumbledore- but his office, I don't know where it is- McGonagall's off somewhere- Lily, please, I don't know who else to ask for- please, get Dumbledore-"

Violet had said all of this in mere seconds. Her face had gone ever paler, if possible, and her lips were quivering. Her jaw shook as she spoke, and Violet grasped the armoire beside her, as though she may faint any moment.

Lily and Julia were now both next to Violet, Lily ready to support her friend if she should fall and Julia looking uneasy, as though she wasn't sure if she should call for help or settle down to hear the rest of the story.

"Violet, slow down, we can't understand you," Lily said, her voice attempting to take a soothing tone. It didn't work well, her heartbeat was starting to pick up a bit. Violet had a look of such terror in her eye that Lily wasn't sure quite what to do.

Violet swayed and Lily caught her arm to steady her.

"What did you see, Violet?" Lily asked, her voice assuming a very regal, head-girl tone. Violet slowed her breath a tenth of a fraction and said carefully, though no more slowly, "My-friend- is still down there. She got hit with- with a spell- and I ran for help-"

"Are you sure it was a girl from our dorm?" Lily asked, and Violet nodded. "I heard her, I recognized her voice, but I couldn't see what she looked like-"

"Can't you remember from the voice?" Julia asked. Violet didn't respond; she looked weaker, and she sunk slowly to the ground, shaking violently. Her eyes stared at the floor, as though remembering an awful ordeal.

"Lily- I think- she's a death eater-" Violet said urgently.

Lily stopped breathing, her mind jumping to the same conclusion as Julia's, judging by the look they exchanged. Elisabeth had been acting so weird lately- and she'd gone out earlier-

"Julia, stay with Violet. I'm going for Dumbledore."

*************************

Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs were now sitting quietly at the far end of the field, about ten feet away from a group that was unmistakably made up of death eaters. They were surrounding a cauldron with a bright purple, sparkling fluid sloshing around on the inside. And eerie light from the potion spilled into the sky, glowing deep purple.

The group was chanting under their breaths, not making much more than a gentle humming noise. Judging by the weakness of the earlier repelling spell and the number of wizards here, this was a small, untrained group of death eaters. New recruits, and if it could be determined by their size, not much older than the four boys watching from the shadows. They were, in fact, the same age.

The chanting stopped, and a girl of seventeen stepped out into the circle, dipping a ladle into the cauldron and sipping the liquid tentatively.

"Lestrange," she said. "You first."

Something prompted Padfoot in the back of his mind. The girl's voice was distorted between the layer of cloth she wore over her mouth and the howling wind in the forest behind them, but Padfoot recognized that voice.

A boy who looked as tall as the marauders were when not transformed stepped out to the ladle and took it from the girl, saying a few words under his breath before downing the whole thing. Shuddering, he stepped back into the circle.

"McCaffery," the girl prompted, and another robed and hooded teen stepped out to refill and drink from the ladle.

Padfoot's mind was spinning, and he fought hard to try to grasp what he was sure he'd just witnessed. That voice- he'd known that voice for so long- seven years now. But it couldn't be true- she would never- there was no way-

A growl came from behind him, and Padfoot turned just in time to see Moony dash off into the forest in a quick snap of snarls. No doubt he'd been sitting quiet to long, his werewolf mind was getting restless. Prongs was already after Moony, hoofs quietly beating the ground. Wormtail squeaked and followed urgently, though he could do nothing to stop the now raging werewolf.

Padfoot followed hurriedly, though he couldn't help throwing a glance back at the circle. They hadn't heard Moony, luckily, but there was still a feeling of uneasiness in Padfoot's mind. He was sure he knew that girl who stood by the cauldron, but he wasn't willing to believe it. To him it just didn't seem possible that Maggie could be a death eater. She wasn't like that.

A growl from the forest made Padfoot focus on the task at hand, and he ran off after his friends.

*********************************** Ooh I bet ur all good and confused now, is Maggie the evil one? Or Elisabeth? (Cuz I'll give you a hint, it's not both.) I'm gonna get a bunch of flames for this, but before you go and get all mad at me just wait for a few more chapters- things are going to take an interesting turn- trust me, it's all gonna work out nicely in the end!!! Luv, Cassi~