A/N: Victoria: thank you for reviewing, I really enjoy hearing your comments and it's wonderful that you find the story so gripping! Everyone: here is an action-packed chapter, I hope you like it!

Chapter 13: Tangled in Trouble

Finally – it was Friday evening. James threw himself down onto his favourite window seat in the Gryffindor Common Room and closed his eyes, savouring the blissful moment: no more work, the first Quidditch training of the year tomorrow. It was the weekend!

A grin broke over his face as Sirius' whoops reached his ears, along with some clunks and screams of laughter – Peter was throwing the Fanged Frisbee for Sirius and Remus to catch, and the boys were launching themselves off the sofa and knocking over chairs in their attempts to get reach the Frisbee first. It had become a frequent game in the Gryffindor Common room over the last week and it was one that Sirius' doggy instincts could not resist.

James' thoughts began to wander and he sat up, looking out of the window and tuning out the ruckus going on around him. He had not seen Lily and Snape together at any hour of the day or night for the entire week – neither face to face, nor on the Marauders Map, which he had taken to checking compulsively. Given that, and what he had gleaned from the last Vallatus lesson, he was beginning to accept that perhaps Severus was not forcing Lily into a relationship. James had devoted his attention to her thoughts while they had been joined by the Vallatus on Sunday, and he had to admit that he had received no impression that Lily was frightened by Severus. The git had not even crossed her thoughts until they had cast their Joint Patronus Charm.

And then… then nothing else seemed to fill her head as she noticed Snivellus morphing out of the darkness. He was quite sure that Lily was unaware of how the Vallatus Charm enabled him to feel her emotions as well as see her visions, or she would not have allowed herself to stare at Severus, let alone think about him in the way she had then… James had been too scared to enlighten Lily on this technicality; he did not want to have to deal with the fluttery ache he had felt echoing from Lily's heart into his. He guessed what it meant – but it was too painful to acknowledge, too dismaying to believe. He just couldn't take it. Denial was much easier.

But perhaps everything would be fine – after all, Lily had not met up with Severus all week, and she had chosen to work with him in today's Transfiguration lesson…

Latching onto this hopeful thought, James let his eyes wander from the waving treetops of the Forest to the grey lake, where many coppery leaves were settling on its surface. Then some movement caught his eye and James blenched.

Lily was down there – with Snape!

He was filled with disbelief. Shit, his mere thought that Lily was finally free from Snivellus must have jinxed it!

"Guys, Snivelly's up to his tricks again-!" James yelled and was instantaneously squashed by the three others clambering over him to get a good look out of the window.

"I thought we had agreed that he was not in a relationship with Lily…?" Remus said, looking puzzled.

"He's a sly Slytherin, I bet he knew we were watching him this week and held off," Peter conjectured, staring at the couple walking down the lawn to the lake.

"I hate him," James corroborated. Nothing was truer. From his very guts, he despised everything about Snape – everything from his greasy hair and biting, sarcastic remarks, to the way he had clawed onto Lily – lovely, good-hearted and trusting Lily, who couldn't seem to see the traitor for what he was…

Sirius finally climbed off him and crossed his arms, looking decisive. "I can't believe we still haven't got Snivellus back for ratting on you, Peter," he growled. "It's high time he realised we will put an end to his meddling."

"Oh yes, please get him back!" Peter chirped. "It was so horrible of him to tell on me to Dumbledore! And now he's messing with Lily…"

Remus caught sight of the bitter resentment consuming James' eyes and said solicitously, "I'm not sure we should-"

"Hang on…!" James overruled him loudly, his mind whirring as a beautifully satisfying plan took shape in his mind… A devious smile crept over his face.

"What is it?" said Sirius eagerly.

James slowly turned to face him. "I think it's time Severus found his match in Padfoot and Prongs…" he murmured, his eyes twinkling wickedly.

"Oh yes!"

"No!" Remus laid a hand on James' arm. "You shouldn't do this, James. You can't risk getting caught! Both of you! Severus already suspects that we're up to something. What if he realises that's you two out there?"

"Moony, we'll be fine," James said warmly, draping an arm amicably around the boy's shoulders. "He'll have no reason to suspect it's us. Sirius and I can sneak down under the Cloak and then transform in the bushes. Meanwhile you can walk down, with Wormy in your pocket, and coax the Giant Squid into the shallows. It'll look like it's just you, minding your own business." Remus winced, as if reluctant to take on this innocent role; but if he doubted James, he did not say anything. "It'll be fine," James insisted encouragingly.

"It'll be brilliant!" Sirius corrected. He shook his shaggy black hair out of his bright eyes and almost let out a bark of excitement.

"I can't wait to see Snivelly's face!" Peter cried, clapping his hands together.

"You are about to see just what good friends are for," James said, grinning. Peter shivered with excitement. "Let's go, quickly!"

xXxXx

Severus' eyes narrowed as they followed the path Remus Lupin was taking past them, nonchalantly heading towards the trees fringing the lake. Why did the wolf always have to trespass upon his private time with Lily? He had not spent time with her for a week until earlier today and now, here one of the Marauders was – it was as if they had a sensor on Lily: if he got within five feet of her they were alerted to his presence. Well, at least the entourage was absent, Lupin unaccompanied. Severus glared at his retreating figure once more before turning back to Lily. She was looking up at the castle, a slight crease lodged between her eyebrows. It was unusual for her to be so lost in thought that she would not greet Lupin…

"What is it, Lily?" he asked, raising an enquiring eyebrow.

Lily faced him anxiously. "What did Rabastan want with you just now, when we were in the Entrance Hall?" she asked quietly.

Now he knew why she was worried. Severus shot her a piercing look before answering, wondering how much she had surmised. He answered carefully but truthfully. "I have agreed to teach some of the Slytherins a few spells from my repertoire. Rabastan warned me that they are growing impatient."

Lily seemed mildly impressed. "Really? Which spells will you teach them? Will they be the ones you invented, like you said you might teach to me?"

A closed expression descended over Severus' eyes. Even if he were to teach Lily some of his own inventions, he would certainly not dare to even mention to her the kinds of spells the Dark Lord wished for the Slytherins to master.

"Regrettably, no; that is not their desire… They are after some of the spells from a book I own…"

There was a sharp intake of breath. In the space of a heartbeat all the colour faded from Lily's face. "Not – not that horrid ancient tome you have on the Dark Arts…?" she asked quietly, her voice wavering.

Severus fiercely looked back into her fearful green eyes. "How can you still hate my Grandfather's book when you have not even read it since before we came to Hogwarts?" he demanded. "That was years ago, before you even knew magic, Lily. I hardly believe that is a sound basis on which to judge."

Lily's eyes trickled away. "Yes but… those illustrations… I didn't need magic to understand…" She stopped talking, her eyes taking on a hollow fear. "They gave me nightmares for months…" she whispered, shivering violently and turning away.

Merlin, Lily had never mentioned that to him before! For a second, he felt a warp of guilt twist his conscience as he imagined ten-year-old Lily, curled up in bed, shaking, with tears streaming down her face. He frowned and looked away from her, forcing his emotions aside. He had just been so keen to show Lily all the books on magic he could, when she had shown an interest in him… and perhaps to impress her… that was all…

"They only showed what happened if spells went wrong," he lied coldly, managing to clear all emotion from his voice. He was not sure which pictures Lily had seen, but he doubted that she would be able to remember the names of any of the offending curses or incantations, so it would be easy to coerce her into accepting his words. "It is wise to know what can happen, so that you can rectify it."

Lily glanced up. Severus noticed how rapidly her chest was rising and falling. "I s'pose," she murmured.

"So you do not recall any thing else? Any specific spells at all?"

Lily shook her head, looking confused. Severus exhaled, a long, drawn-out sigh, and his eyes flashed at her. "Honestly, Lily, I believed you had a more open mind than this… Surely, now that you are educated in magic, you might be able to look at Ancient Magic with an academic interest, rather than letting a vague, misconstrued memory warp your highly-judgemental opinion?"

If Severus prided himself in one talent, it was his ability of persuasion – how with prudently selected words and a soft, purring tone of voice he could coerce people into believing precisely what he wanted them to. And as Lily gazed at him, entranced, he knew that she was not immune to their effect. Quite to the contrary, the way she held his eyes unwaveringly suggested that she was captured under his spell. For the first time since she had alluded to a second wave of rumours about the two of them being together, he began to discern that Lily was not so impervious to his advances as he had thought. The idea was deliciously beguiling.

He slowly drew nearer, and as he bent down her eyes fell shut. "Why don't you wipe the slate clean and start again?" he whispered, letting his breath play upon her ear. He enjoyed hearing a faint moan of longing escape her lips.

"Okay…" she sighed.

xXxXx

Prongs pawed the ground impatiently, anxious to get going. Lily and Snape had been talking about heaven-knows-what for at least ten minutes already and he was not going to let this auspicious opportunity to aggravate Snape pass him by. He knocked his antlers into the back of Sirius' legs and the boy promptly morphed into his great black dog, instantly dropping into a play-bow. Wormtail, sitting on Remus' shoulder, wiggled his whiskers in delight.

"Now remember," Remus whispered, grabbing the scruff of Padfoot's neck before he raced straight out of the undergrowth and bowled Snape over, "you must approach them slowly, and one at a time, James first, or they will be suspicious!"

Prongs bowed his head to let Remus know he had understood but Padfoot merely wriggled free, whining as some of his black hairs were pulled out by Remus' fingers, and paced around agitatedly. Prongs turned and slowly began to creep out of the thick undergrowth, methodically placing one hoof in front of the other in an attempt to pass as a cautious deer. Behind him, he could hear Remus settling down on the bank and the 'plop – plop' as he threw stones into the water, while Padfoot snuffled around behind him, crawling under branches and through brambles. Sirius was so scatty in his dog form…

Silently Prongs emerged, his head rising aloofly above the wilting ferns. He froze, staring at Lily and Snape by the water. It was a blessing to have such acute hearing when he was in his stag form. He could listen in on their conversation, without them even noticing that he was there… But wait – what was all this about an ancient book on the Dark Arts? And Severus giving Lily nightmares? – Well, that was not difficult to imagine. But something about this great book had really appalled Lily, even to the point of terror. He had never caught wind of this before. Was this real evidence of Snape's involvement in Dark Magic? – This had to be worth eavesdropping…

But James could only hold back for so long. He saw Severus practically smothering himself on Lily and no matter how interested he was in that book, it did not seem as if the two of them would be engaging in mere conversation for much longer. Lily was succumbing to the crafty Slytherin – by the looks of things, James suspected that something like the Imperius Curse was to blame. Here Severus was, persuading Lily to reconsider the Dark Arts! Obviously something was seriously awry. Roused by a lashing of panic and excessive protectiveness, Prongs decided to stand by no longer and strutted out of the bushes, purposefully into Lily's line of sight. Her eyes shifted to his and he stopped dead.

"Oh, look, Sev!" she breathed amorously. For a second, James' heart pounded so heart he experienced the strong urge to bolt, in case Lily realised it was him – but he stoically held his ground. "Sev, it's a stag!"

Snape looked unimpressed. "Yes," he drawled, looking him over with a distinctly bored expression. Prongs ignored him and instead focussed on Lily, who to his joy appeared absolutely delighted.

"Shh, don't scare him away!" Lily whispered, her words carrying straight to Prongs' fine-tuned ears. Obligingly he stepped forward, twitching as Lily gave another gasp. Then he proceeded slowly towards them, warily eying Snape every so often. He came to a standstill a few yards away, reminding himself to play skittish if one of them spoke too loudly or moved too suddenly.

"He's beautiful, don't you think?" Lily murmured, never taking her eyes off him. James smirked inwardly and soaked up Lily's undivided attention. He carefully paused mid-step and proudly held his antlers a little higher, striking up a dramatic pose as the king of the forest.

There was a sound of thudding paws and Prongs' head snapped round, startled. Sirius! he groaned mentally. Padfoot was cavorting out into the open, clearly having forgotten that he was meant to look like a wild dog and not a silly puppy. Only when he caught James' gleaming brown eyes did he stop and then turn to stare at Lily and Severus.

"Wow, look at the size of that dog! It seems like all the wild animals in the Forest are coming out this evening!" Lily exclaimed. Padfoot's ears pricked up at the sound of her voice.

"Careful, Lily, it could be dangerous," Severus warned, drawing his wand.

Prongs stamped the ground angrily. How dare Severus threaten his friend! But Lily conveniently came to his rescue. "No, don't hurt him," she said, pushing Severus' hand down. "He looks friendly."

Oh Merlin, that was all the encouragement Sirius would need! James thought grimly. Sure enough, Padfoot bounded forward and began circling Lily and Severus, pouncing on the grass with his big furry paws and wagging his tail joyfully, clearly ecstatic at having made a new friend.

Lily giggled as Padfoot woofed and yipped, coming to sit on her feet.

"Lily, get away, he's got such big teeth!" Severus hissed. James felt pleasure at hearing a note of panic in the Slytherin's voice.

"Aww, you're lovely, aren't you?" Lily cooed, ruffling up Sirius' silky ears and totally ignoring Severus. Prongs felt a pang of jealousy as Sirius stole his limelight. Why was it that even as a shaggy hulk of a dog Sirius still managed to win over girls' affection? Jealous, Prongs strode forward, determined to capture Lily's attention once more. Lily glanced up and then turned to Severus.

"Do you think they are friends?" she asked pensively.

Severus snorted but kept his eyes trained on either Padfoot or Prongs at all times. "They're animals, Lily. What do you think?"

Prongs did not need his heightened animal instincts to discern that Severus was unimpressed at having his private time with Lily interrupted, even if it was seemingly just by animals. Lily sighed as she also picked up on the sarcasm.

However Padfoot seemed the most discontented with Snape's dry tone. He leapt to his feet, startling Snape into stepping backwards towards the lake, and fixed him with a look that said You dare insult me and my friend…! Without warning he jumped up and pressed his heavy paws on Snape's torso, pushing him right back into the lake. Severus fell in with a tangled yell and Prongs scuttled away from the almighty splash. He cantered around in a victory lap, congratulating Sirius for his ingenuity as he did so. Padfoot also seemed mightily satisfied with his performance. He barked happily and chased his tail, then ran to Lily and sat at her feet, looking up at her expectantly as if he was proud of what he had done.

Lily couldn't help but laugh, much to James' glee.

"Oh, Sev!" she giggled, running to the water's edge and watching Severus' arms floundering about. His head emerged from the water, black rats-tails plastered all over his whitened face. He looked positively furious, particularly when he saw Padfoot wagging his tail.

"That damned dog –" he began, stretching out a threatening hand towards Padfoot, who shrank behind Lily's legs.

Then quite unexpectedly, just as James had hoped, he saw a tentacle flying out of the water. Next second it had looped under Severus' arms and was hauling him down under the surface.

Lily shrieked, her eyes full of fear as she took in the flailing tentacles engulfing the Slytherin. "SEVERUS!"

His legs kicked madly but the Giant Squid maintained its tight coil around Severus' body and dragged him underwater, his yells morphing into muffled gargles. Padfoot gave another woof of accomplishment. Lily cast him a shocked glance and then stared back at the ruffled surface of the lake, clearly afraid.

And out of the blue, James had an idea – an ingenious way to reclaim Lily's attention and earn her respect and affection! He bolted past her and Padfoot, into the shallows of the cold water, and bowed his head, using his long antlers to drive the Squid off Snape's helpless body. Indignant at such sharp, offending objects, the creature relinquished its grip and retreated back into the dark depths of the lake. Severus emerged spluttering and coughing, trembling all over as he staggered up the bank. Prongs turned proudly. Lily was gazing at him, stunned, and then her eyes flickered to Severus, who was absolutely drenched.

"Oh, Severus, are you okay?" Lily ran to hug him but he shook her off, clearly irritated that she had seen him so scared by the Giant Squid.

"That g-great dog knew what it was d-doing!" he snarled, shaking with cold as he fumbled around in his soaked robes for his wand. Lily tried to protest, pleading for him to understand that the stag had saved him. But Severus was having none of it. He yanked his wand out of Lily's grasp and aimed it at Padfoot.

Shit! They were in for it now! Prongs raced forwards and butted Padfoot out of the way of Severus' curse. The black dog rolled onto his back and Prongs leapt over him, breaking for cover and praying that Sirius would take the hint. As he entered the safety of the undergrowth, he heard a despondent whine and then the tumbling of paws on the earth. Thank Merlin he was following…

James crept back to where Remus was hiding in the reeds and transformed back, hearing Sirius do the same beside him.

"Phew, that was close!" Sirius whispered, grinning. "But what did you save Snape for?"

"You were stealing Lily's attention!" James replied indignantly. He turned and found Remus and Peter standing there, looking thrilled.

"That was incredible!" squeaked Peter. "What are you going to do now?"

James paused. "Did you hear about that book?" he said in a lowered voice.

"Yeah, sounds extremely dodgy to me," Sirius replied.

James bent down to pick up his Cloak of Invisibility, making a decision on the spot.

"I'm going to steal it," he said, and his friends' eyes all widened. "I'm going to follow Snivellus into the Slytherin Common Room, steal Snape's book on Dark Magic, and then show it to Dumbledore, so that git will have had it once and for all." And with that James shrouded himself in the Invisibility Cloak and ran back through the bushes, chasing after the dark figure storming back up to the castle.

xXxXx

James loped silently down the cool, dark dungeon corridor, barely able to contain the laughter threatening to reveal his presence. He kept his eyes glued to the unknowing Slytherin hurrying ahead of him, muffled curses and squelching reaching his ears. Merlin, marauding hadn't been this fun in months!

His excitement was building, tempered by little tingles of fear that only drove him onwards. He spotted the suspiciously blank wall that barricaded the entrance to the Slytherins' hole and broke into a light jog, determined to not miss out on gaining entry. Snape's head twitched around at the strange sound and James froze, just like his stag, holding his breath.

Snape's black eyes roved the hallway and then he turned back, muttering the password irritably. The rumble of stone offered James the opportunity he required – he broke from his freeze, ran up to the entrance and whipped through just in time. He was in enemy territory!

Curiosity nearly got the better of James as he studied the low, wide Slytherin Common Room, noting down every detail to relay to Sirius, Remus and Peter later. It was overwhelmingly tempting to hex a couple of those slimy Slytherins while their defences were completely down – he was sure that Sirius would not let such a perfect opportunity pass by – but James was afraid to risk this one chance he had to get that book of Snape's and he simply could not be caught. Perhaps he might send them a hex or two on his way out instead…

Sighing wistfully, James turned back and realised that he had lost track of Severus; he just caught sight of the boy's rangy form disappearing down a corridor. James swiftly dodged around some oblivious Slytherins in order to catch up with him, berating himself for losing focus. He was here to steal Severus' book so that he could expose the sneak's true character once and for all. Dumbledore would surely expel Severus once he had proof of his involvement in Dark Magic, and Lily would shrink away from any contact with the two-faced villain. Nothing else mattered.

James closely tailed Severus along the gloomy corridor. Now they were passing boys only and he realised that they were heading for Severus' dormitory. James felt sure it would be not nearly as cosy and homely as his lovely Gryffindor dormitory.

"What happened to you?"

Severus' twitchy walk came to a halt and James hesitated, unable to see who had waylaid him. He found himself tense; something in his Animagus instincts warned him of a potential threat.

"Piss off, Mulciber."

The shadowy figure did not move, and Severus muttered something. Mulciber gave a yelp and flinched. There was a cold laugh. Furious, Mulciber shoved past and James flattened himself against the wall.

"Fuck you, Snape!" Mulciber snarled angrily.

James glimpsed some nasty looking greeny-black boils erupting over the boy's face. Phew, it was a relief to not be on the receiving end of one of Severus' curses for once! If they kept going like this, perhaps Slytherin house would kill itself off, James speculated hopefully…

He tiptoed after Severus' squelching and peered into one of the rooms off the dark corridor. Inside the dormitory Snape was kicking his shoes off irritably, but a slightly smug smile hovered around his lips; clearly he had been hoping to get back at Mulciber for some time and was satisfied with his nifty curse. James wasn't surprised. Mulciber was a nasty piece of work and he would have also been proud of unleashing such horrific boils on the git if he'd had to live around the guy for over five years.

There was a wet thump as Snape's black robe fell to the floor and James recoiled into a corner between one of the other four-poster beds and the wall. Then the disturbing thought that he might have to see a naked Snape occurred to him– eurgh – this was certainly not what he had bargained for! Snape's long spidery fingers were undoing the buttons on his now see-through shirt and he peeled it off his pale skin, revealing a rather scrawny frame. He was very much bone and muscle, not an inch of padding, and his pallor made him look rather sickly. It made James feel rather good about his fit body, all nice and warm in his dry robes. Left in only his trousers, Snape threw open his trunk, grabbed some fresh clothes and stalked off through a smaller door, into what James presumed to be the bathroom.

The door slammed shut and James let out a low whistle. Phew, he had made it right into the very heart of the snake pit, and now he had a wonderful opportunity to snoop around! Grinning mischievously at his great fortune, he cast Colloportus on the dormitory door for good measure before he turned and sized up Severus' den.

He wondered where to look for that book Lily hated so much. Severus' four-poster bed, draped in Slytherin colours of green and glinting silver, looked neat and untouched – although it was possible that a book could be concealed under the plumpness of a pillow. Then there was the bedside table – upon it was a teetering stack of books, a few quills and rolls of parchment, a jug of water, a glass, and a small corked vial, all meticulously organised. The books, albeit with questionable titles, did not resemble the ancient book Lily had described. And beneath the table was Severus' trunk – open and unguarded.

James carefully skirted the puddle Severus had left on the floor, casually wondering where to look first. If it was him, he would keep his most precious things under his pillow, although it was hardly likely that sleeping on a massive, brick-like and musty-smelling book would be a comfortable experience. He lifted back the pillow; but nothing was there.

The absence of anything – not even a note – was somewhat reassuring. It was only then that James realised he was not solely interested in finding the book. He was fiercely curious on learning what other secret things Snape kept – and if any of them would enlighten him on the Slytherin's relationship with Lily… Now he was here, he was too tempted to let the chance pass him by…

Fuelled with intrigue, James fell to his knees by Severus' trunk, driven mad with desire to see what was inside. He had half suspected that an anti-thieving charm would have been on the trunk, but Severus had graciously left the lid open, courteously revealing all his secrets.

As his eyes widened in delight, James threw aside his wand and plunged his hands inside, rummaging around. There were some carefully folded clothes – all in a colour scale of white to black – that he shoved into one corner, faded newspaper cuttings, litters of rustling parchment injected with Severus' tiny handwriting, and bottles upon bottles, of all sizes and shapes and colours, that tinkled as he pushed them aside disinterestedly. Somehow he knew that if anything lucrative was to be found, it would be carefully concealed right at the bottom.

Yet there was no old-fashioned tome to be found – only an old set of gobstones, still in its ancient cardboard box, and – James caught his breath. His fingers scrabbled about and closed around a small stack of papers, tied together with string. His heart thudded heavily – whether out of thrill or fear, he was not sure. But they looked like notes, written on varying sizes and textures of paper and parchment, in inks of many colours, but all in what James knew to be Lily's handwriting.

He would have recognised it anywhere. He'd gazed at her in classes for years, he knew her script as well as if it was his own. And how alien it felt, to be seeing it here, tucked away in the depths of Snape's trunk in the bowels of the castle, as if wrongfully hoarded by an infatuated creep. James glanced around, checking he was still hidden under the Invisibility Cloak, and then tugged at the string. It wouldn't give. He thought for a moment, before decisively severing the cord with his wand.

Hundreds of notes fell about everywhere, like an armful of autumnal leaves tumbling all at once into the trunk before him. They were all Lily's – they were utterly redolent of her and the reverence with which they had been treated for so many years. James was astounded, and now most definitely nervous. Were these love letters…? Or simply harmless notes she had sent to Severus when they had been friends, blissfully unaware of how they would be cradled and treasured…? James' rational side suspected that it was the latter, but his ever-increasing paranoia yelled at him that they were the first. Oh Merlin, where to start?

Wiping the sweat off his forehead, James rifled around feverishly, glancing at Lily's words here and there, his heart aching as he saw her little drawings and doodles down the margins, wishing vainly she could have sent them to him instead. He brushed some aside that bore only a few words, and then he saw it: a little hole in the floor of the chest.

Without thinking, James poked his finger into it. There was a space underneath… This trunk had a false bottom.

He eagerly scraped the jumbled-up contents of Severus' trunk away from the other corner, not caring at the mess everything was now in, and found what he had been looking for – another hole, just wide enough for a finger. He could sense it instinctively: something was hidden underneath.

James curled a finger into each hole and jerked the wooden base towards him. It rose up like a stiff book cover, and he peered over to see what lay beneath.

It was the book.

Even without touching it, James could feel the ominous magic radiating from it. But Severus had survived after reading the nefarious book for years, so it couldn't be too dangerous… He gingerly picked it up from the hidden compartment, feeling just how heavy it weighed in his hands, and blew a thin layer of dust off the cover.

'The Ancient Magical Lore of: THE DARK ARTS' glinted eerily up at him, shreds of the gilding having worn off over time, making the words look like they were tarnished with blood. The spine was held together with metal binding that was coated in a scaly green patina. James was tempted to peruse the book's leathery pages to find out just what horrors resided within, but something was giving him the shivers, so instead he wedged it into an inside pocket of his robes with his wand. It would be better to look at it in the safety of Gryffindor Tower, with his three friends around him…

Stiffly James stood up, noting how awkward the weighty book felt knocking against his hip. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled again. He slowly turned, sensing the reason why before he even saw the figure standing by the door.

Snape had returned.

Oh – bugger! He should have just searched for the book, seized it and run while Snape was cleanly out of the way; not let himself get so utterly distracted by thoughts of Lily, like Sirius was with bunny rabbits when in his Animagus form! But now Snape was standing between him and the door, and the door was… locked!

James could hardly breathe for the tension emanating from Severus. The boy's hollow black eyes were fixated inches away on his ransacked trunk, and now James wished he had been less careless – though he liked to think it was not out of guilt, but rather to hide the evidence of what he done. Yet it was hard to be brutally impassive while he watched sharp emotions flash across the Slytherin's face as he realised his worldly possessions had been ravaged – paralysing shock, absolute horror, and deepest fear.

The muscles in Severus' face tightened and he suddenly ran forward and dropped to the floor beside his trunk, startling James. He scurried backwards but was so absorbed by Severus' reaction that he did not even take the chance to escape. James stared, half-fascinated, half-appalled as Severus trailed a trembling hand gently over Lily's scattered letters, pain flooding his obsidian eyes. For a moment, he shut them and swallowed, as if trying to calm himself. And then they snapped open, and they fell on the loose base of the trunk.

Uh-oh. James knew he was in hot water now. He began to sidle over to the door as Snape discovered what was missing, hoping that while his back was turned he would be able to unlock the door…

There was a deafening roar of fury and James leapt into the air in alarm. Severus stood up, his fists clenched, the most terrifying expression in his jet-black eyes. He glared shrewdly around the room with one single thought: to wreak revenge on whoever had stolen his ancient book.

James gulped. He was only halfway towards the door… and the closed door had also come to Severus' attention. A mad, triumphant smile twisted his bitter face.

"You're trapped here now…" he purred dangerously, his eyes roving rapidly around the dormitory, hunting for the perpetrator. Twice they moved over James, and Severus saw straight through him. Yet Severus was not dissuaded. His eyes glinted portentously before he whispered, "Homenum revelio…"

A shuddering panic broke through James' body.

"POTTER!" Severus spat, releasing the control on his pent-up outrage. "I knew it! You dare creep into my dormitory, raid all my possessions and steal my book! I'll damn you to hell before I let you get away with this!"

As quick as a snake striking he lifted his wand and brought it down in a wide slashing sweep, encompassing half the room. "Crucio!"

James only just ducked in time as blistering heat passed above him, where his neck had recently been. "Bloody hell, that's illegal!" he found himself gasping over the crashing of rubble behind him. He was so stunned that Snape had actually used one of the Unforgivables that he had accidentally given away his location…

"Aha!" Snape leered, moving his wand around to point at the source of James' disembodied voice. James hurriedly scrambled to get out of the way and slipped in the wet puddle of lake water on the floor. He felt himself trip on the Cloak as he fell backwards and was revealed for Snape to see.

"Impedimenta!" James panted from where he was lying winded on the hard floor, halting Severus just in time to give himself a few seconds to get up onto his feet.

"Crucio!" Severus cried again.

This time the curse hit its target. James writhed in blistering agony and flung himself behind another bed, managing to break the curse before he let loose a scream. He opened his eyes, finding himself on his hands and knees and shaking, even though he had not yet realised he was scared, or quite so angry.

"Playing hide-and-seek are we Potter?" Severus sneered, his feet drawing closer from what James could see under the bed. "Are you too cowardly to face me? Why don't you return what you have stolen and save your precious skin?"

"Never!" shouted James furiously, leaping to his feet. "Stupefy!"

Severus darted out of the way and hurled back another rancorous curse. "Expulso!"

The end of the bed exploded, filling the air with smoke and dust. "Expelliarmus!" James wheezed, waving his wand wildly as he ducked and ran across the hazy room. A cold laugh told him that his spell had missed; a purple flame shot out just in front of him and he stopped just in the nick of time. He quickly conjured a shield. "Protego horriblis!"

Severus leapt out of the fading dust cloud, firing hex after hex viciously at the shield. "Confringo! Expulso! Reducto!" James had never witnessed quite such sheer hatred on Severus' face as he saw now and the sight was terrifying. His intrusion into Snape's privacy seemed to have finally pushed him round the bend – and James felt convinced that it was more to do with Lily's letters than the book on the Dark Arts.

Severus sent another prolific string of hexes in quick succession and his reverberating Shield Charm began to weaken. Finally the onslaught was too much; James was struck with a huge force and he stumbled backwards, defenceless.

"Sectumsempra!" Severus cried triumphantly.

"AARGH!" James collapsed to the ground, clutching at his left arm which was burning excruciatingly. It felt as if he had been slashed with a sword; he was seeing stars and he could feel copious amounts of wet fluid pouring over his unaffected hand from the searing wound. He could barely stop himself from weeping, but he could feel Severus' looming over him rapaciously, and he would not give way to him.

James weakly stretched out his wand hand, as if writhing in pain, and looked up at the wand pointing straight between his eyes. Severus was leering down at him, wearing a smugness that reeked of imminent vengeance.

"Stupefy…" James whispered.

A faint streak of red light shot up and hit Severus in the chest. He was knocked backwards through the air, and though the spell was weak, he slammed into the end of the four-poster bed with a crack of his skull and slumped to the floor, very much unconscious.

The snake was stymied.

But it was in reality a stalemate. James was in terrible pain. He lay his cheek back down on the cool flagstone floor, allowing himself a moment of rest while his heart rate slowed down in the aftermath of the duel. Though the book on the Dark Arts was lodged uncomfortably into his ribs, he was too knackered to get up and the stinging wound in his arm seemed to be sapping up his last ounce of strength. Nothing was more appealing than to just lie there, particularly as even the slightest movement sent excruciating bolts of fire up his arm. He could feel that this was a cursed wound inflicted by Dark Magic, he would have to go straight to the Hospital Wing… But what a long journey that seemed… If only he didn't have so much pain…

From his wonky position on the floor, James' eyes alighted on Snape's bedside table where a little bottle sat. As he realised what it was, he was inundated with overwhelming relief and he gathered enough strength to crawl over and take the bottle. Of course, everyone kept painkillers beside their bed. Remus even kept those Muggle tablets on his bedside table for when his scratches and bites got too painful during the night – but obviously Snape would have brewed his own pain-reliever potion! Without hesitation James wrenched out the stopper and took a swallow. It tasted so good… He wolfed down the rest, desperate to rid himself from the agony he was in.

He slammed the empty vial back onto the desk and clambered to his feet, keeping a wary eye on Severus; but the boy was leaning against the bed at a crooked angle, most definitely still Stunned. James borrowed one of his shirts from the jumbled trunk and wrapped it tightly around his arm to stop the bleeding until he got to the Hospital Wing. He was already feeling better from that potion…

Swinging the Invisibility Cloak back over himself, James cast Alohomora and escaped from the wrecked dormitory, leaving Severus alone in there, still slouched awkwardly against the bed. The pain seemed to be lessening in his arm, but perhaps he was just getting used to it, he was beginning to feel lightheaded…

The sensation quickly increased. James stumbled as he reached the Common Room and did not even have the strength to jinx the unwary Slytherins lounging around. He wondered if he would even be able to reach Madam Pomfrey without passing out, for he was feeling more and more faint by the second. He struggled over to the exit, knowing only that if he was to pass out in here, he would never get out alive.

Everything began to swim dreamily in front of his eyes; James fell through the opening in the wall and out into the corridor, too exhausted to even feel any kind of relief at being out of Slytherin domain. He staggered up the brightly lit hallway, its walls swinging hypnotically from side to side. Reality was pulling unstoppably out of his grasp, and as his legs vanished into a realm of drowsiness and numbness, he did not feel a single thing as he fell headlong onto the floor.

xXxXx

Severus groaned. He felt absolutely awful. This had to be what a hangover was like. No; this was certainly worse. His head was splitting open and all the muscles in his body ached piercingly, as if he had been contorted into the most awkward positions possible. For a few moments, he failed to recall what had thrown him into such a foul condition. With great effort he blearily opened his eyes.

"Potter!" he spat out.

He wrapped an arm around the post at the foot of his bed and hauled himself up, wincing at the godawful protestations in his head. He gazed desolately at the ruins of the Slytherin dormitory, searching for the swine; but the door was hanging open and he was not there. Potter must have seized the opportunity and left while he was unconscious…

Severus' eyes gravitated to his trunk, at the carelessly crumpled letters from Lily that he had kept safe for so many years, scattered about as if they meant nothing… He couldn't hold back a soft whimper of pain.

Trying to ignore Potter's crimes, Severus looked instead at his bed and the bedside table, which seemed to have escaped Potter's unforgiving pillage. But wait –

He always put everything in the precise place where it belonged, so he knew exactly where it was; but one thing was wrong – just one. And it was lying down, on the edge of the table, its cork removed…

Consumed with dread, Severus descended like a vulture on the tiny precious vial, running his hands over the dry wood of the table and scanning the floor. There was no sign of a spillage anywhere, none at all. Shaking with the frantic thumping of his heart and struggling to decide just how stupid Potter could be, Severus held the glass bottle to his eye to confirm his worst suspicions. But the horrific truth began to dawn on him before he saw that the bottle really was empty:

James Potter had drunk the Dreaming Draught that contained Lily's hair.

xXxXx

Ooooh what will happen to James? How will Lily find out what's gone on in the dungeons? All will be revealed next time! :)

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