Author's Notes: To everyone: thank you so much for the reviews! I am so sorry that it took so long for me to update, I've been absolutely swamped in schoolwork and other things. Sorry! Again, thank you so much!

As the four students hurried down the abandoned corridors, Mulciber floating after them, it soon became obvious that Mary wasn't as well as she seemed. She was limping ahead of the others, her wand trained on the unconscious Mulciber, who floated through the air and frequently hit his head on the ceiling, when she swayed and collapsed.

"Mary!" Lily said, rushing forward and kneeling by her side. Mary opened her eyes blearily and winced.

"M'fine," she muttered, trying to pull herself to her feet. She swayed again and fell back to the ground where she lay, staring at the ceiling and coughing weakly.

"Here," said James helpfully, attempting to pick her up. She slapped weakly at him and pulled away. He backed off, looking worried.

"I'm fine," she insisted, pulling herself to her feet. Lily eyed her doubtfully.

"Mary… you need to go to the hospital wi-"

"No!" Mary said sharply. "I'm going to bring Mulciber to Professor McGonagall and get him expelled for good," she said determinedly. Lily frowned, but followed her wordlessly as the other girl set off again. Marlene shrugged at Lily, following Mary as she hurried toward Professor McGonagall's office.

"Oooh!" cackled a malicious voice from somewhere overhead. The four of them instinctually ducked at the familiar voice and Peeves, who was doing flips in midair, let out a mischievous laugh and dived at them. Lily ducked out of the way as he rattled the suit of armor behind them and let out another cackling laugh.

"Attacking other students, are we?" he said, peering at the unconscious Mulciber from between his legs. "Perhaps I should call Filch-"

"No, Peeves," James said. "Come on, why don't you go dump some ink on first years again?"

Peeves seemed to consider it. He dived at them one last time, slammed into the suit of armor and knocked it to the ground with a ringing clang, then flew off, knocking down suits of armor as he went.

"Well, I think that went rather well," said James, staring off after Peeves. "I thi-"

"Mister Potter! What exactly do you think you're doing?"

Professor McGonagall had burst out of her office, tartan robes swishing around her. Her hair was half out of its normally strict bun. Her tartan slippers were half off as she ran into the corridor. Her eyes traveled from the fallen suits of armor to the guilty looking students. Her eyes narrowed.

James turned with a guilty grin, automatically raising his hands in surrender. "I didn't mean to, Professor," he said instantly before his brain caught up with his mouth. "I mean, I didn't do anything – er… Mary needs you!" he said, pointing at her to divert her attention.

Professor McGonagall transferred her glare to Mary, then her eyes widened in shock.

"Is that – that-" she began to splutter, her mouth open with shock. A bit of drool dripped from Mulciber's open mouth as he snored in midair, toes barely brushing the ground. Mary gave him a poisonous glare and coughed again, shivering in her damp robes.

"He attacked me," she said. Professor McGonagall's wide eyes took in her slime-covered hair, mold coated and slimy robes, dirty face, and bruises.

"Come in to my office," she said finally. The four of them trooped in after her as she pulled open a door and strode in. Mulciber floated after them, his head hitting the top of the door carelessly. Professor McGonagall raised her wand and flicked it. Four chairs appeared in midair, revolved for a moment, then hit the ground with a thump.

"Sit," she said, pointing at them. She settled behind her desk and stared at them. Feeling more conscious than ever of her mussed hair and disheveled appearance, Lily took a seat next to Mary and Marlene. James settled for the chair on the end of the row, looking rather put out that he couldn't sit next to Lily. Mulciber snored loudly; the ratcheting sound echoed around the silent office.

"Explain," Professor McGonagall said simply, her gaze traveling from face to guilty face. The four of them exchanged looks but remained silent. How would they explain the situation?

As mature sixteen year olds, they of course settled for the reasonable, intelligent way of discourse.

All four of them burst into speech at once, yelling to be heard over each other.

"And he kidnapped her-"

"-Cruciatus curse-"

"-Found her in the dungeons-"

"-He should be expelled!"

"Quiet!" Professor McGonagall barked, holding up her hands for silence. They fell quiet, eyeing her. "Now, Miss Macdonald, would you please explain slowly?"

They had the good sense to look ashamed. Lily blushed and lowered her head, picking at a frayed string on her robes while Mary began to speak.

"And he thought I was frozen and unchained me and the spell wore off… they got there just a minute later and we froze him. I levitated him and… and we thought it would be best to bring him to you," Mary finished lamely.

Professor McGonagall stared at her, for once speechless. The firelight flashed off her spectacles as she stared, mouth slightly open.

"Nice, Mary!" James said, grinning at her. "We've only managed to stun her so much she couldn't talk twice!"

"Be quiet, Mister Potter. I'm not deaf," Professor McGonagall said, but without her normal level of brusqueness. Her eyes traveled from Mary's earnest face to Mulciber, who still snored loudly.

"This is a matter for the Headmaster," she said, almost to herself. Lily, who had remained silent the whole time, spoke up.

"Professor, will he be expelled?" she asked hopefully. She felt Mary stiffen by her side, but she didn't allow her gaze to leave Professor McGonagall's face. The old Professor considered it for a moment.

"He will," she said grimly, standing and pointing her wand at Mulciber. "And he'll be put in front of the Wizengamot if I can manage it."

Mary managed a little smile as Professor McGonagall swept from the room, Mulciber floating slowly after her.

"Well," she started, standing unsteadily and shaking. "I think I need to change my robes and maybe go to the Great Hall for lunch."

Marlene and Lily exchanged uncertain glances as Mary tottered for the door.

"Mary," Lily started gently. "Lunch has been over for…" she consulted her watch. "Hours, now. I think even dinner is done."

"What?" Mary yelped, face horrorstruck. "I'm so hungry…" she said sadly, clutching at her stomach and looking as wispy as she could. "I think I'll fade away if I don't get any food…" she whined.

Lily winced. "Oh Mary, I'm really sorry… I wish I could help you."

There was a short silence in which Mary looked miserable and hungry and Lily thoughtful. Then James spoke up.

"I can help you," he said. Mary turned to him so quickly she cricked her neck. Rubbing it gingerly, she gazed at him hopefully.

"You can?"

James hesitated for a moment, looking as though some painful internal conflict was going on inside him. After a moment, he smiled slightly.

"Of course, Mary," he said, opening the door gallantly and holding it for Mary, but she didn't make any move to go out. Instead she launched herself at James and clung to his arm.

"Thank you, James, thank you!" she said delightedly, clinging to him as he reeled back in shock. Lily giggled slightly.

"Mary, I think you're cutting off circulation to his arm," she said gently, attempting to pry Mary from James' arm. She released it after a second and stared adoringly up at James, who looked very relieved to have his arm back. He smiled down at her and Lily felt a stab of something like annoyance as he bowed to Mary.

"Ladies first," he said.

Lily watched Mary as she stuffed what was most likely the sixteenth plate of bacon in her mouth.

"'Ank oo," she said once again to James, who was watching her with an expression of awe as she shoveled food into her mouth. He looked bewildered as he attempted to decipher what she said. Lily took pity on him as his face contorted in confusion.

"She said thank you," Lily informed him. His face cleared and he grinned at Mary, who was downing a pitcher of pumpkin juice.

"No problem!" he said cheerily. A tiny house elf bobbed up to him and offered him some eggs. "Thanks, Blinky," he said, accepting the plate and digging in with gusto.

"This is really amazing," Marlene spoke up, wandering around the kitchens. The house elves bobbed around her, offering her every kind of food she could imagine. She waved them off and examined a stove with interest.

"Yeah, it is," said Lily, watching Mary stuff a bit of roast in her mouth with disgusted amazement. "I can't believe I never even thought about where the food came from… how did you ever find this?"

To her amazement, James flushed slightly, his cheeks tinted dark red.

"Er…" he said, running a hand through his already messy hair.

"What?" Lily asked curiously. He looked down.

"I'd prefer not to say," he said uncomfortably. Lily stored away the information for later use and looked away.

"Okay," she said easily. He looked surprised.

"Really? You aren't going to try to force feed me Veritaserum?" he asked her. She smiled mischievously.

"You might want to check your pumpkin juice for a while," she said, smiling at him. He grinned weakly, looking as though he wasn't sure to believe her or not. To buy himself time to think, he once again ran a hand through his hair, messing it up.

"Thanks for showing us this place," she said after a moment. He grinned.

"I couldn't deny a lady in need!" he said, puffing out his chest and winking at Mary. She giggled, spraying Lily with a bit of food. Lily watched the two of them, the strange and slightly annoyed feeling growing as James winked at her once again.

"Well, I think you'll explode if you eat anymore," she said in an attempt to divert their attentions away from each other. It worked. Mary looked over at her, looking disappointed.

"I was just getting started!" she whined, waving a piece of kipper at Lily. Lily shook her head stubbornly and stood, beginning to pull Mary from her seat as well. She resisted for a moment, pouting childishly, then finally heaved herself to her feet.

"Fine," she said grumpily, snagging a plate of Yorkshire pudding as Lily pulled her toward the door.

"Thanks, James," Mary called over her shoulder as Lily yanked her out the door. Marlene followed her, waving an unenthusiastic goodbye to James as she followed the two girls.

"Bye," he said, watching them go. There was a shout and several giggles. The Yorkshire pudding Mary had attempted to steal came flying back through the door and shattered on the ground. There was utter silence for a moment, then the sound of running feet as the giggling girls sprinted off.

James shook his head in amusement and stood to follow them, pulling the Marauder's Map out of his pocket and examining it. A little dot labeled 'Filch' was patrolling the seventh floor and Mrs. Norris was sniffing at a tapestry on the first floor. He smiled and stuffed the map back into his robes and with his hands deep in his pockets, he strolled out of the kitchen, unaware of the eyes following his every movement.

Mary was weaving back and forth as she tottered up the corridor and waving a bit of bacon as she spoke.

"And then," she said, nearly tripping over thin air. "Clarice said to… hmm… what did she say?" she considered it for a moment, then shrugged. "Oh, my head's pounding too much to remember."

"Mary," Lily spoke up, watching her friend with concern as she attempted to walk into a tapestry hung on the wall. The trolls in the parchment looked up from the hapless man they were beating to a pulp and lumbered over to snuffle at them, little ears wiggling. "Mary, are you okay?"

"Me?" Mary asked, walking a bit more steadily as she started up a flight of stairs. "I'm fine! I feel really great, apart from my head. I feel perfectly fine-"

She swayed slightly and a peculiar expression crossed her face. She blinked once, then toppled.

"Mary!" Lily and Marlene shouted as one, both of them breaking into a sprint and running to Mary's side. Lily fell to her knees beside her.

"Mary! Are you okay? What's wrong?" she demanded frantically. Mary opened her eyes blearily and blinked slowly, staring at Lily in confusion.

"Don't bombard her with questions," Marlene snapped. Lily rounded on her and furiously opened her mouth to speak but-

"Don't fight," Mary muttered, pushing herself up and propping herself on her elbows. "I'm okay. I'm fine." She seemed to be attempting to convince herself of this. Lily and Marlene exchanged looks and pulled Mary to her feet.

"We need to go to the hospital wing," Lily said firmly. She shook her head. "We should have gone there before getting food. I should have made you go… it was stupid of me," she muttered. She looked at Mary carefully. "Can you walk?" she asked.

Mary considered it for a brief second, then nodded and took a step forward. Her legs wobbled slightly and Marlene lunged forward to grab her.

"Yeah, I don't think so," Marlene said briskly. "I'll get a stretcher…" she stabbed her wand through the air. Nothing happened. "Lily?" she said pleadingly. "A bit of help, please."

Though she knew it wasn't the best of times to nag, Lily couldn't resist. "It's less of a sharp jab, Marlene. You need to flick your wrist more," she informed Marlene, who rolled her eyes.

"I really don't care," Marlene said. Lily, feeling rather affronted, opened her mouth to sharply reply but Mary chose that moment to let out a weak groan and Lily's angry expression immediately turned to one of worry.

She flicked her wand through the air and the air shimmered. A stretcher dropped to the ground and Lily helped Marlene levitate a protesting Mary through the air onto it.

"This really isn't necessary," Mary complained as the stretcher began to float. "It's just that my legs are shaking a bit."

"Oh, shut it," Marlene said. "You need to go to the hospital – what was that?"

Lily whirled and stared into the darkness that Marlene was pointing at.

"What?" she demanded, looking around frantically.

"I don't know… That!" she shouted, pointing her wand into the shadows at the end of the corridor. Lily turned just in time to see something even darker than the shadows dart across the corridor.

"W-what is it?" Mary whispered. Lily had her wand trained at the end of the corridor, eyes flicking around.

"Show yourself!" Lily shouted, but with no real conviction. She had little doubt that whoever or whatever it was wouldn't come out.

"That's not going to work," Marlene hissed, wand darting around as she whipped her head around in search of the source of the movement.

"Maybe it was just Mrs. Norris," Mary said hopefully.

"Mrs. Norris isn't that dark," Marlene said instantly. Lily shot her a reproving look.

"It was probably just some snogging students running from us… I am a prefect, after all…" Lily said uncertainly. Mary shivered.

"Please, let's just go," she pleaded. Marlene glared into the darkness for another second, then turned, tucking her wand back in her robes.

"Fine," she muttered. "I hope you're right, Lily," she called to Lily.

Lily wasn't as fast to dismiss the thing, whatever it was. She searched the shadows one last time, keeping her wand ready. She backed after Mary and Marlene. With one last searching look, she turned around and jogged after them.

In the shadows, lips curled around sharp teeth in a terrible parody of a smile.

Author's Notes: I would love reviews so much. It would be wonderful if you could tell me what you think of this chapter. I'm not sure it's very good, I was half asleep when I wrote it. I realised how long it had been since I updated and scrambled to write it.

My keyboard's a bit dysfunctional, so if you spot any spelling errors or grammar errors, please tell me and I'll try to find the edit button and fix it.

Thank you!