"Can I take some soup to Lily?" asked Severus later that day, looking at a pot of bubbling food on the Muggle stove.

"Go ahead," Emmeline said, stirring the batter lazily.

Severus grabbed a silver ladle and spooned some soup into the cold bowl he had already set out. He cast a furtive glance at Emmeline (who was still stirring the cake batter) and drew a large blue beaker from his pocket. People always thought that Severus was insane fro keeping such a healthy supply of potions (both legal and not) with him at all times. He had only brewed this batch of healing potion over summer break and had only kept it in his suitcase in the fear that teachers searched the dormitories while the students were on vacation.

This particular vial was already a quarter empty. Severus uncorked it and dropped the rest of the potion into the steaming soup. It glowed bright blue for a second, then turned back into its normal opaque white. The soup still smelled of potatoes, but a trained potions detector might have detected the faintest hint of mint, but probably would not have linked it to the healing potion.

The sole purpose of the Rosake Drought, for that was the name of the Dark potion, was to increase the rate of healing tenfold, depending, of course, on the determination of the person in question.

It was painful, as all Dark potions eventually were, and many wizards simply stopped taking it, preferring to have the dull pain of healing than to feel their bones rejoin and grow quickly. He had been slipping it into her food for the past few days, ever since her fall, and knew that the pain of the potion was great, but also knew that she would have died already if not for his subtle administrating of the potion.

Years of living with a Death Eater had taught him to recognize all sorts of injuries, and he had been the only one to realize that one of Lily's right ribs had broken and had been on the verge of busting one of her lungs. Today he would feed her the rest of the potion so that she could finish healing quickly and escape soon. The Order had been stoutly refused to give her a healing potion of any kind; not even pain reducers could be given to her. Even Voldemort eventually gave healing potions to his followers. From what Severus could tell, Lily would be healthier and happier far away from Europe.

Severus slipped the cork back into the empty bottle and tucked it into his robes, picked up the bowl and carried it to the swinging door. The dull heat of the soup warmed both his pale fingers and his heart. He was helping her.

When he had finally climbed all the stairs, Severus grabbed the bowl in one hand and knocked on the door to Observation Room.

The door creaked open and Kingsley Shacklebolt appeared in the crack. "I brought soup for Lily."

"All right," said Shacklebolt in his deep voice. "I'll unlock it."

Severus waited a second, then walked over and opened the door to her cell. It had been reinforced with hexes and concrete, and the only furnishing was a bed in the center, facing the one-way wall.

The boy walked over to the bed and muttered, "Hey Lily."

The girl looked up at him silently, but her eyes were alive with fury. "I brought you some soup."

"I… don't…. like… soup!" she spat.

"You'll like this soup," Severus told her. Turning from the wall where he knew Shacklebolt was watching, Severus pulled the bottle partway out of his pocket. The corner of Lily's mouth was pulled into a smirk and she let out a heavy sigh. Severus knew that she knew exactly what he meant.

"Can you sit up?" Severus asked.

She didn't even bother to try, shaking her head lightly. Severus put the bowl on the floor, and propped her up and leaned close to her ear. "I added the whole bottle, so it'll hurt worse… but you'll be healed completely in a week," he whispered.

He picked up the soup and spooned a bit to her. She swallowed and opened her mouth again. After ten minutes of careful swallowing, the soup and potion were down Lily's throat.

"It start hurting about-"

Lily's irises began shaking back and forth, her teeth tightly gritted. "Now," finished Severus unnecessarily.

The door burst open and Moody stormed in. He must have been in the Observation Room out of Severus's view. This might complicate things. Shacklebolt wouldn't have heard of the Rosake Drought, but Moody… "Is she okay?" he growled, moving close.

"I think so," Severus said, calmly picking up the bowl and soup and putting in his left hand, hoping Moody would take no notice.

Moody examined her face. Her emerald eyes were wide, yet unseeing. Her teeth her gritted, but no sound came through. Suddenly, he straightened and grabbed the bowl from Severus's hand with a speed that seemed impossible with his persistent limp.

He brought it close to his broken nose and took a deep breath. "Potato soup," he identified, starting to draw it away. Then, he froze. "What's this?" He sniffed again. "Mint, in potato soup?"

"Yeah, it adds flavor," Severus said quickly.

Moody looked up with sudden ferocity. "This is Rosake Draught!" He grabbed Severus around the neck with one large hand. "Empty your pockets."

Severus slowly pulled out his wand (which Moody grabbed and pocketed), then pulled out the empty beaker. Moody snatched it and sniffed it. "Yep, it's Rosake Drought, all right. You're coming with me."

The moment they were in the hallway, Moody swore loudly. "Dumbledore's off at Gringotts! I guess I'll just see what Edgar wants to do with you."

Severus was led down a floor, then down the hallway and tossed through an open door. Moody stormed in close behind.

Bones was sitting at the desk in his room, hurriedly making notes on a piece of parchment. At the sound of Severus hitting the carpet, he looked up with startled hazel eyes. "Alastor, what-"

Moody shut Bones's door quickly. "I'm having difficulty thinking of a good punishment and I thought you could help. Ten years in Azkaban is the normal sentence for brewing Dark potions, correct?"

Bones, who had been looking bewildered, suddenly narrowed his eyes. "What did he do?" Bones asked slowly. This seemed to be a different sort of anger from what Severus had seen him display only an hour ago. He seemed almost… scared. "Is Lily still in her cell?"

"Once his potion sets in she won't be," Moody growled. "He's been slipping Rosake Drought into her food!"

Bones stood quickly and walked over to Severus, who was still on the floor. "How long?" Severus stayed silent.

"The beaker was empty," Moody said, "We never should have let him in; he's endangering us all!"

"Dumbledore had promised me that she would be safe," Severus said calmly. Surprised, both Aurors stared down at him. "He broke his promise."

"Poppycock! When has she ever been unprotected here?" Moody asked harshly.

"When she fell out of a four story window! And when four Stunners got her in the back! And not to mention when paranoid Aurors decide to torture her," Severus hissed, rising to his feet and glowering at Moody.

"And she'd be safer with Voldemort?" Moody asked with a scowl.

"She would never ret-" Severus started, and then stopped. This was getting them nowhere. They didn't need to know anything. With luck, the Rosake Drought would heal Lily enough that she'd be able to escape, even if he was in Azkaban.

Bones walked over to Severus and stood between him and Moody. He met his eyes. "Listen to reason. With the side effects of the Rosake Drought being what they are, Lily will be unconscious until midnight! Then, she'll require intense physical training for at least a week before she's back to full health." He was talking calmly, persuasively, but it did nothing to calm Severus.

"She can worry about that once she gets out!" Severus snarled. "I hear there are training facilities in Brazil. At least there she won't be tortured!"

Bones grabbed Severus's shoulders. "She won't be tortured here if you just tell us what we need to know!" he shouted, losing any air of patience he had had before.

"Like what?" Severus asked. "I won't tell you anything that could hurt her." Severus did not know why he was now listening to Bones. Perhaps it was because he realized that she was safer here than anywhere else.

"We're not out to get her! We want her to join the Order as bad you did when you turned her in!" Edgar said, shaking him as though he could make him understand.

"I will answer your questions under one condition," Severus said tightly. "You two have to do everything in your power to help her. Keep her safe and wanted. She will not show it, but being treated like a prisoner who is only here to take up space is doing nothing to help your cause. And," he continued loudly over the protests, "you cannot force her to spy on the Dark Lord for you."

"But-"

"If you need a spy, I'm your Death Eater. Leave her out of it."

Edgar held out his hand. "Deal." Severus shook it firmly, wondering whether he could even trust them. Though he didn't know about Moody, he knew that Bones would keep her safe.

"Please sit down," Bones said, gesturing to a plush leather armchair that sat near the desk. Severus walked over stiffly and perched on the edge. "Alastor, will you lock the door?" The Auror limped over, drew out his wand and flicked at the doorknob; it glowed pink, then settled back to its dull gold. "Now, just tell me anything relevant to our case about Lily."

"Like…"

"Like how many Death Eater names she knows, what Voldemort's plans for her were and, most importantly, about their relationship," said Bones, sitting at his desk and picking up his quill and dipping it into the ink.

Severus sighed and looked towards the door, next to which Moody was standing. He looked back to Bones. "Are you sure all of this will help her?" At their nods, he said, "She probably knows all of the field agents, but only a handful know her."

"Does she know any spies?" Moody asked.

"Me," said Severus with a smirk that showed his sharp canine teeth.

"Anyone else?" Moody growled, obviously trying to keep his temper under control.

"Maybe," replied Severus. "We normally avoid talking about that sort of thing."

"Then what do you talk about?" asked Bones.

"Is that really relevant?" asked Severus, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"It actually is," said Bones, setting down his quill and facing Severus. "The more we know about her as a person, the more we can connect with her and find her weaknesses."

Severus narrowed his eyes. Correctly interpreting his look, Bones said, "Only so we can get her on our side, not to harm her."

Severus nodded warily. "Well, we talked about school, her home life before… you know, and the Dark Arts and stuff."

"The Dark Arts?" asked Bones in alarm. Moody grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, 'I told you so.'

"I mean," said Bones, "we could guess she knew a bit; her ability to create darkness and so forth, but to be a supporter of it?"

Severus glowered at Bones. "The dark, and Dark magic, is simply misunderstood. You fear it because you do not understand it."

"I'm not afraid," snarled Moody. "I loathe the Dark Arts."

"And why is that?" Severus asked with a condescending smirk.

"Because it's dangerous!" Moody growled.

"What magic isn't?" asked Severus quickly. "There is good that come from the Dark Arts."

"Anything obtained by using Darkness cannot be good," said Moody staunchly.

"Indeed?" asked Severus quietly. "Someday, I'll get Lily to prove you wrong."

"Why can't you, if you're so devoted to it?" asked Moody.

Severus raised an eyebrow. "I may know some Dark Arts, but Lily knows it all."

"So Lily's a Dark adept?" asked Bones, cutting into their argument. His rugged face was dark and he was looking intently at Severus.

"Of course," replied Severus airily.

Moody swore loudly. "I repeat; when did she have the time?"

"Try six summers cooped up in Death Eater headquarters for a start," said Severus, examining his short nails.

Bones smiled lightly at Moody. "There's your answer." Then, he turned back to Severus. "Do you know anything about Robin?"

"Robin who?" Severus asked with a blink. "Oh, the guy Lily keeps talking about? No clue." He knew that he was being more open with Bones, and it worried him. Next, he'd be buying the Order sweatshirt or something.

"Now we come to the most important subject," Bones said. "Exactly what were Lily's thoughts on Voldemort?"

Severus took a deep breath and told them.

What did you think? Next, we see James attempting to Christmas shop (with little success). The more reviews I get, the more likely I am to update. Please get me up to 500!