Thursday May 26
- Remus -
James and Sirius were driving Remus crazy. Sirius refused to apologise and James refused to let him off the hook. Sirius had been avoiding quidditch practice, despite the final match of the year being on Saturday.
The rest of the team slumped back into Gryffindor Tower early Thursday night, looking glum. A few minutes later, James stormed in after them.
"Black," he snapped, halting in front of his friends.
"Potter," Sirius growled back, barely raising his head.
"You're playing beater on Saturday."
"What?" Sirius practically yelped. He hadn't actually played in a game before. 'Reserve Beater' was more of an honorary position.
"Gideon Prewett was hit by a bad transfiguration spell in OWL practice. You're up. Don't screw it up."
And with that encouraging advice, James slouched off to the dormitory. Sirius sat, gaping, for a full minute.
"You look like someone hit you with a stunner," Peter observed, stealing the last cream bun off the table between them.
"And you look like-" Sirius started hotly, but Remus kicked him. The last thing they needed was another feud between the Marauders. Sirius turned his angry wit on Remus, but was interrupted by a knock at the portrait hole.
Every eye in Gryffindor turned to it. Apart from Andy, no one from another House visited the Tower uninvited. Frank Longbottom got up to answer the door.
Emma poked her head in. Remus stood up immediately. Ignoring the looks the other Gryffindor's were giving her, she quickly caught Remus' eye.
"Remus, can I have a word?"
Sniggers broke out among the less mature Gryffindors. Remus ignored them, striding past snide comments and out of the portrait hole.
"I was just coming to see you," Remus said once the portrait closed behind them. "But James and Sirius are still-"
Remus stopped at the look on Emma's face.
"We should find an empty classroom," she told Remus shortly. Remus followed her silently down the corridor, his heart pounding. He hadn't seen Emma this serious since before they'd started sharing secrets. Had she finally stumbled on the one thing that would drive her away from him?
Emma entered the empty History of Magic classroom, closing the door behind Remus. Well, at least she was willing to be alone with him; that had to mean something, right?
But Emma was clearly nervous and she put a desk between them.
"How did your Arithmancy essay go?" Remus asked, flailing for some normalcy.
"Fine," Emma said shortly. She reached into her inner pocket and Remus had to work not to flinch. Was she going for her wand? If anyone could deal with a werewolf, Remus was sure it would be Emmeline Vance. But instead she pulled out the three coded notes.
"Where did you get these?" Emma demanded, her voice low. Remus swallowed.
"Did you crack the code?"
"Answer me first," Emma all but growled. So it was bad, then.
"I can't say," Remus said, hating the fact.
"Then I can't help you," Emma declared, folding the papers back into her pocket.
"Wait," Remus said hastily. "Is it- are they… is the code word… 'Voldemort'?"
Emma paused, her eyes narrowing. "No. Why would it be?"
Remus has known it wasn't 'Voldemort' - he'd tried it. But what else would cause Emma to react like this? Remus didn't know how to answer her question, so he said nothing.
"Right," Emma said briskly, though she was clearly upset. "If that's the way it is." She swept toward the door. Remus looked after her helplessly. So Emma had decoded the notes, but was so appalled by what she'd found, she wouldn't share. What would James or Sirius do if they were him? Probably something stupid. Or clever.
Remus' brain worked furiously. If the code word wasn't 'Voldemort', but Emma hadn't been surprised by the suggestion… Nine to twelve letters, starting with-
"The Dark Lord," Remus said suddenly. Emma, hand on the door handle, paused. "That's the code word," Remus added.
Emma turned back to face him, lips pursed.
"I don't see why you need me, then," she ground out.
"Emma, please. Just wait a moment."
Emma glanced at the empty corridor outside the classroom, then shut the door with a snap. She strode across the room to Remus and spread out the letters, eyes still narrowed, hands shaking with anger.
"How could you not tell me?" she hissed. "This isn't some stupid kids swapping notes! You could have gotten me into real trouble!"
"I'm sorry," Remus said, his desperation clear in his voice. "We didn't know what they were. There was a chance they were something serious, but we had no idea really. I shouldn't have gotten you involved. I'm sorry, Emma."
At her name, Emma finally looked up. Her eyes softened a bit. She sighed heavily. "There's still no real evidence it is anything," she admitted. "It could all be a hoax or a stupid prank. It could just be someone messing with you. But," she hesitated, flipping over the first note so Remus could read her translation on the back, "it might be something more sinister."
Remus leant over, curiosity surpassing anything else in this moment. They'd waited so long for the answers to the codes…
The first one, the longest, read:
The Trophy Room
Gryffindor Tower
Dumbledore's Office
Dungeons
Forbidden Forest
Statues
Secret Rooms
"What does it mean?" Remus said, surprised. He'd been expecting sinister instructions or a meeting time and place or… "Wait," Remus said, as his thoughts caught up with him. "These are the places they've been searching!"
"What has?" Emma demanded. Remus hesitated.
"Oh, that's right," she snapped. "I solve your codes, but don't tell me anything."
"It's not that simple," Remus said despairingly. "This is bigger than just me."
Emma regarded him seriously. Remus could almost see the thoughts whizzing about in her mind.
"Fine," she said at last. "Here's the deal. I'll show you the last two codes – if I get be involved in the investigation."
Remus bit his lip. "I'd have to ask the others…"
"So be it. I'm coming with you."
Remus blinked. While Emma had never exactly doubted herself, this was the most assertive she'd been all term. Remus hadn't realised what he'd started when he'd given her the notes. But without her, they'd never have the solutions. What would the other Marauders say?
"Alright," Remus said hesitantly. "Wait here, I'll call them."
"I'm coming with you," Emma said at once. Didn't she trust him?
"I'm not going far," Remus said. He just needed to use Sirius' mirror. But when he stepped towards the hallway, Emma followed him. It was clear from the look in her eyes that there would be no dissuading her. Remus relented.
"Fine, but this is a secret, okay?"
"You'd think you could trust me with your secrets by now," Emma said, crossing her arms. Remus gave a half-hearted chuckle and tried not to think what would happen to his relationship with Emma if the Marauders decided not to include her. Or what would happen to his friendship when the guys found out he'd betrayed their secret… This might be the stupidest thing Remus Lupin had ever done.
Remus pulled the mirror out of his pocket and said Sirius' name, twice. Emma was watching the mirror, fascinated. Finally Sirius' face, grumpy with tousled hair, appeared in the mirror.
"What, Moony?" Sirius demanded. "I was busy. If you're calling for tips with Vance, use your tongue more. Can never have too much-"
"Sirius," Remus cut him off, blushing deeply, very aware that Emma was standing right beside him. "We have the solutions to the codes. Bring the others to the History of Magic classroom."
Sirius blinked. Then his Marauder spirit took over. "Right," he said, grinning. "We'll be there soon."
The mirror went dark. Remus stowed his own mirror, caught Emma giving him an amused look, and coughed, turning to scan the first code-solution to avoid her gaze.
.
.
- Sirius -
Sirius sent Peter up to the dorm to get James, but wasn't surprised when Peter came back alone. Nor was he that disappointed. Sirius had no desire to spend time with James until he stopped being such a prat. They'd fill him in on the codes then. Whenever that happened to be. If he was going to act like a petulant toddler, he could very well miss out on the excitement.
It took only a few minutes to reach the classroom. Sirius shoved through the door but stopped when he saw that Remus wasn't alone. Emmeline Vance was with him.
"What's she doing here?" Sirius demanded. Vance glared at him. Sirius glared back. He wasn't letting some snobby Ravenclaw into Marauder business just because Remus was snogging her.
"Emma is the reason we have solutions to our codes," Remus said, his voice firm.
Sirius didn't drop his glare. Neither did Vance.
"Whose codes?" Sirius shot at Remus, without breaking eye contact with Vance.
"If you don't want the solutions," Vance told him, her voice haughty, "I'll just take them with me."
She stepped towards the door. Sirius stepped into her path. Vance placed a hand on her wand without drawing it, but the threat was obvious. Sirius growled at her.
"Padfoot!" Remus said, appalled. Sirius glowered at Remus. Peter was standing behind Sirius. He could hear Peter nervously shifting his weight.
"Fine!" Sirius snapped, throwing his hands up in the air. "The damage is already done, by the looks of it. James is the one you'll have to watch out for, Moony," Sirius added to Remus. "He's the one who's always on about loyalty."
"Once you've finished being a buffoon about this," Vance said icily, "perhaps we can sit down and go over the codes?"
Sirius nearly gaped at her. "Now look here, Vance," he began. "You're not running the show. This is Marauder business."
" 'Marauder'?" Vance said, barely hiding her amusement.
"I've told Emma very little," Remus said pointedly to Sirius. "She has agreed to share the solutions to the codes, if she can be involved in the investigation that follows."
"No she bloody well can't," Sirius said hotly. "This is a four man band, Moony! You can't just go inviting any floozy who-"
"Sirius!" Remus cried, shocked. Vance was looking daggers at Sirius. "Either we accept Emma's help and include her, or you can go and solve the codes yourself!"
Sirius glared at Remus, defeated but not ready to give in. It was Peter who sat down in the desk across from Vance's, sitting to attention as though he was in class. Not that Peter ever paid attention in class. Remus cleared his throat pointedly, giving Sirius a stern look.
Sirius wrenched out a chair and sat down on it backwards, with bad grace. Remus sat on a desk facing them. Vance smoothed out her robes, took some papers from her pocket, and deigned to sit down as well.
"The first code is a list of locations," she said, handing it to Sirius.
"Most of them are places we've caught Slytherins up to no good," Remus said, as Sirius read the list. "This explains the Trophy Room, and Dumbledore's Office, and Gryffindor Tower."
"But what are they after?" Sirius said, still in the dark.
"I believe I can answer that, too," Vance said, handing over the second decoded note. It read,
The riddle is in their tower.
"A riddle?" Peter said, reading over Sirius' shoulder.
"Why bother with a list of places if they knew where to look?" Remus said, looking to Vance for an answer.
"Because they got that note second," Sirius said. "Remember I took it off-"
Sirius stopped abruptly. Vance raised an eyebrow at him.
"You took it off Malfoy," Remus said, smoothing over the awkwardness, and avoiding Sirius' furious stare. "Who got it from Lestrange."
"Rudolphus Lestrange?" Vance demanded.
"The very same," Remus said. "So the first was a list of possible locations, which they searched, and the second is the actual location. Lestrange must have worked out where the riddle really was."
"What does the third note say?" Sirius demanded.
"Not much," Vance admitted. " 'You're running out of time.'"
"Out of time for what?" Remus said, but his question was rhetorical.
"We have to find that riddle," Sirius said, standing up.
"I've never seen a riddle in Gryffindor Tower," Peter said, almost toppling his chair as he shot to his feet.
"It would be hidden," Vance said, barely concealing her contempt.
They all headed for the door, but Sirius stopped Vance, stepping into her path.
"I think we'll take it from here, thanks."
"I beg your pardon?" Vance's voice was ice.
"What he means," Remus said hurriedly, "is it might arouse suspicion if you're searching Gryffindor Tower with us. We can just pretend we're planning a stupid prank or something. We'll let you know tomorrow what we find."
Vance was still glaring at Sirius, but he could see she saw the sense in this plan. She pursed her lips and then said to Sirius, her voice still cold, "You're welcome, Black."
Then she turned and swept off up the corridor.
Sirius was torn between admiring her style and wanting to throttle her.
"To the common room!" Peter cried, bounding on ahead. Sirius and Remus exchanged a glance – neither of them had thought this was exactly exciting – before hurrying to catch up. Still, Sirius mused, it wasn't every day you went on a treasure hunt, or whatever this was.
.
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- Lily -
The evening was turning out to be rather odd. Lily was pleased that James had chosen to spend it in the boys dorm. She was slowly wading through her Transfiguration homework, and the fact that she didn't have to keep looking up at his face, knowing he could help her, if he wasn't such a traitorous jerk, made it a bit easier.
However Lily had found it disturbing to see James and Sirius calling each other by their last names when the quidditch team returned. And decidedly odd that Vance had come to the Tower to collect Remus – with an even odder look on her face. Was she breaking up with him?
And then the three Marauders had all trooped back in together and set about pulling apart the common room. They levitated every piece of furniture (whether there were people on it or not), looked behind every curtain, and even put out the fire to search the fireplace.
Because it was the Marauders, no one asked them to stop, or even questioned what they were doing. Prisha got sick of their antics and went to bed, and Frank surreptitiously studied the places they'd searched as though he might find a clue they'd missed. It was over an hour before they gave in and went up to their dorm.
Last week Lily might have asked Remus, or even J-Potter what they were up to. Last month she would have gotten in their way and demanded they stop disrupting the peace. Tonight, she just wanted to finish her homework and pretend everything was fine. For once.
.
.
.
FRIDAY MAY 27
- Remus -
Sirius had taken to leaving the dorm early every morning to avoid James. This morning, Remus had taken on the dangerous task of waking James early to tell him about the coded notes and the riddle hidden in their tower. Somewhere. Remus, Sirius and Peter hadn't found anything last night.
James was less interested in the riddle than Remus had expected. He kept muttering quidditch statistics and throwing filthy looks at Sirius' bed, as though it was Sirius' fault that Gideon Prewett was stuck in the hospital wing.
"James!" Remus said loudly, the third time this happened. "Don't you care that Malfoy wants to steal something from Gryffindor Tower?"
"As long as he doesn't steal it before Saturday, no," James said. He'd been moody all week. Remus was about ready to give up on him.
"So you're not going to help us look for the riddle?" Remus demanded.
"Us?" James said suspiciously. Remus rolled his eyes.
"When are you going to give Sirius a break? You know he didn't mean to-"
"I'm going to get breakfast," James said loudly, drowning out Remus' words. He strode across the dorm, knocking Sirius' antique watch off the window sill as he went. Remus sighed and bent to pick it up. As he leant down, Remus saw a mark on one of the stones in the wall. He looked closer. It was just a scratch. Meaningless.
Remus replaced the watch and went to put on his shoes. As he tied his laces, he glanced at the wall beside his bed. A stone here was scratched, too. A few thin lines, shallow gouges. Again, nothing interesting. But what had caused them?
Remus fell to his hands and knees and began inspecting all of the stones that ringed their round dormitory. Every now and then he found one that bore these strange scratches. Were they just the result of centuries of careless school boys? Or were they another code? By now Remus had made it the whole way around the tower, even levitating beds out of the way so he could look behind them. All that remained was Peter's bed.
"Oy, Wormtail," Remus said, standing over Peter. Not a stir.
"Peter!" Remus said loudly. Nothing. Remus shook Peter lightly, then roughly. He pulled off the bed clothes. He let off a firework from Sirius' collection. Still no movement. Sighing reluctantly, Remus pulled out his wand, shook back his sleeves and said, "Waddiwasi."
Peter was pulled out of bed and across the room. Remus winced at the crunch he made hitting the opposite wall. Peter spluttered and sat up.
"Padfoot!" he whined out of habit. Remus, pleased to see Peter was fine, ignored him and levitated his bed. In the wall behind it, Remus found more scratches. But these scratches formed a word. Inexpertly carved and unrecognisable at first glance. However Remus was certain they were intended to read 'lie'.
"Lie…" Remus muttered to himself.
"Moony!" Peter cried, for what sounded like the third time. Remus glanced over at him.
"Why'd you do that?" Peter demanded, his voice still a whine. It took a while to wear off in the mornings.
"I think we're making some progress on the code," Remus said, bending down to study the word more closely. Was this the only scratch meant to be a word, or were the others just better disguised? 'Lie' wasn't a riddle all by itself… at least not one Remus could solve.
"Wormtail," Remus said, standing up straight. "Go and get Padfoot and Prongs. We've got some investigating to do."
"Where…?" Peter said reluctantly.
"They'll be at breakfast," Remus said briskly, now bending to examine another scratch. Could he make a word out of it?
Peter brightened at this and scampered off, still in his pyjamas. He returned fifteen minutes later with a grumpy James.
"Padfoot is still avoiding Prongs," Peter announced. He was much more chipper now; he must have scoffed some breakfast.
James was glowering.
"What is it, Moony? We have Defence in ten minutes."
"This is worth being late for," Remus said. James' eyes widened.
"Have you ever said that before?"
Remus waved the words aside dismissively. "Come here, Prongs. Tell me what you see."
James strode over and looked at the stone Remus pointed out.
" 'Lie'," James read. "Not much a riddle, is it? Maybe the whole thing is a lie."
"Or," Remus said, excited now, "there's a word hidden in each dorm. Just think. There are seven levels of dorms, this is just the top one. If we search each dorm-"
"People won't like that," Peter said nervously.
"Nah, they won't mind," James said, already heading for the door. "We'll just tell them it's important."
Peter looked unconvinced. Remus followed James with more confidence. This was exactly why he'd needed a Prince of Hogwarts this morning.
James barged into the fifth year dorms on the level below theirs. Fabian Prewett was alone in here, putting on his socks.
"Hey Captain," he said, with a bit less enthusiasm than usual. It was odd to see him without Gideon. James and Remus fanned out around the room. Peter stood awkwardly in the doorway.
"What's this about?" Fabian said, frowning.
"Got it!" Remus cried. James hurried over. The word was behind the little table that held the water jug.
" 'The,'" James read out. "Not very interesting."
"Peter, go and get a quill and parchment," Remus said. "It'll all make sense together."
"What will make sense?" Fabian said, but the Marauders were already descending to the fourth year dorm.
Lance Jordan and Sean Finnigan were less pleased with the intrusion, but James talked right over them while Remus searched. He had to remove a quidditch poster to find this one, which had Finnigan in near hysterics, but James told him to put a sock in it and they left.
The lower years were confused but not defensive. And by the time the Marauders reached the seventh year dorm, on the lowest level, Longbottom and the others were all in class. Remus was trying not to look at his watch – they were at least ten minutes late for Defence Against the Dark Arts.
Peter had been scrawling down the words, as excited as Remus was to find them. They regrouped in the common room, which was now mostly empty – apart from the sixth year girls grouped around the fire doing homework. Remus hoped James wouldn't notice Lily.
"So," Remus said quietly, rubbing his hands together and turning to Peter, "what have we got? Read it out."
James had his hands in his pockets, and was bouncing on the soles of his feet, filled with excited energy. Peter cleared his throat, grinning, and read out,
"Lie the of tower the speak name."
Peter was still grinning. Remus and James exchanged a disappointed look.
"That's not a riddle, it's a mess."
"Maybe we need to rearrange the words…" Remus speculated. He took the parchment from Peter. But no matter how he reordered the sentence, it refused to make sense.
"Won't we be late?" Peter piped up. Remus glanced at his watch – he'd been so absorbed in the riddle.
"Is it even worth going to class now?" James asked, stretching lazily.
"Yes!" Remus snapped. "Our exams are only weeks away!"
James sighed and followed Remus down to class. Luckily they were practicing defensive spells and able to sneak in mostly unnoticed. But Remus' wandwork suffered. His mind was still trying to fit together the elusive seven-worded riddle.
.
.
- Andy -
One day, very soon, Andy was going to murder William Wilkes. Despite her Black blood, Andy disliked the idea of Avada Kedavra,but she knew poisons quite well. It would only take one drop in his morning pumpkin juice…
Wilkes was enjoying the boost to his reputation. While Andy wasn't exactly popular, she was well-known, from a well-respected family, and, grudgingly, well-respected for her skills with a wand. Add to that the pureblood habit of marrying early, and the Slytherins were happily gossiping about wedding bells and how their children would turn out. Zabini was the only one to voice the opinion that any Black-Wilkes children would be better off resembling Wilkes. Andy might not have been the most striking beauty of the Black clan, but Wilkes had the pouchy eyes of a toad. Zabini was just a bitch.
Andy's problem with Wilkes wasn't his toad eyes or even the way he grasped at her fame to elevate himself – that was a typical Slytherin tactic. It was that he insisted on public displays of relationship. Not affection exactly, but whenever anyone was around, he wanted to walk a little too close to her, to sit so they were almost touching, to begin some inane conversation. He'd learned not to touch her directly, but he was always claiming her attention, invading her personal space bubble, encroaching on her time.
Andromeda Black had a large personal space bubble, no tolerance for the inane, and no time to donate to others. Wilkes was becoming her private menace.
And worst of all, he always seemed to pop up when Tonks was around.
Despite the fact that Wilkes knew Andy wasn't interested in him, and the fact that all of Slytherin now believed Andy had just been playing with Tonks (it was much easier for them to believe this than that pureblood Andromeda Black had had feelings for muggleborn Ted Tonks), Wilkes seemed to need to prove something to Tonks.
So far Andy had cursed Wilkes three times, and all of them had been when he'd overstepped in front of Tonks. Tonks, on his part, barely spared a glance for Andy anymore. Any encounter between them left Andy feeling achy and empty. She had to constantly remind herself that she was protecting Tonks, that her own feelings were only getting in the way. More than once she had contemplated leaving Hogwarts, at least until next year, but there was nowhere to go. And, as much as she hated to admit it to herself, she'd miss even the brief glances of Tonks that were all she got these days. Even if he pretended not to see her.
So when Andy reached into her bag after classes on Friday and her fingers clutched an unexpected note, her heartrate increased wildly, and her breath caught. She was at the Slytherin dinner table and Wilkes had just tried to drink from her goblet, the feral buffoon. She'd hit him with a stinging curse, which was lucky, because he was now too distracted to watch her read the note.
Andy unfolded it with shaking fingers. It was blank, but she'd expected as much. Trembling with anticipation, Andy ran through the usual cloaking spells Tonks used. Nothing happened. With mounting desperation, Andy tried less well known spells, even combinations of spells. But by now her head knew the truth, even if her heart ached at the idea.
This note wasn't from Tonks. Andy sighed deeply and took out the Revealer Sirius had given her. His note was brief and blunt. They were meeting at the poker room after dinner. Despite the fact this meant there was news, Andy felt no excitement. Anything she might have felt was sucked into the deep void of disappointment where her stomach used to be.
Ignoring Wilkes, Bellatrix and Zabini, and the other stares that followed her, Andy left her full plate and headed off to the other side of the school. It would be a relief, if nothing else, to be alone for a few minutes. It was a long walk, but it didn't do Andy much good. Try as she might to control her thoughts, she kept wondering what she'd hoped to read in a note from Tonks. Surely anything he had to say to her wouldn't be good news? He now thought Andy was a foul traitor who'd hoodwinked him into seeing something more in her. And if Tonks ever found out how Andy really felt? What she'd really done? Surely that would be the worst possible thing to come from all this? His ignorance was protecting him.
Sighing deeply and hating the world, Andy pushed open the door to the round room in the divination tower. She'd already headed for the window when she stopped abruptly. The room wasn't empty.
"What are you doing here?" Andy demanded of the seventh year Ravenclaw prefect. Mance, was it? Mance shook her long hair behind her shoulders and gave Andy a look so imperious it might have belonged to a Black.
"I was invited," Mance replied, glaring Andy down. Or trying to. Andy was not one to back down. Ever.
Andy snorted scornfully. "By who? The tooth fairy? Clear out Mance, I have business here tonight."
Mance opened her mouth to retort, but was interrupted by the entrance of the four Marauders.
"Sorry we're late," Remus said.
"Yeah, Prongs couldn't keep his-"
"Sirius was being a-"
"Anyway," Remus said loudly, cutting off the Princes. "Now that we're all here, I have something to show you."
"All here?" Andy demanded, giving Mance a cold and haughty look.
"Yes," Remus said simply. "Emma helped me decode the notes-"
"You showed them to her?" Andy demanded, shocked.
"We covered this ground yesterday with your dear cousin," Mance said, giving Sirius a pointed look and tossing her hair again. Andy had the sudden urge to throttle her. Andromeda Black had never played well with others, but she was sure anyone would be annoyed but this arrogant, intrusive-
"Shall we sit?" Remus said, walking over to Mance and sitting by her. Oh that's right, Andy remembered with a shudder: Remus and Vance were dating. Andy couldn't for one moment see what Remus saw in the stuck up prefect. She'd thought the Princes were having a good impression on Remus' boring scholarly side, but apparently not. Or maybe Vance was just really good at-
"These are the decoded notes," Remus said, spreading them out on the floor and ignoring the fact that no one else was seated. James and Sirius were still standing on opposite sides of the room, arms crossed, pretending the other didn't exist. Vance sat beside Remus and Peter sat where he was, crossing his legs. Andy moved closer to read the notes but didn't sit.
"A list of places, the location of the riddle, and a bid for urgency," Remus said, touching the notes in turn. Andy glanced through the content, determinedly unimpressed. Despite their hours of failure in this room, Andy was sure she and the Marauders could have solved this without the Ravenclaw's help, given time.
"This morning," Remus continued, "James, Peter and I," (here Sirius looked up with a deep frown) "went through the dorms and found a hidden word in each one. Our job now is to solve the riddle and find out what Malfoy and Lestrange are looking for."
"Let's hear it then," Andy said, leaning back against the wall. Remus took another slip of paper out of his pocket and read it aloud.
"Lie… the… of… tower… the… speak… name."
"Rubbish," Andy muttered.
"It might sound like nonsense," Vance said slowly, "but it must mean something."
"Why?" Andy demanded. "Who says that's even the riddle?"
"How many hidden words do you think Gryffindor Tower holds?" James shot back.
"Where did you find them?" Vance asked Remus, ignoring the brewing argument.
"In the dorms," Remus said.
"Which dorms?"
"The boys' dorms, obviously," Sirius said. "As if girls would let these guys just traipse in-"
"They'd let me in before they let you in-" James interrupted.
"As if!" Sirius laughed. "Everyone knows I'm the-"
"It sounds to me," Vance said loudly, giving them both a quelling look, "like there are some words missing."
"They're in the girls' dorms," Andy said, realising where this was going. "So hopefully you two are as persuasive as you think," Andy added, looking James and Sirius up and down.
"No," Remus said, tapping his lip thoughtfully with a finger. "Our best bet is tomorrow, during the quidditch match. When Gryffindor Tower is empty."
"You want to break into the girls' dorms?" Peter said, eyes wide with horror. "What if we're caught!"
"Peter!" snapped both James and Sirius simultaneously. "How many times do we have to tell you-"
They both stopped abruptly, and looked away from each other, glaring at the floor.
"For once, Padfoot and Prongs are right, Peter," Remus said, his voice firm. "This will require courage, but it's important. And if we have the girls with us," he gave Vance a tender look. Andy rolled her eyes and so missed whether Remus had tried to include her in the scheme. "We should be fine."
"You'll miss the match!" James protested.
"You don't think this is worth it?" Andy drawled. "Weren't you hell-bent on catching a Slytherin in an act of treachery?"
"Or maybe preventing a theft or other sinister crime?" Vance added, frowning at Andy.
"I think you'll find vengeance appeals to this lot more than integrity," Andy told Vance, her voice bored. Vance looked affronted by this, and Andy smiled, pleased. Her first smile in days. Nothing like the laughter that Tonks used to elicit- Andy grabbed the thought, strangled it and stomped on it. Nothing good would come from regrets.
"Fine," she said to the Marauders. "I'll meet you," she said to Remus, "in the common room at eleven tomorrow."
Andy turned to leave. James coughed meaningfully. Andy sighed. "Good luck tomorrow," she added, no trace of sincerity in her voice. "And to you," she added to Sirius as she passed him. "Try not to fall off your broom."
Sirius spluttered at her but Andy was already gone. As soon as she was in the corridor, a crushing loneliness pressed in on her. The Marauders might not be the best company right now, but these days Andy felt her solitude more acutely than ever. Once again she cursed the stupid naïve girl she'd been at the start of term. Why had she ever allowed herself to date Ted Tonks in the first place? Andy skulked off to the Slytherin common room, running through all the curses she could use on Wilkes as she went. She needed something to keep herself sane.