Back again!

Once again thanks for all the wonderful reviews and helpful feedback everyone. It's nice to know my work means enough to you all that you look for ways it can get better. That means more to me than someone finding a flaw and dismissing my story altogether. The fact that when you find room for improvement you stick around to see it happen is truly uplifting.

I'm sure some of you are surprised by Simone's actions in the previous chapter. Now you and me as readers (and the writer) know what that thing she found is and what it means and of course we would think 'do the smart thing and bring it to Dumbledore'. But Simone lacks not only that knowledge but also that courage. She made put on a brave front most of the times, but she is not invincible and is more than capable of acting fearing and without thought. In an act of fear, she hid what scared her and fled from it like many youngsters would. She's a teen, still capable of childish reactions and even cowardice.

The strange attributes coming from the Horcrux that led them to it will be explained in chapter 35 or so. Until then, I shall let you all wonder why they could hear and feel things coming from it. Rest assured, neither girl has Harry's ability of sensing them due to being one. They're normal witches, the reason they could feel the Horcrux will be explained. Don't worry.

No warnings for this chapter. It's mostly mystery and mischief.

Enjoy

If Someone Cared Enough

Chapter Thirty-Four: Secrets and Sillies

Severus woke up midway through the morning on Saturday, Slughorn's party the night prior doing a fine job of tiring him out. So burnt out after leaving the festivities, Severus was out like a light the minute his head hit the pillows, forgoing his usual nightly reading.

Sitting up in bed, Severus grimaced at his pillow.

"Probably should have changed last night," he mused aloud, frowning at the black and gray smears across his pillow and the rumpled costume cloak twisted around him.

Stripping the pillowcase and removing his costume, he left it on the bed before casting a hasty look around. The dorm room was silent except for the snores of his dorm mates, all deep in slumber after a night of binging on sweets—and probably a few stolen pints of alcohol from Hogsmead.

Deeming it safe to wander about, Severus ducked into the bathroom to clean his face and get ready for the day. Gathering his shampoo and soap, he reminded himself to get Mrs. Evans a marvelous gift for Christmas as a thank you for buying him such expensive brands of cleaning materials. Washing everyday truly did have a great effect on his esteem.

Before this year, Severus could—generally did—use the generic school soaps, but he had such little consideration for hygiene after years of forgoing it in his own house, so he only showered once a week. After a summer of being encouraged to care more for himself, he now could see the value in grooming and how changing others' outlook of him changed his own outlook on himself.

Stepping out of the bathroom freshly showered and dressed, Severus stepped to the mirror and examined his appearance briefly. His complexion had cleared up fairly well, greasy skin now replaced by the mere few blemishes here or there common to adolescence. His hair looked softer and healthier now, making him greatly Mrs. Evans had introduced him to shampoos meant for those whose hair produced more oil.

His teeth were whiter and no longer that sickening yellow that made him wary to smile. Mr. Evans even told him that a dentist could remove his wisdom teeth so that his remaining teeth would have more room to spread out and not crowd each other, though fixing their crookedness would be a different matter.

Overall, Severus felt like a new man. Gone were the comments about his hair and clothes, jokes about how people could smell him before he rounded the corner. Though he still had to tolerate wariness and skepticism based on the color of his tie, at least suspicion aimed at his Hogwarts house was better than disgust aimed at him for a lifetime of poverty-induced filthiness he had little control over.

Intending to catch a late breakfast, Severus gathered up the pile on his bed to leave in the hamper for cleaning. Holding up his dementor robe, Severus was in the middle of folding it when something fell from among the folds of fabric and landed at his feet.

Curious, Severus knelt down and picked the item up to find it was a tightly folded piece of paper. Casting a careful glance around the room to ensure his roommates were all still sleeping, Severus unfolded the paper.

A secret is hidden among pompous pride

Vain arrogance loosens lips thought sealed

One who is silent hears whispers the loudest

Those who serve unseen see all

-Babbity

"What in the world?" Puzzled, Severus flipped the paper over, searching for more to the missive but finding nothing. Flipping it back over, he examined the words again. The message was short, cryptic. Clearly, someone didn't want just anyone to come across it and understand its meaning. Who was to say the note was even meant for him? There was no name on the parchment to indicate its intended recipient.

Had it been tucked up in his bedsheets? Or in his pillowcase? Or his costume. Rummaging through his hamper pile, Severus found his costume did indeed have pockets, a perfect place for a note to be stashed. But that only perplexed him more; for he couldn't recall receiving the note last night and tucking it there for safe keeping. Someone else must have put it there, but surely he would have notice something as invasive as a hand in his pocket…?

Of course!

Severus thought back to the party; back before things got into full swing. Someone had been close enough to give him the note, and had ample distraction and opportunity to do it.

"No-face…" Severus realized. He thought back to that bizarre costume, a robed figure with a mask that had no face. Its wearer had banged into him rather hard, harder enough to throw him off balance and leave him stumbling. He'd been so disoriented and focused on not tripping in his robes, it would have been the perfect time to slip the note into his pocket, he hardly would have noticed.

There was also the question of if the note was even meant for him. He had been disguised that night and well many would probably assume a dementor looked quite fitting and predictable for him, he was such an unremarkable appearance compared to the purebloods at the party in their expensive outfits that surely very few would have picked him out of a crowd. Add Lily's matching outfit to the occassion and it made guessing harder; everyone would assume Lily to be in something pretty and glamorous. Any one expecting Severus in a drab costume would be looking for a pretty fairy or princess Lily accompanying him so the presence of two dementors would make them second guess Severus was under one of those robes at all.

Who was under the faceless mask and what did their little note have to do with Severus?

{page break}

When Severus came down to the Great Hall for breakfast, most students had already cleared out. Others simply skipped breakfast in favor of sleeping in, presumably planning to wake up in time for lunch. Only a few students remained from each house, scattered here and there among the four long tables, sleepily nibbling on toast, heads bent over cups of pumpkin juice and wishing it were coffee (Severus knew he sure did).

Having passed Lily in the hallway as she departed from the hall and promising to meet up after he ate, Severus headed for the Slytherin table. With so many of his dorm mates sleeping in or already eaten for the morning, he gladly took advantage of the absence of their hostility to eat a peaceful meal.

A little ways down the table, Simone and Thea sat together in front of two plates of scrambled eggs and ham. However, they didn't appear to be paying their half touched plates any mind at all. Heads bent together, huddled inward, the two girls were locked deep in a whispered conversation, occasionally risking a glance at their surroundings to make sure they were not overheard.

Severus cleared his throat before sitting down so as not to startle them.

"Good morning," he greeted, taking a seat.

"Snape," Simone returned, with a polite nod of her head. She shot Thea a look full of unspoken meaning before the two girls sat up and started eating what remained of their breakfast, a feigned sense of casualty in their movements.

"So," Severus began, "Where did you two get off to last night?"

"What do you mean?" Simone asked in a neutral voice, spreading jam on her toast.

"I mean, you both left the party before me and yet I saw you just entering the common room as I headed up for bed," Severus stated, "What sidetracked you?"

Simone paused, her fork halfway to her mouth.

Beside her, Thea was staring fixedly at the table.

"Well," Simone started, lowering her fork, "If you must know, we were looking for Amadeus. He stole my bracelet and I wanted to get it back before he chewed it up."

Simone jerked a thumb at Thea, "Then her gecko took off, so we had to catch that little blighter too."

Thea nodded in agreement.

"So did you find it?" Severus asked.

Simone nearly dropped her fork this time.

"Found what?" she asked, startled, "Who said we found anything?"

"Your bracelet," Severus elaborated, watching Simone suspiciously.

"O-oh," Simone said, swallowing, "Yeah we found it. My bracelet…we found it alright."

Thea was practically burning a hole through the table with her stare.

Severus tilted his head, eying them both with narrowed eyes, "Where was it?"

Simone shrugged, not looking at him, "You know, where we least expected it. Behind a door."

Thea made a noise that sounded like a squeak.

"A door to the bathroom," Simone added quickly. She laughed forcefully, "Cats, am I right?"

"Right," Severus said slowly, watching the two of them.

"I just remembered," Simone said suddenly, standing up so abruptly she bumped into the table, "Thea and I have to head to the Owlery to mail Petunia about how the party was." She began gathering up her things, "She promised to send us a picture of her costume. Ta-tah!" She grabbed Thea by the arm and together the two girls hurried out of the Great hall.

'Peculiar,' Severus thought. It was rare to see Simone so rattled. Thea was usually a jittery little thing, but Simone was generally unshakable, her composure built up over years of feigning indifference to any glib or barb. Therefore, what could she have seen last night to leave her clearly so off kilter?

Severus supposed it would just have to be another addition on his list of things to do.

1. Confront Lupin about his so called 'friends' manipulation of him

2. Investigate the animagus theory surrounding Potter and his cronies

3. Solve the meaning behind the note he received this morning

4. Find out what Simone was hiding

Severus honestly didn't know if the note trumped his curiosity about Simone in level of importance. Yes the note was baffling and could possibly be hinting at important things to come, but seeing Simone so ruffled intrigued him. Surely, whatever had her out of sorts would have to be of immense importance. At least he would assume so.

Severus finished his breakfast languidly, he wasn't going to take this respite of peace from his nastier housemates for granted. Whatever secrets Simone and the note hid would still be there when he finished.

Probably.

{page break}

"Another detention," bemoaned Sirius as he walked down the hallway, "and on the weekend."

James patted him on the back sympathetically.

"This is still less detention than we earned by this time last year," Peter pointed out.

Sirius snorted, "Yeah, only because we've had to cut back on pranking Snivellous to avoid Moony catching us."

He crossed his arms, "Saturdays are supposed to be mini vacations for us; to escape all this schooling nonsense. Why do I need to learn anyway? I've already proven I'm smarter than the majority of these louts." He flashed James a canine grin, "Otherwise I wouldn't be Padfoot, would I?"

"Keep your voice down," James warned.

Sirius continued petulantly, "I don't need any more education to prove my intelligence or that I'd make a damn good Auror, but if I am going to be forced through this crap, I should have my weekends to look forward to. But noooooo," he threw up his hands, "Snivellous had to go and get us another detention."

"Technically, we got detention for dousing that Ravenclaw prefect in punch," Peter said meekly.

"Yeah, but only because we thought she was Snivellous," Sirius snapped, "And in the end it wasn't him. We got detention for a prank and it didn't even have a satisfying payoff."

James sighed, "I knew we should have brought the map. If only Remus hadn't hidden it before he left."

Sirius huffed.

"To keep you out of trouble," Sirius imitated in Remus's voice.

"It's like he doesn't trust us," James griped.

Peter looked back and forth between the too, wondering if they grasped just how untrustworthy they had proven themselves.

Neither seemed to catch on.

"It isn't right," Sirius complained, "Snape's a dirty Slytherin, we should be lauded and praised for putting him in his place."

"For a time we were," James pointed out, "Then he had to go play hero and everyone starts cutting him some slack. It's complete bullocks. Don't they realize if I had gotten there sooner, I of course would have saved Lily just as he had. AND, I wouldn't have nearly gotten my head severed from my shoulders!"

"Right you are, Prongs," Sirius agreed, "Snape's being idolized for a barely successful rescue; any Gryffindor could have saved the girls four times over and caught Mulciber and Avery before the Aurors ever arrived."

"I mean, it isn't like I couldn't save Lily," James said moodily, hands in his pockets, "I would never want anything to happen to her. If I could have gotten there sooner, I would have." He shuffled his feet as he walked, "If I had been there sooner, she would see how good a person I am, instead of the jerk Snape makes me out to be."

"She's got blinders on," Sirius stated, "All she sees is us picking on Snivellous, but she never considers what he and his Slytherin buddies are probably up to when our backs are turned. They're all up to their eyes in dark magic; we're just preemptively showing them that they can't mess with us."

James nodded, "Yeah, we're putting the fear of the Light side in them."

Peter nodded, "We're getting them before they get us." It certainly did help that James and Sirius had garner a reputation of doing such. Sure, Peter still did get the occasional hex whenever he was alone, but he shuddered to think how bad things would be for him against the Slytherin if he wasn't friends with self-labeled "Dark wizard catchers" like his friends. A clumsy, pudgy Gryffindor without any of the strength and backbone boasted by his noble Hogwarts house; he wouldn't stand a chance without his friends.

Sirius sighed, "I have to say, Mate, you might have put you lot in with the wrong girl. Evans is nice enough I suppose, but she's too wrapped up in whatever warped friendship she has with Snivellous. We wouldn't have received half the detentions we got last year if she hadn't always been running off to McGonagall over every little thing. Face it, she's cute but she's got poor taste in friends. I'd say she's a lost cause."

"Don't say that," James said stubbornly, "Lily's just confused is all. She's got a big heart and Snivellous is as pathetic as they come. She's confusing her pity for something more and he's taking advantage of that. I mean, she can't really like the greasy git; they have nothing in common. She's light—he's dark, she's sweet—he's a bastard. So what if he likes to read like she does; it's probably all dark magic he's skimming through and he's about as interesting as wet paper. Surely, Lily would see that if she wasn't so compassionate to pity the poor and the ugly."

"Well she doesn't see what you see," Sirius stated with a roll of his eyes.

"She almost did," James countered, "At the end of last year she was all but through with him. Then those bastards on the train showed up and she's so traumatized that she thinks Snape's some good guy just because he nearly got killed. By his own spell, might I add!"

Sirius shook his head, "I'm telling you to just forget her, Mate. The only way you're going to convince her of anything is if you prove Snape's no good and frankly that sounds like more work than it's worth. Don't get me wrong, I love pranking that git, but the only way you're going to get her to see that you're doing it for the right reasons is to show his true colors."

"Well he did last year, so why would it be so hard to expose that again?" Peter inquired, genuinely curious.

"That was a slip up," Sirius explained, "I doubt Snape will let that happen again. Slytherins are sneaky; they rarely reveal their true nature in public. They stick to the shadows and do their dirty deeds in secret. Then when anyone wise enough to cotton on to their little scheme acts on that knowledge, the cowards play victim and turn the tables on them."

'If they're supposedly so good at hiding their nature, then why is every Slytherin automatically declared evil?' Peter wondered, 'Wouldn't we all be convinced they're nice and innocent with only a few people decrying their actions instead of it being the other way around with a few trusting them and the majority hating them?'

Peter wanted to question this further, but wisely chose to keep silent since Sirius was in a rant and worked up. It was never good to contradict Sirius when he was indignant about something. Peter thought is eyebrow would never grow back from last time.

'Did he have to shave it all off?' Peter mused, absentmindedly rubbing his brow.

Sirius slung an arm over James's shoulders, 'Come on, Prongs. There's plenty of other lovely ladies out there. Why fixate on the one who's not interested in you?"

"I don't want just any girl, though," James protested, "And she isn't uninterested in me. Not completely at least. I know she finds some of my jokes funny. She's just feeling things out, seeing if I'm serious about her or not. I simply have to show her that I really have feelings for her."

Sirius shook his head, "James, the whole 'playing hard to get' thing is outdated. Guys want girls who are straight forward and tell a man what they want. The time of courting and wooing is over, my friend. Expecting a man to put in all this effort while the girl sits back and gets presents and compliments is bollocks! Why make an ass of yourself impressing some indecisive girl? You could have your pick of the litter with your looks and more than half the girls in this school would die for a chance to date you."

"But they're not Lily," James said, "She's different. I don't know how, but she just is."

'Because she's the one who said no?' Peter thought. He shook the thought away; just because James is used to getting his way is no reason to assume his feelings for Lily were motivated by her steadfast refusal to give in to him.

Sirius rolled his eyes; he wasn't going to be getting through to James this way.

"Well then why not try a different tactic?" he suggested.

James perked up, "What do you mean?"

"Look, you been trying the same routine for how many years?" Sirius ventured, "You ask her out, she refuses, you keep pushing. Clearly, that's just pissing her off. She says she wants you to leave her alone…why not give her what she wants?"

James frowned, "You mean give up?"

Sirius shook his head, "No, I mean leave her alone. Give her space and pay attention to other people. Show her how much she truly enjoys your attention by taking that away from her."

"Yeah…" James said, nodding his head, "That sounds like a great idea. She'll miss being on the receiving end of my affections and then she'll have to admit she has feelings for me. It's perfect."

"Hell, ask out a different girl," Sirius suggested, "Nothing serious, just date some girls here and there, let them spread word about what a romantic you are and get Evans thinking about what she's missed out on."

"Make her jealous. Of course!" James cried with a grin.

Sirius grinned back. Glad to see his friend was on board with his plan.

'At least then we can have a break from Prongs making a fool of himself for Evans,' he thought victoriously, 'then we can dedicate our time to some high quality pranking.'

"Moony would approve too," Peter tacked on, "If you're acting like you're over Evans, he'll assume you're really serious about leaving Snivellous be. If you're 'over her' then he'll think you don't care about their friendship because you have nothing to be jealous of."

Was it Peter's imagination, or did the corridor suddenly get several degrees colder?

James turned to Peter, a thunderous look on his face.

"I…am NOT," he took a menacing step forward, "jealous of Snivellous," he said dangerously.

Peter took a frightened step back, "I didn't mean it that way…" he simpered, "I meant…that Remus thinks you are…not me."

Sirius stepped between them, hands up, "Hey, hey now. Let's all stay calm here. No one's saying you're jealous of Snivellous, Prongs. Anyone can see you are a thousand times better than him; if anything he should be jealous of you."

James relaxed, momentarily abated, "I suppose that's true." He turned away, his arms crossed.

"Me jealous of Snivellous," he scoffed, "Absurd."

"Of course it is," Sirius pandered, "Everyone knows you're better than that slimy snake. Even Snape does; that's why he's so threatened by you."

James nodded, "He is threatened by me, isn't he?"

"Obviously," Sirius agreed.

Satisfied, James started walking again, a kick in his step.

"Thanks for the quick save, Padfoot," Peter said gratefully.

Sirius turned to Peter with an exasperated shake of his head, "You really need to think things out before you say them, Wormtail. I can't always be there to have your back when the words come out wrong." He patted Peter on the head and turned to follow James.

"Jealous of Snape," Sirius laughed, "As if anyone would ever think that."

Peter watched his friends go, standing alone in the corridor.

'But I thought that was the reason he picks on Snape to begin with,' Peter thought, hurrying after his friends.

{page break}

Davis skimmed over the papers spread out in front of him.

"Hey, Nesme," he called softly, "What did you get for question three?"

When Nesme didn't answer right away, Davis frowned, looking up.

"Nesme," he tried a little louder, wary of Pince hearing him, "what did you get for number three?"

Nesme didn't respond. From the other side of the stack of books a giggle arose.

Davis stared at the book arrangement, "You made a fort, didn't you?"

"…maaaaaaaybe," came the cheeky reply from the other side of the tome-made fortress.

Davis scrubbed a hand across his face, examining the structure of books. The very center of the fort had an archway made out of two books standing parallel to each other and two books resting horizontal on top of them, meeting in the middle. In the open space between these four books was a five book. The title was 'Magic entryways and secret passages'.

"Oh for the love of—" with a sigh, Davis knocked gently on the fifth book.

The book slid to the side and Nesme's face peered through the opening.

"Oh good," she said cheerfully, "You found the door."

"I saw your attempt at humor, yes," Davis remarked dryly, "Just what are you doing in there?"

Nesme laced her fingers together, resting her head a top her interlocked hands, "Not much…a little of this, a little of that. Just having fun, really."

"Fun," Davis echoed, "Right. And does any of this fun include completing your assignments?"

Nesme sat back, twiddling her thumbs, "It did…but I got sort of distracted."

"Nesme," Davis groaned.

"It's not like this is homework, Davis," Nesme pointed out, "it's just extra credit."

"Which you need, because you're behind in Ancient Runes," Davis stated plainly.

Nesme stuck out her lip, pouting.

Davis sighed, rubbing his brow, "Fine…what 'fun' are you having that has you so distracted? Besides the obvious," he added, gesturing to the book fort.

Nesme smiled widely, "Anagrams!" she announced.

Davis blinked, "…what?"

"Anagrams," Nesme repeated, sliding a piece of paper through her fort's doorway to Davis, "Rearranging words and names to create a different phrase or name. It's oodles of fun!"

With and tireless patience of a saint, Davis picked up the paper and scanned its contents.

"Simone Serapeum," he read, "Menopause Miser. Well, that explains her moods."

Nesme snickered.

"I take it she won't be seeing this list?" Davis surmised.

"Not a chance. But see here," Nesme pointed to another line, "Severus Snape is 'Save Pureness', or 'Save up Sneers.' Interesting, right?"

"The second one is certainly suitable," Davis agreed, "I see Lupin made the list; 'Primus Lune'."

"Like Latin for 'First Moon," Nesme explained.

"Luna is moon; lune doesn't mean anything in Latin," Davis corrected before returning to the list, "Irma Pince becomes 'I'm a Prince'…how on earth did you get the librarians first name?"

Nesme shrugged, "It's what's written on her mail."

Davis took a deep breath, "Ignoring the questionable legality of that answer, it says here that Regulus Black is 'Slug Club Rake'…?"

"They can't all be winners," Nesme defended with a pout.

Davis stared at her blankly, "Clearly. So Salazar Slytherin becomes 'Real sly Nazi trash.' I'll admit that one's fitting."

Nesme nodded proudly, "That one took a while."

"Eileen Prince," Davis read, "I don't recognize that name. Who is it?"

"Don't know," Nesme replied, "I read it off one of those old Gobstones trophies."

"Well whoever she was, I guess she can say, 'I reel in pence' whatever that means," Davis said dismissively.

"You haven't seen the best one!" Nesme said excitedly, "I got the last one of a trophy too. Read it!"

"Tom Marvolo Riddle," Davis read aloud. He paused, his eyes tracing the next few words, "…Mr. Tom, a Dildo lover…"

Nesme was trying so hard to muffle her giggles, "Funny right?"

"Nesme," Davis said delicately, "Do you even know what…that word means?"

"If I say yes will you promise not to ask how I know?" Nesme countered a sly grin on her face.

Davis blushed, looking away, "Never mind. Either way, that one might be a tad immature."

Nesme stuck out her tongue at him, "Prude. Anyway, I had other ones for him; he's the only one I found the middle name for so it gave me plenty of letters to work with. I got 'Lord Earldom Vomit,' 'Old Immortal Lover,' 'Mild Doormat Lover,' the list goes on. Though…"

"Let me guess," Davis hazarded, "most of them contain a word for marital aid."

Nesme looked away nonchalantly, "…Possibly."

"You're the salt of the earth, Nesme," Davis said in exasperation.

Nesme giggled until Davis pulled out one of the books acting as a support beam for Nesme's fort. By the time Pince reached their corner of the library to find the source of all the noise, both teens were nowhere to be found, a pile of books scattered across the table and floor.

Sorry if the last segment seemed a bit coincidental or forced, I honestly just wanted to have someone use that joke. I have yet to decide if the anagram game Nesme plays will actually contribute to the story or not.

Even if it seemed off t you, I hope it gave you a laugh.

Read and Review please :)