Summer ended and for each full moon the five of us got together and spent the night with Remus. Other than that nobody visited my Manor. I would go out to see Lily or Christy while sending letter to everybody else. At the end of summer I got a surprise letter and I waited until the train back to school to share the news.
I sat with The Marauders the whole way back. It's how I found out Remus got a Prefect badge. Once the boys finished teasing him I pulled out my letter. "Guess what guys?"
When the four of them focused on me I pulled out my own little badge. "Remus isn't the only Prefect."
Peter and I laughed while the James and Sirius teased me and Remus congratulated me. The two of us pinned on our badges and left the compartment for the Prefect meeting. It didn't last the entire train ride, but Horace Slughorn took his time handing out the timetables and informing the new Prefects what would be expected of us. A lot of glances were thrown our way when responsibilities were mentioned.
Lily apparently got a badge as well. She seemed a little unsure about Remus since he was an honorary Marauder. I assured her about my intentions to take my role as Prefect seriously. Remus promised as well, but I knew Sirius and James would manage to rope him into all sorts of mischief.
My new duties included making sure the first years settled in okay. For the first week I showed them the route from Ravenclaw tower to the Great Hall. That entire time I slept in my dorm room instead of with The Marauders. Sirius pouted about it, but I threatened to stop eating meals with them too if he kept it up. It effectively stopped him.
The rekindled relationship between me and the Marauders didn't go unnoticed. Christy, Beth, and Eliza all asked me for details. I told them the four of them visited over the summer so I could talk with Sirius. We came to an understanding and now our friendship is on the mend.
During the second week of school Filius Flitwick called each of his sixth years, one by one, to talk with him about our future careers. I had no idea what I wanted to be, but one occupation always intrigued me.
"What do Unspeakable's do?"
Filius made a squeak when he heard the name. "You want to be an Unspeakable?" His voice was full of surprise.
"It's the only job that really stood out," I defended. "This summer I tried looking for jobs in the magical world, but none of them appealed to me."
He pursed his lips and squinted at me thoughtfully. "I believe you would be good for the job. You would need to take more classes, and get no less than an Exceeds Expectations in all of them. You'd be studying some time after Hogwarts as well. Probably under the tutelage of another Unspeakable."
I hummed thoughtfully. "Do you know what they do, though?"
"Nobody but you and the head Unspeakable knows your true job."
"I think I'd like to try and be an Unspeakable. If I can't keep my grades up I'll talk to you about other jobs opportunities."
Filius nodded. "I think that's a smart plan. I'll give you your new schedule in the next few days."
While walking out of his classroom Filius called my name. When I turned around he had a deadly serious face. "You mustn't tell anybody. Even if it doesn't work out, nobody knows an Unspeakable's identity. Not friends or even family."
After giving him my word I made sure not to let the information out. James and Sirius openly claimed their dreams of becoming Aurors. Remus wistfully talked about working at Saint Mungos, but his condition meant he wouldn't be able to hold down a job. Peter didn't know what to do. He'd planned on being an Auror, but his grade in potions last year prevented it.
I gave them a cover story about not being too sure on what I wanted. Possibly even working in the mundane world. The idea fascinated James and Sirius to no end.
The day Sirius turned seventeen he decided it was time to get our tattoos. I amusedly pointed out the rest of us were still sixteen. He may have reached the legal age to get a magical tattoo without parent permission, but the rest of us had to wait. We'd have to wait until Peter's birthday in June unless he could convince his mother to say yes.
In the beginning of the year the most exciting thing to happen was my changed schedule. It turns out there's an apparition class for sixth and seventh years. Once I turned seventeen I could get my apparition license from the Ministry.
I had to take every class except for divination, astronomy, and muggle studies. No free period this year. All of my friends wondered about my suddenly busy schedule. Ten classes meant I had a lot of homework. Add on my Prefect duties and the apparition class and I'm ready to end it all.
I don't of course. Instead I force myself to work on my homework during any free time I have. Being able to stay up late at night has thankfully ingrained itself in my biological clock after so many years of reading into early morning hours.
Sirius complained over my sudden distance from all of them. Remus at least looked a little understanding of my situation. He's taking a lot of classes to. James and Peter agrees with Sirius, but aren't as vocal about it.
An added event in my routine happened when a barn owl dropped mail onto my breakfast plate. I watched the unfamiliar owl fly off before picking up the envelope. Edmund asked who it was from, but I had no answer for him. I didn't know anybody outside of Hogwarts.
With unsure fingers I ripped open the flap and pulled out a single piece of parchment. The words "I accept" were written in loopy handwriting with a signature of S.S. Once I saw the initials I turned to glance at the Slytherin table. My eyes met black irises and I nodded minutely. He blinked in response and returned to his breakfast.
Sirius confronted me about it during lunch that same day. The other Marauders were trying not to show how their interest in my answer.
I huffed. "It's none of your business. As shocking as it is I do have a life outside of you four."
James snorted. "All you do is homework. That's not much of a life."
Remus elbowed him while Sirius glared. I grimaced because I knew it was technically true. "I'll talk to you guys later." When walking away from the table I heard the thump of someone getting hit upside the head. It made me feel a little better.
By the time I made it to my dorm that night I no longer felt the sting of James' comment. It helped to have Severus' letter to distract me. While he agreed to remain in an acquaintanceship with me, I figured we both needed to know how this would work. So I wrote him a letter letting him know I would meet with him after dinner the next day.
That night after my Prefect duties I went to the owlery and used a school owl to send the letter. Hooter would be recognized by The Marauders, and possibly anyone else who's paid close attention.
At breakfast I sat facing the Slytherin table. When the mail came I did my best not to stare at Severus as the owl dropped the letter onto his plate. He opened it casually and after reading it nodded his head.
Sirius tried to dig for information on who sent me the letter. I remained firm about my right for privacy until Remus finally told him to shut up. He pouted for a couple minutes before moving on to winter break topics. All the Marauders were going home and hanging out at James' place for several of those days.
When they heard my plan to stay in the castle James and Sirius ganged up on me. According to them it was imperative students take advantage of our two weeks of freedom. Staying in the castle was apparently the opposite of that.
I pushed thoughts of winter break aside when I met with Severus. I led him to the Kitchens in silence. We needed somewhere private to talk,mans even though there were elves I didn't want to show him the Room of Requirement.
Once the elves stopped fussing over us I turned my body so I faced Severus. "How should we work this acquaintance thing out?"
His lips thinned. "I believe you know several members of the Slytherin house are tied to the Dark Lord." I nodded and he continued. "My presence is accepted more after last year. Becoming friends with another mudblood, no matter what the relationship would not endear me to them."
I slowly shook my head from side to side. "From the sounds of it you've integrated yourself fairly well. Do you call all mundane-borns mudbloods?"
"Fitting in is the only way to survive."
With that depressing statement I cleared my throat. "Please try to refrain from calling me a mudblood. At least while alone."
Severus inclined his head. "That is acceptable."
"I guess from this meeting I want to let you know I am here for you. If there's anything you want to talk about or need help with you can come to me."
He rose an eyebrow. "Oh? For that level of trust I would need some sort of assurance you won't tell anybody my secrets."
My eyebrows furrowed. "Why would I tell anybody your secrets?"
"Personal gain," Severus said frankly.
I huffed incredulously. "Well I don't see why I would tell people your secrets, but I'm not sure what you want me to do. A contract of some sort?"
He actually nodded. "A magical binding contract should suffice."
"Okay, whoa whoa whoa. Whoa." I held up my hands. "I'm not making some binding contract because you're afraid I can't keep my mouth shut. Do you honestly believe I can't keep secrets? Do you know how many I have?"
Severus rose an interested eyebrow. "From the sounds of it it's a lot."
Rolling my eyes I continued. "Maybe, if we do exchange secrets, we can ask the other person to make some sort of magical vow to never share it without express permission."
"We'll worry about it later." With that our meeting ended and we didn't communicate until after winter break.
I ended up listening to the boys and went home for break. The few days before Christmas were spent at my manor finishing up homework. After Christmas James sent an elf with instructions to bring me to Potter manor. After packing my trunk the elf, Holly, took me to the manor.
All the Marauders were there, along with the elder Potters. I thanked them for letting me stay before the boys dragged me on a huge tour.
For the remaining four days of break I noticed something different. I wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't so aware of Sirius' presence. As it was I felt him constantly brush against me, or come up with some excuse to be near me. I didn't want to read too far into it and think he was doing it because he liked me, but that's what I wanted the reason to be. I tried to roll with it and not show how much it affected me. I definitely didn't discourage it.
When we returned to Hogwarts the extra touching didn't stop. I was still busy with school work, but Sirius would give any excuse to brush his fingers against my hand or bump shoulders during classes or lunch.
The first person to remark on it was, surprisingly, Severus.
He approached me during my Prefect rounds. He had been leaning against the wall as if waiting for me to arrive. "You need to be careful."
My eyebrows rose. "If you give me a good explain action I won't give you detention for being out after hours."
Severus' lips twitched into a smirk. He pushed himself off the wall to walk beside me. "What I say needs to stay between us."
I sighed and pulled out my wand. "What should I say? I swear on my magic everything you tell me tonight will stay between us until you tell me otherwise?"
He thought the words over before nodding. "That will work."
Clearing my throat I held my wand in my right hand and recited the oath. The tip of my wand flashed a white light once I finished speaking, and I felt warmth envelope my body. "Alright, spill."
"They want to recruit you into the ranks."
My heart skipped a beat before I got it under my control. "That's no surprise to me."
Severus spun so his body blocked me from walking. "You know?" His voice held so much surprise. It may be the most emotion I've seen on his features.
"Yeah. Didn't you?" I looked him up and down as if his stance would answer me. "I thought all Slytherins knew."
"No, only those..." He sighed through his nose. "Not all Slytherins know."
Thinking over his first sentence my eyes slowly widened with dawning horror. "Severus, who are the only ones who know?"
He narrowed his eyes before turning around and striding down the corridor. This time it was my turn to block him off. "Answer me, Severus! The only ones who know. Are they the same ones who want to recruit me?"
I could see him grinding his teeth before growling. "They were ordered to find recruits. They've been keeping an eye on you since your third year when you showed promise of being a powerful witch."
"Okay." I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "The only ones who know are...the recruiters. So how do you know?" When he just stared at me I grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Severus, how do you know?" I saw his left fist clench and made a noise similar to a pain filled whine. "Why?"
Severus glared at me. "I don't have to explain myself to you." When he tried to walk around me I grabbed his arm.
I tightened my grip when he tried to keep walking. "Wait, Severus. I just need to ask. Did you do this because you want to?"
Narrowing his eyes he nodded once.
Breathing shakily I did my best to swallow a lump in my throat. "I assume this is because of loyalty towards Him and His ideas, but would you allow me one day, just one, to explain why you made the biggest mistake of your life?"
At first he said nothing. I was worried he wouldn't give me the chance, and I didn't think I could remain friends with him when I knew Voldemort wanted me as one of his Death Eaters. There could be consequences for him if and when Voldemort found out about our closeish relationship.
Severus gave me a spark of hope when he nodded his head almost imperceptibly. I didn't stop him when he began walking down the corridor. When he disappeared from view I continued my Prefect rounds before going to bed.
