"What is the meaning of this, Potter?"

It was surprising, really, that Snape managed to speak in his usual manner without even a hint of the turmoil inside of him. But he wasn't an occlumens for nothing. "Out after curfew, dragging our first exchange student into trouble."

Yes, that's right, pretend she's someone else.

"I'm s-sorry sir, we were-" What was that quiver of fear doing in Potter's voice? Potter was supposed to be angry and defiant, damn it! It seemed as though Potter was purposely trying to defy his prejudices... and that made him angry and eager to reawaken them.

"Save your excuses for some of the many mindless people doting on you."

"But, sir. We were j-just-"

"You dare disobey my orders?" He approached him. "Just like your father-"

"Sir, I am very sorry to interrupt you, but that isn't right!" Lily's voice spoke up and Snape knew that if he was looking at her this instant, her eyes would be shining with defiance and protectiveness, perhaps even anger. It was the same voice she had so often used, when standing up to the marauders, when they tormented him. Was he the bully now?

That was too painful to think about...

"We would like to tell you what happened and why exactly we were out after curfew. After that you can determine our punishment accordingly. Please just hear us out, Professor." Potter just nodded meekly.

"I'm listening." He drawled dangerously. Snape crossed his arms, his eyes focusing on Potter instead of Lily.

Even though Potter did look a lot like Lily, it was better to look at him than Lily Evans herself.

Realising that it was his turn to speak, the boy said, "Err... It's not meant for anyone else to hear... It has to do with Katie's heritage." Snape raised an eyebrow. That was more subtle than he would ever have expected a Potter to be, which admittedly wasn't saying much.

"I will hear you out if you show me the secret passage you have come out of."

He was still solely looking at Potter, who was shifting under his piercing gaze the same way he had this morning. What are you hiding Potter? Why have you suddenly changed so much? Or is it just the rest of the world around you that changed?

"It's not a passage, sir." Potter explained. "I think it's a kind of wish room that appears as whatever you think about, while passing by it 3 times I think."

Well, if that wasn't interesting. "What are you waiting for?"

"Err, what would you like it to be, sir?"

"The room where you were before."

Lily sniggered quietly at that request, but he still didn't turn to look at her. Seeing her happy would remind him that she would never be happy again, because of him. This Lily would die in a few years because of him.

"Professor?" Lily asked timidly. He must have been lost in thought for a while, for now, the door was there again. When he entered the room, it wasn't hard to understand why Lily had sniggered.

He looked around, a permanent sneer on his lips. He would never have guessed that he would see the inside of a Gryffindor dormitory room...

And, well, it was as bright and messy as he had expected.

"I don't have all night." He said impatiently, leaning against the wall next to the door, fixing a spot on the wall between the two of them. Both of them reminded him too much of the one person he loved more than anyone else, one of them was that person.

"Yesterday, Harry was blackmailed by Draco Malfoy, who had found out about me. But Harry re-blackmailed him and escaped, but -"

Lily started saying, but was interrupted by Snape, "What did you do to re-blackmail Malfoy, Potter?"

"The diribitus spell, sir."

Please know about it, please, Harry silently prayed.

But it was a very ancient spell, so it wasn't surprising that he asked him to explain.

"It is a spell you can use to determine your house before the sorting and..."

"...Malfoy used it." Snape finished for him. He had thought something was off about the boy's sorting and now he knew why. "So, you used this to prevent him going after... Katie."

"Yes," Harry gulped, this would be bad, but he would tell the whole truth even if it got him into trouble for Lily... and to prove that he was more like a brave Gryffindor than a sneaky Slytherin.

He ignored that trying to act just the right Gryffindor way was Slytherin in itself...

He took a deep breath, "I made him take an unbreakable vow to be sure." He prepared himself for a shouting match by closing his eyes. But it never came.

Instead the potions master's voice turned into a deadly whisper.

"You got Malfoy to take an Unbreakable Vow?" Harry nodded. "And he willingly took it?" Harry nodded again.

"Do any of you two even know the spell for it?"

"Yes... I read something about it, thought it might be useful." Harry mumbled.

Snape played the situation over in his head again. "How very Slytherin of you, Potter." He smiled maliciously. "20 points from Gryffindor for your Slytherin ways. This punishment will do your house proud." He mocked.

Harry looked over at Lily to see her reaction. She seemed to be trying very hard not to protest against this unfair treatment. She was glaring at Snape, like a chiding mom would. Harry almost exhaled in relief when he saw that she wasn't angry at him.

"Though I am grateful for an opportunity to rid your house of as many points as possible," Snape drawled, "it would interest me greatly how this excuses you of a punishment for today."

After that, Lily started talking. This time, Snape didn't interrupt her at all. He just let her explain everything after that in detail. Adding some of her personal worries and feelings into it. She didn't mention anything she knew Harry wouldn't want to be revealed, though.

"... Then Harry decided to get us in here to talk about everything, because he was afraid we might be overheard again."

For a moment there was silence as Snape went over the information he had just received. "Thank you, Miss Jackson for explaining the situation more informatively than your partner in crime." He glared at Potter, who shifted under the sudden attention. "Seeing as from your explanation it has become clear that you have only been dragged into this unfortunate situation by Potter, who is a known troublemaker, only he will be punished by a week of detentions in the dungeons."

"That is not fair, Professor. I -"

"It is very admirable for you to try to help your friend, but sometimes the mess he created is too big to get out of, unless he tries it himself."

"But-" Lily shut up, only because she saw Harry's eyes pleading her to let it go.

"You should hurry back to your dorms, unless you want someone else to punish you too." He drawled as he left the room, the teens following him. "Detention starts tomorrow at 6 o'clock, do not be late."

"That is so unfair!" Lily exclaimed in anger, once Severus was out of sight. "We should talk to him again..."

"Because that worked out so well the first time." Harry smiled wearily, he was used to this by now.

"Why are you so calm?" Lily asked. She stopped walking, making Harry stop too and look at her. She slowly put her hands on his shoulders and said seriously, "You can't just take treatment like this. It isn't right. If he punishes you, he has to punish me too."

"But isn't it better that only one of us got punished? That's less damaging."

"That's beside the point." Lily shook her head and released his shoulders. "Fact is, that you shouldn't take this just like that."

"L-Katie, you weren't here the past 4 years." Harry explained gently. He didn't want to ruin Lily's opinion of her best friend, but this was necessary. "This is actually not that bad. He barely deducted any points. I think it was because you were there."

"Okay," Lily said wearily. "But he still acts like what he hated most when he was my age: A bully that favours their own house and hates on people of the opposite house." She sighed. "I wish I knew what happened to him to make him like this." Frustration had crept into her voice now. "But I don't know how! He won't even look at me or say my name..."

"You can try on Monday during your extra lesson..." Harry suggested.

"Wait... How can he have my detention and your lesson at the same time? I doubt that my detention will be shorter than an hour..."

Lily shrugged, "No clue, he probably reschedules your detention or takes it back." She yawned as they entered through the portrait hole.

"Harry! Lily!" Ron and Hermione came to them right away.

"We were so worried about you." Hermione said, hugging them both. "We had no idea where you disappeared to."

"We have looked everywhere for you." Ron said. "Where were you?"

"It's kind of a long story..." And Harry explained the situation to them too.

If he had to tell Snape, his friends should know too.

UC

It was dinner time of the fifth day of their imprisonment, when Minerva entered their room.

"We have come across a way to make the remaining time you have to stay hidden more enjoyable." She said in the usual Minnie-voice, straight to business.

Sirius and James, who had been in the middle of a game of exploding snap, and even Remus, who had been reading, jumped to their feet right away.

"Whatever it takes, we're in." Sirius announced dramatically. The other two nodded.

"There is a room on the seventh floor, which turns into whatever you wish it to turn into." She explained. "The only requirement for your wish to come true, is to pass by the wall three times and think of your desired location."

"Nice!" James exclaimed in excitement. "How did we never find it?"

McGonagall shot him a glare. "You should thank your future son for that. He found it when he was in a moment of need."

"He did?"

"Yes. He was the one to take the idea of you moving in there to the headmaster. Without him, you would be confined to these walls."

This baffled both James and Sirius. They thought Harry would still be angry with them and wouldn't go out of his way to help them. By telling Dumbledore about such a great room that he could have used all to himself, nonetheless!

"Potter," When James looked up at her questioningly, she added, "...the younger one, did everything to avoid telling you about these satisfying news himself. Would any of you know why that was?"

For the first time James and Sirius felt a small pang of guilt for the way they had behaved. Maybe they should have explained themselves in more detail...

"We had a fight." James said. "But you already know that."

"I most certainly do not."

Sirius frowned, "But you came in right after Harry left, to give Remus his potion." Sirius paled.

"Wait, if that wasn't you... Does that mean it's poisoned...?"

"No, of course not." She said thoughtfully. "I recall Severus being responsible for the brewing of the potion... Maybe Albus wanted him to bring them to you, for some unexplainable reason..."

"Wait." James said incredulously, "Did you say Severus? As in Severus Snape?"

"Yes, he is the potions professor of this school."

"Poor students..." Sirius muttered, trying to be quiet, but McGonagall seemed to have heard him anyway.

She shot him one of her most serious glares. "I will not tolerate disrespectful behaviour in any way. He is a member of our staff and is to be treated as one."

"Yes, Professor McGonagall." Sirius and James sounded like they didn't mean that at all.

"If you don't, you will be punished by detentions, just like any other student of Hogwarts. And rest assured, Severus' detentions aren't fun."

This made them more reluctant to do something that would earn them one. They would have to be extra careful not to get caught...

"You have 20 minutes to pack your things. I will be waiting outside."

She turned back, as if she had forgotten something. She looked at the four poster bed, which had all of its curtains drawn.

"Are you coming too, Mr. Pettigrew?"

"I'd prefer to stay here, Professor." He said just loud enough for the others to hear.

"As you wish."

UC

"This is so coool!" Sirius exclaimed once they were inside the room that was a quidditch pitch at the moment.

"I know," James said proudly, "That's why I thought about it."

McGonagall cleared her throat, making them turn back around.

"I fail to see, how this room will be an adequate accommodation for the night." Her voice was as stern as always, but her lips were curved slightly into a half smile.

"Oh, well, the grass is pretty comfortable." Sirius explained, lying down to demonstrate it.

"I still believe a dormitory of your liking would do better for the night." As they deflated, she added, "You are allowed to come out under your invisibility cloak to change it whenever you please, though. But you shouldn't forget that we have a charm on you to overlook your whereabouts. You are not to leave this room for anything else. Is that clear?"

"More than clear." All three of them chorused.

And that was how the room of requirement became the home of 3 of the marauders.