Huzzah! I've returned!

Thanks again for all the reviews and feedback. You guys are the best!

Not much to say leading up to this chapter, though I do appreciate those of you continuing to share your viewpoints on Severus's actions as an adult and how that compares to some of the other Hogwarts' staff's own poor treatment of students.

Without further ado...the chapter.

If Someone Cared Enough

Chapter Sixty-One: Careful What You Say

"I'm telling you guys, the plan is working," James insisted one chilly but sunny afternoon by the lake.

Peter shivered and snuggled deeper into his winter robe, grateful for the thick sweater his mum knitted him for Christmas. He cast an unsure glance James's way.

"I don't know, Prongs," he said, "I haven't exactly seen Evans falling for you."

"I'm telling you, the night I said I wanted a romantic flower to give to Jess, Evans was green with envy," James said, "She looked like she was going to be sick."

"She could have just been sick of the dramatic lovey dovey display you and Jess are putting on," Sirius mused with a laugh, "The whole school's sick of it."

James smacked Sirius playfully and shook his head, "No, she looked sad. Like…like she wanted someone to treat her just as romantically. She's definitely starting to notice all I have to offer."

Sirius leaned against the trunk of the tree, stretching, "Either way, there's at least one good development. Haven't seen Evans and Snivellus spending much time together."

James grinned wickedly, "Seems Evans has finally gotten realized how worthless he is. I knew he couldn't compare to me. He certainly wouldn't court her like a gentleman with flowers and jewelry. He can't even afford it!"

"He used to not even be able to afford clean underwear," Sirius said with a snicker, "Wish I knew who had taken him in to buy him better clothes; I'd warn them not to waste their money."

"Probably got placed with some Slytherin family full of dark wizards," James groused, "Sneaky and underhanded, the whole lot of them."

Peter resisted rolling his eyes, 'Pot calling kettle; you're black,' he thought, thinking of James's ploy with Jess. Speaking of which…

"And if you do win Lily over," Peter questioned, "Then what? You'll just drop Jess like a bag of Doxy dung? Seems a little cold, don't you think?"

James scoffed, "She's a wealthy Pureblood; there's guys coming out of the woodwork for her, just waiting for a chance to win her hand. I doubt she'll care much to cut me loose."

"But you've spent so much time with her, telling her she means something to you," Peter persisted, "Don't you care for her at all?"

James looked contemplatively out over the frozen lake where Jess and her friends glided around on transfigured skates.

"I'm fond of her," James admitted, "It's nice to have someone so attentive and interested in everything I have to say. Someone who's loyal, laughs at my jokes."

Sirius snorted, "Oh what am I, chopped liver? I do all that!"

James threw a handful of slush at him, "I can't snog you! Anyway, Jess is nice. She's pretty, she's relatively smart, and she's fun. She's…easy."

"Send her my way, then," Sirius suggested, waggling his eyebrows.

"Not like that," James said with amused exasperation, "I mean she's easy to get along with. Easy to woo, easy to sway. Lily though…Lily challenges me. Everything interaction with her is like…a dance. I move a pace forward, she takes two steps back, we circle around each other like partners in a ballroom."

"Hate to break it to you, but you're dancing alone," Sirius said with false sympathy, "Evans isn't stepping with you, she's side stepping you."

"Hush up," James said dismissively, "The point is she's exciting. She isn't like other girls; she doesn't give in easily."

"Meaning you want her simply because she says no," Peter theorized. It was his turn to be hit by a ball of slush, making him shuddered as it seeped down the back of his robe.

"That's not why!" James denied with a scowl, "She…she makes me think. Makes me work harder…and stuff. I want to be a better person for her. Catch the bad guys, make a name for myself, really impress her."

"Face it, Prongs," Sirius said, "You're really big on winning and it kills you when things don't go your way. You never had an eye for Evans until she hit puberty and even then it wasn't her eyes you were so entranced by," he turned to Peter, "His gaze was a little more south."

Peter chortled, muffling it in his hands.

"Then Evans turned you down for a snog and suddenly you had a whole new dilemma on your hands: someone said no to you," Sirius laughed, "You took it as a personal affront to your pride and have been harping on it ever since."

James pouted, "That's not why I like her. She's smart, and kind, and outgoing…a-and fierce, and—"

"And gorgeous, and curvy, and popular, and she turned your down," Sirius reiterated smugly.

James flicked his wand, causing a slew of snow to fall from a branch over Sirius, coating him in powder.

Peter giggled uncontrollably.

"You guys are just jealous you don't have girls chasing after you," James said petulantly.

Sirius laughed, "Ha! Now that's a laugh. I have girls coming to me by the hour; got a new one on my arm any day of the week. And I'll have you know Peter here," he pointed at their twitchy friend, "has been spending an awful lot of time with Mckinnon lately."

James directed his attention to his stouter friend, a grin on his face, "Really?"

Peter flushed, looking away, "It's not what you're thinking. We're working together on a Charms assignment. We're both rubbish at it; her in pronunciation, me in wand movements. Marlene figured combing what we're actually good at could help each other fix what we're bad at. That's all."

"Which is why the two of you hang out alone every evening," Sirius said with a grin, voice dripping in skepticism.

"She's sat with you for breakfast a lot lately too, hasn't she?" James asked, smiling, "Pretty sure I've seen her on your right these past few mornings at the table."

Peter blushed deeper, sinking into his robe, "We're just going over notes, okay?"

"Besides," he added, "It's not like she'd be interested in me anyway. She's really popular; she could have anyone."

"She's had everyone," Sirius said with a boisterous guffaw, "Almost everyone, anyway. Girl really gets around, if you know what I mean." He made a lewd gesture at James, prompting the other boy to laugh.

Peter's cheeks glowed red, but by the fierce glare he directed at Sirius it was clear it wasn't caused by bashfulness, "She's not like that."

Sirius waved him off, "Calm down, Wormtail. I'm only stating facts. More people have rode her than the school broomsticks."

"Everyone knows that's an over exaggeration," Peter said angrily, "She been with a lot less people than you think, so shut it."

"What?" Sirius asked in confusion, a hint of annoyance creeping into his tone, "It's a good thing isn't it? It means you actually could have a chance with her."

"That's not why I'm friends with her," Peter growled, "And I would appreciate if you stop insinuating that's all she's good for."

"Why are you getting all up in arms about this?" Sirius asked, irritated, "She's a slag."

"Oh, but what you do is any better?" Peter snapped, rising to his feet suddenly, "A guy sleeps around and it's all 'congratulations' and pats on the back, but a girl does it and she's not worthy of any respect."

"Calm down, Peter," James tried to pacify him.

"No," Peter shouted, waving a furious finger at Sirius, "He leaves a trail of broken hearts and yet he still clearly thinks himself a good person. Well from what I understand, Marlene is at least upfront with her intentions to the boys she sees, so why is she somehow a worst person than he is?"

He glared back and forth between his two friends, "She isn't leading anyone on. There's nothing wrong with her being herself."

Gathering up his things, Peter beat a hasty retreat back up to the castle, passing Remus without a word.

Sirius and James stared blankly at each other.

"What was that?" James asked eventually.

Sirius shook his head, "Did he just…stand up for himself? When'd he start doing that?"

James shrugged, utterly bewildered.

"Hey guys," Remus greeted when he reached them, "What's gotten into Peter? He almost ran me down back there."

"It seems Padfoot struck a nerve," James surmised, "He told Sirius off."

Sirius crossed his arms over his chest, not particularly happy about it, "I was just messing around. He didn't have to get all defensive over it."

"You did sort of call his friend a whore," James pointed out.

Remus's eyebrows shot into his hairline, "You did what?"

Sirius scowled, "Don't give me that look."

"Is this about Marlene?" Remus asked. He sighed, running a hand through his hair, "Listen, I get there's some rumors out there about her, but I had hoped you at least would have the good sense not to believe them, Sirius!"

"They're not all rumors though," Sirius defended, "Some of them are true. Ask any of the guys on our Quidditch team. She's the community chest!"

"What she does is her business;" Remus said sternly, "The point is Peter considers her a friend, a good one. This is the first person he's been close to outside of us in…forever," he thwacked Sirius with his notebook, "The least you could do is not make fun of her in his presence."

"But of all the people he could spend time with, it had to be her?" Sirius bemoaned, "She'll ruin his reputation just like she ruined her own. I'm just looking out for the guy."

"No, you're just peeved he has other people to hang out with instead of spending all his time mooning over you two,' Remus remarked, "Be honest, you miss him worshipping the ground you walk on."

Sirius pouted, "That's not true."

Remus sighed, "Yes it is. The only reason you tolerate James having a girlfriend is because he brings you to almost all their dates. If I suddenly had a girl on my arm and started spending less time with you, you'd throw a fit over that as well."

Sirius sat up with a start, a look of alarm falling across his face, "You have your eye on somebody?"

Remus shrugged, "Not currently, but I might someday. Last thing I need is you in a snit because I had someone else to enjoy the company of."

Sirius relaxed a bit, settling back into the snow, though neither of his friends seemed to notice, "Good…good. You're too young to date."

Remus snorted, "Like you're one to talk. Why does it matter to you if the rumors are true about Marlene anyway? You aren't exactly the model of chastity yourself, you know."

Sirius scoffed, "That's different; men are supposed to play the field. Sow their wild oats, as the saying goes. It's all to get it out of our system before we settle down and have to stay faithful."

"Meanwhile, women should always stay chaste and true and don't get a chance to work out their own tensions or desires," Remus surmised for Sirius, unimpressed.

James scratched his head, "You know when you put it that way, it does sort of sound like one of those 'double standards' some of the girls keep ranting about."

"Those girls are feminists," Remus pointed out, "And they have a point. It doesn't exactly seem fair that boys are encouraged to snog and grope while girls who do it get viewed as immoral or less wholesome. Hell, the boys in our dorm seem to praise each other for getting handsy with a girl, while condemning the girl as loose in the same breath."

"But it's different for guys," Sirius defended, "We're hot blooded, passionate animals. We need to vent our hormonal frustrations or all chaos will break out."

"Somehow I don't think missing a good wank will cause the world to end, Siri," Remus said sarcastically.

James let out a laugh before calming himself, "Seriously though, it is different for men, Moony. Girls don't even like sex as much as guys do. It's a well-known fact."

"From whom," Remus challenged, "The older boys in the Quidditch locker room?"

James shrugged, "Well…yeah. I mean, guys are supposed to like sex, it's instinct you know, to have as many heirs as possible. But girls, what they want is romance; sex is secondary."

"The fact that you actually believe this is frightening," Remus moaned, rubbing at his brow.

"As if you understand women better," James said, sticking out his tongue.

"Yeah," Sirius agreed, "Me and Prongs at least have experience with the fairer sex. I think we'd know better than you what it is girls want."

Remus sighed, standing up, "Whatever. Clearly, I'm not going to get a more intelligent conversation out of you two 'lady killers'. I might as well head back in and see where Peter went off to."

"Try not to catch a cold," he added before heading on his way.

James smirked, "Well you're two for two today, Padfoot," he mocked, "You managed to piss off both our friends."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Peter's just got his briefs in a bunch. He'll come around soon. And Remus is just being mister goody-goody like always."

"Still, weird he got so ticked at how you talk about women," James mused.

Sirius scoffed, "Maybe he's jealous."

Sirius paused, mulling over that last thought. He turned to James, a gleam in his eyes.

"Do you think he's jealous?" he asked curiously.

James shrugged, "How would I know. What's it matter to you anyway?"

"It doesn't," Sirius said quickly, turning away.

{page break}

Slughorn positively beamed as he guided Lily into his office.

"Oh course you can look at my albums," he declared happily, "You know I love showing off my most accomplished students."

"Thank you, Professor Slughorn," Lily said graciously, "I've heard a great many things about your previous Slug Clubs, but I never had the nerve to ask after them before."

Slughorn laughed, "No need to be shy, my girl. I am more than happy to share with you."

He picked a heavy album off the shelf, a large glossy book with golden filigree across the cover and bindings.

"Some of the Wizarding World's finest movers and shakers have undergone my fine tutelage," he informed Lily with pride, "I imagine someday, I'll be showing off your picture to students, saying 'I knew the esteemed Miss Evans when she was but a child!' I bet my life on it."

"You're too kind, Professor," Lily said, feigning flattered.

"Now let's see," Slughorn licked his thumb and opened the book, flipping through the pages, "You of course know Lucius Malfoy; he's not that much older than you. Fine man, that one. I hear he's up for a position in the Ministry."

"You don't say?" Lily replied, unable to keep the displeasure out of her voice.

"Oh yes," Slughorn nodded obliviously, "There's Narcissa Black—Malfoy now, I believe. Lovely girl, charming really."

He flicked through some pages, "Hm, you know all of these students. Let's go farther back. Did you know I taught the famed biographer Eldred Worple? His work with vampires is groundbreaking."

Lily nodded, showing well-performed interest and astonishment, "That's incredible, professor. You know so many famous people."

Slughorn preened under the praise, "Indeed I did. And not to boast, but they never would have gotten anywhere if not for me. I taught them everything I know; got them all the right connections. It's no wonder so many of them still send me gifts to this day."

"What an enviable life," Lily gushed, laying on the charm. It seemed to be working, as Slughorn became more and more enamored with remembering the past, flashing through dozens of photographs of prior years running the Slug Club.

Lily paused on one picture, noting the date scrawled at the bottom, "Who are these people, professor?"

"Hm?" Slughorn shook himself from his reminiscing. He looked down at the picture Lily had her finger on, "Oh, that was my Slug Club from…1942 I think. Promising lot those boys. There was Nott, clever boy. Over here was have Lestrange; poor man, I hear he passed recently. Left two sons. You may remember them, Rodolphus and Rabastan?"

"I think I may have had the pleasure of meeting them once or twice," Lily said sourly.

Slughorn was ignorant of her disdain, "Then we have…well that there is Avery…I'm afraid you have met his son Calix…" he sighed, "Where does a boy go so wrong?"

"Beats me, professor," Lily said flatly. She studied Avery Senior's face, noting his eyes strikingly similar to his son's; cold and vain.

"There's Rowle," Slughorn carried on, hoping to ease the tension, "Over here is Royce Ferguson, he manages Dragons in Romania currently."

"What about him?" Lily pointed to a rather young man seated to the left of Lestrange in the picture. He was a handsome lad, with dark hair and piercing eyes, but the eerie thing about him was his smile. It was eerie, empty. Still he was a looker. If this was the boy who tricked Helena Ravenclaw's spirit, it was no wonder she fell for his charms.

Slughorn faltered, "That…that's Tom Riddle. Good lad…I suppose. Studious, always polite. He became a prefect the following year if I recall."

"Is he the one who's name is on that award in the trophy case?" Lily asked innocently.

"Oh, you noticed that?" Slughorn asked wearily, staring down at the picture, "Yes, I suppose he was rewarded for services to the school. He was…fond of Hogwarts."

"What was he rewarded for?" Lily inquired.

Slughorn looked away, studying a distance spot on the wall, "Well he helped prevent a great disaster, I suppose. We had trouble with a dangerous creature on the grounds that year. He found it…though not before we had lost a student," he shook his head, "I'm sorry my dear, it was a rather dark time in the school. I'd rather not go into too many details. The student was a sweet girl, really. But lonely, I heard."

Lily nodded sympathetically, "It's a shame Mr. Riddle didn't stop the creature sooner."

Slughorn didn't answer right away, a haunted, knowing look coming over his face, "…Yes. It's a shame."

"What did Tom go on to do after Hogwarts, sir?" Lily asked curiously.

"Nothing," Slughorn said evasively, "As far as I know, I mean. He rather dropped off the face of the earth after he graduated. Last I heard, he worked for a time in Borgin and Burkes, handling ancient heirlooms and artifacts. Of course that was many years ago. That's…that's all I know."

Call Lily paranoid, but it sounded like Slughorn was trying to convince himself more than her.

"He worked with heirlooms?" Lily asked, "Like jewelry and ornaments?"

Slughorn nodded, "Among other things; from what I understand he had quite the gift for talking folks out of their valuables."

"Really?" Lily said quietly, taking that bit of information in with growing trepidation. She needed to get back to her friends and tell them, quick.

"Do…you have any family heirlooms you're particularly proud of, professor?" she asked suddenly.

"Of course," Slughorn perked up, seemingly relieved to change the subject, "I have the most extraordinary oil lamp, rumored to have once belonged to Godric himself. It's been in my family for years." He waddled off to fetch it.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Lily took out her wand and waved it over the picture in the album, muttering 'Gemino' under her breath. Immediately, she found herself in possession of an exact copy of the picture. Tucking it into her robes along with her wand, she silently thank Professor Flitwick for teaching her the charm the previous year.

Smoothing down her robes, Lily put on an air of nonchalance was Slughorn returned to the room bearing a large, bronze lamp reminiscent of something out of the tale of Aladdin.

{page break}

Lily raced down the stairs, paying no mind to the scolding of fellow prefects and tsking of portraits at her reckless pace. She side stepped a gaggle of first years and maneuvered around two moseying fourth years kissing, not even bothering to write them up for public affection. Reaching yet another flight of stairs, she took them two at a time.

'Sev should be in the library by now,' she thought to herself, managing not to trip over a student's cat lounging at the top step, 'he's going to want to hear about this.'

Lily raced for the corridor leading up to the library when a glimmer of translucent silver caught her eye. She turned just in time to spy a misty figure gliding around the corner on the far end of the hall.

"Grey Lady!" Lily called out, "Wait!"

She rushed frantically after the spirit, making a fast pursuit.

"Grey Lady," she cried again to the figure's retreating back, "Excuse me, Grey Lady."

Still the ghost kept on going. They had reached a deserted corridor and it was becoming exceedingly clear that in a matter of moments the Grey Lady would pass straight through the stones and out of Lily's reach.

"Helena!" Lily shouted in desperation.

At that name, the Grey Lady did indeed stop. Gliding to a halt right before a wall she'd planned to phase through, Helena slowly turned around to face her pursuer.

"Rare that someone knows my true name," Helena commented softly, "I take it you are friends with that boy, then?"

Lily nodded, hands on her knees as she caught her breath.

"Yes," she panted, "His name is Severus, I'm helping him try to destroy the diadem."

"So he still wishes to accomplish that," Helena said musingly, "I honestly thought perhaps I had been tricked last term and he was merely seeking to use me like the last one did."

"No," Lily said firmly, "Sev is definitely doing all he can to figure out how it can be destroyed. In the mean time, we have it locked up, safely out of people's reach. We don't want it to hurt anyone or for it to be tampered with further."

"So he was genuine," Helena said. Her expression almost look hopeful, perhaps even happy, "I'm relieved."

"I have something to ask you," Lily said, reaching into her robes. She pulled out the copied picture from Slughorn's office, "You told Severus you couldn't remember the name of the student who cursed the diadem, but would you recognize him if shown a picture?"

Helena thought about it, "…Yes. I believe I could. His name escapes me but his face is still burned into my mind. His sickening false sympathy still haunts me; if only I could see then what a ruse it was."

Hesitantly, Helena floated closer to get a good look at the picture. Examining every face carefully, recognition flashed in her eyes as they fell upon one particular face.

"There," she declared, her ghostly finger floating over the handsome visage of a boy no more than fifteen, "That is the boy who lied to me, who sought my mother's legacy for his twisted desires."

"That's Tom Riddle," Lily told her.

Helena reached out to touch the image, but her fingers glided straight through.

"I remember those eyes," she murmured, "They were so unreadable. I hardly paid it any mind back then, so grateful to have someone who claimed to understand me. But now…I question how I never realized those eyes were so devoid of warmth. His eyes were deader than mine."

Helena turned to Lily, "Where did you find this?"

"Copied it from Slughorn's office," Lily said, tucking the picture back into her pocket, "It was taken in 1942. A year later, several students were attacked and one girl died. Tom was credited with catching the student responsible. Helena, we think Tom actually had something to do with that death. If so, you aren't the only one he ever tricked into believing his sincerity."

"I see," Helena said noncommittally, yet it was clear from her face that she took some comfort in that knowledge, "I remember that year. They planned to closed the school permanently if the culprit was not caught. A terrible shame it would have been, to deprive students of the knowledge in these hallowed halls. But parents were fearful for their children, especially the muggleborns."

Lily looked up, alarmed, "What do you mean?"

"All the students that had been attacked were muggleborns," Helena explained, "Including the girl who died. No pureblood or halfblood was ever harmed during the attacks."

Lily's thoughts were racing.

'Hagrid did say the attacker left messages claiming to be the Heir to Slytherin,' Lily thought, 'And that they supposedly opened the Chamber of Secrets, built by Slytherin himself…could Tom have been targeting muggleborns?'

Lily shook her head. It made little sense; Tom's surname was clearly muggle, yet he tried to kill muggleborns? What sort of sense was that?

There were other concerns too. Slughorn said the last job he ever knew Riddle to hold was at Borgin and Burkes, dealing with the buying and selling of rare items. Slughorn said he had a particular gift for talking people out of guarded possessions.

Like he did Helena…

"Helena," Lily started, "When Tom first spoke to you, did he ask about any other items besides your diadem?"

Helena nodded, "Yes. He seemed quite interested in all the founders' prized relics. Godric's sword is the only one account for at Hogwarts, but that boy seemed quite interested in where the others may be located. He asked me about Helga's Cup."

"And Slytherin?" Lily prodded.

Helena shook her head, "There wasn't anything I could tell him about Slytherin as no one knew what his prized possession was. I didn't think much of the questions at the time; I assumed he was simply looking to preserve history like he promised to do for my mother's diadem."

Seeing little point in talking further about the matter, Helena left without so much as a goodbye, disappearing through the nearest wall.

Lily stood frozen in place, her mind going a mind a minute. After several second of shock, Lily turned around and took off at a run, heading to the library to find her friends.

'He was collecting them,' Lily thought in a panic, a rush of fear trickling down her spine, 'He was making more cursed items! The diadem is not the only one!'

Our friends are getting closer to...well not the end. Nowhere near there, in fact...so they're getting...somewhere. That's close enough, right?

In all honesty, Slughorn is a very poor Slytherin. He tends to wear his emotions on is sleeve and is easy to read, making his attempts to hide anything next to impossible.

As for the first part of this story, I've had reviewers point out to me before how unlikely it would be for people of the 70's to have such self awareness for sexism and double standards to the level we do unless provided with a reason to have noticed the issue, like how Simone cares about consent because of what happened to her father with a love potion years ago.

So, Peter is getting his first hand glimpse of the unfair standards men and women are held to because it is directly impacting how his friend Marlene is viewed. Because he is getting to know the real, kind and funny Marlene, he sees the absurdity of her being judged so harshly for being openly sexual while guys like Sirius do the same thing, while also being a bullying jerk and yet still is viewed as better than Marlene due to the idea that "Boys are like that." The idea that Marlene is somehow less deserving of respect for her own sexual experience upsets Peter because he knows she is a good person and what she does with a willing partner shouldn't make her any less of a decent human being in the eyes of others when those same fold do not judge Sirius for sleeping around.

It doesn't help that both Sirius and James come from old money purebloods, who probably had the same stifling viewpoints of men and women as muggles did long ago. A woman was to be raised to be the perfect wife, with her virginity to be essentially a prize to her husband for marrying her. Meanwhile, people could turn a blind eye to men's escapades so long as no illegitimate heirs came about from their dalliances. James and Sirius don't mean to be so narrow minded, but they are a product of their upbringing; a high society of champagne, scandals, and mistresses (though I'm sure James parents succeeded in being one of the couples that had no infidelities).

James doesn't seem to appreciate his feelings for Lily being called into question, but really, what did he see in her before they started dating? To me it always seemed that his fixation stemmed in part from her turning him down; I doubt he truly had an interested in her as a person until she finally accepted a date from him and he began to see and appreciate the real her instead of the idea of her.

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