Hiya!

So I'm supposedly Kidney Infection free now, though I must still have some lingering inflammation since I'm still having flank pain despite my tests coming back negative for infection.

In other bright news, I have my computer back! A new charger arrived in the mail and I can power my baby up again. I'm so happy.

Glad everyone is getting so into the mystery here. It's admittedly difficult to keep things surprising when we all know who Tom Riddle is and what his diary and diadem are for. So seeing how much people are becoming invested in this 'who done it?' mystery over the diary theft is great.

If Someone Cared Enough

Chapter Eighty-One: More Unpleasant News

It took about two weeks for the groups' efforts to pay off, so to speak—mainly in the form of a dirty, rotten scoundrel whom was paid off quite literally.

"Here's what Mundungus got hold of," Simone declared, slapping a stack of papers onto the table they routinely held claim over in the library, "The purchase and sale records of the store over the past seventy years."

"And you're sure we can trust Fletcher not to talk?" Severus inquired, running his thumb along the edge of the stack.

Simone grinned, "I told him that the Serapeums of many loyal elves to spare; he's fully convinced I've got one of them watching his every step for the next six years."

"Why just six?" Lily asked in befuddlement.

Simone shrugged, "Mundungus is a heavy drinker and shortsighted pick pocket. He's bound to either drink himself to death or steal from the wrong person one of these days."

Davis snorted, "You cared enough about us using oblivate on him, yet you talk so casually about him getting himself killed."

"Hey," Simone said with a frown, "I'll do what I can to protect people from our own actions; doesn't mean I can be expected to save Mundungus from himself."

Severus could see Davis just itching to tease Simone for her inconsistent grasp of humanitarianism, so he chose to interrupt them before a fight could break out, "If we can get back to the matter at hand…we have some snooping to do."

Remus cleared his throat, "On the subject of snooping, I took it upon myself to research any major events that may have coincided with Riddle's disappearance. Apparently, he was reported to the Ministry by Caractaus Burke for failing to come in to work for a number of days. After that he was listed as a missing person, so I did some cross referencing between that timeline and anything that made the news in the Prophet."

"That's…a very good idea, Lupin," Severus admitted with more than a little surprise. He missed the proud smile Lupin made at the compliment, "Did you find anything worthy of notice?"

"As a matter of fact I did," Lupin declared, pulling out his notebook and some old newspaper clippings.

He tapped at one segment in particular, "Days before Riddle vanished, there was an unexpected death reported; a witch Named Hepzibah Smith was ruled to have died by an accidental poisoning."

Nesme leaned forward to get a closer look, "Accidental?"

"According to investigators, her house elf admitted to supposedly mistaking the poison for sugar while preparing her mistress's cocoa one evening," Remus explained, "She was old and losing her sight as well as her alertness, so it was considered a believable mistake."

Lupin took a look around the table at everyone present, "Normally, I'd think a senile house elf accidentally killing her mistress would be tragic but bear no connection to a random missing person case that happened days later. However…given Riddle's penchant for framing others for murder and then he just up and disappears soon after this woman died…well, you can see how it piqued my interest."

"There's a Hepzibah Smith in Borgin and Burkes' records," Lily announced suddenly, from next to the stack Simone brought in.

"What?" she asked when everyone stared at her in amazement, "It's a simple index charm; it's useful for finding specific subject for studying."

"Well, don't keep us in suspense," Davis prompted, "What's it say about her?"

Lily looked over the documents, her brow furrowed, "There was a pending purchase the store was planning to make from her, though it doesn't say if the transaction ever took place; the ledger is unfinished. Let's see here… 'goblin-made-armour'…it says here the intended bargaining price was 500 galleons."

Nesme whistled, "That's close to 3000 pounds, isn't it?"

"You'll find I'm quite poor at math or exchange rates," Simone drawled.

"Let me see that," Lupin requested, taking the record paper from Lily, "Date of intended purchase…" Remus checked his clippings from the paper, "This was two days before Hepzibah's house elf allegedly poisoned her."

"And a few days before Riddle up and left," Severus added, looking over the paper.

"Slughorn did say Riddle had quite a knack for talking people out of their valuables at that job," Lily said.

"So we can guess who was sent to negotiate that purchase," Simone said with a scowl, "The sod framed a poor, little elf for it."

"The question is, why did Riddle kill her?" Thea posed the question on every one's mind, "He murdered Myrtle because she was a muggleborn right by the Chamber as it opened, and he murdered his father and grandparents most likely out of anger of being abandoned. But what could he gain from killing Hepzibah?"

Lupin pointed to one of his newspaper clippings, "According to her obituary, Hepzibah was a self-proclaimed descendant of Helga Hufflepuff."

He glanced at his friends, "Regulus did say that the cup was rumored to be kept safe among her family line."

"That explains it then," Davis said.

Lily flipped through the other papers her index spell had highlighted for her.

"Wait," she said, frowning, "There is another entry on Hepzibah. Two of them, in fact. One for a sale ages ago and one for a pending repurchase."

Severus leaned over her shoulder, scanning the record.

"…Slytherin's locket…" he read solemnly, "Buyer, Hepzibah Smith..."

Everyone inhales sharply.

"It can't be…" Thea whispers in shock.

Lily quickly casts her charm to search for more mentions of the locket, it brings up only one entry.

Severus's eyes run over the paper searchingly, "Slytherin's locket. Seller…Merope…"

"It doesn't give her last name," Lily points out, casting worry eyes around the table, "But it's pretty obvious who it's referring to."

Simone squints at the page, "There's a little scribble in the corner," she points out, trying to make out the cramped script, "…genuine."

"Neither the locket or cup were mentioned in any of the papers," Lupin says, scanning his notes, "Considering Hepzibah was a well known collector of relics, I bet it would have made the papers if something so important was found at her home. Riddle must have taken them both."

Severus let out a breath, "So Riddle has gotten hold of three of the founder's items…brilliant."

"Next you'll tell me that he has the Sword of Gryffindor too," Davis huffed out in frustration.

"Not possible," Lupin pointed out, "The sword is said to only appear to a 'true Gryffindor'. Riddle's a Slytherin and a remorseless murderer; the sword would never stay in his possession, if he could ever find it in the first place."

"That's still a diary, a diadem, a locket, and a cup," Severus stated, rubbing his brow in exasperation, "How many of these things do we need to destroy?"

"Let's focus on the Chamber," Thea advised, "It is a top priority, along with the diadem and diary, because they're all within the school. The others can wait. We'd need to find them first before we could deal with them anyway."

"Talking with Lucius didn't give Regulus any clues on how to destroy these things anyway," Severus said musingly, "It seems Lucius hardly even understands what he has in his protection."

"You're telling me," Nesme agreed, "You-Know-Who tells him to guard it and then he just sends it off to school with Thea because the diary told him to?"

Simone snorted, "He probably is too busy imagining the praise he'd get for opening the Chamber. I doubt he thinks the diary would get the credit for that; it's a bloody book!"

"That talks," Davis muttered, "You know…the perfect thing for any wizard to take advice from."

"Lucius was never a 'small picture' sort of person," Severus recalled, "He's more about the grandiose and over the top. To him, succeeding in opening the chamber overrides any possible fallout he could accrue by letting the diary out of his possession."

"So glad we're all expendable in Malfoy's quest to glory," Lupin mumbled glumly.

"I've got an idea about the whole 'destroying' thing," Nesme piped up.

Simone gestured to her, "Well, we're all ears; let's hear it."

"Well…" Nesme began hesitantly, "I've been doing some reading up on the more destructive spells out there. You know, the big damage ones. And from what I've read…hardly anything can survive," she gulped, "fiendfyre…"

Everyone stared at her.

Nesme looked around nervously, "Well…any thoughts?"

"You're joking, right?" Davis asked in astonishment, "You're really, truly joking."

Nesme shook her head, "No…it's one of the most destructive spells in existence. The fact that Hogwarts survived it is a miracle in and of itself. Surely one little diary or crown can't withstand that much power."

"Nes," Simone sighed, rubbing her brow, "Think about what you're saying. 'Most destructive spell,' that means one of the most difficult to use. Even skilled wizards tend to lose control of it if they aren't careful. How on earth would we ever wield it?"

Nesme shrugged, "Hey, I was just spitballing here. It's not like we have any other ideas for getting rid of those things, do we?"

"I'd say ask Dumbledore, but we still don't know if he'd destroy the things or be tempted to use them like their enchantments try to trick you to," Severus admitted with a scowl.

Remus sighed, "So we're still stuck at square one."

"More like square negative five," Severus groused, "We've know all these terrible things exist or are about to happen, but we can't do a damn thing. Don't get me wrong, all this research is useful for finding out how many there are, but we're no step closer to destroying them."

"Is it possible Slughorn might know?" Lily queried, "He proved useful last time I went to him. Perhaps he knows about magic like this."

Severus tried to smile at Lily to encourage her helpfulness, but it came out more of a grimace, "Lily, dark magic isn't the most believable thing for you to show an interest; he'd be suspicious immediately. It's not a subject you could turn into a hypothetical question that easily."

"What if we posed it as a concern?" Simone suggested.

"How so?" Severus asked.

Simone stood up, circling the table, "Well, suspicion is unavoidable with a topic like this. So why not just ensure the suspicion goes to someone else."

She grinned at them all, "Last I checked, Wilkes is expelled permanently for the Fiendfyre. Whether he did it or not, his dubious nature lends itself well to a believable narrative, don't you think?"

Everyone blinked blankly at her.

Simone rolled her eyes in exasperation, "Say it's Wilkes who piqued your curiosity. Say he's been muttering about things for weeks, long before he left. Things about curses, items with dark enchantments on them."

Simone slammed her hands on the table, leaning in closer to everyone, "If we give a vague enough description of what these items do, we can pass it off as stuff we heard from him, maybe get Slughorn to theorized what he in his vast expertise thinks it sounds like. So what if he goes to Dumbledore with his concerns? Wilkes has already been accused for one crime he probably didn't do and they don't believe him at all. He could deny mentioning anything of the sort and they'd still probably be convinced he's lying."

"Isn't it a little…" Remus paused, "Wrong, to frame him for more things? Sure he's a jerk, but we could get him in some serious trouble."

"Lupin, Wilkes had bragged to me many times about his impending induction into the Death Eaters," Severus stated hollowly, "He'd met with You-Know-Who. He was far more aware of what he was signing up to than I ever was. If he's so deeply invested in causing harm, then I can't say I feel pity for pinning something on him if it keeps him off the streets."

Simone nodded, "Exactly!"

"Still," Severus leveled Simone with a shrewd and critical eye, "It does seem a tad cruel. Given your preferences for right and wrong, I'm surprised you'd be for something so underhanded."

Simone huffed, crossing her arms, "I once wore a girl's ripped out hair as a crown; clearly I'm not one hundred percent lawful good. Look, just tell Sluggie you're scared Wilkes might have been planning some bad curses or something. Say you're scared you'll come across something like that; it gives you the opportunity to ask him—hypothetically, of course—what you should do to destroy it should you happen to, you know, 'accidentally' stumble upon it."

Lupin leaned back in his seat, scratching his chin, "That could be a believable excuse…maybe Slughorn would believe it."

"Give him some Crystallized Pineapple and he'll probably tell you the contents of his will," Nesme joked.

"If only it were that easy," Thea sighed, "We'd be much farther in these tasks if we could ask others without them asking too many questions."

"If only we were that lucky," Davis grumbled.

"Wait," Severus said suddenly, perking up, "Lucky…that's it!"

Simone cocked an eyebrow, "What are you on about, Snape?"

"Liquid Luck," Severus said excitedly, "Felix Felicis. That's all the luck we'd need."

"It take six months to brew, though," Davis pointed out, "We don't have that kind of time."

Severus raised his finger, "Ah, but you forget. Slughorn has a competition every September for the sixth year potions class. Winner who brews a perfect Draught of Living Death gets a single vial of Felix Felicis."

"And wouldn't you know," Severus went on casually, grinning at Lily, "I was a sixth year in his class this past September."

"No, Sev," Lily stated adamantly, "You earned that; I can't have you wasting it to help me trick Professor Slughorn."

"Waste it?" Severus gawked with a breathless laugh, "I hardly think giving us an edge on this mission is wasting it."

"And what if Slughorn honestly doesn't know anything?" Lily challenged, "All the luck would succeed in doing is helping me learn we're stuck right where we left off in our research. We should save it."

"She's right," Thea agreed, "There's a fifty/fifty chance of Slughorn even having the information we need. We should keep the potion for a time when we really need it."

Severus looked around, "Like when?"

"Like when we finally try to destroy these things," Simone answered, "These things are dark magic. Even if we find the right way to destroy them, who knows if they are designed to resist or fight back. We'll need all the luck and assurances we can get that things won't go tits up when the time comes."

Severus frowned, "I suppose that's true. Fine, we'll save it for now," he huffed out a laugh, "Who knows, if things don't turn out right, we may need it to take out the basilisk."

That got a chuckle from everyone.

"Oh course the potions prodigy would win the Felix Felicis," Davis laughed, "Nesme and I failed to get an Exceeds Expectations to keep taking that course."

"I barely squeezed by," Remus admitted, "But I'd completely forgotten you won that potion." He chuckled, "James was right pissed, he was. He spent weeks after that whinging about how he thought," he trailed off, "Well…he thought you'd use it to increase your chances with Lily."

The others snickered, while Lily ducked her head with a flushed smile.

Severus did not look amused, "As advantageous as liquid luck may be, I find little humor in the idea of using it to court someone. If you cannot earn someone's affections based on your own efforts and merits, then you don't deserve them. Potter's more likely to resort to cheating to get his way; I bet he'd use the potion in a heartbeat to get Lily's attention."

Lupin gave a sheepish grin, "That's sort of why he was hoping he'd win it."

Severus rolled his eyes, "Of course."

"Not that he thought it could trick Lily or anything," Lupin defended, "He sort of hoped that if he used it before a game, he'd be far better than usual and Lily would finally notice his skills or something. You know, the way the other girls moon over him on a broom."

Lily snorted, covering her mouth with her hands, "So he hoped turning me into a sports fan would somehow make me like him?"

Severus scoffed, "Of course, that makes perfect sense. Why waste time being less of an ass and becoming an all around better person when you can just pull off a Wronski Feint and wow a girl into your arms?"

Lily giggled, nudging Severus with her shoulder teasingly, "Too bad I like my men tall, dark, and brooding."

"I don't know if I should be flattered or if I should take issue with you not calling me handsome," Severus deadpanned.

Lily smiled flirtatiously, "You know I like your looks."

"Though Merlin knows why," Simone muttered. She keenly ducked the half-empty inkwell Severus tossed at her, "Murder in the library is very uncivilized, Snape!"

Severus only smirked at her.

{page break}

It was on his way out of the Ancient Runes class that Severus heard an all too familiar and unwelcome voice.

"Come on! We used to be so close."

Severus whipped around with a glare, venom on the tip of his tongue ready to fly. Finding himself alone in the corridor, it was only then that Severus realized the voice hadn't been addressing him, but rather someone around the corner.

"Seriously, Moony," Sirius whined, "What happened to us? You and I were thick as thieves. The best of chums, two peas in a pod. Are you really going to throw all of that away?"

From his vantage point hidden behind a suit of armor, Severus could see Lupin appeared very unmoved.

Remus folded his arms across his chest, "Last I checked, it was you and James who were the closest. Peter and I were simple along for the ride. A convenient cheering squad, if you will."

Sirius shook his head, "Things were different with us, Moony; between you and me. We had something special."

He reached for Remus's hand, "You know you were never an afterthought to me. Peter…he's a good guy and all…great listener, but you're special to me…you must know that…"

Remus batted Sirius hand away, "Special because you get to run around on a full moon with me? Or because you could use my prefect status to get away with anything?"

"It's not like that," Sirius pleaded.

"Save it," Remus snapped, "I've heard your apologies and excuses enough times already. It doesn't change what you did; what you promised me you'd stop doing."

Sirius huffed, rolling his eyes, "So we followed Snape. Big whoop! We were only doing it for you. Whatever Snivellous has got on you to make you stand up for him—"

"There you go again!" Remus cut him off, "Calling him Snivellous? We're almost seventeen, Sirius; nearly an adult in our world. Still you cling to childish insults like they matter. And that's always been what's wrong with you. You're too childish, too impulsive, Siri. You walk around Hogwarts like it's your playground and you can just break any toy you please when you're having a tantrum."

Remus straightened to his full height, taking a deep breath, "I'm tired of being one of those toys, Sirius. When I ask you to do something, you should consider and care about my feelings, not dismiss it because it cuts into your 'fun'. My words and choices should matter to you, not just whether I'm helping you stay entertained."

"I don't view you that way at all, Remus," Sirius insisted.

"Could have fooled me," Remus said softly.

Sirius scowled, "If anything, I care about you more than anything. What's going on with Snape is because I care about you. He's bad news, Moony."

"Just stop it, Sirius," Remus commanded hotly, "I'm so sick of everything coming back to this feud between you and Severus. Not everything is about him."

"I know why you're so fixated on him," Remus confessed, "You blame him for everything because you're too proud to admit you were in the wrong."

Sirius blustered, "That's not…"

Remus took a step closer, "That's it isn't it? You think if you pin it on Snape for having gone down to the Willow that night, you can get around the fact that you had no right to use my secret as a weapon to begin with. To use me as a tool!"

Sirius took a step back, hands raised feebly, "I-I already said I was sorry, Moony."

"Well actions speak louder than words!" Remus bit out, "I wanted you to leave Snape alone because I was ashamed of the part of me that could have killed him. Killed him, Sirius! Do you have any idea how it feels to have everything I hate about myself used like that. I've spent my whole life hearing the news, the viewpoints. My kind are evil. They're unfit to be in society. They're no good, too dangerous. I've told myself it wasn't true, that I'm no different than any other kid."

"Do you have even the slightest inkling," Remus ground out, clenching his fists, "How it feels to wake up after a hellish night and be brought to the Headmasters office to be told the very thing I've always denied myself capable of doing nearly happened? Do you?"

"Remus," Sirius stammered, "I'm sorry…I'm so, so sorry…" He reached for his friend.

Remus was having none of it, pushing Sirius back when he approached.

"It doesn't mean anything if you can't start acting like it," Remus admitted sadly, "You've got a lot of growing up to do…I suggest you get started on it…"

Without another word, Lupin took off down the hallway, shoulder quaking.

Behind him, Sirius stood forlornly in place, lost and adrift in his emotions. Clenching his fists, he kicked angrily at a nearby column, scrubbing angry tears from his face before storming away, unaware as he passed Severus in his hiding place.

Severus poked his head out after the coast was clear, watching Black's retreating form curiously.

'Well that was interesting,' Severus thought, 'I would have expected Black to go groveling for Potter's forgiveness. Those two always seemed the closest.'

Yet it was Lupin that Black sought out. It was utterly baffling. For years, Severus had been under the impression that Lupin and Pettigrew were little more than a traveling fan club to the leaders of their little group, a useful pair for strength in numbers. If he had heard correctly, it would seem Black placed far more importance on his closeness with Lupin than previously anticipated. But why?

Severus shook his head; none of this made any sense.

Surely if Black was the heir of Slytherin like Severus theorized, then setting a basilisk loose in the school would be of little consequence to him—so long as he managed to flee the school before his uncontrollable monster wrecked havoc, of course. But if he cared about Lupin as much as it appeared, it seemed unlikely he'd risk the other boy's death in an effort to wipe out muggleborns and any who stood in the creature's way.

Severus scratched his chin, pondering over the possibilities.

Black most likely knew Lupin would never sit back while others were in danger. He'd fight to protect the students if they were at risk of being harmed. If Black was the heir, surely he'd know Lupin would try and intervene to save as many as possible, right?

So therefore, it couldn't be Black, right?

Unless of course his goal was to sway Lupin to his side before the beast was unleashed, so that he could abscond with Lupin before chaos broke out. Not that he'd have much success convincing Lupin to leave the others to the creature. Did he intend to abduct Lupin in order to protect him?

The possibilities were all lost in a myriad of likeliness and improbability. As much as Severus would like it to be Black just so that they could have a target to apprehend before this madness got out of control, it was still a hard sell to make Black out as the most likely suspect.

Sure Black had the capability to be cruel, but without a concrete motive for targeting so many students, Severus was at a lost. It made sense if the goal of opening the chamber was to take out people like Severus, but the majority of the muggleborns had never bothered Black before. It would seem so strange for him to pull and about face and start hurting those who never wronged him.

Severus scowled heavily, never one to enjoy being stumped.

"The answer's out here somewhere," He muttered, turning away with a sweep of his robes.

Almost tugs at your heart strings, doesn't it.

Is it weird that as much as I despise Black and Potter, a part of me sympathizes with our attempted murderer (Sirius) more than James?

Potter's cruelty was motivated solely by jealousy and an desire to possess Lily when she denied him. He had very loving parents and a good life, so he wasn't made into the asshole he was; it was by choice because he thought he was owed Lily's affections to the point that he disregarded her feelings and constantly hurt her by harming her best friend.

But Sirius, we don't know just how bad his parents were. They were awful enough for him to flee home and his mother was cold enough to completely cast him out of her life simply for not growing up to her expectations of him. If her love for her child can be so easily retracted, than I doubt she was a warm and kind person. Given the families ties to dark magic, it makes one wonder just how much that darkness pervaded their home and discipline. Sirius might have been taught cruelty and his complex with being opposite of everything his family stood for might have driven him to put some real heat into his hatred of Severus. He might have even felt Severus better fit the ideal of a dark wizard befitting of his parent's affections and hated him for it.

Just my thoughts. Still dislike the guy, but I at least feel his reasoning was more complicated and complex when it came to bullying Severus.

Review please :)