Chapter 7: Discovering Death Eaters (Midnight Wanderings of a Sneaky Variety)

"Shhhhhh!!! Someone'll hear you!" a voice whispered in the darkness.

"Lumos," another voice breathed quietly, and a small light flickered on, reflecting off the walls formed by the cloak under which the two figures were huddled.

It was the dead of night, and Lily and James were underneath James's invisibility cloak, ready for some Snape-spying action. It had taken them a while to get out of their own corridor (they'd had to bribe the portrait in front of their room with some fancy frame-polish to stop her fussing), and even longer to get through the corridors without Filch noticing them. While they were technically allowed to prowl the halls after curfew, now that they were professors, they had both agreed that it would be much easier on the both of them if they weren't seen walking through the dungeon corridors together in the middle of the night. So they made sure they didn't make too much noise and kept under the invisibility cloak just in case. The Marauders' Map, helpful as it might have been, had been confiscated towards the end of their seventh year, in a moment of general carelessness after a huge prank gone wrong. Without it, navigating through the dark corridors and secret passageways of Hogwarts unscathed was, while not impossible, still incredibly difficult.

"We're almost there," noted James, glancing around and noticing the dankness of the air—they'd just about reached the dungeons. "From what I can remember, the Potions master's room should be down the corridor to our left."

Lily nodded silently, and the two of them made their way stealthily toward one of the dampest, darkest, and surely most all-around vile areas of the castle. Why anyone would want to live there was beyond their comprehension, and Lily held her nose in disgust as they neared their destination.

"Wolfsbane," mumbled James, and the portrait inched open, the thin, pale wizard in it glancing suspiciously about. He made no comment; it seemed the Slytherin portraits were good at keeping what secrets they knew to themselves.

Noiselessly, the two of them climbed into the portrait-hole and made their way slowly to the closet that contained the potions ingredients. They were in the lounge attached directly to Snape's sleeping quarters—of this they were well aware. The slightest sound from either of them, and their plans would be ruined. It added to their excitement and the joy of the game.

As they reached the potions storeroom, however, there was a creak on the stairs. Quickly, Lily extinguished her light as she and James flattened themselves against one of the walls, making sure the cloak was tucked securely all around them. The torches in the room flickered on as Snape wandered down the stairway, dressed in a loose black robe. He didn't look tired in the least, and walked casually toward the set of cauldrons he had bubbling over the fire.

"Trust the git to be an insomniac," James muttered before Lily elbowed him sharply in the ribs.

Luckily for them, one of the cauldrons' contents seemed to be boiling; a bit of the strange orange liquid bubbled over the side and landed in the fire with a loud sizzle. The vapors from the cauldron were a revolting acid green. Snape nodded once or twice, approvingly, and directed the cauldron off the fire with a wave of his wand, emptying its contents into several transparent containers that were lined up along a wooden table near the wall James and Lily were standing by. The couple held their breaths in both anxiety and disgust.

After stoppering up the containers and levitating them into the storeroom, Snape toned down the fire in his fireplace to a low burn, leaving several cauldrons over it to simmer. He seemed to be about finished with his work and was heading back up the stairs when he tripped (James snorted, and Lily had to cover his mouth with both hands) and dropped his wand.

Turning around slowly on the stairs, Snape bent to pick it up. As he stood back up, wand in hand, the sleeve of his black robe fell in loose folds about his elbow, and from their position at the wall, Lily and James got a good look at his forearm.

Both of them gasped, then clamped hands over each others' mouths in horror.

It was the Dark Mark.

The black skull and snake burned painfully against Snape's white skin. The sleeve of his robe fell back over it as he lowered his arm, but he did not continue up the stairs. Snape turned slightly, listening for sounds. Lily and James kept perfectly still, dazed and frightened. After an excruciatingly long period of time, he turned and headed back up the stairs. The torches extinguished themselves one by one and finally, the entire room was once again submerged in darkness.

Neither James nor Lily moved. The faint crackle of the fire in the fireplace and an occasional sizzle as bubbles of potion burst and flung droplets of foul-smelling concoction into the flames were the only sounds that could be heard.

After a few more minutes of stillness, Lily re-lit her wand and turned toward James, who had also turned in her direction. They exchanged a look without saying a word and cautiously made their way to the storeroom, each quickly pulling several containers from the shelves, casting unbreakable spells on them, and settling them carefully into a bag they had brought for this express purpose. Lily put the final feather-weight charm on the entire bag, and the two of them crept out of the storeroom and across the lounge, sweeping up various things that lay in their path. They somehow managed to crawl out of the portrait-hole without alerting Snape, and took off at a rapid pace down the corridor away from the dungeons.

Once safe in their own lounge (the thin lady could be heard muttering about being woken up at indecent hours), James dropped the cloak into an armchair and plopped down on the floor. Lily sent the potions ingredients packing into organized rows in the cabinets across the room, and joined James before the fire. The two of them were breathing hard from their run across the castle and took the moment to catch their breath.

Lily still had a shocked expression on her face.

James had begun to babble to himself. "I can't believe it," he said, between gulps for air. "I never expected this!" He turned to Lily, his eyes wide in disbelief. "Snape?? A Death Eater??" He shook his head a couple times as though to clear it. "Wait, what am I on about? Of course I expected this! In fact, I can't see why none of us realized before! Snape was part of that whole stupid Slytherin crowd back in school, Malfoy before he graduated and Avery and Crabbe and Goyle and that odd couple, the Lestranges...Death Eaters, the lot of them, if I've ever seen any! I always knew there was something about that slimy git that I just didn't like, and now I know..." James's voice trailed off as he stared at Lily.

Lily was still sitting with a shocked expression on her face.

"Why don't you say something?" James demanded.

Lily turned to him, still with that same look on her face. "I just...I can't believe it," she replied, stunned. "I knew Snape was friends with the whole group of them...and I knew that he was rude and bigoted at times, but I never expected this." Before James could add his two cents' worth, Lily went on. "I mean, Snape wasn't a nice person—" (James snorted) "—but he was never, well, evil. In fact, I don't think he much cared for Voldemort's terror tactics."

"How can you say that, Lily?" James demanded, bewildered. Was Lily actually standing up for Snape? "You know what company Snape kept in school. You know the way he put down muggle-borns. He was all for pureblood supremacy! As a Prefect for his house, he never once passed up the chance to treat everyone else—especially those not of pure blood—like dirt. Why wouldn't the greasy, power-hungry fiend join Voldemort's supporters? You remember the way he always loved positions of authority. I'll wager he wanted to become Headmaster of Hogwarts or Minister of Magic, not just a Potions master."

Lily's brow was furrowed. "I don't know, James. Something seems...not right...about this whole thing, somehow. Snape did have strong prejudices against muggle-borns, and he did favor Slytherin over the other houses, but really, can you say anything different for anyone else in Slytherin?"

"That's why I don't believe any outstandingly good wizards or witches can ever come from Slytherin!" James burst out. Of course, he knew it wasn't true, and he knew he'd probably have to retract that comment later, but what in hell was Lily doing trying to defend Snape?!

His comment obviously frustrated Lily. Her cheeks were flushed and there were sparks in her eyes. "That's not what I meant, James! How can you be so biased?! You know perfectly well that there have been hundreds of wizards and witches from Slytherin who did great things! And what's more, nearly everyone at Hogwarts played partial to their own House! It wasn't just something the Slytherins did!" She noticed that James was about to contradict her and continued vehemently, holding up a hand to stop him. "Don't tell me you don't remember the way Flitwick would sometimes let off Ravenclaws when they were caught out after curfew. McGonagall was probably the strictest of all the professors when it came to being fair to the Houses, and even she sometimes let you and Sirius off lightly simply because of the fact that you two were on the Quidditch team." Lily shook her head. "I know Snape did some mean, petty things. And I know that he jumped to conclusions a lot, and acted like, well, a creep, some of the time. But he never did anything that would have put anyone in serious danger, and when it comes down to it, he did carry off his basic Prefect duties relatively well. He might have been unfair about things like House points, but I don't think he would ever have put anyone's life at risk, which is what you're saying he's been doing as one of Voldemort's supporters." She took a deep breath and met James's eyes steadily. Her voice was quiet. "And that's more than I can say for the Marauders. You boys did put people's lives at risk, you know. In more ways and times than one."

James had been getting fired up to retort and argue with Lily over this, but her last few statements gave him pause. He hated to admit it, but she was right—the Marauders had been involved in various hazardous pranks and the fact that they had become illegal animagi, and had led Remus in his werewolf form out of the Shrieking Shack, had put innumerable people's lives in danger. The whole incident with Sirius leading Snape to the Whomping Willow to "give him a scare" was evidence of it.

Lily sat back and nodded, knowing what was going through James's mind. "Snape's whole family was pureblooded; but none of them was involved actively in anything that involved the Dark Order. In fact," her voice was barely a whisper now, "I remember overhearing conversations between Slytherins, including Snape, where Snape's apparent lack of interest in joining the Dark Order and his disapproval of Voldemort's violent measures were brought up. It just doesn't fit together—he had no particular motivation for getting involved in Voldemort's cause. Snape liked authority and power, but he always went about attaining it in a—more or less—legitimate way. He seemed, to me at least, always to be trying to prove himself worthy of what he wanted to achieve."

They were both silent for a few more minutes. Lily was watching James closely, while he concentrated his gaze on the fire. Finally, he let out a breath and turned back to her.

"I suppose you're right," James said grudgingly. "But the Dark Mark—Lily, that mark doesn't lie. Snape wouldn't get something that looked like that magically drawn on his forearm just for the hell of it. Whether or not he had just motivation, Snape has the brand of Voldemort on his body." He paused. "Snape's a Death Eater, Lily. He may just be the one that Dumbledore mentioned—the one of Voldemort's spies who is lurking nearby. From what Dumbledore said, it seems that information about our activities at Hogwarts seems to be leaking out to Voldemort through some unknown carrier." James stood up slowly, then held out his hands to help Lily up. His brown eyes looked down at her seriously. "We need to tell Dumbledore about this right away."

"All right." Lily took James's proffered hands. He pulled her up abruptly, using a little more force than necessary. Lily, who had always had a light frame, nearly toppled over. Regaining her balance at the last moment, she realized that they were now standing very close. Her height forced her eyes upon his mouth, and her gaze flickered upwards just in time to catch his gaze upon her face. She couldn't read the expression in his eyes, but felt her cheeks heat up just the same as she realized that his eyes had come to rest on her lips as well. Leaning in slightly, she felt her eyelids droop lazily downwards; she could feel his breath on her lips. James was bending his head down—she could almost taste the kiss that was about to take place—

"We should go to Dumbledore right now." Dazedly, Lily's eyes snapped open to meet James's in a confused glance. He wasn't looking too sure of himself at the moment, either, and she could tell there were some traces of regret in his eyes. His cheeks were a dull red, and Lily realized that he'd been thinking of the last time they'd kissed—and where that had led. Feeling herself blushing furiously as well, she cast her eyes down, not know what to do.

"Yes, let's," she mumbled, not thinking.

If she had looked up, she would have seen James smile at her. Lily looked adorable, with her rosy cheeks and her hair tied back with a gold ribbon. She was clasping and unclasping her hands in front of her, entwining her fingers together. Still smiling, James reached out and took her hand gently. As her head shot up and her eyes studied his face—he was still smiling at her, so softly—her own lips curved upwards in a shy smile. Together, they turned towards the portrait-hole and headed out into the corridor.

They reached the stone gargoyle and made it up to Dumbledore's office without event. Dumbledore himself was sitting before the fire, attired in plain sleeping robes and fuzzy slippers. He wore a nightcap with a large pouf at the end of it, and held a large steaming mug in one hand.

"Would you care for some cocoa?" he greeted them. "I'm particularly fond of these...marshmallows. Muggles do seem to make extraordinarily good sweets."

Both of them declined, though Lily had to work to keep from bursting into laughter watching Dumbledore pile more marshmallows cautiously into his already overflowing mug.

James cleared his throat eventually, and spoke up. "Albus"—Lily had always wondered how James had managed to make such a smooth transition from calling Dumbledore by his title to calling him by his first name—"Lily and I found some information about a Death Eater in our midst."

Dumbledore continued piling marshmallows into his cup nonchalantly, but his unwavering gaze was on James, who seemed to be uncertain as to how to proceed. Lily felt bad for not helping out, but she didn't know quite what to say either—how were they supposed to tell Dumbledore what they knew without him finding out about their wanderings into Snape's private storeroom? She could have slapped herself for not remembering this earlier.

"Do you mean to say that there is evidence of a Death Eater here at Hogwarts, James?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yes, sir, I do." James licked his lips nervously before continuing in a rush. "Lily and I saw the Dark Mark on Snape's forearm today." Hurriedly, the two of them explained what they had seen exactly, and Lily voiced her doubts about Snape being a violent threat. Then they fell silent and awaited the old wizard's response.

One could have heard a pin drop in Dumbledore's office. The headmaster stopped adding marshmallows to his cocoa and instead set the mug down on the table. He nodded slowly, then sat considering Lily and James with his keen blue eyes for a long time. Both of them felt like fidgeting under the headmaster's scrutiny.

Finally, he spoke. "I'll need to consider things carefully, from here on. We may need to watch Severus. Perhaps the two of you could keep an eye on him for me, until I find the opportunity to speak with him."

They nodded. Dumbledore continued a bit tiredly. "We'll keep this information strictly confidential for the time being; it would cause too much confusion and ill feeling to bring this out into the open suddenly. From what little I know, Severus may very likely be simply misguided. He has not done anything dangerous thus far at Hogwarts, and I don't believe he'll be doing anything anytime soon. Death Eater or not, as a professor of Hogwarts, he has had my full confidence."

He sighed deeply and turned away.

All at once, Lily and James both started with the realization that instead of the omniscient headmaster they'd always known, or the powerful wizard Voldemort feared, Dumbledore was appearing before them as just an ordinary person—a tired man, with an incomprehensible weight on his shoulders. It was a startling revelation; and a vague presentiment of the seriousness of the situation suddenly settled itself like a heavy blanket across their perceptions of the world. A sadness lingered over all three of them. Dumbledore felt it for the lives that would be destroyed over the conflict in the wizarding world and the abrupt thought that his students, who rightfully ought to be enjoying their youth, had had it snatched away from them by this terrible war. Lily and James felt it with the unveiling of their hero as both mortal and weary, with troubles of his own; and with a sudden inkling of a future that would prove all too dark and short.

The feeling passed, however, and a small squawk from Fawkes brought the three back to reality. They laughed together, the sound a sort of bittersweet harmony in the night. The two professors bid the headmaster a good night and returned to their respective rooms deep in thought.

Notes:

First, for the reviewers—again...I love you! Hugs and thousands of chocolate frogs to you all! May your Bertie Botts never be vomit-flavored!

Now then.

Everblue3 – You are right...the sex just doesn't cut it. I'm thinking on a way to have James work to make it up to her. The only reason I had the students be so shocked about James and Lily being nice to each other was because they'd been openly hostile before—what with glaring daggers at one another and participating in hexing sessions in the halls and whatnot. Maybe I didn't stress that enough...

As for snogging, I'll be the first to admit that I don't have much of that in my story. I wish I did. I wish I were actually good at writing snogging scenes, but every time I write one and read it over again it always seems awkward. More of an electronic appliance instruction manual than a tension/emotion-filled scene. Sigh. I'm afraid I will never be on par with Jubilee in Outward Appearances...now that fic has some quality snogging.

Students' opinions about their relationship will surely come later. I remember writing about it somewhere...not too sure where anymore, but I know it's in there. ^_^ I really appreciate your comments...they've got me thinking and on my toes!

Kirbee – I like the hairpins part too. I discovered I tend to talk about Lily's hair a lot. I wish I had red hair, actually. Such a distinctive color...

ta-tiana258, smilies, & Kellie – Thank you guys for reviewing! I'm glad you like it :)

...I'm a little bit fond of this chapter...hm. I should rephrase that—I'm fondER of this chapter than I have been of the previous few. For one thing, we still don't know Snape's motivations for joining the Dark Order, and I really don't see him as the type to instigate violence toward the weak and defenseless so I got to advocate that a bit. I think this is one of the reasons I like Pensieve so much—because Snape is portrayed as much, much more than a two-dimensional oily character. Of course, I'm not doing too spectacular a job with my own Snape characterization, but that's okay when other people do.

Something I think is important about this ending: I always wondered why people seem to portray Dumbledore as this omniscient being—you know, all's well as long as Dumbledore's around? And I always wondered whether Dumbledore felt the pressure of having so many depend on him for knowledge and guidance and protection and assurance. He's a wizard; he's mortal; sure, he's powerful, but he's got limits, especially since he refuses to pursue the darker arts like Voldemort is. All in all, I think we should really cut Dumbledore some slack. I hope he has someone to love and to be loved by.