Notes/Disclaimer: Thanks to all who have read/reviewed! I'll try to finish up the story this week… and, as always, these characters are the property of J.K. Rowling…. Except for maybe one or two that I've made up on my own but you'll know 'em when ya see 'em. ~~~
The next day Minerva woke up at the sound of Lilly's voice.
"Minerva…pst, Minerva… wake up…"
"Mmm… what time is it? It's not seven already, is it?"
"No, it's six… listen, Remus Lupin is down in the common room… says he needs to talk to you urgently…."
Minerva mumbled a few curses in Gaelic under her breath that made Lily laugh. Then she remembered The Kiss and her eyes flew open.
"Tell him to give me ten minutes".
She emerged from her room ten minutes later, as promised.
"Good morning Remus… might I inquire as to why I'm losing an hour of beauty sleep?"
"You're beautiful enough as you are", he replied, planting a quick kiss on her check.
"Tell me… what potions you and Snape looking up?"
"Oh my God Remus, don't tell me you woke me up to talk about potions…"
"Yes and no. Answer me, what did you guys look up?"
"It doesn't matter… the project's due today and each group had a different set of potions so it won't do you any good to copy mine… but if you must know, we looked up medicinal potions. Why?"
"Well, Narcissa Malfoy and I had "advanced potions" and I spent two hours researching Polyjuice Potion last night…"
"And….???"
"Don't you see?"
"See what?"
"First off, do you know what Polyjuice is?"
"Of course I know what is, Remus… it renders the drinker to temporarily take the appearance of another… so what?"
Remus sighed.
"Honestly Minerva… you're the smartest girl in Gryffindor…. what I'm saying is that your attacked might have been under the influence of Polyjuice."
Minerva thought for a moment.
"You're saying… but how would we know who it was? Polyjuice changes their appearance entirely."
"Right—their appearance… but not any objects they might have had with them."
'So you woke me up an hour early because you want me to go back there and look for clues?"
"Precisely".
Minerva was silent.
"Do you want to get to the bottom of this or not? I for one want to know who framed me."
"Whatever".
"All righty then… lead on, McDuff".
"Remus, isn't the proper quotation "lay on, McDuff?"
"It all depends…"
"On what?"
"On whether you'd rather be led on or laid on… personally, I'd rather be laid on but—oh, never mind… just take me there".
Minerva reluctantly led the way to the corridor with the mirror.
"There's nothing here, Minerva… except that mirror….", Remus said nervously.
"You can ndrop the façade, Moony… I know about the Marauders and the map…"
"How?"
"I'm Head Girl… don't worry, I'm not going to squeal on you guys."
Remus looked at her.
"Not that many people know about this room… the four Marauders do, obviously, and we know that some of the Slytherins know…. They were in here trading wizard cards when we showed up."
Minerva looked at him.
"Alohomora!"
The mirror instantly became permeable and they were able to walk right through it. Chills immediately went up Minerva's spine.
They searched the place for fifteen minutes and came up with nothing. Just as they were about to leave, Minerva spotted a painting in the corner.
"I wonder…. alohomora!"
The entire wall moved back, revealing a secret room.
"Woah! Where'd that come from, Minerva?"
"That painting… I'm surprised you guys didn't know about that…"
They searched the room thoroughly and found a set of discarded Slytherin robes. At least they knew that the attacker had been a Slytherin.
"Remus, this place gives me the creeps… besides, it's almost seven and I have to go talk to Professor Dumbledore about something… I'll catch up with you later".
She left and Remus kept looking. He picked up the robes and searched them thoroughly. He finally turned up an old metal key with a snake's head and three letters on it. He pocketed the key after examining it more closely. The letters had to be someone's initials. He decided to pay a visit to the library and dig up Slytherin yearbooks. ~~~
After leaving the room, Minerva had gone back to her bedroom to continue with her own independent research: learning how to become an Animagus. She had always been excellent at Transfiguration. When she started at Hogwarts, she was already on an advanced level for her age. It had always come naturally to her.
She had been reading everything she could about Animagi for years and was prepared to train herself to be one with or without Dumbledore's help. Upon returning to her room, she decided to attempt her transformation. She went into the bathroom and concentrated on her animal of choice: a tabby cat.
She had decided years ago, when she was 12, that she wanted to be a cat. They were swift and agile and possessed excellent night vision.
As Minerva concentrated on her animal, she felt herself shrink. Her hands turned to paws and she sprouted a tail… but had she achieved total transformation? She hopped onto the sink and looked into the mirror. Her reflection was that of a gray tabby cat.
At that very moment, she remembered that it was unwise to remain in the form for too long the first time and quickly changed back with a faint 'pop'. As soon as she did, she had to grab onto the sink with both hands to keep herself from falling, as she felt extremely faint. After having a cup of water, she headed towards the Great Hall, feeling better than she had for weeks, with the exception of the previous night.~~~
Up in the library, Remus had made a shocking discovery. It had taken him a while, but in the end, he had found out who those three initials belonged to: Tom Marvolo Riddle.