Lucius felt he would not like this conversation. Professor McGonagall was rarely, if ever, in a good mood when being informed of unpleasant facts in the middle of a peaceful, rainy Saturday afternoon. Her mood had obviously been strained already by the sour-looking first-year that left her office a lot quicker than he had entered it, giving way for Lucius and his bitter news.
'Come in, Mr. Malfoy,' Professor McGonagall called impatiently, through the half-open door and Lucius hurried to get up. He did up his cloak, gave his shiny blonde hair another little jab with his wand and finally stepped into the dimly lit room with its giant tartan curtains. Tasteless, he thought, but there were other matters to attend to now.
'You wanted to talk to me, Mr. Malfoy?'
'Yes, Professor. A matter of vague importance demands your attention.'
'Since when is Professor Vector not available for matters that are of vague importance to members of your house? I believe she is Head of Slytherin?'
Lucius could feel her impatience. Not good. She had to hear him out.
'Professor Vector told me to come to you with this,' he said calmly. 'She seems to hold the opinion that missing students are to be discussed with the Deputy Headmistress.'
Professor McGonagall dropped her quill, which she had picked up and turned several times with irritation. 'Missing students?'
'It seems there is a boy in our house who has been absent for quite some time now,' said Lucius, glad to have reached the important point of the discussion so quickly. 'He seems to have vanished,' he went on, 'probably yesterday.'
'Yesterday?' stormed Professor McGonagall, now clearly in the role of the Deputy Headmistress and not at all impatient anymore. 'How can he heiv vanished on a Friday afternoon? We're doing the counting on Fridays! Ever heard of weekly registration, Malfoy? How come he's bin missing fae twenty-four hours and I havenae bin notified?'
'Well,' said Lucius, trying to find the right words for what had obviously happened, 'we had a few inner-structural problems in Slytherin. Some of us do not seem to be willing to do their jobs properly...'
'Counting falls under the duty of the Prefects,' said McGonagall sharply, gathering herself again as quickly as she had lost it. 'You are a Prefect. Have you been neglecting your duties?'
'No,' said Lucius quickly, 'I didn't do the counting. I have delegated the counting to one of our third-years.'
'Ye what?'
'All Slytherin Prefects delegate their duties,' said Lucius smoothly. 'Professor Vector says it's fine with her, as long as the jobs are done. That's how it is in Slytherin, see.'
'No, I don't see!' snapped Professor McGonagall breathing through deeply to maintain her composture this time. 'This is very interesting indeed,' she said. 'Very interesting. I shall have a word with your Head of House.' She sighed. 'But that is of no importance now. What about the missing boy? Who is it, anyway?'
'Snape,' said Lucius as calmly as ever. 'We're guessing he has taken a stroll into Hogsmeade and got lost.'
'Severus Snape - are you sure?'
Lucius had the impression that the Deputy Headmistress had gone even paler around the nose than before. She was fiddling with her quill again and seemed to do some very serious thinking.
'Don't worry,' he said, trying to sound reassuring. 'Severus knows how to survive. But I was going to ask you what we are to -'
'He knows how tae survive, dis he?' shrieked Professor McGonagall, straightening up in her chair as if electrified by the mere thought of a single student alone in Hogsmeade. 'A dinnae think so, Mr. Malfoy. And I dinnae think I like yer attitude at all. Are ye sure he is down there? Has the castle bin searched?'
Lucius nodded.
The Deputy Headmistress sank back in her chair as if someone had let the air out of her rather imposing figure all of a sudden. She looked tired and weary rather than angry now and Lucius wondered whether her constant going up the walls was something Professor McGonagall would have liked to get rid of. He gave another reassuring smile, did not dare make a comment this time, though. Professor McGonagall seemed to appreciate. She stayed very calm and looked at him through her sqare glasses, suddenly looking rather cool and calculating.
'You have informed Professor Vector, I presume? Have you spoken to the Headmaster yet?'
'No,' said Lucius truthfully. 'I couldn't find his office.'
'Very well,' said the Professor calmly. 'What else have you found out?'
'Not much. No one has seen him since yesterday around dinnertime. He seems to have vanished on spot.'
'Who talked to him last?'
'Sirius Black,' replied Lucius, 'apparently. They had a little argument and Snape headed off into the opposite direction. Towards the owlery, if Black is to be trusted, but he isn't even sure. Could have been anything. The main entrance, for instance.'
'Very well,' said Professor McGonagall again. 'You have done what you can, Mr. Malfoy. I shall take it from here. If you'd be so kind to inform Professors Sprout and Flitwick of the situation? And get Potter and Figg in here as quickly as possible, please.'
'What - ickle Potter?' said Lucius frowningly. 'What for?'
'Not that one,' snapped Professor McGonagall. 'Don't play stupid. You know very well that I am talking about our Head Boy. He should be in the Great Hall at the moment, supervising the preparations for the mock exam.'
Lucius nodded. 'Yes, Professor McGonagall,' he said, turned and disappeared through the open door so quickly it had to look like he vanished on spot. He liked to have that effect on people, so he had made this kind of movement a habit, though, at the moment, he doubted whether Professor McGonagall was paying too much attention to him. She had other matters on her mind.
After he had informed Alex Potter and his arrogant girlfriend Begonia Figg of the emergency situation in the staff room Lucius headed off to the greenhouses where he hoped to find Professor Sprout, just as every other day of the week. He was surprised, however, that the talkative, stout witch did not have to be informed of anything. She had obviously heard the news already.
'Dreadful, isn't it?' she said sternly. 'A student away from Hogwarts. Where do you think he might have wandered off to? And what for? Oh, and most importantly - how did he do it? Did he leave through the entrance doors? I do believe they are magically locked...'
Lucius shrugged. 'He might have used a tunnel.'
It was no secret that there were several tunnels leading into the village of Hogsmeade, but they kept changing position, which made them very hard to find in times. He, Lucius, had used them every now and then in previous years, but whenever they had done so, he and his friends had been careful to be back before nightfall, in order to keep their temporary disappearance a secret. He cursed Snape, inwardly, for being so stupid and inconsiderate. There would be much stricter rules from now on, including gnomes or their like to patrol the tunnel entrances. No more sneaking around Hogsmeade at weekends for at least one or two months. Lucius was displeased.
When Severus had not turned up the following morning, however, and none of the teachers seemed willing or, indeed, able to give reliable information on what had happened to young Snape, Lucius began to get worried. Neither Professor McGonagall nor Professor Vector or either of the Head students seemed to be present in their various offices and commonrooms at any time of the day, and none of the other teachers was available for interrogations either. Lucius thought he knew better ways to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon than by sitting in front of Professor McGonagall's office, waiting for her to return and give him the latest news, but after a few hours of walking up and down the deserted corridors he gave up and sat down on one of the chairs that had been set up near the Deputy Headmistress's domicile.
At this precise moment, however, James Potter came round the corner, followed by his usual gang of admirers, consisting of Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and, for the first time since they had arrived at Hogwarts, Sirius Black, their unlucky fourth dorm-mate.
'What're you doing here, Malfoy?' snarled Potter. 'Have they thrown you out of Slytherin, or have you slid out all by yourself?'
'Mind your attitude, Potter,' snarled Lucius. 'Mark my word - one more remark like that and I'll make sure you'll make aquaintance with the thrashing vault.'
'Oh, and on what grounds?' sneered the bold first-year, apparently convinced that in front of the Deputy Headmistress's office Lucius would not be tempted to have his head on unfair grounds. And he was quite right. Lucius was proud, but not stupid.
'What do you want?' he snapped.
'A word with our Head of House,' said Potter coolly. 'The fireplace in the commons isn't working properly. It's perishing cold in there.'
Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew nodded in agreement. They, at least, did not seem as willing to pick an argument with everyone they met.
'Clever boys,' Lucius thought and said aloud: 'Professor McGonagall is not here, Potter. I suggest you better carry your sorry arses back to your common room where they belong. She might not come for an other few hours.'
'Or she might just pop in for a few organisational things,' said a voice from the other end of the corridor. All boys turned, watching Professor McGonagall hurry towards them. 'What is it, Mr. Malfoy? Another missing student, perhaps? I am in a great hurry, so if you don't mind...' She flicked her wand and the door or her office opened with a bang.
'Please, Professor,' said Lucius, well aware that he sounded more worried than he would have wished to, 'haven't you found him yet?'
'No,' said McGonagall briskly, whirling around to gather a few of her belongings. 'And we are no nearer to finding him, I'm afraid. For all we know, he has not taken the road to Hogsmeade station, so now we are asking people in the living areas on the west side whether they have seen him. Unsuccessfully until now, I'm afraid.'
'Who is missing?' asked Lupin, causing Professor McGonagall to turn around before rushing out of her office again.
'Severus Snape,' she said. 'We suspect he has taken one of the two tunnels into Hogsmeade. Oh, don't you exchange looks like that. All students know about them, I am well aware of that. That doesn't mean they are to be used, though. If I catch either of you prodding the shoulder of the unmoving suit of armour on the first floor or open that portrait hole in the dungeons, I shall make sure you won't get any meals for a month.'
And off she went. Lucius stared at her.
'There is a tunnel behind that portrait? I never knew.'
Potter and his friends, however, seemed to have other things in mind now. They looked at each other in what seemed both, worry and relief, and finally stormed out of the door and into the direction in which Professor McGonagall had vanished. Even Black did not stay behind or even looked around once more as he usually did. They were gone in a heartbeat, leaving Lucius very puzzled indeed.
'Crisis meeting!'
All four boys were assembled on James's bed. Even Black. For a change. You had to join forces with those... blabla. James had told Remus how the saying continued, but Remus had forgotten. Peter looked curious, James rather nervous. Black looked everything but nervous, but he was. Remus could tell, and he did not like it. Whenever Black was nervous there was a reason for it.
'Stop playing stupid, Potter,' he now said, sounding less derisive than usual. 'Just tell us what you think happened.'
'Well,' said James, ignoring the change in Black's voice, 'I think Snape's left through the tunnel Remus and I discovered the other day. We think he might have found it when Remus forgot to close it.'
'I told you I'm sorry,' muttered Remus.
'A tunnel?' said Black quietly. 'Where?'
Remus hesitated. James grinned. 'Behind the mirror in the classroom no one ever uses. On the second floor, right behind the staircase with that biting step.'
'There's a lot of those around,' said Black lazily. 'But I know what you mean. Continue.'
'There's nothing else to tell,' said Remus. 'Why do you care anyway?'
'I met Snape. Had a little argument with him shortly before he went up there. Probably shortly before he saw you open the entrance. He must have seen you. There is no other explanation.'
'What did you say to him?'
'I told him he doesn't belong here. At Hogwarts, I mean. Told him no one would care if he vanished right on spot. He ignored me, though. Seemed to know where he was going. Bloody git.'
'He's been spying on us all year,' nodded James. 'Ever since I let him fall into the lake. He's got it in for me, I'm telling you.'
'Which wouldn't be surprising since you've got it in for him as well,' stated Black coolly. 'Haven't you?'
'Oh sure, take the Slytherin side again, why don't you?'
James looked extremely angry and Remus recoiled, feeling he might look like an idiot if he interfered now.
'He only stated that you didn't like Snape,' said Peter with a vacant grin, 'which is true, isn't it?'
This observation seemed to soothe James. 'Well, yeah. Who would? I mean - he is a bastard, isn't he?'
'A bastard who has got me into trouble more than once,' growled Black. 'And you, if I might add. A bastard who has discovered your precious secret tunnel.'
'I don't understand,' interrupted Peter. 'Is that bad?' Black narrowed his eyes.
'A bastard who is trying to prove me wrong by disappearing on spot, and who would love to have us all thrown out if the opportunity came to pass, and I daresay it has.'
James and Remus nodded in agreement. Peter looked puzzled.
'If Snape comes back and tells them what happened,' explained James, folding his arms over his chest, 'that Black told him to vanish on spot and that we provided the chance - who do you think will be punished for his little - jaunt?'
'You three,' said Peter earnestly, earning himself three very sarcastic looks.
'All four of us, more likely,' snapped James. 'Snape won't narrow it down. He'll just claim it was "the Gryffindor boys" who goaded him into leaving the castle, endangering him in the worst way possible, and you'll see how fast all four of us will be packing our stuff.'
'So... what do you suggest?' whispered Peter. He had turned very pale.
'I say we go and find him,' replied James, 'and give him a little advise on what to say when he comes back. If he isn't dead, that is.'
Now it was Remus's turn to go pale. 'You reckon he's - you really think he might have died?'
'I was joking,' said James quickly. 'But who knows? That bloke's capable of getting himself killed just to get us expelled.'
'Right,' nodded Black, getting up from his place on James's bed. 'What're we waiting for?'
James rose as well.
'Hang on,' said Remus thoughtfully, realizing that his fellow Gryffindors were heading towards the severest rule-breaking you could possibly commit, 'why don't we just tell a teacher about the tunnel and what really happened?'
'And give away our only means of escaping the tedious everyday school life?' snapped James. 'Our only chance of getting into the village sooner than fifth-year? The best secret we've ever had? Not bloody likely.'
'We couldn't do it, even if we wanted to,' said Black earnestly causing James to narrow his eyes suspiciously.
'Ey?'
Remus was surprised, too.
Black grinned all of a sudden. 'I was just thinking,' he said, 'that Remus's suggestion would involve a lot of severe conversations with teachers. I don't suppose Potter will be able to pretend, even for a second that he is sorry for showing Snape the way out of this castle, right into the face of danger, or am I mistaken?'
James stared at Black in a mixture of admiration and hatred. 'Well,' he said after a while, 'nor are you.'
Black thought for a moment, then grinned shortly. 'I don't deny that I think it the best thing we've ever done,' he said finally, 'but my acting is definitely a lot better than yours.'
Author's notes:Jenn, I re-edited this because I realized I might have overdone it, but I am not going to totally get rid of the accent, as it is vital for my Minerva's developement. There is a whole story behind this, believe me. The moments when she is the McGonagall of the original series and when she slips off using that domestical, almost comical language are not arbitrarily chosen. It is part of my portrait for her character developement. But thanks for pointing it out. :)