Tuesday morning came too soon. The dreary sky and the drizzling rain outside offered the promise of misery and despair.

It wasn't particularly cheery inside Desi's apartments, either.

"I'm going."

"No, you're not, Sev."

"Like hell I'm not."

Desi threw a pillow across her bedroom. Sitting cross-legged on her newly-made bed, she glared at the man who'd been her target. "Sev, for the thirty-second time this morning, you're not going. I'm going, Draco's going for obvious reasons, and that's really about it. The sooner we're in, the sooner we're out. And besides, someone has to cover a couple of my classes."

He threw the pillow back at her, frustration and ire clearly evident on his sharp face. Black eyes flashed in anger. "Then have Miss Granger substitute for you again. She's the universal know-it-all, let her cover those classes."

She rolled her eyes and set the pillow behind her, her hands then going to the back of her head to mechanically braid her auburn locks. "First of all, I still fail to see why you, of all people, hate Miss Granger, considering you were just like her back in the day. I seem to recall a snide, lanky know-it-all boy I chased all over school grounds in my youth. You were just as insufferable in your knowledge of everything as you claim she is, and frankly, I just don't understand the animosity, unless it's just because she wears scarlet and not emerald. Secondly, oh wise one, if you come scampering with me all over Lucius' darling estate and Miss Granger keeps students from blowing up my classroom, then who will cover your Defense classes?"

"They can take the damned day off!" The room was too small to roar at her like he wanted, and there was too much furniture to allow him to pace the way he wished. Why did women need a dresser and a bureau and a little table with a mirror anyway? And drawing comparisons between himself and that frizzy-haired teacher's pet was completely absurd. "I'm going with you. I've been in that house, you haven't. I know..."

"Not half as much about that house as Draco Malfoy himself, you thick-headed man!" She cursed the fact that she forgot to grab a hair tie or ribbon before getting her hands full of thick, stubborn, wavy hair that didn't appreciate the intricacy of French braiding. She also cursed the fact that she couldn't throw anything at him right this second. Desi was growing quite used to tossing pillows at the obstinate man before her on a regular basis. It beat the heavier and more fragile items in the room, and didn't leave as big a mess.

"Then you stay and I'll go."

"Damn it to the lowest level of Hell, Sev, I'm going and that's that. I know you; you'll storm around the house and make who-knows what kind of a mess. At least I'll be able to sneak around like we'll need to."

Damn that woman, if she wasn't so damned perfect...

"And you trust an eighteen year old boy to wind you through whatever Dark protections that lunatic put on his house..."

"Last I recalled, Severus Snape, I was the one originally hired for Defense Against the Dark Arts instruction! I think I can maneuver a trap or two." Some days, there was no getting through to him. "Why can't you let down your 'hero of the day' persona for five minutes and just let me do this? For crying out loud, I'm a woman, not some porcelain doll."

"Trust me; I know that one a little too well." He snarled back at her. "I just have a bad feeling about this."

She finally finished the braid and reached over to the nightstand to grab a hair tie. Securing her hairstyle, she unfolded herself from her twisted seated position and stood up, stretching her back while glaring at Severus. "Maybe you need to visit Trelawney then. I'm sure she'd be happy to interpret your 'bad feeling' for you. Maybe then you'll find the justification for why this isn't a good plan; I'm sure she'll see death and danger in every nuance of your stubborn arrogance."

He grabbed her shoulders and shook her once. "Damn it, Desi. I'm not being sexist and I'm not being stupid. I just don't want anything to happen to you."

"Awww, you care."

"I hate your sarcasm." He let go of her, dropping his arms to his sides and rolling his eyes.

"Circe's song, why in hell are we fighting about this?" Desi rubbed her temples, already feeling a headache coming on. "I'll be there for an hour at the most, Sev. I'll have Draco there to help me walk through all the hallways and evil torture chambers and whatever else Lucius ever did to his home. I'll be fine. I just don't understand your stance on this."

Severus stared down at her, his anger melting into slight annoyance. He hated her hair when she braided it back like that. It made her look colder, more controlling somehow, than when it framed her face and flew every which way. Braided back, he couldn't run his fingers through it when he held her...

For the love of Wizardry, she's going off to sneak around Malfoy Manor like a thief and you're waxing sentimental about her hair?!

"I just don't want you to get hurt, Desi. That's all. I don't like this plan; too many things could go wrong, and I simply don't like it."

Her response was to stand on tiptoe and wind her arms behind his neck. "I love you too, Sev."

An hour later, he questioned that sentiment. "Why's he going with you?" Severus' annoyance level shot from simple to extreme as he saw Harry Potter step through the Headmaster's door.

Desi rolled her eyes. "He begged Papa to go. What was I supposed to do, say no?"

"Yes."

Potter and Malfoy both averted their eyes as the two bickered by the fireplace.

Desi grabbed the front of his robes and pulled him in close. In a harsh whisper, she answered him. "Papa thinks having him there will keep Draco in check. Instead of getting upset about his father and everything going on in his life right now, he'll focus his ire on Harry and their petty bickering. Besides, an extra pair of eyes may be useful, and even you have to admit Harry's not bad at handling a hex or two. Alright?"

"I don't like it, but you're not giving me a choice, are you?" As she shook her head, he straightened himself and glared at both young men. "If anything happens to her..."

"I'll be fine. Alright, Draco. You lead the way."

The second she stepped from the fireplace into the Malfoy sitting room, Sev's bad feeling crawled into her own skin. The house was eerily quiet, and the drawn curtains allowed in no light. Granted, she knew Draco's mother was supposed to be out, but there should have been house elves or servants. She shivered in the silence. Looking over at Draco, she nodded. "Well, Mr. Malfoy, time for the grand tour. Where do we go?"

Draco took them from the sitting room to a side door, and then led them down the servants' passages, which he said were less likely to be laced with spells and traps, to the study. In a room covered in a thin layer of dust, books along the walls and a humidor on a cherry wood desk, Draco walked over to a particular shelf and removed a book. Instantly, a secret panel slid away, showing a small cupboard that looked as if it hadn't been opened in years.

"And I thought only Muggle fiction had things like that." Desi muttered under her breath.

"Don't touch anything in this room. And I mean anything." Draco admonished both professor and fellow student. "My father was a little overly-zealous about security. Especially once he came back from Azkaban two years ago. There's probably a dozen spelltraps lacing this room, and they're all keyed in to his blood. My own mother can't enter this room without him by her side at all times, let alone the house-elves." He reached inside the hollowed-out cupboard and pulled out a green-covered journal, the pages yellowed with age. Opening it, he thumbed through pages of cramped handwriting and sketches, some disturbingly detailed. "Is this what we're looking for, Professor?"

She looked over Draco's shoulder, too frightened to breathe in case she set off some sort of protection. Gesturing for him to turn the pages, she scanned until she came across a sketch she was too familiar with. A skull loomed from the ink and paper, with a snake protruding from the mouth.

"That's exactly what I'm looking for." Her eyes scanned the page as if memorizing the spell. In all actuality, she was copying it. In her pockets, she'd slipped a spare bit of parchment for this moment. Hurridly, she spoke an incantation under her breath and felt the paper warm under her fingers as the words appeared on the page. She thanked the Gods for Sirius Black teaching her that trick in his final year at Hogwarts; after her flight from Slytherin, Sirius had found amusement in teaching the new Gryffindor and Headmaster's heir all sorts of sneaky little tricks. This was one of the more useful ones.

After a few moments, she nodded to Draco to return the book. "We're done here."

"No, you're not." A high pitched voice called from behind her. The three spun around to face a balding, round, short man with beady eyes and a distinctly creepy vibe to him. "You're going to hand me that book, boy. I know someone who's wanted that back for quite a while. Thank you so very much for fetching it for me."

Draco stared with open jaw. Harry reached for his wand behind his back. Desi simply gagged. She recognized that voice all too well. "Pettigrew?"

The creepy little man nodded. In the limited light of the room, metal shone from one hand. "I thought I recognized you, little Desdemona. I must say, you've grown so lovely over the years. You know, I was always fond of that ponytail you wore your hair in. The braid doesn't do you justice."

Desi gagged again. Utter repulsion filled her. "Great. Let me guess. Voldemort's had this place charmed. The second Draco opened that drawer, you were sent here. Great." She let loose with a series of swears, both anatomically and geographically impossible.

Pettigrew's eyes grew huge. "What language, little Desdemona. Come now, hand over the book, boy. Desdemona, do tell him to do as I ask. You always were good with leadership." He held his good hand out, waiting for Draco to hand it over. He looked at his professor first. At her nod, he relinquished the book.

Pettigrew's entire face took on a cheerful light. "My master's wanted that book back for a few months now. Been regretting handing it over to Lucius for safekeeping all those years ago. Now, you three, follow me."

"Like hell we will." Desi snarled. "Do you take me for a complete fool? You're not taking us to Voldemort or anywhere else for that matter. You have what you came for. Go crawl back to your precious master now. Go on; crawl back like the scum you are." Her nose curled as he took a few steps closer.

"I'm not taking you to him, pretty little Desdemona." Pettigrew clacked his fingernails together in a look of joy. "You're going to stay here. Locked away where you can be safe and sound. All three of you. You see, my master doesn't know you're here. He only knows he sent me for the book. If I take you to him now, it'll seem too easy." A look of desperation and exhilaration warred in his beady eyes, and the leering grin on his face made Desi's skin crawl again. She started to get a sneaking suspicion that Pettigrew wasn't completely sane anymore. "So, in a few days, when he begins to complain about his revenge on Dumbledore and Potter, I can sneak away and bring you to him. Then I will be exalted as I should be. The most faithful of them all!"

Desi snorted at the insane cackle in his voice. Her suspicion paid off. "You're off your broomstick."

He slapped her, his hand flying across the space between them so suddenly she didn't have time to react. "Shut UP! I let you talk like that to me once. Not again." At seeing Harry's sudden movement, he whipped a wand from his pockets. "Expelliarmus!"

Three wands clattered to the floor. He gathered them up and placed them on the mantelpiece.

"Now, as I was saying, follow me."

The two students stared at their professor, who nodded once. Now that she knew Peter Pettigrew had finally and completely gone insane, she felt a bit more confident, despite the stinging on her left cheek. Better a raging lunatic than a Dark Sorcerer bent on control, domination, and destruction.

Silently, she kicked herself for not listening to Sev.

"Something's wrong."

Lupin glared at the pacing man from over his steaming goblet of wolfsbane potion. The full moon was coming tonight; he could feel it in his blood. All he could do was wait; this was the part he hated most. "She's fine, Severus."

"She was supposed to be back an hour ago." Pacing was the only thing keeping him stable at the moment. "She promised. An hour at the most. It's been over two. What in the hell is keeping her?"

Remus had no answer. None that would satisfy the man hell-bent on wearing a hole in the Headmaster's lounge. Besides, loathe as he was to admit it, he was doing everything in his power to not join the man in his nervousness. Des should have been back, or at the very least stuck her head in the fire long enough to tell them she was delayed. She knew Severus would count the seconds until she returned, and she'd promised to spend as much time with him as she could before the sun fell behind the horizon. However, showing his alarm would only push Severus over the edge, and he of all people wasn't willing to deal with him in a panic. "If you're that worried, why not track her down and check on her with a Guardian Charm?"

Snape stared at the man as if he'd just asked him out on a date. "What?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "A Guardian Charm. Surely you know about them. We covered this in school, Severus. Take something personal of an individual, add the charm, and it's linked to that person's well-being. Find something of Des's and put a charm on it. It'll change color if she's in danger. It's similar to the clock Arthur Weasley has. He actually asked me to make it for him when he began his brood all those years ago. We modified it to a directional one, but for Des, I think a color system will work. Simplicity is easiest, especially when the person isn't present."

Severus looked as if he'd forgotten his own name. "I never thought of it."

"Well, that's obvious. You weren't that good in charms, as I recall. Defense and Potions; those were your classes." Lupin folded his copy of the Daily Prophet that had rested on his lap as he drank the potion and rose from the leather chair he'd been sitting in for an hour. "Come on, there has to be something in her rooms or office we can use. If it'll alleviate your brooding, I'll be brave enough to knick through her things. But I am not going through her dresser drawers."

Pettigrew led the trio down into the Malfoy cellars. The dampness on the walls and the eerie sound of crawling insects made Desi shudder. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see both Harry and Draco marching silently, neither looking exceptionally thrilled.

She had to get them out of this. Somehow.

Finally, he led them to a door, which opened into a room with no windows or openings of any kind. "In here, all of you." They entered. Pettigrew then scurried to one side of the room where, on a shelf, was a brown bottle. He picked it up and handed to Desi. "Drink. One gulp should do it."

She looked at the bottle, knowing full well what was in it by the smell. Keep him talking, Desi. Keep him talking. Buy yourself time. "Not until you tell me what this is."

His little eyes seemed to dilate in the limited light from the hallway. "It's a little concoction to make sure you three can't escape. A Blocking Potion. Just to make sure you can't do anything foolish while you're in here."

She glared at him, the bottle in her hand. The moron fell for it; like she wouldn't know what the potion was. She should have listened to Severus and his feeling. Buy some more time. "And when I do drink?"

He smiled widely. "I'll leave you here for a few hours and come back to check on you. I have to get back to my master. He'll be so pleased to get his book back. But I'll be back for you, little Desdemona."

Her skin crawled again. Dear havens, when were Sev and Remus going to realize they were late? Surely someone would have looked at a clock by now. "What about them?"

Pettigrew looked them over. "They'll drink it too. But no one will be harmed. Don't worry, I won't hurt them. My master will want them alive and well, yes he will."

The madness in his eyes made him glow.

Desi looked him over one more time. Damn it all to hell. He was going to make her drink it. Damn it some more. "You swear? We won't be harmed?"

Her students stared at her as if she were insane. Pettigrew nodded.

The calvary wasn't on its way, something in her head told her. It was up to her to get the three of them out of this, and to do that, she needed to be alive and awake. And there was only one way that would happen. Without another moment's hesitation, she swallowed a mouthful of the potion. The gleam in Pettigrew's eyes grew. Wiping her mouth with the back of her left hand, she passed the bottle to Draco with her right. "Drink." He did, then passed the bottle to Harry, who drank his share.

Pettigrew became even more gleeful. He pulled his wand out of his pocket and pointed it at them. "You three. Sit down. Just because you're blocked doesn't mean I'm going to leave you here without something to keep you here."

With another nod from their professor, both boys sat down. Pettigrew conjured ropes and, with a flick of his wrist, had secured ankles together and wrists behind backs. "There. Now, I'll be off, and I'll be back in a few hours." He leered at the three of them, and then stepped over to Desi. Leaning down, he ran one crusty fingernail down her left cheek. "Too bad it's so dark here. I can't see those lovely blue eyes of yours." The fingernail slid under her chin, raising her face to look him in the eyes. "No Remus and Sirius to stop me this time, is there, little Desdemona?"

Bile lodged itself in her throat. Instinctively, she kicked out at him, driving him away from her. He laughed in return. "So feisty. I loved that about you."

With that, he left the room. Before walking away, Desi heard him place a Sealing Charm on the door.

Damn it to hell again.

"Quills, parchment, spare bottles for potions ingredients..." Lupin stared at Des's desk draws for the third time. "Doesn't she keep anything personal in here? Knickknacks? Picture frames? Old love letters from your youth?"

Severus shook his head as he scanned the cupboards, not catching the implied insult sent his way. "No. She really doesn't. I think she was too afraid she'd get mad and break something she kept in here. Her hobby is throwing potions bottles around when she loses her temper."

Lupin sighed. He remembered her aim all too well. "Alright, let's go to her apartments."

As the two men strode down hallways together, neither one recognized fully the impact of the situation. For over an hour, neither had glared at, insulted, or outright vocalized hostility toward the other. It was amazing.

Too bad neither of them recognized it.

"I knew I should have gone with her."

"Dumbledore said no. You were there. He thought that..."

"Well, he thought WRONG!" The roar of the professor's voice scared a few straggling students in the hallway.

Lupin sighed. "Well, now we know that. Calm yourself down. We could be blowing this out of proportion, Severus. She might be just fine."

Snape shot daggers at him.

Remus didn't blame him. He was starting to doubt his own words.

Des, what's taking so long?

"What was that all about, Professor?" Harry finally found his voice after hearing Pettigrew's shuffling move away from the door. "And why is my head feeling fuzzy?"

Desi wiggled in place for a moment. Her robes were thin; underneath she was in yoga pants and a t-shirt. Something had told her to wear sneakers and comfortable clothing, something that wouldn't get in the way if she'd had to get into a duel arcane with some creature guarding the Malfoy home or sneak down dark passageways. At least she'd listened to herself. Her wrists were bound, her arms falling close to the small of her back. Her legs were in front of her, bound low at the ankles, right above her shoes. There was some give in the rope; time to find out how much more she could create.

This was possible. Painful, but possible.

As she began to toe off her sneakers, she turned to face her two students. "The Blocking Potion prevents a witch or wizard from being able to do magic. Not all spells or magical abilities require a wand. In fact, many don't, but those tend to be the less-complicated ones. It just takes a great deal of practice and patience to direct your energy without using your wand as a focus, and most of us are too lazy to put in the time. But the Blocking Potion somehow prevents wizardkind from using their abilities, regardless of wands nearby." Finally; she hated herself for tying the damned laces so tight. "That's why your heads are feeling fuzzy. It should wear off in a few hours, unless he returns to feed us more."

Desi sighed for a second, stretching her arms as much as possible and trying to work the ankle rope a bit further down her feet. "And as for the rest...when I left Slytherin for Gryffindor, Peter Pettigrew decided to fancy me. Actually, I think he fancied me before then, but, well, it was pretty well-known I was Severus Snape's tagalong. He began following me around the school, watching me. It scared me, but James and Remus and Sirius brushed it off. One night he cornered me in the library, demanding I spend the next weekend in Hogsmeade with him. He was jealous; James had Lily and Sirius could have almost any girl he wished, and Remus wasn't going on that last weekend since it corresponded with a little lunar event that would make things complicated. Since Remus wasn't going, he figured that left the playing field wide open to ask me." Figuring the ankle rope wasn't going to move anymore, she began stretching the wrist rope, trying to get as much slack as possible. "When I said no, he grabbed me and tried to kiss me, growling about never being given a chance and always being last. Remus and Sirius walked by right at that moment and hauled him off of me. It gave me nightmares for a month."

Harry shuddered. "I'm sorry, Professor..."

She snorted. "Not as sorry as he was the next day, when the pair punished him by setting him up on a blind date with the resident hag of Hufflepuff. And not half as sorry as he'll be the next time I get my hands on him." Her wrists were as slack as they were going to become. Now for the hard part.

"Des is going to kill us, you know." Remus Lupin stood in his best friend's bedroom, somehow feeling like a voyeur, even though he'd spent a night sleeping in her bed. It didn't feel the same now, knowing full well that the man currently destroying her desk drawers had done more than sleep in it.

And there's one thought I never needed to have, thank you very much, overactive imagination.

Snape shot a look at him; a look that Remus couldn't identity. It almost looked like concern. "If she kills me, I can die happy, knowing she's alive and in one piece. Now, damn it, that woman has to have something personal around here. What can we use for this charm again?"

Lupin kept looking on her shelves for something useful. "Something with sentimental value, something she's kept close to herself. It has to have a residue of her life-energy on it, so usually the charms are placed on jewelry, since they usually have high contact with skin. It can't be fabric for some reason, so a blanket or a stuffed animal won't work."

A slam of a book against wood echoed in the room. "Then we have a problem. Desi doesn't wear jewelry. No potions masters do; the fumes can interact with the metal, and you don't even want to know what it does if it splashes." Severus continued plowing through her living room; the woman had to have some trinket somewhere.

"Are you sure about that, Severus? About the no-jewelry thing?"

"Considering I've spent almost every spare hour of the last few months with her, I think I would have noticed, Lupin."

"Then what about this necklace?" Remus pointed to a silver chain on Des's bureau. Attached was a small bottle, filled with a silver colored liquid he didn't recognize offhand. He thought it looked familiar, but couldn't place it.

Severus left his unsuccessful search of her living room shelves and caught his breath for a second. The Acupartio Potion. She hadn't worn it today. Come to think of it, she hadn't worn it since she completed the transfiguration. He nodded. "That's about as personal an item as we're going to find that the Guardian Charm will work on. Other than her insane collection of books, there isn't much else here. Besides, she wore this daily for the first few months of school. Will this do?"

Lupin took a deep breath and nodded. "Well, let's do it." In a clear voice, he spoke a few words, pointing his wand at the necklace. "Now, give it a few seconds for the charm to take effect. And make sure you hold onto it until she comes back. I fixed the spell onto you."

"Why don't you, since you're the expert in this?"

"Because the chain is made of SILVER, you idiot!"

Snape stared at him with thunderstruck awe. He'd almost forgotten that the man was a werewolf.

Within seconds, the bottle began to glow a vibrant shade of red.

Snape couldn't tear his eyes away from the bottle. For some reason, the color didn't calm his nerves one bit. "Would you care to let me know what that color means?"

Lupin let out his breath and turned to face his former nemesis. "It means you're right."

Slowly, she began rocking back and forth, trying to work her clasped arms under her hip bones. The pulling in her shoulders grew, but she didn't see much of a choice. Madam Pomfrey could take care of a dislocated shoulder when they got back. Better that than a broken leg. She began working more on her left side than her right; she was right-handed, and needed that arm more than her left once they were free.

Damn the muses, Sev, where in Hades' playground are you?

"What are you doing?" Draco Malfoy asked, breaking the three minute silence that had hung in the air.

Desi stopped for a second. "Idiot Peter didn't know I've spent the last ten years taking Yoga and Pilates with Muggles in America." She let out a breath and began again. Her hands were almost clear. Just a little more...

Draco stared at her, dumbfounded. Even in the darkness, she could sense his open jaw. "It's an exercise course, Malfoy. Makes someone limber and flexible. I'm trying to get my arms out in front of me without killing myself. If I can do that, I might be able to get us untied and begin to work on a way out of here."

"How?" Harry asked. "We can't use magic and the door's sealed with a Sealing Charm."

Draco responded for her, since she was currently letting out a small yelp of pain. "You idiot. Didn't you pay any attention when we came in here? This is my father's apothecary. Hello? We're locked in a dark room with a Potions expert in a room filled with potions and ingredients. Even in the dark, I'm willing to bet she could find something to help."

Desi was amused at the vote of confidence, but didn't say anything. Just then, her hands slipped from underneath her hips, meaning that the tearing of her shoulder just then wasn't in vain. The yelp became a scream, and both students stared in the darkness in her general direction.

Taking a few deep breaths, Desi tried to push the pain out of her mind. Now, for the fun part: bringing her legs through. Damn, this was going to hurt.

In one angry motion, Severus Snape grabbed a handful of Floo Powder, flung it into Desi's fireplace and thundered the address for Lucius Malfoy's estate. Expecting to be transported directly there, he was stunned to find himself flung back into Desi's living room, colliding with her coffee table.

"What in blazes...?"

Lupin stared Snape, who was picking himself up off the floor. "How did that happen?"

"I don't KNOW!"

"You don't have to bite my head off..." Lupin walked over to examine the fireplace. "Let me try something."

At Snape's nod, he took a handful of Floo Powder, flung it into the fireplace, and called out a different address. As usual, he was taken directly to the Order's headquarters. Thankfully, the room was empty. With another handful, he tried to send himself to Malfoy's estate. This time, he was the one picking himself up off the floor. Rubbing his elbow, he took a final handful and found himself back in Desi's apartments.

Snape looked ready to murder.

Lupin's expression equaled his.

"Someone's blocked Malfoy Manor from the Floo Network." Lupin declared, a tired and concerned note in his voice.

Snape grabbed the red-glowing necklace and flung powder into the fireplace one last time, Lupin hot on his heels.

Their destination was the Headmaster's Office.