Author's note: Also known as a desperate plea for understanding. I have not updated in a week, this is true, but remember my telling you guys that the Loaf had the flu? Well, in the spirit of a very open, giving and loving relationship... That's right, my darlings, he gave it to me! Isn't that sweet? I could just kick him... and I probably will just as soon as I can move without groaning. Sorry about the delay. I'll be a better girl from now on, I promise. If not, you can tie me up and spank me. But oh no! Please don't throw me in the briar patch!

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Tales of Mischief

"You turned the entire hall into a swamp?!" Emily threw back her head and howled. "Are you completely mad?"

"Well, in one sense of the term," said one Weasley twin.

"We rather were," the other finished. "That Umbridge bitch..."

"Language!" Mrs. Weasley snapped from the other end of the table.

"Sorry, mum," he returned absently. "That Umbridge individual..."

"For it would be a stretch to call her a person..."

"Made Hogwarts intolerable and therefore..."

"...made further scholastic achievement utterly impossible!"

Emily wiped the tears of mirth from her eyes. Talking with the Weasley twins about their exploits at Hogwarts was the most fun she'd had in a longer time than she could recall. Somewhere, though, behind the giddy, nearly-drunken happiness into which she had mysteriously fallen, lurked a deep ache, a longing for her own twin that she had not felt in years.

She had refused to visit Eric's room when she and Lupin had explored her home, but passing the place where he had died had been unavoidable. For a long time, she had stood and stared at the blackened crater in the floor, the only visible sign that anything untoward had occurred there. She hadn't cried as she expected she would, hadn't even felt the myriad of overwhelming emotions she would've anticipated. There was only a sense of cold, a gaping void in her soul where Eric had once laughed and cried and breathed. It was the first time she'd really felt it, the everlasting, irretrievable loss of an intimate part of her being, a desperate, aching need for the closeness of blood ties and family. Her father, her brother, her mother - all lost. Now there was only Emily, outwardly wholly restored, but inside, a mere shell of the witch she'd once been.

There had been a pall in her disposition after that, but she accomplished what she'd gone there to do and returned to the Order's headquarters in Lupin's company... where something had happened, something she couldn't quite recall. The more she tried to focus on it, the more it slipped away, like trying to hold tightly to a sliver of ice. The moment she closed in on the memory, it was gone. And, the curious sense of urgency was replaced with this helpless merriment that at once greatly pleased her and made her ill.

"Well, I must say that that is the most spectacular exit I have ever heard," she gushed. "And, I wish to Merlin I had been there to see it!"

"You're a few years too late, Em," Lupin broke in. "And, as I recall, you achieved a few feats of grandeur yourself at school."

"Oh, I played a few pranks," she chuckled, "but nothing on as grand a scale as that."

Lupin refused to back down. "I seem to remember a few acts of mischief that would've had most others expelled, possibly even imprisoned."

The room went awkwardly quiet at the mention of prison, Emily's most recent home, and she lowered her head with an uncomfortable smile. "Well, all things in due time, right?"

Lupin opened his mouth, most likely to offer an apology which would've made her even more uncomfortable, but Fred, or was it George, saved them both the embarrassment.

"Well, let's hear of these splendid exploits of yours!"

His levity in light of the suddenly somber mood brought her spirits back up at an unnaturally rapid pace. She shook her head, taking a long pull from her glass. "You started this, Remus. You can bloody well finish it."

"Oh, if you insist, my lady," he answered eagerly, turning to the twins. "My absolute favorite was the time she sent a howler to Professor McGonagall."

Her eyes suddenly flew as wide as her grin. "I didn't tell Eric about that. How did you know that was me?"

"Emily," he answered reproachfully, "everyone knew it was you, even the Professor. But, as the howler immediately combusted," he said, returning his attention to the twins, "there was no evidence."

"An inevitable perk, I admit," she acknowledged with a broad grin.

"So, the howler?" Fred prompted. It was Fred, she noticed, who began most of their shared diatribes.

"Ah, yes," Lupin continued. "I don't recall what year we were in."

"Sixth," Emily mumbled through a mouthful of rice pudding.

"Sixth, then," Lupin agreed. "It was a typical morning, just barely springtime. There was a cheery, cloudless sky, under which the entire student body was having its breakfast. At the usual time, the mail arrived and just as we began to open our offerings, the telltale shriek of a howler ripped through the hall drawing everyone's attention at once to the high table where Professor McGonagall sat, gaping open-mouthed and wide-eyed at this blood-red letter unfolding itself and splitting into a red-lipped grimace."

The twins leaned forward simultaneously as he continued. "It screeched for all to hear that the Aphrodite Escort Service did not offer refunds of its services when the escort in question had not been told of the medical frigidity of the client, and if she did not cease and desist all inquiries therein, she would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." He had to raise his voice now to be heard over the howling laughter of the entire family, even Molly. "It went on to add that if the service provider did not recover from the severe exhaustion she had suffered in the attempt to please the client, the Escort Service would be forced to pursue the matter further."

The entire table was rolling now, even the usually docile Hermione, and Emily herself was blushing hotly at the memory of the prank. It had been McGonagall's own fault, though, calling her down in class for falling asleepwith the faintestinsinuation that if she spent more time working above the neck,she might be better able to focus on her studies. Emily had been furious, livid really, at the unfounded, though only vaguely alluded, accusation. Automatically, her eyes had found Sev's and had been crushed to see that he obviously believed the rumors as well. The piercing black gaze held nothing but loathing for her, and she immediately decided to return the Professor's favor.

"That's fantastic!" Fred was shouting over the din of applause and whistles.

"Perhaps just as fantastic was using a permanent sticking charm on the drawers of the Headmaster's desk," Arthur piped in, "or pouring time-release itching powder into the Ravenclaw Quidditch uniforms or, my personal favorite, feigning her own death in History of Magic class."

"Arthur, no!" Molly interrupted. "We still have children in school, you know. Very impressionable children!"

"How did you manage that?" Ginny asked, ignoring her mother entirely.

"Absolutely not!" Molly shouted. "She barely avoided expulsion. Her father had to appear before the school board on her behalf to convince them that she was mentally stable enough to finish her education."

"Sorry, Ginny," Emily called down the table. "But, your Mum might be right. It was rather a dangerous trick."

"What about Snape?" Fred asked excitedly. "You were friends, right? What was he like in school?"

Her smile faltered.

Where the devil was Severus, anyway? Shouldn't she be with him instead of these...

"Is there anything left for a hungry old man?" came a kindly voice from the far end of the table. All heads turned at once to see the Headmaster settled in a chair which had been unoccupied only moments ago.

"Good evening, Albus!" Molly greeted warmly. "I hoped you'd have time for a bit of supper." She was immediately up and bustling around the kitchen.

When a plate of meatballs was placed before him, he smiled affectionately. "Molly, you are a wonder, but I do wish that you wouldn't insist on serving me."

"Nonsense," she cooed. "It's no trouble at all."

He shook his head in a mildly amused fashion. "Well, then, I believe you were discussing Professor Snape's illustrious Hogwarts career?" he prompted, looking at Emily serenely.

"Yes, we were," George agreed excitedly. "Miss Grey was about to let us in on all the dirty details."

"Alright, first of all, it's Emily," she corrected lightly. "There's no need for all that formality. And, secondly, I'm sorry to announce that Severus was smart enough to avoid the trouble I often caused. In our younger days, there were a few near misses. He did, I'm sorry to say, share my ban from Hogsmeade trips from our second year on, but other than that, Lucius made certain that Severus kept out of the way of the repercussions from my indiscretions."

"Why Mr. Malfoy?" Ron asked at the same time Ginny asked why they were banned from Hogsmeade trips.

"Well, we were banned from Hogsmeade," she said, pointedly answering Ginny instead of Ron, "when I retaliated against some nasty little gits who were sending sparks at Sev's hair in the Three Broomsticks." Here, she glared at Remus, and a small voice floated from all the way down the table.

"Let me guess," Harry prompted.

"I don't think it's necessary to name names, Potter," she answered bitterly. "But, would you like to know how long your father was in the hospital wing?"

"Emily," Dumbledore said sternly. "That will do."

"Why?" she argued fiercely. "Has no one told him what a bullying arse his father was? Oh, let me guess," she continued before anyone could answer, "you're all protecting the little orphaned savior from the truth."

Dumbledore opened his mouth, along with several others, but it was Harry who spoke first. "Yes. They are. But that's changing..." He eyed the adults at the table, almost accusingly - almost, but not quite. "Slowly."

"Well, if you'd like to speed the process, I'd be happy to accommodate you," she answered. "As to why Lucius attempted to shield Severus from repercussion," she continued before the table could erupt, "that was related to the long history of close association had by the Snapes and Malfoys. I think that he sensed Sev's potential even as a child and didn't wish to waste an opportunity for personal gain."

"Yeah, Snape's love for the Malfoys is pretty obvious at school," Ron said nastily.

"It's 'Professor Snape' to you, young man," Emily shot back. "And, if you think he has any love for the Malfoys then you are trulyignorant."

"He is not ignorant!" Hermione broke in hotly.

"No?" Emily asked soberly. "He isn't lacking in knowledge? Can you really attest to that?" Hermione hesitated, and in that moment Emily spoke again. "I assure you that all of you are incredibly ignorant about Severus Snape. And you," she said angrily to Ron, "having such an intense dislike for Lucius Malfoy could show a bit more respect to the one man who has spit inthe face of the dark lord's right hand and lived to tell the tale." She gave a tiny snort. "Not that he'd ever do that.Merlin forbidanyone know even that much about him."

"Well, don't stop there," Fred begged.

"Tell us everything," George added.

Emily looked to Albus, who undoubtedly knew the story. "That might be a bit much for dinner conversation," she prompted, looking for permission to elaborate.

"Well, as I am the only one who is still dining - and I assure you that I have quite a strong stomach - I encourage you to continue." Mrs. Weasley opened her mouth to protest, but Albus cut her off with a raised hand. "Perhaps it would be good for them to understand what truly occurs in that hateful circle, lest any of them ever be tempted. Desperate times, Molly..." he asserted soberly.

It was all the encouragement Emily needed.

"It was about two years after I took the Mark," she began as every eye turned to her. "Lucius and I had been sent on an errand to settle an alliance between the dark lord and a pack of werewolves in the Dering Woods outside Pluckley."

"There are werewolves in the Screaming Woods?" Ron interrupted incredulously.

"Had you been paying attention in Care of Magical Creatures last year, you'd know that," Hermione returned smartly.

Emily smirked as Ron blushed bright red, then continued...

Night had recently fallen, but the moon was two days past its fullness. Perhaps that was why Emily wasn't as wary as she would have been otherwise, why she was surrounded by six of them before she even realized they were not alone. Lucius was pointedly outside the circle of werewolves, looking in with cold, cold eyes. A slight shift of bodies allowed him entrance and, in a moment, he was smiling, eyeing her just as hungrily as the others.

Looking around uncertainly, she began to formulate a thousand different reasons for why she had been ordered to come with Lucius on this mission. Her sarcasm had always kept her from being chosen for diplomatic assignments, but Lucius - well, Lucius could charm a goblin out of its gold on his worst day. Diplomacy was normally reserved for him. Perhaps she was meant to learn from him, she had decided finally. There was really not much else that would explain why he had told her to follow his lead, remember her duty to her master, and above all to keep her mouth shut while he bargained. But, now she began to wonder.

The tallest and strongest of them, the alpha male, no doubt - a dark, feral man who rivaled Lucius in his primal allure - stepped forward first to brush his fingers through Emily's auburn hair. Out of habit, she slapped the hand away. A low rumble in his chest sent her skin to shivering.

"Your offering does not appear to be willing, Master Malfoy," he fairly growled. "She stinks of fear. Does she even know why you have brought her?"

Emily's heart began to flutter in her chest. She should have known.

"It makes no difference," Lucius answered with practiced calm, eyeing her with a silent warning. "She will do as she is told, but you will return her unharmed before the next full moon," he added sternly. "I should hate to see such pure blood tainted."

The lycanthrope turned swiftly on his heel to face Lucius. "Are we tainted, Death Eater?" he growled.

"You know that you are," Lucius answered coolly. "Just as certainly as the rest of society knows. My master offers you an opportunity to use your dark gifts, to have a network of strength other than your own pack in the war to come. And an opportunity to mate within our circle, as you requested."

"Lucius, please," Emily found herself begging in what was barely a whisper. He ignored her completely.

"Your master does not seem to mind forcing an unbroken female to mate against her will," the werewolf returned. "Perhaps he is less human than we."

Lucius was no longer paying attention. His eyes had been riveted on her since the mention of her 'unbroken' status. It was not a friendly gaze.

"If your female is unwilling..."

"She is quite willing to do whatever her master requires of her," Lucius asserted in a voice which brooked no argument as hestepped forward to regard her more closely. "Are you not?"

She was shaking her head before he finished the question. "No, please. Not this."

Incredulousgray eyes searched green for a long moment. "Who has wrought this chastity, this revolting purity in you?" he breathed with a disgusted curl of his lip.

To her credit, she was able to keep her beloved's name from her mind for at least a full breath, but at the end of her exhale, Lucius' lovely face twisted into an ugly sneer. "Severus," he hissed. "I might have known."

Dianatyne:: Or, is Remus acting of his own volition... and is that less sinister or more so? Now you have Or, is Remus acting of his own volition... and is that less sinister or more so? Now you have me wondering! I did not update quickly this time (please see author's note) so I must assume that have indeed amused yourself with a real live book. I'm reading two right now that keep me constantly occupied while not writing. By the by, Lady Jenilyn's story was just updated, so once you finish this chapter, you may want to zip over to 'Mirror of My Dreams', a really unique and imaginative piece. You'll like it. I promise! Actually, I've thought about visiting DC... just to see the sights, and when I do, I'll take you up on your generous offer. I'd love to meet you.

Oya: Lupin did a multi-layer whammie on Emily. I'll give details in a few chapters. I'm a little worried about Sev, myself. Where could he be?

Sesshomaru's Angel: You should go look for Sev. It's getting dark out. As for Remus, as I told Oya, he did a multi-layer whammie, a very cool little trick, but I'll have to explain later. You could try to kiss Emily's story out of Remus. I certainly couldn't blame you. For a guy, he's fairly hot.

Teenage Zombie: Oh, thanks. I was so worried about getting Dumbledore just right. That means a lot to me! No, Remus, just like most other Gryffindors, has no qualms about bending the rules to suit his own purposes.

1 Lonely angel: Ooohhh... I have knack? Hurray for me! I so rarely have a knack for anything. No, really. I'm quite backward in the real world. Your compliments take my breath away... and keep me writing and writing and writing. Thank you, sweetie. I certainly love getting my 'thankies' from you

Elessar Evenstar: Yes, clever little Gryffindor, isn't he? And, Sev is causing quite a bit of concern. I hope he's alright. Thank you for the compliment on Dumbledore, as I told Teenage Zombie, I was really concerned about getting his character just right, so the good word is quite appreciated. Worried about Remus and Emily? Good... good.... Escaped rubs hands together and chuckles darkly. Thank you so much for your kind words. They mean the world to me.

Silverthreads: Why thank you, sweetie! What a nice thing to say!

Sev lover: We will find out about the complex voodoo Remus whipped out in a chapter or two, I promise. He's really a sneaky little bastard when he wants to be. I respect that.

Captain Oblivious!: I love it when you read between the lines. It keeps me on my toes. Sev is in a less-than-pleasant situation, right now. That's all I can say. Perhaps you should be afraid... on a certain level. Yeah, Dumbledore's fun to toy with. There's a lot of personality there to tweak. I've found that, most of the time, friends do well enough when left to their own devices as long as those times do not represent the majority. I'm so pleased that you were able to spend the holiday at home. As you've likely gotten back, now, may I ask how your friends fared and whether you had a wonderful time?

Intel Ewok: Hey, thanks for the good word. Dumbledore is one of the hardest characters to nail down that I've ever written. I'm finding, much to my frustration, that a relatively-good-guy Sev is damnably difficult to write as well. I'm actually looking forward to returning to his less than noble counterpart in the Alex stories. As for Sev's whereabouts, he... rather has his hands full at the moment.

Lady Jenilyn: No harm done, sweetie. It took me a while to get out of bed long enough to get my reviews! Okay. Actually, that's a lie. The loaf printed them and brought them to me in bed (isn't he sweet?), but the basic concept remains the same. I'm so so sorry about your thesis. Wicked, wicked teacher! Let's hex her/him! Thank you so much for your kind words about Dumbledore's character. I wanted to show his darker, more powerful side without taking it too far, and was extremely concerned that I'd overdone it. I have to say that Rowling's view of Dumbledore is a really big help to my own concept of his character. I may just be able to revise some of his upcoming scenes with that tidbit. Thanks, Jenilyn. You are ever a blessing. Severus is... very occupied and Remus... well, you read the other review answers, don't you? So, you know. And, no, my little darling, I would never, ever toy with anyone's emotions. That's just mean! And, I certainly don't giggle delightedly about the wonderfully heated reactions that come after a confusing chapter. I'm not cruel enough to take wanton pleasure from a thing like that. Yeah... like you don't do the same thing. (Punches Jenilyn gently on the arm) You... cauldron calling the kettle black!