Author's Note: Hey guys...so this chapter is wicked intense...not gonna lie. I guess it all happens rather fast, but that's only because I wanted to make up for my previously short chapters by making this one extra long, so I crammed it all into one. I hope you like it!

p.s. this is my favorite chapter since a long time, and I love it. Haha. Well actually, I haven't read it in a while bc it's just been sitting here, but I rememebr loving it...? Tell me what you think.

Chapter 22

Love Potion

They had returned to Hogwarts and were just settling back into the steady grind of studying. Well, most of them were. The marauders, with the exception or Remus, were participating in their usual escapades including dating every girl they could see, pranking Slytherins, ditching classes, leaving Hogwarts grounds to do heavens knew what, and picking on younger students.

Lily watched all of this with a crease in her brow and a frown on her face. She had determined herself to put a stop to this. Outside of the safe walls of Hogwarts, the death eaters were becoming more and more of a visible threat. They were abducting and killing muggles at higher frequencies, plunging the muggle and wizarding worlds into disarray. And then, suddenly, about a month after Christmas break had ended, they stopped. It happened just like that. They had not been doing anything big, just killing muggles and leaving the dark mark over their destroyed houses, but there had been no really big attacks on the mass populous. The wizarding world, for the most part, had been left unscathed. This made everyone who was thinking about it very nervous. Dumbledore especially seemed to be constantly on edge, waiting for something to blow up or for students to go missing.

They did not, however. And there were at least three Gryffindor sixth years who were supremely unconcerned with whatever was happening outside the walls of Hogwarts.

Lily had expected better of James, especially after his last close call with the death eaters. Fortunately for him he had survived, but Lily had hoped that it would have taught him that this would effect his life and that it was not a matter to take lightly. She had thought, if only for a brief and fleeting moment, that he would take that lesson to heart and become a better person. But no, in fact he had become a worse person. Well, worse to Lily.

Most of the school save those who bore the brunt of his actions found him quite amusing. Lily did not. There was one thing, however, that took her focus off death eaters and James Potter's assinine behavior.

That was spending time with Cooper Daniels. They talked about everything, classes, death eaters, the future, everything. He was really very nice. Lily knew that Cooper was someone that she should be with, someone she should date. He was practically perfect in every way.

James was not too pleased with this twist in fate. Lily was supposed to be his girl, whether she knew and accepted it or not. Who was this Cooper Daniels fellow to steal her away from him? Well, James actually knew Cooper Daniels quite well. He was the captain of Ravenclaw. But that changed nothing. He was obviously stupid if he were moving in on Lily. She was James's territory, he had thought he had made that perfectly clear. Something would have to be done about this Cooper Daniels fellow, and James felt that he was exactly the person to do it. Perhaps he would enlist the help of his fellow marauders, this Daniels fellow would soon learn what happened when you messed with Potter's girl.

Potter's girl, he rather liked the way that sounded. Lily Potter. Mr. and Mrs. James Potter. It sounded too good to let it just disappear like that. He would not lose Mrs. Lily Potter to Daniels. Lily Daniels did not sound half as decent, he told himself.

Just then James saw Sirius enter the common room, and James decided that he needed reassurance that he was right, Lily Daniels did not sound half so nice as Lily Potter.

"I doesn't sound half as good, does it mate?" James asked as Sirius flopped down beside him.

"What?" Sirius asked, glancing casually from beneath the lock of hair that was falling gracefully in his eyes.

"Her name, it doesn't sound nearly as nice as it does with mine, right?" James asked, seeking confirmation.

"What are you going on about? Whose name? Who is 'he'?" Sirius asked, looking bewildered.

"Lily Daniels," James said, sighing with impatience, "it doesn't sound nearly as nice as Lily Potter, right?" James asked. Sirius began to laugh more and more loudly. "It's not funny." James protested as Sirius's bark like laughter reached unworldly decibles.

"Yes it is, mate. You've been going on about that bloke for ages. Ever since Christmas. Get over it, why don't you?" Sirius asked him, subsiding at last and gasping for breath.

"I can't," James said sulkily.

"Then do something about it, and by the way I think Daniels has a nice ring to it." Sirius told him teasingly. James, however, did not find this at all amusing. He punched Sirius hard in the arm before standing up.

"I will do something about it," James assured Sirius. "Right now in fact," he added, without the faintest idea what it was he was going to do.

"What are you going to do?" Sirius asked, excitement and a slight tinge of fear were in his voice.

"Come with me and I'll show you. Want to help?" James asked. Sirius looked eager with anticipation. The two left the common room, making their way to the boys sixth year dormitory, leaving the common room much more subdued and quiet than it had been when they were there. Wherever they went, chaos insued.

"What are we doing up here? Lily's not here," Sirius observed. "Unless, you didn't kidnap her did you? Because if you did, Prongs, then you're taking stalker to a whole new level." Sirius told him.

"I am not a stalker." James insisted, rummaging in his trunk for something.

"You are too," Sirius countered as James gave up on his trunk, moving to under the bed.

"Am not!" He yelled, his voice muffled due to the fact that his entire torso was under the bed, throwing clothing articles away from him. A Quiddich jumper hit Sirius square in the face.

"Ew, how long has this been under there?" Sirius sked, pulling a face and holding it away from him at arms length. "And you are too a stalker."

"No quite sure, and I am not," James told him.

"Yes, mate, you are," Sirius informed him.

"I'm not times a million, I win, I quit." James told him, smiling smugly as he rose, triumphantly gripping a grubby scrap of parchment in his hands. Sirius looked annoyed.

"You may win, but that doesn't change the fact that you're a stalker." Sirius told him, taking the map from James and tapping it with his wand as James grumbled irritably under his breath.

"That's not fair! I already quit," James told him. "You cheated," he said reproachfully.

"I started a new round. You won the last one, fine, but I win this one and now I quit so there." Sirius accompanied this statement with a loud wet raspberry that sprayed all over James. Sirius took advantage of James's grumbles and the fact that he was otherwise occupied with wiping spit off his face with his sleeve to snatch the map from his friend and tap it. "I solemly swear that I am up to no good," Sirius added, poking it again. "Lucky Remus thought up that clever little charm. Imagine what Edgar would say if he found this lying around," Sirius said, smiling and scanning the map at the same time as the ink lines spread across the parchement, revealing a perfectly detailed map of Hogwarts.

"Yes, but the other reason was so that if Peter tripped and dropped it right in front of Mrs. Norris again Filtch wouldn't know what he had found if he picked it up. Remeber last time?" James asked.

"'Course I do. That was a close call. You didn't nick that map of the floor a moment too soon, either. Mrs. Norris would have slobbered all over it." Sirius said, passing the map to James. "She's in the library, Mr. Stalker," Sirius added at James's inquisitive expression. James opened his mouth to argue when Sirius added, "he's with her."

"Perfect," James said.

"Why, what are you planning?" Sirius asked him.

"I'm not actually sure yet." James admitted.

"Well, do you want to get her attention or scare him?" Sirius asked James.

"Both." James told him.

"Well, you could do something like magic up on the walls 'Mrs. Lily Potter,' that should give her the message." Sirius told him.

"We did that in the third year, don't you remember?" James asked. "She hardly even paid it attention," James said. "She just doesn't care about anything I do," James said, sighing morosely.

"Firstly, the reason she didn't see it last time was because McGonagal took it down before she got a chance. And secondly, she does too care. She hates it when people break rules, remember? Anybody," Sirius added as James opened his mouth.

"So you want me to get her attention by breaking rules? I always break rules. She hardly does anything," James told him.

"Yes, but that's different. If she were to be the one who caught you in the act of breaking a rule, she would be sure to notice," Sirius told him. "You know her, she's such a teacher's pet. She would be sure to try and stop you," Sirius said, pulling a face at the thought of Lily tattling.

"Hey, watch it. That's my future wife you're talking about, and don't forget it," James told him.

"James, she'll never marry you. She won't even date you, let alone marry you. Hell, she won't even speak to you," Sirius told him in exasperation.

"Well, that'll all change," James told him.

"Maybe if you asked her out she's say yes," Sirius suggested.

"But she might say no," James told him.

"She says no all the time anyway. At least this way you'll find out whether or not she's going out with Cooper Daniels," Sirius reminded him.

"Cooper. He's going down. When do we play Ravenclaw?" James asked Sirius, clenching his hands into fists.

"Why are you asking me?" Sirius asked him. "I didn't memorize the schedule."

"Right, well I think it's match after next," James told him darkly.

"Maybe if you gave her a nice present she would see how nice you can be," Sirius suggested.

"I already gave her a Christmas present," James told him.

"You did? What? How come you didn't tell me?" Sirius demanded, looking insulted.

"It wasn't exaclty the most plesant of exchanges." James admitted.

"What happened?" Sirius asked.

"I went into her room on Christmas morning and said 'Morning Lily dear, I have a present for you.' and she said 'I don't want to look at you, Potter'," James said.

"That's it?" Sirius asked, looking disappointed.

"Did I say I was finished? Stop interrupting," James told him. "So then I said, 'but I have a present. Don't you want my present?' and she said 'Let's see it then.' And so I gave her that ring, you know the one I mean? It's got the green stone with the gold and the red?" James asked.

"You gave her your aunt's ring?" Sirius asked.

"Well, yes," James confessed. "Don't look at me like that! She said I was to give it to someone special!" James told him.

"Yes, but I somehow think she was reffering to, gee, I don't know, when you got engaged!" Sirius told him, thwacking him on the backside of the head.

"No, she couldn't have. I have my mum's ring for that. And my grandmothers too. So it's not as if I'm short on rings or anything. Being the only grandchild/son/nephew really comes in handy," James told Sirius with a grin.

"Then she was deffinately talking about someone who you were in love with," Sirius told James.

"I am in love with Lily, how many times must I tell you?" James asked.

"You don't know the first thing about Lily. And anyway, she probably meant someone you were dating, dim wit." Sirius told him.

"But I will be dating her, soon. I can feel it." James told Sirius.

"Oh really? When will that be? Five, ten years? Sorry, did I say five or ten? I meant five or ten million!" Sirius said.

"Well, in the grand scheme of things that's not really that long to wait, is it?" James asked. Sirius just shook his head. "Anyway, did you want to know what happened next or not?" James asked.

"Yes, but I still say you don't know or love Lily," Sirius muttered.

"Is that a challenge?" James asked. Sirius shook his head again. "So anyway, I gave her the ring and she gasps and goes 'Oh my goodness, it's beautiful. James you shouldn't have bought me anything this expensive, it must have cost a fortune.' And I said, 'no problem, my aunt gave it to me.' And then she said 'James, I feel so badly, I haven't gotten you anything!'" James said in a high pitched voice that was obviously meant to be an impression of a distraught Lily. "So I said, 'if you really wanted to give me a present you could go out with me,'" James continued in his normal voice. "And so she totally freaked at me, started screaming for me to get out and chucked this huge book at my head. She missed, fortunately, because I escaped and shut the door. Can you imagine what getting hit with a big old book would have done to me hair?" James asked, running his finger through his hair. "This isn't just any hair, you know."

"Are you sure you haven't been hit by a big old book in the past? Perhaps during infancy?" Sirius asked.

"Of course I'm sure," James told him. "Do you think my head would be such a perfect shape if I had been? I wouldn't be nearly as much of a babe magnet without this perfect head," James told him, smiling sardonically.

"Then maybe you were dropped on your head at some point in your life," muttered Sirius. "That would explain why your hair sticks up so much."

"Whatever Padfoot, you're just jealous because girls like my hair better than yours," James told him.

"Evans doesn't," Sirius told him, striking a nerve.

"Let's go." James said, speaking of Lily having reminded him of their mission. They looked back at the map, but saw that the dot of Lily was moving out of the library and into the great hall.

"But we still don't know what we're going to do," Sirius complained, walking after James towards the door. James shoved the map into his pocket.

"Ask her out in front of the entire great hall, of course." James told him, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Sirius just did his head shaking routine again, causing the strand of hair in his eyes to flop back and forth a little, settling in its original position.

As they were making their way to the great hall for dinner, they ran into their least favorite person. The halls were mostly empty, due to it being dinner time, save for one lone figure skulking along behind tham, trying not the be seen.

"Well well well, if it isn't Snivelus Snape," Sirius said, turning and catching Severus staring at them. Severus did not reply, he merely wiped his nose on the sleeve of his robe.

"Look at the greasy boy scuttling along to dinner," James commented.

"What's a brainless git like you doing up here during meal?" Sirius asked.

"I could ask the same of you," Severus replied, shaking with anger. His eyes were black and cold.

"You could," Sirius replied airily. "But you wouldn't get an answer."

"What's that you've got there, Potter?" Severus demanded, trying to sneak a peek at the Marauders map.

"None of your buisness, Snivelus," Sirius said, stepping in front of James as he hid the map in his pocket.

"Snievlus, you are an ugly git and you should learn to keep your abnormally large nose out of other people's buisness," James told him.

"Yes, what do you think you're playing at? Snooping around, always trying to get us expelled. Shove your big nose somewhere else, you great prat, there's nothing to see here," Sirius warned, turning around.

"You're mad because Evans doesn't like you, aren't you?" Severus asked. In recent weeks the emnity between Potter and Evans had mounted, although it was decidedly one sided.

"Of course Evans likes me," James sniffed.

"Right. So I suppose you won't be needing my help, will you?" Severus asked.

"What help?" James demanded, just as Sirius was about to turn and hautily march away. Severus had him now.

"I could make you a potion, if you like," Severus offered.

"What sort of potion?" James demanded.

"A love potion, of course. Give some of it to her, just a few drops, slip it into her pumpkin juice at meal, and she won't be able to resist you," Severus told him, smiling smugly.

"I'll do it," James said at once.

"I'll give it to you by next week." Severus promised.

"Great!" James said enthusiastically. Sevurus scuried away down the corridor where he had come from, presumably towards some back staircase the would lead him to the Slytherin common room. He was apparently skipping dinner. Neither James nor Sirius payed any head to the calculating smile on his face.

"Don't trust him, mate," Sirius advised, watching Severus disappear around the corner.

"Why on earth not? He's too scared to do anything bad," James told him.

"I wouldn't be too sure. Remember, he loves Lily too. And he hates you. Why do you think he'll help you?" Sirius demanded.

"Relax. I told you, he's too afraid of us to do anything. And it's not like he would poison it or anything, like you said, he's head over heals for Lily. He wouldn't hurt her," James told Sirius ressuringly. "Come on, buck up, let's go to dinner," James said. Sirius did not look completely convinced.

"Are we going on with the plan?" Sirius asked.

"'Course not. We'll wait until next week," James told him. "Are you coming?" James demanded, walking off to dinner.

The week went by uneventfully for Lily. She was spending a good deal of her spare time in the library, usually with Cooper, but sometimes with Hazel. Neither mentioned a word about James or Sirius, they instead spoke of other things. Cooper had joined their peer tutoring group, and he proved to be a welcomed addition.

One night, James came, much to Lily's suprise. Sirius had stopped coming since his tiff with Hazel, but Hazel was determinedly not speaking about it. The tutoring program seemed to have caught on, as more students were showing up each week. The night that James came there was a flood of girls signing up for help.

Lily, although amused, was also irritated. This would mean that the peace of the library and the studious environment would be ruined by girls' chatter and giggling. James, to Lily's annoyance, requested her help specifically, and Madame Pince gave it willingly.

"What do you want Potter?" Lily demanded. James, although hurt at her comment at first, was restored to full (and imense) confidence a moment later when he saw the glitter on her finger. She was wearing his Christmas presant.

"You like it then?" James asked hopefully, pointing at the ring. Lily blushed crimson.

"Yes, and that's why I'm wearing it. It has nothing to do with the source," Lily clarified, so that there could be no question on this point. James looked downcast, but he seemed to recover himself a moment later. "Why are you here anyway?" Lily asked again.

"I came for help with my studying," James told her.

"Why? It's not as if you need it. You hardly ever do your homework, and you still get top marks," Lily told him, sounding somewhat irritated. No, not somewhat, James corrected himself. She was irritated.

"I needed help writing a difficult transfiguration essay," James told her.

"But that's your best subject!" Lily exclaimed. James looked at her, how did she know it was his best subject. He did not remember telling her that.

"Yes, but as I said, it's a difficult essay," James said, but there were still traces of doubt in her expression. On a whim, he got an idea. "Look, Lily, whatever there was between us is obviously gone. I can see that. You and Cooper are together now. That's cool. I'm not going to lie, I still have feelings for you. But it's okay. I'm here for the essay, not to make things more awkward," this assurance seemed to be enough for Lily, as she then proceeded to take her books out of her bag and found her transfiguration essay and book.

"I have some drinks, do you want any?" James asked, removing a flask from his bag.

"What is it?" Lily asked, skeptical again.

"Only pumpkin juice," James told her, showing it to her. Fortunately Severus' potion was invisible to the eye. At least, it had no color.

"Thanks. It gets so hot in here, and I'm parched," Lily said, extending her hand and taking a long sip of the drink. James had not asked how long it would take for the potion to kick in, but he hoped it was not long. "Okay, so transfiguration," there did not seem to be anything different about her. But there had to be. She had to love him now.

"Look, Lily, just a minute ago, what I said wasn't entirely true," James told her. He had already written the essay.

"What?" Lily asked.

"I am not okay with you and Cooper, will you please go out with me?" James asked.

"Of course not, Potter!" Lily said loudly. Why was he doing this again. 'Drat, I suppose it takes a night or something. Maybe tomorrow, at dinner. In front of everyone, it will be perfect,'he told himself.

"Oh, well, all right then. I already wrote the essay though, I only came here to ask you that," James told her, standing to leave the library. Lily said nothing. Why would he do that? The nerve of him! What a presumptuous little liar! Anyway, Lily did not think that Cooper was tutoring anyone, so she would go find him and they could do homework together. Later she and Alice could have a good laugh about James. She shook her head, walking away.

The next morning they had potions class. Lily, much to the surprise of everyone, asked Severus if he would sit with her. She blushed and smiled and giggled at everything he said throughout the class. When the class ended, they walked out holding hands. James was shocked.

"What was that about, mate?" Sirius asked him. "Didn't I tell you you couldn't trust the little rat?"

"Yes, you did. Well I'm sure that the potion will kick in by tonight," James added. "And then when I ask her in front of everybody, she'll be sure to say yes." Sirius just shook his head.

"Why are you so stuck on her?" He asked, not expecting a reply. He did not recieve one. That afternoon Lily practically followed Severus around like a puppy. Except at meals, when she had to sit at the Gryffindor table. Other than that, she was with him almost constantly. When her friends asked her about him she just sighed and giggled, saying 'he's so dreamy'. She was not acting at all her usual self. Holly did not know what to do. Neither did Alice, or Hazel, or Caroline, or Janette. James was mystified, but by the time dinner came, he was sure she would be his. He was blissfully oblivious to what had happened.

"I have an announcement!" James said, standing on his seat. The entire great hall looked at him, waiting to hear what he had to say. A few people cheered

'Yeah Potter!' and 'You go Prongs!' Lily did not even want to know what he was doing.

"What I want to say," James yelled, "is that Lily Evans is the most beautiful girl in the world. I love you Lily, will you please go out with me?" James asked, looking at her. Lily was mortified. She burried her head in her hands, hoping that no one would see her. There were sniggers and cat calls from around the room.

"Well, give him an answer!" someone yelled.

Someone else said "10 to 1 she says yes!"

"Potter, what is wrong with you?" Lily demanded, standing up and walking towards the door.

"Lily, wait!" James called.

"Don't speak to me!" She yelled at him, running out of the great hall in tears. She was never going to live this one down. She heard laughter and whispers from behind the doors. She sprinted back to the girls dormitory as fast as she could and hid in her bed, fully dressed.

Everyone in the great hall had originally looked shocked or subdued. A moment after her departure, however, everyone burst out laughing. James, blushing hottly, took a bow, knowing that if he tried to hide it would only make people laugh more. He did not see Severus, sitting at the Slytherin table, sniggering quietly to himself and reveling in his adversary's misery.

The next morning Lily left without a word to anyone. Her eyes were blotchy from crying, and she was completely humiliated. She hunted down Severus at that morning's breakfast. He would understand. Only he could understand her. He was so perfect, and handsome, and understanding. Not like that slimy git Potter. He was so manipulative. Lily would have bet all the money she had that he had only done it in front of everyone because he assumed she would have to say yes if he asked in a crowd. It was only because she had refused him the night before. He was out to get her now, to embarass her in the most public ways possible. But Severus was absolutely perfect. In every way. Why had she ever broken up with him, anyway? She could not remember. It must have been a moment of insanity.

"Sirius, do you see her?" James asked of his friend.

"Yeah, 'course I do. How can you miss that flaming red hair?" Sirius asked.

"She's at the Slytherin table with Severus," James said, horrified.

"I told you not to trust the slimy git. People with hair that bad are shifty, you can tell. And that nose...he was bound to be up to something," Sirius said darkly.

"You know what he's done, don't you?" James asked.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"He's corrupted her," James told him.

"They had sex?" Sirius said, rather too loudly, causing people nearby to look at him.

"Of course not, Lily wouldn't do that. Not with him. No way. He's given her the love potion, but not for me. For him," James told Sirius.

"You're right!" Sirius said, standing up quickly. "That explains it!"

"Where are you going?" James yelled as his friend raced down the table.

"Holly, Alice, Janette, Caroline, you have to help," Sirius said, approaching the four. (Alice had made up with the others finally, at the prodding of Caroline and Lily).

"What have you done now?" Holly asked angrily. She was still sore on Sirius.

"Lily, she's been given a love potion. Severus gave it to her," Sirius told them, gesticulating wildly.

"What? How do you know?" Alice asked in a hushed voice.

"Because, er, he was supposed to be giving it to her for..." Sirius started. James had arrived by now.

"What?" Caroline asked.

"For who, did you say?" Janette probed.

"For James here, if you must know," Sirius said, pointing his thumb at James.

"James!" The four girls exclaimed.

"Figures," Holly said, shaking her head irritably. "What sort of a love potion?" she asked them, looking at their blank expressions. "Well there are lots of sorts, you know," Holly told them.

"You know something, he probably made that one that Lily made. She's the one who got him into potions, so they're bound to have worked on it together. How long did it take him to make it?" Alice asked.

"When did Lily make a love potion?" James demanded, reflecting on this new bit of information. He could not believe that she would have used a love potion. They were, after all, against Hogwarts policy.

"She made it two summers ago," Alice explained.

"For who?" James asked, insatiably curious.

"She made it for me," Alice confessed, blushing.

"Ohhh, for Frankie poo? Thatexplains a lot," Sirius asked, making a kissy face.

"No." Alice said, rolling her eyes. "I don't need one for him. It was for this guy who I see sometimes in the summer. Besides, that was a long time ago," James, having learned that it did not involve Lily's love life, had lost interest.

"It took him a week to make," James told her, eager to be of some service to redeem himself for having caused this mess.

"Well then that's it. The one Lily made for me took a week too. She's bound to have a book on it. Or better yet, I can ask her myself. One moment," Alice started to walk across the great hall towards the Slytherin table when James pulled her back.

"You can't just ask her, she'll know something's up," he told her.

"We can't not ask her either. I don't have to tell her what it's for," Alice told him.

"Right," James conceaded, watching her go. "But wait!" He called again. She turned around.

"Yes?" She asked patiently.

"If you ask her in front of him he'll know you know," James told her.

"That's true. I'll ask her tonight then," Alice said at last after contemplating this for a moment.

"Why don't you boys go do something else, rather than hovering?" Alice suggested later that evening as the were in the library, scanning the volumes of books for an entry about Lily's condition. All of the marauders were there, but only Remus was being of any service.

"I found it!" Caroline said triumphantly, pointing the the book. "It even has a recipe for the counter potion."

"A counter, er, potion did you say?" James asked.

"Yes, is that a problem?" Janette asked.

"I'm not very good at potions," James confessed. "And don't these complicated ones take an awfully long time?" he added.

"Well, this one here says a week, which makes sense really. And seeing as there's no other way to undo it..." Janette said, looking to him for any other options.

"A week?" James asked, sounding hopeless. "That's such a long time!"

"Really? I thought that you said that ten million years was not much in the grand scheme of things, but now one week is far too long?" Sirius said, looking at James. James subsided, sighing. He did not like the idea of Lily spending a whole week in the clutches of the Slytherins.

Meanwhile, Severus was the happiest person on earth. He had Lily again. Life was perfect. He felt guilty, ocasionally, for detaining her against her will, but nothing else could be done. He loved her, and this was all for the best.

"Severus, it's purely genius, the way you tricked Potter and made him look like such an utter fool! His face, it was priceless. I still dream about it..." someone was saying to him. He looked up, jerked from his thoughts of Lily.

"What is?" Severus asked boredly. He was sitting in a circle of Slytherins. Bellatrix, Rudolphus, Antonin, Lucious, Vincent, Gregory, Narcissa, and Evan. Lucious and Bellatrix were holding court.

"Weren't you listening at all?" Bellatrix snapped at him angrily.

"Trixie, calm yourself," Lucious ordered, using a pet name that she hated. There were some sniggers around the circle at Bellatrix's expression of distaste. Narcissa, her younger sister, laughed uproariously at Lucious's "hilarious" joke. "Severus, we were discussing Ms. Evans," Lucious reminded him.

"Oh yes," Severus said bitterly.

"We all know that the Dark Lord wishes her services. We must get
her for him. We will be his most valued servants,"Lucious told the group. There were murmers of agreement from the assembled children of death eaters.

"Our parents will be praised," Bella added.
"Yes, our families will rise high above the others," Lucious said, a smile on his face.
"I don't know-" Serus started to protest.
"Silence, Severus. You will not cause trouble. You will do as you are told, unless, that is, you wish us to report to the Dark lord that you do not wish to cooperate with his loyal servants to further his ends?" Lucious demanded warningly. Severus said nothing. "Those who are not for him are against him."
"It would be a shame, Severus, if the Dark Lord were to discover your infatuation with a certain mud blood," Bellatrix said, almost spitting the word mud blood at him.
"You're mother is very frail," Lucious observed. "She is not treated well by your father. It would be a shame if she were to get hurt, say, falling down the stairs," Lucious pointed out mildly.
"You wouldn't hurt my mother," Severus said.
"Wouldn't I? No, I suppose not. But then again, I would not get into trouble for it. Everyone would assume it was your father. It would be a terrible pity to become an orphan whose father is in the looney bin and whose mother is dead, wouldn't it?" Lucious said, with all the airs of making a general statement, although it was all too clear who the threat was directed towards. "I don't suppose that anyone would really want to associate with an orphan. Where would he live?" Lucious said. He was now clearly threatening his social life- if it could be called
that. Severus had his fists clenched into balls.
"I'll do it,"he said at last.
"Do what?" Lucious asked, as if he had not been telling him what he had no choice in doing.
"Help you get Lily," Severus told them.
"Oh, but I already knew you would be helping with that. I thought it had been decided," Lucious said, challenging him to disagree.
"Of course," Severus agreed.
"Good boy, so shall we arrange it now then?" Lucious asked. There were nods of assent around the circle.

"You will bring the girl to the top of the astronomy tower, understand Severus?" Lucious asked a little while later. "It is a fairly simple thing to do, to lure her there. There will be others waiting to take her from there in the dead of night. You do not have to worry about anything beyond that point. She will be dealt with. Just make sure you're not seen, and make sure she does not suspect. You need worry about
nothing after then. I will write the neccessary letters," Lucious promised.
Already at such a young age, he was only a sixth year, he was recognized as the leader of the Slytherin house and unofficial link between the students who supported the dark lord and the death eaters. He might as well have been a death eater himself. It was common knowledge that his father was the dark lord's right hand man and rising. Lucious, it was rumored, had even met the dark lord and been initiated as a death eater. Lucious himself never mentioned anything on this subject, obviously taking the neccessary prudent measures to ensure secrecy about who the death eaters were.
"Leave me,"he ordered. The other Slytherins disbanded, each going to their respective dormitories.

Severus was glowering, not liking this one bit. Even if he wanted to make Lily stop loving him to save her
life, he could not. The date he was to meet the death eaters was in exactly a week, and it would take that long to brew the counter potion.

Author's Note: Well, I hope you all enjoyed that. My favorite part was the bit with the Slytherins...I love writing about them. It's so dark and evil. Haha, figures thatI would like writing that part...I'm awfully bad at depressing though, unless I dislike the characters, then it's easy. Anyway, review! And tell me if it was utter rubbish or not, because I don't really remember. Haha, thanks!