"Good news," said Sirius, taking a seat next to Remus in the library. "It's finished."

"It is?" asked Peter. Sirius nodded solemnly.

"Let's see it, then," said James, looking eagerly up from the copy of Quidditch Through the Ages he'd been reading. He seemed to be coping with his heartbreak by becoming even more obsessive about Quidditch than usual. Sirius wasn't sure that was healthy, but at least it kept James from pining after Parvana.

"Very well," said Sirius, and he produced a roll of parchment from his bag with a flourish. "I present to you: the Magic Map."

"We're not calling it that," said Remus immediately.

James spread the map on the table and whistled appreciatively. Sirius made a face at Remus. "What's wrong with calling it the Magic Map?"

"Erm," said Peter, "it's a terrible name?"

James shoved his glasses up his nose and let out a little huff. "You call this finished, Padfoot?"

"Just about," said Sirius vaguely. He'd caught a glimpse of Regulus, who was seated with Edmund Avery at the other end of the library and appeared to be drawing Avery's star chart for him.

"You haven't even added the dungeons," said James. "Plus there are only two dots on here, and they're labelled Regulus Black and Remus Lupin."

"Daisy Hookum's on there somewhere, too," said Sirius. "Check the Hufflepuff common room, you'll see."

Across the library, Regulus lifted his head at the mention of his name. He'd always had hearing like a bat. It was unnatural.

"Also," said James, "do I give a Knut about Remus Lupin's whereabouts? No. I don't. The opposite, in fact."

"How touching," said Remus. "That's very kind of you to say."

James ignored him. "The whole point of this map is to track prefects and beautiful girls."

"And Sally Dearborn," said Sirius quickly.

"That's secondary," said James. "Tell me, Padfoot. Where are the prefects and beautiful girls? Where is Sally Dearborn, if she's so important?"

"Moony's got a badge, technically," said Sirius defensively. "So does Reg. And you said yourself that Daisy is at least an eight." He decided not to mention that he'd tried adding Sally to the map, but nothing had happened. It was possible — not likely, but possible — that he'd bungled the spell. He didn't like to think of the alternative.

"Daisy a seven point five," said James. "If she played Quidditch she'd be an eight. And, honestly, Padfoot. Out of all the prefects, you add your own brother?"

Sirius cast a reflexive glance towards the other end of the library and groaned. Regulus had definitely heard that. He was muttering something into Avery's ear.

"Look," said Sirius. "He's my brother, alright? I have to keep an eye on him —"

James raised an eyebrow as Avery got up from the table and began to saunter towards them. "Seems he's got friends who look after him, too."

"Shit," said Sirius, scrambling to hide the map. "Shit, shit —"

"Give it here," said Peter. "I've got an idea." He pulled a jet black quill from his bag and waggled it at Sirius.

Sirius grinned, shoving the map towards Peter. "Work your magic, Wormtail."

Peter nodded and began to write furiously on the map, his tongue between his teeth as he concentrated.

Avery put both hands on the back of Sirius' chair. "Behaving ourselves, are we?"

"Trying to," replied James shortly.

"I'm glad to hear that," said Avery in the most nasal voice Sirius had ever heard. "How about you, Black? Are you being good?"

"Don't patronize me, you pompous twit," he growled, ignoring the warning look Remus was giving him. "If you don't get your slimy hands off my chair —"

Avery laughed a nasal laugh. "I do apologize. Didn't realize this specific library chair belonged to the House of Black."

"Your arse belongs to the House of Black," muttered Sirius. Remus put his head in his hands.

"Very clever," said Avery. "You know, Regulus says your parents consider you to be the bright one, but I'm starting to reconsider if that's true after all."

Sirius barked a laugh. "That's a bit rich coming from you, dung brains. Tell me, how much are you paying my brother to draw your star charts for you?"

Avery flushed but didn't take the bait. He turned towards Peter instead. "What've you got there, Pettigrew?"

Peter's head peeked over the top of the map. "Nothing." He sounded perfectly guilty; his voice even had a little tremble to it.

"Didn't look like nothing when I was on the other side of the library," said Avery. "Hand it over, Pettigrew."

"It's my Divination homework, I swear!" squeaked Peter. "It's really boring, promise —"

"Do you want detention?"

"Oh, Merlin's beard, no," said Peter, blinking widely.

Avery smirked and gestured towards the map. "Give it here, then."

Peter cast all of them an anguished glance; Sirius thought he spotted the glimmer of a tear. With the air of a prisoner waiting to be Kissed, Peter handed the map to Avery.

Avery turned the map over, frowning, and Sirius saw that the parchment had been wiped clean. "There's nothing written here."

"Huh," said Peter. "Guess I didn't get too far on my Divs homework." As Avery examined the parchment, Peter tossed the black quill to James, who caught it and pocketed it in one swift gesture.

Avery didn't notice; he shook the blank sheet of parchment at Peter. "You were writing all over this a minute ago. I saw you. You can't fool me."

"That's so confusing," said Peter. "Maybe you need glasses?"

"Yeah, right." Avery drew his wand. "It'll be detention for all of you when I find out what sort of perverted things you've been drawing —"

"Not detention," said Peter. Remus looked like he was trying very hard to keep a straight face. "Oh, Merlin, please no. Not detention, please, I'll do anything —"

"Too late," said Avery. He touched his wand to the parchment. "Bet you didn't realize that there are spells to reveal hidden writing, did you?"

"Spells?" squeaked Peter. "Galloping gorgons, we'll be ruined if you cast a spell…"

"I thought as much," said Avery smugly. "Secretus revelio."

Black ink bloomed across the parchment, and Sirius grew tense. If Peter had botched whatever he'd been planning —

But the swirls of ink didn't reveal the carefully-drawn map of the castle; instead, writing appeared on the parchment in very familiar penmanship.

Mr Wormtail bids Edmund 'Dung Brains' Avery good day and advises him against meddling in business he hasn't the mental capacity to understand.

Mr Prongs agrees with Mr Wormtail and shall use smaller words to explain that Edmund is a nosy half-wit and an insufferable arse.

Mr Moony would like to disclose that Edmund's deficiencies are due to being dropped on the head as a child, a fact that Edmund's mother confessed privately to Mr Moony the last time they were in bed together.

Mr Prongs has nothing more to add, as Edmund is unable to read, the idiot.

Veins were bulging in Avery's neck. "What — you — what the —"

"Huh," said Peter, craning his neck. "That wasn't there a minute ago."

"Detention." Avery was breathing hard. "All of you."

"But we didn't do anything," said Peter. "We didn't write those words. I've never even met a Mr… Wormbottom, was it?"

"I don't need a reason to give you detention," said Avery. "You lot are — You're a gang of marauders. Mischief-makers."

"That's extremely hurtful," said Peter.

"Marauders," repeated James with a whistle. "Those are some cutting words, Edmund."

"I can give you cutting," said Avery, raising his voice. "You're dirt. Blood traitors."

Sirius stood abruptly and shoved his chair into Avery, nearly knocking him over. "Say that again, a little louder. So everyone can hear you."

"Gladly," sneered Avery. "I cannot wait for the day the Dark Lord puts you in your place, you bunch of up-to-no-good blood traitors —"

"Oh, my," said James. "Think you've caught Pince's attention."

He waved jauntily towards the front desk. Madam Pince had set down her book and was glaring at Avery as if he'd just personally threatened to burn down the library.

Avery gulped.

Five incredibly satisfying minutes later, Avery had been banned from the library, along with ten other unlucky students who had happened to be studying nearby. Not wanting to be caught the commotion, Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter ducked under the Invisibility Cloak and crept out of the library.

"That was brilliant, Wormtail," said James once they were in the corridor.

Peter blushed. "It was all thanks to the quill."

"I can't believe he called us marauders," sniggered Sirius. "Talk about a weak insult."

Remus looked thoughtful. "You know, Pads… It's not that the Magic Map isn't an incredible name, but…"

James snapped his fingers. "The Marauders' Map."

"Precisely." Remus smiled.

"The map's still there, underneath the writing," said Peter. "It's just hidden until it gets the right phrase — sort of like a password. Any ideas?"

"Well," said Sirius, "if we simply let it know we're up to no good…"

Peter was already pulling out the black quill. "And to wipe the map clean?"

"I was thinking 'dirt and blood traitors' ," said James, "but that's a bit strong."

"Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, does it?" said Sirius. "Someone ought to inform my mum."

"What about 'mischief managed' ?" asked Remus. "It's simple."

"Our mischief is never managed," said Sirius. "Not fully, at least."

"I like it," said James. "It'll do for now. Good work today, Marauders. Peter, I officially dub you Most Valuable Pettigrew."

Peter paused from scribbling long enough to take a deep bow.

In the middle of March, the first warm day of the year arrived like an unexpected breeze. Rays of sunlight streamed through the castle windows, warming the classrooms until they were stiflingly hot. Outside, the grounds of Hogwarts beckoned invitingly, promising sunshine and fluffy clouds and flowers in bloom.

Mary and Marlene promptly began to suffer terrible cramps, causing them to miss Double Charms that afternoon in favour of sunning themselves by the lake. Lily joined them after the lesson. "Flitwick hopes you feel better soon," she said, untying her trainers and letting her toes sink into the dirt. "He also assigned you each an extra five inches on Blood-Stanching Charms for homework."

"Shit," said Marlene. "He doesn't have much sympathy for womanly troubles, does he?"

"I think he's trying to empower you," said Lily.

"I swear I actually have cramps," said Mary, who was lying in the grass and looking very relaxed. "I think I felt a twinge just now."

After a half hour of seeing who could skip rocks the farthest — Marlene won, though Lily swore she'd had her wand up her sleeve — Marlene and Mary decided to take a nap. Lily wasn't tired, so she went for a walk instead.

She wandered around the perimeter of the lake, her thoughts turned to Sally Dearborn. She was no closer to figuring out what had happened to Sally than she had been last term, but she couldn't give up. Dumbledore and the other professors had already stopped looking for Sally; if she gave up, too, it was likely Sally would never be found. And then what would happen to her?

Nothing good, Lily was sure. She figured one of two things had happened: either Sally had run away of her own volition, in which case she would reappear eventually, or else the Slytherins had gotten to her. And if Sally was with the Slytherins, then she was either in danger or dead.

There were footprints in the mud at the edge of the lake. Lily stepped into each one as she walked, trying to match the stride of whoever had been here before her. The footprints gave her an idea; maybe there were signs of Sally on Hogwarts grounds. She might have left tracks, or torn clothing. It was worth investigating.

Hagrid's hut came into view as she rounded the lake. Hagrid was in his vegetable patch, wearing a floppy hat on his huge head and using his umbrella to water the turnips. She waved at him as she walked by, and he beckoned her closer.

"Alrigh', Lily?"

"Hi, Hagrid," she said, smiling. She'd been close with the groundskeeper during her early years at Hogwarts; he'd been her mentor, of sorts. He'd helped her adjust to the magical world and had even taken her shopping for her first wand. "How're the turnips?"

"Goin' ter be a good crop this year," replied Hagrid. He gave her a sly look. "Could use a bit o' help with the waterin', though. Know anyone who migh' be interested?"

"I've got a free period now, funnily enough," said Lily, drawing her wand. It had been years since she'd sought Hagrid's guidance; it would be nice to spend some time with him.

Hagrid watched her closely as she sent a stream of water from her wand towards the row of turnips. "You alrigh', Lily?"

She hesitated. Was she alright? She supposed she was. She was alive, after all. She'd survived the attack on the Hogwarts Express.

But in general, things were… complicated. And as big as Hagrid's heart was, his advice had always been simple. His refrains were always the same: trust Dumbledore, be kind to Petunia, and don't be friends with that Snape boy. She'd long since outgrown his guidance.

Maybe Hagrid had a point, though. After all, look how things with Severus had turned out.

"You can talk ter me," said Hagrid gently. "Lots on yer mind this term, eh?"

Lily avoided his gaze, focusing on one of the more parched-looking turnips. Hagrid had always been more perceptive than most students gave him credit for. "You could say that."

"You were on the train, weren't yeh?" he asked. Lily nodded, biting her lip, and Hagrid's tone softened. "If yer havin' nightmares, Poppy makes a righ' powerful Sleeping Potion. There's no shame in it — load o' folks take 'em, and for lesser reasons, too."

"I'm not having nightmares," said Lily. Which was mostly true. "What happened on the train was awful, but… That's not what worries me. I..." Hagrid put a hand on her arm, lowering her wand, and she trailed off.

"These turnips can take care o' themselves," he said. "Come inside, I'll put the kettle on."

She took a seat at his table, her feet barely brushing the floor. Hagrid poured her an enormous cup of tea and set a plate of inedible rock cakes on the table. She felt like she was eleven years old again.

"Now," said Hagrid, sitting across from her. "Wha's got yeh looking so worried? I could see yeh frownin' from a mile off when yeh were walkin' around the lake…"

Lily took a sip of tea. She felt a little silly confiding in Hagrid like this, as if she were still worried about fitting in at Hogwarts and whether or not Petunia hated her. Her problems seemed so much bigger now.

"Honestly?" she said. "I keep thinking about what happened to Sally Dearborn."

"Ah," Hagrid said sympathetically. "Yeh were close with her, were yeh?"

"Well… not exactly," admitted Lily. "It just bothers me. Even though she's been gone for months, I still think about what might have happened to her." She looked pleadingly at Hagrid. He was part of the staff at Hogwarts; maybe he had some answers for her. "How can someone go missing at Hogwarts? It's supposed to be the safest place in the world. Dumbledore makes it sound like she's dead, but even he doesn't know for certain. Does he?"

Hagrid sighed heavily. "Dumbledore's a great man, but he's no Seer. Wha' happened to Sally's got 'im stumped, too. 'S far as I know, at least."

Lily decided she wasn't above flattering Hagrid to find out more. "You've got to know more than that," she said. "You're practically a professor. Dumbledore trusts you more than some professors, doesn't he?"

Hagrid's chest swelled at the mention of him being a professor. "Well, I wouldn't go as far as all tha' ," he said modestly. "But Dumbledore trusts me, tha's true."

"Have you got any theories about what might've happened to Sally? Or heard anything that seems, I dunno, important?"

"Nothin' I haven't already told the Headmaster," said Hagrid. "Me an' Fang were patrolling the grounds that night. Sally never left the castle, I can tell yeh tha' much. We'd've seen her if she had. Professor Kettleburn and I searched for her the next morning, even, after Dumbledore realized she was missin', but we didn't find a thing. No, Sally didn't leave the castle; I'm sure o' that."

"What if she had something like an Invisibility Cloak?"

"An Invisibility Cloak's no match for Fang's nose," said Hagrid proudly. "Not ter mention Professor Kettleburn's the best naturalist around. Tha' man can track a Thestral in the Dark Forest on a moonless night. But he couldn't find a trace o' Sally."

Lily took a sip of tea, disappointed. She'd been hoping Hagrid might have found evidence that Sally had run away. As things stood, she really didn't want to go poking her nose around Slytherin.

Hagrid's black eyes softened at her expression. "I'm sorry, Lily. I wish I could tell yeh wha' happened ter Sally."

"It's alright," said Lily, and she forced herself to smile at him. She sensed that further talk of Sally would just depress Hagrid, so she switched to telling him about her apprenticeship with Healer Fenwick. Hagrid listened attentively while refilling her tea and shoving more rock cakes at her, despite her protests.

She left Hagrid's hut as the sun was setting. She felt significantly more optimistic than when she had first begun her walk around the lake. Maybe it was actually a good thing that Hagrid hadn't seen Sally on the grounds. It meant the list of possibilities was narrowing.

During the prefect's meeting that evening, Lily signed up for a patrol shift in the dungeons. She wanted to go back to Salazar's Corridor and examine it more closely. Her tracking spell had led her there, after all; the corridor had to be significant. As she wrote her name, she ignored the hole Regulus Black was apparently trying to burn into her skull with the force of his gaze.

Beside her, Remus raised his eyebrows when he saw what she'd signed up for. "Didn't realize you were keen on wandering the dungeons."

Lily's shoulders tensed, and she was about to let out a snappish retort, but the words faded in her mouth when Remus bent to write his name next to hers. "You don't mind if I come with, do you?" he asked.

"Of — of course not," she said, somewhat nonplussed. "That'd be nice, actually."

"Perfect," he said, straightening. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

When Lily met Remus in the Entrance Hall the following evening, he was carrying a quill and some spare parchment, and there was a rat in his pocket.

"Erm," said Lily, squinting at the rat. "Is that…?"

"Good old Wormtail," said Remus, stroking the rat's head. "My little friend."

"I didn't realize you had a pet rat."

"Oh, I've had him for years," said Remus airily. "He usually stays in the dormitory, though." He gestured to the dungeons. "Shall we?"

During their patrol of the dungeons, Lily tried to guide them towards the general area where the tracking spell had stopped working. This proved more difficult than she had anticipated, however. The dungeons were dark and labyrinthine, and she couldn't remember the way, for one thing.

For another, Remus insisted on taking copious notes about the dimensions of the dungeon corridors while his rat scampered up and down the dungeons. She peered over his shoulder as he worked and was surprised to find that he was measuring everything in a unit called 'Wormtails'.

"Do I even want to know what you're doing?" she asked.

"Definitely not," said Remus. He chewed on the edge of his quill as he added the words '26.5 Wmtls' beneath his rough sketch of the corridor they were in.

"You know the dungeons are Unplottable, right?" said Lily. "You can sketch the corridors and rooms all you like, but you won't be able to make them fit together in a way that makes sense."

"All of Hogwarts is Unplottable," said Remus. "Doesn't change a thing." At his feet, Wormtail made what Lily swore was a dismissive noise.

"Right," said Lily. "Forget I asked."

After nearly two hours of wandering (Lily suspected they were going in circles), the corridor split off in two directions, and she got her bearings. "Oh, good, we're close," she said, grabbing Remus' elbow and dragging him along. "Let's take the left-hand corridor, why don't we…"

From there it was only a short walk to Salazar's Corridor. Remus whistled as he examined the statues of Salazar Slytherin. "I had no idea this existed."

"Neither did I," said Lily. She was itching to pull out her wand and try to figure out the corridor's secrets. "Bit out of the way, isn't it?"

Remus ran his hands over one of the statues, which depicted Salazar as an armoured warrior, wielding a lance in one hand and a wand in the other. "Reckon these are hiding something?"

"No idea."

"Oh, sorry," said Remus. "I was speaking to Wormtail."

Lily snorted. "Of course you were." She crouched down and cast a weak Lumos, running her wand over the stone floor. Maybe there was a trapdoor here, or a pressure plate that would reveal a hidden room. Remus was right, the statues could be hiding something.

She snuck a glance at Remus. He was tapping his wand against a statue, muttering something she couldn't make out, while Wormtail squeaked encouragingly. She wondered if Regulus was right; maybe this corridor was full of curses that would kill you in a hundred different but equally painful ways. Remus didn't seem very concerned about that though, so she wasn't going to be either.

First things first, she decided. Find any hidden passageways or secret rooms. She cast an Anti-Concealment charm under her breath, sweeping her palm across the floor, but nothing happened. She examined where the floor met the wall, but there were no gaps to indicate a secret passage.

"Bugger," she muttered. There had to be something hidden here. That tracking spell had brought her to this corridor for a reason.

Maybe Sally Dearborn died here, whispered a voice in her head. Maybe there's nothing more to it than that.

"Looking for something?" said a high, cold voice. Lily looked up; at the end of the corridor, the portrait of young Salazar Slytherin was peering down his nose at her.

"No," said Lily defensively as she stood up. "Just — lost an earring the last time I was down here —"

Salazar narrowed his eyes. The expression made him look exactly like a blonde Severus. "Weasley, wasn't it?"

"Abbott," corrected Lily.

"Oh, yes," said Salazar. His voice dripped with sarcasm. "That's right. Abbott."

"Anyway," said Lily, "guess my earring isn't here, so I'll just be getting on…"

If anything in this corridor that could put a curse on her, she was certain that painting could. She hurried to catch up with Remus, who was measuring the distance between a set of statues. "Are you ready to keep moving?"

Remus blinked. "But I'm just getting started here. How far apart are these statues, do you reckon? Eight Wormtails? Nine?"

"Erm, nine, I think," said Lily. "But that's not — I'm worried about that awful painting," She jerked her head towards the end of the corridor. "It knows I'm not pureblood. I'm afraid it's going to curse me, or something."

"Oh," said Remus. He glanced at the portrait, which was glaring at them. "I can take care of that, actually." And before Lily could stop him, he made an extremely rude gesture towards the painting. "Be nice to Lily Evans!" he called.

The painting looked as horrified as Lily felt. "Oh, my God," she said, caught between laughter and panic. No more pretending to be an Abbott, then. "You actually —"

"Paintings are harmless," said Remus, turning back towards the statue. "Well, the Fat Lady on a bad day isn't. But that scrawny fellow over there can't hurt you."

"You'd better be right," said Lily. "I'm blaming you if I wake up with Salazar's ghost looming over me."

"We'll take care of him if he does," said Remus. Wormtail gave a decisive-sounding little squeak.

Lily couldn't help but feel disappointed after her latest visit to Salazar's Corridor. She'd thought she would have found something there to make sense of why her tracking spell had led to her to that corridor in the first place. But she'd found nothing — not even any dangerous Dark objects or curses! The next time she saw Regulus, she was going to tell him that he was full of it.

It was frustrating. She had nothing to go on — no belongings of Sally's, no clues, no idea what had happened to her. She only knew the things Sally hadn't done, and that wasn't much help at all. Sally hadn't left the castle. She hadn't been seen by anyone. And she hadn't hidden in a secret room in the dungeons.

During her History of Magic lesson, Lily scratched a list onto her parchment instead of listening to Professor Binns' droning. If she could get the facts in order, maybe she'd notice a pattern. A new lead would be nice.

Sally Dearborn, she wrote, underlining the name. Killed (or kidnapped?) because of her father's politics? Saved by family? Ran away? She chewed on her quill before crossing out both 'saved by family' and 'ran away'. Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore had made it clear that Sally's father had no better idea of her whereabouts than they did, and Hagrid had told her Sally hadn't left the castle.

That left killed or kidnapped, then. Neither of those things were good.

Possible culprits, Lily wrote. Mulciber's gang. Real Death Eaters/Voldemort? A jealous ex-boyfriend? Accident?

Well, she could discount the 'accident' theory fairly easily. Students didn't accidentally vanish into thin air. It couldn't have been the real Death Eaters, or Voldemort, either — if they could get into Hogwarts, they wouldn't have needed to attack the Hogwarts Express.

So that left either Mulciber's gang or someone from Sally's past that Lily didn't know about. She'd never seen Sally with a boyfriend, but she supposed it was possible. In fact, she probably should eliminate anyone from Sally's past before focusing on the Slytherins. If she was going to confront Mulciber's gang, she needed to be certain they were the only possible suspects. She didn't want them to get off on a technicality.

Lily scanned her notes and made a face. She may as well have filled the parchment with question marks for all the good it had done her. She was the worst detective ever.

"You were taking diligent notes today," commented Marlene as they walked back to Gryffindor Tower. "Didn't realize you were so interested in goblin wars."

"Har, har," said Lily. "I was just trying to get my thoughts in order. You know, about Sally, and what might have happened to her."

Marlene gave her a weird look. "You're not still on about that, are you?"

"Erm, obviously I am," said Lily. "Is that a problem?"

"No," said Marlene, "it's just weird. You don't really think you can figure out what happened to her, do you? Do you think you know better than Dumbledore? Or McGonagall?"

"Well, I think it's weird that everybody seems to have given up on finding out what happened to her," said Lily. "Even Dumbledore seems more focused on the Aurors and the protections around Hogwarts, now. Nobody's looking for her."

"We did look for her," said Marlene. "Six months ago. There were search parties for weeks, remember? But nobody ever found anything. You can't expect things to continue with that intensity indefinitely."

"I don't!" said Lily. "I just don't like how everyone's content to assume she met a bad end because of her father's politics, when we don't even — when there's no proof —"

Marlene's mouth twisted sympathetically. "I get it. I didn't want to believe it either. Dumbledore's speech at the start of term — it sounded like he was taking responsibility for her death, didn't he?"

"It did," said Lily. "But Dumbledore doesn't know everything. Sally could still be alive, even if he doesn't think so."

Marlene put a hand on Lily's shoulder. "Lily. We have to be realistic."

Lily crossed her arms. "I am being realistic. I know she's not hiding in the Owlery, eating Pumpkin Pasties. That's not what bothers me."

"Then what?"

"It's so unjust. Every week, there are reports of disappearances in the Prophet. Muggle-borns or half-bloods, usually. Nobody ever finds those people, either. They don't even look. Everyone's become numb to it."

"Well, being numb doesn't mean people aren't bothered. Of course they are. But when disappearances happen all the time…" Marlene trailed off ominously.

"People stop caring as much," said Lily.

"You can't fault them for that," said Marlene. "It becomes normal."

"It shouldn't," said Lily. "If I disappear tomorrow, will you give up on finding me, too? Because it's normal for Muggle-borns to go missing?"

"Of course not," said Marlene. "Don't be stupid."

"Good," said Lily. "Then you can't be upset at me for not giving up on Sally." She raced up the stairs that led to the girls' dormitories, not waiting for Marlene to follow her.

"Er, Lils?" called Marlene from the foot of the stairs. "Thought we were going to study in the common room, Mary's saved us seats —"

"I'll just be a minute," said Lily. "I need to check something."

When she reached the top of the staircase, she rapped on the door of the seventh year girls' dormitory. After a moment, the door swung open.

"Ah, hi," said a serious-looking girl with olive skin and curtains of long, straight black hair. "It's Lily, right?"

"Yeah. Lily Evans." She didn't miss the surprised twitch of the girl's eyebrows at her last name. "You're Isadora Pimentel, aren't you?"

Isadora nodded. Her waterfall of hair shimmered as she jerked her head towards the far end of the dormitory, where a gangly girl with tan skin was flipping through a magazine. "That's Cecilia Fenwick. Did you want help with your homework, or something? Because we're a bit —"

"Oh, no, nothing like that," said Lily, and Isadora's serious expression relaxed a bit. "Fenwick, did you say? I think I might have met a relative of yours, Cecilia."

Cecilia looked up, her dark eyes wide. "If it was my auntie, I apologize, she's been like that since her Kelpie accident in the sixties —"

Lily grinned. "Not an auntie, I don't think. He was a Healer — Benjamin Fenwick?"

"Oh, Benjy!" exclaimed Cecilia. "He's my second cousin on my dad's side. Lovely, isn't he?"

"One of a kind," said Lily.

Isadora leaned against the wall, arms crossed as she watched their exchange. Cecilia sat up, swinging her long legs over the edge of her bed. She patted the sheets, indicating Lily should join her. "What can we do for you, then?" she asked.

Lily sat gratefully beside Cecilia. "You two were friends with Sally, right?"

At the mention of Sally's name, Isadora's posture stiffened, and Cecilia's friendly smile grew a bit strained. "'Friends' was a strong word for Sally," said Cecilia, looking a bit apologetic. "She didn't have many. We lived in the same dormitory, sure, but — friends? I don't know if I'd go that far."

"She was kind of a bitch," said Isadora bluntly.

Cecilia made a face at Isadora. "She wasn't a bitch. She just had a strong personality."

"That's fine," said Lily. "Honestly, it doesn't matter if you were friends or not. I just wanted to ask — did you know of anyone who might've wanted to hurt her? An ex-boyfriend, maybe?"

Isadora looked bored. "McGonagall's already asked us the same questions."

"She wasn't seeing anyone when she went missing," explained Cecilia. "I know she dated Frank Longbottom, in the year above us, when we were fifth years, but aside from that…"

"She didn't do romance or friends," said Isadora.

Lily nodded. "I guess that isn't terribly surprising."

"I always got the impression she was only close with her father," said Cecilia. "He was her only family, you know, and I think he was a bit paranoid. I mean, considering his politics, it makes sense, but — I always got the impression he raised her to be a bit of a soldier."

"He was tough on her," said Isadora. "But I guess he had reason to be. Considering she's dead now."

"Dori!" said Cecilia. "Don't talk about her like that."

"Fine," said Isadora. "She's only probably dead."

Cecilia cast Lily a half-exasperated look. "You see what I have to put up with? Always the pessimist, I tell you…"

"So nobody wanted to hurt her," said Lily.

"I wanted to strangle her," said Isadora.

Cecilia rolled her eyes. "Nobody aside from you, Dori."

"What about people from Slytherin?" asked Lily. "Some of them are a bit — fanatical, if you catch my drift."

"I don't think so," said Cecilia. "Although… there was that incident at the beginning of the year with that creep Mulciber. But that's Mulciber, isn't it?"

Lily remembered the prefect meeting at the beginning of the year. Sally had seemed unusually angry at Regulus. "Target practice," she said softly.

"That was only happened once, though," said Cecilia. "She never said anything about Mulciber was targeting her specifically."

"She might've kept it to herself, though." said Lily. "She probably knows her father has a reputation for being paranoid. She might not have wanted to come across the same way."

"Well, she had allies in Slytherin, too," said Isadora. "Even if Mulciber didn't like her, it wasn't like they were all after her."

Lily blinked. That was new. "Allies in Slytherin? How do you mean?"

Isadora leaned back, smirking at the look on Lily's face. "Aren't you a prefect? She got on fine with a few of the Slytherin prefects."

"What?" said Lily. "Like who?"

Isadora shrugged. "That annoying prat Avery."

That didn't make any sense. "Avery goes round with Mulciber, though," said Lily. "Sally couldn't stand that group of Slytherins."

"Well, that's true," said Isadora. "Avery's the least evil of the lot, though. I saw them together on the fifth-floor landing the night she went missing. He was offering to escort her to Gryffindor Tower. Trying to be a responsible prefect, I expect."

"Oh, my God," said Lily. "So you're saying Sally went wandering off with Avery and nobody's seen her since."

"No," said Isadora, "because she refused. Told him to bugger off. She was very clear."

"And what did Avery do?" asked Lily. "Did he get angry?"

"Got his precious feelings hurt, more like," said Isadora. "Sally does that. He went back down the stairs, she continued up the stairs, and I went to study in the library because it's hard to think when Sally's in the dormitory."

Cecilia leaned over to stage-whisper in Lily's ear. "Isadora and Sally didn't get along."

"I would've never guessed," said Lily dryly. "Isadora, did you tell Professor McGonagall about seeing Sally and Avery together?"

"Of course not," said Isadora. "What was there to tell?" She adopted a mockingly high-pitched tone. " 'Hi Professor, just wanted to let you know that a prefect offered to walk the Head Girl to Gryffindor Tower, and when she said no, he backed off and they parted ways.' I'm sure McGonagall would have found that riveting."

"Alright," said Lily. She could tell Isadora's patience was wearing thin. "Thanks for the information. Will you two let me know if you remember anything else that seems important?"

"Of course," said Cecilia, at the same time Isadora said, "Probably not."

As Lily left the dormitory, she could hear Isadora muttering. "That was surprising. I guess Sally had friends after all."

"Oh, hush," came Cecilia's voice. "The poor thing was worried, I thought she was sweet…"

Lily grimaced. They clearly thought she was being naive. Not that she cared, much — Cecilia and Isadora could call her whatever they wanted, now that they'd given her a new lead.

She'd suspected for a while that everything led back to the Slytherins, and this was further proof. There was no way she could talk to Avery directly about that night — he'd only hex her — but maybe somebody else could. Maybe she could catch Regulus alone and ask him about Avery.

Regulus. Sirius' words echoed in her mind like a warning. Don't bother him about this. You'll only muddle him up.

Sirius could shove it, she decided. He was just like Petunia, too bitter to acknowledge that there was anything good about his younger sibling. Lily knew better. She'd ask Regulus for help, and he'd give it to her. Wouldn't he?

Finding Regulus Black was more difficult than Lily had anticipated. He ate with Mulciber's gang at mealtimes, but she didn't dare approach him then. And during their prefect meeting that week, he stuck to Avery like glue, slipping in and out of the meeting before it had even finished.

She considered trying to catch him after one of his classes, but she had no idea what the fifth-year Slytherin class schedule looked like. She suspected, a little nastily, that she might have had a better grip on the Slytherin schedule if Severus hadn't spent most of the previous year avoiding her at all costs.

Finally, only a few days before the Easter holidays, she spotted Regulus in the Entrance Hall. He emerged from the corridor that led to the kitchens, stuffing what looked like a handful of meat pies into his bag.

"Regulus," she said, running a little to catch up with him. "Can we talk?"

His eyes widened, alarmed that she would dare speak to him public. He looked over her head at the other students milling about the Entrance Hall.

"Oh, for God's sake," said Lily exasperatedly. "It'll only be a minute."

"Fine," said Regulus shortly. He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her back into the corridor that led to the kitchens, letting the door swing shut behind them. "What's this about, then?"

Without meaning to, Lily glanced at the meat pies that were threatening to spill out of his bag. Nestled under the pies was what looked to be a roasted chicken.

Regulus followed her gaze. "I've been working on a project in my dormitory," he explained. "A painting of my mum. It needs to be finished soon. I just needed to grab a bite to eat."

"Ah," said Lily. "I didn't realize you were an artist."

A faint flush crept up Regulus' neck. "I'm not, really," he muttered.

"But you're painting a portrait of your mum?"

"I mean... that doesn't — it's not like I'm any good —"

Regulus looked like he was about to put his face into his bag of meat pies out of embarrassment, so Lily changed the subject. "I'm sure it's brilliant," she said. "I just have a quick question, and then I'll let you get back to painting. Did you know that Avery spoke to Sally Dearborn the night she went missing?"

The colour vanished from Regulus' face. "What?"

"Yeah, apparently he offered to escort her to Gryffindor Tower."

Regulus' inhaled sharply. "How — how did you find out about that?"

"A friend of Sally's saw them together," said Lily. "You don't think — Avery wouldn't have hurt Sally, would he?"

Regulus made a little jerking motion that might have been a shrug. Lily narrowed her eyes. "Regulus. Please. You have to tell me what you know."

"I don't — I don't know anything," said Regulus.

Lily crossed her arms. "Bullshit."

Regulus sighed and glanced around the empty corridor, as if he expected to find people eavesdropping. "Look. I can't give you any details, but I know Mulciber and Sally got into it at the beginning of last term."

"I know," said Lily, and Regulus looked at her, surprised.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I heard about that," said Lily. "You lot weren't exactly subtle. What was it Sally said called it — 'target practice' ?" She drew quotes in the air with her fingers.

Regulus grimaced. "Right. My point is — Mulciber might have had it out for Sally, but Avery — he's not like that. He's not one to try anything on his own."

"What if he was acting on Mulciber's orders, though?" asked Lily. "What if he hurt Sally because Mulciber told him to?"

Regulus shook his head. "I don't think so. It's probably a coincidence that Sally's friend saw them together."

Lily frowned. "I'm not stupid, you know. Sev and I were mates last year. I know the sort of stuff Mulciber gets up to with his awful group — the group you're part of. You're protecting them."

"I'm not," said Regulus. "I promise. I'm not even… I'm doing the minimum for them, alright? Unlike some people, I don't get off on learning Dark magic."

Lily raised her eyebrows. She'd suspected Mulicber's gang was dabbling in the Dark Arts, and this was confirmation. She wondered who was teaching them Dark magic.

"Regardless," said Regulus, who seemed to realize that he had said too much. "I don't think Avery was involved in Sally's disappearance."

"Maybe not," she said, "but he might have seen something significant, even if he wasn't involved directly." She hesitated. "Do you think… could you talk to him about it? For me?"

She knew even as she asked the question that it was hopeless. The expression on Regulus' face said as much.

"I'm just trying to keep my head down," he said. "If I start poking my nose where it doesn't belong, I could get into trouble. Real trouble."

"Like the sort of trouble Sally got into?"

Regulus looked deadly serious. "Exactly."

Lily shook her head, disappointed, and this more than anything seemed to gall Regulus. He ran his hand through his hair much the same way Sirius did, looking frustrated. "I wish I could help you, alright? I wish things were different. But I can't. I can't."

"You're covering for them," said Lily. "You're… if you don't help, you're just as bad as they are. You're letting them get away with it."

"I'm not — I've got no choice."

"Wrong," said Lily. "You have a choice. You just don't like the consequences."

Regulus closed his eyes, pained. "If you knew," he said. "If you had any idea…"

He looked so vulnerable. He looked just as resigned as Severus had during fifth year. She'd thought she'd understood what the pressure in Slytherin was like, but now she realized that the situation might be more dire than she'd imagined.

"Tell me," she said. "I can help you."

"You can't," said Regulus. "Nobody can."

"I could —"

"The food is getting cold," he said. The chill in his voice indicated that their conversation was over. "Can I get back to my painting?"

Lily felt tears burn at the corners of her eyes, and she had to fight to keep her face neutral. Sirius had been right. She couldn't save Regulus either.

"Alright," she said softly. "If you change your mind — if you think you might need help, no matter what it's for, you can come to me, alright?"

Regulus let out an incredulous little snort. "You really think that's ever going to happen?"

"All the same," said Lily. "The offer stands."

Regulus pressed his lips together like he was biting back a sharp retort. After a moment, he gave a twitch of his head, just enough to indicate he'd understood, and then he was gone.

A/N: What do you think, is Lily on the right track? Is Sally alive or dead, and if the Slytherins got to her, how'd they do it? I'd love to hear your theories!