Huge thanks to Lara-Cat for the review and for everyone else who favorited and followed the story, it never would've gotten this far without you guys. So sorry for the delay, I tried to write this chapter so many times but wanted to be able to do the story justice and I think I've finally done that. Let me know what you guys think, please review! If there's anything you would like to see, let me know and I'll try to incorporate it into the story!

When Sirius returned to the Gryffindor Tower in the early hours of the morning, James was waiting for him. The curtains around his bed were pulled back as he waited patiently for Sirius to return, his legs dangling off the bed as he stared into the darkness. Remus had been tossing and turning all night and it was all James could do not to yell at him to just go to sleep. His heart went out for his friend who was balancing so many things at once, each one more monumental and important than the last. It was a miracle that he hadn't had a mental breakdown but James suspected that the upcoming full moon would be a bad one. Not only would the Marauders have to stay away so as to avoid Remus' parents discovering their illegal activities but because Remus' transformations always took more out of him when he was stressed. And they doubted he had ever been this stressed.

He was nearly falling asleep when the door creaked slightly, making his eyes fly open. Sirius stood in the darkened doorway and James could just make out the Marauder's Map in one of his hands in the darkness.

"Bathroom," Sirius murmured as he tossed the map on his bed, his voice revealing how exhausted he was. James followed him wordless, closing the bathroom door behind them as quietly as he could manage. Sirius lit the tip of his wand so that neither of them would be blinded and the pair stood in silence for a few moments before James mustered the courage to ask what had happened.

"Lina's a mess, she's not in a good place right now. Caradoc really fucked her up," Sirius whispered, listing extra-hard to make sure he didn't hear a change in Remus' breathing. "She's acting like she wants to quit school and join whatever movement Caradoc was part of it."

"A movement against the Death Eaters?" James asked, his voice filled with awe.

"She made it sound like there's something going on against them and that she's ready to join. The twins are definitely in it too, they brought Dearborn back."

"Do you think Dumbledore is part of it? He's been missing since Lara came back."

"I don't think there's anything that goes on without Dumbledore knowing about it, at least not in Hogwarts," Sirius replied.

"Did you talk to Lina?" James asked, getting back around to the main point, trying to ignore how tired he felt

"Yeah, I think I might've made things better. Can't be sure, though, we'll see in the morning I guess," Sirius fought off a yawn and James nodded, content with the answer.

"Good job, let's get some sleep so we can figure out if she's any better in the morning," James said, opening the bathroom door and slinking over to his bed, listening as Sirius hesitated a moment before doing the same. It took him a only a few seconds to fall asleep after his head hit the pillow, his eyes burning from exhaustion, and he dreamed of masked men, unforgivable spells, and Caradoc Dearborn whispering with Dumbledore.

As anticipated, Messalina appeared in better spirits in the morning. When the Marauders made it to breakfast, three of the four yawning and fighting off sleep, she was speaking to Lily and Marlene for what was presumably the first time since she had returned. As neither Lily nor Marlene appeared upset, it was clear that Messalina hadn't told them about Caradoc's death or if she had, that they had taken it incredibly well. Messalina didn't appear as relaxed and her smile didn't quite reach her eyes but she appeared to be more like her old self than she had in a few days.

Remus sat directly beside her, as if afraid that she would disappear before his very eyes if he wasn't as close as possible. Messalina appeared to have felt the same way as she instantly seemed less tense as he greeted her. She was distant for the day but no one could blame her, she disappeared after lunch and Remus couldn't bring himself to invade her privacy to try and locate her. It was a good thing that he hadn't, for he would've seen Messalina and Graham Pucey in the positively abandoned library, tucked behind a few shelves of books.

He had found her walking back to the Gryffindor common room after lunch, wanting a few moments to herself to think about the last few days. The thought of laying down for a bit disappeared from her mind the instant that she had seen Graham Pucey's overjoyed face, his eyes sparkling and his arms outstretched for a hug. She had found herself grinning at him, the happiest she had been in days as she allowed him to encompass her in a hug. He pulled away from her, the two of them smiling brightly. For Messalina, it was refreshing to be with someone who wasn't constantly concerned about her well-being and wondering about what had happened when she was gone. Graham made her feel relaxed and she was happy that she wouldn't have to talk about Caradoc or even skirt around the subject with him.

"I'm sorry I didn't come to look for you-" He started but she interrupted him almost immediately.

"I've mostly been sleeping," she told him, surprised by how easy it was to lie to him. With Remus it felt like a sharp pain in her chest to lie or to yell at him, but with Graham it was almost as easy as breathing. "Not very exciting conversation with a sleeping person."

"How are you feeling?"

"Better each day, they think I'll be mostly better by the end of break but I have to stay here so I can see Madame Pomfrey whenever I need her."

"Disappointing I'm sure but at least you'll be feeling better, that's most important," he told her sympathetically, allowing her to lead him on an aimless walk through the halls.

"How have you been? I'm tired of talking about myself, I want to hear some drama," Messalina asked, her eyes sparkling. It was astonishing how easy it was to become a different person when she was talking to someone who knew so little of her secrets and it was easy to keep track of how much Pucey and the rest of the Slytherins knew.

"Jenny and John are still attached at the hip if that's what you mean," Graham replied, making a face. "But I kind of have big news."

"Do tell!"

"There's kind of a girl..." Graham trailed off, gauging the look on Messalina's face. "A muggle girl."

"And?" Messalina asked, her voice excited. Her tone seemed to assure Graham and he continued, his voice growing happier with each word.

"She used to live next door to me when we were little and we were best friends. She moved away when we were ten though, her dad got a job in the United State and she had to leave. She moved back this summer and we've been talking a lot since, you know, as if she had never left. She had a boyfriend in the United States but they broke up recently and I'm planning on asking her out over break but I don't know...do you think it's wrong of me if I know she's a muggle? I just feel like maybe I'm deceiving her in some way, like I'm hiding the biggest secret possible from her."

"You don't even know if she's going to say yes, she might just take one look at your ugly mug and never talk to you again," Messalina teased, wandering into the library. As usual on the day before break, there was not a person in sight and she allowed the change in scenery to give her time to think about his question. "I don't think it's wrong no, at least not if you're just casually dating. If things get serious, I think you'll have to really consider telling her or she could be really upset."

"Is starting a relationship on a lie the foundation for a good relationship though?" He asked, seeming to somber.

"You can't tell her now, though, that would be a serious violation of the Statute of Secrecy. You don't even know if it would work out between you two, you might just be better as friends than dating. I would say just wait and see how things go, don't rush into anything. What do John and Jenny have to say about it?"

"Basically the same thing, but it's good to hear it one more time," Graham replied, sitting down on a window seat overlooking the quidditch pitch. "You're a good friend, Lina, I really missed you. Hogwarts felt different without you here, I think everyone can agree on that. I think the other Slytherins might've had a party but it's hard to tell, I haven't gotten an invite to any of those since John started dating Jenny."

"I missed you too, it's good to be back," Messalina answered honestly, smiling at him and for the first time she she had been there, she truly felt that things might be okay.

Messalina had waved good-bye to the Marauders, Lily and Marlene, and her three Slytherin friends from the entrance to the school, a solemn smile on her face as she watched them leave. Remus felt a tug on his heartstrings as they walked away from her and he forced himself not to look back at her as they headed towards the carriages, terrified that he wouldn't be able to leave her alone. He was, however, excited to be able to return home and not have to remember what secrets he had hidden from everyone around him: his silence on the possibility of his name going to the registry and his family and friends being put in harms way, of his feelings for Messalina which only seemed to grow every time he looked at her, and that he was growing more afraid every day that he would never be able to find suitable employment.

The carriage ride was quieter than usual, the Marauders each ruminating in their own thoughts as they were carted off towards the trains. James and Sirius both grew more excited with each moment, however, and Peter was scrambling to finish his Charms assignment so he would be free of work all of break. Lily and Marlene had refused to ride in the same carriage as them, claiming it was because Marlene wanted to wait for some boy but Remus suspected that Marlene wanted to take the opportunity to talk about Messalina without the Marauders around. Promising to meet up again at some point on the train, they had separated.

Remus reflected on his feelings about keeping so many secrets, each one making his stomach hurt as he thought about how the boys had treated him after they discovered his first secret and the lengths that they had gone to make him feel welcome. Keeping things from them hadn't felt natural since then and it was all Remus could do not to say-

"I love Messalina," he blurted out, swearing inwardly at himself as he realized his mind had forced him to share his secret. James had been talking to Peter and they instantly fell silent, staring at him in surprise. James recovered first, a wide grin on his face as he patted Remus on the back.

"Welcome to the Love Club, Moony," he commented and Remus rolled his eyes thinking about James' infatuation with a certain redhead.

"How do you know?" Sirius asked, a slight edge to his voice as he stared at Remus.

"No other girl could ever compare to her. I look at her and I know that she's the one for me, every emotion she feels I feel in my heart. When she's depressed, I just want to throw things until she's happy. I'm on another level when she's happy, when she just smiles, my heart leaps and I feel so warm. I would kill for these bad things to stop happening to her, I would do anything for her to feel happy. When I make her sad or upset it feels like I made the biggest mistake in my life and I want nothing more than to make her feel better, even if it means I never get to see her. I know that even if she choses to be with someone else, someone whole who has never lied to her and has more to offer, that I wouldn't be upset, only happy that she's happy. She's the one, I know it like I know I'm a werewolf. I've never felt like this before and I sound like a fool but I don't care because it's how I feel," Remus took a deep breath as he finished, his cheeks slightly red with embarrassment but he refused to look away from his friends, showing them that he meant every word that he had said.

"I can't believe it, Moony's in love!" James cried, clearly overjoyed for his friend.

"Are you going to tell her?" Peter asked, seeming to have recovered from his initial shock.

"I can't," Remus muttered, lowering his head. "There's something else I didn't tell you. When I was home last, my dad told me that there's been a lot of werewolves joining the Death Eaters and that's why they keep publishing the registry in the Daily Prophet-"

"Bloody idiots, they ought to be sacked for thinking that's news-" Sirius began but Remus shook his head, clearly not finished with his story.

"I know, Sirius, but that's not the worst part. They haven't been including a lot of stories in the Prophet either. My dad said that there have been lynchings of werewolves and their families, that people have found where werewolves that are on the registry live and killing them and their families. That the Daily Prophet and the Ministry haven't commented on it because people don't care about werewolves, they want to hear more about Voldemort than the well-being of half-breeds and people who somehow manage to love them. If I wasn't a target because I'm a half-blood, I'm an even bigger target as a werewolf and it's putting my parents in so much danger. I'll be on the registry in March when I turn of age and the entire school will know what I am. Not even Dumbledore will be able to protect me."

"I thought your dad got perks from working at the Ministry," James commented.

"As long as pressure doesn't get to be so much that they release the full registry, I'm safe until school ends. If my father is fired for being married to a muggle or if he has to quit or anything happens between now and then, I'm royally fucked."

"We'll figure something out, Remus," Peter assured him, looking more serious than Remus had possibly ever seen him. "Don't worry, you're the smartest guys in school and I'm here to help, we'll figure something out."

"Nothing is going to happen," Sirius told him, staring at Remus with such fire in his eyes that Remus felt himself tearing up. "We will not let anything happen to you."

"You're the greatest friends I could have ever asked for," Remus said, wiping a tear from his eye. "I owe you guys my life."

"I've seen it," James said, rolling his eyes. "You can keep it. We'll settle for getting to have you as a friend."

Dinner in the castle was a somber affair, the faculty trying hard to make the remaining students feel welcome. The four grand tables and the staff table were missing from the Great Hall, replaced by a circular table adorned with festive decorations and golden place settings. Eight other students had remained, most of them younger kids whose parents didn't trust them to stay at home by themselves. Messalina didn't know any of them but she was more than happy with that fact, it left her with plenty of time to herself to think and to catch up on her schoolwork without distractions. She forced herself not to think about the customary greeting by the Prewetts at King's Crossing when the train arrived and the grand meal they would eat at home before settling around the first and talking about their lives. She knew it wouldn't have happened like that if she had been able to stay at her uncle's manor but it made her nostalgic for the old days where she didn't worry about her brothers being killed as they wrapped up their training or her parents being attacked leaving work. It had been a simpler time when they hadn't know about the deepest, angriest feelings of other wizards, when Voldemort had only been a name whispered in the shadows rather than one plastered across the Daily Prophet who was even too scared to call him by his name, preferring to stick to 'You-Know-Who', a monicker that Messalina found utterly ridiculous. Taking a particularly emphatic bite of pie, Messalina forced herself back into the present and out of the past.

"Miss Lucien, this letter came for you this morning." Messalina flinched at the unexpected comment from Professor McGonagall who sat across from her and she took the extended letter with a nod of gratitude. The other students looked at the letter with interest, it wasn't often that letters were hand-delivered from the acting Headmaster, but Messalina quickly placed it in her lap and forced herself to take another bite of pie. What had previously tasted like melted butter and sugar had turned to ash in her mouth and she had to take a deep drink from her glass to swallow.

The letter was enclosed in gold-rimmed envelope, the address across the front written in what appeared to be pure gold ink, and pure red seal of the Wizengamot unbroken across the back. Messalina turned the letter over in her hands, glancing up at Dumbledore's empty seat, a mahogany chair that no other teacher had even contemplated sitting in. Sensing the eyes of the other students on her, Messalina tucked the letter into her robes, the unfamiliar weight making her even more anxious to open it.

She ate as fast as she could, practically shoveling eggs into her mouth as she not to appear rushed. Failing miserably, she practically ran from the Great Hall, ripping open the letter as soon as she was certain she was alone. Shoving the manicured envelope back into her robe pocket, Messalina forced herself to fully read the letter rather than rapidly skimming it.

Miss Messalina Lucien,

You are hereby summoned to provide witness testimony to the Wizengamot in regards to the trial of Marcus Antonius Lucien.

We ask that you provide non-biased, truthful answers to inquiries without the burden of unnecessary personal commentary.

If the Wizengamot believes it is necessary, you may be subject to a dosage of Veritaserum.

Expect a specific date and time to be mailed to you within two weeks of this notice.

Best regards,

the Wizengamot

Messalina reread the letter three times before the words started to sink in. Her father might be facing consequences to his actions, a thought that had never truly seemed possible before. The Ministry wasn't bowing down to the powerful families as it usually did, or at least there was enough evidence against her father that they couldn't turn their head as usual. No matter the reason, the fact that that her father's trial was truly continuing astounded her and she sank to the ground clutching her letter.

From the rumors she had heard, her father could go to Azkaban for the rest of his life. Her mother too if they could prove she wasn't too inept to realize what her husband was doing. And she could finally have her chance for revenge. The idea filled her with such wonder that she found herself nearly skipping back to the common room, preoccupied with illusions of grandeur, of herself detailing her own mistreatment while the entire Wizengamot judged her father mercilessly. Of her father crouched in a cell in Azkaban, her mother in the cell across from her, the two of them stripped from their finery and power. Such a powerful image that she didn't even realize her face had broken into a wide smile or that she had forgotten her cousin's temper would be aimed directly at her.

Thanks so much for reading and Happy Thanksgiving!