Wow, so this chapter is actually extra long. Scratch that, I think this story is extra long. It was just an interesting idea, and now it's over 200 000 words long! Somehow it just snowballed... Tell me if it's getting boring!

Sorry again for the late post, again wasn't really at fault!

AlRiddle, I'll go and correct the AO3 problem right away..

Sorry also to Patrick and Blue Ocean, I forgot you were guest reviewers!

Patrick: thanks for coming back to review! Interesting idea about the Crouch thing, I hadn't even thought of that! Maybe she will be placed on someone's black list... Thanks so much also for wishing me a nice holiday! I just can't really write during the summer, my keyboard gets too hot (and so I do too :( ). It's slightly earlier than New Year's so I hope you're happy!

Blueocean: Well spotted! Amelia isn't stupid, as you've said, and it might have been just as well for Rabastan. I wanted to show another side of his - that he genuinely is scared of real danger (like during the battle), and so would do anything to prevent Bones from finding out the truth. Of course, he's pretty impulsive, and probably wouldn't have gone through with the plan if he had half a brain. Hope you enjoyed the revelation of the Marauders' activities!

Everyone else: thank you sooo much for staying with this story to its 200 000th word count and 500th review. I seriously can't believe it. I hope you'll all read to the very end and tell me what you think! Also, thanks to the followers and favourites (and of course the reviewers!), who I always seem to forget about (but I really don't, swear!)

Without further ado...

Once James was no longer in sight – and she had made sure that the Invisibility was still safely tucked into her satchel – Emma turned to Regulus with a questioning look.

'What was it you wanted to talk about?'

Instead of replying straight away, Regulus came around to sit on the chair next to her, turned so they were facing each other. His expression turned sheepish and he couldn't help but glance back to check that they were alone.

'I'm not sure how I should... Are you...? I mean...' He paused, glancing at his hands, which were wringing knots. Taking a deep breath, he started again, laying his hands flat on his thighs. 'I'm sorry for saying we should keep this secret, when we hadn't talked about it before.'

'Regulus,' Emma couldn't quite keep the grin of amusement from her face. Regulus frowned and resumed his thumb-twiddling. 'Did Rabastan put you up to this?'

Her boyfriend's glance backwards gave him away when his lips wouldn't. So he did,* Emma thought. And he's probably waiting in the corridor as we speak, in case Regulus chickened out. She didn't know whether to laugh or shake her head at Rab's behaviour. He really was more like James than he cared to let on.

'You don't have to worry about that Regulus,' she smiled again, more gently this time. She briefly brushed the back of his hand with her fingertips. 'I understand the reasoning behind it.'

'Everything's always been so controlled,' Regulus replied, changing topics abruptly. 'I don't... There isn't a guide to this,' he gestured. 'Us, I mean... Am I doing this right? Should I act differently now that... you know... we, uh, are... dating?'

Emma had never seen Regulus so tongue-tied. Speechless, perhaps, but if he was at a loss for words he would simply stay silent. Seeing him like this... she wondered what Rabastan could have said to him to make him stammer in such a way. Her stomach clenched at the realisation that he must have put a lot of thought into how they had acted this morning.

Sensing that he needed reassuring but not sure as to how to act, she linked the tips of her fingers with his.

'I don't think there's a manual for this one Reg,' she replied, before remembering that he hated the nickname. Covering her mishap, she hurried on. 'Besides, if we could take on five Aurors at age sixteen, I think we've got this covered.'

Regulus let out a short laugh, a quiet version of his brother's bark, but he slid his hands forwards so that their hands were properly interlocked. He played with their hands for a bit before continuing thoughtfully.

'I was thinking about what you said last night, and you're right. I want this to go right just as much as you do, after waiting so long...'

He cut off abruptly, a look of horror overcoming his face. It was too late though.

'So long?' Emma asked curiously.

'Forget I ever said that,' Regulus said hurriedly, but Emma pressed on, slightly hesitantly in case she had misinterpreted his words.

'Did you…Have you fancied me for a while?'

A deep blush washed over Regulus's features, giving Emma an insight as to why he was usually so controlled - with skin as pale as his, the slightest blush was immediately detectable. He looked down, twisting his thumb over hers.

'It's entirely possible,' he admitted. 'This isn't exactly the topic of discussion that I had wished for...'

Though Emma was burning with curiosity – and her mouth wanted to plaster a huge smirk on her face – her compassion won the inner battle. So instead of insisting upon the issue, she leant forwards and gave him a gentle kiss. When she felt his lips curve upwards in the semblance of a smile, she knew she had made the right choice. She could pester Rabastan later - suddenly those knowing looks made a lot more sense - but the warm, bubbly feeling in the pit of her stomach made the wait worthwhile.

As the kiss grew more heated, Emma took her hands out of Regulus's to steady herself against his shoulders, but her boyfriend had other plans, pulling her forwards to half-sit in his lap.

When they broke apart, Emma's cheeks were as flaming as Regulus's. She had just remembered that they were in the library, a very public place, though no one seemed to have noticed them just yet.

'Want to get out of here?' she asked, closing her library books with a snap.

'You read my mind,' he grinned back, placing a kiss on her shoulder before going out into the corridor to wait for her.

To get rid of Rab, Emma corrected herself silently, suddenly remembering her promise to their fellow Slytherin. If what Regulus had let slip was anything to go by, there was a large chance that she owed him more than a word to Lucinda.

.

That evening, Emma convinced Lucinda to come up to the dormitory to her, under the pretext of not knowing what clothes she should buy at the next Hogsmeade visit. Lucinda happily followed her upstairs, chatting away about Christmas presents and the New Year party that Evan wanted to hold to celebrate his new position as manager of the Bertie Bott's factory.

Once upstairs though, Emma stopped in her tracks - Lucinda nearly running into her - and closed the door, putting a new type of Muffling charm Severus had taught them that summer into use.

'So, we don't have much time before Alecto comes up - she knows I'm not interested in clothes right now and that this is a code for talking about Fenwick's possible girlfriend without alerting the guys,' Emma informed Lucinda with one single breath.

Before the blonde could reply, Emma continued, in the same, hurried manner.

'I have two things to talk to you about before then, the first is about Regulus and the second is about Rabastan - which do you want first?'

To her credit, Lucinda caught on immediately. 'Let's go for Regulus, there isn't much I don't know about Rabastan if we don't have time.'

Here Emma paused, suddenly remembering that Lucinda slept with him during their sixth year. Unsure of how to proceed with an already embarrassing topic of discussion, she paused in her train of thoughts. She had expected Lucinda to reply "Rabastan", since she enjoyed teasing him so.

'You don't.…still have feelings for him, do you?' she asked rather awkwardly.

'Please,' Lucinda snorted, flopping down on the bed, her skirts fanning out around her. 'We've been over this already. No, I do not, and frankly, I think I was mostly interested, because I enjoyed the idea of fancying people in sixth year, had read somewhere that the mysterious type is the best in bed and on New Year's I was drunk. Why?'

Emma's face felt like it was on fire. That was certainly not the response she had been expecting. 'So during the start of sixth year, you're telling me you just enjoyed fancying people for the sake of fancying someone?'

'Basically, yeah,' Lucinda grinned. 'Why, do you fancy him? I could tell you what he was like, you know.'

'Um, no, that's okay,' Emma stammered out, trying to get the picture of Regulus and Lucinda out of her head to no avail.

Of course, she had known that Regulus had been with other people, but she didn't need to imagine it in detail with one of her best friends. Unfortunately, the more she tried to suppress it, the more her imagination tried to conjure up the image.

She blinked a couple of times and tried to go on. 'I, uh…Well, you see, we might have...'

'You slept together?' Lucinda asked excitedly. 'Oh this is great; I always thought you were perfect for each other. Annoyed me to no end last year, but then I realised I wouldn't have enjoyed being with Regulus anyway. Too silent and broody. Tell me everything.'

'Well, yes, we did, but that's not the point,' Emma took a deep breath to process Lucinda's enthusiasm.

'Don't tell me... How for the love of Nimue did this even happen?' Lucinda asked, her brain catching up with her romanticism. 'I hadn't pegged you for... er... I mean I could never imagine you and Regulus having a fling. Plus, you said you weren't interested last year.'

'I wasn't,' Emma said truthfully, ignoring the rest. That wasn't relevant to the topic. 'We're going out now. And I won't give you the details – that would just be weird.'

Besides, it's not as if I remember much, Emma thought. That night was a bit of a blur. They had decided that after that rushed start; they might take it a little slower now.

Lucinda broke into a broad grin, obviously accepting Emma's secrecy. She's probably touched that I decided to tell her early, Emma thought, thankful for Regulus's plan.

'I don't mind telling you that I think he's liked you for the past year now, then,' the blonde was saying. 'I was upset after New Year's because I realised that the only reason he was with me, was because you were with Avery. By the way,' she added as an afterthought. 'I much prefer you dating Regulus to Avery. He gave me the creeps.'

They shared a shudder.

'I never dated Avery,' Emma clarified, feeling like she was going off-track. 'Look, I wanted to tell you because I wanted to know if you had any advice. James found out - I won't go into detail about how - and he wants Reg to come over for Christmas dinner. With Sirius. I won't even begin to describe how awkward that is.'

No, Emma, she thought. That wasn't at all what was supposed to come out of her mouth. As if Lucy knows anything about strained Black relations. Rabastan would be the better choice, with Bella as a sister-in-law.

'Quite a conundrum,' Lucinda agreed thoughtfully, surprising Emma again. As if she had noticed, Lucinda laughed.

'I'm trying to remove all of the slang from my language for when I start a business,' she explained. 'As for your problem, I only have one solution really: slip Sirius a calming draught. Regulus too, for that matter, if he's going around poisoning family members.'

The girls shared a look, both knowing that the event was destined for awkwardness at the very least. Emma felt her face grow hot again. Now or never, Emma, or do you want to remind Alecto of William the Muggle?

'There's also something else, that I would appreciate you not telling anyone else about,' she started, feeling like a fool. 'I never really spoke with my mother these past few years, and I didn't want to look it up in a library in case someone saw but…Do you know how to…um…protect yourself from, um...'

Luckily, Lucinda understood enough from Emma's stammering to know not to ask again. 'Yeah, I have a few contraceptive spells,' she replied. 'But potions work much better, if you can handle asking Mme Pomfrey.'

Emma's look of horror said it all.

'Of course, you can just order it from a catalogue,' Lucinda laughed. 'I'll let you borrow my owl; it would be a little strange to use James's or a school owl. Mine knows to deliver straight to my dorm. In the meantime, I think I have a stock of them somewhere in my cabinet, you never know with this sort of...'

Her voice died down and she paused in the rootling of her affairs. Turning back towards Emma, who had made herself comfortable on Lucinda's bed, a thought struck her. 'Do you mean that you haven't…protected yourself…so far?'

And here I was, thinking the worst was over, Emma shut her eyes, preparing for her pride to take another hit.

'Um…no,' she admitted, realising just how big of a mistake that one night could have been.

'Emma!' Lucinda looked scandalised. 'Don't you know how dangerous that could be? Magical abortions are always worse than Muggle ones - the foetus develops the magic at the same time as the child, so as to protect it from illness. So if you try to abort it after its magic is attuned, the magic will try to protect the child and causes irreparable damage to the mother!'

Emma's stomach churned at the possibility. Some of the worry she saw on Lucinda's face sank in, but before she could panic, Lucinda was asking her another question.

'How many times has this happened? Quick, mix some of your blood into this potion.'

A vial was thrust forth before Emma could understand what was happening.

'Only once,' she muttered, casting a quick slashing charm on her arm and letting the blood drip through.

Lucinda handed her a pink handkerchief as Emma gave the vial back: neither of them knew any healing magic other than "Episkey". Emma went to wet it under the tap while Lucinda checked the results.

'Well?' Emma called, keeping the tremor out of her voice as she returned to the dormitory, arm safely wrapped.

'All clear,' Lucinda breathed a sigh of the relief.

The potion had turned a pure turquoise blue, no hint of blood to be seen.

'Useful,' Emma commented, the stress deflating out of her like a balloon.

'Don't do that again!' Lucinda admonished, before a sly grin spread across her face. 'So, was he that bad huh? Only once?'

Emma was saved a reply when a mane of red hair appeared out of the door.

'Knock, knock?' Alecto asked. 'All clear?'

Emma nodded as Lucinda stowed her potions away. She would have to talk to the blonde about Rabastan another time.

.

An hour later, Sophie and Helen had been successfully turned away with the help of some Confunding charms. A necessary evil, Alecto had deemed, and Emma was inclined to agree. At least Alecto wasn't so far gone as to want to Obliviate their fellow roommates.

Regulus and Rabastan arrived at nine o'clock on the dot, and Emma explained the plan that had been brewing in the back of her mind all afternoon - with the help of Regulus and hindered by his kisses. Even now, she couldn't help the smile spreading across her face as they made themselves comfortable on the floor, and she was rewarded with the smallest of smirks from her boyfriend.

Rabastan, of course, noticed this exchange and rolled his eyes with a sigh that sounded suspiciously like "lovebirds". Emma only had to look at him to remind him what she held over him, and Rab rearranged his features into such an un-Rabastan-like pleasant expression that Emma had to reign in a laugh.

'When you two are quite done with your shenanigans, would you be so kind as to inform us of your master plan?' Alecto asked dryly.

'Of course, my dear Aly,' Rabastan replied, borrowing the unsuitable nickname from an earlier conversation.

Alecto glowered at him, red sparks shooting out of the wand still clutched in her hand.

'Now, now, children,' Lucinda admonished, summoning a cushion to sit on. 'Why am I included in this little club?'

'As you all know,' Emma started, getting straight to the point. 'Rabastan has been feeling…a little uneasy, shall we say, about our DADA teacher this year.'

'Haven't we all?' Regulus asked.

'Hear, hear,' Alecto replied, frowning. 'Do you know how we're getting rid of her? I heard Barty talking in the common room of Transfiguring her into an inanimate object after a grilling on Unforgivable Curses – is that even possible?'

'If it is, then I'm sure that only Barty the genius could accomplish it,' Emma replied, and maybe James or Sirius. 'No, the plan I had in mind is less conspicuous. The only problem is that it might link us to the Death Eaters.'

'Muffliato,' Regulus said quickly, casting it at the door.

They had forgotten to renew the spell. The five of them froze for half a second, expecting Bones to crash in any minute.

'Good thinking,' Alecto approved at last. 'Go on, Emma.'

'Well, Rabastan's father is influential in the Wizengamot,' Emma explained. 'If a place high on the board of those entrusted to take care of the Death Eater trials was to be vacant...'

She let her words trail off, letting the implication sink in.

'Then Mr Lestrange could propose Bones for it,' Lucinda realised. 'And my mother is very persuasive if needs be...'

'So she could convince others to vote for Bones,' Rabastan finished. 'Brilliant. But how could it link us to the Death Eaters?'

'If your father asks for Bones to be placed as trial judge, then the Ministry will believe that he is on the "light" side,' Regulus explained, scrunching his face at the terminology. 'But Dumbledore is cleverer than that, and realise that your father thought you were in danger.'

'Then that would make them believe I was the Death Eater he was trying to protect!' Rabastan exclaimed. 'It'd be swapping one danger for another!'

'Out of the fire and into the furnace,' Emma agreed. 'But what if there was another way? You're not going to like it, Rab.'

'What is it?' Rabastan asked heavily, letting his head slump back against Emma's bed.

'We get your father to agree to the plan, then stage a break in and Confund him, leaving Dumbledore to wonder who would do such a thing.'

'And it would take suspicion away from my family, instead drawing attention to its influence,' Rabastan concluded, before he set his jaw grimly. 'And the Dark Lord will want to know how my father was Confunded.'

'That's the beauty of the plan,' Regulus interrupted. 'Having Bones on the panel of judges would suit the Dark Lord, since most of the prisoners aren't Death Eaters. She'll have her hands full trying to sift through the cases, and with her legendary penchant for justice, she'll want to examine each case as carefully as she can.'

'I doubt your father would be punished,' Emma agreed. 'But it would mean putting him at risk: he won't be able to defend himself if he's confunded.'

'He can go to France for a while, take a holiday,' Rabastan waved a hand dismissively. 'No, I like it. I think he will too. He always liked a good manipulation. He says it reminds him of his schoolboy days.'

Regulus leaned forwards. He had been relatively relaxed about the plan to take down Bones, but something Rabastan said had caught his attention. When he didn't say anything though, Emma realised that he simply wanted Rabastan to go on without giving his interest away. Although they were among friends (though privately she excluded Alecto), he seemed to have kept the habit of not letting people know what he wanted. It was a sure-fire way to grab a Slytherin's attention.

She was just about to make a joke of it when Alecto interrupted. Not being able to help shooting her a cross look, Emma quickly forgot all about it.

'So why don't you and Lucy go straight up to the Owlery to send the message? No time like the present,' she said matter-of-factly.

Rabastan's eyes flickered to Emma, who gave the slightest shake of her head. There was no way Alecto was trying to set the two up; though it was unfortunate that Emma hadn't been able to talk to Lucinda earlier. She resolved to get straight to her self-made task that very night. It was odd that Alecto told Lucy to go too, but it would be considered very impolite for either Rabastan or Lucinda to point it out - fearing that the other would misinterpret their remarks in a negative way, so the two got up with bemused expressions to do as they were told.

Alecto watched them go, her head snapping back around to Emma and Regulus as soon as the door swung shut.

'Right,' she said. 'Now that that's out of the way, let me tell you about a plan B. I don't want Lucy any more involved than she needs to be, and we can't be sure that Rabastan won't crack under pressure.'

Emma opened her mouth to protest and then shut it again. It was true that Rab could be a little jumpy sometimes. She noted with interest that Alecto hadn't become a complete psychopath, if she still cared about Lucinda's welfare. Regulus simply arranged his features into polite curiosity, as if they were discussing a change in the weather.

'After all, with Emma and I already a part of the Dark Lord's army, we'll need someone to carry on the pureblood legacy of our generation,' Alecto continued.

There goes that theory, Emma thought, lifting an eyebrow.

'I'm pretty sure that Parkinson's a pureblood too, you know. And there are plenty of other girls in the other Houses and years,' she couldn't help but point out.

'Yes, but none of them have the same potential as us,' Alecto said, as if stating the obvious. 'We are the only ones to succeed in obtaining the Dark Mark before we were even out of Hogwarts!"

Emma conceded that she had a point; though the idea of the war continuing over the span of twenty years made her stomach roil.

'Genetics aside, I have another solution to the Amelia Bones problem. If this doesn't work, then I suggest we get Barty Marked as quickly as possible - it enhances your power in dark magic, you know, and get him to practice this Transfiguring idea of his.'

'I don't know anyone who would be a willing subject for that,' Emma immediately pointed out the flaw in the plan.

'We'll get him some Mudbloods,' Alecto said impatiently. 'They're not that hard to trick: Emma, you lure them, Regulus you stun them, and I'll Obliviate them later on. If they get stuck like that then…less work for the Dark Lord.'

Emma and Regulus shared a dubious look. Alecto misinterpreted their wariness for incomprehension.

'It's simple really. When Barty's ready, we'll have to find a way to make Mulciber or Wilkes reveal themselves as a Death Eater to Bones - no one thinks they'll go very far anyway - and then Barty shows up and transfigures her into a bone,' she explained in a rush. 'Of course, we'll have to be on standby, in case he has any trouble. Regulus, I hear you're a skilled dueller, and Emma, I know you have an affinity with the Cruciatus curse.'

Alecto smiled, pleased with herself. Emma had to concede that it wasn't a bad plan, other than its questionable morals. But if it would save them from getting caught…She felt a little guilty that Alecto had complimented her torturing skills - she hated using the Unforgivable curse, but it had a way of slipping out when she was angry.

'Whilst a bone is very poetic, I'm not sure it's the most innocuous thing to have lying around. What will we do with it? What if the spell wears out?' Regulus was asking the proper questions. 'Plus, why would Mulciber or Wilkes ever reveal themselves to Bones?'

'I was hoping you'd ask that,' Alecto replied. 'Her DADA lessons were somewhat useful after all: I thought we could either give the bone to Hagrid's dog - that oaf would probably think it came from one of his pets, or transfigure her into a slab of meat - I heard that might be easier, like condensing Bones's form - and feed it to the Thestrals. The evidence would be disposed of before the enchantment could wear off.

'As for Wilkes or Mulciber, this is why you need to be in on this Emma, I was thinking we could slip the love potion you and Rab are making to Wilkes. Everyone knows he has some kind of deluded crush on you - he's even asked his father if he could petition for your engagement. Those heightened feelings plus your skills of persuasion would be all that Wilkes would need to confess to Amelia Bones if he thought you were in danger. Which,' Alecto pointed out, 'you are, after that display with the huge head above the grounds.'

'You've done your homework,' Regulus replied, clearly impressed.

Emma had other things on her mind.

'Wilkes is trying to arrange a marriage? How could he do that, my parents are both dead!' Emma protested, before a thought occurred to her. 'How do you even know about this stuff?'

Alecto looked smug, folding her arms across her chest. 'Whilst you and Rab have been casting your nets out into the rest of Hogwarts, I went digging for dirt on the Slytherins. Just in case anyone was having any second thoughts about their commitment to the cause with Bones breathing down our necks. Wilkes might even succeed - he's asked Cygnus and Druella Black, who are considering his offer.'

'How in the name of Merlin's black cat do Druella and Cygnus have the right to arrange my marriage?' Emma was aghast.

She knew that many pureblood families arranged their children's marriages, both out of convenience and out of fear for corruption of the line. Narcissa and Bellatrix were both the products of this arrangement, Sirius almost was and Regulus was being put through the process, but her parents had considered the tradition archaic. She hadn't given a single thought to the idea of marrying someone against her will.

'Well,' Alecto said, enjoying the power of information all too well in Emma's opinion. 'Your closest living relative is your great-aunt Dorea Black -'

'Who is sister to my grandfather, Pollux Black,' Regulus finished, looking slightly green.

'Which makes you two family!' Alecto exclaimed. 'Honestly, Emma, don't you study your family tree? It's a noble one, with the small marr of Regulus's disgusting blood-traitor cousin - no offense Regulus, I know you would remedy the situation if you could.'

'Quite,' Regulus said shortly, his mouth tightening.

Emma was still stuck on the idea of Wilkes.

'But surely I'm overage, they can't do that. If anyone had the right, it'd be James,' she pointed out, hating that in the world of most purebloods, the son had the prerogative. She calmed down a little after thinking about it. 'The Blacks would never consent to it though, Narcissa wouldn't let them, and even if her opinion doesn't count, I'm sure Walburga will put her foot down.'

'And why would she want to do that?' Alecto snorted. 'The Wilkes might be new money, but they're good money, and we're running low on campaign funds, what with all of the half-breeds the Dark Lord's bringing in.'

Emma couldn't her eyes flicking over to Regulus, who come to think of it, didn't look very happy at all anymore.

'Oh,' Alecto said, nodding in understanding. 'Of course, Regulus. The only male Black heir, after Pollux himself. Of course, you'd have the right of veto. But really, Emma, would it be so bad? Just think of the stability it would bring you. You wouldn't even really have to pay attention to him; it could be like Bellatrix and Rodolphus.'

'At least Rodolphus has half a brain,' Emma muttered darkly. 'I'm starting to like this plan of Amelia having to catch Wilkes to get rid of her.'

Besides her, Regulus was smirking at Alecto, surprised that she hadn't put two and two together. Emma was even more outraged that he wasn't angry about Wilkes. Didn't he care that his family was going to sell her off like cattle? Instead, he decided that the better plan was to win Emma's ally's - if not her friend's - sympathy.

'Just imagine, Alecto,' he said. 'How would you like it?'

'Not much,' Alecto admitted. 'In fact, that's part of the reason I'm so dedicated to the Dark Lord. My parents think I'm fulfilling my familial duty so far. Plus, they have to marry Amycus off first, or he'll seem ineligible - good luck there.'

Emma remembered Amycus from their duel: a lumbering giant of a man that hardly resembled Alecto, even if she had put on a few pounds these past few months.

The sound of giggling in the stairwell broke the contemplative silence that had fallen over them, alerting them to the presence of Helen and Sophie's return.

'Well,' Regulus said, stretching out his legs. 'I think that's my cue to leave the conspiracy circle.'

He leaned towards Emma as if to kiss her, and then reigned in the action with a smirk. Thinking better of such an obvious action, he took up her hand and kissed it instead, his lips lingering a little too long on her skin.

'Madame Wilkes,' he said with a short bow.

Alecto let out a snort of laughter. Emma was too busy blushing from the intense look in his eyes as he did so, promising her that he wouldn't have settled with formalities if they had been alone.

'The fair bachelorette,' he nodded to Alecto, and then was off, with what Emma thought was a slight cockiness to his steps, letting the two girls in on his way out.