Hello everyone! So I'm past the two week mark, but I have a pretty long chapter to make up for it.
Thanks of course to everybody who reviewed: hayhay825, wiseguy123, LadyElizabethDarcy, Teddy2104, A New User, Cae-Leigh Anne, lizyeh2000, BraiveHart, Nik1804 and Lily Greene, you're the best!
Sorry if the POV changing is too hard to follow, I usually put a line between them, but sometime's I'm told it's incomprehensible.
Also, someone reviewed that they found this thanks to a recommendation on tumblr, whoever did that thanks so much, I can't believe it!
PS. if this comes up as a notification twice, I'm sorry, I forgot to put in the lines the first time I posted it.
In the end, due to his Head Boy status, Quidditch practice and the fact that the professors had doubled their homework load in view of the upcoming N.E.W.T.s, James hadn't had a chance to talk to Emma, Regulus, or any of the Slytherins, come to that, for several weeks.
After their January mock exams were over, he turned his attention back to the matter at hand. He had tried to gather information during Potions, but of course, Sirius had exploded Snape's perfectly prepared potion just as he stood up. Not that James was complaining. The Hiccoughing Solution, when ingested in large quantities, turned out to relax your mouth muscles. Snivellus had drooled incoherently for several minutes before Slughorn remembered the antidote he had prepared just in case.
Needless to say, James had held in his laughter until the end of class - for Lily's sake - making up for it by wheezing himself to tears with Wormtail in a nearby secret corridor moments after.
Now though, James's mouth was set into a serious expression, staring over at the Slytherin table as though he could read Wilkes' mind. He had momentarily put Regulus's possible transgression to the side, preferring to deal with one crisis at a time. He was so busy with his staring, in fact, that he almost missed Dumbledore's announcement, although the headmaster had placed a Sonorus Charm upon his throat.
'You may all be wondering,' Dumbledore stated evenly, 'where our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is.'
It was a testament to how distracted they had all been that the rest of the Marauders hadn't noticed that fact either. Sirius and Peter temporarily halted their chicken legs duel, and Remus looked over his rather large book in concern. James turned to scan the head table, but not before he caught the Slytherin seventh years looking excitedly at each other.
Odd, he thought. I wonder if she's got a special lesson planned?
James had enjoyed every extra Defence lesson, even if it did eat up their timetable. He knew that Moony and Padfoot agreed with him, and probably most other Gryffindors as well. Finally, they were learning something that would be useful in the real world. Just the previous week, he had managed to produce a fully corporeal Patronus. It had turned out to be…no surprise, a stag. Still, it was an accomplishment: Padfoot had been teasing him mercilessly about James's increasing frustration all year. Now, out of the seventh year Gryffindors, only Wormtail still couldn't produce it, although he had recently progressed to a large white sphere.
'It is with great regret that I must inform you that Ms Bones has left the faculty staff. As of this week, she is starting up on the committee of the Wizengamot charged with sentencing Death Eaters. A worthwhile endeavour, so let us all wish her well.'
There was a rumble throughout the Great Hall. Dumbledore hadn't mentioned anything about a replacement teacher, and there were still four months to go in the school year, not to mention the exams in June. For once, Lily and Sirius put their heads together to try to come up with an explanation to the unexpected announcement, but something inside James urged him to look back at the Slytherin table, creasing his eyebrows into a frown.
Emma let the smirk on her face grow as Dumbledore made the announcement. When Rabastan hadn't heard back from his father, they had supposed that the plan had failed, that Amelia Bones in all of her Hufflepuff loyalty had decided that it was more important to form the young in what was to come. It turned out that even a Hufflepuff found it hard to resist the call for vengeance.
She looked around at her fellow Slytherins to see her excitement mirrored on their faces. Lucinda couldn't care less, she wasn't doing well in the extra Defence lessons, but she had managed to produce a Patronus, something the rest of them were still grasping at. Upon reflection, Emma thought that the squirrel suited her friend, even if it was a bit of a Hufflepuff Patronus.
Regulus was his usual aloof self, though his eyes glinted with unmasked triumph - Hogwarts was safe again. Rabastan made her nearly laugh out loud with his ear splitting grin. Glancing down the table, Emma noticed Wilkes and Snape exchanging relieved looks, though the loss of their friend prevented them from being any more excited.
'Well done Rab,' Alecto mouthed from across the table, a triumphant smirk on her face.
As if on cue, they glanced over to the other tables. The Ravenclaws looked devastated, but the other two seemed to just be gossiping about the news. Emma met James's eyes at the other end of the hall and hastily dropped her gaze to her shepherd's pie. There was a rumour going around that she was engaged now, though there were conflicting reports on whether it was Regulus or Wilkes.
She rolled her eyes. It was a pretty obvious choice to her, but maybe that didn't matter to a lot of purebloods. After all, it was the head of the family that had the final say. Outdated customs, she scoffed inwardly
However, her hand went to the ring around her neck, lying side by side with the locket. The weight usually reassured her, but recently it had felt as though it were an anchor. How could she get herself out of the service of the Dark Lord? Did she even want to leave, despite the atrocities committed by many of their members? And if so, what would happen to Regulus, to Rabastan, hell even to Alecto? She didn't want to see them die anymore than she did James.
As for her brother, she had been avoiding him as much as possible since he revealed that he would be a part of the Order of the Phoenix. He would sense that something was wrong, and although she trusted her brother, who knew what his friends would decide to do about it?
A hand brushed her elbow reassuringly, jolting her from her thoughts. She gave Regulus a quick smile and caught his fingers with her own. He leaned forwards, his breath ruffling her hair.
'That's Fenwick and Bones taken care of,' he whispered. 'We might survive the year after all.'
'Only N.E. , Prefect duties, Quidditch and keeping him happy to go,' she replied, and although her tone was supposed to be sarcastic, it ended up sounding a little too real.
He withdrew to study her face, his grey eyes probing. Although his perceptiveness was one of the reasons Emma loved her boyfriend, she still hadn't decided whether to talk to him about her fears. She was becoming more and more certain that the Dark lord wasn't all they thought he was, but with Regulus's recent fervour, she was worried that it would break him.
After all, what would everything he had sacrificed have been for if so?
Suddenly feeling as though the Great Hall was claustrophobic, Emma stood up; making a garbled excuse about needing to do some homework before that night's Quidditch practice and forcing her steps into an unhurried walk on her way to the exit.
.
Predictably, she had made a beeline for the Quidditch pitch. By now, she was able to summon her broom from the dungeons with ease, so much so that she stashed it in an alcove nearer to the exit in order to facilitate its journey outside. She still wasn't quite sure how it always found an open window to zoom through.
Her hands closed over the worn wood lovingly, instinctively fitting themselves into the sockets that had been created over time. It wouldn't look strange for her to be on the pitch - the Slytherins had booked the pitch for the evening. Sure enough, within ten minutes, she saw the glimmer of lit wands making their way across the grounds.
Deciding to accompany them to the shed and bask in the glory of a job well done, she made her way towards the dots, drawing up short when she realised what was going on.
She thought that the light was from the Lumos spell, but it turned out to be a duel between the Slytherin and Gryffindor Quidditch teams - plus back up, from what it looked like. Hexes and curses were flying everywhere, rebounding off of random shield charms. So far, no one was on the ground, but Emma didn't have time to assess the situation.
Although still several feet above the ground, she jumped off of her broom, executing a roll that Barty would be proud of and drawing her wand in one fluid motion. Knowing that she had one chance before the duellers saw her; she aimed carefully at Caradoc Dearborn, one of the Gryffindor Beaters and an excellent duellist.
'Lolligo!' she shouted, slashing her wand in a triangle around his head.
A sense of satisfaction bubbled inside her as she saw small spikes appear on Dearborn's face, growing out of his ears, forcing his mouth open and tearing apart his nose. He fell to the ground immediately, the spikes scratching a Gryffindor behind him on the arm.
Before Emma could expand upon her victory, she spotted Lucinda doubling over not far from her, her blond locks cascading to the floor. A surge of anger propelled her forwards, but Alecto was quicker to react. Her face set into a grimace, the redhead thrust her wand towards Sirius Black.
'Cruc-
'No!' Emma cried, throwing herself on top of her former friend.
Alecto twisted to her feet, pushing Emma off her.
'What the hell do you think you're doing?' she snarled, settling into the half crouch that Bellatrix was so fond of. 'Did you not see what they did to Lucinda? Are you with them now?' she jerked her head towards the Gryffindors.
'Of course not,' Emma replied, her tone just as scathing. 'But an Unforgivable will just attract unwanted attention.'
'Oh really,' Alecto mocked. '"Look at me, I'm Emma, and I know everything!" Well guess what, Captain, maybe I care more about Lucinda than this farce of a school anyway.'
Before Emma could answer, Alecto relocated her target, who hadn't noticed a thing, and cast the Cruciatus spell again. Sirius's scream stopped the rest in their tracks.
Sirius moaned, thrashing in his infirmary sheets. James looked on, ashen faced. Peter said nothing about the white hot grip Remus had on his shoulder, though it looked as though it was painful. This close to the full moon, the werewolf was several times stronger than usual.
Five other beds were filled, including Caradoc, whose entire head resembled a sea urchin. Though it was a spell commonly taught in the seventh year, the cure needed to be brewed fresh in order to work, so a spare student had been dispatched to Slughorn's office.
Emma and her friends were sullenly grouped around Nott and Rosier's beds, James noticed. He felt a twinge of regret. Lily had always said that their hotheadedness would be paid for by innocent bystanders, and Rosier hadn't even had time to draw her wand. In fact, if James was honest, she had tried to stop Lestrange from lunging at the Gryffindor Keeper, who had been goading Nott about his the Auror raid on his father's property.
He turned back to Sirius, who was the palest that James had ever seen him, a slight trail of blood running from either side of his mouth where he had bitten his tongue. One half-closed eye swivelled towards James.
'I've 'ad worse,' Sirius managed to get out, slurring as though drunk.
The worst part about that sentence, thought James, is that it's most probably true.
He clenched his fists, glad for the first time that Moony had taken his wand away from him as Alecto Carrow ran away from the fight. Padfoot needed him and the other Marauders to remind him that he would be alright. Still, James's blood boiled at the thought of the redhead who had apparently fled Hogwarts.
The staff was supposedly searching the grounds, and Prefects had been ordered to keep everyone not involved in the entanglement inside the common rooms, but James knew better. Carrow had had plenty of time to get to the apparition wards, especially with the help of the Slytherins. Of course, they denied all knowledge, but Emma and Regulus had pretended that everyone was accounted for. It wasn't until Hagrid - who had been ordered to recheck the head count - noticed there was someone missing that the Prefects admitted that the redhead was missing. And no one believed their story that she had snuck off whilst the injured were being levitated onto stretchers.
James spared another glare in the Slytherins' direction and was surprised with the sight of Emma making her way directly towards him.
'Go now,' Regulus said, not even turning back as he surveyed the flurry of robes and stretchers in the grounds.
Emma said nothing, but gave Alecto a level look. Rabastan was kneeling over Lucinda close to the stretchers and the rest of the Quidditch team crowded around them, looking worried, but in reality also screening the two girls from view.
For the first time in two years, Alecto looked genuinely scared, her green eyes round and her cheeks childishly chubby. Her usual tight knot had come undone, breaking the severe appearance she had taken to in recent months. She looked to Emma for reassurance, though Emma had all but ignored her since the start of the year.
The dark haired girl couldn't help but soften her gaze. Despite all of her flaws, Alecto was still just a hot headed seventeen year old who had reacted upon seeing a hurt friend. Her bravado disappeared; she would now have to face the consequences of her actions: Azkaban. Emma could relate to that, she was walking on a tightrope herself, although she was under no illusion that she deserved it.
'You'll be safe with Bellatrix,' Emma said, certain that Voldemort's right hand woman would take her protégée under her wing. *She'll probably be overjoyed when she hears the news, she thought wryly.
Still, Alecto hesitated. After ten seconds had passed, Emma firmly grasped the redhead's shoulders and gave her a push in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.
'You know what will happen if you stay,' she warned.
Somehow, that was the right thing to say. The fear of the Dementor's kiss propelled Alecto across the grounds with a speed Emma thought her unable to match. She watched the witch go; only turning when all that remained was a speck in the distance.
By that time, Lucinda had been taken care of - simply given a hair regrowth potion and told to take it in sips at intervals of thirty seconds until it was back to its usual length. Knowing Lucinda, she would probably let it grow even longer – regrowth potion made hair as lustrous as a baby's, and there would be no split ends to contend with for a while.
However, they were all ordered to march to the Hospital Wing until the imposed curfew was over - i.e. as soon as Alecto had been found or proven to have left the grounds. Emma mulled over their choice. There had been no question about it - Slytherin protected their own - but a frown creased her forehead nonetheless.
Although Emma was grateful that the redhead had protected Lucinda from further harm than a Stunning spell and losing her hair, Sirius didn't deserve what she had done to him. On top of that, Alecto had drawn the school's attention to what should have been a silly student's duel over who got the Quidditch team. Now, they would be under closer surveillance than ever. Emma was only thankful that it had happened after Bones had left…barely.
Sighing, she turned her mind to matters that she could control, i.e. getting her team's cover straight. That was it, she still considered the Quidditch team hers, hers to control, but hers to protect, keep safe, and in return they still called her their "Captain" - even Barty.
However, at the moment she was furious. She had thought them better than the Gryffindors, or at the least cleverer. She eyed them as best as she was able on the moving staircase, giving especially hostile glares to Regulus, Rabastan and Barty.
'Alright, what happened here?' she asked the rest of them in a barely controlled whisper.
'It was their ruddy Keeper,' Barty said immediately, scrunching up his nose in distaste. 'He was having a go at Anthony, saying that his dad was a Death Eater and everyone knew it.'
'Isn't his dad a Death Eater, though?' Emma questioned.
'Well, yeah, but that's not the point,' Barty replied. 'Anthony doesn't know, he just thinks his dad deals in Dark Art artefacts. So of course, he wasn't surprised that there was a raid on his house, but the thing is, that raid was supposed to be secret. My…father…decided to keep the Aurors on a need-to-know basis in case of spies.'
'Well,' Rabastan interjected with a smug smirk, 'he wouldn't be wrong there.'
'Shut up,' Emma instructed him, and the Beater's face fell.
Emma wasn't looking at him though; she was watching Cassandra's crumpled face. The younger girl had steadied herself on the banister, which from the looks of it was the only thing still holding her up. Emma could only be glad that Anthony Nott had been taken out by a Stunning spell that had unfortunately broken his arm in three places as he fell. The fourth year was currently occupying one of the stretchers floating at the front of their odd procession to the Wing, having been given a sleeping potion to take the edge off the pain.
'You don't have to stay here for this, Cassie,' Emma said gently. The Professors had instructed Prefects to take care of the younger students. 'You're a Prefect, you're within your rights to go back to the dorms. At the moment, there are only two of them down there. Plus, I know it was these idiots that did the most damage.'
Cassandra's blue eyes flitted from one face to another. Her family was one of the few in Slytherin that had no relation to the Dark Arts whatsoever. In fact, half of them had been in Ravenclaw, and her mother was a scholar in the Healing field, developing some anti-curse or other.
'No…It's fine,' she replied eventually, though her voice was wispy. 'I'm sure they can handle it. Besides, Anthony's my friend; I want to be here when he wakes up. And in any case, it's not as though we haven't all guessed where you go when there are no seventh years in the dorms apart from Lucinda. We're not stupid, you know.'
Emma felt a surge of affection for her fellow Chaser. In a way, it was true. Although they tried to keep their activity limited to those within the Dark Lord's organisation, rumours spread. Emma guessed that it was thanks to Cassandra and those like her that the younger years didn't spread the word to other houses.
'It was Sirius who cast the first spell, anyway,' Regulus interjected, obviously willing to get it all over with. He glared over towards his brother's bed as they walked through the entrance. 'Rabastan and I defended Nott and he was trying - unsuccessfully, I might add - to reveal my Dark Mark. Luckily, I found some robes charmed to withstand the Accio charm, as well as chemical burns and the like that could crop up in Potions or Herbology class.'
Rabastan nodded, but Cassandra interjected. 'That's true, but Rabastan did try to punch the other guy before that.' She turned to Emma. 'That's how Lucinda got hit by the hair removal spell, it was meant for Rabastan, but she was in the way.'
'Thanks Cassie,' Emma replied, knowing that the most impartial testimony would have come from her. 'The rest of you, I'm not happy about this, but at least the duel was innocent enough before Alecto got in the way. I know what I'm about to say sounds atrocious, but I need you to spread the word that Alecto was kind of a loner, that she withdrew into herself more and more this year. Everyone is shocked that she used an Unforgivable, especially you Barty,' she eyed the youngest Prefect. 'Give them your best sob story about thinking that your father had made everything a safer place or something.'
'Understood, Captain,' Barty replied, standing tall.
Although he still looked up to Regulus the most, he held Emma in a special regard as well. Most of that was because any girlfriend of Regulus's would have to be worthy of the title, but his respect was partly born out of many a Quidditch strategy discussed with him in private.
Emma didn't insult his intelligence by giving him any further instruction, much as she didn't override him during their Quidditch practices. Barty was cleverer by far than the rest of them, and would outsmart them all given the chance - and the experience. Instead, she nodded, and turned, squaring her shoulders.
'Right,' she breathed inaudibly, mustering the courage to walk the few feet over to the huddle of Gryffindor seventh years on the other side of the room.
Not surprisingly, she was there before she had even thought about what she would say. She had waited until Madam Pomfrey was done with Sirius before coming over, and now that she was here, she wasn't sure it was a good idea after all.
Peter was the one to notice her first, his beady eyes taking everything in. Unsurprisingly, he stumbled forwards. 'Leave him alone. Haven't you snakes done enough already.'
Emma resisted the urge to intimidate the little worm into standing down - he wouldn't have had half the courage had Remus not been there, glaring alongside him - and instead made her way to James's side of Sirius's bed. As she had expected, Sirius was awake and mostly conscious, though weak.
Emma herself had experienced the Torture curse exactly once in her life; when the Dark Lord had tested her resistance to interrogation. It was not one she would ever want to repeat, and luckily, the Dark Lord had been satisfied with her reaction. Had it been Bellatrix, she was sure that it would have been much worse.
Taking a deep breath, she crouched to Sirius's level. 'I'm sorry for what she did to you. I tried to stop it.'
A flash of blond plaits crossed her vision, the memory fading before she grasped it. It was enough though. Despite her apprehension about the Dark Lord's service, she had secretly vowed to herself to never use that particular Unforgivable on anyone, nor let anyone else do if it were in her power to stop it.
Sirius's left eye swivelled to meet hers, the right still spasming from the frayed nerves, but it was enough for Emma to know that they had reached an understanding. Feeling a weight lift off her chest, Emma straightened and made to walk back to the Slytherin side of the room.
'Wait,' James said, catching her by the arm and leading her to a semi-private corner of the room, near the Potions cabinets.
Now was the time to ask her about Regulus, ask her about Wilkes, ask her about everything in her life that he didn't understand. But the questions died on his lips as he noticed the grey tinge to her face, the haunted look in her eyes that had slipped out during the Christmas holidays.
Instead, he simply wrapped his arms around her and squeezed, ignoring the muffled protests as he buried his dirt covered face in her hair. Timidly, Emma returned the hug and James tried with every fibre of his being to convey his warmth to her body, to remind her that the war would end soon and that she would recover from Alecto's deceit.
Over his sister's head, he caught a glimpse of the broken gaggle of Slytherins he saw over Emma's shoulder, their eyes darting around as though afraid of who would be next. All thoughts of Emma having aided Alecto's escape fled his mind. He resolved there and then that he would never mistrust his friends or family. It was the only thing separating him from despair.