A/N: Thank you once again to those who reviewed, I'm sorry I couldn't reply to all of them, but I'll try for this chapter :)

"Where is it? I just used it on Friday! It must be in here somewhere!"

It was four o'clock in the morning. For some reason, James was having a panic attack, and found it necessary to be as loud and obnoxious as possible until he found whatever he was looking for. Sirius had chucked a pillow at him, hoping he would take the hint that there were still some people actually trying to sleep in their dormitory, but James retaliated by blasting him off of his bed with the flick of a wand. He was seething with rage, and it seemed there was nothing his friends could do to calm him down.

By now, Severus had given up asking about the thing James was looking for. Each time he had asked, James completely ignored him and continued his frantic searching. Unable to help, Severus attempted going back to sleep, but quickly found this to be impossible— even with a pillow pressed tightly around his head to muffle the noise.

There was a flash of red somewhere beyond his bed, followed by an explosive crash and an infuriated roar from Sirius.

"What did you do to my trunk?!" Sirius bellowed. Severus looked towards the door; he was surprised McGonagall hadn't come in yet. Surely everyone in the castle could hear them...

James ignored Sirius and began to aggressively search through Severus' trunk without bothering to ask permission.

"Get away from my trunk," Severus hissed, his wand out and pointed directly at James' forehead.

James stared at him for a few moments, considering the consequences. His eyes were bloodshot and unfocused. Slightly disturbed by the expression on his friend's face, Severus cautiously waved his free hand in front of him to see if he would notice the movement. He did.

James broke his gaze and looked back up at Severus. For a split second, Severus thought he was going to speak, but apparently, James had other plans. He jumped up to attack him. Severus had not been prepared for this, and was easily knocked off of his bed. James pinned him to the ground and threw his wand several feet away, leaving Severus in a frighteningly vulnerable position.

He tried kicking and punching his way to freedom, but unfortunately, James was much stronger than he was. He was blinded with fury by now, and he obviously wasn't thinking about what he was doing.

"What'd you do with it?!" James yelled, threatening to punch Severus directly in the face if he didn't answer.

"With what?!" Severus shouted as he tried to squirm free once more. Sirius was trying to pull James away from him, but he was too angry to give in. Neither Severus nor Sirius had ever seen James so out of control before. It was a little scary...

"My cloak!" James snarled. "What did you do with my bloody cloak!"

"What cloak?" Severus choked. James' left hand was unconsciously squeezing all the air out of him, and if he didn't get off soon, Severus feared he would suffocate.

"My Invisibility Cloak!" James roared. "It's gone!"

"I didn't...take it..."

"Don't lie!"

"I'm..."

"Stupefy!"

There was a flash of red light, and James was blasted away from Severus. Rubbing his neck, Severus looked up to see his saviour. He thought it was Sirius, but to his great surprise, it was Remus standing in the doorway. He smiled grimly at Severus and quickly came over to help him to his feet.

"What's gotten into him?" Remus muttered, staring at James. He hadn't been knocked out by the Stunning Spell, but he certainly looked a little disoriented from it. He struggled to get to his feet, but couldn't quite balance himself and fell onto his back, cursing fluently. It was a pitiful sight. Severus sighed and went over to help James to his feet— though he picked up his wand first to ensure his safety.

James didn't say anything, but grudgingly took his hand to pull himself up. Luckily for Severus, it seemed as though he was too exhausted to try attacking him again.

"Where have you been?" he demanded after noticing Remus.

"In the Hospital Wing, leave him alone," Severus snapped as he harshly shoved James onto his own bed.

"Did he take—"

"None of us took it, alright?"

James glared at Severus. "I think you took it."

Severus rolled his eyes. "And I think you're insane."

"Took what?" Remus asked curiously.

"I...I saw you go under it," James said suddenly, ignoring Remus. "You...and Sirius! It was you two!"

Severus looked questioningly back at Sirius. He shrugged, looking as baffled as Severus felt.

"Okay James, when did you see 'us' stealing your cloak?"

James frowned. "Saturday! Just after the tryouts! I saw you and Sirius behind the portrait! Then you disappeared under my cloak!"

"James, you prat, we were behind you remember?" Severus found it difficult to suppress the urge to slap him across the face. "We went to the tryouts with you. How could we have possibly stolen your cloak?"

James considered this for a moment. He was clearly trying to find a loophole, a way that he could still blame those two even with the overwhelming evidence against him.

The trio looked at each other hopefully; maybe James had actually listened to logic for once in his life...

"So Remus took it!"

They all groaned in unison.

"How could Remus have taken it if he was unconscious?" Sirius snapped, clearly irritable from lack of sleep. Even though he and James were nearly inseparable, he still had his limits as to how far James could push him before he lost his very-limited amount of patience.

"I knew I saw you two take it," James mumbled finally, though everyone had already dropped the subject and were returning to their beds, hoping to get in at least an hour or two of sleep before having to wake up once more for the day's lessons.

Severus closed his eyes and thought about what James had said. Was his friend going mad, or had he really seen something? What about the imposter Remus had mentioned yesterday? He did say that the person looked like him...and James had seen another person that looked like him around the same time. Was it possible that they had seen the same person? Had there really been someone in their dormitory that didn't belong there?

Severus wasn't sure who it could be or why they chose him to impersonate, but he was determined to find out.

xXxXxXxXx

"I'm not so sure about this Bellatrix," Lily whispered fearfully from her position on the ground.

The older girl smiled condescendingly down at her and shook her head. "Oh Lily...you would never turn your back on your friends would you?"

Lily considered this for a moment, then shook her head. She was currently lying on her back and staring up at the tip of Bellatrix's wand, waiting for the cue. It was a little frightening to be in such a position, but she trusted Bellatrix for the most part...

"But...isn't there a better way to distract him? Can't we just—"

"No!" Bellatrix hissed threateningly. "You agreed to the plan, did you not?"

"Well, yes, but…"

"Then stop complaining! I didn't want to be involved in this either, but do you hear me complaining?"

Because you have the fun job, Lily thought sourly.

It had been one week since Lily and Regulus had broken into Gryffindor Tower and stolen Potter's Invisibility Cloak. Lucius had been waiting for the perfect moment to execute the plan to get his family's locket back, and tonight was the night. Dumbledore had requested a meeting with him and Professor Slughorn to discuss the discipline problems within their house, leaving the perfect opportunity for him to get into the office without necessarily breaking in. Dolores Umbridge was conveniently absent, as her Head Girl duties were broader than those of the Slytherin prefects.

Laika had taken the Invisibility Cloak, and was currently waiting outside of the office. Once Lily and Bellatrix set off the alarm, she would be able to run inside completely undetected. It was Lily's job to create a big distraction— one that would demand the attention of both Dumbledore and Slughorn— and Bellatrix was here to help.

"Why couldn't Narcissa—"

"Cissy's in detention with Sprout," Bellatrix lied. The truth was that she didn't want her sister involved in such a troublesome situation that could possibly lead to dire consequences. If anyone was going to get caught, it would not be anyone from the Black family.

Bellatrix looked down at her watch. Lucius had been in the office for fifteen minutes. Their time had come.

"Ready Lily?"

Lily broke her gaze with the wand and looked up. "Is this going to hurt?"

Bellatrix smirked. "Oh, it shouldn't hurt too much. Of course, it will look terrible, but it won't be too painful."

Lily could only wonder what level of pain was "not too much" to Bellatrix Black. Still, she had agreed to this, and she feared more of what the older kids would do to her if she didn't go through with it, rather than what Dumbledore would do to her if she did.

Bellatrix silently flicked her wand at Lily's body. At once, Lily felt everything go numb, like the time she went to the Muggle dentist, except the numbness was everywhere now, not just her mouth. Her eyes bulged in fear and she wanted to say something, but Bellatrix held a finger to her lips to silence her.

There was another flick of her wand, and tiny jets of blood burst through Lily's skin from her feet to her forehead. Lily felt like a piñata that had just been cracked open and rather than candy falling out, it was her own blood. Bellatrix had been true to her word: it didn't hurt at all, but the sight itself was terrifying. Her once-pale arms were quickly coated in shiny crimson ooze, and she was soon coughing it up as well.

"It has to look bad," Bellatrix explained once she had finished her work. She was clearly pleased with her masterpiece, and barely paid any attention to Lily's horrified expression.

"Now," she whispered as she began tiptoeing away, "Scream!"

Lily immediately did as she was told and let out a bloodcurdling shriek. Hopefully it would take Dumbledore several minutes to clean her up and possibly rush her to the Hospital Wing, ensuring that the Malfoys would find their locket and escape without anyone getting caught.

She soon heard male voices drifting towards her: Slughorn and Dumbledore were coming to the rescue, as planned. As she continued screaming at the top of her lungs, Lily couldn't help but feel a little irritated with the Malfoys and Bellatrix for forcing her into this. While she really wanted to help them— for Laika had recently reminded her that failure to procure the locket would lay a death sentence upon their heads for reasons unknown— Lily had not agreed to be the bait. This was humiliating and dangerous; Dumbledore would probably realize that Lily hadn't really been attacked and if he didn't, he would probably force Lily to reveal the identity of her attacker. It was not looking good for her, but there was no chance to back out. From the moment she had brought the Invisibility Cloak to Lucius, she had been doomed.

Hot tears spilled down her cheeks as she continued with the plan, however reluctantly. She didn't blame Bellatrix as much as she did Lucius: she had heard him tell Bellatrix what to do, and she was only following his orders. It was Lucius' fault she was in this mess and at the pit of her soul, a terrible sense of loathing came over her. He had used her. Too bad it took something as embarrassing as pretending to be dying and bleeding all over the place to realize her mistake.

No more, she thought furiously. While she didn't mind helping her close friends, Lucius had crossed the line with her.

At last, Slughorn and Dumbledore arrived. Lily couldn't believe how lucky they were; she could only hope that their luck would hold out long enough for all of them to escape safely. She silently promised herself this was the last favour she would ever do for Lucius Malfoy...

Dumbledore said nothing as he knelt down next to Lily's still-numb body. Lily could sense that he was surveying the damage carefully, and within seconds, he set to work on healing her with a strange incantation that sounded almost like a song. Slughorn had run off to fetch a bottle of dittany from his potions stores in the dungeons, leaving Lily alone with the old headmaster. She didn't say anything to him and avoided eye contact with him. For some reason, she always felt as though he could read her mind when he looked into her eyes, and even if this was simply paranoia, she was determined to evade him.

After Dumbledore finished two different spells, Lily could feel her wounds healing themselves, and the remaining spilled blood had been Vanished. She felt extremely dizzy once her body lost the numbing sensation, and the last thing she remembered before losing consciousness was Dumbledore informing her that Professor Slughorn was going to take her up to the Hospital Wing. Then blackness engulfed her.

xXxXxXxXx

"Lucius he's coming back!"

Lucius looked up towards the door and waited. Sure enough, he heard footsteps down the hall. Trying to hide his panic, he threw the locket— which he had found in one of the countless drawers in Dumbledore's desk— at Laika, and she disappeared under the Invisibility Cloak at once. He saw the door open seemingly by itself and close: Laika had escaped with the locket.

We did it, Lucius thought victoriously as he leaped over Dumbledore's desk and into his chair. He looked around the office, hoping there was nothing out of place or anything that would give him away. There was a bit of dust remaining on his robes, but he quickly brushed it off, leaving him looking exactly as he did before Dumbledore and Slughorn rushed out of there.

"I'm sure you'll be glad to hear that Miss Evans will make a full recovery after that nasty incident," Dumbledore said as he strolled into the office and resumed his seat across from Lucius.

Before Lucius could say anything, Dumbledore looked around the office and frowned. "Where did your sister go, Mr. Malfoy? I saw her just a moment ago."

Lucius gulped. Either Laika had been stupid enough to take off the Invisibility Cloak around Dumbledore, or he could somehow see through the Cloak. He wasn't sure which idea was more plausible.

So far, everything was going perfectly; the locket had been safely smuggled away, and all that was left to do was end the meeting before Dumbledore found out what was missing.

Feigning innocence, Lucius began slowly, "I haven't seen Laika in hours, Professor."

Dumbledore stared at him for several moments, then quietly asked, "Is there something you wish to tell me, Lucius?"

Lucius gulped again. There was no possible way Dumbledore could have known everything that had just occurred was a part of his plan. But then...the fact that he knew Laika had been present worried Lucius. Breaking their gaze, he stared down at his hands and shook his head.

"No sir...are we finished?"

Dumbledore smiled sadly. "I'm afraid not."

Lucius' heart leaped into his throat as Dumbledore reached down into the drawer which had previously housed the locket. He opened it, shuffled through the papers, then closed it carefully. How Dumbledore already knew that Lucius had stolen the locket was beyond him...

Damn! Lucius mentally hit himself. Dumbledore had clearly used Legilimency against him; there was no other way he could have known about the missing locket. And Lucius was not exactly the best Occlumens. He couldn't believe it: he had unknowingly given Dumbledore all the information he needed without realizing what he was doing. Just when he thought he was prepared for any dilemmas involving their heist, Dumbledore managed to prove him wrong.

Oddly, the old headmaster merely smiled at Lucius and quietly muttered, "So clever, so clever..."

Still trying to appear completely innocent, Lucius asked, "What sir?"

"Was Miss Evans involved in this as well?"

"No—"

"So you worked alone?"

"In what?!" Lucius yelled, fighting back the overwhelming urge to jump at the old man and attack him. He had spent hours, days even, preparing for this, and Dumbledore managed to figure out everything within five minutes.

"Lucius," Dumbledore began seriously, thinking back to a student he had a long time ago that was a known thief, even before he had come to the school, "we do not tolerate thievery at Hogwarts. As a prefect, I thought would know better."

Lucius' breathing was rapidly accelerating every second. He was in a load of trouble now, and there was no way he could worm his way out of this. The euphoric feeling that had filled him as Laika successfully escaped with the locket was now giving way to feelings of dread and even fear. None of this had been done to avenge his parents' deaths— the very reason Laika had gone along with it— but to secure an honourable position amongst the Dark Lord's followers. He was determined to join them as soon as he left Hogwarts, but perhaps he would gain acceptance earlier if he managed to get the locket back to him. He did not understand why the artifact was so important to the Dark Lord, but it wasn't his business to find out. No matter what Dumbledore said, Lucius would not give it back to him.

"Lucius, I am willing to give you this chance to give it back."

Lucius shook his head, and abandoning his clueless stance, he said, "No."

"Is it worth suspension, Lucius? I do not wish to do that, but if the circumstances require—"

"Go ahead," Lucius snarled, hating the old man for his sympathetic tone. He knew nothing. He only wanted the locket for himself. Lucius may be a prefect, but that didn't necessarily mean that he was a model student. He was a budding Death Eater like nearly everyone in Slytherin, and Dumbledore knew it.

"Lucius," said Dumbledore gravely. "There are dangers out there that you cannot possibly comprehend. I fear for your safety beyond this castle...yes, I mean that, Lucius."

"Then don't suspend me," Lucius said through gritted teeth. He did want to stay at Hogwarts, but he also desperately wanted to join the Dark Lord as well. He could learn so much more from him, rather than wasting time in useless classes such as Defense Against the Dark Arts. What a joke.

Dumbledore frowned. "Lucius, I will not suspend you if you return the locket."

"Why is it so important to you, then?" Lucius spat, trying to buy himself time. He did not know why the Dark Lord wanted it either, but his desires were not to be questioned.

"I do not wish to suspend you," Dumbledore repeated, ignoring Lucius' previous question. He could see the struggle behind the boy's harsh grey eyes; what troubles awaited him outside the walls of Hogwarts worried the headmaster greatly.

Lucius laughed mirthlessly. The chance to redeem himself had passed, and he could sense that Dumbledore's punishment was coming. He simply didn't care anymore. "Well it's too late. The locket is long gone and I'm never going to give it to you!"

"Is that your final answer, then?" Dumbledore asked calmly as he observed Lucius. He could not help the boy even if he kept him at Hogwarts. More students such as Lily Evans would be used for his own personal gain, and Dumbledore did not tolerate such actions within his school. He fully understood that he was releasing a potential Death Eater into society, but his absence would be better for the students' safety as a whole (as well as a tale of caution for students attempting to drastically break the rules as he did). Dumbledore had to look at it from the calculative perspective: allowing one boy to harm's way— in this case, Lord Voldemort's ranks— was better for the greater good than if he remained at Hogwarts to harm the students (and still join the Death Eaters anyway). He considered suspending the boy until he returned the locket, but as he had said, it was already gone. And Lucius was stubborn; Dumbledore could see that he wouldn't give it back no matter what the circumstances were.

With a heavy sigh, Dumbledore spoke: "There are students consistently in the Hospital Wing because of you, Mr. Malfoy. I will not allow thievery to go unpunished either, so...I have no choice but to expel you from Hogwarts."

A/N: I am currently rereading HBP, which might explain why there are so many parallels in this chapter to the book. For one, I was thinking Lucius was going through something simliar to Draco: if he does not return the locket to Voldemort, he will kill Lucius (as he would have done to Draco if Dumbledore had survived). Dumbledore was trying to stop Lucius from going the wrong way (though he tried a little harder to save Draco than Lucius), but after the many attacks (including the one from year one, which he linked to Bellatrix but knew Lucius played a major role in), he doesn't have much of a choice if he wishes to act on what's best for the greater good. Also, Lucius normally wouldn't act like that (as an adult anyway, he may have been more reckless as a teenager), but he was under tremendous pressure to recover the locket, and having been discovered anyway, he just fell apart (as Draco did when he realized he was incapable of killing Dumbledore). Just some father/son connections.

Lily is not happy with Lucius. She will definitely change a bit before the year is over (though this is good, because she'll listen to Severus more...hopefully).

As for why Dumbledore wants the locket: this is merely an assumption, but I believe that Dumbledore had already seen Morfin at this point in the timeline (therefore he already knew about Merope's connection to the locket), but he does not know it's a Horcrux yet (obviously he didn't find this out until Harry's 6th year). But he knows it has deep magical properties and it has a strong connection to Voldemort, making him think it might be a key to defeating him (though he doesn't know exactly this could work).

Thank you for reading, and I always appreciate your reviews :)