Part 43 – Midnight Wanderings

Two days later and Severus had memorised the extra information that was in the school's copy of Hogwarts: A History. Unfortunately he was still no further on in figuring out the rest of the mystery that was now plaguing him.

He was distracted in his classes and found himself looking forward to a detention on Saturday morning, courtesy of Professor McGonagall.

He'd deposited the school's copy of the book on Madam Pince's desk on Wednesday morning. He hoped it wouldn't be spotted in the midst of the pile of books that Lily had obtained from various Gryffindor students. He hadn't waited to find out and had quickly bolted for the door as soon as they'd hit the desk.

By the end of the day he felt that he was in the clear and that Madam Pince either hadn't noticed the book or had assumed that Lucius, whose name was on the card after all, had sent it with him. If the latter was the case then Severus sincerely hoped that Lucius would be the one that the ever-vigilant librarian would be hounding.

Determined to enjoy the rest of the day, and more especially the midnight feast, Severus pushed the matter of the book from his mind. Instead he set himself the task of persuading Justin who, since their shared trials under the orders of Lucius, had been the most friendly of the first year students.

"Why would I want to risk getting caught wandering the school at night?" Justin asked with a scowl as he looked up from his essay.

"I thought you might like some fun. The older students do it all the time." Severus replied with a shrug.

"No they don't," Justin pointed out. "They have the fun right here in the common room and the first and second years take all the risks out in the main school. Seems pointless to risk getting caught."

"Well, I guess if you don't want to," Severus muttered. "Only I heard the house elves are making a batch of traditional shortbread for Professor McGonagall."

"Really?" Justin asked, showing far more interest than he had so far.

"Loads of it," Severus confirmed with a nod, knowing that Justin had a liking for the sweet dessert.

"I miss my Gran's shortbread since coming to school," said Justin, almost to himself.

Severus sat quietly as he waited for Justin to make up his mind. Finally the other boy reached a decision and confirmed that he was in.

"So who else is going to be there?" Justin asked.

"A couple of the girls from Gryffindor," Severus replied, wondering if his reply would give Justin a reason to change his mind. The rivalry between the two houses was an ongoing problem and as far as he knew only a handful of Slytherin students had friends from Gryffindor.

"No one else from Slytherin?"

"The way Martin eats?" Severus asked with a smirk.

"Good point," Justin replied with a smirk of his own.

Pleased that his invitation had been accepted, Severus pulled out his own homework and hurried through it as quickly as he was able.

By the time he was done most of the Slytherins had retreated to the dormitories and it was nearly time for him to meet Lily.

They were just approaching the staircase to the entrance hall when they heard the sound of footsteps approaching. Severus slipped back into the shadows with Justin close behind him, as they waited for whoever it was to pass by.

"Who is it?" Justin whispered.

Severus crept up a couple more steps and cautiously poked his head into the entrance. He ducked back quickly when he saw Professor Knott-Bolt stalking across the hall.

"Maybe we should go back?" Justin suggested after Severus had whispered who he had seen.

"He's heading upstairs," Severus whispered back. "I wonder what he's doing wandering about so late."

"He'll be securing the doors to the rooms with valuables in," Justin hissed. "Weren't you listening to Dumbledore after the announcement about the last theft? They've added more security and Knott-Bolt is in charge of it."

"As long as they haven't secured the kitchen," Severus replied.

"No point with all the house elves in there," Justin pointed out. "They're supposed to stop students from pilfering food."

Severus eased his way back up the stairs and once he saw that the coast was clear they hurried across the entrance towards the stairs leading down to the kitchens. "They're not doing a very good job of it," he commented as he tickled the pear and stepped through into the room.

Lily and Veronica had arrived before them and were perched on stools as the house elves scurried to do their bidding.

Severus and Justin pulled out stools of their own and placed their orders with the elves.

"Shortbread, certainly young master," one of the house elves said before disappearing out of sight for Justin.

"They're so helpful," Lily said with a smile. "Look at all of this food. We'll never be able to eat it all."

For the next few minutes the house elves continued to pile treats on the table.

They were just about to start gathering the goodies together when they heard the unmistakable sound of movement coming from the corridor outside.

"Is it a teacher?" Veronica whispered.

"Giggling?" Lily replied as the sound of more mischief makers became apparent.

A moment later the entrance opened to reveal James Potter and Sirius Black at the front of what seemed to be a small crowd.

"Snivellus," Sirius muttered with a nasty smile.

Severus was reaching for his wand before he'd even had time to think about what he was doing.

"Just ignore him," Lily said, giving him a nudge. Severus pulled his hand away from his wand and gripped the edge of the table instead.

Justin meanwhile was equally annoyed at the unwanted arrival of the others. "We were here first," he said as he pulled out his wand and pointed it towards Sirius and James.

"Students share, students share," one of the house elves said pleadingly. "Plenty to go around."

"Share with Slytherins?" James looked aghast at the very idea. For once Severus was inclined to agree with him that sharing was not likely to happen. It seemed however that someone else had taken offence at his words.

"Hey!" a female voice declared from behind James. Severus watched as Andromeda Black poked James in the back and walked past him into the kitchen.

"Sorry," James muttered. "Forgot you were that house. You're more normal than the rest of 'em."

"I have some friends in my own house who'd disagree with that," Andromeda said, the warning in her voice clear. "Of course we can share," she added to the nearest house elf who looked relieved at her words.

"I'm sure we can all get along for an hour or two," Remus added.

"We'll need more food though," Peter pointed out and the rest nodded in agreement. Severus nodded too. He'd seen Andromeda go up against her sisters on several occasions during the year and he knew she could hold her own against them. He didn't like the idea of getting on the wrong side of her.

The house elves were happy to oblige with the request for more food and it wasn't long before they were loaded down with more than enough to go around.

"So where are we headed?" James asked as they filed back into the corridor. "You did find somewhere for us to have our party, didn't you?"

"I thought we could use one of the empty classrooms," Sirius replied as he juggled a bottle of pumpkin juice from one hand to the other.

"We were going to head to one of the second floor ones that aren't used for regular classes," Veronica piped up.

"First years," Ted muttered. "Gotta love 'em."

"You got a better idea?" Sirius asked.

"The room of requirement of course," Ted replied. "Found out about it in my second year and it's come in right handy over years."

"What's the room of requirement?" Severus asked, his question echoed by several of the others.

"Best room in Hogwarts," Andromeda said. "Lead the way Ted. You'll love it."

Severus trailed after the rest of the group as they made their way to the seventh floor. He found himself walking a little behind the rest of the group with Justin at his side.

"I can't believe we're hanging around with mudbloods," Justin hissed.

"Be quiet," Severus implored in a low tone. "She might hear you."

"You did know her parents are muggles?" Justin asked with a nod towards Lily. Severus felt himself bristling at the other boy's tone.

"My dad's a muggle as well," Severus pointed out.

"Considering what you think of him, I'd have thought you'd hate all muggles," Justin muttered.

"What would you know about my dad?"

"You talk in your sleep," Justin replied.

"I do?" asked Severus. He came to a halt as he looked at his friend in astonishment.

"Didn't you know?" asked Justin as he too stood still and let the rest of the group go on ahead.

Severus shook his head, speechless, as he wondered what else he might have said in his sleep.

"Thought you'd keep your distance from muggles with a dad like him," Justin continued.

"Lily's parents are nice to me," Severus said defensively.

"You've met them?" Justin asked in shock.

Severus nodded and shrugged. The rest of the group was turning the corner at the end of the corridor and he started after them in case they lost them.

They had almost reached the rest of the group when Severus realised that Justin had used the word mudbloods, indicating more than one. He wondered which of the others in the group had muggles for parents.

Before he could ask Justin who else he'd been referring to they had caught up with the others and had arrived at the seventh floor corridor.

He looked on in amazement as a door appeared in the wall in front of them.

"After you," Ted said as he waved everyone inside.

Severus looked around the room and made a point to suggest to Lily that they hold their study group sessions there in the future. It was surely the last place where they would be stumbled upon.

The room was perfect for their needs. There were more than enough comfy chairs and sofas inside the room and a roaring fire making the large room nice and warm. There were plenty of tables for them to place the food and drinks on and plates and cutlery stacked up ready for them to use.

A wizard wireless was set up near an open space on the far side of the room and Andromeda made her way across the room to tune it to a station with lively dance music playing.

"Won't the professors hear it?" Lily asked.

"The room's soundproof," Ted replied. "And the door will have sealed behind us so no one can follow us in here."

Perfect, Severus thought to himself. Lily would have to agree that the place was ideal for their meetings.

"I'm surprised the teachers don't use this room themselves," Sirius commented.

"They do when they need it," Ted confirmed. "But the room is different depending on what you want it for. It only appears when someone has a real need for it and is equipped for whatever you want it for."

"So why did you go to the kitchens for food?" Severus asked, curious to know whether the room had any sort of limitations on what it could do.

"It can't make food or drink appear," Andromeda said. "Though we've tried it often enough just to make sure."

"Trust Snivellus to ask a stupid question like that," James muttered with a smirk at Sirius. Severus glared across the room but didn't have a chance to say anything before Ted spoke.

"It's not a stupid question at all," Ted said with a harsh look at James. "The room can produce other things that seem more complicated than simple food. And I asked the same question myself when I was told about this place."

Severus nodded at the information Ted provided, immensely pleased that someone had so neatly put James in his place.

Once everyone was settled Severus decided to go across to Justin to pick up their earlier conversation where they had left off. He hadn't moved more than a pace though when he felt Lily's hand on his arm and found himself being towed in the opposite direction.

"Let's go talk to Remus," Lily suggested with a smile.

Severus didn't bother to argue with her but he made sure that it was clear to the other boy that he was there under protest and not because he wanted to speak to him.

Lily chattered away and Severus gave the occasional nod to show he was listening.

The longer he stood there the more he began to think that Lily and Remus were excluding him from their discussion. She seemed to laugh far more frequently when talking to Remus than she did when speaking with him.

He looked across the room and saw that James was holding court along with Sirius as Peter and Veronica sat hanging on their every word.

Andromeda and Ted were talking together across the room and Justin was standing alone near the entrance.

He wondered if Lily would even notice if he went to talk to Justin. He eased away from them and headed towards the other boy. He glanced back once when he reached Justin and tried to stifle the feeling of disappointment that Lily hadn't followed after him.

"Andromeda's playing with fire," Justin commented under his breath. "Bellatrix will do her nut if she finds out she's still seeing Ted."

"Doesn't she like him?" Severus asked. "I thought most of the rivalry was between Slytherin and Gryffindor, not Hufflepuff."

"It is," Justin said. "But he's a mudblood."

"He is?" Severus asked as he looked over to Ted and Andromeda. Playing with fire was putting it mildly.

Justin nodded knowingly.

Severus suddenly found that his appetite had gone and as Justin turned towards the table he found himself wandering back towards Lily. He was halfway across the room when he realised that Sirius was also heading in that direction. He groaned slightly but continued on his way, catching the tail end of the conversation as he approached.

"Didn't want to ruin James's birthday with bad news," Remus lied. "But they're going to see how she goes for a couple of weeks and only summon me home if it's really necessary."

"You're going home again?" Severus blurted out before he could stop himself from speaking to the other boy.

"Why don't you mind your own business?" Sirius snapped.

"I don't know yet," Remus interrupted.

It was clear that he wasn't going to say anything further and the conversation seemed to have stopped at his approach. He tried not to feel resentful at being shut out of the discussion but it was almost impossible not to.

It wasn't much later when the party began to break up and everyone made their way back to their common rooms.

Severus found himself walking alongside Andromeda as Justin hurried on ahead of them. He wondered whether she'd be offended if he asked her how she managed to keep her friendship with Ted a secret from the rest of the Slytherins. He wondered whether she was worried that either he or Justin would say something to expose her to her sisters' anger.

Unfortunately he spent too much time wondering what to say and the opportunity to say anything at all passed him by.

"Goodnight Severus," Andromeda said before she disappeared to the girls' dormitory.

Severus stood alone in the common room, wondering if he'd have another chance to speak to her.