AN:- Hey! I just want to quickly thank again all those (few but amazing) people that have left me wonderful reviews.

Hope you all like this chapter as well.

Chapter 7

That Saturday in Hogsmeade wasn't going to be as cheerful as the last visit. The weather was starting to show signs of the upcoming winter. The wind was sharper and the trees were shivering more, losing color and leaves. It also didn't help that two muggle-born ministry secretaries were found tortured and murdered the previous day.

Samantha and her friends sat around the Daily Prophet in the Great Hall and read the article. Apparently a group of Death Eaters had gotten word that the two women were muggle born and had been ordered to kidnapped and tortured them as a massage to the Ministry. The Dark Lord wanted access to the Ministry and this was his warning at how easily he could just walk in and make the Ministry fall.

"I can't believe this." Annabel said.

"They went missing in the middle of the day, right out of the Ministry's building and they don't even have witnesses. They don't have any suspects besides-"

"Hundreds of Death Eaters." Samantha finished for Lily. "Seriously, they know that they are under attack and they couldn't even boost security, especially on the muggle born – the damn targets. The Dark Lord is right about one thing, that the people in the Ministry are fools."

"Samantha!" Annabel yelped.

"I agree to some extent." Alexis spoke up.

"I do as well, but I would rather be run by fools then by the Dark Lord." Lily added.

"True," Samantha agreed, but if they would have had smarter people in the Ministry to begin with the possibility of Lord Voldemort taking over wouldn't be so high and uncertain.

"Gregory said his mum worked on the same floor as the two women and no one noticed anything." Annabel told them, glancing over at the Ravenclaw table. Samantha look as well and saw Gregory wave to Annabel with a sad smile. He was a sweet guy, kind and had manners and he did seem to like Annabel a lot.

"One thing is for certain," Remus said as he sat down across from them.

"Some people aren't sorrowful or worried at all." finished Sirius.

"And why should they be?" James added, "They are not on our side."

Samantha looked over at the Slytherin table. They sat poised in their statue-like arrogant elegance and looked as though they hadn't heard that two innocent women were tortured and murdered yesterday for being simply born to muggles. A few of them were talking in groups, a few reading other pages of the Daily Prophet and some were even laughing at what others were saying.

"Either that or they try to see the best in all situations." Alexis said distastefully.

Samantha looked for Snape but she didn't see him, nor did she see his three, what he called friends.

An few hours later they sat at the same round table they had sat at on their last visit to the Three Broomsticks. They had begun talking about yesterday's Defense Against the Dark Arts class. They had finally started working to create Patronus'.

"Its annoying that mine isn't strong enough yet to have a form." Says Sirius. "James here has a Stag as his Patronus, imagine that." The Marauders shared a laugh and Samantha raised a brow realizing there was a hidden message somewhere in there. She looked over at Remus to find him looking at her, his eyes a little wary.

She gave him a smile and caught the slightly annoyed look on Sirius' face as he looked from her to Remus before he turned back to James.

Severus sat in a chair against the wall with a full view of the entire room of the Three Broomsticks. Rodolphus and Bellatrix had a Firewhisky in front of them and Mulciber a Dragon's Tongue. He had drunk a cup of the Invisibility potion Lucius had given him the ingredients for, that morning. A few of the ingredients he had Mulciber steal from Professor Slughorn's stash. It was a Dark Arts potion which didn't allow the most powerful of wizards to see the hidden person. Lucius had said that Dumbledore could do just that, see through invisibility and the Dark Lord didn't want them to draw attention to themselves.

Snape watched the groups of friends and listened to the incoherent chatter within the room. His gaze fell on Cromwell and her, what she called, friends and he heard his name come up in their conversation. Seeing the benefit of his position he cautiously left his seat and walked over to their table.

"No it's not surprising at all that his Patronus was a flawless snake." James said.

"I don't know why everyone hasn't added two and two. He and the rest of those Slytherins are all into the Dark Arts." Sirius added.

"I guess we are the only people that see right through them, mate." James said. "I find it more surprising that something like him could even have good thoughts to produce a Patronus." He scoffed.

"Probably imagines himself as king of the rats or something." Sirius mused.

"Snape, I bet he gives you nothing but trouble, Sam." Pettigrew said with disgust.

This stirred Sirius and James back up, "I bet. He is probably sickly thrilled to be spending so much time with a girl."

"Yeah figures the only way he could get a girl to spend time with him is if she was forced into it." James added.

Snape clenched his invisible hands but just stood there.

"He's such a freak." Pettigrew piped in.

"I wonder what kind of weird things he is doing right now since his Slytherin buddies are all in Hogsmeade." James pondered.

"Wonder why he doesn't come to Hogsmeade."

"It would spoil everyone's day if he had come."

"Man I dislike him."

"I can't wait until the next time we see him, I want to show - "

Samantha's spell hit the three boys the same time that Snape's did.

"Ouch!" Sirius, Pettigrew and James said holding a hand to their heads.

"You three are pathetic. Could you shut up about him for one second? I am the one that is stuck with him day in and day out and when I'm not being forced to work with him I have to listen to you drone on and on about him. Honestly, you're all obsessed. You should really consider being more like Remus." She snapped grabbing a napkin in her hands and started tearing it up in the space in front of her.

Severus stared at her. So he did irritate her as much as she irritated him. He smiled.

He watched Potter sneer, "That's because Remus is a passive aggressive." He rubbed his head. "You didn't have to hit us so hard." he whined.

"The only reason you said that about Remus is because you're going to the Halloween dance with him." Sirius said.

So he was right about Lupin's intentions, Severus thought.

"No it isn't, Sirius." Samantha said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, Sirius, get over whatever jealous feelings you have right now." Remus said.

That was the first time Severus had ever heard any of the Marauders stand up to the other.

Sirius looked over Samantha with cold glowing eyes and sneered, "I have nothing to be jealous of."

Severus watched as Samantha's jaw clenched but she stayed composed.

"Don't you talk about her like that." This from the petite Annabel Shrew.

"I'm just saying that she could have outright told me that she didn't want anything to do with me, because she's in love with Remus here." Sirius growled.

"I am not in love with anyone." Samantha said back, she didn't yell it, she hadn't yelled at all during the exchange which surprised Severus. He watched as she gave Remus a horrified look at what she had said but he gave her an encouraging smile to let her know that it was okay and Severus felt sick to his stomach. "Besides Sirius, you're going to the dance with Ashley Dimple. You didn't even ask me so I don't know why you're mad that I'm going with Remus."

Sirius got up, "I'm not mad." He said between clenched teeth.

Severus walked along side his three friends as they made their way through Hogsmeade village towards the mountain side where Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy where to meet them. They wanted to meet with them to give them more information and see how they were doing presumably.

They walked towards the cave at the base of the wooded area of the mountain. Mulciber stayed outside to stand watch. Once inside Severus saw the tall, elegant couple waiting. Physically they were a match made in heaven, slim and pale with silky white blonde hair. Their expressions were superior and true, slightly arrogant but more calculating. The only true difference was in Lucius' eyes which were cold and dull whereas Narcissa still had some light in her own.

Severus watched Narcissa's eyes connect with Bellatrix's, they nodded to each other but other then that didn't say anything.

"Good to see you all." Lucius stated as the two visible students bowed slightly before him. He was after all the Dark Lord's right hand for now. "Severus." He said as he lifted a hand holding a small bottle into the space in front of him. He was looking at Bellatrix and Rodolphus as he said it.

Severus took the bottle out of Lucius' hand and watched as Lucius' eyes jumped to the spacewhere he thought Severus' head would have been. He opened the cork and cautiously took a sniff and registered the ingredients he recognized. He didn't trust Lucius he didn't trust anyone but after deeming the potion nontoxic he took a swig of it.

"Does the Dark Lord have something for us to do yet, Lucius?" Rodolphus asked as Severus made his way back towards them.

Lucius laughed and it sounded genuine enough but had an echo of empty humor. "So eager the younger generation is to become of use to the Dark Lord. Your relentless will please him."

Bellatrix smiled excitedly.

"However no, your time to join in the fight has not yet come." He informed them and Bellatrix's smile fell once more. "He has asked for this meeting to find out if you are still practicing at you talents, he wanted me to encourage you to keep at it."

"Of course, Lucius." Bellatrix answered. "Severus is soon a master at Legilimency and Rodolphus a master at Memory charms."

Lucius' gaze went to Severus and Severus met his gaze head on, "Nice to finally meet you Severus Snape - born to a witch mother and muggle father, much like our Lord. Legilimency? Not even the purest of bloods have talent in such an art. You do know that the Dark Lord is also a master at Legilimency?"

"Of course, Lucius. There is little our Lord isn't a master at." He said out of full respect.

Lucius put his hand into his robe pocket and brought out a very ancient looking book and with his wand he levitated the book in Severus' direction. "The Dark Lord has asked me to get this book to you, Severus. It contains his own notes and thoughts about the art of Legilimency. He wants you absolutely perfect at it."

Severus reached out when the book was hovering in the area in front of him and glanced at the worn and dark cover that bound the book. "It is an honor to be using something that our Lord himself has used."

Lucius nodded, "I will let Him know." Then he turned his attention back to all three of them. "The Dark Lord is eager to give all of you the Dark Mark and have you officially respected for being on the right side of the war. In a few weeks time I will reveal your mission to you and you shall soon receive the Mark." He paused then continued, "I have asked you here because we will stop all communications through letters because the Dark Lord believes that Dumbledore will soon start to filter them."

After that they told him their Hogsmeade schedule and he told them which visit they would meet again. After that Lucius bade them farewell and they all departed, Bellatrix and Narcissa not saying anything to each other at all. Severus drank the Invisibility potion he had brought with him and put the bottle Lucius had prepared for him in his robes pockets.

On Monday in Potions class Samantha and Severus were silently making a healing potion for the Hospital Wing. The Halloween dance was to be this Saturday and already she was sick of her friends. All they talked about were what they were going to wear, how they were going to do their hair, and what shoes would or wouldn't match. Lily was obviously going with James, Annabel was going with Gregory and Alexis was going to go with a Hufflepuff boy named Louis Montgomery. They had hassled her to pick her outfit from now so that they could all compare dresses and shoes to see if one needed to borrow something from the other.

She was actually rather glad to be in class and not in the dormitory where all the other females were. She looked over at Snape, usually he always looked composed and far away but today he looked further away then usual. Maybe he was fussing over the dance too, she smiled to herself. Not likely.

She handed him the giant slug liver that she had cut up just a moment ago, "Are you taking anyone to the dance?" she asked.

The pair that was working in front of them turned quickly towards them with curious looks. She gave them a look of pure spleen.

Snape answered her without looking up from the cauldron, meaning he hadn't seen the stares. "No."

"Are you even going to the dance?" she asked. He answered a lot more questions when he was far away.

"No." he continued stirring then looked at her, "Actually, yes I am but I don't want to."

"Why not?"

"Too many questions, Cromwell." He reminded her. He was back from where ever he had gone.

The next day in Potions Severus watched as Cromwell scribbled on her parchment. She had been done for the past fifteen minutes and now she was doodling on a spare piece of parchment. He listened to someone whisper her name and watched with his head still over his parchment as she looked up at Lupin who sat three rows ahead of them. Lupin was waving at her like an idiot and she smiled and went back to doodling.

"Going to the dance with, Lupin?" he asked, made it sound disgusting.

She looked up, a bit surprised, "How did you know that?"

He heard it on Saturday while he stood in front of you without you seeing him. "It's sort of disgustingly obvious."

Samantha looked quickly over at Remus as he turned back to look at her again. Oh no. He had said that it was just as friends. "Oh no."

"What was that, Cromwell?" Severus asked.

"Nothing." She said.

"What don't like it when boys grovel over you?" he asked with emphasis on the word boys.

"Shut up, Snape. And no, I don't." she had to set things straight with Remus but she didn't want to hurt his feelings. But she could be wrong, so could Snape. She'll leave it alone until she was sure.

"Don't know why any girl would go out with him anyway." He said under his breath.

Samantha wasn't going to let him talk about her fried like that. "You don't even know him so you better stop right there."

"Don't know him? But I know what he is." Snape said it as if he meant something completely different then what she understood from what he was saying. "I can assure you that I know a lot more about him then you do."

Samantha looked into his deep black eyes and saw something flicker in them. He looked sort of haunted, sort of edgy and vigilant and of course angry on op of it all. She looked over at Remus and wondered if there was something about him that Snape would know about him that she didn't.

On Wednesday night Samantha's and Remus's Prefect duty had shifted and they were scheduled to patrol the first two floors of the dungeons. Nothing had changed between them since she had accepted his invitation to the Halloween dance and she was glad. They had sent to bed two Slytherin's they had found out in the corridors but it had seemed to be a quiet night. Until Severus Snape came stomping down the stairwell.

"Astrology class." He had muttered as he saw them.

"Do you have a note?" Remus asked.

Severus looked livid with the situation and as he opened his school bag to dig around mumbled, "Going to bite me if I don't?"

Remus had ignored it but Samantha wasn't going to. "What did you say, Snape?"

Snape stopped rummaging in his bag and locked his angry gaze with hers, "I simply asked if he was going to bite me if I didn't have one."

"You have some nerve, how could you complain about them when you're exactly like them?" she shot at him.

"I am nothing like them, I have an actual reason for saying what I say to anyone of them." he looked back at Lupin, "And with him, I talk to him as if he were a dog, because that is…exactly…what…he…is." He ground out.

"You're a disgusting human being, Snape." She told him.

"Well, it's a good thing that I'm a Wizard." He said as he took a step closer to her.

"Your only half a Wizard." She said slowly regretting every word as they left her lips. She watched as slowly his eyes widened and then slowly narrowed to evil slits. His chest rose and fell much quicker then it had before and his jaw clenched so tight that his skin paled even more just like the skin over his clenched fists. But what made her regret it was the sudden sting she saw in his eyes, not the hatred, not the need for vengeance which were also there. "I didn't mean that." she said as Remus quickly stepped between them with his arms outstretched in front of him. "I'm sorry." She said from behind Remus and started to push at his back to get around to Snape.

When she finally had him back in her sight he looked almost normal again. "You are lucky that I would never strike a woman, Cromwell." With that he turned and stormed down the corridor to the Slytherin's dormitories. She was about to go after him but Remus stopped her by pulling on her robes.

"Let him go."

After her breathing came back to normal she looked up at Remus to find him watching her with interest. "I know that I am confrontational but I have never said something so…mean." She said and they started their journey back to the Gryffindor Common room.

"He had it coming to him." he said simply.

"But," she didn't know what to say, "but I sounded just like him. That wasn't me talking, it couldn't have been."

Remus looked her up and down, "Sometimes I wonder what exactly he has done to you." he said.

His statement confused her, she didn't know what he meant by it but she didn't ask him about it as they reached the Gryffindor common room.

AN: Halloween Dance is soon coming up!

Something will be stolen and something will be avenged.