Sitting in the dorms late that night, Bella got out the map again. She'd already lied to Lucy tonight, more than she'd care to admit. Inevitably Lucy wanted to know where it was that Bella had run off to in Hogsmeade, and she had to lie and tell her that Roddy wanted to talk, and that she wanted to put an end to it once and for all. She had to make up an entire conversation between them for Lucy when she asked about it. Bella just had to hope that she didn't go and talk to Roddy about it. That could get confusing. The truth about Roddy though, was that Bella had barely spoken to him since he walked her back to the common room. However, she put it out of her mind, and focussed her attention on the elusive map.

She unrolled the parchment, and once more it started to write to her.

Mr Prongs sees that Bellatrix Black still hasn't worked out how to open this – even with all the hints he has given her.

'What hints?' Bella hissed at it, careful not to wake anyone in her dorm.

Mr Prongs would like to enquire, once again, if Bellatrix Black is up to no good, as usual?

Bella smirked. 'Always.'

Mr Prongs doesn't believe Bellatrix Black. If she wants to prove it, she'll have to say it.

'I am up to no good.' Bella told it, suddenly feeling a bit of an idiot for talking to a map.

Mr Prongs would like to enquire if Bellatrix Black means it? Would you swear you are up to no good?

'I swear I am up to no good.' Bella was slowly starting to lose her patients with that map. What exactly was this Mr Prongs trying to prove?

Mr Prongs would like to know how sincere you are, in swearing that?

'Solemnly.'

Mr Prongs would encourage you to say it out loud once more, everything we've talked about.

Bella glared at it. This was the last thing before she screwed the whole thing up and dropped it in the lake! But, she gave it one more chance. 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good.'

And then the writing disappeared. The dark red ink dissolved back into the paper, and more labels and writing began to appear. Bella stared and ran it through in her mind. Messers; Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present the Marauders' Map. She watched intently as a detailed map of the school began to spread out across the parchment, and then those little black name-tags she'd seen before began to move around the map. She grinned. Why would James help her open the map? He expressed very clearly that he didn't want her to have it!

Her eyes subconsciously drew her to James Potter's nametag. However, he wasn't in the Gryffindor dorms like he should be. He, along with Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin were on the Hogwarts grounds. It had been about a month since Bella had seen them in their animagus forms on the grounds, and since she'd seen Remus Lupin's little secret. She wasn't scared of it anymore – well, not as much anyway. The name-tags were starting to creep towards the edge of the grounds, they were just near the Whomping Willow, when they disappeared. With no warning whatsoever, they just vanished from the map. It was almost too curious not to investigate it for herself. She took a quick glance around the dorm, to check that everyone was still asleep. No one stirred, and they all looked perfectly peaceful. She carefully got out of bed, avoiding the floorboard that creaked by Lucy's bed, and threw on some shoes. Tucking the map under her arm, she swiftly left the dorm.

Once she was safely out of places people were likely to see her, she began to run. She had no idea where James and his friends had gone, so she'd need to be quick if she wanted to catch up to them.

The bitter cold outside hit her the second she slipped through the secret passage to get onto the grounds. She shivered but tried to ignore it. The passageway had brought her out straight in front of the Whomping Willow, but it just looked normal, it's branches swaying softly as it slept. There was no way James could have got past that, no one got past the Whomping Willow. Students were heavily advised not to go near it. Although, Bella had heard that it had only been planted the year they all started at Hogwarts, and she had to wonder why. It was hardly a welcoming feature of the grounds if they were all told to leave it alone. So maybe it was doing the opposite, it was a deterrent. But to stop people going where? There was nothing behind it apart from one of the many ways to get into the Forbidden Forest, and if people were desperate enough to go there, there were about forty other options, besides fighting their way through a tree with attitude.

A sharp noise caught Bella's attention. It sounded like the kind of noise a horse might make. But the centaurs didn't come this far towards the Castle without a good reason, and unicorns stayed right within the heart of the forest. Something moved near the base of the tree, and Bella whipped around, her wand aiming into the darkness. It was a stag. She swallowed and lowered her wand, almost guilty to have threatened such a creature. It was beautiful, with its long, proud antlers and dark, shimmering eyes. It's nose twitched and made it look like it was smirking. Bella smiled, she couldn't help it. She stayed still, knowing that if she made a move, it might run off. She'd forgotten all about following James and his friends, this stag just seemed to make everything else disappear from her mind.

The stag stepped closer, but it didn't look nervous like they usually did. It looked almost like it was teasing her, rather than trembling. Bella watched it curiously, as it took a couple more steps closer to her, until it was right in front of her. Its huge eyes stared up at her, and she felt almost as if she knew it… That was absurd, no way could someone know a stag. It was a ludicrous notion. All of a sudden, a thought dawned on her. Moony; the full moon, Remus Lupin was a werewolf. Padfoot, Sirius' apparent animagus form was a big, black dog. Prongs? A stag. James.

'James?' Bella hissed, feeling like an idiot for actually talking to a stag. It winked at her. No, it didn't. A stag wouldn't wink. But it really looked like it did… It definitely smiled. Absolutely smiled. No doubt about it. Bella raised her eyebrows. 'James, just transform back. It's not funny.'

Within in seconds, the stag had stood on its back legs, and become human, and James Potter was grinning back at her.

'Alright?' He asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

'No! I'm not alright!' Bella answered angrily. She wanted to shout and scream, but she knew someone would hear and she'd get into trouble. Although, it was tempting to get James into trouble as well…

'Oh,' James pouted. 'shame.'

'Stop it,' Bella growled. 'just stop it! Can't you just leave me alone?'

He smirked almost menacingly. 'I think you'll find,' he took a step closer. 'that it's you who can't leave me alone.'

Bella folded her arms and glared at him. 'You don't deserve Lily.' She said finally. James gave her a confused look.

'What?'

'You don't deserve her,' Bella repeated quietly. 'she's full of soul and heart and kindness. And you? You're a player, James. You'll get what you want from her and move along.'

James smirked again, and cast a look at Bella that made her almost shiver. It was a cold, chilling look in his eyes that just said she was wrong.

'I don't think so, Bellatrix,' James breathed. 'I like Lily. She's the kind of girl I could take home to my parents. But she's also feisty and frankly, quite hot.'

Bella drew her wand, it was just a reflex. 'You're a liar, and a cheater, and a heartless bastard.' Bella spat.

James clutched his heart and pretended to look hurt, then broke back into his comfortable grin. 'Ouch.' He smirked.

'It's true,' Bella continued. 'and you should also note that Lily has secret little meetings with Snape in the middle of the night. Very sordid business. Bet you didn't know that, did you, Potter?'

The colour drained from James' face as he heard this. He swallowed hard. 'You lie.'

'Yeah,' Bella shrugged. 'but not right now.'

James' composure broke for a tiny fraction of a second, then he brought his guard back up again. 'Just go, Bella. Don't get involved in things that don't concern you.' He spun around, wide-eyed, as a wolf cry echoed through the trees. Bella felt like she'd been rooted to the spot, pulled down by roots of the shrubbery.

'Go,' James urged her, giving her a gentle push in the direction of the castle. 'go on!' She knew he meant it for her safety, and that wolf call seemed very close. She did as she was told and sprinted back up the castle, and away from the Whomping Willow. She took the route she'd come through and arrived back in the castle. Unnoticed, she snuck back into her dorm, and eventually went to sleep.

She slept in the next day, and to start with she panicked that she was late, then realised that she'd only missed Charms class. And that didn't even count as a proper class. She'd got a Transfiguration lesson she ought to get to, though, as the new teacher would most certainly love to take some points off Slytherin for her tardiness. She quickly got up, ran her wand over her hair to tame it, and got dressed, before setting off from the dorms at a quick pace.

There were still a few people entering the Transfiguration classroom when she got there, so she simply tagged onto the end of the line and acted as if she'd been there the whole time, slipping into her seat by Lucy.

'Where've you been?' Lucy asked her curiously.

'Sleeping,' Bella replied honestly. 'someone let me over-sleep.'

'Sorry,' Lucy smiled back. 'I was late myself, and I figured you'd get up eventually.'

'Well, yes,' Bella answered sarcastically. 'otherwise you'd be burying me right now.'

'Charming.' Lucy replied, rolling her eyes.

'Ten points from Slytherin.' And their conversation was interrupted. Both girls turned to glare at the Transfiguration professor. McGonagall was a thin witch, with auburn hair tightly scraped back into a bun. Bella didn't break her stare.

'Could you tell me what the answer to the question I just asked?' Professor McGonagall asked her wryly, folding her arms neatly.

Bella had actually been subconsciously paying attention, and it was a skill she'd picked up specifically for moments like this. 'One.' Bella replied confidently. McGonagall's expression stiffened.

'Very good,' She said slowly. 'and what was the question?'

'What has every guy in our year given Bella?' James Potter spoke up from the back of the room, and sparked a few giggles and gasps from the room. Bella allowed him a stony smile.

'And would that include you?' Bella retorted casually. There was a collective 'oooooh' from the rest of the students at her comeback.

James flushed a little, but picked it back up. 'Not a chance. Would I really stoop that low?' He grinned at Sirius next to him, who was in absolute stitches. Lily Evans, however, was distractedly messing with her quill on the desk.

'I certainly wouldn't.' Bella answered quickly. 'Sirius, on the other hand, looks a little guilty of stooping low… care to share, Potter?'

Sirius stopped laughing pretty quickly and gave his cousin a harsh glare. Bella simply smiled back.

'I think that's quite enough-' Professor McGonagall tried to interrupt them, and failed miserably as Sirius got up from his seat.

'Oh, don't start,' Bella moaned. 'you never win.'

'Is that so?' Sirius growled, moving closer to her, his hand hovering over his wand pocket.

The new professor didn't really seem sure how to handle this situation, and simply stood watching. Was she allowed to disarm a student?

'I think we should all just sit down-'

'Come on then!' Bella piped up, springing from her seat. 'Don't be all talk, now.' And she raised her wand, as Sirius did the same.

'Do this on your own time, please-'

Bella cast a non-verbal switching spell on Sirius's wand, and it instantly became a sugar wand. He threw it on the floor in a rage.

'You heard the professor,' Bella told him spitefully. 'take this up on our own time.' And with that she gracefully sat back down again and flashed a completely false, yet very convincing, kind smile at Professor McGonagall. She smiled back nervously.

'Thank you, Miss Black.' She replied quietly, then continued the lesson. Bella was pleased with herself that she'd managed to annoy James and Sirius in one lesson, it was a personal best, as well as confuse the hell out of a new teacher. Marvellous. She could only sit back and wait now, until she could contact Tom Riddle, and tell him she could come and meet him whenever he wanted her to, now that she could get into the map.

That evening, Bella was reminded of something she'd long forgotten as she entered her dorm with Lucy. Abby was sitting on her bed, discussing dresses with Izzie and Kathryn. Dresses for the formal Christmas dance. Bella groaned.

'God, you're not actually going, are you?' Bella asked them, flopping down onto her own bed.

'Obviously,' Abby replied. 'it's going to be great!'

Bella rolled her eyes. 'Yeah, because you have a date.' Abby simply shrugged and dismissed her comment, as there was no doubt she'd be going with Matt.

Bella let them carry on their pointless little conversation. Sure, she'd go to this event, but only because they were going. She was reminded of her dress, the black one James had helped her pick out, and told her that he liked so much. She'd have to wear it. It was the only formal dress she'd brought with her. She sighed inwardly. Oh well, if she had to wear that one, she might as well wear it with style and spite. The best way to wear a dress.