A/N: Sorry for the delay in update! I got a bit too happy over weekend again. Oopsie! EEEEp! Just to say that there is actually a chapter missing "Creatures of the Dark 2" and "Bed Rest and Bent West"!!!! In my stupidity I must have deleted it and I am working on writing it back! I thought I had posted this chapter on Sunday but it turns out that FF doc manager was having problems and it hadn't replaced my a/n. That explaisn why it was taken offline for a while! Sorry about delay!
TO: Taiyourshoes, special thanks for reviewing soo much! You deserve and award! I'm well impressed and happy! I'm very glad that you like my story so far and hope that you continue reading and enjoying! Yupz, we do have pennies in England. 100 pennies to a pound. "A knut for your thoughts" was a brilliant idea, it didn't even occur to me to write that!! Hehe!
The beginning of the week was heralded with a faint but definite and audible omph sound that rang clearly throughout Hogwarts. James and Sirius joined the breakfast table with broad smirks that spelt guilty. Not long after their arrival, a misty plume of smoke wafted into the Great Hall with a smell so intense that those with weaker stomachs began to retch."Whew! Stuff is lethal!" Sirius pinched his nose but was unable to hide his glee. Peter snorted trying to laugh and hold his nose at the same time. He ended up choking on himself and Remus quickly handed him some water."A bit heavy handed." He commented not quite sure whether to laugh or scold them for being careless. A small contained prank was one thing but smoking out the rest of the school was quite another."It sure took them a while to say the magic word." After the first few weeks James had thought the bombs they had left in the Slytherin Common Room was a complete failure and had turned out to be duds. Now he knew otherwise and was glad that they had cast a clever camouflage spell on them that even the house elves couldn't see through."I knew it. They're all Followers." Sirius continued to hold his nose but he was sure he was beginning to taste the vile stench in his mouth."Followers?" Peter asked.Sirius leaned in and spoke in a low voice. "Of You-Know-Who." Peter shrank back like any wizard would have done at the mention of the Dark Lord; it was for his sake that Sirius did not say his name. Peter shivered but felt oddly inspired by the glint in Sirius' eye, it told of a kind of defiant fearlessness that the Black family had instilled in him as a child.
"Great adversaries are to be respected and not feared."
Peter had first heard of this phrase during one of the rare occasions when Sirius had talked about his family. It was something his mother had taught him but Sirius termed it a "whole load of crap" and had insisted that nothing had his respect until it was earned. Admittedly even Sirus knew that this wasn't strictly true either and whether he knew it or not Peter thought that he was truly fearless.
"That was a pretty long jump. They set off your bombs and that makes them Followers?" Remus was quite unconvinced.
Still whispering Sirius said, "The trigger word was Voldemort. All that was needed is for someone in that room to say that name and all the bombs would go off instantly. There's practically no one that dares to say his name openly anymore and its not something that just pops up in a casual conversation." A few moments passed as Sirius' implications sunk in.
"What so you're trying to say that You-Know-Who has Death Eaters right under Dumbledore's nose?" Remus asked his voice just a little too high. "And you think that they are in Slytherin?" he frowned. "Don't tell me you deliberately set up those bombs to test some sort of idea you've had." He scowled at James who put up his hands.
"Hey, don't look at me, I thought the word was 'Quidditch'. Wondered why it hadn't gone off yet."
Sirius shook some hair out of his eyes. "I'd call it more like a suspicion rather than an idea."
This was suddenly all new to James. Sirius had a third bird killed with the same stone? "Padfoot, do you know something?"
Sirius shrugged. "Just an odd bit of sentence here and there in my bright old home." He said no more, there was nothing more to be said because they all knew about his family and their fascist views on pure blood values. It was natural for them to be drawn to the supposed ideals of the Dark Lord.
In their intense conversation none of them had noticed Lily entering the hall. She had found a seat that turned out to be far enough from them for her to escape their notice but not far enough for her not to overhear them.
She crossed her arms after arriving just in time to catch the end of their conversation. "That sounds like a lot of codswallop." She said flatly. "You guys are just prejudiced against Slytherin because of Severus."
James' brows furrowed. He had yet to decide on his opinion on Sirius' revelation but he did not think that Lily should dismiss it so surely and since when was she on first name basis with Snivellus? "The fact that they rant on about the importance of pure blood and how it corresponds to You- Know-Who's ideals is a little suspicious don't you think?" he said defensively.
Lily looked at him in what might have been surprise but the look was gone before he could fully register it. "I don't see why you target your pranks on them so often. It's not as if they are any different from any of us or any of the other students in the whole school for that matter."
Just at that moment Rodolphus Lestrange entered the hall followed by his usual trail of friends. They had not escaped the bombs but had decided to make an appearance regardless. Like some sort of bizarre animated character Lestrange and his group each had continuous streaks of mustard yellow gas pouring out their heads. The smell came off them in waves and many students left the hall.
Sirius and James had fallen into a fit of laughter and their open enjoyment at their discomfort was not lost upon the Slytherin group. One or two of them sneered before sitting down at their empty table but Lestrange lifted a corner of his mouth in cold smile and sat down with a stony silence. He was memorizing this moment well, filing it away until the opportunity for him to return the favor was at hand and he wasn't planning on just a simple prank.
James could easily imagine Lestrange as a prime candidate to be a Death Eater and was starting to think Sirius might be onto something.
"Your doing, without a doubt." Lily accused. James was saved from replying because Cerise sidled beside Lily with a message.
"Brent says he'll meet you at the library same time as last time." She said and poured herself some juice. Lily nodded and stood up shouldering her bag.
James turned away his lips clamped shut and busied himself with the Daily Prophet. Lily gave the back of his head one last look before walking off.
Lily's last lesson of the day finished early and she arrived at the library to find Brent already seated at a table in the far corner away from the prying eyes of the librarian.
"I'm awfully sorry for not being able to tell you about the change of location personally. Professor Flitwick insisted that I spent the day with him so that he could add a few more spells to protect me." Brent let out a dramatic sigh. His tendency to exaggerate each of his actions had taken some getting used to be once Lily learnt to ignore it Brent turned out to be a decent person.
During one evening about a week ago Lily had asked him what he did during lessons while everyone else was learning magic, in response he had shown her his books on Maths, Science and all sorts. Having spent the majority of her teen years dosed in magic Lily had expressed interest in the subjects she would have taken had she continued life as a Muggle. She was delighted when Brent had offered to fill her in on some of the subjects and since that day they had been meeting up after lessons.
"That's okay." Lily swung her bag onto the table and sat down.
"How about some biology today?" Brent pulled out a book with a microscopic photo of a bacterium on the front.
Lily shrugged. She wasn't feeling particularly receptive that day and James had irritated her. Actually, the Marauders had irritated her, she corrected. As Head Girl she should stop them from singling out a whole house for their pranks if not stop them all together. However amusing it was it was not right if it came at the expense of others. James should know that yet he continually goes about as if the world were his playground.
"Lily?" Lily's attention focused on Brent.
"Floating away you were."
"I'm sorry." She picked distractedly at the ends of her hair. "I just can't concentrate today." A green glow caught her eye. "Uh, Brent? Your amulet is glowing." She pointed at his stomach where a strange greenish color illuminated through his shirt.
Brent waved his hand unconcerned. "It does so every now and again."
"What does it do exactly? I mean, what is it?" Brent cleared his throat, which meant a story was coming.
"It's a mystical object." He began, his voice laced with intrigue and excitement. "Highly magical of course. My old man told me himself. Able to pierce veils between black and white. One could say that whoever possesses it is able to walk in the gray."
Lily recognized the saying immediately. "You mean between worlds? Is that even possible?"
"Definitely. I believe they do exist."
"Does that mean you can do it?" Lily asked completely intrigued. If he could then there certainly was a need for Brent to be as heavily protected as he is. Brent shifted in his seat.
"Well, not quite. I mean I probably could if I tried but I would also need to get hold of a moon-something or other and have to do something with my hand. My Father mentioned it once but you know all this magic stuff. Unnecessarily complicated and all."
"A moonstone?"
"Something like that." Lily sat back fascinated by the whole idea of being able to "walk in the gray" but it was brought to an abrupt stop when she noticed Brent's expression. It was a kind of heavy lidded almost dreamy look that she had seen before.
"Lily-"
"I just need to return this book." Lily stood up fast and her chair almost toppled over. Grabbing her Dream Book she lost herself among the rows of dusty shelves until she came back to shelf where the book was to be replaced. She slotted it into its allocated space marked by its shape in dust. Beside it was another book by the same author: Jose Weedle. "Deeper Meanings In Nightmares". Her own night wanderings had ended but now Yoanna was having bad dreams.
Curious Lily pulled down the heavy book and began to read.
A/N: I know this chapter wasn't very satisfying but a lot of the story had to be set up.
Back to square one for Lily and James. Lily certainly gets stubborn doesn't she? But then it just shows what sort of person she is. She stuck up for Snape in OotP because she felt it was wrong so I guess in these situations she would too!
Another thing was that everyone including me usually associates Slytherin with evil and it took me a lot of self-convincing that that isn't true. Slytherin is just another house with certain attributes; it just so happens that quite a few bad eggs sprung from them. That's why I've made it in the story so that up till then, everyone in school just treats them as another normal house because there's no reason to do so otherwise. Sirius is kind of revolutionary in that matter then because he is one of the first to suspect that there are spies among them! Whoo hoo! Go Sirius!!
