Ldub: Thanks for reviewing! I won't say who sent it, but it wasn't a specific drawing or anything that she saw. She panicked when she realized that it was Zoe's artwork

Lilkcat785: Thanks for reviewing! Hmm...that'd be heartbreaking. Can't say if it's true though!

EmilyCMalfoy: Thanks for reviewing! I don't know what happened, but for some reason I can't see what you wrote in your review, so I'm not sure what you said. But thanks for reviewing anyway!

PineappleBearr: Thanks for reviewing! I hope Charlotte finds a way to balance it all too. She usually doesn't handle things like that very well, so let's hope she can manage it this time. The young ones are absolutely too vulnerable for Charlotte to tell everything, so it'd definitely be best if she kept stuff from them

CHAPTER 25

Last night when I returned to the common room, I received a few inquisitive looks from all of my friends who were sitting together at that table again doing homework. Daphne came over to me, at which point I told her I was okay but that I couldn't talk about where I was and simply wanted to go lie down. She made no arguments and assured me that she would tell the others I was fine, even though she promised that they would all remain curious as to why I disappeared for three days and where I went.

Astoria came into the dormitory later and told me I could I always talk to her if I wanted. It was only after I told her to leave that I was finally alone and able to process my death and the threats by myself. I'm not handling it well.

None of my friends questioned me the next morning. For that I'm grateful.

Now I'm sitting with Daphne inside Alecto's classroom.

"Before class ends," Carrow says, "I would like your essays on how the Muggles have been oppressing us wizards." She waves her wand, and all but two bags cough up an essay and send it to her desk. The Death Eater turns to the two students who did not have an essay to turn in: Neville Longbottom and Seamus Finnigan. They need to stop doing this. "And just where is your work?"

Neither of them answers.

"I'll ask one more time," she says. "Where is it?"

"We didn't do it," Seamus says, neither of them wavering under the woman's intense glare.

There's a low growl in her throat. "And why not?"

"There was nothing to write about," Seamus says.

"The assignment was—"

"We know what the assignment was," Neville interrupts. "But it's impossible to write an essay on how the Muggles have been oppressing us when they haven't been doing that."

Alecto shouts that they have won themselves detention, just as class ends. They don't seem the least bit perturbed by this. In fact, they seem positively gleeful as we all make our way to our next classes. I walk as close to Neville as I can without drawing too much attention. "Do you think this is a good idea, Neville?" I ask him quietly.

"What do you mean?" he replies just as quietly.

"Openly rebelling. Don't you think it'll turn against you at some point?"

"When it does, we'll slump back into the shadows. We'll never stop rebelling—we'll just be more subtle about it. But that'll only happen in the most desperate of circumstances. If Harry's out risking his life to find a way to destroy You-Know-Who, the least I can do is stand against the Death Eaters inside the walls of Hogwarts."

"Very well. Then you should know that the Carrows have students imprisoned in the dungeons and are punishing said students with the Cruciatus Curse as well as beating them and torturing them with knives."

He slows a bit. "How do you know this?"

"I was sneaking around the other night and saw it."

"And you didn't do anything to stop them?"

"I was under strict orders only to gather information."

"Who gave you those orders?"

I cut him a glance but do not answer. Instead I say, "It'd probably be a good idea if we got our hands on some Polyjuice Potion." Then I say goodbye and head toward Transfiguration.

A few times when we're working on the assignment in McGonagall's class, I catch her watching me with a strange look for a brief moment before she turns her attention to the other students. We haven't really spoken about everything since I told her the truth—probably because I haven't really known at all what to say to her. As much as I want to tell her about the sketchbook, I know that I can't. It'll raise too many questions about Severus and where I was when I was hidden in his quarters for three days.

After class, I go to the Great Hall and wait with Daphne for the second-years and Astoria and Malcolm to arrive, but once the second-years step into the hall, Daphne and I are each on our feet and swiftly moving toward them. Christopher and Julia look as if they've been crying, and Ella and Jacob simply look shell-shocked. Daphne and I pull them into a corridor. "What's happened?" Daphne asks.

"I didn't mean to," Christopher whispers.

I look between him and the others, but no one elaborates. "Didn't mean to do what?"

"You should've heard what she was saying," he says.

"Who?"

"Carrow," Jacob says.

"What was she saying?" Daphne asks no one in particular.

Christopher wipes his face off. "She was saying things about Muggles!" the boy answers. "I…I couldn't…she can't say that!"

"Christopher," I say logically, "she's been saying that same type of stuff since the beginning of the term. What was different this time?"

"She said they deserve to die!" he erupts.

"Quieter, quieter," I whisper.

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "She said that they deserve to die."

"She's going to say things, Christopher, but you have to ignore her."

"But my mother is a Muggle-born! My grandparents are Muggles! Carrow said my family deserves to die!"

"Carrow knows about your mother?"

He shakes his head. "No."

"Explain what happened."

Christopher glances at the other three before saying, "We were in Muggle Studies. Professor Carrow was saying that Muggles deserve to die, and I just—I said some things—"

"Shouted some things, more like," Ella comments.

Christopher continues, "She didn't take kindly to it—"

"She gave him detention, Charlotte!" Julia wails.

"We hear rumors," Jacob says quietly. "We know what goes on in those detentions…"

Christopher begins trembling. "When is it?" I ask.

"Thursday."

"Dammit, Christopher."

"I'm sorry," he says, his voice small and pathetic and heartbreaking.

Daphne puts a comforting hand on his shoulder. It's silent until I say, "I have an idea. You won't serve those detentions, don't worry."

"Charlotte—"

"Accept the gesture as an apology for my behavior."

"No! You—"

"Shut up. I've made up my mind."

Daphne nods solemnly at me but says nothing.

As I cannot miss another day of class this soon after my three-day hiatus, I wait until dinner to make my way to Severus's office.

I knock frantically until I hear him give me permission to enter. "Charlotte?" he asks.

"Professor," I say, striding toward him and stopping just before his desk, not sitting down. "You know how much I hate to ask you for things." He raises an eyebrow, his lip twitching, desiring to smirk. "But I need Polyjuice Potion. Do you have any?"

"Why do you need it?"

"Christopher Collins—the second year—got detention. I'm going to take it for him."

"You don't need the potion to become someone else."

"But he does, and I can't just disappear altogether. We have to become each other, so there will be no questions asked."

"Why do you have to take it for him?"

"Professor, I've told you what the Carrows do. I can't let him go through that."

"I wish I could help," he says. "But I don't have any. I don't make potions anymore."

"I'll pay you for it."

He scrunches his eyebrows.

"Fine. I'll trade you for it. Anything. Name your price, Professor, please."

"I cannot make you any before this weekend."

"But?"

He sighs. "Use the Disillusionment Charm and wait in that corner back there." He motions to his back left. "I'll get you the potion if there's any in the storerooms." I obey him, casting the charm over myself, and sit down in the corner of his office. He scribbles a quick note onto a small piece of parchment, waves his wand, and sends the little note flying from the room. "It shouldn't be long now."

"Until what?"

"You're not here right now; therefore you cannot speak."

"So you're just talking to yourself then?"

He shushes me.

There comes a knock at the door a few minutes later, and Severus calls for the visitor to enter. The Carrows walk into the room together. "You called for us, Headmaster?" Amycus asks.

"Yes. I need you to find any Polyjuice Potion in the castle and bring it to me," Severus says.

The twins exchange a look. "Why?" the sister asks.

"I believe the students have a plot to use it. So I want it brought here where I might protect it." He shuffles some things around on his desk. "Take it from Slughorn's storeroom if need be. Bring all of it, do I make myself clear?"

"Snape—"

"Do not argue."

Amycus clenches his jaw but leads his sister from the office anyway. I remain silent until the Carrows return, three jars of Polyjuice Potion in their hands. They do not speak to Severus as they place it on his desk. They do not speak to him as they leave the office. They ignore him almost completely, and I'm confused as to why they seem to care so much about Slughorn losing the Polyjuice Potion.

I move to the seat in front of his desk, still invisible. Only once they've been gone from the room for a few minutes does Severus say, "You may remove the charm now, Charlotte."

I do just that, and he looks slightly shocked to find me on the other side of his desk. "It'd be best to leave some here, wouldn't it?"

"Yes." He hands me one of the jars. "Don't get yourself into too much trouble."

"I'm taking a detention for another student, I'm pretty sure—"

"Don't take it for him," he interrupts, a strange look on his face. "Put an end to the detention—get all of the students out. But don't take the detention for him."

"Then why did you go through the trouble of getting the potion for me?"

He shrugs. "I'm sure you'll find a way to use it."

"Does that mean—"

"I cannot give you suggestions on how to rebel against the Carrows."

I grin at him and leave.

After dinner on Thursday I shepherd Christopher away from the others and say quietly to him, "I'm coming for you later, Christopher. I need you to know that, yeah? I'm coming for you."

"Charlotte, I don't want you to get into trouble because of me," he whispers. "I earned the detention, and I'll serve it."

"Don't be so noble."

Some hours later I'm leaving Severus's office, covered by the Disillusionment and Silencing Charms. (I chose to hide there because no one will see me leave the common room, and when the Carrows find out that I was in the headmaster's office at the time of the detention break out, they'll have no reason to think it was me. Not that they have any reason to question me as it is, but still, it's nice to have an alibi.)

I'm on the first floor when I see Terry Boot writing the typical Dumbledore's Army calling. I pass him in silence.

Alecto is coming up the stairs as I go down toward the dungeon. I point my wand at her. "Stupefy." She falls to the floor, completely unconscious, and I wave my wand at her to carry her into the first door I see, which happens to be some type of storage closet. "Petrificus Totalus." I smile wickedly as I then throw the Disillusionment and Silencing Charms over her. I leave her there and head back to the dungeons. I'll deal with her after I get Christopher.

I haven't even reached the place where I know Christopher is being imprisoned when I hear Amycus Carrow shouting, "What kind of a Slytherin are you?"

There's a whimper of pain.

"The Dark Lord doesn't take kindly to disloyalty!"

"Just let him go!" another shrieks.

Christopher screams out again.

My adrenaline kicks in.

"Crucio!"

Christopher's wails of agony echo through my ears, and I speed up until I can see Amycus. "Stupefy!" I shout, not caring that I'm under the Silencing Charm. The Death Eater collapses. All of the prisoners—there are about seven, more than I thought—look up, wild-eyed, trying to find me. I point my wand at each of their bindings and release all of them. I remove my Silencing Charm and say, disguising my voice as much as possible, "Run."

I help Christopher to his feet, cast the Disillusionment Charm over him, and begin dashing back through the castle. "Where are we going?" he groans, obviously trying to contain his pain.

"Quiet." We continue running until I've reached McGonagall's office. I throw the door open and step inside. "Professor!"

She stands up from her desk. "Rodgers?"

I remove the Disillusionment Charm from me and Christopher. His face and arms are bloodied. He winces with every movement. "Can you help him?" I ask quietly as I lead him over to a chair and force him to sit. "Do you know how?" This is a flaw in my magical studies. I should learn how to heal people. But there's simply too much going on in my life right now for me to worry about that.

She nods and walks over to us. I pace back and forth. "Calm down, Rodgers," the professor says before she begins healing Christopher.

"I'm trying," I say. "It's just…Amycus could wake up any moment. I'll give you three guesses as to where he might come looking."

"What have you done?" she asks, pausing her efforts helping Christopher to look at me very authoritatively.

"I couldn't let him serve the detention."

Her lips become thin. "You stopped one of the Carrows' detentions? What about the other students?"

"They're all free."

She turns her attention back to Christopher but continues questioning me. "And you just left Amycus there?"

"Yes."

"And Alecto?" she asks, taking a step away from the thoroughly healed but drained little second year.

"Even if she wakes up, she won't be able to do anything because—"

There come violent stomps down the corridor, and without a word, I turn to Christopher and throw the Disillusionment Charm over him. McGonagall grabs him and pulls him behind her desk where she makes him hide. Just about the time I'm going to place myself under the Disillusionment Charm as well, Amycus bursts into the office. "You!" he shouts, pointing at me. "Do you know anything about what's just happened?"

"What?" I ask innocently, frustrated that I cannot claim to have been in Severus's office during the time of the disrupted detention now that Amycus has caught me in here but knowing full well that this is my fault.

"Do you know where the other students have gone?" he asks. "Where's my sister?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I've made a mistake. I'm so stupid.

"You're coming with me," he commands. As he drags me from the room, I give McGonagall a smile.

"Where're we going?"

"You're the only student we know for sure is serving the Dark Lord who is on speaking terms with Longbottom and his ilk—something we have overlooked for this very reason. You have to find the culprit. You have to find my sister."

"What reason? Why do I have to—"

"You're the only one who can."

"That'll ruin my cover!"

We stop in front of the gargoyle statue that leads to Severus's office. Amycus barks the password, and we go up the steps.

He doesn't knock; he just throws the door open and storms in, then forcefully shoves me inside. And I don't know if he meant to or not, but I wind up on the floor. "Well," I say as I struggle to my feet, "that was rude."

"What is the meaning of this?" Severus asks.

"Someone helped the students escape detention!" the Carrow brother roars. "And she"—he jabs an accusing finger at me—"refuses to help find out who did it!"

Severus's black eyes glance at me before focusing back on the other Death Eater. "And you believe that it's safe for her to parade around the castle as a follower of the Dark Lord, that the students will not give it a second thought?"

"We make her a spy," he says. "The only reason we Alecto and I haven't reported her friendliness with that ridiculous D.A. is because we want her to be a spy."

"Of course, that means anything she does to rebel against either you or your sister, or even me for that matter, will go unpunished because she is simply trying to play the part," Severus says.

Amycus's smile becomes dark and cruel. "That's fine." He turns to me. "Find my sister. Find the students who escaped. Find out who did this."

"And what will happen to the students she finds?"

"They'll continue their punishment, of course."

"But if she's the one who finds them, it will be fairly obvious who turned them over," Severus says. "Continuing their detention probably isn't the best idea." I want to hug him.

Carrow thinks about it for a moment. "Detentions are out for those who escaped. For now." He looks at me again. "Just find who did it. And find my sister."

I nod.

"The person who did this will suffer either way," he assures me. Then he leaves.

I look back at Severus, who is smiling just as wide as I am. "I trust young Collins is fine," he says.

"Thank you," I say with a smile. "Thank you."

"Why did you not just change their memories?" he asks quietly, no judgment in his voice. "Make them believe they tortured those students?"

I hang my head, my stomach dropping. "I—I don't know. I heard Christopher screaming and just…panicked. I wasn't thinking." I'm so stupid. I panicked and just wanted to get to Christopher as quickly as I could.

"These things happen, Charlotte." His voice is kind, but something on his face changes briefly. "Perhaps you should begin eating again—nourishment might help you think more clearly."

I grimace and start for the door. "Yeah, maybe."

When I reach McGonagall's office, I don't knock. I just enter. And when I do, I see Christopher sitting in front of the professor's desk, sipping on a cup of tea and eating a biscuit. "Hi, Charlotte," he greets me with a smile, looking almost too happy for someone who was Cruciated just a short while ago.

"Hi," I say slowly as I go to take a seat next to him. "I expected you to be back in the common room by now."

"I was going to wait on you," he says. "Professor McGonagall said you'd probably be back."

"Am I that predictable?"

"Yes."

"I guess I can let the two of you know," I say. "I am officially a spy for the Death Eaters. I'm to find out what the students are doing and who the ringleader is."

"What do you plan on saying happened tonight?" Christopher asks.

That's a good question. A few plans crossed my mind as I made my way back here. The only problem is that I will legitimately need Polyjuice Potion this time. It would have to be someone who is brave enough to not worry about the consequences. The only person I can think of who would be that courageous is Neville, but I don't know if I'd want us to become each other. It could lead to some awkward situations.

There's always Ginny, I guess. But I don't want to endanger her like that considering the fact that I've already hurt her brother.

Luna's a part of the D.A. as well. Perhaps I can ask her. Beyond the three of them, there is no one I feel I could trust.

But all of this is just speculation.

Ginny might know everything about me; I can't be sure. She hasn't spoken to me about it. Neville will have to know eventually, I guess, and I now plan to tell him either way. But I'm not sure if I want Luna knowing the truth about me.

"You haven't thought that far, have you?" Christopher asks.

"I've got some ideas…" I say vaguely. "But I'm unsure if any of them will work."

"What makes you unsure?" McGonagall asks.

I look between the professor and Christopher. I lower my voice. "Because that requires one of the students to know the full truth, and I just don't think I'm ready to put that kind of faith in someone."

"That might be an issue," she agrees, "but it's better than not doing anything at all. There are a few students I believe you can trust."

"Unfortunately I fear it will ruin what odd, strained friendships are somewhat there. Especially if it were Neville."

She nods understandingly, and I consider her helping me and offering her advice as forgiveness for the way I acted before, but I still need to speak with her around that. "For now you need to get back to the dungeons. It's curfew."

"Actually," I say, more nerves in my voice than I like right now, "I was wondering if I might stay for just a moment longer. I need to speak with you."

Christopher takes his cue and stands up. Before he leaves, he turns to me one more time with tear-filled eyes. "Thank you, Charlotte, for risking so much for me."

"I'd do it again." But I hope it won't be necessary. However, if the sender of that sketchbook has any say in it, I might be forced to do even more.

Once he's finally out of the room, I turn my full attention back to McGonagall. "Professor," I say, "I—I'm—I want to apologize. For everything, really, that I did during the beginning of this term. I treated you terribly, and you didn't deserve that. At all. What I said about the Longbottoms—it was cruel and unnecessary, and I'm sorry.

"You and my friends are important to me, and I was scared for your safety, but that doesn't excuse my actions. I should've—I should've come to you and told you what was happening. I should've told you why I couldn't—why I couldn't be around you. The dangers you were in. Instead I tried to destroy—I'm sorry. I shouldn't have acted the way I did, Professor."

I swallow down the lump in my throat. "You didn't deserve that. I'm sorry. I should've gone about this whole thing differently."

"I forgive you."

Tears blur my vision. "But I'm afraid I can't continue being normal anymore."

"Rodgers—"

"One of Zoe's sketchbooks was delivered to me with a clear threat to obey the Dark Lord. He killed her, and now he's warning me that the rest of my friends are in danger as well. They're the easiest way to hurt me because actually hurting me didn't last."

"Rodgers, we'll be fine. We're in no more danger now than we were before. Tell your Slytherin friends to keep their heads down, and they won't be harmed. I can take care of myself."

"Professor—"

"You're doing more harm by trying to shut all of them out. You can't go through this alone."

I nod at her, not trusting myself to talk.

"Now, take a biscuit and go back down to your common room."

I bite my cheek to keep from crying in front of her. "Thank you, Professor."