Hawknest143: Thanks for reviewing! Yeah, I think it's good that Charlotte is finally willing to open up. I won't say who sent the sketchbook, but you make some pretty good points!

PineappleBearr: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad she's mending bridges with McGonagall too. Because of the Bellatrix thing, it's probably a much better idea to choose Ginny, but we'll see if Charlotte comes to the same conclusion

EmilyCMalfoy: Thanks for reviewing! Ah okay, that makes sense. I'm glad you're enjoying it still!

Guest: Thanks for reviewing! Your words of encouragement are really nice, thank you. Parts 3 and 4 will definitely stray from canon for a while and intersect with it a few times in ways that I think will be interesting. It'll intersect more in Part 4. A lot of Parts 3 and 4 will deviate from canon since this story is at Hogwarts and the trio was not there for their 7th year. She'll have some influence on the trio's story but not much. Basically, I'm building a story for Charlotte that will follow her and be about her while intersecting some plot points with the trio's story. The Battle of Hogwarts will still happen because Charlotte won't have the type of influence to change that, but some things about the battle will be different

CHAPTER 26

Severus fidgets uncomfortably across the table from me in his chambers. We're eating—he's eating, I'm just picking at my plate—dinner (nearly an hour after the other students had dinner in the Great Hall; I had to go and sit and watch everyone eat because I can't just disappear constantly). "Charlotte, when I told you to get the students out of detention rather than take the detention for young Mr. Collins, I never intended—I thought you would change the Carrows' memories," he says softly.

"I know, I—I panicked and—I didn't mean for this to happen."

"The whole point was to prevent anyone from being tortured and now—"

"I know," I whisper. "I'm sorry."

He clears his throat, his eyes becoming somewhat apologetic. "Have you decided what to tell the Carrows?" It's been two days, and Amycus is growing wildly impatient and more worried about Alecto. I'm running out of time to turn someone in. Alecto is in serious danger.

"There are so many students who could obviously have been the person to free those in detention, but I'm not sure exactly who to blame right now."

"Who's on your short list?"

"My short list? Outside of Slytherin, which is a House I cannot choose from because that won't go over well simply because they're in Slytherin, the only ones I can think of who I would trust enough with the truth are Neville and Ginny."

"And which Slytherins do you trust?"

"In general—the second-years I tutored, Malcom Braddock, and the Greengrass sisters."

"Why must you choose either Weasley or Longbottom?"

"They're Gryffindors—so I know they're brave—but they've both made it very open that they're against the Carrows. No one would question it."

He nods. "Choose Longbottom."

"Why him?"

He takes a bite of chicken. "The Weasleys have been through enough, in my opinion. Their youngest son is out gallivanting around the country with the Ministry's Undesirable Number One and a Muggle-born. One of their other sons despises them. Mr. Weasley nearly died two years back. Ginny Weasley was possessed by the Dark Lord in her first year here. Ron Weasley nearly died last year. George lost his ear in some tragic, unforeseeable accident." I like that he can make jokes about that now. "I simply do not believe we should put them through their daughter being tortured by the Carrows."

I swallow thickly. "How badly do you think he'll be tortured?"

He grimaces.

"So it looks like I've found a use for that Polyjuice Potion."

Severus sighs. "I feared you would want to do this, but you can't—"

"I'll switch places with him, it's fine. I'll take the punishment and—"

"I don't think that's a good idea."

I frown at him. "I'm not going to let someone else be tortured because of me."

"Then you shouldn't have freed those students."

"Or I should have changed the Carrows' memories." Severus's eyes become sympathetic. "I'm an idiot, I know."

"It's my fault as well. I should've told you to do that. I should've been more explicit in telling you not to take Collins's detention for him."

"No, you've been stressed and busy. This is my fault, my burden to bear. I made a mistake."

We're silent for a long minute before I exhale and say, "Okay. Well, it's in the past. I'm going to take someone's place and take their punishment. My punishment. But the Carrows won't know it's me. Do you still think I should choose Neville? That we should Polyjuice into each other?"

He watches me for a moment, then looks away as if in thought. For a few moments he doesn't speak, his jaw clenched tightly. After a while of this he says, "Yes, if you think you're fine with switching places with him." Severus doesn't seem fine with me switching places with Neville, but I don't think there's another way.

"I can't let the Weasleys think their daughter is being tortured, and I can't let her write a letter to them because what if it's intercepted? I won't do that to them." I stand to my feet and run my hands through my hair. "I guess I'll need to get started then. Don't want Amycus growing too impatient and giving up on this whole 'let Charlotte be a spy' thing."

He waves his wand at the plates and cups on the table, and all of it disappears. "How is young Mr. Collins?"

"Shaken, but fine. Professor McGonagall helped him. I took him back to her after I rescued him."

"Watch him," Severus says. "He could very well be in danger. The Carrows won't forget that he was in detention the night of the escape."

"I'll make sure he stays safe." I watch him for a moment before adding, "Thank you for everything you do for me."

He offers me a kind smile and a nod, and with just that gesture, I suddenly feel wholly and entirely safe. "You should get going. The sooner you turn in Longbottom the better."

"Right." I Apparate from his chambers to the typical bathroom, the place that has become a link between me and Severus. It's the one place that allows me to visit him without anyone knowing—not the professors, not the portraits, not the students. Just us.

I go in the general direction of the Gryffindor Tower, and I luck out enough to see Neville standing in front of The Fat Lady. "Neville!" I call.

He turns and watches me curiously. I grab him by the arm and keep walking. "I have some Polyjuice Potion. You and I have to switch places soon."

"What? Why?"

"The Carrows believe I'm a spy for them. I released those students from detention last Friday night. No one can know that, of course. They know you're against them. If we switch places, you can turn me in, and I'll take the punishment that is due. But they won't know it's me, so I can continue being in the D.A. while not worrying about the Carrows."

He seems confused. "Why do they think you're a spy for them?"

"It's a long story but if they learn that I am against them, they'll turn me over to the Dark Lord," I say, "and I'll most likely be taken from Hogwarts and detained." In Azkaban. I can't do that again.

"When do we need to do this?"

"The first step must be taken as soon as possible, because Alecto could very well die." His eyes widen a bit. "I…locked her in a storage closet. Which is actually the biggest reason I need to take the punishment. They'll most likely torture you pretty severely for that." Of course, I didn't tell Severus much about that.

He nods. "All right then."

"Get an extra pair of your robes and meet me in the girls' bathroom on the first floor in twenty minutes. We're switching places tonight."

We separate, Neville making his way to the Gryffindor common room and me making my way down to the dungeons. Daphne follows me up to the dormitory and watches me curiously while I gather an extra pair of robes and put them into my rucksack. "Are you planning to stay somewhere tonight?" she asks conspiratorially, her eyebrows wriggling, her lips turned down in a grimace she seems to be fighting.

I grin at her. "Possibly."

"No walk of shame for Charlotte Rodgers. She's smart enough to take an extra pair of clothes."

"You sound jealous."

"Please," she scoffs, plopping down on my bed, turning on her side, and looking over at me. "I'm just curious as to how you're planning to sneak into another House without getting caught."

"I'll tell you all about it when I return." I pause. "Actually, I'll tell you all about in a couple of days. I have a feeling something big is going down soon that'll distract everyone from all small gossip."

"At least tell me who the lucky person is," she says with a wink, her voice sounding almost strained.

I glance up at her. "Neville Longbottom."

"What?" she exclaims, almost sounding angry, her cheeks reddening. "You can't be serious."

"What's wrong with Neville?"

"He's—he's Neville Longbottom, Charlotte! You can't be—Neville Longbottom! Tell me you're joking."

"He's not unattractive."

She flops backward and places her hands on her stomach, pointedly not looking at me. "Maybe not now, but you should have seen him when we all first got here."

"I saw him in fifth year."

"He's so… I don't know the word for it. Kind of pathetic?"

"Don't say that." I push to my feet and sling my bag onto my back. "So unless you've got something to say to make me stay, I'm heading out."

She watches closely me for a moment, a strange look on her face, before sighing, "Have fun. Please just don't get pregnant. You don't need to be latched to him forever because of your misjudgment in your last year at Hogwarts."

I grin at her, cast the Disillusionment Charm over myself and go down to the common room, then exit without speaking to anyone else.

Neville is waiting for me in the bathroom, and we exchange our extra robes and step into the stalls to change. When we step back out, I can't help but laugh at him. Because he's over a head taller than I am and far broader than I am, my robes cling to him unflatteringly and only make it to his mid-calf, the sleeves only reaching halfway down his forearm.

"Shut up," he says good-naturedly, looking into the mirror and smiling at his own reflection. "You're swallowed whole."

"At least I don't look like Hagrid trying to fit into Snape's robes," I say, waving my wand and making two glasses appear. I pour the potion into each glass, and we both pluck a strand of hair and swap them. "Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

I drop Neville's hair into the potion. Its bubbly, muddy appearance changes to a rich red. I steal a glance at what mine has become and see that it has assumed a dull blue color. Silently wondering what makes the potions look different, I drink the red essence of Neville, and a sweet flavor fills my mouth.

Neville grunts, and I look over at him. His lips are puckered, his eyes shut tight. "Was it that bad? Yours was sweet."

"Sour. Extremely sour. Like I was drinking pure lemon juice."

I don't know how to comment on this, so I stay quiet. We both place our glasses on the sink, but my lightheartedness disappears immediately.

My insides churn as if there are tiny creatures running around inside me, and I collapse on all fours. My skin bubbles like it's hot wax, and I gasp in pain. Being a Metamorphmagus, I don't experience discomfort like this when I become someone else. How do people handle this? My fingers elongate, and my shoulders broaden. It's hard for me not to scream out. My head prickles, and I know that my hair is being retracted to look like Neville's. And soon enough, the robes that had previously "swallowed me whole" now fit me perfectly, and the pain is over.

I turn to look at Neville. "Are you okay?" I ask him, realizing then that I sound just like him.

"Do I really sound like that?"

"Do I really sound like that?" I say, pushing to my feet.

"What do we do now?"

"We're going to walk out of here like nothing happened," I say. "Go find Amycus and say it was me—or you, technically—who released the students from detention. He'll take it from there."

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

I don't think I'll ever be able to get used to seeing myself speak to me. "I'm positive. It's the only way." I change the glasses into flasks and hand him his. "Keep this and use it until it's all over. Then we'll just wait on it to wear off."

Neville nods and puts the flask into his robes—or, rather, my robes. We leave the bathroom.

"When you get there—to his office," I say to him as we walk through the corridors, "just tell him that you've found the culprit who released the students from detention. He'll probably send you away after you've snitched on yourself. If he does, don't worry about finding anyone else. And if the second-years or one of the Greengrass sisters finds you—"

"The ones you're usually with?"

"Yes. Just don't say anything. I don't want this plan failing because you don't know random trivia about me. If they ask what's wrong, just tell them that you're overwhelmed with some stuff. If they continue prying, give one answer: Zoe. Then go lie down and they'll all leave you alone."

"And you get like this often?"

"As of August, yeah."

"Why?"

"If I come out of this thing alive, I might tell you," I say. "But I'll seek advice before I do. If they don't think it's a good idea, then I won't. I'm sorry, but that's just how it's got to be."

"Who're you going to ask?"

"McGonagall." He at least deserves to know that.

"She knows?"

"Yes."

We've reached The Fat Lady. "Try to avoid spending too much time with anyone in there. Just take this"—he hands me an Herbology book—"and read it, and they'll understand why you're so quiet." He watches me for a moment. "Good luck, Charlotte."

"You too, Neville."

Neville calls out the password to the Gryffindor common room, and the portrait swings open. My heart aches when I see the inside of this tower for the first time. The colors are warm and inviting rather than harsh and cold. The room itself seems much cozier. Without caring about the others around who might find my following actions odd, I walk straight to one of the windows overlooking the Hogwarts grounds. Again I question why I was placed in Slytherin, whose common room is beneath the surface of the Black Lake, when the Gryffindors get to see most of the Hogwarts grounds from their common room.

A cruel bitterness rises in my chest. Why is my luck so bloody awful? I wish I lived here instead of in the dungeons. I wish I was able to enjoy this type of life at Hogwarts.

No, Charlotte, if you weren't a Slytherin, you never would have met those second years, Malcolm, Astoria, Daphne. Zoe. And I don't think I'd trade them for the world.

I take a seat and start reading the book Neville gave me. I'm so glad that I failed the Herbology O.W.L. because I do not think I would have enjoyed advancing to the N.E.W.T. level if the whole class is like this.

"Neville!"

I smile down at the grounds. I wish I could walk it again with Zoe, could study for my O.W.L.s again with her down by the lake while she studies for her N.E.W.T.s.

"Neville!"

Someone grabs my shoulder and spins me around. "Neville," Lavender says, her voice panicked. "Neville, Carrow is coming for you! He believes you're responsible for the students escaping detention on Friday!"

"That's ridiculous!" Seamus argues. "We all know that he was in here in the common room!"

"He can't do that!" Ginny says. "He has no proof!"

"I'll take care of it," I say.

"Do you really think that Carrow is going to listen to a thing you've got to say about it?" Ginny asks.

"I don't quite know what they'll do. But I can't very well hide, can I?"

"But you didn't do it!" another Gryffindor shouts.

"It's fine." Then without waiting for an answer, I walk out of the Gryffindor common room and feel my bitterness rise a little more at the fact that I will never be a Gryffindor again. Once Neville and I have switched back, I will never again be able to step into the Gryffindor Tower as a Gryffindor student. That view of the Hogwarts grounds will forever be taken from me.

Amycus approaches me at an alarming speed until he's close enough to me to grab my by the neck and slam me against the wall, his face grossly close to mine. "Neville Longbottom," he hisses, tightening his grip on my throat, "where is my sister?"

"You mean you haven't found her yet?" I ask with a slight laugh, forcing a smile to my lips. But it's still slightly distressing, because she could die if we don't release her fast enough, and if I'm going to kill another Death Eater, it will not be done like this.

Amycus whips his wand out and shoves it against my face. "You have three seconds to tell me where she is."

I wait patiently until he takes a breath between seconds two and three before I say, "First floor. Storage closet by the stairs."

The Death Eater grabs me by the shoulder and pulls me away from the wall, then shoves me along with him until we've reached the room where I've hidden Alecto. "This one?" he asks.

"If I remember correctly, yeah."

He throws the door open, and we see nothing. Amycus pulls my legs out from under me, and I hit my back on the stone floor. I groan. "WHERE IS SHE?"

"In there," I say, rolling to my side and trying to pull myself to my feet.

He walks into the closet and falls over her, landing on the floor beside her. "Alecto?" he asks quietly. He waves his wand at her, and the Disillusionment Charm breaks. Then he removes the Silencing Charm as well as the Body-Binding Curse. "Is he the one who did this to you?"

Amycus pulls Alecto upright, and she leans against the wall. She smiles a weak thanks to her brother then glares at me. "I can't be sure," she says darkly. "I was hit from behind."

"So much for the courage of a Gryffindor," Amycus snarls.

The two of them stand up, and I catch a whiff of the terrible smell of Alecto. She smells like piss. Amycus grabs me roughly by the upper arm and drags me toward the dungeons.

Perhaps this isn't exactly my best idea ever, but it's better than letting someone else take the blame. I don't know if I could live knowing that someone took this punishment for me. They throw me onto my face in the dungeons, successfully ripping me from my thoughts. "THREE DAYS!" Alecto shrieks. "FOR THREE DAYS I WAS LOCKED IN THAT BLOODY CLOSET!" Then she sways and steadies herself on her brother's arm.

"It was two days, but you definitely smell like—"

Amycus kicks me in the chest.

"I thought a few days would have given you time to cool down."

"SHUT UP!" Amycus shouts. "You're going to learn the meaning of respect!"

"I can't really learn 'respect' from you, sir." I burst suddenly with laughter. "You might want to help Alecto clean herself up!"

Amycus slams his foot into my knee and chuckles when I whimper.

I lie back on the stone floor and close my eyes. "Seriously, sir, you might want to escort your sister to the shower because she smells like piss." A blunt object slams into my face, and I cough up some blood and roll onto my side to catch the blood in my hands. Judging by the pounding in my nose and the bone-chilling crack it made and the taste of blood in my mouth and the warm fluid running down the back of my throat right now, I'm fairly certain my nose is broken. "At least I don't have to worry about smelling her anymore!"

The same blunt object, which I now see is a bat (it's nice to know that the Quidditch equipment is being put to good use), crashes onto my back. I yelp and try to slide away from him.

"It's a shame that the Gryffindor courage has abandoned you," Amycus taunts me, crouching down beside me. "What would your parents think?"

"DON'T SPEAK OF THEM!"

"Don't like to hear the stories of mummy and daddy?" Alecto asks sweetly. "Did you know that they begged, like dogs, for mercy? Bellatrix herself has told us."

I know very well that this is a lie, but I can't comment on this because it would be far too suspicious. I pull my legs up under myself, push to my feet, and throw my fist across Alecto's face. "Bellatrix Lestrange had no right—"

The bat flies across my face again, and I am thrown onto the floor, shrieking, in even more pain than before. Honestly I think he just broke my cheekbone. I touch my hand to the side of my face, but quickly have to jerk it away because a single touch sends flames through me. "You'll learn, Neville Longbottom!" Amycus says.

I let out a high-pitched whine that I immediately regret, because the Carrow twins burst with cold laughter. I try to crawl away from the pair of them, and a knife plunges into my leg. The blade rips down the length of my calf, and I screech, trying to get away from them, begging for death as the blinding pain of my nose, cheek, and calf courses through me.

Severus was right. I should not have done this. I should not have freed those students. This was the worst mistake I have ever made.

Actually, no it's not, but I would definitely consider it to be on my list of regrettable decisions. The blade tears free from my calf, and I scream out again.

"Beg, Longbottom!" Alecto laughs. "Beg like your filthy blood traitor parents!"

"Never," I say through my agony, tears slipping from my eyes. I can't tell what's blood and what's tears rolling down my cheeks.

Amycus thrusts his foot into my stomach to force me onto my back. Then he pounces on me and slices my cheeks. I scream again, not because the burn of the cut exactly but because of the pressure he's put on my broken face. He smiles wickedly and punches me in the face again. My vision goes white; my lungs struggle to suck in air. I want to die. I actually beg for him to stop, crying like a child. Amycus takes me by the hands and drags me toward the wall. Alecto clasps my hands in shackles above my head.

The knife slices across my chest, and for a moment it distracts me from the pain in my face. "We'll be back," Amycus says gruffly.

He places his hand on Alecto's back and leads her from the room. Hopefully so she can wash up.

It's only been two minutes that they've been gone when I hear soft footsteps sneaking into the room. "Charlotte, this was a mistake," a familiar voice says. Severus makes himself visible, his eyes swooping over the injuries on me. "I told you not to do this." He pulls a vial from his robe pocket. "Drink this." He places it to my lips and lets me drink it completely. "It'll help with the pain. I can't set you free, but I hope you know—I want to. Charlotte, you shouldn't have done this."

"I know," I whisper. "But it was my decision, and I'll deal with it. I'll be fine. Now put that charm back on and get out of here before they return because we can't explain this if they find you."

He puts the charm back over himself. "I can't have them trying to get into my office and not finding me." Another vial touches my lips. "More Polyjuice Potion. I'll make sure you don't change back into yourself with the broken bones. I imagine the pain would be most unbearable." I feel him touch my shoulder gently. "I'll be back shortly."

Then I hang my head, letting his potion suck the pain out of me.