CHAPTER 25: How To Get Away With Murder (Part 1)

Gryffindor Common Room

November 1st, 1995

7:15 a.m.

Hermione Granger was sitting in the corner of the Gryffindor Common Room, trying her best to focus on the book on her hand rather than the chaos around her. Nearly every Gryffindor was packed into the common room. Professor McGonagall was notorious for being the teacher who showed up first to the Great Hall, and ever since Umbridge had instituted the Educational Decree that forbid students from walking the halls without supervision from teachers or prefects, she had forced every single lion to wake up early so that she could escort the whole house together.

She always showed up at quarter past seven on the dot, and today was no exception as the portrait opened and the professor, wearing a set of emerald green robes with her pointed hat, and a stern look in her face, stepped into the common room.

"Gryffindors, follow me." She told them before turning around, knowing everyone would continue behind her.

The mass of students slowly exited the tower, following McGonagall in the most disorganized way possible as they made their way to the Great Hall, like every morning. Less of the single file line Umbridge wanted and more like a stampede of teenagers wearing the black Hogwarts robes lined with red colours.

Hermione shut her copy of The Secret History, disappointed with her slow reading process, and made her way towards Neville and Ron, who were talking to Fred and George near the entrance of the common room.

"Ah, she graces us with her presence!" One of the twins said, smiling mischievously.

"Don't you have a boring book to read?" The other one continued.

"Or a large paper to write?"

"We are starting midterms next week, after all."

"This is my spare time, actually," Hermione smiled tightly. She'd never been a fan of the twins' mocking of her. Or their pranks. Or their general behaviour. And she wasn't the only one. But she tolerated them, mostly because Ron was one of her best friends. "Neville," she called out, moving part them as quickly as she could. "Have you prepared the lesson for today?" She whispered.

"Yes."

"Are you-"

"I'm fine, Hermione," he said through gritted teeth. "You don't need to ask me every day."

"Okay," she replied, trying to hide the hurt in her voice with a curt acknowledgment. But the slight regret on Neville's face told her she hadn't done a good enough job at hiding it.

Over the course of the year, she had grown to hate Dolores Umbridge in levels she hadn't thought possible to hate a person. The way she was interfering with the Hogwarts methods of teaching, forcing mediocrity and ignorance upon every student in the castle, went against everything she believed education to be. The torture she inflicted upon Neville and the rest of the students who stood up to her, the bloody wounds she had pleaded to her friend to let her mend but was always rejected and even yelled at whenever she tried. The hundreds of Educational Decrees that had heavily restricted every step a student could make, the number of sneezes they could release per day, and the amount of time they could spend outside the common room.

It had turned Hogwarts from a regular, albeit highly dangerous school, into a quasi-concentration camp. Forced to swallow all the Ministry propaganda, not allowed to learn anything that was considered too dangerous, tortured for having differing views from Umbridge's liking, and now forced to stay crammed inside their common room for a large part of their days. It was unbearable, and it would've made the DA impossible, if only it wasn't for Potter's magic room - the one that could appear anywhere in the castle they wished.

But only from within. Granted, Neville's cloak was incredibly helpful as it allowed them to easily reach the room and gather the others from within their respective common rooms. Hermione wasn't worried about the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, or Ravenclaws. Even if they found out about their activities, she doubted anyone would tell Umbridge. The whole castle hated her. But the Slytherins? They would definitely use that for their own advantage in the future.

Fortunately, Potter had found a way to keep all of his housemates out of the loop. How he did it, she had no idea. But at this point she'd stopped asking how Potter did what he did. Or at least tried to. She really didn't want to start snooping into his life, there were more important things out there than him. But her curiosity got the better of her most times.

To say Potter had been influential inside the DA was a massive understatement. When she had agreed to let him in, she didn't think things would end up like they had. She'd expected the Slytherin to sulk in the corners, be properly humbled, brought down from his high horse as he realised he wasn't as good as he thought he was. After all, he hadn't shown himself to be anything but unremarkable for the first four years in their schooling history. Surely, he wouldn't prove himself to be some sort of hidden prodigy the likes even Neville was impressed by, regardless of his house.

Except that's precisely what had happened, after she goaded him into it to be precise! She had hoped that he would allow her or Neville to help him after having problems with casting the spells. Maybe he'd stop being such an arse and be a decent person. It certainly wouldn't hurt to have a friend inside Slytherin. And then he had proceeded to shut her up by showing a display of magic that had left everyone in the room with slacked jaws, including herself.

People had started gravitating more towards Potter after that, to the point where he basically gained his own small group of students that wanted to learn from him rather than from Neville! And even though a lot of them eventually went back to Neville, claiming Potter was too… aggressive with his teaching (and they were right!), the ones that had stayed had proven themselves to be the ones who improved the most. And they were mostly Hufflepuffs!

Hermione never expected to see a day when a pack of Hufflepuffs would stand by a Slytherin as close as they had stood by Harry. Then some Ravenclaws had decided to join him as well. The only reason why no Gryffindor had even asked Harry a question was because of loyalty towards Neville and pride towards the feud Gryffindors and Slytherins inherently had. She was on the former camp, though at times, she really wanted to ask him countless questions.

Potter gaining a group of supporters had been the worst thing that could've happened. Though, with the benefit of hindsight, it should've been obvious this would happen. He was the one that managed to convince a good amount of them to join the DA. Not her. Not Neville. Harry Potter, of all people! Even after forcing Neville to practice with her the previous night and forcing him to be on his best behaviour, it hadn't been enough.

But now it was too late, Harry had his students and Neville had his students. The DA had practically split itself in half. The whole point of that group, besides learning and preparing for their OWLs, was to band the student body together against Umbridge. To unite people from all houses together, and preferably have Neville step into the position of leader since he would need the influence for the inevitable war that was slowly brewing in the shadows, peering inside the hallowed halls of Hogwarts but still not reaching it. Not quite yet.

She had no idea when that would happen, but she was sure it would.

But instead of that, Potter and Neville were basically fighting for control of the DA - though Hermione didn't think either of them knew it yet. And the rivalry between them, the one that had slowly been growing ever since the year began and had occasionally reared its head in the arguments they've had, was only worsening it. She feared a conflict between the two of them, and their own group of followers by extension, was becoming more inevitable by the moment.

She had tried to talk to Neville about it, Ron as well. To calm them both down and try to make them befriend Potter. But they hadn't listened. Ron had always been extremely prejudiced against Slytherins, and a part of her couldn't blame him after Ginny had revealed the many losses the Weasleys and Prewetts had in the last war - plenty of them towards Slytherin Death Eaters. As much as she'd tried to convince Ron that just because someone was in Slytherins didn't mean they were evil, it hadn't paid off. And their weekly talks with Sirius and Remus hadn't helped as Ron had found a kindred spirit with the former, bonding over their hatred for Slytherins.

Neville was another beast onto himself. He wasn't the same, not after everything that had happened last year. Whatever happened in the Graveyard, it had changed him. The quiet, reserved kid had been replaced by an erratic, violent boy, looking for a fight at any occasion, uncaring of who he was fighting. She and Ron got the brunt of his anger, but they weren't the only ones. He'd started snapping at any other person who dared seat near him, even challenging teachers like Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall much more than before.

Hermione and Ron had had several interventions with him, but they didn't have an impact. Not even his Grandmother, who Neville was notoriously afraid of even by third-year, had been enough to control him or convince him to calm down. They'd suggested everything they could think of; Mind healers, calming droughts, sleeping droughts, even just to talk to them. But nothing had worked. Neville had done everything in his power to distance himself from everyone as much as possible, and no one was able to convince him to do otherwise.

No one knew what had happened that night in the graveyard. Almost every member of the Order had tried to get him to talk about it, even Sirius offered to share his experience in Azkaban if Neville told him about the graveyard. But he was relentless in his stubbornness, taking to guard the knowledge of what happened that night as if his life depended on it. The only thing people knew was that Voldemort had somehow returned and that he had killed Cedric. Nothing more. And after everyone started calling him a liar - some even a murderer - he'd become even more reserved about that night.

So, not only was Neville behaving much more violent and moody than ever before, but over the past few months he'd grown incredibly antagonistic towards Potter. After that first morning when Potter had humiliated him, to all the encounters that followed before he forced himself into the DA and started becoming more liked than Neville himself. There was a hint of jealousy Hermione could detect, and it kept growing as the days went by and Potter became more popular within the student body.

She needed to stop that, needed to figure out a way to have them make peace before anything escalated even further.

Suddenly, as the group was reaching the Great Hall, the mass of students stopped, causing Hermione, Ron, and Neville to crash against the group of fourth-years in front of them. Murmurs from ahead began rising, taking over the quiet conversations like a fire in the middle of the woods.

"Oh my God!"

"What's going on?"

"What's happening?"

"Who did this!?"

"Are they okay?"

"Are they alive?"

"Who cares, they're snakes!"

"McLaggen!"

"Silence!" Professor McGonagall's amplified voice boomed in her ears, forcing her to cover them as she tried to get a view of what was happening inside the Great Hall. "Students will return to their dormitories! Classes are cancelled until further notice!"

There was outrage at that statement, and people from behind her began pushing into her, trying to get a peak inside about what everyone in the front had seen to alter Professor McGonagall.

"LEAVE! Now!"

"What the fuck?" Neville whispered.

"But Professor," Bonnie Netto, the seventh-year prefect, spoke up. "What about the Educational Decrees?"

"What?" Hermione hissed at Neville. "What's happening? I can't see!"

And then… she saw. All the way across the hall, behind the teacher's table, there were eight bodies hanging from chains in the roof. They were draped evenly, positioned in a way that was clearly planned, as if trying to make a statement. Most of them were hanging by their arms, just under the flying candles height-wise. But there was one that hung from one foot, the one at the centre, right above the golden throne Professor Dumbledore usually sat at. Even from this far, Hermione could tell it was someone she vaguely recognised, but she couldn't piece out who it was.

"Consider yourselves excused from Educational Decree N°105 for this special occasion," Professor McGonagall said tightly. "I will talk to Professor Umbridge as soon as possible, but, for now, the castle is on lockdown! All of you are confined to the Gryffindor Common Room until said otherwise."

Slytherin Common Room

November 1st, 1995

2:50 a.m.

"You've brought the Aurors to Hogwarts, Potter." Pansy snarled. "And the first thing they'll focus on doing is determining who was the moron that almost killed Graham Bloody Montague!"

"No," Harry said simply, hating how small his voice sounded. "Dumbledore would never allow it, he knows that what Umbridge wants!"

"He has no choice!" Pansy shouted, almost tearing her hair as she paced in front of him. "Montague's wounds are clearly dark magic, even a first-year would see that clearly. If Dumbledore were to refuse the Aurors at the gates, the Prophet would have a field day, and it's clear they're already trying to destroy his name completely! He won't like it, but the only way he manages to lessen the blow this will cause him and makes sure to keep his position as Headmaster is to help the Aurors in their investigation."

"Oh."

"Oh," Pansy mocked. "You are such a bloody idiot! You had one job - just one. Don't carve the bloody idiot with the bloody knife on the bloody face!"

"Well then, now what the fuck are we gonna do?" Harry interrupted her.

"Now nothing, Potter!" Pansy sneered. "Make your peace with God! We're all fucked!"

"We?" Blaise blurted out, keeping as much distance away from Harry. "There is no we, here. Potter is the only one here who's fucked! We are all going to go to sleep, wake up, have a nice breakfast, go about our day, and when the Aurors inevitably ask us what the hell happened, we'll politely point them in his direction."

"WHAT!?" Theo and Harry yelled out at the same time.

"What I said," Blaise defended himself. "What else do you want us to do!? The other like seven injured could be explained as self-defence, but Montague - there was no self-defence involved in that! You carved a letter into his face, blew up one of his legs, and stabbed him in the other one for good measure! It's a miracle you didn't murder him, and now you want us to - what, exactly? Help you cover it up!? Find a nice spot in the Forbidden Forest to bury his body and hope he doesn't die until much later when we are having breakfast or something!?"

"I don't know, maybe!?"

"And why would we help you?" Malfoy said, fear dripping from his voice as he made to stand next to Blaise. "You're just as bad as Montague! Just look at what you fucking did to him!"

"Just as- you were the one working with him!" Harry snarled and would've jumped at the boy if Theo hadn't held him back. "You're the one who stunned me before I could put the wards around my bed! You're the one who helped let all of this happen!"

"I didn't know, okay!" Draco shouted, stepping back to hide behind Blaise. "I thought Montague would just talk, maybe scare you a bit, have you back off from everything. I didn't know he was a- a psychotic murderer who would try to torture you!" Malfoy's gaze moved to his chest, as if trying to look through it and into his back. Harry suddenly felt very exposed. "I didn't know, I swear. I would never have-"

"Then why didn't you help?" Harry snapped, conjuring a blanket and placing it over his back.

"Help?" He asked disbelievingly. "And risk Montague carving me like he, did you? No, thanks, I preferred not to take my chances with a deranged torturer."

The way he was looking at Harry, it didn't seem Malfoy was sure he chose right.

"Blaise, we have to-"

"No, we don't." He cut off Theo sharply. "It isn't our problem, and it's impossible! Tricking the Auror's is not as easy as getting out of detention, or avoiding getting caught for a prank. Their job is literally to hunt down and apprehend criminals," he turned towards Harry. "Torturers and murders with no remorse. Getting involved in this? Helping… him. You're signing your death sentence."

"You don't have a choice," Pansy said nastily, stepping in front of Theo and Harry. "You're here. You helped us fight them, you even gave Harry your wand. You're just as involved in this as all the rest of us. Even you Malfoy."

"I didn't get involved in anything!"

"You were complicit in whatever Montague was doing, which apparently included torturing Harry. I'm sure the Aurors would love to hear about that." She glanced at everyone in the group. "Either we all go down together, or none of us do."

Draco looked like he wanted to curse Pansy, Blaise as well for that matter, but none of them did anything. Harry turned towards Daphne, who was staring hollowly at Montague. Pansy seemed to take her silence as agreement because, after sharing a look with him and Theo, she began talking again.

"This is a shit situation, but it isn't impossible to make it work."

"Oh, no, not at all." Blaise rolled his eyes. "We just have to remodel the common room completely so that it doesn't look like a filthy battlefield from the Grindelwald wars. Somehow convince about half a dozen people to keep this quiet and ignore any sort of common sense that would lead them to snitching on Potter-"

"As well as every other Slytherin who knows about the massive power struggle between Potter and Montague that would make it obvious who did this." Malfoy added hatefully.

"Somehow make sure Montague stays alive and doesn't die from either of his two life-threatening injuries, at least not for a while, and hide the body, maybe even take it out of the wards as quickly as possible. Get rid of the near-murder weapon that got imbued with Potter's magical signature the moment he used it to carve Montague up. Am I missing something? I feel like I'm missing something."

"Oh, and all of this before everyone wakes up in less than five hours." Draco smiled tightly.

"A walk in the park," Blaise said sardonically.

"Montague is fine," Pansy said curtly. "I've made sure of it."

"How exactly?" Zabini asked pointedly.

Pansy pulled out three small vials from the pocket in her pyjama pants. "One is to stop the blood flow in the wounds so that he doesn't bleed out. Another one is a blood-replenishing potion to help recover the blood he's already lost. And the other one is a modified version of the Draught of the Living Death that puts his whole body in stasis for various hours. He'll be fine, but as soon as it wears off, he'll need immediate medical attention, or else he'll die. I used another set of them with Davis' sister."

"How did you get them? Did you make them? How do you know they will work? What if the stasis potion doesn't work, and he ends up dying right here? What will we-"

"I don't have time to answer all these questions!" Pansy bit back.

"Well, forgive me for being a bit sceptical when those magical potions you pulled out of your arse are the only thing that's keeping us from being handed a one-way ticked to Azkaban!" Blaise snapped.

"I didn't pull shit out of my arse, Zabini! When you side with a brash moron like Potter, you learn to be prepared!"

Harry's eyes shot towards Parkinson. "What the hell is that supposed to-"

"You shut up!" Both Pansy and Blaise yelled together before Pansy continued on her own. "We're trying to fix your bloody mess here, so unless you don't have anything to say that will help us, then shut up!"

Harry opened his mouth, a bubbling rant that had been festering in him at the top of his throat, wanting to snap at them and defend himself. But before he did, Montague's words rang inside his head.

You never understood what being a True Slytherin means, which is why you will always lose.

They only made him angrier, a consuming feeling of impotence spreading through his body. He had just torn Montague to shreds, and he still couldn't avoid hearing his voice inside his mind. But he was right, and so was Pansy. He had been brash in how he dealt with Montague. He had been stupid by not trusting Theo and Pansy. And he would be proving both of them right if he acted like a whiny brat, complaining about how unfair the world was, rather than acting like a competent Slytherin and fixing this shit.

God, he was just as bad as Malfoy.

Harry closed his eyes, beginning to count to thirty in hopes of calming himself and focusing on the situation at hand.

"So Montague is fine, what do we do with him?" Theo asked.

"We need to get him out of the wards, the moment he wakes up and dies, its game over." Blaise declared.

"And then what?" Malfoy asked stubbornly. "Dig him a grave, bury him, and forget about it?"

"Precisely."

"And then what?" Pansy interjected. "Are the teachers just supposed to forget Montague exists? Do you think the Aurors wouldn't be called for a disappearance? That they won't come and look for him either way?"

"Of course they'll come looking for him! But getting the body as far away from the common room and making sure it isn't found for as long as possible is what keeps us away from the spotlight."

"No. Moving the body out of the wards, risking getting caught and giving the Aurors more evidence to use, is what'll get us caught. And if he let Montague die instead of making sure he survives will only make the charges the DMLE presses greater! Besides, every Slytherin will be a suspect regardless of where the body is found. Or have you forgotten how the house's reputation has been tarnished after the Dark Lord's fall?"

"The body is the least of our concerns," Harry spoke up, gaining the glares from everyone except Theo, who seemed to be the only person on his side, and Daphne, who was still staring at Montague. "It won't matter where the body is or isn't until we manage to find a way to make sure Montague and the others keep their mouths shut."

"Fuck me," Draco muttered.

"The Aurors will fuck us all soon enough." Harry sighed.

Headmaster's Office

7:50 a.m.

Albus Dumbledore held a hand to his face as he tried to settle his thoughts. It had been twenty minutes since Minerva had contacted every Head of House, as well as Dolores, and called for an emergency meeting, while instructing all the students in the castle to stay inside their common rooms until the time being.

The message had troubled Albus. In the past four years, which included more catastrophic events than he would've wanted, there had only been three occasions when a full lockdown of the castle had been put in place by a member of the staff. The first one had been when Hermione Granger, coming straight out of the third-floor corridor claiming Neville Longbottom had headed to protect the philosopher's stone and fight Professor Snape. Though Albus knew Severus would never try to steal the stone, he had instilled the lockdown protocols regardless, given the possibility of the stone being stolen and Voldemort coming back to life.

The second one was when he wasn't even in the castle, as news that Mister Potter, the young Slytherin Severus was so protective of, had been taken into the Chamber of Secrets by the Heir. It had been Severus that had put the castle on lockdown and had worked effortlessly that night to try and find a way into the Chamber, whose location was still unknown, and save the boy - only to have all of his efforts turn out to be futile. Fortunately, Neville Longbottom, Ronald Weasley, and Ginny Weasley had rescued the boy and brought him Tom Riddle's diary, a Horcrux young Neville had managed to destroy on his own - miraculously surviving.

The third time had occurred almost two years ago exactly, when Sirius Black, the escaped criminal accused of being a mass murderer, broke into the castle and slashed at the Fat Lady's portrait. Thankfully, Sirius had proven himself to be innocent of the accusations that led to his imprisonment in Azkaban for almost thirteen years, much to Albus' shame as he was the one who gave the damming testimony that Sirius was, in fact, the Potter's secret keeper.

All of these situations, except the latter one, could've ended in cataclysmic results for the Wizarding World and the death of one or various students. Which is why he had been tense about the reason for this emergency meeting. So, when the four Heads of House, as well as the High Inquisitor, had reconvened inside his office, he was actively using Occlumency to keep himself calm and sort out his thoughts while keeping an impassive expression that conveyed none of his internal turmoil.

"While escorting the Gryffindors towards the Great Hall earlier today," Minerva began, once the six adults had settled down. "I found eight students - all Slytherins - hanging from the ceiling, all with varying degrees of physical injuries."

"WHAT!?" Filius, Pomona, and Umbridge all yelled out concurrently.

"Are the students okay, Minerva?" Albus asked gravely, as the other three adults watched with horrified and shocked expressions.

"I've informed Poppy and helped her take all of them to the infirmary. Most of them seem to be in good conditions, no life-threatening injuries besides concussions and a few broken bones. There were three that had internal bleeding and will need a bit more time. However, there are two students in grave conditions. Graham Montague and Madeleine Davis."

"What happened to them?" Pomona asked.

"Miss Davis has a large gash in her middle, one that was still fresh when we found her, and she was bleeding out. Poppy managed to stabilize her, but she's in grave conditions. The next few hours are critical. Graham…" she gulped, before continuing in a clinical tone. "Mr Montague was found with one of his legs completely blown off, the other one with a massive stab injury, and a large portion of his face carved out in the shape of the letter M."

When Minerva went silent, Filius pressed on. "Will he be alright?"

"Poppy isn't sure," a tear went down Minerva's face as she said this. "He's lost too much blood, his injuries are too extensive. And… and the stab wounds appear to have potent dark magic keeping them from healing - tearing the skin apart over and over again. Poppy tried various spells and salves on them, even using dittany, but it just made things worse. The last thing I know is she used the floo to get in touch with one of her contacts from St Mungo's."

"I'll make some calls as well," Dolores said worriedly, surprising almost everyone in the room. "I'll make sure as many mediwizards and mediwitches are brought in to check this matter personally."

"Thank you, Dolores." Albus said solemnly.

"It's the least I can do, Headmaster," she replied crisply. "These things - horrible things - they should never happen inside a school. There's a reason why the Ministry wants to make sure that dangerous magic isn't taught here, our children need to be kept safe."

A suffocating silence filled the room as everyone there was suddenly, acutely aware how this would aid in Dolores' undertaking of fixing the school.

"We need to contact the Aurors." Dolores declared firmly.

Albus took a small breath, going over all the viable options to impede the Aurors entering Hogwarts and restrict the Ministry's power over the school, but he found nothing. The use of a weapon imbued with dark magic had thrown all possible options out the window. Not cooperating with the Aurors would just get him into more trouble than it's worth. And that was if the Board of Directors didn't fire him after informing them of this.

With his reputation being tarnished by the Ministry and the Daily Prophet, they seemed almost eager to throw him out.

"Of course," he conceded. "Would you do me the favour of calling them yourself while I inform the Board of these events?"

Dolores nodded, before quickly turning and leaving the office.

"Minerva," Severus spoke up, standing up from the chair in the corner where he had been hiding from view. "Would you be willing to give me a list of all the students who were attacked so that I may contact their families?"

"Of course," she turned towards Albus. "Is there anything else I can do, Albus? What should I tell the students?"

"The truth. Inform them there has been an attack on a group of students and that the school has been put into lockdown. Classes are cancelled for the day…" Albus paused, reviewing his options. "Escort them all to the Great Hall, they'll spend the rest of the day there. Perhaps even the night. And don't mention the Auror investigation - that is imperative."

He turned towards the four Heads of House, sparing a quick glance to Severus, informing him to stay behind. "Have a meeting in your respective common rooms explaining this before meeting back at the Great Hall."

The four of them nodded, recognising the dismissal.

"Leave the list in your office, Minerva," Severus called out. "I'll pick it up as soon as I can."

Minerva nodded and all the others left the room, finally leaving the two of them alone. Severus, not needing to be told, cast various privacy and locking charms on the door as Albus removed his glasses and sighed heavily.

"Did you know?" He asked softly.

"Not until this morning, Albus." Severus said gravely, taking a seat in front of him.

"So you had no prior knowledge of the attack? No involvement in conducting it?"

"Of course not," he answered coldly. How could you think that of me? The unspoken question clear to both men.

"I apologise, Severus, I simply had to ask. You, more than any other Head of House, are aware of everything that happens with your students." He paused. "It was Potter." He stated, not bothering on asking.

His chest constricted at the thought. Young Harry Potter, the baby he'd visited various times before his parents' passing, now his prime suspect in one of the most heinous attacks any student had done in over fifteen years. The boy, almost man he'd turned into, eerily reminding him of another young man who made all the wrong choice fifty years ago. He wished it wasn't true, but ever since the previous attack a few weeks back, he couldn't stop seeing the similarities between the both of them - stopping any pain he may feel for the young Slytherin to diminish as he was faced with what was necessary for the Greater Good."

"It's possible," Severus said stiffly.

"Severus, we've been allies for over fifteen years now, and yet this is the first time you're actively hiding something from me. I understand your wish to protect the boy, but you must see the bigger picture."

The Slytherin stared into his eyes, his face devoid of any emotion, a stranger would think Severus had lost his soul for a few moments. But Albus had known him for a long time, now, he knew he was calculating countless variables in his head before making his decision.

"A vow," he eventually said.

"Pardon?"

"An Unbreakable Vow, that you won't throw Potter to the wolves. That you won't reveal to another living soul what we discuss here. That you won't reveal to the Aurors any of your suspicions or findings about these events."

"Is that really necessary?"

"More than necessary," he answered, pausing for a moment as if unsure if he should proceed. "In fact, I'd say they are imperative to keep me as your spy."

"You can't possibly mean-"

"I don't mean anything," he cut him off. "The Vow, Albus."

"So it was Potter…" Albus hummed, laying against the back of his chair. He knew Severus knew he would figure out it was the Potter boy, even without his help. It wasn't this knowledge, or any other he might have about these attacks, that he was bargaining with. It was his position as a spy for the Order. Risking the fate of their world for Harry Potter's sake.

"Don't tell me now that you've grown to care for the boy."

Severus gulped, but ignored his remark. "I've done everything you have asked of me, Headmaster, no matter the personal cost to me or my soul. And I haven't asked for nothing in return."

"Except now."

"All I'm asking is for you to trust me."

"It's not you I don't trust, Severus. It's Mister Potter. Forgive me, but I can't allow the rise of another Dark Lord, not if I can prevent it."

"I'll take care of the boy," Severus gritted out. "Closely. Attentively. I'll make sure he-" he stopped, closing his eyes and breathing hard. "I'll make sure he doesn't make the same mistakes I did. But first, I need the Vow from you."

Albus gazed deep into his colleague's eyes, trying to see into his soul as much as he could without using Legilimency. He was worried about the path Mister Potter's life had taken as of late, and he wasn't willing to risk the safety of the Wizarding World on sentimentality. Even if that sentimentality was coming from Severus, his most trusted advisors and a person he admired for using his logical thinking most of the time. The only times he didn't think logically was when it came to any of the Potters - though each for vastly different reasons.

And yet, the last time Severus' sentimentality had been in display as much as it was now was a night exactly fifteen years ago, on Halloween's even of 1980 when, to protect Lily Potter, he had agreed to turn spy for him. Not knowing if Albus would even accept the offer, not knowing if Albus would send him to Azkaban after the war regardless, not knowing whether he would become a prisoner of the Order or the Ministry or Albus himself. That had led to an abrupt victory against the Dark Lord, one that, even though it hadn't been permanent, had slowed him down considerably.

He knew of Severus' shame over what he did in his youth, the path that made him turn towards Voldemort for a sense of belonging, a sense of agency and power in his life. One that had been taken away from him over and over again throughout the years. And he also knew that he cared about the boy, or at least cared about him being well and safe. Even if he could never get past his hatred for James Potter, it was his love for Lily Potter that ultimately made Severus care for the boy, even if he'd never admit it to anyone or himself.

He had no doubt in his mind that Severus would do everything in his power to steer Mister Potter away from that path, the same one he was on two decades ago. And Mister Potter could be a powerful ally for the Order. He was in Slytherin, and from what Sirius and Remus had told him from their talks with Neville, Miss Granger, and Mister Weasley - he was an extremely adept duellist for his age as well as magically powerful. It would be for the best to have him on their side when the war fully broke out. Refusing Severus would only push both Slytherins away from him.

He didn't like it, but, in the long run, it might be the best choice he could make.

"Very well, Severus." Dumbledore said gently. "I'll agree to the Vow. However, this Vow only protects him for these attacks. And even though I won't help the Aurors in any way, I won't speak up for him in the event he gets caught. Is that agreeable with you?"

"Yes, Headmaster." Snape nodded. "Of course it is."

Slytherin Common Room

3:30 a.m.

"Let's go over this again, shall we?"

"We've already went over every option like fifty times, Blaise," Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Are you expecting to suddenly make any of these options viable by just repeating them?"

Blaise glared at Draco, the bags under his eyes betraying how tired the boy really was.

The group was scattered over the ruined common room. Blaise was pacing in the centre, frantically moving his hands over his hair, almost tearing it out as he talked relentlessly about any idea that might cross his mind. Draco was laying down on the couch that Montague had moved from its place earlier that evening. He was staring upwards, keeping his eyes fixed on the small rock he'd found of the floor - what used to be part of the bricks where Montague had crashed - as he tossed it up and down. Daphne had finally broken out of her shock, but still hadn't spoken. She was sitting beside the stairs that led towards the girl's dormitory, her face showing no trace of any emotion as she stared blankly ahead. Theo was near the fireplace, he'd left over ten minutes ago once they had exhausted every option, and they had begun repeating everything. He was sitting in front of the fire, as if trying to find the answer to their problem in the flames. And Harry. He was leaning against one of the walls, one of his legs crossed, so the bottom of his shoe was set against it as well.

The group had been discussing ideas about how to ensure the other's silence for over thirty minutes now. Almost everyone had given out ideas, but each one was as impossible as the previous one. As the group began discarding more and more ideas, the moral was quickly plummeting. You had the worriers like Pansy and Blaise, who had wound themselves up so much they began throwing out the most absurd, convoluted ideas anyone could think of.

"What we need," Blaise had said. "Is to make sure we aren't blamed for this attack. So, we need to move the body to another common room, rough it up, and then have all the focus stay there."

"It won't work," Pansy ground out. "We don't know they passwords to any of the other common rooms, and any sensible Slytherin in the Auror department would see through the ploy easily."

"Any sensible Slytherin in the Auror department will see through anything we think of," Draco muttered under his breath, and Harry nodded instinctively.

What had the world come to where he was actively agreeing with Malfoy over the others?

"Well, then, please, you have the floor! Give us your brilliant idea!"

"What we need to do is to deactivate the wards, make it, so they can't detect Montague, or they don't warn Dumbledore when there's a murder in the castle.

"Hah!" Blaise barked out a laugh. "As if you or any of us knew anything about how the wards work, much less how to deactivate them! You complain about my idea when your idea is even shittier!?"

"All our ideas are shitty!"

"Aren't we supposed to be thinking about how to deal with the others, rather than whatever it is you're doing?"

"At least we're trying to make progress! You haven't come up with anything in ages!"

He hadn't, it was the truth. He was in the same camp as Draco. They had figured out the futility of their actions and had resorted to making any sarcastic remark they could think of. But this just made the other two even angrier and more erratic than before, creating a vicious cycle between the four of them.

The only two that hadn't been pulled into it were Theo and Daphne. The former had been very quiet, mostly watching the others argue while occasionally giving out an idea. Daphne, on the other hand, didn't even look like she was paying attention, and when Pansy had yelled at her for that, the girl didn't respond. She didn't even blink.

Eventually, even Pansy gave up and went to her dormitory. But before anyone could ask her why the hell she had left, the girl had run up the stairs with an invisibility cloak in her hand.

"I need some air." She told them. "And I'm going for another stash of potions, just in case we need them."

"What if you get caught?" Theo asked.

"I won't. Just stay here, think about something - anything! Whatever we do, we have to do now."

"You have an invisibility cloak?" He asked her, but was ignored as she left the common room through the portrait.

"You don't?" Malfoy sneered.

Harry looked around the group. "Do you all have invisibility cloaks!?"

"We're Slytherins," Blaise shrugged. "You should really get one."

"Yeah, no shit."

It had been ten minutes since Pansy had left, and they had gotten nowhere. Harry had taken to tuning out Blaise's incoherent rambling and Draco's snide remarks as he analysed the state of the common room - one they would most likely be forced to fix before the sun came up. All the walls and sections of the ground were lined with blast craters, the mark of the curses and hexes that missed their targets. But the largest dent was the one Montague had left as he crashed into the wall with Harry's final spell. Tiny rocks littered the floor, a couple of the snake-shaped torches had been blasted from their hinges - one of them lying prone on the ground. A good amount of the couches were slashed and tarnished, revealing the white feathers that filled the cushions. Some of the desks and tables that had been used for cover were obliterated now.

The Slytherin library had been hit with various curses, even some of his own. A good amount of the books in it were destroyed, some shelves had tumbled over the others. Parchment and pieces of wood were scattered across the ground, and the armchair Montague had been sitting at nearly an hour ago had two of its feet destroyed, making it tumble to the ground, lying diagonally. And the emerald curtains, the ones that covered the windows that had a view underneath the Black Lake, had been torn down.

It was a miracle that glass was fortified against even the most powerful curses. Otherwise, they'd be swimming with the Giant Squid.

Blaise's voice brought Harry's attention back to the present.

"We can obliviate everyone in the room about the events that happened tonight, as well as any memory of the plans they had for Harry."

"Which would be the perfect solution, except none of us are Unspeakables, who are the only members of the Wizarding World with such advanced knowledge of memory magic. None of us are even Obliviators, who are only trusted with the most basic knowledge after years of preparation and a ton of oaths that restrict its use harder than any other magic known to wizard-kind." Malfoy piped in.

"We can wake up everyone in the room and force them to make heavy Unbreakable Vows that force them to not reveal anything that happened tonight and to even try and convince the Aurors it was an accident, one which involved none of us."

"Except that we can't wake up two people who are on the verge of death to force them to make the vows, at least not until they have medical attention and by that point the Aurors will have access to them. And there's also the fact that we don't even know if the others would even agree to the Unbreakable vows."

"Potter can torture them," Blaise snarled. "He's shown he has no problem with that. Surely, they fear him enough, they'd agree."

"I'm- I'm not a torturer!" Harry snarled, horrified at the accusation.

"Tell that to Montague." Blaise said darkly.

"Montague- Montague was different! That fucker earnt what he got!"

"And wouldn't you say the others have earnt it as well?"

"They'd only have to hold on for about five hours before Snape comes to pick us up." Malfoy rolled his eyes, interrupting the argument. "Their pride, the knowledge that we can't kill them, and the time limit would give a few of them enough hope to not agree to the vow. We'd only be wasting precious time by trying something like that."

Blaise growled in annoyance. "We can confound them."

"Confundus charms are easily dealt with by Aurors. Otherwise, any criminal would just use confundus charms and be done with it."

"We can use the imperius curse on them."

"None of us actually know how to cast the curse, and it's near impossible to fully learn and master it in a mere month, so imagine how unrealistically it would be for any of us to do it in less than five hours."

"What about Potter?"

"What? I carved an M in Montague's face, and now I am suddenly evil and can cast the imperius curse at will?" Harry snapped.

"Maybe? Who knows! Have you even tried it!"

"No, I haven't. And I have no intention of doing so."

"You son of a bitch!" Blaise stepped right into his face. "We're in this shit because of you, and now what - you're getting shy about doing what's necessary to make sure we don't go down for this!"

"I'm not casting an unforgivable curse, Zabini! Even if I could, I WON'T."

"What in God's name did you dunderheads do?" A cold, silky voice called out from the other end of the room. Harry immediately froze, and he wasn't the only one who recognised it as the five of them turned towards the entrance of the common room where Severus Snape was standing, dressed in his signature black robes with Pansy Parkinson standing behind him, not looking the slightest bit ashamed about bringing a professor to their murder scene without consulting it with anyone.

And that's it! The first chapter of the How To Get Away With Murder Arc! I hope you enjoyed it :)

There will be five chapters in total, each with four scenes each, so about this length. I think that, going forward, every chapter will be around this length, so no more 4k word chapters! I'm sure a lot of you will love that, but it does mean I'd only be updating once a week instead of twice a week.

Lots of stuff happening, and we're just getting started! The Aurors haven't even arrived yet! Oh, and this whole arc will take place across one day, so it's gonna be a really long day for everyone involved.

As always, thank you for reading, favouriting, and commenting! I appreciate all of you! :)

I've decided to open my own discord server! Please, feel free to join using the following link: discord . gg / jyPfbGqhJT