Chapter 16: In or Out

Ariadne glanced over the top of her 18-inch roll of parchment, almost entirely covered in her tidy, compact handwriting. Something very suspicious was occurring in the opposite corner of the common room.

That something suspicious was the presence of all four Marauders huddled in a corner, speaking in low tones. There were three suspicious things about this. One, that all four of them were in the same place at the same time. While they were a close-knit group, they also had a very busy calendar of socializing, womanizing, and plotting the overthrow of the Hogwarts administration, which meant that they were often off separately or in pairs (usually, James and Sirius together, Remus on his own, and Peter tagging along with either one.) Two, they were huddled in a corner rather than enjoying the center of attention, as they usually were. Three, they were speaking in hushed voices instead of loudly joking, heckling each other, or announcing another successful prank to the entire Gryffindor House.

Ariadne's prefect senses were buzzing. They were up to something.

She really needed to finish this essay for History of Magic, however. She was now poring over it for the fourth time to magically correct any punctuation or grammatical errors. But she constantly felt the urge to look up to monitor the Marauders and try to figure out what they were planning. After the third such glance, the Marauders must have realized they were being watched, because Ariadne looked up to see Sirius Black staring straight back at her with those deep, dark eyes.

Ariadne tried not to look guilty. She put down her essay and started rummaging for the Arithmancy book she was supposed to be reading. But she could feel Sirius still gazing at her, and she finally shot him alook that, if looks could speak, said what do you want? rather aggressively. He made the tiniest "come hither" gesture with his fingers. Ariadne ignored him. He rolled his eyes and finally, with a flick of his wand, sent her History of Magic essay flying across the common room and into his hands.

Ariadne couldn't believe she was being manipulated by something as juvenile as stolen homework. She tried to summon her parchment back, but Sirius counteracted the spell with another flick, now apparently engrossed in reading the essay.

Ariadne strode over to their huddle with her arms crossed and silently held out her hand. James and Remus seemed surprised but somewhat pleased to see her.

"Oh hey, Ariadne, we were just talking about you," greeted James blithely.

Ariadne arched an eyebrow so severely she imagined she probably looked like McGonagall about to deliver James with a week's detention. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah, about how clever you are with magic and stuff, and how you didn't look half-bad in Charms yesterday, with your hair down and all—"

Ariadne rolled her eyes. "I appreciate the validation of my physical attractiveness through the eyes of a man, which you seem to think I need" ("No prob!" answered James obliviously) "now, I believe Black has something of mine, which he is going to return to me promptly, given that I did not grant him permission to take it, much less read it."

Sirius completely ignored her, still running his eyes down the parchment. "Your introduction has some problems, Morrigan…the fourth Goblin rebellion of the 18th century was started because of internal tensions within goblin self-government, not economic factors. Third-years know that."

"That's one competing interpretation of the historical events," answered Ariadne. "A weak interpretation, I might add."

"It's a simple fact."

"Contrary to what you might believe, Black, your way of viewing the world isn't the only one that exists."

"It's generally the best one, though."

Ariadne didn't particularly feel like fighting this fight, nor did she think it would accomplish anything. But since Sirius was distracted, she took the opportunity to make a grab for her essay with another summoning charm. The parchment jerked towards her, but Sirius managed to hold onto the end of it with the tips of his fingers before it got away. His reflexes are decent, thought Ariadne. James must have been teaching him.

"Ah ah ah…we're not done with you yet, Morrigan."

"What do you want, Black?" said Ariadne, getting impatient.

"Hey, we're still here, too," complained James.

Sirius leaned back in his chair and spread his legs out comfortably. "Okay James, I'll let you explain."

"All right, Morrigan, so given that you're so good at—spells, and whatnot—by the way, what you did to Yaxley was brilliant, don't know if I've told you that yet—"

"You might have mentioned it a few times," said Ariadne dryly.

"Right—anyway, we have something of a plan to get back at Yaxley for being a downright git—"

"A bully and a bigot," added Remus.

"The lowliest of wizard scum," growled Sirius.

"And we could use your help," finished James. He paused for a moment as if trying to remember whether he had forgotten anything important, and added, "Oh, and we found out about Yaxley's secret junior Death Eater club where they plan ways to harass and intimidate Muggle-borns."

Ariadne immediately tensed up. Sirius seemed to sense her distressed and angry reaction, because he turned to her and said, "You heard correctly, Morrigan. Yaxley isn't acting alone. He's organized, and he's recruited other Hogwarts students to help him carry out his dirty work."

"How did you find out about this?"

"We got a tip from a Hufflepuff who heard rumors about the meetings. We have our own ways of confirming those rumors.

"Have you—"

"Reported this to a teacher?" Sirius finished, smirking. "Morrigan, we've been over this. The professors can't and won't do anything. They're too scared of the Yaxleys."

Ariadne looked to Remus for confirmation. He nodded.

"What exactly are you planning?"

"That information," said Sirius in low voice, "is reserved for the Marauders and others whom they select to be a part of this covert…operation." He gave Ariadne a dead-serious look. "Secrecy is essential. We can't have anyone—including the Hogwarts professors—knowing what we're about to do. If they tip off Yaxley or one of his cronies—and he has many, more than you'd like to think—it will blow our one opportunity to take him down. Also, our plan is likely to involve breaking more rules than you've ever imagined in your wildest dreams."

"I don't dream about breaking rules," said Ariadne.

"Of course not," said Sirius, eyes glittering, as if briefly thinking about what else she dreamed about. He resumed his explanation, now with a note of finality. "So, we need to know that you're one-hundred percent committed to this before we tell you any more."

"And why does 'top-marks-in-our-year' Sirius Black need me?" asked Ariadne suspiciously.

Sirius sighed. "While James, Remus and I are more than…capable" (Peter emitted a squawk of protest), "there are a few things…advanced potion-making, complicated enchantments…that we could use another pair of eyes on."

Ariadne couldn't suppress her satisfied smirk. "You need help with a Polyjuice Potion," she said, quietly but triumphantly. Sirius had given her crap about her Polyjuice Potion for years, but she knew hers was superior.

"Keep it down, Morrigan," hissed Sirius, annoyed. "And when did I say anything about Polyjuice Potion?"

"You're planning to infiltrate this secret meeting, and you need to disguise yourself. Plus, I know your Polyjuice Potion is rubbish."

Sirius' eyes simmered with irritation. "We'll discuss the details later. What we need to know now is, are you in, or not?"

Ariadne bit her lip. "So this is why my History of Magic essay is being held ransom? To persuade me to take part in your plot?"

"Precisely."

Normally, Ariadne would have needed more time with a decision like this. Time to sleep on it, think it over, weigh the benefits and risks. The Marauders were clearly planning something big, and dangerous. Going up against powerful wizards like the Yaxleys, without the authorization or protection of fully-qualified Hogwarts teachers, was not a decision to be made lightly. They could get caught and punished by Hogwarts professors, and on the other hand (perhaps worse) targeted by Yaxley and his thugs.

But then an image flashed in her mind: Yaxley's smug, hateful face as he spat the word "Mudblood-lovers."

"I'm in."