Chapter 18: Young Volunteers

"Thank you so much for your help, Macy," Lily said as she and a fifth-year Gryffindor entered the common room. "Ancient runes has been my most difficult subject this term."

"I think you're exaggerating," Macy laughed. "You seemed to catch on pretty quick once I showed you a few of the ropes. They really should have stuck to the old textbook instead of going with the new edition."

"Definitely," Lily agreed. "Is it all right if I contact you with any other questions I might have as I do my revisions?"

"Of course," Macy said, waving her hand casually as she wandered away toward some of her friends. "See you around."

Feeling rather satisfied with herself and deserving of a good night's rest, Lily made her way to the girl's staircase. She had every intention of collapsing directly onto her bed and falling immediately asleep. Before she could quite make it, she was intercepted by James Potter.

"Hey, Lily," James said, sounding a little too enthusiastic. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, James," Lily said, looking him directly in the eyes and willing him to go away and leave her alone.

"Good day?"

"Yes."

"Uh, great," James said. "Well, ah, we, I mean, I, had a favor to ask you."

Lily narrowed her eyes and looked past James to where his friends were sitting. Sirius, Remus, and Peter were huddled over a table. It appeared that they were all studying a ratty piece of parchment that was positioned in the middle of the table. "What do you hooligans want?"

"Would you ask Bellatrix to come down and see us? I can't really go up and tell her myself," James said.

"Thank heaven for small favors," Lily muttered.

"So, will you?" James inquired.

"She's probably in bed. I wouldn't want to wake her," Lily told James. Part of her reluctance stemmed from a lack of desire to do James Potter favors. The other part of her reluctance was connected to her total lack of desire to speak with the strong-willed Black girl. Ever since her father had become Minister for Magic, she had been acting like the queen of Hogwarts-not that the attitude was particularly new for her.

"I guarantee that she's awake," James said. "Please?"

"Fine, Potter," Lily acquiesced. "If you insist."

Lily turned and made her way up the staircase. In her dorm room, she found Bellatrix staring at herself in the mirror. The sixth-year Slytherin was toying with a black hair ornament and completely ignoring the fact that Lily had entered the room. Feeling awkward, Lily cleared her throat rather loudly. "Good evening, Bellatrix. How are you?"

"Perfect," Bellatrix said, leaning toward the mirror and studying her face.

Seeing that there was to be no return salutation, Lily decided to spit out her message. "James Potter and his friends told me to tell you that they need to see you and are hoping that you'll go down to the common room."

"Okay," Bellatrix said with a put-upon sigh. Deftly, she gathered up her long hair, rolled it up into a bun, and stuck the hairpin through it. As if it were magic, Bellatrix's hair maintained its position perfectly as she stood up and made her way out of the dorm and down the stairs.

Beginning to feel very unsecure about her own hair, Lily watched Bellatrix's retreating back with suspicion. What do they want with her? Lily wondered.

Bellatrix strode down the stairs and into the common room. It took only a moment for Bellatrix to spot the table where her cousin Sirius and his idiot friends were sitting huddled over something they were studying intently. With purpose, she strode over. "What do you have for me?" she asked imperiously, trying to stare over their shoulders to see what commanded their attention.

Her arrival seemed to take them by surprise. With a muttered oath, James put out his hands over a piece of parchment while Sirius turned to look at her with an insincere grin.

"Cousin!" Sirius exclaimed. "You came!"

"You sent for me," Bellatrix reminded him, somewhat acidly. "What are you hiding?"

"Nothing," said Sirius. "Er, can you give us a moment?"

"If I must," Bellatrix growled, beginning to tap one of her feet on the ground.

Sirius returned to the huddle, and Bellatrix listened while the four friends had a semi-heated debate about something. Finally, they came to a conclusion. This time, both James and Sirius faced her.

James did the talking. "We've found some suspicious activity," he declared.

"You had to have a debate over whether you were going to tell me that?" Bellatrix said, sounding rather bemused. "Maybe you should have done that prior to sending for me."

"It wasn't about that," Sirius admitted. "It was about this." He grabbed the piece of parchment from the table and handed it to Bellatrix. "This is how we detected the suspicious activity."

Curiously, Bellatrix examined the parchment provided to her by Sirius. It appeared to be a map of the castle… with dots moving around on it. Bellatrix squinted and looked at the dots, surprised to see individual name tags. Quickly, she found the Gryffindor common room and dorms. The map accurately depicted her standing next to her cousin, his friend James, and his other two friends. Lily Evans was back in her dorm, and assorted Gryffindors were depicted as being in the common room.

Bellatrix looked up at James and Sirius. "I need one of these," she declared.

"Ah, yes. Well, it isn't quite perfected yet," James said.

"It looks good enough to me," Bellatrix said.

"Did you want us to help you spy on suspicious Slytherins or did you want us making maps of Hogwarts?" Sirius asked.

"Both."

"Well, all we got for you is suspicious Slytherins," James said. He moved to Bellatrix's side and pointed to the Forbidden Forest where there were two dots hovering near the edge of the forest. "Severus Snape and your sister Narcissa."

Bellatrix stared in consternation at the map. "What are they doing?"

"I don't know, but they went out there right after sundown and have been sitting there ever since," James said. "Anytime anyone walks by, they hide."

Remus Lupin, normally very shy around Bellatrix, decided to chime in. "I've been telling these two that there is every possibility of it being innocent romance."

"For nearly five hours, Remus? I don't think so," James declared.

Confused, Bellatrix watched her sister and Snape hover on the edge of the forest. "Five hours is a long time," she agreed. "Sirius, what do you think?"

"Snape is a slimeball," Sirius declared. "Besides, everyone knows that Narcissa is interested only in Lucius Malfoy. No one even likes Snape."

"Well, let's go down and see what's going on," Bellatrix said slowly, trying to figure out what Snape would be doing on the edge of the Forbidden Forest with her sister.

"All right," Sirius agreed quickly.

"Yeah, we can wait until a few more people go to bed and then sneak out," James agreed.

Bellatrix looked at them strangely. "Why do you have to be so sneaky? We can just leave now. If anyone asks what we're doing, we'll tell them where to go and how to do it."

Remus Lupin laughed faintly. "Your boldness is refreshing."

"Great," Bellatrix said, not all that flattered by a fourth-year's comment. "I'll fetch some of my things and meet you by the portrait hole."

Lily was just undressing for bed when Bellatrix returned to the room. Not wanting to start an awkward, one-sided conversation, Lily did her best to pretend that she was completely focused on unbuttoning her blouse as Bellatrix rummaged around, produced some dark, heavy robes, and exchanged them with the standard school robes she had been wearing. Lily's curiosity was not aroused until Bellatrix produced a wand holster and strapped it to her arm. Frozen with surprise, Lily watched as Bellatrix slipped on some dragonhide boots.

Noticing that Lily's hands had frozen over the last button of her blouse, Bellatrix glared at her. "Did you have something to say, Evans?"

"No," Lily said-too quickly.

"Good," Bellatrix called as she left the room.

Quickly, Lily redid the buttons on her blouse and ran out to the dorms staircase. She descended just far enough to catch a view of the common room. Bellatrix, Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter were all exiting Gryffindor Tower through the portrait hole.

Impulsively, Lily rushed back up the stairs to her room, threw on a light cloak and some shoes, and then rushed back down to the common room. Deep down, she knew that Bellatrix was up to no good.

"They're still at the edge of the forest," Peter excitedly confirmed as the Marauders and Bellatrix crept out the front of the castle.

"Keep it down," James hissed to Peter. "We don't need everyone knowing that we're out here."

Bellatrix ignored the chit-chat and issued directions. "We'll all go together and sneak up on them from the direction of the lake. We'll have to do some circling, but they won't be expecting anyone coming from that direction."

"Shouldn't we split up and take them from both sides?" James asked, drawing on his knowledge of Quidditch tactics to help him formulate strategy tactics.

"Normally, yes," Bellatrix said. "However, this isn't a full out attack. We're just going to stealthily find out what they're doing. Besides, I don't trust any of you to lead half of us competently."

"We're not children," Sirius growled.

"Could have fooled me," Bellatrix whispered snidely, already walking toward the path she had designated.

The four boys rushed to follow her, and in no time they were approaching the position that Snape and Narcissa were occupying on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Faintly, they could all hear Snape and Narcissa conversing with each other quietly, though the exact words being spoken were intelligible.

"We're going to have to get closer," Bellatrix said. "Maybe with some silencing charms on ourselves we could crawl closer."

"Let's just charge in and ask them what they're doing," Sirius suggested. "She's your sister and my cousin. What she's saying isn't entirely not our business."

"That's not the point," Bellatrix said, performing various charms on herself to prevent Narcissa and Snape from detecting her. "Who's coming with me?"

"Sirius and I are game," James said quickly. "Remus, Peter, how about you cover us from behind. Try to warn us if you see anything going on that we don't."

In short order, Bellatrix, Sirius, and James were crawling toward where Narcissa and Snape were located. As soon as they were in earshot, Bellatrix poked James and Sirius and whispered for them to stop.

Narcissa was sitting on a large rock next to what appeared to be her trunk, while Snape was patrolling around the rock, his wand drawn. "Severus," Narcissa said, "how much longer?"

"Just under an hour," Snape answered quietly.

Narcissa sighed. "Why did we have to come out here so early, then?"

"I already told you," Snape said shortly. "If anyone spotted us leaving the castle this late at night, suspicion would have been raised. You can trust me; I know what I'm doing."

Bellatrix, Sirius, and James exchanged confused looks before turning their attention back to Snape and Narcissa.

Some time passed before either of them spoke again. "Severus," Narcissa asked, "how was it that Lucius contacted you? This all seems rather strange to me."

"We have our ways," Snape said, sounding rather pompous.

Bellatrix was furious. She poked James and Sirius and gestured that they should retreat back to where they had left Remus and Peter. They did so, avoiding detection by Snape and Narcissa, and had soon returned to where they could talk in slightly louder voices.

"What's going on?" Remus asked.

"I'm not entirely sure," James admitted.

"It would appear that Lucius has arranged to meet with my sister Narcissa and then take her with him," Bellatrix said, sounding very annoyed. "Apparently, Snape is helping to engineer the meeting."

"Wait," said Sirius, "wasn't Lucius one of those Slytherins that tried to hurt you?"

"Yes," Bellatrix ground out from between clenched teeth. "It would appear that he is still trying to court my sister."

James snickered, "Maybe your father had better look into cancelling that marriage contract."

"You can hardly blame your sister," Remus interjected quietly. "Does she know all the facts of why Lucius is no longer at Hogwarts?"

Bellatrix sighed. "I'm not so much angry at the little idiot as I am at that slime ball who has the audacity to get involved with this business. Of course, I'm also angry at Lucius, but he's not here. I think the best course of action is to haul them both in to see Professor Ashworth. We can arrange for my father to deal with Narcissa, and Ashworth can take care of Snape. Maybe he'll convince Dumbledore to expel the little bugger."

"If Lucius is on his way here, maybe you could set a trap," James suggested.

Bellatrix took his suggestion under consideration. Capturing Lucius and his friends would be quite the coup. However, Bellatrix couldn't be sure which or how many friends Lucius would bring with him. There was also the matter of her sister, her cousin, and her cousin's friends. None seemed proficient enough to engage in a spellfire fight and emerge unscathed. "I don't like the odds. Too many things could go wrong." she told the Marauders. "Let's grab them and get out of here before anyone else shows up. Who knows how to do a stunner?"

The Marauders unanimously agreed that James, an aspiring auror, was the best at performing stunners. Bellatrix, wondering if a fourth-year student could really be proficient at the stunning spell, reluctantly decided that James should aim for Narcissa. Snape presented the more present danger, and Bellatrix didn't want to risk James failing on the first shot.

"Let's do it," Bellatrix said.

"Maybe the three of us could do a distraction," Sirius suggested. "It might not be strictly necessary, but it can't hurt to have a little bit more preparation on our side. Snape is annoying, but he isn't spectacularly stupid or anything."

"Can you do something that won't attract the attention of everyone in the castle?" Bellatrix asked.

"Yup," Sirius replied, grinning. "You and James go back to where you have a clear shot. We'll start our distraction in about three or four minutes." Sirius waved at Bellatrix and James and then led a thoughtful-looking Remus and a puzzled-looking Peter a little ways into the Forbidden Forest.

Bellatrix and James crept toward Snape and Narcissa with their wands drawn. They separated, James taking position in the shadow of a tree, Bellatrix crouching next to a bush. Their movement had only taken a minute, so they were left to wait another two or three minutes for the other Marauders. In the meantime, they had the opportunity to overhear more of the conversation between Snape and Narcissa.

"Severus, people don't refer to the noble heads of houses as lords anymore," Narcissa said, exhaustion evident in her voice. "It's all very outdated. Nobody calls my uncle Lord Black. And why should I be jealous of him or my cousins? My father just became the Minister of Magic this week. You can't tell me that being the noble lord of some has-been house is better than that."

"You don't understand," Snape said, sounding very sulky. "Being a pureblood means something."

"Yeah, it means you're rich," Narcissa said. "Nobody cares about poor purebloods. Haven't you noticed?"

Bellatrix thought over her sister's statement. In a way, it rang true for her. Deeper thoughts about pureblood status and how money was relevant to it were squashed as soon as Bellatrix heard a rustling in the foliage. It was coming from where they had left Sirius, Remus, and Peter.

"What's that?" Narcissa asked quickly.

"What's what?" Snape asked, drawn from his sulky reverie. He looked around.

"I thought I heard something," Narcissa told him. She pointed, "Over there."

Snape pointed his wand toward where Narcissa had directed. There was another rustling. "Who goes there?" Snape called.

"Maybe it's Lucius," Narcissa said hopefully.

"It's too early," Snape retorted, squinting in the direction of the noise.

Bellatrix too was curious about what was making the noise and she strained her neck a little to try and catch a glimpse of what was making the noise. More rustling brought the source of the noise within eyesight, though its identity was indistinguishable. All Bellatrix could see was that it seemed to be a living creature about as tall as her waist. It seemed quite wide, though. Perhaps a dwarf? she thought.

"I'm armed," Snape said, striking a formal dueling posture.

The mysterious creature moved closer, its movement quite odd. It didn't seem like a person walking. Snape was now visibly sweating. For all his bravado, it did not seem like he had planned on coming face to face with an opponent.

"Speak to me!" Snape demanded.

Ribbit!

Narcissa began giggling loudly. She walked over, drew her wand, and cast a quick light spell. "It's a giant frog!"

Ribbit!

Bellatrix was also staring with surprise at the frog. Had her cousin's friends really transfigured that? Then, remembering that it was supposed to be a distraction so that she and James could stun the two, she looked over to where James was hiding and motioned for him to start the attack.

"There is something suspicious about this frog!" Snape declared.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Narcissa laughed. "It probably wandered out of the Forbidden Forest."

"There's no such thing as a giant frog!" Snape insisted.

"Stupefy!" Bellatrix and James cried together after sneaking up behind the two. Bellatrix watched with great satisfaction as the two stunners caught the intended victims straight in the back and rendered them unconscious.

Sirius, Remus, Peter joined Bellatrix and James, already laughing merrily.

"That was brilliant!" James told them. "Utterly brilliant!"

"We should take the frog back to the castle with us," Peter squeaked. "We could set it loose in the Great Hall during breakfast!"

"No, Peter, you'd have to anonymously mail it or do something else more clever," James said, eyeing the frog appreciatively. "You know, make it look like someone else's fault."

Bellatrix rolled her eyes. "We are not bringing the frog back to the castle with us," she declared. "Levitate these two morons so that we can get back to the castle before Lucius shows up with his cronies."

In short order, the group was heading back to the castle with the unconscious bodies of Snape and Narcissa hovering with them. They were nearly back to the main entrance when Remus spoke up. "We've got a problem," he announced.

"What?" Bellatrix asked quickly. "Is Lucius here?"

Remus held out the Marauder's map for her. "No. Lily Evans is just inside the main entrance."

"We can just wait for her to move on," Sirius said.

"Looks like she's staying there," Remus disagreed. "I think she's waiting to catch us."

James groaned. "Of all nights!"

Bellatrix looked at the map, silently cursing her new, nosy dorm mate. "There's no way around her, is there?"

"Nope," Remus said. "We shouldn't have trouble, though, if Professor Ashworth is on our side. I say we just breeze through, tell her we're on a professor's business, and move on. Since we really are going to see Professor Ashworth, there shouldn't be much problem, even if she calls our proverbial bluff, as it were."

"Great," Bellatrix muttered. "Is Professor Ashworth in his office?"

"Why are you asking us?" James snickered. "You're the resident expert on all things Ashworth."

"He left the castle after his last class of the day," Bellatrix huffed. "I have no way of knowing whether he's returned yet."

"Keep your hair on," Sirius said, glancing over Remus's shoulder. "He's in his office."

Bellatrix looked closer at the location on the map where Harry's office was located. A small, unlabeled dot was moving erratically around the office. "How do you know that's him?"

"He's the only one without a name," James said, also looking at the map. "Our standard naming charm doesn't seem to work on him. Is he dancing?"

"Looks like he may be," Remus mused.

"Let's get a move on," Bellatrix said.

"Wait," said Remus. "James, let me take Snape. You won't score any points with Lily if she sees you floating his unconscious body around."

The switch was made. Remus was levitating Snape, and James was leading the party through the castle. They entered the castle. After only a few dozen steps, they were accosted by Lily. "What are you doing to Severus?" she demanded angrily.

"We're taking him to see Professor Ashworth," Bellatrix said coolly. The fact that Lily had followed them down and was now interfering had left Bellatrix rather irate with her new roommate. "How about you go to bed and leave us be?"

"Why are you taking him to see Professor Ashworth?" Lily asked, keeping up with the group with a purposeful stride.

"Because he got busted," Sirius declared with relish. He looked to share a look with James, but his friend was ostensibly looking away.

"Well?" Lily demanded. "What about your sister, Bellatrix? What did she do?"

"Lily," Remus said in a very calm and soothing voice, "some bad things have been happening. Unfortunately, Severus has been involved. We're taking him to see Professor Ashworth. You of all people know that Professor Ashworth is fair."

"What did he do?" Lily demanded.

"He tried to help kidnap my sister, you nosy brat," Bellatrix retorted. "If we're lucky, Ashworth will convince the headmaster to expel him!"

Lily gasped. "He would never do that!"

Bellatrix sighed and increased her pace. The sooner they got to Harry's office, the better. Maybe he'd be able to pound some sense into Evans.

The argument with Lily continued until the group was within earshot of Professor Ashworth's office. At that juncture, they were startled to silence by the noises coming from within the office. They all stopped and stared at the closed door, listening to cacophony of noise coming from within.

"Is that a chicken?" Lily asked hesitantly.

"Sounds like it," Remus said.

Bellatrix sighed and led the group the rest of the way toward the office, wondering why Harry had a chicken in his office. She opened the door and the group entered to find Harry standing on a chair and trying to grab hold of a rooster that had perched on top of a bookshelf.

"Professor Ashworth," Lily announced loudly, "Potter and his friends have been picking on Severus again!"

Harry turned his head and looked down at the group. As he surveyed those in attendance, he winced. "What happened?"

Everyone broke out into their own explanation of the events, gesturing toward the levitated forms of Narcissa and Snape and jabbing their fingers accusatorily at each other. The group was so loud that even the rooster stopped squawking indignantly and stared.

Seeing his moment, Harry grabbed the chicken by its legs and jumped down from the chair. Silence overtook the group as they watched Harry open one of his desk drawers and stuff the rooster in head first. With a satisfied sigh, he closed the drawer and watched to make sure it would stay closed as the rooster indignantly crowed from within.

"Everyone out," Harry declared, "except for Bellatrix. Once I get her version of the events, I'll decide with whom I should speak next." He herded everyone out, asking Sirius and Remus to leave Narcissa and Snape in the office, and then shut the door, leaving him and Bellatrix as the only conscious people in the room.

Harry turned to Bellatrix and arched an eyebrow. "What did you do, deputize Potter and his friends?"

Bellatrix shot Harry a look that was both annoyed and guilty. "I prevented Lucius Malfoy from kidnapping my sister." She then recounted the events.

By the time, she had finished, Harry had retreated to the chair behind his desk and was slumped tiredly in it. "Great," he said.

"Well, what are you going to do about it?" Bellatrix asked.

"Maybe I should make you deal with it," Harry grumbled.

"Obviously, that option is not available to you," Bellatrix said.

"I'll have a conversation with Snape," Harry decided. "We'll see where to go from there."

"Fine," said Bellatrix. "May I take my sister? I think it would be best if I or my father dealt with her."

"Great," Harry said. "Take her and deal with her. Tell your little group of deputies that they can go back to bed."

Bellatrix assumed control of Narcissa's levitation with her wand and then opened the door. Before she could close it after walking out, Lily Evans slipped in.

"Please professor, I need to talk to you," Lily said urgently, glancing back and forth between him and the levitated, unconscious Snape. "I'm sure that this is just a misunderstanding."

Harry sighed, "Very well, Miss Evans. Close the door behind you."

Lily shut the door and sat down, attempting to establish eye contact with Harry, though it proved difficult. "I'm sure that Severus hasn't done anything wrong," she declared.

"Do you even know what he's been accused of doing?" Harry sighed.

"Bellatrix says he tried to kidnap Narcissa," Lily said. "I just know that he wouldn't do that sort of thing."

Harry began to tap his fingers on the desk in front of him as he ostensibly ignored the squawking chicken in his desk. "I guess you're right, Miss Evans," Harry admitted. "Severus wasn't trying to kidnap Narcissa, per se, but he was helping someone to do so."

"Lucius Malfoy," Lily said, leaning forward. "And from my information, it sounds like Narcissa was perfectly willing to go."

"Who told you that?" Harry.

"James brought me up to speed," Lily replied.

Harry smiled. "Did he? That was nice of him."

Lily seemed slightly taken aback, but she regained her composure. "He had no choice in the matter," Lily said. "But as I said, Narcissa was willing to go."

"I'm sorry Miss Evans, but Narcissa is not old enough to make that decision. Lucius Malfoy was seeking to remove her from the custody of this school. Her custody was entrusted to us by her father, Cygnus Black."

"They have a marriage contract," Lily argued.

"Not for much longer," Harry retorted, smirking inwardly. Due to his interference with the Black family, Draco Malfoy might never be born. It was a glorious thought, though it was also very sobering. Had Harry prevented the birth of other people who had been friendlier to his cause?

Lily looking at Harry imploringly, "Perhaps Severus didn't understand what he was doing."

"Would you have done the same thing if a good friend had asked you?" Harry inquired, beginning to feel very irritated. Had his mother still been alive in his future, would she have persisted in defending Snape against Harry's complaints of poor classroom manners and general surliness toward Harry? Harry had always dreamed that she would have made things better, but he was now beginning to doubt.

"No," Lily admitted slowly. "I guess not, but it may be that Severus was under a curse or potion that allowed Lucius Malfoy to influence him."

Harry lost his temper and slammed his fist into the desk. "Why do you persist in defending him?" he demanded, his voice becoming almost violent. "It is abundantly clear that he did wrong, Miss Evans! He was caught! The facts are indisputable! Why do you insist that he did no wrong?"

Lily was intimidated, but no one could accuse her of lacking spunk. "He's my friend, Professor," she retorted loudly. "He's always been my friend, and he's always been teased and picked on my others. I'm sick of seeing Severus bullied!"

Harry rose to his feet and directed a baleful glare at Lily. His green eyes pulsated intensely as his turbulent emotions aroused his magic. Sensing that he was on the edge of losing his temper even further, Harry was careful not to yell. "Being his friend doesn't give you the right to shield him from the consequences of his actions," Harry told Lily in an evenly-toned voice. "He may have once showed you kindness in the past, but he has treated everyone here at Hogwarts with contempt-professors included. That, Lily, is why he has social problems. At his core, Severus has problems. It's time that you let him leave your nest. Harbor for yourself your feelings of friendship, but stop trying to make excuses and defend him against consequences. Once he starts to see that he's responsible for his actions, maybe he'll begin to be a better person."

Lily burst into tears. Suddenly feeling deflated, Harry collapsed back into his chair, drew his wand, and used it to summon a box of tissue. He was forced to watch as she made liberal use of the tissue to wipe away her tears.

"I'm sorry, Miss Evans," Harry apologized, beginning to feel very guilty. "It's just that… what Severus did tonight is rather serious. Lucius Malfoy had made some very poor choices in his life. He has caused pain for others and has left his father bitterly disappointed in him. If you had a daughter the age of Narcissa, how would feel if some teenage boy arranged for her to run away with him? How would you feel about the other person who helped the teenage boy?"

"I guess I understand," Lily said quietly.

"Good," Harry said. "I will act in the best interests of Mr. Snape," he promised.

"Are you going to have him expelled?" Lily asked, fearful of what the answer might be.

"If my conversation with Mr. Snape goes well, I might not even bring the matter up with Professor Dumbledore," Harry said.

"I'll go then," Lily said, sounding slightly comforted. She stood up and prepared to retreat from Harry's office.

"There's one last thing I would have you understand," Harry said quietly, looking at his mother soberly. "James Potter did not participate in the events of tonight with the intent of specifically cornering or bullying Mr. Snape."

Lily shook her head, wiping her eyes with a damp tissue. "I'm sorry professor, but I have a hard time believing that."

"Lily, Sirius's father asked Sirius to keep an eye on Bellatrix to make sure she isn't hurt by certain Slytherins." Harry explained. "James Potter was kind enough to volunteer to help out. It hasn't been all fun and games. Tonight, James inserted himself into a dangerous situation to protect Bellatrix's sister. Give James half the chances you give to Severus, and I think you'll find James to be a somewhat admirable person."

"I'll think about it," Lily sniffed before departing, closing the door behind her.

Harry sighed remorsefully and waved his wand, muttering some spells to lock the door. He then paced back and forth behind his desk, considering his options, before finally approaching the still unconscious, levitated form of Severus Snape. He pointed his wand at Snape and uttered the spell to wake him up. "Enervate!"

Snape awoke with a start and jerked his head around urgently, looking back and forth as he tried to ascertain where he was and what happened.

"Yeah, you got caught," Harry said, moving into Snape's line of sight. "Congratulations." With a swift movement, Harry grabbed Snape's arm and pushed up his sleeve. Seeing nothing but pale skin, Harry did the same with the other arm. Saying nothing about his observation, Harry took hold of his wand and cancelled the spell that had been levitating Snape. The teenage Snape dropped to the floor in a heap while Harry walked to his desk and sat down.

How ironic, Harry thought, glancing around the office that might very well still be Snape's in the not-so-distant future. The shoe is now on the other foot .

Snape gathered his wits and stood up. "I must insist that you tell me what is going on, Professor."

Harry arched his eyebrow smoothly, feeling very dramatic. Suddenly remembering the chicken in the drawer and not wanting it to start making a racket that would spoil the moment, Harry discreetly used his wand to cast a silencing charm on the drawer while directing his gaze at Snape. Once Harry reckoned that enough time had passed, he spoke. "Perhaps you could tell me what you were doing in the forest tonight-with Narcissa Black."

"That's none of your business, Professor," Snape retorted.

"Those who caught you overheard your conversation with Narcissa," Harry said. "I know that Lucius Malfoy arranged with you to make sure Narcissa Black could meet with him and leave the castle tonight."

"I have nothing to say," Snape sneered.

Harry resisted the urge to reach across the desk and slap Snape's face-hard. Harry cast his mind about for information that might help him in the conversation. He reviewed everything Bellatrix had told him about the conversation with Narcissa and everything he had known about Snape in the future. There had to be something that would get under Snape's skin.

"They'll never really accept you, you know," Harry said casually, seemingly turning his attention away from Snape and focusing on the wall to the side of the desk. "You're only a half-blood."

Snape's eyes betrayed his fury, though he remained silent.

"Your potions might be valuable one day, or perhaps you'll hold positions of trust and be cognizant to valuable information. Or maybe you'll be a good duelist, well-versed in the dark arts. It doesn't matter, though. Once you've given the dark lord what he wants, he'll cast you aside. You'll be killed or left to rot in Azkaban-probably killed, though." Harry shot Snape a sidelong glance. Snape had not reacted to anything Harry had said.

Harry smiled. "You aren't surprised that I've mentioned a dark lord. The implication is that you already know he exists. That information, combined with the facts of what you attempted to do this evening, could get you sent to Azkaban for the rest of your life, Mr. Snape. Narcissa's father is, after all, the Minister of Magic."

Snape glared at Harry but remained silent.

Harry resisted the urge to stand up and start yelling at Snape, maybe punching him a few times. That wouldn't get him anywhere-not with Snape. A thought occurred to Harry, a thought he reckoned might work, though he felt slightly guilty for even considering the possibility.

"You do realize, Severus, what it is that a dark lord stands for and does, don't you? They tend to be very violent and brutal. This particular dark lord had a hatred for those who are not purebloods. He will want to kill or imprison anyone witch or wizard who isn't a pureblood. You know, ironically, he doesn't really care about all the pureblood nonsense-that's just the cause he uses to get people behind him, though he does hate Muggles. I'll admit that. But anyway, Lily Evans isn't a pureblood. I reckon she'd be one of his targets eventually. He'd probably kill her… after raping her a few times. How do you like that?"

"She'd be under my protection," Snape snarled.

"Your protection?" Harry said. He laughed. "Didn't I just tell you how expendable you are? Nope, you'd have to sacrifice her for the cause. He'd even make you do the deed-at least as far as killing her."

"I don't believe you," Snape hissed.

"What would Lily think?" Harry asked, going on without a care for Snape's defiance. "She was just in here, you know, pleading for me to have mercy on you. She's convinced that you're a martyr-teased and bullied. I'll admit you've had it rough, but let's be honest, that isn't an excuse. Maybe I should call her back down. I can explain to her all about Lucius Malfoy and the dark lord. I'll tell her what the dark lord thinks of mudbloods like her. I'll explain that you're going to join up with the dark lord and go around ravaging and killing muggle families. I'll even tell her-"

"Leave her out of it!" Snape snarled. He drew his wand and went to cast a spell at Harry.

Because he had been assuming that Bellatrix and the Marauders would have not left Snape's wand on his person, Harry had not been prepared for Snape to attack him. However, Harry had become very quick with his wand-especially in the months since arriving in the past. He himself drew his wand and cast a banishing charm, smashing Snape, who promptly dropped his wand, into the wall near the office door. "I'll tell you what," Harry said, rising from behind his desk and feeling like he'd achieved the desired effect. "If you stay away from the dark lord and his followers, I'll not tell Lily all about what you seriously considered doing. I also won't tell Professor Dumbledore about your actions, both helping to kidnap Narcissa Black and just now attacking me." Harry was now standing over Snape and looking down at him. Do we have a bargain?"

"I guess," Snape said.

"Yes, you don't really have any choice, do you?" Harry said, opening the door to his office. "Now get out of my office. I'll be watching you very carefully. If I discover you outside of the castle for a purpose not related to a class or class assignment, you may as well pack your bags for Azkaban."

Bellatrix had returned to the hallway outside of Harry's office as soon as she, Sirius, and James had dropped Narcissa off at the entrance to the Slytherin dorms. With amusement, she listened as Harry opened the door to his office and threatened Snape with Azkaban. At Harry's urging, Snape departed. Bellatrix then slipped into Harry's office and closed the door.

"I'll write to my father and uncle about the incident," Bellatrix told Harry. "What should I say?"

Harry returned to his chair. "Let them know that Lucius tried to get involved with Narcissa. Say that the situation has been taken care of, though it would be good if they could ensure that Narcissa no longer has any bright ideas about running off with Lucius. They should probably kill that marriage contract between the two."

"Were they married in your future?" Bellatrix asked, not sitting down, but rather choosing to pace back and forth.

"Yeah," Harry said. "They had a beastly child named Draco. Maybe we can prevent that atrocity from being perpetrated."

"Did Draco kill a lot of people?" Bellatrix asked.

Harry shrugged. "Not really. He was more pathetic than anything else. In fact, Tom may have killed or allowed him to have been killed by the time I myself was captured."

"I see," Bellatrix said, storing the fact away. It wasn't often that Harry so willingly told her about someone's future. "There may not be much my father or uncle can do. The marriage contract was encouraged and negotiated by my mother and aunt. They're rather strong-willed and don't often agree with their husbands."

"Do your best," Harry said.

"Why do you have a chicken in your desk?" Bellatrix asked Harry.

"I was going to, uh, pursue a little side project," Harry said. "Your uncle reminded me that my time here at Hogwarts isn't permanent. There are a few things around here that really ought to be taken care of before they become advantages for Tom."

"Care to enlighten me?" Bellatrix asked in a too casual voice.

"Later," Harry said. "I don't have the energy to pursue the matter now that I've spent the night arguing with Snape and my-uh, Miss Evans."

Bellatrix glared at Harry and folded her arms crossly.

Seeing the glare, Harry winced. "I promise that we'll take care of it together. I'll tell you everything." he said. "See? I treat you like my partner."

Bellatrix pursed her lips. "You've been avoiding me since our… fight in the Room of Requirement." She felt her cheeks heat up a little bit at the thought of kissing him. He had chosen not to mention it, and she was kind of glad because she didn't want to talk about the situation until the moment was just right.

"I've been busy," Harry said, a little too defensively.

"Uh-huh."

"I couldn't steal this chicken from Hagrid, now could I? Finding and buying a chicken is a lot harder than you'd think," Harry said. "It took me from right after my classes for the day ended until just before you and your posse arrived."

"Fine," Bellatrix said. "When are we going to use your chicken for your project?"

"Tomorrow night, maybe," Harry mused. "Late."

"All right," said Bellatrix. "If I'm going to be up tomorrow night, I should probably get to bed now." She stopped pacing and made her way toward the door.

"There's one more thing, Bellatrix," Harry said.

Bellatrix turned around. "Yes?"

"If you're going to go around with Black, Potter, Lupin, and Pettigrew, please make sure they don't come to harm," Harry said.

"Yeah, whatever," Bellatrix said. "Good night."

Harry idly whistled to himself as he left the Potions classroom and made his way down the hall to his office. He still sorely wished that he could have taught a subject other than Potions, but it wasn't that bad. He had managed to blunder through the daily classes without too much trouble and was now ready for a break. He opened the door to his office and was surprised to see Professor Dumbledore standing just inside.

"Albus," Harry said, clearly surprised. "I wasn't expecting you."

"Of course not," Dumbledore said, his blue eyes twinkling. "Forgive me for the intrusion. I wanted to talk to you about a matter and thought that your office would be the best option for finding you."

"There's no problem," Harry said. "I was just saying that I was surprised." He closed the door behind him and smiled at the headmaster. "What can I do for you?"

Dumbledore gestured toward the seat behind Harry's desk as he himself took the chair opposite. "I just wanted to talk. However, before we really begin the conversation in earnest, I wonder if you would enlighten me as to why you have a chicken in your desk drawer.

Harry winced as he took a seat. Faintly, he could hear the chicken squawking. The silencing charm from the night before was wearing off. Harry quickly searched for an explanation for the chicken in the drawer. Finally, he looked at Dumbledore and put on his best poker face. "It's a science experiment."

Dumbledore tilted his head and smiled. "How extraordinary," he said. "Especially…"

"Especially what?" Harry asked

"Never mind," Dumbledore said, waving his hand dismissively. "Harry, we need to talk about the things that are going on in our world."

"Oh?" Harry said.

Candidly, Dumbledore explained the observations he had made with regard to the raising incidents of crime throughout Britain, the recent political upheaval in the Ministry, and Bellatrix's experience with some of the Slytherin students. "I'm sure you also are aware of all these things, Harry," Dumbledore concluded. "In addition to these observations, I can't help but also observe that you seem to be closely tied to the Black family. You are protecting their… interests here at Hogwarts, aren't you?"

Harry shrugged, doing his best to act unconcerned by the topic Dumbledore was pursuing. He was prepared to reveal a certain amount of information to Professor Dumbledore, but he wanted it to be just right. "I try to keep their children out of trouble and harm's way. They've been very good friends since my arrival here."

"Thus, you have an inside curve with the Blacks, Harry." Dumbledore said. "If any family knows what is going on in Britain, it is the Blacks, especially with Cygnus now being the Minister of Magic. I'm sure they're doing their best to do what is right for everyone. I also want to ensure that everything is all right in the world."

"Of course," Harry said, spreading his hands in a placating gesture.

"I'm going to be direct, Harry. Do you know anything that maybe I should know also?" Dumbledore asked.

"Well, I'm not sure," Harry said slowly, feigning nervousness.

"Harry, if there's something bad going on, I should know," Dumbledore said quietly, advancing his position. "I am a ranking member of the Wizengamot and an influential member of society. If there is a problem, it is my duty to help."

Though Harry was already convinced of the necessity of putting Dumbledore on the right path, he decided the part he was playing required just a little bit more reluctance. "I don't know," he said slowly. "I don't like breaking confidence."

"It would be far worse to keep a secret that could hurt people," Dumbledore urged.

Harry let out a put-upon sigh. "All right. The Blacks are convinced that there's some up-and-coming dark lord out there doing recruiting amongst the younger generation. My job is to supervise their children and report anything unusual I might see happening among Hogwarts students."

"Something like Bellatrix's little incident in the forest?" Dumbledore said gravely.

"Yeah," said Harry. "Stuff like that. You can't blame me, can you? I'm not doing anything dishonest."

"Of course not," Dumbledore said reassuringly, though it was clear his thoughts were elsewhere. "Helping out friends is above reproach. You've done nothing wrong."

"Do you know what else the Blacks are doing in their… opposition to this dark lord?" Dumbledore inquired.

Harry shrugged artfully. "I don't know. I would assume that Minister Black is doing his best to prepare the Ministry's defenses."

"Let us hope so," Dumbledore breathed.