A Chance You Only Get Once

Chapter Eight
Rat Race

That bloody stupid animal! If Peter wasn't the reasonable Marauder, he would think that the wretched demon creature was in league with Black!

When had Sirius become "Black" to him? Was it to avoid the guilt? Oh screw it; he didn't have time for this debate. He had to find the snowoman. Thanks to Lily that dratted "cat" wouldn't be able to find him there. Sirius probably wouldn't even be able to find him there, even if he stole the Map from Lupin up at the Castle. Lily had transfigured the place into a safe zone, where no one could enter if they meant harm to any within and was universally Unplottable, even on the great Marauder's Map. He would be safe, unless Black was already there. Oh screw it, it was his only chance to get away from this confounded cat! He wouldn't stay there long. After all, Lupin could come down any minute.

The monstrosity was barreling down on him and he was still fifty feet away. Not a terribly long run as a human, even for Peter, but it was almost a mile to a rat. With the cat of every rat's nightmares fast on his tail, it was then he took his first risk in thirteen years. He transformed.

It happened agonizingly slowly, he had spent so many years as a rat, but he at last felt his two feet hit the ground solidly. Or at least as solidly as could be expected when he was so used to running on four legs. He staggered toward the clearing, scarcely seeming to go faster than before as the hissing and now doubly furious cat still pursued him. So it didn't just want to eat him. Could the thing be in league with Black? A "cat" and a "dog?”

Then Peter had reached the clearing and collapsed at the snowoman's feet, hearing the furious hisses of the beast who indeed could not enter the place. If it was in league with Black, he would know instantly what had happened. Would he be enraged at Peter's gall? Safe from the mad beast, Peter changed back into his rat form. His too long languishing human muscles were screaming in protest at the abrupt change after so many years. After thirteen years as a pet rat, could he ever be comfortable as anything else? This was what he was now.

He looked up at the face of the snowoman, towering above him. In this form, it looked almost imposing rather than peaceful. Peter reverted to his human form, but the impression remained. Marissa was frowning down upon him, looking at him with great disappointment behind her closed eyelids. He had thought that changing his form would remove the horrible impression, but it remained. It's just lingering guilt talking, man. Come on, fight it! You've done it before!

There was a brief struggle, and for a moment Peter thought he had won. Then the words came tumbling out of his mouth, the plea he would have made to a living Marissa, "I never wanted to be a Death Eater," he said in a rush. "I had no choice. They would have killed her. They would have killed me. I would have lived my life surrounded by Dementors; I could have been Kissed."

The snowoman seemed to say the words aloud in her mild tone, "But it was all right for Sirius to suffer that?" Marissa's voice in his head was too much for his shaky defenses.

"You don't understand! Please! You must understand! I couldn't go! I couldn't! Sirius was strong, he could survive it, but I couldn't! Not knowing what I had done!" Peter felt himself begin to sob and hated himself for it. "And before, to relive his death every single day! To relive that choice! Never knowing if they let her live! You can't judge me!"

The snowoman's silence was worse than her nearly vocal reply. It ate at Peter. "When I told him of Trelawney's prophecy, I had no idea it would set him on Harry! I wanted to distract him from Sirius and James and Lily! If he had bigger fish to fry then I wouldn't have to betray them yet! I didn't want to do it! I thought it was the Longbottoms he would go after! I didn't even know that Lily was pregnant yet! How could I? Please, please you must believe me! Can't you . . . " his voice was very small and broken, "Can't you of all people believe me?"

But the snowoman was silent.

* * *

Twas the night before the Easter Holidays and all through the castle,
Many creatures were stirring and causing a rat quite a hassle.
When they should have been snuggled all safe in their beds,
Visions of capture danced in their heads.
While through the corridors the rat darted, into shadows he dove,
And all through the castle his trail slowly wove.
And what wandering eyes sought this beast
But a miniature caretaker, eight friends, and one not a friend in the least.
Through the castle and grounds ran this great chase,
While the rat tried to find a safe place.
But each way he turned another pursued,
Until he knew he was royally screwed.
And what else should occur on this night not to be missed,
but a final word between those who had kissed.

* * *

Twas the night before the Easter Holidays . . .

"For a girl who hasn't been truly happy since her brother left Hogwarts, you'd think that you'd be more excited that you get to see him again tomorrow," Lily remarked with slight concern at her friend's mood. She and Marissa were both stretched out on their beds waving their wands to summon items to them then banishing them neatly into their suitcases (cleverly transfigured trunks). Anytime that Lily missed, Marissa deftly levitated it into her suitcase.

However, Lily was quite right that there was a distinct lack of enthusiasm about Marissa's spells, causing the summoned and banished clothing, makeup, shoes, etc. to move very slowly. She exhaled loudly at Lily's comment. "I am, I am, I mean . . . " she trailed off into silence. "I want to see Gus again; I really do. That's all I've wanted since he left but . . . I'm afraid when I get there nothing will have changed." There was a long pause before she added, "And almost equally afraid that everything will have changed."

"I know this isn't going to sound very encouraging at first, Riss, but hear me out," Lily said, shifting her position on the bed to face Marissa more comfortably. "You may never know if you made the right decision. Sometimes things like that are clear, and sometimes circumstances aren't so kind. You may never know if it was right, but you made a decision that you'll have to live with. And that's what you're afraid to go home and face. The thing is, Riss, you made your decision out of love, so while you may never be sure if it was the right one, it will never be wrong."

Marissa was silent for a long moment while she digested this. "Say that to yourself this week whenever you feel guilty for encouraging Petunia about Hogwarts," she said at last.

"If she messes up Dennis's visit at the end of the week, believe me, the last thing I'll do is feel guilty about that little nuisance!" Lily exclaimed hotly.

"Slow down, Lils, she hasn't even done anything yet," Marissa laughed.

"Oh but I know she will," Lily said darkly. "And that reminds me, I'm going to be coming in late tonight, Dennis and I are meeting after curfew as it's our last night to see each other until next Saturday."

"Do me a favor before you leave then, draw your curtains like you're sleeping. That way when I get in late after supervising that detention that Lizzie assigned Gideon for fighting with Tirone I can honestly say that it looked like you were already in bed when I arrived," Marissa said casually. "I make a point of keeping my honor as prefect pure."

"Yes, the girl who sicced the entire female Gryffindor population on Potter's underwear drawer," Lily snorted.

"If I recall, I was never formally charged or punished. My entire conversation with McGonagall was hypothetical," Marissa insisted staunchly.

"I am going to miss you this week, no one but you can get away with being so delightfully hypocritical," Lily laughed, casting her friend a sideways glance, as she sent her schoolbooks zooming into the suitcase to rest lightly atop her Mugglewear.

* * *

The Marauders, on the other hand, certainly wouldn't pack for the 8:00 train until 7:50 tomorrow morning. They'd wake up at 7:49 of course. James and Remus might wait until 7:54 and make a rush to the station, James even adding speed to his run courtesy of his swifter stag form. That is, unless Marissa had gotten in to tinker with their alarm clocks again. That was the main reason that they had convened in their dorm room, finding it unfairly exclusive not to mention inadequate security to merely place a guard.

"So, off to the vultures tomorrow," James said as he lazily pulled out a Snitch he had officially Commandeered for Quidditch Practice earlier in the afternoon.

All three of his fellow Marauders chunked pillows at him, "Oh shut your pie hole, you've got the easiest time of any of us!" Sirius expressed their shared sentiment.

"Are you kidding? No magic for a whole week? I'll come back as rusty as a second-year!"

Three more pillows were thrown at him, this time not lobbed. "I'd trade you any day, if you take me up on it I might actually get a wink of sleep on this 'vacation' we're embarking on," Peter said sourly.

"And if you'd rather attend the prissy social engagements my parents have lined up for me, be my guest," Remus added, casting a long-suffering glance at the dress robes his parents had sent him a few weeks ago.

"And if any of you want to be hounded about your House, ridiculed for your reluctance to join the side of pure evil, and endure in silence every bigoted, biting comment directed toward our two female Gryffindor friends (in particular), just let me know and you can be Sirius Black for the day," Sirius all but growled.

"Oh but you're all forgetting one thing," James said pointedly. They all turned to him, "I'm going to put on three pounds with all the cakes Mum's going to force on me!"

All three of his friends found heavier objects to throw at him, which only his Quidditch-toned reflexes allowed him to neatly dodge. "Based on your reaction to a simple comment," James said, ducking Remus's Muggle Studies book, "And the fact that we're all going our separate and apparently unhappy ways tomorrow, I think this calls for a night out."

"That's the only sensible thing you've said all afternoon," Sirius proclaimed. James, mistakenly taking this for a cease-fire, caught Sirius's dress loafers (only use he ever got out of them) in the face. "Capital idea, Prongs," he said casually as if his shoe hadn't just nearly knocked his best friend over. "We should send Wormtail to investigate that portrait, Sir Cadogan. You know whatever the teachers would hide behind such an annoying portrait has to be good."

"Only one problem with your theory, Padfoot," Remus pointed out reasonably, "Wormtail's never felt a draft or heard an echo there for all your banging about. In fact, we've found no evidence of a hidden room or passage at all."

"Only proves to what lengths they've gone to hide it. Even more worth our trouble to crack," Sirius insisted stoutly.

* * *

In the Heads Room, Gideon and Lizzie were working in a petrified silence. The place felt like a tomb, the scratching of quills positively deafening, the drops of ink hitting the parchment like whips at their backs. Gideon had forced open all the windows, even the one that had been stubbornly stuck down all year, and Lizzie had bewitched several spare pieces of furniture to act like a Muggle fan, but the air was still so stifling they could hardly breathe.

"Okay, that's it," Lizzie at long last said too loudly into the echoing silence. "I'm not going to do this anymore. We need to talk this out now."

As if she hadn't spoken, Gideon said calmly, "I think I'd get more work done in the Ravenclaw Common Room for all it's bedlam there. I imagine the Gryffindor one is worse however, so I encourage you to remain." He began gathering up his papers.

"You can't ignore this forever, Gideon, look what it's doing to us! Whatever you're afraid of, how is this better?"

"Walker, I am about to enjoy a stress filled, guilt-ridden week ensconced in a high security facility of my now neurotic as well as grieving brother's choice, and I'm looking forward to it as a blissful vacation. Why, you ask? Because I won't have to deal with the dreaded pronoun 'us' on your lips or attempt to hide from the stalker you've sicced on me who is getting far too creative in her methods," Gideon said without a shred inflection in his voice, sounding almost as if he intended to be cruel. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to start the holidays early by getting out of your company instantly.”

Lizzie said nothing until the door closed with a click behind him. "I'll see you tonight, Gideon."

* * *

Severus Snape knew that those pathetic Marauders were up to something. They had confined themselves to Gryffindor Tower all afternoon and word had it they hadn't emerged from their room in hours. This could mean only one thing. They were plotting something. And as the Easter Holidays started tomorrow (Merlin knows Snape was looking forward to that) it had to be tonight. That and that crew of blithering idiots couldn't think too far ahead to save their lives. And that was the exact thing that it would cost them someday.

But for now, Snape would settle for expulsion. And if he had anything to say about it, tonight would be the night that they paid that price for their arrogance and foolhardiness. If he had anything to say about it, this would be the Moroners last night at Hogwarts. Yes, Snape liked the sound of that. It fit the crew of idiots too. It was just too bad he'd never get to use it on them, because this was the last time he would have to see their arrogant faces. The blonde flibbertigibbet and the redheaded scarlet woman could wait for another day. He'd get rid of all those pesky Gryffindors yet!

* * *

And all through the castle . . .

The Marauders weren't unduly foolhardy, but crowding three under that Invisibility Cloak was just not comfortable and certainly left no room for the stress-reliever that this night was intended to be. They were careful, however. They didn't want to color an already almost universally painful week ahead with a referral to their parents and about a month of detentions. Peter, in his rat form quite safe from detection, went ahead and came back to warn them if the caretaker Benjy Fenwick or one of the teachers was coming. In turn, they kept a close watch out for cats.

It wasn't the fastest way to move through the castle, but it allowed them to walk more comfortably about. In this way, they made their meandering way up to the North Tower.

* * *

Lily waited outside of the Hufflepuff Common Room getting more and more apprehensive with each passing moment. She had stopped being nervous around Dennis weeks ago, but not even Marissa had convinced her to sneak out after curfew enough times for her to be comfortable with the idea. The worst thing was, it was her idea. That was why she was standing in front of a gargoyle that was looking more and more imposing by the second in the shadowy corridor when all the candles that usually lighted the halls had already been extinguished. Lights out. Out of Bounds. When had she become this kind of person? And where was Dennis? What was he playing at? Could he have been discovered? Could he have chosen tonight of all nights to decide he didn't want to date her after all? Didn't he at least have the decency to come out here and tell her if he -

But just then, the gargoyle leapt aside and the next thing she knew, good old faithful Dennis Wemmick was coming out to greet her with a winning smile on his face. It was not the treacherous smirk of a Marauder, but a genuinely pleased and warm smile. It was perfect, Lily decided in that moment. "So, where are we off to?" Lily asked sounding decidedly more girlish than she would have liked.

But Dennis put his finger over her lips hurried but gently. "Sh," he warned. "The next gargoyle over is Dumbledore's office." Lily's eyes bulged until she felt like they were going to pop out of her head.

Once they were a safe distance away, she hissed, "Then why on earth did you have me meet you there of all places?" she demanded furiously.

"Because I'd take facing Dumbledore on this little excursion over those Marauders of yours any day," Dennis said with a laugh.

"They're not my Marauders," Lily said testily. This wasn't going the way it was supposed to go.

* * *

Severus Snape stole out of the Slytherin Common Room with considerable finesse, if he did say so himself. Those wretched Moroners relied on damned fool luck rather than skill in their pathetic little trouble making attempts. For all their bluster and brag they lacked real creativity and flair. That and basic magical skills. They probably had no idea that there was a potion that would make you temporarily undetectable. Not that they could properly brew it even if they did know of its existence.

He carefully tucked the spare vial in the right pocket of his robes (the left had a rather large hole at the bottom of it) in case it took him too long to catch the amateurs. Not bloodly likely.

But while those Moroners were arrogant and reckless, Snape was careful. And methodical. Methodical to a fault.

* * *

"Good evening, Gideon," Marissa cried in a sunny voice as she slid down the ladder she had scaled just before the Head Boy stumbled into the Trophy Room. She displayed the bucket full of polishing tools that she had climbed up to retrieve. Gideon gave her a sour look. "I hope you're in a good mood, because it looks like we're both here for the long haul."

"First of all," Gideon said in a voice that made it quite plain that he was not in a good mood, "You are in far too good a mood for someone who's about to stay up half the night doing grunt work, or at least supervising it though I think that you got off easy on that one. And secondly, considering that the reason I got this detention was because I was defending you, don't you think that you should take it easy on me out of gratitude?"

"Gratitude?" Marissa said cheerfully but as if it were a foreign concept. "For flying off at the handle after weeks of refusing to speak civilly to me or Lizzie?"

Gideon's face suddenly became quite fierce. "So that's what this is about. Still playing matchmaker, are you Fletcher? How are your other pairs flourishing, may I ask? Lily and James are going on, what is it now? When do you get it through your head that it's time to throw in the towel?"

"Speaking of towels," Marissa said as if she had heard nothing else, "Here's one for you to get started with. Happy cleaning. And do try not to take all night, I, for one, am scheduled so that I can sleep on the train tomorrow if I patrol on the one coming back, but I believe you and Lizzie have to work the entire ride, isn't that right?"

Gideon ripped the supplies out of her hands with the full force of his anger and stalked over to the large and intimidating pile of trophies that little Benjy Fenwick, the caretaker, had designated as in desperate need of elbow grease.

* * *

Many creatures were stirring . . .

Benjy Fenwick had been the caretaker of Hogwarts for a long time. Long enough to endure no less than 75 long running jokes and nicknames playing on his short stature and unwavering enthusiasm for order and cleanliness. He considered catching students out at night the least enjoyable of his tasks.

But in all the years that the now ancient caretaker had labored against the inevitable clutter and grime of the great castle, he had rarely seen a night that kept him more active than this. No sooner had he satisfied that there was in fact no one skulking about in the dungeons (that place always gave him the willies anyway; it was probably just the Bloody Baron being, well, the Bloody Baron for Merlin's sake) than he had to scurry up to the North Tower to deal with a possible outing by the students. Of course, by the time that he checked that the two who had brazenly taken over the trophy room were in fact detentionite and his supervisor and double-checked two corridors for renegades, any would-be culprits were long gone or well-warned of his approach.

Benjy Fenwick let out a long suffering sigh. Record breakouts, sounds emanating from a perfectly legal pair to confuse him, and all that he could find from any of it was a rat who seemed to be watching him far too closely. Benjy hated rats. They messed up everything. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

"Why is Hufflepuff Tower there anyway?" Lily said angrily and quite unreasonably as well. "Isn't Hufflepuff the House that -" She stopped when she noticed Dennis's scowl. "That . . . well, that the teachers trust the most?"

"You mean the most boring? The least fun? What were you going to say, Lily?" Dennis said, his anger showing in the tightness of his voice. No, no, no, no, no, this was definitely not how it was supposed to go. Lily opened her mouth to protest, but before she could find the words, Dennis cut her off, "For your information, the reason that Dumbledore's Office's entrance is the gargoyle adjacent to Hufflepuff Dorm's is because the first Headmistress of Hogwarts was not Godric Gryffindor -" he said that name derisively "- but Helga Hufflepuff. And she wanted to be close to her house."

"Dennis, I'm sorry," Lily tried desperately, grabbing onto his hand when he began to walk away. It took her a good minute to realize that he wasn't walking back toward his dormitory. "I was just upset to learn that I had been standing directly outside Dumbledore's Office for the past ten minutes! Wouldn't you? I was paranoid enough when I thought that only a Hufflepuff teacher was likely to walk by!"

"Will you stop calling it Hufflepuff Tower?" Dennis said, but his voice had returned to normal, his anger abated. "Maybe Gryffindors have a whole tower, but Hufflepuffs do not! Just three floors near the top of the castle, thank you very much." Then, almost like a side note, "I understand, Lily. I'm sorry. I just got defensive. The rest of the Gryffindors in your year are so arrogant. I just couldn't bear the thought that they had rubbed off on you."

"Marissa's not!" Lily cried indignantly. No, no, she hadn't meant to say that now! Not when they were just getting over fighting! "And Peter and Remus aren't really so bad -"

"Open your eyes, Lily," Dennis said in what was almost a growl and strode quickly away before she could ask him to elaborate.

Lily ran after him and the moment she caught his hand used it to swing him so that he hit the wall. Dennis Wemmick, half a head taller than the by no means short Lily, saw her tower over him in her anger, "First of all, with the exception of James Potter, all these people that you are talking about are my friends, my friends of five years! I may not agree with everything that they do and I certainly don't like everything about them, but they mean a hell of a lot more to me than anyone else in my life and probably more than anyone else who will ever be in my life. So keep whatever ignorant things you think about them to yourself around me! Because I know that they aren't as shallow and stupid as they appear!" Lily took a deep breath to replenish her lungs after her spot of yelling. Dennis was too shocked to jump in. "And secondly," she began to yell but her voice instantly lost her volume and intensity when she continued, "This was not how this night was supposed to go."

She hung her head sadly and immediately felt Dennis encircle her with his arms. "I'm sorry, Lily. You're right. I don't know them, and you do. I'm sorry." After that, Lily relaxed against him, letting him sway them back and forth until she almost felt like going to sleep. She tilted her head up just in time to see that Dennis had started to lower his head a second earlier. Lily smiled, they really clicked. She and Dennis were right. She knew it.

They had to be.

Then, thankfully, their lips met before Lily could ponder too closely what lay under that last thought. She sighed when the kiss ended. This was how the night was supposed to go.

* * *

"Damn, that was close," Sirius said when the Map showed that the caretaker had meandered down enough flights of stairs for them to breathe easily again. "Try to give us more than three seconds warning next time, eh Wormtail?" The rat that was his friend just stared up at him reprovingly.

"Maybe if you hadn't gotten it stuck in your pocket, it wouldn't have been so close a call," James retorted. "Why do you have it anyway? Give me the Cloak." Everyone was always testy after a close call.

"Years of loyalty, Prongs, and this is how much you trust me?" Sirius demanded. "Oh fine, oh ye fair-weather friends," Sirius said, hurling it at James.

"Let's just get to the portrait so the two madmen can exchange their conversation for the night," Remus said equally grumpily as he pushed onward. "Lead the way, Wormtail."

After giving him a reproving look for the nickname, the rat scurried on ahead. The three boys exchanged a shrug and went back to their jocularity as if the argument had never happened.

* * *

"I don't think you got that one," Marissa chose to say just as Gideon had scaled the ladder and was about to place the trophy in its proper place. Gideon stared down at her in surprise. "I see a spot on it," she said casually in explanation.

"Oh? Do you?" Gideon said and, without warning, dumped the bucket of suds down over her head. Marissa shrieked as it hit her, throwing up her arms just in time to spare her face the brunt of the blow. "I think I got the spot out," Gideon laughed. Marissa did too, shaking her head up at him reprovingly.

"If anyone else had done that on detention," Marissa said in a warning voice, stressing the final word. Then she turned abruptly and looked at the entrance to the room that, from his height, it was difficult to see beyond. "Oh good, your timing is impeccable. Why don't you watch him while I go and clean myself up?" Marissa said to the person just beyond the archway that Gideon would bet a thousand galleons he knew the identity of.

"You minxes!" he yelled, leaping down from the ladder and falling grandly on his butt when he slipped in the spuds he had dropped on his captor. Marissa gave a snort and Lizzie Walker was trying very hard and failing not to laugh. Gideon was by no means calmed by this. Now he was injured and furious. "You little - there isn't even a word for it!"

"Really?" Marissa said with an impish smile on her face, "Because I can come up with brilliant, wise . . . " Gideon made a loud sound of disgust. "Or crafty, devious, manipulative if you prefer the negative view."

"That's bloody well it, I'm not staying here another minute," Gideon replied angrily getting to his feet, his dramatic exit marred immediately by the fact that he nearly slipped again.

"You still have a detention to complete," Lizzie said in a soft but firm voice.

"A bullshit detention that you two harpies arranged!" Gideon exploded on her.

"But a detention nonetheless," Marissa replied unfazed.

"What are you two, sharing a brain?" he snapped as they moved together to block his escape. "Get out of my way."

However, the minute he stepped over the threshold of the trophy room, he was flung back into the room. "You have not been dismissed by your Detention Overseer!" a very loud voice boomed.

"Bloody hell, you two are dead," Gideon cried, turning back to them.

* * *

Severus Snape was making plans to eviscerate someone, and for once it wasn't James Potter and his motley crew. It was that incompetent moron Benjy Fenwick. It was vital to Snape's plan to string the old caretaker along until he could find the Pot-bellied group. But the stupid midget of a Muggle scampered off as if he hadn't heard a thing! Just what he needed, a deaf reject on patrol duty! But Potter wouldn't have a reprieve for long. No, no, Snape would merely rearrange his agenda. Find Potter, then string him along to the caretaker. There was more than one way to skin a cat, especially one that fashioned itself a lion. Making as much noise as possible in the hopes of catching the idiot caretaker's attention, he set off after the Moroners. He stopped briefly when he heard a disturbance in the trophy room, but it was only the Head Boy and those two blonde Mudblood harpies who had attached themselves at the hip lately. Wouldn't the redhead be jealous?

Wasn't it all just sickening? He would get rid of the worst of them tonight!

* * *

And causing a rat quite a hassle . . .

Benjy Fenwick was on his last nerve when he heard the disembodied voice yelling at the Head Boy of all people to complete his detention. What was this school coming to? And he could have sworn he had heard yelling up by Dumbledore's office of all places. Since when did those Hufflepuffs cause this kind of trouble? And Peeves seemed to have taken it into his head to follow him around, trying to lure him up the stairs to the North Tower again. Where he wasn't altogether unwilling to go, considering he didn't believe for a minute that there wasn't anyone lurking up there somewhere.

He was at the end of his rope when he saw that dratted rat again. That was why Benjy Fenwick snapped when it just stared at him, then walked off as if it owned the castle. With a battle cry he had long forgotten he once uttered quite often in the days of Grindewald, the miniature caretaker sprang after the horrid pest.

* * *

"You heard the bloody voice! Give me permission to leave now!" Gideon roared, looming over Marissa.

She didn't give an inch. Then the voice barked again, "You shall not threaten your Detention Overseer!"

"I wasn't even threatening her!" Gideon hollered back at the doorway as if he expected to see someone there.

"You were about to!" it argued back crisply.

"Oh this is unbelievable!" Gideon shouted throwing up his hands. His mood was not in the least improved by the fact that Marissa in particular seemed to be only barely holding back her uncontrollable laughter.

"You shall serve your detention in a polite manner!" the voice barked for the last time. With that, Marissa exploded. Gideon had never given anyone so furious a look, but Fletcher was completely unscathed. He realized he hadn't glanced once at Lizzie since she had entered. Good, keep it that way.

While he had this debate with himself, Marissa had pulled herself together enough to speak, "So has the voice given you the impression yet that there's only one way out of this detention?"

"I can't for the life of me imagine what that would be," Gideon said sarcastically. "This is blatant abuse of prefect status and undermines the entire detention system. If you think I'm not reporting you to McGonagall you're dead wrong."

"Oh yes, tell her how you tried repeatedly to escape your detention before fulfilling the requirement and 'threatened your Detention Overseer'?" Marissa said pointedly. Gideon just stared at her. "Now, the only way that you can get out of here without my express permission is to polish that entire pile of trophies and plaques. However, if you were to be honest with your fellow Head about why you've been avoiding her, I might be willing to send you on your merry way and wave my wand at the trophies . . . "

"You are pure evil, and this is extortion," Gideon snarled.

"Shall I interpret that as 'I desperately want to stay here all night doing grunt work' or 'It's high time I was honest with you anyway, Lizzie'?"

Before Gideon could formulate a reply, Benjy Fenwick burst into the Trophy Room. "Did you see where he went?!" he hollered looking quite mad and beside himself as he skidded to a stop just before crashing into the pile. A second later, a rat emerged on the other side of them and with a rather disturbing war cry, the caretaker was after it. The rat seemed to possess almost an intelligence for dodging through trophies and other scattered debris at just the right moment to best trip up the old caretaker. And how on earth had it known to run over that spill?

"Prewett! Help me catch that wretched mouse! I can magic the trophies clean!" he cried as he got to his feet after falling spectacularly on his bottom.

"But Benjy!" Marissa cried in an agonized voice.

Before she could say anything, the caretaker and Gideon were out of the trophy room, and the rat was halfway down the next corridor. Marissa and Lizzie exchanged a glance, then hurried off after them.

* * *

Watching Sirius and Sir Cadogan go at it was easily the most entertaining thing that the Marauders had seen since Valentine's Day and Lily's crane. But Merlin forbid that any of them suggest that he give up. His answer was a determined, "We've gotten every picture and statue in this castle to give up their password, most of them their universal password, not that it matters since Wormtail figured out how to change the password on the map if you know one, but that's still damn impressive. I will not be thwarted by the most ridiculous knight since Sir Pelinore!"

"Who?" James demanded.

"King Arthur's childhood friend and mentor, a noble man," Sir Cadogan answered. "I see not why you refer to this great man as ridiculous." Before Sirius could muster a response, no one was quite sure what it would be, Cadogan puffed up his chest rather unimpressively and said, "His failure to catch the Beast he chased was unfortunate, but neither have I slain a dragon! That does not make me a failed knight!" Sirius opened his mouth again, "And, I find your attitude insulting and degrading to the Code of Knighthood!"

"Cadogan, I really didn't mean -"

"That is Sir Cadogan to you, you mongrel!" Sir Cadogan said with more dignity than he could usually muster. It ruined his dramatic exit, however, when he tripped spectacularly just before he disappeared beyond the frame.

Sirius only had time to let out a gusty sigh of disappointment before all hell broke loose. From the next room over where Peter was standing guard came the war cry of the quiet, friendly, small-statured caretaker. "Was that Benjy?" Sirius cried in surprise. With that they all made a dive for the discarded Cloak

Put delicately to shield their fragile if gargantuan egos, the Marauders were caught unawares and reacted with adequate speed. Put honestly, to protect the room space left for everyone else in with their swelled heads, the boys panicked and barely managed to hide in time. As it was, Remus didn't get under the Invisibility Cloak and finally dove behind a statue. There was one thought running through their minds. Oh crap. Bloody hell. Merlin's beard. With varying means of expressing that thought. How in the world were they going to keep Peter away from Benjy? How did this night go so wrong?

With a collective shrug, they took off after the mad caretaker, going as quickly as they could without revealing themselves.

At least, they managed to prevent anyone visible from seeing them take off after the caretaker. Not that Severus Snape could make heads or tails of their actions. And why wasn't Peter with them? And why the hell did that blasted caretaker have to go and lose his mind just when he had lured him almost to the main lunatics of the night?

Snape was surrounded by idiots, and not just the Gryffindors this time!

Seething, he followed.

* * *

The quick kiss had turned into many, which Lily was not protesting in the least. That was why they had snuck out. Though she might have hoped it would be slightly less out in the open. Then again, where was her sense of adventure?

"There's something," Dennis murmured between kisses. "That I’ve been meaning to give you.”

"Really?" Lily said with a smile. "I wonder what it could be?" Thank you, Dennis, for this feeling again. Not love, not like she had loved Sirius certainly, but what she had felt for Sirius at the first. Excitement, nervousness, a spark of something that made her feel beautiful. Even Marissa, the James Potter cheerleader, understood that.

"I think I might keep you in suspense for a little while longer," Dennis said playfully, though he took one of his arms from around her and seemed to be fumbling in his pocket. Lily couldn't suppress her grin; he was perfect. And certainly better than she had thought she would be able to do that first year after the Sirius mess when she realized what a strong deterrent the disfavor of James Potter and the Marauders could be. Do NOT think about them, that's not what's supposed to happen now.

That thought begged a question that Lily wasn't sure she wanted to answer. Just what did Dennis think was supposed to happen tonight?

But before she could see his surprise, he cursed. Looking up at him in surprise, he shrugged at his clumsiness and bent down to reach for it, not quite willing to let go of her just yet and forcing her to stay in his arms with her back to it. She thought this highly unnecessary and shifted out of his grip, though she made no effort to look at whatever Dennis had dropped. Not that it mattered, considering a passing rat caught it on his tail and took off down the hall.

Dennis had no time to absorb this astonishing occurence before he had to grab Lily and dive behind a statue as a clamoring crowd of what looked like madmen led by the caretaker ran screaming after the rat. Dennis and Lily sat up, "Was that Benjy Fenwick and the Head Boy?" he asked in confusion. But before Lily could formulate any kind of response, another pair ran through after them, yelling Gideon and Benjy's names as they pelted after them. Dennis barely managed to pull Lily out of view in time.

He turned to her with a look of acute shock on his face, "Has the whole castle gone crazy or is it just me?" he cried. Hearing footsteps, they both dove under their flimsy cover again. "The Head Girl and your Marissa screaming like banshees now? What on earth is next?" he whispered incredulously.

It was several minutes before they determined that the footsteps had been a false alarm. "Well," Lily said with a laugh, "That was odd."

"Not just that," Dennis said grimly. "That rat got - it."

"It being?" Lily pried with a laugh.

"It being something we need to get back. "Let's go." And with that, Dennis took her hand and yanked her to her feet then nearly off them again with how fast he pulled her down the corridor after them.

* * *

When they should have been snuggled all safe in their beds . . .

Marissa sincerely hoped two things lest the plan she had so carefully crafted with Lizzie completely go up in smoke. The first was that Gideon did not notice that the clock had struck midnight and the voice had probably gone to sleep for the night, freeing him. The other was that Lizzie did not give up on talking to him, which it was beginning to look like she may do. Taking Lizzie's hand, she pulled her along as the clock chimed twelve times. Just please, please don't let Gideon have something in common with Cinderella!

Lily's plan, in the meantime, was shot completely to hell. This was definitely how it was supposed to go. That and she was getting sleepy and that was making it harder to run this fast - which they had been doing for far too long in her estimation, stopping every once and awhile because they were getting too close to the two groups ahead of them. All she wanted in the world was to be back safely in Gryffindor Tower. If this was what the castle became when the sun went down no wonder they didn't want students running about! It was madness!

If the fact that Peter could be caught and killed was not heavy on the Marauders' minds they would have found the first class mayhem they were causing uproariously funny. They had been laboring for years to get a proper rise out of the usually sedate though severely overworked caretaker. And when he reacted, he reacted with a vengeance. But even when the Head Boy and Girl and even Marissa was found to be chasing them acting quite crazy, there was the little thing about Peter being fed to a cat to stem their amusement. In fact, they were terrified. This was the worst scrape that they had been in since those boys in the village had dared an outcast to spend a night in the Shrieking Shack and he had almost made it through the threshold. The poor bloke had probably never lived the incident down.

Severus's plan had had to be revised so many times he wondered if he still had one. Basically the way it ran now was wear himself out chasing the Moroners and caretaker who was chasing a rat as part of a nervous breakdown of some sort hoping that if he was there to be the catalyst at the right moment he could make them bump into each other. Or at least reveal to him how those dimwits managed to get around so secretively.

* * *

Visions of capture danced in their heads . . .

"I hear footsteps," Lily said, freezing where she stood.

"What, you think you're less visible standing right there?" Dennis snapped in annoyance, yanking her into an alcove. It offered almost no protection, but it was better than nothing.

"What was it anyway?" Lily whispered as they crowded into the alcove.

"How the hell would I know what you heard?" Dennis snapped in annoyance.

"No," Lily said getting rather irritated with him herself. "What that dratted rat took." No no no no no. This was not going the way it was supposed to.

Dennis put his finger over her lips urgently, looking over her head at the room. After a long moment, he said, "I think it's gone. It must have been a ghost.”

"A ghost with footsteps?” it slipped out before Lily could suppress it.

Dennis turned back to give her an irritated glance, "Just be glad it wasn't Fenwick."

Lily almost stopped short again. She wondered if she had ever heard anyone call the caretaker by his last name before. Could Dennis possibly have something against Benjy? Sure he would get them in a great deal of trouble if he caught them, but he was such a friendly person if you were out at reasonable hours. Not that Lily wanted to be caught of course. Oh confound it all, she definitely was not supposed to be wondering about his character tonight!

* * *

While Lily usually kept herself to mild curses even in her own head, Severus Snape suffered no such inhibitions when he began to feel the effects of the potion wearing off and slipped his hand inside his pocket to find that the right pocket was indeed the one with the gaping hole. When the flow of vicious expletives had ceased, he was still fuming and could almost feel himself becoming visible. He uttered another round and allowed himself to fall farther behind the Gryffindors. But he was still following. Not even threat of being caught himself could discourage him. At the very least he would take them down with him.

But in the meantime, all that this meant was that his chase took on a more urgent pace. He had to catch up to that rat while he was still invisible and use it to appease that dratted caretaker so he could show him to the Gryffindors. What a night for the castle to go suddenly insane! The redheaded pretended goody goody throwing away pretenses for a dalliance with the boyfriend that Snape quite approved of for the noble reason that it annoyed Potter, the Head Girl had snuck out to spy on the Head Boy and Marissa, did the jealous lover not trust them? But the long and short of it was, if he could pull this off, he could be rid of the entire Gryffindor population of his year. But then, of course, that was exactly why the seemingly stable Fenwick chose tonight to have a meltdown.

* * *

"Does Benjy not think it odd that I'm here?" Lizzie said, the first words that she had said all night.

Marissa could truthfully say that she hadn't considered this. Nor had she considered what they were going to do when they caught up to Gideon if they managed to stop him from indulging Benjy's mid-life crisis. Not quite mid-life, but what else could this be? "He isn't exactly concentrating on much else now. If he catches that rat he'll probably be too pleased to notice."

"So hope he doesn't lose track of it and need someone to vent his frustrations on?" Lizzie finished with a weak smile. There was silence except for their labored breathing as they ran along what felt like the hundredth corridor a few yards back from Benjy and Gideon. Then, "Maybe we shouldn't have done this," Lizzie said quietly. "Maybe we should just let matters be."

Marissa skidded to a stop. "Lizzie, don't you think you deserve to know?"

"What if there's nothing to tell, Riss?" she challenged in a very quiet voice, looking down at her feet. "Believe me, in my pride it's the last thing that I want to admit, but maybe it's time."

"Do you not see the way he looks at you when he thinks nobody's looking?" Marissa said in a coaxing voice. She let out a gusty sigh. "I'll send him back to his dorm if that's what you want, Lizzie, but don't you want to know? So you never have to wonder?"

"Hurry along girls!" Benjy shouted, not pausing for a moment.

Marissa looked at her inquiringly. Lizzie smiled a little, "Well that answers the question of whether or not he's noticed that I'm here."

* * *

It was, simply put, impossible to keep up with Peter and his pursuers under the Invisibility Cloak. They hated to do it, but the Marauders had come out from under their protective covering. After all, they reasoned to themselves, as the person they would least want to see them was ahead of them, a certain location that they could monitor, they did not find it unduly foolhardy. Then again, the Marauders did not consider much unduly foolhardy. With a nod at each other, they set off at a run. They had to rescue Peter.

* * *

While through the corridors the rat darted, into shadows he dove,
And through the castle his trail slowly wove . . .

Peter wondered how fast a rat's heart could beat before it imploded. It couldn't be much faster than how it was beating now. What was this Benjy Fenwick, part cat? All cat? So maybe he shouldn't have been playing with him, freaking him out like that. But honestly, the gods of justice couldn't possibly think that this was a fitting punishment. After all, he had to have some fun while his friends were off chatting up Sir Cadogan and he was stuck sitting watch. Peter was tired of being on watch.

Well he was the center of attention now. Half the castle seemed to be chasing him now, and he couldn't seem to give any of them the slip. Maybe he didn't have it so bad being shunted into the background all the time. Oh what he wouldn't give to be ignored now! And to feel invisible, that would be a most welcome gift at this particular moment with the caretaker and Head Boy baring down on him, Prewett clever enough to have something to trap him with. Trying not to squeak as he ran, Peter ducked down a side passage, if only he could reach the secret passage three tapestries down. Fenwick didn't know about it, did he? Would he think to look there?

Yes, he would. And if Fenwick hadn't known about the passage, he certainly did now. The curses he thought were far closer to Snape's variety than Lily's.

Then he remembered where this passage led to. Could he beat them there? If he could, would he have enough time? Why was he questioning it like he had other options?

Peter threw himself forward with such a burst of speed it caused the caretaker to utter a cry of surprise. But it came from far enough away that he just about had a chance. Sprinting toward the tapestry he thought parodied his own life perfectly, he ran three times in front of a small stretch of wall and all but dove into the mouse hole that appeared, wanting to laugh in relief that it still worked for rats. He scurried down the passage he had requested just in case Prewett and Fenwick got creative to coax him out of the hole. Sometimes in his animal form he could respond to tricks as easily as a real rat, letting his animal gullibleness take over. If the other boys ever had trouble with animal instincts, they had never said anything.

To his dismay, it did not end in Gryffindor Tower, but outside on the grounds. But before he could scurry back, the hole closed him out. When would he learn to be very specific with the Room of Requirement? A way out, was apparently interpreted as out of the castle. As his mind had gone completely blank of curses, Peter cried simply, “Obscenities!”

* * *

Through the castle and grounds ran this great chase,
While the rat tried to find a safe place . . .

"Where'd he go?"

"I don't know!"

"He couldn't have gone far!"

"Yes he could have!" Marissa cried as she skidded to a stop in front of the confused pair. They whirled to face her and followed her arm when she pointed to a small, perfectly shaped semicircle of a mouse hole.

"We've got him now!" Gideon cried in triumph, going down to his knees and preparing to make a grab for the rat.

"No, we don't," Benjy said, sounding dejected. "You don't know what this place is, do you?"

Gideon looked up at him in confusion. "A mouse hole?" he guessed.

"Just as well you don't, suffice it to say that that rat is long gone. Probably down in the kitchens being fed by the house elves." It was a point of contention with the old caretaker that the house elves would feed anything, even the rats with which he and the students' better trained cats waged constant warfare.

Casting a look over the face of Marissa and Lizzie who came up behind her a moment later, Gideon suggested hastily, "What if we split up? Maybe we could find him."

Normally, Benjamin Fenwick would have seen the obvious folly of this plan. However, it was late, a record number of student escapades that he couldn't prove had been plaguing him even for a night before holidays, he was tired from sprinting for almost an hour, his eyes were worn almost out of their sockets from trying to spot that dratted rat in the shadows, and none of it mattered to him in the least if he could just catch that rat. "Good idea. Miss Fletcher and I will search from here down to the Entrance Hall. If he makes as far as the dungeons, he's home free. You two Heads can take the upper floors and the tops of the Towers. Meet us back in the Entrance Hall in an hour if you haven't found him."

"Wait, wait, I meant - " Prewett stammered hastily.

"Two Heads are better than one, wouldn't you say, Prewett?" Benjy replied staunchly. "And I certainly don't trust Miss Fletcher here not to get into trouble if I let her outside of my supervision. Come along, we mustn't let him get away dallying here." Marissa and the caretaker took off down the corridor before Gideon could organize another protest.

He turned around to see Lizzie looking at him almost apologetically before staring down at her toes. "Let's just find the bloody rat and get out of here," Gideon said gruffly.

"If he were bloody, he'd be a lot easier to find," Lizzie said in a weak voice. Gideon shot her a look that was twice as antagonistic as before but jogged off without looking behind to see if she was following.

Once they had rounded the corner, Benjy turned to Marissa, "I suppose that makes up for ruining your master plan?" he said with a smirk. In her surprise, Marissa lost all power of speech. Benjy laughed, "Marissa Fletcher, this castle is my domain. Dumbledore may rule it, but I run it. The walls, the portraits, the tapestries, the passages, the secrets, I know them all like the back of my hand, including the secrets of its occupants. I am discreet however, it's not my place to meddle or give warning."

Marissa let out a small laugh, "I'd say you quite made up for it, Benjy. But what was with the rat?"

"I've been plagued by that same rat for years, Miss Fletcher," Benjy replied with surprising heat. "You think I'm mad? Surely not every rat in the world can stare down a man then calmly walk away as if he has nothing to fear from him? It's contempt I see in that rat's eyes."

"Well, let's get the little bugger then," Marissa said with a smile.

* * *

The Marauders likewise thought it wise to split up and search for Peter. "If only the Map were finished!" Sirius moaned, fully realizing for the first time just how many uses it could have.

"Well, it isn't, and our friend is out there alone," Remus said reasonably. "We all know the passages better even than Benjy. We should be all right even without the Cloak. I say we start from three ends of the school and work our way to the center."

"We have to go down the North Tower to get to any of the shortcuts that will take us to the East, West, and South ones," James said slowly, thinking it even as he said it. "That should cover the entire castle."

"Of all the bloody luck!" was Sirius's intelligent contribution.

* * *

"Well the rat's gone with whatever it was that you lost," Lily said when they reached the place shortly afterward. "You saw everyone splitting up. They're mad, of course, they'll never find it again. Can we just go back now?"

"I think a nice moonlight stroll through the corridors is just the thing we need," Dennis replied with a warm smile though annoyance remained in his eyes. "Unless of course you had your heart set on hurrying back?"

Lily laughed as she threaded her fingers between his. Smiling happily for the first time since their date began, the couple set off down toward the Gryffindor Common Room. And if they took a rather roundabout way there, who would blame them? Besides the Marauders, that is.

* * *

Potter and the caretaker were going in approximately the same direction. At the beginning of the night this would have been a great victory, but now that he had gone from the hope of being rid of all those pesky Gryffindors down to just the most vile, it was rather a disappointment. But this night would not be a complete waste, Snape thought savagely as he followed after Potter.

* * *

But each way he turned another pursued,
Until he knew he was royally screwed . . .

After a few shell-shocked seconds and several more cursing this vagueness and the whims of the Room of Requirement, Peter decided he had better find another way back into the castle. He knew several mouse hole passages, the rats had apparently learned a thing or two from their wizard companions at this school. The trouble was that they were far apart and the closest was the most likely to run him into trouble again. Just when Peter was getting seriously annoyed, it started raining. He tried and failed to be grateful that it wasn't snow, but it almost felt cold enough to be. That made up his mind. He made for the closest hole.

He was almost to the exit when he heard the footsteps. Then two feet stopped within few of the hole and he realized after several highly impatient minutes that they were not going to leave anytime soon.

Wanting to throw something or bite someone (like that dratted caretaker for starters), Peter made his way back out into the downpour. This time he took a passage that the four of them had discovered in third year. It was more likely that they would look for him here, but it was warmer than the downpour and reasonably close to Gryffindor Tower and safety. So of course there were three people having a heated discussion in his way. If he had recognized Sirius's voice, it might not have gone back outside and tried yet another mouse hole.

So glad to not see anyone when he peered out, Peter immediately scampered across the room. He regretted this the moment he felt a pull on his tail and abruptly he lifted off his four feet. "Well, well, well, what have we here?" the unmistakable voice of Snape said with as much pleasure as if he knew that the rat was Peter. "Why I believe you are the very rat that that idiot caretaker has been chasing." Peter never thought he and Snivellus would share the same opinion of the old coot. "Let's just get you to him then, shall we? Then maybe he'll open his eyes and I can lure him to Potter before the night is out."

Peter did just about the only thing that he could think to do in this situation. He squeaked and squealed loud enough to raise the castle. How this would help he couldn't really imagine; it was mostly involuntary. However, Peter proved extremely lucky in that it was not Benjy Fenwick or one of the Heads or Marissa that heard his frantic cries but James Potter who was apteral only a room away. Snape would never have let his prey fall farther behind than that. James came bursting in, of course. He recognized Peter immediately naturally, and his eyes nearly bugged out of his head to see Snivellus holding him there. Recovering a moment later, Potter said with his usual air (of arrogance), "I should have known you were the one who trained his pet rat to annoy Benjy."

Snape let out a snarl. "I see rats are no different from their pets."

"I, for your information, am taking this rat to the caretaker," Snape snarled.

James sincerely hoped that he didn't flinch visibly. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that," James said calmly, his wand already in his hand and raised to point at Snape. "He's far too good at creating chaos for me to let you end his reign."

"You'd best worry about your own skin, Potter. The minute Fenwick's psychosis is satisfied by this rat's capture I'm going to set him on you," Snape spit out vengefully.

"You're out past curfew without permission as well," James said very slowly, as if speaking to a dullard.

"But I can avoid being seen," Snape said forgetting for a moment that the potion was lost.

"If that is indeed your plan, however ill-conceived," James said with a cocky grin, "Then I certainly cannot permit you to keep that rat." Before Snape could make another snide comment, James cried, "Fare cadere dal cielo!"

The rat dropped out of Snape's hands at the same moment that every painting fell from the wall, every knight dropped his weapon, and anything else balanced on anything else fell from its place. Needless to say it made a horrid, echoing rachet. By the time Snape had tried to dive for the rat and looked up again, Potter had vanished. He did see, however, that the small red vial of the potion was rolling away on the floor. Had the rat picked it up? And just now dropped it? Was that even possible?

Snape didn't particularly care when he realized that Fenwick was scurrying down. He took the potion and downed it, moving quickly into the shadows just in case.

By the time that Fenwick did get there, the rat was long gone. And so was James Potter.

* * *

And what else should occur on this night not to be missed,
but a final word between those who had kissed . . .

Lily regretted her choice of paths through the school the instant that she heard footsteps coming down the corridor they were about to intersect. Finding a moment later that it was just Sirius was only a relief for about five seconds. It was then that she realized that Sirius was never "just" anything. And his reaction was going to be spectacular. Bloody hell

After the collective stifled scream from all three, they regarded each other, Sirius clearly incensed. "Sirius, what are you doing out?" Lily cried.

"I'd ask the same of you, but I have the distinct feeling that the answer would make me seriously ill," Sirius said between clenched teeth.

"Well why don't you run off so we don't have to feed you little imagination any more?" Dennis said with a false smile plastered over his face. Lily looked at him in slight surprise; her Hufflepuff boyfriend was usually so calm and kind, but then Dennis had had the Marauders attacking him constantly for a month to wear on his willingness to be polite.

"I'm not talking to you," Sirius snarled before turning to Lily. "I can't blame him for taking advantage of his fabulous damn fool luck, but you, Lily, I expected better from you. You think I broke up with you so that you could - "

"Oh yes, Sirius, let's definitely go into why you broke up with me!" Lily shouted, taking a step away from Dennis to face down Sirius. "Tell me all about that."

"You act like such a victim -"

"You're such an incredible prat -"

"Why don't you ever try and see it from my point of view?" they both shouted in unison, staring each other down angrily.

There was silence for a moment, then, "You know, maybe I should leave."

"Dennis!" Lily cried in exasperation, whirling around to face him. "Don't be stupid just because he is."

"No, love," Dennis said, giving her a kiss on her forehead. "I think you two have some things that you need to sort out. Until you do, you'll never be fully happy, sweet. And that's not what I want for you, dear heart. I'll see you in the morning, darling." He turned and walked down the corridor toward the Hufflepuff Dorm.

It was once he had turned the corner that Sirius began, "Could he have thought up any more endearments? Merlin's Staff, you'd think he'd stop at twenty in one sentence."

"Sirius," Lily said warningly.

"Lily, you don't find him sugary and oily and overly slick? Come on. If you have to lay it on that thick it can't be real marmalade," Sirius continued.

"Black!" Lily said angrily, "Shut up about my boyfriend. At least he doesn't have a friend who'll ask him to break up with me." She paused a moment to let her barb penetrate.

"It wasn't like that, Lily," Sirius said seriously.

"I really don't care," she said angrily. "The point is that you and he are going to have to get used to the idea that Dennis is my boyfriend now. You're not going to change that with your childish pranks and petty bickerings."

"Lily, I didn't break up with you so that you could waste your time with guys like that," Sirius said, his voice full of derision for boys the likes of Dennis Wemmick.

"Why did you have to break up with me at all?!" Lily exclaimed. "I can't believe I was in love with you!" she said in disgust. Then she noticed the look on Sirius's face and continued nastily, "Yes, that's right. All that time that you and James were playing hot potato with my heart, I was in love with you!" Lily bit her lip to keep back the wild tears, "God knows why," she choked out.

"Lily . . . I had no idea," Sirius said incredulously.

"I know," she said, shaking her head. "But it wouldn't have changed your mind, would it?"

"I didn't want to be what stood in the way of you and James," Sirius answered softly.

"And you thought that who I date should be yours to decide?" Lily said pointedly.

"I know you must have feelings for him, Lily, you hold him to a higher standard than the rest of us," Sirius insisted suddenly. Lily gave him a dismayed look. "Why else would you have forgiven me but not him? Why are you disgusted by his arrogance and amused by mine?"

"Sirius," Lily said in the first calm tone she had used since Dennis left, "You broke up with me, at the heart of it, because you weren't in love with me. Painful, horrible, but ultimately forgivable. And probably the right thing to do considering I was falling for you. But for someone who claims to love me to discount my feelings so entirely for a selfish end . . . then to be so arrogant to think I'll come running to him the minute you end it . . . " Lily trailed off, looking over at him and letting her shoulders sag in defeat. "If he felt for me what you claim he does, which I almost believe, then why does he have no respect for me? And for my right to choose? You Marauders have got to learn that people's feelings are not problems that you have to tackle. What I felt for you, Sirius, was real. And it wasn't an obstacle to be overcome."

"I'm so sorry for the way I hurt you, Lily," Sirius said quietly. "But you have to believe me that it was just me who hurt you."

* * *

"I'm sorry about all this Gideon," Lizzie said suddenly. Gideon pulled up short in surprise. "You were right about prefect abuse, all of that. And I'm sorry. I just . . . I just didn't want to believe that I . . . that you didn't want," Lizzie trailed off, sounding near tears. "I'm sorry, Gideon." She turned to walk slowly back to Gryffindor Tower, her head hanging.

"Lizzie," Gideon called, stopping her.

"Please just don't yell at me," Lizzie said, not registering the fact that it was the first time that he had called her that since the Kiss. "I'm sorry," she said, looking up, "I can't say anything else."

"Lizzie, don't think that it's because you're not . . . not good enough or something," Gideon said in considerable distress as he looked earnestly into her eyes.

"Then what is it, Gideon? Because you haven't left me any other option," Lizzie said quietly, not daring to be hopeful about anything anymore.

"No, stop it," Gideon said angrily as he stepped over to her and put his arms around her. "Don't you dare hang your head like that. Stop it, Lizzie, I mean it." With that, Lizzie's resolve broke and she began sobbing on the shoulder of the very man who had broken her heart. It was a long time before she realized that Gideon too was crying.

Eventually, he pulled away and took her face in his hands. "This isn't fair. This whole twisted, sick world isn't fair. In any other reality you'd be with me, I wouldn't have to lie to the whole world about loving you. I wouldn't have to hide that you've captured my heart."

"Gideon-"

"No, let me talk," he shook his head as he cut her off, holding her face more firmly to keep it still. "I have to tell you now; you have to understand. I can't keep deceiving you anymore, not if you're going to get it through your head that you're inadequate somehow." Lizzie bit her lip. Gideon placed his thumb on her lip until she released it, a tender look on his face. "I knew I loved you a long time ago, Lizzie. I was afraid of it at first because of the friendship we have. I didn't think I could bear it if we lost that too; I didn't do so well with that when it happened if you remember our recent history. But I would have been overjoyed when Valentine's Day happened if that had been all that kept me from telling you.

"But Christmas changed everything. I knew that I could never be with anyone, least of all someone as precious as you. Not when I saw Anna and little Michael and the heartbreak on Fabian's face. I won't curse you with death or losing someone you've come to care about. I can't bear to let you carry that burden, not because of me," Gideon said looking so wistful and sorrowful that Lizzie felt her heart breaking all over again, for him this time. "I just couldn't not tell you anymore. I thought it would be better this way, but not if you are going to start thinking you're not the most beautiful, wonderful, smart, kind, amazing woman that I know. I love you, Lizzie Walker, and I always will."

"I love you too, Gideon Prewett," Lizzie said just before a sob escaped her throat. After a long moment, she said like a woman grabbing at straws, "We could keep it a secret."

Gideon shook his head, "Do you not know whom we're dealing with here, love? He knows everything."

The endearment falling so naturally from his lips was too much for Lizzie. She threw her arms around him and held him as tightly as she could. Gideon crushed her to him, inhaling deeply of her scent. "Why do you have to protect me? Why can't I risk what you're risking? What can't I take the chance that you're taking?" she asked when she had control of her voice again.

Gideon was firm, "No, Lizzie. I don't take this risk by choice. And let's be honest. It's not a threat I'm under. It’s a death sentence. Sooner or later, he'll catch up to me, and I can take that if it's just me, but I could never live with that with what it would mean for you," Gideon said holding her even tighter.

After a long moment, she whispered, "So, what? Tomorrow we go back to being just friends? Never mention this again?"

"That's the way it has to be. Never mentioned," he pulled away to look at her, "But never forgotten either."

* * *

"Marissa?" Remus's surprised voice called out softly as she made her way back to Gryffindor Tower after a long search with a dispirited Benjy. Remus stepped out from behind a gargoyle a moment later.

"Remus!" Marissa barely kept herself from shouting in her surprise. "What are you doing out tonight without all your little friends?" She looked around as if expecting them to come out of the walls, "Or are they here?"

"No, we got separated," Remus said, deciding to keep the activities of the night to that.

"And you're left without the Cloak to find your way back?" Marissa said with a smile.

"You're underestimating the Marauders. We did just fine the first three years before James's mother died and got suddenly maternal in her will. Sent him a letter with all the things she couldn't say in life and a Cloak that had been in her family for centuries," Remus defended, shaking his head at James's pretended mother.

"He didn't need her, Mrs. Potter is wonderful," Marissa said with another warm smile. "So, if the stealth of the Marauders is so great, why did you alert me to your presence? Afraid I'd be more apt to give you a detention if I noticed your cursory hiding place behind that gargoyle?"

"I just thought that if we walked back together we could always say we were patrolling," Remus replied. "I figured you'd be agreeable, it never occurred to me that you'd give me a detention for being out when you are too."

"Ah yes, but I was hosting a detention that just ended. If we meet Benjy, who's the one on duty tonight, he's going to know that you weren't patrolling."

"Well, we can just hide when we hear him coming," Remus said with a shrug, "Walk with me anyway?"

"I'd like that," Marissa said.

The trip back to Gryffindor Tower was not entirely uneventful, but compared to the rest of the night it barely registered. Until, of course, they reached the Fat Lady. There they saw Peter, in human form.

"Peter, find your way back as well?" Marissa said cheerfully, not noticing the look of palpable relief on Remus's face.

"Riss? Remus?" Peter's voice was inscrutable as he said their names.

"Gave him a safe escort back," Marissa laughed.

"Can we talk a minute, Riss?" Peter said, his voice again full of an indiscernible emotion.

"Sure, Peter," she said amiably, "Would you excuse us, Remus?"

"Cupid," Remus said to the Fat Lady who looked like she had been preparing to scold them all but was now too interested in what Peter and Marissa had to talk about on her doorstep.

They just looked at each other for what felt like a century. Then Peter spoke, "I wanted to apologize, about Christmas."

"Peter, you don't have to - " Marissa began immediately.

"If I'd known how you felt about Remus I wouldn't have tried . . . I wouldn't have thought for just that one moment..," Peter spoke in fits and starts.

"Remus? What are you talking about, Peter?" Marissa said in surprise.

Peter turned to look straight at her for the first time in the encounter. "You've got to be kidding me. The girl who sees Lily Evans's hidden feelings for James Potter, who goes about throwing the Head Boy and Girl together so incessantly I'm shocked that they haven't both filed for a restraining order. And yes, wizards have restraining spells. That same girl doesn't see the symptoms in herself."

"We should go inside, Peter," Marissa said quietly, staring at her shoes as if they were fascinating.

"Right, it's late..," Peter said, cursing himself for planting the seed in her mind to join the one in her heart.

Marissa whirled just as she started through the portrait hole, "We can still be friends, right Peter?"

Peter was a long moment before he could muster a fake smile and a hoarse, "Sure, Riss. Just like we were before."

* * *

The morning after . . .

The next morning was quite unwelcome for the eleven people who had exhausted themselves with the great chase. Never had they wished more that Hogwarts provided coffee with breakfast. Not that most of them made it there. Just Snape, who had set his internal clock to force him to wake up, Dennis, who spent the entire meal watching for Lily at the Gryffindor Table, and the Head Boy and Girl who spent breakfast at their separate tables not so much as looking in each other’s direction but painfully aware of each other’s presence all the same. Benjy Fenwick was seated at the Teacher's Table, of course, and glowering uncharacteristically. He hadn't gotten any sleep at all that night, but that was not so unusual an occurence for him.

The other six Gryffindors slept in until 7:54, were packed and dressed by 7:56, and found themselves sprinting down the road to Hogsmeade station at 7:57 in a blind panic. It looked like it was going to be too little too late when James finally threw up his hands and banished all their luggage to zoom ahead of them to the station and grabbed Lily's hand as Sirius's grabbed Marissa's to drag them more quickly along. Even as it was, they had to run to board the train, Gideon Prewett having already hoisted their luggage into a compartment when he saw it arrive. He was laughing uproariously the entire time he showed them the compartment they had to themselves, sounding as if he had desperately needed a laugh. They were all too grateful to care; Lily even too tired to protest sharing a compartment with James Potter.

In fact, she did not even have the energy to complain when she found herself sandwiched between James and Sirius on one side of the compartment.

Snape, his wand out to jinx anyone who attempted to share his compartment, drove off people until the train started moving when he locked the door and collapsed back to sleep cursing his weakness but unable to resist.

Gideon and Lizzie had no such respite. After hefting the Marauders' and girls' luggage onto the train, he started his patrol duty. Lizzie patrolled the opposite end of the train, acknowledging Gideon politely but formally when they passed by each other.

It was only a few minutes before the six friends found themselves slipping into a peaceful doze as well. Surprisingly, Lily ended up leaning on James's shoulder while he rested his head up against the window and Sirius slept leaning on Lily. Marissa and Remus nodded off leaning against each other, her head on his shoulder and his head against hers. Peter, feeling rather alone, leaned back until his head hit the back of the compartment and fell asleep there. They slept soundly until the train pulled into King's Cross Station and they had to wake up to say goodbye.

©KatyMulvaney8-7-2004