Balanced

James found that the train ride back to Hogwarts was quieter than the other journeys he'd experienced, as the death of Rebecca Buckland had been reported in the Daily Prophet a day after it occurred. The reporter, who had presumably been lurking somewhere while they'd been talking to the Ministry official, had mentioned "four unidentified boys". Most of the students were in shock at this seemingly unmotivated murder.

The last couple of days of the holidays hadn't been fun. Mrs Black had been out at work almost all day and when she had been at home, she hadn't been friendly with the boys. Sirius' father was always at work anyway; James had never seen him, as he left before James woke and arrived after they were in bed. The boys had stayed indoors most of the time and had all been upset by what had happened.

On the train, a girl who James had spoken to only once before, Lydia Graystone, came to tell Remus that all the other Ravenclaws in the year had gathered in a compartment on the train for a short memorial service and she insisted that he attend.

James, Sirius and Peter ignored the fact that it looked as though Remus might have been crying slightly when he came back, as most of the Ravenclaws seemed even worse than that.

At the welcoming feast, the mood was also morose and Dumbledore gave his start-of-term speech, adding that: 'as I'm sure you know, a terrible thing happened four days ago. Rebecca Buckland, a Ravenclaw who would now be starting her second year was murdered, along with her Muggle cousin. Rebecca had many friends and a loving family, and I give my deepest sympathy to all who knew her.' He sat down, looking depressed.

The mood on the Slytherin table was uneasy, James noted. None of them had known or spoken to Rebecca, and as she was Muggle-born, they wouldn't exactly think highly of her. He remembered what Sirius had said about Severus' parents, but he supposed many parents of those in his house used Dark magic; his certainly had. Nobody discussed the murder, they all just talked about how they'd spent their summers, giving James a good opportunity to brag about his new broom.

'It's really great to fly on,' he said. ' Incredibly fast, with excellent turning.'

'Not that you'll get on the team,' said Severus scathingly. 'There are no free places.' James shrugged.

'There's always next year,' he replied. 'And I don't see you out there flying when there's a match.' Severus pulled an ugly face, although James noted that this wasn't much of an achievement coming from him.

'You know,' he said, thoughtfully, 'you'd be surprised how often Sirius pulls that exact same face.' It was nice to be able to think of other things and not the girl who'd been killed. Severus turned away and began to talk to Michael Lestrange instead. James doubted he would get very interesting conversation from Michael. He turned to Marian instead, who was talking to a few other girls.

'How was your summer, Marian?' he asked. Despite the fact that she'd already been having a conversation, she still managed to fill James in on exactly what she'd done in great detail. Unlike Severus, she was quite impressed when James told her he'd got a new broom.

'Lucky,' she said, annoyed. 'My parents wouldn't dream of buying me one.'

'Neither would mine,' said James. 'But they can't stop me now.'

'Oh yeah.' Marian was always rather unsure of how to react when James talked about his parents. James turned back to Severus, who had already got bored with Michael.

'So, how many murders did you commit this summer?' he asked. Severus gave him a look.

'Fourteen,' he replied sarcastically.

'Only?' said James, airily.

The routine was the same as usual at Hogwarts, despite the murder: Verdied was still horrible, McGonagall was still strict and Brauhum was still good-natured and unsuited to the job as head of Slytherin. Unfortunately though, being second years meant that they were supposed to be much more mature than the first years who had just arrived. The first years, to James, were a new set of victims, gullible and naïve; none of them - even the Slytherins - ever imagined that James would pick on them. Remus and Peter thought it was morally wrong to go for those younger than you, and Sirius only picked on them when there were more of tem, to be fair. James found that morals could be very annoying things, although he did pick on Slytherins less than on the other houses.

The second murder was as much of a shock as the first.

It happened about three weeks after the start of term, and although the victims were a childless couple, a lot of people were grieving for them. James suspected the reporters of the Daily Prophet were enjoying it:

"THE SECOND MURDER IN THREE WEEKS" the headline proclaimed, above a rather long article including interviews with various important Ministry officials. ''We have everything under control' claimed the Minister, saying that the Aurors would soon catch the murderer. James was incredibly sceptical; they'd never caught the people who had killed his parents, and that had been years ago.

Dumbledore told them all to remain calm, but he didn't make false promises, unlike the Minister: 'I'm afraid to say that the Dark Wizard involved is incredibly skilled and won't be easy to catch. The Ministry is working hard though, and, thankfully you are all safe at Hogwarts.'

All seemed quiet for a while, except for Remus having to go home for a day and a night so he could attend his Aunt Ethel's wedding. He told the others that it was painful, seeing all those relatives saying "My, haven't you grown?" every time they saw him.

The third time someone was killed, everyone started to get worried. Dumbledore stood up at breakfast and asked if Steven Wright of Gryffindor would go to Professor McGonagall's office after breakfast. The Daily Prophet didn't announce until the next day that his parents and younger sister had been killed in the night. Wright had taken a few days off school.

Remus had to go to his cousin Bertha's christening in October; he reported it as being another horrible family event.

The Hallowe'en feast was even more subdued than the start of term feast had been; the annoying skeleton wasn't there again and not many decorations had been added. Dumbledore stood up to make another speech.

'I realise that this has not been the easiest time for you,' he began. 'We have lost several people before their time. While you must remember those who have been killed, you must also remember to continue your own lives as best you can. Do not be afraid to grieve, but do not be afraid to go on as before. We can only hope that this threat will soon go away. Remember that you are always safe at Hogwarts.'

It was difficult though, to try and forget what was happening in the outside world. James had no relatives to lose, but he couldn't help noticing that the majority of the students looked at Dumbledore nervously every morning, or read the Daily Prophet while holding their breath. He couldn't help feeling that this was not how they should be spending their time.

Soon, it happened a fourth time - the uncle of a fifth year Hufflepuff, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in the Ministry, was (as reported by a House Elf) brutally tortured and killed. Unfortunately, the identity of those responsible (for it was said that there had been three) couldn't be discovered as they had worn cloaks.

'I can't stand this!' snapped Sirius one day. 'Every single morning I wake up to think "What if it's my parents today?" I can't cope with thinking like this. I can't concentrate on anything, I keep thinking that it might be me tomorrow.'

'Everybody's like that,' said James. 'Haven't you noticed? Even the teachers, and they're trying to put a brave face on, except Verdied who wouldn't give a damn if his own parents were killed.'

'And except the Slytherins,' said Peter, carefully. The other three turned to him; he was the last person they would have expected to be prejudiced against a certain house.

'Stop acting like Sirius,' James suggested. 'It doesn't suit you.' Peter pulled a face.

'They aren't acting worried, not even the Slytherins with Hufflepuff parents, they're acting as relaxed as usual.'

'Well, didn't you know, Peter?' said James, irritably. 'It's our evil plan for world domination, of course we're not worried.'

'Shut up James,' replied his friend. 'Open your eyes; they don't give a damn how many Ministry officials are killed. They think they're safe.' James had noticed that those of his house, particularly those like Severus - from old, Slytherin families were less worried than a lot of the others, although of course he'd die before admitting it.

'Like I said: we're all working for the evil guy and regularly go out to kill people.'

'Does it really mean that much to you, to not admit I'm right?' asked Peter. 'If you care that much, then fine, I'm seeing things.'

'But you aren't right,' said James.

'Calm yourselves, my friends,' said Sirius. The other three turned to look at him in complete and utter shock. James felt his jaw drop. 'What?' asked Sirius, confused.

'You just tried to stop a fight,' said Remus, in an awed voice.

'Oh shit! I did! You two better get back to fighting or it'll ruin my reputation.'

In late November, Remus had to go home again, for the funeral of his mother's canary. James didn't actually remember Remus' mother ever owning a canary, but Remus assured him that his mother had indeed owned a canary called Jake; unfortunately, his mother's cat Bob had eaten Jake. James didn't remember Bob either.

The Quidditch match was rather boring: Gryffindor lost to Slytherin spectacularly, the final score was two hundred points to twenty. Nobody's heart was really in it though: a couple with two daughters had been murdered the previous day.

All four boys stayed at Hogwarts over Christmas. Quite a lot of people stayed actually, as Hogwarts was still the safest place to be. The Ministry was obviously having problems dealing with the murders, no matter how often the Minister assured the public that the situation was under control. Severus seemed to be able to get a lot of inside information on the problems at the Ministry.

'They're training Aurors,' he told James, Julian and Michael, during one conversation. 'They've upped the pay and are encouraging as many people as possible to join the Department of Law Enforcement. Not many people know how serious everything is, only those high up in the Ministry.'

'Where are you finding out this stuff?' James asked.

'My father works in the Ministry, he's a friend of the Minister,' replied Severus. 'The Ministry are thinking of censoring the Daily Prophet and are charging much more tax as they need to train Aurors.' Sirius chose that moment to walk in.

'SIRIUS!' yelled James, and everyone around him jumped to their feet, wands at the ready.

'Hello,' said Sirius, as though nothing was amiss.

'Sit down,' James ordered the other Slytherins. 'If we curse him: he'll tell. I'll deal with him.' Only Severus, Julian and Michael remained standing around James, but they lowered their wands. 'How did you find your way in here?' he asked his friend.

'Easy, followed someone,' replied Sirius, in the same casual manner.

'Who?'

'Not telling, you'll curse them when you've made me leave.'

'And you wouldn't want one of us to be cursed would you?' said James, incredibly sarcastically. 'If it was me, then fine.'

'Bighead,' said Sirius.

'I said you could see this place, you could have asked.'

'You would have come up with some dumb excuse!' snapped Sirius. 'Do you think I'm stupid? Remus and Peter told me you led them through a load of stupid corridors and wouldn't even say the password aloud.' So they had noticed!

'Of course I'd have shown you,' replied James.

'Are you completely stupid?' snapped Severus. 'You wouldn't have shown him!?' He seemed to question rather than order.

'You know not of what you speak,' James told Severus. 'Of course I would.' The Slytherins around him raised their wands again, either pointing them at Sirius or James. 'Now, Sirius, you've seen this place better than Remus and Peter. Back away slowly, don't make any sudden movements.' Sirius gave James a slightly worried glance, but complied. James headed for the exit too. He ducked a curse on the way out, but he got out all right. 'Happy now?' he asked Sirius, as the door slid shut and disappeared. Sirius grinned.

'I don't know how you can live there,' he replied. 'I'd rather live in the Forbidden Forest.'

'Only because it's forbidden. If Dumbledore changed the name to "Come in and take a look forest" then you'd be out in a second.'

'I'm not even going to dignify that with a response,' said Sirius, nose in the air. 'How often does your password change?'

'About once a week. Often more.'

'Bloody hell, I don't know how you can keep up with it! We change almost termly and I can barely remember the current one. I tend to wait outside the common room, talking endlessly to the Fat Lady, until I either say the right password or some other student comes along, gives me a funny look and tells me how to get in.'

'Who's the Fat Lady?' asked James, guessing that it was a picture or statue marking the entrance.

'Big portrait of a fat lady, asks us the password, strange posh voice.'

'Who did you follow? To get here, I mean.'

'Oh, er, Snape.'

'Seriously?' said James, smirking. Sirius nodded, a slight smirk on his face. 'Sirius! Stop smirking! You look just like a Slytherin!' The smirk left his face.

'For that, you die,' he told James.

'Again!' moaned James. 'Please, not again.' He dodged the red sparks. 'Can I come and see the Gryffindor common room then?'

'When I've killed you.'

Sirius, unlike Remus and Peter, decided the best way of having a Slytherin in the Gryffindor common room was not to be secretive, but to make as much noise as possible. James decided the best thing to do would probably be to humour his friend: Gryffindors were not likely to curse him after all.

The Fat Lady was indeed very fat, and wearing a pink dress that clashed terribly with her surroundings. She gave James an odd look, but as he managed to guess the password ('Christmas Pudding') before Sirius remembered it, she didn't say anything.

The Gryffindor common room was, unsurprisingly, done out in red, with too many cosy armchairs around the room and a fireplace.

To say the Gryffindors were pleased to see James would be a lie he doubted even the best of actors would be able to tell with a straight face. In fact, their reaction was disturbingly similar to that of the Slytherins. James sat down in a red armchair and chatted with a group of first year girls doing their homework, while Sirius tried to argue with all the Gryffindor Prefects in the background.

Most of the girls just ignored him, but one, who had finished her work, was happy to start a conversation about Quidditch. James also discovered that her name was Amy Nichols; she was a half-blood with two older sisters and one older brother; and they were all in Gryffindor. Her brother was one of the prefects with whom Sirius was arguing.

Sirius was not one to give up an argument, even if he was drastically outnumbered. So he was still trying to persuade the Gryffindor prefects that James was not there to murder them all. James chose to pretend he wasn't involved in the argument, which was very difficult as Sirius was yelling about Slytherins and gesturing wildly in his direction.

One of the prefects seemed to have some sense and he came over to James while Sirius and the others were arguing.

'I think you should leave, this isn't your common room is it?'

'Wow,' said James. 'A Gryffindor with some brains.'

'Excuse me?'

'You thought to come over here while Sirius isn't looking. I commend you for it.' The prefect just pointed at the exit to the common room, scowling. James smiled broadly.

'See you some other time then, Amy.'

'Bye,' she said. Sirius didn't actually realise that James had left for another ten minutes, when he came out of the portrait hole.

'You should have told me you were leaving,' he complained.

'I did.'

'I am not a telepath!'

'You guessed what I meant when I said that I did.' Sirius called James a few nasty names.

'Very creative, Sirius,' said James. 'But I've heard all of those before.' Sirius added some other words that James hadn't heard before.

They actually sat in the corridor for about half an hour as both were unwilling to go back to their common rooms. James guessed he would be cursed the second he walked through the entrance of his and Sirius said his was boring anyway. Their conversation was interrupted when McGonagall came up.

'What on earth are you doing up here?' James opened his mouth, but Sirius decided to respond.

'Why shouldn't I be here? It's my common room.' McGonagall shot him a look.

'You're not supposed to know where the other common rooms are,' she told James. James gave her a look of wide-eyed innocence, as though he didn't know. 'Potter! Answer me.'

'This is the Gryffindor common room?' said James, bemused. Just because he was sitting with a Gryffindor, opposite the Fat Lady, it didn't mean he knew where the common room was, right?

'Potter! You are not to go in there! Do you understand?'

'Crystal clear, Professor,' said James. 'That place was terrible, no offence or anything, but I won't be going in there again in a hurry.'

'Black!' Oh good, the blame had passed on to Sirius. 'Did you tell him the password?'

'No, Professor,' said Sirius, innocently. 'Of course not. I couldn't remember it and James reminded me.' McGonagall looked completely lost for words and glanced back and forth between the two of them, confused and suspicious.

'Both of you get to your common rooms,' she said, finally.

'Good-bye, Oh Gryffindor,' James got to his feet. 'I shall see you at dinner.' Sirius nodded slowly and got up too. McGonagall gestured for James to leave.

*

Christmas Day was a sombre affair: five people, two of them under ten were brutally tortured and left in the middle of a Muggle street. Many Muggles had to be given memory charms and the wizards and witches who saw were reportedly 'horrified', as not only were the victims dead but cut to shreds and covered in blood, with terrible sores.

James thought he recognised the name of two of the victims, a married couple by the name of Macmanus, but he couldn't think where from.

The worrying thing was, Dumbledore didn't stand up and assure them that everything would be all right and that the Ministry were trying to sort out the problem and stop the killings. He didn't even tell them that Hogwarts was perfectly safe. Perhaps he thought that they knew his speech by heart, but James would have liked the reassurance.

There were whispers and rumours that Hogwarts was no longer safe after that. James heard that the killer would be after them next, and that Dumbledore was the killer, and that the Ministry was supporting this, to reduce the population. He later found out, though, that the idea of population reduction had been started by a sixth year Slytherin, to scare some Ravenclaw first years.

The students needed the reassurance, James decided; they all looked tired and worried constantly, and all of them dreaded the Daily Prophet in the mornings. The more murders, the more scared they became. James actually felt glad, for once, that he had no family. Sirius sent owls home daily, sometimes more, and always dreaded the reply. James refused to allow him to send more than three a day, which he occasionally tried. He wasn't the worst in the school either.

In late December, they found out that Bob, the Lupins' cat, seemed to have developed a taste for canaries because he'd eaten the one belonging to the Lupins' neighbours. Thus, Bob was to be put down, a tragic event for everyone, and Remus had to go home overnight to pay his last respects.

The few students who had gone home for Christmas soon returned; thankfully no one had been lost, although they looked as worried as those who had stayed.

Peter received a letter a week after the start of term (he'd bought his parents an owl). His mother was terrified: there had been a murder in their village. She hadn't been memory charmed because the Ministry wizards had realised about Peter, but she wished she had: the charred remains of an older neighbour had been piled into a small heap in the middle of the village, with a strange cloud above them.

'She's really worried,' Peter told them. 'She knows it's something magical, because Mrs Black told her; she says that Mrs Black said I was safe, but she's still scared.'

'This is getting stupid!' snapped Sirius. 'If he's going to kill people then why does he have to leave them for Muggles to see, all tortured and cut up?'

'But that wouldn't be so much fun, would it?' said James, quietly. 'Having to run around memory charming Muggles also means the Ministry is in chaos, trying to make sure no one remembers, and while the Ministry is in chaos, he has no problems killing more.'

'Fun?' squeaked Peter. James smiled slightly.

'I suppose Muggles never kill each other then, Peter? We don't know why he's killing most of these people. It could be anything from simple dislike to pure enjoyment.'

'Sounds like a right party, that does,' muttered Sirius grumpily. 'Going round killing people.' James shrugged.

'Don't tell me you never get pleasure from seeing others in pain.'

'I don't!' Sirius snapped.

'Then why hex people? Why throw Dungbombs? Why spend every Potions lesson trying to make your potion explode in someone else's face?' asked James. Sirius narrowed his eyes and stomped off, furiously. James supposed he had gone too far. Being compared to a murderer wasn't something Sirius really liked.

~*~

A/N

Cousin Bertha and Aunt Ethel and most of Remus' excuses this year are strange bi-products or my sister's overactive imagination.

I know I mentioned tax, I'll quickly explain: the Ministry have to get money from somewhere, don't they? As they can register which spells are used in a house (they knew what Dobby did in CoS, but not that it was him), there are certain spells, likes ones that conjure up food and stuff, that they tax to get money. As well as other boring things.

Thanks to the usual people for any help on this.