Arrival Unexpected

The castle became a flurry of action in the hours after the discovery of the sleeping body of Justice Munroe; once Dumbledore had questioned them to his satisfaction, Peter, Remus and Sirius were sent back to Gryffindor Tower while Lily and James were told to gather the other Prefects for an emergency meeting. The instructions that they were to pass on were simple--no one was to leave their Common Rooms until the heads of the Houses gave the word.

Marius Finke, the Head Boy from Hufflepuff, pointed out that Justice had a younger sister, Honora in his house; he offered to bring her up to Dumbledore's office so the Headmaster could give her the news. James gave Lily a telling glance, and although neither of them said a word about it, they were not surprised when they learned later that Justice's sister had also been found in a charmed sleep in her bed. For all the things they didn't know about these attacks, there was one blatant commonality: All the children in a magical family were attacked at the same time.

Shock moved through the assembled Gryffindors like a wave crashing on the shore when James and Lily gave the news an hour later. There had always been the feeling among the students that regardless of what was going on in the rest of the world, when you were at Hogwarts, you were safe. Justice was also the oldest person to be attacked; the rest of the victims had all been under ten years of age. 'Why' was the most popular question, followed quickly by 'How'? Fear was everywhere; many of the students already had powerful reasons to fear the wrath of Lord Voldemort and his minions; like James, their families had been affected personally as the Dark Wizard pushed the limits of his power. As the speculating whispers filled the Common Room, many expressed their fear that He Who Must Not Be Named would soon be unstoppable.

James and Lily stood in front of the portrait door--it was the only way to ensure that no one left. Lily didn't think that anyone would try, gauging from the reaction's fallout alone, but she felt it was better to err on the side of caution. Slowly, the Gryffindors retired for the evening until only Peter, Remus and Sirius held vigil with Lily and James, waiting for news from the head of their house, Professor McGonagall.

Peter yawned four times in as many minutes, and Lily told the three boys to go to bed, saying either she or James would bring word when and if it came. Remus and Peter obliged, heading up the stairs, but Sirius hung back.

"You sure?" he asked, worry radiating from of his eyes. "You think it's safe for just two of you down here?"

Lily put a hand on his arm, patting it reassuringly. "Don't you worry, I'll protect James for you." She gave Sirius a small smirk and pushed him towards the staircase.

James was pushing two chairs over to the doorway. "If you want, you can head to bed, too. I'm not the least bit tired and I don't mind sitting up."

Lily planted herself firmly in the chair and replied, "Didn't you hear what I just said? I'm protecting you tonight."

"Oh really?" James said, a bemused look on his face.

"Yes, really." Lily held up four fingers. "There have been four attacks so far, all on children of old wizarding families. No Muggle-borns have been attacked at all. Assuming that this is part of a Modus Operandi, I'm perfectly safe; it's you that needs to be guarded day and night."

James stared at her, surprised once again by capacity of her cleverness. He continued to ponder this in silence and then looked up at her, startled. "Do you think that Voldemort is trying to extort something from the parents, using the children as leverage?"

"Could very well be," Lily replied, tapping her fingers against the arm of the chair. "Remember that article about the two kids that woke up? Didn't their sibling die the night before?" She leaned towards him and whispered, "What if the other two woke up because the parents gave Voldemort what he wanted after his curse killed their child?"

James drew in a sharp breath. It made too much sense to him. "Then the real question is... What does he want from the Munroes?"

Lily gave a small shrug. "Could be anything--from loyalty to an actual item, couldn't it?" She was quiet for a second, thinking carefully. "If it's something tangible though, it must be something that the family protects very well; if it was something that they just kept on their mantelpiece, you'd think that Dark Wizards would just storm in and take it with none of this "behind-closed-doors" bargaining."

It was nearly four in the morning when Professor McGonagall entered through the portrait of the Fat Lady, informing them that there was no change in the condition of the Munroe children and that students were restricted to the dorms indefinitely. The strict woman looked very tired as she continued: "We've excused all the Prefects from their morning classes, so I suggest you get what sleep you can. I'll see you both in Transfiguration tomorrow after lunch."

James and Lily pushed the chairs back to their proper places in the Common Room. James headed toward the boys' stairs, stopping when he realized that Lily was following him.

"What are you doing?" he asked her as he yawned sleepily.

"I told you before, I'm protecting you." She had a fiercely determined look on her face; he found it almost laughable.

"Lily, if you're safe because you're Muggle-born, then I'm safe because I don't have any parents," he told her matter-of-factly.

"No, you're wrong," she insisted. "You're probably in more danger than anyone in the whole school."

"And just how did you reach that conclusion?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Well," she retorted, sounding as if it should be obvious to him. "If somebody wanted something from Dumbledore, it would be you that they'd attack, wouldn't it?"

The week following the attack had been exceptionally long for Lily Evans. Despite having spent a considerable amount of time explaining to Sirius that it was very likely that she wouldn't be next, he had insisted that one of the four boys accompany her during all waking hours. By mid-week, Dumbledore had removed the restrictions on the students, but Sirius had flat out refused to lift the guard he'd placed on Lily. Peter following her all the way to the Prefect's bathroom on Thursday had been the last straw. Gnashing her teeth the way her Grandmother Kristin did when she was angry (or trying to get her dentures to stick in place), she told all of them, in no uncertain terms, to back off or else.

Happy to have a moment alone, Lily made her way back to the scene of the attack: the library. Madam Pomfrey had moved Justice and her sister, Honora down to the Infirmary on Sunday, so Lily sat down at the very desk where she'd found the sleeping Head Girl. Several students goggled at her as they passed by, looking at her as if she was sitting on someone's grave.

Lily had given a lot of thought to what she and James had discussed that first night and had decided that instead of trying to work out how to solve the problem, she'd try and discover the reason that these particular families had been attacked. If Voldemort was trying to get a ransom from the parents, there might be a pattern in what he was after. She had had to ask Madam Pince to go back into the archives, but eventually Lily found what she was looking for; sitting before her on the table was the first book in a volume of three titled, 'Wizard Genealogy in England, Scotland and Ireland'. The book was massive; it would never fit in her backpack. With a bit of persuasion and a lot of good luck, Lily had convinced the dour librarian to let her check out all three volumes of the book. She couldn't carry more than one at a time, but after three trips the books were sitting on the desk in her room up in Gryffindor Tower.

She opened the second volume and flipped its pages until she found the name 'Munroe'. A passage read: Munroe, Emile and Patricia (Rousse) - married July 1950, two children Justice (1959) & Honora (1964); Munroe, Franklin and Margot (Bittermann) - married December 1927, one child Emile (1929) It went on like that for pages, giving little or no biographical information on the family. It hadn't occurred to her how much cross-referencing she was going to need to do. Lily pushed up her sleeves and settled at her desk for a long night.

When she joined the boys at breakfast the next day, she was surprised to see how animatedly they were discussing something. She took her seat next to Sirius and asked what was going on. James tossed the morning edition of the Daily Prophet to her. On the front page were headlines detailing a double attack: Four young children of a wizarding family outside of Yorkshire had been found in the cursed sleep, and both children of the Malkins had died the previous afternoon. Lily pushed her plate away; her appetite disappeared as the weight of the news sunk in.

Peter was speaking to her. "What isn't in the paper though, is that the Malkins were killed this morning themselves! The Ministry found them just before dawn, Dark Mark hanging over their house and all." She was about to ask how he knew this when he started to speak again. "Mum was one of the mediwizards on the scene, as if there was anything they could do for that lot. She owled me this morning about it."

James refilled his glass of pumpkin juice. "So," he said "If we were right about this being extortion, then it would seem that the Malkins had refused to pay the price."

Sirius nodded gravely. "They did pay the price though in the end, didn't they? Voldemort doesn't like not getting his way." He turned his face to Peter. "Your mum said that the house had been torn apart, right? Ransacked?"

Peter nodded and then whispered, "She said that You-Know-Who had ripped the very walls apart. She was surprised that the house was still standing."

Remus muttered something under his breath and then said pointedly at Peter, "Look, just say his name will you? Sound it out: Vol-de-mort. This You-Know-Who business is stupid. I mean, really... Who ever heard of being afraid of a name?"

Peter blushed slightly and replied. "Lots of people won't say his name," he gave a small pathetic sniffle. "Most everyone is terrified of him."

"Oh yeah? What are you then, a man or a mouse?" The reply was out of Remus' mouth before he'd had a chance to think about what he was saying. James gave Remus a swift kick under the table and quickly changed the subject.

In Potions class that afternoon, everyone was looking as if they were sitting on Pepper Imps; the classroom was alive with activity, the students taking a much keener interest in their research on the mysterious vine since the attack the weekend before. Slytherins and Gryffindors were even sharing their findings with each other, recognizing the gravity of the situation.

Still, it was quite a surprise when Severus Snape walked over to Lily, asking if he could make a copy of the work she had done on the reproductive nature of the plant. "Certainly Severus," she replied, handing him her three foot long scroll on the subject. "Think you could get it back to me by the Prefects' meeting on Sunday though? I'm expecting an owl from my dad about it by then."

Snape raised a shocked eyebrow at her. "What would an ignorant Muggle know about a cursed vine?" The words were out of his mouth before he realized it. Behind Lily, two chairs pushed back, James and Sirius were on their feet, itching for a fight.

"Nothing probably," Lily said, attempting to diffuse the situation. She could see from the look in Snape's eyes that the question had been an unconscious reflex; he looked almost contrite now. "But my dad is a professional gardener and his opinion on the nature of the plant itself could prove useful."

Snape nodded, taking the scroll from her and promising her tersely that he would return it during the meeting. After he had left, Lily turned to Sirius and James. "Sit down will you? You look like the guards in front of Buckingham Palace minus the wooly caps." She looked pointedly at James's unruly hair, "Maybe." Reluctantly, the two twitching wizards sat back down.

As soon as the bell rang however, James and Sirius were ready to pounce. Snape happened to be one of the first ones out of class that day, and the two boys were close on his heels. They cornered him just as he reached the top of the staircase out of the dungeons.

Lily grabbed Remus' hand and pulled him down the corridor, trying to catch up and stop the impending fight. They arrived just as Sirius had begun to yell at Snape.

"If I ever hear you speaking to my girlfriend like that again-- " he yelled.

"Oh," sneered Snape, snapping up the information like bait on a hook. "Evans is your girlfriend now? Well I suppose that I shouldn't be surprised; you've had every other decent witch in the school now, haven't you Black?" Snape sneered at Sirius again. "You were bound to start slumming sometime."

Sirius opened his mouth to retort, but James stopped him, pointing down the hall. Behind Snape, Professor McGonagall was approaching them with a good deal of speed to her gait. She came to a halt in front of them. "Students, disperse!" The circle that had formed around the three black haired boys melted back into the hallway. The deputy Headmistress took an extra moment to glower at Snape, Sirius and James before speaking. "Two of our Prefects fighting... and at a time like this." She sounded very disappointed. "I should give the whole lot of you detention, just to prove a point." She caught sight of Lily and Remus hanging back behind the others and turned on them. "Ms. Evans, Mr. Lupin, I said disperse!"

Lily and Remus headed towards Gryffindor Tower, never risking a glance back as McGonagall continued to lecture the boys about arguing in the halls.

"Do you think they'll get detention?" Lily asked after she gave the password to the Fat Lady's portrait.

"Dunno," Remus shrugged. "But I hope that James is smart enough not to wink at Snape again while McGonagall's there."

Lily gave Sirius a kiss goodnight, and shoved him playfully out her door. He tried to look hurt, but it didn't work very well, before long his face broke out in another wide grin. He'd barely stopped smiling since last weekend when she'd unexpectedly taken his hand at breakfast. It was true that the recent attacks at the school had him worried, but they could not repress his childlike joy whenever Lily was at his side.

Sirius started up the staircase to his dorm and then stopped halfway, heading back towards James' room. They hadn't spoken about Sirius' new status in Lily's life, and he wanted to know if James was okay with it. James could be quite the brooder when he wanted to be, Sirius mused. James had appeared happy enough for them throughout the week, but Sirius couldn't help but recall their conversation in the Quidditch locker room the night before their game against Slytherin. 'I'm happier not knowing,' ...and though Sirius hadn't seen James' face when he had spoken, he hadn't needed to know his friend was harboring feelings of more than friendship for the sprightly young redhead.

He knocked twice on the door; from within, James' voice rang out clearly, "Come in," almost sounding as if he expected a visitor. Sirius opened the door; James was sitting with his desk chair pulled up to the edge of his bed, his feet propped up by pillows, looking up from his book. "If you've come for a goodnight kiss, you're looking at the wrong Prefect."

Sirius gave a snort. "Had one already. We haven't really talked since--"

"I'm happy for you," interrupted James. "And I'm glad that you're making her happy too."

His words hung in the air for a moment. The two boys regarded each other carefully; Sirius walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. "She's amazing, isn't she?" he said, eyebrows rising slightly.

"Yeah," James agreed. "But be careful, she's still very..." his nose wrinkled, searching for the right word. "Naïve. She thinks that she's ready to take on the world, but she's barely broken in her first broomstick, you know?"

Sirius nodded. He was surprised at how easy the conversation was. He chided himself mentally for it; in the end, they both wanted what was best for her, didn't they? With a flicker of pride, an inner voice reminded Sirius that at present, she'd chosen him as the best thing for her. His eyes flicked back at James, who looked suddenly pained, as if the converse of Sirius' own thought was in his mind. "She's very proud of you, you know. I don't think she thought you had it in you to be a Prefect. She keeps calling you a 'natural leader'. Said you did a brilliant job keeping the younger students calm after Justice was attacked."

James gave a small shrug, "I told them that as Gryffindors' it was their job to set a brave example for the rest of the school." James smirked. "And once Lily walked away, I told them that a certain Prefect of Slytherin House had started crying for his Mum when he heard the news. Apparently, they had no desire to emulate him."

Sirius gave a small guffaw.

James stood up and went over to his desk. He rummaged through several books on top of it before finding what he wanted and bringing it over to Sirius. "Have a look at this," James flipped the book open and pointed at a page, indicating that Sirius should read it.

Sirius' face contorted as he stared at the book. "I can't make it out, what is it?"

"A medieval book of spells." James had a knack for languages. "This one in particular is referred to as the Chastity Charm." He made an amused snort. "When the master of a castle would ride off to battle, he'd cast this spell to ensure the virtue of the women he left behind. It kept all unwanted visitors off his property, in more ways than one."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "What? You think I need one for Lily?"

James gave his friend a small whack on the head with the book. "No... Here," James reached down and picked up the small leather-bound codex that he'd been reading when Sirius arrived. James' fingers deftly skimmed the pages until they stopped, pointing again at something for Sirius to read. Sirius wrinkled his nose again, unable to understand the words on the page. "Oh come on," James chided. "Its Latin! We had four years of it before we even came to Hogwarts."

Sirius studied the page hard. Finally enough words were recognizable and he announced, "It's a countercharm to that Chastity spell, isn't it?"

James nodded. "Every spell that is cast and made to stand for a good deal of time will develop weaknesses," Sirius nodded at this, it was first year Charm coursework. Like a willow tree, a good charm had to be able to bend in the wind, otherwise it could be broken; in order to bend, some parts had to become weaker, like the branches on the end of the tree.

"This countercharm seeks out those weak points and stretches them further until a small breech is made. The suitors were able to get into the castle, and no one was ever the wiser."

"So?" asked Sirius, still not catching on.

James let out an exasperated sigh. "Have you been able to hold a thought in your head since she started kissing you?" Sirius opened his mouth to reply, but James continued. "I think that this countercharm is what we need to make our map. They used to put the charm on a ring, or something that could be worn on a person, and use it like a dowsing rod to guide them to the weak points in the barrier; it would be easy enough to enchant a piece of parchment instead. And rather than probing for holes in the security spells of the castle, we have the countercharm look for the gaps between the security people." James gave Sirius a self-satisfied smile, proud of his work for the evening.

Sirius was intrigued; he stared at the Latin text again. "This is good," he said, looking at James with admiration. "This is very good." He studied the codex again; "It's all right here really, just need to change a few of the suffixes to suit our needs."

"Seems fitting too," James said "That the mischief makers of one era should have their knowledge refurbished by the next."

Sirius snorted, "Considering that this is a counter to a Chastity Charm, I'd say that the writers of it were up to a bit more than just mischief, James."

James shrugged, lying back on his bed, a crooked grin spreading across his face. "Maybe... but then with a little luck, we could be too."

James let his mind wander throughout the entire Prefect meeting on Sunday evening. There wasn't much to pay attention to anyway; only four students had been caught out after hours that whole weekend--an all time low for Hogwarts. Instead of listening to Head Boy Marius Finke drone on about how tragic the attack on Justice was, James reflected on the afternoon's progress with the map.

He and Remus had been studying up on encryption charms, and a few of the practice spells that they had cast had gone horribly wrong. Currently, James' Herbology book was sitting on his desk with a large length of twine binding it shut. If anyone got within four feet of it when it was not thusly bound, it started shouting jinxes at them. It seemed to know quite a few nasty ones too, James reflected, recalling the dancing purple daisies that had cropped up on Remus' arm as they tried to regain control of the enchanted object.

James felt the glare of two angry eyes burning into the back of his head. He turned his head until he saw Snape's sneering smirk. James suppressed the urge to laugh as schemes to swap his Herbology book with Snape's flickered in his mind. James swiveled his head back around; the Head Boy had just asked him a question. "Uh... would you mind repeating that?" he mumbled, clenching his fist as he heard Snape snigger behind him.

Fortunately, Finke was a real piece of fluff; if he had two contemporary thoughts in his head at once, Marius would have fainted from sheer exertion. "I was asking if you and Lily wouldn't mind working the Halloween weekend for Annalise and Gregg, they need to brush up for their O.W.L practice exams on the first of November."

James looked over at Lily, who tilted her head in such a way that he knew she was leaving it up to him. Three weekends in a row of Prefect duty sounded pretty bad, but when James remembered how awful studying for the O.W.L.s was last year, he agreed to fill in. Lily smiled at him; apparently he had made the right choice.

Finke made a note of it and then announced that the meeting was done. The Prefects milled about for a while, enjoying the company of the few people in the school who they knew wouldn't be cursing them as soon as they turned their backs. James saw Snape walk up to Lily, handing her the scroll he'd borrowed earlier that week. Snape bowed his head almost formally to the Gryffindor Prefect before he slunk out the door. Lily slid over to James.

"How are you doing tonight? I feel like I haven't seen you all weekend." She said merrily.

"Fine; had lots of studying to do."

Lily put her scroll in her backpack, and they exited the Prefect's Lounge. James shoved his hands in his pockets. "How was your weekend off? Hope you got in some good snogging in with Sirius, considering that you'll be up with me for the next three."

Lily rolled her eyes at him, but her cheeks turned slightly pink. "I'm okay I guess... actually, I'm famished." On cue, her stomach growled. "I'd kill for a hot fudge sundae."
James tut-tutted her. "You'll spoil your dinner..." Her stomach made pleading noises again, causing her to giggle. James grabbed her shoulders and steered her away from the staircase that would lead them to Gryffindor Tower.

"Where are we going?" She looked slightly perplexed.

"To get you that sundae," he replied. After a few twists and turns through the corridors, they stood in front of a very large painting of a bowl of fruit. James reached up and tickled the pear. Giggling, the painting swung open to reveal a passageway. She let out a small gasp as he pushed her inside. As soon as they crossed the threshold, four House Elves wearing tea towels with the Hogwarts emblem ran up to them.

"James Potter!" one of them exclaimed, "What is you needing us to get for you, James Potter?"

"Two hot fudge sundaes, if it's not too much trouble, Fiddy." James was smiling at the House Elf like an old friend.

The other three elves scurried off to fill the order. "Never any trouble for you, James Potter!" Fiddy craned his head as far back as it would go, trying to look James in the eye. "You is not coming down to the Kitchen as much as you used to. We has been worried that you is not getting enough to eat!" The elf gave James an appraising look. "You is looking just fine though, James Potter, but Fiddy thinks you is getting taller again."

It took two House Elves a piece to deliver the extra large sundaes to them; scoops of vanilla ice cream were pilled high above the rims of the bowls, with steaming hot fudge oozing down them like lava from a volcano. Sitting precariously atop the mountains of ice cream were a half dozen or so cherries, so ripe that Lily could have sworn they'd just been picked. Lily thanked the elves as she relieved them of their burden, and then looked to James for what to do next.

"Say, Fiddy" James peered at him from around the side of the bowl. "Would you mind if Lily and I ate these here? It's a bit much to carry back up to the Tower."

Fiddy walked them over to an empty table in the Kitchen, saying, "The Miss is named Lily? Fiddy is hearing this name before, Fiddy thinks." He closed one eye and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. His eyes grew wide, "Is this Miss the Lily that was giving James Potter detention last Spring when Mister James was taking food from the Kitchen for his sick friend?" Fiddy gave Lily an accusing glare.

"One and the same, Fiddy." He gave Lily a poke in the arm. "Don't worry though, I think she's seen the error of her ways." This seemed to satisfy the house elf, who bowed to them both and went back to preparing dinner for the student body of Hogwarts.

"Sick friend?" Lily raised a questioning eyebrow at James.

"Remus," he replied. "I was bringing him a tray of soup and sandwiches, after the full moon. He doesn't... eat too well while he's... you know..." A very guilty look clouded Lily's face. James picked up his spoon and scooped up a bite of ice cream, holding it at her mouth. "Don't worry, what's past is past. The future is at the bottom of this ice cream bowl." She opened her mouth and let him feed her the ice cream, eyes twinkling at him.

After a half-hour of gorging themselves on the frozen feast, Lily and James could barely move. "There is no way," Lily said, surprised at the effort it took to speak. "That I can climb four flights of stairs up to the Tower now; I won't be able to eat again for a week."

"Don't let them hear you say that," whispered James. "They'll start leaving food outside your door or in your room if they think you're not eating."

With great effort, Lily reached down into her bowl and pulled up her last remaining cherry. "Want to see a trick that my aunt Daisy taught me when I was a little girl?" James nodded, and Lily popped the whole cherry, including the stem into her tiny pink mouth. Her cheeks swished from side to side, and then up and down. She reached into her mouth and pulled the cherry stem back out through pursed lips. It was tied into a neat little knot.

James just goggled at her. She handed the stem to him and he held it in front of his wide eyes. "Lily, that's...."

"Amazing?" she offered, taking pride in her accomplishment.

"Sinful was the word that came to mind actually." James gave her a lecherous grin. "Will you promise me something?"

Lily nodded at him.

"Promise me you'll teach my wife that trick someday." He was still staring at the cherry stem when she punched him playfully on the shoulder.

Remus Lupin tossed and turned in a fitful sleep. He was sweating profusely; his bedcovers were wound around his legs like knotted rope. With a gasp, he flung himself back, avoiding some unseen nightmare and landed on the floor with a loud thud.

He stood up, disengaging from the blankets and let out a low growl. There were still three days before the full moon, but already he could feel it pulling at the werewolf inside of him, calling to the darker side of his nature. His heart pounded against his chest; fear still fresh from his nightmare. Remus ground his teeth together, trying to drive it back, but the voice deep inside him beat against his temples, saying one word over and over - Bite.

He looked around at the other sleeping sixth year boys. There were only six of them in the dormitory now, since James had his own room as a Prefect. The others were still blissfully asleep; they didn't dream of blood and the moon, as he did. Remus threw a robe on, grabbed a book to read and went downstairs to the Common Room.

He sat down in one of the large comfy chairs in front of the fireplace. No one else was in the room of course; it was nearly dawn--all normal people were asleep. For as long as he could remember, Remus Lupin had wished for nothing more than to be a normal boy. There was no cure for a werewolf bite, no treatment to prevent his monthly transformation into the great gray beast with menacing yellow eyes who would attack and rip at any human he encountered--friend or foe. He would live with this curse for the rest of his life; he would probably never marry or have children, for fear of passing his malignancy on to another generation.

He had it better than most of his kind though, and he was thankful for it. He had parents that loved him regardless of the monster that lurked inside of him; he had friends, amazing friends, three of which had taken a dangerous course to ensure that he wasn't alone during the long nights of the full moon. The fourth friend, Lily Evans, was a mystery unto herself. She didn't know that James, Sirius and Peter transformed into animals to be with Remus. Many times during the previous year, Remus had tried to pull away from Lily's friendship, seeking to protect her. She was stubborn though, and when she finally learned the truth about him that previous summer, she'd accepted it without question. He knew that she would do anything to protect him, just as the other boys would have. For that, he loved her unconditionally. Not a romantic love, he told himself, but more like a brother loved his sister.

Lily had seemingly found romantic love in the oddest of places, in the arms of his friend, Sirius Black. Remus could understand the physical appeal that the wizard with the wavy black hair held for her, but he was shocked to see how well they were getting on personally. He would never have admitted it aloud, but he didn't think it could last very long. Both were very pigheaded; it would be easier to talk a Cornish pixie into wearing a frilly pink tutu than to steer either one of his friends from a course of action. Lily didn't have a truly cruel bone in her whole body, but Sirius had several and didn't mind using his muscles to flex them. It would end badly, he heard a voice in his head saying and not for the first time. It would end very badly.

As he turned to the marked page in his book, he reminded himself that it wasn't that Sirius wasn't a good person, it was just that he was... young. Young, smart and handsome--the world of women revolved around the whims of Sirius Black. It was hard not to envy him in many ways. Remus ran a hand through his own wiry brown hair. He knew that he would never attract the female of the species as Sirius did, or even as James did for that matter. James Potter had a set of what Remus' mother would have called 'quiet good looks'. All that James had suffered in the last year, with the death of his parents, could be seen in his eyes. Remus had seen girls sigh as they looked into them. The fact that James was a star Quidditch player didn't hurt either.

No, Remus told himself for the millionth time in his life, you were meant to be alone. He yawned as he began to read, and very soon, he fell back asleep in the quiet solitude of the Common Room.

"Lupin..." Someone was poking Remus in the arm. "Oy, Lupin! Wake up, its time for breakfast." His eyes opened grudgingly. The chubby, smiling face of Peter Pettigrew stared back at him. The world of the blond boy was separated into three distinct parts--breakfast, lunch and dinner. Remus rubbed the sleep from his eyes and headed down to the Great Hall. Peter followed behind him; that was what Peter did best, Remus mused, follow. It wasn't an unkind thought; Remus considered Peter to be as true of a friend as any of the others--it was the truth though. Peter didn't lead; he didn't shine on the Quidditch pitch, in the classroom, or in the eyes of any girls. Instead, he followed in the steps of his friends, feeling secure in being someplace that he knew they'd been before.

Though he hardly thought it possible, Remus was more tired after he ate. He considered skipping his first class but then he saw the worried emerald eyes of Lily. With great effort, he smiled at her, trying to show her that it wasn't that bad yet.

By lunchtime though, it was. James told him to go back to the Tower and catch a bit of sleep in James' room. Lily and James would make excuses to the teachers for the classes he missed. He trudged down the stairs from the Astronomy Tower when the pain hit him in the stomach like a Clenching Curse. He fell down the last four stairs, knocking his head hard against the marble floor. Just before he passed out, he saw the sun glinting off the silver-colored bracelet that he wore on his wrist.

When he woke up, he was in the Infirmary. The cold, white walls of the sterile room were on intimate terms with Remus Lupin. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, and the movement was enough to attract the attention of the school nurse, Madam Pomfrey. She spent several minutes fussing over him, telling him that he should have come straight to the Infirmary if he was already feeling the pangs of his monthly change. She promptly denied his request to eat in the Great Hall, telling him that he needed to get all the rest he could before the waxing of the moon. She brought him a tray of steaming tomato soup, tea and crackers to eat instead.

She came back for the tray after a half-hour, carrying half a glass of a sleeping draught.

"Madam Pomfrey, where's my bracelet?" Remus asked.

"What bracelet?" she said. "You weren't wearing one when you came in. Perhaps it fell off after your fall down the stairs?"

"Maybe... Who brought me in, by the way?" Remus hated the thought that he might have lost his gift from Lily.

"A Prefect of House Slytherin," She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Snape was the name, I believe."

Remus sank back into his pillows. This was not good, not at all.

Lily was relieved when Circe returned Friday evening with a letter from her father; she'd been expecting it on Sunday and when it hadn't arrived by Wednesday she was starting to think that the idea of having him look at it was a bust. The envelope was thick with notes from him, though. Circe dropped the letter during dinner, and Lily made it through the first page and a half before darting out of the Great Hall to head for her room and her own notes.

She was scribbling connections between the magical and normal properties of the plants at a frenetic pace. The knocking on her door turned to a pounding before she stopped long enough to answer it. She let a perplexed Sirius and James into the room and then returned to her writing.

"Everything okay?" asked Sirius, moving over the desk to read over her shoulder.

"Yes." Lily replied tersely. Her nose was so close to the parchment that every so often a spot of undried ink would attach itself. She soon had a collection of dark black freckles.

"We have to start rounds in an hour and a half," James said.

"Do you think that you could get Annalise to fill in for me? I'm quite busy right now." She never took her eyes off the paper.

Sirius and James exchanged a worried look. Lily had never even skived off a single class, no matter how sick she was. That she would try and get out of Prefect duty was unthinkable--it could only mean that whatever it was she was working on was very important.

"Annalise is doing O.W.L practice exams, remember... Last I saw her she had a dazed sleepless look in her eyes still." James gave a slight frown. "If you would tell us what you're working on, maybe we could help you to finish it up-"

"No, no, not yet... I need to think." She sucked on the end of her quill, and then looked over at them finally. "Alright then, come back when it's time for rounds. We'll talk about all this then." Having dismissed them, Lily returned to her scribbles. Sirius shrugged his shoulders; he and James left the room.

They crossed the balcony overlooking the Common Room to the boys' corridor and entered James' room.

"Must have been some letter her dad sent her." James sat down on his bed, while Sirius pulled a chair up next to it. "Think that he could have identified it when all those wizards at the Ministry couldn't?"

Sirius stared thoughtfully at the patterned quilt on James' bed. "Anything's possible. Muggles have ways of identifying things that wizards won't deign to use... microscokes and the like."

"Microscopes," corrected James. "Even so, why not share the news with us?"

Sirius gave a soft shrug. "You know Lily; she likes to be sure of what she says before she speaks. Even in class she's never been one to venture a guess, it's all or nothing with her. I'm sure this is just a quirk along those same lines."

James nodded. "Fancy a game of gobstones 'till its time for my rounds?"

"Hmm... No, I think not. I'm going to go and sneak off with Peter to the Shrieking Shack now. Lily's distracted enough that she won't even notice I'm gone, I reckon." He stood up and headed to the door. "See you tomorrow," he called as he closed it behind him.

When James knocked on Lily's door ninety minutes later, there was no answer. He let himself in, guessing that she was still working like a maniac. She was, but she stopped when he came in. She gave him a weak smile, "Tempus fugit, eh?" The entire end of her nose was now covered in black ink.

James chuckled, and pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket. "Hold still." He held her chin in place and wiped the ink off her nose as best he could. "I'd spit on it like Mum used to, but I don't know if you'd appreciate it anymore than I did when I was a child."

She took the kerchief from him and dipped it in a glass of water she had on her desk. Small black swirls gravitated to the bottom of the glass from where ink had washed out of the dainty cloth. Lily gave her nose a few furious scrubs, and then presented her face to James for approval.

"Better go and finish the job in the mirror," he said, still chuckling. She got up and obliged him, handing the handkerchief back to him when she was done.

She put her hands on her hips and twirled around before him. "Am I presentable now?"

He wrinkled his eyebrows as he appraised her. "Could be worse," he said with a grin.

Lily cuffed him hard on the arm and then headed out the door. James followed her out of the room. Once they cleared the commotion of Gryffindor Tower, James gave a tug on the sleeve of her robe. She turned and faced him.

"You planning on telling me what your dad wrote?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, with a sly smile. "After you take me to the Infirmary."

"The Infirmary?" James gave her a puzzled look. "You know that's not where Remus is, they keep him in the Shrieking Shack during his change."

"I don't want to see Remus, though I expect he'd be more useful right now than the rest of you..." Her eyes were twinkling in a most unusual way. "I need to see Justice and Honora."

"Are you daft?" was all he could manage after the shock wore off. "They're in a room protected by safety charms, you know that. We can't get anywhere near them without every teacher in the school rushing to intercept us." He tilted his head, giving her a quizzical look. "Why do you want to see them anyway?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "It's not really them I want to see but that vine. My dad thinks he knows what it is, but I need to confirm if it has certain other traits that may not have been published in the Daily Prophet."

"Well, if that's the case, let's just go straight to Dumbledore and give him the information." James started to turn in the direction of the Headmaster's office, but Lily pulled him to a stop.

"I will, but not until I'm sure. Think of how foolish it would sound without proof to back it up. I doubt that Professor Dumbledore would even take the information from a student seriously." She said.

"You don't know Dumbledore," retorted James. "He doesn't judge people by their age, he judges them by their actions."

"Well, we can't disturb him at this time of night anyway..." Lily was making excuses now.

"Oh please," James gave her an eye roll. "He's my guardian; I can go up to his office anytime I want. And unless you give me a reason not to, I'll march you up there right now."

"James," She turned on a bit of the old charm, batting her eyelashes gently at him. "I just want a look... I can break the safety charms, I've been studying how in my advanced Charm coursework from the Ministry. Now if you'd just loan me your invisibility cloak..."

"How the bloody hell do you know about that?" This was a piece of information that James guarded very closely. The cloak was a family heirloom and invaluable to James in more ways than one. He had made Remus, Sirius and Peter promise not to reveal its existence to Lily; it was his choice to let her in on it. But now, somehow she knew.

She snickered softly. "For every time I caught you out after hours last year, there were three times that I didn't catch you, but I knew that you were there. The only real option was an invisibility cloak. There are potions that would accomplish the task, but it would be too tedious to brew it so often, plus if it had been a potion, the smell would have filled all of Gryffindor Tower."

"But how," he persisted, "did you know I was there in the first place?"

"Apples." She said, as if that settled the matter.

"Apples?" He looked truly confused now. He could feel his heart beating in his ears. She was really too clever for her own good, he reminded himself.

"Yes, apples. You smell like apples whenever you're nervous." She smirked broadly at him. "Kind of like now."

James blushed slightly.

"Look, it's not really the point, but because I could smell apples, I knew it had to be you out, even if I couldn't see you. Now can I borrow the cloak?"

"No," he stammered, moderately embarrassed. Before the conversation could continue, they spotted two cloaked figures far down the hall heading up to a staircase that lead to the infamous Astronomy Tower. They took off after them at a brisk pace.

Once they had led the amorous pair of Ravenclaws back to their dormitory, James walked a bit ahead of her, mumbling to himself.

"What are you on about?" she asked.

"I'm cursing the fact that I've managed to stink up the halls for all these years, and no one ever told me about it till now." His hands were shoved firmly into his pockets, and he was slumped over, giving him the look of a hunchback.
Lily laughed out loud. James spun around and looked at her, highly annoyed that she found this so amusing. She looped her arm through his and said, "James Potter, you may have Quidditch eyes, but I have a gardener's nose. And you don't stink. It smells very sweet actually, reminds me of Springtime." James blushed to the roots of his hair; Lily inhaled deeply through her nose and flashed him a smile. "There it is again, apples!" She laughed again, and when he didn't join her, she reached over and tickled him until he did.

He pulled away from her and held up his hands. "Okay, okay... enough tickling, I'm over my Midnight Sulk now."

"Good," she said as they started walking again. "Now, about that cloak..."

"Forget it," he replied. "I won't even consider it until you tell me more about whatever you think you know." There was a stern finality to his voice that no one could miss.

Lily looked about the halls slowly. "Alright then, but not here. Let's head up to the Prefect's lounge, it should be empty now with everyone on rounds."

The Prefect's Lounge was about the third of the size of a normal Common Room but had basically the same accoutrements--several desks, a few large armchairs and a games table that had a top that could be flipped over depending on whether you wanted to play a game of chess or gobstones. James hadn't spent much time in the room, but it was comfortable enough. The fire was set to a low roar, which made the room slightly chilly. James pointed his wand at it, and the flames darted up, casting a warm orange glow around him and Lily.

She sat across from him, with her legs tucked up under her. The hair on the left side of her face flickered gently from the breeze of the nearby flames. There was something about redheads and fire, James mused admiring how the colors of the flames and the tints of her hair complimented each other. In stark contrast were her green eyes, which were locked on his in a self-assured manner. Pay attention, Potter, he told himself, unaware that the soft scent of apples was filling the room.

"Once upon a time," she began, causing James to give a snort of laughter. "There was a vine that was unique to the forests in and around London. It's documented as far back as some early Roman expeditions, though they called it by a different name then. This vine was a dark green, with maroon colored thorns; it grew up and around the base of oak trees and intertwined itself with hawthorn bushes. It didn't have leaves; it was a carnivorous plant. It had small cups in which it would catch insects to feed on. They were a dark pink, and looked like lips." She puckered at him, illustrating her description.

James gave another chuckle. "And what was this plant called?"

"Shush, I'm getting to that." She pushed a lock of stray hair behind her ear. "Now, this plant survived very well for thousands of years, until the onset of the Muggle Industrial Revolution. Soon, there was so much pollution in the air from all the factories that the bugs that the plant thrived on died out or moved on, which lead to the eventual death of the plant. Have you ever heard of a 'London fog'?" James shook his head. "Well, the fog from the pollution was so terrible, that it even killed people. So things like bugs that also needed oxygen to breathe didn't stand much of a chance." She gave her shoulders a small shrug. "Anyway, as far as anyone knew, the vine had died out. The last recorded sighting of it was back in the late 1870's. Until now, that is," she pulled a small box out of her robe, opening it to reveal her sample of the cursed vine from Potions class. "Its Latin name is 'Nepenthes Anglia Nimue' more commonly called, 'Nimue's Embrace'."

"Nimue's Embrace," repeated James, staring at the slice of vine, which did indeed have a thorn on it of deep maroon. "Like after the sorceress Nimue?"

Lily nodded. "So named because of the attachment it would form to oaks and hawthorns, both of which are purported to be the eternal resting place of the wizard Merlin, whom Nimue cast into an ensorcelled sleep after he taught her his magic." She scratched her head thoughtfully, paused for a moment and then continued. "At least, that's how I remember the myth... the actual wizarding history of Merlin is quite different from his roll in Muggle mythology. Which is why I need Remus, he's a fan of that sort of thing--knights, dragons, the whole Arthurian legend as it's known to the non-magic world."

James bit on his bottom lip as he mulled all this new information over. "So how did your dad recognize it if it's supposed to be extinct?" he asked finally.

"Part luck, part obsession. He also does conservation work, and he uses examples such as this to illustrate why we need a more strict pollution control. But he's not sure that it is Nimue's Embrace. It's just a hunch based on what he could observe and what the articles from the Daily Prophet clippings I sent him said." She leaned in towards James, smiling at him conspiratorially. "Which is why I need to get down to the infirmary to see if it has the carnivorous cups on it. They weren't mentioned at all, but it could be that the Ministry didn't release that information, or that the plant hadn't grown enough to acquire them yet. I'm sure that it does have them though, I mean the look of the plant and the tale behind its name just fits too well, don't you think?"

"Yeah," agreed James. "It does seem a bit too much of a coincidence... But I'm still not loaning you the cloak." He had to get her off the subject of the cloak, he realized. The cloak wasn't even in the castle at the moment; it was stored safely away in the Shrieking Shack for Sirius and Peter to use on their return trip to Hogwarts. "We need to take this to Dumbledore now."

"But James," she began.

"No 'buts,' Lily," he gave her a stern look. "This is serious business and not the sort of thing you want to get caught at. It's not like sneaking sandwiches out of the kitchen. If we were to get caught, they could likely suspect us of trying to harm the Munroe girls."

Lily scoffed. "Will you listen to this? James Potter trying to talk me out of breaking rules. The same James Potter who just a few weeks ago was telling me that there is a difference between doing what is right and what is easy."

"And right now, they happen to be the same thing. Going to Dumbledore is the supercedes the easy thing to do."

She rolled her eyes at him.

"We don't know anything about the magical properties of this plant, Lily. For all we know, it could have been enchanted with some kind of intelligence to attack anyone that got too close to the truth about what it was. Listen, I know that you'd rather be sure about your father's findings first, but Dumbledore will understand, even if you're wrong." He stood up, and offered an outstretched hand to her. "Come on now," he coaxed. She took his hand and let him lead her to the door. "Ever been to his office before?"

"No," Lily admitted. "Is it very intimidating?"

"Not at all," James said, smiling at her. "Unless a bird exploding into flames upsets you..."

Thankfully, Fawkes, Dumbledore's pet phoenix, was nowhere near his molting stage. The beautiful red bird let out a few twinkling high notes of greeting when Dumbledore led Lily and James into the room. Dumbledore sat at his desk while James and Lily each positioned themselves in a high-backed leather chair.

James watched with mild amusement as Lily wrung her hands nervously as she explained the contents of her father's letter and the conclusions she had drawn from them. Dumbledore listen attentively as James had predicted he would; the old wizard waited until she was done before speaking.

"Ms. Evans, I would be glad to conduct you and James to the Infirmary," He stood up at this and motioned them to follow. "I must admit that during my examination of the plant, I did not see these cups that you mention, but I do not claim to be infallible. If it is correct, your information will prove priceless in our battle against this newest form of attack by Voldemort."

The trio walked in near silence to the Infirmary. As he opened the door, Dumbledore put a wrinkled finger to his mouth. "We must try not to wake Madam Pomfrey. Even though I am Headmaster, she is rather jealous of her domain; however, this is something that should not wait."

They passed down a long row of beds, all of which were empty, and came to a large door at the end of the hall. Dumbledore drew out his wand and swished it in a spiral motion at the door. With a creak, it opened for them, and they went inside.

Justice and Honora Munroe were suspended about a foot off the ground, dark green vines curling up and out of the floor, encircling their legs. The vines had grown so that they already reached Honora's knees and Justice's mid-calf. Lily took a step towards them, but Dumbledore raised a hand and pointed to a nearby table. "You will find that there are a pair of Dragon-hide gloves there, I would prefer it if you put them on, Ms. Evans."

Lily nodded and slipped the gloves on. She bent down and picked up one of the vine's tendrils at Honora's feet. Turning it over slowly in her hand, she found what she wanted and more: The vine did indeed have the small pink cups that were native to Nimue's Embrace, but instead of trying to capture insects, the lip-like cup had attached itself to the young Honora Munroe. Lily gave a sharp gasp, and motioned to James and the Headmaster to take a look.

"They're much tinier than Dad said they would be; these are only about a half inch long. They should be three to four inches with a half-inch diameter on the cup. Otherwise, they are identical to his description." She pulled gently at the cup, but it would not be dislodged from Honora's ankle. She let it go, turning slightly white. "Do you think that it's drinking her blood?"

Dumbledore looked thoughtful for a minute. "No," he said finally. "That is something that we could have detected. We have monitoring charms on both girls, and aside from being asleep, they are perfectly healthy." Dumbledore knelt down next to Lily, pointing to the base of the plant. "There, that appears to be a bud of one of those cups. Since it is not attached yet, perhaps we could make a cutting of it. James, would you grab a scissors off of the table please?" James stood up and picked the scissors from the table, kneeling back down to hand it to Dumbledore. He cut the bud off and set it aside. "Now, if you would Ms. Evans, please find another such bud and cut it off as well. I would like you to send the second one off to your father. Perhaps there is more he can tell us about this strange vine." The old man stood back up as Lily made the second cutting. "I'm afraid I must escort you out of the Infirmary now, there is much to be done tonight. Thank you very much for your work, Ms. Evans. If you learn anymore, come to me at once. James can give you the password to get up to my office."

After they parted Dumbledore's company, it felt like a very long walk back to Gryffindor Tower. Finally, curiosity won out and James asked, "Why didn't you mention that you think that these attacks might be about some kind of extortion?"

"I thought about it," Lily admitted softly. "But I'm still working on the family histories of those that were attacked..."

"Family histories?" James goggled at her. "What are you looking for exactly?"

"Any mention of some magical item that was entrusted to the family, something that Voldemort would want that they wouldn't give up willingly." She gave a tired sigh. "It's a lot of work though, tracing all the family lines and there's been no sign of any such item yet. I'm probably wrong about it, which is why I didn't say anything."

"Maybe you're just looking in the wrong place," he offered. He ran a hand through his crooked black hair. "Look, let me help you tomorrow, I don't have much for homework this weekend."

"Okay. I must admit it is getting a bit beyond what one mind can keep track of." She sighed again. "Its just frustrating that there is so little that we know for certain..."

"Well," said James, with a bit of his old mischief. "I think its certain that you're going to get an 'A' on your Potions paper. Should drive Snape off his box when he learns how smart Muggles can be."