Why We Fight

Part 32:
Concerning Matters of Mischief
(Wednesday, October 26, 1977-Thursday, October 27, 1977)

Sirius, James, Peter, and Draco hid on the edge of the Forbidden Forest watching as Hagrid and Professor Dumbledore smuggled a form covered with a blanket toward the wildly-whipping limbs of the Whomping Willow. With a quickness that was surprising for one so large, the Keeper of the Keys darted to the tree's twisted trunk and pressed the secret knot. Draco watched with amazement as the thrashing limbs stilled and Remus crawled into the secret passage that was carefully hidden by the roots. Hagrid leapt out of the way just as the limbs came back to life. The elderly professor and the half-giant went their separate ways; Hagrid to his hut, Dumbledore to the castle.

Once satisfied that the coast was clear, the four made their way to the Whomping Willow. In a few moments' time, James, a dog, a rat, and a cat stood where the four had been. The rat wormed his way up the tree to press the knot and the three others clambered down the tunnel to follow Remus, Sirius closest to the werewolf.

As soon as Remus and Padfoot were out of the way, James transformed into Prongs and followed the tunnel. Whiskers and Wormtail followed the stag. Draco's curiosity had been piqued when he'd found that today would be his first full moon adventure with the Marauders and he felt good about keeping his new friends company. Imagine that, he -- Draco Lucien Malfoy -- was feeling good about helping someone else. He was really going to get disowned but, strangely enough, he could care less.

The tunnel angled up and ended in a battered, old house. Remus had transformed into his wolf form and his clothes lay high on a dresser where the wolf couldn't get them. Whiskers looked around, examining the furniture that was in various states of destruction. Suddenly, it clicked. He was in the Shrieking Shack and the stories of ghosts finally seemed to make sense. Nothing like four wild animals running around a dilapidated old house to stir up ideas of ghosts and ghoulies haunting the place. His whiskers twitched with amusement as he watched Padfoot and Moony chase one-another in circles while Prongs supervised the goings-on with Wormtail perched on his antlers.

The two canines seemed to be having a lot of fun so Whiskers decided to join in. He shoved his nose against Padfoot's side, tagging him. It didn't take long for the two canines to understand what was going on and soon the three of them were playing tag. Growing bored with that, Padfoot tagged Prongs and soon the stag and the rat joined in on the fun. They played for hours, strange how simple, childish games could become fun again once a person became an animal. Who knew, maybe next time they'd step it up to hide-and-go-seek.

---

As dawn's early light filtered through the tattered curtains that dangled precariously over filthy windows, Moony's fur retracted and a sleeping, nude teenager was in his place. Remus stretched out, yawning, he ruffled his mussed, sandy hair again and looked around at his friends; Wormtail, Whiskers, and Padfoot were still in their animal forms, passed out. He chuckled as he noticed Whiskers and Padfoot snuggled together. Oh, he'd have to remember that to hold over their heads once they woke up.

He yawned again, scratching his stomach lightly before walking to the dresser on which he'd placed his clothes. He stood on tiptoes to retrieve them and dressed. The sandy-haired youth crossed the battered planks to where his friends lay snoring. He toed Padfoot awake and the dog jumped up with a yelp as soon as he realized he was wound around a fluffy, white, silver-eyed cat. Quickly, an annoyed-looking dark-haired youth was in the dog's place. "Tell no one," Sirius stated menacingly.

Remus bit back a smirk. "Your secret's safe with me," he stated.

Blearily, silver eyes opened and examined the room, a fanged mouth yawned wide, showing a rough, pink tongue, and Whiskers stretched out with the boneless grace that only felines possessed. Whiskers did a bit more preening before changing back into his human form. Remus rolled his eyes. "You're really taking this cat thing to heart, aren't you, Whiskers?" the werewolf stated.

The blonde made a face at the older boy and caused Sirius to smirk. The three looked around for a moment before they finally found James snoring away on a sofa that had seen better days a century ago with Wormtail curled up on his softly-rising-and-falling chest. "Aw...they're so cute, I can hardly bear the thought of waking them," Sirius said with a teasing grin.

"You may not be able to, but I can. Prongs, wakey-wakey; it's a beautiful day, the birds are singing, squirrels are up in the trees making lots of rotten, little squirrels..." Draco said.

One hazel eye opened just enough to cast a glare at the blonde. Slowly, James awoke, reaching to adjust his glasses that were askew on his face. He lifted the sleeping rat and beady, little eyes opened. "That's right, Wormtail," he said. "Time to get up." James sat up on the sofa, wincing as a spring poked him. He deposited Wormtail on the sofa's cushion and stood, stretching out.

Wormtail quickly transformed and looked to his friends. "What time is it?" the pudgy youth yawned.

Remus looked at his watch. "It's, uh, six-thirty," he stated. "We've got class in at nine."

"And you woke us up this early?" Draco asked, pushing his sleep-mussed hair out of his face.

"Well, it takes Padfoot and Prongs this long to get ready," Remus replied with a teasing grin.

Sirius muttered a few choice phrases under his breath that caused his fellow Marauders to grin. He yawned and stretched out and headed toward the secret passageway, followed by James, Remus, Draco, and Peter. They took the passageway in companionable silence and Peter turned into his rat form to attack the knot that froze the Whomping Willow. The Marauders exited the passageway and blinked against the early morning light, the drops of dew glistening in the sunlight. The sparkling dewdrops were blindingly bright and Draco squinted against them. "It's too bright," he mumbled. "Too early. I'm a creature of the night..."

"Stuff it, Whiskers," Sirius stated, swallowing a yawn.

---

The greasy-haired, pallid youth was curled up in an armchair in front of a roaring fire that couldn't sap the cold moisture from the air. A textbook was laid across his lap, the margins black with cramped writing, a quill dangling from his ink-blackened fingers, and a bottle of black ink sitting haphazardly on the edge of the textbook. He snored softly through his hooked nose which was dappled with a bit of the ink, having fallen asleep in the common room. A hand landed on his shoulder and the boy awakened with a start, dropping the quill and spilling the ink all over his much-written in textbook. Severus Snape glared at the textbook and removed the spilled ink with a cry of Evanesco.

His cry of outrage was cut short by the hand's sharp nails biting into his shoulder through his robes; a long-fingered hand with pale skin and talon-like nails belonging to an older gentleman with maroon eyes and black hair graying at the temples. Severus's eyes widened with terror, the Dark Mark crawling on his left forearm as he realized he was looking at the Dark Lord. "M--my Lord," he stammered.

"The Dark Lord is displeased with you," the cold, dead voice said, sending Severus's insides crawling along with the mark permanently etched in his skin. Severus's heart pounded painfully, tattooing against his ribs; he knew at this moment that he was going to die.

The pale skin took on an olive tone, hair lengthening and darkening, brown eyes staring from a high-cheekboned face. The Dark Lord had turned into Rastaban Lestrange's current form of Damian Faust. Faust took a seat in the armchair beside Severus, chuckling.

Severus clenched his well-worn textbook, debating on whether or not to use the spell that he had just added to the various spells and Potions instructions that covered the margins on the younger Lestrange. "Are you insane?" Severus hissed, his knuckles whiter than usual due to the death grip he held on his book. Faust's full lips turned into a mockery of a smile. "Why, yes," he stated with a bit of a hiss, "but I don't see what that matters right now..."

"Anyone could have seen you l--like that!"

"You and I both know that Slytherins are creatures of the night," he said. "Never awakening this early." Severus decided not to point out that both he and Faust were Slytherins and were awake that early.

"You have displeased the Dark Lord, Snape," Faust stated. "You have a mission, a very important mission, one that you have not worked on since you were given it."

Severus's nails bit into the book's binding. "I have been working on it," he growled. "In case you haven't noticed, Miss de Lioncourt has been spending all of her time with her new boyfriend, Sirius Black. The girl is not good enough for the Dark Lord."

Faust's eyes narrowed in anger. "Do you dare question the Dark Lord?"

The youth's dark eyes widened and his pale skin became even paler under the man's gaze. "N--no, sir, I would never doubt the Dark Lord..." he stated.

There was a long moment where Severus and Faust stared into one another's eyes until Faust finally looked away. "You will complete your mission, Snape, or you will regret...everything," Faust said with a hint of a wicked grin.

The man left the Slytherin common room with a swish of his midnight-black robes. At that moment, Severus made a decision. He carefully closed his book, gently put into his book bag, and stood up slowly. He pulled on his book bag and headed out the portrait hole guarded by the Dark Knight.

---

"We need to talk," a voice came and Hermione turned to see its source. Draco, his silver eyes bloodshot, and skin pale with dark circles under his eyes, slumped into the seat opposite Hermione. Hermione couldn't suppress a bit of a smirk.

"Have a long night?" she questioned, brown eyes dancing with merriment.

He glared at her. "I want to ask you about that picture," he said.

"What picture?" Hermione asked evasively.

"The one you showed me the first day we got here," he stated.

"How do I know you're really you and not...James?" she asked.

"Well, I didn't tell Prongs about the picture, but if you must, quiz me about...well...me."

Hermione frowned thoughtfully, unsure for once in her life. If this was really Draco, how could she tell? There was no telling how much Draco had told him about himself. "What do my friends look like?" she asked.

"Your friends? Oh, you mean Potter and the Weasel? Um, Potter looks like his dad except for his eyes -- he has Lily's eyes and that lovely little scar on his forehead. Do I really have to talk about Weasel, Granger?" She gave him a look and he groaned softly. "Weasel looks like a freak; stretched to the point of absurdity. Long nose, freckles, and that Weasley hair."

Hermione stared at him for a moment more, pursing her lips at his unfriendly description of Ron. She looked around slowly to make certain they were really alone and then retrieved the photograph of the Order of the Phoenix that Moody had given her and carefully laid it on the table before them. Draco stared at the picture for a long moment.

Lily and James were sitting together, arms wound around each other, grinning, very much in love, and Lily's stomach was slightly rounded with the beginnings of a baby bump. Sirius sat beside James, reclining on the stairs, his black hair pulled away from his face in a ponytail, gray eyes shining with the ever-present hint of mischief that was his trademark, and a broad grin splitting his handsome face. Remus sat on Sirius's other side; he was slightly older than the teenager that Draco knew with a hint of gray in his sandy brown hair and a bemused look on his handsome if not tired-looking face. Peter sat on Moony's other side, a weak smile on his rat-like face, watery blue eyes looking around. Then there were many people that Draco didn't know and he looked at Hermione for answers.

Hermione swallowed hard and thought about what she'd overheard from Moody when he'd first given the picture to Harry. "Well, I guess I can name the survivors first. Professor Dumbledore of course, Elphias Doge, Professor Moody, Hagrid, Remus," she said. As she said their names, the person moved to the forefront and gave a little wave. Draco smiled slightly as Remus waved. "And those who didn't make it." She swallowed past the emotion constriction in her throat. Most of the people she had never met, never seen before this one picture, but it didn't matter. They were gone and she'd never really get the chance.

"Edgar Bones, killed by Death Eaters with most of his family; he's Susan Bones's uncle." Edgar Bones smiled at them. "Caradoc Dearborn, he disappeared six months after this picture was taken and his body was never found." Caradoc seemed to be in a conversation with another man as his name was mentioned and Hermione introduced the man that Caradoc was talking to. "Benjy Fenwick, he was killed by Death Eaters and only bits of him were found." Draco paled slightly at this. "Marlene McKinnon, killed by Death Eaters two weeks after this picture was taken." A squat but pretty woman beamed up at them. "Dorcas Meadowes, killed by Voldemort himself." Draco stiffened at the name. "Gideon and Fabian Prewett, Mrs. Weasley's younger brothers, it took five Death Eaters to kill them." Draco stared at the two young, vibrant red-haired men with shock and a hint of respect. "You know what happened to Lily, James, and Wormtail." Draco swallowed hard, staring at the happy couple and their mousy friend. "Sirius Black, killed on June 20, 1996, in the Ministry of Magic by your aunt Bellatrix."

Draco looked somewhat ashamed and then frowned as he noticed that Hermione hadn't mentioned a couple. "Who are they?"

"Another couple of your Aunt Bellatrix's casualties. They're not dead; it's worse. She, your uncle Rodolphus, your uncle's brother Rastaban, and Bartemius Crouch Jr. tortured them into insanity with the Cruciatus. They're alive and they live in St. Mungo's, unable to speak, unable to recognize their own son when he visits over the Christmas holidays," she stated, tears glistening in her brown eyes.

Draco stared at the kindly, round-faced woman and felt sick to his stomach. He knew that face. "N--Neville," he stammered as he remembered how the mousy-haired boy had charged him after he mentioned St. Mungo's last year.

"Yes," Hermione said. "These are his parents, Frank and Alice Longbottom. They were Aurors."

"Before my aunt got to them," he spat. "They're why we fight."

"'We'?" Hermione questioned.

Silver eyes met warm brown ones. "We," he said simply.

---

Severus Snape examined the gargoyle, debating on whether to continue. The gargoyle examined him in return. "Professor Dumbledore is expecting you," the statue stated, leaping aside to reveal a spiral staircase. The dark-haired youth swallowed hard and moved to the slowly-moving spiral staircase.