Into the Hands of Fate

Chapter Two

"What did you do?" asked Lydia with raised eyebrows. Hallie looked at her with her famous angelic smile.

"Nothing, he was the one who put the worms in the potion, not me." And at Lily's glare she added, "It was Gwen's idea." At this, Gwen scowled at her.

Rolling her eyes, Lily said, "And that wasn't even your prank." She sighed. "How did I ever come upon such friends?" she asked herself in a voice used by former witches in distress.

Lydia laughed and hugged her friend around the shoulders. "You know you love us."

Lily looked at all three of them. "Yes, I suppose I do, but why, is the question."

~*~

During lunch that day, Sirius turned to James. "I need your help. You're the best with charms, right?" The other boy looked at him with a strange look.

"Er - I - I"

"Good, come with me." Sirius grabbed James by the arm and hauled him away. They arrived at the Fat Lady's painting.

"Well hello, dears!" she greeted pleasantly. Then she squinted at them. "Oh, it's you two."

"Hello, Miss Fat Lady," said Sirius with his handsome mischievous grin. James flashed her his charming smile and pushed a strand of his untidy black hair out of his eyes.

"Good afternoon," said James. The lady smiled.

"How delightful you both are today...what's going on?" The two boys shared a look.

"Nothing at all, we just need to get some books we left in the dormitory. Blubber worth," said Sirius. The painting swung open and she waved them goodbye with a troubled expression upon her face.

Both boys stepped in hearing, "Violet! The Potter boy and that Black went into the room! They had that look!" The two boys laughed as James followed Sirius to the girls' dormitory.

"Sirius, what're we doing here?" The boy grinned at him and counted the third bed from the doorway on the left.

"I just need to get something is all." James took notice of a periwinkle pillow on the mantle. "You know what I noticed?" asked Sirius. "The girls' dormitory is much nicer than ours." James grinned.

"Well, if you remember, ours was just as nice before you started with, 'let's see if we can make a bigger window for our dormitory!' attitude." Sirius grinned back at him.

"It's actually a rather good philosophy on account our window is about this wee size," he said putting his forefinger and thumb and inch apart. "I like big windows, like this one!" He pointed to the window next to Lily's bed. "Now that's a nice window, plus, it overlooks the lake!" Sirius then dropped on all fours and looked under the bed. He pulled out a book covered in periwinkle fuzz and then immediately dropped it. "Here's where you come in handy, can you take the spark spell off of it?" James looked at him. "Please?"

Sighing with a mumble of, "what I do for friendship", James did as was asked. Sirius bent to pick it up but dropped it once more.

"Can you do the counter spell of the burning -"

James chanted and the spell was cleared. Sirius bent to pick it up but dropped it once more. After about half an hour of counter-cursing the spells on the book, the boys left.

~*~

"You like him."

"I don't."

"You like him."

"I don't so bugger off." Hallie grinned at Lily's annoyed expression.

"Alright, whatever you say, dear friend." She started to hum while rearranging the pattern her food was in and then her eyes lit up. "Lily! Listen!" Hallie hummed the beat once again.

Lily smiled, "That's a good one!" Beaming, Hallie wrote the notes onto a spare piece of parchment.

"You're my inspiration, thanks a bunch, Lil," thanked the other girl. Lily just waved her hand away. She saw James and Sirius walk towards their table and waved them over. Hallie looked at her friend and then turned around. "Lily! Don't wave them over!" She put her head in her hands and muttered under her breath. The other girl just laughed at her friend.

Down at the other end of the table. Remus, Peter, Gwen, and Lydia were playing a game of Exploding Snap...or...they were. Gwen was now laughing and pointing at Remus with Lydia doing the same for he had blotches of ash upon his face and in his hair from the explosion of the cards. Peter was trying to hide a smile but started to chuckle at some comment Remus then made.

Sirius, with James, walked over to where Lily and Hallie were seated. James took a seat next to Lily and gestured to Hallie with a grin. "Something the matter with that girl?"

Lily smiled but the other girl said, "No, there is nothing the matter with this girl, I just don't want to look at the awful sight beside me." At this, Sirius glared at her. "And don't you glare at me, Sirius Black." James and Lily laughed at the astonished expression upon the boy's face

~*~

The rest of the day passed with no further events and soon, James found himself sitting in the armchair beside the fire, talking with Sirius, Remus, and Peter. Remus then suddenly clutched his side with pain written across his unusually pale face.

"Remus? What's the matter? What's wrong?" The boy just closed his eyes. After a few short moments, he stood up and told them he wasn't feeling well and was going to go to the hospital wing. "Do you want someone to bring you down?" asked Peter. The boy just shook his head.

"Er - thanks, but, I'll be fine. I'll see you guys later." Then he walked off. Sirius watched after him in worry.

"He's not acting himself...is he?" James looked at his other two best friends with a certain dawning on his face.

"Actually, he hasn't been acting himself once a month," he told them. Peter looked at him with a shadow pass behind his eyes as if he just remembered something. Sirius, however, was looking at someone who was advancing towards them.

Andrea smiled and sat next to him. "Hi, Sirius," she greeted pleasantly. The boy was looking at her with a sort of dazed expression as if wondering why she was speaking to him.

"H-Hello." He paused as her smile brightened. "Er - can I help you with something?" She nodded but then there was a scream from the girls' dormitory. Hallie came racing down to Lily who was with Lydia and Gwen who were intent on watching Andrea and Sirius.

"It's gone, Lily! I can't find it anywhere!" she screeched. Lily took hold of the other girl's shoulders and shook her.

"Hush, calm down." Hallie shut her eyes tightly and then looked at Lily.

In a hushed and frenzied whisper, she said, "Lily, it's my book. It's not where I always leave it - it isn't there." Almost the whole room had their eyes on the two girls except Sirius who was looking at Andrea. Hallie and Lily, nevertheless, didn't seem to mind the stares, or, didn't notice them.

"What book?" asked Lily.

"My book," replied Hallie. She looked as if she was about to burst into tears but quickly caught hold of herself and cleared all expression off her face. Lily took hold of her arm and pulled her towards the dormitory.

"It has to be there somewhere." But Hallie looked doubtful. "Come on, it couldn't have just disappeared." Gwen ran up to them.

"Where are you guys going?" she whispered urgently.

Hallie turned to her without expression. "I'm going to find my book, that's what." The other girl rolled her eyes.

"Can't you look for it later? What about the prank?" By this time, everyone was back to what they were doing moments ago. Hallie glared at her.

"No." She then led Lily up to the dormitory to help her look for the book.

"What does it look like again?" Lily inquired.

Hallie looked exasperated. "It's this big and has periwinkle fuzz on it. It was under my bed beneath my box of jewelry. Now it's gone." She flopped onto her bed and pulled the covers over her head.

"When did you find it was missing?" asked her best friend as she sat at the foot of the four poster bed.

"Do you remember when I was humming that song during lunch? I finished the tune during dinner and came back up here to write it down and get Sirius' filibuster fireworks for the prank but I couldn't find the book!" Under the covers, she turned over and put her new periwinkle pillow over her head.

Lily walked over and pulled the covers off her. "Are you sure you put it back?" Hallie turned over to look at her best friend.

"Lily, you know how much that book means to me, don't you?" The other girl nodded and hugged her friend.

"I'll help you find it, I swear I will. You should go to sleep, you look worn out from prank planning."

Hallie forced a smile. "Thanks, Lily."

~*~

Lily walked down the steps and pulled James aside. "Do you know what happened to Hallie's book?" James looked at her uncomfortably. She could always tell what he was feeling by the expressions upon his face and at the moment, there was a bit of guilt and unease displayed.

"Er - what book?" She put her hands on her hips and looked at him in accusation.

"When did you start keeping things from me?" He looked to Sirius who was completely wrapped up in a conversation he was having with Andrea.

"Can we talk about this later? I - er - have to do something," he asked Lily quietly. She looked at him and sighed.

"Meet me here at midnight. I need to talk to you again." At this, James looked at her. There was sorrow in her eyes.

Her parents...she was so close to them. There was a rush of guilt that passed through him which made him nod and walk towards Sirius.

Taking hold of the boy's arm, he hauled him to the staircase to speak. "Where'd you put the book?"

Sirius blinked at him dumbly. "The book?" he questioned innocently.

James frowned. "You know what I'm talking about, the whole common room witnessed Hallie's little outburst. Where'd you put the book?"

The other boy sighed. "Can we talk about this later? I think Andrea's going to ask me out tonight." He turned to leave but James blocked him.

"Sirius, Lily knows I know that you took it." At this, Sirius looked at his best friend in impatience.

"I don't care. It's none of her business." He paused. "And since when do you care? We always do pranks, this is just another one of them, and it's not as if I'm going to keep it. Calm down." Then the boy pushed past and down the steps leaving a bewildered James behind.

~*~

Lily lied awake at ten o'clock that night waiting for midnight to come when she heard Gwen's voice out of the darkness. "Hallie, are you awake?" There was a rustle from Lily's right where her best friend lay.

"Maybe."

"Er - right...well, I wanted to apologize about how I acted a while ago...I was just eager to do the prank," said Gwen softly.

"I should hope you were."

A pause.

"Um - alright. There's another thing too. You missed detention with Jenkins."

Another pause.

"So? Detentions are going to add up sometime, might as well start now."

"Oh, er - right. 'Night, Hallie." There was a sigh and another rustle from Hallie's bed.

"G'night."

At last, in what seemed forever, midnight came. Lily got up hoping her friends were asleep and walked down the steps to the common room where she saw a figure sitting on the hearth before the fire. When she took a seat beside him, he looked at her.

"So...where's the book?" she asked softly. James looked back at the fire.

"I don't know."

"But you did help take it?" The boy sighed. "That would be a 'yes' because Sirius couldn't get all the spells Hallie and I put on it."

He looked at her sharply at this. "What do you mean?"

"I helped her put curses and other protective spells on it and no offense to Sirius, but he doesn't do too well in Charms class," she told him. "And who but his best friend, Mr. Know-It-All, to help him take them off?" Lily noticed him turn an unusual shade of light green and smiled. "James, I'm not telling you to steal the book back from Sirius or-," but he cut her off.

"I truly don't know where he put the-" James cut himself off and put a hand over his mouth. "I - I mean to say that if he - if he did take it, I-," he stuttered trying to cover up but Lily just laughed and hugged him around the shoulders.

"Stop speaking right there, you'll just dig yourself a deeper hole. I just want you to consider asking Sirius to give the book back to her. It may not look it because of the periwinkle fluff covering it, but it really is important," she told James seriously.

He nodded but didn't look at her. "Lily, you know he'll think I told you that he had it don't you? He's already angry with me."

She sighed. "I-I know, and, I'm really sorry about that..." but he waved his hand to dismiss the apology.

"It isn't your fault. But what's so important about this book of hers?" he inquired looking at his friend.

Lily looked at him and saw that she could trust him by his sincere expression. Forgive me, Hallie, but I think I'm doing the right thing, prayed Lily to herself. "The book was given to her by her mother, and, you know she doesn't have a father so she really looks up to her mother. Well...her mum's a singer. She and Hallie make up songs together sometimes. Hallie puts the songs into that book and when she finds new tunes any time during the day, I always go with her to the dormitory where we take the charms off the book so she can write them in." She looked at James. "It really is important to her, James. Her mum's obsessed with becoming another star, as big as that huge band called Hocus Pocus, and the only thing that keeps her and her mother close is that book. Her mum doesn't give her a second look unless she has another idea, or to talk about a new song or something of that sort. Do you see what I'm saying?" she asked James gravely.

"Yeah, I do. I'll try to get Sirius to give the book back, Lily, but I can't promise you anything," he said, averting his gaze.

She smiled at him thankfully. "That's all I ask." She paused and fiddled with her hands for a moment. "James, you know you can tell me anything, right?"

He looked at her piercingly as if searching for something. "Yeah..."

Looking at him straight in the eye, she said, "Are you hiding something? Because you know I'm always here."

"No," he replied quickly. "I mean, everything's alright," he added when she looked at him funnily. He stood and offered her a hand, which she gladly took. Lily gave James a tight hug before escaping to the girls' dormitory. He watched after her with a strange expression upon his face, and then he too went to his own dorm.

~*~

Lily was smiling softly as she climbed into her four-poster bed, but then a voice interrupted her thoughts. "I can't believe you told him, Lily. I thought you were my best friend." Lily abruptly turned around and found Hallie sitting on her bed cross-legged while facing her.

"Hallie - I -"

"I know you told him," the girl's voice wavered but she quickly steadied it. "It was our secret, you promised me you wouldn't tell anyone."

Lily looked at her apologetically. "Hallie - I know I can trust him, it seemed the right thing to do. You're book will be back with you in no time," she told her best friend, but the girl only shook her head.

"That isn't the point. Friends are supposed to keep their friends' secrets secret." Hallie sighed. "You don't know how much that book means to me."

"Yes, I do, you told me."

Hallie shook her head again. "Lily, you don't know. You really don't know how important it was if you would tell James so easily. And I doubt you ever really knew how much it meant to me." She closed her curtain and got comfortable on her bed.

"Hallie, I'm so-"

"Sorry? You're so sorry? Never mind it, just forget I said anything at all." Lily knew by the clipped edge of her friend's voice that the conversation was over.

~*~

James climbed onto his bed but Peter's voice interrupted him. "James?" He stopped and looked to the bed across from his. "What's wrong with Remus?" There was a rustle on James' right.

"Yeah, I really think something is up. He hasn't been acting like himself and is always leaving every now and then," said Sirius.

James listened to his friends' worry about their other best friend and smiled slightly. He had been wondering if he should share the secret Remus had been keeping. He had noticed the symptoms some weeks before and had been pondering over the idea of him telling the other two Marauders. "Remus disappears once every month and around that day, he falls incredibly ill. Do you guys remember when we went to the hospital wing where he was supposedly at because he was sick again? And when we owled his aunt to check on him when he was supposedly there with a sick uncle?"

The two boys nodded in the dim light of the full moon outside their window. Suddenly, Sirius snapped. "I get it! I get it! He's a -," but James silenced him with a look. Peter looked at both boys inquiringly.

James whispered in the quietest voice that he could muster, "Werewolf." Peter's eyes expanded to the size of tea saucers as his mouth formed a large 'O'. The other two boys laughed.

"But why didn't he tell us? We're his best friends!" exclaimed Sirius indignantly.

Peter seemed to be thinking about this but answered. "Maybe because people think werewolves are monsters, and he thought that we'd feel the same." James looked at him to see the small plump boy clutching a pillow.

Sirius shrugged. "Maybe, but Remus isn't a monster, just look at the guy. He may be a bit roguish...but-," he got cut off by James who threw a pillow at him. There was soon a pillow fight between the three boys before one of the pillows hit a boy at the far end of the room.

"Hey, you three, cut it out! I'd think you'd want to try out for the quidditch team tomorrow!" yelled someone. This shut the boys up.

"I forgot about that!" said Sirius.

James grinned. "Surprise, surprise."

Peter shook his head. "I'm not trying out," he told them softly. The other two boys stopped squabbling and turned to look at him in shock. "Don't look at me like that, you both know I'm not good at it. I'll be much better off in the stands with the rest."

James sighed and smiled at him. "Whatever floats your boat and makes it sail," he said and was responded with another pillow cuffing the side of his head.

Sirius cleared his throat, "I'm not sure about you, but I'm hitting dream land so I'll have my lids wide open tomorrow at quidditch tryouts." And then the boys got comfortable for sleep to come to them.

~*~

Remus excused himself from his three best friends and felt his heart wrench with always having to lie to them. He couldn't think of an excuse that day so just went with the 'I'm feeling sick, I'm going to the hospital wing' reason. Solemnly he strolled along the corridor with is head bowed with 'what-ifs' running through his mind when he suddenly ran into someone. It was Professor Rosier.

"What are you doing? Walking along the hallways in the middle of the night, what are you up to? Another one of your pranks I suppose? Twenty points from Gryffindor." And then the miserly teacher stalked off.

"Blasted git," muttered Remus to himself as he picked himself off the floor.

Finally, he stood before the Whomping Willow and ducked to avoid a punch from the wild and thrashing branches. He got the long stick beside the tree and touched it to the knot on the trunk of the Willow making the tree freeze as if in shock. He walked into the tunnel that led to the Shrieking Shack.

There, he gazed around him at the familiar surroundings. The furniture was in shambles making him sigh in shame. It was his fault everything was like that. He saw the moon glow through a window and moved to sit in a corner for his change. He hated the changes, they hurt him in such a way that made him feel as if he would scream, but he always tried to hold that back.

The full moon came into view and Remus Lupin changed into a werewolf.

~*~

James sat up after the talk he had with Sirius and Peter, just thinking. Lily suspected that he was hiding something, she always seemed to know these things about him. But would she find out was the question that struck him as the most important. No one could find out, and he could tell no on about his secret. It was too dangerous.

With the dark on the rise, it was hard to tell who was on the good side, and who was on the bad for Voldemort was quickly recruiting people of all ages. There could even be someone walking the halls of Hogwarts, trying to find him, and passing secrets to the rising Dark Lord.

James sighed and closed his eyes willing that sleep would come soon. He'd just have to wait for what would soon come, for it would come and there would be no way to stop it.

~*~

Lily woke that morning with Lydia shaking her awake. "What're you doing?" The girl smiled and finished tying her wavy blonde hair into a ponytail. Lily herself pushed her flaming red hair away from her face.

"Waking you up, silly! It's past nine, I guess you slept late or something," said Lydia with a smile.

Lily got up and looked to her mantle and found she misplaced her scrunchie somewhere again. "Hey, Lydia, you wouldn't have an extra hair tie would you?" The girl nodded and ran over to look through her trunk. She pulled one out and handed it to her friend. Lily thanked her and went to the shower room. When she came out she was confronted with Hallie who just brushed past. Behind her was Gwen who smiled at Lily.

"Another best friend quarrel I'm guessing?" she asked.

Lily sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I guess you could say that."

Gwen patted her on the back. "Sounds great, really, but I'm going to get dressed." And then she walked off. Lily strolled over to where Lydia was waiting on the foot of her bed.

"Something's wrong. I saw it on Hal's face, even though she puts up that little blank expression she has," Lydia told her.

Lily grinned at how well each of the four girls knew each other. "It's fine, it'll pass."

"Not this one!" came and exclamation from the dressing room.

Lydia laughed. "You're right, it'll pass."

When ready, the four girls walked out of the room. They were just in time to hear Sirius' yell of, "I thought you were my best friend! That was a secret!" and then the boy stormed off and out of the Great Hall. Lily saw James watching after him with looks of anger and frustration.

"I'm going to see what's wrong," she told her three best friends.

Hallie looked up at her and then walked away with a mutter of "of course." A wire seemed to snap in Lily and her fury flared. She walked over and turned the girl around.

"Look, I thought I was helping!" she exclaimed.

Hallie glared at her. "Well, you weren't, and you still aren't so just back off!"

Lily had never seen her seem so angry as she was now and took a step back but she was still mad with her. "Look, it's just a book, Hallie! I told you I'd help you find it and I was trying to find it for you! I was helping and you know it! I don't see why you're so angry with me about it!"

"I have my reasons," the girl replied in a furious but steady voice. Her face was passive but rage burned in her bright sapphire blue eyes.

"Well if you'd tell me those reasons, then maybe I could help you better! You haven't been talking to me, how am I supposed to be your friend if you won't talk to me?" Lily yelled.

"Well you won't talk to me either! You clam yourself up and try to hide it but I suppose that's something you need to practice on because I can see right through your act! And you of all people should know why that book means so much to me! But you want my new reason?" Hallie reached into her robe pocket and took out a ruffled piece of parchment. "There, take it, it's my reason and it's all yours. And don't you come back to me, I don't want your sympathy!" She then rushed out of the Great Hall.

Lily watched after her and took deep breaths trying to calm herself. She opened the letter and read it to herself. It was dated from three weeks ago. There was one sentence that stood out through the rest. Lily read the letter twice more before turning and running to the Gryffindor common room. She heard voices so stopped herself from entering.

"Give it to me. I know you have it," Lily heard Hallie say.

"Who says?" asked another voice that belonged to Sirius.

"I do. I want my book, Sirius Black, and you're going to give it to me."

"Why should I?" he asked and Lily heard a grin in his voice.

"Because my dead mother gave it to me, that's why, now give it to me." There was an awkward silence.

Then Sirius said, "Oh, er - I'll be right back." A few short moments later, Lily heard his footsteps. "Here," he said quietly. "Er, Hallie, I'm really -," but she cut him off.

"Save it for when I care." And then she ran up to the girls' dormitory. Lily chose that time to open the door and walk in. Sirius jumped when she entered and gave her a lop-sided smile.

"Hi, did she go-"

"Yeah, up to the dorms." He turned and started to walk to his own dormitory when he abruptly faced her. "Lily, I didn't know." His face was one of guilt as she looked at him inquiringly. "I didn't know...I mean, about the - the book..."

She just nodded. "I know, even you aren't as unfeeling as that," she replied.

He rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks Lily."

"I mean, it's alright."

"Oh, wonderful, now I can sleep in peace knowing I have your blessing."

"Sirius, enough with the sarcasm."

He grinned ruefully. "Er - right. I - I'll talk to you later." And then he went to the boys' dormitory. Lily followed in suit but to the girls' dorm.

She found Hallie sitting next to the window overlooking the lake. Lily opened her mouth to speak but the other girl said, "I don't want to hear it. I'm sorry for yelling at you like that, Lily, but I just want to be by myself right now."

Lily sighed and walked to her best friend. "Hallie, there's something I have to tell you."

Hallie turned to look at her, her eyes pleading. "Lily, please, I just want -"

"I lost my parents too." There was a shocked silence.

"You - you -"

"Yes, I did."

Hallie stared at her. "Why didn't you tell me?" she questioned.

Lily gave her a look. "Why didn't you tell me about your mom?"

"Oh - well I...good point."

Lily grinned. "I rather thought so but," she paused, "we have to make a pact."

Hallie looked at her for a moment before nodding. "You have to tell me everything."

"And you, in turn, have to tell me everything too." And then they shook on it.

~*~

Gwen looked to Lydia who was looking at the doorway of the Great Hall. "Well, you'd never think the dynamic duos would ever split." Lydia turned to her.

"You were wrong. But it'll all work out, it always does," she replied with a smile.

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Do you ever think that anything bad will ever happen?" Lydia just blinked at her and the other girl sighed. "Er - I guess not." They walked to where James and Peter were seated with Remus who looked sick again.

"Are you all right, Remus?" asked Lydia.

He looked at her strangely. "Um - yeah...why?"

She shrugged. "You look pale is all." He pallor increased for he obviously had not expected anyone to notice. James looked at Peter meaningfully.

"Oh," said Remus and cleared his throat looking uncomfortable. "I wasn't feeling well last night." She nodded but there was a weird look in her eyes that made him shift uneasily.

Lydia dropped the subject and when breakfast was over, they went to Charms. Peter, unfortunately, had forgotten that they had that class and left his book in the common room and told them he'd see them later. He strolled down the hall quickly and into the common room where he passed Sirius who was just leaving.

"Oh, hey, Peter. What're you doing?" Peter told him. "Want me to wait?" The other boy shook his head.

"I'll be fine. Thanks." And then Sirius left. On his way to the steps of the boys' dormitory, Peter passed Lily and Hallie who waved to him with smiles and waved back.

They're best friends again, he thought smiling slightly. He raced up the stairs and got his book, then rushed back downstairs. Stepping out of the portrait hole, he went to his right and to the staircase.

Because of his bad memory, he forgot about the trick stair that when stepped on, you got stuck. He frowned in annoyance, then tried to pry himself free. Down the steps, his bottles of ink, his quills, and his parchment littered the steps and the floor below making him run a hand through his hair.

Then he heard a voice behind him. "Seems as if you got yourself into a bit of trouble, didn't you, Pettigrew?" asked the voice sounding malevolent. Peter turned around and was pained to see that it was Lucius Malfoy. Lucius was a rather tall boy with a seemingly permanent sneer upon his face. He was a fourth year and a beater on the Slytherin house quidditch team.

"Er - I'm just unlucky I suppose," Peter replied unsteadily.

Lucius just grinned. "Or clumsy." Peter blinked at him wondering what it was that the older boy wanted. "Here, let me help you," and Lucius offered a hand. The younger boy looked at it mistrustfully and Lucius laughed. "My hand one bite you, Pettigrew." He took the offered hand. Once pulled out of the trick step, Lucius loomed over him. "Have you ever wondered what a Death Eater is, Pettigrew?" Peter looked at him with now wide eyes but shook his head.

But then another voice spoke, "He has no need to know what they are, Malfoy, I suggest you back off." The two boys on the staircase looked to the bottom where a tall and gangly boy with hair more orange than even Lily's was standing with Peter's fallen belongings.

Lucius stepped back from Peter and glared at him. "If I wanted your opinion, Weasley, I would have asked." The two boys glared at each other for a moment before Lucius turned and left. Arthur shook his head and handed Peter his things. "Don't mind him, he's a bit cracked in the head," the fifth year told the third year boy with a smile. Arthur too, played quidditch except he was a keeper on the Gryffindor team and quite good.

Peter just nodded. "Th-thanks, I really appreciate it." Then he looked up at Arthur with inquiring eyes. "Er - what is a Death Eater?" The older boy just shook his head once again.

"Something bad, Peter, just forget about it, alright?" Arthur asked kindly, but sternly. Peter nodded his head vigorously. "Alright, here's a pass, go on, get to class." And with a soft shove, he pushed the boy along to class.

~*~

He stepped into the room and was greeted by a peppy hello from Professor Greggors. "Well hello, Peter! How wonderful of you to grace us with your presence!" The boy blushed and took his seat next to Remus who grinned at him.

On his other side, he heard Gwen whisper, "Are we still going to do it?"

And Hallie replied, "Of course we are, you nitwit! Tonight, we'll do it tonight." She then pulled on a girl's ponytail from the desk in front of her. "Andrea?"

The blonde turned in her seat to face the girl behind her with a scowl. "Must you always tug on my hair?"

Gwen grinned at Hallie who said, "Never mind that, we're going to do it tonight."

At this, Andrea's scowl intensified. "We were supposed to do it yesterday but someone was screaming their head off in an insane rage."

Hallie just shrugged and smiled. "Just be ready."

"Today, dear class of mine," said Professor Greggors as he beamed around at them, "we will be exploring amulets."

At this, Andrea clapped and turned to Sarah Wilson, a sweet Hufflepuff girl. "One of my favorite things! I love jewelry!" Sarah laughed and rolled her eyes heavenward.

"I'm glad you are, Miss Pristine, but all things aren't what the seem to be." The professor held up a beautiful necklace with a pendant the shape of a young girl dangling at its tip. The figure was small and made of gold while the dress was studded with sapphires. In the place of the head, there was a diamond. "Can anyone tell me what an amulet's use is?" James raised his hand, along with a few others. The professor called on him. "Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"It's used as an object's second form or to imprison something or someone," he replied steadily.

"Very well said, Mr. Potter. Five points to Gryffindor." The professor strolled through the isles between the desks looking at each student in turn.

"There is a famous legend about an amulet. A woman named Rowe and a man named Serpise were once in love. They pledged themselves to one another and Rowe vowed she would never love anyone else...but she made this promise in vain. It was only a short while later when she fell in love with Serpise's brother Ric and left her old love for the new. Serpise fell into a deep rage at Rowe's betrayal and was blinded from all else. According to legend, he cast the Imprisonment Curse upon her and she was trapped within an amulet called the Alloy Child." The professor then swished his wand making an extraordinary boom shake the room and make the students jump up in surprise with yells and screams. After the gold and silver smoke disappeared, his face was grave as the students laughed nervously. The haze cleared and they saw that their professor's face was grave. "No, no, dear students of mine. 'Tis not something to take lightly. You see, everyone believed Rowe dead, for no one lives through the Imprisonment Curse, only their spirits thrive in life. Yes, it is trapped, held captive within an amulet...never to be set free.