When Harry awoke that morning and found Severus absent, he was rather relieved, because he was still in a grouchy mood and if he saw the man he feared he would only end up in an argument, and that was not what he wanted to start the morning off doing. Then he saw the note the Potions professor had left for him and he was both alarmed and hoping his dad would pound that sod Devon into mincemeat.

Wish like blazes I could've seen it. Figures, I always miss the really interesting things. He threw himself down on the sofa and cupped his chin in his hands, wondering what else he could do to entertain himself for the day besides play with his beagle.

He decided to have breakfast in the apartment rather than the hall this morning, for he didn't want to listen to the rest of the students, save for the young first and second years, chattering about what a bloody wonderful time they were going to have at Hogsmeade. If only he had been able to convince his father to change his mind, brooded Harry.

He picked at his ham and scrambled eggs and toast, not really having much of an appetite. He nibbled on a pear, drank a glass of pumpkin juice and then pushed his half-full plate away.

He considered working on his half-finished vampire essay for Lupin's class, but he never felt less like doing schoolwork right then. All he could think of was that he was stuck in the castle or on the grounds while his friends were having a great time drinking butterbeer and testing out Zonko's products and eating ice cream.

Resentment and anger welled up within him once more at his father, and Harry suddenly couldn't bear being inside the four walls of the castle any longer. He rose to his feet and rummaged through his trunk, drawing out the Marauder's Map and James's Invisibility Cloak. What are you doing? screamed the sensible part of his conscience. You promised your dad you'd stay here, so why are you dragging out the map and the cloak? This is a very bad idea, Snape. Very bad.

He ignored the little voice shouting in warning. He was going stir crazy here with nothing to do except homework and playing with Rosie, who was out hunting rabbits with Fang. Who knew when he would get another opportunity like this, with Severus away for a time, to see the village? It would only be for an hour or so, and no one would ever know except maybe Ron and Aria and Hermione. Invisible, he could see and do everything his friends did without risking Sirius Black seeing him and he'd keep the map close too, so he could avoid teachers and get in and out of the school without being seen.

Harry grinned secretively and tapped the map with his wand. "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."

Immediately, the map revealed itself. I can't believe my godfather and his friends made this. Who would have ever thought Uncle Moony had it in him to break rules like this, Harry thought giddily. But then he recalled his father telling him once that Remus had gone along with James's and Sirius's crazy schemes to make sure they didn't go too far. So perhaps he hadn't agreed with half the pranks his two best friends pulled, but they'd put his name on the map anyhow, since he was a Marauder too. Harry wondered if Remus still remembered the map and if he had a clue as to where it had gone. Not that Harry intended to tell him where it was, for he knew that Remus would be duty bound to confiscate it as well.

Harry returned to his room and got a small pouch of Galleons out of his trunk for spending money. Much of the money was gotten from Harry doing chores and being given an allowance by Severus. He also got out his bookbag, just in case a teacher asked what he was doing, he could say studying .

Then he swirled the soft folds of the silvery Invisibility Cloak about himself and vanished.

He quickly consulted the map and found the secret entrance to the tunnel that lead to Honeydukes on the third floor, inside the humpback witch statue. Making his way out of Snape's quarters, he began to ascend the stairs leading out of the dungeons, reading the map periodically.

The dots labeled Argus Filch and Mrs. Norris were on the other side of the castle and the one labeled Remus Lupin was in his office, as were the rest of the teachers. Apparently they were taking advantage of this rare opportunity without students to grade backlogged papers or tests or whatever.

He saw a dot labeled Neville Longbottom slowly approaching and he quickly slipped further down the corridor. Soon Neville himself came into view, huffing and panting. He halted before the door in the Potion Master's quarters and knocked loudly.

"Harry? Are you awake yet? It's me, Neville."

Harry sighed, he'd forgotten Neville was also stuck in the school and for a moment, he considered altering his plans and staying here with Neville. That way he wouldn't risk getting into trouble at all.

But then the risk-taking part of his brain took over, as sometimes happened, and Harry continued up the stairs to the third floor. Nothing ventured, nothing gained was an old saying, and Harry decided to follow it. Hogsmeade would be full of students and there was no way Black could find him under the cloak. Yes, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and Harry was not going to miss it. He just had to make damn sure his father never found out about it.

Glancing about quickly, he tapped the statue of the humpbacked witch with his wand and whispered the word, "Dissendium!" which was what the twins had said would open the secret tunnel. The witch split open and Harry tossed his bag down first, then scrambled inside and slid down a smooth stone chute.

"Mischief managed!" he tapped the map and it went blank. He stuffed it deep in his pocket and climbed out of the stone chute through a trapdoor and into the cellar of the sweetshop.

Harry sniffed experimentally and groaned at the mouthwatering smells coming from the shop above. Suddenly he was starving and wished he'd eaten more breakfast. Clutching the hood of his cloak firmly about him, Harry climbed up from the cellar and into the back of the shop.

Kids of all ages were inside, examining all the sweets and confections and buying them. Harry's mouth was watering uncontrollably, he felt the way Rosie must feel while she waited under his chair for him to drop her a morsel.

There were rows of delicious fudge in all kinds of flavors, spun-sugar candy on little paper cones, what his American friend Neil called cotton candy, bricks of toffee and shelves of chocolate bars. Harry recalled how good the last chocolate bar had tasted when Lupin had given him it after his Patronus lesson and he drooled longingly.

There were barrels of Every Flavor Beans and Dumbledore's lemon drops, Droobles Best Blowing Gum, Jelly Slugs, Chocolate Frogs, Ice Mice, sugar quills, exploding bonbons and Acid Pops.

There was even a stand advertising blood pops for vampires and another of Cockroach Clusters, which Harry thought sounded really disgusting. His stomach was rumbling loudly now and Harry prayed nobody would notice. He was getting desperate, his sweet tooth was screaming and crying for some of the luscious things and he considered grabbing a bar of chocolate, then writing a note and leaving the money for it on the counter.

Suddenly he saw Aria standing next to a small tray of a new kind of sweet called Coconut Kitties (they purred and meowed realistically when you held them and melted away on your tongue). The Slytherin girl was standing next to a slightly older girl with dark brown hair and a narrow face wearing a prefect badge on her robe. She was a Slytherin too, Harry saw.

That must be Mandy Jones, the only one in her House who's not scared by Aria's shape-slipper talent.

Both girls were examining the Coconut Kitties and frowning. "How could anybody eat one of these after listening to it purr and meow?" Mandy was asking Aria. "I'd feel like I was eating my cat Muffin. Yuck!"

"You're right. I'd never be able to eat one either, Mandy," agreed Aria. "I'd feel like I was eating a distant relative."

They giggled softly over the shape-slipper's wry wit and Harry watched them move off through the store, heading for the counter where they had the toffee and fudge.

"Uncle Remmy likes peanut butter fudge," Aria was saying to Mandy. "Maybe I'll pick him up some."

Mandy nodded, then said she was going to get on the line for the soda fountain fizzes, which were another new kind of sweet drink, it came in four flavors, Spectacular Strawberry, Pomegranate Potion, Blueberry Blast, and Outrageous Orange.

Aria eyed the drinks thoughtfully, but wasn't sure if she wanted to spend fifteen minutes on line. "I'll buy you one," offered the older girl. "What kind d'you want?"

"Uh, the Pomegrante Potion sounds good," said Aria. "Reminds me a bit of Professor Snape."

Mandy snickered. "Funny, but I was thinking the same thing. All of these drinks are-"

"Snape-a-licious!" they chorused, giggling.

Harry goggled. Whoever would have thought the girls in Slytherin spoke about their strict professor that way? Like they admired, or God forbid, liked him. Dad would drop dead if he ever knew, his son thought, wickedly, fighting back the urge to giggle like a silly girl at the word the two had invented for the drinks. Snape-a-licious. Too funny! Merlin, I wish they'd use it to describe me. Or at least Aria would. He felt himself go red at the direction his wayward thoughts were taking.

Aria turned back to the fudge counter and ordered a quarter pound slab for Remus then hesitated, thinking out loud, "Wonder what kind of flavor Uncle Sev and Harry would like?"

Harry spoke up from behind her. "Dark chocolate with nuts."

Aria almost passed out.

Her amber eyes narrowed and she whirled about. "Okay, who said that?"

Harry kept silent, fighting the urge to laugh loudly at her bewildered expression.

But then the shape-slipper sniffed quietly, tilting her head slightly.

"Ah ha! All right, Harry, come out from whatever concealment spell you've cast, you rotten sneak! I know you're there, so just show yourself."

"How?" he hissed, not taking off the cloak.

"I'm a shifter, duh! I can smell and hear you even if I can't see you. Invisibility's no use against me, Snape. I rely on more than just my eyes to detect people." She lowered her voice and asked, "What are you doing here anyhow? Didn't your dad tell you to stay in the castle?"

"What Dad doesn't know won't hurt him."

Aria's eyebrows rose into her hair. "Snape, you're asking for it, you know that? If he ever learns you've broken curfew or whatever . . ."

"He won't. He's gone to visit my cousins in New Jersey for the day, so he'll never know I was here. Unless somebody tells him."

"It won't be me," Aria reassured him. "I'm no snitch, Harry. Although I'd go back before someone else finds out you're over here."

"Relax, Lupin," Harry ordered, feigning a confidence he didn't really feel. "No one's got your senses, so they'll never notice me. I'll return in about an hour, when I've seen everything."

Aria just shook her head. "Okay, Snape. It's your funeral."

"Only if I'm caught." He sighed wistfully. "Uh, Aria? Could you buy me some chocolate or something? I'm starving. I'll pay you for it."

She waved off his offer of money. "Keep it. You'll need it for the funeral expenses when your dad kills you for disobeying him."

"Real nice, Lupin."

"Hey, I call ‘em like I see ‘em," she shrugged. Then she ordered a half pound of dark chocolate fudge with walnuts, cut into large pieces.

She walked casually over behind a barrel of Jelly Slugs, which were towards the back of the shop, untied the box with the fudge and held it out to the invisible Harry.

Harry reached out a hand from beneath the cloak and took it.

"Man, but that is freaky," the girl whispered. "It's like you're a wraith child."

Harry did not answer her for a few minutes, he was too busy cramming the fudge down his throat. "Mmm . . .this is so good!"

The shape-slipper chuckled, then said with a wicked little grin, "Glad you like it, Harry. ‘Cause it's like the last feast of the condemned on Death Row."

"Oh, knock it off, Lupin! Dad won't kill me, the most he'll do is ground my arse and scold me into next week."

"Sure about that, are you?" she teased.

"Yeah," Harry answered, but there was a note of uncertainty that hadn't been there before. He had never really tested Severus this way before, deliberately disobeying a direct order, and the truth was he wasn't at all sure what the man would do to him if he ever did find out Harry had gone into Hogsmeade.

And I don't want to find out either, Harry reminded himself firmly. So I've got to lay low.

Aria passed him another piece of fudge, then said in a very quiet voice, "Follow us when we leave, Harry. I'll tell Mandy I need to go to Zonko's and look at something, so you can see what's in there and I'll buy stuff for you."

"I'm paying you this time," Harry insisted. "I'm not a charity case, you know."

"Touchy, aren't you? Must be that Snape pride," Aria commented. "Okay, rich boy, I'll hit you up for the bill when we get back to school. Deal?"

"Deal. And thanks," Harry added belatedly.

Aria snorted. "Don't thank me yet, Snape. Save it for later on, when you're still in one piece."

Before Harry could respond to that, she had moved back towards the crowded interior of the shop to wait for Mandy, and Harry had to watch himself, lest someone tread on his invisible feet or elbow him in his unseen ribs. He didn't want to cause a panic.

Mandy returned with the sodas and the two girls made their way out of the shop, sipping them.

Harry trailed after them, unseen, still eating the last piece of fudge. It was so good Harry could have eaten the entire pound. He wondered if the gift of fudge would sweeten Severus's temper any if he did happen to find out what his son had been up to. If it did, then it was truly magical, and Harry would spend half the gold in his vault to buy a ton of it.

At Zonko's, Harry bought a bunch of gags, mostly to play on Ron, Hermione, and Aria. He considered playing a prank or two on Severus as well, his dad had a quirky sense of humor and wouldn't get mad so long as the prank was not harmful or destructive or embarrassing.

He inched up behind Aria in line and hissed, "Psst . . .Aria! Let's go visit the Shrieking Shack next. I hear it's the most haunted place in Britain."

She gave him a thumbs-up sign and nudged Mandy. "Hey, let's go see the Shrieking Shack everybody raves about. I want to see if it compares to some of the haunted places in the US, like Gettysburg or the Ford Theater, where Lincoln was assassinated."

Mandy's eyes grew wide. "You've seen the ghost of Abraham Lincoln?"

"Not me, but my gran used to say she did when she went there. It's a historical monument and my gran was a Seer, she was always sensitive to, uh, psychic emanations or whatever you call them. When she visited there, she saw Lincoln's ghost sitting in the box and it waved to her and then it faded away."

"Wicked!"

"And creepy! C'mon, let's see what the shack is like."

Mandy led the way up the long winding hill to the ramshackle building, followed by Aria and Harry, who knew that the shack wasn't really haunted, that had been a rumor started by Dumbledore or maybe the Marauders to keep people from figuring out Remus was a werewolf, shut inside the shack on the nights of the full moon to transform.

It looked the same as the way his dad had described it that night back in New Jersey, Harry observed.

It was made of gray weathered boards, and had two windows that were boarded up and some of the boards were falling down and they creaked ominously in the sudden wind that had sprung up from nowhere. The roof was made of some kind of dark shingles and they too were falling to bits, rattling with every bit of wind. The door had the majority of boards nailed to it, to prevent whatever dwelled in the shack from escaping.

Aria felt a shiver of atavistic fear run through her. "I wonder what haunts this place?"

"Dunno," Mandy replied, eyeing the dilapidated building in alarm. "Nobody's ever figured out exactly what went on here. Even the castle ghosts don't go near here. The Baron says something tragic and painful took place here, but he won't mention names and it's no use trying to get him to talk when he doesn't want to, he can wait forever. But rumor around the school is that a wizard had a duel with someone here, a rival for a woman's affections, naturally, and they killed each other, or they killed the woman by mistake and then committed suicide. They say that on the night of the full moon the screams from here can make you pass out or turn your hair permanently white. Some of the students from our House used to dare each other to sneak over here on the full moon and listen to the ghosts screaming, but Snape caught some of them one night and that was the end of that brilliant little plan."

"He wanders the school at night sometimes, right?" Aria asked.

"Yeah, he sure does. The Midnight Prowler, we call him. That's why we Slytherins are all careful to never get caught out of bed after curfew. Otherwise, dear old Sev will have our arses in a sling quicker than you can blink. The Gryffindors all whine about how hard he is on them, ha! They don't have a clue! When one of us steps out of line . . .we're drawn and quartered, by Merlin's pointed shoe! We've got a reputation to maintain and he hates taking points from his own with a passion, but he'll do it and then we pay the consequences later."

Harry winced at hearing this speech from the prefect. He began to get more than a little nervous, for if he was that strict with his House members for rule-breaking, how much worse would he be with his own son? Harry resolved to get one quick peek inside the shack and then head back to school. He was taking no chances this time with Severus's unpredictable temper.

Just then there came the sound of voices approaching the shack from the direction of the village. Harry spun around and moved around the path. It sounded like Ron and Hermione.

Sure enough, there they were, climbing up the hill. They greeted Aria and Mandy politely , Hermione had gotten over her jealous snit, and now regarded the Slytherin shape-slipper as a friend, albeit one she had a friendly rivalry with. Aria could still run rings around Hermione with wandless magic and Transfiguration, but in other areas, Hermione was able to hold her own and she outperformed the younger Lupin by a considerable margin academically.

"Hey, y'all," Aria said, then laughed when Ron cocked his head at her quizzically. "Whoops! My Southern heritage is showing. That's Southern slang for hey you all, in case you've never heard that expression before."

"Oh. I never have," Ron admitted.

"No reason why you should've, seeing as you've never been to America before, right? Or watched Muggle TV?" Aria clarified.

"No. The closest I've ever been to Muggle stuff is when my dad brings something home from the Ministry to ID," Ron explained. "He's mad about Muggle stuff, wants to know everything about it, that's why he works in the Department of Muggle Artifacts."

"Must be an interesting job," Mandy said. "My dad's a Healer, works the craziest hours at St. Mungo's in their burn unit, so I hardly get to see him sometimes."

"My parents are dentists, so I know what you mean," Hermione put in. "Their patients run their lives sometimes."

"You can say that again. He almost missed his own wedding ‘cause there was an emergency in the ward that same day," the prefect informed them. "He's lucky Mum didn't just say to hell with the whole thing and not get married."

There came a nasty laugh from the opposite side of the hill and Draco said, "Maybe she ought've, Jones, then we wouldn't have to put up with you."

Mandy turned to see Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle leaning against a tree, smirking and laughing behind their hands. "Sod off, Malfoy. Don't think just ‘cause your dad's on the Board of Governors and you're a Slytherin that I won't dock points."

"You do and Snape will have your head, Jonsie."

Mandy stood her ground. "Not if it's deserved, so best shut your mouth."

Draco made a rude gesture, then he caught sight of Ron and Hermione. "Well, well. Look who it is. The charity case and the Mudblood. Come to get the shorts scared off you, Weasley? Must be nice, looking at a house you can afford for once. Looks right nice and cozy. Better go call your relatives, Weasley, tell ‘em it's vacant and you can move right in!"

Ron glared at him and clenched a fist. "Shut it, Malfoy! Before I toss you in there and let the ghosts pick out your bones."

"Ha! You and what army, Ronnie-kins?" Draco hooted.

Harry scowled and walked over to a rather good-sized mud puddle and scooped up a handful of it and chucked it at Malfoy's head. It smacked the boy square in the back of the head.

Draco spun about. "Hey! Which one of you threw that?"

Mandy, Hermione, and Aria all exchanged mystified glances.

"None of us," stated Aria, perfectly straight-faced. "Odd things happen up here, you know. Maybe the spirits did it."

"Right. You're bonkers, Lupin. Been inhaling too much swamp gas down there in the bayou, huh, girlie?"

Angry at Malfoy's insults, Harry picked up a handful of pebbles and tossed them at the three snickering snakes. They hit the three right in their backsides and they yelped and jumped, grabbing their sore rears, for the pebbles stung like buckshot.

"Oww!" Draco screeched. "Something hit me again!" he glanced fearfully behind him, still rubbing his bottom. "Where is it?"

"Right behind you! Boo!" Aria shouted, and nearly died laughing as all three boys screamed and fell all over themselves.

Ron, Mandy, and Hermione roared with laughter, happy to see Draco get his just desserts for once.

Draco climbed to his feet, in a red-faced fury. "You're gonna pay for that, Lupin, you furry reject from the London zoo!" he clenched a fist and made as if to strike the smaller girl.

Aria's eyes flashed and she took one step back. "I wouldn't if I were you, Boy Toy. I hit back."

"Not if I knock you out, Beast Girl!"

"In your dreams, you pansy!"

"You wanna make a bet? If I hit you it'll be considered self-defense, but if you hit me I can claim it was an attack by a wild beast and get you put away by the Committee for the Control of Dangerous Magical Creatures." Draco sneered, smirking nastily. "So take your best shot, furry! Either way, I win!"

"Think so?" Aria purred, her eyes glowing with rage. Then she blurred into her cougar form and bared her teeth at Malfoy, emitting a low sing-song snarl of rage.

Malfoy went white and backed away, tripping over his own feet. Aria paced forward, still growling that eerie high snarl, her tail lashing and her huge paws flexing.

Malfoy turned to run and Aria swiped a paw playfully at him as he did so.

"Ahhh!" screeched Draco, bolting away down the trail. "Help! It's after me!"

Harry was standing right in the middle of the path, laughing his head off at Malfoy's cowardice. The boy was so white he could've been a corpse, and Harry swore he saw a wet spot on the front of the Slytherin's robes.

Draco glanced back over his shoulder to see if Aria was following, and slammed right into the invisible Harry.

The impact knocked Harry down and Draco fell on top of him. Draco tried to get to his feet, but his hand caught in Harry's cloak and yanked his hood off.

"Ahhh! It's Potter!"

Aw, bloody hell! Harry thought angrily. He saw me, damn it!

Before he could grab Draco and try and Obliviate him, the other boy was running as fast as he could down the path back to Hogsmeade.

"Harry?" exclaimed Hermione.

"What are you doing here, mate?" asked Ron. "Your dad finally agreed to let you come?"

Harry shook his head. "No, and I'd better run, got to get back before Malfoy tattles on me, the big baby."

He began to sprint back the way he'd come, the Invisibility Cloak flung over his shoulder. His cover was blown, so he saw no need to keep the hood on. Speed was now of the essence. As he ran, he pulled out the Marauder's map, and saw to his horror that the dot labeled Draco Malfoy was already halfway to the castle and finding a teacher.

Harry ran as if the hordes of hell were pursuing him.

Right smack into Remus, who was coming out of The Three Broomsticks with a few bottles of butterbeer and a bottle of dandelion wine.