November 3, 1996

For the first time in a long while, Harry felt well rested when he woke up. It was still early, he decided, seeing as he didn't feel the usual sunlight that drifted onto his face every morning, but he could hear someone walking somewhere in the next room. Snape, he thought. No, Severus. He wasn't up in Gryffindor tower, but in the dungeons. Harry rubbed at his eyes as he sat up and he searched for his glasses on his bedside table where he was sure he had set them down. Once he had found them and put them on, he slipped out of bed and felt the cold floor with his feet before he began to dress in the clothes the house elves had set out for him. He was so glad there was such a thing as magic. After pulling on his shoes, Harry went out to the other room and found Snape just as he had left him the night before; poring over the book he had gotten from his hidden shelf.

"Good morning," offered Harry.

"Hmm…yes. Good morning, Harry, breakfast is where it usually is." Snape was already eating breakfast, Harry noticed, as he walked to the small door that separated the small kitchenette from the sitting room.

"Tempus," Harry said waving his wand at the air as he pushed the door open. He didn't bother to look at the floating numbers that told him the time as he proceeded into the kitchen and towards the brilliant smelling breakfast.

Harry poured himself a glass of pumpkin juice from a small pitcher and then looked up at the time. It was just a few minutes past eight. He motioned with his wand at the air and watched the time disappear. He took a long drink, and then turned to piling his plate with food.

Snape entered the room a few minutes later and Harry looked up. "It's strange, isn't it?" said Harry when Snape had joined him at the table.

"What's strange?" Snape asked.

"That a year ago we would have been at each other's throats," Harry said.

"Time and circumstances change people," Snape said as if that were explanation enough.

Harry decided to let that be, and instead asked, "Why did you let me sleep late? I didn't even notice, I'm so used to having light come into the room in the morning."

Snape didn’t answer at first and instead simply drank from his mug. "I thought you needed it," he said at last. His lips curled into a small, almost noticeable smile

Harry gave him back a smile of his own and continued on with his breakfast in silence. He sighed as he finished. "It's like escaping the world, coming here; it’s so different from the last two months without the pressures of school and of everything else.”

Snape snorted. “You find peace in my rooms?"

"I find peace away from everyone else. They all expect something from me."

Snape gave him a look and then announced that he had brewing to do. "You can stay, if you like. Those books I handed to you last night might be important. Read them."

Harry nodded at him and watched him leave before he walked to the next room and spotted the books where he had left them. The other book, the book that had belonged to the Half-Blood Prince, was nowhere in sight and Harry imagined that if Snape was using it for something, he had already put it elsewhere. Harry reached for the books Snape had told him he should read and opened the first one, waiting for something terrible to happen, as often did with books on the Dark Arts, but nothing did. He flipped through the first few pages, not finding a title in any of them. He was at the table of contents and with just one scan of the chapter titles, he knew that the book was about Dark rituals. Why Snape wanted him to read about that was beyond him, but as he flipped to the first chapter, he settled down comfortably and began to read.

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The first words that Hermione said to him when he sat down for dinner that night were, "Where were you?"

Harry didn't answer until he had taken his seat next to Ron and across from Hermione. "With Remus," Harry offered, piling his plate with food. "He was helping me with something."

Hermione didn't seem to believe him. Even though she gave him a doubtful look, she asked, interested, "With what?"

"Oh, just this and that," Harry said and turned to Ron, "I was thinking," he said, "we could have practice tomorrow, to get back into it. We have until December; that's when the first match is, right before we have break."

Ron frowned. "December? Don't they usually begin in November? I was wondering why we hadn't had a practice yet.”

"Dumbledore wants to set up stronger wards around the pitch. That's what McGonagall said, and it makes sense, all things considered."

"But, Harry – " Hermione began.

Harry ignored her, "Could you get the word out, Ron?"

Ron looked from Harry to Hermione and shrugged before nodding at Harry. He then went on to begin his dinner by shoveling a large amount of food into his mouth.

For the rest of the meal, Harry ignored any question that Hermione had about where Harry had gone to. It was as they were leaving the Great Hall that Hermione once more asked, "Last night, when did you get in? You were gone early too? How much sleep did you even get?"

"Oh, Harry didn't make it to bed last night. At least not his bed," Seamus Finnegan said with some amusement. "At least he wasn't there at two A.M. when I went to bed, and he wasn't there at five A.M. when Ron came in and woke me by falling into the wrong bed."

Harry fought the urge to groan or pummel Seamus for telling Hermione that. She glared at him. "You will tell me where you were," she said to him in a dangerous tone.  She then walked past him.

"I didn't even notice," Ron said. "I was with Lavender. We fell asleep in the Room of Requirement."

Harry lifted an eyebrow at him.

"God, that's scary!" Ron said and shook his head as if to clear it, before adding, "Nothing happened."

Harry grinned. "I doubt you would tell me if something did."

Ron snorted. "What about you, mate? Where were you last night?"

"Like I said, with Remus," Harry said. “Hermione is making too big a deal out of this. I'm his apprentice, why can't I help him? I feel asleep while grading papers and he let me stay once I woke up at three because he figured it was too late anyway. I slept on his couch. I don't exactly want to announce this to the whole school. Does she have to know just about everything?"

Ron laughed. "She's Hermione, Harry; she wouldn't be Hermione if she didn't need to know everything."

"Yeah, alright," Harry grinned. "So, you and Lavender. I always thought Hermione was more of, I don't know – your type."

Ron snorted. "Hermione? No. I mean, yes, I liked her, but Lavender – ah, Lavender is the real thing. Hermione and I fight too much, anyway. She's too bossy. Can you picture that – the two of us? We'd never agree on anything. I wouldn't be able to do anything without her being in the middle of it."

Harry laughed, "Because she isn't now?"

"It would be much worse, Harry. You should see that."

"Fine," Harry nodded.

They entered the Common Room a few minutes later after saying the password. Hermione, Harry noticed, sat with her nose buried in a book. Taking a deep breath, he approached her and sat down next to her on the comfortable sofa. She looked up the moment he sat down, but right back down to her book a moment later.

"Why won't you tell me where you were?" Hermione asked in a muffled voice from behind her book.

"I was with Remus. I fell asleep while grading some papers for him. It was early when I woke up and he said to stay, so I did. I was going to return then, but instead I chose to help him out today."

"You're lying," Hermione said outright, "I don't believe you, anyway. You could have just said this earlier, but you're making everything complicated. Now, where were you?"

"Fine; I wasn't with Remus the entire time," Harry told her. He looked around and sighed as he stood up. "I can't tell you everything, you have to understand that I've been sworn to secrecy," he added. "Let's go to my room, we can talk there. Where's Ron? He was right behind me."

Hermione gathered her things and left them in a pile of the sofa while Harry looked for Ron. He couldn't find the other boy anywhere, but he had been right behind him.

"Forget Ron," Harry said. "I don't think he was really all that interested anyway."

Hermione laughed. "You can't see him, because he's somewhere hidden behind Lavender." She pointed towards the only part of Ron that could be seen – his right leg.

Harry laughed. "Then it is quite obvious he isn't interested."

Hermione nodded, looking anxious.

Harry rolled his eyes at her. "Well, come on."

Hermione followed up to the boy's dorms. Once there, and once Harry was sure that no one else was up there, he cast Muffliato. "There was an Order meeting," he told her. "Dumbledore has agreed to let me go to a few of the low key meetings, so I won't be at most of them. Anyway, the only way he would let me was if I agreed to not tell anyone, which includes you and Ron, about what the Order is doing just in case. It isn't that you're not trusted. Ron's mom was so mad I was there, scared that someone would hurt me for the information. And I agree with them, I won't have you get hurt just because you know something that, at the end of the day, is not that important."

"But the meeting didn’t last all night, did it?" Hermione asked.

"I was down helping Remus when Tonks sent her Patronus about the meeting. He told me to go see Dumbledore about it, and then Dumbledore sent me to Snape."

"Snape?" Hermione laughed. "How did that go down?"

"He was okay, actually. I think since we've worked on my Occlumency and the remedial potions this year we're getting along better which was – I don’t know – probably Dumbledore's doing."

Hermione nodded. "I think that's a good thing," she said seriously. "He's the spy for the Order – it's probably important that the two of you get along."

Harry snorted but inwardly he was smiling. "Anyhow, Snape allowed me to go with him, on Dumbledore's orders of course. We got to twelve Grimmauld Place a few minutes later and the meeting began. I can't tell you anything from the meeting, of course, but afterwards I came back with Remus and I sort of crashed at his place, and I wound up helping him grade things all of today. More like reading=2 0his books. He has really interesting books on Defense. Anyhow, that's it, Hermione, that's all of it. I didn't want to mention the meeting, especially during dinner. I mean, think about it, anyone could have heard and gotten back to Voldemort, and I can't tell you everything."

Hermione nodded rather reluctantly. "I guess I can understand. This is how it felt like then, back last year when you were stuck with the Dursleys not knowing anything."

"I got over it," Harry said. "I will tell you if I really think I need to tell you, you know. I tell you about the meetings with Dumbledore. I'm not trying to keep anything from you."

Hermione sighed and nodded. "I shouldn't push you," she said. "With everything you're doing."

Harry grinned at her. That was what he loved about Hermione. She was always so distracted that she rarely ever noticed what was right in front of her nose, even though she knew that there was something that he wasn't sharing with her. She also rarely ever noticed how annoying she was being, but that was just her. Her heart was in the right place and really all she did was because she cared about him.

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November 5, 1996

Lucius Malfoy was bored. He didn’t only feel bored, but also useless. He was ready to go out there and do something for the Order, even if it meant sacrificing himself. He just couldn’t handle having to stay in one place hidden from the world, trying to keep out of sight so that the rest of them could do something. He sighed. It was frustrating. It was a terrible thing. He heard a pop from the other room and sighed. And there she was again, the woman that was giving him nightmares, literally. Oh, how he hated Nymphadora Tonks and her overly happy persona.

“Lucius!”

Lucius groaned at hearing her call. Couldn’t she just for once forget that he was there, or that she had to check up on him as she had decided that she would have to?

“In the kitchen,” Lucius called out, hoping that her stay this time would not last long.

He didn’t mind the others, not really. They all sneered at him and called him names behind his back. They didn’t trust him. They didn’t like him. He too distrusted them and disliked them; they had a good system going, but with Tonks all the rules were broken. She was nice to him. She seemed to care if something happened to him. She seemed more adamant to keep him within the house lest someone spot him and the news reach Voldemort. Tonks, he realized, was like – no! She was nothing like her.

He shook the memory of her face from his mind and tried to ignore the small pang of loss he still felt at even thinking about her. She was dead. He was never getting her back and it was about time that he tried to get over that. She had died in front of him, he had heard her cry out his name, heard her cry for Draco. Voldemort had killed her, and he would pay for that. Lucius would make sure that he did. Still, deep inside for some reason he felt as if he should not try to forget her. But she was dead.

“There you are!” Tonks skipped into the room with a grin. “So, I got you something. I know you’re using Snape’s clothes,” she wrinkled her nose at the very thought, “So I figured you’d want your own clothes. I went by Diagon Alley this morning and got you some clothes that you can use. The spell on them will make them fit you perfectly and you don’t have to borrow anything from Snape or others. I also used my abilities and pretended to be your wife, so I don’t think it was too much trouble to ask for the kind of clothes you would wear, and I think they’re really great. Really your type – ”

Lucius laughed. “Miss Tonks, I do appreciate everything you have done for me. Thank you. You do not need to go to some much trouble just for me.”

She smiled slightly. "It isn't much trouble. I know what it's like to not be trusted. I know you've done so much for the Order and, I don't know, I really don't like how the rest of them treat you."

"Well, thank you again, Miss Tonks."

"Just Tonks," she said. "Anyway, I have to go. Hope you have a nice day," and with a wave she was gone.

Merlin, he wanted to be useful, and being catered to by a pink haired, overly flamboyant Auror was not his idea of doing something useful at all. He couldn't just lay about doing nothing.

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The door opened and slammed against the wall. A man stepped into the small room. He was wearing Death Eater robes, his face covered by a silver mask. Faye looked up from her spot on the small bed that had been pushed into the farthest corner from the door.

"He wants to see you," the Death Eater said.

"Of course he does," she said with a roll of her eyes, even though she stood. She was pressing a cloth against her arm and continued doing so as she followed him out of the room.

"Why not use a potion for that?" The Death Eater asked, looking pointedly at her arm.

She laughed. "My blood is valuable," was all she gave in explanation.

He said nothing in response and then instead continued leading her down a long corridor. After turning into another hall a few minutes later, he looked at her. "I don't understand," he said.

"Don't understand what?" she asked.

"How can you be so, I don't know, so alright with everything? You're not like the rest of them, obviously. I mean I've seen how the others are kept, but you're – oh, I don't know."

She reached out and took his arm, stopping him from walking on. "How old are you, boy?" She asked.

"I'm not really supposed to talk to you," he returned, glancing around nervously.

"I think that's water under the bridge." She gave him a faint smile. "Now, answer the question."

"Eighteen," he said. "Nineteen in December."

"Just two years older," she muttered to herself and then, louder, addressing him, "How long have you been a Death Eater?"

"Just a few months; my father pushed me to do it. He's wonderful, isn't he?"

She shook her head. "I cannot agree with that. You do not know him."

"But I do!" he insisted.

"I am more than twice your age. I have been his prisoner for sixteen years and I can tell you that he has not ever been the man you think him to be. Haven't you learned your history?" She seemed to be almost kidding.

"I was never too interested. I was terrible at school. Why?"

"Ever hear of him before your father made you take the Mark?"

"Well no, but – "

"Then you know nothing, boy," she told him. "Go to a bookstore and ask for something on Harry Potter and You-Know-Who."

"Well, aren’t those lies?" He asked.

"He would want you to think so," Faye told him. "He wouldn't want you to know the truth; it would give him less power over you, which is all he has left in the long run." She gave him a smile. "That is the entire point. That is why you don't know the truth. How long have you been here?"

"Since I joined. I wanted to be useful to him."

"Have you, then, ever been told you go to one of the meetings?"

"A meeting?" He asked confused.

"A Death Eater meeting, that is," Faye explained. "He calls for his Death Eaters, his most loyal, the ones that have become almost as insane as he is, and they talk about taking over the Wizarding world, when they aren't hurting someone. My arm is like this because of them. They are sadistic bastards that just live to hurt other human beings. How do you think I will look after this meeting if they are involved. You, boy, have become involved in a war that your side may very well win, but I will do my hardest to stop it and the more people that do so, the better."

His eyes were wide and surprised and wouldn't leave her arm, the red cloth still pressed against it.

"They hurt people? Innocent people?" He asked.

"Muggles, mostly," Faye added, "Unless someone gets in their way, and a lot of people do. The Order, which is the side fighting this one. I do not officially belong to it, but the moment I escape this place I will."

He looked startled. "You're planning on escaping?"

"Well, what do you think I want most? I want to see my son. I want to see – " She trailed off, and then added, "I want to see him."

"We should get moving," the Death Eater offered.

"Promise me you'll try to get out; you'll see what you're really into. Please."

He nodded slowly and then continued leading her to her meeting with Voldemort. Faye followed rather reluctantly, but as she followed she began to notice that he wasn't exactly leading her the usual way. He was taking her somewhere else.

"Where are you taking me?" She asked.

"To see him," He offered.

"See Voldemort, right?" She asked.

He laughed. "Of course not. I wouldn't have been sent to do that, silly. To see Severus Snape, of course."

"Severus Snape?" She asked eyes wide. "Severus Snape?"

"Yes. He's the Potions Master, you know, I have to listen to him. I figure this is probably going against him, but like you said he is evil. Severus is a Death Eater; then again, there is something about him."

Faye smirked to herself. "Well, hurry then," she said. "I'm leaving this place, aren’t I?"