Chapter 5

If there was one genre that Victoria could pick to read forever, it would have to be mystery. Victoria loved the suspense, tension, and adrenaline that came from the feeling of not knowing what comes next or knowing that something big was coming. She always gasped after finding out how the mystery was solved or how the dastardly deed was committed, then muttered how she knew it—whatever it was. This time, however, Victoria didn't want the suspense, tension, and adrenaline. And she certainly didn't want to be part of any mystery novel.

Victoria knew that it could be any of the four Marauders holding her and dragging her into a room, so she made no move to try to get away. She could neither run away nor faint out of it now, and at least she will finally know why they started following her in the first place.

As she was pulled inside, she noticed that what they had stepped into was a classroom, and an abandoned one at that. The desk and chairs were collecting dust, and windows were covered in thick, heavy curtains which made the room too dark for Victoria to see her captors. The open door leading to the hallway was the only source of light in the room, but it shut itself after a few seconds so the blonde was submerged in darkness. Whoever the captor was, she had to be thankful that the person did not pull too hard, held too tight, or completely smothered her face with his hand—which smelled faintly of oranges.

When her captor let her go, Victoria's hand immediately went into her cloak pocket for her wand. Her hand only met with the soft fabric of her cloak when she realized that her wand was gone. She knew that she had it in her pocket when she went into the Great Hall earlier that evening since she took it upon herself to fluff up the pillows in the Hospital Wing before she left. She patted the other pockets that she had but found no sign of her wand.

Soft light started flooding through the room as her captor dragged the thick curtains away from the windows. Because of that, Victoria could see the old classroom better. It looked like any other classroom in the castle except for the furniture at the back with white cloth covering all of them. When she turned to look at the person holding the curtain, she had to hold in a groan. There, sitting on a desk and swinging his legs, was Lincoln Shaw. He reached into his cloak pocket and pulled out an orange before tossing it between his hands.

"Link, what?" Victoria breathed, gesturing to the environment around her.

Lincoln held up the orange, an eyebrow quirked, "Want an orange?"

Victoria was stumped. This did not turn out like one of those grand villain reveals that she had read about. "I don't want an orange, Shaw."

Lincoln reached into his pocket and asked, "How about some berries then?"

When he had found what he was looking for, he threw them towards his friend, but the blueberries that he had thrown ended up on the ground. Victoria only stared at the fallen berries in both confusion and, partially, regret. Lincoln shrugged, "Or not?"

"What are you doing?"

Lincoln sighed and jumped off the desk. Dust particles scattered and floated through the air as he did so. The dark-haired teen crossed the classroom and went close to the door, pressing his ear against the dark wood. That action made more questions fire through Victoria's mind: What was he listening for? Why are they hiding in an abandoned classroom? Why did Lincoln drag her inside a classroom instead of asking her to come with him when they were in the Great Hall? Why are they still inside the classroom? Where was her wand?

"Link—"

Lincoln put one finger against his mouth, "Shh!"

Victoria closed her eyes and placed a hand on her face in exasperation. Trust Lincoln to become so dramatic and suspenseful.

Suddenly, Lincoln muttered, "He's definitely there."

"Who's is definitely there?"

Lincoln shushed his friend once more and pressed his ear hard onto the door. From the other side, he could hear footsteps: footsteps that belonged to one person. The Slytherin walked towards Victoria and pushed her towards one of the big windows in the middle of the classroom. In one swift move, Lincoln undid the latch on the window and pried it open. Cold air breezed in and kissed Victoria's cheeks. She almost closed her eyes and asked Lincoln for a few minutes to soak up the cold breeze, but she knew that he wouldn't let her. Not when he acted like he was on a mission.

Lincoln went first, carefully pulling himself over the ledge and dropping to the grassy grounds on the other side of the window. He held out his hands towards Victoria and gestured for her to come over. In response, Victoria crossed her arms and shook her head.

"Come on, Tor," Lincoln urged, stepping closer and reaching through the window.

The blonde took a step back so that her friend could not grab her. Lincoln threw her a look of exasperation and gestured here again to come closer. Victoria shook her head once more and replied, "I'm not leaving until you tell me who is definitely in the hallway and why I have to climb through a window."

Lincoln groaned, "Fine, but I'll tell you as soon as you climb through the window."

Victoria raised an eyebrow, "Promise?"

"Promise."

The teen nodded and came closer to the window. She pushed up from the window ledge and propped her knees there. Lincoln grabbed on to her to steady her and help her over to the other side of the window. When her feet had landed on the ground, Victoria tried to pat the dust from her uniform. "So? Spill."

Lincoln stuffed his hands into his pockets and leaned on the wall of the castle. Under the moonlight, Lincoln looked like one of those cheesy male protagonists in romance books that the author tries to pass off as mysterious and unclear whether he would get together with the female protagonist (but it was 100% sure that he would). The wind picked up his hair and lightly tousled it. Victoria knew that a moment later, Lincoln would freak out because of it. "Alright, so you left the Great Hall earlier and I made sure that those jerks wouldn't follow you. But then, I noticed that there was one of them already missing."

"Lupin."

"So you noticed him missing too?"

"They never go anywhere without each other. Earlier, he wasn't with them when they came into the Great Hall."

Lincoln shot her a look which she ignored.

"I got a weird feeling, so I tried to catch up with you. Lo and behold, I saw Lupin following you down the hallway holding some ridiculous piece of parchment. Luckily, I still remember some shortcuts that we took before, climbed out a window, came into this classroom, and pulled you in. There we go; story done. Now can we please go to the Hospital Wing through this beautiful moonlight path?"

Instead of answering or walking down the side the castle, she turned towards the window and started pushing up on the window ledge. She did it with great difficulty, arms shaking under her own weight.

"What are you doing?"

When she finally propped her knees on the ledge, she turned to look at her best friend and raised an eyebrow, "What do you think I'm doing? I'm trying to go back in."

"Why are you going back in? Oh, no. Please don't break your neck. Here, hold my hand."

The blonde teen grabbed Lincoln's hand as she eased herself back into the classroom. The dark-haired Slytherin stayed on his side of the castle until Victoria pulled him in. His abdomen slammed into the ledge which earned a groan from the tall teen.

"Oh, Merlin," Victoria gasped, "I'm so sorry, Link. I was going to pull you in. Oh, shoot, right."

"Don't," Lincoln warned, holding on to his stomach. "Just tell me why you went back in."

Victoria sighed, leaning on to the ledge on the window with her elbows. "Don't you want to know about the truth?"

"Don't want you want them to just go "poof"?"

"Link," the blonde warned. The boy raised his hands nonchalantly to show surrender. "Seriously, don't you want to end all of this? I know that you think it'll all start over again in a few days. We know how persistent they are. I'm tired, Link. It's only Lupin outside—if he's still outside. He'll be easier to talk to."

"Fine," Lincoln huffed, grabbing the window ledge and hoisting himself over to the inside of the classroom. He landed with a soft "thud!" and scattered dust into the air. "But if he even thinks about lifting his wand, he'll be on the floor before he can even blink."

Victoria could only nod, knowing full-well that Lincoln would never give an empty threat. They both tiptoed towards the exit door of the classroom. Lincoln slowly opened the door and peeked out into the hallway. What he was faced with is a pair of shocked amber brown eyes. Instead of backing away or showing surprise, Lincoln tried to appear taller and glared at Remus Lupin.

"Hi," the Slytherin greeted tensely. "Fancy meeting you here on this splendid evening."

Lupin opened his mouth and closed it, finding himself unable to form the words that filled his mind. He was prepared for Thwaites, and he had even prepared the necessary questions to ask and statements to declare. However, one look from Shaw tossed all of his questions and declarations out the window.

"Well, Lupin?"

Victoria sighed and elbowed her best friend away from the door. "Hello, Lupin. Would you like to talk?"

Lupin nodded slowly, keeping an eye on the glaring Slytherin behind Thwaites. "That would be great, but can we talk in private? I want to ask something about that night."

Before Victoria could answer, Lincoln cut in with "Whatever you have to tell her, it goes through me. I don't care if you feel shy or whatever. I am not letting any of you get near her anymore. If you have a problem with that, leave."

Victoria felt her face flush at Lincoln's direct attitude, but made no action to take it back. She only whispered, "Sorry."

"So, are you in, Lupin?" Lincoln asked, pushing the door of the classroom wide open with his hand.

Lupin peered into the classroom, sweeping his eyes through the furniture inside. He didn't know what to say. On one hand, he could finally talk to Thwaites and clear things with her. But then, being in a room with a protective Lincoln Shaw might make things worse. When he turned to look at Shaw, he almost felt like baking away. He looked impatient and annoyed that Remus was there. Remus couldn't blame Shaw. If any of his friends, especially Lily, were followed around like that, he would be annoyed with the perpetrator too. The dark and heavy feeling in his stomach before settled back and made him feel sick.

"Yes. I'm in," Remus said, nodding. He entered the classroom, making sure to choose a chair or desk that was too dusty. He took the chair close to the front of the class, dusting the seat as he did so. When he turned to look back at the duo, he found that they had been staring at him the whole time from the doorway. Then, the Slytherins looked at each other and shrugged.

Thwaites walked towards the desk at the very front of the classroom that faced the whole class. It was the desk that Lincoln sat on earlier that evening, which Victoria felt had the least amount of dust on the top. Shaw followed suit, keeping a wary eye on Remus. The lanky boy could still see the annoyance set on Shaw's face. The taller Slytherin sat on the desk, dangling his legs, while Victoria simply leaned her weight on the edge of the desk. Amber eyes met soft brown in that moment.

"Why are you following me?" Thwaites asked, looking disappointed at Remus once more.

Remus always felt funny when she gave them that look. If there was one look that Remus wished he would never get, it would be disappointment—or maybe it was absolute fear. Both, unfortunately, he saw Thwaites make at him. He sighed and ran a hand through his head. "I wanted to talk to you and also to apologize."

"Apologize for what?" Lincoln asked before Victoria could. He continued, almost sneering, "For following her until she fainted? For harassing her every second that you could? For following her now after she asked you to get the bloody hell away from her earlier?"

Victoria rubbed her forehead which shook her bangles. Before Lincoln could go any further, Lupin stated, "For everything. I'm sorry for everything that happened."

This made the blonde stop and look at the Gryffindor. It felt like there was a weight that lifted off her shoulders after hearing those words. True, it was not the apology that she felt that she wanted from all of the Marauders, but knowing that at least one of them feels apologetic made her feel a tiny bit better.

"We will stop following you and none of my mates will harass you again," Lupin promised, looking sincerely at Victoria. "But, you have to promise something for me."

Out of the corner of Victoria's eyes, she could already see that her best friend was already poised, ready to strike back, like a snake. Before he could try to verbally attack Lupin, Victoria asked, "And what promise will that be?"

This simple question made the two gob smacked. They had their jaws and eyes open. Lincoln appeared to be more surprised as he stuttered, "You-You-You—what? What? W-wait a second!"

Lincoln jumped down from the desk and grabbed his friend. As he dragged her behind the covered blackboard behind the desk, he called, "Give us a minute!"

Victoria threw Lupin a tight smile before disappearing behind the blackboard. When she faced her best friend, she had to hold back a laugh. If there was one thing that she knew Lincoln, it was that he was always so sure of himself. Once, he almost broke his leg after trying to climb the tallest tree in his backyard because he told Victoria that he definitely could. Then, after a few years, he did break his arm after succeeding in climbing the tallest tree in his backyard. He said to Victoria, with a wide smile, as he was being brought to St. Mungo's, "I told you I could do it!"

When Lincoln had stopped pacing in front of her, he had the confidence back on his face. "Please tell me that you aren't seriously considering taking Lupin's condition, whatever it is?"

"I was just asking what the condition was," Victoria stated calmly, crossing her right hand over her left.

Lincoln stared at her face before he nodded, "You have a plan! Brilliant! What is it?"

Victoria giggled, "I don't have a plan, Link. I honestly wanted to know what he was offering."

Lincoln shot her a look which she waved off. Lincoln sighed, "Oh, come on! You must have a plan or something?"

She shook her head and answered, "Nope."

"Can I offer one?"

This was the time that Victoria shot him a look which Lincoln answered by raising both his hands in surrender. Victoria walked back to the desk, leaning on it. Lincoln followed, heaving a big, dramatic sigh and shooting a look at his best friend. Victoria rolled her eyes though a small smile was on her lips.

Lincoln cleared his throat and nodded to Lupin, "Proceed."

Victoria rolled her eyes harder. She offered Lupin a small smile and asked, "So, what promise were you talking about?"

Lupin breathed in deeply, "About what happened that night—what you heard and what you saw—don't tell anyone about it. Please, I can—"

Victoria held up her hand to silence Lupin, a gesture she saw her mother use a thousand times already. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Lincoln smile proudly at her then turn his smile into a smirk at Lupin.

"Lupin, I think you're forgetting that I uphold patient's rights to privacy. I am not a healer yet, but I did make an oath with Madame Pomfrey," Victoria explained. "And I plan on sticking with that oath."

The lanky Gryffindor sighed with relief. He ran a hand through his hair and then down his face. He must have thought that it was all over, but then Victoria spoke up, "I, however, have a condition for you."

The Gryffindor opened and closed his mouth like a fish because of the blonde's declaration. When he had finally collected himself, he leaned closer, placing his arms on the desk. "What condition?"

"I will keep your secret and make this declaration with your friends, but I can tell Lincoln about it." Victoria crossed her left hand over her right and stared at Lupin's amber eyes. It was as if Lincoln's confidence was passed down to her or being absorbed by her. Or perhaps it was because she had practiced different scenarios in her head of talking to the Gryffindors all throughout the day? Whatever it was, it kept Victoria standing her ground and pushing for more. "And…"

"There's more?" Lupin asked, standing up from his chair. His eyes were wide as he looked at Victoria under the moonlight. The light brought out a harshness to her features though her eyes remained soft.

Was this her true nature? Was she finally shedding her caring façade and showing her snake fangs? Lupin eyed the duo, getting annoyed at Lincoln's proud face and getting curious at the haggling the girl was making.

"And," Victoria gave a dramatic pause that Lincoln would be so proud of, "you will give me a small vial's worth of that emergency potion."

Lupin's eyes widened, and his jaw dropped. That he wasn't expecting. He thought that she would ask for test answers, make him do her homework for a year, or make him parade around in his underwear. That's what other Slytherins would have done, he thought—not ask for a bottle of dittany and silver.

"Wha—Why do you want that?" he asked after his bout of shock.

Victoria shrugged, keeping her position on the desk, "I told all of you. I am a student assistant at the Hospital Wing so that I can be a Healer. That potion is not one that I've come across before, and if I want to be the best, I have to know what it is."

Lincoln snorted, trying to hide his laugh from the Gryffindor. He looked down and grinned, whispering a "Good job" to his friend. Victoria nodded in acknowledgement, momentarily forgetting that it was a serious deal and smiling at her friend.

"So," Lincoln started.

Victoria picked it up, "do we have a deal?"

Both of them crossed their arms over their chests in a show of iron will and Slytherin pride. To Lupin, they appeared as twins with the same wavelength of thinking. How exactly could he walk out of this without burying himself deeper into the lie of the "wolf"?

He sighed, knowing that there was no way out of this with the two Slytherins teaming up. He rubbed his hands all over his face, "I think the deal is too unbalanced. You have the upper-hand here."

Victoria nodded slowly and pushed off from the desk. She paced in front of the two boys, hands still in their proper place. After a few seconds, she stopped and looked at Remus, her brown eyes flashing. "All right, then. What are your terms?"

Lincoln raised a brow at the question. The advantage was a great thing to have and, depending on how Lupin was desperate to keep the secret, they could have kept the step up over the Gryffindor. However, he knew that Victoria would want some fair play and balance in deals.

"Terms?" Lupin asked, confused.

"Terms," Lincoln repeated, remaining in his position on the table. "It means "What do you want, Lupin?". What do you think would make the deal more "balanced" in your eyes?"

"I'm good at Potions and Ancient Runes. I'm training to become a healer, so I can help you with any cuts and scrapes," Victoria said, listing off what she could offer. "If you need any potion ingredients, I can easily get a stash—"

"A favor," Lupin cut Victoria off in the middle of her list which surprised the Slytherin.

With wide eyes, she mumbled out a "What?"

"A favor," Lupin repeated. "When I need your services, I can ask for one favor that doesn't have any rules."

Victoria opened her mouth to reply, but someone grabbed her wrist and pulled her behind the chalkboard again. Lincoln called out, "Going to brainstorm for a bit, Lupin! Sit your butt down!"

"What was that for?" Victoria asked when Lincoln finally let her go.

Her best friend crossed his arms over his chest and asked, "You were going to say yes, weren't you?"

"It is only fair," Victoria said while shrugging. "Asking him to steal a potion isn't exactly the best idea that I came up with, and it could put him in danger. What's a small favor, Link?"

Lincoln rolled his eyes, "He's a Marauder, Tor! I don't care if he's one of the more docile ones; he's practically the genius there."

"It's a favor, Link. I don't think it will be that bad. We could always discuss the terms of that favor and make it so that it isn't in any way life-threatening or humiliating." As Victoria spoke, she became more and more unsure of herself. Perhaps there was an evil scheme that is waiting to start once she accepted. The more Victoria thought about it, the more likely it seemed that Lupin and his friends would use something like this against her, but as she looked at the Gryffindor from behind the chalkboard, she could feel that it wouldn't be the case with him. "Trust him. And trust me on this decision."

Lincoln searched his best friend's face for any sign that she was kidding, but all he found was complete trust and certainty that it was hard for him to say no. "Fine. Come on."

The duo went back to their previous position in front of the anxious Lupin. They nodded at each other and resumed their stance with their hands crossed on their chest. Victoria nodded her head at Lupin, a sign of confirmation. "I accept your terms. However, should the favor be life-threatening in any way, the deal is off."

The Gryffindor's eyes widened as he looked at Victoria and processed her answer. "What? Merlin, of course not. What kind of deals do Slytherins make that would make you think that?"

Lincoln narrowed his eyes at Lupin, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Victoria raised her hand, this time towards Lincoln. The boy huffed and turned away, glaring at large windows at the side of the room. She sighed and looked at Lupin, "I assure you, we don't do any deals that could cost someone's life. We just want to make sure that this favor wouldn't be that…extreme."

"I swear it on my life that it's not going to be that extreme," Lupin assured, still vaguely concerned with the deals that Slytherins make to have the two place a limit.

Victoria nodded in approval and offered her hand to shake towards the boy. "Pleasure doing business with you, then. I'll expect the potion sometime soon, I hope?"