Hope you enjoy it! It's pretty long again... but it makes up for the long time between this and the last chapter!

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I could feel the wind whipping and rushing through my hair, which had gone a touch darker in recent weeks. It often does though – the colour change charm is affected by the sunlight, and now that the darker winter months are well and truly in full force my hair is darker than ever. This, added to the occasional bout of sleet has really added to my dismal mood.

The reserve keeper had nothing on Mat, and every time he missed and let a quaffle in, you could see everyone's faces tense up, remembering how things used to be.

Despite all of that, I felt freer than I had in months, up in the air on a broom. Watching James as he tossed the quaffle with lazy ease to Lucy. He, Mark and Lucy worked together better than anyone had imagined and our team, despite the awful things that had happened in the past few weeks seemed to be pulling together through it.

Fred, toying with his beater's bat, glanced over at me and grinned when he caught me staring at James

"Oi! Locket! You're meant to be finding the snitch, not ogling your boyfriend!" He bellowed, embarrassingly enough.

Lucy jumped a little, looking round at me and losing her focus. She threw the ball badly to Mark, who then screeched at her for not concentrating. Lucy's face paled, and her big eyes widened.

I turned my full attention to searching for the snitch; this practice could do with being over.

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The team, wet, muddy and sweaty trailed back to our changing rooms. The Hufflepuffs had been practicing before us, so their changing rooms were steamed up from the showers, and loud, raucous voices could be heard.

The two girls on the Hufflepuff team, Jenny and Fiona came marching out, frowning and moaning.

"Hey, Locket! You're friend Cardew's in there, you know. She seems to be trying to break a record on how many of our team she can shag at once." The brunette one shouted at me, disgust marring her face

I felt my heart drop a little. Poor Livy. She must be really struggling with her breakup. Although, I have to say it was a little strange that we never got to meet said boy.

James, stood next to me with his arm slug casually around my shoulders, promised to wait for me in the changing rooms, while I went to check on Liv.

I pushed the door open cautiously

"Liv? Livy? Sweetie, this won't make the pain go away!"

The only answer I got was a disgusting slurping kind of noise. Gee, to think I always thought Liv was far too sophisticated to make slurping noises.

I peered cautiously around the lockers. Sure enough, there was my best friend, pinned between the Hufflepuff captain and the yellow lockers, one of her hands in his hair, the other trailing lower and lower on his bare chest. They were both breathing in the few gaps they got between snogging heavily.

I watched in this sort of morbid curiosity. It was so disgusting, and yet strangely fascinating. Although I was beginning to feel physically sick.

"Olivia Cardew!" I shouted "Stop sucking face with the goon!"

The two yanked apart, their lips swollen and dark red, hair and clothing ruffled. Liv's eyes widened when she saw me, and she stuttered a little. The three of us stood frozen in silence for a moment, when Liv seemed to look at me apologetically, and then grab said Goon's tie, and yank him back to her mouth.

I wrinkled my nose, but in the end I do have to respect my best friend's wishes, right? It's not my place to tell her what to and not to do.

Back in the Gryffindor changing rooms, everyone was just locking their lockers with various spells, and heading back to the great hall for evening snacks. There was one shower still on though, and I could just make out James's awful singing through the general clatter of the rest of the team.

"Later's, Locket, Potter!" came the chorus as everyone left.

I didn't know how to react with James at the moment. He was still wallowing in the self despair of his brother and Mat most of the time, although when he was up in the air playing quidditch, or helping me with my house elves, a little of the old James shone through.

I sighed and began stripping the practice robes off, shivering slightly as I stood folding the robes and putting them neatly in my locker, wearing only my underwear and humming lightly to myself.

I heard the shower shut off, and James pulling a towel round himself. His feet slapped on the floor as he headed for his locker. I began to panic – I was only in my underwear, for crying out loud! I know normally I would have no problems with a guy seeing me in my undies, but this was James! It was different!

But maybe... maybe it would snap him out of his little self loathing muddle? A bit like what Liv was doing with the Hufflepuff captain?

Does that make me cheap? No... I'm his girlfriend...?

But by the time I'm whittled and worried, he was round the corner, clad in just a towel and staring at me, jaw slack.

"Um...er... I-I er... I w-waited for you..." He mumbled, eyes glued to what McG calls 'Bosoms'.

I stood very still, like a scared forest animal. In all fairness, I was terrified. I'd just plunged our relationship into very different grounds, and I didn't have a clue how to react.

Gah! Of all the times to freeze in front of a guy, now is the time I actually do? The last time I felt this scared in front of a guy was second year!

James, however, seemed to be functioning just fine. He was close now, close enough to count the individual water droplets on his chest anyway. Not that my eyes were somehow stuck to his wonderful quidditch muscles, of course.

His breathing was faster than usual as he lifted a finger and tilted my chin up to meet his eyes

"Dan..." He breathed, his eyes scrutinizing every move I made. I squirmed a little, uncomfortable

He stepped forward again, pressing my bare back cold against the lockers. Goosebumps flashed across my skin from the cold metal. He put one hand on either side of my face, and leaned closer and closer. My eyes shut, and the snitches in my stomach seemed to change into bludgers.

His lips on mine were hot and heavy, no hint of the previously soft touches we had shared. This was different, very different. My hands twirled through his sopping wet hair as he prized my lips open, his tongue tasting strange... wait that tastes of shampoo! Had he been eating shampoo?

The taste was only faint though, and soon I couldn't taste it at all. It was just the taste of James, his tongue harsh against mine. His hands moving confidently down my neck and then down the sides of my body, tickling lightly as they passed my stomach and pausing on my hips. His slick, wet body against mine pushed the bludgers away. One of his arms slipped around the small of my back, pressing me closer to him, making me bend around to reach his mouth still. The kiss was, like all those we'd shared recently, harsh, hot and heavy. It was passionate, not loving. That both thrilled and scared me, although his touch on my stomach was gentler now, as though he'd settled into himself again.

As he settled, so did I, and I begin to crave his touch on my skin more and more. It felt like I needed him more than I needed to eat, to breath, to live. It was just him, me and him, in a blissful little bubble.

His hands brushed higher up on my stomach again, coming closer and closer to the lacy fabric of my bra. His touch sent hot ripples through my skin, and I pushed myself closer to his touch, craving it.

He responded in kind, pulling on the fabric teasingly, moving his mouth from mine and nibbling down my neck. Both of us were breathing short and sharp, and the sound seemed to be amplified in the tiled changing rooms. One of his fingers teased under the wire, and I tensed as it sent goose bumps over my skin.

He paused, looking at me with burning eyes.

"You're so beautiful." He whispered reverently, trailing the single finger back and forth, just under the edge of my bra. I went to reply, but all that came out was a muffled moan. He gave a very 'Idiot Group' style smirk, and his finger slipped higher and higher agonizingly slowly.

"S-stop... teasing." I whimpered

His eyes burned brightly, and he bent to suck hard on my neck, almost certainly leaving a mark. Ha, that's going to be fun to explain to McG.

"Where did you get that mark, young lady?"

"Well, my most darling headmistress... when... Erm..."

Yeah... doesn't sound fun.

James had one hand fully under my bra now, teasing and trailing all over my boob, while the other reached round and twiddled with the clasp, undoing it with a 'snap'.

We were so caught up in what we were doing, that we didn't even hear the door open.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Yeah... we heard the scream.

James leapt off me, and we both turned to the source of the noise guiltily.

Lucy stood there, her stuff at her feet where she'd clearly dropped it, jaw slack and eyes wide

"Er... Hi?" James offered

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I sat on Liv's bed in the dorms, my head in my hand. Kiki was scribbling on a parchment (divination homework) and Liv was rolling around on the floor laughing her head off

"Hahaha! What did she say?" Liv wheezed

My face was brighter red than it had been in a very long time. In fact, I never blush. Well, today seems to be an exception.

"She sort of stuttered something about forgetting her scarf, and then turned tail and ran." I said, horrified.

"And what were you and James wearing?" Liv asked, for the fourth time

I groaned "Liv, you know he was in a towel and I was in my undone bra and my knickers."

She cackled and wheezed and rolled around clutching her sides.

"Eric, you feel sorry for Mummy, don't you?" I cooed "You understand how it feels?"

Eric looked at me for a moment, and then his face screwed up, almost in intense concentration. A few moments later, a horrid smell drifted my way, and Liv cackled more than ever.

Eric did have the decency to look at least a little ashamed.

The next morning we got up and went for a run, showered and make-upped. I grabbed my bag and picked up Eric, who had defiantly grown since I'd first transfigured him. By the time we reached the kitchens to hand him over to the house elves, my arm was killing me from his weight.

The three of us marched into the Great Hall, chattering happily about a new range of shoes at Chang's.

I was not prepared for almost all of the first year, and some of the second years, to stop eating their breakfast and stare at me like I was some kind of foreign species.

I must have just missed James as we left the common room, because I felt his strong arms wrap around my middle and his lips grinning against my neck as he whispered 'Morning' in my ear.

A big, cheesy grin split across my face. That was the James I knew!

The first and second years giggled and tittered and some of them even blushed, as though they were watching some sort of porn movie at breakfast.

Fred sauntered in after James, grabbing a piece of toast of Kiki's plate as he sat down next to my African friend.

I kept glancing around nervously, feeling the eyes of the younger students on my back.

Fred noticed, and grinned a feral grin. Now I knew, it wasn't hard to see the wolf in Fred

"So you two know?" He asked

We shook our heads

"There's a rumour going round that one of the firsties walked in on you two having sex in the Gryffie's changing rooms."

I felt my face heat up again, although I'd planned ahead this time and had a concealment charm covering the pinkness of my cheeks.

Fred however seemed to notice our stunned silence, and take it as an affirmative. He began cackling, similar to Liv had.

James and I looked at each other, eyes wide.

"Fred! We weren't... having sex." James hissed at his best friend and cousin

Fred, however, was in no mood to listen. No, he'd cast a sonorous charm on himself, and was now standing on the bench, waving to get people's attention.

I watched him in transfixed horror, as the hall turned to watch him. It was like watching a slug shrivel up and die after you've put salt on it. Awful, truly horrific, and you just can't not watch.

"Fred!" James warned "Sit the hell down!"

"JAMES POTTER AND DANNIE LOCKET HAD SEX IN THE GRYFFINDOR CHANGING ROOMS!"

I banged my head hard on the table. This is not happening to me. This is not happening to me. This is NOT HAPPENING TO ME!

Fred sat down again, looking very much like the cat that got the whole canary shop.

Liv grinned and high fived him, but Kiki huffed and turned her nose up. At least you know who your friends are.

The hall was silent for a moment, and then all hell broke loose. Everyone was straining to catch a glance of me and James, and all the teachers looked mortified.

"Oh Merlin." I muttered, as McG came storming towards us, tartan robes swinging menacingly

"Potter! Locket!" She said in a deadly, cold tone

I whimpered and shrank closer to James

"What on EARTH do you think you were DOING?" she continued, not caring the entire hall was listening

"We didn't... we weren't..." James tried miserably

She however, was in no mood to listen "And then think of the poor First Year! Goodness knows..."

On and on she waffled, and so my mind drifted. I had a divination essay to do, something about palm reading. I could probably get Kiki to help with that one "...highly irresponsible..." and then I've got a bit of Herbology as well... bubotubers I think. Maybe it was the Lefupters? "... Disgrace to Gryffindor..." and then there is the matter of Scorpius and Rose. Clearly no kind of magic is going to help us get them together. We'll have to resort to good old fashioned matchmaking "... can't believe it, what will your Grandmother say..." to get them together somehow. And then there's all that about Mat and Albus. There must be something, surely? "...one hundred points from Gryffindor..." I will not give up. Besides, "... yes, MY OWN HOUSE..." if I turned myself in now, can you imagine what McG would say? She'd think I've deliberately left school property when she'd specifically told me not to, and had sex in the Gryffindor changing rooms. "... I'm flooing Harry and Ginny..." There is definately something a little off about Kiki. Like she knows something that the rest of us don't... she kept drifting and getting a far-away look in her eye. Maybe it's her Sight playing up again. It did that in third year, you know. Me and Liv joked for months that she needed Inner Glasses. "...ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME, LOCKET?"

"Oh... erm... yeah?"

Aw shucks. I might as well have given her a written confession for a crime I didn't even commit. It would save a lot of effort.

Her office was no better. James and I sat in the chairs as McG ranted and raved on. If she'd just let us get a word or two in here or there, she'd realise what a fool she was making of herself.

That made me grin. Ha! I'd have something on McG! Mwhahahaha!

"What? You think getting pregnant at your age is funny, Locket?" She snapped, eyes glinting and lips thin

"No. Of course not. I was just laughing at you."

Oh god. She's actually going to kill me. My mouth is a complete disgrace to all of Wizard Kind. Even James was looking at me like I was insane

"Honestly, I'll take Veritaserum if you want me to, James and I were not having sex in the Gryffindor changing rooms!" I continued "And if you'd stopped for one moment to consider all that 'fairness' crap you stand for, you'd have realised this was a stupid RUMOUR!"

And with that, I stormed out. Merlin I was ANGRY! So, so, SO ANGRY!

Okay, so maybe I ran out because I was terrified McG was about to kill me, but hey, same difference, right?

I soon lost track of where I was going. I was running as far as I could, as fast as I could, and I couldn't see through the tears.

"Hello Lily, sweetie, password please?"

"Muggle." I stated hoarsely

She smiled sympathetically at me as she swung open "James'll come round. He doesn't mean to hurt you, you know."

I nodded dumbly and curled up in a corner, forcing myself to keep my eyes open until I had regained control of myself enough to not open the Spirit World by accident.

I rocked myself gently, singing 'Scarbough Fair' softly under my breath. I didn't exactly have a wonderful voice – it was always a little flat, just like my mum's. I liked it that way. A connection to her, for once. Unlike Eliza, the portrait woman had assumed, it wasn't James this time. No, I think I was more angry at myself. If I'd not spent all that time being the slaggy bitch that I was, McG would have believed me when I said we DIDN'T HAVE SEX IN THE BLOODY CHANGING ROOMS!

"Mr Potts?" I called meekly

"Yes, Mistress? Is yous alright?" He asked, after the usual CRACK!

"Can I have some warm Sloosh, please? And a white choc chip cookie?"

Mr Pott's eyes widened, mentally calculating just quite how many calories I'd asked for, all in one go. All the same, he hurried off into the little kitchen area and quickly made the Sloosh, handing it to me while we waited for the cookies to cook.

"How is Mrs Potts?" I asked eventually, a lot calmer

Mr Potts smiled, and his eyes twinkled "Oh Mrs Potts is good, Mistress! Mr Potts is very grateful to Mistress!"

I grinned at him. It was nice to know that Mrs Potts and their new family was doing well.

"The childrens have started to talk, Mistress!"

I gawped at him. After like, a week? They're talking?

"Oh... wow! That's great!" I congratulated, a little bemused

"Oh yes, Mistress! They'll be ready for yous in about a month, Mr Potts thinks."

Gah. House elves. You can't say anything without offending them. If I say I don't want a ton more house elves, he'll be horrified...

"Well done." I settled for "Well, I won't keep you, I'm sure you and Mrs Potts are very busy."

Mr Potts wafted his ears around a little as he nodded, and then disappeared in a CRACK!

I settled on the dark red armchair, holding my Sloosh close to me and watching the flames in the grate flicker. About ten minutes later James stumbled through the portrait hole, his face bright red.

"Oh thank Merlin. I thought I'd find you here." He said, pouring himself some Sloosh and grabbing four cookies at once, before sitting on the floor at my feet leaning against my legs

"That was possibly the most embarrassing moment of my life." He proclaimed "Imagine this: my mum, dad, McG, Uncle Nev and Auntie Lu all in the head's office, trying to give me The Talk. No matter what I said, they wouldn't take no for an answer, until I got about as angry as you did, and broke one of McG's transfiguration thingies. You know, the silver one. Anyway, then I yelled a bit more and then stalked off."

I smiled a little. I wasn't really listen to what he was wailing about; I was just so happy he was being normal again.

"James? Do you want the rest of my cookie? I don't really want it now. I'm okay."

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"Look, Dan, it was pretty funny, you have to admit." Fred pleaded with me in Divination. Kiki glared at the two of us.

Yes... there's defiantly something off about Kiki.

"No, Fred, it wasn't funny. You've gotten me in some pretty deep shit now, thank you." I snapped, turning back to my bloody glass ball.

"All right, all right. Keep your knickers on." He retorted, rolling his eyes.

Suddenly Kiki's face drained of colour, and her eyes went wide. I'd seen this happen before.

"Er, Professor? Kiki needs to go to the sick room." I said, as I dragged the barely conscious Ki out of the room, Liv trailing behind and Fred looked pretty worried, although he stayed in the smoky room.

Outside, we sat in a dusty corridor, me and Liv watching Kiki with wide eyes. Her eyes were rolling around wildly, and she was breathing heavily, her hands jerking sometimes.

It lasted about ten minutes; the longest she's ever been... er... Looking (or Seeing?) for.

"Chocolate." She whispered hoarsely. Liv guiltily pulled a small slab out of her pocket and handed it over.

Kiki nibbled on it for a moment, looking at me all the while.

"What was it, Ki?" I asked gently "What did you see?"

She stayed silent, staring at me.

"Really, Ki, what did you see?" Liv asked, panicked. Kiki always tells us what she's seen

"I need to speak to McGonagall." She said, and then stood up and left "Thanks."

Li and I looked at each other. There was no way Kiki would even make it to the head's office in the state she was in right now, and no matter how much she'd brushed us off, I wasn't about to let her get hurt.

"Ki! Kiki wait up!" We yelled, dashing after her, skidding round the corner and up to McG's bloody office, yet again.

I shifted uneasily under McG's glare. Kiki, it seemed, really wasn't going to make it to the head's office. Liv had taken her to see Madam L, but not before McG saw me and cornered me

"I can't even begin to say just how disappointed I am, Locket. You are a good student, and especially recently there have been improvement in your work ethic and your personality. I had, I have to say, put it down to James's good influence. Now, however, I'm not so sure if you're a bad influence on him."

"WHAT?" I shouted. I'm a bad influence? Never. I'm practically the poster child for following rules and regulations.

She silenced me with a thin lipped glare "I hope you realise the severity of this claim." She told me "I can't believe you would be so irresponsible, and then be so blatantly rude to me. I have flooed your grandmother; she'll be here in a few moments. She was just making her routine donation to St Mungo's."

Crap. Crap crap and a cheese sandwich, I'm dead. Gran will go loopy. Insane. She'll kill me. Crap crap shitty McShit SHIT!

We sat in silence until Gran stepped stately out of the green flames. She was in a big, brown fur coat, and as always was immaculately turned out. Her pale grey eyes; my eyes, swept over the three of us, stopping on McG, as she inclined her head politely towards her old school time...er...chum?

I couldn't decide if the complete dismissal of me was better or worse than an outright glare would have been. I'm thinking worse; at least I'm used to the glare.

"Wonderful. Minerva, as always, a pleasure. Daniela, you have disappointed me greatly. I had a lot of faith in you, child. Now... What am I to think? And Mr Potter! I do hope your parents are ashamed of you."

With that, my grandmother nodded imperiously and then swept from the room, down the stairs and left the heads office.

I was pale, and felt worse than I had done in days. Gran has that effect on you, really. In a strange kind of way, it was almost as though we really did have sex... just without the obvious benefits.

Why on earth was Gran going that way? Surely she wasn't off to visit a student? She hates kids!

She knows... she knows something. Something important enough to warrant the Imperious Look. What on earth could she be doing? Merlin knows I don't need another person caught up in all of this crazy mess.

At least Gran could pay her way out of Azkaban.

Way out of Azkaban! Why on earth didn't I think of this before? If I can't stop Albus going there in the first place, then we'll simply have to break him out again! Flippin' heck, Dan, you're slipping if it took that long to see such an obvious answer.

I'll tell Liv... and see what she thinks about telling Kiki. Ki might have a fit and force us to promise we'd never do anything so stupid... perhaps it's best if she thinks I thought of it about ten minutes before we break him out...

Hmm... That has potential

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After my esteemed Grandmother left, McG seemed a little baffled. In fact, she eventually stopped talking enough for me and James to explain we were in fact only...er... having a heated snogging session.

"What do you mean 'heated snogging session'?" She probed, still glaring

"Well... I think James had managed to undo my bra... but I still had my knickers on and James was in a towel; he'd just gotten out of the shower." I said, plainly.

James jerked, and let out a surprisingly high squeak. McG was frozen for a moment, the tea cup in her hand rattling ominously in its saucer

"Right. Of you go then." She said, faintly.

I grinned at James, grabbed his hand and sped from the room before McG could change her mind. Besides, it wasn't as if we hadn't already forfeited a load of points. About a hundred, I think. Well that's a wave goodbye of the house cup anyway. Now where did Gran go...

"Jamie? Have you got the map with you?" I asked.

He silently handed me the map out of his back pocket. He had a funny little smile on his face and he kept murmuring about 'never forgetting the look on her face'. I'm hoping he was on about McG.

I unfolded the map carefully (it's pretty damned old) and whispered the password, watching in fascination as the ink sprawled outwards from the centre.

Gran was in the Slytherin common rooms. Hardly surprising, I suppose, except for the company – Sunny Longbottom and Iris Zabini. Albus's friends.

So she did know something. Something important, about Albus. Although why she was involving herself in this. She was doing the dirty work, for once. Well, well, well. This is clearly a serious thing, or incredibly dangerous... No, if you can pay enough, people will do almost anything.

So that means Gran can't tell anyone. Or won't. But how did she get into the common rooms? How in the name of Voldieshorts did she know their passwords?

She's been here before. She must have been. No other explanation.

Brown fur coat... she never wears that anymore. It's her assassin coat, as Granddad calls it. A coat big enough to hide most weapons underneath, and expensive enough to evade authority.

Gran is most definitely up to something.

"James? How do you feel about a little trip to the Snake's Den?"

He grinned a feral grin at me; something he must have learnt from Fred "Well, I'd say they wouldn't mind, but a lion in a snake's den... a little prophetic, don't you thing? Let's go."

It was strange, running down the corridors towards their slimy little dungeon. We weren't technically doing anything wrong, as of yet. Oh we'd conspired, planned, been falsely accused and Salazar knows what else... not that that changed anything.

The ever faithful map told us the password, and we slipped in, covered by rushed concealment charms. They wouldn't hold long.

Their common room was different to ours. It had a similar air to Knockturn Alley – everyone's a little illegal, so everyone keeps to their own business. If one of them ratted, they'd all be up in front of the Magical Law Enforcement as soon as they could grab a handy bag of galleons and get out again. Still, that's a waste of galleons... and a tarnish on an otherwise well kept reputation.

And similar to Knockturn Alley, when you live among those with... questionable morals, you have useful sneaky holes and well placed hidden passageways. Meaning James and I would be safe and happy to watch the scene unfold from one of these such places. I doubted very much that any of the students even knew of half of them. We'd be fine, I thought, as we squished ourselves against the cold stone.

Gran was being watched by many in there, not just us. She, as usual, didn't seem to care.

I frowned, clutching my wand tightly as I aimed it towards Gran, Sunny and Iris.

"Audtese." I whispered. The charm that makes WWW's Extendable Ears work, although it's not as obvious as a piece of flesh coloured string. It's also quite a difficult charm to do, so I probably would feel pretty tired afterwards

"Now then, Solar..." Gran said "I can see that you don't understand. But you must remember that you don't need to understand the plan to carry it through. I understand it. That is all that is necessary."

Aw Gran. You're slipping back into your manipulative ways!

"B-but Mrs Locket! What on earth do you want with St Mungo's?" Iris added, backing up her friend.

Gran, despite being a rather manipulative bastard does know when to back down.

"Very well. I trust the rules of the common room have not changed?" She queried

"No. The rule still stands. Nothing of this will get outside our walls." Sunny promised, looking eager

Gran paused for a moment, laying her hands on her lap making her nails clink together

"I'm not sure how much young mister Potter has told you." Again, she paused, and took in the expressions of the two girls around her.

"Good. Clearly, you are completely baffled. Albus has been looking into a few... things. What, would you say, is the most influential group in the wizarding world?"

Without hesitation, both girls stated "The ministry. They control everything."

Gran smiled "Wrong. Where do you go if you are dying? Where do you go when you fall ill, need help? Where do all the witches and the wizards in England end up at some point or other? St Mungo's. Simple and easy, without a hospital, people die. Without a ministry, riots break out, but with skill these can be evaded. Illness and death is inevitable."

I felt my brain click into place before anyone else's did. After all I was used to Gran's way of twisting words.

"Albus has been corrupting St Mungo's! Holy shit! And my Gran's in on it! Why though? Why bother?"

James was frozen, silent next to me, so I continued my whispered "That's what Mat was using to blackmail Al with!"

"...And I hope I can trust the two of you more than I could trust that other boy, the muggleborn. No manners what so ever. Didn't even realise who a Gaunt was! Fancy!" Gran exclaimed, clearly not amused about someone being ignorant of her status.

James glowered at Gran "I can't believe Mat worked with her."

I grinned "Jamie, you have no idea. I've lived with her. Besides, it'll have been for, not with."

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James had sent a message to Fred (Merlin know's how), asking him to get him, Kiki and Liv to come to the old Head's dorms.

"Right... so your Gran's up to no good, as usual." Kiki pondered, tapping an old muggle biro against her teeth

Liv snorted "Yeah. She was probably bored."

Fred flashed her a grin over the table, and Kiki scowled at the two.

"Yeah. And I can see what Gran was saying; St Mungo's is a very vulnerable and valuable part of Wizarding society. But why bother? It's a lot of effort, and even more money to make it work out, isn't it?" I said. Gran never does anything without a reward – what's in this for her?

Kiki glowered "And think of the rewards. The entire world under your thumb, and a vast cash reserve. What's to lose?"

Fred nodded, strangely sombre "I think Kiki's right. After all, it's a pretty big incentive. The only thing is, I doubt either your Gran, or Al could have pulled this off alone. I also don't think Al could have had the initial idea. Trust me, I know him really well, and he's simply not that insightful, and he defiantly wouldn't deliberately cause pain to anyone."

James was nursing a big, steaming mug of Whiskey and Orange, and staying stubbornly silent.

"Okay... so Gran already had this planned. Granddad almost certainly doesn't know about it; he'd never let her go through with something like this. Sure, Granddad may be a bit... pureblood-y, but there is a limit that he won't cross. Thing is though, Gran has more money than sense, and she already has a lot of power in the wizarding world. She doesn't gain anything from this you know." I pointed out, as Kiki scribbled away, keeping track of everyone's ideas. "And trust me, Gran never does anything unless there's something in it for her."

"Well what if she's with your psycho father and great uncle on this as well?" Fred asked "Could this all be one big, massive thing?"

Everyone seemed to consider it for a moment. I snorted. Gran and my father? Yeah right. Pull the other one.

"No way in hell would Gran ever even think of working with my father. That would be like Vampires turning vegetarian. Trust me, that's one of the least likely explanations for this, only beaten by Voldie actually wanting to help all the poor, sick kiddies, and buying them all candy."

The room was silent for a moment, although I'm fairly sure you could hear Kiki's brain whizzing around as she thought Uber fast.

"Well then Albus found out about you and Riddle, and put the mystery together faster than we did, probably because he's lived all his life with the Boy-Who-Lived, and realised there was no way this 'war' as such would be won by three girls. So, he went looking for the influential people of the world, and since he's in Slytherin, he pulled up your Gran, and explained the situation. I recon your Gran must be bored out of her brain at her manor, and decided to have a bit of fun every once in a while, with the added benefit of helping you out. Then Mrs Gaunt put on her Slytherin thinking cap, and got plotting. She came up with the St. Mungo's thing, and Albus managed to put it into practice. Mat managed to find out somehow. Mat must have already been working for your dad, Dan, because he used the knowledge as blackmail. Then Mat fluffed up the Forest mission, and got them both caught."

Everyone looked at Liv in shock, although Kiki let out a disgruntled little huff and a 'That's what I was going to say'.

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Life, as it usually does, continued onwards. In fact, were it not for the fact that I firmly believe we are in charge of our own destinies, I'd tell you Fate was a very cruel bitch indeed. See, had these things happened over a nice spread of time, they would have been easy to deal with. Okay, so not easy, but easier.

I was, at the moment, stood in the reception of St Mungo's, holding James's hand very tightly. I was not happy about the plan, but I really didn't have any option. I wasn't a happy hippogriff (actually, if I ever get as fat as a hippogriff, please harpoon me) – it was half three in the chuffing morning, and plan or no bloody master plan, I was never getting up this early ever again.

We were two weeks into the Christmas holidays now, and Christmas itself was less than a week away. James, Fred, Liv, Kiki and even Lucy (who was still giving James and I a wide berth, much to the amusement of the others) had all decided to stay in the Castle for Christmas, returning home on Christmas Eve, and coming back to school the day after New Year's Day. This way, none of us missed the Potter/Weasley Christmas do, the Gaunt New Year's ball, or the Angelou's Masked Boxing Day ball. It also meant we had the run of the castle almost entirely to ourselves. And we were using it to our full advantage.

We'd hooked up a truly ingenious system, invented by Kiki, and created by Fred, that allowed us to spy on almost all of the castle. All we needed was a simple 'bug', to give it it's muggle name (although this was a rather tricky piece of charms, in fact) in the place we wanted to be able to see. Then that 'bug' was hooked up to a specific area of water, ranging from an old tea-cup to a disused (and probably stolen) bath. The tea-cup, if you're wondering, showed a rather small broom-closet, and the bath showed the Great Hall.

It had taken ages to get into the Hufflepuff's. Slytherin had let me in with an easy hiss of parsletongue, Ravenclaw's knocker proved practically laughable when Kiki answered the riddle in a heartbeat, and obviously we already knew the Gryffie's password. The 'Puffs, however, guarded their secret like some kind of hell hound.

In the end, James and Fred threw an 'end of term smash up', and got enough of them pissed to weasel the password out of them.

You won't believe what the password is. Apparently it never changes. 'Helga Hufflepuff'. That's it. Nothing fancy, nothing clever, nothing snobby. Just Helga Hufflepuff.

The Headmistress's office had been almost impossible to get into, and McG didn't seem too enthralled at the mention of a 'piss up' and Fred so eloquently put it. In fact, she was almost as angry as she had been that day with the...er... 'Changing room' incident. Still, Fred managed to pour custard all over Slughorn, and get sent to the Office of Doom, where he managed to plant the bug without McG noticing at all.

"James! We must be insane!" I whispered furiously to him "We'll never pull this one off!"

He grinned back cockily "Course we will. I'm a Potter, and you're a Gaunt. What's to lose?"

Stupid bloody prat.

"This isn't like the ministry, James! They won't just be corrupted..." I trailed off, realising the stupidity of my statement. They could be, and they had been.

"Right." I said faintly "We're both insane idiots."

I twisted my face up into a fake grimace of pain and stumbled over to the desk.

"Excuse me?" I asked, startling the comic reading receptionist

"w-what can I do for you miss..." he yawned, squinting at me "Oh, wait, aren't you M-Mrs G-Gaunt's granddaughter?"

I grimaced "Y-yeah... my stomach is extremely painful, can you do something. I'm starting to feel really faint."

"...wonderful woman, Mrs Gaunt..." The man waffled.

Wait... the staff like Gran? What are they, insane? Either that or they have the intellectual abilities of a spatula. Possible, I suppose.

"Er... my stomach? I'm in agony!" I wailed. Really, if all this goes to pot, I can just become an actress. I think I have a real skill.

"Oh! Goodness! R-right... what can I do for you?"

Okay, so this guy has the intelligence of a spatula. I'm in a bloody hospital, with a – ahem – terrible pain in my stomach... what do you think you're going to do, you bloody stupid man? Hospitaly stuff, that's what!

"Fix my bloody stomach, you idiot!" I snarled, momentarily losing my cool, agonizing stomach facade in the stress of the moment. James stamped on m y foot, making me wince, and the receptionist smiled sympathetically

"Ooh, yes, a sore stomach can be very painful."

"Well do something then!" I yelped, looking around the deserted waiting room. Okay, everything had been going to plan, but now we had this idiot of a receptionist!

"What can I do for you madam?" He asked, looking startled that there were even people there.

"My stomach." I ground out "Is very painful. Please fix it. Or at least find me someone who can fix it."

"Ooh, yes, a sore stomach can be very painful."

Okay. There are people who aren't as bright as others, there are people who – and I'm not discriminating in any way, shape or form – are mentally disabled, and then there are people like this man, who appears to be perfectly normal, but really, they just have a few sayings that they repeat over and over again in the hopes that one of them fits vaguely into the situation.

Bloody hell.

I do not have time for this. It's as though his flippin' tape's gotten stuck...

"Oh my god." I whispered, feeling my face drain of colour "She wouldn't... please tell me she wouldn't..."

"What's the matter?" James asked urgently, his hazel eyes wide and a hand ruffling through his hair as though it was some kind of stress reliever.

"Very painful, very painful." The receptionist parroted, his eyes blank and un-seeing.

"Oh my god." I whispered again, watching horrified as the empty body of the receptionist keeled over, the spell placed on it wearing thin

"Painful, Painful." It said eerily, before falling silent once again in the empty waiting room.

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A/N: this is a little scene of the Headmistress's office, written in the third person, although it's sort of from Kiki's angle, if that makes sense. I hadn't planned on putting this in directly, just hinting at it, but one or two of you requested it, and seeing as you've all been so wonderfully understanding with my illness, I thought I'd treat you =P

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"Come in."

Kiki hurried up the steps on shaky legs. "P-Professor! Emma Locket; she's going to die!"

"Goodness gracious, what on earth are you on about child?" the headmistress asked imperiously, looking down the end of her sharp nose and through her glasses

"I'm on about Dannie's little sister, Emma! She's in Mungo's at the moment, yes, well she's there because she's some kind of catalyst given to her... oh my gosh... Dannie. Dannie was the catalyst! Nothing to do with catching Dannie, they wanted Dannie because they needed Dannie to set off Emma's curse! Dannie had her eyes shut when she walked through that bubble, meaning the killing curse, which rips your soul from your body, couldn't do that, as Dannie's soul was already in a different World... and yet that in its self must have set off the curse on Emma. They're not trying to catch Dannie, they're only need Dannie as long as Emma's in a coma! The moment Emma wakes up, they'll kill Dannie, and force Emma to work for Voldemort, meaning that they'll have won! They'll finally be Masters of Death, won't they!

"They've done the impossible by kidnapping a young girl and setting off an age old curse about ten years too early... and using her older sister to speed things up. Dannie is merely a temporary stop."

Minerva McGonagall prided herself in knowing everything that happened in and around Hogwarts. She almost never used the knowledge, unlike Albus, but she still had that knowledge if she needed it. But she didn't know half of this. Clearly, her own students, of her own house, had been working on some sort of conspiracy theory for months now. Besides which, it clearly was extremely unlikely. This was clearly the reason they continually broke the rules despite everything she'd told them.

"I don't doubt that you've put a lot of time, effort and thought into this, but I want you to look at this with a level head now. You're telling me that Lord Voldemort has found a way to come back from the dead, using your best friend's little sister... and that it's all a massive conspiracy? Come back and tell me when you have solid evidence."

Kiki had grown up around Ravenclaws, wise and intelligent people, and she knew her headmistress was right. There was no evidence, only theories. Still... it was hard to sit back and wait for the other side to slip up and leave something important.

Still... the only way to beat Lord Voldemort was to kill Emma, and make sure Dannie never used the Spirit World.

So if you were going to try to kill a young girl, while she was in St. Mungo's, for the greater good, how on earth would you go about it? St. Mungo's worked solely for the purpose of treating it's patients, and relied on the donations of the rich upper classes.

So how much money would it take before the staff would turn a blind eye? Was there even a figure?

Because if there was a way of corrupting St. Mungo's, and someone who was opposing Voldemort found out, Emma's days were getting shorter and shorter as the minutes dwindled past.

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So... perhaps you can see what Mrs Gaunt is trying to do now? I suppose in a way she's the more unbalanced, pureblood, Slytherin Dumbledore of my story. She's trying to kill her own granddaughter for the Greater Good, and stop Voldemort rising again.

Now a little look at Albus! Poor boy...

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Eventually, when you've been in the same place for long enough, and you can't see any form of daylight, time drifts into a big, grey mass. Sometimes, faces he recognised would visit him, stare at him with horror and disdain. They were like little freckles on the face of the grey blur.

He'd been in the Ministry's holding cell since the incident. It was guarded day and night by Aurors, although never familiar ones. Everyone knew he was Harry Potter's son though. He'd failed his father, again.

James never failed. James was popular. James was a Gryffindor. James had a hot girlfriend. James was amazing at quidditch. Everyone loved James. Lily was the pretty, smart, quirky youngest, and most importantly, a girl. Ginny always wanted a girl. Harry said he didn't mind, but truthfully, he'd probably wanted a girl as well.

Albus, of course, was wrong. His parents loved him just as much as they loved their other children. Harry often saw himself in Albus, just as he saw the original James Potter in his James Potter, and as he saw Ginny in his youngest, Lily.

Harry had many times stood at the crossroads between right and wrong, and wondered why there wasn't some sort of sat-nav to life. It also wasn't the first time he felt he'd not done enough for his children. Albus had made some stupid mistakes, and allowed himself to believe that Slytherin = evil.

Albus's accomplice, Mathew Higgins, was an unusual case, not often seen by the ministry, and one that reminded Harry eerily of Peter Pettigrew. Mathew had been best friends with James and Fred right from the start. Mathew was the calm, reasonable, sensible one, while Fred was the outrageous, often vicious practical joker and womanizer, whereas James was the more light-hearted one, less tended to drift between girls constantly, but at the same time the glue and the leader of the three of them.

Much though Harry would never, ever believe Fred capable of any kind of offence similar to the one Mat had committed, if you were to look at the three boys, you'd say without a doubt that Fred was the most likely to go 'bad'.

Harry visited Albus every night, once the young Slytherin had fallen into a drug induced sleep. Truthfully, Harry hadn't slept more than two nights on the run at home, away from Albus, since he'd first been arrested. He simply couldn't bring himself to believe that Albus, his son, could have done something so completely out of character.

Albus was, if anything, rather naive. He trusted easily, although he'd never lacked the Slytherin cunning. Still, he held the values of all of the Wotter clan; equality, individuality and trust.

So, if that was the logic Albus had been using... Harry wondered... what on earth was his youngest son involved in? In a sudden epiphany, Harry jumped to the conclusion that this wasn't a simple, isolated incident, it was linked to something else.

What, yet, Harry didn't know.

"Dad! DAD!" His eldest son shouted, leaping down the worn steps to the holding cells, startling the guards and jolting Harry Potter from his ponderings. Only a few steps behind James came Dannie, her dark red curls flying and bouncing as she hurried after her boyfriend, her acid green stilettos reminding him rather worryingly of Rita Skeeter.

"Dad! St. Mungo's! It's... it's...!" James stuttered

Harry blinked the sleep out of his eyes, looking at the clock on the wall.

4:12am

The first thought that popped through Harry's head was 'I wonder if James's girlfriend always wears lip-gloss, or if it's just for 4 in the morning?'

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Okay, back to Dannie now! I hope those two little bits have cleared things up a little! Almost all of the 'information' as such has been explained. Take this as knowing of the Horcruxes, but not yet of the Hallows...

Mwhahahahahaha...

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James wasted no time in throwing some Floo Powder into the grate and yelling 'Ministry of Magic!', jumping in after me just as the green flames whisked me away.

I couldn't get the man's eerie voice out of my head. James stepped out of the fire after me, looking around the empty hall for a moment, his eyes lightly brushing over me as I tried to straighten out my clothing.

~~FLASHBACK~~

I was wearing black distressed denim jeans, a stripy grey and black top and my acid green stilettos. Not exactly my best ever outfit, but I'd chucked it on in a hurry after waking up at some kind of unhealthy hour. I lo-like James and all, but I'm not really too impressed with getting up this bloody early. Even poor little Eric whimpered and wined when I shoved the covers back and slammed the alarm clock half the way across the room to shut it up. Liv and Kiki slept on blissfully thanks to a rather wonderful spell 'muffilato'. Can you imagine how much worse it would have been if Liv and Kiki were there screaming at me as well?

I'd met James in the common room. He was looking decidedly more ruffled than I was, and frankly he looking hot. Wearing a pair of hastily shoved on blue jeans that hung low and loose on his hips, secured by an oversized 'Superman' logo belt and a white t-shirt that was all creased and pulled up in places as though he couldn't bother pulling it on properly (probably true)... It made me wonder if I'd rather stay in the common room and shove him up against the wall and snog him until his brains fell out... and then there's always the couch if things get a bit further, and there are only a few teachers in the castle, so I bet they wouldn't mind...

James, who despite clearly being more asleep than he was awake, grinned cheekily at me and captured my lips with his.

I froze; what if he had morning breath?

He pulled back at me, his eyes hurt for a moment, and then he laughed at me and pulled me closer to him, ruffling my hair (prat) as he did so.

"Absolutely no morning breath, I swear."

I grinned at him as I fixed my hair.

"Okay. Morning, Superman. Let's go save the world!"

He raised an eyebrow at me, smiling crookedly "Superman, huh?"

I rolled my eyes "Your belt, Prat, your belt."

We snook into Hogsmead through the secret passageway below the Whomping Willow. James used a spell I'd never heard of before – waddiwasi – or something like that anyway, to still the crazy tree by pressing a knot on its trunk.

We came out in the Shrieking Shack, which has an extremely old, rather decrepit fireplace. James pulled a little bag of Floo Powder out, and we flooed to St. Mungo's.

The plan had been for me to distract the receptionist with my 'painful stomach', and for James to find the paperwork concerning my little sister, as well as the list of donations received recently. Hopefully that would prove we were right about my Gran.

But then it had all back-fired. I guess it did give me more evidence it was my Gran's work (not many Purebloods exist anymore Dark enough to use that spell... it removes the soul from the body, much like a dementor's kiss, and replaces it with a, a, thing. Almost like a muggle tape recording.). Trouble was, it was all off the record information. We needed something concrete.

James had been horrified. Obviously, he knew magic could be used for bad and not just good, but he'd never seen such a Dark spell so close up.

"Ministry of Magic!" He shouted, jumping into the Floo. I followed after him, cautiously removing our magical trace from the building. I'd be dragged into this anyway, without evidence that we were in the building at 3 in the morning for no legal reason. I certainly didn't have stomach ache anyway.

~~FLASHBACK END~~

I felt my heart twinge as I followed James down the steps to the Ministry's holding cells. There was Harry Potter, still with his son, despite the time of night and all charges against Albus.

"Whoa, son, calm down." Harry said, his voice slipping into Auror Mode "What's happened?"

I put a hand on James's shoulder, coming to stand slightly behind him

"Mr Potter... What do you know about my Grandmother, Mrs Gaunt? Because appearances can be deceptive, and much though I love Gran, she does have questionable morals..."

I could see from Harry's face that he didn't want to believe what I'd just told him. Didn't want to believe that Voldemort could possibly be truly immortal, that anyone would kill their own granddaughter to prevent such a thing happening... that a father would happily trade his daughter for magic, or that his own son was caught up in all of this.

"Dad?" James asked, before looking at me, his face pale

"James. Dannie. I don't know what to say. Are you sure what you're telling me is true?" Harry said, running a hand wearily through his hair "Because I'm going to have to lock your grandmother away for this."

I frowned, steeling myself. I don't know what Harry thinks he's doing, but there's no way Gran's being shipped off to Azkaban. I don't care how illegal this is going to be...

I drew my wand, pointing it between Harry's eyes

"I'm sorry, Sir, but blood runs thicker than water, no matter who it is you're talking about."

Harry's eyes widened. Perhaps for the first time since he met me, he realised that yes, I was raised by two Slytherin, Pure-blooded Bigots.

"You're very loyal." He stalled, backing up carefully.

I grimaced "Don't back up. I'd always been told you were very brave, and at the moment, you're being rather cowardly. Now either you deal with the fact that my Gran, while being Dark is actually doing this all for the Greater Good."

Harry's eyes tensed at the words Greater Good, although I suppose not many people would have noticed

"What do you know about Albus Dumbledore?" Harry asked me. James was stood a good ten feet away from the cell door, watching his brother sleep, face pale

"He was a meddling old fool." I replied with a snarl "He had questionable morals, no different to Gran, he left you in an abusive home for example... He had plans to take over the world with Grindelwald, he may be responsible for his little sister's death, although nothing is known for certain."

Harry was still, very still, as though trying not to frighten a wild animal.

"And he was one of the most respected and powerful wizards of his time." I finished with a slight curl of my lips

"What about your personal opinion?" Harry pressed

I pursed my lips "Personal opinions do not stand up in the eyes of the law."

"So you agree that Mrs Gaunt would be convicted and sent to Azkaban?"

I snarled "No, she won't be. Because you won't turn her in. No one will know about this."

I flicked my wand threateningly, and white sparks shot out of the end

"You, Mr Potter, are trapped and bound by the laws. You are head of the Auror Department. You are the Boy-Who-Lived. Order Member, and the most famous man of our world. I, on the other hand, hold no such ties. Do not mess with my problems. Do not become the meddling fool that Dumbledore could be at times. I do not have energy to deal with that."

Harry's shoulders straightened slightly, and he took on a more threatening posture. I grinned ferally at him. He was finally realising that I wasn't just a little girl with cute hair and big heels, messing around with Granny's lipstick.

Oh no.

Besides which, Gran always wears this dastardly red stuff, that clashes horribly with my hair.

"Why should you be in any position to threaten me?" Harry asked, looking me straight in the eye "What do you have that I don't?"

"I have a way of getting your son out of Azkaban. And you know full well that there's no way you could do that for him. So the question is, Mr Potter, if you will keep your mouth shut and save your son, or do the 'right' thing, and turn me and James in, and get both of your sons sent to Azkaban."

I was only partly bluffing, and my poker face is hopefully good enough for this...

Harry was silent for a moment

"You must be extremely brave. Because something must have outweighed your rather... Slytherin attributes." He said carefully

I slipped into parsletongue

"Yesss... I am rather Sslytherin, aren't I?" I asked "But then you are too, are you not?"

Harry looked at me slowly, calculatingly. He looked just as Slytherin as I am right then, and I watched him carefully, my grey eyes watching his green ones.

He pulled a wand out of his pocket, holding it up to mine

"Your secret for mine,

"Your trust for mine," He swore

I looked at him coolly. So Harry Potter knows Pureblood Oaths?

"Your life for mine," I started, watching him carefully

He didn't falter, so I continued with the oath.

" For the life on the line,

"Your silence for mine,"

I paused, watching as the threads of orange magic tangled between our two wands, sealing the oaths

"Your secret for mine." We both finished, yanking our wands away. It was like pulling a wand through treacle at first; the oath held the wands together at first, but with a small 'pop' it felt normal again.

Harry nodded, tight-lipped at me. I nodded back.

James smiled sadly at his sleeping brother's form and took my hand, leading me out of the room. I siphoned our magical trace out of the room just as I had done at St. Mungo's, ignoring Harry's shocked and calculating expression as we left.

James and I hurried through the corridors of the Ministry, both of us silent and pale. We had to leave Gran's mess at St. Mungo's to Harry – I was neither powerful enough nor experienced enough to fix her Dark spells, and James wasn't either.

Seeing Albus in the mess he was in had really shaken both of us, and it was only going to get worse for the poor boy; Azkaban isn't exactly the nicest of places.

"Come on Jamie... it'll be alright." I lied softly, pushing him into the Floo and following after him.

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Sooo sorry for it being so long since I updated! I was going to post this as a shorter chapter, but I just couldn't find a good ending point for it. So... it ended here. Hope it's okay!

And thank you for sticking with me while I've been ill!