Pansy Parkinson slipped out of Snape's bed as quietly as possible. She fought the urge to shiver when her bare feet hit the cold stone floor. A quick Warming Charm took care of that. She didn't need the man waking up just yet. She tip toed naked across the room to where a memory box was hidden behind a fake Hogwarts a History book. Pansy shook her head as she pulled it out. What self-respecting Pureblood would be caught dead reading that book?

The ridiculous thing was written by Mudbloods for Mudbloods, in hopes of educating the unworthy slags on the Wizarding World. It was a bit of a joke among real Witch and Wizards. That would make Granger the ultimate punchline. That tramp of a Head girl seemed to live and breathe by it. The smartest Witch in her year my arse. She couldn't even put up a Silencing Charm. The twit actually quotes from the book to the younger students. That daft girl really does put too much faith in the written word. She suspected if a book said Dumbledore had a tail, the nutter would look under his robe to see it.

The box was just where she was told it would be. Inside was a woman's brush with a healthy amount of dark red hair. She collected only a couple of them, no need to be greedy. The hairs were long, and she could cut them down to last her longer. The longer Snape was left in the dark about her theft the better. Pansy quickly and quietly returned the box and fake book to their original state. She smiled sinisterly at the ease of her first real mission. Don't get cocky girl, failure is not rewarded. Pansy reminded herself, sparing a swift glance to make sure Snape was still asleep. It took a little bit to find all of her clothes from last night. Snape in his lustful state had ripped them from her. Once they were all gathered, she crept into the bathroom to repair her torn top and then swiftly got dressed.

Fully clothed, Pansy took the time to take a good look at her reflection in the mirror. All traces of the Polyjuice Potion that she took to look like her Mudblood Charms Professor were gone. As much as it disgusted her to have to take the form of that filthy bitch, orders were orders. Not that there weren't certain advantages to it. She saw how the male population seemed to drool as she passed in the hall, or in class. The next Hogsmeade Weekend she would have to set up a photo shoot with PlayWizzard, or maybe Wicked Witches. She could read the headline now. Naughty Noble Lady does it all. Of course, that would be after she ransomed the pictures back to Potter or Black. They told her to be creative in destroying Potter's reputation, she didn't see why she couldn't fill her vault in the process. Lily Potter's hair was going to make her a lot of gold.

Case in point, the Head of her House that, up until last night, had her respect was a prime example. He must have snuck into Potters house after they went in hiding and nicked her brush, probably some of her knickers too. Everyone was talking about how her Muggle sister was killed the other night. All she had to do to seduce Snape was knock on his door with a sad face, and tell him she needed him. He must have been pining away for her for a long time because Snape was on her like a ravenous dog. Pillaging her Professor's borrowed body and professing his undying love to her over and over again.

She was told that the Dark Lord himself had charged her with the duty of discovering where Snape's true loyalties laid. She was told that in the past Snape had a strong infatuation with Potter. It had long been rumored in the Slytherin House that he had a thing for redheads. She would have to say that since then it had progressed to full blown obsession. That was how Pansy knew where he hid the brush. Her older sister once told her that the only way she passed Potions was to take some Polyjuice Potion and shag Snape. He was about to Obliviate her when she made a Magical Vow to never tell about his little fetish, and that she would make herself available if he needed a quick fix. Stupid randy man, a Slytherin Witch will tell you that when making a Magical Vow it's all in the wording. And they call us the weaker sex.

As a lover, he was certainly more giving than the other boys that she slept with in the past. In the throes of passion, he was very forthcoming and answered every question she asked of him. All his most guarded secrets were now hers to do with as she wished. All Pansy had to do was pluck a hair off Potter's robes when a Huffelpuff asked her a question in the hall. It didn't hurt that she was brilliant at copying people's voices. That, and her special breed of moral flexibility, made her the perfect choice for this mission. There was still a chance that Snape could wake up before she got out of there. She conjured a vial and she filled it with last night's memory. Then she hid it somewhere he would have to search her very thoroughly to find.

Unlike Draco, she wasn't going to bugger this up. Pansy looked down at her bare forearm and gingerly traced where her Dark Mark would soon be. Stage one was complete. She had more than enough of Potters hairs to start Stage Two. She peeked back into the room to find Snape still sleeping. A Silencing Charm hid her exit from her Potion Professor's room. Once safely outside she couldn't help but laugh. The next time Snape and Potter meet should be very interesting. It would serve the traitor right if the Mudblood followed through with that threat she was so fond of making.

Pansy now knew Snape's weakness, and that knowledge would gain her much power. One way or the other, he would help her to gain the power to rise up the ranks, until she would become the youngest Inner Circle member in history. She wasn't so delusional as to think that she could do this all alone. She needed a partner, one with a devious mind, a good knowledge of curses, and the backbone to actually use them. To ensure that she wouldn't be betrayed, she also needed someone who had tasted the Dark Lord's favor and wrath, someone desperate.

Draco was in deep thought when the sunrise started the day. He was watching it from the top of the Astronomy Tower, just as he had done since the day he heard that his mother was missing. At the time he didn't know why. It was just some random urge that pried him out of bed, and to this spot. He was alone with his thoughts and the scenery was quite beautiful. It gave him a feeling of peace.

After coming here for awhile, he used the time to get his thoughts in order; his ambitions, and how best to achieve them. More often than not, his thoughts turned to his mother. He had so precious few memories of her. He had wrongly though that was of her choosing, but after his father was sent to Azkaban, and his aunt Bella started teaching him Occlumency, he saw that wasn't the case. He had empty sections in his memories, an obvious sign of being Obliviated. The gaps started when Draco started his training, and ended when Lucius was imprisoned. Even one of those thick Gryffindor's could have figured out who was the culprit.

His father talked so ill of his mother that Draco often wondered why he didn't cast her out and been done with it. When he learned that his mother wasn't disinherited like Aunt Bella was, it became quite clear. The Black Vaults and vote in the Wizengamot were pretty compelling arguments to keep the woman around. His father had told him over and over again that besides giving him an Heir; the woman served little purpose to him. She was too kind and tolerant of those that were below his station. The woman actually asked, not ordered, House Elves to perform their duties. He didn't want her corrupting Draco with her naive views. At the time he believed his father without question. His father had his best interest at heart, didn't he?

It mattered little now, seeing as the man was dead. He was killed by Muggles no less, so much for his self-proclaimed blood superiority. He didn't even die like a Wizard. The Malfoy name and honor that he so often used to justify everything he did was worth less than Troll dung now. Even Draco's grandson would suffer the indignity of the stigma of his father's failure. That's if he even survived long enough to have children. If the last few days were any indication, he was starting to seriously doubt it. Crabbe and Goyle may have been knuckle draggers, but at least they kept his enemy's at bay.

Now he couldn't even turn a corner in the castle without someone hitting him with a curse. Not that he didn't have it coming, Draco wasn't so arrogant that he believed it wasn't justified. He was surprised however that no one in his own House lifted a finger to aid him. Was he that truly hated in the school? The only help that he did get came at the hands of a damn Mudblood. He wasn't quite sure what he felt about that. Initially, he was very annoyed and his pride bruised by it. Professor Potter had healed him, and managed to sneak a healing salve in his robe without him knowing it. In doing so she let him keep his dignity, so now he owed her a debt.

Normally, he would hate her for that, let alone her blood status. He was starting to find it hard to do that. Instead of taunting her enemy's misfortune like, he would have done, she showed him compassion. He was hard pressed to remember a time when he ever received that from someone, if ever. What was Potter playing at? What did she hope to gain from this? He had all but told her that if they meet in battle he wouldn't hesitate to kill her, and she did the same. Yet, her eyes held no malice. She talked about it as if they were discussing the weather or something. She would reward House points when they were earned. She also didn't take them off for any real reason like Snape would. He just couldn't figure her out, and it saw really starting to get on his nerves.

When his mother was first believed to be to be dead, his Aunt Bella bonded with him. She would tell him stories about the mum that he had never been allowed to know. Over the summer, he had taken it upon himself to go through her belongings. He wanted to get a better feel of the kind of woman she was. That was when he had found the picture that he was now holding in his hand. It was different from all the other pictures that were of her in the house. In this one, she was laughing, but what drew him in were her eyes. They were filled with joy. The picture was of the two of them, along with another woman, and her child. He looked to be around one year old. They were on a blanket on the grass, and by the look of it, they were all having a capitol time.

Draco studied the picture more closely, and wondered what happened to this laughing woman. He wanted to remember her. Remembering everything his aunt had taught him, Draco dug deep into his own mind. She was in there somewhere; he just had to dig deep enough. Deeper and deeper he went. He would find it. Aunt Bella said she was sneaky and that often she would hide things in plain sight. It drove his grandparent's absolutely buggy. He decided to pull almost completely out and relax. He chuckled, was it really that simple? There sitting out in the open was a memory labeled chocolate. He didn't like chocolate, so why would he have that here. If anyone was to invade his mind, would they give it a second thought? Only one way to find out, so Draco opened it.

He was lying in his bed, and it was still dark outside. His mum was tip toeing up to his bed, still in her bedclothes. She looked down on him with such love in her eyes, and put a finger to her lips. He instinctively knew that meant they had to be quiet. This was their time, and if daddy heard them, he would be cross. He was scary when he was cross, and sometimes he would hurt mummy.

She scooped him out of bed and they snuck up to the roof. There, he sat on her lap and she wrapped a blanket around them. She was softly humming a song as they waited for the show to start. The sky started to lighten marking the sun would soon be up. He always loved this part. They watched the sunrise play out just as they had done every morning. It ended all too soon. His mum kissed the top of his head to silently tell him that they would have to leave soon. She wrapped an arm around him and held him firm. Then he felt the tip of her wand at his temple.

"Today you start your formal training sweetheart. I fear this will be the last time we will get to do this for awhile. I don't know what Lucius has in store for you, but I fear he will make you forget me. So I'm going to protect this memory and hide it in your mind, someplace that only a Black can find it. I want you to know that I love you very much. I will never stop doing that until the day I die. He can't take that away from you…ever. I want you to remember that every time that you watch the sunrise that will be me saying I love you my precious boy. To me your sweeter than chocolate." Narcissa whispered in his ear just before everything started to glow.

Draco snapped his eyes open, and saw the sun smiling down on him. A smile ran across his face as he remembered his mum's words. In a rare moment of weakness, Draco dropped his guard to whisper his love back to his mum. He never knew that many miles away, the woman that gave him birth was doing the same thing. Beside her was a boy, not of her blood, but in her heart he was a son also. She silently prayed for the day when both her boys would be with her to watch the sunrise.

Sirius was just dismissing his class when Ginny Weasley marched into his class and shot him a dangerous look out of the corner of her eyes. Not saying a word, she marched up into his office and slammed the door. He noticed that she had a copy of the Daily Prophet in her hand. He knew this was coming. After they had set Harry right, and he literally had to shove a Sleeping Drought done Lily's throat, Sirius paid Rita Skeeter a visit. She wasn't too terribly happy about being rousted from her bed, but she perked up with the story Sirius dropped on her lap. She was only given what they wanted known. Who was to be praised, and who was to be crucified. The woman did a bang up job, but anyone that knew the parties involved could read between the lines. Ginny Weasley was one of those people.

"That one is mental." A forth year boy said to another as they scurried from the classroom. Sirius had to agree with that one, most redheads were. That was part of their charm, according to James. It was a good kind of pain, but a pain none the less. Sirius knew that from experience. He thanked Merlin once again that he was into blonds and not redheads. Once the classroom was empty, he sighed gravely and headed to his office.

Sirius had a good ten minutes until his next class. He liked the small patch of solitude to recharge the batteries, so to speak. He knew that wasn't going to happen now. Closing the door to his office, Sirius took his place behind his desk. As he sat, Ginny sent a locking charm followed closely by a silencing charm. Oh hell, that's never good.

"Cut and dry! Cut...And…Bloody Dry! That's what he told me!" Ginny yelled at her DADA Professor as she slammed down her copy of the Daily Prophet on his desk. Most people would have flinched a little bit, but this wasn't the first time a redhead had yelled at him. "BLOODY VAMPIRES! I know this is the watered down version of what really happened. Now tell me what came about, and why I can't contact him?" Her voice betrayed her as she finished her question.

"First, let me say that was some impressive non-verbal charm-work, so twenty points to Gryffindor. Second, you of all people know that there are no guaranties in life. You can prepare the best you can, but Sod's Law always has a way of biting you in the bum when you least expect it. The best we can do is adapting to the situation, and hopefully prevail." Sirius told her in a kind voice. She sunk into the chair next to her and buried her face in her hands. She didn't want to breakdown in from of him, but the not knowing was killing her.

"How bad is it?" She asked in a broken voice. It tore at Sirius's heart, and he remembered the unknown could be so much more frightening that the truth. She's had three hours since the Daily Prophet arrived to let her imagination play out the worst case scenario.

"Do you think I would be here if it was as bad as you imagine it is?" Sirius asked and Ginny's head shot up with her face full of hope. "I'm not going to lie to you, it got bad last night, about as bad as it can get. By now you have seen what Pup's willing to endure to protect the ones that he loves." Ginny closes her eyes and nodded her head. She took a shaky breath and opened her eyes again, and gave Sirius a look to continue. "What isn't in the paper is that the leader of the vampires was an Ancient." Ginny gasped, and covered her mouth with her hand. "He wanted to turn Lily. Once that threat was made, there was no way Harry could let him live."

"An Ancient?" She whispered more to herself than to Sirius. She looked so vulnerable to him at that moment. He wished nothing more than to stop there, but Sirius forced himself to continue.

"One doesn't go toe to toe with an Ancient Vampire without breaking the rules. He took a potion that jacked up his adrenalin. It, in turn, increased his speed, strength, and endurance. It's meant to be taken in small doses, because it puts a strain on your heart. Pup downed the whole vial."

"His heart?" Ginny asked as her voice cracked under the strain of trying to control her emotions. Not that, please not that.

"Thank Merlin that there was no permanent damage done. He just needs rest to recover, and knowing his mum as I do, he will be getting that regardless if he likes it or not. She hasn't even yelled at him yet. Trust me when I say that the longer she festers, the worse it's going to be on him. Now, by the look on your face, you need to see that he's really alright with your own eyes." She gave him a hopeful nod." Lils has him quarantined in his room, and she will skin me alive if I helped you sneak in to see him." Sirius told her as he scribbled something down on a piece of parchment. It read Pup's pad. His head jerked to his fireplace as he removed the charms she had placed on the door to his office. She ran up to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek before making her way to his hearth. As Sirius closed his door he heard her floo away. Sorry Lils, I'm a Marauder, and they both need this.

In Harry's room at Potter Manor, two bookcases separated to reveal a hidden fireplace behind it. Unlike the one across the room that Lily disabled, so her son wouldn't be tempted to disobey her orders of strict bed rest, this one was fully operational. The only two that knew that it even existed was Sirius and James. was quite fond of grounding her son when he misbehaved. James and Sirius, being the Marauders they were, found a way to sneak out.

Harry had taken his father's old room to get a better sense of who he was. Ginny stumbled out of hearth and the bookshelves closed back together. She looked back with a grin admiring the creativity that was put into it. It took her eyes a few seconds to adjust to the darkness of the room. The curtains were drawn, most likely so he would take the hint to sleep. She saw Harry lying in bed half covered in his blanket. His left arm was wrapped up and tied against him. She had helped her mother wrap up Fred's arm like that once so she knew it had been dislocated. It could be healed magically, but she guessed Harry's mum was making a point. Just like her mum did with Fred. Harry was bandaged in several other places as well, but they looked like they weren't too bad.

He looked so peaceful as he slept, almost innocent, which was something that Harry rarely was. He was lively, mischievous, infuriating, cheeky, brilliant, sweet, giving, and had one sexy grin. You are so in over your head girl.

"Your hair is like wildfire." Came a voice behind her. Ginny quickly pivoted on her feet, dropped low and had her wand drawn and ready to curse the first thing that moved. She was met with an empty room. She sniffed as her eyes scanned the room for movement. She listened for the slightest of noises, but all she heard was Harry steady breathing.

"And a personality to match, I likes." The empty room taunted her. She zeroed in on the vacant corner the voice came from. There was just a desk with a picture on it. She looked under the desk. If that rat has somehow gotten in here, she would tear the room apart looking for him. All her senses were telling her that she and Harry were the only ones in the room. Great, now I'm hearing things. She plopped down on the chair and let out a frustrated breath. The events of last night were messing with her head. She looked over at the moving picture on Harry's desk. It was of four boys standing in a row. They looked to be fourteen and lined up in a row. The shortest of them and furthest off to the right was covering his eyes with one hand as his other one was pointing to the left. The next one had sandy blond hair and the tallest of the four. He was covering his mouth with one hand as the other was also pointed to the left. The third boy had grey eyes and jet black hair. He had one hand covering his ear. His other arm was over his head with his shoulder covering his other ear and his hand also pointing to the left. The fourth boy with messy black hair and glasses stood proudly with a satisfied sly grin that she knew all too well.

"So that's what Harry would look like if he wore glasses, cute," Ginny said as she took a closer look at the picture. Did he just wink at me? No, couldn't be. She pulled it closer to see if it was just her imagination.

"Boo" The boy in the picture said, and Ginny was so startled that she fell off the chair and landed very unceremoniously on her bum. The picture landed not far away with the boy laughing hysterically. "Classic" it said in-between laughs. Ginny scowled at it for a few seconds before shaking her head and chuckling herself. He got her good.

"And here I thought he got it from Professor Black." Ginny playfully scorned.

"Yep, afraid so, along with a deep attraction to redheads I might add." James added with a wink.

"Are you saying my hair is the only reason he's interested in me?" Ginny challenged with a raised brow.

"No, but I bet it's on the top ten." James countered wiggling his eye brows.

"I'll take that under advisement. By the way, I'm Ginny Weasley."

"James Potter at your service my dear, or should I say Tease?"

"Only he's allowed to call me that." Ginny warned him with her wand pointed at him. James held up his hands in surrender. Seeing that her point was taken she put her wand away.

"Feisty little thing aren't ya?" James asked her with another wink, and Ginny rolled her eyes. How did Lily put up with him? If he was anything like Harry and she was sure he was. This could go on for hours, so she decided to change the subject.

"How is he…really?"

"He just needs rest, but a visit from you might just be what the Healer ordered. Just keep it light, and nothing too strenuous. You can yell at him tomorrow for being reckless." James advised her in what she was sure was an impersonation of Lily's stern voice. Ginny nodded her head in understanding. Then, she tilted her head to the side with a gleam in her eyes.

"So a quick shag is out of the question?" She asked with a cheeky grin. James eyes about shot out of his head, and Ginny rolled around on the floor laughing and pointing at him.

"Gotcha…that…was…priceless."

"So you did. You would make one hell of a Marauder."

"I'm already one, and I go by Fury." Ginny said with beaming pride. James let out a long approving whistle.

Ginny got off the floor and put the picture back on the desk. When she was doing that she found herself comparing what Professor Lupin, and Black looked like then, as opposed to now. That was when she took a good look at the familiar looking forth boy in the picture.

"Who's the short boy at the end?" She asked James, and noted a troubled look in his eyes.

"That's Peter, why?"

"Peter Pettigrew?"

"Yes"

"I saw him in the Forbidden Forest last night. He's a Death Eater." Ginny told him and watched as James's face grimaced and his head fell. Things that Harry had told, and purposely didn't tell her clicked into place. "He's the one that betrayed you?"

"I always hoped that the information was ripped from him. That he would never betray us after everything we've been through." James's voice was full of sorrow and regret. Ginny knew all too well the pain of being betrayed by someone that you trusted. She saw James shake it off and look back up at her. "What were the two of you doing in the Forbidden Forest last night?"

"A friend was helping me train up my Animagus. We came across him and another Death Eater along with about two hundred Acromantula trying to perform a ritual on a pregnant Unicorn."

"Oh, I've got to hear this story," James said and Ginny sat down on the chair. She told him everything that happened last night, and if she was honest with herself, she needed to get it out. Telling Hermione would have just has gotten her a three hour lecture on why she shouldn't have been in the Forbidden Forest to begin with. Telling James was different. He listened intently, and never once interrupted or judged her actions. If anything he was impressed by her and Daphne's audacious actions. If he did make a comment, it was always positive and in some cases envious. By the time she was done telling him the story, she felt like she had known him for years.

"Merlin's left nut, a Tempest Jaguar that is so wicked! Of course, now you can't yell at my boy for being bold and impetuous." He told her. Ginny wanted to argue, but stopped herself. Her shoulders dropped, but she still scowled at James. Damn he's good.

"That would make me a hypocrite?"

"You did what you had to do and so did he. It's who you both are."

"You're sneaky." Ginny told him with narrow eyes and an impressed grin. Shortest lecture she had ever gotten and strait to the point. She never saw it coming.

"I'm a Marauder. Now I think I have taken up too much of your time. You didn't ditch class to talk to me, besides the boy has been up for the last ten minutes watching us with that stupid grin on his face." James said with a wink, before he pointed to the bed. Her head snapped in the direction he was pointing. Harry was sitting up with a satisfied smile on his face. Ginny wondered just how long he had been watching them talking, she stood up and turned James's picture face down on the desk. This was private and between the two of them.

Harry opened his mouth to speak, but a warning look from her made him stop. This was her play; he would let her have it. She stood silently and thought what she wanted to tell him. A soft smile crossed her face as she decided how to best proceed. She took a deep breath drawing in all her Gryffindor courage and stepped out of her shoes. Harry eyes enlarge as her school robes fell to the floor. She took a step forward and slowly removed her blouse. She grinned when Harry unknowingly licked his lips. She tossed the garment somewhere behind her. An emerald colored laced bra covered her steadily rising and falling breasts. It was the only indication that was given of how nervous she really was. She continued to slowly walk over to the foot of his bed. Somewhere along the way she had stepped out of her skirt. Harry's eyes scanned over her beautiful face, to her inviting delicate neck. Next, it was her breasts that were hidden beneath a bra that matched his eyes, down to her flat stomach. He followed the curves of her hips around, and zeroed in on her matching knickers. He finished off taking her in as he eyed her shapely legs.

It had only been a few days ago that he had seen her starkers, but that was accidental. This was on purpose. Slowly his eyes came back up her delicious looking body until their eyes met once again. She had waited patiently for him to stop perving on her with an amused look on her face. He gave her a cheeky grin at being busted. Ginny tapped her cheek and mouthed I win to him. He shot her an affirming nod to her victory.

Ginny slowly crawled across his bed with her every movement deliberately teasing him. She stopped when the warmth of her breath made his lips tingle. Her knees were on either side of his hips. She shifted her weight until her bum softly sat on his lap, with only a blanket separating them. Ginny could feel that she had his complete attention. Harry moved to kiss her, but she pulled playfully away until she was sitting upright. He reached out with his unwrapped arm to touch her, and she took it in her hands and gave him a stern look. He needed to touch her, to feel her flesh under his fingertips. He desperately needed to feel the connection. She tucked a lock of red hair behind her ear and conveyed with her eyes for him to be patience. He acknowledged her by simply open and closing his eyes. She thanked his with a gratifying smile.

Ginny ran her lips across the tips of his fingers, and then guided his hand to her exposed neck. He felt her pulse as their eyes locked. He felt her finger on his pulse point also, and understood this meant life. She guided his hand down her neck, over her collarbone, and down between the valley of her breasts until he felt her heart beating. Her hand delicately traced a path to his heart and made his small hairs stand on end. He knew this meant love. A tear ran down her cheek as she brought the two hands together and squeezed tightly.

Ginny loved, respected, and admired Harry's mum, but she didn't want her life. She didn't want to have to spend sixteen years looking at a photograph and remembering. She wanted her man's warm body next to her in their bed. To laugh, cry, fight, and make love till the sun came up. She knew they were going to be in the front lines in this war. Ginny knew she was being selfish, but she didn't care. Ginny wanted it all. Didn't they deserve that? Haven't they endured enough shite? Hadn't everyone?

Harry nodded as if he understood everything that she was thinking. She saw it in his eyes that he understood. He pulled her hand down to him and kissed the back of her hand. She knew that he couldn't promise her the happy ending she so desperately wanted, but she knew he would move heaven or hell to do just that. She leaned down and kissed the back of his hand as well. Wordless Vows to each other too fight for something more than just themselves, for a future.

Ginny slid off of him and crawled under the covers. She wrapped one leg around his and her arm across his torso careful not to lay it on any wounds. She rested her head on his bare chest and breathed him in. More tears and a comforting smile illuminated her face. She didn't care what her logical mind was saying at that moment. She was home now, in her heart she was home. Harry kissed the top of her head and pulled her tighter against him with his one good arm. She never saw a tear escape out of the corner of his eye, but she felt his love all the same. Even if they hadn't said the words to each other they both knew it in their hearts, and that was enough.