Fifth Year

Lenora POV:

When my memory of the last couple of hours returned, to say that I was pissed would be sugarcoating it.

I had sent an anonymous note to the slimy gits, telling them both to meet me in the astronomy tower at midnight.

James had let me borrow his invisibility cloak in exchange for bringing it straight back and owing him a favor for him not asking questions.

So, here I sat, on the cold floor of the astronomy tower, waiting for my guests of dishonor to arrive. Thankfully I brought Pickett and my sketchbook to kill time while I waited.

Just as I'd started drawing the last leaf on my sketch of the bowtruckle, I heard a quiet creak from the door.

"Severus, Regulus, if you would be so kind as to stop lurking, please." I stated simply, never once removing my gaze from my sketchbook. "The whole cloak and dagger bit is getting on my nerves."

"Sorry, Lenora." Regulus apologized, before saying with a chuckle. "Severus is a bit nervous."

"He'd be daft not to be at least a little on edge, Reg." I chuckled, before finally raising my gaze towards the two Slytherins. "The lad literally hexed me to the point of unconsciousness."

"Speaking of that little event," I mentioned before turning an exasperated look towards Snape.

"What the flippity flappity fuck were you thinking, mate? Why did you use your special 'Homemade Hex of Death and Stabby Tendencies' on me?" I asked the raven haired boy with an exaggerated groan.

"I mean I get that you guys have to pretend to hate everything and everyone even remotely related to the topic and existence of muggles and the like, but that was a bit of an overkill."

"I'm sorry, Scamander! They knew that I'd been creating spells and apparently were beginning to get suspicious that we weren't loyal to 'The Dark Lord'." Severus said, a bit mockingly during the last bit.

"Bella suggested that Severus tested out one of his new spells on you, because of your being so vocal about how fucked up it all is." Regulus continued for the other boy.

"Which it is." I snarked with a shake of my head. "They're literally recruiting children and brainwashing them into believing their blood purity bullshit."

"Although, I suppose Dumbledore has been similarly, as of late." I continue with a scoff. "As much as I like the man, he has a knack for having other people do his particularly dangerous dirty work."

"Sounds about right." Regulus agreed with a chuckle.

"This whole war is completely fucked and I despise the very idea of it," I started, the two Slytherines nodding in agreement.

"But I digress, if I'm going to be forced to pick a side I'm going with the one that doesn't involve mass genocide."

"So, what exactly is our next move?" Severus asked, raising an inquisitive brow.

The three of us shared unsure gazes, a heavy blanket of silence looming over the astronomy tower.

"I don't know." I admitted with an anxious expression. "But we have to keep practicing our Occlumency, we can't have anyone, especially the Noseless Bastard, learning of our plans."

"We're in this for the long run, so we can't have anyone on either side suspecting anything besides what we make them believe." Regulus stated, grave looks on all of our faces.

"My brother and your friends included, Lenora." The youngest Black son told me, receiving only a nod from me. "We're on our own in this."

"We can no longer fully trust anyone, except the people in this room." I said with a shaky breath. "Not even Dumbledore can protect us, now."

"Only the three of us can figure this out and begin the turning point of the prophecy. We're three vital keys to helping put a stop to the Noseless Bastard." Severus commented, the same overwhelmed look on each of our faces.

"Our individual prophecies tell us five things." Regulus stated simply. "One, Noseless Bastard has multiple horcruxes."

"We don't know how many or what they could be." I chimed in with a sigh.

"Two, you give birth to the child meant to defeat Noseless Bastard." He continued addressing me.

"No pressure or anything." I chuckle uneasily.

"Three, I assist said chosen one to find the previously mentioned horcruxes."

"Which means that you have to get close enough to Noseless Bastard to find these horcruxes." Severus commented.

"Four, Severus has to protect Nora's miracle baby whilst still under the guise of faithful Deatheater."

"Not sure how I'll pull that off, but I guess we'll find out." Severus chuckled in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Five, our fight against Noseless Bastard is what gets all three of us brutally killed." Regulus finished nervously.

"We don't know when or how it'll happen, but it'll be damn well worth it." I added, ending my statement with a smirk.

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

"Well, gents," I told the two brunettes before me. "Let's begin the longest game of chess in history."

"Let's just hope that the Noseless Bastard doesn't figure out that the two of you aren't on his team for a very long time." I continued sharing a look with the two boys.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••

SIRIUS' POV:

Regulus and Snivellus were acting weird.

Well, weirder than I've seen them, considering how my brother and I avoid each other like the plague.

Snivellus was acting more jittery and paranoid than usual. Regulus, despite being a master of masking his emotions due to years of childhood practice, I could still tell when something had him scared.

"I think Regulus and Snivellus attacked Nora. I think they put our best friend in a coma." I blurted out to the rest of the conscious marauders, as we sat beside the Black Lake.

"Your brother, Regulus?" Remus asked skeptically with raised brows.
"And Severus Snape? Attacked Lenora Scamander?"

"Why not?! They're shady blokes that are always giving her the evil eye!" I stated before continuing my explanation. "They've both been acting all panicked and shit, since we started investigating the attack!"

"Because Severus Snape is nowhere near Nora's skill level at DADA, and despite what you may believe, Regulus and Nora are actually on good terms." Remus stated with a sigh.

"What? Since when?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Yeah, Nora's been trying for years to get you and your brother to talk, but you're both too stubborn." Peter chimed in, seeing my confused state.

"Sirius, you seem to keep forgetting that she has other friends." The teen wolf  chuckled with a shake of his head.

"Really? Like who?"

"Lily Evans, MarleneMcKinnon, Regulus, Alice Fortescue, Timothèe, Olivia, Sybill Trelawney,—."

"I get it! I get it, Remus!" I interrupted the recitation of Nora's, apparently, long list of friends. "My little sister is allowed to have more friends than just us!"

"Mate, are you really that surprised? This is Nora we're talking about here." James chuckled, speaking for the first time since we left the hospital wing. "She's literally the friendliest person in hufflepuff house."

"And that says something." Peter chimed in, earning a nod from Remus and James.

"Fine, but I still think that Regulus and Snivellus are up to something."