𝐒𝐎 𝐒𝐄𝐓𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐍; 𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐫.

𝐱𝐱𝐢𝐢𝐢. 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭

𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒, 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐘, 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐋𝐘 𝐎𝐍 𝐁𝐎𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐀. The second he'd gotten out of Quidditch practice, Amara had cornered him in the common room and shared her opinion. Keeping careful to remain quiet, her energy instead was transferred to her frantic hand motions and extreme expressions. James followed her monologue carefully, nodding, eyes glued to hers. This was a cause James believed in; matters of death and glory and righteous rebellion. James was noble and headstrong, and Amara knew he also hated sitting around, restless, useless.

"And," she said conclusively, "if Rosier's been weeding around and knows something about this whole Onai thing...think, James. You know the circles he runs in. And Onai was saying that they were too busy playing soldier to play shepherd. Right? So he's saying that instead of being able to turn Death Eaters, young Death Eaters, to our side, they have to fight them."

"Right," James said slowly. "So Onai's innocent."

"Yes. But, James..." Amara sighed. "What if we...tried to help? The Death Eaters, I mean."

He scoffed and leaned back on the velvet couch. "They're lost causes, Tal. You won't get anything from them but a nasty look and a Cruciatus Curse."

"They can't all be lost causes," Amara said firmly. "What about...Regulus? Maybe Sirius could convince him. Maybe he could bring him over to our side. There's no way his parents treat Regulus perfectly, anyways..there's no way Regulus loves those awful people."

James shook his head. "He got into Slytherin, didn't he? He's the same as all the rest of them."

"Maybe," Amara muttered. "But what if we could turn people over, James? That would not only give us more numbers, but take from theirs."

"It's not gonna work." He frowned. "If they're willing to go as far as learn how to do a Trigger Charm, which is incredibly advanced, just to have the smallest shot at an assassination...no, they're beyond saving."

Amara blinked. "Wait."

James stood up abruptly. "I'm heading upstairs, Remus promised to help me with History of Magic. Are you coming?"

"Trigger Charms," she whispered. "James, d'you have the Map? On you, right now?"

"Yes," he said slowly. "What's going on?"

Amara swore and ran a hand through her hair. Why hadn't she thought of that in the Hospital Wing, when she'd initially heard that? Her mind raced to a few weeks ago, when she'd mentioned Trigger Charms to Rosier in Potions. God, what had she said?

"Amara," James said. "You're scaring me."

She paused, and then, without warning, dug her wand even harsher into his stomach. "Tell me who might know something about that cursed Quaffle, and I'll consider not cursing you into the unbearable state of throwing up every time I say your name."

"Trigger Charms?" Evan demanded, jaw slack. "That's—that's incredibly advanced magic—"

"Tell me," Amara hissed. "Or I'll—"

That's right. The set of his face, his eyes growing wider. It wasn't just shock, it was...revelation. Realization. That's what had struck her about his expression. Amara stood as well.

Disgust flooded her stomach. After the foul plans they'd devised concerning Lily and Snape, and Snape's loyalty...any remaining respect she had for their group was beyond gone.