Second chance a new choice

My friends, enemies, friends, family, enemies, friends.

Twenty minutes of searching the mansion's grounds yielded little.

James discovered a slew of protective wards only Peter could circumvent, but the fear in Peter's eyes told Penelope that once Peter skirted the wards, he'd hide in the deepest crack he could find instead of looking for Lily's family.

Can't really blame him. Penelope hugged herself as Peter's tail disappeared into the wall. Everyone assumed he'd come. He didn't even seem like he wanted to go in the first place, but he never said anything—or maybe he was too afraid to. He'd have been justified in staying behind. This is dangerous. If he didn't want any responsibility in it, he should've said something...

Well... James and Sirius still have faith in him, though I can't imagine why. He's a little coward—no imagination—and can't figure things out for himself. He has to ride his friends' coattails. He might be the only Marauder who's actually as dim as the rest of Slytherin makes them out to be. But I suppose he doesn't have much of a choice since no one listens to him, and it can't be easy to have such smart, powerful friends when you're unimpressive. Can't really sympathize though. I was the weak one—so I did something about it.

But... if Remus, James and Sirius—all smart when they want to be—see something in him, there could be something there.

Still in dog form, Sirius padded around a clump of shrubs and sniffed the air again for Severus' scent.

James kept a firm grip on Penelope's wrist—as per his promise not to let her out of his sight.

I'm not a lost child—I don't need people clambering to protect me, and I can defend myself. I'm not that scared little girl I was at the start of last term. I've worked to be the best I can be, and I've learned a lot!

"Find anything, Pad?" said James as Sirius trotted over.

The black dog nodded and morphed back into a boy. "It's not what we're looking for, but I think you'll like it." Sirius broke into a slightly evil smirk.

Why can't he just spit it out? R e gulus would have.

"Remember how much you wanted to take Professor Spinner down a peg or two?" said Sirius.

Penelope rolled her eyes. Boys. Just get on with it.

"Come on." Sirius started back the way he'd come and led the group into the bushes.

Wait. What? Penelope stifled a gasp—something between horror and profound amusement.

Spinner, unconscious and clad only in underwear, sprawled in the dirt, magically bound and gagged Muggle style.

"What is he doing here?" said James. "Why's he bound? And who did this? Why?"

"At least you're asking the right questions," Penelope muttered as she inched closer, only to be held back by James' firm grip.

"Don't try to be smart," Sirius said.

Penelope couldn't hide her scathing tone as he said, "The house is a Death Eater meeting place, isn't it? Obviously, he's here because he's a Death Eater."

"He is?" Sirius' brows shot up. "I mean, he's evil—I know that—but Dumbledore would never hire a Death Eater."

"You-Know-Who probably hid the mark for him," said Penelope. "Oh, that's right. You weren't there when Severus told us. Spinner's a Death Eater all right."

James nodded, still a bit dumbfounded. "But why's he like this? If we knew who tied him up, we'd have our answer."

"Isn't it obvious?" said Penelope with a huff.