"Is Peter coming?" James said with a note of anxiety in his voice. He was
nervous, but constantly reminded himself he was getting married - which was
a good thing. It was supposed to be a happy day, but he couldn't help
feeling jumpy.
Sirius scratched his head absently. "Actually, he said he couldn't. He didn't say why. I'm sure it was unavoidable - he would have come to his friend's wedding if he had the choice."
James narrowed his eyes, "I don't know. He has seemed a bit dodgy lately. Do you think he might know something we don't?"
Remus and Sirius looked at each other momentarily, and then eyed James incredulously. Remus was the one to speak up. "Wormtail? Honestly, Prongs, are you alright? This is Peter we're talking about." He turned to Sirius. "You didn't spike the punch, did you?"
Sirius threw up his hands. "I would never!" he cried in mock innocence. James ran his hand through his hair, and with a sigh of frustration, walked back to the mirror to flatten it out again.
"Sirius, do you think you could find Lily? I don't think it's natural to take this long to get ready." James said without looking away from the mirror.
Sirius spun around dramatically, "She did come, didn't she?" James finally looked away from the mirror and his eyes widened in panic. Sirius laughed, "Don't worry, I know she's here - she's just a little superstitious about seeing you before the wedding. I'll go find her." He was still laughing when he left.
As Sirius left the room, Remus went to follow him out the door, but then stopped and whispered, "Don't drink the punch."
~~~~~~~~~~
Jamie's mind came back to the heavily perfumed classroom to see that Professor Trelawney was reading her palm and announcing to the class that she would die at the age of thirty four. Jamie Waters rolled her eyes.
She had a great deal of respect for Professor Trelawney, but Jamie could tell when she was covering up for her lack of insight into the future. If anyone knew about the subtle art of Divination, it was Jamie.
Truth be told, Jamie was more qualified to teach Divination than Professor Trelawney was. *Professor Waters* she thought to herself, *It's got a nice ring to it.* Jamie had been born a very receptive Seer.
Professor Trelawney knows this, and therefore it's obvious that Jamie would get nothing less than top marks. She rarely paid attention in this class, so she used the spare time to use her Sight. The room was hot and it was hard to breathe, but the atmosphere often helped Jamie to reach out with her mind.
She had no idea who those people had been in the vision she had just had. It was obviously a wedding that had happened in the past, and that was no help to her. She often saw random things like that, and always tried to shut it out.
Professor Trelawney was rambling on, and Jamie - quite inconspicuous, sitting in the back - let her mind relax, and drifted off once more. *This time it's only for information* she thought to herself as shapeless images rushed past her. Just this last time, a strange stab of curiosity had struck and she had followed it. That was when she saw the wedding. She wouldn't get carried away like that again. She didn't like invading other people's memories.
She concentrated hard, straining to drown out Professor Trelawney's oddly mystifying voice. Suddenly, she felt an opaque darkness surround her and fear settled in, as it always did.
With a deep sense of foreboding, she stopped reaching out. Oddly enough, this is what she had been searching for. *Information* she thought to herself *any information.* She absently hoped she hadn't said that out loud - she was still in class with everyone else.
She began to run through the list of names in her head; Macnair, Avery, Crabbe, Travers, Goyle, Malfoy - Jamie hesitated as a dark thought struck her, and she pushed it aside quickly. Pettigrew.(yes, she knew all about nasty Wormtail)
Nothing. Still nothing. *Green* she thought. Still nothing. *Green serpents.* She still saw nothing. With a mental sigh, she finally went to her last option, and concentrated hard on the gruesome image of the Dark Mark. A skull more hideous than you can imagine with a long snake creeping through the mouth with sharp, piercing eyes - so bright and yet so fathomless.
Jamie could feel it's horribly intense eyes upon her, and she continued, but with caution. She had found him.
Jamie could not let those eyes examine her for long. She knew the eye of the snake was to be avoided. Voldemort had somewhat the same gift as she, except he had worked his whole life for that control. Jamie let it come to her naturally.
That is why she could not stay here for long. If the Dark Lord was to enter her mind - even for only a second - there's no telling how much information her open mind would provide. She was beckoning to him, and Jamie knew how vulnerable that made her. As long as Voldemort didn't recognize that invitation, she would be able to find something useful. Not only was she doing this for Dumbledore, she was doing it for everyone around her. But, naturally, nobody knew.
*This is taking too long,* she thought hopelessly, *He's not letting me in.* But just as she began to release her concentration, an image ran past her. It had been brief, but vivid. She grasped that image and focused on it.
Short creatures with crooked noses. *Professor Flitwick?* She thought incredulously. *No,* she thought - almost laughing to herself, despite the darkness that enveloped her. *They were goblins.* But there was something else. was it fear? It must have been fear - Jamie could feel it coursing through her veins. *Goblins and fear do not mix,* she thought.
Then, a single word surfaced in her thoughts. *Gringotts.* Just then, the background took place in her mind's vision. She could feel Gringotts all around her. There was a sudden flash of green light, and the goblin that had shown so much fear collapsed to the polished marble floor as all life left his body.
Jamie felt a cold chill. She was now outside of Gringotts amidst the panic. She looked towards the sky - anticipating and dreading it at the same time. She already knew what she would see. There lied the Dark Mark.
Jamie struggled for a date or a time, but lost focus as she was jerked back to the present.
"I bid you good fortune," the mystical, distant voice pervaded her thoughts. "and class, I do hope you've learned something today for once." Classes often made Professor Trelawney slightly flustered.
*Oh, I've learned something alright.* Jamie said under her breath as she left the classroom. However, she did not follow the rest of the Slytherins to the common room. Instead she headed in the direction towards Dumbledore's office.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sirius scratched his head absently. "Actually, he said he couldn't. He didn't say why. I'm sure it was unavoidable - he would have come to his friend's wedding if he had the choice."
James narrowed his eyes, "I don't know. He has seemed a bit dodgy lately. Do you think he might know something we don't?"
Remus and Sirius looked at each other momentarily, and then eyed James incredulously. Remus was the one to speak up. "Wormtail? Honestly, Prongs, are you alright? This is Peter we're talking about." He turned to Sirius. "You didn't spike the punch, did you?"
Sirius threw up his hands. "I would never!" he cried in mock innocence. James ran his hand through his hair, and with a sigh of frustration, walked back to the mirror to flatten it out again.
"Sirius, do you think you could find Lily? I don't think it's natural to take this long to get ready." James said without looking away from the mirror.
Sirius spun around dramatically, "She did come, didn't she?" James finally looked away from the mirror and his eyes widened in panic. Sirius laughed, "Don't worry, I know she's here - she's just a little superstitious about seeing you before the wedding. I'll go find her." He was still laughing when he left.
As Sirius left the room, Remus went to follow him out the door, but then stopped and whispered, "Don't drink the punch."
~~~~~~~~~~
Jamie's mind came back to the heavily perfumed classroom to see that Professor Trelawney was reading her palm and announcing to the class that she would die at the age of thirty four. Jamie Waters rolled her eyes.
She had a great deal of respect for Professor Trelawney, but Jamie could tell when she was covering up for her lack of insight into the future. If anyone knew about the subtle art of Divination, it was Jamie.
Truth be told, Jamie was more qualified to teach Divination than Professor Trelawney was. *Professor Waters* she thought to herself, *It's got a nice ring to it.* Jamie had been born a very receptive Seer.
Professor Trelawney knows this, and therefore it's obvious that Jamie would get nothing less than top marks. She rarely paid attention in this class, so she used the spare time to use her Sight. The room was hot and it was hard to breathe, but the atmosphere often helped Jamie to reach out with her mind.
She had no idea who those people had been in the vision she had just had. It was obviously a wedding that had happened in the past, and that was no help to her. She often saw random things like that, and always tried to shut it out.
Professor Trelawney was rambling on, and Jamie - quite inconspicuous, sitting in the back - let her mind relax, and drifted off once more. *This time it's only for information* she thought to herself as shapeless images rushed past her. Just this last time, a strange stab of curiosity had struck and she had followed it. That was when she saw the wedding. She wouldn't get carried away like that again. She didn't like invading other people's memories.
She concentrated hard, straining to drown out Professor Trelawney's oddly mystifying voice. Suddenly, she felt an opaque darkness surround her and fear settled in, as it always did.
With a deep sense of foreboding, she stopped reaching out. Oddly enough, this is what she had been searching for. *Information* she thought to herself *any information.* She absently hoped she hadn't said that out loud - she was still in class with everyone else.
She began to run through the list of names in her head; Macnair, Avery, Crabbe, Travers, Goyle, Malfoy - Jamie hesitated as a dark thought struck her, and she pushed it aside quickly. Pettigrew.(yes, she knew all about nasty Wormtail)
Nothing. Still nothing. *Green* she thought. Still nothing. *Green serpents.* She still saw nothing. With a mental sigh, she finally went to her last option, and concentrated hard on the gruesome image of the Dark Mark. A skull more hideous than you can imagine with a long snake creeping through the mouth with sharp, piercing eyes - so bright and yet so fathomless.
Jamie could feel it's horribly intense eyes upon her, and she continued, but with caution. She had found him.
Jamie could not let those eyes examine her for long. She knew the eye of the snake was to be avoided. Voldemort had somewhat the same gift as she, except he had worked his whole life for that control. Jamie let it come to her naturally.
That is why she could not stay here for long. If the Dark Lord was to enter her mind - even for only a second - there's no telling how much information her open mind would provide. She was beckoning to him, and Jamie knew how vulnerable that made her. As long as Voldemort didn't recognize that invitation, she would be able to find something useful. Not only was she doing this for Dumbledore, she was doing it for everyone around her. But, naturally, nobody knew.
*This is taking too long,* she thought hopelessly, *He's not letting me in.* But just as she began to release her concentration, an image ran past her. It had been brief, but vivid. She grasped that image and focused on it.
Short creatures with crooked noses. *Professor Flitwick?* She thought incredulously. *No,* she thought - almost laughing to herself, despite the darkness that enveloped her. *They were goblins.* But there was something else. was it fear? It must have been fear - Jamie could feel it coursing through her veins. *Goblins and fear do not mix,* she thought.
Then, a single word surfaced in her thoughts. *Gringotts.* Just then, the background took place in her mind's vision. She could feel Gringotts all around her. There was a sudden flash of green light, and the goblin that had shown so much fear collapsed to the polished marble floor as all life left his body.
Jamie felt a cold chill. She was now outside of Gringotts amidst the panic. She looked towards the sky - anticipating and dreading it at the same time. She already knew what she would see. There lied the Dark Mark.
Jamie struggled for a date or a time, but lost focus as she was jerked back to the present.
"I bid you good fortune," the mystical, distant voice pervaded her thoughts. "and class, I do hope you've learned something today for once." Classes often made Professor Trelawney slightly flustered.
*Oh, I've learned something alright.* Jamie said under her breath as she left the classroom. However, she did not follow the rest of the Slytherins to the common room. Instead she headed in the direction towards Dumbledore's office.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~