The Unwanted Romance of Jenny And Lil

By Pippa Mitchell

~Jenny~
Dear Diary,
My name's Jennifer Viviane Le Fae. I'm 11 and I just got on the train to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I kinda expected to get in, coz my Dad's a pureblood and my Mum's a muggle born. Still, I wasn't sure. I'm so nervous. I hope I get sorted into Gryffindor. Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff wouldn't be too bad, but Slytherin Ugh! Hang on, a girl just walked into the compartment. Gotta go.
Jen.

"D'you mind if I sit here?" the girl asked, her red hair flying round her face." Everyone else seemed to have someone to talk to."
"Sure" Jenny answered, secretly glad that someone looked as nervous as she felt. The girl had evidently tried to hide it, but the worry shone out through her big emerald eyes.
"I'm Lily Evans," the girl said.
"Jennifer Le Fae." Jenny returned.
"Are you related to Morgan?" asked Lily in awe.
"I dunno, frankly," Her opposite number returned," But my family comes from the same part of the country though."
"Wow." Lily responded.
Suddenly, the door to their compartment was thrown open and two boys came hurtling in, totally ignoring the two girls.
~Lily~
Dear Diary,
I'm walking down the corridor on the Hogwarts express on my way to WIZARDS SCHOOL! The only problem is everyone in the compartments has someone to talk to. Hang on a minute, this girl doesn't. She's really pretty, diary dear. She has dark brown shoulder length ringlets, streaked with ginger and blonde, and her eyes are icy blue ringed with Navy. She's writing in her diary too! I've just got too psyche up the courage to ask her. Okay, here goes.

Seeya

Lils
The boys were almost identical, both had dark brown hair and they were the same height as well. That was until you looked at their eyes. One had caramels Hazel eyes, almost Amber, Lily thought. The other's were an incredibly dark brown, almost black.
"Thank god we got in here before Snivellus saw us!" exclaimed Hazel eyes.
The two minutes it had taken for the girls to react, had been more than enough to get there anger glands into gear.
"Firstly, who or what the hell is Snivellus?" Jenny burst out, her voice icy and calm.
"And Secondly, What the fuck are you doing in our compartment?" Her friend continued, her voice fiery and Out of control.
\"Oh! Hi girls\" Brown eyes said, obviously embarrassed at not noticing the girls presence.
"Anyway," Hazel eyes continued smoothly. "Snivellus is a putrid ball of grease (A/N: don't ask me what putrid means coz I haven't got a clue, it just sounds horrible. Anyway) and we're in your compartment because we couldn't pass up the chance to get to know two such lovely ladies." he ended, seating himself next to Lily, whilst his friend sat next to Jenny. The girls exchanged identical looks of disgust at this, and began to mime being sick.
"Now, now, ladies, that is hardly a practice for young ladies to take part in." brown eyes said, grabbing Jenny's wrists, whilst his friend took Lily's.
"My name is Sirius Black, and my associate over there is James Potter." Sirius continued, pompously.
Suddenly, an idea dawned in both the girls' minds. They looked at each other, and grinned evilly.
"On the count of three, " Lily said. "One, Two Three!"
"Petrificus Totallus!" They both yelled, and ran out of the compartment,
taking their Luggage with them.

Half way down the corridor they finally stopped for breath.
"I can't believe I just did that!" Lily exclaimed, "That is like, the worst thing I've ever done in my life!"
"THAT'S the worst thing you've ever done?! " Cried Jenny incredulously. "Lils, you have never lived!"
"So I'm a goodie-three-shoes, big deal!" Lily replied, exasperated at her friend. "Let's find another compartment."
They walked down the corridor a bit further and found a compartment with only two first years in it.
"You first!" Lily offered.
"Fine!" Jenny replied, muttering under her breath "Cowardy custard."
The two first years were both girls. One, with her nose buried in a book, had very long, shiny, black hair, pulled into a plait. She was obviously of Indian descent (Asian, not American), and had beautiful amber eyes hidden behind half moon glasses. She had a tall slender frame, and was already in her hogwarts robes. The other girl was entirely different. She was gazing out the window, longingly, and her short blonde curls were flapping around in her face. Jenny couldn't see her eyes, but with looks like that, they had to be Periwinkle blue.
The Indian girl looked up and saw Jenny and Lily.
\"Hey, Jen! Who's your friend?"
"Hi Jess! Lily, this is Jessvinder Poonam Hartliegh. Jess, this is my new friend Lillian Marie Evans. In other words, new friend Lil, meet old friend Jess."
"How do you know each other?" Lily asked.
"My dad works with the prince of Darkness." Jess stated
"Huh?"
"My nickname for my Dad." Jenny explained.
"Ohhhh." Lily added.
"Aaanyway, Jess, who's dreamer over there?" Jenny continued.
"Dunno, she was here when I arrived. She hasn't said a word to me all this time."
"Well then, "Jenny replied. "It's high time she started."
Jenny went over to the girl and sat beside her, mischief glinting in her eyes. She put her mouth right next to the girl\'s ear and shouted "Boo!"
The girl jumped and turned around, her head hitting Jenny smack in the face.
"Ow" Jenny shouted
"It serves you right!" Lily returned, indignantly. " Anyway, hon, what's your name?"
"Emmeline Julia Andrews," she answered, her voice shaking. "But people call me Em"
"That sounds kinda cute, doesn't it!" Jess exclaimed.
"Huh?" the others replied bewildered.
"Urrrrrgggghhh!" Jess said, in mock exasperation. "Lil, Jen, Jess, Em!"
"It does." Lily added. "'Sam, I've got a feeling this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship'."
"Huh?" the purebloods asked.
"Muggle film reference."

Jenny opened her eyes sleepily, and gazed bleary-eyed at her alarm clock.
"6 o'clock! Too Early." She muttered, but then got out of bed anyway. She walked over to the mirror and looked at her reflection. In six years, she hadn't really changed much. Jenny still had the same thin, pale, heart shaped face, with the same icy blue eyes, which could be so chilling. She even still had the same wild, frizzy, bed head, dark brown, with ginger, blonde and black streaks. She turned away, and went for her shower. Five minutes later, she returned, her hair dripping wet. She grinned to herself.
"Now for some fun."
She walked over to Lily's bed and began squeezing her hair out on her best friend's face. Lily suddenly screamed and sat up in bed.
"Jennifer Le Fae, you utter bitch! I ought to curse you to Albuquerque!" Lily shouted.
"But you won't," Her friend replied, "Because I know twice as many, twice as nasty curses as you, and I'd be sure to put them into practice!"
Lily didn't reply to this, but began muttering something about "Rotten Gaelic curses, I dunno, why did I have to be best friends with someone who's bloody Gaelic!"
"I heard that, little Lilums!"
"Right that's it! Gaelic curses or no Gaelic curses, EMBORA MICHELDE!" Jenny suddenly reappeared from the bathroom, with dry hair, but purple boils all over her face.
"Finite Incantatem. You've asked for it Lils. FERENZO BELIDIA!!! Oh, and MEMBRIS IRIDIUM!"
Lily's skin was not only the same colour as her fiery red hair, it was glowing too, and it made her look like she was on fire. As if that wasn't bad enough, when she tried to speak, all that came out of her mouth was a crackling sound, not unlike a fire burning.
Jenny straightened her hair with a simple charm, whilst Lily did the same. The others, who had been woken up by all the shouting, stared at Lily in amazement.
"That your doing, I suppose?" Jess asked, pointing at Lily.
"Oh no, I only take credit for her skin!" Jenny replied, smugly.
"You know what she meant!" Em returned, walking into the bathroom.
"How'd' you know all these curses anyway?" Dinah, the fifth member of their dormitory, enquired.
"My cousins taught me a few. Not very many though, coz they stopped talking to me the instant I got into Gryffindor. The rest, I just say something in Gaelic and see what happens." Jenny replied, airily getting into her robes. "For instance, on Lily here, I said Fire Skin and crackle voice."
With this final remark, she tied a ribbon at the base of her French plait, and swept out the room, closely followed by Lily, who had tamed her hair into a silky ponytail.
She quickly transfigured two sweet wrappers into a pencil and pad.
'Take these off' she wrote, 'Or Else I'll go to McGonagall.'
" In a second Lils." Jenny quickly agreed, seeing who she wanted at the top of the stairs.
"Well, well, what have we here?" Sirius asked amusedly. "Who is the master prankster behind this piece of work?" He looked around, expecting to see James or Remus smiling and nodding. Instead, Jenny stood up and took a stately bow.
"You?!" He exclaimed, "Well, I'm definitely gonna want you for a girlfriend now! Will you out with me?" He asked quickly.
"If we have any balls this year, I'll consider going with you to them." She promised, and added "can you be quiet now please, I have to take these curses off Lily, and the counter curse is quite hard." She was quiet for a second and then said "Wensefo, Arania, Dementia." And with those words, Lily's skin and voice returned to normal.
"Thank you Jenny" Lily said gratefully, "But next time, can you turn me back before Potter and his Cronies come down?"
"Why?" Her friend replied playfully. "Don't want the boy you fancy seeing you as a log fire?"
"Do you like me Evans?" James asked, amusement, with what Lily thought was a hint of hope in his voice.
"Of course not. Jess, Em, see you at breakfast. Come on Jen." Lily said quickly, dragging her friend out of the portrait hole, hoping that the boys couldn't see her face, which was once again, as red as her hair.
"Liiiiiiiilllllllllllyyyyyyyyyy, what did you do that for? I wanted to tease Sirius." Jenny asked, mock disappointment ringing in her voice.
"You mean you wanted to flirt with him." Lily stated, attempting seriousness, but collapsing into giggles.
It was well known in the school that Sirius lusted after her best friend. Jenny, Lily and Jess were the only girls in the entire school who Sirius hadn't kissed. Even Em had been out with him once, but dumped him the next day, for being an 'egotistical prat.' Lily didn't know how her friend felt about Sirius, but she suspected some attraction, if not affection. It was also well known that Remus fancied Jess, but though she had no objection to him, she said she 'didn't have time for a boyfriend', and Remus respected that. Lily and Jenny knew, however, that Jess was just scared of making a fool of herself. It was also rumored that James had a thing for Lily, but as Lily was desperately trying to get over him, she squashed those rumors as soon as she heard them.
"Just a second, you basically said yes to Sirius, didn't you?" Lily asked, suddenly serious.
"Yeah, wh... The Pact! Oh how could I have forgotten the pact?! I'll just have to say no to him." Her friend answered, forlornly.
The pact was an agreement the girls had made 5 years ago. They had promised that none of them would get a date to anything, if the others didn't have a date to it as well. This had actually been a problem before, like last year, their first ball, Jenny and Lily had been asked out, but the others hadn't, so they had to refuse.
"Hey girls!" Jess shouted, running to catch up with them. "Wait up!".
Jess and Em reached their 2 friends and immediately picked up on the air of gloom over Jenny.
"Whatcha talking 'bout, and why's Jen upset?" Em asked, concernedly.
"Sirius asked her out to this years balls, but she can't say yes coz none of us have got dates." Lily explained.
"Look," Jess, the voice of reason, said. "We made that pact when we were eleven. We were little girls, who didn't want to go anywhere on our own. We're Sixteen for god's sake! It's not fair that Jenny gets asked on a date by someone she likes and then has to say no because of some stupid agreement."
"We swore on our lives though." Lily reminded her.
"Then we just have to find dates ourselves." Jess stated, matter-of-factly. "Coz I am not having one of my best friends being miserable because of a stupid pact. So let's go after Brekkie!"
~James~
Dear Diary,
I'm writing this in transfiguration, coz I finished ages ago. I would talk to Sirius, but he's jumping around like a mad Lunatic, coz Jenny Le Fae finally said yes to him. I wish I could be that happy. My heart leaped into my mouth when Jenny said that Lily liked me. I'm sure she was just joking. Lily hates me. Just a sec, Jess Hartliegh is sneaking over to talk to me. She doesn't like me, so it must be about Lily. Please let it be about Lily, please.

"Miss Hartliegh, what are you doing out of your seat?" Professor McGonagall asked sharply.
"I'm having trouble with my toad, so I'm asking James for help, Professor McGonagall." Jess replied in an Angelic voice.
"Be quick then!"
"Oy James!" Jess whispered
"What?"
"You like Lily, am I right?"
"Yeah, so?"
"You have to ask her to the ball."
"Why? She hates me."
"Are you blind or just plain thick? She hates you about as much as Sirius hates Jenny."
"Are you serious?"
"Have I ever lied to you Potter?"
"Okay then, I'll   ask her before charms."
"Attaboy. I'm going to ask Remus, good will hunting!"
"I can't believe what I'm hearing, thought James. "But Jess Doesn't Lie

"Hey Lils! Wait for me!"
Lily whirled around to see her best friend standing behind her.
"I was looking for Sirius, but I couldn't find him, and then I remembered our transfig essay!"
"O.K. I finished that, but I've still got that diabolical one from Benzine on dragon horn."
Professor Benzine was the girls' potions master, and he took great delight in setting long essays on obscure materials. Jenny, however, being a pureblood from a dark-arts family, never found them that hard.
"Tell you what," Jenny said "I'll help you with Benzine's if you help me find the book on hieroglyphs I need for Ancient Languages."
"You got yourself a deal, sis."
The girls often referred to each other as this, as they were so close.
As they walked in the entrance to the library, Jenny spotted something, which made her heart skip a beat. She gasped slightly, making Lily turn around.
"What is it Jen? Oooooooooooooh."
Lily saw what Jenny was staring at. And it wasn't pretty.
Sirius was backing another girl, Amy Liasson from Ravenclaw, to be precise, up against the wall. He was kissing her, hard, and his hands were wandering enough to write a couple of travel books.
Jenny's hands suddenly flew to her face; she let out a small sob, and ran out the door. The noise made Sirius turn around, thinking it was Madam Pince, the school Librarian, or worse Professor McGonagall, but all he saw was Jenny's back, and an extremely red faced Lily marching up to him. Even though he was about 5 inches taller than her, she still managed to look very intimidating. Lily narrowed her eyes and spoke in a deadly calm voice.
"I hope you're happy with yourself, Black, because you've just broken my best friends heart. And you will be very sorry. Deadly sorry."
With that last comment, she turned on her heel, and left, leaving behind a stunned looking Sirius and a mean looking Amy.
"Who does that Le Fae think she is? Your girlfriend?" Amy said, sarcastically.
"Yes, because she is - was." He corrected himself. "What did Lily mean, broken her heart?" He thought.
~Jenny~
Dear Diary,
Why? Why did I have to fall in love with that bastard Black of all people? I should have squashed my feelings once and for all, when he went out with Em. At least breaking my own heart is better than him breaking it. When I was ignoring it, it never felt as bad as this. Never. Why did I have to say yes to him? Sirius Black. The player. I remember the first time he broke my heart.
Silently, she began to turn back the pages of her diary, and then found the date she was looking for.
31st October 1973.
I thought Sirius cared about me. I thought it was me he liked. Well tonight certainly put pay to that theory. He turned up at the fest tonight, and as soon as he had finished tucking into his food, he started tucking into one of my best friends. Em. I know last year I didn't care two hoots about him, but at the end I really did begin to feel something. By the beginning of this term, that 'something' had developed into full-blown love. I know everyone says 12 are too young to fall in love, but I am. If he had asked me out this term, I would have said yes. I didn't really even care when he started seeing other girls. But if he really cared about me, he wouldn't have started snogging my best friend. I'm fed up with it. I'm fed up with being in love, and all it's pitfalls. I'm tired of the pain. From this day forth, all my feelings for Sirius will be firmly buried. It may break my heart again doing so, but I don't care. I was just another conquest to him. Just another number in his little red book.

"Jen?" Lily asked, tentatively.
"Lily, is that you?" Jenny replied, rearing her tear stained face and messy head. "Oh Lils!" She cried, flinging her arms around her friend's neck, and quietly sobbing into her shoulder.
"It's all right Jen. Just let it all out." Her friend soothingly replied, rubbing Jenny's back. "Sirius was completely out of order doing what he did to you!" She continued, fiercely.
Jenny slowly drew away from her friend, and sat back on her four-poster.
"I...I know, but I can't help it! I lo...love him!"
"What?! I knew you were upset when I saw your face, but... why didn't you ever tell us about it?"
"I tr...tried to stop, after Em, but I ju..just couldn't. So I pret...pretended it didn't exist. But it di...didn't work. It's 3 ye...years later, and I still lo..love him!" Jenny stuttered, in between sobs. She paused as a fresh wave of tears broke forth from her eyes.
"It's alright Jen. Everyone thinks what he did was cruel. Except him, that bastard James, and Peter-the-tag-along." Lily continued supportively, her anger ringing in her voice as she mentioned the boys.
The next day, Jenny came down from the dormitory, her tears cleaned and looking as fresh as ever. She was obviously pretending she didn't care. Waiting for her were Jess, Lily, Remus and Em. They didn't mention Sirius to her, Lily having told them that Jenny was still in love with him. On the way to Potions, their first lesson, Sirius attempted to approach the group.
"Jenny, I need to talk..." But before he could finish, Jenny shouted at him "Befenzoar Delamirnis".
Sirius was catapulted at the wall and his voice was replaced with a small squeaking noise.
"I don't want to talk, Black." Jenny replied Icily.
From then on, every time Sirius attempted to talk to Jenny, he received a curse or a hex or a jinx of some sort. Jenny lost count of the different ones she had used on him. A tiny part of her told her that she should hear Sirius's side of the story, but she ignored it, after consultation with Lily.
Everything was going fine, Sirius had stopped trying to talk to her, and her heart was slowly beginning to mend. However, after her Ancient Languages class, about a week after the incident, she walked in on something which tore open the wound afresh. James and Sirius were standing on one side of the common room and Remus and Lily on the other. Both parties were shouting at he tops of their voices, and suddenly Jenny saw something. Lily was shouting at James unreservedly, James, the boy Lily loved. Soul mates, fighting, because of something selfish she had done. Sirius was yelling at Remus, his best friend. Two friends, who were like brothers, fighting, because of her. Jenny was woken from her trance by a scream from Remus. He was Transforming!
"Lily! Go and get Jess from the dorm. He's transforming!" Jenny yelled.
She quickly turned into her Animagus form, a large Bengal Tiger. She saw James and Sirius Turn into a stag and a Dog. Her brain began to be puzzled, but she quickly decided to save the questions for later. Lily, now a Lion, came rushing down the stairs quickly followed by a Black horse, Jess. Sirius nudged the portrait hole open and all six stumbled out of it. James, Lily, Sirius and Jenny walked in a circle around Remus, ready to launch themselves on him if he made a break for it. Jess led, to get rid of anyone else. Sirius pleaded with Jenny to go, but a growl from her silenced him. They were about 5 metres from the Whomping Willow when they saw a human shadow melt out of the darkness. Shortly, it's owner followed. It was Snape.

Remus twisted and turned as Snape approached the whomping willow with interest. With one final heave, he threw off Jenny and Lunged at Snape, knocking him unconscious. Jenny hit the ground with a sickening crunch, and just lay there pale and still, blood trickling down one side of her face, which had slowly returned to human. Sirius ran over to her, quickly returning to a human, and just looked at her, eyes brimming with tears. Lily saw her friends fall, but she also saw Remus once again lunging for Snape. She motioned to James to get in front of Snape, and then launched her full Lionesses weight on Remus's back, knocking him to the floor. James jumped too, and between them they managed to get Remus into the passageway, and down to the Shrieking Shack. This done, they re-transformed and walked over to where Jenny was laying, still still, and scarily lifeless.
"Bastard!" Sirius shouted, pain wracking his voice. "If he's done anything to her, I'll...I'll" Sirius clenched his fist and let the tears fall.
"Sirius, that wasn't Remus." Lily said, quietly, trying to keep the worry out of her voice. "James, get Snape." Lily and James turned to where Snape had been lying moments before, but he wasn't there. They turned to the willow just in time to see a whip of black cloak disappearing through the passageway. Silently, Lily told James to follow, and he obeyed, equally silently. She just saw him turning back into a stag, before she turned back to Sirius and Jenny.
"Come on Siri." She said quietly, her voice now shaking, "We have to get Jen to the hospital wing."

A week later, six people entered the hospital wing in silence, each bearing equally grim expressions. Lily, James and Remus had been hurt of course, but their minor scratches and bruises had been fixed in an instant. Jen's problem, on the other hand, was more difficult to fix. They all walked over to the bed in the corner, and gazed down at it's white faced occupant in silent misery. Madame Pomfrey came walking over and in a gentle voice, she said, almost gingerly,
"I only thought it was right to tell you. We had a specialist in here yesterday, and he said if she doesn't come out of this coma soon, we might lose her. I... I'm so sorry." This last said in between sobs. This was the last straw for Lily. She fell onto ground in a dead faint.

The next day, only two figures could be seen in the hospital wing, both speaking quietly. James, on one side of the room, speaking gently to Lily. She hadn't regained consciousness since the previous day. And Sirius, talking lovingly to Jenny.
"She looks so lifeless." He thought, "as if her life was slowly ebbing away. I couldn't bear to lose her." Out loud he said.
"Jen, can you hear me? It's Sirius. I'm really sorry. Sorry for everything. I don't know why I did it, I was so stupid. If it wasn't for me this whole thing wouldn't have happened. It's all my fault, I'm so sorry. I just don't know how my life would be without you. I think I'm in love with you Jen."
"Sirius?" She said weakly, turning over and opening her eyes. "Sirius, what happened?" He didn't answer, but instead engulfed her in an enormous hug.
"Sirius, why is James here?" Jenny asked, once he had released her.
"Madame, Pomfrey said we might lose you, and she just keeled over." Sirius explained.
"What did I look like?" She asked, suspiciously.
"You were just lying there. Pale and helpless" He said. "Why?"
"I Thought so!" Jenny exclaimed sitting up fully. "Can you get James over here?"
"If he'll leave his beloved Lily's side."
"Thanks"
A moment later James came walking over, shoulders slumped and face creased with worry.
"I need you to do something." Jenny said, urgently. "Go to Lily, and tell her I'm awake. Then ask her what happened to her mum. O.K.?"
"I guess, why?"
"When Lily was a little girl, she was involved in a car crash. Her and her sister were fine, but Lily's mum went into a coma. She died after 3 months, when Lily was there. From what her and Sirius tell me, I looked a lot like her mum did just before she died. That, combined with the stress of a full scale argument, are probably what did it." Jenny explained, grimly. "Just try it!"

Another week had passed, and Lily and Jenny were just leaving the hospital wing, having been given a clean bill of health.
"Jenny, I want you to give Sirius another chance." Lil said, spontaneously.
"Huh?"
"He adores you. You didn't see what he was like after Remus knocked you over. He was in tears." Lily explained to her friend.
"I will, if you ask James out." Jenny returned, a smug grin lighting up her face. "You didn't see his face when he woke you up. This is a before and after." She said, first pulling a face like a bloodhound, and then pulling a face like she'd just one the lottery.
"'Sigh' It's a deal. If only to stop Sirius looking like someone who's life has fallen apart, and then has found out that his cat is dead!" Her friend replied laughing.

The next morning, Jenny and Lily awoke to find themselves alone in the dormitory. Distinctly disgruntled, they both dressed and walked down to breakfast. To their surprise they discovered that it had only just started.
"Children, Teachers, and Mugwumps!" Professor Dumbledore began, standing up from his chair. "It has come to my attention that people have been looking rather miserable these past few weeks. Therefore I propose a Winter Carnival, and ball, in masquerade. You will not need dates, as you will meet them at the carnival. Also, everyone will go under an assumed name. Now, eat!!!"
"A ball, that is so cool!" Jess remarked to her friends. "Isn't it lazy bones?!" Lily and Jenny didn't answer. They had other things on their minds.
~James~
James looked over to the other end of the table to see Jenny and Lily talking to their friends. Though not very animatedly, he thought. "What if there's something wrong?!" He asked himself, panicking. "I should go talk to her

After breakfast, both Lily and James hurriedly made a break for the door, Lily because she felt like she was going to be sick, and James because he was following Lily. So intent was Lily, that she bashed into James just outside the doors.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, James?"
"Lily I need to talk to you."
"Ditto."
"Right then!"
"And with that, he grabbed her hand and hurtled with her down numerous corridors and staircases, until Lily no longer knew where she was. He pulled her into an empty classroom, and said,
"Where were we?"

"James Potter, what the hell do you think you are doing?" Lily asked, trying o keep the amusement out of her voice. Nevertheless, James spotted it and said
"You said you needed to talk, and so did I, so we can't get spied on here!\" Brightly.
"I can't believe I'm asking you this," Lily relented, "But, will you go out with me?" James' face broke into an even wider grin, if that was humanly possible.
"Yes, Yes, YES!" He said and leant down and kissed her.

Meanwhile, back with Sirius and Jenny, things were also leaning in that direction.
"Uh, Jen, why did you bring me here?" Sirius asked curiously.
"To ask some questions and find some answers" was her only reply. "Now then, firstly, why the hell did I see you backing up that girl?" Jenny continued, her voice icy and deadly calm.
"Because," Sirius replied, utterly seriously,"I was an imbecile, and a faker, and a bastard. Amy Liasson had asked me to help her with the transfig essay. Then she kissed me, and being the lustful bastard I am, totally forgot about you, and kissed her back. Next thing I know I turn around, see you crying, and have an angry Lily and a jealous Amy to deal with. I understand totally if you don't want to give me another chance or anything."
"How about a trial period?" Jenny asked, swallowing the lump in her throat that had appeared with Amy Liasson in the story. "You have to remember to not kiss any girls for two weeks, and if you can do that, I'll give you another chance, okay?"
"Perfect." Sirius replied. 'God this is gonna be hard.'

The next day, the eight known as the Marauders and the Sorceresses, were talking in the Gryffindor common room.
"How, why, and when did you four become animagi?" Remus asked.
"How, by following instructions from a book in the Library." Jess answered.
"Why, so we could spy on you four." Jenny continued.
"And when, half way through third year." Em finished.
"But how are Tigers, horses and Lions gonna help you spy?" Sirius queried.
"They aren't our real transformations." Jess explained.
"Our original ones were two cats and a tawny owl," Jenny added "but when we got angry in our animagi forms, we turned into them. Now we can control it though."
"Apparently" Em added, as if an afterthought, "those three are emotional animagi. They change forms with their emotions."
Lily and James had not taken part in this conversation, as they were very involved in whispering sweet nothings into each others ears in the coziest armchair in the room.

The days seemed to simply fly by from that day forth. In no time at all, Jenny and Sirius were back together, Jess had finally confessed her feelings to Remus, and Peter and Em were dating, for some unbeknownst reason. On the day before the winter carnival, all four girls could be found in the 6th year girl's bathroom, brewing a potion, which was going to have a lot of uses.
"Caterpillar gut, in it goes, dragon scales, in they go, and it's done!" Jenny Le Fae, master potion brewer exclaimed. "Now for our costumes!"
"I don't wanna look like a prat tomorrow, so make it good Jen" Lily told her friend, anxiously. In a few minutes, Lily's costume was completely done, with the aid of some advanced Transfiguration. It was Russet brown and Cream, with brown beads and gold thread. Her mask was coated in tawny owl feathers. Next, the girls charmed her hair so it was long and brown. Her green eyes also, were turned brown. when she put her costume on, Lily was totally transformed. She was Nimue, bewitcher of Merlin. Jenny was next. Her dress was long and black, with black pearls and silver trim. Her mask was covered in black velvet, with silver sequins in explosion patterns. Her Hair was turned long and black with a simple charm, and she too, was transformed, into Morgan Le Fae. Jess was Given a Black and Midnight blue dress, with a crown of black beads. Her mask was covered in black sequins. As Jenny said, it was Mab Morrigan reborn. Em was the lady of the lake. Her dress was of pure white, with white sequins. Her hair was made a little blonder, and then she too, was done.

The next day, the four sorceresses awoke at 6:30 sharp. Being careful not to wake Dinah, they crept into their bathroom, and began to get changed. At 7 they began to drink the potion they had prepared the night before.
"What does it do again?" Em asked, before taking her first sip.
"It reveals the true positioning of the person of your choice. For instance, mine will reveal Sirius, as I put his hair in. Geddit?" Jenny replied, sharply.
"Now now." Jess put in. "No need for squabbles!"
"Quite right." Lily agreed, putting on the matronly voice which her friend had used. \"Now drink down your potions quickly or no carnival!"
"Aww, Mum!" Jenny and Em chorused, mockingly.

At eight, when all the girls were sure they looked perfect, they went out into the grounds, where breakfast was being served. They wandered into a huge Marquee, and exclaimed in astonishment. The inside of the marquee was beautiful. The inside was decorated with icicles, and the ground and walls were covered in frost. In fact, it looked more like the inside of a cave than a tent! Once their amazement had passed, they settled down at one of the small tables, and picked up their menus. As at the hallowe'en feast, they simply said what they would like to their menus, and it appeared on their plates. The girls were the first people to arrive in the marquee, but others began to come in not long afterwards. In a short while they each saw their individual boy enter. The girls smiled at each other, and each knew what the others were thinking.

As soon as the boys had chosen a table, the girls rose and began to slowly make their way over there. The boys noticed the obviously very beautiful girls coming over to their table and immediately forgot about their food. James, always the gentleman, quickly conjured up some chairs, and offered them to the girls. Each girl took one, and settled herself next to her chosen boy. Jenny, obviously next to Sirius, first made a great show of dropping something on the floor, to get his attention. The girls had deliberately chosen low cut dresses for this purpose. Jenny had to bite back her lip to stop a smirk as she felt Sirius's eyes drift to her chest. All four girls were curvy, and the dresses only emphasized the fact. She brought her face up slowly to meet his eyes, and let the smirk free.
"Shouldn't you learn my name before you start looking down there? I may be old fashioned, but I thought that was the general practice." Jenny asked, sarcastically. Sirius blushed and mumbled something. This was the first time Jenny had ever seen Sirius blush, let alone be at a loss for words. She liked it.
"Seeing as you aren't gonna ask me my name, I might as well introduce myself. I'm Morgan. Morgan Le Fae." Jenny continued.
"Oh, um - my name's Arthur. King Arthur, that is." Sirius replied, for some reason stumbling over his words. Morgan reminded him of someone. He wasn't sure quite who, but something about her, maybe the smirk, reminded him of someone.
"Anyway, Arthur, perchance you would like to accompany me around the fair and to tonight's ball?" Jenny asked, once again, to try and make him lose his thread. Once again, it worked.
"Uuuuuuummm...eeeerrrrrrrr...yeah, sure." Sirius answered, trying to retain his coolness. Morgan/Jenny smiled and led him away out of the Marquee.
"Fairest maiden seated next to me," James began, as soon as they had left. "Would you do me the honour of telling me your name?"
"Of course kind sir." Lily replied. "Nimue, and yours?"
"Merlin. In that case, fair Nimue, would you do me the honour of attending the fair and ball with me?" James answered,
"How can I refuse?" 'Nimue' stated.
Jess and Remus, a.k.a., Mab and Archimedes, had been talking through this, and left together after Lily and James. After they had left, Peter turned to Em nervously and asked,
"Elaine of the Lake, will you go to the ball with me?"
"Sir Galahad, I would be honoured" Em replied, more enthusiastically than she felt.

The winter carnival was probably the funnest thing that had ever happened at Hogwarts.  Jenny and Sirius opted for enchanted sleighing, Jenny, funnily enough, driving the beautiful reindeer.  Lily and James had gone for the option of Skating, and, seeing as both were experts, put on quite a show for those watching.  At first Lily had found it hard to skate in her long dress, but after getting used to it, she found herself participating in a magnificent series of leaps and jumps, James at her side the whole way.

"I can't believe," She thought to herself, whilst leaning into a soft glide with James, "That a year ago I hated this guy's guts."  She didn't have a chance to ponder the fact any longer, for at that moment, James picked up her slim tall frame and whirled her round in the air.  She needed her concentration to keep from a) kicking him in the face and b) to stop her self from falling.  As he touched her back down on the ice, he began giving stately bows and blowing kisses to the crowd watching.

"On second thoughts," Lily thought, "Yes I can.

                   With Jess and Remus, things were leaning in an altogether more romantic course.  They had taken off their disguises and Remus had shown Jess the old tree house he and the marauders had made in their first year.

"Of course," He said to his beautiful companion.  "None of us have been here since second year, when we discovered the room of requirement.  You know, you just…" Jess cut him off.

"Think of somewhere you really need, and it appears.  Read it in Hogwarts: a History."  She said, in return to his puzzled expression.

"Right."  Remus replied, mind clearly wandering.

"What are you thinking about?"  Jess asked, completely serious.

"It's nothing."

"Are you wondering why it is that I don't care that you're a werewolf, even though you nearly killed one of my best friends?"  She asked, making a shrewd guess.

"Kind of."  Remus answered sheepishly turning around to smile at her, and she smiled back.  He came to sit next to her, and then continued.

"I'm wondering, what's the catch?  I mean, I have a beautiful, kind, caring, clever girlfriend, who doesn't care that I'm a werewolf, and a group of wonderful friends, who'll stick by me no matter what, and likewise, don't care.  No life is this wonderful, therefore there must be a catch."  He stopped, realising how long he'd been talking.  He looked back at Jess, who was no longer smiling.

"I know what the catch is."  She stated, looking deep into her boyfriends blue-grey eyes.  "It's Voldemort."  At the time, neither of them knew the truth of this statement.  In the future though, Remus would come to realise that Jess was right.  As long as he existed, Voldemort would come to be the biggest catch in all their lives, all eight of them.

                   Over to Em and Peter, things were not going as well.  They were at the ring toss, and Peter was desperately trying to win something for his pretty companion.  Em was biting back a smirk, and finally, when Peter was on his last ring, she guided it to the necklace in a box, which was the star prize.  Peter happily presented it to her, and she put it on, smiling at him.  For all his incompetence, Peter was incredibly sweet.

                   Now, let's take a look about 50 feet in the air, where Jenny and Sirius were in the sleigh.  Jenny brought the sleigh to a standstill and said

"You can open your eyes now." in a highly amused voice.

"You're a killing machine!"  Sirius shouted at her.  Suddenly, Professor Dumbledore's magically magnified voice could be heard all over the grounds.

"Everybody, remove your masks and or enchantments.  The carnival will end at 6:00, to give the female members of the school time to prepare.  Enjoy yourselves!"

Sirius looked at Jenny in amazement.

"A) How did we end up together and 2) Where did you learn to do that, killing machine?"

"In answer to your questions, 1) I took a potion to allow me to discern your exact location, and b) My brother taught me on our holiday to Greenland."  Ignoring the mocking tone in her voice, Sirius kept staring at his girlfriend, open-mouthed.

"Anyway, I have some points too."  Jenny continued.  "1) Why does a star Quidditch player get scared out of his mind by a mere 50 feet? 2) I was just keeping my promise to you, to go to the balls with you, and 3) what the hell are you pointing at?"  For Sirius had just started pointing vigorously behind her.  Jenny turned around in curiosity, slipped on a piece of Ice on the floor, and ended up dangling from one of the runners of the sleigh.  Sirius's voice suddenly returned with a vengeance.

"Jenny, why didn't you look behind you before?  Malfoy was tipping the sleigh with a curse!"

"Well if someone hadn't been too scared to speak maybe I would have known sooner!"

"Well sorry for being scared of something!  You're probably not scared of anything, are you; little miss perfect Jenny Le Fae.  Oh no!  You're Jenny Le Fae, of course you're not!"

"For your information, Mr Black, I'm scared of plenty of things.  I'm scared that I might end up like my parents; worshipping the dark arts.  I'm scared that when Voldemort comes knocking on my door, I won't have the courage to say no.  I'm scared that I won't be able to accept death, and end up cursed, like a ghost.  And most of all, I'm scared of what I'm about to do."

                   With that comment, Jenny's last finger slipped from the runner, and she plummeted to the ground.  In shock, Sirius just sat there.  He could not move.  He just saw the figure of his girlfriend falling, and land with a thump on the ground, with a horrible crack, which even he could hear, 50 feet up.  Sirius fainted, and his body fell, as Jenny's had moments before.

                   As may have been expected, neither the marauders nor the sorceresses attended the ball that night.  They simply sat by their friend's bedside, completely silent, waiting for some sign, some action, which might say she was alive.  Sirius sat closest to her, her hand in his.  Inside, his thoughts were tearing him apart.

"This is all Malfoy's fault, the bastard.  If he hadn't been jinxing the sleigh, then, oh, who am I kidding?  The fault's all mine.  If I hadn't lost my voice, because of the height, I would have been able to tell her.  If I hadn't got angry with her, I could have pulled her up, instead of wasting time on a pointless fight.  God, I hate myself.  I know this happened before, but the second blow is always worse than the first.  I'd hate her to die.  Especially if the last word I spoke to her was one of anger.  How could I do this to her?  I love her, and now I've probably killed her.  I don't even care if she never speaks another word to me as long as we live, if she would just wake up.  There's no hope that she'll live.  She was so close to death then, and this time will be worse.  If she dies, I'll kill myself, if that's the only way to go to her.  I couldn't face life without her.  It would be a living hell, every minute.  I wonder who that guy coming over is.  Probably the specialist."

                   "You children are the friends of Miss Le Fae, correct?"

"Yes."  They chorused quietly.

"I have some very bad news for you.  Miss Le Fae received this sort of injury before, and was nearly lost to us as a consequence.  This time, her life is ebbing away at a much faster speed.  If she doesn't wake up in the next week, I'm afraid all may well be lost.  I'm sorry, children.  I'll leave you alone with her."