I'm sorry it's taken me so long to upload this new chapter. I've had it written for weeks but I never really got around to editing it until today... I know it's a lame excuse but I had my year twelve exams and then I suffered minor anxiety attacks over those, and then I suffered anxiety over the fact that this chapter wouldn't be as good as the first and that people wouldn't like it - and seeing as this story as received the most positive response I've ever gotten that freaked me out just a tiny bit. But here it is. Chapter 2.
I'd also like to say a quick thank you to my reviewers TWHATT18, millie-mae, Lexie and Black Rose Weasley as well as anyone who favourited or alerted my story. It means a lot.
I do not own any of the Harry Potter universe, credit for that goes to J.K. Rowling. I do however own:
Maree Teilor, 5th year Ravenclaw
Alexa Piper, 5th year Ravenclaw
Alexis Trivic, 5th year Slytherin
and Grace Penthea, 5th year Gryffindor
As well as any other non-canon characters.
Chapter Two - Second Impressions
If there was one thing everyone learned from going to school it was that the first days are always the hardest, no matter how hard you tried to make them more entertaining. So, indeed, it was inevitable that every single teacher in the entire school would put in their greatest effort to try to bore the students to death with a long-winded and redundant speech on the importance of their particular class and how hard we were required to study in order to get a good grade. The extremely boring teachers would drone on for nearly the entire period without letting up and refused to let the students ignore their well prepared oral presentations, but most tried to get the speech over as quickly as possible whilst having the most impact. This year seemed particularly terrible in the speech-making department, as each of the teachers saw the need to emphasise the significance of the OWLs we were going to have to undertake at the end of the year, and I was leaning back in my chair with my eyes drooping lazily closed to try to sleep through the first of many of these speeches when the door to the transfiguration classroom swung open loudly and some of the more noisy students filed in.
Among these students were several Gryffindors, and among these Gryffindors was Sirius Black and the rest of the Marauders. My eyes flew open as I jolted forward in my seat and looked determinedly at the front of the classroom as realisation dawned on me, I'd completely forgotten my bet I'd made and the mere thought of it caused me to groan out loud as Grace took the seat in front of me with Lily at her side. Her hair flipped in it's dark-brown ponytail as she turned to look back at me with a frown and an eyebrow raised in question before catching sight of the four most well-known boys in the school as they hovered, talking rather loudly, just behind my shoulder. She gave me a knowing smirk as she turned back to the front of the classroom to leave me wallowing in my distress.
"Evans!" James Potter yelled from somewhere behind me as he clearly caught sight of my red-headed friend before moving to stand next to her and running a hand through his already ridiculously messy black hair, "aren't you glad you get to bask in my presence in classes again. I know you missed me over the holidays."
"You're right Potter, I did miss you," Lily agreed as she leaned towards him causing him to lean closer from where he was standing and making me smirk as she continued, "As much as one misses the plague, or other deadly diseases."
James jumped back suddenly, as if he had been shocked and placed a hand to his heart dramatically, throwing his head back in theatrics as he moaned of the great pain she had caused him. I leaned over my desk and gave Lily a high-five while we laughed quietly, watching as McGonagall strode into the room and shut the classroom door.
"Settle down Mr Potter, before I am forced to give you a detention," McGonagall commanded and James retreated to the back row with a smirk of his own, taking the seat behind Alexa and next to Sirius, who was sitting behind me; fabulous.
I crossed my arms on my desk and nestled my head into them, closing my eyes and silently willing this class to end as quickly as possible and without too much of an incident. I was dozing quietly on my desk when I felt a sharp elbow in my ribs, causing me to look up and glare at Alexa while she nodded to the front of the class as McGonagall finished her opening speech and set a practical activity for the class to participate in. I ducked my head, hoping to avoid her gaze, but it was just my luck that she decided that I should be the one to hand the toads we'd be transfiguring to the rest of the class.
I groaned before pushing myself up slowly and moving to the front of the room and collecting the box of hopping monstrosities from McGonagall's desk, trying my best to hide my face from Sirius as I moved around the room as quickly as possible and handed out the slimy creatures. I looked up at the dark-haired boy once before I reached his row and smiled quickly to myself as I deposited the toad on his desk before finishing with the rest of the students and nearly running back to the front of the classroom in relief. I was almost in the clear, he wouldn't notice me so long as I didn't draw any attention to myself, and as fate would help it, I was walking past a girl I had insulted on the last day of term last year on my to the front.
By the time I noticed the foot that was in front of me, it was too late and I was sent sprawling to the floor, the few toads that had been left in the box hopping all over the place as I closed my eyes and braced for impact. I hit the floor with a thud, my knees and wrists burning from where they had scratched the floorboards as a collective squeal rang out around the classroom. I groaned as I opened my eyes and saw most of the girls standing on their chairs as the leftover toads hopped around the classroom, joined by the toads that had been on all the horrified girls' tables. I stood up quickly, horrified at the thought of any of those slimy monsters touching me as I threw my wand in the air and concentrated.
"Immobulus!" I yelled and immediately all the toads ceased in their movement while I rushed to grab the box and collect all the motionless toads, depositing some on the tables of the girls that had lost them, smiling as Alexa moved quickly to help. McGonagall made herself busy trying to coax the girls down from their chairs as I closed the box and placed it on McGonagall's desk at the front. I turned to see the person who had tripped me smirking from her spot in the second row and I sent a rude hand gesture in her direction. Her jaw dropped in horror and I smiled kindly, passing her and going to my seat, my eyes locking with the grey eyes of the boy in the seat behind me. I looked away quickly as I sat down, and twirled a loose strand of hair around my finger anxiously as McGonagall returned to the front.
"Miss Cooper, ten points from Ravenclaw for tripping up Miss Teilor," McGonagall said and I stopped my anxious twirling to grin victoriously at the other girl before my face fell as McGonagall continued with, "Miss Teilor, another ten points for that rude hand gesture."
I scowled sinking lower in my chair as Alexa giggled a little in her spot next to me and I shot her a small glare. If it wasn't bad enough that my knees and elbows were probably going to bruise from my fall, now my best friend was laughing at me and Sirius knew who I was - well there went that advantage in this bet. I groaned a little before I heard the giggling from Lily and Grace in front of me and I kicked the back of Grace's chair indignantly, sticking my tongue out at her when she turned to face me. She glanced over my shoulder and smiled devilishly before turning to the front as I felt a prod in my back. I turned sharply before remembering who was sitting behind me and hesitated before turning in my seat and raising an eyebrow.
"Is there something I can do for you Black?" I asked, aware that Alexa was listening to the conversation intensely at my side and trying to convey everything that was going on to Grace and Lily without getting caught. I feigned interest in the boy behind me and noticed that his best friend was doing the same for him as mine were doing for me, funny how this world works.
"Fancy running into you again so soon Teilor," Sirius commented wistfully, rolling my name around in his mouth as he said it with a victorious smile, "Is this a dream? Because I've never seen anything so perfect in my life. First session on the first day back with a beautiful Ravenclaw like yourself."
"If you keep using lines like that, I'll be winning those ten galleons in no time," I responded with a wide smile before turning away from Sirius and facing the front of the class, Alexa trying desperately to stifle her giggling at my side as I saw her fist unclench as if she had just stopped herself from hitting something; this was an interesting development. I turned slightly to ask her what we were supposed to be doing with the stupid toad when I felt a sharp jab in my back again. I rolled my eyes and turned to face the two dark-haired boys behind me with a forced smile.
"Yes?" I asked, "Am I going to have to sit through a succession of lame pick-up lines or can I get to work?"
Sirius pretended to be hurt at my comment as he responded, "I'll have you know that my collection of pick-up lines are immense and impressive. I've picked up several times using them, for the record."
"And how many of those girls wanted to get in your pants before you tried to hit on them?" I asked, pausing for a minute to give him time to respond before smiling and continued, "Yeah, that's what I thought. Look, just do us both a favour and go back to hitting on your usual bimbos, I'm not interested."
I turned around again and asked Alexa what we were supposed to do with the toad, trying my hardest to ignore the ignorant Gryffindor boy sitting behind me as he proceeded to sit there poking me with what I assumed was his wand. I took some deep breaths as I listened to Alexa explain how we were supposed to be turning the toad into a teapot. She showed me the wand movement, stating the spell clearly and watching with some satisfaction as her toad turned into a white teapot with blue flowers around it. She scowled a little bit and it was then that I noticed the oddly bent spout on the teapot, patting her back kindly as she tried to fix her mistake, all the while Sirius was persistently poking me in the back, right between my shoulder blades.
Biting down a few choice curse words that rose to my lips as the arrogant teenager kept jabbing me in the back, I pointed my wand at the toad in front of me and waved it stating the spell clearly and watching as the toad in front of me morphed into a blue teapot with white flowers around the outside. I smiled slightly to myself remembering how terrible I'd been at transfiguration until Alexa had begun to show me the way the spells worked. There was something about seeing Alexa perform the spell that made it easier for me to figure out how to do it myself. I held my teapot up to Alexa victoriously and she smiled at it as she held up her now fixed teapot.
"Five points each girls," McGonagall said as she passed, glancing at our perfect teapots before moving onto the next table as I shared a small hug with my best friend before the poking between my shoulder blades became more insistent and I was forced to turn to Sirius with a dark smile on my face, turning my wand and muttering the first charm that came to my head.
"Functus Quem," I hissed before turning back to my teapot and smiling widely at Alexa. She looked at me in confusion and I held up a finger telling her to wait a moment before we heard a seat being pulled out behind us and a deep voice begin to sing a serenade to McGonagall who turned red in anger and demanded that Sirius return to his seat and quit his nonsense at once. Sirius however continued to follow McGonagall around the classroom, as if compelled to do so, before she cracked and dragged him out into the hallway and started to berate him verbally for his mischief. We heard the bell ring in between the Gryffindor Head of House's shouts and began to pack up our stuff slowly as she returned to the room and told us we were to practise the lesson's spell and write a foot long essay on the advantages of transfiguring animals.
I gathered my stuff as slowly as possible and left with Alexa, leaving our perfect teapots resting on our tables. We emerged into the hallway to see Sirius standing in wait with his foot tapping on the floor and his eyes narrowed vehemently. I smiled kindly at him as we moved to walk off down the hall when he stepped into my road, effectively cutting me off. I stepped back a few paces, Alexa remaining where she was.
"Is there a problem Black?" I asked and Sirius' eyes narrowed more as I stood waiting for a response before he scowled and pointed at his throat and I widened my eyes as if I hadn't noticed, "Oh, you want me to fix your voice! Why didn't you just say so?"
Sirius growled as I whipped my wand out and muttered the counter curse before charming a sticky sign onto his back quickly and admiring my excellent use of sticking charms. It wasn't permanent but the sign would be exceedingly difficult to remove if a person wasn't aware of the appropriate processes one was supposed to go through. Sirius tested out his voice quickly and grinned before flashing me his insanely cocky smile.
"If you didn't like me, you wouldn't have fixed it," He said as he moved closer and I clicked my fingers.
"Merlin, well now the secret's out I suppose," I sighed and looked up at him with a wide smile as he leaned in closer.
"Really?" He asked in a low voice before I moved around him with an appalled look on my face.
"Dear Merlin no," I responded throwing my hands in the air exasperatedly, "They said that Gryffindors were idiotic but I didn't think you'd buy that pile of dragon dung. Honestly Black, keep dreaming. You're never gonna win that easy."
I linked arms with Alexa and moved away down the hall, leaving the Gryffindor boy behind us. As we were about to turn the corner I released her arm and turned to face back taking a few steps closer to him as I called out, "Oh, and by the way, when you give up, I'll definitely collect on that bet."
"In your dreams Teilor!" Sirius called back as I rounded the corner and disappeared.
Alexa was waiting a few metres away from me and I linked arms with her again as we proceeded downstairs towards the school grounds and our next class. She looked at me with a grin as I tried not to burst with laughter at the thought of the other girls' faces when they saw the sign on his back. Almost as if she knew exactly what I was thinking Alexa sighed and smiled at me.
"So what did that sign say anyway?" She asked and I grinned sheepishly thinking of the appreciation Lily would have to give me if she ever saw it.
"'Gay with Potter'" I responded simply with a straight face as I struggled not to laugh. Alexa looked at me in shock before her face broke out into a grin as she swatted at my arm playfully.
"I can't believe you," she said trying to fight the grin on her face, "He'll try to get you back now."
"That was the plan," I replied with a laugh, "It's not like I was going to fall for him, but this way, if I keep annoying him with pranks and things, he might give up on me."
"Not likely," Alexa sighed and I smiled at her.
"I realise that but, my dear sweet Lexie, if he's too busy getting me back, how does he intend to win the bet of getting me to fall for him?" I asked matter-of-factly, "Trust me Lexie, by the end of the year he'll be too busy wanting to get revenge on me to actually bother with the bet any more."
"Smart,"Alexa said under her breath and I smiled.
"Well I am a Ravenclaw aren't I?"" I replied as we reached the Entrance Hall and marched over to the massive double doors that served as an entrance to the castle.
A group of Slytherins charged ahead of us and pushed the door open, letting in the sharp autumn air that stung my face as I stood waiting for them all to go through before following after them quickly and closing the doors. We followed the group ahead of us all the way to the Herbology greenhouse where Alexis stood with her arms crossed over her chest and her light-brown hair covered with a green and silver woollen beanie which was pulled right down over her ears. She rose a hand in greeting as we rushed over to her and waited for Professor Sprout to arrive.
"How was your first period?" I asked Alexis as she shivered a little in the cold.
"Incredibly boring," she responded with a roll of her eyes, "You try sitting next to Severus when Professor Flitwick is making a speech, I swear he tries to write everything down. Not to mention the fact that he often likes to pretend I'm not there. I know it's not like we're friends or anything and there is the fact that he does that to pretty much everyone except Lily so it's not as if I really mind that much, but common courtesy every once in a while would be nice."
"So true," I agreed as Sprout arrived and we were all shepherded into the greenhouse, "but then again we all know how he is to a degree so we can let it slide for Lily's sake."
"I think that letting it go works in his favour in getting along with Lily though so we're really doing him a favour," Alexis pointed out and I smiled.
"Unfortunately, I agree, but what else can we do?" I said.
Alexis sighed as a way of conceding while Alexa pulled out a few rolls of parchment, two quills and six bottles of ink before looking attentively to Sprout. I groaned as Alexis rolled her eyes and Sprout began her speech while Alexa took notes, being careful to try not to miss anything. I shared a look with Alexis and we both leaned backwards in our spots and began to whisper softly.
"How was your first period anyway? I hear you had it with the Gryffindors," Alexis asked and I smiled as I ran over the previous sessions events briefly in hushed tones. As I finished, Alexis put her hand over her mouth to stifle the giggles as she gave me a quick high-five and we turned to Professor Sprout who was explaining our next practical activity - involving large venomous plants that I would rather have nothing to do with - before allowing us to pack up. The class moved into separate groups when Sprout finished to have discussions in hushed tones whilst Alexis and I watched Alexa put her excess of ink back into her bag.
"Remind me why you need so much ink Lexie," I said as she placed the sixth inkwell back into her bag and looked up at us with her curls bouncing at the sudden movement. Her cheeks flushed as she mumbled something and looked away.
"Pardon? Didn't quite catch that."
"I might run out of ink," Alexa muttered a little louder and Alexis and I shared a look, working hard to fight the grins that threatened to take over our faces.
"Y'know what? I don't even care," I said, throwing my hands up in surrender as the bell rang overhead, "You'll be you and you can do what you want."
Alexa smiled as all three of us made the slow trek up to the Entrance Hall together, moving behind a particularly slow group of Slytherin students. We passed around them and made our way to the Entrance Hall at a significantly faster rate, entering into the warm castle to a sigh from Alexis as she felt the need to remove her beanie and put it in her bag whilst we moved into the Great Hall. We were making our way past the Slytherin table to the Ravenclaw table for lunch when a red-faced Gryffindor stormed up and cut off my path.
"Take it off," he growled and I frowned as Alexa and Alexis moved around us to get some food.
"I don't think I know you that well yet Black," I responded, "Besides this is a public place and that is entirely gross." I tried to step around him but he cut me off again with his arms crossed across his chest.
"The sign. On my back," Sirius growled turning to show me the sign I had magicked there when fixing his voice before turning around as my lips twitched at the corners and continuing, "The one you put there."
"Now I find that accusation insulting," I said pretending to be offended but cursing my still twitching lips that gave my amusement away, "I think you should be careful what you say next time you want to ask someone for help. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go eat my lunch. Go ask Lupin to fix it for you, I've heard he's pretty smart y'know."
Sirius turned to glare at me but I'd already pushed past him and was well on the way to catching up with my friends who were sitting halfway down the Ravenclaw table and watching my every move with cat-like grins. I stuck my tongue out at them and sat down on Alexa's other side as I reached for the chicken in front of me, taking long deep breaths to calm down. I looked up and noticed that Lily was making her way over to me with a massive grin on her face so I smiled and waved her over. She stood behind me and I turned to face her as she raised a questioning eyebrow, her lips twitching the way mine had only a few minutes ago.
"'Gay with Potter' eh?" was all she managed to say before she started to laugh hysterically and we heard a shout across the hall.
"What the hell do you mean you can't fix it Moony?"
I looked up to see Sirius yelling at the nicest Marauder before he looked up and spotted me across the hall. He made a beeline for me and I plastered my face with the brightest smile I could before he arrived. He looked down at me from a spot next to Lily - whose laughter had been renewed when she'd glanced at the sign again - and crossed his arms.
"Will you please get this ridiculous sign off of me," he ground out and I smiled even wider.
"You trust I won't do anything else to you? That's so nice of you," I gushed as I got my wand out and mumbled the counter curse, laughing as he went over to the nearest person who wasn't my friend to have them verify I hadn't done anything new. As he returned I watched the dark smile grow on his face.
"You realise I'm going to have to repay that, right love?" Sirius asked as he appeared at my side.
"Wouldn't want anything less," I said with a smile, "And for the record, don't call me 'love'."
"Just don't regret it love," Sirius called over his shoulder as he walked back towards the Gryffindor table.
"In your dreams Black," I called to his retreating back before turning to my expectant friends, noticing that in the midst of everything else, Lily had wandered back to the Gryffindor table herself, and adding in a low voice, "Who's ready for some prank-based fun?"
"I can't believe your ploy actually worked," Alexa said with her eyebrows furrowed as she glanced at Sirius' back, "I can't believe he's neglected the bet in favour of a prank war."
"He hasn't abandoned the bet yet," Alexis pointed out as she finished her lunch, "He's simply getting revenge for being humiliated."
I tried to listen to Alexis but my eyes followed Sirius as he tried to rally the Marauders into action. A smile crept across my face and I shook my head as I turned back to my friends, a lightness in my stomach at the thought of the upcoming prank war. My mind was reeling with ideas and thoughts that I analysed individually as I tried to estimate my best method of attack. Any actions that the Marauders pulled would require adequate retaliation. I was ready for this war and I couldn't wait for anything that Sirius Black pulled out for me. Bring it on Sirius, bring it on.
There's the end of the second chapter. Now that I've finished school I'll have more time to dedicate to this so it shouldn't be too long until the next few chapters are uploaded. I hope you've enjoyed this and if you want you can leave a review :)
Coming in Chapter Three:
"Do I know you from somewhere?"
I had to catch myself quickly before my head jolted forward entirely and slammed against the table, before I turned to blatantly stare at Lupin as I heard Alexa sigh complacently. She turned a little bit in her seat and I swivelled around so I was facing away from them again as I strained my ears to hear her response.
"You know the girl Sirius is currently trying to shack up with-" I heard her begin before she was cut off with a sharp intake of breath.
"You're her?" Remus said quickly and I giggled, hearing Alexa do the same behind me.
"No," she corrected and I could hear the laughter in her voice, "I'm her best friend."
Hope you're looking forward to the update. I know I am.