Bit of a filler, things will definatly pick up pace soon. This weekend I'm going to work on it, promise!
***
Lily ate lunch with Jodie, telling her in hushed tones all about her dramatic morning. She could hardly believe how quickly her dull day had turned into one full of chaos, tears, and revelations. And now she was wrapped up in some sort of crazy vendetta against a boy she hardly knew all because of the three scorned girls.
Jodie leaned back with her eyes wide once the story was over. "Wow. Though I'm glad this happened."
"What do you mean?"
"Sirius is a total operator! Look at him!" She jerked her head to her left, and Lily peered around to see the boy in question mucking around, chucking bread instead of actually eating it with three other boys. Potter was one, and she knew Remus Lupin from her prefect duties last year. He was in some of her classes, and she'd been partners with him a few times. Lily felt she knew him well enough to give him the label of intelligent with a sense of humour. The last of the four was a smaller blonde haired boy who cringed every time Sirius feinted towards him. To be honest, they all looked like typical immature boys, and Black did not appear scheming.
Lily turned back to her friend and frowned. "I still don't understand."
Jodie sighed and leaned closer to prevent unwelcome eavesdroppers. "He goes out with girls in different houses so that they hardly ever talk to each other, let alone become friends. But what happened this morning showed he never intended to tell any of them. He just uses girls." She shook her head in disgust.
"And now they want to get back at him for it." Lily sighed. "I'm not so sure if that's a good idea."
"What are you talking about?" Jodie's voice raised an octave. "It's a brilliant idea!! Finding out about this has made me see him in a completely different light. Everyone around here practically worships him, it's sickening."
"Really?"
"Yes! Lily you have to help those girls!"
"I guess…" She still wasn't sure, but it was always good to have her trusted friend's opinion. She stared down the end of the table and saw Sirius laugh at something Potter had done. There was some sort of filmy custard splattered all over his glasses, and Lily stifled a laugh at his comical expression.
"Oh, Jodie? Potter asked me out again."
"What excuse did you give him this time?"
"I… well… I didn't. Not yet anyway."
Her friend's eyes widened, "What?!"
"His offer sounded good this time! He said a band is playing down in the Three Broomsticks, and I thought you might actually want to go?"
"Oh my gosh, I completely forgot about it! I overheard people talking about that in Runes, it's Double Trouble! I've loved them forever!"
"So you want to go?"
"Defiantly! But what will you tell James? You can't exactly go with him and me?"
Lily saw her perfect excuse unfold in front of her. "Exactly! I'll tell him I'll see him there, talk to him a little, but stay with you the whole time. That way it won't be like a date at all! Oh Jodie you are brilliant!!"
"I know, but I think you came up with that by yourself."
They both laughed, and began discussing what to wear at the weekend when a white paper bird came flying at top speed towards Lily. It crashed into her head, and lay crumpled on the table by her plate.
"Who's that from?" Jodie asked while stuffing her face with cake.
Lily unfolded the note and found it blank. Then letters became forming rapidly on the parchment, For the Griffin, Raven, and Snake. I've got an idea about Project Blackmail. Meet in the Library in our spot this afternoon before dinner. Love Dragon.
Lily stared at the note in confusion. Who was Dragon? She looked up and passed the note to Jodie who hurriedly swallowed her cake.
"Dragon? Oh like Puff the magic Dragon?! I get it."
"You do?"
Jodie rolled her eyes, "Lily you are silly sometimes. Project Blackmail," she snorted, "that's a rubbish code."
"Yeah. Anyway, we'd better get to our next class. Come on fatty. There will be plenty more food at dinner." She dragged her friend away from a second serving of cake.
As they left, the red head crumpled up the note, groaning internally. She had wanted a quiet year, and now she had somehow been thrust into this plot to unravel the most arrogant boy in school. She sighed for the umpteenth time that hour, it would never work.
***
"I have the best idea." Michelle declared to the three girls rather loudly in the library.
"Yes, we did gather that." Cassie rolled her eyes.
Silvia frowned. "Yes, but why am I a snake?"
"Yeah, you do know that the sign for Ravenclaw is an eagle, not a raven right?"
"Girls! Let Michelle just tell us her idea!" Lily interrupted their criticism, seeing the Hufflepuff's eyes darken with rage. To her immense surprise they stopped and Lily smiled inwardly, maybe the Head Girl thing did have its advantages after all.
"Thank you Lily. So, when I was walking to lunch earlier I saw Sirius talking to some Gryffindor in the year below us and I realized just how easy it would be for him to get another girl."
Cassie nodded in agreement, "He was flirting with Flo all through Potions after lunch. It was sickening. I just wanted to run over and slap him."
Lily's eyebrows shot up, partly in shock at the boy and partly in shock at the girl sitting in front of her. "Already? But he only broke up with you all today!"
"That's what he's like Lily." Michelle shrugged.
Silvia folded her arms across her chest and leant backwards, "Flo in Hufflepuff? That girl is such a-"
"Not the time!" Lily shot the Slytherin a look. "So what's the plan Michelle?"
"Yes, so anyway, I believe I know what we can do to get back at him. We need to get even right? So we humiliate him."
Silvia nodded eagerly, "I like humiliation. But how?"
Michelle smirked, "I believe I have started the ball rolling, I started a slight rumor mill."
"Like what?" Cassie asked, leaning in.
"Let's just say his… reputation in bed will no longer be positive."
Silvia snorted, "And you call me the slut!"
"Well what else do you suggest?" Michelle snapped.
The red head felt like banging her head against the table. "Really Michelle, is that the right way to go about this?"
"Lily, we have to do something!"
"But surely we don't have to stoop that low!"
"Lily's right." Cassie said, "We need to get even, not act like psycho ex girlfriends."
There was silence as the words sunk in. Then Cassie's face lit up.
"Oh! I know. We need to humiliate him right?" A twisted smile played across her lips. "I'll be right back."
She stood up and walked away from their table and Lily started at Silvia.
"Why does no one discuss their ideas before putting them in action?"
She got no reply, because Cassie appeared suddenly from behind with a rather large book which she slammed down on the desk. The loud noise caused a few cautious looks to be thrown in their direction.
"I found this a few nights ago when I was doing some light reading."
"You call this light?!" Michelle ran her finger across the large spine.
"It's all about how to get magical revenge on things that have scorned you." She continued, ignoring Michelle. "And if you look…"
Silvia flicked to the contents page and read aloud to the rest of the group, "Ways to make a faulty quill obey. How to stop an unnecessary coo-coo clock…" She looked back up at Cassie. "How exactly does this relate to Black?"
The intelligent girl dragged the large book back towards her, "I was getting to that! Look, at the back someone has slotted in some notes. I initially thought that they had defaced the book which was awful, but they've added their own pages on how to deal with people."
"Really?" All three girls were intrigued.
"Look," Cassie turned to the right page, and sure enough someone had scribbled in rough handwriting, "Twenty Five Ways to Get Revenge- to be used with caution, not all points will give the desired effect and some have been known to adversely effect the caster."
Cassie paused and glanced up through her brown hair to see three pairs of eyes staring intently at her, "So what do you think?"
"Read the first couple out." Michelle encouraged.
"The first step to revenge is to remember to never undermine your opponent. And remember, revenge is healthy. Don't listen to those maggot mouths who tell you otherwise. You're teaching people to behave better. At the same time you're getting icky poisonous feelings out of your system once and for all. What could be healthier?
One. Work in the open. By hiding in shadows your target will be alert that someone is out to get them. Lull them into a false sense of security.
Two. Undermine your opponent's confidence. Many Wizards or Witches are too pompous to consider being attacked from simple angles, there are very simple Muggle methods which do not involve magic. For example, you can dye their hair without using a face perfection spell."
Cassie looked up again as Lily laughed loudly. "What is it?"
Their head girl continued laughing, and finally breathed out, "Muggle is my specialty. Girls, I've got an idea."
***
"Lily, you're sure about this?!"
The Head Girl was shocked at how involved she had gotten. She wasn't even a scorned ex girlfriend, but for some reason she had thrust herself into their planning. Silvia loved her idea, as did Michelle, but Cassie was wary.
"Trust me Cassie; I've done this with my sister many times before."
"Really?"
"Yes, even Muggles like to make potions you know."
The four girls had spent the evening plotting and discussing Lily's idea to the full. It all depended on Sirius being one of those pompous wizards, and not being suspicious of a surprise package, and certainly not checking for some muggle trick.
"Okay girls, see you later, remember don't show any reactions." Silvia warned as they neared the Great Hall. It was time for breakfast, and the four girls had met early in the Owlery to ensure their package would be delivered with the morning post. They began to dissipate as a crowd of students appeared. Michelle blended into a group of Hufflepuffs easily, Cassie threw Lily a last worried look before storming forward, and Lily slowed her pace while Silvia drifted off.
The red head sat down neatly next to Jodie, who eyed her suspiciously.
"Where were you last night? And all this morning for that matter!"
"Blackmail business." Lily replied quietly, reaching for a buttered roll.
"So you decided to help them?"
Lily just nodded, unable to reply with a mouthful of bread.
"Oh, post is here." Jodie looked up and Lily's stomach twisted with anticipation as she saw one drop a large brown parcel onto Sirius's plate. She risked a glance at Silvia who sat across the room. She mouthed don't look! and then turned back to her own group of friends.
"So what were you up to?" Jodie pressed as Lily watched four boys out of the corner of her eye.
"Shh! I'm trying to hear."
"Hear what?"
"Hear them." She hissed.
Jodie was instantly silent, and stared intently at her plate, obviously listening as well. Lily's friend was much better at subtly than her.
"What is it Sirius?" She heard Potter ask.
"Rip it!" Remus chanted enthusiastically.
"Who's it from?" Peter peered closely.
"Do I look like I know anymore than you losers?!" Sirius replied, and there was a sound of tearing paper. "What the…?"
An echo of laughter reached Lily's ears, and she quickly peeked to see three boys laughing at a very perplexed looking Sirius holding a glass shampoo bottle.
"Look, there's a card. Because it's been looking slightly greasy lately." Remus read out.
"That's all it says? Let me see." Sirius reached out and snatched the small piece of parchment, searching the scrap for non-existent information.
"Maybe it's a love potion?" Potter scoffed. "Another to add to the pile."
"It's not like he needs them." Remus joined in.
"Mooney, can you check it?" Sirius sighed, giving into their taunting.
"Sure lover boy." He waved his wand quickly over the bottle, and Lily went cold. The problem now wasn't Sirius, it was Remus! He was equally as clever as Lily, and maybe much broader minded.
"Nope, looks normal to me." The knot in Lily's stomach quickly loosened.
"Maybe someone is just being helpful for once. You do kind of need a wash Padfoot." Potter wrinkled his nose and took the shampoo from Lupin to chuck it into Sirius's face.
He caught the bottle with ease. "Okay, well maybe it was from someone normal. I ran out of my shampoo the other day." He flipped the top open and gave it a sniff. "It smells alright."
"Can you go use it now? You're putting me off my food."
"Yeah, I've got a free now I think. See you bad boys later." Sirius reached across as he got up, ruffling Potter's hair and knocking his glasses off.
As soon as the Black boy was gone from the room Lily turned around so she could see the Hufflepuff table. Michelle was smirking, but didn't look at her. Over at the Ravenclaw table Cassie looked surprised that the plan had worked so easily.
"So what was that about?" Jodie began pestering Lily again.
The red head grinned widely; proud that her simple plan had gone smoothly. Now they just had to wait for the results.
***
What are they going to do to Sirius?!
Thoughts guys? :)