Once upon a time, the Gryffindors and Slytherins were in a feud that lasted for centuries. It started as far back as the four founders of Hogwarts, with Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin. Both were the best of friends to start with, and it was only after Salazar became quite racist with their choice of students, thinking that children with non Muggle parents but obvious magic in their veins were not allowed to go to Hogwarts, let alone be in his house. The other three disagreed, thinking that all students should have the equal opportunity that Purebloods did. That, combined with the Chamber of Secrets stuff, ended the little bromance between those two founders.
Up until two years ago, the fight had affected all Gryffindors and Slytherins, including the ones in this story. In Voldemort and Quirrell's first year, they didn't openly despise the lion-hearts. It was only Regulus, Lily and Peter who were in the same year as Voldy and co and although Regulus made some snidey comments with a few of his first year acquaintances about the 'evils' of the Slytherin house, it wasn't anything that the Slytherins couldn't make a quick remark to. Lily and Peter were too wrapped up in their little 'friendship'.
The following year, James. Sirius and Lupin came on the scene. Them combined with the others caused a massive abomination. Severus, Yaxley and Narcissa joined the Slytherin group this year too. Apparently, Lily had broken up with Severus over their Summer holidays, a couple of days before going to Hogwarts together, so this caused the Slytherins to be bitter with the two Gryffindors. Sensing the tension, James and Sirius joined Lily and Peter. And thus the prank war began.
At first, it was malice. Cruel spite and judgement forced the Gryffindors into breaking into the allocated Slytherin dormitories and graffiti on the walls, break some stuff and set their beds on fire. They found it completely hilarious. The Slytherins didn't. They wanted revenge, and blood in Severus's case. So at breakfast this morning, during the morning owl post, they transfigured bird seed all over the Gryffindor table and, more specifically, the troublesome teens. To finish off, they also transfigured glue, so that all feathers that fell on them stayed where they landed. Like I said, it was all out of malice. At first. But after months of the same treatment, it was hard not to notice the smile on the opponents face when they have realised what they had done, nor the joy that was in their stomach when they plotted a new scheme.
One day in late February, they had to use their skills to defend themselves. A group of Hufflepuff seventh years had decided to break free of their 'loyalty' label, and start terrorizing any single first, second and third years they could find. Yes, that did include both the Gryffindors and the Slytherins.
It started off as words. But words can't hurt you, can they? Well, when they chose to make fun of Quirrell being the only Gay kid in his year it hurt, especially when his and Voldemort's friendship was dragged into it. Lucius's dress sense and obsession with dancing was also hit, as was Yaxley's medium-ish grades and eye patch and Severus's general appearance and depressive attitude. They even dragged the girls into it, calling Bella a slag and Narcissa fat and ugly. But the group decided that, while they had each other, they didn't care what the rest of the school thought, especially some stupid Hufflepuffs who were leaving come July.
Words couldn't hurt the group. That's why the Hufflepuffs resorted to actions.
Ironically, both the Gryffindors and the Slytherins were in the library that day, although some members of the group would rather have not been there (Yes Regulus and Sirius, looking at you.) Both groups were recovering from the events of the last week and, although they didn't talk to each other, they had formed a silent truce through exchanged glances and silent nods. After all, each and every one of the members of the group had suffered from the Hufflepuffs throwing them into walls. Hard. For some people, it involved throwing them into statues (Lupin had a cut above his left eyebrow where his head had connected, and a giant bruise across his belly. Sirius had cried in his sleep for a week, not being able to protect his friend.) paintings, (Peter was still in detention every other weekday from seven in the evening till ten writing 'I must treat paintings with respect.' over and over again.) and at one dangerous point, mirrors. (Thankfully, Lucius had managed to twirl to avoid the more serious pieces, but he still had a few slash scars against his toned chest and arms, many of which caused the teachers to give him a little talk about self harming.)They didn't try hurting the women, but did spend a lot of time throwing objects at them. Damn those Hufflepuffs, with their obsessive finding and throwing. None of the groups felt like studying, and both were just sitting there, in the Slytherin's case, waiting for Yaxley and Severus to turn up. Lucius tried ringing both boys mobiles, but both were off, which caused the group to worry. Had the Hufflepuffs gotten them too?
When they finally entered the library, the first thing that they noticed, was both boys were wet. Yaxley was only slightly so, but had obvious burns over his skin and scorched robes. Severus was totally soaked, with slashed robes and not too severe bleeding, but he was coughing way too much and he was also in a state of shock. It had looked like both boys had been crying.
Both groups were stunned into an even deeper silence. "OH G-god, what happened?" Quirrell pulled Voldemort out of his chair and, getting up himself, offered the two the now empty seats. Severus didn't speak, he just stared at the floor, still coughing his guts up, in shock as Bella and Narcissa started hairdrying their friend with their wands. Yaxley let Lucius and Voldemort tend to the burn wounds, while Quirrell grew some tea-leaves from his wand to start making a strong hot drink for the pair.
Throughout the speech, Yaxley struggled to get his words out, still in shock himself, but knowing Severus wouldn't want to talk. "Severus and I... we were on our way to the library from Herbology. We'd left our text books there. We passed the lake... and the Hufflepuffs were there... they started yelling so we ignored them and walked faster. So they threw us towards them. The leader... he laughed at us... said we sucked and then said Severus needed a bath... so he..." His voice broke as tears started forming. "He threw him into the deep end of the lake. Like properly threw him with force, so he went straight under."
The Gryffindors listen to all of this as well with a disgusted look on their face. The Slytherins knew this, so Narcissa turned to Gryffindors and said with a snarl. "Severus can't swim. He can't swim for his life."
Yaxley continued. "And they- they wouldn't let me go... and Severus was thrashing around... and I yelled to the barstards that he couldn't swim - that he could die- and they...they said that was the point- and they wouldn't let go of me Severus, and I saw you go still and I thought you were dead and it was all my fault-"
"Oh God Severus!" The next thing Severus knew, he was being tightly hugged by James, who was also crying with gritted teeth. The Gryffindors joined the table and Yaxley continued.
"S-so I kicked the one holding me in the groins, and backflipped the other - and went in after him. I- i managed to clear the water out of his lungs with this anapneo spell i'd read upon last month...It clears blocked airways, so glad i read that book... and he opened his eyes and coughed. But the Hufflepuffs - they said they wanted to dry us off. They set fire to my robes." He gestured to the burns which were slowly healing. Quirrell passed both boys a cup of tea to calm their nerves. "They tried to do the same with Severus, but the one Hufflepuff couldn't pronounce it properly, so he cut Severus instead. And then a teacher came and said they needed to talk to them ab-about Quiddich. So we ran off before they could catch up."
No one spoke. Severus had stopped coughing at this point, and was sipping his tea, as was Yaxley. Everyone digested the information they had just heard. The Hufflepuffs, they had intended to kill a student from Hogwarts. and they LAUGHED about it. What kind of monsters are they?
"Those BASTARDS! We have to do something!" Peter yelled at the top of his voice, to the surprise of both groups.
"What can we do? We're just first and second years. We can't go up against a group of Seventh years." Regulus said bitterly.
"No, Peter's right, we have to try. They tried to MURDER poor Yaxley and Severus. They can't get away with this. Next time they might actually succeed in severely hurting someone... or worse." Lupin shuddered.
"Yes!" James growled, placing an arm around the now-dry Slytherin. Severus looked at the Gryffindor boy with a curious look on his face, before leaning his head onto his chest and closing his eyes. Listening to the Gryffindor's heart beat increase slightly, he smiled. It was soothing, and this was somewhere he felt safe.
"I... have choreographed a plan." Lucius commented. "We may be weak alone, but together... well we all have different strengths, do we not? Strengths that we are well above average in, strengths that we are, well, practically geniuses in."
"Well... I'm good with flowers and plants... Magical or otherwise..."
"I can talk to snakes, but I don't see what help that would be."
"Voldy, you can do the flame thing with your fingers, and the air ... thing too! Remember, at the Leaky Cauldron?" Voldy laughed at his friend's wide-eyed face as he grabbed on Voldy's arm and begged him to remember.
Lucius frowned... "Well... I have really sparkly teeth, I can dance, jump really high, I'm flexible and can kick a bit. What's that going to do?"
Lily tilted her head. "Really sparkly teeth?"
"Shine a light on them."
Since Bellatrix was the one sitting opposite Lucius, she was the one who produced the 'Lumos' spell. "Wow... you could guide ships out to sea with that smile..."
"Well, we'll be able to use it somehow." He turned to Bellatrix. "Special skills?"
"Well... erm... Me and Narcissa are ace at charming objects, small or large." She got out her phone and asked for Yaxley's and Severus's mobile. Both handed their mobiles, one to each girl. They tapped it once, and both mobiles were dry and worked again. Another tap and the reflections of Bellatrix and Narcissa from their phones were gone. They passed the mobiles back and waved their wand in the direction of the mirrors on the other side of the room. In a flash, the two reflections were there, looking around at their surroundings, then high-fiving each other at their success. "Your mobiles are now water-proof, by the way."
"Hey thanks!" Yaxley took his and Severus's mobile. He pocketed his own and left Severus's on the table, not wanting to disturb the now asleep boy. "Well, I'm good at muggle fighting. It's how I learned to dance. I learned a bit of Karate and expanded on it." He explained. He looked at his sleeping friend. "And Severus is ace at Potions, to the extent where he actually has started inventing his own."
The group murmured impressed, and turned their heads towards the Gryffindors. "Regulus?"
"I'm good at Defense against the Dark arts, so if they try any funny business, I could whip up a powerful shield fast." He replied with smile.
Sirius frowned. "The only think I can think of is Quidditch. I'm a beater outside Hogwarts, and I'm applying next year."
"Wow, really? I'm a Chaser! I'm gonna apply too." James smiled over to his friend, and high-fived him.
Lupin looked over nervously at the Gryffindors nervously before he whispered the words."Well... I read a lot of books... that could be a skill..."
Voldy frowned. "Come on Lupin, we all know you go disappearing each month off to the shrieking shack. You've got to be doing some kind of 'useful magic' there."
"No, honestly I don't I jus-"
"Well what do you do there?"
"Come on, you can tell us."
"I'm sure it's really cool and interesting!"
"NO! There's nothing I can do, OK?" Lupin yelled slightly, voice breaking.
Sirius looked at his best friend. "Why won't you tell us, Lupin. Huh? Is it Dark Magic? Is it something you think we'll be ashamed of?"
"No it's ju-"
"Well we won't! We've known you for a while now. And we know the type of person you are. Kind. Smart. Totally Awesome. And NOTHING will put us off that image." Lupin looked uncertain. "Come on, you can trust us. Look at us, we're the biggest group of freaks and abnormals around. We have weird likes and dislikes and obsessions."
"OK, fine. I trust you. I..." He swallowed before he blurted out his secret in a low ashamed voice. "I'm a werewolf." He covered his hands with his face.
The whole group looked shocked, some in disbelief, some in horror, others in realisation. "That explains the absences, and the regular illnesses..." Sirius muttered.
Raising his hands out of his grasp, he looked at Sirius. "You... don't hate me? You don't want to run away and never see me again? You don't think i'm evil?"
Voldy snorted. "You're not evil. You're one of the nicest people in this year. I mean, we've only just properly started talking and I knew that since you came here."
Grinning, Sirius head butted his friend. "Why would I hate you? You're awesome. Moony Lupin." He barked with laughter at his new nickname for his friend, and the others grinned.
"Actually, saying that... what is it like to transform into a wolf?" Yaxley asked with a curious look on his face.
"Painful." Lupin said sadly. "You have no physical awareness when you turn its...It's like when you faint and then, to you, it's just like 'you collapse and then you wake up instantly' where to the others around you, you could have been out for hours. But for me, it's the pain of transforming and then it's the next morning and I'm lying in the shrieking shack naked and covered in scars."
The group made sympathetic noises, feeling for the poor wolf. "Well... One of the potions that Severus was working on was a potion that... allowed awareness in wolf form, so that even when you are full wolf, you are able to control your reactions?"
Gobsmacked couldn't give Lupin's expression justice at that moment. "What? Really?"
"Yeah, wake him up, and-"
"But but but he's so comfy!" James whinged quietly, looking down at the figure clinging on to his shirt in his sleep.
He groaned. "I'm not sleeping... just resting my eyes..."
"Suuure Severus." Sirius said, rolling his eyes.
"Is-is it true" Lupin looked at the sleepy form of Severus curled up in the Gryffindor's chest.
Looking around, Severus wondered why he was so warm. When he clocked James, he blushed slightly, unnoticably, and moved into his own chair. "Well, so the theory goes... we'll have to test out the potion beforehand, if it's OK with you."
"Well... I'll have to think about it..."
"OK you guys talk about that later... going back to the subject at hand... Lily? Special skill?" Regulus asked.
"Well, I'm good at transfiguation and levitating things. So... that may help?" Lily asked nervously, smiling.
"I have no special skill, so i'll be lookout or something..." Peter sighed, looking down, sad that he was disappointing his friends in their fight for justice.
"No, Peter, you're small. And small is good. You are also sneaky, so you could, I don't know... lead them here or something?" Voldy commented in a deep rusty voice.
The librarian was more than a little shocked to see the Gryffindors and Slytherins siting together talking, and she quite honestly agreed that the Hufflepuffs deserved it. So, just that once, she decided to turn a blind eye.
The plan was set. Being children, they almost didn't go through with it. That was until the bastards had used an unforgivable curse on Quirrell, trying to force him to jump off of the astronomy tower. Voldemort was there, and wondered why his friend had started skipping around shouting the words, 'I'm a stupid Gay pussy who likes flowers!' and only after using Legilimency could he see that someone was controlling his actions.
Quirrell, what-
Voldy, someone's forcing me to do this. Help!
Try to fight them, squirrel. "They're controlling him using the imperious curse!" He yelled at the rest of the group, who automatically started looking round for the culprit.
It was then Quirrell was forced to shout the words "I don't deserve to live!" and jumped off of the astronomy tower.
Voldy's heart literally stopped. "ACCIO QUIRRELL!" He screamed those words as he ran towards the astronomy tower, ready to throw himself off too. Thankfully, Voldemort's quick thinking had caused Quirrell to shoot back up to Voldemort.
Yaxley had found the person behind it all. "Expelliarmous!" His wand shot out of his hand. Deciding they had caused enough trouble, the Hufflepuffs fled. The group, minus Voldemort and Quirrell, followed, the anger flooding through their veins.
Voldemort grabbed Quirrell's hand with tears in his eyes. "Don't let go, OK?"
"Tr-Trust me, Thomas, th-thats the LAST thing on my mind now!" Quirrell used his legs to climb the wall as Voldemort pulled him over the danger zone.
After the pull up, both boys collapsed to the floor, mentally and physically exhausted. Quirrell grabbed Voldemort, refusing to let go, and just cried.
"Thank you thank you thank you." He just sat there and kissed Voldemort's face and neck over and over again, tears of gratitude falling from his face.
In response, Voldy just held his friend tight and openly sobbed. "I nearly lost you forever... I nearly lost you...I promised I'd never let anything happen and I nearly lost you. I'm so sorry Quirrell... I'm so so so sorry!" His shoulders shook as he buried his face in his friend's sweet-smelling hair.
"No, Tom, you saved me! You did what you always said you would and you saved me. You were going to jump off with me just to save me. You're so STUPID!" He laughed through the tears, leaning his head on Voldemorts shoulders and kissing his neck over and over. "You could have died! You should have just let me die-"
"NO NO NO NEVER NO QUIRINUS! NO Because without you I'm nothing! I need you, Quirrell. I need you in my life.-" Words failed Voldemort and both of them just sat there crying thanking the Wizard God that Voldemort was a fast thinker.
Footsteps approached. "They got away. Those bastards got away- Voldemort, Quirrell, you OK?" Yaxley looked down in concern.
"I've just nearly been forced against my will to commit suicide, and nearly caused my best friend to jump too, so no, not really!" Quirrell said, frowning and wiping his tears away.
"And Quirrell nearly died, so I'm allowed to cry if I want to." Voldemort growled, before letting go of Quirrell and looking at his group of friends. "We're GOING through with the plan. NO ONE HURTS MY QUIRINUS AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!"
The plan didn't go quite according to plan. Peter led all the Hufflepuffs into a dark abandoned room on the fourth floor, which was filled with large mirrors. The 'reflections' of the others filled the mirrors, leading the Hufflepuffs into a mirror-free space. The space was filled with water and Devil's snare, which trapped the boys as they struggled. Secretly, the Devil's snare was laced with Veritaserum, that Severus had concocted. James and Sirius had provided Quiddich equipment, and while James flew around blowing up the lights, Lily bewitched the Quaffle to throw itself at the Hufflpuffs, as did Sirius with the bludgers. While this was all going on, Peter anonymously However, in the process, they got knocked into the Devil's snare with the Hufflepuffs.
"SHIT!" Lucius yelled. "What are we going to do?"
"We need to use the Incendio spell!" Quirrell yelled to the others. "The plants hate light and heat!'
"The what spell?!" Yaxley yelled over. He, Severus and Lupin, being first years, had yet to learn the spell.
"Just point you wand like this. INCENDIO!' Fire shot out of Quirrell's wand and hit the devils snare, which unwound at the touch of the burning flames. Voldy, Lucius and Regulus followed suit.
"OK OK um..." Yaxley looked around. "Lucius, can you grab that rope and swing over to the others and pull them out of there?"
"Give me a boost." Yaxley cupped his hands for Lucius to climb up to and grab the rope. successful, he kicked his legs to swing along and reached out his hand. "Grab each other's hands!"
"This is beginning to seem like it was a bad idea." Lupin looked terrified.
As Lucius went to grab the hands of the Gryffindors, the Devil's snare tightened around the Gryffindors. "The fire, it isn't enough!" Quirrell yelled. "Voldy, can't you- I dunno, make those flames you did that day outside the Leaky Cauldron?"
"No Quirrell, I can't! I have to be super pissed and right now all I feel is super shit scared! Anyways those flames are too dark to cause enough light and I think we have enough warmth at the mo- I CAN CREATE FUCKING SPARKLES WHEN I'M HAPPY!" The frustration he felt at himself now was immense.
Quirrell blinked. "Why didn't you tell us this BEFORE!" He yelled at his friend.
"I only just remembered! Trust me I'm feeling stupid right now!" He yelled back, running over to stand next to his friend. "If I do the spark shooting thing, do you think that will be enough?"
"How bright are they?" Quirrell continued to yell over the sound of the Hufflepuffs.
Voldemort paused. "Fairly."
"HELLO! DYING OVER HERE!" James commented over the water.
"Working on it!" Quirrell started running towards the exit.
"Hey!" Voldy grabbed Quirrell's arm. "Where the hell do you think you're going?!"
"To go and get Bellatrix to make out with you or something!"
"No need." He pulled Quirrell's arm so that he fell towards him and, not having a second to spare, crashed their lips together.
Happy thought... happy thoughts... happy thoughts...
Quirrel pulled away for a second. "What the hell-" Voldy grabbed the back of his head and pulled Quirrell towards him once more.
Voldemort's initial plan was to imagine Quirrell as Bellatrix, or Narcissa, or any other female of the school. For some unknown reason though, all he could think about... was Quirrell. All of the happy silly jokey moments, the secrets they'd share, the pranks they'd talked about... the times they had flirted with each other jokingly... jokingly?
Quirrell had been struggling a bit, but after a while, he stopped. He let Voldemort kiss him. Quirrell wrapped his arms around his head, and tilted his head to kiss him back. His fingers stroked his hair, pulling him closer. And did he...did he just moan?
Sparks emitted from Voldemort's fingers. "NOW LUCIUS!" Yaxley yelled, and thankfully the Devil's Snare recoiled enough to rescue the poor Gryffindors.
The duo pulled away, oh so slowly. Voldemort had a slight smile on his face and Quirrell sighed. "So that's what kissing your best friend feels like." Voldemort giggled in a slightly-off voice.
"Wh-wh-why- Oh I get it!" Quirrell's smile brightened up. "You kissed me but you were thinking of someone... else..." His face fell at the last word.
"Nononono! I- I just... There's nothing wrong with me kissing my best friend, OK? You make me happy an- and I'm sorry OK? I won't do it again."
No one else saw what happened between the two, but they did notice when they became a hell of a lot more fake-flirtatious around each other, and a lot more protective. However, the two boys regularly admitted to the group and to each other when they were alone that they were just very close friends. At first, they were worried that the kiss would cause awkward tension between themselves, but they were both pleasantly surprised that the other not only didn't feel it was awkward, but also spent more time around each other. And the Hufflepuffs? They got caught out by Professor McGonagle and spilled the beans about everything that had happened over the past few months. Well, they got expelled, and everyone respected the Gryffindor/Slytherin combination.
Two years later, the Slytherins and Gryffindors sat in the same place that they had the day they plotted their revenge. It was a tradition that whenever the group needed to discuss something important, such as something school related, or surprise birthdays, they'd sit around that table. They stood by a strict no-pranking rule for all of these official meetings. Todays meeting, they were to discuss this 'skirt bet'.
"Before we begin today's meeting..." Lupin cleared his throat and everyone stopped talking. "I have a suggestion. Last time we met like this a couple of months ago... Well it was so noisy and disorganized. Everyone was talking over each other and it nearly got us kicked out."
The group murmured in agreement. "So, what are you suggesting?" Sirius asked Lupin.
After rooting around in his bag for a bit, he pulled out a miniature wolf. Everyone cooed at the tiny bundle of fur and Lupin explained his theory. "His name is Flopsy. What I was thinking is that when someone had a topic they wanted to talk about, they ask for Flopsy and then they are the one who talks and everyone else listens."
Lucius looked at the little wolf toy. "That is a really good idea. All those in favour of trying the new idea of Remus's?" All hands went up. "That's an affirmative. May I?" He gestured to the little toy.
"Sure!" Lupin chucked the animal at the dancer, who caught it in his right hand. "OK, I just wanted to check where those absent are. Lily and Peter are...?"
The Gryffindors looked at each other before James answered. "Lily had some... Defense against the Dark Arts homework that she had to take care of. Peter is helping.
"Yeah."
"That's it."
"Speaking of absences, where is your girls? And Voldemort?" James enquired, adjusting his glasses nervously and looking at the dancer.
"Well, the girls are in the common room doing their hair or whatever. I don't know where Voldemort is, he said he'd meet us here after he went to the toilet."
"Oh Lucius, forgot to mention Voldy sent me a text. Professor Dumbledore wanted to talk about his charms homework, he said he'd be a while." Quirrell frowned, missing his friend.
"That explains it." Lucius sighed. "OK, who wants to start the meeting?" He held up Flopsy, flashing his bright smile at the group. Severus gestured at him, so Lucius passed Flopsy along.
"Last night, before I went to sleep, I was just thinking. Does anyone know if we have to wear our... 'outfits' for just the dance or for the whole of the 'Fright Night'?" Looking round, Severus noted that everyone shook their head to say that they didn't know. "Oh my... this could be problematic."
"What do you mean, Severus man?" Yaxley hang upside down from his chair and raised his eyepatch to look at him with both eyes.
"Well, Yaxley, would you like to spend your time at the dance trying to pick up girls wearing a pink frilly skirt?"
Both eyes widened in horror, and he shot back upright. "No, aw shit man no!" His face fell in his hands.
"My thoughts exactly. Minus the picking up girls part. So, who was the genius that won the coupon in the first place?"
"Hestia Carrow. Her and Flora were the ones who choreographed this whole arrangement." Lucius replied with a flick of his head.
"Damn those Carrow sisters and their addiction to half-naked cross-dressing boys!" Regulus shook his head and face-palmed.
"Well where would they be right now, to ask them?" Sirius asked, scratching his stubbly chin.
"Um... the common room? I don't know, I'm not the Carrow sister's secret keeper am I?" Frowning, Lucius crossed his legs.
"Well, what about getting in contact with Bellatrix or Narcissa? Does anyone have their number?" Quirrell suggested, eyes wide with his sudden idea.
Smiling at his twin equivalent, James nodded at Quirrell. "Good idea. Has anyone got their numbers-"
"OH I DO!" Although no-one was surprised about the blonde dancer's outburst, it still caused all the members of the group at present to turn to him with raised eyebrows. In turn, he lowered the pitch of his voice in attempt to sound more manly. "I mean... I may have accidentally saved Bella's number..."
"Yeah... Just focus on trying to get in touch with her. Text her or something."
"I can't just text her Severus, she doesn't know I have her number!"
Brown eyes sparkled at the second idea he had that day. "Too personal? Then why not see if she's on Facebook. Or..." As Lucius opened his mouth the brown-haired kid gasped and flapped his one hand. "She gave you her BBM pin. Contact her on that."
Tilting his head, he considered this idea for a few seconds. "Quirrell, you are a genius." Getting his Blackberry out, he logged on BBM. "Give it a minute..." As it loaded, he saw the Bella was online. But then again, when was she ever not? "Trixie... are the Car...rows in the common room now? Send."
"Thanks Lucius. All that's left to do is just to sit there and wait for her to reply, which should take a few minutes. Anyone want Flopsy?"
Regulus nodded and Severus tossed the stuffed toy into his comrade's lap. "Has anyone actually thought of asking Professor Grason whether or not it's OK to dance in our skirts and undies during his dance performance? He might get a little pissed if we-"
"Come on, cousin. Where's the fun in that?"
"Regulus is right Sirius." Severus gave the shabby looking teenager a disapproving look. "Grason will not appreciate us dancing in mini-skirts and what else gyrating our semi-naked bodies around without his permission."
"And what's wrong with you gyrating your semi-naked body around Severus?" Quick-witted, the speckled Gryffindor grinned devilishly at the poor Slytherin. For once, Severus looked away from James, blushing and lost for words.
"You...er... won't have to worry about that." Raising his shaking hand, Lupin had an expression on his face that seemed to be a mixture of guilt and pride. "I let Professor Grason know that some of us would be performing at the dance in a... 'different type of costume." When Lupin was met by two shocked and appalled faces that belonged to two of his close Gryffindor friends, he scowled. "No guys, no! Do NOT give me that look like I've done something wrong. Not all of us are rebellious little shits!" The whole group raised their hands over their heads and made weird annoyed noises. "Sorry, I mean poopy."
Smiling slightly at the choice of word, Regulus turned to Lupin. "I for one am glad you told him. What did Grason say?"
"He said, and I'm quoting him, "What? Really? You're going to embarrass yourselves in front of the whole school for the sake of free sugary treats? Do you really want a sweet-tooth? Fine. It's none of my business, as long as you guys dance as performed in rehearsals, and your outfits match the theme, wear what you want."
"Oh brilliant-"
Yaxley jumped out of his seat, making monkey noises and gesturing for Flopsy. Once received, he talked. "What about those of us who are doing duets, man, do we have to wear, like, two skirts or-"
"Yaxley. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, I really do, but I'm afraid the solo dances have been cut."
"No, Quirinus, you're lying!" Quirrell winced at the mention of his first name, but that went unnoticed as Yaxley howled. "Now I get to miss out on dancing in my favorite outfit. AGAIN! NOOOOOOOOOOOO! NO NO NO NO! WHY!?"
"Well Voldy heard the professors taking about a live band performing, and that they didn't know how to perform the solo songs, so it's jut the group dance..."
Collapsing to the floor dramatically, Yaxley moaned as if in pain. He placed Flopsy down on the table and the small doll looked at the deranged eye-patched teen with a blank look on his face.
Buzzing emitted from the Blackberry also on the table. "Oh, hold on that's me!" Lucius smiled as he opened up the phone's BBM. However, when he saw it was a text message, he frowned. "Oh my God, Voldemort, stop texting me!"
He opened the text and sighed, opening his mouth to say something, but before he could talk, the door banged open. "Did you get my text?"
"YES!" Annoyed, he chucked a nearby book at his dance partner.
Catching it, Voldemort frowned. "Well you didn't text me back."
"Well, you didn't really give me much time to reply." Getting the text message up, he quoted it with a funny voice. "'Sorry for taking so long, will be up in a bit. Is Quirrell with you? His phone is off.' And then you burst through the door like a PMS-ing adult looking for her Gay boyfriend. No offense Quirrell."
"Hey, none taken, I couldn't have phrased it better." He laughed as Voldemort picked him up and stole his seat, placing the smaller boy on his lap and wrapping his arms around his waist.
"So where have you been, Quirrell? I text you, like, five times!"
"Awwww how cute."
"Voldy was worried about his bestie!"
"That's the sweetest thing."
"OK guys shush!" When Voldy gave the group his evil look, they were all scared into silence. There was something about the teenager sometimes that scared the group...
"You text me?" He got his phone out of his back and attempted to turn it on before coming to the simple conclusion. "Battery's dead."
"Oh, get up a minute" Nudging Quirrell off his lap, Voldemort rooted through his simple black backpack. After second, he pulled out a grey charger which he chucked to his best friend. With a squeal of thanks, he ran to the nearest plug to charge his phone before returning to the group.
For a few seconds, no one took the wolf toy. Eventually, Sirius took Flopsy and started running his fingers through the fur. "Well if we've got to get matching outfits, we're going to have to go shopping for some gothic clothing. So... tomorrow when we have our next free, shall we sneak down to Hogsmeade?"
"Yeah, we could go to 'Witchcraft!', they have a really good range of alternative clothing at low prices." Voldemort commented.
"I dunno... It could be a bit risky sneaking out..." Lupin commented.
"Hey it's OK Remus. It's during our free time, and if it makes you feel better, we'll ask Professor Dumbledore's permission." Regulus persuaded his cautious friend.
"All those in favour of the shopping trip?"
Everyone's hand shot up, some eagerly, some lazy and some cautiously. Lucius smiled. "Well, that's everyone. Get your savings together gentleman! Wer-" He was cut off by his phone lighting up from a phone call. "It's Bellatrix." The crowd started shouting over each other "Everyone quiet, i'm putting her on loud-speaker." Picking up his phone, he pressed a button to answer the call. "Hello?"
"Is that you blondy?" There was no mistaking the screechy tone that belonged to Trixie.
"Yeah Bella, you still in the common room?"
Laughter echoed in he background, as well as a lot of talking. There was no way they were in their dorms. "Yeah, me and Narcissa are, why where are you guy?"
"We're still at the library, we'll be back here soon- Listen" He talked before she could interrupt. "Are the Carrows there with you?"
"Erm... Cissy, Louie says can you find the Carrows?" Bella's voice faded into the background slightly, causing the blonde to roll his eyes. "Wait I sound echoey, am I on loudspeaker?"
"Yeah you are."
"HI GUYS!"
Everyone murmured a greeting which made Bellatrix giggle. "Oh, Narcissa's found them, do you want to talk to them?"
"No, can you do it? Can you ask them how long we've got to wear the skirts for on 'Fright Night?'"
"Alright hold on. Hey guys, um i'm on the phone with my boys-" At this point the Slytherins looked at each other and mouthed the words 'Her boys?!' "And er how long do they have to, you know, wear their sexy clothes for?"
A voice in the background spoke. "For the dance, wha-"
"Hold on. Hello? She said for the dance, I thought that was kinda obvious-"
"No I meant just for the dance or for the whole night?"
She repeated the question to the other voice. Bored, Quirrell moved with silent protects from Voldemort. He turned on his phone.
"Now you mention it..." Even over the phone, you could hear the evil grin in the unknown Carrow sister's voice.
"No no don't be evil, Hestia. It's their dance too."
"Dude, it's an UNLIMITED SUPPLY for anyone involved! I want my money's worth!"
"Well have you heard how sensual the group dance is-"
As the phone call droned on, the group heard a snort coming from Quirrell's direction. "What?" Severus asked.
"Voldemort's texts. Listen to this-"
"No Quirrell nooo!"
"'Meetings a bit longer than expected. See you soon.' Then it goes 'Hello?' 'You there' 'Quirinussssssssss' and finally" At this point he started laughing. "'Quirrell you sexy man I want your flower babies!'"
The group laughed, including Voldemort. "Well you weren't answering!" Voldemort's phone went off. He picked it up and red the text in his head, raising an eyebrow at his friend.
Anytime, Voldy. ;)
"OK OK fine, you win. Just for the dance..." The voice went away as the guys high-fived each other.
Grinning, Lucius congratulated his female friend. "You're amazing Trixie! We're coming down now. You'll like what we've got planned for tomorrow."
"Can't wait, see you in a bit." He put his Blackberry away, still grinning. "OK, meeting adjourned."
As the Gryffindors and Slytherins chatted away, James received a text, which he opened and automatically showed the other Gryffindors while the Slytherins weren't looking. All four of the lion hearts smiled evil smiles and silently laughed.
"What's so funny?" Severus asked as they walked together down the stairs.
"Nothing."
James pressed the reply button and typed OK before sending. He took one last look at the text message before putting his phone away.
'Potion planted in their secret supply of Butterbeer. Nearly got copped by Bella. Phase 2 complete.'
(Greetings to all. This chapter wasn't intended to be so god-damn long. The whole thing with the Hufflepuffs? That was only meant to be briefly mentioned, now look at it! Haha. Sorry if it gets long winded.
OK i have a question for you guys. My plan was to get the Slytherins to party and fall for the Gryffindors plan and then see the aftermath. However, I would like to know if you guys would like to see the Gryffindors and Slytherins in the process of buying their clothes at 'Witchcraft.' What would you guys like to see? Review to answer. Also, can anyone guess what the potion will do? Have fun guessing!
On a random note, I have now created an RP chat for anyone who fancies Roleplaying as anyone from AVPM. PM me for link.
Have fun Starkids!)
