Chapter 7: Emma Jordans, knockout

"I think I have an idea for you to get your revenge and the girl – transformation thing," Olivia said to Emma over their bubbling cauldron. The dungeon was filled with multi – coloured hazes from the simmering potions and students muttered quietly among themselves, arguing whether they should add the salamander blood now or later.

"Brilliant," Emma whispered with a wicked grin, and motioned for her to continue.

"What do boys hate the most?" Olivia asked her. Emma thought about this.

"Madam Puddifoot's? But I don't see how that –" She paused as she saw Olivia shaking her head.

"No, that's not what I had in mind. Good guess, though," she said with a smile, and added some salamander blood to their Strengthening Solution. The potion sizzled and turned a deep purple. She turned her attention back to Emma and continued. "One of the things that boys hate the most is to admit that they're wrong." Emma nodded slowly, and a grin spread across her face.

"So what I had in mind, is that we make Andrew and Troy repeat what they've said about you, how they'd never fancy you and all that. If it's possible, we should make it a bet, like they'd date Moaning Myrtle before they'd date you or something. Preferably in front of a crowd so that a lot of people hear it. And when you've transformed in one of the hottest girls in school, they'll have to swallow their words. Or else date Moaning Myrtle," Olivia finished with a grin. The plan was not flawless or that impressive, but it was doable. Emma grinned enthusiastically at her words, but then her smile faltered.

"Just one thing though. I don't think I can be… pretty, you know. In a way that guys like."

Olivia waved her hand dismissively. "Please, you're gorgeous! And either way, I have connections that could make Alecto Carrow look like a Veela," she continued confidently. Liz would only be too happy to perform a make – over. Emma nodded and checked their potion, which still needed to simmer for a few minutes.

"I think it's a good plan. When should we set up the first phase, with Troy and Andrew?" the dark – haired beater asked, watching Olivia over the cauldron.

"Sirius Black's birthday is in a few weeks. I think that's the perfect opportunity, with the party and butterbeer and all that," she answered sagely.

Emma nodded in agreement and turned her attention back to her textbook. "I think we should add the Fluxweed now," the Beater commented, checking the potion.

Olivia nodded absently and handed her the Fluxweed she had chopped earlier. As the small leaves touched the Strengthening Solution, it began to simmer dangerously. When the potion started to smoke ominously Olivia did the first thing she could think of and summoned the pieces of Fluxwood out of their potion.

"Bugger," she muttered as she quickly let the remaining leaves fall. The potion hadn't seriously injured her, but there were angry red marks on her hands. At least she had managed to save their Strengthening Solution.

"Hospital Wing if you ask me, miss Wright," Slughorn commented in his jovial tone. "Miss Jordans can finish your potion." He winked and turned back to inspect Mulciber's work, his fat belly dangerously close to the potion.

"Go on, I'll take your stuff," Emma said to Olivia, eyeing her hands with a worried look on her face. She nodded thankfully and pushed the door of the dungeon open with her shoulder, not wanting to use her hands. As she climbed the spiral staircase to the hall, someone shouted after her.

"Oi, Wright!" Evan Hamilton was strolling behind her, his hands in his pockets. "What's wrong with your hands?" he asked frowning, noticing the red marks on them.

"Potions accident," she said curtly, not bothering to explain. "Don't you have classes or something?"

"Nah, I've got a free period," Evan answered with a smile, his dark green eyes glinting. "Come on, let's get you to the Hospital Wing," he continued, pushing her forward.

"I can walk by myself, thanks," Olivia said curtly, arching one eyebrow. Evan didn't look rebuffed, he just shrugged his shoulders and continued to walk next to her. She noticed he looked taller than he did on a broom. His Beater posture also seemed more pronounced when he was strolling beside her.

"I hope this won't turn out to be an injure," he said frowning, eyeing her hands. "Can't afford to lose my Seeker when the first match is in a month."

"A month and a half," Olivia corrected him, ignoring Evan rolling his eyes. "And I'll be fine, Madam Pomfrey fixes this in a minute," she said breezily. They had reached the Hospital Wing and Evan opened the door for her, making sure she didn't have to use her hands. The school matron came hurrying from her office.

"Miss Wright, Mr Hamilton, what seems to be the problem?" the young woman asked, quickly analysing the situation.

"Just an accident in Potions, Madam," Olivia answered politely and held out her hands. Madam Pomgrey tsked and went to fetch a salve from a large cabinet.

"And you, Mr Hamilton?" she asked as she dabbed the light – green salve on Olivia's hands, which left a pleasant cool feeling.

"Nothing wrong Madam Pomfrey, I'm just here to make sure my Seeker is all right," he answered cheerily. Madam Pomfrey shook her head disapprovingly and started to bandage up Olivia's hands

"All that fuss about some dangerous sport. Merlin knows the only thing you Quidditch players care about is if their team member will be able to play, even if it meddles with her health," she exclaimed in a stern voice. "There miss Wright, if you keep these bandages on for one day and apply this salve tomorrow morning you should be fine." Madam Pomfrey put the salve away and returned to her office.

"You know that's not true, don't you?" Evan suddenly asked Olivia, taking her by surprise as they walked to the Great Hall.

"What's not true?" she responded with a confused expression on her face.

"That I only care about whether you'll be able to play or not," Evan muttered with an uncomfortable expression on his face.

"Oh. Right, sure." She frowned, feeling confused. She didn't see why he should feel the need to clarify that, she knew how important Quidditch was and she wouldn't feel offended or anything. "Ehm, I got to go to my friends. See you at Quidditch training." She smiled awkwardly as she saw Sirius waving to her from across the Great Hall. Evan nodded and gave her a smile.

"What's up with Hamilton?" James asked, watching Evan leave the Great Hall.

"I ran into him on my way to the Hospital Wing. He wanted to make sure I'd still be able to catch the Snitch." Olivia shrugged, sitting herself opposite of Sirius and next to Remus, who had come out of the Hospital Wing a few days earlier. He didn't seem to have any new scars (that were visible, at least) after the last full moon, but he did look a bit tired. The long scratch – like scar that went from his jaw line to his neck seemed more notable though. She sighed as she thought of Katie. She had gotten her letter a few days ago, telling that she was fine save for a nasty wound on her leg, but it was still hard to not worry about her.

"So what kind of present are you getting me?" Sirius said cockily, a grin spreading on his face.

"I'm supposed to get you a present?" Olivia asked nonplussed, pausing as she was about to reach for a cinnamon muffin. Remus snorted and shot Sirius a meaningful look.

"Of course you should get me a present!" Sirius exclaimed indignantly. "That's what friends do, you know!"

The dark blond arched one eyebrow, smiling amusedly. "Oh, so we're friends now? Strange, you'd think I would've noticed," she commented drily. Sirius shot her a dark look and threw a muffin at her, which hit her square in the face.

"Blimey Olivia, for a Quidditch player your reflexes are shite,' James said with his mouth full while Olivia shook the crumbs out of her hair.

"Well, James, I wasn't really expecting to be assaulted with cinnamon muffins today. Normally that only happens on Mondays," the Seeker replied sagely while shooting a dark glare at Sirius, who smiled broadly.

"To answer your question, we have been friends since I called you a sociopath," he said happily, which somehow softened his aristocratic features.

"And I always thought you kept high standards when it came down to your friends," Olivia mused. James was encouraging Peter to put grapes in his nose that exact moment, and she arched one eyebrow. "Forget what I said," the Gryffindor muttered as Sirius joined in the cheering. Remus seemed to have trouble holding back his laughter so opted for taking a swig of pumpkin juice instead. Then, a grape got stuck in Peter's nose causing Remus to choke and drench James in juice. Olivia chuckled and watched Peter struggling to get the grape out of his nose.

"You guys are first rate entertainment," she said drily, watching the Marauders banter.

"Oli, isn't that your Spanish friend?" Sirius managed to say between fits of laughter. She looked over her shoulder and saw Liz coming over to the Gryffindor Table.

"Argentine," she corrected him. "Don't let her hear you called her Spanish," she added in a more serious tone. "You don't want Liz Ortega as your enemy, believe me."

Sirius shrugged. "They've all got that Southern temper," he muttered. Liz had reached their table and watched the group, arching one eyebrow cockily.

"Olivia, just wanted to know, library after classes?" she asked, whipping her dark hair from her face.

"Sure, Liz. I'll pass by the kitchens first, if that's okay," Olivia responded with a grin.

"Definitely. Get me some of that treacle tart, will you? And maybe a bottle of Firewhiskey for Friday. We're almost out of Butterbeer."

"Got it." She nodded and waved her friend off. Peter watched Liz as she sashayed away with a dim expression on his face. James, Remus and Sirius however all watched Olivia with expressions that were something between amusement and pride.

"Please tell me that it's my good influence that makes you raid the kitchens for Firewhiskey," James said, pretending to wipe away a tear. "They grow up so fast," he whispered emotionally to Sirius.

"Don't fret, James, Liz and I have been doing that for years. Minus the Firewhiskey, of course," she added as an afterthought.

"Well look at you, little rebel," Sirius cooed and ruffled Olivia's hair (as if that needed any more messing up). She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I could teach Che Guevara a thing or two," she said with a straight face. James, Sirius and Peter looked confused. "Really guys, you might want to open a ruddy book every now and then." She stood up from the table and strolled out of the Great Hall. "See you girls later!"

*

The first Hogsmeade weekend was cold and sunny, Olivia's favourite kind of weather. She was supposed to meet Liam in the Hall, and had agreed to see Emma around noon in the Three Broomsticks. Occasionally, whatever Liz might say, Olivia did feel like dressing up. Well, her version of it at least. This was such a day.

She put on a simple light grey jersey cotton dress, that came just above her knees and had a simple, classic cut. Her black boots that came to her knees were indispensable though. Since it wasn't very cold and the sun shone, she chose her favourite camel trenchcoat. She liked it so much because it wasn't short, like most woman's coats but a bit more long and had a unisex cut. She even borrowed some mascara from Lily, just for a light touch. Finally putting on her Gryffindor scarf and grabbing her wand, she rushed out of the Common Room and to the Hall.

"Hey Liam," Olivia greeted her friend as she descended the marble staircase. "And hey, guys," she added as she saw The Marauders standing a few strides away from her. "What are you doing here?" she asked as she pulled up her hair in a ponytail.

"Remus and Sirius are waiting for their dates," James said grumpily. He seemed rather put out by the fact that his two friends had abandoned him.

"Man up, Prongs," Remus said lazily. "You know you'd also go on a date if you could. Don't blame us for being sensible by not letting our chances to a good snog depend on one option." He looked pointedly at Lily Evans and gave James a wicked grin.

"And anyway Prongs, you'll have Wormtail to keep you company," Sirius observed, patting James on the back. Peter looked proud at his words and smiled at James, who was about a head taller.

"Thanks mate," James said not very enthusiastically.

Liam and Olivia left the Marauders quarrelling and walked out of the castle. It was a beautiful day, breezy but sunny, and you could feel winter approaching in the air.

"How come you don't have a date, Liam?" Olivia asked absently as they walked the road the Hogsmeade. Liam shrugged and made a face.

"There was this girl I liked but Bertram Aubrey from Hufflepuff asked her out first," he said with a tone of regret.

"So instead you're stuck here with me," she exclaimed cheerily as she put her arm through Liam's. He rolled his eyes but seemed to have cheered up a bit.

A gang of Slytherins, with Nigel Mulciber as their leader passed them, laughing loudly and pointing at a Gryffindor third year who was walking a few meters ahead of them. As Mulciber pulled out his wand and started muttering something, Olivia lost no time and immediately cast a silent Shield Charm between Mulciber and the Gryffindor boy. Mulciber's curse rebounded and hit him in the face, immediately causing serious burns to appear. As he howled in pain, his friend Avery looked around for the culprit and spotted Olivia and Liam.

"Well, if it isn't King and Queen Quidditch," he snarled menacingly. "Who gave you permission to meddle with our business?"

"Professor Slughorn did, as a matter of fact," Liam replied with a straight face.

"Would you like to see the permission slip he signed?" Olivia asked innocently. Avery looked thoroughly confused, not having expected her to take his question seriously. It took him a while to figure out she was messing with him.

"You'd want to watch your back in the future, Wright. See if you still can come up with cheeky answers when you're hanging upside down in the dungeons," Avery hissed.

"As long as you're there Avery, I'm sure we'll have a grand time," the Gryffindor replied drily, turning her back on them. Liam glared over his shoulder to make sure they wouldn't cast any curses, but the Slytherins were too busy taking Mulciber to the hospital wing.

"They're really bad this year," he muttered, his normally kind face looking dark. "I remember when there used to be decent Slytherins, you know. Ambitious people and all that, but decent."

Olivia shrugged and said nothing. The confrontation with the Slytherins had reminded her of the article in the Daily Prophet a few weeks ago. Also today there had been mentions of new disappearances. Maybe it was her imagination, but Hogsmeade too seemed to be clouded with a grim mood.

"Come on, let's go to Honeydukes. I could use some chocolate right now," she muttered. The bright warm shop was as always filled with students looking for their favourite candy. She immediately went for the chocolate section, and grabbed a few bars of her favourite chocolate – fudge variety. She also liked Honeydukes' basic milk chocolate, but after she had gotten a bar of famous Belgian Chocolate for her birthday a few years ago, she was hooked. Her parents regularly send her a new pack to keep her satisfied. Liam bought his usual bag of Cauldron Cakes, and they tried a newly invented candy that made your eyes change colour for a few minutes. Seeing Liam's eyes turn from his usual dark blue to green, then yellow and orange was enough to cheer Olivia up.

"I'm supposed to meet Emma in the Three Broomsticks in a few minutes, do you want to come along?" she asked, checking her watch. Liam nodded, eyeing her muggle watch with a curious look. Both his parents were wizards so he was used to wizard's watches.

The Three Broomsticks didn't seem affected by the grim mood, with its shiny bar and laughing customers. Liz and David sat with some of their Ravenclaw friends at a table in the middle of the room, discussing some lesson, and Remus was snogging his date in the far corner. Sirius was nowhere to be seen, probably already finding some more secluded spot. At last Olivia saw Emma waving at her from next to the big fireplace.

"Hi there," Olivia greeted her, unravelling her scarf and setting herself opposite of Emma. Liam had gone to get them Butterbeer and chat with the cute young woman behind the bar, Rosmerta. "So I thought we might want to get some girl equipment while we're in Hogsmeade," she said business – like. "We can't start the transformation until Andrew and Troy have made their remarks, bet or whatever, otherwise they'd never say it. But after that, we can start with phase two."

"Which is?" Emma asked nervously.

"The evolving of Emma Jordans, tomboy/beater to Emma Jordans, knockout/beater," Olivia answered matter – of – fact. Emma gulped and didn't look at all reassured. "So after I finish my Butterbeer we should get going," she continued. Liam had appeared with their Butterbeers and they chatted a bit, discussing their chances about the upcoming Quidditch Match (which were pretty good).

"Right Liam, Emma and I are going to leave you know. Girl stuff," Olivia said in a serious voice. "Why don't you go and chat up Rosmerta? I know for a fact she has something for Irishmen."

"Yes ma'am!" Liam saluted her. With a wink, Olivia took Emma by the arm and dragged her out of the pub.

"Where exactly are we going?" Emma asked, her dark eyes casting a nervous look at Olivia.

"Gladrags Witches' wear," she responded curtly. Emma whimpered in fear.

"Not there, please!" she begged, trying to release herself from Olivia's grip.

"I don't like it any more than you do," Olivia shuddered, "but we're bound to find something there. Preferably something void of laces and pink," she added, muttering darkly.

"I just don't understand why we have to go there, I have to wear the sodding Hogwarts uniform ninety per cent of the time anyway," Emma hissed. She had a point, all girls had to wear the same uniform that consisted of a black skirt that came just above their knees, a white shirt, a grey jumper with house colour details and white stockings that just reached their knees.

"About that, you might want your uniform to actually be the right size. Not three sizes too large," Olivia commented drily.

"Look who's talking," Emma retorted, shooting a look at Olivia's oversized trench coat.

"One size too large is acceptable," she said defensively. "Anyway, you might need something a bit more… casual for when you don't have to wear your uniform."

As they entered the shop, Olivia's confidence started to waver. Heaps of frilly, multi – coloured dresses occupied the shop, the vibrant colours making her eyes water. Emma looked as if she might be sick and tried to run for it, but Olivia snatched her by the collar.

"No, we are going to find something in this ruddy place," she exclaimed seriously, "even if I have to go through dozens of lacy, flowery, fricking rainbow – puking dresses." She marched towards the nearest rack of clothes and began pulling things from it. "Merlin's pants, who wears this kind of stuff," she muttered disgustedly as she held up a frilly, ridiculously short dress with ornamental flowers.

Emma snorted and made a face. "What about this one." She chuckled as she held up a t – shirt with a moving puppy on it.

"Oh my Merlin, that's so you," Olivia commented in a high – pitched voice. She grimaced as the puppy started to chase its own tail. "Who wouldn't want a sodding pug on their chest – oh, and it even barks!" She laughed out loud right now, which made the puppy bark even louder. "I can't believe this." She shook her head in amazement and went to the next rack of clothes.

"I bet you I'll find the most hideous, sickly piece of clothing – or whatever they call it here – in the whole shop," Emma said laughing as she pulled a pair of glittery earmuffs from a mannequin.

"The bet is on," Olivia answered with a grin and bolted to the far end of the shop where she had spotted cowboy boots with a print of butterflies. Which changed colour. Yikes.

"Impressive," Emma said while analyzing the pair of boots. "Not as good as mine, though." She held up a skirt with 'Blondes have more fun!' emblazoned on the back in curly, vibrant purple letters.

A ditzy looking girl who seemed to be the shop assistant came over to them. "It would look great on you," she said with a smile from ear to ear.

Emma looked at her incredulously. "I'm a brunette," she said slowly, holding up the skirt and pointing at her hair. The girl didn't seem to spot the problem and Emma sighed. "Never mind. I'm not going to take it."

The girl's smile only widened. "No problem, let me know if you need help!" She sashayed back to the counter, leaving a trail of some insanely sweet perfume.

Emma gagged. "Can you believe that?"

Olivia snorted and watched the girl arrange some flashy rings on a counter. "I wonder where they find those. They must breed them somewhere," she said grinning. "Anyway, back to the bet!"

She found a glittering jumper with a psychotic looking bunny that was humming a creepy song. Emma found a hideous necklace with the words 'My Sweetheart' in fat, gold letters. After a while, Emma seemed to have found the winning piece.

Olivia watched the vibrant yellow dress. It had puffed sleeves in a flashy pink colour, more ribbons than Remus Lupin had chocolate, and to top it off, big ornamental butterflies on both shoulders.

"There are no words," she said with a blank expression on her face. She and Emma looked at it awe for a few minutes, then hurriedly put it back. "It might be contagious," she explained.

The ditzy shop assistant came their way when they held up the dress but Emma quickly brushed her off. "Shoo," she muttered. "That's right, go paint your nails." She chuckled at the girl's confused expression. "Merlin, I'm never going to find something here," she said with a sigh.

"What about this?" Olivia asked, holding up a dark green dress with a few buttons and a simple, casual cut. Emma nodded thoughtfully.

"That could work. I don't need to be a girl girl, you know."

When Emma came out of the dressing room, Olivia smiled approvingly. The rich, dark green of the dress looked beautiful with Emma's pale complexion and brought out the green flecks in her dark eyes. It was casual enough to wear everyday and showed off her legs.

"This is the kind of clothing you need. Not too frilly and girly, but just nice. It looks brilliant," she reassured the skinny Beater, who was fidgeting nervously with the hem of her dress.

"I think I like it too," she murmured, looking at her reflection in the large mirror. They managed to find some similar clothes before the shopping started to bore them out, and paid at the counter, where the shop assistant shot them a blinding smile.

"I hope to see you again soon!" she said with uncommon enthusiasm. Emma grinned uneasily and quickly grabbed the bag of clothes.

"Don't worry, we will!" she said in forced tone. "When we need to have a good laugh," she added when they were out of earshot.

"I would say our next stop is that cosmetics' store over there, but since I can't tell apart eye shadow from lipstick, we'd better not take our chances," Olivia commented as they walked out of the shop. "We can come back another time with an expert on that area."

Emma nodded, looking immensely relieved. "I've reached my shopping limit anyway. We should get back to Hogwarts," the small girl said, looking at the darkening sky.

"That was really something," Olivia muttered thoughtfully. "I still think you should've bought the cowboy boots," she added after a while in a dry tone.

"Sod off."


A/N: What did you think? Was the make - over believable? Did you recognise the necklace? (description based on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, chapter 16 by J.K. Rowling) I had fun imagining that it laid there all these years until Lavender picked it up.

Up next: another tutoring session, library - scenes with Remus, and the introduction to Sirius' birthday party!