Days in Avalon

Chapter Eight: Is it a little bit chilly in here?

"Geez…what do you think they're doing? Giving us all this homework!" whined Felicia as she flipped through her Transfiguration book trying to find the chapter on Vanishing spells in the Gryffindor common room.

Since the beginning of the year, all of the teachers at Hogwarts seemed to be putting all of the students into overdrive, whether it was assigning essays that needed to be two rolls long, or having the students perform advance charms and spells that have been known to have some strange outcomes. By mid-October, everyone was eager for some form of a vacation from their strenuous studies.

"Where have you been?" said Kelly as she was looking over her essay for her History of Magic class.

"Duh, it's OWL Year," said Karen not even looking up from her Transfiguration book as she tried to figure out why she could only make her owl's head disappear. Since she was having some difficulty with the spell, Lily offered to help her out in the Gryffindor common room, since the library was full of seventh years working on a project for their NEWT classes.

"What did you think they were going to do? Give us a break?" chuckled Andy as she finished off her Defense Against the Dark Arts essay.

"How am I going to finish McGonagall's essay, Portview's, and Binns's by Friday!" cried Felicia on the verge of tears.

"Felicia, the assignments were given out last week Tuesday," said Lily as she helped Karen with her wand movement.

"Yeah? So?"

"So why are you just starting the essays now?" stated Lily with an eyebrow raised.

"I've been busy," said Felicia not wanting to elaborate on the subject.

"Doing what?" inquired Karen as she worked on her owl.

"Uh-nothing, really," hesitated Felicia as she quickly dove back into her bag to look for something and knocked over an ink bottle as she pulled the bag up to the table in the process. Karen, Andy, and Lily all noticed Felicia's strange behavior. After all the years they have known each other, they couldn't come up with any explanation as to why she was acting this way.

"What's up with her?" whispered Andy to Lily as continued to watch as Felicia kept glancing all around the common room avoiding her friends.

"I'm not sure," whispered Lily as pulled out a piece of parchment and began to finish off her potions essay.

On the other side of the common room sat none other than three of the Marauders: James, Sirius, and Peter. From a by passers perspective, it looked as if they were in a deep discussion over their Transfiguration homework. Their observation would only be partially correct…

"All right, so when do you want to try again?" whispered Sirius as he glanced over his shoulder to make sure that no one was eavesdropping.

"How about tomorrow? Since Pete here has almost got his transformation complete, we can then all try it together," said James as he readjusted his glasses. "That way we can see if we're ready to surprise Rem."

"Oh, he is going to freak when he finds out that we've become Animagi!" squealed Peter, to which Sirius gave him a hard elbow to the arm.

"Keep your voice down!" growled Sirius.

"Sorry," said Peter quickly as he rubbed his arm.

"When's the next full moon?" said Sirius turning back to James.

"Next week Friday. I figured we all could hide under the Invisibility cloak until we get to the Willow. Then Peter can transform and hit that knot on the tree. That way, we can slip into the tunnel, and then we'll surprise Moony," whispered James.

"Sounds like a plan to me," said Sirius with a grin as he brushed some of his hair out of his face.

"So were agreed then?" said James looking at his two friends. They both nodded in agreement. "Great. We'll meet in the Room of Requirement at ten. Umm…Pete I think you should go up to the room and start practicing again."

"Oh. O-okay. Man this is going to be great!" squealed Peter as he gathered his things and ran up to the boy's dormitories to practice turning into a rat.

"What a dork!" snorted Sirius to Peter's over enthusiasm of the situation. "The little berk looked like he was about to wet himself," he chuckled.

"Ah lay off the guy Padfoot. He means well. Besides if it wasn't for him, we won't be able to get to the tunnel," said James as he started to pack up some things.

"Yeah, but you got to admit," chuckled Sirius as he gave an eye toward the stairs. All James could do was shake his head and silently chuckle to himself as he stood up from the table.

"Well, I'm off. Got to go get some more practice time in before the Slytherin match."

"Right like you really need it?" said Sirius as he cocked an eyebrow.

"As a matter of fact I do," said James.

"Please! You're one of the best Seekers Hogwarts has seen in years. Plus the fact, we're going up against Slytherin. The moment their prat of a Seeker sees you, he'll fly in the other direction," said Sirius.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," chuckled James. "See ya later, mate."

"Later, Prongs," called Sirius as James made his way to the porthole. Seeing that he was now alone at the table, Sirius made an attempt to finish some of his homework. That is until his stomach started to growl.

'Oh darn! I guess I should feed you, ye?' thought Sirius glad to find an excuse to procrastinate his work. As Sirius got up he bent down to get his bag from the floor. While he was down there, he was met with a pair of feet standing right in front of him.

"Hi, Sirius," called a voice from above.

"Oh, hey…um Cami. How's it going?" said Sirius slightly taken back by the presence of the light brown haired, sixth year girl before him.

"Oh, I'm fine. How's Quidditch practice going?" said Cami as she tilted her head slight to get a better look at Sirius's pale grayish-blue eyes.

"Ah the same, I guess," shrugged Sirius.

"Well would you look at that," said Kelly as she stretched out her arms behind her.

"What?" said Karen as she looked up from her Transfiguration book.

"Isn't that Cami Lane?" inquired Felicia when she saw what Kelly was looking at.

"What about her?" said Andy not really seeing what the point was as she bent down under the table to retrieve her quill.

"Looks like she's talking to Sirius," said Karen.

"WHAT?" said Andy from under the table followed by the sound of her hitting her head against the table. "OW!"

"Andy are you okay?" said Lily as she saw her friend reappear rubbing the back of her head.

"Fine," winced Andy as she checked her hand to see if she was bleeding, which she wasn't. She looked across the common room to fine just what her friends had described. 'The great higher than thou' Sirius Black talking to brown-haired Cami Lane. "Who in their right mind would ever flirt with that loser?"

"Oh come on Andy. Not everyone thinks he's that bad," spat Felicia. Andy quickly looked across the table at her friend and raised her eyebrows in surprise at her friend's remark.

"Except me, of course," chuckled Felicia quickly to moment she realized what she said. As she continued to gaze at the two people conversing with each other across the room, an unexplained sensation seemed to be boiling up inside of her.

"Oh my…"she whispered to herself. "I can't believe it!" she said a little louder than she though she had. "He's flirting back!"

"Well what did you expect? Weren't you the one that said he thought he was 'the gods gift to women'?" said Andy, not quite sure what had sparked this sudden change in attitude for the boy they both considered their mortal enemy.

"Urgh! What a little…" spat a frustrated Felicia.

"Why do you care anyway, Felicia?" inquired Lily, have the same thoughts as Andy.

"I-I don't care about him!" answered Felicia quickly. "I care about Cami," she said in tone that she hoped would convince her friends. Three out of the four weren't really buying what she was saying at all. The other one, on the other hand, wasn't really paying attention at all. For some reason, Andy had some sort of glazed looked in her eyes that held a mischievous glint. Slowly an evil smirk crept up onto her face.

"What are you thinking about," said Felicia noticing her best friend's appearance.

"Hmm…oh! Nothing," said Andy nonchalantly.

"Andy?" said Felicia and Kelly wanting to press the matter further.

"Well…"she said slowly. "Why don't I show you," she said after a few moments as she quickly pulled out her wand and began to twirl it a bit. "I think its time for Mr. Black to cool down a bit before he gets a little to excited."

"What are you going to do?" said Karen slightly fearful and eager to know what was about to happen.

"Oh just a little thing called payback!" said Andy sweetly as she pointed her wand to her prey. She muttered a spell, but all they could make out was the first part of the spell: 'fresen'.

(Meanwhile…)

"So do you think you'll win the game against Slytherin this year," inquired Cami as she batted her eyelashes.

"Well, we'll try. But I have a pretty good feeling that we'll do fine," said Sirius with a wink. "We've got some of the best beaters, some pretty good chasers, and not to mention a heck of a seeker."

"Well, what about their keeper?" said Cami in a sassy tone.

"Ah, he's okay, I guess," answered Sirius not wanting to sound to cocky.

"Well, I think he's better than okay," replied Cami as she inched closer to Sirius. As she came closer, Sirius started to feel his heart rate rise a bit and a little bit hot under the collar.

"Oh look at that," stated Cami suddenly as she turned toward the bulletin board. "Hogsmeade weekends coming up soon."

"So it is," sighed Sirius relieved that she took a step back. But as she turned back toward him, Sirius started to have a strange sensation somewhere in the pit of his stomach. What happened next, was totally unexplainable to Sirius, for it seemed he had lost control of his tongue.

"Er-Cami, do you want to maybe hang…aaaahhhhhhhhh."

"Sirius?" said Cami, taken back at Sirius's sudden change. One second, he was standing before her, apparently trying to ask her out, and the next…he was hunched over grabbing his stomach and shivering.

"Is this some sort of joke?" spat Cami not knowing if this was some strange attempt to get out of not asking her out. All Sirius could seem to muster up was a chattering of teeth, followed by a few moans of pain.

"Fine be that way!" snorted Cami as she walked away while everyone in the common room stared at the strange scene before them. After few moments, Sirius unexpectedly heard the sound of laughter coming from a group of girls in the corner.

"You all right there, Blackie?" came a voice from behind him. Sirius turned around to find none other than Andy standing behind him with a weird sort of look upon her face.

"You look a little cold," stated Felicia, who was still sitting in her seat trying to stifle a fit of giggles.

"Fine," chattered Sirius as he tried to stand up a little bit more.

"Are you sure? I mean Felicia's right, you do look a little cold," said Andy with a smirk. All Sirius could do was grunt a little bit. "Well, I hope you do feel better. I'd hate to think that any of your um-attachments would be all shriveled up or anything like that."

At that precise moment, the realization of what had occurred hit Sirius like a ton of bricks. He stared at Andy in total and complete shock.

"Y-you? You little… you… you.. You." stuttered Sirius as new feeling started to rise to the surface of his skin…total and complete anger and hatred.

"Doth my ears deceive me, or has the impossible happened?" said Andy in a fake attempt to be shocked as she placed a hand over her heart.

"I believe so," said Kelly playing along with Andy.

"The great and all mighty, holier than thou, Sirius Black is actually speechless?" chuckled Andy.

"Oh, tragedy! Whatever shall we do?" muttered Lily.

"My friend is right, this is indeed a dreadful day," said Andy as she pretended to wipe away fake tears.

"Er- I'll get you for this Sparky," growled Sirius as he stormed up to the boy's dormitory.

"Yeah, yeah. That's what they all say," stated Andy as she walked back to her seat.

"What did you mean by 'any of your attachments '? What hex did you put on him?" said Karen.

"By the way he was bent over, it looked like his stomach was hurting," said Kelly.

"But he was shivering. Freezing charm?" said Lily to Andy.

"Yep, and you're close with the stomach…just a little farther south," said Andy with a grin and a chuckle.

"You didn't?" said Felicia with her mouth open in total shock and amazement.

"Where did you learn a charm like that?" inquired Kelly.

"My gran taught me that little charm over the summer. Along with a few other self defense charms," said Andy simply.

"You are evil," chuckled Felicia.

"I am not," said Andy in a mock hurt tone.

"You know I could give you detention for attacking a student," said Lily with a stern look on her face.

"Ah come on Lil. It's not like I hurt the guy that badly," said an amused Andy.

"You know one of these days, you are going to get yourself into a situation where your little antics and smart mouth aren't going to help you out of it," spat Lily.

"Well thank you Professor McGonagall," said Andy. Lily just glared at Andy for her remark. "Oh come on Lil. What's the point in doing magic if you can't have a little fun with it?"

"You call that fun?" said Lily, to which Andy simply nodded. "I think you have been spending to much time with Potter," she added as she went back to reading her book. Andy was about to say something, until Karen interrupted her.

"Hey Lily, how do you do that wand movement again?"

"So Andy, do you think you could teach me that charm?" whispered Felicia.

"Sure, no problem."

Later on that evening, James returned to his room after an exhausting and successful practice. When he entered in the dorm, he found Remus and Peter both sitting on their beds looking lost.

"Hey what's up guys?" said James as he began to take off his Quidditch robes.

"Ummm…well…" said Peter slowly as he glanced over to the closed door that led to the bathroom.

"What?" replied a perplexed James.

"Apparently, Sirius had a little run in with Andy, again," said Remus. Just then the door to the bathroom opened up with a cloud of steam pouring out, and out stepped Sirius who looked like he had just stepped out of the shower. From the look on his face, he apparently wasn't in a very good mood.

"Hey Sirius. Er-how's it going?" said James cautiously.

"How's it going? HOW'S IT GOING!" barked Sirius loudly. "Do you have any idea what that girl did to me?"

"Uh-no," said James honestly.

"Well let me be the one to tell you. That ex of yours put a freezing charm on my…"spat Sirius followed by a couple of calming breaths.

"Your what?" asked Remus, not quite sure where this was going.

"My…you know…er-my…" said Sirius as he nodded.

"What are you talking about," said James completely at a loss.

"What is the one part that a guy is the most attached too," said a frustrated Sirius.

"Attach too? What do…oh!" said James as the realization of what his best friend was getting at.

"She…"started Remus.

"Oh yeah, while I was talking to Cami Lane," said Sirius. All three of his friends looked upon him with their deepest sympathy and slightly painful expressions as to what it would feel like to have a numb attachment. But soon the painful looks turned to laughter that neither James, nor Peter, nor Remus could hold any longer.

"It's not funny!" stated Sirius.

"Well, when you think about it mate, it kinda is," chuckled James.

"Come on, Sirius. After what you did to her with the whole diary thing? You got to admit that it is a good form of payback," chuckled Remus uncontrollable.

"Look, I'll talk to her at dinner. Will that satisfy you?" said James noticing his best mates sour look.

"Sure…if you hex her into the middle of next week. No, on second thought I'd like to do it myself," growled Sirius.

"Calm down, mate," said James in surprise to his friend's reaction. Sure he's seen Sirius pissed off after one of Andy's little jokes, but this was entirely different for some reason.

At dinner that evening, James kept his word to Sirius. After having a few bites of his meal, James found where the blond haired witch that he considered to be his sister was sitting. Sure enough her two dark haired friends, and the auburn haired prefect that he had teased for years were surrounding her.

"Er-hey Star, can I have a word with you?" said James as he broke the conversation that she was having with Kelly and Lily.

"Sure, Jay," said Andy suspiciously. With that, the two Gryffindors walked silently out of the Great Hall into the Entrance Hall.

"What's up?" asked Andy the moment they were clear.

"Well I was kinda wondering if you could tell me why you placed a hex on my mate?" said James as he crossed his arms. Andy knew sooner or later she would have to have another one of these talks with James. Every time her and Sirius get into some sort of duel or fight, James or Remus are the ones to attempt to mend fences. 'Why does he continue to do this? It's not like we're one day going to be friends or anything,' thought Andy.

"What are you talking about?" said Andy playing the 'dumb blond' routine. "I didn't put a hex on Remus."

"Andy?" replied James with an eyebrow raised as if he were her older brother.

"He looked a little warm. I was helping him out," said Andy giving in to her crime. James continued to stare at her suspiciously.

"Oh come on! He was talking to Cami Lane, of all people," said Andy as if it were obvious why she put the charm on him.

"So?" stated James not seeing where this was going.

"Jay, it's common knowledge that Cami is a total flirt and will date any guy. Even Blackie."

"What has that got to do with any.."

"Oh James, do you really expect me to believe that your best mate would want to go on a date?" questioned Andy.

"He might have," said James wondering how he got into this type of conversation.

"Please! You should have seen the look on his face. He was terrified. Heck if anything he should be thanking me, for doing that little favor for him," chuckled Andy.

"That doesn't mean anything!"

"James, think about. When was the last time you or anyone have ever seen him talk to a girl? And I'm not talking about teasing or getting into arguments with," said Andy as she crossed her arms. James stopped and contemplated her question. He never really thought about who his best mate talked to.

"Uhh…" stated James trying to come up with an answer.

"Exactly. You can't even think of one, because I don't even think he ever has. The guy is afraid!"

"How do you even know that?" said James at a loss.

"Yeah how do you know that?" said a voice from behind James. He turned around to find Sirius standing behind him looking bewildered and slightly angry.

"Oh great," sighed Andy.

"Well come on, Sparky. How do you know that I'm afraid of your kind? Huh?"

"Geez you know what, forget it. Just forget I even said anything," said Andy not really wanting to deal with Sirius along with James.

"No I think I deserve an answer," said Sirius in an annoyed tone.

"Why? What does it matter to you what I think?"

"Just answer the question," said Sirius.

"Fine. Well for starters you calling girls 'that kind' or 'your kind' doesn't really help. Two, when you were talking to Ms. Lane, you wouldn't even look her directly in the face, even though you are suppose to be this 'Ladies Man'. And third, every time you do even come into contact with a girl, you brush them off, or tease them. I mean, what's up with that?"

"Hold on a second, there. What makes you think that I always brush them off or tease them?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's because you always do, and have been ever since I met you," spat Andy.

"Okay let's get some things straight here," said Sirius as he advanced on Andy.

"Padfoot," said James giving a Sirius a warning look.

"Padfoot?" giggled Andy.

"No, James she said her piece now it's my turn. Look just because I don't go chasing after girls or go up to them and strike up a conversation with them, doesn't mean that I'm afraid of them. I have better things to do than spend time with some girl who could be sweet one minute and a total basket case the next. Besides after know you as long as I have, why should I even bother too talk to girls if they're like you," spat Sirius.

"Hey, newsflash. Not everyone is like me," said Andy.

"Why don't you stop interfering with other people's business? Maybe then you'll learn not to pass judgment on people," said Sirius coolly as he turned on his heals and stormed back to dinner.

"Yeah well maybe if some people didn't always attempt to ruin my life, I wouldn't!" screamed Andy. "What?" she said as she saw James giving her a semi-dirty look.

"Nothing, Andy. I didn't say anything," said James.

"Yeah sure. So now I suppose you'll have a go now?" said Andy as she crossed her arms.

"You already know what I'm going to say," said James.

"Fine! Take his side then," yelled Andy.

"I'm not taking anyone's side here. All I want is for two of my friends to get along with each other," said James innocently.

"Look Potter, you can keep on dreaming because it will never happen," said Andy. With that she turned around and headed toward the grand staircase to Gryffindor tower.

"Andy! Andy come on!" called James at the retreating witch. "Great! Why do I even try to bother with those two," he said to himself as he started to follow Andy.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Potter," said a voice from behind James. He turned around and was met by a pair of bright green eyes glaring at him. Suddenly that all to familiar feeling started to creep up on James.

"Evans? W-what are you doing here?" stuttered James.

"I came to check on my friend, after I saw Sirius follow you two out here. I assume they got into another row?" said Lily.

"Yeah, I think I should start to give up on them," said James as he started to mess with his hair.

"Why do you even bother anyways? You know they can't stand each other," stated Lily.

"Is it a crime to want two of my friends to get along with each other?" said James with a grin.

"Give it up, Potter. You're fighting a losing battle," said Lily.

"Maybe I just like a challenge," said James brightly.

"Or maybe you've been hit in the head with a Bludger one too many times," said Lily coolly.

"What's that suppose to mean?" inquired James.

"Just leave Andy alone, alright. She doesn't like Sirius, and if you keep hounding her, it's not going to help. Just let sleeping dogs lie," said Lily in a matter of fact tone.

"Why do you care anyways?"

"Because Andy is my best friend and I'm tired of you forcing her into something she doesn't want to do! Gods it's no wonder why you are so thick headed," exasperated Lily, "you never take other people's feelings into consideration."

"Hey I resent that!" said James.

"Oh please. The only reason why you want them to get alone is so that you can get something out of it. You're only out for one person's welfare and that's James Potter's," said Lily hotly.

"I am not. You don't know a thing about me!" said James.

"Oh why don't you grow up," said Lily coldly, as she turned around and headed back into the Great Hall, leaving James all lone in the Entrance Hall stewing in his own anger.

'Who does she think she is? Is it so wrong to not have to listen to two of my friends constantly arguing with each other?' thought James trying to figure out what had happen.

"What is it with her?" said James out loud to know in particular.


Disclaimer: All right I hate to tell ya, but I don't own Harry Potter or the gang. That honor goes to J.K. Rowling. I only own this story and the characters I made up. In other words, you want money…talk to her cuz I don't have any.