MOD Man: Chapter Nine
"Leia was cool, but why is she interested in the smuggler?" Flora asked, wrinkling her nose.
"The hero should get the girl, not the sidekick," Ginny agreed.
Shelia frowned. "Yeah, but it always happens that way. Maybe they just wanted something to be different."
"I don't like stories that leave you feeling like its incomplete," Flora said. "End of the story should be: hero gets the girl and happily ever after."
"What if the girl gets the hero and the sidekick?" Luna asked.
The girls considered that for a moment and Harry grinned as they decided that was an acceptable alternative.
"There are two more movies in the series," Harry offered. "So this isn't the end of things, it's just the beginning."
"So does she end up with the hero or the sidekick?" Flora asked.
"Yeah, who does she end up loving?" Shelia asked.
"Mom will eventually get the other two movies, so I'll just say in the end she loves both of them and they all seem pretty happy about it," Harry replied. That seemed to satisfy the girls and it was still a bit early so Harry looked for another movie to play. "We have Indiana Jones, Aliens, and Behind the Green Door."
"Indiana Jones is probably some American war movie," Ginny guessed.
"Behind the Green Door sounds like one of those artsy, French films Mum makes Dad watch when she wants to punish him," Shelia said.
"Just because she wants to expose him to a little culture doesn't mean she's trying to punish him," Harry said with a grin, recalling hearing Hermione saying something similar to Ron.
"No, she tells him straight up it's because he's being punished for something, usually a prank," Shelia replied. "When he's really bad, she makes him go to the opera."
"Aliens sounds interesting," Luna offered and was seconded by Flora.
"Aliens it is," Ginny said cheerfully, accepting another bowl of popcorn from the elves.
"Bed time," Harry said as he saw how tired the youngest of them were before picking up Dawn, who was falling asleep on the floor.
Connie quickly held up her arms for Harry to pick her up as well. Evie yawned and considered staying up, but decided it wasn't worth arguing with Ginny, who took her role as big sister far too seriously.
"Let me help," Flora told Harry, taking Connie for him.
Evie grinned and held her arms out for Ginny to pick her up, even though she wasn't that much smaller than her. Ginny grinned and picked her up bridal style.
"Wish I had sisters like them," Shelia told Luna as the Potters took the three youngest to their rooms.
"I'd settle for any siblings," Luna said. "Being an only child isn't as much fun as you'd think. I'd love to have a sister or maybe a big brother like Harry."
"From what I've heard, most older brothers are prats," Shelia said. "So, he really died?" she asked after a moment.
"He got better," Luna assured her.
"Much better," Shelia agreed. "He calls me by my name now."
"I thought you liked being called Camellia," Luna said.
"It was nice having a pet name," she admitted, "but he didn't say it nearly as nicely as he says Shelia now."
"His Luna is a lot fonder," Luna said with a smile.
The three oldest Potter children returned.
"Ok, roll 'em," Ginny said, reclaiming her popcorn.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Lily pulled out her wand and frowned as the point me spell just caused her wand to spin in circles. She made a note to tattoo tracking runes on the four Marauders the next time she got a chance.
Lily traced the pair's apparition to the one place she dreaded finding them at... Snape's house.
"Oh God," she groaned, knowing things had just gotten a lot more complicated.
The front door of the house was missing and a goat was eating the living room curtains. The coffee table was in pieces and the couch was on the ceiling. Of Snape there was no sign.
She sighed and began casting about for their apparition trail once more.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"That was so cool!" Flora cheered, completely ignoring the way everyone else clung together, staring at the screen in horror.
"Those don't exist, right?" Shelia asked Luna.
Everyone turned towards Luna who quickly shook her head. "Merlin, no!"
"Aaaw," Flora moaned, disappointed.
"You're going to love Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures class," Harry predicted.
"You'd protect me if things like that existed, right?" Ginny asked Harry nervously, still clinging to him.
"I'd sick the dementors on them and let them wipe each other out," Harry assured her, trying not to shiver as he thought of what he was sure was going to be the form bogarts would take around him now.
"I think you'd end up with a horrible hybrid combination of the two," Luna said with a look of disgust.
'No, that's my new bogart,' Harry decided right then and there.
"I know! Let's go do something fun in a well lit room, possibly involving fire," Shelia said loudly to a chorus of agreements.
"There's a fireplace in Harry's room," Flora offered, seeing a chance to poke around in Harry's room, a place he'd always chased them out of before.
"We can make smores," Harry agreed, recalling Hermione mentioning something about them on her sleep over checklist that she'd never gotten a chance to use.
"What are smores?" Flora asked curiously.
"Chocolate, marshmallow, and graham crackers set on fire," Harry said, wondering if he'd gotten it right.
"Sounds good," Shelia said. "Let's go!"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The five were dressed as knights - well, the four Marauders were, Snape had somehow gotten a hold of a Batman outfit, which had nipples on it for some reason.
Lily watched in shock as they loaded a large, wooden rabbit onto a catapult aimed at a French castle.
"Fire!" Sirius called out as Pettigrew pulled the lever, launching the fifteen foot tall wooden rabbit over the castle wall.
Lily stared in horror as she realized it was the Minster of France's personal residence. Getting them out of this was going to be complicated.
The Potter residence
"Nobody missing, everyone alive?" Lily asked as she returned, pushing a cart filled with the four drunken and bruised Marauders and one Severus Snape.
"Everyone's alive," Harry promised.
"Nothing's on fire, either," Shelia added.
"Anyone pregnant?" Snape slurred out, making the Marauders laugh.
Harry smacked himself in the head. "I knew I forgot something," he joked, covering his surprise at seeing Snape.
Ginny shrugged. "Back to the bedroom, everyone," she ordered, causing all the girls to turn towards Harry's room.
"What? No!" Lily exclaimed in shock, just before everyone, including the drunken Marauders, broke out laughing and she realized she'd been had.
"So how'd things go?" Harry asked.
"We may be at war with France," Lily admitted.
"Right," Harry said, nodding slowly. "Well, for the sake of plausible deniability... I'm going to bed."
"That's probably a good idea," Lily admitted.
"Right, night all," Harry said, retreating to his room. He climbed into bed and was preparing for sleep when Ginny slipped into bed with him. "Oh yeah, you won my room. I'd forgotten that. Should I move all my stuff to your old room now or in the morning?"
"Neither," Ginny said, wrapping her arms around him and preparing for sleep. "I didn't say we'd switch rooms, just that I wanted yours. You'll just have to pay me rent from now on."
"Rent?" Harry asked just before the door opened and Shelia and Luna came in carrying pillows.
"Budge over," Shelia said. "I'm not sleeping alone after that movie."
"I thought you had Luna with you," Harry noted.
"You're not supposed to notice that," Luna told him. "You're supposed to get manly and protective."
"Just pretend you're heroic; like the Boy-Who-Lived, Neville Longbottom," Shelia said.
"Ah, right," Harry said, absently making room for the pair and deciding he'd definitely be looking up recent history in the morning, as Flora came in carrying her pillow and blanket.
Typing By: Ordieth
