Chapter X -- Scuttlebutt

"Lauren, I think you're going to want to read this." Rosemary motioned over to the notice board in the Gryffindor common room. There was a large, marigold-colored notice plastered there. It blared the words: ALERT! Lauren ran her finger down the paper, reading it off aloud.

"Attention all 'Barking Mad about Sirius' fanclub members, and everyone else in the school: There have been some reports here recently of a particular Slytherin and Ravenclaw (LAUREN SCUTIO AND ROSEMARY DINOZZO) frequenting the Gryffindor common room instead of their own house common rooms. Any further sightings should be reported to Bridgette Smith, Gryffindor sixth year, President of the 'Barking Mad about Sirius' fanclub. Let it be known that these students are potentially DANGEROUS. They have already brutally attacked a girl, landing her in the Hospital Wing with multiple potentially fatal injuries. Don't let their next victim be YOU."

"When did they put that up?" A voice asked behind them. Remus Lupin held a small mug of coffee, sipping it every now and then.

"Probably late last night." Rosemary said distastefully. "Look, there's more."

At the bottom of the paper there were little notes scrawled in many different handwritings. Lauren read them quietly off to herself.

"Scutio is a TRAITOR."

"Scutio is in league with Severus Snape."

"Scutio and DiNozzo are assassins sent to murder Sirius Black and his friends."

"Lauren Scutio is Severus Snape's girlfriend."

"The Slytherin betrayed not only her house but her Gryffindor 'friends' as well."

"DiNozzo is secretly in Slytherin."

"Sirius is under a cruel spell put on him by the... witches."

"Save Sirius!"

Lauren stopped reading, growing angrier with each sentence she read. She looked around for Rosemary and Remus, but noticed instead that the Gryffindors that had been in the room had all scattered. A few faces peered suspiciously around tapestries and corners, but dissapeared when they saw Lauren looking their way. As Sirius Black entered the room from upstairs, he read the anger in Lauren's face and hardly had to ask what was wrong.

"It's just scuttlebutt." Rosemary told Lauren, hatred clearly in her voice. "They think they can get to us this way. Well, mostly you. Don't prove them right."

"What's 'scuttlebutt'?" Sirius inquired, glancing only briefly over at the paper on the notice board.

As if on cue, both girls raised a finger in the air and said simultaniously, "Scuttlebutt is U.S. Marine talk for gossip." They laughed, looking at eachother as they finished.

"Rosemary's grandfather is an ex-marine/NCIS agent. NCIS stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service." Lauren decided to add.

Rosemary thought a moment. "Rule number nine is..."

"Never go anywhere without a knife. Or, in our case, a wand. Rule number twenty-seven?" Lauren asked.

"Never mess with a Marine's coffee if you want to live." Rosemary grimaced. "I learned that one the hard way."

"Rule number one?" Lauren continued.

"Okay, I think we get it now." Sirius interrupted. "What's your grandfather's name?"

"Jethro Gibbs, aka the Silver-Haired Fox," exclaimed Lauren.

Sirius gave her a slightly offended look before she explained that her sister had given him that name, not her. But there was no way she was going to mention that she secretly thought Rosemary's grandfather was hot, at least not to Sirius.

"So, what are we going to do about all this 'scuttlebutt'?" Sirius asked.

"We? What do you mean, we?" Lauren shot back.

"Hey! You know what I just realized?" Rosemary exclaimed excitedly. "You two aren't joined at the hip anymore!"

Lauren agreed casually. "Yeah, I guess Dumbledore didn't want to be the one responsible for what might have happened had we slept on the same couch."

"Too bad, too. I was looking forward to it." A smile slipped onto Sirius' face.

Lauren threw an evil grin in Sirius' direction. "No one said it wasn't going to happen anyways." They both turned automatically to see Rosemary's reaction.

Rosemary raised her eyebrows before turning back to the notice board. "That was way too much information."

"What are we going to do about all this scuttlebutt?" Sirius repeated, changing the subject. Rosemary, having no idea herself, turned to Lauren questioningly. The smile faded from the sixth year's face and her gaze grew steely.

"We're going to destroy her... and that fanclub."

Sirius face changed to one of slight joy. "But how? You can't just go traipsing up to her and do what you did yesterday, no matter how badly you want to."

The eavesdropping faces all around slowly slid halfway into view, but dissapeared again as numerous students, mostly girls, slipped off out the portrait hole and towards the Grand Staircase. Lauren glaced around momentarily, noticing the motion in the background. She recognized a few of them as members of the fanclub from that day they set the trap, but she didn't make a big note of it in her mind.

"You'll see," she said as she turned back to her friends. "I've got Care of Magical Creatures now and I actually like that class. I'll think it over and tell you afterwards. I'll meet you on the Grounds..." She looked from Rosemary to Sirius to James to Remus. "All of you."