Disclaimer: I don't own the wonderful world of Harry Potter. Sad day.
A/N: Wow. It's been a while. There's no excuse for the length of time that I haven't posted. I was sixteen the last time I did. Now I'm six month and twenty-seven days away from turning eighteen! Crazy, I know. So, sorry for the long wait and I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 9: Interruptions
Eventually, the rain became too much, and we headed back inside. It was a quiet walk but not a totally uncomfortable one. My brain felt at peace and I wanted to revel in the feeling a little longer. Because the place I was going to be next was in close proximity to Sirius and Petunia. And my mind sure wouldn't be peaceful then.
James and I found them sitting in the kitchen when we stopped to get a snack. They didn't seem to be doing anything, which worried us more than if they had. They could have been going at each other's necks and I would have felt less worried. But they just sat on opposite sides of the table, looking in different directions.
"Hey, guys. What're you up to?" James asked cautiously, trying not to set off a bomb.
"Nothing. Nothing at all. And where were you may I ask?" Sirius questioned.
"We went for a walk. Is that not allowed anymore?" I bit back.
"For your information, it's not. Walking was banned in this house the minute I came to live here," Sirius retaliated.
"Last time I checked, Sirius, you didn't make the rules. James can do whatever he wants. Stop acting like a jealous girlfriend."
"Just be quiet, Evans. I don't need your mouth today. I've already had to deal with your sisters."
"Oh, Merlin. What did you do, Petunia?"
"I didn't do anything! It's what he did that's wrong!" Petunia fumed, pointing to Sirius.
"Sirius, what did you do now?" James asked exasperatedly, rubbing at his face in frustration.
"It's not like I meant to. I was looking for James!"
"And do you normally walk in on your friends whilst they're using the facilities?" she questioned, glaring at him.
"Sirius!"
"I couldn't find you! The door was unlocked and the light was on so I thought maybe you were practicing making out with that picture of Evan- what was that for?" Sirius cried, rubbing at the shin that James had just kicked.
"Shut up, Sirius!" Turning to me with terror in his eyes he said, "That never happened. I don't even have a picture of you-"
"Yes, you do. It's under your mattress where you always keep it. Why are you lying, James?" Sirius asked.
"For the love of Merlin, Sirius, if you don't shut up I will make sure no girl in Hogwarts ever looks at you!" James said through clenched teeth.
"Well, why do you…oh. Sorry. But just so you know, no girl will ever look away from me. My dazzling good looks are like hypnosis to them. Well, at least the attractive ones," he sneered, glancing at Petunia.
"Uh! You are despicable. I can't wait till we leave this hell hole!" she shrieked, stomping out of the kitchen.
"Thank Merlin's beautiful daughter. I thought we've never get rid of her. What? Why are you staring at me like that?"
My eyes were narrowed in fury and I could feel the heat burning in my cheeks. "You shouldn't have done that. You're not allowed to say rude things to people you barely know, especially after walking in on them in the bathroom!" I exclaimed, trying to keep calm.
"It's not my fault that she didn't lock the door. Who doesn't lock the door? James, help me out," he pleaded, turning to James who had sunk into a chair and put his head in his hands.
"No, Sirius," he sighed. "I'm not going to help you out. That's the second guest you've walked in on in one day! Who's next? Their mother?"
"Not that that would be unpleasant, but-"
"That's gross, Black. Even for you." I stormed off to go find Petunia to try to calm her down. The rest of the day would be ruined if she didn't stop sulking. She'd make it hell for us.
"Petunia?" I knocked on her door quietly.
"Go away. I don't want to see you or your friends. You're all disgusting, vile, and cruel," she sniffled.
"Come on, Petunia, don't be like that. Sirius is like that with everyone, even his girlfriends. Nothing can rein him in," I tried to explain. I didn't like defending him, but it was the truth.
"I don't care. I just want everyone to go away. Just…please leave me alone, Lily. I don't want to talk," she said quietly.
"Fine. But I'm here if you need me," I assured her.
When I walked back into the kitchen, James and Sirius were sitting at the table, staring in opposite directions and not speaking. This was surprising. I didn't know they could be in each other's presence for more than five seconds without one of them guffawing at something the other said or did.
"Are you guys okay? You're really quiet," I observed, sitting in the chair next to James.
"I'm sorry for what I said about the picture, Lily. It was a lie. I was just trying to make you angry and annoy James," Sirius said as if reading from a script and staring at the floor.
"Apology accepted, even if I don't totally believe it."
"Sorry, Prongs. I tried. So what do you want to do now?" he asked, going from one extreme to the next, practically jumping out of his seat.
"Well, it's raining pretty hard so we shouldn't go anywhere…do you have any board games?" I asked.
"What's a board game?" asked Sirius, confusion clouding his face.
I immediately felt stupid. 7 years in the wizarding world. You think I'd know that they don't really play board games with the exception of chess.
"Never mind. They're a sort of muggle game. You won't have any," I sighed. I sunk back into my chair, crossed my arms over my chest, and stared at my feet. I was at a complete loss as to what to do.
We had been sitting in silence for 5 minutes, no one having come up with anything in that time, when it hit me.
"Ninja!" I exclaimed, jumping out of my chair.
"Is that like a new word you're trying out instead of 'eureka'?" James asked, staring at me oddly.
"No. It's a game I used to play with my muggle friends when we were little. It's more fun with a large group of people but it'll work. We just need a little bit of space. Do you know where we could play?" I looked to James for a direction to head in.
"We could move the table and couch out of the way in the family room. We have to move it back but that should be enough space," he said, getting up and walking towards the other room.
Sirius jumped up and followed behind us, asking questions all the way.
"What is this game exactly?"
"A game where we pretend to be ninjas," I explained.
"Yes, but what do we do?"
"I'll tell you when we get there."
"How do we win?"
"I'll explain when I tell you how to play."
"What's the prize?"
"There isn't one. You just win."
"What?"
His volume surprised me and I turned to see him standing with his mouth open, looking at me in a crazy way.
"What do you mean 'what'?"
"You can't play a game without a prize! That's unheard of!" he gasped.
"You play games all the time without prizes. Wizards chess, exploding snap, even Quidditch is prize less until the match for the cup," I explained.
"That's not true. The prize for Quidditch is the most points of the game and the privilege to rub it in the other house's face-"
"You do know that you're not actually supposed to do that, right?
"Hush. I'm not done. Anyway, I don't play chess so I really couldn't tell you about that. That game is just too logical. But exploding snap has a prize! The prize is getting to laugh at the other person's scorched face and their lack of eyebrows," he said.
"Those aren't prizes, Sirius."
"Yes, they are! It's in the handbook!"
"What handbook?"
"The handbook of game prizes."
"Sirius you are totally making this up and-"
"I will not play unless there's a prize," he said, defiantly crossing his arms.
"Find. The prize is that…you're an…official ninja!" I made up.
"Whoa! That's awesome!"
"Sure. Now let's just-"
"Are you two going to stand in there and babble all day or are we playing this game?" James called from the other room.
"Coming," we hollered back, heading for the door.
We moved the couch and coffee table up against the wall and stood in a circle, facing each other.
"Now, what you do is you bow to your 'sensei' who isn't real so just bow to the middle and then strike a ninja pose. The first person tries to hit someone's hand and if they do, that person is out. You can only take one move each turn, and we take turns in clockwise fashion. You can only use your hands and you can only hit other hands. So don't go putting your hands in uncomfortable places and don't hit anyone in an awkward place. Sirius, please remember that rule. Now let's start."
"Wait! What's the prize, Lily?" Sirius reminded me.
"The prize is induction into the ninja society," I sighed. "Now, bow to your sensei." And we bowed.
A/N: I hoped you all enjoyed that. It took me maybe half an hour to write after I finished my chemistry test, which I think I did pretty well on so I'm excited. Ninja is a real game that a lot of us theatre kids like to play in our free time and I recommend you try it if you have an eccentric group of people who aren't afraid of touching others. It's a great game. I'm in the process of writing the next chapter so hopefully you all won't have that long of a wait this time. Review please! Let me know if I'm doing something wrong, if you want to see something happen in the next few chapters (I'm open to suggestions), or if you just want to say random things. Bye!
-Marah