Left With YOU

Chapter Eleven

By Mrs. Padfoot

Author's Note:  It's strangely surreal.  A chapter eleven?  By Mrs. Prongs and Mrs. Padfoot?  ...It's so... so... there are no words.

But we've been cranking out this chapters.  As this note is being penned, it's 1:53 PM on Sunday the 14th, about 24 hours after Chapter Eight was written.  I mean, wow.  (I can't believe I admitted that.  Now everyone will be after us with a fork for not posting faster.)

The funny thing is, even though Chapter 12 isn't written yet, since that was written, we cranked out a whole (long) one-shot.  Are we fast or what?

&&

            Somehow, (and as far as Remus Lupin was concerned, most of the blame laid with Sirius Black), Lily and James had once again joined the scavenging party.

            Sometimes he really wished James was less forgiving.  I mean, was it too much to ask to have him be just a little peeved about the pink hair incident?  (Besides the Sirius-maiming incident, of course.  Sirius hadn't been very maimed, as James had stopped and stalked off when he realised Alex wasn't moving.  He hadn't really wanted to hurt Alex, just Sirius.)

            But there was no changing facts, and much as Remus wished that James and Lily were still off... somewhere, Lily appeared to have distracted James a little too much, as James was now back and grinning insanely every few seconds.  (And despite himself, he was a little curious as to what James was grinning about.  Lily didn't seem too happy.)

            And then, of course, there were the Ravenclaws.  He had never even met any of them before today (he hadn't even heard of them before today, unless you counted Sirius' "ooh, ooh!  Look at her, Moony!  She's hot, isn't she?", and James's somewhat consenting answer and commentary on her friend and her nice-smelling coconut shampoo, all of which he had ignored completely so it didn't count), and although overall they seemed to be nice enough, they were adding to his grand annoyance.  Stephanie seemed to have an obsession with James' boxers.  And there was something wrong with that.  Alexandra was encouraging Sirius and being nice to him (not to mention hanging off him), which any person with any common sense should know was just plain stupid.  Considering she was in Ravenclaw, he assumed she must have some amount of intelligence, so why oh why was she with Sirius?  And then there was Jenny, who obviously hated him.  She wasn't subtle in the least about it.  She would chat with Stephanie and Alexandra, and even Sirius, for god's sake, but she had barely said a word to him ALL DAY.  Girls.

            And Lily.  She had the nerve to look as disgruntled and annoyed as him, which was wrong, because no one was as disgruntled and annoyed as him, so, logically, no one should look as disgruntled and annoyed as him.

            And Sirius.  Why that prick.  

            "Eeesh, why's Moony still grumpy?"

            ...but then, he didn't really need to go into that.  That was self-explanatory.

            "Mm, it's probably James and Lily," said whispered Alexandra vaguely.  "He's probably worried that they'll discover the you-know-whats in you-know-who's pocket."

            "Voldemort has Jamesey's you-know-whats in his pocket?" said Sirius loudly.

            "Honestly, Alex," said Steph.  "I don't know how you put up with him."

            "Voldemort has my whats in his pocket?" asked James quizzically.

            "Er, your marbles," said Sirius.  "You lost them awhile ago, if I recall, Jamesey."

            Alexandra was the only one laughing.  And even her laugh was a little forced.

            "Honestly, Sirius," said James, rolling his eyes and looking bored, "you stopped being funny in about first year."

            "IwillnothitSirius," said Remus, mostly to himself. 

            "Hey," said Alex, "it accomplished the important thing, didn't it?"

            "You mean that accomplished something?" said Steph, looking incredulous.

            "Yes, it did," said Alex.  "James is no longer wondering what you-know-who has in his pockets."

            "Yes, but would we need to 'accomplish' that if Sirius wasn't an idiot?"

            "Don't you think that's a little harsh, Steph?" said Alex.

            "Actually, considering the circumstances, I think it was very diplomatic of me," said Stephanie.

            Alex rolled her eyes and whispered something to Sirius, who grinned.  Steph rolled her eyes and looked around for someone else to talk to.

            Ah.

            "So, James," said Stephanie, falling into step beside him, "did you and Evans get anything while you were gone?"

            "Yeah," said James brightly, holding up the soap dispenser, "we got some apple shampoo from the prefects bathroom!"

            "Oh," said Steph.  "That stuff.  You know, I'm not too fond of it.  Alex loves it, but I prefer the – "

            "Coconut shampoo," said James.  "Yeah, I know.  So do I."

            "Excuse me?" said Lily.

            "Now, Lililkins," said James putting an arm around her, which she let remain there, "let's not be too fussy.  There's enough me to go around."

            Except there wasn't, as far as Stephanie was concerned.

            "Don't flatter yourself," said Lily.  "What's next on the list?"

            "Underwear," said James loudly.  "Eeesh.  How un-creative can you get?  Everyone has underwear.  We can just go to my room and get some of mine!"

            "Uhhhh, Steph?" said Jenny from ahead.  "I sorta kinda need to talk to you."

            Oh, great.  She really didn't want to hear this.

            "What about?"

            "About James's lost marbles," said Jenny after a moment of thought.

            Oh, great.

            "You can't have them," said Stephanie loudly.

            "I don't want them.  I just want to talk to you."

            "Fine," said Steph, marching forward to where Jenny was standing, "what about his lost marbles?"

            "We took the last marbles from his marble drawer," said Jenny.

            "You didn't!"

            "Do you ever get the feeling that everyone around you has gone completely and totally insane?" asked James.

            "Only when I'm with you," said Lily.

            "I resent that," said James.  "But, seriously.  I mean, look at this.  Sirius is wrapped up in his girlfriend – "

            "That's not unusual," said Lily.

            " – she's wrapped up in him – "

            "Okay, well that is," said Lily, grinning.

            " – Remus is going on about death and destruction, which is not normal Moony behavior, and Stephanie and Jenny are talking about my marbles.  Which, although I apparently lost them about awhile ago, were apparently taken from my marble drawer.  And Lily, I don't have a marble drawer."

            "I figured you didn't," said Lily.  "You know, maybe rejoining your friends wasn't such a brilliant idea."

            "Yeah.  Maybe we should leave them again," said James.

            "Don't you dare," said Steph and Jenny as one, rushing over and grabbing James and Lily.

            "Uh, guys?" said Sirius.  "I thought we wanted them to go away."

            "Excuse me?" said James.

            "Ignore him, he's insane," said Stephanie.

            "Look, I can tell when I'm not wanted," said James.  "C'mon, Lily, we'll finish this without them."

            "Oh no you won't," said Jenny and Stephanie.

            "Um, guys?" said Alex.  "Are you okay?"

            "No.  Our lives will fall apart if James and Lily leave us," improvised Jenny.

            Everyone looked at her.

            "Ohhkay," said Remus, "you two can go with James and Lily.  We'll stay in our own group."

            "You can't split Steph and I up!" said Alexandra indignantly.

            "You can come, but you can't bring Sirius," said James and Stephanie at the same time.

            Lily glared at Stephanie.

            "Fine.  I still don't see why you need them all of a sudden," Alexandra said, rolling her eyes.

            "I think we could go much, y'know, faster," said Jenny, "if we split into two groups.  You guys can find the underpants while we find, err, something else."

            "We were going to find the underpants," said James, "not them.  Sirius'll screw it up."

            "Underpants?" said Alex.  "I thought it wasn't on that ist-lay!"

            "Ist WHAT?" said James.

            "It's a muggle language," said Lily.  "And as a matter of fact, Alexandra, it was on our 'ist-lay'."

            Alex blinked.

            "What is so shocking about underpants?" asked James.

            "Well, there's nothing shocking about just plain underpants, but I would've thought – "

            "You would've thought we'd have reacted more strongly than you to underpants because we're Gryffindors?  I'm so bloody confused," said James.

            "OH," said Alex suddenly.  "So it wasn't – he didn't – they changed it?"

            "Yeah," said Steph.

            "So why do they need supervision?" asked Alex.

            "Because Jenny and Remus took our friend James's last marbles," said Steph.

            "SEE?  See what I mean about insanity??" said James.

            "I think I do," said Alex.  "I don't think she'll let you go without her.  D'you mind terribly if she and I come along with you and Lily?  We won't be a bother.  Jenny, you can stay with Sirius and Remus and keep them from killing each other."

            "Oh, lovely.  Do I have to stay with Sirius?"

            "JENNY!"

            "Fine."

&&

            "I'm not insane," said Stephanie as they trudged behind James and Lily.

            "I know you aren't," said Alex, rolling her eyes.  "I just had to think of something!"

            "Hmph," said Steph.  "Thanks for ruining my chances with James.  He now thinks I'm an insane stalker."

            "And he didn't think that before?" asked Alex.

            "Of course not!"

            "Right."