Chapter Thirteen—
Detention
Friday came very quickly for Meril, which was odd seeing how the days leading up to it seemed interminable. She was spending more time with Alicia, Angelina, and Oliver, and less with the twins and Lee because, even though she knew she'd learn what it was they were looking at eventually, it still gave her a pang to see them with that Jennifer girl. They had stopped questioning her, though, because all they'd get was an irritable snap of "I have other friends, you know!" or something of the sort.
But she wasn't mad at them. She really wasn't. She just needed to cool off. Again.
And it was only when that bloody Hufflepuff Jennifer was around that she blasted off the handle. Whenever it was just the three--or usually four--of them, she was in a perfectly good temper. But if the parchment or Jennifer were around, or even talked about, Meril's good temper deflated leaving her quite sourly.
Sighing, Meril pushed her scrambled eggs around on her plate, suddenly not feeling hungry anymore.
"What's up with you?" Alicia asked, catching sight of her sad expression.
"What? Oh, nothing..." Meril replied glumly. She dropped her fork and merely stared at her plate. The food looked appetizing, but she just wasn't hungry.
"Good morning Meril!" a familiar voice greeted, breaking her from her trance. She gave a start and looked around to find herself staring up at Oliver Wood. She smiled half-heartedly at him and then looked back at her plate. There her eggs were, untouched but for the swooshing around, just as she had left them. And there was the buttered toast with the crust already cut off but barely a bite taken out of it.
"Err...are you alright?" he asked, slipping into the empty seat beside her.
"Oh I'm fine! Wonderful really!" Meril said unconvincingly, flashing Oliver the most charming smile she could muster.
Oliver stared her down, frowning.
"Oh, fine! You win!. I'm feeling a bit...glum."
"Why?"
"Oh, things just havent been going as I'd hoped they would, that all. For starters, Heather and I are having a bit of a rift, as I'm sure you've noticed, and..." Meril trailed off.
"And?" Oliver pushed; Meril glanced over his face. He was actually concerned. Meril was touched. She genuinely smiled at him and shook her head.
"Nothing. Just silly stuff. Now I got the impression you wanted something from me when you came over. What is it?"
"Oh! I was just wondering if you'd be coming to the Quidditch practice tonight?"
"Sorry, Ollie. I can't," Meril replied, her frown deepening. "Fred, George, and I got detention last week, but it got cancelled because Madam Pince was feeling a bit...under the weather. So now we have to go down to learn from her how to fix up the books, and I have no idea how long that will take. Plus I need to get to bed early because the actual detention is tomorrow and it's going to be early in the morning; I just feel it."
Oliver frowned. "It won't be the same without you there," he commented.
"You survived two years; I think you'll survive one more day. I've gone every other time."
Oliver smiled. "True. But did you say Fred and George?"
"Yup. Unless it doesn't take too long, you are going to be short two beaters tonight."
Oliver cursed under his breath. "I'll talk to Madam Pince. Maybe I could get her to let them off and then you could just...?"
"If you actually succeed, sure I will. But Madam Pince..." Meril laughed bitterly. "I don't think she cares about Quidditch. In fact, I bet the only time she watches it is if it's in the pages of a book."
Oliver scowled. "Probably. But it's worth a shot..." He glanced down at his wristwatch after managing to get out of his seat. "I should get going. I need to get my stuff. I'll see you around."
He swooped down then and gave Meril a quick kiss on the cheek, leaving both of them stunned.
"Um, right. I'll just...go now!"
And then Wood rushed off, leaving Meril alone with her stomach squirming as she stared at her plate.
"What was that?" Angelina asked suspiciously, smirking at the red-faced Meril.
"Are you two going out?" Alicia eagerly whispered, leaning forward.
"Don't be ridiculous! Of course not!" Meril scoffed, forcing some eggs into her mouth.
"Then he likes you?" Angelina asked, becoming just as eager as Alicia despite herself.
"No! That was just...an accident. He didn't know what he was doing. Now if you'll excuse me," Meril said as she swung her legs over the side of the bench and stood, smoothing out her skirt, "I need to go get ready for class."
"Gonna meet up with Wood on the way?" Alicia teased, grinning broadly.
"Going to arrange to meet later?" Angelina added.
Meril rolled her eyes. "Angie--go find Lee, why don't you? Now, ta!"
Meril smiled at her fellow Gryffindors and then hurried out of the Great Hall, where she found a blonde a little taller than her and a tall, dark haired boy standing together, holding hands and talking.
Heather and Cedric.
Meril was suddenly reminded of the things she needed to tell Heather and added what happened with Oliver to her mental list. That made three things on that list. Three very big things she needed to tell her.
"Hi," she weakly greeted, giving a short wave to the two Hufflepuffs.
The bright smile Heather wore while staring up at Cedric faded when she glanced over at Meril.
"Hello."
"Hi Meril," Cedric awkwardly greeted, smiling unsurely at her.
"Good to see you two again. Still together? That's nice. You um...make a nice couple."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Heather asked coolly, stepping away from Cedric's grasp.
"What's what supposed to mean?" Meril inquired in turn, confused and uncomfortable.
"'Still together?' What? Did you think we would have broken up just because the two of us," Heather pointed at Meril and then herself, "aren't speaking at the moment?"
"No! Of course not! I was just--"
"Or perhaps you were insinuating that I can't keep a boyfriend for more than a week?"
"No! I was merely trying to make--"
"Because I most certainly can! I was dating Hector for two months, and I've been dating Cedric since last year!"
"I know Heather!" Meril screamed exasperatedly. "I was merely making small talk. I wasn't insinuating anything!"
"Oh," Heather whispered, her face flushing from embarrassment. "Yes, of course. Well, Cedric and I are still together, yes...Happily so, right?"
"Right," Cedric replied, smiling brightly and wrapping his arm around Heather's waist.
"That's good. I'm happy for you."
"Oh! Th-thank you," Heather stuttered, startled by Meril's kindness.
"You're welcome. Now I should get going. Classes will be starting soon."
"Yes, of course. I'll see you around Meril!"
"Bye Meril!" Cedric said politely.
"Bye Cedric; I'll...talk to you later Heather."
"Yes. Later."
And the three parted ways. Meril trudged up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower by herself, feeling just a little happier. She knew that things weren't quite fixed between her and Heather--even things as trivial as what was going on between them could take time--but she knew that just a little bit of the disaster had been patched up.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
That day in Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid was teaching the Gryffindor and Slytherin fifth years about manticores, creatures with the body of a red lion, the head of a man with three rows of razor sharp teeth, the tail of a scorpion--or a dragon, rarely--and porcupine quills. And of course you couldn't forget the humongous wings they possessed.
Meril stood closest to the paddock while most everyone else stayed as far back as they could. Manticores were, after all, deadly.
"Now, Meril. I don' expect yeh to touch it, but would yeh step forward, please, and look in its eyes?" Hagrid requested.
Meril hesitantly moved towards the paddock, aware of how her body shook when she moved. She wasn't afraid of much, but the manticore....It didn't look very friendly.
Nonetheless, she stared into its blue eyes with her own, trying very hard not to blink.
"Don' be scared, Meril. He's been temporarily stupefied for the purposes of the lesson."
No wonder the thing wasn't moving at all.
"Now wha' can yeh tell me about 'him?" Hagrid asked, staring expectantly at Meril.
"It's big," Meril said bluntly, causing her classmates to chuckle nervously.
"Besides tha', Meril!" Hagrid chuckled. He ushered her closer.
Meril stepped forward with growing unease. How long would that...thing stay frozen? She didn't know of anything that could break through stupefaction, but manticores were strong...maybe they could?"
"Well. It's got the body of a lion, but we all already know that. Its eyes are blue. Are they all like that?"
Hagrid nodded.
"The tail, which is spiked and poisonous, is that of a dragon, which means you got one of the rarer ones. Its wings are....big...and um....its teeth. There are more than there are in a human mouth.
"Um....it has the head of a man, which makes me think...are manticores related to sphinxes?"
"Very good Meril!" Hagrid boomed, smiling proudly. "Yes, manticores are closely related to Sphinxes! Now can anyone else tell me anything about the manticore?"
"It has porcupine spikes!" Hayley Dobson called out.
"Righ'! Anything else?"
No one else seemed to know anything about manticores because the class remained silent.
Hagrid heaved a sigh. "Didn' any of yeh notice that it doesn' 'ave a horn?"
"Oh yes, because it just needs one more thing, doesn't it?" a Slytherin boy somewhere in the back called out.
Hagrid ignored the boy and continued, "Some manticores have horns, though most don't. Yeh'll find that the ones with the horns are more dangerous, though they all are. Also, the wings tend to keep 'em back--slow 'em down yeh see--so they tend to use their tails--which are spiked and poisonous--a lot; they're also their most...er...dangerous weapon."
The bell rang loudly back at the castle. As the Care of Magical Creatures class hurried back towards the castle, Hagrid shouted, "We'll pick up here next lesson!"
Meril sighed. "So rude, aren't they?" she asked the giant of a man as the two walked back towards his cabin.
Hagrid said nothing in reply.
"Well, I best be going...."
"Wha'? Oh! Yes, of course!"
Meril was about to walk off, but Hagrid held her back with his words. "Would yeh like ter come down fer some tea later? You could meet Harry, Ron, and 'Ermione."
Meril's insides boiled and the happiness she had felt earlier when she had succeeded in talking to Heather dissipated. Harry? Harry Potter?
"Sorry, I can't," Meril truthfully replied, and then proceeded to explain about her plans for that night with Madam Pince and how she and the twins had landed detentions so early on.
"Yeh shoulda known better, Meril! Isn' that what yeh went to Boot Camp for?"
"Yeah. And I've mainly got a handle on it, but, sometimes, you know...And by the way; by Harry, Ron, and Hermione, you don't mean new pets, do you?" Meril asked, hopeful.
Hagrid laughed his big, booming laugh. "Pets? O' course not! No, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley. Yeh know Ron, o'course?"
"Yes, yes I do. Well, sorry. Some other time then...."
"Yes, o' course. Some other time," Hagrid said gruffly, waving Meril off. "Yeh best be going. You got ter get ter class!"
"Right! Bye Hagrid!"
Meril gave the huge man a quick, one-armed hug before jogging back towards the castle, readjusting her bag as she went.
"And don' ferget; next time we have tea yeh have ter tell me about Boot Camp!"
"Will do, Hagrid!" Meril called back, and then she was gone.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"So! Who else is surprised Hagrid would bring a manticore?" Meril asked at lunch, settling down between the twins. The two Weasleys and Lee looked at her, shocked.
"We thought you knew Hagrid!" Lee exclaimed.
Meril sighed. "Oh I wouldn't have normally been surprised, but...you know about the whole Hippogriff thing, right?"
"Malfoy's a git," Fred and George simultaneously declared, dark looks possessing their normally light features.
"Yes, he is, but that isn't the point," Meril impatiently continued. "The point is that manticores are dangerous. After the trouble he's in about the Hippogriff, you'd think he wouldn't bring sometimes like that in..."
"Well, that must be why he bothered to stupefy it," George said calmly, shoveling some potato salad into his mouth.
Meril smiled and giggled slightly at this, piling large amount of food onto her plate, suddenly hungry again.
"You three looking forward to the library tonight?" Lee asked through a mouthful of chicken.
"We're only learning how to care for the books; how long could that take?" Meril asked, earning a snort from each of the three boys.
"I can't believe you've never had to do anything with Madam Pince for detention," Fred said, shaking his head.
"Lucky," George muttered.
"She is the worst," Fred continued, staring Meril in the eye. "She watches you like this--allow me to demonstrate." At this Fred swooped in on Meril, his nose touching hers, his forehead leaning against hers. His hazel eyes were wide as he stared into Meril's blue ones.
Laughing, Meril moved her head, and Fred's swerved with it, his eyes unblinking. It was only when Meril leaned back, pulling her head away, that she noticed Fred's lips were pursed, and he looked quite like the sharp-faced librarian.
"You have obviously had too many detentions with her," she laughed, wiping hair from her eyes. "Unless," she gasped, "you've actually been in there to...to...read? Or worse--study!!!"
Fred laughed. "I admit it! I admit it! I have been in there even when I was not in detention."
"And you two?" Meril stared at Lee and George, who both put their hands up in surrender.
"I'm shocked!" Meril exclaimed, dropping her fork. "Terribly shocked...I mean, of course I'd go in there. I don't mind reading, and even I feel the need to get homework done, but you three..." Meril shook her head again before resuming eating.
"I feel like I don't know you guys anymore!" Meril exclaimed after a few minutes, accidentally hurdling her fork across the room, where it hit Draco Malfoy point blank in the forehead.
The twins, Lee, and Harry, Ron, and who Meril would only asssume was Hermione--who all sat nearby and saw--burst out laughing. Meril grinned sheepishly and gave a furious Malfoy a dainty little wave.
"Meril," George croaked, "you are great. That was," he stifled a laugh, "priceless." Still laughing, he slapped a hand on Meril shoulder and laid his head there as well, his tears of laughter wetting her robes.
"Yeah, that's enough now, Georgie," Meril said, pushing the red-head off of her shoulder.
"Right," said George, regaining his composure. He straightened up and began eating again, silent.
Meril didn't notice the red in his cheeks; she was too preoccupied with covering up the light pink tinge of her own caused by her imagination running away from her as it often did when such things occurred.
"Thanks," she finally muttered, quickly glancing in George's direction.
He glanced just as quickly back at her. "What for?" he asked, looking confused.
Meril's lips twitched. "For calling me great."
George's face turned bright read; it became clear to Meril that he had not realized he had let that slip out of his mouth and he was embarrassed that it had. Meril didn't understand what was so wrong with him saying that, though. He was just complimenting her abilities to make him laugh--even by accident--right?
"You're welcome," he grumbled, stuffing some food into his mouth. Meril watched him for a moment before turning back to her own plate, oblivious to the stares Lee was shooting at her.
"Hey...Mer..." one of the twins hissed, poking her arm. Meril turned to find Fred leaning close to her, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Could you..." he jerked his head towards the Slytherin table. "Maybe...'accidentally'...chuck your fork or spoon at Montague?"
Meril glanced over her shoulder and stared at the thick-necked Slytherin eating away at his table, laughing along with his friends, no doubt at some joke pertaining to the Gryffindors--that was the only kind they ever made.
"I think I could arrange it..." the brunette slowly replied. "Just for you." A broad grin spread across her face; Fred grinned in return before turning back to his food.
"I need one of you three to make my arms flail or something. It would look less conspicuous that way..."
"Because it won't be at all obvious it's being done on purpose, considering it's the second time in one lunch period," a new voice said. Meril jumped and spun quickly around.
As if it was planned, her spoon, filled with the pudding she had been eating, flew across the room a great distance before hitting Draco Malfoy once again. The pudding splattered in his slicked back, platinum blonde hair.
The entire Great Hall erupted with laughter as Malfoy shot up, glaring around the room. He opened his mouth to speak, but before Meril could hear what he had to say, a cold, drawling voice closer to her said, "Who threw that spoon?"
Meril, Lee, and the twins all exchanged looks before Meril raised her hand. "Guilty as charged. I was holding it when someone startled me; it flew across the room."
"Really?" Snape disbelievingly said. "And it just happened to hit Mr. Malfoy for a second time this lunch period?"
Meril nodded vigorously. "Honestly. I didn't mean to hit him either time. If I was going to aim at a Slytherin, I would have aimed for Montague." As she spoke, she saw her three companions stifling their laughter by eating everything in sight with strong determination.
Snape raised a dark brow, his face otherwise as blank as ever. "And who startled you, exactly? Certainly not one of these--" he looked at Fred, George, and Lee in turn--"buffoons you are seated with?"
"No...no...it was..." the Lizlow twisted in her seat, looking for the source of that voice, but whoever it had been was gone. She frowned. "Hm. I have no idea." She shrugged.
"Five points from Gryffindor."
Meril's mouth dropped in shock. "F-five points?! That's absolutely ridiculous! It was a complete accident! I don't even know this bloody Malfoy kid--why would I want to hit him with my silverware?!"
"Make that ten," Snape drawled, thoroughly enjoying this, "for your cheek."
And with that, he swept away, his long black cloak billowing at his ankles. Meril stole a furious glance at the Slytherin table and grew even angrier when she saw the pale-skinned Malfoy, the pudding glob still on his head, smirking wickedly in her direction. She scowled at him before swirling back around to finish her lunch.
"I have no silverware," she said blankly.
The twins and Lee snorted before roaring with laughter, finally letting all that they had been holding in out. Meril cocked an eyebrow and, with a shrug, stole George's utensils and finished her meal.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
As Meril slowly exited her last class of the day, a balloon of dread swelling inside of her, Wood came storming up to her, looking absolutely furious.
"I can't believe it!" he screamed, throwing his arms in the air.
Meril's eyes widened. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose any house points for us! It was a total accident! There's no need to get so--"
"What are you talking about?" Oliver interrupted, his eyebrows tightly knit together as he stared at her, head cocked to the side.
"Isn't that what you're raving about?"
Slowly, the seventh year shook his head. "Why would I be so mad just because of that?"
Meril shrugged uncomfortably. "I...I dunno. I just couldn't think of anything else you'd be...mad at me about."
It didn't seem possible, but his eyebrows drew even closer together. "Who-who said I was mad at you?"
"No one! You just came up to me, screaming, so I assumed that--"
Oliver cut her off, "No, I'm mad at Mrs. Pince."
"Oh---oooooh! That makes more sense! I guess you couldn't get Fred and George out of it?"
"No," Oliver said sourly. "She nearly bit my head off for even suggesting it. Swept me right out of the library, lecturing me the entire time."
"Oh, I'm sure that was fun."
"Loads."
"So...what are you going to do about it?"
Oliver shrugged, the sour expression still on his face. "I'm not sure. I can't very well practice while missing my two beaters, but it will be rather difficult to cancel, too. It's so hard to get hold of the pitch..."
Meril thought for a moment before coming up with an idea. "You could just practice with the Chasers and the seeker today, get that down while...I dunno, pretendingto have bludgers flying about, and then tomorrow in the morning I could go out and practice with Fred and George. I could be the chaser."
Oliver considered this for a moment before nodding. "Alright. Though maybe you could get someone else to be a Chaser with you...?"
Meril nodded. "I'll try."
"Good! Thanks!"
"Not a problem! I'm always happy to help, especially when it includes getting on the pitch!"
Oliver grinned. "I know how that is!"
"Oh, I know you do!" laughed Meril. "Your whole life is Quidditch."
Oliver shrugged, not denying it. "Shall we go off to dinner then?"
"Yes!" Meril exclaimed, clutching her stomach. "I need to get some more food in my system before I head off to the library." Her stomach growled as if to prove her point; she pressed her hand against it more, hoping to silence it.
"Well, come on then!" Oliver exclaimed, a grin breaking out across his pleasant face. Her stomach gave an unfamiliar lurch having nothing to do with her hunger when he grabbed her arm and started dragging her along after him. She didn't like this feeling, especially when associated with him. Her stomach never felt so unsettled around anyone. Not anymore. That feeling had stopped coming when she was around them. Instead her heart just sped up, almost bursting through her chest when she felt their touch on her skin. But the butterflies, the uncomfortable lurching, had altogether stopped, and she was quite unprepared for their sudden return. Even more so, she was confused by it.
Oliver?
She shook her head slowly. No. It had just been a coincidence that her stomach gave such a terrible lurch when he touched her. She had after all just been thinking of her pre-detention with Madam Pince. She was just....thinking about that.
"You alright?" Oliver asked. He furrowed his eyebrows again, looking back at her. "You look a little pale."
"Yes, I'm fine," Meril weakly replied. Her stomach tightened uncomfortably. Never before had words sounded so beautiful to her ears. She actually found pleasure in listening to Wood speak. He had such a nice, thick accent.... "Just hungry," she quickly added. She pulled her arm from his grip and immediately felt better. Her stomach stopped lurching so uncomfortably and she didn't swoon when he talked. She was relieved. It was just some odd happening. It wasn't any new feelings developing for her friend, but a simple realization that he was an attractive fellow.
She pushed through the tall doors into the Great Hall. Oliver was right at her heels as she swept along the aisle to a bunch of available seats. He sat down right beside her, and neither spoke to the other as they ate their supper. Fred, George, and Lee entered, laughing wildly as they bent over that stupid piece of parchment. Meril eyed it enviously for a moment before returning to her meal.
There's no point in getting jealous or angry, she reminded herself once again. You'll find out soon enough. Besides, you're going to be spending what could be hours with them, and you want that to be as pleasant as possible. She took a deep, calming breath, and turned to the three, smiling.
"Are you two looking forward to our evening with Madam Pince?" she asked, eyebrows jiggling. "It should be a real blast, huh? There should be drinking and dancing...hm, I wonder if she'll let us dance around on the tables?" Her eyes lit up. "Maybe even on the bookshelves! How fun would that be, huh?"
Lee laughed appreciatively as he dished some food onto his plate. The twins grinned as well, jiggling their eyebrows at their friend in return.
"Save me the first dance?" George laughed.
"Sure!" Meril agreed. "You'll have to get a few fire whiskeys into me first!"
"We haven't been able to get a hold on any yet; how about some butterbeers instead?" Fred inquired.
Meril sighed. "I suppose that will just have to do."
"I hear Madam Rosmerta's Oak-matured meade is also quite good," Wood interjected.
"We'll keep that in mind! Sadly, we don't have any on hand at the moment!" George frowned.
"I could go get some," Lee eagerly offered.
"Some other time, Lee," Meril laughed, stuffing some kidney pie into her mouth. She glanced down at her watch. "Five more minutes to eat. Then we should go."
The three quickly stuffed as much food as they could into their systems before getting up. Meril started to run out of the hall, but both of her arms were grabbed by the twins.
"Trust us," they said simultaneously, "there's no hurry."
"Alright." The brunette turned and waved good-bye to Lee and Oliver.
"Have fun at practice, Ollie!" she exclaimed.
"Will do," he grinned. He turned to the twins and glared before turning back to his plate to finish.
"W-was that a glare?!" George asked, aghast.
"I think it was," Fred agreed, nodding sagely.
"It's not our fault!"
Fred shrugged; Meril giggled.
"You guys know how serious he is about Quidditch."
"But it's still not our fault."
Meril Lizlow shrugged. Then, without another word, she squeezed in between the two, wrapping her arms around their waists.
"That's alright. You guy's will make it up to him."
"M-make it up to him?" they gasped, eyes bulging.
"We didn't do anything!" Fred insisted as George sighed, "How?"
"Tomorrow morning, the three of us are going to go out to the pitch to practice."
"How early?" the two asked suspiciously, eyes narrowed.
"As soon as I get up!"
The twins exchanged looks and groaned.
"Fine. Let us get a decent breakfast first, at least," George groaned, running a hand through his shaggy ginger hair.
Meril stared at him as if he was slow. "Duh!! You really think I would go out without eating something first?"
"No; I just am not sure if you'd let us eat anything."
Meril swatted his arm and was about to make a retort, but at that exact moment, an irritated looking Madam Pince swept them inside the library.
"You're late."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Meril lay awake, staring at the ceiling, for a few moments, thinking over the pervious night's events. Fred and George were right--detention with Madam Pince was horrible. That hadn't even been the actual detention--just a little "warm up session." She grimaced to think what the actual thing would be like.
The brunette groaned and rolled out of bed, her scarlet blankets--her cocoon--acting as padding as she dropped to the hard floor.
"Whawuztha'?" Hayley Dobson slurred, still half-asleep, sitting up. She looked around, her long hair one big knot.
"Just Meril--again," Alicia sighed, having also been woken by the 'thump' of Meril's body slamming against the floor.
"Go back to sleep, Hayley," Angelina ordered.
As usual, Hayley dropped back down and, not a second later, her snores were heard reverberating off the walls, her hair strewn across her face. Meril struggled with herself, attempting to untangle her body from the blankets she had dragged off of the bed with her.
"No, guys--don't worry about me. I'm fine!" she grumbled, finally managing to extract her entire self from her cocoon. "No need to help me."
"The way I see it," Alicia said slowly, "you woke us up--we at least have the right to watch you struggle, if not the right to make things harder for you. Why should we help?"
"Because you're my friends and you love me?" Meril said hopefully. She stared down at her two friends who both still lay in their beds, their own blankets perfectly in place around them while Meril's lay in a giant heap on the floor. They both looked worn out, tired. Meril cocked a brow.
"What's up with you two?"
"Oliver is relentless," Angelina groaned. "He kept us out so late last night."
"Really? Fred and George said you guys weren't there anymore when we got out of the library..." Meril said thoughtfully.
The two Chasers exchanged funny looks. "They never even came to check!"
"Are you sure...? They told me to go meet up with Lee and they'd catch me after practice. But a few minutes later, they came back saying that you hadn't been there anymore."
"Those dirty little---" Angelina growled; Meril cut her off, blocking out what exactly the twins were.
"Don't worry, I'll work them extra hard for you two!"
"....How?" the two asked simultaneously.
"I offered to go out and practice with them, since they had to miss. Gives me a chance out on the pitch, but also keeps them up to scratch."
"With only three of you? Doesn't give you much--"
"I'll try to round someone else up really quick to help."
"Well, good luck with that. I don't know who else will be up at this ungodly hour," Alicia said, rubbing her eyes.
"I'll manage to find someone," the Lizlow said optimistically. With that, she left her two friends be and proceeded to get dressed. To please the twins, she made sure to pull out a famous T-shirt. This one was a frosty blue tie-dye and said "Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy" in an icy white color. She quickly changed into it and a pair of denim shorts, seeing as it was still fairly hot outside, and pulled her thick hair into a messy ponytail. She searched through her belongings for a moment, found her makeup, and quickly applied it before running out of the dorm, a thin, white, zip-up hoodie draped over her shoulder and sneakers half-on her otherwise bare feet.
The Common Room was completely barren, as she had expected. Without even hesitating, she sprinted up the spiral staircase into the fifth-year-boys' circular dormitory. Two red heads immediately caught her eye, lying sprawled out, completely asleep, in their two beds. Besides one was the black head of Lee, his dreadlocks spilling over his peaceful face.
"Wake up!" Meril ordered, not even bothering to keep her voice down for the sake of the others in the dormitory. Not that it mattered; absolutely no one stirred. Sighing obnoxiously, the stick-thin girl leapt onto the nearest Weasley's bed, hoping that she could make whichever twin it was simply by the sheer force she put into the jump. Much to her pleasure, her wish was granted. The twin gave a startled jerk, nearly sending Meril flying to the floor for the second time that morning. However, the blue-eyed girl managed to hold onto the bed as Fred sat up, blinking.
"M-Meril? What are you doing here?"
Meril repositioned herself so that she sat on the edge of the bed, instead of on top of him. "I told you that I would be coming to get you up."
Fred contorted his face in thought. "Did you really?" he disbelievingly inquired; Meril nodded.
"Oh. What for?"
"You know perfectly well what for," she said briskly, brushing her wavy side-bangs out of her eyes impatiently. Fred stared at her for a moment, thoughtful, before a look of realization dawned on his freckled face.
"Quidditch?"
"Righto!" Meril exclaimed. She carefully pulled her legs onto the bed, balanced on the balls of her feet, and then leapt across the gap between beds onto George's sleeping figure. The second Weasley did nothing more than twitch in his sleep, quite unlike his brother's reaction. Meril frowned thoughtfully, her eyebrows coming together as well. She remained sprawled out on top of the sleeping Weasley, thinking, for a few moments before deciding on what to do.
Without any care as to whether she disturbed him or kicked anything off of his bedside table or chest, Meril moved around until she was in the right position. Then she crawled up close to the red head's exposed ear and whispered in an anxious sort of way, "I'm sorry George, I'm just not inter--"
It was a good thing that George jumped awake at the sound of these words, because Meril didn't know what the rest of them were. That was all the boggart-Meril had had time to say before George had screamed 'Riddikulous' at it.
Meril smiled brightly at George, who saw her and immediately let out a shocked sort of scream. "Y-you!" he stuttered, trying to catch his breathe. "W-what are you doing in here?! And why, for Merlin's sake, are you on top of me?!"
The last sentence seemed to embarrass him a bit for his voice dropped down to a low hiss, rather than the booming voice he had been using before. Meril simply smiled sweetly at him with a glint in her eyes.
After a few more minutes, Meril realized that she was still lying on top of her friend and quickly jumped off. "We're going to Quidditch practice," she informed him, averting her eyes. "Fred over here"--she jerked her thumb in his direction--"decided that he forgot so, just to make sure you didn't, I thought I'd tell you."
"Alright," George replied slowly. "I remembered though."
"Yeah, George wouldn't forget something like having Quidditch with Meril, now would he?" Lee yawned, adding his voice to the conversation. George blushed scarlet, but Meril didn't notice because she was looking over at Lee. He had woken up some time during the fifteen minutes Meril had been up there and remained quite silent, watching them through his groggy brown eyes. His dreadlocks fell across his sleepy face and he didn't bother to push them aside as he watched the scene, a smirk playing on his thick lips. Meril cocked her eyebrow curiously at him, but he either didn't see her or he was ignoring it.
Then, without warning, he spoke again. His gaze had moved towards Fred, so Meril's did as well. "And Fred was probably only pretending to forget. Didn't want to seem too...eager for it."
Before she could see the second twin's reaction, Meril looked back at Lee, now truly baffled. "What on earth are you talking about, Dreadlocks?"
Lee shook his head. "Nothing; they know and that's all that matters."
But when Meril looked over at the twins, they appeared not to have any more of an idea than Meril did. Each bore puzzled looks as they stared at Lee Jordan; Meril joined them.
Lee exhaled heavily before shaking his head again. "Never mind; I'm just teasing them." His face broke out into the wide grin Meril knew so well; she smiled in return.
"Do you want to join us?" she offered.
"I might come by and watch..." he hesitated before adding, "Unless Angelina will be there?" He looked hopeful, his eyebrows raised into his hair.
Meril shook her head. "I didn't ask," she said apologetically. "She just seemed so wiped out from yesterday. Sorry."
"No problem," Dreadlocks said, waving his hand dismissively. "I'll probably catch up with you guys while you're out there."
"Okay, cool!" Meril beamed. "I'm going to go see if anyone wants to join me as a Chaser; you two,"--she stared and pointed at the twins--"get changed. I'll meet you in the Great Hall for a quick breakfast, alright? Good."
Without waiting for a response, she hurried down the spiral staircase, ignoring her friends' other roommates, one of whom had woken and had whistled appreciatively as Meril had passed by his bed.
Down in the Common Room, there was a fire going but no one there to really enjoy it. Meril moved towards the couch to lay down for a moment but discovered someone was already there; Katie Bell, slouched down so far that her head didn't go over the top of the couch. She was poring over a book and sucking on the tip of a quill, parchment at her side.
"Hello!" Meril said cheerily after staring for a moment at the fourth year, who, it seemed, had not noticed her presence. Katie looked up, stared at Meril through glazed eyes, and then blinked rapidly.
"Oh! Hello Meril! Sorry!" she said quickly, blushing. "I didn't notice you there!"
"That's okay. So...what are you doing?"
Katie glanced down at her book and shrugged. "Just some reading for History of Magic. I have an essay due I've been putting off...It's just so hard to concentrate in that class!"
"I know what you mean," Meril said, suppressing a yawn. She got bored simply thinking about Professor Binn's and his droning voice.
"You know what I think..." she began after a moment of silence. Katie, who had just been looking down at her book most reluctantly, stared back at Meril, hope of been saved on her face. "I think you would concentrate better after being outside for a bit."
Katie nodded. "I suppose that make sense." She glanced out the window, biting her lip. "And it looks so nice out!"
"Then come on!" Meril exclaimed. "Fred, George, and I were going to go down to the pitch to practice some Quidditch. Would you like to join us?"
The fourteen-year-old girl didn't even hesitate. "I'd love to!" she exclaimed; Meril was a little surprised by her eagerness. The other two Gryffindor Chasers, Angelina and Alicia, had seemed very annoyed at the thoughts of Quidditch after having endured a brutal practice the night before. Katie, on the other hand, looked eager to play some more.
"G-great!" Meril stuttered after a moment, still a bit shocked. "Well, how about you come down to have some breakfast with me? Fred and George are just changing--I wonder what's taking them so long--and then we're going..."
"Alright!"
Katie Bell abandoned her books, quill, and parchment and followed Meril out through the portrait hole and all the way down to the Great Hall for an early breakfast. Neither spoke to the other until they had reached the long Gryffindor house table. There were people seated sparsely among the many long benches; all of them looked tired; most of them were younger than Meril and Katie, not having learned to sleep in yet.
"So why are you up so early today?" Katie asked conversationally, helping herself to a bit of toast.
"I'm often up early," Meril replied vaguely as she piled sausage and eggs onto her plate. "I guess I'm like the little first years...just haven't learned what it means to 'sleep in' yet," she added with a smile; Katie chuckled. "What about you?"
Katie shrugged. "Every now and then I wake up early. Usually I'll just stay in my dorm and read, but today..." She shrugged again and did not finish her sentence, merely continued to eat.
Fred and George soon joined the two, choosing to sit across from them rather than beside them. Lee joined them just as the four were finishing up. "I guess I'll see you later then!" he said as the other four got to their feet.
"I suppose you will," Meril replied, grinning at him. "That is to say if you don't get caught up in chasing Angelina around...again."
Lee blushed crimson at this and Katie Bell giggled. He had made comments at Quidditch matches before about how attractive he found her and how she wouldn't go out with him, but not many knew how he actually would follow her around when he got the chance. Meril wasn't even sure why he did it anymore. It was hard to tell if he really liked Angelina or if he just did it for the "thrill of the chase."
"Right well....see you!" Meril exclaimed. She waved good-bye to Dreadlocks and headed off with the other three to the Quidditch pitch.
"Right...bye!" Lee called after her. He added under his breath, "Now to go find Jennifer and Heather...."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
There was nothing quite like flying that made Meril feel so at ease. The wind run through her messy brown hair and her loose t-shirt billowed about her. She felt absolutely free.
"Oi! Lizlow! Heads up!"
Meril's head whipped to the side and she saw a bludger zooming towards her.
"Thanks Weasley!" Meril shouted back after easily dodging the Bludger sent by George. She grinned at Fred, who was on her team in the two-on-two match. He winked in return then zoomed off. Meril smiled after him before shaking her head.
"Get your head in the game, Lizlow," she muttered to herself, flicking her side-bangs out of her face. She leaned forward so that she was almost laying across the broom and sped forward toward an unsuspecting Katie Bell, who was heading towards the goal posts with the red quaffle.
The Lizlow girl dove down underneath her opponent and then came straight up before her, catching the quaffle before it could get through the goal post. Meril grinned cheekily at the fourth-year before zooming off in the opposite direction.
She was actually quite surprised that she had pulled that off. Chaser had never been her strong suit, which was why she was rather pleased with herself for having pulled that little trick of hers off so easily. It was also why she wasn't surprised when Katie Bell came to her side, just before Meril could throw the ball, and knocked it out of her hands. Before the blue-eyed girl could react, Katie dove after and caught the bright red ball.
"Good try, Lizlow!" Fred called to her, slamming a Bludger towards George with his bat. Meril snickered as the heavy ball made its way to George's head. It was as if he had eyes in the back of his head because he whipped it with his bat just centimeter's before it made contact with his skull, not even glancing at it.
Meril was in awe.
"Good one!" she couldn't help calling out. This outburst earned her a reprimanding look from Fred.
"No complimenting the enemy!" he ordered, just barely managing not to smile.
"Yes, sir!" Meril replied, saluting him. She, unlike her teammate, couldn't hold back her grin. He winked at her again and then got back into the game, pelting a bludger at Katie."I'm going to pretend to be Seeker now, alright?" Meril shouted at her companions. They all nodded and waved dismissively. Meril shrugged, not having expected any other response, and flew upward into the sky.
She missed playing Quidditch. It always gave her a joy nothing else could. And being Seeker was...exciting. Despite what she always said, she kind of liked the attention she got from it. It was quite different from the attention she got now. She liked being acknowledged for something real, like talents, not her so-called "good-looks." That would get her nowhere and she hated that people practically worshipped her because of her genes! It was annoying now when people stared at her, but her feelings had been quite different before.
Quidditch and fighting had been what made her known, as well as Dungbombs and her funky t-shirts. People had been awed by her spunk; by her toughness; by her raw talent on the pitch. They had respected her, but now all they didn't respect her--they just thought she was "pretty."
Meril sighed and pulled into a dive, imagining that she saw the golden glint of the passing Snitch. She leaned forward, pushing her broom harder and harder. She stretched out her hand and--
"HOLY MOTHER OF PEARL!!!!" she screamed, pulling back her throbbing hand. A bludger had whizzed past and slammed into her hand, more than likely breaking it. She held it close to her chest, whimpering. Her eyes were stinging with oncoming tears. She groaned, gripping the broom even more tightly with her other hand.
"M-Meril! I am so sorry!" George shouted across the field, his hazel eyes bulging. He looked truly apologetic. Meril winced as she forced a smile and dove to the ground.
As soon as her feet grazed the grass, she hopped off of her broom and headed off the field. Katie, Fred, and George touched off around her, hurrying after her.
"Meril! Meril! Are you okay?!" George asked, running up to her side. Meril ducked her head, refusing to let him or anyone else see the tears threatening to spill out of her dazzling eyes.
"Meril?" he whispered. He touched her face gently with one hand an held her injured arm with the other. "Blimey...I'm sorry, mate. Let me take you to the Hospital Wing."
"No," Meril croaked. She glanced over her shoulder. "Time, Fred?"
He stared at his wrist watch for a moment before replying..."Yikes! It's already twelve o'clock! How long were we playing?"
"Without breaks? Four hours," Meril tonelessly replied. "Come on, I'm starved. Let's go have lunch."
"Not before we get you to the Hospital Wing!" George interjected, but Meril ignored him.
"I hope they have some chicken. I'm craving roasted garlic and herbs chicken..."
"I'm sure they will. We'll bring some up to you in the Hospital Wing," Fred promised, coming up on her other side. Meril jerked away from them and walked alongside Katie.
"I'm fine. I don't need to go to the bloody Hospital Wing!"
"Oh, I do hope it's not bloody..." Fred joked earning glares all around.
"Jeez, tough crowd," he muttered; George cracked a weak smile.
"Are you sure you're okay? That bludger hit you pretty hard," Katie Bell whispered, leaning close to the slightly-older girl. Meril nodded stiffly in reply, still doing all that she could to bite back the tears. In all honesty, her hand was throbbing. She felt as if someone had taken each individual bone in her hand and shattered them, then lit the entire collection on fire. Her skin was burning, her muscles ached, and bending her fingers and her wrist hurt so much that she simply couldn't do it.
She bit down hard on her lower lip until she could taste the blood on her tongue. The pain was nothing compared to her hand, though, and she found it much preferable. She continued to bite down hard on her lip, distracting herself from her hand, until they reached the Great Hall. There she, Fred, and George separated from Katie Bell, who went to find her friend Leanne.
"Detention starts at two o'clock," Meril muttered to the twins. With that, she walked around the table and found herself a seat away from anyone who would care what was wrong. Then, and only then, she let silent tears stream down her face. She blotted at them with a napkin and then wiped off her bloody lips.
Still crying silently at the searing pain in her hand, she forced herself to eat one-handed
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Meril walked into the library to find Fred and George already there talking to Madam Pince.
"--so, you see," George was saying, "she probably won't be able to make it."
Madam Pince's hawk-like face was staring hard at the twins, but as soon as she heard the light footsteps of Meril, her gaze snapped upwards.
"Seems her problem was sorted out already," she said sharply. Fred and George whirled around, looking surprised.
"We thought you went to the Hospital Wing!"
Meril hesitated before responding, "I did! Madam Pomfrey fixed me right up! It wasn't nearly as bad as you guys thought! The bludger barely even grazed me!"
The twins both stared suspiciously at her, but Meril forced her face not to move; not to give away any signs of lying. Satisfied, they nodded.
Madam Pince set them to work at once. She already had big crates of worn boxes set out for them to spruce up. She had each of them remove a stack with care and move to separate stations to work on them. Meril bit her lip as she carried her stack, forced to use her injured hand so as not to raise suspicions from the twins--whom she knew were watching her--but also to keep Madam Pince from screaming her head off at Meril for mistreating the "sacred books."
Accidentally, Meril dropped the books on the table with a 'thunk.' This earned her a sharp, withering glare from the hawk-faced librarian. She smiled sheepishly and set to work.
As she did this, she felt quite like a muggle. Madam Pince said they weren't to use magic. She claimed that taking care of the books the Muggle way would teach them to "respect books more."
Meril snorted, taping the new, fixed cover (they were allowed to use magic ONLY to fix torn covers, but not to fix the binding)with some Spellotape she had been provided with. This didn't teach respect; it only made Meril want to throw the newly fixed books at the librarians head.
The blue-eyed girl glanced over at Fred and George, who seemed befuddled by the process. Clearly, they had been paying as much attention the day before as Meril had been. However, Meril already knew how to do most Muggle ways, what with being forced to live like one over the summer and all. Though she would much rather not how to do it at all.
She finished rebinding her stack and then moved on to scrubbing them. Making sure Madam Pince wasn't watching, she charmed the paper of the books so that they wouldn't tear or get soggy.
"Merlins beard this is annoying!" she heard Fred complaining from behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the red-head was also attempting to clean the edges of a book. Carefully, she crept over to him and whispered, pointing her wand at the book, "Impearmeabliados."
She did the same to the rest of his books and then to George's as well.
"Thanks," the twins muttered. The three exchanged small smiles and then set back to work. Meril's usable hand grew cramped and, without thinking, she switched. Immediately, it began to sear worse than before; her eyes stung and she recoiled.
"OW!" she screeched, jumping back. All eyes were suddenly upon her. Fred's and George's both had knowing looks, but Madam Pince merely looked annoyed.
"No talking; no noises!" she screeched, her beady eyes not leaving Meril's face. The brunette returned the gaze readily, her blue eyes fierce and wet as she glared at the librarian.
"Return to your work," the older woman ordered at last, her voice as pinched as ever. For a minute, Meril was very tempted to point-blank refuse, but then she remembered Boot Camp and what she was trained not to do. It seemed very against her nature, but she swallowed the retorts that were bubbling within her, desperate to escape and make themselves known.
"Of course," she said, her voice strained. Stiffly, she spun on her heels and returned to her station.
Maybe it was because of Meril's obvious unwillingness to do the actual work, or maybe it was because Madam Pince simply didn't like her, but she got on her case about everything, and it took all that Meril had not to make a smart remark back to her. She could see the twins exchanging surprised looks out of the corner of her eye whenever she successfully managed to pull this off. Obviously, they didn't think she had it in her, even after having endured Wizard Boot Camp.
Meril was very proud of herself for doing this, despite the one voice in the back of her head telling her that this wasn't her. The old--the real-- Meril Lizlow would say something. But the present Meril Lizlow was tired of fights and ashamed thinking of how many she had been in, although she had won most of them. She understood that there were some people she would not be able to resist making retorts or taunts to, Amy Smith being one of them, but Madam Pince was just a harmless--albeit cranky--old librarian. She meant no harm...
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO THAT BOOK?!?!"
Meril's head popped up, her eyes wide. On the book she had been repairing were scratches and ink blotches--neither of which had been there before she began the process, and Madam Pince seemed to know that.
"YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE FIXING THE BOOKS, NOT DESTORYING THEM FURTHER, CHILD!" Madam Pince continued to shriek, her beady eyes narrowed as she stared the young teen down. Her thin arms were being flailed about by the crazy witch.
"They aren't destroyed, Madam Pince. See?" Meril lifted her wand and removed the ink and then also the scratches. However, this did not seem to calm the librarian at all.
"You-are-not-supposed-to-use-MAGIC!" she hissed, eyes now bulging.
"Well how else was I supposed to get rid of the scratches?" Meril asked bitterly.
"They shouldn't have been their in the first place!!!!"
"Well, they were. It was an accident; I'm sorry."
"So you admit you did do it!"
"...I never denied it."
Madam Pince's fuse was smaller than Meril could ever have imagined. In fact, it was so incredibly miniscule that you would need a very powerful microscope to find it. The mad--in every sense of the word--witch was positively steaming by this point. "Out!" she ordered.
"But I'm serving my detention..."
"You have done quite enough! Now get out!" Instead of simply chasing Meril out of her domain, Madam Pince actually dragged her out--by her injured left hand. The old woman had a surprisingly bone-crushing grip that caused the young brunette to cry out in pain. She felt as if the bones were shattering all over, now into pieces more miniscule than the librarian's fuse.
Maybe it was the pain that drove Meril to do it, or it could also have been her anger, but she completely lashed out. She tore from the woman's grip and whipped out her wand.
"Don't touch me," she hissed threateningly, her wand pointed at the woman. The tears were there again, and her throat was closing up. Why did it have to hurt so flipping much? She was biting her lip, holding back the tears and whimpers. Her arm was shaking; Madam Pince looked absolutely livid as she stared down at the wand.
"Get out of my library now," she said evenly. "And don't let me ever see you in here again."
"Not a problem," Meril snarled. She pocketed her wand and sprinted out of the library.
a/n okay, so this is where it starts to get MUCH better I think. That is mostly because it is when I started to write again after MONTHS and I was much better. I hope you agree :]