This chapter is shorter than the last 2, because it only covers the end of "When Fate's on Vacation". ENJOY!!!
I went down to dinner after our game of truth or dare to find Al. I grabbed Lils and Hugo on the way, and we went down to the Great Hall together. When we arrived Al was waiting for us, and we all sat down at the Gryffindor table. I was shocked when Al told us what had happened. How had my plan failed? It was full proof! My plans never fail! There were no interruptions, no deviations from the plan, and it had failed! Unbelievable.
"I don't know what to do!" said Lily when Al was done telling his story, "We obviously can't try the fighting thing again." Really Lils? Stating the obvious, much? I wanted to roll my eyes, but resisted.
"Maybe," said Albus tentatively, "maybe it's time to give up. Maybe they'd be better off figuring this out on their own." My jaw dropped. James Sirius Potter does not give up. Ever.
"I see what you mean," said Hugo. Traitor.
"I want to give this another shot." I said, before Lily decided to agree with them.
"James!" said Albus, "We've torn apart their relationship enough as it is." God, he's such a pessimist. It was true, but we could fix it.
"Please," I said, hoping that begging would work. I thought for half a second about how to get them to just tell each other how they felt when it hit me. They didn't need to tell each other! Their memories could! "I have a plan, and I'll need your help."
"Don't you always?" muttered Albus. I resisted the urge to stomp hard on his foot. I needed him to agree to this.
"Please," I said, trying to be serious. "I just wanna give this one more go."
I was satisfied when Al nodded and said, "Fine," as though it pained him. I always win.
Six days later we were sitting at the Gryffindor table eating breakfast again. I'd given Rose and Scorpius some time to cool off, but it hadn't really worked, so we were going to go ahead with the plan anyway.
"Okay," I said, "We're going to need to get into McGonagall's office to get it, that's the really hard part. Then, we need to get into Slughorn's office to get the Veritaserum."
"How are we supposed to get the pensive?" asked Al. Honestly, he doesn't ever use his brain. He just expects us to do all the work.
"Well," said Lily tentatively, "We could just ask to borrow it."
"Are you mental?" asked Hugo, "We can't just ask for it!"
"We can't," I said calmly, but you can," I pointed at Al.
"Why me? Why do I have to ask?" said Albus indignantly. He was always trying to get out of work.
"Because," I sighed, he really was a bit slow, "You're a Ravenclaw", it's not like he acted like one though, "You're going to ask her to borrow it for academic purposes, to relive a lecture or something. She'll think that that's great, because you're showing that you care about your studies. Do you really think she'd believe that if I said it?"
Albus had to concede that I was, as usual, right. "Fine, but that means that it's your job to get the Veritaserum."
"No problem," I said. I'd been planning to anyway. I turned to Lily and said, "And you will give it to Rose and ask her to explain in as many words as possible how she feels about Scorpius. Make sure you're alone when you do it. Slip it into her drink at lunch and then drag her out of the hall. Then you," I looked to Al, "will do the same with Scorpius."
"And what's Hugo going to do?" asked Lils.
"He'll distract Slughorn while I get the Veritaserum," I said. I knew it wasn't a huge job, but Hugo wasn't too useful, to tell you the truth.
"Alright, if we want to finish this by the end of the day we'd better move," said Hugo.
"McGonagall is leaving the hall," I said to Al, "intercept her."
"Professor Slughorn?" Hugo was outside Slughorn's office with Slughorn, who was just leaving. I was hiding under the invisibility cloak as planned. Slughorn left the door slightly ajar, giving me enough room to slip into the office.
"Yes my boy?" Hugo, who was very good at potions, was one of Slughorn's favorites, along with the rest of us Potters and Weasleys because of who our parents were. It normally annoyed me, but today it came in handy.
"I was wondering if you could help me, I have a question about the uses of mandrake leaves in potions. That essay is due next Tuesday and I still don't fully understand it."
Slughorn went into a long explanation, and while he was doing so I slipped into the office. I found his potions case where he kept not only his ingredients, but also his Veritaserum. I'd stolen enough of the stuff to know exactly where it was. I grabbed a few bottles of it, more than necessary I'll admit, but I like to have some handy at all times, and left the office as quick as I could. I tapped Hugo lightly on the shoulder, so that he'd know I was ready.
At Slughorn's next pause Hugo said, "Thanks so much Professor, I'm sure my essay will be brilliant thanks to you."
"Don't mention it my boy, don't mention it" Slughorn replied before he returned into his office. I took off the cloak and held up the tiny bottle.
"You got it?" he asked. I tried not to roll my eyes. What did he think I was holding up?
"Yep," I said, "Let's go!"
That night Al set everything up. Lils, Hugo, and I all waited outside of the Ravenclaw Common Room. Al said he'd let us in when it worked, but we didn't know how long it'd take, and we were getting impatient. In case you hadn't noticed, patience is a virtue that Potters and Weasleys don't tend to possess in abundance. Finally, after what seemed like ages Al opened the door, and we went in to see most of Ravenclaw surrounding Rose and Scorpius, who were quite oblivious to the audience, and were kissing fiercely. I felt a deep sense of smug satisfaction. It had all been my idea after all.
After about 20 seconds Professor McGonogall came in. Luckily Al, Lils, Hugo, and I were right by the door, and since she needed Al she didn't see Rose and Scorpius right away.
"Potter, I was wondering if you'd finished with my pensive I—" she stopped in her tracks upon seeing Scorpius and Rose, snogging in plain view of the entire room.
"Yes Professor, I am finished with it," said Albus hurriedly, he grabbed a vial and took the memories out saying, "let me just get my memories out, here you go." He shoved the pensive into her hands. I tried not to snigger at the look on McGonogall's face.
"Sort of personal," she muttered, before addressing Albus, "Thank you. I see you were successful in patching things up between Miss Weasley and Mr. Malfoy." Wait--did Al tell her? That idiot! He really couldn't be trusted with anything!
"Yes, Professor I was," Al said, beaming like an idiot.
"Well, I had hoped that you hadn't been interfering, but," she looked over at me in a rather accusatory fashion. I met her gaze head on. This was my work and I was damn proud of it. "I forgot who I was talking to," she sighed, and I could tell she was trying to hide a smirk. I was glad she wasn't fooled into thinking Al did all this.
She closed the door a little too hard and it seemed to turn the sound on for Rose and Scorpius who broke apart. The room was still full of cheers and wolf-whistles, one of which was from Hugo, and from me--I tried not to, honestly, but I couldn't resist. They separated from each other.
"Rose Weasley," said Scorpius, "would you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?" he exaggerated a bit and I thought it was rather cheesy, but Rose seemed to fall for it.
Rose continued the cheesiness and said, "It would be my pleasure." They leaned in for a chaste kiss before separating, though still holding hands. Suddenly Rose turned to Al with an accusatory look.
"Albus Severus Potter," she said, "you did this, didn't you?" She was trying to sound strict and angry, but it wasn't really working. She'd definitely had better 'I'm angry' days.
"I did, but I didn't do it alone, I had a bit of help, you see, from—" I had to cut off Al at this point because he was trying to make it seem like he orchestrated the whole thing! Al? As if.
"'A bit of help?' I bloody well planned the whole thing, don't you go and take the credit!" I turned back to Rose and Scorpius, "You see my dear cousin, you and young Scorpius here were beating around the bush and we were sick of it, so we decided to lend a hand, or five." I couldn't help being a little superior, because I did have the right to be after all I'd done.
"How many people were in on this?" asked Scorpius incredulously.
"Well," said Lily, "James set the whole thing up," see, she's got her head screwed on, "and was aided by me, Al, Hugo, and Clarice."
"Clarice? You knew about this? I poured my entire heart out to you!" said Rose indignantly. For the brightest girl in the year Rose was acting pretty dim. Maybe dating Scorpius was bad for her IQ...
"That was the point. They knew that you'd tell me anything, and they needed to know what you were thinking," said Clarice.
"Wait a minute!" said Scorpius, "It was you guys the whole time. The patch on Rose's broom, the hippogriff, the—"
"Yes, yes," I said rather impatiently, because they were being rather slow, and I wanted them to appreciate the brilliance of it all. "The raincloud, the broom cupboard, Robert Finnegan, it was all us. To be honest, we started thinking that nothing would work! This was our last hope, and then we were going to give up and wait for you to get yourselves together." I almost shuddered at the thought.
"But," said Hugo, as we all made to leave, the rest of Ravenclaw having trickled away ages ago out of boredom, "because we were so nice, and did you a favor by doing this, you have to tell dad."
I grinned and burst out into complete laughter once we'd closed the door.
"I can't wait to see Uncle Ron!" I said.
"I know!" said Lils, "It's gonna be hilarious! I almost wished we lived there!"
"Almost?" I said, "I definitely do. Then I wouldn't have to put up with Al all the time!" Al grumbled.
"Well," I said, "If you'll excuse me I'm going to dinner. I've had a very tiring week, if you'll recall."
I turned and walked down to the Great Hall where I found Steven, Em, Daniel, and Robert.
"Is it over?" asked Steven.
"Yep," I said smirking, "I told you I could do it!"
"Finally!" said Em.
"We were beginning to feel replaced," said Robert.
I rolled my eyes before digging into my mashed potatoes. I deserved a good meal after all the hard work I'd put in. I'd earned it--and don't you dare let Al tell you otherwise.
So, "When Fate's on Vacation" is over, but there will be more to come, don't worry. It might seem like this was a long time, but it only took up 2 weeks of James' seventh year, so there's still a lot to come. Tell me what you thought!
XOXO
GossipGirlHere
