Absolute Shocker!
By JamesRoxMySox
Disclaimer: I own nothing recognisable from the Harry Potter books or movies that belongs to J.K.Rowling and Warner Brothers studios
Sunday 29th January – Library
I hate potions
I'm suppose to be doing a potions essay on a potion of my own choice that held some significance during the last great wizarding battle with Grindwald or whatever his name was and then I have to say how it could be used in today's society against the rise of Voldemort – I refuse to call him 'Lord' as he's obviously made the whole thing up and I am not going to show him any sort of politeness, let alone respect
Oh and that reminds me on Friday the Daily Prophet reported mass muggle disturbances and tortures, all claimed by old Voldy – and didn't that turn out to be such a lovely day…
First my favourite type of tea was missing and I had to trek all the way over to the Ravenclaw table and had to fight off some stressed out seventh year for the tea pot, that boy seriously needs a calming charm or something… draught of the living dead anyone?
Then I read about Voldemort's latest antics, which by the way were rather distressing seeing as how comfortable his followers are going out in broad daylight to engage in a bit of muggle sport – sickening really, this was then followed by a lovely double period of potions….
Someone up there really rather likes me now don't they?
And the fun didn't stop, oh no as I was leaving the great hall at lunch I managed to walk straight into someone, meaning I fell backwards as said person was rather tall and muscular and not at all effected by my bashing into them, and all my stuff scattered across the hall
Fabulous, absolutely bloody fabulous
But of course that's not all, it just so happened that I slammed into James Potter of all people, who may I say did not seem at all happy to see me lying there staring up at him, he actually seemed quite preoccupied with his thoughts and I don't think he even recognised me. But yes, he quickly helped me up and went on his way in the still dazed state – queer boy, well no not in the sense that you're probably thinking there's enough witnesses to account for that, though given thought that would explain a lot…
My marvellous day didn't end there though, when I was coming out of the library on the way to dinner I found a couple 3rd year boys in an all out muggle punch up, their wands lay forgotten by their bags. It was a Hufflepuff and a Gryffindor and apparently they had come to blows over a disagreement about the outcome of the quidditch match tomorrow. I'm the first to admit that I'm a shocking prefect but even I can't just let it slide when I happened to walk in on two kids trying to smash each other's brains in, I had to act. I gave them both detention and sent them on their way, in opposite directions of course.
Measly punishment, I know but what can I say I'm lazy, surprisingly though they took this as a form of kindness that I didn't talk to their Heads of House
This meant that I had to spend MY Friday night supervising a couple of third years scrubbing moaning myrtle's toilet. Of course Myrtle seemed to enjoy it, you know vindictively throwing water every where and occasionally at the boys… admittedly I egged her on though, we actually got on quite well discussing a great number of things, I think I shall have to schedule more detentions there when ever I get round to the whole prefect thing and actually punish bad behaviour, Myrtle makes it quite entertaining.
See I had a shockingly exhausting day, it was no wonder that I slept in late the next day and having had enough of the twins and their quidditch fanaticism I charmed my bed curtains with a silencing spell and Imperturbable charm – I did not want to be hauled out of bed at 6:30 in the morning after my delightful day in the world of me.
This of course meant that I was late getting up and going down to breakfast, which I have to say, turned out to trigger a rather unfortunate series of events.
I was quietly making my way down to breakfast, minding my own business, admiring some of the more… unusual painting subjects when I heard scuffling and groaning and all other things that indicate a fight is taking place. Well me being me, I thought it would be best to let the frustrated students work it out between themselves, I mean the hallways were deserted, everyone was down at breakfast eagerly anticipating today's quidditch match, why not let the little cretins work things out for themselves?
Well it made sense to me, but for those who disagree you'll be happy to know I did indeed intervene….
Alright so I had to intervene but I would have done so of my own free will eventually… maybe… if it didn't make me late for my date with a bacon and egg sandwich
When I turned the corner they were right in front of me but I still acted in a surprisingly prefect like manner, that must get me some credit surely. Anyway it was the two little toerags from the night before, when I realised this I really was tempted to just keep on walking and let them finish each other off but then my conscience caught up with me and I blasted them apart
They rounded on me, both looking quite annoyed that their little get together had been interrupted. The Hufflepuff gave me a rather hearty glare
Well right back at you buddy
I suppose I have to do the prefect thing now
Bugger
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
This question was met with silence
"Did detention mean nothing to you?"
Again they both just stood there, glaring at one another rather than me, for which I have to say I was thankful
"Is this really just over the quidditch or is there something else?"
Well I had to ask, I mean really who repeatedly comes to blows over quidditch?
"What do you mean just over the quidditch?" they both hollered
Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs apparently
I rolled my eyes
"Right, two nights of detention for you both next week, you will be notified of your detention times by owl"
The Gryffindor boy did not take to kindly to this
"What! With all the homework I've got, you want to give me another two detentions?"
He's rather indignant about a punishment for someone who was just involved in two consecutive punch ups
"Be grateful it isn't more, the only reason you got off so lightly is that I have to supervise your detentions"
Sweet Merlin what have got myself into?
"You wait till I tell James Potter about this!"
Oooh, I'm shaking in my furry little boots
"Oh, please don't, the Head Boy will be ever so displeased that I'm actually performing my prefect duties" I pleaded in my over dramatic damsel in distress voice
Would you believe the horrid little monster grinned at my sarcastic comment
"Yeah, but he might be annoyed about the fact that his girlfriend doesn't support his quidditch team! Shouldn't you be down in the Great hall giving him a good luck kiss, not that he really needs it since it's Hufflepuff, but any excuse will do"
Why that cheeky little sod!
I was about to give him a good slap on the upside of the head but the Hufflepuff beat me to it…
Through out my exchange with the Gryffindor, the Hufflepuff had looked torn between giving me a good thrashing and finishing what he started, it appears that last quidditch related dig swayed his decision
So here we are again, the two third years desperately trying to cause each other as much pain as physically possible, wands and magic completely forgotten…
Quidditch brings out their primitive instincts
Anyway this time I really did get angry, I started yelling and sounded suspiciously like my mother, which of course just aggravated me further
"Enough!" I blasted them apart again "I really didn't want to have to do this but you're forcing me – ten points from each of your houses for fighting in the corridors and now we are going to go see your Heads of House"
I grabbed them both by the collar and hauled them off to see Hufflepuff Head of House, Professor Williams. She was in her office and just preparing to go down to the pitch when I knocked
"Ms Evans, how can I help you?" Professor Williams asked with a cheery smile
Her welcoming smile slid off her face when she saw the two boys I was dragging behind me
I explained how they had been caught fighting twice in two days, with one detention already issued, Williams just thanked me and told the boy, Simone Watts or something, to sit.
Next it was to see McGonagall, something I really wasn't looking forward to
I looked at my watch, nine forty five, I had an hour and fifteen minutes to get down to the pitch, hopefully McGonagall would be feeling gracious and not rant about my prefect duties
"You better not make me late for the match" I hissed at the Gryffindor third year, I think his name is Greg Carpale or something
He just glowered up at me, since I'm about a head taller than him and had my wand out I think he just saw it as reasonable to not retaliate
When we reached McGonagall's office she opened the door just like Professor William's, rather cheery and pleasantly surprised and then her face fell when she saw Carpale or whatever his name is
McGonagall raised her eyebrows
"What is the meaning of this Ms Evans?"
I sighed
"Greg here ("George!" the kid interrupted indignantly), fine! George, was caught fighting with a fellow third year of Hufflepuff twice in two days, yesterday they were assigned detention and today they were caught trying to cause each other grievous bodily harm again"
Oh dear she doesn't look happy, hopefully she'll concentrate on Greg here – I mean George, I was almost right I got the G thing
"Were you the one to intervene in both their interactions, Ms Evans?"
Oh bollocks…
"Yes Professor"
Here it comes, I can see McGonagall puffing herself up
"Really Ms Evans, you should have reported this type of behaviour to the young gentlemen's Heads of house immediately instead of letting this go unresolved"
What a wonderful couple of days I'm having
Now it's time to appear caring rather than lazy
"I'm sorry Professor, I thought it was just pre-match tension billowing over and that the boys would get over it. I assigned them detention and thought that would be the end of it, I didn't think there was a need to involve the professors"
Please, please, please, let her take that as an acceptable answer…
McGonagall gave me a piercing stare before dismissing me and told Campbell to have a seat, I admit I was way off on the name thing but I have to deal with a number of little snot bags every day, you can't expect me to remember ALL their names. But at least McGonagall let me off…
By the time I got down to the quidditch pitch it was about ten to eleven, I had ten minutes to find my friends in the crowd of what looked to be whole student body crammed into the quidditch stands.
I doubt Culhwch could even do it and look what he accomplished to be with Olwen, mind you he had Arthur's knights to help him so maybe that's not the best example…
There was no possible way I was going to find my friends, even with the twins decked out like they usually are, and reach them before the game started, even then I had to count on them saving me a seat which wasn't likely considering they probably thought I wasn't coming seeing as they hadn't seen me since dinner the night before
But I decided to take a crack at it anyway
Very foolish I know, but I had to at least try
It was impossible to tell if was even going in the right direction of actual Gryffindors as the majority of the stands were decked out in red and gold
I mean usually it's guaranteed that the Slytherins as well as half the Ravenclaws will support the Hufflepuffs. The rivalry between the Slytherin and Gryffindor houses is so great, especially when it comes to quidditch, the Slytherins barrack for the opposing team just to nettle the Gryffindors. The Ravenclaws on the other hand just like to be fair minded about things and support both teams, as they get along just fine with both Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.
But today the Hufflepuffs had pushed the rest of the houses a little too far. The Ravenclaws were well and truly fed up with being told that Hufflepuff was going to slaughter them, so today every single one of them were wearing Gryffindor colours and cheering our team on just to spite the Hufflepuffs. Even the Slytherins were fed up, they were glaring maliciously at the Hufflepuffs and a few were even sporting Gryffindor colours
Slytherins wearing GRYFFINDOR COLOURS!
Oooh, the Hufflepuffs have really done it this time
What with their ridiculous carry ons about quidditch supremacy, the chants, banners and demonstrations just proved to be going a little to far even by quidditch fanatic standards
I was just starting to lose all possible hope of sitting with a familiar face when I heard my name
"Lily! Lily over here!"
I turned around and there was Nicholas Fibonacci waving we over like a mad thing
Uh oh
One thing worse than mad Hufflepuff fans, mad Hufflepuff fans you know personally
This does not look good
I made my way over and smiled tentatively at his friends who all seemed nice enough considering I was wearing a Gryffindor scarf and rosette.
"Hey Lily"
Well at least Nick's all chirpy, I got a few 'hi's and a couple of head tilts from the people he was sitting with
"Hi" I practically squeaked
"Would you like to sit with us? It's just you seem to have lost your friends"
I hesitated for a moment and opened my mouth to politely decline when Nick quickly interrupted
"Don't worry we're not crazy quidditch fans, we won't try to bring about your death for being a Gryffindor"
I looked at him for a moment
I discovered you really can't say no to those big blue eyes and was compelled to sit down next to him, one person decked out in red in a sea of yellow but he was right the people up here were pretty relaxed and easy going – true Hufflepuffs
"Anyway the real fanatics are down the front, you can see Ellen down there with Terry, those two are really wound up about this quidditch thing" Nick pointed down to the front of the stands
I could indeed spot the curly brown haired girl who had previously given me her best glare the last time we met, she was screaming something across the pitch at the other stands
I followed her line of sight and found my friends all sitting up the very front, Bridget and Dana appeared to be telling Curly Sue over here exactly what she could do with those pompoms of hers. Rhi and Cam appeared to be bent over in laughter at the ridiculous bravo being exchanged
I pointed this out to Nick, he laughed and pointed it out to the girl next to him, Nadia her name turned out to be, and Darren, the boy sitting next to me. Both Nadia and Darren found this rather entertaining and before long the four of us were sitting there sniggering at the furious battle of words taking place across the pitch
The fun really began though when the game began
Now I'm the first to admit that I know very little about quidditch but even I have to say that was a very good game. The Hufflepuffs were right when they said that their team had improved beyond recognition because in all honesty they had, but mind you last year Gryffindor beat Hufflepuff 360 – 50 and it was over within two hours, not really something hard to improve upon
The game was excellent, there was no foul play and there were no easy points for either team. I can understand from this game why the fanatics act the way they do, I myself am a football fanatic, I love it, both the English premiere league and the European competitions. I took my friends to football game once, they weren't really that impressed, well Bridget and Dana were but for different reasons than myself. Apparently football players are much better looking than quidditch players…
I have to question that though, there are some pretty fit looking quidditch players about
But back to this game, it was so much fun to watch, I think that was partly due to the company I was sitting with. Darren was cracking jokes the whole way through about both sides and I was able to get into playful banter with the three of them about the superiority of our respective quidditch teams. It was just a lot of fun
Towards the end of game the score was even, the goals were few and far between and one team was only ever in the lead by ten points. The pressure on the seekers was doubling with each passing minute
Nadia and I were having a competition of who could yell encouragement for our seekers the loudest and I'm proud to say I won that one. Mikey and Malcolm (Hufflepuffs seeker) took absolutely no notice of us but Nick and Darren thought it was just plain hilarious. When we asked what was so funny they pointed to Curly Sue and the twins across the pitch.
Nick composed himself enough to tell us that we looked just like the fanatics before bursting into a fresh round of laughter
Nadia and I both looked indignant for a moment before we caught each other's eyes and started laughing just as hard as the boys. We got quite a few curious looks for that, there we were, the four of us, killing ourselves laughing while the rest of the crowd was going crazy looking for the snitch
I think the Cheshire cat sums it up quite nicely 'We're all mad here'
Then quite suddenly the whole stands went deathly quiet
Mikey had gone into a dive and Malcolm was racing up from the other end of the pitch
People began squinting to spot the snitch, trying to see where exactly Mikey had fixed his eyes so resolutely. The whole crowd started whispering about the snitch and who was going to get there first.
At the last second Mikey pulled out of the dive and race off in the direction that Malcolm had come from. Malcolm tried to follow but was quick enough to react and ploughed into the ground
The crowd cringed for Malcolm but soon all eyes were diverted to Mikey who had charged through the chasers to the Gryffindor goals next thing we know he's holding his arm high in the air and landing
The Gryffindors exploded into cheers, fireworks, sparklers and rockets went off simultaneously, the Gryffindor quidditch team looked as if they one big blob of red, I hate to think how Mikey was feeling since he was in the middle, I wonder if he could breath?
The Ravenclaws are joyfully cheering and some are even consoling the devastated Hufflepuffs. The Slytherins… well to be truthful I can't tell if the Slytherins are depressed by the result of the game or happy about it. Half look as though they've just swallowed a bowl full of doxy droppings and the other half are smiling smugly and taunting the Hufflepuffs
Wait, that's not really out of the ordinary, it's completely normal actually
Nick, Darren and Nadia applauded both teams and smiled sadly
"Well we gave it our best shot, I don't think we did too badly at all" said Nick
The final score was 350 – 210, with the capture of the snitch as the decider, definitely an outstanding effort by both teams
Nadia sighed
"We never expected to win you know" I gave her a disbelieving look "Well they did" she indicated to the true fanatics at the front of the stands who all looked quite devastated "but the rest of us were well aware that we could never beat Potter's team"
I just laughed
To what size would James' ego swell if he heard that?
I think I'd rather not know
"Oh well better luck next time, I better go and congratulate the team. Thankyou for letting me sit with you and have a good night"
Nick smiled
"Any time Lily, congratulate Potter and the rest of the team for us. See you around"
I yelled good bye as I made my way to the pitch and I managed to run into Mikey, quite literally and hugged the life out of him. He was quite chuffed with himself, even when a crowd of fourth year girls came and mobbed him
So last night the whole population of the Gryffindor tower was a 'wee' bit merry with the celebrations going on late into the night
When I finally found my friends they seemed to have moved on to the fire whiskey stage of the evening, I had got caught up talking to Sophie Baxter who was babbling away again about – well in all honesty I didn't really listen, doubt I could have understood her if I had – I think she started on the fire whiskey earlier than most – but apparently it was important.
Anyway back to my friends – Dana and Bridget were off dancing but Nessa, Tri, Rhi and Cam were siting on some couches when I made my way over
Nessa was the first to pounce
"And just where have you been Miss Evans?"
She didn't look happy
"Talking to Sophie Baxter, she was rather happy to see me for some reason…"
I trailed off, trying to understand where this was leading
Nessa snorted
"Why weren't you at the match? Where you off with some boy, completely forgetting about your wonderful friends who happened to be playing against the bloody Hufflepuffs?"
Her words slurred a bit, so I'm guessing she'd had a couple of fire whiskeys by the time I got there
"Er Nessa, I was at the game, I saw every one of the seven goals you scored and Tri's six goals, nice faking around the keeper by the way"
She squinted at me for a second before nodding and turning back to her glass
"Where were you then? We didn't see you all morning or anywhere during the game" asked Cam
"Oh, well I slept in and then as I was coming down to breakfast I had to deal with those third years who were trying to do each other in again. By the time I got down to the pitch I only had a couple of minutes before kick off, then Nick invited me to sit with him so I did"
There was a bit of silence after this
"Nick as in Nicholas Fibonacci?" asked Cam
"Er… yes?"
Nessa and Tri both rounded on me
"YOU SAT WITH THE HUFFLEPUFFS?"
Oh dear…
"Yes, but I was going for Gryffindor! We were just sitting together it's not like I was barracking for Hufflepuff, we were even having arguments over who's team was better"
The pair of them were so annoyed at me they couldn't speak
"Oh and Nick said to say congratulations from him. Some of the Hufflepuffs really aren't that bad you know, Nick, Nadia, and Darren are all perfectly nice and very gracious losers"
They just got angrier the more I talked so I decided to shut up
Thankfully Rhi decided to intervene before they could kill me
"You sat with Nick Fibonacci? Hell, if he'd invited me to sit with him I would have been there in a shot"
Nessa and Tri just glared at her
"I'm guessing Ellen Hicks wasn't there then" Cam commented
Ahhh Cam, my saviour always ready to swoop in and save the day, though mind you he didn't have any problem with me sitting next to the Hufflepuffs in the first place… I knew there was a reason I liked him so much… but he did start this off with the whole questioning of where I was so it's only fair he gets me out of it
"No, she was down the front. I'm surprised you didn't see her, Dana and Bridget were having a rather spirited argument with her across the pitch"
Cam and Rhi's face lit up with surprise
"Oh so that's who it was, should have know it to be some obsessive wacko like her"
We all started to laugh and pretty soon Nessa and Tri forgave me for my act of treason.
The rest of the night was spent recounting and arguing about the match, dancing to Sirius' queer music and playing ridiculous drinking games, which probably explains my lack of interest in my potions essay
Wait I should say my extreme lack of interest in my potions essay seeing as I was never really interested in the first place
Though I did talk to Sirius at one stage last night and I do believe it was the 'one too many fire whiskey' stage as I can remember it well enough to know there was a lot of laughter and some actual serious conversation which is escaping me at the moment but I'm sure it'll come back to me… some time in the distant future
Right enough about my weekend lets get down to potions
Reading that I think I may reconsider myself as a lover of self inflicted pain, I did tell Aunt Lizzie she's off her rocker when she suggested that I bring most things upon myself but now that I'm willing to do potions homework I think she may have a point…
But it has to be done so let's get on with it, I was originally going to do poly juice potion but then I figured that most of the class would choose it. The problem with that is that you have to do a lot more work and research to get a good mark, so why not just do a mediocre job on some obscure little potion, there's nothing to compare it too, making you look like you know what you're talking about.
That's my philosophy and I'm sticking to it, it's got me through five and a half years of potions so far why should it fail now?
Right off to find the most obscure, unheard of, little known potion this library possesses, wish me luck….
Monday 30th January – Charms
Well that was mortifying
I've just had breakfast and normally I don't write that much during first period charms but I feel this takes precedence over some silly little non verbal charm I've had down since the end of last year
My mother has just sent her response to my letter Remus sent last week
All I can say is that I am embarrassed beyond belief and that I think I should well and truly disown my brother
How does Will come in this you ask?
Well, being the little suck up he is and due to his infinite need to cement himself as the old bat's favourite (he and Tuna are in a constant battle for this title, Will usually wins though) he felt it necessary to show the silly woman how to use wizarding mail, ALL wizarding mail
Can you see where I'm going with this?
I think you can, a bloody mole could see where this was going
This morning I was contentedly eating my breakfast, all right not contentedly I was rather tired and grumpy seeing as I'd had a late night with that sodding potions essay and then Rhi got me up extra early, muttering about 'extra time' to get ready to look 'extra nice'
I sincerely hope she was referring to herself there, as I most certainly didn't do anything to look 'extra nice'. Wash my face, put on school uniform, put hair in pony tail, collect books – same as always
Though when I think about it she did give me a rather exasperated look
But back to breakfast
I was sitting there muttering into my tea, thankfully I didn't need to wrestle any seventh years for it this morning, reading the morning post when I caught sight of a silver owl coming my way
What in the world is Nemain doing here?
Nemain is Mother's owl and is named after the Irish goddess of battle, who can supposedly influence the outcome of conflict by inspiring the combatants with fear or courage.
And I have to say nothing could be closer to the truth
Especially when she's carrying a scarlet envelop
First thing that came to my mind was 'run'
But before I had even put down my cup of tea Nemain had landed in front of me with the letter, dropped it off, snitched a bit of bacon and was already flying back out the window
That's one smart bird
Wish I had the reflexes to act as quickly
Of course howlers don't like to be left unopened so I had to open it if I didn't want to set the table on fire and quite frankly I was going to be attracting quite enough attention to myself with just the howler and decided that igniting school property would only cause more trouble so I opened the dreaded envelop
My first thought: 'I am so sending Will one of these'
Power radiating from the envelope was so strong that my hair was blown back and I could literally feel the waves of sound crashing down on me
It was horrid
She used her 'I'm extremely angry and you are grounded for the whole duration of all your remaining school holidays and possibly the rest of your life' voice
Sort of like the cutting glass voice she used when she found out I hadn't informed her of Remus and I attending the same school
"LILLIANNA ELIZABETH EVANS! HOW DARE YOU ADDRESS YOUR MOTHER IN SUCH A MANNER! I ALMOST FAINTED WHEN I READ YOUR LAST LETTER, NEVER HAVE I BEEN SHOWN SO MUCH DISRESPECT BY ONE OF MY OWN CHILDREN, EVEN FROM YOU WHICH IS SAYING SOMETHING Lillianna!"
Ah yes the dysfunctional middle daughter who is always causing trouble, yep that's definitely me
"…YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO GO ONE STEP FURTHER THAN THE OTHERS, DON'T YOU? YOUR SISTER HAS NEVER GIVEN ME THIS MUCH TROUBLE. I AM TRYING TO SECURE A SUITABLE FUTURE FOR YOU AND YOU FIGHT ME ALL THE WAY!"
Oh wonderful she just had to include Perfect Petunia now didn't she?
"…WILLIAM AND HENRY HAVE NEVER BEHAVED IN SUCH A MANNER, JUST WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, YOU LITTLE MADAM? YOU WILL DO YOUR DUTY AS MY DAUGHTER AND REMUS WILL ACCOMPANY YOU TO HOGSMEADE OR YOU SHALL NEVER SEE ANOTHER FOOTBALL MATCH AGAIN! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?.."
As crystal, she really knows where to hit me where it hurts now doesn't she?
"…DON'T YOU BRING YOUR FATHER INTO THIS, HE IS NOT INCLUDED IN THIS DISCUSSION. YOU WILL BE COURTED BY THE LUPIN BOY WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!"
Of course the whole hall was staring at me rather strangely after the howler had finished. Every single face in the hall was turned in my direction, most of them didn't understand it but those that did gave me questioning looks with their eyebrows raised
I refused to be openly embarrassed by my lovely mother's words of endearment, even though I was horrified beyond belief that she said half the things she did. Instead I simply took a sip of my tea, brushed the remaining ashes of the howler onto the floor and went on to read the Daily Prophet, enjoying some toast along the way. Meanwhile a majority of the hall was still staring at me in shock
Eventually they got bored since I hadn't broken down into tears or shown any form of reaction what so ever – see being an ice queen with out emotion has it's perks
I was saving my mortification for a more private setting, like our dorm room
I don't even want to think about the amount of rumours that damn howler has started but I think it may have cemented the rumour regarding my promiscuity
Which is complete and utter poppycock considering I've never been in a relationship
Sweet Merlin this place is full of idiots
Dorm roomWell today's been fun
I managed to maintain my composure through out the school day and even wrote a polite note back to my mother that was completely free of profanity of any kind, which is a miracle considering what I would dearly like to say to her
It went something like this:
Mother,
As much as I appreciate your opinion of my character and encouragement towards the development of the relationship between Remus and myself, I will kindly ask you to keep them to yourself. As I have already stated, I will not be engaging in a romantic relationship of any kind with Remus lupin. This is the end of the discussion.
Lillianna
P.S. About the football – I'd like to see you try
Okay so I got vindictive towards the end with the postscript but come on, she was asking for it! I mean she entered Perfect Petunia into the discussion, the whole of Hogwarts is now aware of the fact that I am the dysfunctional member of my family. A fact I would have preferred to keep private, I get enough weird looks around here as it is.
As I was saying I managed to maintain my composure through out the school day and even lasted through out dinner. After dinner… well that's a different matter
Bridget had a date and was slinking off to find a nice broom closet somewhere, I warned her about the third floor broom closet, and I believe Dana was going to go charm some clever Ravenclaw into doing her history of magic essay. The rest of my friends were just going to retire to the common room to do their homework
This suited me perfectly, it meant I could vent my frustrations in our empty dorm room and believe me I did just that. As soon as I shut the door I threw my bag down, ditched each of my shoes at the opposing wall and screamed my lungs out. I then proceeded to trash the dormitory, all the while screaming profanities at my mother and hoping that she could, through some mystical act divine intervention, hear me
Alas my mother did no hear my thoughts on the matter at hand, the common room, however, heard a good deal of the screaming, thumping and smashing. So much in fact that Amy came up to investigate
"What the bleeding hell is going on up here?" Amy demanded as she came bursting in through the door
I was in the middle of punching the stuffing out of my pillow when Amy came in, imaging it to be either my mother or Will, in all honesty I couldn't quite make up my mind which one I wanted to hurt more…
I looked up at her with adrenaline and rage still coursing through me, Amy took a step back, must have been the deranged, homicidal look that had taken over my face
"Oh, it's you Lily" She gave me a pitying look "Well try to keep it down, we can here you all the way down in the common room"
She started to leave and then stopped
"By the way Remus is looking for you, he's down in the common room"
And with that she left me to my thoughts
I quickly composed myself and said a quick spell to return the room to its original state, I then made to follow Amy down to the common room
As I was about to round the corner to the common room Amy's voice floated up to me
"… I certainly wouldn't like to upset her, she looked about ready to kill when I walked in. If that's what she can do with just her physical strength, imagine what she could do with a wand!"
Then a different voice answered her
"She certainly has a temper"
Hey that's James!
They must be doing Heads stuff
I got a pang of guilt there for disturbing the rest of the tower
"A temper? Lily can make a Hungarian Horntail look positively friendly, I'd hate to be on the wrong end of her wand"
Sirius! Well he certainly thinks highly of me…
"Leave off, her mum's an over bearing cow, I thought you of all people would appreciate that Sirius"
Have I ever mentioned how much I love Cam? Well I'm restating it, that boy is truly a wonder
"Yeah, what would you feel like if your mum continually compared you to your perfect elder siblings and then tried to force you to marry someone? You'd be slightly put out as well"
Nessa's such a doll
There was a pause in the conversation and I took that as my que to enter
None of them noticed me enter, Amy and James were bent over their work, Sirius and Cam were engrossed in a game of chess while Nessa and Tri were engrossed with one another. Rhi and Peter were the only ones actually doing homework.
I spotted Remus reading by the window and silently made my way over. I sunk into the chair opposite him and waited for him to notice, which didn't take very long. I believe he just finished the sentence he was on before he put down his book and smile softly at me.
"Feel better? You certainly made a bit of noise"
I blushed feeling that pang of guilt again
"Yes actually, I do"
I looked out the window admiring the last of the winter snow
"Remus what did I do to deserve this? No matter what I do I can never live up to her standards and now she wants to push me into some society approved match"
I continued to stare out the window, more watching the reflections in the glass this time
"No offence though, you're a great guy, it's just that I don't think I could ever feel that way about you"
No, I definitely couldn't think of Remus in any other way other than platonic and I certainly wasn't going to back down from what I believed in just to make my mother happy
"Don't worry Lily I know what you mean, I can only think of you as a little sister"
We sat in silence for a while, the mere company of someone who understands even slightly how I'm feeling comforted me
"What are we going to do? She isn't going to stop here you know, that howler was just the beginning"
Remus sighed and took my hand
"Don't worry, we'll deal with it later. But you dealt with that howler very well today, your mother would have been astounded by the new level of 'disrespected'"
I laughed a little bit
Yeah the old bat would not be happy about the fact that I completely ignored her message
"I think it would be best if we both went to bed and dealt with this in the morning"
I nodded my agreement and said goodnight before returning to our dorm
Well let's just hope that what ever the old bat has in store for us will be a while coming
And that reminds me I have to address the problem of my appalling older brother who is yet to learn the concept of sibling loyalty
Wednesday 1st February – Library
I really need to have a talk to this Melissa Greenly girl
Charlie's still in his mode of depression, wallowing in self pity that Miss Greenly won't go near him
Yesterday I had to put up with his moping during his tutoring session, which I have to say are becoming far less necessary, I do believe my incessant nagging about wand movement is finally paying off
But I suppose I should count myself lucky as yesterday Mikey decided to join us, the fourth years have a particularly difficult essay to write on summoning and banishing charms. Mikey is actually pretty good at charms, he was there half for help and half as Charlie's moral support
Once Charlie went off to find some books Mikey told me how Charlie's just been too embarrassed to talk to Melissa because of the whole infatuation with his charms tutor rumour, while she's far to nervous to talk to him as she thinks that he doesn't actually like her but is infatuated with me due to said rumour and doesn't want make a fool of herself…
Fourth years really are queer little creatures
Mikey has tried to talk sense into them both, but they just won't listen
Speaking of listening I er… accidentally over heard something I shouldn't
And I truly mean it when it was accidental, I had no intention of listening, their voices just happened to be rather loud which is so not my fault
Okay so I could have blocked my ears but….
I didn't
Okay so I listened to what was said but I didn't intentionally eavesdropped, I just sort of stumbled across the conversation
Well I went to find a book for my fourth year charges, well more left Mikey to try and talk a little sense into Charlie. However as I was wandering aimlessly through the Charms section I heard that dreaded voice
NO, it wasn't Madam Pince come to hunt me down for defacing one of her precious books, it was worse, far worse…
I heard Sophie Baxter chattering away with one of her friends at the end of the aisle
My heart started beating a thousand times a minute and my palms were instantly slick with sweat
Ever since the beginning of the term she's been trying to talk to me, I have a sneaking suspicion it has something to do with last term and the whole thing with James, something that is being suppressed into the back of my mind until a suitable time arises in which I can assess the situation properly….
Personally I'm hoping never
Anyway so I was absolutely terrified of Sophie, I did the best I could to blend into the books buy concealing my face behind a rather large copy of "Charms for Nacies" – don't ask and leaning as far back into the bookshelf as the books behind me would allow
I would have cast a concealment charm on myself but alas I left my wand on the table
Bollocks all round
So there I am trying very hard to be inconspicuous when suddenly I hear a whispered conversation going on behind me
"Are you sure it's okay to talk in here, I mean wasn't Lily supposed to be in here today?"
My ears instantly pricked when I heard my name
Now just who was talking about me? And more importantly what were they doing having secret meetings?
"Yeah, but she's presently trying to coax Charlie out of his pit of despair with the help of Michael Tuttle, so she's quite preoccupied"
Pft! Shows just how little these people know
"So about Hogsmeade…" Oooh is this a secret lovers rondeau? "has everything been arranged? We're all meeting in the Three Broomsticks at 5 o'clock?"
No rondeau then
"Yeah I told every one, I just have to convince our subject into letting me play – "
"Oh Merlin's beard! Is that you Lily?"
Oh chocolate, Sophie found me
I spent the next 10 minutes fending her off, she's quite persistent that she speaks to me… sober. I managed to get away after telling her that I really needed to get back to tutoring and promising to find her later… hmmm, yes, I fully intend to keep that appointment
The really annoying part was I didn't get to here the rest of the conversation but I'm almost positive, after much analysis, that it was in fact Remus and Rhi whispering behind the bookcase
I wonder what those two are up to?
Actually I'm not sure I want to know
And I didn't get a chance to interrogate them at dinner as Nadia had invited me to sit with her. I was in library after class looking up a book for that blasted transfiguration, I swear I shall never truly get the hang of that subject, I have to stay two weeks ahead of schedule just so I have time to practice the spells correctly so I don't make a fool of myself in class, I really should do this for potions but I can't be bothered.
So I was just trying to find a book on advanced self transfiguration when I bumped into Nadia – literally. I was walking backwards, yet again, along the bookshelf searching for one book in particular when I collided with Nadia, who had been standing there minding he own business.
Of course we got into conversation and it seems that she finds transfiguration just as horrid as I do, she also assured me that transfiguration in 7th year just gets more intricate and fiddly – lovely, just what I needed to hear in my hour of need
But I did indeed end up having dinner with the Hufflepuffs and they're all quite nice, well no, Curly Sue isn't that nice, she was glaring at me again, but the rest of them were very welcoming – considering Gryffindor just flattened them on the weekend they were extremely welcoming.
But I was given a few pointed glares from the Gryffindor table, mainly the twins as they are still contriving ways in which they can sink their claws into Nick. I got quite the talking to for sitting within Nick's vicinity and not inviting Dana and Bridget, though Bridget and Star Boy seem to have become involved in this continuously confusing on-off relationship, which it appears no one truly understands, not even them.
So mainly it's Dana pursuing Nick, Bridget just drools
You know the library is becoming my second home, I spend almost every night in here. Mainly because it has all the resources I need to complete my homework but also because it's quiet, something the Gryffindor common room is never described as, imagine trying to get the 4th years to shut up and quit their yelling – impossible! Plus all the stressed out fifth and seventh years give the place a tense feeling, not exactly a comfortable working environment
At the moment I am trying to do this insufferable star chart and accompanying essay on the relevance of Jupiter's many moons, well in truth the chart isn't hard at all it's more the stupid essay, why oh why did I have to choose astronomy as one of my NEWT subjects? Because I'm an idiot that's why! But mind you I'm doing seven NEWT subjects so I really must have something loose
Hey there's James, I wonder what he's doing in here, usually he's in the common room or proclaimed AWOL by Amy and his friends, more Amy than the rest f the Marauders
You know I haven't talked to him in a while, we have rounds every week but most of the time we just prattle and make bets about who we'll find in which broom closet or else we just leave each other to our thoughts.
He's quite all right really
James I mean, once you over look some of his more pricky attributes he's quite nice and I've never denied the fact that he's one of the finer male specimens, he's just so damn fine
Oh god listen to me I sound like some, I don't know love sick fool, this is happening rather a lot and I don't like it, I think I shall have to put a stop to this mooning over one James Potter, it's not healthy
Oh crapolla he's coming over – what do I do?
For a start I think I should maybe put this diary away and look busy with my star chart, completely innocent and like I was just contemplating his better points
Me? Contemplate James Potter's better points?
Never, not in a million years
My chocolate I can't even lie to myself! That has to make me one of the worst liars in all the world
"Hey Lily"
AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Better get that star chart out…
Hi Everyone!
Surprise! It's me, Jen, back from the dead, well actually the real world but never mind that. Since we last met I have completed my tertiary entrance exams, graduated from high school, gone on holiday with the rest of my peer group and got myself a job! When you look at it like that it almost seems as though I have accomplished something…
Well, I'm extremely sorry I've taken so long to update – I've been lazy I admit. I'm also extremely sorry this chapter isn't proof read – my beta has gone AWOL, by the way, Hi Amy, if you read this!
Anyway yes, the next chapter should be up shortly but till then I hope your enjoying the holiday season!
Please remember to….
R
E
V
I
E
W
