Hello readers! I own Joule, nothing else. Feel free to scream, shout, whisper, comment, yell, holler, review, or say something! The freedom of speech is highly enforced. Feedback is so very nice!
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So all I had to do was find a date before Friday.
No big. I mean, that couldn't be too hard. Right?
It was just a simple date?
Eh?
"Lily," I hissed at her across the table in Potions class. "How do I do this? How do I get a date? Where do I start? This is hard…"
She scoffed at me, putting her red hair into a ponytail for safety precautions. "Just scope someone out that you like or that looks attractive to you, and just ask them out, dork. It's not hard at all. Just be normal."
"But I'm not normal!" I whined, glancing around the room. "I'm weird and somewhat awkward."
"Then use it to your advantage. You're witty, pretty, and awesome; who wouldn't want you?" Lily added some ingredients to our cauldron. We were supposed to be making a Calming Drought, apparently a very difficult potion to brew. That's why I let Lily take charge on this one; she was the bomb at potion-making, and Slughorn loved her like a second daughter.
Win-win.
"Suck it up, Joule, and stick with the plan. We made a deal." Lily chimed, adding lots of newt tails at the moment. Ew. I hate newt. "And don't be a chicken either."
Okay, so it was a win-lose.
Pensive, I scanned our class of Newt-level potions students; there weren't too many. James and Sirius were at the table behind us, messing around; they'd somehow managed to get good enough O.W.L.s to get in here, after all, they wanted to be Aurors. Merlin knows how they even knew how to brew a decent potion.
Severus Snape, Lily's Slytherin ex-friend and now-enemy sat to the left of us paired with a Ravenclaw girl named Leila Bones, both of whom were excellent at mixing odds and ends into cauldrons. No interest at that table.
To the right of us was Remus paired with a Hufflepuff boy by the name of Amos Diggory, who was very presumptuous. I didn't like him, Amos, because he was always bragging about how he toiled in the traditional Hufflepuff way and almost always scored well on exams. He was annoying. I didn't know personally how Remus could even stand to be with his ego.
Then again, I suppose Remus would've had practice since hanging around Sirius and James required some…patience.
Finally, the table in front of us was composed of two seventh year boys, one in Gryffindor and one in Ravenclaw. Leo Carmichael, the Ravenclaw, had short blonde hair with brown eyes, and he was coincidentally a Chaser that I'd beaten quite a few times on the field. I mean, Gryffindor always was the superior team; I'd been a Beater on it for the past five years. He was a decent guy.
The other boy at the table was Gavin Delfino, a fellow Gryffindor of mine that was known as a loudmouth in class and was, ironically, the Quidditch commentator in the stands. He had messy brown hair with bright blue eyes that many girls said twinkled like sapphires. Gavin was almost as popular as Sirius was with the ladies of Hogwarts.
They seemed like good options for possible dates, these two potions partners.
The argument in my head about the two of them went like this:
Me: Leo's pretty cute…
Me: But so is Gavin! Those eyes!
Me: Oh, please. Gavin isn't even athletic; you need someone who can keep up with you.
Me: But I think he's witty…right?
Me: But Leo's handsome and decent! How can you get better than that?
Me: Gavin is funny! Did you hear that joke he made in the common room last night? Plus, he's a Gryffindor!
Me: It doesn't matter what house he's in! Nothing's wrong with Ravenclaw. They're smarties. Leo is a smartie, and I'm relatively smart too.
Me: Seriously? Baby. Blue. Eyes.
Me: You are so superficial, it's not even funny.
Me: And you're so judgmental. By the way, I forgot to laugh.
Me: That doesn't even make sense…
Me: Your face doesn't make any sense! Did a troll construct it in the dark or something?
Me: MY FACE IS YOUR FACE!
"Hmmm…" I rubbed my chin thoughtfully, staring at the backs of their respective heads. Both blonde and brunette worked diligently. "Decisions, decisions."
"What are you doing?" A husky familiar voice whispered by my ear. Startled, I swung around to face a smirking Sirius whom was sporting some serious bedhead. And somehow still managed to pull it off. Damn him.
I knew Sirius could smell a lie a mile away; after all, he was born into a family of lies, but I wasn't going to let that stop me. Never.
"Nothing." I said quickly, being sure to blink innocently. "Just letting Lily make the potion so I don't screw it up."
"Liar." He sang quietly, taking a step towards me so we only stood a couple feet apart. "You were looking at those two up there, gazing at them practically. Five minutes straight, I even timed you. Does little Joule have a wittle crush?"
Agh! I couldn't let Sirius find out about the deal Lily and I made; the whole point was that I could find myself a date on my own to show that I was independent and blah, blah, blah, not being interfered with by Sirius. Oh, the complexity…
Best to go with sarcasm.
"You got me." I shook my head theatrically, holding up my hands. "Dammit, Sirius, I didn't want to expose you to the deviousness of my mind but… The truth is that I've had the long held notion to have a threesome with Leo and Gavin. What can I say?"
Why did my mouth say that? Why? Why? I just wanted to say something snappy and come-back-ish, but what the hell just came out?!
A wide grin slowly grew on Sirius's face as he regarded me in my obvious falsehood; I was, after all, staring at him with an 'oh-shit' look on my face. I sensed the tables were about to turn, and that I was about to pay. Just a feeling.
"Oi!" Sirius barked, still holding my gaze with a twinkle in his eyes. "Carmichael, Delfino! Did you hear that? Joule, here, apparently wants to have a ménage a trois with you blokes; she wants to do the dirty with both of you!"
Oh. Shit.
Shiiiiiiiiit.
I was screwed.
Both Leo and Gavin turned to face me, each expressing shock, mystification, confusion, consideration, and then slow appreciation in that exact order. Odd, but it was like their faces mimicked each other's. Maybe they were clones.
Or just men.
Great. I could almost feel them undressing me with their eyes and imagining the scenario.
Gross. Double gross. No, triple gross.
"I hate you." I muttered under my breath, grimacing internally. Externally, I kept on a smile, because I know the world would rather have a smiling, happy-appearing Joule than a scowling, bitch-I'm-going-to-kill-you-and-all-your-children Joule. Just a personal opinion.
Sirius smiled wickedly. "That's what you get for not answering the question, love."
Time to clean this up…somehow. I couldn't leave this situation in shambles. And when I say in shambles, I mean people thinking that I want to have a threesome in Potions class. No offense, but it's kind of trashy.
"Sorry about that!" I yelled to my two 'threesome' boys, suddenly launching myself into Sirius's rock-hard chest. Smiling patronizingly, I clung onto him and stroked his abdomen possessively while simultaneously, unintentionally feeling him up. "He gets jealous and irrational when he sees me looking at other guys. It's hilarious what actually comes out of his mouth when he gets worked up enough, right, baby?"
I peeked up to see Sirius's reaction, expecting amusement or denial to sabotage my newborn plan perhaps, but I observed something very, very different. Sirius was frozen, his gaze fixed on my hand relentlessly stroking his abdominal muscles, and it was then that I realized that those muscles were flexing under my touch.
Pulsing, almost. I couldn't stop my hand from moving; it just continued its cyclical movement of running down the ridges and crevices of his stomach and back up again. It was like I was in a trance.
Staring at my hand in disbelief, my gaze soon shifted upwards to me Sirius's own. His gray eyes burned into mine, silently communicating something to me, branding something into me. I couldn't look away; we were both locked in place.
"Soo…" Gavin squinted his eyes at us, while Leo watched in the background. "Are you guys together or something?"
That jerked me out of my so-called gypsy trance. Oh, hell yes it did.
"No!" I jumped out of Sirius's arms faster than a jackalope in a desert storm. "Of course not. We're just friends."
Looking ruffled and disoriented for once, Sirius shot me a sharp look which I didn't understand. I gave him a confused look in return to which he answered with a blank stare.
The male sex is so confusing. Maybe they all need to relocate to Mars. Then they can be all male-ish and masculine and manly together. That's not suggestive at all.
"Okay then…Because that makes sense..." Gavin muttered, then turned back to his station. Leo glanced curiously at us, and then thankfully went back to potion making as well. Thank Merlin that blew over.
Fidgeting, I ran back over to Lily without a backward glance at Sirius, and I arrived just in time to help her turn in our finished potion. Thankfully, class was almost over, and I wouldn't have to talk or be awkward with Sirius anymore. I needed to avoid him ASAP.
"What was that earlier? With you and Sirius?" Lily whispered under her breath as we handed our Calming Drought to Slughorn. He grinned creepily at Lily in return with a slight nod to me. Ick.
"Nothing." I murmured, gathering all my books together in my bag as quickly as I could. "Just a stupid prank, that's all. Look, I'll see you at dinner, yeah? Okay, later." And with that, I scurried away like the Gryffindor that I was to get the hell away from my best friend and to go find a date.
Hey, I could multitask.
This multitasking prevented me from thinking about what just happened there in the Potions room; it prevented me from stewing over it, freaking out about it, pantomiming random gestures of frustration, etc. As I powerwalked away to my next class and multitasked in my head, it seemed like I didn't look where I was going. I was a little busy in my mind. Apparently.
Because I ran into someone. Literally. Into their body. Bam.
And, of course, since they were bigger and taller than me, they almost felt like a wall.
But I still knew they were a person. Hopefully. Hopefully I didn't just run into one of those albino alien things like Lily is.
"Well, well, well." A haughty voice sounded in my ear. "Look what we have here. My brother's Mudblood, what a surprise."
"Regulus." I replied nonchalantly, stepping back to observe Sirius's Slytherin little brother in the eye. He was now just as tall as Sirius was and just as aristocratic. "I see you've been eating your prejudice Wheaties; they've done wonders for you. I remember when you were such a little tyke, all tiny and nervous first-year, but wow! Now you're all grown up, sixth-year, and just brimming with dark magic. Oh, how times have changed…"
"Sarcastic and disrespectful as usual I see." He drawled, one of his dark eyebrows arched. "Though I shouldn't say I'm surprised. You always were an insolent one." Regulus stared at me hard, impassive. "What are you doing here in the dungeon?"
Like he had authority or anything to ask me, command me! He was only a sixth year, anyhow, I should have superiority and seniority here.
"Taking a stroll." I spat, smirking. "I had the urge to dawdle in a cold, dark place where only the snakes hang out. You know, I hear it's good for your skin."
"Clever." He gave me a chilling smile. "But what if the snakes bite back?"
We whipped out our wands at the same time, pointed directly at each other. Our eyes were glued, waiting for someone to send the first spell. Tension was definitely in the air.
How did I get myself into this? Eh, who cares? I could duel.
Besides, I'd wanted to kick Regulus Black's ass for a long time now, the pompous git. Ever since Sirius's family had disowned him, I'd wanted to hurt one of them up real good. Sirius was too good for them, for all of his pureblood-obsessed family.
"You know, it's a shame." I said as we circled one another. "Sirius deserves better than to have you as his family. He deserves people who are actually sane."
Regulus smirked, circling like a vulture just as I was. "Pity. Seems you don't understand that Sirius is the one who isn't sane in this family. He's the one who was disobedient and didn't follow mother dearest's rules, not me. I'm the good son, didn't you know?"
"Right." I scoffed, still holding up my wand at him. "And it's normal to use dark magic on a daily basis and persecute others. Riiight. I get it."
"I wouldn't expect you to." Regulus simpered at me, looking malicious beyond belief. "You're just a simple Mudblood after all. No intelligence. No wit. No magic. You're just a stupid glorified Muggle."
"Expelliarmus!" I shouted, losing my temper. Though the word 'Mudblood' didn't particularly offend me, it just annoyed me to think it gave others a superiority complex.
Wordlessly, Regulus deflected the spell. "Don't tell me that was your best shot? You are pathetic; I don't know what my brother sees in you."
I soundlessly tried to stun him multiple times, but somehow he was able to defend himself against them all. He was such a brat, an idiotic intelligent brat.
"Scared?" He asked, and sent a spell of his own over to me. I deflected it easily.
"Hardly." I replied, grinning. "Is that the best you got? I could do this all day, little snake."
"Crucio." Regulus muttered. And this time I couldn't defend myself.
I went down.
Falling to the floor, I spasmed in pain. Over. And over. And over again.
Professors don't accurately describe the agonizing torture of this particular Unforgivable Curse. I mean, sure it's said to cause extreme pain to the recipient, but does that even give one the simplest idea of how discomforting and torturous this curse really is?
The truth is no. No, it doesn't.
I felt as if I had been thrown into the fires of hell, stabbed by a thousand knives, ripped open by hundreds of eagles, stung by millions of bees, while forced to eat nails and sandpaper down my throat. I was thrashing, trying to escape from it but didn't know how.
Somehow my vision was still intact as I writhed, and I saw an expressionless Regulus watching me flail with pain. He was cold, so cold, as if he were a statue.
That brought me to life, or rather, it sparked an idea in my torn up mind.
Perfect. I still clutched my wand in my right hand.
Flipendo. I thought with the deepest recesses of my brain, focusing all my concentration on the very word. This had to work, this will work.
As if acknowledging my effort, the bright blue spell shot off from my wand and landed directly behind Regulus's figure.
"Pathetic." He sneered, still holding the curse on me. "How—"
That's when the suit of armor, all sixty pounds of solid metal, behind him fell straight on top of the cursing pureblood. He was knocked out cold, his arms and legs barely visible from underneath it.
Instantly, the Unforgivable Curse was lifted from me, and I was free.
"How smart, I know." I stared down at the Slytherin, debating whether to get help for him or not. After about ten seconds of mental debate, I decided he was best woken by himself. At least that way, no one would see his shame of being beaten by a Mudblood.
It could just be our little secret.
Smiling widely, I skipped off to my next class, glorifying in my win.
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"Any luck today?" Lily asked me at dinner that night; it was just us two since the boys hadn't gotten here yet. She was currently studying for charms while stuffing a roll into her mouth at the same time. She raised an eyebrow at my confused expression to her question. "Find a date yet, Joule?"
"Oh." I quickly swallowed my pumpkin juice. "No, not today, but I'm on it, I swear. Those boys better watch out, because Joule's on the hunt. Rawr."
"Funny." Lily sipped her juice delicately just to juxtapose me. "Better hurry. The weekend's coming fast, and if you don't…"
"I know, I know." I sighed. "By the way, have you asked James yet? Wait, no…he would have been jumping for joy and singing the praises of Lily all of today. Never mind. When do you plan to do it?"
"I don't know." Lily frowned, twirling a strand of red hair around her finger. "I'm waiting until the end of the week, I suppose. I'm still considering of how to phrase it."
I grinned at her. "Tick, tock!"
The day Lily asked James Potter out would be a national Hogwarts holiday. I wouldn't be surprised if students fifty years down the road celebrated it with the same intensity as Christmas.
"Shut up, Joule."
"Turn that frown upside down, Lily!"
Lily just frowned more in response and turned back to her textbook in favor of me. Ouch.
Where was the love?
"Joule Quaid." A deep authoritative voice barked out from the entrance of the Great Hall. "We need to talk right now."
The voice sounded like a police captain or interrogator that I'd heard on TV. It was very commanding, and when I turned to seem whom it was, I got an eyeful of a steaming mad Sirius who strode up behind me.
"What's up?" I tried to smile, but couldn't. I hadn't seen Sirius this angry since his parents kicked him out, and not many times before that. Simply put, I could count on one hand the number of times that Sirius lost his temper like this. Surely what had happened in Potions hadn't warranted this behavior? Maybe it was my avoiding of him? But still…
"Now." Sirius growled, and his whole aura seemed to be deadly. Shakily, I got up. He'd never gotten mad at me like this before. Why now?
"Okay, don't get your panties in a twist." I rolled my eyes, trying to cover up my confusion. I silently waved bye to Lily, who gave me a puzzled look in response. "Let's talk."
Sirius grabbed my wrist in return and almost dragged me out of the Great Hall. I could practically feel him boiling underneath his skin. "Not here."
So, again…
Where was the love?