Parts of a whole
by shana
chapter 10.
POV: Lily, Hardy, Andrea, James
A long slide later, my head thumped something. "Umph! Ow!" Well what else do you say when your head is hurting? Anyway, I pushed up on the ceiling, and it opened up to some sort of cellar or basement. All around me was boxes marked in a man's handwriting (it was too messy to be a lady's) saying "Roach Clusts" or "Boiled Ant Lollies". I turned off my wand (Nox!) and thought a bit—deducing that I was in the basement of a candy store!
Quickly, I scrambled up towards voices; I figured that was where the people were. I climbed up the ladder I came upon and was immediately enveloped in kids shouting to each other and choosing sweets. This was my kind of store. I dug in my pockets and only came up with a few Galleons. Oh well, I thought, I can wait until next year. I guess.
I remembered someone saying something about a joke store at Hogsmeade—I think it was called Zonker's, Zonko's or something. That's where I'll probably find the others.
Wait! Wait just a moment—didn't James say something about taking the team to Butterbear a few weeks ago? And this is the next Hogsmeade trip, so two and two equals 'go to Butterbear'! Now, I have no clue where the heck Butterbear even is. So, I asked the first person I saw (once I left Honeydukes, which I saw on a sign outside) where Butterbear is.
"You mean butterbeer, right? The drink?"
"I don't know! This is my first time here." Truth.
"You can get it at the pub down there." He pointed and started walking again, but suddenly turned around. "You're a second year!" A lot of thinking that took, apparently.
I turned around—I was heading the wrong way, probably to get away from the 'aha!' kid. "Tell the whole world."
"It's Jeff."
"Jeff, the Ravenclaw? How did you remember me?" The last time I remembered seeing him was last Christmas.
"The question is: how did you get here?"
"That's for me to know and you to never find out." I walked towards him—hey, it was the way towards the pub, and there's nothing wrong with talking to him!
"I'm sure. Join me in a butterbeer? You can tell me all about how you got here."
A cute \older\ guy was offering me a drink and a chat? How could I refuse? "Sure. I'd probably get lost trying to get there on my own. How much do those drink thingys cost anyway? I'm sort of broke—I left all my money at school."
"I'll pay, don't worry. Think of it as having coffee with a friend."
"Except we're not having coffee."
"Right."
"Butterbeer doesn't taste like coffee, does it?"
He laughed. "No!" We chatted on the way to the pub. We walked in and sat on stools at the bar. This girl asked us what we wanted. "A bottle of butterbeer for me—and a mug for the lady." I blushed. Barely a minute later, an unusually loud frothing mug of butterbeer was sitting in front of me on the bar. I eyed Jeff's bottle; it was like one of the old fashioned glass bottles Coca-Cola used to come in. "I wanted you to get the whole nine yards; you can only hear the fizz if it's in a mug. You get used to it after a while, so that's why I got a bottle." I grinned and shoved the mug up under his right ear, smirking at the grimace that flashed over his perfectly chiseled features (he is definitely a hottie!). I pulled it away and took a sip. It tasted great; like coke but with a burst of sugary sweetness and almost like the pineapple upside-down cake mum made for my birthday once.
The girl refilled someone else's mug then came back over to us and smiled. I said to her, "Thanks." Then, I added in an undertone, swirling my mug a little and making it fizz to make sure Jeff couldn't hear, "Aren't you a little young to be working at a pub? I mean, if I were you I'd totally be dying every time a cute guy walked in!"
The girl laughed; it rang over the weakening fizz of my drink. "I know what you mean. I'm Rosmerta. I go to Hogwarts, and I assume you do too. I'm a fifth year. My aunt owns the place, so I waitress here on Hogsmeade weekends."
"Anyway, can I sub for you?" We both giggled. Jeff gave us a funny look, which made us giggle harder and me think 'it's a girl thing.'
"I think I've heard of you. Well, your hair at least, except it looks a little straighter that I heard." (Andi had found a charm in the back of our Charms book a while ago that straightened hair.)
I spoke normally now. "Heard? Let me guess, a guy with ugly black hair that's in a total mess 24-7?"
Rosmerta looked a little surprised at my description—and probably the face I made while describing him. "Yeah, called James by his friends. With a whole bunch of people—their Quidditch team I figured."
"Are they still here?" I didn't want to turn around because it would have looked weird.
"Yeah. In back."
"Is there a blond girl with them?" A sudden thought— "Or a brunette?"
"Both."
I took a big gulp of my butterbeer; I could practically feel Jeff watching me, wondering why the hell I was talking to the barkeep and not him. My mind went back to James. Great. Well, that's sort of why I came. Checking to see if my wand was in my pocket, I said, "I'm going to the bathroom. Where is it?" Rosmerta pointed and I left.
I went into the bathroom. No one else was there, so I sat on the baby changing thing. (why was there one in a pub?) Finally, I got it; the curse I would use on him. Practicing the spell on a fly, I left. I saw the Quidditch team laughing in a big booth in back—with James's arm around Sarah's shoulder. I feel sorry for the girl. Carefully pointing my wand at James, I walked just past their table. "Silencëolya," I whispered. It worked; James couldn't talk. The bad part was that Andi looked up and gaped at me as I walked past. Grinning.
**********
The classroom was Lexi's idea. I actually am sort of surprised I didn't suggest it first, even if I'm the guy and all. Lexi is totally different from the other girls I've dated. Like, she's a tomboy and all, but still has that girlish part that's into shopping and makes her really hot with a double 't'. I can live with that—after all, I've got the girl, and she's got her own cash. Which makes a plus for me: she usually pays for her own stuff.
Lexi and I just started going out almost a whole month ago. But, being the sixteen-year-olds that we are, we are into going really fast and not even thinking about slowing down. That's the truth with our cars and relationships—both of us own kinda old sportscars that we race in during vacation.
I'm really sorry I never got to meet her parents. They died before Lexi and I got together. They had been killed by The Unknown. (That's what I like to call The Dark Lord—because no one really does know him.) When they had died, there was this lull that was over the whole school. Everyone was afraid for their parents. No one wanted to become an orphan like Lexi and her younger sister Andrea. They had a little brother, Adam, but he had been killed on the same day at the same place and most likely at the same time. It's really too bad—it would've have been nice to meet Adam.
"Hardy!"
Forced out of my thoughts, I looked up. There was Lexi in a tank top and shorts. I kissed her mouth and muttered, "What?"
"THAT is more like it."
**********
I watched Lily, open-mouthed. I mean, she wasn't supposed to be here! And, she'd just done something. I mean, why else would she have her 'I'm-the-greatest' grin on? Not that it's not on 20 hours a day otherwise. And I am not at all exaggerating, I swear. Lily's a great friend and everything, but sometimes she just goes OVERboard with the little pranks she pulls on James, of which a lot aren't even little—once she figured out how to make James's bed let anyone (and everyone) sit on it except for James. I really felt sorry for him then; I spent so much time at his house because of last summer I almost understand why he does half the stuff he does and acts the way he does. His cousins are the best, though—Jul and Dan, excellent Quidditch players. Either way, I'd hate to have Lily as an enemy. It's a good thing she's my best friend.
But she's actually very smart. Somehow, she harnesses all that magic from inside her and pours it out everywhich way (which usually means toward James). She concentrates so hard on everything she does—except her studies. She's just barely passing now; I think her composite grade is in the seventy-percentile, and I'm not exactly sure but a passing grade is a seventy. I'm not nearly as smart as her, but I have an eighty-four composite. She practically reprimands me when I do my homework and don't go to the library with her, she's so obsessed with finding things to do to James that she hasn't already done to him. Her eyes have pored over at least a sixth of the books in the school library; by the time we finish school she'll have read all of them, I bet.
I haven't told her about my idea for next summer yet: staying at the inn at the Leaky Cauldron (Dumbledore mentioned it to me at the start of this year—too bad he hadn't said it last year, ha ha) and hanging out in Diagon Alley. Summer after our second year will be a lot more interesting; we won't spend as much time reading school books like we did before we started our first year. Of course, Diagon Alley will obviously get boring after a long enough time, say three weeks, and nobody will let us into Knockturn Alley or something interesting. Although, I expect the likes of Lucius Malfoy there, not someone of Lily or my stature. James's house is surprisingly interesting; and his neighbors are, too. (guys and girls alike; I did make some new friends over the summer)
Now, at Hogsmeade sitting in the back booth at the pub with the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team around me, I could tell that Lily wasn't happy I had seen her. All I have to do now is just figure out what she had done...
**********
I could tell what had happened almost immediately. One second I was laughing with Sarah and the rest of the Quidditch team. The next I was completely mute, but my mouth was still wide open as if I were laughing, which I was obviously trying to do. I had no clue what happened; it was like I was deaf to myself.
I stopped laughing and tried to say, "So, anyone know where Hardy is?" but all that came out was air. I tried other phrases too, but all of them didn't happen. I resorted to swearing consistently. No one could hear, so I didn't really give a damn.
Sarah looked at me as if I was a fish, which I suppose I did look like since my mouth was moving but nothing was coming out of it. She shrugged out under my arm and scooted closer to Josh Patrick, the other Chaser for the team besides me and Sarah. I tried to cough. Josh reached around the back of Sarah's head and pounded me on the back. Like that helped. I jutted my elbow into his hand then slipped off the end of the seat.
Which was about when I saw a flash of red hair stop for about a millisecond by the cheek of a guy at the bar and fly out the door. I followed.
**********
[a|n] cliffie! review. like the title; its a noun and a verb. n/m.
email conshallow@hotmail.com with anything u wanna say. oh yeah, and i'm moving next week so dont expect me to update for a while since we have to get settled in and hook up our inet and everything.
by shana
chapter 10.
POV: Lily, Hardy, Andrea, James
A long slide later, my head thumped something. "Umph! Ow!" Well what else do you say when your head is hurting? Anyway, I pushed up on the ceiling, and it opened up to some sort of cellar or basement. All around me was boxes marked in a man's handwriting (it was too messy to be a lady's) saying "Roach Clusts" or "Boiled Ant Lollies". I turned off my wand (Nox!) and thought a bit—deducing that I was in the basement of a candy store!
Quickly, I scrambled up towards voices; I figured that was where the people were. I climbed up the ladder I came upon and was immediately enveloped in kids shouting to each other and choosing sweets. This was my kind of store. I dug in my pockets and only came up with a few Galleons. Oh well, I thought, I can wait until next year. I guess.
I remembered someone saying something about a joke store at Hogsmeade—I think it was called Zonker's, Zonko's or something. That's where I'll probably find the others.
Wait! Wait just a moment—didn't James say something about taking the team to Butterbear a few weeks ago? And this is the next Hogsmeade trip, so two and two equals 'go to Butterbear'! Now, I have no clue where the heck Butterbear even is. So, I asked the first person I saw (once I left Honeydukes, which I saw on a sign outside) where Butterbear is.
"You mean butterbeer, right? The drink?"
"I don't know! This is my first time here." Truth.
"You can get it at the pub down there." He pointed and started walking again, but suddenly turned around. "You're a second year!" A lot of thinking that took, apparently.
I turned around—I was heading the wrong way, probably to get away from the 'aha!' kid. "Tell the whole world."
"It's Jeff."
"Jeff, the Ravenclaw? How did you remember me?" The last time I remembered seeing him was last Christmas.
"The question is: how did you get here?"
"That's for me to know and you to never find out." I walked towards him—hey, it was the way towards the pub, and there's nothing wrong with talking to him!
"I'm sure. Join me in a butterbeer? You can tell me all about how you got here."
A cute \older\ guy was offering me a drink and a chat? How could I refuse? "Sure. I'd probably get lost trying to get there on my own. How much do those drink thingys cost anyway? I'm sort of broke—I left all my money at school."
"I'll pay, don't worry. Think of it as having coffee with a friend."
"Except we're not having coffee."
"Right."
"Butterbeer doesn't taste like coffee, does it?"
He laughed. "No!" We chatted on the way to the pub. We walked in and sat on stools at the bar. This girl asked us what we wanted. "A bottle of butterbeer for me—and a mug for the lady." I blushed. Barely a minute later, an unusually loud frothing mug of butterbeer was sitting in front of me on the bar. I eyed Jeff's bottle; it was like one of the old fashioned glass bottles Coca-Cola used to come in. "I wanted you to get the whole nine yards; you can only hear the fizz if it's in a mug. You get used to it after a while, so that's why I got a bottle." I grinned and shoved the mug up under his right ear, smirking at the grimace that flashed over his perfectly chiseled features (he is definitely a hottie!). I pulled it away and took a sip. It tasted great; like coke but with a burst of sugary sweetness and almost like the pineapple upside-down cake mum made for my birthday once.
The girl refilled someone else's mug then came back over to us and smiled. I said to her, "Thanks." Then, I added in an undertone, swirling my mug a little and making it fizz to make sure Jeff couldn't hear, "Aren't you a little young to be working at a pub? I mean, if I were you I'd totally be dying every time a cute guy walked in!"
The girl laughed; it rang over the weakening fizz of my drink. "I know what you mean. I'm Rosmerta. I go to Hogwarts, and I assume you do too. I'm a fifth year. My aunt owns the place, so I waitress here on Hogsmeade weekends."
"Anyway, can I sub for you?" We both giggled. Jeff gave us a funny look, which made us giggle harder and me think 'it's a girl thing.'
"I think I've heard of you. Well, your hair at least, except it looks a little straighter that I heard." (Andi had found a charm in the back of our Charms book a while ago that straightened hair.)
I spoke normally now. "Heard? Let me guess, a guy with ugly black hair that's in a total mess 24-7?"
Rosmerta looked a little surprised at my description—and probably the face I made while describing him. "Yeah, called James by his friends. With a whole bunch of people—their Quidditch team I figured."
"Are they still here?" I didn't want to turn around because it would have looked weird.
"Yeah. In back."
"Is there a blond girl with them?" A sudden thought— "Or a brunette?"
"Both."
I took a big gulp of my butterbeer; I could practically feel Jeff watching me, wondering why the hell I was talking to the barkeep and not him. My mind went back to James. Great. Well, that's sort of why I came. Checking to see if my wand was in my pocket, I said, "I'm going to the bathroom. Where is it?" Rosmerta pointed and I left.
I went into the bathroom. No one else was there, so I sat on the baby changing thing. (why was there one in a pub?) Finally, I got it; the curse I would use on him. Practicing the spell on a fly, I left. I saw the Quidditch team laughing in a big booth in back—with James's arm around Sarah's shoulder. I feel sorry for the girl. Carefully pointing my wand at James, I walked just past their table. "Silencëolya," I whispered. It worked; James couldn't talk. The bad part was that Andi looked up and gaped at me as I walked past. Grinning.
**********
The classroom was Lexi's idea. I actually am sort of surprised I didn't suggest it first, even if I'm the guy and all. Lexi is totally different from the other girls I've dated. Like, she's a tomboy and all, but still has that girlish part that's into shopping and makes her really hot with a double 't'. I can live with that—after all, I've got the girl, and she's got her own cash. Which makes a plus for me: she usually pays for her own stuff.
Lexi and I just started going out almost a whole month ago. But, being the sixteen-year-olds that we are, we are into going really fast and not even thinking about slowing down. That's the truth with our cars and relationships—both of us own kinda old sportscars that we race in during vacation.
I'm really sorry I never got to meet her parents. They died before Lexi and I got together. They had been killed by The Unknown. (That's what I like to call The Dark Lord—because no one really does know him.) When they had died, there was this lull that was over the whole school. Everyone was afraid for their parents. No one wanted to become an orphan like Lexi and her younger sister Andrea. They had a little brother, Adam, but he had been killed on the same day at the same place and most likely at the same time. It's really too bad—it would've have been nice to meet Adam.
"Hardy!"
Forced out of my thoughts, I looked up. There was Lexi in a tank top and shorts. I kissed her mouth and muttered, "What?"
"THAT is more like it."
**********
I watched Lily, open-mouthed. I mean, she wasn't supposed to be here! And, she'd just done something. I mean, why else would she have her 'I'm-the-greatest' grin on? Not that it's not on 20 hours a day otherwise. And I am not at all exaggerating, I swear. Lily's a great friend and everything, but sometimes she just goes OVERboard with the little pranks she pulls on James, of which a lot aren't even little—once she figured out how to make James's bed let anyone (and everyone) sit on it except for James. I really felt sorry for him then; I spent so much time at his house because of last summer I almost understand why he does half the stuff he does and acts the way he does. His cousins are the best, though—Jul and Dan, excellent Quidditch players. Either way, I'd hate to have Lily as an enemy. It's a good thing she's my best friend.
But she's actually very smart. Somehow, she harnesses all that magic from inside her and pours it out everywhich way (which usually means toward James). She concentrates so hard on everything she does—except her studies. She's just barely passing now; I think her composite grade is in the seventy-percentile, and I'm not exactly sure but a passing grade is a seventy. I'm not nearly as smart as her, but I have an eighty-four composite. She practically reprimands me when I do my homework and don't go to the library with her, she's so obsessed with finding things to do to James that she hasn't already done to him. Her eyes have pored over at least a sixth of the books in the school library; by the time we finish school she'll have read all of them, I bet.
I haven't told her about my idea for next summer yet: staying at the inn at the Leaky Cauldron (Dumbledore mentioned it to me at the start of this year—too bad he hadn't said it last year, ha ha) and hanging out in Diagon Alley. Summer after our second year will be a lot more interesting; we won't spend as much time reading school books like we did before we started our first year. Of course, Diagon Alley will obviously get boring after a long enough time, say three weeks, and nobody will let us into Knockturn Alley or something interesting. Although, I expect the likes of Lucius Malfoy there, not someone of Lily or my stature. James's house is surprisingly interesting; and his neighbors are, too. (guys and girls alike; I did make some new friends over the summer)
Now, at Hogsmeade sitting in the back booth at the pub with the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team around me, I could tell that Lily wasn't happy I had seen her. All I have to do now is just figure out what she had done...
**********
I could tell what had happened almost immediately. One second I was laughing with Sarah and the rest of the Quidditch team. The next I was completely mute, but my mouth was still wide open as if I were laughing, which I was obviously trying to do. I had no clue what happened; it was like I was deaf to myself.
I stopped laughing and tried to say, "So, anyone know where Hardy is?" but all that came out was air. I tried other phrases too, but all of them didn't happen. I resorted to swearing consistently. No one could hear, so I didn't really give a damn.
Sarah looked at me as if I was a fish, which I suppose I did look like since my mouth was moving but nothing was coming out of it. She shrugged out under my arm and scooted closer to Josh Patrick, the other Chaser for the team besides me and Sarah. I tried to cough. Josh reached around the back of Sarah's head and pounded me on the back. Like that helped. I jutted my elbow into his hand then slipped off the end of the seat.
Which was about when I saw a flash of red hair stop for about a millisecond by the cheek of a guy at the bar and fly out the door. I followed.
**********
[a|n] cliffie! review. like the title; its a noun and a verb. n/m.
email conshallow@hotmail.com with anything u wanna say. oh yeah, and i'm moving next week so dont expect me to update for a while since we have to get settled in and hook up our inet and everything.