Severus Snape stared after the Gryffindor boys with an expression of disgust on his face.
"That Potter," he muttered. "Thinks he's so good because he's a Quidditch star."
"Severus, what did Pettigrew do, anyway?" Darin Zabini demanded. He looked at his friend's potion-spattered robes. "I don't think you'll ever get that out."
"No doubt Black or Potter told him to put the rat's tails in before the potion turned blue," Snape snapped. "No one can be as big an idiot as Pettigrew seems."
"Oh, Elaida and Esmerelda invited us to have a butterbeer with them tomorrow, in Hogsmeade," Darin remembered. "I said that I'd ask you."
"Still have a crush on Esmerelda?" Snape asked nastily. He laughed at the other boy's flush. "Well, I have nothing better to do, so I suppose."
"Of course, the Gryffindor losers will all hang out together," Darin predicted. "If Potter's really so great, why does he hang out with people like Pettigrew, and Lupin, who's sick half the time, and those girls?"
"Probably likes lording it over the rest of them," Snape guessed. "Although the girls are not unattractive." He spat to show how he despised the Gryffindors.
"Eh, well, I prefer blondes," Darin said, scratching his head. "Well, I guess that Gryffindor girls are easily impressed by Quidditch players and stuff."
"It's not like the House has anything else going for it," Snape commented. It was well know that every Head Boy and half the Head girls had been Slytherin for the past twelve years. "No intelligent people, anyway."
"Hello, Severus," a voice said.
"Hi, Esmerelda," Darin replied. Snape just nodded. The tall, blonde Slytherin girl smiled coolly at Darin.
"Are you going to join us tomorrow?" she asked, directing her words once more at Snape. He nodded.
"Wonderful!" the girl gushed. "Elaida and I were so hoping you would!" She turned to go. "See you then!"
Darin stared after her.
"Wow," he breathed. "She's amazing."
"And completely uninterested in you," Snape sneered. "Let's go."
"Are you sure they said they'd meet us here at two?" Elsie asked, peering around the Three Broomsticks.
"I told you that before," Lily said patiently.
"Well, they're seven minutes late," Elsie muttered. "Never on time, are they?"
"I'm sure they've got a good reason," Lily soothed.
"Yes," Jenny scowled. "Stocking up on Dungbombs, Stinking Pellets, and Biting Teacups at Zonko's. Honestly, are they here to learn or not?"
"They do get good grades," Lily reminded her friend.
"It's all Sirius, I'm sure. Remus is a good student, he'd never do anything wrong if Sirius and James didn't lead him on, and James wouldn't ever do half the crazy things that Sirius does," Jenny said.
"What about Peter?" Elsie asked.
"Oh, yeah." Jenny scratched her head. "He –he's just easy to forget, compared to the other three. No, I don't think he's the type to get into trouble… he'd rather let others take the risks."
"That's not nice to say," Lily scolded. "Peter's a very good person, and he tries hard…"
"But you've got to admit, he's a bit of a coward." Jenny shrugged her shoulders. "But –oh, good, they're here."
"Sorry we're late," Remus apologized. Sirius was grinning as the boys stowed bags under seats and sat down.
"What took so long?" Jenny asked. Lily interrupted her.
"We ordered butterbeer five minutes ago. It'll be here soon." She kicked Jenny under the table. "Don't start anything," she muttered out of the side of her mouth. Jenny looked rebellious, but subsided.
The butterbeer arrived and the seven friends lifted their glasses together.
"To us!" James proposed. "The best students in the school!" The others laughed and agreed. They laughed together as Sirius or James recounted funny incidents that had occurred over the past three years, or as the girls engaged in friendly teasing.
"Oh, look," Sirius said. Several Slytherins had just come in. They seated themselves not far from the laughing friends.
"Snape's allowed to sit in the same room as you, Sirius," Lily reminded him. The Slytherins stared at the Gryffindors with malice. "Let's just ignore them." But it cast a certain pall over the party.
"Well," Remus said finally, putting down his mug, "I think I'll head off now. I have to take that quiz that I missed in History of Magic."
"Right," James replied. "See you this evening then."
"You'd think that if they're going to sulk, they could stay home," Elsie commented, nodding at the Slytherins. Snape wore an expression of boredom. Darin kept trying to talk to Esmerelda, who was trying to talk to Snape. Elaida was glaring at the girls.
"What'd you do to her?" Sirius asked interestedly. "She looks as if she wants to rip your throats out."
"Oh," Jenny began. "Well."
"Nothing." Elsie finished.
"Nothing?" James asked skeptically.
"It wasn't our fault," Lily explained, "but –er, someone got Moaning Myrtle to, er flood the toilet while she was on it…"
Jenny tried to stifle a giggle, and took over the story. "And, well, I was outside the stall when Elaida let out this bloody great shriek, and came running out, her robes all askew, screaming."
"She was soaked," Lily recalled. "And then, halfway down the hall, I saw her run into Peeves. He, er, started making fun of her."
"Well, she was mad by then, and tried to hit Peeves. Of course, it's no use. But that made him really eager to annoy her."
"So he started screaming, and McGonagall ran out, followed by half her class." Lily finished. "Well – you can imagine."
"So why does she blame you?" Peter asked.
"Because Jenny here insulted Myrtle the day before, and so the ghost was mad at us." Lily glanced at Jenny, who half-grinned. "So Myrtle told Elaida it was us who put her up to it."
"I see," James said. "So she's angry with you?"
"Yes," the girls said together.
"I think that was just the last straw," Jenny commented.
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.
"Oh, she never did much care for us," Jenny replied lightly. "And now, well… I think that she may rival Snape for disliking us Gryffindors."
"So she'll be really mad when we win the Quidditch Cup," James promised. "Speaking of which, we have to go to practice."
"Yeah, Don'll have our hides if we aren't there on time," Sirius reminded Jenny.
"We'll come watch," Lily said.
"Great!" James said eagerly. Sirius grinned at him, and he turned red. "Well, it's nice having someone rooting for us…"
The friends walked out of Hogsmeade together and up to the Quidditch pitch. Jenny, Sirius and James hurried off to the locker rooms while Lily and Elsie led Peter to the stands.
The team was very good this year. One or two other Gryffindors watched the practice, cheering especially good moves.
Halfway through the game, Jenny dove for the Quaffle. She missed it by inches as her broom lurched to the side. Frowning, she tilted it upwards. To her surprise, it wouldn't stop rising. A hundred feet off the ground, she was getting higher and higher every moment. Her broom was shaking, too. The rest of the team had noticed her predicament and was circling near her, but they couldn't seem to get within a hundred feet of her.
"What's happening?" Sirius yelled. He'd dropped his club and was circling below her. The Bludgers were flying around, ignored, and trying to knock the players off their brooms. No one paid any attention to them.
I can't control this!" Jenny yelled, or tried to, but the broom lurched suddenly, and cut off her words. She was very scared now; flying was fun, but when her broom acted up like this…
Lily, down in the stands, stood and wrung her hands. She pulled out her wand and tried desperately to think of a spell.
Suddenly, just as fast as she had lost control, Jenny managed to get her broom to respond to her. She immediately landed.
"I don't know what happened," she answered as her friends and teammates circled round. "I didn't do anything, I don't know what happened." She was clearly shaken.
"Practice is over for today!" Don Heivan yelled. "Everyone go get cleaned up."
Lily and Elsie went into the changing room with Jenny.
"Are you okay?" Lily asked anxiously.
"Yes, I am. I was a little startled by what happened, but I'm fine." Jenny pulled off her Quidditch robes and stared at her friends. "I want to know what happened, though. That's a good broom, it wouldn't just act up like that."
"Someone must have done something to it…" Lily said slowly.
"Who?" Jenny asked. "That's hardly anything that's been taught here…"
"It wouldn't be that hard," Lily said, staring off into space. "I mean, I've heard that some of the new lines have spells that keep people from interfering with the broom, but yours wouldn't have that. Probably any second year could manage it."
"So we have a hundred or so possible suspects," Jenny muttered. "We'll never find out."
"We'll find out who," Elsie promised. "No one does that and gets away with it!"
Jenny pulled on her robes. "Come on, let's go see whether the boys have started to play with their new equipment. The way I'm feeling, I might just borrow some of those Dungbombs." She marched off.
Elaida hurried toward the castle. She heard someone behind her, but didn't stop. An arm grabbed her shoulder, jerking her to a halt and twisting her around.
"What do you think you were doing?" Snape demanded angrily. "You almost killed Anderson!"
"So why'd you interfere?" Elaida said in a similar tone. "And get your hand off me!"
"You have any idea how much trouble you'd get in if you had managed to get her off her broom?" Snape asked. He didn't let her go.
"They'd never have found out," she said lightly. "Those Gryffindors think they can do anything to me and get away with it. I have to show them they can't. I am a Malfoy, after all."
"Yes you are. And you'd think someone from a family like yours would have more sense," Snape snarled. "I hate those boys at least as much as you hate the girls. Do you see me out there trying to kill them?"
"No stomach for it," Elaida taunted. Snape's face darkened. "You always tried to hide it, Severus, but I know you have no stomach for anything that might turn out -messy. That's your whole family's problem. You're too soft when it comes down to the bone."
With a sudden motion, Snape grabbed Elaida's other shoulder and shook the girl.
"You – little – ungrateful - !" He spat his words through his anger. "You just almost killed someone. Do you realize that? Killed, dead, final! You're thirteen years old!"
"I'm a Malfoy," she said simply. "Let go of me now!"
"Either you promise me never to try to harm one of those girls again," Snape ground out, "Or we march right now to Professor Dumbledore and I tell him exactly what happened."
"And he'll believe you over me?" Elaida asked lightly. But her face showed that she was concerned.
"Think it over," Snape said, "but don't take long, because we aren't going anywhere until you decided."
"Fine, you win," Elaida snapped. "I swear by my family name and honor that I will never again seek to physically harm the Gryffindor girls, Jenny, Lily, or –oh, whoever that other one is, I forget." She wrenched herself free of Snape's grasp. "Satisfied?"
"Very well," Snape said evenly. "But I'll be watching you, to make sure you keep your word."
"I always keep my word," she said coldly, and marched off.
There. Some things in there are very important to the overall story. Don't you hate it when writers say that? Anyway, I know that some of you were hoping for more of Double Trouble, but there's a reason why I can't give it to you yet. I may have to do another section of this before I can put up the next bit of Double Trouble.
Disclaimer: J K Rowling, the great, wrote the Harry Potter books, so everything that belongs to her, is hers. That's obvious. I'm not claiming anything but Elsie, Elaida, Esmerelda –gosh, that's a lot of 'E' names – Darin, and the others I made up. Jenny doesn't belong to me: I belong to her…
Now maybe you think Elaida is evil!