Actually, I'm not quite sure what happened to Jessie. But as I don't want any flames, I don't think that I can let her die. So what else can I do? I dunno. Maybe I get the idea while I'm writing.
Nail a pudding on the wall
Part 12
Just when the two girls were about to leave the compartment, the door swung open and Snape, accompanied as ever by his two appendages, appeared in the doorframe, looking delighted to find Lily and Sarah alone. The three boys entered and closed the door behind them, one of the two bodyguards, Gregory Geffrey, casually leaned against it for not giving the girls any opportunity to flee. Snape plopped down into one of the chairs and stared at Lily and Sarah with a gloating grin.
"What a pleasure to share a compartment with two of the most beautiful girls in our school."
"What do you want, Snape?"
"Oh, why so rough, Lily? I just feel like having a nice little conversation with Potter's big love and Black's soon-to-be girlfriend."
"Did you notice that you just made a complete fool of yourself?"
"Oh, really? I don't think so. No, I'm sure that they don't appreciate it that you'll fall in love with one of us."
"As if. We've always known that you aren't the brightest, Snape, but that you're that mad?"
"Gregory!" Carelessly, Snape reached out a hand without looking at the dark-haired boy. Geffrey grabbed something in his pocket and revealed a bottle, filled with a glittering pink liquid. Seeing Lily's and Sarah's guessing glances, Snape nodded, grinning nastily.
"Right, a love potion. We haven't decided yet with whom you'll fall in love, though. We'll do that after you drank it. It's much more fun this way."
The two girls exchanged a glance. "As if." Both reached for their wands, trying not to show what they were up to.
Snape shrugged. "Oh, you will. - No, don't even think of defending yourself. Stupefy!"
***
"Was that Snape who just passed our compartment?"
"Yep, he and his two slaves. Why?"
Remus looked worried. "'Cause the girls are there. In this direction, there are only two more compartments and we all know how much he hates Lil and Sa."
"We'll follow him. " James jumped up and seized Sirius' and Remus' arms. "Come on, Peter!"
The four boys rushed out into the corridor and to the door next to them, as they couldn't see Snape anywhere. Two boys were seated in it and when the door flew open, they looked up in surprise. Then one began to smile. James recognized Steven and shot him an angry look, but the other didn't seem to notice.
"Hello Sirius, James, Remus and -er, Peter, isn't it?" Steven didn't even wait for an answer. "Can you tell me where my Lily-darling is? Haven't seen her for such a long time."
James gritted his teeth and glared at the smiling boy. Remus glanced at him and decided quickly to drag him out, as he didn't want his friend to punch Lily's still-boyfriend. Out in the corridor, they could hear Sirius' voice say "Did you ever have the thought that maybe she doesn't want to see you? You're just not smart enough for her, Steven.". A moment later, Sirius and Peter joined them. The boys proceeded to the next compartment, opened the door with a jerk and gasped at the sight of Lily and Sarah lying on the floor unconsciously . Snape and Geffrey were bent over them, trying to open their lips for pouring some pink liquid into their mouths. Another boy watched them with an amused expression. All three of them startled when the door swung open, revealing four furious boys.
"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH THEM!!!"
James, who had already been in a especially explosive mood, was over Snape in half a second, knocked him on the floor and bent over Lily, while Sirius punched the second boy and turned his attention to Sarah, seeing that his opponent wouldn't be able to do anything for some time. Geffrey pushed Peter to the side and rushed out of the door before Remus could get him, so he let Snape and his other appendage fly out of the compartment and approached the girls as well.
"What is it?"
"They are stupefied. Those gits tried to give them some of this." Sirius held up the bottle. "Sarah drank a bit, I think. Not much, though, just a few drops."
James looked up and took it out of Sirius' hands. "A love potion, I know this one. Lil hadn't anything. But Sarah... We have to cover her ears for an hour, 'cause if not, she'll fall in love with the boy whose name she hears first."
"Oh, I wouldn't mind." Sirius grinned.
"Sirius, it's not the right time for puberty impulses." James said firmly, though his eyes were sparkling with stifled laughter.
"Puberty impulses? Who? Me? Never! Besides, what about your behaviour towards Lil? - She's still unconscious. The perfect time for a kiss, maybe it'll wake her up. There's a Muggle fairy tale, I think." Sirius danced out of James' reach, both were laughing loudly.
"You guy can't see the difference between true love and a fleeting passion, eh, Padfoot?"
"Bah, neither can you! You're just interested in what she hides under her robes!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not, I'm serious!"
"No, you're not!"
"Padfoot, not again the old Sirius - serious joke! It's as old as the hills." Remus took also part in the conversation now, grinning broadly.
Sirius looked thoughtful for a moment, a thing that didn't happen too often. "Is it? But it's still good!"
The others sighed in mock exhaustion.
"Shouldn't we wake them up?" James pointed at the two girls.
Lily stirred and opened her eyes. "Not necessary, thanks."
He stared at her. "How long exactly have you been awake?"
She wrinkled up her nose. "Dunno. A couple of minutes. Took me some time to recover. Had to remember where and who I am."
Had she heard the conversation? Please don't! James blushed and looked away.
"How can we cover her ears?" Remus watched Sarah who didn't show any sign that she was awake till now.
Sirius thought for an instant, then pointed his wand at her. "Aurelio coprirato! - I used this once for my sister. Didn't want her to notice me testing different fire-crackers."
"You're incorrigible." Remus removed the stupefy-spell from Sarah and she awoke with a start.
"Could you explain what's going on?" Looking puzzled, Lily sat on the floor, looking up at the four boys and Sarah who blinked.
"We'll write it on a piece of parchment, then Sa will understand it as well."
***
Ten minutes later, the two girls knew everything, and finally, Remus, who had had a hard fight to keep quiet, could ask what busied his mind the most at the moment: "Did you girls see Jess?"
Lily shook her head. "Nah. We thought she was with you." She turned around to face Sarah and asked her silently the same question, then translated her answer. "Neither did Sa see her."
Sirius watched them with a uncomprehending expression. "I'll never understand how you can practically talk this way."
"It's not that difficult, Si. You just have to know the person very well. Oh, and you need intuition, a lot of it, and that's why you'll never be able to do it." Lily grinned.
"Gee, I'm hurt now."
"Could you two stop joking? We have to find Jess!"
Seeing the worried look on Remus' face, Lily and Remus stopped at once and the two girls got up.
"Let's look in every compartment, and if we don't find her, then we'll ask one of the teachers as soon as possible."
Everyone agreed with Remus, and they separated into two groups, Sarah, Lily and Sirius in the first one. Sirius had detained James, who had wanted to go with the two girls, in whispering in his ear that this was not a good idea, for they should concentrate now. To his big surprise, James didn't contradict, instead, he had joined Peter and Remus, who was more nervous than they ever saw him before.
***
When they met again in their compartment, half an hour later, they collapsed into the chairs. Nobody had seen Jessie, nobody knew where she could be. They sat in silence for a while, each lost in his own thoughts:
Where is she? Is it possible that she missed the train? But she promised me to meet me here. Jess keeps her promises. But the other possibility is that something happened to her. And I couldn't stand that. I couldn't. - Remus
Let her be alright. Please. Not another death, not after my parents were just killed, not Jessie... - I am overreacting! Thinking of this. She missed the train, that's all. I hope so... - Lily
Why are they so upset? Bet she was too late. If I was missing, they wouldn't behave like this. Just shrug and think that I'd find another way to come to school. - Peter
Jess and not being at King's Cross station at the right time? That doesn't fit. There's something wrong. She's not one to be late. But I really don't want to think about what could have held her up. - James
Hope she's alright. Her last letter was odd, Lily thought so as well. Hurried. Somehow not the Jessie we know. Can't explain that. But maybe we were just imagining things. - Sarah
I don't like this. Jessie was never late before. In fact, she was the first one at platform 9 3/4 normally. We have to ask McGonagall, or, even better, Dumbledore the moment we're at Hogwarts. We're nearly there, I think. - Sirius
***
Sirius was right. In no time at all, the train slowed down, the girls went to an empty compartment - Sarah was able to hear again now - and changed in a hurry, then, they rushed out of the train and towards one of the first carriages, hoping to catch McGonagall or Dumbledore before the feast would start. They didn't have to, though: When they approached the castle, a blond-haired girl ran out of it and practically flew into Remus' arms. Remus, not ready for such a - though friendly meant - attack, fell backwards on the ground and jumped up again quickly to throw his arms around Jessie, relief all over his face. The others watched the whole scene with mild amusement till Sirius finally raised his voice to bring the two back to reality.
"Love must be a beautiful thing..."
They winced, then Jessie hugged each one of her friends, grinning broadly.
"Why are you already here, Jess? Bet you didn't want to spend the whole trainride with us, eh? And so you decided to fly here on your broom, right?"
"Not really, Sirius. Though it is awful, spending a few hours in one compartment with you. All you can think of afterwards are words like 'prank', 'mischief' or 'trouble'."
He bowed, and Jessie went on talking. "But it's not the reason why I wasn't on the train with you. We'll talk about this later, kay? Let's go inside and enjoy the feast first!"
"Yep." Sarah nodded. "I'm starving."
"Yeah. And we have to find a way to get Snape back for his attempt with the love potion. That was one of the cruelest things I can imagine at the moment." Lily shuddered. "Sa, just think of it: Kissing Snape!"
"Yuck. Don't talk about it, please. You're spoiling my appetite!"
"Did I miss something?" Jessie asked while they were walking through the door and towards the Great Hall.
"Not really." They all sat down at the Gryffindor table and Lily told her the whole story. Afterwards, Jessie wasn't quite sure if she should laugh about Snape's gleaming black eye or glare at him like the others - except Peter - did. But one thing was for sure: He couldn't get away with this.
Sirius was the first one to bring the subject on their revenge. After a good meal, he leaned back and looked at his friends, eyes sparkling.
"What are we going to do? Dye his hair pink? Or do you think a bald head would suit him even better? Then he'd have finally a reason for not washing it."
"Only if we combine it with a writing on his skin saying 'Mummy's darling'! But I think I've got another suggestion."
"Let's hear about it, Lil!"
"Did you know that there's a spell that makes your robes more and more invisible? It takes about four hours till you can't see them anymore at all. So if we cast it during breakfast, no one can blame us."
Remus whistled. "I like this. We wouldn't even get detention, and that is what would Snape & slaves annoy the most - except that they couldn't walk down a corridor without anyone mentioning the colour of their underwear, of course."
"Even better when we remember Lil's idea with the writing." James grinned nastily. "Only that we won't write it on his skin. It looks much better on his underpants, don't you think so?"
"Yeah." Sirius nodded happily, after all, planning pranks was what he loved the most. Right after seeing their effects, maybe. "But it's boring if we write three times 'Mummy's darling'. What do you think of 'Kick me' on Geffrey's bottom and on Hylretch's one..."
"'Lonely fighter'." Sarah suggested giggling. "But definitely not on the bottom, it's much more fun on the front of his pants!"
Sirius gazed at her with a mixture of admiration and amazement. "Didn't know you're that mean, Sa! 'Cause this is definitely mean. And" - he grinned broadly - "therefore perfect."
"Let's change it and make Snape the lonely fighter! Then Hylretch's mummy's darling. I like it much better this way, somehow."
"Kay, Jess. Everything for you." Remus kneeled down in mock submissiveness and she whacked him slightly with the sleeve of her robe, laughing.
***
"Jess? Now, why were you already here?"
The seven friends (if you count Peter) were sitting in the Gryffindor common room, near the fire. Somehow, they always managed to get the chairs there, though this were definitely the best places in the whole room. However, at the moment, they all watched Jessie who was looking uncomfortable after Sarah's question.
She sighed. "Well, actually it's sort of a secret. But as you are my best friends... - Did you know that my parents are Aurors?"
"Aurors? That are those who are trying to catch dark wizards, right?" Sirius asked eagerly. "I'd like to do something like that after graduation."
Jessie nodded. "Yeah, exactly. Okay, you all know about Lord Voldemort, You-Know-Who, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or whatever they call him. My parents were after him, undercover, of course, but someone must have told him something, 'cause now he's after them. They are gone into hiding and Dumbledore is their Secretkeeper."
"What's a Secretkeeper?"
"It's a quite different charm, Lil. But if it works... Nobody will be able to find my parents, the place they are hiding is hidden inside Dumbledore's soul, and unless he decides to reveal it - which will never happen, I'm sure - nobody can find them."
"But... What about you? Don't tell me you can't visit them!"
Jessie suddenly looked pale and miserable. "I can't... I could have gone into hiding with them, but they wanted me to go to Hogwarts. I won't see them for a long time." She looked down at the ground and Remus squeezed her hand tightly. Her expression brightened up quickly however. "Well, I don't want to think about it too much. So I guess we should play this prank on Snape and slaves as soon as possible. It'll take my mind of my worries!" She smiled and the tension that had come over them all dissappeared.
"No problem." Sirius grinned. "Lil, are you able to do this spell on the robes?"
"Yeah. But I don't know how to hex their pants."
"James and me will look after their underwear."
"Okay. So everything's clear, the prank will take place tomorrow." Sarah yawned. "Lil? Jess? I'm going to bed, what about you?"
"Coming." The three girls rose and climbed the stair to their dorm with a goodnight-wave.
Sirius watched James and Remus gazing after them and sighed. "Am I the last one who hasn't lost his mind completely? Or better, his heart. Didn't know this was almost the same. At least, if you take a look at your faces, it doesn't seem as if you still have much brain..."
"Hey, and what about me?" Peter squeaked. "I am not in love."
Sirius nodded. "Okay, so we are two. Two of four. Fifty percent. Not a very good rate..."
"You're just jealous, old pal." James grinned.
"Jealous? Me? Why should I be jealous? All you do is brooding over Lily, telling me how beautiful, smart, nice and just about perfect she is and that she never ever will love you 'cause she's far too good for you. And you think I am jealous???"
"Uh.. Okay, but I decided to do something about it, didn't I? At least, I'll try to win her heart."
"Yeah, right. Come on, Jamsie, go and fetch your silvery ink and the prettiest piece of parchment you can find. Time for your first letter."
"Now?" James' face was blank.
Sirius threw his hands in exhaustion in the air. "No, Prongs. Not now. Sometimes in the next ten years perhaps, when she's married to whomever. - Of course now, James!"
"Um, yeah, kay..."
"Then why don't you get up?"
"Right. Of course..."
When James finally dissappeared in direction of the boy's dorm, Sirius moaned. "Where is this going to end with him?"
"Never mind." Remus had watched the whole scene with much amusement. "He'll be back the moment he'll have Lil for sure."
"What? D'you mean he'll let her down?"
"Nah. Never. But he'll have no longer any reason to brood hours and hours over her."
"God knows that I'm longing for this day!" Sirius sighed once again. "I'm not always there to brighten up his mood! And if it goes on like this for more than half a year, then I'll kill either him, myself or the two of us!"
***
"What do you think of it?"
James' concerned voice startled Sirius, Remus and Peter. All three of them had been sitting in their chairs, dozing and snoring quietly, while James had been working on his poem, scribbling down words and lines for at least two hours, just to crumple up his drafts a minute later. But it seemed as if he was finally contented now with his last attempt.
Sirius grasped for the parchment eagerly and he and Remus put their heads together to read it, while Peter tried to look at it over their shoulders. Remus whistled, Peter smiled almost against his own will and Sirius thought for a moment. Then a broad grin spread all over his face.
"Didn't know you were such a poet, Jamie-boy, did a good job to hide it from me."
"Wonder why." James muttered and Sirius slapped his back.
"Don't worry, I won't tease you about it. Not too much."
"How calming. However, there's another thing: Lil knows my hand. So what if she recognizes it?"
"Oh, that. Don't worry about it, Prongs." Remus pointed his wand at the parchment. "Irriconoscamente. - She won't know that it's your writing until you want her to. She'll just think that it's vaguely familiar."
James got up, hugged each one of his friends and climbed out of the portrait hole, the invisibility cloak clutched in one hand, the parchment in the other, and set off for the owlery.
"Now, what was that for?" Sirius stared after him in puzzlement.
"Guess he's just happy that he finally does something." Remus smiled knowingly. "Shall we go after him or do we give him some time to watch the stars and to dream with open eyes?"
"Speaking for myself, I am going to bed." Sirius yawned.
"Me too." Peter set off for the stair, closely followed by Sirius. Remus hesitated for a moment, then he decided to go to sleep as well.
***
Lily was awoken the next morning by a pretty brown owl who knocked her beak against the window of the girl's dorm. Moaning, she opened her eyes, got out of bed and opened the window for the bird who dropped a nice blue enveloppe on Nero's head, half hidden under Lily's cover. Nero awoke with a start and miaowed reproachfully, but the owl just nibbled Lily's finger gently and then soared out of the window again. Lily shook her head and wondered why it hadn't brought her the letter during breakfast, then she closed the window, wrapped a blanket around her and tore the letter open. On the enveloppe was written only her name in a handwriting she was sure she knew, but at the moment, she couldn't remember whose one it was. A piece of parchment, the same colour as the enveloppe, fell out of it. She unfolded it and stared for a few seconds at the lines, written in silvery ink.
Bush with heart-shaped leaves
Warm summer rain:
When a heavy drop falls
The whole leaf trembles.
That's how my heart trembles every time
Your name falls on it.
There was no signature, nothing that could help her to identify the writer, only the hand. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember who it belonged to. So who could have sent it to her? Her first thought was Steven, but she decided quickly that it couldn't be from him. Firstly, it was too good, and secondly, he'd have signed it to show her how wonderful he was. Lily knew that she wasn't fair, but when she thought of him, he annoyed her completely, every tiny little bit about him, from head to feet. Not only was he not very bright, he also happened to be one of the biggest show-offs she ever met. And, above all: He wasn't James. But if it wasn't Steven who had sent it to her, who was it? She knew who she wanted it to be, but that was wishful thinking, she had never seen James write any poems. Sirius? She laughed quietly at the very thought of Sirius writing a poem. Peter was even more ridiculous. At least, Sirius would have the ability to write a poem, though he would never write one.
So it was none of them. But she didn't knew the writing of any other boys. Was she just imagining that she knew it? Maybe it looked only similar to another one she knew. Lily sighed. If this was the case then she hadn't the faintest idea. Everyone could have sent it, even Snape. She giggled silently, then walked over to Sarah's bed and shook her awake. After all, it wasn't that early anymore, and what are friends for? It took her quite some time until Jessie as well as Sarah were able to understand any of her words, but when they did so eventually, both were wide awake and eager to read the poem. Both of them had a lot of ideas who could be the author, but as none recognized the writing, they couldn't really solve the puzzle, and so, after almost an hour of guessing, they finally set off for the Great Hall to get breakfast.
*****
Most of this part was written in my German and Physics lesson *snores quietly*, as a sort of occupational therapy. So if it's rather bad, don't blame me for it. It's all my teachers' fault. They were going on and on about things I a) know already by heart ("When I was young, school was much harder than today. And we had to work after our lessons. And we respected the older persons. And..." =In the past, everything was better.) or that b) don't interest me. Do I really want to know how how to calculate the force a bow can developpe? No, I don't! I mean, if the arrow flies 50 feet, it's fine with me. If it flies 200 feet, it's fine with me anyway. So why do I have to calculate it???
Er, sorry, this was not the topic. All I wanted to say is: Considering how boring this two lessons were, it's likely that something rubbed off on this part. Sorry!
Disclaimer: English's not my mother tongue. I don't live in Great Britain, not even in America. I'm not - and probably I'll never be - an English teacher, I am only an English student. I am neither a successful and brilliant author nor do I have any children. And if you still think - even after reading my story - that I might be Joanne K. Rowling, then I can't help you! - Oh, and the poem belongs to Erich Fried.
A last thank you goes to Sydney: Your constructive criticism helps me to improve my story!
- Saraléa