Lilacs In November--Part Three



DISCLAIMER: See the previous chapter if you really want to read this. For that matter, see a psychiatrist. What sane person reads these anyway? *ducks back under desk to avoid fruit thrown by angry disclaimer-readers*

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Chapter Nine
Leaving

"Who's more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows him?" Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars

     "Harry, if we are late and I don't meet Padma, Lavender, and Parvati in time, the first chance I get I will turn you into an ant and fry you with your own glasses lenses," growled Delilah as she stood outside of the bathroom. Harry was inside, doing his hair and God-knows-what-else in preparation of meeting Cho at King's Cross.
     "I'm almost done. Keep your shirt on," replied Harry.
     "No, no, no... you see, I need a shower, and I don't take showers with my shirt on," said Delilah pleasantly. "But you, my dear, shall soon be taking one with yours on should you take too much longer."
     The door swung open and Harry stood there, goo in his hair, obviously trying to weigh it down. It was no use; his hair still went every which way. "All right, fine, you can have the bloody bathroom!" he yelled, stalking down the hall.
     "Thank you, Princess," called Delilah sweetly, going inside and shutting the door. Looking in distaste at the messy counter, she swept everything out of the way and set her clothes down. Turning the water on, she cursed as it hit her. Someone--a someone with black hair and green eyes, Delilah would bet--had used all the hot water. "Princess," she said sweetly, "think you could find Sirius and have him conjure up some hot water? It seems to be gone, yet for a worthy cause... getting rid of your BO."
     Harry told her where to put the suggestion, how to do it, and in what direction. "Why Harry... that's broomstick abuse!" gasped Delilah. She ducked her head back inside the door just in time to avoid being hit by his sneaker. "Love you too, Princess," muttered Delilah as she took the quickest shower known to man and dressed. She wore simple clothes--jeans, sweater, sneakers. As always, she wore her black opal, but tucked behind her shirt so as not to draw attention. Most people would do a lot of things for a gem like this--stealing at the bottom of the list of bad things.
     She breezed downstairs, where Sirius and Harry were sitting at the table. "Morning, Sirius, Princess," she greeted them.
     Sirius snorted into his eggs. "'Princess'?" Harry glared at them both.
     "Yes, Princess. He spent an hour and a half in that bathroom, used all of the hot water, about two tubes of glue, or whatever is on his hair, and... my God, something reeks," she said, plugging her nose as she poured cereal into a bowl. "Why'd you use all the hot water if you ended up taking a bath in cologne?"
     "At least I took pains with my appearance," Harry shot back. "At least I have someone to look good for."
     Writing off Harry's somewhat hurtful comments to agitation, Delilah said comfortingly, "Don't worry, Harry; not only am I not after Cho, I won't tell her how long you took in the bathroom." She grinned widely. "But I'm still going to call you Princess. Just not in front of a crowd of people. I do have a heart, you know."
     "Heart my bleeding h--" started Harry, but Sirius interrupted.
     "Harry, she's just trying to get your goat. I should know; Lily did it to us all the time. And you're just as sensitive to it as James was."
     "Yeah, Princess. Listen to the old gu--kidding," said Delilah hastily when Sirius lifted his wand at her. "I'm happy with blue hair--no need for blue spots too." She ran a hand through her hair, accentuating the two blue streaks that still clung to her black hair. "By the way, you get to explain to McGonagall what happened. Flitwick shouldn't mind; he'll think I'm showing house spirit, I hope. But if McGonagall faints in Transfiguration..."
     "...I'll take pictures?" finished Sirius helpfully.
     "Ha. Funny." Finishing her corn flakes in record time, Delilah took Ryo for a quick walk around Hogsmeade, to work off some energy before the long train ride. With luck he'd sleep--but Delilah wasn't lucky when it came to quieting down her dog.
     When they came back, Delilah saw that all of their things were in the back of a wizard cab. "Not bad," she said with a nod.
     "Not bad at all," said Harry, coming up behind her. "Look, I'm sorry about the whole thing this morning. I just..." He blushed a deep red.
     "No problem... Princess," said Delilah with a wicked grin. She dove into the cab, laughing and dodging him.
     Scooting over in the seat, she allowed Sirius in. Next came Harry, looking a wee bit disgruntled, though not as bad as he'd been. "Keep in mind, I have an inside person in your house," he said.
     "And I have friends all around," smiled Delilah serenely. She held her arm out of the window, and a robin perched on it. He pecked her hand affectionately, and flew off.
     "Now that we're done debating on who can get who back the best... King's Cross Station, please," Sirius told the driver. Tipping his hat to Sirius, the driver started his car and went. Delilah looked back for a couple of minutes, watching the house go. When it was gone, she turned back around, knowing she wouldn't find so much acceptance at Hogwarts as she had here.

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Chapter Ten
Return of the Jedi Platform

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." Albert Einstein

     Wizard cabs were definitely more fun than Muggle ones, Delilah decided. While the wizard cab looked on the outside like any other cab in London, the inside was filled with all sorts of neat gadgets. A meter in the passenger seat counted up the fee in both pounds and Wizard money. Instead of kilometers per hour, Delilah saw that the speedometer went from "Hurry it up, slowpoke!" to "Slow down! You're going to hit an old Muggle woman!" A green light on the dashboard flashed every now and then whenever they got close to a red light; instantly, the lights would change to green and they'd be on their way without having to stop. All in all, quite a way to travel.
     "Dudley got a girlfriend," said Harry out of nowhere. Delilah's eyes widened.
     "What?!" By now, she'd heard all about Harry's piggish, dull cousin--except for this. "Who?"
     "Goes to a school near him. Her name's Hortense. She's near as big as him, and just as mean. She visited once... she's why I came to Sirius's earlier than I would've," said Harry.
     "Hortense Dursley," murmured Delilah, shaking her head. "I'd hate to see their children. Ten to one they'd come out as piglets or baby whales or something." She shuddered at the thought, as did Harry.
     "We're here," announced the cabbie. "That'll be two Galleons and ten Sickles." Sirius gave him three Galleons and a Sickle. Once their things were out of the cab, the driver tipped his hat at them and he and his cab promptly Disapparated to the residence of his next customer.
     "Well... I'd think you mighty sixth-years know the way from here," said Sirius. Delilah was confused for a moment--why wouldn't he be coming along?--then realization set in. Although he'd been proven innocent, many a person would still feel him a threat. Old habits died hard.
     On a burst of courage, Delilah flung her arms around him. "Thank you, Sirius... for everything," she whispered.
     Sirius hugged her back. "You'd better not forget to write me," he threatened.
     "Never!" said Delilah in a fake tone. She saw his hand drop toward his wand and backed away, saying, "You can't curse me... we're in a public place."
     "Aren't we suspicious?" said Sirius, pulling out two packages from his pocket. He handed one to each of them. "Don't open these until you're on the train," he instructed. "Now, Harry, come give your old godfather a hug."
     Smiling, Delilah went to get trolleys, letting them have a "private moment". She came back with two and put each of their individual things on them. Picking up Ryo, she paused and looked at the cute little face. "Ryo... what would you say to spending the term with your Uncle Sirius? You'll be safer, and I can visit you... and he'll want the company, I think."
     Ryo licked her nose and wagged his tail. Picking up his bag, she walked back to Sirius. "Er, Sirius... a favor?"
     He looked at the dog and its holder oddly, but nodded. "If I can."
     She bit her lip. "Do you... do you think you could keep Ryo with you for the term? He'll be safer with a full-fledged wizard and a rampaging hippogriff to protect him... you know, just in case somebody gets... notions." Like Pansy Parkinson, thought Delilah darkly. She knew for a fact that the Slytherin girl hated her guts. To harm Delilah, she wouldn't stop at animal abuse.
     "Well... all right," said Sirius. He took the dog and his bag of stuff. "You're going to visit him, right?"
     "Every official Hogsmeade visit... and some not-so-official ones," said Delilah, whispering the last part. "Sirius, I really appreciate this. Thanks."
     "No problem," he said, ruffling her hair. "You two had better go."
     The two teenagers pushed their trolleys inside, waving back to Sirius. They idly chatted until they went through the barrier, then parted ways--Harry to his Gryffindor friends, Delilah to her Ravenclaw ones. They both needed a break from each other after a solid month together.
     Looking around, she saw a familiar plait of black hair with silver woven into it. That was Padma--she wore silver in her hair, Parvati wore gold. It was almost the only way to tell them apart.
     "Padma!" she called. Padma Patil turned and smiled at her best friend, then came toward her, pulling her trolley behind her. The two girls embraced.
     "How was your summer? Where's Ryo? Oh my God... your hair!" exclaimed Padma.
     "Slow down!" laughed Delilah. "The second half of my summer was great, Ryo is staying with Sirius, and Sirius cursed me one too many times. Some people just can't take a joke." She sniffed delicately.
     As always, she felt the eyes on her--people staring at the freak. It had started last year, after the battle with the Death Eaters, and apparently hadn't let up much over the summer. She'd gotten used to it by now, but was still painfully aware she wouldn't be winning too many popularity contests. She had her true friends, though, and that was all that mattered.
     "All right, young lady... what was this about a chance of a lifetime?" asked a familiar voice behind her. She turned to see Brett standing there, hands on hips, a grin on his face. She'd owled him just yesterday about the diary, but hadn't mentioned it just in case someone else read it.
     "Well, I'm not going to get it out here!" she said. "Find me on the first weekend... I'll show you then. It's worth the wait, trust me." A sharp pain occurred on the back of her calf. She turned to look at Padma, who was giving her an "introduce me" sort of look. "Oh! Brett, this is Padma Patil, my best friend. Padma, this is Brett Levine, the new languages teacher. Will we be calling you Professor?" she asked him.
     "Yeah, I'll be Professor Levine," he said, making it sound official. "Good to meet you, Padma. Sorry to cut it short, but..." He tapped his watch.
     "Bye Br--I mean, Professor Levine," called Delilah.
     "Bye," called Padma. Once he was out of earshot, Padma stared at Delilah. "How in the heck did you meet him?"
     "You know Tom at the Leaky Cauldron? Or at least who he is?" Padma nodded. "Brett is his grandson."
     "Lucky," said Padma.
     "Riddle! Patil Number Two! Over here!" Lavender Brown's voice carried extremely well over the din of various people and animals.
     "That's our cue," grinned Delilah. They pulled their trolleys toward the voice.

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Chapter Eleven
Gossip

"It's good to shut up sometimes." Marcel Marceau *Dying... the irony... it's killing me...*

     Inside the compartment were Lavender, Parvati, Lisa Turpin, and Mandy Brocklehurst. Delilah was friends with them all... for the most part.
     "Talked to any birds lately, Lila?" joked Lisa.
     "Actually, yes," grinned Delilah. "There was this nice, big vulture... said he'd really love to meet you."
     Lisa cringed; Delilah grinned toothily and put her trunk up. She liked her friends and all, but damn if they weren't easy to freak out. Especially where birds were involved.
     "So, where's the mutt?" asked Mandy, chewing on a wad of gum. Mandy highly disliked dogs, and had barely tolerated Ryo's presence.
     "Staying with Sirius for the term," replied Delilah, her smile fading a little. She missed her little dog... but it was better this way, she knew.
     "Ah, yes, Sirius... were you terribly frightened to be staying with him?" asked Lavender.
     "Why would I be?" asked Delilah, bristling a little. "Sirius wouldn't harm a fly."
     "Still, he does have a sort of mysterious, dangerous air about him... kinda sexy," giggled Parvati. It took a supreme act of will for Delilah not to roll her eyes at the other Patil, then maybe slap her soundly.
     Before Delilah could change the subject discreetly, Lisa said, "Wonder if she's seen him in his knickers?"
     This sent everyone but Delilah into giggles. "That's a good question," said Mandy. "Have you?"
     "I lived with the man for a month, Mandy," sighed Delilah. "So, yes, I did, but I wasn't exactly poking around, trying to catch him prancing around the cottage half-naked."
     "Well?" said Padma.
     "Well what?"
     "How did he look?"
     "Please. He's, like, an uncle or something. I'm not the world's authority on how hot Sirius Black is," replied Delilah.
     Parvati leaned forward. "All right... view him, in your mind, as if you were me. Is he hot?"
     Delilah scratched her chin thoughtfully. "Let's see... he's not missing limbs... he's clean... is that all of your criteria, or does he have to be breathing too?"
     Parvati groaned in exasperation. "Come on... just answer the question, Riddle. Stop dancing around it."
     "I don't dance," said Delilah primly. "At all. And I'm not telling you. You'll just have to jump him yourself and... rip off his clothes or something." The thought made her blush. She hid it by looking down to examine her shirt and make sure it "wasn't mussed".
     Lavender, Parvati, Mandy, and Lisa all looked terribly disappointed. "There, there, girls... there's always the new language teacher," said Padma. "Have you guys seen him?"
     Delilah shot Padma a grateful look--which quickly changed to one of irritation at her best friend's next comment. "Delilah knows him, and has already staked claim."
     "I have not!" exclaimed Delilah.
     "You know him?" gasped Parvati. "You lucky thing!"
     "Not that well," demurred Delilah. "I just went shopping with him one day, in Diagon Alley. Besides, he's a teacher, I'm a student. In everyone's eyes, I might as well date... Flitwick or something."
     "I don't know... he's kind of short," mused Lisa.
     Delilah's eyes widened. "Lisa! How would you know... that's disgusting!"
     "Oh, calm down, Feather Girl," said Lisa with a grin. "I don't need that many extra points in Charms."
     "Not to mention you'd throw your back out trying to snog him," muttered Mandy. This sent the five girls into another fit of giggles. Delilah got the feeling her fellow Hogwarts females had become a little dirtier over the summer.
     After the laughter died, Lavender turned to Delilah and said, "All right, details."
     "What?" Delilah was confused.
     Lavender sighed. "Details about your date with the new prof, of course! By the way, what's his name?"
     "Professor Levine," said Delilah firmly. "And if you're asking if we snogged, we didn't."
     "Well, of course not... you're the girl next door that happens to sport a chastity belt," said Lisa.
     "Shut it, Lisa," growled Padma at the girl. Turning to Delilah, she said, "Just... give us a play-by-play or something."
     So Delilah did, starting with when she'd first met him in the Leaky Cauldron, then when he'd helped her with Lucius Malfoy, and ending with the ice cream in Florean's. "I think he fancies you," said Parvati when Delilah was done.
     Delilah snorted. "If only!" She paused, then said, "I want you all to promise, on your deathbeds, that you won't talk about this to anyone. Not only would it be slightly embarrassing, but it could get him into serious trouble." She looked at them pleadingly. "Please."
     The other five exchanged looks. "We promise," said Parvati, speaking for them all.
     "Thanks," said Delilah, mentally sighing with relief. She knew that, while they may be a little flighty and gossipy, once they gave their word, they'd keep it. It was a point of pride.
     Suddenly, Delilah cried out. It felt as if someone was hitting her. "Lila, what's wrong?" asked Padma concernedly.
     Controlling the flash of pain, Delilah centered her thoughts. "Someone's hurting a winged animal around here somewhere," she gasped, gritting her teeth. "And if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find out who--though I've an excellent idea." Taking out her wand, Delilah exited the compartment, walking toward the source of pain. This was the first time this had happened... why? She aimed to find out... after she zapped a certain Slytherin girl.

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Chapter Twelve
Silver Eggs and Slytherins

"It is better that ten guilty escape than one innocent suffer." William Blackstone

     Not even bothering to knock, Delilah flung open the door of the compartment. Sitting in a circle, hitting something in the center with flashes of light, were Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bulstrode, and Lucinda Nott, three Slytherin sixth-years.
     "Well, look here... it's the Bird-Girl," sneered Pansy.
     "I'm in no mood to banter with you," growled Delilah. "Let it go, or else I swear on Merlin's beard, I'll get every professor in the world in here to see this."
     Lucinda's voice was mocking. "You think they'll believe you? The little Wingspeaker?"
     Delilah didn't even reply to the girl. Instead, she focused her energy on the... thing the three girls had been torturing. Little one, what is your name and nature? she asked kindly.
     Images came at her mind--those of a babe, struggling to get free. Looking closer at the object, Delilah saw that it was an egg of sorts. An oval, silver egg. They'd been trying to kill whatever was inside the egg, as was evidenced by scorch marks.
     With a summoning spell, Delilah brought the egg into her arms. Jaw tight with anger, she exited the room, ignoring the girls's protests. They could go boil their heads.
     She walked through the compartments, going back to the one she was in. "Hey, Riddle--" started Malfoy with a sneer.
     Delilah gave him the same suggestion Harry had given her earlier that involved broomstick creativity and perversion. She never stopped, elbowing through the doors, holding the egg close to her. As she walked, she used her healing power to mend all she could. She made sure to hold her black opal under her shirt, although she didn't think her baby... whatever had too many deep, secret memories. She did, however, make sure to leave the scorch marks on the shell, as the three Slytherins would be sure to raise a fuss.
     The pain Delilah had felt was replaced by a warm content. Somehow, Delilah knew whatever was inside the egg was happy. That brought her to another thought... what was in there? Delilah looked for the creature's essence. That of birds was mostly brown, though some were red, blonde, or black. Butterflies were rainbow...
     What she saw made her cry out in shock and the fifth-years in her compartment give her an odd look. This creature was... different. It was a mixture of black and copper, with strands of silver and gold here and there. Smiling apologetically at the students, she burst into her compartment.
     "What in the..?" said Padma. That seemed to be the group statement.
     "It's an egg of some sort... an egg containing something very, very weird," said Delilah. "Pansy, Millicent, and Lucinda were singeing it with light spells... seemed to think it was amusing."
     The expression of distaste was shared in the group. There was no love lost between them and those particular Slytherins. Delilah felt that some of the Slytherins were actually decent, but she shoved that from her mind as she told the story of what had happened--including her comment to Draco.
     "You... you said... that... to Draco Malfoy?" exclaimed Mandy.
     Delilah looked pensive. "Well, I might have told him to make it salsa-dance while it was at it, but yes, that's the gist. Why are you so affronted?"
     "Hello!" said Lisa. "Draco Malfoy... rich, talented, hot... are we ringing any bells?"
     "Rude, crass, cowardly, spoiled... how about those bells?" retorted Delilah. "And don't even tell me about giving the prat a chance. I did. I was so nice to him in Herbology that it hurt my teeth. And how did he repay me?" She looked at them expectantly.
     "He poured Insta-Sprouter on you and you were growing alfalfa sprouts all over your body for a week," sighed Mandy. "But maybe he was having a bad day!"
     "Lesson one in anatomy for this term, Mandy: Men don't get PMS." They all looked at each other... then promptly cracked up.
     "Can you imagine Malfoy buying feminine products?" gasped Parvati.
     Padma went into a dead-on imitation, standing and shuffling, looking down. "Uh, yes, two boxes of, er, those thingies..." This sent the girls into another bout of laughter.
     "Well, I'm glad you girls find something amusing," came a cold voice from the door. The six girls abruptly stopped. Professor Snape tended to have that effect on people. "Miss Riddle, I just received a report from Misses Parkinson, Bulstrode, and Nott about an egg you stole from them?" Delilah kept silent, until she knew Snape was done. "Perhaps you could tell your version, out here in the doorway."
     Nodding, Delilah stood. Noticing her friends looked concerned, she mouthed three letters that sent them into concealed snorts of laughter. As soon as Snape shut the door behind them, the laughter became full-flown.
     "They do that whenever I leave the room," said Delilah carelessly. "In fact--"
     "I'm waiting, Miss Riddle." Snape's tone meant business. Sighing, Delilah told the story, from the pang of pain to bringing the egg back with her.
     Snape stroked his goatee. "I see. And why should I believe you over them? Couldn't you have made the scorch marks just as easily, with your own wand?"
     Delilah practically turned purple with anger. "I would never," she growled. "I'd sooner shoot myself in the foot with a jet of fire. Besides, you could easily do Prior Incantato on all four of us, to see who was recently shooting fire at eggs." She opened her mouth to say more, but Snape shushed her.
     "Which I did as soon as I heard them finish. Needless to say, Miss Parkinson has lost possession of the egg, and the three of them warned never to do something as such again." Did those cold black eyes of his just flash with... a Dumbledore-esque twinkle? "Now, there is another matter. Young Mr. Malfoy says you said something quite rude to him, involving a broomstick and a certain part of his anatomy. Do you deny it?"
     "No," said Delilah immediately. "All truth told, I enjoyed it immensely. And, sir, while I serve my detention, if I'm grinning wildly, it will be for that very reason."
     "Very well, Miss Riddle; detention next Monday night, in my office," said Snape. Delilah nodded and turned to go. "Oh, and Miss Riddle?" She glanced at him. "I'm not sure if your suggestion would be anatomically possible... but it might be interesting to see attempted."
     "Oh, I don't know... a Flexibility Tonic could work wonders," grinned Delilah. "See you in class." She went back inside the compartment. Her friends looked surprised to see her alive.
     "Well?" prompted Padma.
     Delilah sighed. "A detention, next Friday night. I do believe I just got the first detention of the year."
     "A detention? That's it? One detention?"
     "Delilah shrugged. "He did a Prior Incantato, and it showed they'd done something. Apparently, my story confirmed it. They got a verbal warning. Anyway, that's not what I got the detention for. It was for what I said to Malfoy."
     "Oh." Padma sat back. "Well, still, I'd think Snape would punish you harder... even if you are excellent in Potions."
     Delilah could feel her ears turn red at the praise. "Maybe he won the lottery or something," she suggested. Her train of thought was promptly derailed by the sound of wheels on floor. "The tea cart's coming!"
     Any other comments on Delilah's light punishment were quickly immersed in pumpkin juice and Cauldron Cakes, and quickly forgotten. As Delilah ate a rum-flavored bean, she stroked her egg, which seemed to thrum with life. "Hope not all of my days this year are so exciting," she murmured, to herself and her new, not-yet-born charge. "I'd get an arrythmia." The six girls talked until they reached Hogwarts.

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     "Flexibility Tonic"... *snorts* Oh, right. This is where I put the cryptic little message or whatever. *clears throat* In the next part, we find out what's inside Delilah's lovely new... egg. I shall endeavour to make more chaos... wait, too much already! *laughs; crickets chirp* Oh. Well. Um. Review? ~Phoenix