Sunshine If Eternal; James; Part 8
By Ginny :)
OK, here is part 8... read and review! Have a nice day!!!!
As a point of interest, JKRowling is writing 'Magical Beasts and Where To Find Them' for Comic Relief, which is 18th March. I can only guess as to whether they'll be out in the USA though. I don't know. They'll be out here [England. An please, no one ask me where Redwall or Hogsmeade are. I can tell you the way to Kings Cross, though. Assuming the trains aren't on ANOTHER strike... *sigh*....ANYWAY, All the money JK'll make from them will go to that charity. So say the tabloids.
Sorry this took so long, but I've been busy. Ish; busy- ish.
This is obviously set before James comes by his Invisibilty Cloak, by the way. It'll turn up sooner or later, though ;)
Ginny :)
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I'd been glad to escape from the last class of that particular Friday, at last, and I'd gone up to the Gryffindor common room with Sirius and Moony, to doss, when it came right down to it.
No exciting plan of action had presented itself, so we took to playing exploding snap, which is most definitely a game my Ma wouldn't approve of. Which just makes it far more fun to play, actually.
I was winning, when Gem decided to interrupt.
"Hey, Jennifer! I was hoping I'd find you here," she'd evidently been running. She'd gone pink and was breathing hard.
I looked up "Hello, yes? Want a game of Exploding Snap?"
She grinned. Whenever Gem grinned at me, I got the impression she was about to go for the neck, "No, thanks. And the fact you answer me when I call you Jennifer says a lot about you, you know. Hi Moony and Michelle, by the way."
They greeted her, not paying much attention. Probably seeing if they had any winning cards. Like they could beat me! Me! The Exploding Snap champion of the multiverse! MWAHAHAA! OK, I'll do myself a favour and shut up now. Sorry... moment of hyperness. Ahem. Face it; normality is boring. You can quote me on that, if you like.
"The fact that Sirius answers to people who shout 'oy, idiot' at anyone says a lot about him."
"True," she admitted, and then continued, talking fast "But look, I have to ask you something. I'm in rather a hurry."
"Ask it, then. I'm on a winning streak!"
"Shut up about your stupid game. We need your help."
"We?"
"Me, Ana, and, er, Lily..." she paused to see what I would make of this. I like Gem, and I don't mind Accentios [a/n; That's Ana to you. Because they're not real friends, they use surnames instead of firstnames, ok? Good.], but Evens... no. She's stuck up and opinionated! And as for that Norton kid! I have never met anyone as annoying in my life. I frowned at Gem.
"I'm not helping Lily Evens."
"You don't even know why, or what kind of help!"
"And nor do I want to. Look, can I just get back to the game?"
"We need an invisibility potion," Gem continued, as if I hadn't objected "And I know that you made some in potions the other and and kept it so as you could sneak into the kitchens and that, so--"
"Gem! I'm not giving Evens or Accentios or Norton any of my Invisibility potion!"
"You're going to go and get it now," she continued "and you're going to bring it back down with no tricks or jokes."
"I am?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because otherwise I'll cry." She threatened, faking
puppy eyes.
"Yeah, right. Pull the other, it's got bells on."
"Well then," she changed tactics, "you are going to go and get it, because you don't want to find your wand shoved up a very painful part of your anatomy."
"Ah." I resigned myself to fate.
I excused myself from the game of Exploding Snape, and ran up the stairs to the dormitory.
The dorm was cluttered with odd socks, suitcases, text books, and just about every sweet wrapper under the sun. Me and Sirius- or even Siruis and I- aren't exactly tidy, although Moony's spot in the room is conspicuously neat.
The walked over to my school bag, which lay on the floor, and searched through it, until I found the little magic- proof bottle of colourless liquid that was my Invisibility Potion. I'd been treasuring it; working potions are a rare occurrence in my cauldron, and I'd paid special attention to this one, so as it would be useable for a while yet. The bottle was still almost full. I pocketed it, and ran back down the stairs again.
"Come on. I'll explain more on the way."
"Need I come?"
"Yes. Stop moaning, you gumbo."
She grabbed my by the arm, and pulled me across the common room and though the gaping portrait hole "Ow, don't do that, it hurts," I pulled my arm out of her grasp. She told me to shut up about it. Typical.
She stopped me half way across the school grounds. I was breathing hard, and still nursing my arm. I had better things to do then being pulled around the school in the freezing cold by a mad moron with a runny nose. I told her this. She hit me.
"Stop complaining. Look, I stopped here for a reason, dolt."
"Like what?"
"Like; you mustn't tell anyone about this. At all. Not a sausage. Got it?"
"Er-"
"If you do," she assured me, "Your wand will wish it had never been born."
"OK," I agreed, reluctantly. I didn't know why I put up with her, really I didn't. Actually, it's because I like my body parts as they are, i.e; in one piece.
"Good," she paused, "because we've found a firewitch."
"A fire-? You're kidding!"
"No, really we have. And now you're in on it, you can't back out."
"Er, but, but aren't they supposed to be, well. You know... Dangerous?" I looked at her sceptically. OK, so Gem mightn't be the fluffiest bunny in the hutch, but surely, a firewitch would have had no problem blasting her into little pieces?
"S'posed to be, yes. But they're not really. Come on, you'll see for yourself when we get there..." and she was off again. Didn't she get tired? Or was she on some kind of energy giving spell?
"Gem! Wait!" I moaned, as I ran to catch up with her, "I've got a stitch."
"Don't... be a... wimp..." she panted "we're... nearly there... by... those bushes..." she pointed.
Yes, I could definitely see Evens and Accentios near by. Accentios was sitting on the ground, with her hands clasped round her leg. Evens saw me and Gem, and stood up, waving, as if she needed to attract our attention.
Gem arrived, with me following a few meters behind her. God, she must be fit to run like that!
"Hi," I greeted them.
Evens looked at me, as though I was something that had just died on her shoe.
"Why did you have to get him involved?" she complained, loudly.
"He's got an invisibility potion. Perdita can use it, right?"
"Well, why'd he have to come?"
"It's only fair," Gem explained. I stood there like a lemon, waiting to find out what would happen next.
"It's not fair." Evens objected.
"Look, can we get on with this," I interrupted, "I'm freezing cold. Call me stupid, but I don't fancy becoming a human ice cube."
"No one asked you, Potter," Evens glowered.
"I don't need your permission to speak, you know, Evens," I objected.
"Shut up all of you," Gem put in, breaking up the argument temporarily, "and get on with it. Jennifer, say hi to Perdita."
"Where is she?" I couldn't see anyone. At all.
"In the bush."
"Er... OK." I walked hesitantly over to the nearest bunch of shrubs. I peered over, and was more then a little surprised to see that there was, indeed, a girl sitting there. When she saw me, and immediately tensed out of the position she had been in, and her hand made a motion towards a wand, that stuck out of her pocket.
I said "er..."
Gem interrupted. She always seemed to be on top of everything. Was it just me, or did she always seem to know everything?! "Look, Perdita, this is Jennifer. Jennifer, this is Perdita. Perdita, Jennifer is going to help us."
The girl, Perdita, gave a wan smile that didn't look as though it belonged on her face.
"Hello, Jennifer. Thankyou for offering to help. It was ever so kind of you."
"I, er, wouldn't say that offered was quite the word- ow!" I shut up when Gem dug her elbow into my ribs.
"Well, it was still very kind of you."
"Thanks. No problemo. Glad to help you, you know," I wittered.
Accentios spoke for the first time then "Gem, you do know
that you're getting all our lives in danger with this?"
"Yep," said Gem, not sounding the slightest bit worried.
She uncorked the bottle of potion with her teeth, and passed it
over to Perdita, who I was staring at unwittingly. It's not every
day you see a firewitch... and... what on earth was she doing
at Hogwarts? Why had Gem, Evens and Accentios taken it upon themselves
to help her? I knew very little of firewitches, besides the fact
they were dangerous, and apparently psychotic killers. Perdita
didn't look like a psychotic killer. She looked... like a girl.
A dirty, bedraggled, unhappy girl. Maybe it was all part of a
spell she might have begun to weave, maybe not, but some how she
managed to convince me and these three girls into helping her
for no good reson. At the time, it seemed the only thing to do.
If it was indeed a spell, it didn't work on Accentios. Not a bit of it. But that's just typical.
"Jennifer, how strong'd you make you potion?" Gem asked me.
" Pretty strong," I replied, with truth, "a swig should make you disappear for 1/2 a hour."
"Why should we trust you dodgy potions?" Evens objected.
"Do you have a choice?" I pointed out.
"Well-"
"No. So, full steam ahead, right?"
"Oh, be quiet." She snapped.
"Make me!" I challenged her, giving her an evil look.
"I would, but it wouldn't be a reasonable use of my time and resources," she told me.
"When you've all stopped arguing!" Gem shouted, annoyed, "we can get on with reality! Right. Perdita, take a good mouthful of this stuff. If it poisons you, which is likely, blame Jennifer."
"Thanks."
"You can't deny it, though," she turned to me.
"No," I admitted, "I wasn't denying it."
"Good."
Perdita raised the bottle to her lips. I was amazed she trusted us enough to do even that. I suppose, if it had have been poison, she'd have had nothing to lose, except her wand, and that filthy robe.
Sad, really.
As it happened, the potion was as it should be; successful.
"You there, Perdita?"
"Yes."
"OK, don't wander off. You're coming up to the castle, alright?"
"Alright. Thankyou."
Evens turned to me, petulantly "Right, that's done. Now go away."
"Don't be daft," Gem rebuked her "he's in on it now, isn't he. Can't just let him go off and not have any more responsibility for it, or he'll tell. That's human nature, for you. You'll have to learn to like him."
And I swear, it was like the Gypsy's curse.
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The end of this part!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please do r/r!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
Incidentally, when this series has been finished, and I begin 'Lily and James' 5th series, there has been a plot change... Tizz is no more... however, there is a certain someone instead who you will probably recognise... ;) You'll know soon enough.
Ginny :)
