Lauralie Black and the Cloak of Destiny (YEAR 1)
Chapter 7: Celebration
"That was awesome Lucius," Rita Skeeter cooed.
The common room was packed with green-clad, overzealous Slytherins all ready to celebrate their victory over Ravenclaw. Rita seemed most pleased with Lucius and Severus, she had been fawning all over them for nearly and hour now. She had her arms draped across Severus' shoulder, pressing herself up against him.
"No one saw it coming," she squealed, "Lucius and Severus were awesome, don't you think Lauralie?"
Narcissa rolled her eyes.
"Yes, they did quite well," Lauralie agreed. "Want to go get some punch Cissa?"
Narcissa nodded and dragged her friend from the area.
"Can you believe that?" she hissed, shoving a cup of punch into Lauralie's hand so forcibly that a great deal of it sloshed onto the floor.
"That's just the way Rita is," Lauralie said, "She feeds off other people's glory."
"Yeah, but Lucius' glory!" she growled, "Who practiced with him for hours on end? ME! Who's been backing him all along? ME!"
"Is that jealousy I hear in your voice Narcissa?" Lauralie asked. "Besides, I wouldn't be worrying over Lucius, it seems to be Severus she wants to sink her nails into."
"And you don't mind that? You're going to let her steal him from right under your nose?"
"What are you on about? Sev and I are friends. He can see who ever he wants," she answered. "I have no claim on him."
Narcissa looked at her incredulously. Before she could respond, however, Severus appeared at her elbow. "Who can date who ever he wants?"
"No one," Lauralie answered. "I see you've lost your lovely necklace, did Rita find someone else to hang on?"
"Oh, she moved onto Lucius and-"
"What?" Narcissa let out a strangled cry and rushed off.
Severus laughed.
"You did great Sev," Lauralie said. "Rita's quite right to be taken with you."
"She's not the one I want to be taken with me," he said. "Listen, Lauralie I was wondering-"
"Have you seen Argus?" an anxious voice interjected.
It was Katia. She was shifting her weight from one foot to the other and then back.
"I'm just worried, he stayed back from the game to work on charms, and no one can find him anywhere," she said.
"Oh, that pathetic little squib?" Rita laughed cruelly, appearing swiftly, like a pesky insect that couldn't be swatted away. "I saw him in the potions dungeon, sobbing a few minutes ago. Poor little thing," she sneered contemptuously. "I hear he's leaving school because he can't do magic."
Lauralie stared at her, stunned. She'd known of Argus Filch's struggles in class. But to call him a Squib? It was such a cold, hard, mean spirited word…
"I'm going to find him," Lauralie hissed, and stalked off before anyone could disagree with her.
Severus sighed.
"Ooh, Sevi why don't you come sit with me?" Rita cajoled, dragging him away from Katia.
~~~~
There was a voice emanating from the Potions classroom as Lauralie approached it.
"It is not my fault Kitty," it cried. "I try and I try but nothing happens! No spells work for me… nothing requiring personal magic succeeds…"
So he is a squib! There was a feeling of sorrow settling into Lauralie's stomach. She had always liked Argus. He was warm and helpful, even to the Gryffindors whom most Slytherins despised. He had quite a mind for History, and had helped Lauralie with her History of Magic homework more than once. She stepped into the doorway to see that he was talking to Mrs. Norris, her own lamp-eyed cat.
"Argus, are you all right?" she asked, inching into the room.
He jumped back, and jerked his hand away from Mrs. Norris.
"I'm sorry, I know this is your cat, I just…" he stammered.
"It's okay Argus," she answered. "She seems to have taken to you."
He nodded silently. His eyes seemed red and puffy. Lauralie suddenly realized he'd been crying.
"What's wrong Argus?" she asked again. "You can tell me…"
He looked up at her with glassy eyes as Mrs. Norris curled up in his lap, purring to her hearts content. Lauralie was amazed; Mrs. Norris never took to anyone. She still hissed at Severus whenever he got too close.
"I'm leaving Hogwarts," he said, looking at the floor.
"What? Why?"
"Oh come off it Lauralie," he said, "Everyone knows I'm a squib. Everyone knows I can't do magic. That's why I don't have any friends"
Lauralie sighed. "Argus, you're my friend, even if you can't do magic! That doesn't matter," she said.
"Sometimes, I wish I'd just been born a Muggle," he said. "I don't have magic anyway, at least then I wouldn't know what I was missing out on. So now I have to go home and sit around my house while my parents get on with their magical business and I am left all alone."
Lauralie sighed. She looked down at her cat. She hadn't seen the lamp-eyed feline so content in such a long time. She knew what to do.
"Argus, why don't you take Mrs. Norris with you?"
"Oh no, I couldn't possibly…" he answered, his voice trailing off longingly.
"No, I insist. Then you won't be alone. And I know she'll be in good hands."
He smiled. It was the first time she had ever seen the meek, tortured boy before her smile so widely. "Thank you so much Lauralie, I'll never ever forget this."
Lauralie reached down and scratched the cat behind the ears. "You take good care of him you hear," she whispered, before kissing her furry forehead. She then hugged Argus. "Good luck Argus, I'm sure we'll meet again."
Argus Filch smiled once more, then scooped up his new cat and strode somberly from the room.
Lauralie walked slowly out into the corridor. It appeared abandoned, but she soon discovered otherwise. Voices murmured up ahead of her.
"It's got to be here somewhere," a body-less voice whispered. "The Slytherins always head this way after Potions."
"Maybe this isn't such a good idea," a second voice toned in. "The Slytherins aren't going to be very happy with us."
"The Slytherins are never happy with us," added a third voice. "Especially Severus and Lucius."
"God it is cramped under here," the first voice said.
"Because this cloak was made for one person," hissed the third voice.
Suddenly, Lauralie realized who was in front of her, searching for the Slytherin common room. It was her brother and his friends. How many times had Sirius told her of James' invisibility cloak? She followed them as they passed by the entrance to the Slytherin common room, listening to the almost silent shuffling feet. As she came level with the stone entrance it slid open and Severus stepped into the corridor in front of her.
He opened up his mouth to speak but she shushed him. She leaned close to him and whispered into his ear what was going on.
He smiled an evil smile and Lauralie wondered if she would have been better off to keep her mouth closed.
Severus leaned over and whispered in her ear. "So they want to give us Slytherin's a nice surprise, eh?" he said in his most oily voice. "I ought to call Professor Lestrange, let her handle it…"
"Severus, don't get them into trouble," Lauralie hissed. "Besides, they already passed the common room, and getting lost in the dungeons will be punishment enough. Besides, wasn't there something you wanted to talk to me about?"
Lauralie could practically see the inner conflict battling its way out in Severus' brain. "No," he whispered finally, "We can talk anytime. This, however, is a once in a life time opportunity."
"Opportunity to do what?"
"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" Severus shouted, pointing his wand down the corridor.
There were muffled shouts and a thump. Severus rushed down the hallway and felt the ground till he found the paralyzed group of Gryffindors. He whipped the cloak off of them just as Lauralie reached where he was.
There, lying on the floor, their eyes wide with surprise, were James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black. In one of their hands was a Zonko's bag. Severus reached down and wrenched it from Peter's hand.
"Dung Bombs," he said, "Loads of them. They were planning on crashing our party."
Lauralie sighed. "I wonder where Remus is…"
"Right here," answered a voice from behind them. Both turned to see Remus Lupin striding down the corridor towards them. "I thought I'd come and see what those three were up to."
"How responsible of you," Severus said, his voice getting more and more oily by the minute.
"Yes, well, I don't suppose responsibility is something you know a lot about, is it Snape," Remus hissed.
"Remus!" Lauralie exclaimed. "That's enough."
"Sorry Lauralie," he said, bowing his head slightly, "I should not use such wretched words in front of a lady."
Severus was glaring at him now.
But Remus was not done. He bent down and kissed Lauralie gently on her hand.
Now Severus' eyes were shooting daggers and Lauralie knew that she needed to get him out of there.
"Finite Incantatem," she commanded and the three young men sprang to life again. "Well, I do hope you three have learned your lesson. You can't pull the wool over a Slytherin's eyes. Or an invisibility cloak for that matter."
"We'll take those back," James said, reaching for the Dung Bombs.
" 'Fraid not," Severus said, jerking his hand out of reach. "They're ours now."
"That's not fair," Sirius hissed, he rolled up his sleeves and drew out his wand.
Lauralie reached for the bag and plucked it easily out of Severus' hands.
"Are you going to fight me for them, brother?" she asked.
He scowled at this. He wasn't very happy that Lauralie was picking up her behaviors from Severus Snape.
"Fine," he snapped, "Let's go."
Special thanks to my brand new Beta reader Draicana!! This chapter wouldn't be half as good if it wasn't for her.
J. L. Matthews was the first to sign up for my yahoo group therefore she will get to read chapter 8 before every one else. WOO HOO!
I am still mourning the crisis that occurred just two days ago. It is an event that I will never ever forget. My heart goes out to all of those who lost friends and family. I would like to thank al of those friends from other countries who have said king words and have joined us in our grief. This is not just a tragedy of the United States, this is affecting the world!!
Thank you. I hope you've enjoyed the chapter.
---Lauren Snape