Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah. Oh, and I should have said this a long time ago, but thanks for those who reviewed my story so far. Only I understand if you find this chapter pretty useless and not satisfying… I'm really stressed out over my quarterly exams! But please review, tell me if I should change it or if it doesn't make any sense or something. Thanks, and I'll stop whining now. ^_^
Chapter 16: Strike Two
"Are you ready yet?" Celeste demanded after fifteen more minutes.
"Like I was the one who bossed me around to do my hair up," Chase shot back, finishing a neat braid that ran all across the front (above the forehead) of her hair. She snapped the end of the braid with a barrette near her left sideburn. Lily had left a few minutes ago, tired of waiting around for her friends. Chase began to make another row behind the first braid from the opposite starting point of the latter, creating the effect of a built-in double-layered hair band. She had again highlighted her hair so that violet and pink strands intermingled with the 'hair accessory.'
"Well, it's not my fault that you are totally clueless about hair accesorizing," Celeste replied in a slightly ruffled tone as she put on her trendier-than-thou dangling diamond earrings.
"Lay the accesorizing a tad thinner, then," Chase quipped as she reached under her bed for her chunky platforms. The best thing about the Valentines' Dance was that they were allowed to wear Muggle clothes, which was kind of an advantage at this point since there were more options than just stiff gowns and plain monochromatic dress robes.
"Hurry up, Chase, the dance'll be over by the time we get there!" Celeste urged her impatiently, tapping her high-heeled sandal against the plush bloodred carpet.
"So your beloved werewolf will have to wait for you for a few extra minutes, so what?" Chase's muffled voice answered as she finally extracted her lavender shoes. She slipped them on, not looking the least bit worried that Sirius might be asked by another girl to dance the first dance before she did.
"Oh, come on!" Celeste moaned, dragging Chase to the door before she could even slip her foot into her left shoe.
"Hey, my shoes!" Chase exclaimed. "Accio!" The platforms whisked into her hand and she tried to put them on as Celeste continued to haul her.
"Aren't--you--a--bit--too--excited? It's--just--a--dance," Chase said as she hopped down the stairs on one foot.
"If you've forgotten, this is the first Valentines' Dance we will ever experience in Hogwarts, since fourth year is the year we start attending them!" Celeste explained impatiently.
Chase rolled her eyes. "I know that, but--"
Her voice was drowned in the midst of about forty others as they descended to the common room.
"See? I told you we weren't late!" Chase shouted to be heard over all the noise--or rather, to be heard over the sound of smooching noises all around them ^_^
Celeste didn't answer, marching straight to the portrait hole. Chase shrugged and ran to catch up with her.
*****
When they reached the Great Hall, people were starting to come in and others, who had dates with students from the different Houses stood by the entrance, waiting. Chase and Celeste came straight inside, looking around for their friends.
There was only one word to describe the Hall: red. Okay, red and pink. Heart-shaped confetti and an occasional scarlet gift box fell from the ceiling, covering the carpets with thousands of bewitched stuff. All the tablecloths in the Hall were stained bright red and silver napkin dispensers held pink paper napkins. Dumbledore must have asked a favor from the Forbidden Forest's nymphs; they were gliding gracefully all around the room in delicate gowns made of millions of tiny red petals sewn together. They left a sweet, enchanting smell as they passed between the tables, singing soft, lovely arias to the students. The fairies who had worn Santa outfits last Christmas were now outfitted with Cupid ones, armed with a tiny bow and a quiver of arrows on their winged backs. Professor Flitwick had managed to change each and every one of their wings to angel ones.
"Nice décor job," Chase remarked. About ten little fairy-cupids fluttered past, bearing a small wrapped box.
"Yeah. Extra torture for the fairies," Celeste observed dryly. They made their way through a group of chatterbox second-year girls before reaching their friends' table.
"Hey! What took you guys so long?" Lily asked in way of greeting. She was already serving herself to some grilled salmon.
Celeste sighed again. "Oh, you know. We only got held up because some people don't know how to fix their own hair properly," she said, giving Chase a sidelong glance.
Chase shrugged one shoulder. "It's my hair, it's my life. So what business do you have fussing over it?"
Celeste opened her mouth, probably to pronounce exactly why leaving your hair loose was a capital fashion crime, but Lily cut her off.
"Spare us one of your fad litanies," Lily moaned. Everyone laughed.
"Seriously, how'd you do your hair like that?" Sirius asked Celeste with interest, looking at her strange twisty hairstyle.
"Oh, it's really easy," Chase answered for her twin wryly. "All you need is about twenty consecutive Lacuna Charms, two cans of hair spray, a hundred bobby pins and forty-five minutes."
The others laughed again. "So that's why you took so long," Peter squeaked.
"No, I had to take all that time waiting for Chase, since she so rudely and inconsiderately did not fix her hair like she should--"
"My dear sister, I hate to break it to you but between the two of us, who do you think would everyone be more likely to believe to be more responsible with chronic lateness caused by advertent hairstyle consciousness?" Chase cut her off smoothly.
"Words from the wise one," James said with mock sobriety.
"She does have a point there, Celes," Lily cited.
Celeste scooped up some buttered corn kernels haughtily. Chase smirked.
Scarcely five minute later Luna, Chase's snowy owl, landed on their table, carrying a parcel with luminous silver gift-wrap that was skillfully folded and styled to create an elegant effect.
"What's Luna doing here?" Peter asked, confused.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Obviously delivering a present, no doubt," he said, his voice filled with sarcasm.
"Yeah, but who's it for?" James asked, his eyes sparkling.
"Well, it's no mystery. Sirius's the only one Chase hasn't given a Valentines' present yet," Remus pointed out.
Sirius untied the parcel from Luna who rustled her wings irritably at his sudden action. He tore the wrapping completely in barely ten seconds.
"Did you wrap that?" Celeste asked Chase.
"No way will I spend that much time wrapping a present for Sirius. You know how much he obliterates it after he gets his hands on a gift."
"It's a book," James said blankly.
Sirius picked up the book facing the back cover, and turned the book over. He gave a huge gasp.
"What? What is it?" the marauders pressed, starting to leave their seats to look at the title.
"This is it!" Sirius exclaimed in amazement. "This is so incredible!!! Where the heck did you find--"
"What is it?" James asked impatiently, trying to look at the book, but Sirius, whose eyes had grown to twice their normal size because of his surprise, wouldn't show it.
James threw up his hands. "Come on, Sirius! It's just a book!"
"It's not just any book," Sirius said defensively.
"Then what is it?!!!"
"It's The Ultimate Guide to the 101 Greatest Hexes of the 21st Century," Chase replied.
"THE WHAT?!!!" James shouted. People stared at him, but he didn't seem to notice.
"Are you kidding?" Remus asked her in disbelief.
Chase shrugged. "That's the one that--"
"B-but, but the Ministry said that that book should have been banned! Where'd you get a copy of it?!" Peter said in wonder.
"Yeah, where?" James demanded.
"Thank you thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU!!!" Sirius told her ecstatically, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Quite undignified for the school chick magnet.
"You're welcome," Chase said with a smirk. She, like all the rest staring at the group, was just as amused at Sirius's reactions.
"Where did you get it?" James yelled again. Sirius pulled Chase up just as Dumbledore said "And now…the dance."
"But I haven't even eaten yet!!!" James shouted. Apparently no one heard him, for couples all around were leaving their seats and finding their own cozy slow-dancing spot on the dance floor. The food and the tables disappeared.
"Sirius! Aren't you forgetting something? This is injustice! Madness! You're supposed to protest--"
Lily steered him toward the dance floor, pointing her index finger at the side of her head and twirling it in a circle, rolling her eyes at the students (and teachers) who looked queerly at James. (Yes, even girlfriends have their limits sometimes…Not even Lily could resist admitting that James was acting like a total lunatic, being his soul mate ^_^)
She caught a glimpse of Sirius and Chase dancing to a fast tune in the middle of the dance area and smiled. And noted that for the first time in all the years she had known Sirius, he had forgotten to think about food before anything else.
*****
Remus and Celeste left the dance floor after thirty minutes, if only to keep Peter company since he was standing all alone, watching the throng of whirling couples. He did look rather disappointed (serves him right), and Remus, being the softie that he was, told Celeste to give it a rest for a while so that Peter would have somebody to talk to.
"Hey, Pete! Haven't asked anyone yet?" Remus asked brightly as he and Celeste sauntered up to him.
"No," Peter said miserably, shaking his head. "I don't know why I got valentines this morning either, maybe some Slytherins just set it up to give me a good laugh…"
"Don't think like that, Pete," Celeste said encouragingly. "Those letters were for real, I know. Of course, there's the matter that they could've been from second-or-third years…"
Her remark seemed to have made Peter feel worse. "That's it, then. I'm going back to the dormitory, nobody wants to be with me anyway--"
"Oh, don't be silly Pete, you've just got to come up to a girl, gather your courage, and ask her to dance. It's not like it's any big deal or anything," Remus said.
"But it is a big deal. It might be easy for you, Rem, since practically anyone you ask would say yes--"
"Which isn't going to happen while I'm here," Celeste interjected, intertwining her fingers with Remus's.
"The possessive type, are you?" Chase spoke up, making the three of them jump when at her sudden appearance.
"Where's Sirius?" Remus asked her.
Chase jerked her head towards the dance floor. "Dancing," she responded.
"By himself?" Peter said stupidly.
Chase rolled her eyes. "Of course not. He's dancing with Maxine Eamon," she said.
"Are you crazy?!" Celeste exclaimed, looking at Chase as if she were mad. "Why? Why'd you let him dance with another girl when you know perfectly well that you two are a couple?"
"You make it sound like I ought to be hanged for what I did," Chase said in a sarcastic (what else?) tone.
"Well, if I wasn't your sister, then I think you should be! Letting your BF dance, hold hands, and leaving him alone with another girl is a definite no in relationships! If I hadn't known any better, she must've whisked him off into a dark corner out on the grounds--"
"Okay, you can stop now," Chase said, not in the least bit threatened of the possibility.
"I think you should trust your sister on this one, Chase," Remus pointed out. "I mean, Maxine's one of the biggest flirts in Hogwarts--"
"And she's had a crush on Sirius ever since she was a zygote," Peter chimed in.
"You know the meaning of zygote?" Remus asked him in disbelief.
Peter was indignant. "I am fourteen years old you know," he said defensively.
"Getting back to the point," Celeste said impatiently, "you shouldn't have done that! That must be the stupidest thing you've ever done, next to not wearing makeup until the age of thirteen--"
"Only you would find that a disgrace, Celeste," Chase scoffed.
"Go! Go back there and find him!" Celeste said, ignoring Chase's comment and pushing her back.
"Wait a minute--" Chase started to say, but Celeste shook her head.
"If you don't look for him this very second, then you'll regret it!" Celeste scolded her, her voice so high in pitch that Chase almost laughed.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again," Chase pronounced slowly. "There's--more--to--life--than--boys--and--fashion--and--boys--and--makeup--and--boys--and--school--and--boys--and--following--rules. So chill."
"How can you say that?! I'll never forgive you--" Celeste cried.
"Look here Celes, I know you're concerned about me and all, but it's my life, and I think I know how I plan to handle it myself, thanks very much. And I say that I let Sirius do what he wants for five minutes and not wrap him around my finger and check on him every 3.5 seconds, okay?" Chase interrupted, sitting down on a red velvet-lined chair and pouring herself a goblet of butterbeer.
Celeste was now looking murderous, but had enough dignity not to say anything, thank God.
There was silence between the four friends, and Remus suddenly wished that he hadn't decided to come over to Peter and stop dancing.
After about a minute of tension, Celeste stood up. "Do you still want to dance, Remie?" she asked in a slightly petulant tone, which was obviously directed at Chase. Remus, who was beyond relieved for an alibi for dismissal, followed her back to the dance floor.
Chase was just sitting and sipping her drink, once in a while staring out at the dance floor as the minutes trickled by.
After about three more minutes, Peter cleared his throat. "Um--isn't Sirius supposed to be back by now? Four songs have already ended…" he informed Chase nervously.
Chase sighed and shook her head. "I know. Maybe Celeste was right--"
Just at that moment, Peter shrank back, and Chase, who faced him and couldn't see immediately what had made him recline, swiveled in her chair to see the cause of his fears.
As usual, her suspicions were confirmed. Snape, Avery and Nott were lumbering toward them, all with smug smiles on their faces. Peter gave a terrified squeak.
"Don't worry, Pete. We can handle them," Chase reassured him, but with little success.
Peter just squirmed as Snape reached their table.
"What do you want, Snape?" Chase asked flatly, giving him a go-away-you-bloody-Slytherin-scum look. Snape merely laughed in his cold, mirthless tone.
"I think it is safe to confirm, Tarlise, that your knight in shining armor is nowhere in sight, and all he left for your protection is a cowardly rat? Granted that, there is more than one reason as to why he does not deserve a girl like you," Snape said softly.
"Don't you dare call Pete a rat, you knave. If anything else, he's twenty times worth more than you," Chase spat. Peter whimpered as Avery cracked his knuckles. He hid behind Chase.
Snape smirked. "Are you scared to admit it, Tarlise? Afraid to confess that your once beloved Black, your star, abandoned you for a slut like Maxine Eamon? Are you afraid to concede that you yourself allowed her to snag him and break your naïve beliefs?"
"What happens in my life is my own business, Snape," Chase said in even disdain, "and it has nothing to do with you. If I have a problem, I deal with it, and I don't go running to my enemies to point out what I already know."
"And you are too cowardly too revert it? Why aren't you stopping her? Do you trust Black so much that you allow yourself to be his loyal, innocent 'girlfriend' while he goes making out with another--"
"Leave, Snape," Chase snapped at him, her eyes flashing with anger. "Provoke me all you want, but never, ever refer to me as anybody's slave. I will never sink as low as that, at the same point that Avery and Nott are subjected to you." At this, Nott's and Avery's fists clenched tightly, but they said not a word. "And I decide on what I want and not want to do, so nobody orders me around. Not ever Sirius."
"If you have a right, then so do I. And I don't think we're ready to leave, are we, boys?" he asked his cronies, who nodded simultaneously. He sat down on the chair opposite Chase. Chase gave him a death glare and stood up.
"You won't leave? Fine. C'mon, Pete, let's go." Peter, trembling from head to foot, followed at her heels.
Snape stood up and stopped her, pulling her back painfully by the shoulder. Chase whirled around and slapped his hand away.
"Then why did you send it?" he asked quietly.
"Sent what?" Chase spat, taking a step back and knocking into Peter, who was crouching behind her.
"This." Snape held out a scarlet envelope out at her. At first sight it looked like a Howler, but soon Chase noticed two overlapping hearts on the back cover, with the name Snape in silver ink on the first heart.
Chase just stared at it and glanced back at Snape with disgust. "You think I gave you that? Get over yourself, Snape! Stop groping for false illusions in your own little dream world--"
"Look," Snape hissed, thrusting the letter inside it into her hand. Chase opened it gingerly and stared back at her own writing in silver ink.
"You see? You cannot deny it, Tarlise, you were the one who sent that to me."
"I didn't write this," Chase said in disbelief. "What kind of spell did they cast on you? The Confundus Charm?"
"It is your handwriting," Snape insisted. And it, indeed, was. The My Dearest Severus on the top of the page were perfected to Chase's cursive penmanship.
"It still wasn't me. I am never going to get together with you, nor even go out on a false date with you, or ever dance with you and touch your slimy hand! Get out of my sight!" Chase flounced away, Peter trailing behind her.
"Where's Black, Tarlise? You say the two of you are a couple. Where is he now? Is he going to save you? Is he here to defend you, like he did the last time? Is he here, or is he outside swapping spit with the school slut without a single thought about you inside his head?" Snape mocked her.
For a moment, just one faint second-long moment, a flicker of uncertainty passed Chase's eyes, followed by betrayal replaced with resolve. "If Sirius did that, then he'd be as low as you, and a person like that is not worth my company. If you had half a brain, you'd get the point and leave me alone!" With that, Chase stalked toward the Great Hall's doors. Peter, who had enough sense to figure out that she was upset and wanted to be alone, alone as in even without Peter, reluctantly glanced back at Snape and his thugs.
They didn't attack him, or mock him, or say anything that would have gotten the teachers' attention, but what was on Snape's face made Peter more terrified than everything they had done in the past.
Chase had walked out and a Slytherin had made her, the Queen of Cool, upset. Snape had won.
*****
Lily and James came back to the Hall after a round of you-know-what in a dark spot at the grounds (winky winky, and I don't mean the house elf ^_~), and both were considerably more lighthearted (and lightheaded) than they were at the beginning of the dance. Few couples remained on the dance area and they assumed that Rem and Celes and Sirius and Chase were somewhere outside.
"Should we look for them and do the same as what they did to us last Christmas, or should we call it a night and just go back to the dormitories?" Lily asked him as she surveyed the couples on the dance floor.
James grinned mischievously. "Definitely spying on them. I'm not the least bit tired, are you?"
"Nope," Lily answered, smiling slyly too. "I say we look for Sirius and Chase, since they're the ones who ridiculed us the most on that night…"
"Then we're probably going to need cameras," James plotted happily. "Accio camera!" His camera came whizzing, after ten long seconds, toward him, narrowly avoiding a couple dancing to a slow ballad.
"Let's go!"
The two of them slipped back outside, Lily using her Tracking Charm to find them easier. The charm involved letting her wand float on its own, leading them to a certain person that she chose to look for.
"Here goes… Pursueril!" The wand floated two feet in front of her, glowing faintly for a few seconds before following gravity and falling to the soft grass.
"It didn't work," James said blankly. "Are you sure you did it right?"
"Of course I did it right, I've only done that charm fifty times everytime we want to play a prank on Snape and can't find him!" Lily snapped, picking up her wand. "Maybe they put some sort of spell on themselves so they can't be tracked…"
"They can do that," James admitted. They walked in silence for a few moments before Lily stubbed her toe on an oak tree's root.
"Ouch! Son of a--" Lily complained, cursing as she hopped around on the infernal spot.
"Shhh, I think I hear something!" James said excitedly, pointing somewhere beyond the tree, about ten meters toward the lake.
"Oh, might as well, anything to get away from these bloody roots," Lily swore as they headed for the lake.
A tree stood beside the lake, its trunk thick enough for two people to hide behind. Lily and James exchanged identical grins as a smooching noise rent the still air. Their grins widened as they recognized the soft voices as Remus's and Celeste's.
James put a finger to his lips and silently muttered, "Reticence," pointing the wand at himself. He then proceeded to doing the spell on Lily. Lily opened her mouth to say something to him, but no words came out of her mouth. She held a hand to her throat and tried to talk, but still, she could say nothing. James shook his head and beckoned her to follow him up the sturdy tree.
Amazingly, the spell worked its wonders. No matter how many creaky branches they stepped on, not a single sound was heard, and the rustling of the leaves as they brushed past was only silence. Swiftly but surely, James guided Lily to one of the lower branches. They were now on the other side of the tree, and they could see Remus and Celeste cuddled up with each other. (Awww, isn't that sweeeet _)
Lily smirked, and James performed the counter-charm, making sure that they couldn't be heard as they took off the spell. James counted from one to ten, waiting for the proper opportunity to pounce. He adjusted something on his camera, and without warning, he let himself fall off the branch, only his feet keeping him on it (he wrapped them around the branch) , and, upside-down, snapped a picture of Remus and Celeste kissing. (snicker). Remus pulled away from Celeste at once.
"What the hell--?"
"Hi," James said, still upside-down, grinning. "Pretty romantic out here, isn't it? Isn't the crescent moon simply lovely tonight?"
"Jamie, I'm coming down now," Lily called out, jumping nimbly from the branch and landing in front of the couple and smiling evilly. "I just have to say…Gotcha."
"What did you do that for?" Remus said furiously, blushing. "Why couldn't you just mind your own damned business?"
"Because we're terribly evil and prefer to embarrass and harass other typical people who are doing theirs?" James guessed.
"Because we're consistently annoying and enjoy torturing our friends?" was Lily's answer (question?).
"Whatever! Now, I hope you're not congratulating yourselves on you ingenious act since I know that you two were doing the exact same thing minutes ago, and I don't need a camera to imagine that mental photograph! Why don't you go do what normal couples are supposed to do, or go harass Sirius and Chase, if you haven't already?"
"That's why we came to you. Seen them?" Lily asked. Remus shook his head. Celeste's mouth was suddenly a thin line.
"Okay, I'm sensing some insecurities here…spill it," James said, looking pointedly at Celeste.
Celeste sighed. "Well, when we met up with Peter a little over thirty minutes ago, Chase came back alone and told us that Sirius was dancing with Maxine Eamon. I told her to go look for him, but you know her, stubborn and hard on her beliefs. So noooo, she didn't follow my advice, and who knows where Sirius is now."
"Maxine?" Lily said with a gasp. "She is, like, dangerous! She's had a crush on Sirius every since she first laid eyes on him, and I swear that girl could take advantage of all her physical attributes and shake her booty at just that extent where she could leave boys drooling--"
"Exactly! That's what I warned Chase, but she wouldn't listen to me! Now Maxine probably dragged him to a make-out place and she doesn't even know it!"
"But she wasn't there in the Great Hall, so she and Sirius must have gotten together!" James argued. He couldn't believe that his best friend could two-time a girl, more specifically his and Lily's friend too.
"Was Maxine there?" Remus asked.
Realization dawned on Lily. "No," she whispered.
There was the sound of footsteps running toward them, and they saw Peter, his face as white as chalk.
"What? What is it, Pete?" James asked.
"I've been looking for you guys for half an hour!" he squeaked. "I was with Chase, and Snape and his two friends came, and they started picking on her--"
"Then that's no problem, Chase could handle anything. What really has you frightened, you silly twit, that can't possibly be it." Lily laughed softly, but there was a nervous note in her voice that betrayed her.
"Have you seen Sirius?" Peter asked in a panicked voice.
"No, that's what we were all wondering. He must be with Chase," James reasoned. At the look of anxiety on Peter's face, he asked worriedly, "He is with Chase, isn't he?"
Peter shook his head. "No, Chase went back to the Tower half an hour ago. She was really upset," he said quietly.
"Then where's Sirius?" Celeste demanded.
Suddenly Lily gasped.
"What?" everyone else said in unison, whirling around at her.
Lily, trembling, pointed. There, across the lake, was Sirius, and he was with a girl. But it wasn't Chase.
AN - Argh! 1st Quarterly Exams are up, you'd better review this crappy chapter since I spent half a day that was supposed to go to studying finishing this! Okay, so I am seriously considering changing it from Humor to Romance, but the fact is I'm not very good in writing romance fics… So, the only way to know is by your opinions and comments! And I am so sorry for this sucky chapter, and the way the plot changed, and how this Sirius problem came up… I'm going mad, aren't I? Anyway, review, please please please…