AN - Yes! Finally! I am happy to conclude that my first quarterly exams are much over and done with--(yawns from the crowd)--hey, if you're going to yawn, the least you could do is to do it properly (yawns are temporarily blocked behind hands) Good! Now, where was I? No need to tell me that I am royally late--again--and I blame it all on my usual scapegoat, so don't complain. I've just got a few words to some reviewers (sorry for the space, but apologies are strictly needed ^_^;) I'm just gonna take a leaf from NicolaPadfoot's book…hope you don't mind, Nicola! Thanx 4 reviewing some o' d chapters--really flattering, but I'm sure yours is tons more brilliant. Everybody who loves the marauders should read her fic… Anyway, ppl not concerned w/ d notes below: Skip skip skip…
PadfootBeatsAll: I'm really, really, really, really sorry! (Are there too many reallys? Too much makes it sound insensitive…) Don't be mad…I actually respect gay people. But, you know, some, I repeat, some (only) of them here in my country exaggerate being gay a tad too much--like the way they talk, their mannerisms, their walk--that it's actually an insult to girls too. I'm sorry, I'm not saying your friends are like that! They must be decent people, and I know that not all like them are like the fags (sorry for the term) in our country! And I forgot to mention that at the end of those chapters with the offending jokes…so I admit, I am an insensitive, indifferent ditz sometimes… You're not mad, are you? Right? Right? I hope so, 'cause I don't make novel-long apologies like this in pretty much anything (but I was sincere in writing it, honest…) ^_^;
Lunard: Silver? I forgot all about that too… Well anyways, thanks for pointing it out. I actually like silver, but it's Rem's problem that he doesn't…Okay, so that doesn't sound too relevant. Let's just assume that since Sirius and Chase are together and not Rem and Chase, then he doesn't have to put up much with her silver stuff. And…about the other silver-colored things I overlooked, can I change the rule for once and say that he's scared of them only when he's a wolf (stupid I know, but I'm too lazy to change those parts). Thanks!
And to all you other readers (if you're still interested, that is ^_^;): I assure you that Sirius is entirely innocent!!! He should be, he is my fave character and all. But I can't pamper him too much, he ought to suffer a little every now and then (laughs evilly) Mwehehehehe… And skip the top if you're not the persons concerned. TY for tolerating the long messages (or did you?) And now… I give you-- Oh, wait! The stupid disclaimer first…
Disclaimer: I disclaim…disclaimers. Who needs 'em?
Chapter 17: The Trendy Twin Hits the Field
Lily and Celeste burst into the girls' dormitory, only to find a dark room and a sleeping Chase. Lily strode to her bed in seconds and shook her roughly.
"Chase! Wake up!" she yelled. Chase just lolled her head to one side.
"GET YOUR BUTT OUT OF BED OR I SWEAR I'M GONNA HEX YOU!!!" she shouted louder in Chase's ear. Chase woke with a start.
"Oh, fuck off, Lil," Chase groaned, turning over and starting to go back to sleep.
"NO! This is important, Chase, you have to wake up!" Celeste joined in, pulling Chase into a sitting position using her arms.
"Will you two bloody hell shut up? Some people are trying to get some well-deserved sleep around here…" Chase said sleepily.
"But you have to wake up--" Lily started furiously.
"In the morning," Chase finished. "Go to sleep, lunatics."
"SIRIUS BLACK IS ON THE OTHER END OF THE LAKE MAKING OUT WITH MAXINE EAMON!" Lily screamed at the top of her lungs, emphasizing her exclamation by causing a conjured bucket with water to fall on Chase. If that doesn't wake her, I'm going to push her out the window, she decided.
"Just tell me whatever you have to say tomorrow…" Chase answered, half asleep.
Lily stamped her foot irritably and raised her wand to do another spell.
"Wait! Let her rest," Celeste shouted, pulling down Lily's wand hand.
"Well, look at you. One minute you're desperate for her to find out who the slut who stole her boyfriend is, next you want to leave her be," Lily said sarcastically. "Hypocrite," she added under her breath.
Celeste rolled her eyes, despite her paler-than-usual complexion. "If she sees them, she'll just get worse. I say we tell those two off and relate the whole cursed story to her when she's fully awake--"
"But that'll only make her more devastated!" Lily argued. "And maybe she'll even deny it and refuse to believe us and cling to the illusion that Sirius didn't really cheat on her--"
"Do you think she's that stupid? You've known her for more than three years already, and I know she's going to take thins sensibly. Let her be, Lil, and we'll murder Maxine to a bloody pulp!" Celeste interjected in the same harsh tone. She opened Chase's trunk and took out her broomstick. "We'll go on this. One of us has to go up to the boys' dormitory and inform the others--"
"Obviously I'm the only option, right?" Lily said, and left the room hurriedly.
Celeste sighed and looked at the tranquil expression on her twin's face. How long would that last after she found out what happened?
She shook her head, opening the window wide and staring off into the dark, distant lake. She couldn't make out if the two were still there.
"C'mon!" Lily and James appeared in front of her on James's broom. "They're going to take the two brooms--Rem and Pete'll go on Sirius's."
"Isn't it wrong to use other people's stuff without asking for permission?" Celeste asked anxiously, trying to peer out into the light fog that had suddenly surrounded the lake.
Lily snorted. "Yeah, right. Like you're the angel of goodwill. Weren't you the one who just said that you were going to use Chase's broomstick?"
Celeste ignored her comment, retrieving Chase's broom and clambering out the window.
"Easy there, d'you want to land on thin air?" James warned.
Celeste flipped her uncooperative long hair back against the wind. "I'm not the sister of a Quidditch star for nothing, you know," she said haughtily, and swung with graceful ease onto Chase's broomstick. The three took off, and to James's and Lily's amazement, she could fly well.
"Have you ever considered becoming a member of the Quidditch Team?" James asked her.
Celeste laughed lightly. "Maybe a couple of years ago, but after all that Chase had told me about five-hour practices three times a week and playing in the rain and falling into wet, splattering mud when someone's not careful in a match--" she shuddered slightly. "Let's just say I'm not totally into it."
James grinned. "Ah, yes. Ever the prissy one, are you?"
"I wouldn't say that," Celeste defied, zooming ahead of them and expertly avoiding a flock of birds.
"Where're Rem and Pete, anyways?" Lily asked over James's shoulder.
"I s'pose Rem had to coax Pete onto the broom; you know how he hates flying," James remarked, peering off into the not-so-distant Gryffindor Tower. "They should be--oh, here they come now."
Remus was steering Sirius's broom, reassuring nonstop a very distressed Peter Pettigrew. Peter's face was paler than the moon itself; it's a crescent moon, mind you, so Remus is safe…^_^
"C'mon, Pete, just imagine that your feet are hovering two feet off the ground--" Remus was heard saying as he neared them.
"B-but--even that makes me q-queasy, I'm an aerophobic," Peter stuttered when they finally reached the other three.
"Acrophobic," Celeste corrected Peter, who glanced down at the very minute trees and the little ants that were the couples walking in the moonlight. His pale face became a nasty shade of green.
"Don't look down, then, if you're so scared," Lily said kindly to him. "Go lower, you guys, there's a pair of eyes down there that needs tearing out--"
"Am I right in assuming that you are talking about Maxine Eamon?" Remus asked, squinting down at the obscure surroundings.
"Well, of course I am, I'd pick her over Siri, wouldn't you?" Lily said as they landed on a nice patch of slightly damp grass.
"Yeah, but anybody who betrays my sis is no friend of mine," Celeste growled.
"Isn't that sweet? The loving sister front--when did you start pulling that act?" Lily said sarcastically. They set aside their brooms behind a tree and made their way through the two-feet-high vegetation.
James peered closely at the tall reeds. "They must be around here somewhere," he told them. "Shoe imprints on the grass and all that, and we landed about fifty feet from where they actually were twenty minutes ago."
"Did we take that long?" Peter squeaked as he scrambled around. He was only slightly taller than the weeds… (talk about putting a person's height down…)
"I think I can see someone over there!" Remus called from about ten feet away. Somehow he had managed to walk that far without tripping over a nice, slimy bog like the one Peter had sunk into.
The others struggled toward him, Lily cursing all the way when she stepped on something squishy; Celeste complaining loudly that her shoes would be totally ruined after all this was over. Peter sunk down in his second bog and James skipped nimbly through the greenery, which, of course, caused splashes of mud and bits of grass to come into contact with Peter's face, who was unfortunately behind him.
"Oops, sorry, Pete," James apologized, stopping to repair the damage he had done.
"That's okay," Peter said automatically.
"Damn bogs," Lily cursed.
"Do you know how much these sandals cost?" Celeste whined.
"Would you guys hurry up?!" Remus shouted.
Overall, they reached him in very grumpy spirits (except James).
Remus grinned. "Not looking like a happy bunch, are you?"
"Shut up, you lycanthropic…werewolf," Lily retorted, unable to form a fully coherent thought with the mood she was in.
"Yeah, don't rub in the fact that any phase of the moon affects your already superhuman strength," Peter added.
"So where are they?" James asked him.
Remus pointed the direction to them again, to a spot where only opaque fog was floating around.
"There," he said simply.
"There where?" Lily inquired gloomily.
"There there," Remus repeated, rolling his eyes.
Peter muttered something that sounded like, "Brighter eyes too."
"Let's go!" James half-shouted brightly. Groans replied.
And so, with slow trudging (from the two girls and the smallest friend) and much whining, the troop reached the said destination.
Maxine had disappeared.
*****
Remus ran straight to Sirius, who was staring dazedly off into space.
"Are you okay, Sirius?" Remus asked him.
No reply. The others reached the two friends, James with a worried look on his face.
"Where's that filthy sl--" Celeste started furiously, but James held up a hand.
"Something's wrong with him," he said anxiously as he shook Sirius on the shoulders. Sirius's eyes were still glazed over.
"Did Maxine give him some kind of drug or something?" Lily asked, starting to get concerned herself.
"I don't care, she's still too much of a weasel and a coward to even have the decency to face us head-on," Celeste said fiercely.
Peter crept up slowly behind them, his face unusually grave. "I think it's a Love Potion," he suggested, barely more than a whisper.
Four heads whirled around at his statement. "A what?" Lily exclaimed.
Remus cleared his throat. "I think he said, Love P--"
"I know what he said," Lily snapped. "Are you sure, Pete?" she asked in a softer voice as she turned back at Peter.
"Reasonably sure," Peter said in a shaky voice. "My mum always tells me those kind of stories…"
On another side, Remus and James were conversing in low voices about what Peter just informed them.
"It must be, what with the expression on his face--" James was saying.
"What if it's a really potent kind, the one that Ridgewood told us lasted several years?" Remus asked in a troubled tone.
"We've got to do something about this, and quick," James said. He dragged Sirius up, as he still didn't make any motion.
"Stupefy!" Celeste shouted, and Sirius dropped down again.
"What'd you do that for?" James asked irritably.
"It'll be easier this way than having to carry him back to the Tower," Celeste shot back, waving her wand a second time to make Sirius float in midair.
Lily stepped next to her as well. "Accio broomsticks!" she said. Seconds later they were once again mounting their brooms, Celeste manipulating Sirius's movements with her wand as she flew. None of them spoke as they headed back to the Tower. What were they going to do to reverse a strong potion that could alter their friend completely?
Once back in the boys' dormitory, all of them thankful that Martin was nowhere to be seen, James instructed Peter and Celeste to go down to the library and get all the books they could find on Love Potions and counter-concoctions. The three remaining conscious friends sat down on one of the beds.
"Ennervate," Remus said. Sirius suddenly came to, standing up straight and looking around.
When he saw his friends and their grim facial expressions, he looked confused. "What happened to you?"
They exchanged relieved glances. At least the potion didn't affect his memory. Well…not all of it…
"Have you any idea what you just did in the last hour?" Remus asked him.
Sirius shook his head. "No--I mean, wait, I went down to the lake…"
"Do you remember what you did there?" James demanded.
"Nope," Sirius answered, this time more firmly.
"Don't you have any recollection who with?" Lily asked in the angriest voice of all.
"What are you three babbling about?" Sirius asked them, annoyed. "Is this some kind of joke, or did you do something to jar my memory?"
The four were silent for a while. After some time, Lily spoke up in a soft voice.
"Sirius, who do you love most in the world?"
A flicker of recognition lit up in Sirius's eyes. "Maxine Eamon!" .
"WHAT?!!!" a voice outside exclaimed in outrage. Celeste barged in, her eyes blazing. Peter trailed after her, carrying books that when put on top of one another appeared taller than he was. "Say that again!" Celeste shouted, pointing her wand at him.
"Celeste, calm down!" Lily scolded her, confiscating her wand before she could do any real damage. "Are you serious?" she asked Sirius.
"'Course I am, stupid. Know any other Sirius?" Sirius answered sardonically.
Peter started flipping frantically through a book. Remus joined him, scanning through the table of contents of Love Potions: Desire or Deceit?
"D'you know who Chase is?" James continued to interrogate him.
"Which Chase?" Sirius asked back wearily.
"Chase Tarlise," Celeste replied for James, folding her arms across her chest and staring Sirius down threateningly.
"Oh!" Sirius said. "Yeah, I know her. She's your twin, right? I don't really know that much about her, except that she's Lil's best friend--"
"Here it is!" Remus announced, cutting off Sirius's sentence. "Love Potions ranging from the average strength--this means one that usually lasts for a week or two--to extremely powerful, alter the drinker's memory for the whole of the designated time he/she receives it. One of the potion's main ingredients, a leaf from the rare Oblivainette plant, reduces the recollection of past and/or current lovers to nothing, and might even completely erase it from his/her mind for years in residue," Remus read aloud.
"Reduce his memory?" Lily gasped. "Then that means that he has completely forgotten about Chase!"
"Love Potions! What'd you bring them for, Pete, think we can use it on Snape and lure him to fall in love with someone really ugly?" Sirius asked, clapping Peter on the back.
Remus was reading the page more closely. "Oh yeah--Normally, the drinker does not lose other retrospects not concerning love and hate, as long as he/she has no deep connection with certain persons. He/she might, however, lose memory of family and other close relatives that he is particularly open to."
"We wouldn't have any problem concerning his forgetting Cas, then," James said with a smirk.
"At least it doesn't say that he'll forget his friends," Lily pointed out in a relieved voice. She looked at her watch. "Okay…this is what we'll do. Sirius, get some sleep, and stay away from Ravenclaw territory--"
"Maxine's a Ravenclaw," Sirius said, his eyes sparkling.
"Look, just go to bed, okay? I don't care if you're not sleepy, I'll cast a spell on you if you don't do what I say right now," Lily threatened.
"Fine, fine, Miss I-think-I'm-the-boss-of-the-world," Sirius grumbled, knowing perfectly well that when Lily got like that, she usually meant what she said.
Celeste watched him get into bed, her eyes dark.
"Rem, you're the best with books, why don't you and Celes search for the cure? It's bound to be somewhere around there," Lily said.
"What if Chase wakes up tomorrow, and finds out what Maxine did?" Peter asked timidly, voicing the question that everybody dreaded--especially Celeste.
For once Lily didn't have an answer. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," she said evenly after a pause. "Right now we've got to find counter-potions. If there isn't any, we'll look for a Hate Potion and make him drink it--"
"But that won't make him remember Chase either," Remus pointed out.
"Yeah, but it's better than having to put up with seeing him with Maxine all the time," Lily retorted.
James, who had followed Peter's lead and read through a thick book, waved his hand at them to get their attention. "Um, guys? I think you should read this."
The four closed in on the book, reading what Remus was pointing out.
Most powerful Love Potions are almost foolproof; Hatred Potions, Memory Charms, and other enchantments used to attempt recovery are useless. The only known cure for this is the counter-brew, Raencore Tontive Impil, an advanced potion that certain professional chemists have difficulty making. It involves the key ingredient of the exact counterpart of the Oblivainette plant--the Raecadloran. It restores the drinker's memory fully to how it was before he/she drank the potion.
Underneath were several long paragraphs on the Raecadloran's properties and where it could be found.
"Mostly in Asian countries, then," Celeste said matter-of-factly. "Mainland China, Mongolia, Taiwan and South Korea in the east; Cambodia and Laos, southeast; Bangladesh and the Himalayan Kingdoms in the south; and Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan in the north."
"Azherbai--what?" James asked, baffled.
"Azerbaijan," responded Celeste peevishly.
"Whatever," James stated. "So how do we get hold of that plant? It's not like you can order them by the bundle in the local Apothecary," he pointed out. "They'd probably ask you what you're going to use it for, and we can't exactly find a way to be discreet about explaining why we need it."
"I dunno, I think mum's got a third cousin in Indonesia," Peter said thoughtfully.
"Indonesia's not on the list, Pete," Celeste said in an exasperated voice.
"No, but he's in the import-export business in Southeast Asia," Peter argued. "Mostly small magical creatures, but I think he's coming by Kampuchea sometime this month, Mum said--"
"What's that?" James asked.
"Kampuchea is another name for Cambodia, James," Lily explained.
"I'll write to my third-uncle and ask him…he might know something about magical plants," Peter continued.
"Well, anything for a plan," Remus said. "Listen--Pete, you stay here and write your letter, keep an eye on Sirius while you're at it. We'll try to gather what we can to make the potion, ordinary stuff like dragon scales and that kind of stuff."
"We can take that passage on the fourth floor to get inside the apothecary," James suggested. He tore a page from the book, containing the longest list of ingredients they had ever seen.
"It's got to be complicated to make this…" Celeste said worriedly. "Sirius's the brain for Potions, how're we supposed to make something this hard without him?"
"He can still help," Remus said, slamming the book shut. "It says here that as long as Maxine isn't in his peripheral vision, he's going to act like his normal self."
"So what are we supposed to do to him, lock him up until the potion's finished?" Celeste demanded.
"No, what we've got to figure out now is how to explain this to Chase--"
"Explain what?"
*****
Lily whipped around; Celeste went pale again. "Errr--what're you doing here, Chase?" Celeste stammered.
Chase yawned. "Like you weren't making noise the same decibel as a spaceship taking off--"
"How'd you know about spaceships?" Lily asked, amazed at how a pureblood witch could know that much about Muggle technology.
"I take Muggle Studies, remember?" Chase reminded. "So what were y'all up to, anyways?"
"Er--we were just--"
"Making a potion!" Remus said aloud.
"Yeah, we were--I mean, no, we're not!" Lily agreed (and disagreed) glaring at Remus. "Actually, we were just--"
"Planning to make a potion," James supplied. "See, we all had brilliant ideas on which potion to use on the Hallowed Slytherins--" Chase smirked at that-- "but we all argued on which was best. That's why we've been making all that racket," he lied in a (thankfully) truthful-sounding tone.
"Like what?" Chase asked with interest. She had never done pranks before, no matter how inclined she was, because of the burden of having a goody-two-shoes, straightlaced twin who stuck to her like glue whenever she felt like getting into mischief. (Whatta boring life…) Besides, she had only started to hang around with the marauders this school year.
"Like--like the one Remus thought up, where the drinker's ears stretch as large as an elephants and--and maggots come out of them whenever he sneezes," James racked up.
"Cool," Remus and Peter said in unison.
"I thought it was your idea," Chase told him.
"Oh, yeah! But--uh--I hadn't discussed that part much yet, I was going into a detailed explanation of the Sneezing Charm," Remus explained quickly. "You know, so that the potion won't go to waste--unless Snape has a real cold to go with it."
"Ookay," Chase said, rolling her eyes.
"Um, we're pretty much done with the preparations anyway," Celeste piped up. "We were just getting ready to turn in--"
"We can deal with this tomorrow, since everybody would want to lie in for staying up so late tonigh--today," Lily added, suddenly remembering that it was almost four.
"But you just said that you were still deciding whose idea to carry out," Chase pointed out.
"We're going to use Rem's idea, right?" Peter said. "It's a quick potion and has really great…effects, so we could do it in the least possible time--"
"And we'd better go to sleep now, so, bye," James announced, practically pushing Chase out the door. Lily and Celeste followed hastily, trying to make it look that they were booted out too. The door slammed shut behind them. "Night," came the muffled voice of Remus from inside.
Celeste and Lily skipped down the boys' staircase, Chase following closely behind. "Okay, what are you guys not telling me?" she asked suddenly as they reached the bottom step, causing Lily to trip.
"What made you theorize?" Lily said lightly, but the abrupt panic in her voice betrayed her.
"The fact that you've never stringed that many words together about a prank," Chase replied, pointedly staring at her sister.
Lily forced a laugh. "Celeste? You know her, when love is in the air, she gets a little…ditzy." Celeste scowled.
"Point taken," Chase said, the left corner of her mouth drawing up into a smirk, a dimple popping out of her cheek. "But I stand before what I said previously…"
They had reached their dormitory. Neither Kylie nor Sylvia had returned yet, for which Lily and Celeste were grateful. Celeste headed straight for the shower, averting her eyes from Chase's quizzical stare.
That left Lily to do the dirty work. Damn you, Celes, Lily thought with dread. But killing Celeste was certainly an easier thing to do than what she had to tell her friend.
"Spill it," Chase said as she climbed back into bed. "You know you can't hold out long, Lil, 'cause sooner or later I'll see right through you."
Lily took a deep breath. "Okay, here it is. We were with Rem and Celes beside the lake when Peter came and told us you'd slept early, and he was saying something about a showdown with Snape--"
"And what?" Chase prompted. "That's not even what you want to tell me, right?"
Leave it to Chase to cut through the bull. "Look, do I have to spell it out?" Lily blurted out. "I mean, you already know."
Chase was silent.
Lily took another deep breath, then exhaled yoga style, taking her time in looking back up at Chase's eyes. "Fine, this is it. Maxine made Sirius drink a Love Potion, and the guys found out that--that--" Lily couldn't say the words out loud.
"That what?"
"That it's the kind that lasts for a lot of years. Maxine has complete control over him."
*****
The next day proved far worse than what Chase had experienced. Snape had catcalled all the way from across the Great Hall, saying something about how Chase couldn't even hold on to a guy for two months. Chase finally cracked and threw a Japanese Curse at him, which made Snape speak Niponggo (spelling right?), and caused Ridgewood to take forty points from Gryffindor. Twenty points at first for doing magic outside class, and twenty more for refusing to revert Snape to his normal state. She stalked out of the Hall, not bothering to face Maxine and Sirius's cozy little breakfast.
"Cool, Chase," Lily exclaimed as the three girls left the Hall.
"Forty points!" Celeste screeched.
"Shut up, Celeste," Chase sighed.
"How many points have you deducted from Gryffindor this year?" Celeste ranted behind her, puffing to catch up. "You'll see when I tell mom about this, she'll blow her top when she finds out--"
Chase didn't respond, tuning out of one of her sister's discipline lectures. She might as well have had her own mother following her around 24/7, picking at her for doing a little magic here and there and not learning how to transfigure things right. But she knew…that Celeste was only being extra-annoying today because Celeste wanted her to forget, even for a moment, about what Lily had proclaimed only hours ago. Chase could see right through her though. Too bad she always could.
"Jeez, Celes, give her a break, everyone's already done it to Snape more than a million times," Lily interrupted her.
"Everyone?" Celeste shot back, narrowing her eyes slightly.
"Everyone in our gang, then," Lily said. "Except you, of course. Why can't you learn to let loose and have a little mischief to make your dull goody-goody life something much more interesting to talk about--"
"I don't think having failing behavioral reports will earn me much respect when we get our 25th Hogwarts Alumni Reunion," Celeste bickered.
"I don't think boring other batch mates to death with telling them about how life as a former keen rule-following Head Girl makes the rest of it enriching is much to talk about either," Lily retorted sarcastically.
"Right. Storytelling to your future children of how you saw Wilkes' flowery boxers when you and the others wrestled with them the other day must be really fulfilling," Celeste countered right back.
Lily laughed. "Better than making them really fall asleep because all their mother could tell them about her school experiences was being a good, well-behaved girl," she teased.
"Oh, shut up," Celeste said.
"That's what I said ages ago," Chase spoke up, rolling her eyes.
At least she's capable of rolling her eyes, Lily thought with relief. She knew she could trust Chase to push her rotten feelings aside whenever it wasn't needed (and wanted), which was pretty much every second of the day. The problem with it was that it always drained any girl of all her energy by the end of the day, and that left them with hours upon hours of well deserved sobs and bawls.
"Hey, why don't we get on with that potion that the others were talking about yesterday?" Lily continued brightly after a short pause.
"I thought you just made that up as an excuse from telling me that you were supposed to make the Raencore Tontive Impil or whatever you call that counter-potion," Chase answered matter-of-factly.
Leave it to Chase to read our faces clearer than an open book, Celeste and Lily both mused at her answer.
"Ookay, so we were going to. But we're doing it for you, right? So you don't need to worry, we'll have the real Sirius back in no time, and Maxine will be sorry she ever messed with a Tarlise's boyfriend," Celeste said, her tone as hard as her eyes, which were burning with contempt and fierce protectiveness.
"Well, at least I know that there're still people behind me all the way," Chase said sardonically. "I wouldn't know what to do if I didn't have a nuisance of a twin and an articulately conniving best friend with me all the time."
Lily whacked her with her paperback book. "You should be lucky I wasn't carrying one of those Love Potion books we're researching," she threatened.
"Like you'd ever do that to me," Chase said, her eyes sparkling, however weak it was. It was enough for the two.
"You better not mope around until dawn once this day is over," Celeste said cheerfully.
Chase snorted. "Maybe if you were the case, sister love, but I'm not exactly your carbon copy," she fired back. "We might be identical but contrary to your annoyingly insistent beliefs, I'll never be exactly like you."
"Come on, you can't be totally indifferent," Lily chided. "Deep down there, you're hurting like a betrayed, backstabbed girl--"
"Which she is," Celeste cut in.
"Thanks for reminding," Chase said.
"See? You are hurt," Lily said triumphantly.
"Then what do you want me to do, beg at his feet to remember me?" Chase rebutted irritably. "Murder Maxine so he wouldn't have anybody to fall in love with anymore? If I cry my eyes out, d'you think that'll bring him back?"
"I-I guess not," Celeste said softly, a little taken aback with Chase's declamation.
Lily suddenly chuckled. "But it would be funny to picture the mental image, though," she said wickedly. Celeste burst out laughing.
"I'm so glad I have friends like you," Chase sighed as they reached the Fat Lady's portrait.
*****
Quidditch practice, Wednesday. The Quidditch Cup match against Ravenclaw was fast approaching.
In the locker room, Mark was pacing furiously. "Okay, then. We've been practicing our hearts out--"
"Asses off," James corrected.
"Whichever," Mark continued, glaring at James's rude language. "That's why we know that we're going to win. Gryffindor has sustained the Quidditch Cup in their House for 158 times now, and this could be the 159th if y'all take this seriously--"
"Take it the way I would, that's what he meant," Sirius interrupted annoyingly.
"As I was saying," Mark said again, giving Sirius the same withering look he had given James; "This time is as good as any. Gryffindor has always won the glory of the Quidditch Cup for generations past, it's practically tradition." He gave all of them a clear stare that meant that anyone who dared break the tradition would pay dearly in their turn.
"Is that all, then?" Keith asked in a bored voice, jumping off his seat. "We're not going to sit here all day and practice bench warming, are we?"
Mark sighed. "Fine then, and you'd better kick--"
"Butt," James said cheerfully.
"What is it with you and words related to bottoms?" Chase asked him on their way out of the locker room.
"Nothing," James said before taking off into the air. Chase shrugged, swung onto her own broomstick and flew off too, catching the Quaffle that Keith long-passed to her.
The practice went fairly well, except toward the end of it.
"Mark, here!!!" Keith yelled, passing the red ball to Mark. It fell halfway toward him.
"You call that a pass?" James howled, catching the Snitch for about the forty-third time in two hours.
"Shut up," Keith glowered at him.
Chase retrieved the Quaffle, rolling over in midair with her hands off the broom. Sirius bumped into her as he swung at a Bludger.
"Oh, sorry," Sirius apologized sincerely, but not in…that way.
"Whatever," Chase muttered in what James caught as an indifferent tone. She dived to regain the scarlet ball, catching it almost only six feet from the ground.
James stared after her, the Snitch still in his closed fist. Was Chase genuinely affected by Maxine's dirty trick?
Of course she is, his inner voice chided. She's his girlfriend, idiot. Even Chase "I-don't-care-hell-about-you" Tarlise has feelings, too. James shook his head at his own silliness. Poor Chase. He knew that if that had happened to him…he didn't even know how to handle it. But Chase was still in control--like she always was. How on earth could she pull that off?
"Hey, Potter! Give the Snitch another go!" he heard Mark's bossier-than-usual voice shouting as he whizzed past, throwing a pass to Keith.
James let go of the Snitch and counted to twenty, bolting off again and thinking. Cross the bridge when you get to it…wasn't that what Lily said just a few nights ago? Chase had crossed that bridge--or was at least halfway through it. And when they made Sirius drink that potion, everything would be back to--
A scream pierced through his thoughts, cutting them short. He swung around to see who had done it and as he turned, the Snitch rammed into his face. "Ow!" he snatched it up, glaring at the cursed walnut-sized ball. "What d'you think you are, a Bludger?" he muttered angrily, but he came closer to the rest of the team, who looked like they were on their way to land.
"What's wrong?" Erin asked.
"Who screamed?" Keith said at the same time. They both saw Mark sitting next to a pale-faced Dione, whose elbow was bleeding…
"That's disgusting…look, the bone's sticking out," Chase piped up as she landed, James within hearing range.
Dione let out an agonized shriek. Erin flinched as her eyes landed on the wound and looked away.
"Sorry," Chase said quickly when Mark shot her a look. "Sorry, but it really does look gross, with all that blood flowing out--"
"Stop it, just stop it!" Dione cried in a weak voice, barely managing to glare at Chase.
"I'll bring her to the hospital wing," Mark announced. "Now, no funny stuff when I'm gone for a bit, 'specially you, Sirius." He and Dione walked off, both stumbling as they made their way to the exits.
"Well, it was gross, you know," Chase said as soon as Mark was out of earshot.
"Yeah, who did that to her anyway?" Keith asked, looking around at them, his eyes finally landing on Sirius, who had a sheepish expression on his face.
"I did. It was purely an accident," Sirius said innocently, but James only laughed.
"Accident in Sirius's vocabulary equals intentional mishap," he chuckled.
"Does not," Sirius protested. "I just hit that Bludger and she was stupid enough to fly near it, so naturally the ball would decide to crash into her."
"It looked pretty bad, though," Erin pointed out. "Especially with the game so near. I'm guessing she's going to be in there for a few days--"
She stopped midsentence as Mark came back, looking like the worry in his face had tripled.
"What's the scoop?" Keith asked him as he approached.
"We're done for," Mark said anxiously, shaking his head. "Madame Pomfrey said that Dione needed to stay in the hospital wing until Sunday--"
"But the game's on Saturday," Sirius interjected.
"That's just it. We need to find a replacement within two and a half days, and we need to train that person! How can we manage that in that allotted time?" Mark said hysterically.
"Okay, calm down. We all just need to spread out and ask people who we think are talented enough to substitute to come here at some time later and pick the best one," Erin reasoned.
"I'll ask all the third years," Keith volunteered. "Some of the boys in my dormitory are pretty good, but I don't know if they're up to it."
"Go on and ask them, then," Mark said. "Okay…Chase, you better be the one to ask the fourth years--wait, there isn't anyone left to ask, is there? Go and ask the second years, too… or maybe Remus Lupin could fill in the slot--"
"He can't, he was drained last night because he's a--" Sirius started to say, but James clapped a hand to his mouth.
"What happened to him?" Keith asked.
"He's a somnambulist," James invented quickly.
"A what?"
"A person who walks in his sleep," Chase supplied.
"Yeah, that's what he is. We brought him to Madame Pomfrey yesterday, and he's been at it for a week already. Every night he goes out of the tower and does strenuous things that we still don't know exactly what, and the professors wouldn't let us keep an eye on him." James looked like he was already running out of stuff to say.
"Oh," Mark said. "Well then, somebody must still have potential," he remarked. "Erin, you ask the sixth years, and James, go to the fifth," he assigned. "I'll handle the other seventh years. Be quick, though, and round up them up here in thirty minutes."
"What about me?" Sirius asked.
Mark glowered at him. "You will keep out of our way until you learn how to hit a Bludger during practice. I'll have to launch a petition to the teachers and ask them if we can bewitch some training dummies during practices."
Sirius scowled.
"C'mon, Sirius, don't look so down. We can ask the fifth years together, you can charm all those girls who keep staring at you in the Great Hall." The two of them headed out together.
"Well, I'd better be off, too," Erin said, swinging her broomstick over her shoulder and following the two marauders.
Chase swung onto her broom. "The way our luck is going, we probably won't find a decent Beater to replace her," she commented before taking off.
*****
Thirty-five minutes later they had rounded up about ten people. Two eager second years, sixth years and seventh years, one third year and three fifth years. Mark had lined them up by year level and was calling out instructions and handing them school broomsticks.
"Right, I know this broom is slow, Raghnall, do a Speed Charm on it if you're as big a brain as you keep saying you are. Here's yours, Jeanette, and mount it right, you've been doing it wrong since first year…" As he moved on to the next person in line, the students he'd finished with scowled and held up rude signs at his back, pretending to look innocent when he glanced back.
"Good luck! Your first dose of Quidditch hell is now in session," Sirius catcalled with a manic grin as he chased after a Bludger. He had accidentally released it too soon, and Mark had exploded at him to catch it. That wasn't exactly easy, since his normal reflex action was hitting it as hard as he could in the opposite direction. Which was still the case that day.
"OI!!! Catch it, not hit it, you doltish dunce!" James yelled at him, almost colliding with the Bludger when he stretched his hand to catch the Snitch.
"Non-evading nincompoop!" Sirius shot back.
"Insipid imbecile!"
"Humdrum halfwit!"
"Brainless bungler!"
"Mindless moron!"
"Dense dimwit!"
"Lamebrained lunatic!"
"Crazed conniver!"
"Fatuous flake!"
"Loony lout!"
"Seeker simpleton!"
"Booby Beater!"
"Nonsensical numsku--
"Okay. You're BOTH bungler blockheads! So shut up!!!" Chase interrupted.
James grinned. "Care to join us, Chase-er? We can call you Cynical C--wait, I can't think of anything anymore…"
"That's because you're an asinine albatross," Sirius piped up.
"Oh yeah? Well, you're a catastrophic clod," James fired back.
" An adjective to describe you would best be 'irrational idiot'," Sirius retorted.
"I'm the idiot? Well, who else other than you would think that the word 'albatross' is a synonym of 'nitwit'?"
"A ridiculous rampant," Sirius answered.
"That isn't one either."
"Okay then, you," Sirius tried again, grinning.
"Nope, you're stupider than I thought."
"No? Then it's gotta be James Forsythe Potter," he said happily.
Chase snickered.
"Don't call me that, Sirius Clunies Black," James shot back.
"Forsythe Potter. Haha, maybe the teachers would get a kick out of calling you that in the halls. 'Forsythe! Detention!'" He mimicked in a high-pitched tone that very closely resembled Professor McGonagall's.
"Right. Then it'll just backfire on you when I tell them too. 'And you'd better clean the Slytherin toilets tonight, Clunies, the stench there is almost unbearable!'," James said, scrunching his face in a ludicrous expression that matched Apollyon Pringle. Clunies laughed his head off.
"I don't know why I bother with you two," Chase sighed, turning to leave.
"Don't leave yet, Selena," James said between sniggers.
"Yeah, Forsythe has some more stories to tell!" Sirius added with a laugh.
"I do believe Selena is a much more attractive name than Forsythe or Clunies, James Potter," Chase countered, swinging around.
"It's Forsythe!" Sirius called after her as she zoomed back to solid ground.
"Miserable miscreants," Chase muttered. But she smiled. And for James, that was enough.
*****
"NO!!! You're supposed to hit it the other way, not like that! Guiseppe, you're holding the club upside-down! What are you two doing?! This isn't Muggle baseball, it's Quidditch!!!"
Chase had landed near Mark, who looked a tad bit more than crazed. "Big problems?" she asked with a sardonic smile.
"I'd say mega-size," Mark admitted, sitting down on his frozen-in-midair broomstick. "So far, none of them have achieved the standards of a decent Beater, not even as good as Sirius. I don't know what we're going to do…we might as well just hand the Cup to the Ravenclaws."
"Don't quit yet," Chase said. "Still, someone's coming. I asked her, but she's gonna take a while…" She gazed toward the exit, shielding her eyes with one hand. "Wait, my sister's coming. What time is it anyway? You said you were going to dismiss us at lunchtime."
Mark exhaled. "I know. Why don't you go on, then, and take your bantering bickerers with you."
Celeste came up to Chase. "Hey, sis! Sorry I'm late…where are James and Sirius?"
Chase pointed upward. "Somewhere there, exchanging same first-letter two-worded insults," she said matter-of-factly.
Celeste laughed. "That's that, then. Have you found a substitute player yet?"
"No, and if there aren't any, I'm going to postpone the game," Mark said.
Chase raised her eyebrows at her sister. "Rough day, his," she explained. She handed her broomstick to Celeste.
"Can't argue with that," Celeste chuckled lightly, swinging onto the broom. "Where to, O Quidditch star?"
"Just a sec," Chase held up an index finger. "Yo Keith! Get your third year butt down here!" Chase yelled. Seconds later Keith swooped down on them.
"You're starting to sound like James did," Keith said irritably, but dismounted and handed his broom to Chase anyway.
"What are you doing?" Mark said exasperatedly. "If you brought your sister her just to play air tag, then--"
"Oh, we're not going to play something as boring as that," Celeste said, examining her bloodred nail polish. "Right, sis?"
"Yep," Chase said, taking off into the air and soaring high enough to catch the passing Quaffle. As Celeste caught up, she suddenly threw the ball at Raghnall's head, causing him to throw back the club he was holding, which Chase caught deftly and swung at the Bludger pelting towards her. The Bludger streaked about half a kilometer away before regaining its composure.
"Not bad for a Chaser," Celeste called, catching the Quaffle just as Raghnall swore loudly.
"Which bloody bastard did that?!" he shouted.
"Me," Chase said from above with a smirk. Raghnall blushed. He was one of many admirers of Chase. "Sorry."
"Oh, it's okay," Raghnall stammered. "I-it didn't hurt that much--"
But Chase had already gone, monitoring Celeste. The other substitute-hopefuls and regular players landed on the bleachers to watch.
Chase, who was still holding the Beater club, handed it to Celeste. "Think you can hit me with a Bludger while I try to shoot?" she asked her sister.
Celeste shrugged. "I'll try."
Chase flew up and caught the Quaffle, swerving dangerously from a Bludger. The group assembled below gasped, thinking she was going to fall off. But she didn't. (Haha…favoritism)
She sped towards the opposing team's goalposts, and Celeste swung hard at the Bludger. A loud crack rent the air, which Chase took no notice of. She did a little spin around the Bludger to confuse it and shot one-handed to keep on her broom. The ball went through.
The people below cheered.
Celeste looked on. "That was some shooting," she remarked. She held up the broken club. "Sorry 'bout this. Reparo," and the club became whole. "I'll try not to hit it so hard next time…I'm still not used to this…"
So Chase…chased after the Quaffle and slapped it with her palm, causing it to rocket to the middle goalpost. Celeste swung the Bludger at the Quaffle, but it must suit humans better because it headed for Chase.
Chase rolled over to avoid it, but it swung right back. "Here!" Celeste threw the club at her; Chase batted the dark blue ball away again and it hit its brother. The two Bludgers, enraged, started whacking themselves at each other.
"Can I try a few goals while they're busy?" Celeste asked eagerly. Chase shrugged and mouthed, "Do what you want."
Celeste snatched the red ball and flew nearer the goalposts. She was about to shoot when Chase caught up and stole the ball. "Too slow," she said.
"Eat your words," Celeste said and swiped it from her, hurling it to the goal. It went through. "Ha!"
"But there's no Keeper to guard it while you shoot," Chase pointed out. "Uh-oh, one of the Bludgers must have waved the white flag already…"
One Bludger headed straight for Celeste, who swung at it. It went through one of the goals.
"What was that, baseketball?" Chase laughed. But she handed the Quaffle to Celeste all the same, and for five minutes they alternately played the role of Chaser and Beater. After that they headed back down, wondering why the others had landed and not practiced.
"I told you that the Quidditch field is not for mindless play, Chase," Mark said in a stern voice. The others, who were behind him, had weird expressions on their faces.
"Oh yeah. And I know what you're going to say next. 'Congratulations, Celeste, you're on the team!'" Chase responded cynically.
"Why is it that your predictions are always accurate?" Mark asked, his face breaking into a smile.
"Because of all the fog that penetrated to my brain from attending too many Divination classes," Chase said with rolled eyes. "So, is Celes in?"
"Yes," Mark confirmed.
"Yes!" Celeste cheered. "Oh, but I can't be a Beater, I play better as a Chaser," she said mischievously.
"What? But what we need is a Beater," Mark said, confused.
Celeste shook her head and laughed. "Of course. That's why Chase is going to take my place."
"What?" Chase demanded.
Celeste handed her the club. "You're the new Beater. Congrats, sis."
*****
AN - Finished! Wish I had more reviews, though, I'm sick of writing without much people reviewing… Maybe that's why the chapters get worse and worse… well anyway, review, pleeeeeeaaaassse! Begging and grovelling need not be added, I still have my pride, you know… But I wish you bunch had hearts. Pitying hearts, that is. Oh well, I'm pathetic. Ciao for now, and don't forget to be good and review…