Libby was suddenly struck with an idea. "Seamus, I'm hungry. Got any snack cakes?"
She knew, of course, that he didn't. Seamus was never a Wizard Scout. And, knowing Dean, he'd tag along with to go fetch something.
"Gee, Libs. Just because you're getting married to some.." Seamus just burst out laughing before finishing his sentence.
Libby raised one eyebrow, somewhat perplexed by his insanity. He smiled, holding back more, as Dean pushed him out of the compartment.
"Going back to how we were…" Harry whispered, moving into the seat next to her. She rolled her eyes.
"Harry, I just thought of something." And, at his coy smile, scowled. "Not that kind of something."
Harry raised his eyebrows and looked away, crossing his arms and mumbling something about her reverting back to the old Libby.
"If we're here, than whose at Hogwarts in our place?" She retorted, and it sort of struck him.
"Wow. I'm surprised they haven't latched on to each other's faces." Dean said as Seamus slid the door open. They sat down and handed the silent couple snack cakes.
Libby nibbled on a few different ones, avoiding the Every-Flavor Beans, and was finally fed up with Harry's lack of any sort of answer. She stood up, stormed over to the compartment door, and slammed it behind her.
James looked up from his brooding when someone slammed his compartment door behind them. His infuriated sister… Weren't they lucky the Veela did not come out in them when they were upset? His infuriated sister was simply seething, and she sat down promptly between him and Neville. It was damned lucky that James and Libby were so lean, else Neville would be entirely squished.
"That damn Harry Potter!" Libby shrieked, and instantly, she exhaled a deep breath. "That was somewhat relieving."
"Another lover's spat?" Reggie asked wisely, not looking up from her magazine and absentmindedly handing one to Libby."
"No." Libby retorted with a scowl, but then thought about it. "Yes." But they weren't really lovers, so it didn't make sense. "Maybe."
"What about this time? What, is he not giving you enough plays in Quidditch?" James asked, his arm around his sister's shoulder comfortingly.
Libby hesitated. She certainly couldn't tell them the real reason. "I don't remember."
Reggie snorted and Libby narrowed her eyes. "But it was important."
"I'll bet, Libertia… Come on, sweets." James coaxed. Just read your magazine."
Libby opened it up, and number one on the most eligible bachelors list, was of course, her knight in shining Quidditch robes.
In a frenzied fervor, she closed the magazine with more power than required for the flimsy thing, nearly ripping it's cover off. "THAT DAMN HARRY POTTER!"
"Things are back to normal." Reggie whispered.
"I think we're the last ones off." James muttered as he, Libby and Reggie struggled to keep up with Neville and Mandy.
"Oh, nonsense." Libby hissed, though she, too, also fell out of step. "Jesus, Jamie, wait up!"
Damn robes. She tripped slightly near the door, but regained herself to full height and looked up at the entire populous of Hogsmeade and Hogwarts combined waiting for her.
Oh, here goes the contagious clap, starting out with Draco, of course. How Muggle teen movie. As sarcastic as her brain seemed, the contagious clap was really getting to her. Sort of struck her with awe.
"Isn't she lovely?" Fred, George and Lee crooned, having somehow managed to get old-fashioned microphones and doo-wop costumes. "Isn't she wonderful?"
"Did I win something?" She whispered to herself, knowing that this really just shouldn't be about Harry.
But it was, because bewildered Harry emerged behind Seamus and Dean only three compartments down. At this, Libby curtsied, so her rolling eyes were hidden by her tumbling curls. She waited for Neville, Mandy, James and Reggie to ease into the crowd before sprinting off to the castle.
"This is insanity." She murmured, removing her Prefect badge hastily, stuffing it into the pocket of her jeans. She tugged her Hogwarts robes off, made of silk, by Lily's insistence. Why this hadn't made so many of the independent Potter women go into hiding was beyond her.
"Where's Libby?" Harry asked Seamus as a rowdy bunch of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw boys led him into Three Broomsticks. Seamus looked around and didn't spot her.
"Probably doing girl stuff. Hair and the like." Seamus said loudly, not trying too hard to be heard over the noise.
"Congratulations, Harry Potter!" Madam Rosmerta said jovially. "You and Miss Libby must come in and have a drink on me."
Harry's eyes scanned the crowd. All the girls who Libby could possibly befriend were here. Even Draco was here. "All her friends are here."
"Geez, Potter, you're getting a little liberty from… Liberty. Enjoy yourself." Seamus shouted.
Harry lost himself in his own world. What Libby had said on the train was right, what had happened at Hogwarts? Was time still passing there, was McGonagall in trouble? Were their alter egos there? What if their alter egos weren't there and Ron, Hermione, Reggie and Ginny were missing them terribly? Well, Ron wouldn't miss Libby, but…
It just occurred to him that there might be a Voldemort in this world. After all, if his parents weren't dead…
Harry rushed to the gentlemen's room and lifted his bangs to reveal his forehead. No scar.
And with Libby all by herself…
Harry rushed out of there, through the crowd and into the night.
Libby sat in the Common Room idily braiding her curls, the password now changed… By an elder prefect, probably Lee, to Harry Loves Libby. She had two separate French braids both beautifully halfway done. The not so straight strands seemed to flow and weave into each other with the grace of silk. With some careful searching, she had managed to find a few diamond beads, most likely a Christmas gift from Ruby, and a few star sapphire beads, more likely a gift from James. Clutching her wand, she secured it all in place and did an Anti-Frizz charm.
Someday, she decided, she'd do that to her own children. If she didn't find a way back, they'd be Harry's children, too, but she could manage to share. If they had her blue eyes, they'd get sapphires and pearls. If they had Harry's green eyes, they'd get emeralds and diamonds. If, perchance, the red hair had skipped a generation, she'd probably put in rubies just for a joke.
Now that her hair was done, she idily toyed with a spare jewel bead, no doubt one that Harry had added to her collection. It was a large ruby, intended to be the crowning glory on any hair-do or necklace, or hell, even her charm bracelet.
She seemed to be quite popular here. In the dormitory, there were a great number of pictures of her smiling with lots of different girls and boys, and her bed was definitely the fanciest, the inside of the curtains decorated with all her mementos and her name. It was a wonder she had made it through that crowd without an inkling of congrats.
One thing she thought of was Cho Chang. Even in the other world, Ron teased Harry about being enamored with her. Well, that just wouldn't do, she thought hotly.
"It wouldn't do and it won't." Libby said to herself in an obviously angry voice.
"I'm sorry, Libs, you know I'm slow." A male voice boomed behind her and she nearly jumped eight feet in the air.
"Harry James Potter, if you ever sneak behind me like that ever again, your royal jewels will be…" Libby trailed off and her features softened. "Well, we can't really do much about it tonight, can we?"
Harry shook his head, a playful grin tugging at the corners of his lips. Libby rolled her eyes with an amused look on her face. "See you at supper."
Libby coyly took the two ends of her braids together as she watched him leave.
"What is it with girls and hanging in groups… You'd have to have a leash on them to chat privately." Harry murmured absentmindedly at supper. Libby was on the other end of the table, most likely torturing him if the ten minutes of careful thought he had gone through hadn't been enough. For Merlin's sake, she couldn't have THAT many girlfriends. There was Lavender, Parvati, Padma, Mandy Brocklehurst, Reggie, Hermione, Ginny, Ruby, Patricia, GOOD LORD!
"Oh, Libby, I adore your hair!" One of them squealed. "How did you get so many jewels?"
Ruby chattered on about the diamonds, and Hermione interjected about the rare Orion Star Sapphire mine that belonged to Libby's mother's family and that she and James had inherited it.
"But what about that ruby?" One other girl asked, and Parvati, in her bitchiest tone (some things never change) answered that Harry had given it to her just as a make-up gift.
"Speaking of, are they in a fight again?" Lavender asked Reggie, not Libby.
Reggie rolled her eyes. "They're always in a fight."
"Well, she's not too mad at you. Normally she doesn't wear any of your gifts when she's pissed." Dean commented, taking another bite of whatever was on his plate. "Did you kiss and make-up?"
"Is there really any other way for them to make up?" Draco interjected, and the Gryffindor boys exchanged a look.
"Nah."
"So, we're going to Lion's Den for a bit of entertainment tonight, right?" Ron whispered. "We promise you won't get caught, Harry."
"I asked all the girls except Libby if they were going, and no doubt she'll go." Draco added, knowing that if Prince Harry Potter was at all hesitant about partying, Libby would surely be good bait.
"Whatever." Harry murmured as Libby turned her head, the shimmering light that caught on her bejeweled hair casting a glow around her. She smiled at him coyly, and winked. "Fine."
"I hate it when she does that." Someone behind them muttered, and it was a very concerned-looking James with Neville not too far behind him. "She's just asking to stand out. She's just asking for someone to go up and yank her hair out."
"You're not one to talk, Black. I remember a certain platinum watch embedded with the Orion Star Sapphires." Draco quipped in Libby's defense. "And she usually only does it on special occasions. What, are you taking her virginity tonight, Potter?"
Harry blinked at Draco's audacity. Sure, he was a friend. Libby's friend.
Libby removed the charms and beads from her hair, dropping the precious jewels into her music box, which she was sure could never be opened. Her hair softly crimped and curled and she looked through her closet for the best party clothing. She had known about the Lion's Den a long while ago, but was never daring enough to try to sneak out with Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter hating her. Whatever they did, it was pretty sneaky.
The silver shiny pants or the black… Silver, definitely. She paired it with a blue top and took the silver key out of her music box… It would be the perfect compliment. Ruby and herself would throw on dressing robes and say that all the girls' bathrooms were out and they really had to go, perchance they got caught. They'd leave their robes in the passageway and come back and fetch them.
Perfect. Now, if Harry could at least pretend he knew how to dance…
Harry was glad he had to lie low, because this club… As fun and amazing as it seemed, was absolutely nuts.
And, judging by her behavior on the dance floor, Libby was quite used to teen clubs.
She did happen to simmer down the sensuality Harry knew she had and hammed it up instead. She was making sure he wasn't jealous, for sure.
How come he didn't know about his place? Certainly because just a few extra people were alive and dead didn't mean that culture stopped, did it?
"Come on, Harry." Libby urged over the noise.
James nudged Seamus. "Oh, look, Libs is trying to get him to dance."
Seamus snorted. "Harry doesn't know anything but ballroom."
"And he's stubborn as hell." Ron interjected.
"Not even Libby could do it." Neville squeaked.
"I don't know." Dean said doubtfully.
"Libby's awfully convincing." Draco reminded them. "Especially about dancing."
"DJ!" Libby shouted over the noise. "Something… Latin!"
She had dragged Harry to the center of the dance floor and now placed his hands on a dangerously low position on her hips. Her lower arms rested limply on his shoulders and she began teaching him, with some success, a mix of salsa, flamenco and tango.
After one dance, however large his smile was, Harry went back to the boys, and the girls took over the dance floor, putting their own sexy interpretation on the Latin medley Libby had taught him.
"Amazing." Ron muttered. "Whipped."
The next day, amazing as it was, Harry and Libby had been separated for an entire morning. At lunch, the entire gang of them, the boys, the girls, and even a few of the younger teachers, gathered in the Entrance Hall for their meal. Libby sat, leaning against a wall, next to Harry.
"That's really bothering me." Libby whispered as one more strand of his hair fell down into his eyes. Putting her sandwich down, she decided to run her French-manicured through his hair and sort it out. A few moments later, she sat back, clearly satisfied.
"Potter, what is with the hair?" Draco asked as he and Ron joined them.
"Looks good, Harry." Parvati complimented breathily, and Libby's face grew hot.
"Yeah, it's all of Libby's work." Harry said offhandedly. "She's a goddess with hair. She could help you with yours."
Parvati gasped and stood up, obviously offended. "For your information, Harry Potter, there is…" She squeaked, "NOTHING wrong with my hair."
She left in a huff, and Libby giggled. "You are such a boy."
"Thanks?" He asked, turning to her. She had a small dab of mayonnaise next to her mouth, and he wiped it away with his thumb.
"Aw, things are so tame. Normally we get a full-on peep show and today it's just grooming." Seamus said, his voice full of false disappointment.
"Yeah, I want my money back." Ron quipped. The group burst into soft chuckles, and Harry and Libby turned away with red faces. "Eh, wonder how their wedding will be like. Peep show?"
"Gross, Ron, you have NO sense of romance!" Hermione squeaked, the most Libby had heard her say in the past day.
"Here, here!" Ginny added, and Ron tossed the crust of his sandwich at her. She retorted with a splash of her drink. Naturally, a food fight began, and Harry came out the least affected, escaping after Libby wiped her mayo-covered slice of bread across his cheek. Libby, however, was not so lucky. Someone splashed pumpkin juice on her robes and her blazer, causing her to remove them. After that, she got out, untucking her school blouse and loosening her tie.
"I look like a mess." She muttered as Harry escorted her (leading the entourage) to Potions.
"You look extremely attractive." Harry retorted, as if ending her rant. He didn't.
"What would you know?" She whispered, checking her backside. She wasn't the only one.
"I know. Trust me." Harry said, cupping her cheek so she was looking at him, not her butt. "There's nothing there but a nicely shaped butt."
Libby smirked at him, raising one eyebrow. He flushed and she walked ahead. "I'll get our seats."
She opened the dungeon door, and instead of Professor Snape sitting in the back of the classroom, a familiar-looking attractive woman smirked evilly back at her.
It was Aphrodite St. Clair.