Lily, the Vampire Slayer
Author's Notes: To hpfan1750, don't worry. Lily hasn't lost any of her powers yet. Due to her near-death experience, she had to resolve all of the conflicts running around her without resorting to hiding behind her Slayer façade. And about the l/j thing, I'm not really sure if I can squeeze that in here, I really don't think I'm ready to write their sort of romance just yet.
I can't even write J.K.'s magickal world in my fics. (Just really bad at those Latin words.) But I promise that there will be some l/j in the next few chappies. Just not that much of it had to do with declarations of love, though.
Usually just thoughts and feelings of unrequited love and suffering due to their personal insecurities and denial.
Oh, and jealousy. Lots of that in here.
And to all those interested, Cassie, Quesnel and someone else's gonna appear.
Chapter Thirteen
Battle-worn and weary, The Marauders, the Vampire Slayer and a Wiccan approached the enormous castle, which the rising sun had easily colored a glaring yet impossible dull red-orange.
Lily grunted in disgust and pain when a bruised rib accidentally collided with Peter's elbow. Disgust, for she was the Slayer and something as tiny as a battered rib shouldn't have mattered.
She could battle demons bent on inflicting apocalyptic destruction upon the earth while she nursed a broken ankle and a shot kneecap but something as tiny as this momentary discomfort had caused her this pain?
She was angry at herself.
She couldn't believe that her body would betray her like this and allow her cool façade to slip. The unerring mask that had never let her down unless it would be in front of Ernie, never disappoint her until now.
"You all right there, Lily?" Peter was concerned, noticing her sudden but fleeting pain.
She nodded, shamed that he could notice her vulnerability.
No one spoke a word and not long after, they had finally reached the school grounds.
As they crossed the expansive Quidditch field, Lily sensed the loss of a presence, not really as evident as it would be if she had honed and focused her senses to detect her surroundings but the gaping hole where the aforementioned company had once occupied had not been evacuated as suddenly, so she was surprised that her faltering abilities had detected the shift in the air at all.
Her abrupt halt had caused Peter, whose shoulder she ad used to temporarily lean on, to stumble forward and her reflexes had saved him from literally kissing the ground.
"Samantha?" she asked, turning back as she let go of Peter when she had hypothesized that he had regained his balance.
The Wiccan only smiled and nodded for her to continue.
"Hey, what's wrong? Can't step on, um, other magickal beings' grounds or something?"
"I have no business, no place, among your kind," came the nonchalant reply.
Lily frowned in consternation at the point Samantha was trying to get across.
Samantha smiled at her obvious bewilderment and tried to salvage the situation.
"We do not interfere with affairs which do not concern us-"
"And I was kinda involved in breaking that sacred rule, right?" Lily assumed sheepishly. "With me asking ya to help me with the evil vampire thing and now you're gonna have to face humiliation or maybe even banishment and disownment from your people and I'm really sorry because it's all my fault and if you need a place to crash, then I can always talk the society into getting a rommmate for that ugly, trashed apart- well, not that it all really is, but you know, I have this urge to diss authority and- "
Samantha gestured for the Slayer to stop her useless tirade.
"No, Slayer," she chuckled, shaking her head. "You had asked for my help, my interference, therefore allowing me, giving permission, to intervene with the situation. But now that the dilemma has been resolved, I have no business here anymore."
"Oh!" her mouth formed a wide O shape, her eyes glittering with understanding. "A moral code sort of thing. Slayers and Watchers and some demons got those too! Not that I really care to follow the ones that I'm supposed to obey, y'know. Not that I really expect anyone to do what I do, especially you, since we're total opposites, understand? Like salt and-"
"Prattling," Peter cut in. "You seem to that a lot, though considering you're a Slayer and I suppose they would be high- strung and all."
The aforementioned Vampire Slayer turned and gave Peter a glare that would send the fiercest hellbeasts back to their fiery beginnings, well, not exactly since they weren't that easily deterred but it did make them think twice before attacking her.
But the vertically challenged boy seemed nonplussed.
Though not being one to back down from a challenge, Lily let the remark pass due to the fact that Peter had chosen the most befitting time to match wits with the Slayer, her injuring bruised ribs and ailments concerning the same malady.
So, she turned back towards Samantha, who, had taken the opportunity to slip away while the Slayer and little Wizard measured the other's lucidity.
"Hey!" she called, to which the Wiccan turned and regarded her with a smile. "Thanks for everything! And help's always appreciated!"
Samantha shook her head as her amusement nearly spilled out in waves of laughter while she willed herself to leave the school grounds.
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Easter had passed and Lily found herself dozing steadily in her seat during one very tedious Divination class.
The future didn't interest her much, intent on believing of all Slayer's early albeit unpredictable deaths. So, she pointedly reminded herself that she was doing this partly for Ernie.
Both he and the Council agreed on one thing, and that was that being to know one's enemies beforehand was going to be a useful talent, therefore that's why they signed her up for Divination.
Not that she didn't believe in clairvoyance, one of her informants, an unusually intelligent Quetz demon, was fond of augury.
As gross as using deceased creatures remains as a way of telling the future, it was quite effective.
Helped her nab more than evil than anyone could fathom.
So, that was why she was here, bored to tears and wasting what little time she had left in here life listening to a boring professor explain some sort of crap that just didn't spark any interest from her.
"Now, everyone pair up as I hand out the cards," Professor Kurtchel announced as she disappeared behind a sheer curtain to retrieve the promised Tarot cards.
Lily frowned, not having the slightest bit of idea at what the professor was blabbering on about.
"Oi, Lil'," Sirius hovered over her, a maniacal glint in his eye and an amused smirk on his face.
In the past weeks, the Slayer and Sirius had developed a rather friendly, if not crazy relationship. Sirius was, to her, a sort of best cousin and she had gotten to know his habits and it didn't take a really close acquaintance to grasp at what was on Sirius' mind at the moment.
"Whaddaya want?"
"Oh my little Slayer," Sirius tut-tutted, at which Lily stomped down hard on his foot.
"What part of secret identity do you just not get?" she snarled.
"Ouchies!!!" he howled as he hopped around on one foot as he grasped the other unsuccessfully trying to relieve the pain in it. "Oh, well, just wondering if you wanted a partner for this thing."
"What happened to Potter?"
"With Peter."
"Right, duh!" she slapped her forehead in faux revelation. "So Lily is just a replacement, isn't she?" she asked, mock scowl plastered on her face.
Sirius bent down and hugged her. "No!!! She's not!!! I love my little red-headed, hot-tempered witch!"
"Awww," she pretended to sniffle. "That's so nice of you, Siri!"
"Yeah, I worry about you, Lil'," Sirius feigned concern. "You rarely get any sleep, got bags under your eyes and now lookee! Ou're referring to yourself in the third person!!!"
"Cut the crap, Siri and sit down," she said, not unkindly.
He complied and immediately asked, "Do you know what we're supposed to be doing, then?"
Her eyes widened and she reached out to cuff the back of his head.
"You dumbass! Like I was listening!"
"Right, like you were. I could practically hear your elephant snores from up front!"
"Oh, shut up! Not that we're technically screwed. It's not as if this crap's really important, right? We could just fake everything, right?"
Sirius groaned. "Well, as you said, it's not like Kurtchel actually grades us for these little activities," he said sarcastically.
"Times like these, you gotta wish Remy was here," she replied bluntly, accepting a pack of cards from the teacher. Then, without even glancing at the cards, she shuffled them like a casino dealer and with a straight face, asked, "What'll it be? Black Jack, Gin Rummy or Poker?"
Sirius gave her a confused frown.
"Right, what was I thinking," she snorted. "So anyway, how do we do this?"
"Wait, let me figure this out for a second," Sirius stood up and observed some of the students, trying to gather enough information so that he and Lily could also get on with their lives.
He sat down dejectedly.
"No luck?" the red-head asked.
"Nope."
"Well, go ask James, then."
"Alright."
So Sirius, being as inane as any human, Wizard or no, stood up and hollered for James who was inconveniently situated across the room, "Jamesie! Could you get your lead-filled arse over here?"
And James, he and Sirius being two peas in a pod, yelled back, "What's lead and no! If you want something you come here and get it yourself!"
"Well, I just wanted to ask you what to do with the cards and- Ooomf!!!"
He didn't get to finish his rather resounding request for Lily grabbed his arm, twirled him around and clasped a hand over his somewhat boisterous mouth.
"Wow! What part of we're screwed just doesn't register in your simple Simian brain?" she whispered menacingly into his ear.
It wasn't as if she cared if the Professor found out if she was paying attention or not, but she did care what Ernie thought, ergo she was trying for her Watcher.
And when the question that Sirius had just asked her was the exact one she knew that he would ask, she told him so.
Then he sat down, opened his Divination book, flipped to a particular page, waved his hand around in some fancy motion and with a triumphant 'ta da!' he shoved the book towards Lily, grabbed the cards and started to set up.
"What the-?"
She glanced at the entry and shrugged. It seems that the 'Genius' had finally used his microscopic, probably non- existent, brain and had opened a book and found the appointed page which referred to the lesson.
Maybe he was actually intelligent and maybe he got excellent grades because he actually had some brains in his head and not from copying from Remus.
Well, not all of the grades, anyway.
"Okay, Einstein, whadda we do now?"
"Pretend to look smart and knowledgeable about the subject."
She slapped her forehead. "Well, that settles it. You're no smarter than a dog contaminated with a case o' the fleas, y'know that?"
"Well, at least I know how to research," he countered, sticking his tongue out at her.
"Fine, then. So, 'splain that to me," she rolled her eyes as she pointed at the rather unique set-up of the cards on the table.
Two cards formed a cross in between four others laid out in a box-shape and four others lined the bottom, all the cards were positioned so that they were face down.
"Well, just followed what was in the book," he shrugged.
Her face scrunched up as she pretended to size him up. "never took you as one to follow rules, Black."
"Same here, Evans."
"Fine, so, go. Read my future."
"Righto! See here," he pointed a hand at the crossed cards, flipped them open and regarded them with a focused frown.
"This means, you're going to...er," he mumbled, grasping for something to say as the Divination teacher passed by and stayed by their table. "You're going to um, be run over by a, a, a, centaur!!! Squished to death."
The teacher gave them a disappointed shake of the head and Sirius knew that he was going to fail this particular subject.
He needed some help, and he knew just who to turn to, well it was a hypothesis, but it was better than nothing.
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"Oh, Sammy!!!" Sirius screeched as he and Lily rapped on the door to her house.
He casually leaned on the door feigning, or was it really, boredom.
Just then, the door was pulled open, causing him to topple over, landing on Samantha's feet.
He smiled up at her and she smiled back, holding the door open for Lily.
"Well, what brings you both here?"
Sirius, who had promptly decided that he was more comfortable on the floor, answered, "We have this test, see, and well, it's about something that's way over our heads, see, and we decided you could help us, you see?"
Samantha's brow furrowed as a bewildered smile flitted about her lips.
"He wants you to teach us how to use Tarot Cards, if you can, or do know," Lily explained, nudging Sirius with her foot.
"So, is it possible?" Sirius grinned at her expectantly.
"Quite," she nodded her consent.
"Yay!" Sirius leaped up and hugged her tightly, jumping around.
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"So, this card here, this is supposed to be the problem." She pointed at the card on the center. She was doing a reading for the Slayer while Sirius pretended to look interested.
"Whaddasit say?" Sirius questioned as he let out an enormous yawn.
Samantha's brow furrowed. "It's the card of death."
Lily frowned, then hearing no witty repartee from her male companion, she kidded, "Now would be the time to go gasp."
He conceded and she elbowed him in the ribs.
"Sammy, not that I ain't grateful and crap but I really don't wanna hear this, me just dying a few weeks ago and all so." she stood up, dragging Sirius with her. "Thanks a lot but I think I'll just have Remus teach me, he can absorb any textbook info faster than you can say Mississippi and his reading won't be all that accurate, so better for me."
As she headed out the door, Samantha called out, "It isn't about your demise, it's of your fear, fear of change! Something in your life will change drastically."
Lily waved her hand, disregarding the information, telling herself that she didn't really believe all that crap as she continued to tow Sirus behind her.
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James Potter hurriedly walked down the hallway, cringing as he remembered the earlier encounter with Sirius' shrieking girlfriend. He passed down the passage that would lead him to the Gryffindor Tower, muttered a hastily at the Fat Lady and quickly entered, searching the Common Room for any trace of his best friend.
He found none and dejectedly walked up the stairs to the Boys' dormitories, sprinting up the steps with little hope of finding Sirius there, knowing full well that it was too early for his companion to have retired.
Pushing open the plain mahogany door, he did a quick scan of the chamber, further confirming his earlier conclusion. Sirius Black was not anywhere in the castle.
So, he decided to approach the next person who knew Sirius just as well as he did, Remus, who was luckily inside the room and had given him a reprimanding look as he had barged in.
Amusingly, Remus managed to look so much like a teacher that it pleased Sirius to torture him to no end about that certain fact, constantly calling him Professor, which surprisingly didn't bother Remus all that much.
"Remy!" James panted due to the exertion he had placed in his unsatisfying search for Padfoot. "Have you seen Sirius?"
To that, Peter, who was also in the adobe, though in the bathroom, quipped, "Does he look like he's Padfoot's keeper?"
"Well, we do let him keep the leash," James reasoned. "But that's beyond the point unless Padfoot's gone roaming about on all fours. He isn't, is he?"
Remus shook his head. "Not that I know of."
"Well, then, where is he?" James impatiently tapped his foot.
"With Lily," could be audibly heard coming from the bathroom through a mouthful of toothpaste.
James' eyes widened.
"No," Remus waved his hands in front of James' face. "Not like that. They aren't out on a date. Lily would never think of her 'Siri' like that."
James, though obviously relieved, tried to protest. "I didn't think of it that way. No, I'm concerned that if she did, but I was concerned for him if it were true and what Cassie would do to him."
Remus chuckled. "Whatever you say, but what's this about Cassie?"
"Oh, Cassie's been looking for him, seems like our Mr. Black has been neglecting her and missing their dates in order to go out and 'hunt' with Lily. And what do you mean by whatever I say? I do not have feelings for Lily!!!"
"Did I somehow imply that you did? And why did you not tell Cassiopeia that Sirius is not having a romantic tryst with the Slayer?"
"I did tell her but she wouldn't listen, telling me since I was the best friend and all, I wouldn't be a valuable source of information and that he would have to face her wrath. And yes, you did suggest that I was somehow jealous."
Peter, coming into the room, dressed in his pyjamas, rejoined, "Seems to me, you said all of that yourself, Jamsie, me boy."
"Seems to me that you've got better hearing than you've let on 'Petey'."
"Seems to me you're in denial."
"Seems to me that you should mind your own business."
"Ah, so it seems that my assumption is correct and that you do feel something for our very own Slayer, there wouldn't be any business for me to mind if there wasn't any."
James glared at Peter.
Remus, afraid that a scene, not unlike the Goblin Rebellion would take place, abruptly intervened. "James, whatever is the matter, I'm sure Sirius can handle it, with his supposed 'charm' and all and Peter, we should mind our own business, if," Remus added, seeing James turn an alarming shade of red, not unlike a tomato, "there was a business to stop minding, that is."
"But he wouldn't be so angry if it weren't-"
Peter's taunting was cut-off by Sirius' raucous arrival, and they shared a knowing smile as he fought the giggling entourage of girls that was his constant companion.
(A/N: If you're wondering why James wasn't followed by a posse of giggly girls, was that he had looked so broody and wounded after his terrible encounter with Cassie that they just seemed terrified of him, so, they left him alone.)
Sirius dashed in as Peter tried to shut the door before a group of very persistent girls.
"Oh, what a wearying day!" he mock-sighed, or was it really. "You don't know what I have been through! Don't those girls know that I've got Cassie?"
"Seems to me that you've been busy courting a certain fiery red- head," James riled, though his voice came out with a hint of bitterness that he hoped no one would hear.
They didn't seem to notice, well, not Peter and especially not Sirius, but he was absolutely positive that he saw Remus shoot him with a look that could make seven year olds cower in their trousers.
"Oh, no, Cassie would positively have my head on a platter if I had. No, my dear Lillian is out with the same fellow we saw who she was with the last Hogsmeade trip, the one we thought was her father."
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"So, Ernie, why're you here? Not that I don't appreciate you coming here early and all but if I know the Society they're really strict about the stupid visiting hours and all, so-"
She had been cut off by Ernie, who held up a hand to silence her rather pointless rant, which was executed too quickly to be comprehensible to anyone but herself.
"All right, shutting up right now," she said, not put off at the very least at her Watcher's impatience, as she sat herself on the moist grass. "So spill, what's gotten you all worked up?"
Ernie raised an eyebrow in her direction, surprise settling on his features.
"Yep, I'm not all that self-centered," she bubbled, shrugging. "Whenever you get hesitant-like, anxious and nervous, you get this real weird look on your face, sorta like this," she tried to imitate his unique Ernie-look, yet came out looking rather constipated. "Anyway, it would've been the same look you got when you read the letter I sent you about me almost dying since the damned Society's been prissy 'bout visiting hours."
She had noticed Ernie's look darken as she spoke.
Concerned, she furrowed her brow. "What's the dilly, chief?"
"Apparently, the Council has been intercepting the letters that you have been sending me, I have only been informed just recently of your near-death experience. That's why I have been sent here, they thought it best that I should be the person to inform you of-"
Her face scrunched up. "What, so the lazy asses have gotten even more sluggish lately that they've sent you to just tell me something that they could've gotten that little snot, Quesnel, to tell me, unless it's really bad like that Zeke's alive, he's not alive, is he?"
A worried look crossed her face and Ernie bent down to pat her on the shoulder as a sign of comfort.
"No, it isn't like that, because, you see, I don't know how to put this lightly but."
"But what?" she prodded. "I promise I won't get whatever you don't want me to do. Promise."
"Alright, you see, technically, your heart had stopped beating in your comatose state, while you had been fighting for your soul, fighting for your life. And as it is known a Slayer is Chosen after the old one dies, and the Council had hypothesized that since your soul was not in this world at the time."
He trailed off, checking her reaction, wanting her to be all right with the mention of her death.
Her eyes widened in understanding.
"I've been replaced."
Three simple words that brought her world reeling.
And Ernie sensed it.
"No, you haven't," he chided, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
"I have, one dies, me, another takes her place, this new chick. I've been discarded."
"No, you haven't," Ernie said sternly. "They've thought that this is better, two Slayers. You remain here, centering your attention around one specific evil while the other stays in America, with me and her Watcher, to watch over Mew York."
She growled. "Screw them if they think I'm letting my Watcher and my city go without a fight."
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A/N: And yes!!! Finally done!!! I know ya'll've been pestering me to finish up my story but as much as I've wanted to, I couldn't think of anything for this chapter, but be assured that I've got plenty for the next.
I've been waiting to write it!!!
Plus, blame my computer, the screen keeps on turning blue, tells me there's an error in my files and then deletes my work. FRUSTRATING!!!
Anyway, I've also been kept off this story by my friend, Lestat, who's been egging me on, convincing me to write a story with her. It's called 'The Opposite of Sex'. Here's a link if you wanna go and have a looksee: http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=876297
It's about, well, Draco's feminine side. Based on the Travelers Incognito's Draco Dracianna©(if any of you are wondering about the copyright symbol, blame it on Lestat, got me into the habit).
Anyway, it's a Draco/Harry fic but not really slash (I'm sorry if any slash supporters are reading this, but it seems quite different to me, esp. if it's an NC-17 slash fic. I've been brought up by old-fashioned parents, but I'm not against the writers, the believers and the practitioners, just don't read it.) But I really like fics wherein Draco's a girl and well, with my friend's persuasion, we got to writing it.
SO PLEASE READ IT!!!!!!
Oh, and don't worry, my fic is a totally separate story from that one if it just won't go well with you.
Author's Notes: To hpfan1750, don't worry. Lily hasn't lost any of her powers yet. Due to her near-death experience, she had to resolve all of the conflicts running around her without resorting to hiding behind her Slayer façade. And about the l/j thing, I'm not really sure if I can squeeze that in here, I really don't think I'm ready to write their sort of romance just yet.
I can't even write J.K.'s magickal world in my fics. (Just really bad at those Latin words.) But I promise that there will be some l/j in the next few chappies. Just not that much of it had to do with declarations of love, though.
Usually just thoughts and feelings of unrequited love and suffering due to their personal insecurities and denial.
Oh, and jealousy. Lots of that in here.
And to all those interested, Cassie, Quesnel and someone else's gonna appear.
Chapter Thirteen
Battle-worn and weary, The Marauders, the Vampire Slayer and a Wiccan approached the enormous castle, which the rising sun had easily colored a glaring yet impossible dull red-orange.
Lily grunted in disgust and pain when a bruised rib accidentally collided with Peter's elbow. Disgust, for she was the Slayer and something as tiny as a battered rib shouldn't have mattered.
She could battle demons bent on inflicting apocalyptic destruction upon the earth while she nursed a broken ankle and a shot kneecap but something as tiny as this momentary discomfort had caused her this pain?
She was angry at herself.
She couldn't believe that her body would betray her like this and allow her cool façade to slip. The unerring mask that had never let her down unless it would be in front of Ernie, never disappoint her until now.
"You all right there, Lily?" Peter was concerned, noticing her sudden but fleeting pain.
She nodded, shamed that he could notice her vulnerability.
No one spoke a word and not long after, they had finally reached the school grounds.
As they crossed the expansive Quidditch field, Lily sensed the loss of a presence, not really as evident as it would be if she had honed and focused her senses to detect her surroundings but the gaping hole where the aforementioned company had once occupied had not been evacuated as suddenly, so she was surprised that her faltering abilities had detected the shift in the air at all.
Her abrupt halt had caused Peter, whose shoulder she ad used to temporarily lean on, to stumble forward and her reflexes had saved him from literally kissing the ground.
"Samantha?" she asked, turning back as she let go of Peter when she had hypothesized that he had regained his balance.
The Wiccan only smiled and nodded for her to continue.
"Hey, what's wrong? Can't step on, um, other magickal beings' grounds or something?"
"I have no business, no place, among your kind," came the nonchalant reply.
Lily frowned in consternation at the point Samantha was trying to get across.
Samantha smiled at her obvious bewilderment and tried to salvage the situation.
"We do not interfere with affairs which do not concern us-"
"And I was kinda involved in breaking that sacred rule, right?" Lily assumed sheepishly. "With me asking ya to help me with the evil vampire thing and now you're gonna have to face humiliation or maybe even banishment and disownment from your people and I'm really sorry because it's all my fault and if you need a place to crash, then I can always talk the society into getting a rommmate for that ugly, trashed apart- well, not that it all really is, but you know, I have this urge to diss authority and- "
Samantha gestured for the Slayer to stop her useless tirade.
"No, Slayer," she chuckled, shaking her head. "You had asked for my help, my interference, therefore allowing me, giving permission, to intervene with the situation. But now that the dilemma has been resolved, I have no business here anymore."
"Oh!" her mouth formed a wide O shape, her eyes glittering with understanding. "A moral code sort of thing. Slayers and Watchers and some demons got those too! Not that I really care to follow the ones that I'm supposed to obey, y'know. Not that I really expect anyone to do what I do, especially you, since we're total opposites, understand? Like salt and-"
"Prattling," Peter cut in. "You seem to that a lot, though considering you're a Slayer and I suppose they would be high- strung and all."
The aforementioned Vampire Slayer turned and gave Peter a glare that would send the fiercest hellbeasts back to their fiery beginnings, well, not exactly since they weren't that easily deterred but it did make them think twice before attacking her.
But the vertically challenged boy seemed nonplussed.
Though not being one to back down from a challenge, Lily let the remark pass due to the fact that Peter had chosen the most befitting time to match wits with the Slayer, her injuring bruised ribs and ailments concerning the same malady.
So, she turned back towards Samantha, who, had taken the opportunity to slip away while the Slayer and little Wizard measured the other's lucidity.
"Hey!" she called, to which the Wiccan turned and regarded her with a smile. "Thanks for everything! And help's always appreciated!"
Samantha shook her head as her amusement nearly spilled out in waves of laughter while she willed herself to leave the school grounds.
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Easter had passed and Lily found herself dozing steadily in her seat during one very tedious Divination class.
The future didn't interest her much, intent on believing of all Slayer's early albeit unpredictable deaths. So, she pointedly reminded herself that she was doing this partly for Ernie.
Both he and the Council agreed on one thing, and that was that being to know one's enemies beforehand was going to be a useful talent, therefore that's why they signed her up for Divination.
Not that she didn't believe in clairvoyance, one of her informants, an unusually intelligent Quetz demon, was fond of augury.
As gross as using deceased creatures remains as a way of telling the future, it was quite effective.
Helped her nab more than evil than anyone could fathom.
So, that was why she was here, bored to tears and wasting what little time she had left in here life listening to a boring professor explain some sort of crap that just didn't spark any interest from her.
"Now, everyone pair up as I hand out the cards," Professor Kurtchel announced as she disappeared behind a sheer curtain to retrieve the promised Tarot cards.
Lily frowned, not having the slightest bit of idea at what the professor was blabbering on about.
"Oi, Lil'," Sirius hovered over her, a maniacal glint in his eye and an amused smirk on his face.
In the past weeks, the Slayer and Sirius had developed a rather friendly, if not crazy relationship. Sirius was, to her, a sort of best cousin and she had gotten to know his habits and it didn't take a really close acquaintance to grasp at what was on Sirius' mind at the moment.
"Whaddaya want?"
"Oh my little Slayer," Sirius tut-tutted, at which Lily stomped down hard on his foot.
"What part of secret identity do you just not get?" she snarled.
"Ouchies!!!" he howled as he hopped around on one foot as he grasped the other unsuccessfully trying to relieve the pain in it. "Oh, well, just wondering if you wanted a partner for this thing."
"What happened to Potter?"
"With Peter."
"Right, duh!" she slapped her forehead in faux revelation. "So Lily is just a replacement, isn't she?" she asked, mock scowl plastered on her face.
Sirius bent down and hugged her. "No!!! She's not!!! I love my little red-headed, hot-tempered witch!"
"Awww," she pretended to sniffle. "That's so nice of you, Siri!"
"Yeah, I worry about you, Lil'," Sirius feigned concern. "You rarely get any sleep, got bags under your eyes and now lookee! Ou're referring to yourself in the third person!!!"
"Cut the crap, Siri and sit down," she said, not unkindly.
He complied and immediately asked, "Do you know what we're supposed to be doing, then?"
Her eyes widened and she reached out to cuff the back of his head.
"You dumbass! Like I was listening!"
"Right, like you were. I could practically hear your elephant snores from up front!"
"Oh, shut up! Not that we're technically screwed. It's not as if this crap's really important, right? We could just fake everything, right?"
Sirius groaned. "Well, as you said, it's not like Kurtchel actually grades us for these little activities," he said sarcastically.
"Times like these, you gotta wish Remy was here," she replied bluntly, accepting a pack of cards from the teacher. Then, without even glancing at the cards, she shuffled them like a casino dealer and with a straight face, asked, "What'll it be? Black Jack, Gin Rummy or Poker?"
Sirius gave her a confused frown.
"Right, what was I thinking," she snorted. "So anyway, how do we do this?"
"Wait, let me figure this out for a second," Sirius stood up and observed some of the students, trying to gather enough information so that he and Lily could also get on with their lives.
He sat down dejectedly.
"No luck?" the red-head asked.
"Nope."
"Well, go ask James, then."
"Alright."
So Sirius, being as inane as any human, Wizard or no, stood up and hollered for James who was inconveniently situated across the room, "Jamesie! Could you get your lead-filled arse over here?"
And James, he and Sirius being two peas in a pod, yelled back, "What's lead and no! If you want something you come here and get it yourself!"
"Well, I just wanted to ask you what to do with the cards and- Ooomf!!!"
He didn't get to finish his rather resounding request for Lily grabbed his arm, twirled him around and clasped a hand over his somewhat boisterous mouth.
"Wow! What part of we're screwed just doesn't register in your simple Simian brain?" she whispered menacingly into his ear.
It wasn't as if she cared if the Professor found out if she was paying attention or not, but she did care what Ernie thought, ergo she was trying for her Watcher.
And when the question that Sirius had just asked her was the exact one she knew that he would ask, she told him so.
Then he sat down, opened his Divination book, flipped to a particular page, waved his hand around in some fancy motion and with a triumphant 'ta da!' he shoved the book towards Lily, grabbed the cards and started to set up.
"What the-?"
She glanced at the entry and shrugged. It seems that the 'Genius' had finally used his microscopic, probably non- existent, brain and had opened a book and found the appointed page which referred to the lesson.
Maybe he was actually intelligent and maybe he got excellent grades because he actually had some brains in his head and not from copying from Remus.
Well, not all of the grades, anyway.
"Okay, Einstein, whadda we do now?"
"Pretend to look smart and knowledgeable about the subject."
She slapped her forehead. "Well, that settles it. You're no smarter than a dog contaminated with a case o' the fleas, y'know that?"
"Well, at least I know how to research," he countered, sticking his tongue out at her.
"Fine, then. So, 'splain that to me," she rolled her eyes as she pointed at the rather unique set-up of the cards on the table.
Two cards formed a cross in between four others laid out in a box-shape and four others lined the bottom, all the cards were positioned so that they were face down.
"Well, just followed what was in the book," he shrugged.
Her face scrunched up as she pretended to size him up. "never took you as one to follow rules, Black."
"Same here, Evans."
"Fine, so, go. Read my future."
"Righto! See here," he pointed a hand at the crossed cards, flipped them open and regarded them with a focused frown.
"This means, you're going to...er," he mumbled, grasping for something to say as the Divination teacher passed by and stayed by their table. "You're going to um, be run over by a, a, a, centaur!!! Squished to death."
The teacher gave them a disappointed shake of the head and Sirius knew that he was going to fail this particular subject.
He needed some help, and he knew just who to turn to, well it was a hypothesis, but it was better than nothing.
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"Oh, Sammy!!!" Sirius screeched as he and Lily rapped on the door to her house.
He casually leaned on the door feigning, or was it really, boredom.
Just then, the door was pulled open, causing him to topple over, landing on Samantha's feet.
He smiled up at her and she smiled back, holding the door open for Lily.
"Well, what brings you both here?"
Sirius, who had promptly decided that he was more comfortable on the floor, answered, "We have this test, see, and well, it's about something that's way over our heads, see, and we decided you could help us, you see?"
Samantha's brow furrowed as a bewildered smile flitted about her lips.
"He wants you to teach us how to use Tarot Cards, if you can, or do know," Lily explained, nudging Sirius with her foot.
"So, is it possible?" Sirius grinned at her expectantly.
"Quite," she nodded her consent.
"Yay!" Sirius leaped up and hugged her tightly, jumping around.
***************************************************************** ******************
"So, this card here, this is supposed to be the problem." She pointed at the card on the center. She was doing a reading for the Slayer while Sirius pretended to look interested.
"Whaddasit say?" Sirius questioned as he let out an enormous yawn.
Samantha's brow furrowed. "It's the card of death."
Lily frowned, then hearing no witty repartee from her male companion, she kidded, "Now would be the time to go gasp."
He conceded and she elbowed him in the ribs.
"Sammy, not that I ain't grateful and crap but I really don't wanna hear this, me just dying a few weeks ago and all so." she stood up, dragging Sirius with her. "Thanks a lot but I think I'll just have Remus teach me, he can absorb any textbook info faster than you can say Mississippi and his reading won't be all that accurate, so better for me."
As she headed out the door, Samantha called out, "It isn't about your demise, it's of your fear, fear of change! Something in your life will change drastically."
Lily waved her hand, disregarding the information, telling herself that she didn't really believe all that crap as she continued to tow Sirus behind her.
***************************************************************** ******************
James Potter hurriedly walked down the hallway, cringing as he remembered the earlier encounter with Sirius' shrieking girlfriend. He passed down the passage that would lead him to the Gryffindor Tower, muttered a hastily at the Fat Lady and quickly entered, searching the Common Room for any trace of his best friend.
He found none and dejectedly walked up the stairs to the Boys' dormitories, sprinting up the steps with little hope of finding Sirius there, knowing full well that it was too early for his companion to have retired.
Pushing open the plain mahogany door, he did a quick scan of the chamber, further confirming his earlier conclusion. Sirius Black was not anywhere in the castle.
So, he decided to approach the next person who knew Sirius just as well as he did, Remus, who was luckily inside the room and had given him a reprimanding look as he had barged in.
Amusingly, Remus managed to look so much like a teacher that it pleased Sirius to torture him to no end about that certain fact, constantly calling him Professor, which surprisingly didn't bother Remus all that much.
"Remy!" James panted due to the exertion he had placed in his unsatisfying search for Padfoot. "Have you seen Sirius?"
To that, Peter, who was also in the adobe, though in the bathroom, quipped, "Does he look like he's Padfoot's keeper?"
"Well, we do let him keep the leash," James reasoned. "But that's beyond the point unless Padfoot's gone roaming about on all fours. He isn't, is he?"
Remus shook his head. "Not that I know of."
"Well, then, where is he?" James impatiently tapped his foot.
"With Lily," could be audibly heard coming from the bathroom through a mouthful of toothpaste.
James' eyes widened.
"No," Remus waved his hands in front of James' face. "Not like that. They aren't out on a date. Lily would never think of her 'Siri' like that."
James, though obviously relieved, tried to protest. "I didn't think of it that way. No, I'm concerned that if she did, but I was concerned for him if it were true and what Cassie would do to him."
Remus chuckled. "Whatever you say, but what's this about Cassie?"
"Oh, Cassie's been looking for him, seems like our Mr. Black has been neglecting her and missing their dates in order to go out and 'hunt' with Lily. And what do you mean by whatever I say? I do not have feelings for Lily!!!"
"Did I somehow imply that you did? And why did you not tell Cassiopeia that Sirius is not having a romantic tryst with the Slayer?"
"I did tell her but she wouldn't listen, telling me since I was the best friend and all, I wouldn't be a valuable source of information and that he would have to face her wrath. And yes, you did suggest that I was somehow jealous."
Peter, coming into the room, dressed in his pyjamas, rejoined, "Seems to me, you said all of that yourself, Jamsie, me boy."
"Seems to me that you've got better hearing than you've let on 'Petey'."
"Seems to me you're in denial."
"Seems to me that you should mind your own business."
"Ah, so it seems that my assumption is correct and that you do feel something for our very own Slayer, there wouldn't be any business for me to mind if there wasn't any."
James glared at Peter.
Remus, afraid that a scene, not unlike the Goblin Rebellion would take place, abruptly intervened. "James, whatever is the matter, I'm sure Sirius can handle it, with his supposed 'charm' and all and Peter, we should mind our own business, if," Remus added, seeing James turn an alarming shade of red, not unlike a tomato, "there was a business to stop minding, that is."
"But he wouldn't be so angry if it weren't-"
Peter's taunting was cut-off by Sirius' raucous arrival, and they shared a knowing smile as he fought the giggling entourage of girls that was his constant companion.
(A/N: If you're wondering why James wasn't followed by a posse of giggly girls, was that he had looked so broody and wounded after his terrible encounter with Cassie that they just seemed terrified of him, so, they left him alone.)
Sirius dashed in as Peter tried to shut the door before a group of very persistent girls.
"Oh, what a wearying day!" he mock-sighed, or was it really. "You don't know what I have been through! Don't those girls know that I've got Cassie?"
"Seems to me that you've been busy courting a certain fiery red- head," James riled, though his voice came out with a hint of bitterness that he hoped no one would hear.
They didn't seem to notice, well, not Peter and especially not Sirius, but he was absolutely positive that he saw Remus shoot him with a look that could make seven year olds cower in their trousers.
"Oh, no, Cassie would positively have my head on a platter if I had. No, my dear Lillian is out with the same fellow we saw who she was with the last Hogsmeade trip, the one we thought was her father."
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"So, Ernie, why're you here? Not that I don't appreciate you coming here early and all but if I know the Society they're really strict about the stupid visiting hours and all, so-"
She had been cut off by Ernie, who held up a hand to silence her rather pointless rant, which was executed too quickly to be comprehensible to anyone but herself.
"All right, shutting up right now," she said, not put off at the very least at her Watcher's impatience, as she sat herself on the moist grass. "So spill, what's gotten you all worked up?"
Ernie raised an eyebrow in her direction, surprise settling on his features.
"Yep, I'm not all that self-centered," she bubbled, shrugging. "Whenever you get hesitant-like, anxious and nervous, you get this real weird look on your face, sorta like this," she tried to imitate his unique Ernie-look, yet came out looking rather constipated. "Anyway, it would've been the same look you got when you read the letter I sent you about me almost dying since the damned Society's been prissy 'bout visiting hours."
She had noticed Ernie's look darken as she spoke.
Concerned, she furrowed her brow. "What's the dilly, chief?"
"Apparently, the Council has been intercepting the letters that you have been sending me, I have only been informed just recently of your near-death experience. That's why I have been sent here, they thought it best that I should be the person to inform you of-"
Her face scrunched up. "What, so the lazy asses have gotten even more sluggish lately that they've sent you to just tell me something that they could've gotten that little snot, Quesnel, to tell me, unless it's really bad like that Zeke's alive, he's not alive, is he?"
A worried look crossed her face and Ernie bent down to pat her on the shoulder as a sign of comfort.
"No, it isn't like that, because, you see, I don't know how to put this lightly but."
"But what?" she prodded. "I promise I won't get whatever you don't want me to do. Promise."
"Alright, you see, technically, your heart had stopped beating in your comatose state, while you had been fighting for your soul, fighting for your life. And as it is known a Slayer is Chosen after the old one dies, and the Council had hypothesized that since your soul was not in this world at the time."
He trailed off, checking her reaction, wanting her to be all right with the mention of her death.
Her eyes widened in understanding.
"I've been replaced."
Three simple words that brought her world reeling.
And Ernie sensed it.
"No, you haven't," he chided, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
"I have, one dies, me, another takes her place, this new chick. I've been discarded."
"No, you haven't," Ernie said sternly. "They've thought that this is better, two Slayers. You remain here, centering your attention around one specific evil while the other stays in America, with me and her Watcher, to watch over Mew York."
She growled. "Screw them if they think I'm letting my Watcher and my city go without a fight."
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A/N: And yes!!! Finally done!!! I know ya'll've been pestering me to finish up my story but as much as I've wanted to, I couldn't think of anything for this chapter, but be assured that I've got plenty for the next.
I've been waiting to write it!!!
Plus, blame my computer, the screen keeps on turning blue, tells me there's an error in my files and then deletes my work. FRUSTRATING!!!
Anyway, I've also been kept off this story by my friend, Lestat, who's been egging me on, convincing me to write a story with her. It's called 'The Opposite of Sex'. Here's a link if you wanna go and have a looksee: http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=876297
It's about, well, Draco's feminine side. Based on the Travelers Incognito's Draco Dracianna©(if any of you are wondering about the copyright symbol, blame it on Lestat, got me into the habit).
Anyway, it's a Draco/Harry fic but not really slash (I'm sorry if any slash supporters are reading this, but it seems quite different to me, esp. if it's an NC-17 slash fic. I've been brought up by old-fashioned parents, but I'm not against the writers, the believers and the practitioners, just don't read it.) But I really like fics wherein Draco's a girl and well, with my friend's persuasion, we got to writing it.
SO PLEASE READ IT!!!!!!
Oh, and don't worry, my fic is a totally separate story from that one if it just won't go well with you.