Chapter 9 ~*~ Halloween
A month passed, full of the usual pranks, studying, classes, and another full moon. Peter had begun to tag along where ever James went, and actually helped with their pranks at times.
Hexes Forest had become a usual get away spot for Allison. It was the place behind the wall in the Animagi Room. When you walk through the wall, you find yourself in the clearing of a forest. A pond with a waterfall, sat in the middle, and animals of all sorts roamed around. A brick wall about seven feet tall and four feet across, stood at the edge of the clearing, and that's where the entrance and exit was. Allison felt safe and at peace from everyone and everything. Occasionally Hannah, Katie, and Lily would join her. They knew she only went there to get away from the over protective Remus. The girls still hadn't been told about the prophecy, because Remus was against it. So James and Sirius were forced to just agree with his methods, since it was his decision.
Everyone's time was flying by, and soon a week had passed. It was Friday, October thirty-first, and all normal lessons had been canceled for the day out of spirit, except for the first years' flying lessons. Peter was terrified at the thought of flying, and Rebecca was bragging about all of the lessons she'd had. James was busy assuring Lily that it was easy and fun, and she seemed to have lost most of her nerves by the time they had to leave.
Allison was ecstatic at the thought of flying. "God I haven't flown in months. I hope I haven't lost my touch."
"You fly?" Sirius asked. "You never mentioned flying before."
"Allison got MVP-B in our youth group all four years that we played." Hannah said.
"We?" Remus asked.
"Yes we. Hannah, Alli, and I." Hannah said
Everyone except Katie and Allison stopped and looked from one to the other who were talking excitedly. 'Allison didn't break down.' Was everyone's thought. When Allison realized everyone was staring she turned around to face them.
"What? The three of us played for the Sphinx's in our youth group."
"Oh nothing," James shot everyone a look before continuing, "so what positions did you three play?"
"Well we already know what Allison played. I was keeper, and Hannah was a chaser." Katie replied.
"What was Allison?" Sirius asked.
"Do you ever listen Sirius? She got MVP-B all four years we played. Now think. What does that tell us?" Hannah asked, turning to Sirius.
Sirius's face spilt into a huge grin. "You're a beater?"
"Yep, that's me." Allison replied smiling. "Why?"
"So is Sirius." James said. "Now if I'm correct, we have arrived."
A young witch, that looked to be in her early twenty's, with black hair and dark green eyes, greeted them when they entered the pitch.
"Hello! My name is Madam Elsis. Now everyone please stand on the left side of any broom." She told the class.
The class did as they were told and awaited their next orders.
"Now place your right hand over your broom and shout up."
A cry of "up" was heard all around them, and only four people managed to get their brooms on their first try. James, Allison, Sirius, and a blonde Slytherin girl names Narcissa Schivor, were the four. Remus, Hannah, Katie, and Lucius Malfoy managed it on their second try, and Severus Snape on his third. Everyone else watched his or her broom roll around except for Peter whose broom didn't even move.
"Looks like Rebecca's lessons really paid off, doesn't it?" Katie said, stifling a laugh as Rebecca's broom came up and hit her in the head.
"Oh yes. Her lessons really taught her a lot." Remus snorted.
"Now class. Mount your broom and on my whistle, take off, lean forward slightly, hover, and come back down. 5.4.3.2.1." A shrill whistle sounded through the air. Everyone did as they were told, or as well as they could at least. Peter didn't even take off, which didn't please Madam Elsis very much. "Potter, Black, Sears, Santino, Lupin, Malfoy, Schivor, and Snape. Come over here please." She barked.
The eight of them did as they were told, and walked over to Madam Elsis. "If any of you are interested in playing Quidditch next year, then please meet me here on Saturdays at six in the afternoon. We will be served dinner here and this will give you some extra practice time for next year. Now everyone may head back to the castle."
With hurried thanks, the three Slytherins headed off to the school, while the five Gryffindors joined Katie and Lily first.
"What should we do today?" Lily asked.
"Well. We could skip lunch and raid the kitchens." Hannah said with a big grin.
"Sounds good to me!" James said "How about you guys?"
"I'm for it." Remus said.
"Me too!" Katie said with glee.
"Same here." Lily said.
"Alright. Kitchen Raid!" Sirius exclaimed.
"Er.I'm not very hungry, so I think I'll just head to the library." Allison said turning in the opposite direction.
Remus turned to Hannah. "Hexes Forest?" He asked.
"Hexes Forest." Hannah confirmed.
"I'll go." Katie said. She started walking after Allison, when Sirius grabbed her wrist. "No, let me go."
"But those are our secret places. You can't go in there!" Lily exclaimed.
Sirius looked at the three of them. "Please." He said calmly.
"Alright." The three sighed in disappointment and defeat.
"But I'm going with you." Katie said.
"Fine. Let's just go." He said.
"See you later, or at dinner if not." Katie said before turning off towards the library with Sirius.
"Hello Miss Sears!" a stern brunette said from behind a bookshelf.
"Hello Madam Pince." Allison replied, as she entered the unusually full library.
"You sure are spending a lot of time here." Madam Pince said.
"I like to keep up on my studies." Allison said, before continuing on to the corner. 'Twelve up and three to the left,' she counted, pulling out her wand. "There we go." Allison said, tapping the brick and entering the room. She sealed the door behind her, and sat down in her armchair. She didn't even hear the door open behind her.
"Hey Twinky!" Hannah exclaimed, entering the kitchens.
"Miss Hannah! You didn't come to see Twinky yesterday." Twinky said hugging Hannah around the waist.
"Oh, I'm sorry about that. Allison fell asleep in Hexes Forest yesterday, and we had to go get her instead." Hannah replied.
"It is okay Miss Hannah. Will you be staying for lunch?" Twinky asked.
"Yes, the four of us will, and can you send three lunches to the Animagi Room for Allison, Katie, and Sirius?" Hannah asked.
"Of coarse Miss Hannah." Twinky curtsied and left.
The four friends seated them selves at the same table but the fireplace. They talked for a good ten minutes, before the house-elves brought their food and butterbeer. They all spent the next hour eating, talking, and laughing about everything.
"There she goes." Katie whispered quietly. She and Sirius had followed Allison to the library and were hiding behind a row of books. "Come on."
Katie led Sirius and tapped the same brick as Allison with her wand. When the door appeared, they quietly slipped in and resealed it.
"Allison?" Katie asked.
"Hey Kat. I'll move to the couch so we can talk." Allison replied without looking up.
"Actually." Sirius said, sitting in the armchair across from Allison, only to have it shock him. "OW! What did it do that for?"
"They're charmed to allow one and only one person to sit there. Anyone else gets shocked until they get up." Katie said, before collapsing in a fit of giggles.
"Well anyways, I'm here as well." Sirius said while rubbing his rear end.
"Katie! We agreed we wouldn't tell them!" Allison whined.
"I know, I know, but he insisted, and someone has to get you out of this room." Katie replied.
"Fine! Then I'll go to Hexes Forest instead." Allison said standing up.
"Well, I go where you go." Sirius said, not hiding his smirk.
"Whatever. After I walk through, tap the discolored brick three times. Wait for the wall to flash white, and walk through." Allison said and then disappeared through the wall herself.
"I'll just stick around here." Katie said.
"Alright." Then Sirius walked through the wall himself. "Allison?" he said coming out on the other side.
"Over here." She waved from over by the pond.
When he got close enough, he could see that she had a puppy in her lap and was scratching its ears.
"You like dogs?" She asked.
"Nope. I love them." He said.
"Good." She said smiling. "Sir! Come here boy!"
As soon as she called, a small brown dog came bounding up to her and she handed it to Sirius. "It's the mini you." She said and smiled again.
"Ha! I got you to smile." He said accepting the puppy. "What do you mean the mini me?"
"Oh. We named three of the puppies after you, James, and Remus. We used the first three letters of your names. This is Jam," she said holding up the little Golden Retriever, "and over there is the sleeping Rem." She said this and pointed over under a bench at a little Dalmatian pup.
"I can see why you like it here. It's amazing."
"Yeah. Plus I love to play with the animals. Especially Sir. Jam is more attached to Lil, and Rem to Hannah, while Sir tends to follow me. Katie likes cats more so she is usually off playing with Quinn, Tarin, and Alyssa." This time she pointed to the left of Sirius where three kittens were rolling in the grass.
"Hey guys!" Katie said, popping out through the stone wall. "I see Sirius met Sir, and Jam. Oh, and Hannah sent Twinky with lunch. Come on."
"Alright. We're coming. Buh bye Jam, Sir." Allison said, petting the puppies that then tackled each other.
"Just like me and James aren't they?" Sirius said laughing. "Come on." And the three of them left back through the wall into the Animagi Room.
The three of them talked, and ate for an hour. Then Twinky appeared and took their plates and left. They just sat on the couch for another fifteen minutes, and then left, figuring the others would be getting worried about them.
"Hey guys." Lily said as she, Hannah, Remus, and James entered through the portrait hole.
"Hey Lil." Allison said. "We expected to come in on you four, but I guess we were wrong."
"I guess." Hannah replied.
"Guess what guys." Sirius said, while looking at James and Remus.
"What?" they both asked.
"The girls have puppies named after us, but the names are shortened to the first three letters of our name!" Sirius practically yelled.
"They what?" James asked, looking at Lily now in surprise.
"Yeah. Mine is a Chocolate Lab named Sir. James, yours is a Golden Retriever named Jam, and Remus's is a Dalmatian named Rem." Sirius said with a huge grin. "And they live in Hexes Forest with tons of other animals."
"Allison Sears!" Hannah yelled. "You let them see the puppies?" she was starting to turn red.
"Aww calm down Han. I think it's neat." Remus said, while walking up to Hannah.
"Really?" she said as she turned to face him.
"Yep!" he said smiling. "Come on. I'll walk you to dinner." He added while holding out his arm.
"Alright. Bye you five!" she said, accepting his arm, and exited the common room with him.
"Yeah, we should probably follow suit." Katie said getting up.
"Wait for us." Lily said jumping up and linking arms with Katie and Allison.
"Oh yes, wait for us! Come on Jamsies." Sirius said, as he and James mockingly linked arms and skipped out ahead of the girls.
The girls just laughed at this, before running to catch up with them.
The Halloween Feast went by with no odd interruptions, and to the first years surprise, candy filled the tables for desert. At the end, just as everyone was about to leave, Dumbledore stood up to make an announcement.
"May I have your attention please?" The hall was silent. "Thank you. The teachers and I are pleased to announce, that on the last day before the Christmas holidays, we will be having a ball!"
A month passed, full of the usual pranks, studying, classes, and another full moon. Peter had begun to tag along where ever James went, and actually helped with their pranks at times.
Hexes Forest had become a usual get away spot for Allison. It was the place behind the wall in the Animagi Room. When you walk through the wall, you find yourself in the clearing of a forest. A pond with a waterfall, sat in the middle, and animals of all sorts roamed around. A brick wall about seven feet tall and four feet across, stood at the edge of the clearing, and that's where the entrance and exit was. Allison felt safe and at peace from everyone and everything. Occasionally Hannah, Katie, and Lily would join her. They knew she only went there to get away from the over protective Remus. The girls still hadn't been told about the prophecy, because Remus was against it. So James and Sirius were forced to just agree with his methods, since it was his decision.
Everyone's time was flying by, and soon a week had passed. It was Friday, October thirty-first, and all normal lessons had been canceled for the day out of spirit, except for the first years' flying lessons. Peter was terrified at the thought of flying, and Rebecca was bragging about all of the lessons she'd had. James was busy assuring Lily that it was easy and fun, and she seemed to have lost most of her nerves by the time they had to leave.
Allison was ecstatic at the thought of flying. "God I haven't flown in months. I hope I haven't lost my touch."
"You fly?" Sirius asked. "You never mentioned flying before."
"Allison got MVP-B in our youth group all four years that we played." Hannah said.
"We?" Remus asked.
"Yes we. Hannah, Alli, and I." Hannah said
Everyone except Katie and Allison stopped and looked from one to the other who were talking excitedly. 'Allison didn't break down.' Was everyone's thought. When Allison realized everyone was staring she turned around to face them.
"What? The three of us played for the Sphinx's in our youth group."
"Oh nothing," James shot everyone a look before continuing, "so what positions did you three play?"
"Well we already know what Allison played. I was keeper, and Hannah was a chaser." Katie replied.
"What was Allison?" Sirius asked.
"Do you ever listen Sirius? She got MVP-B all four years we played. Now think. What does that tell us?" Hannah asked, turning to Sirius.
Sirius's face spilt into a huge grin. "You're a beater?"
"Yep, that's me." Allison replied smiling. "Why?"
"So is Sirius." James said. "Now if I'm correct, we have arrived."
A young witch, that looked to be in her early twenty's, with black hair and dark green eyes, greeted them when they entered the pitch.
"Hello! My name is Madam Elsis. Now everyone please stand on the left side of any broom." She told the class.
The class did as they were told and awaited their next orders.
"Now place your right hand over your broom and shout up."
A cry of "up" was heard all around them, and only four people managed to get their brooms on their first try. James, Allison, Sirius, and a blonde Slytherin girl names Narcissa Schivor, were the four. Remus, Hannah, Katie, and Lucius Malfoy managed it on their second try, and Severus Snape on his third. Everyone else watched his or her broom roll around except for Peter whose broom didn't even move.
"Looks like Rebecca's lessons really paid off, doesn't it?" Katie said, stifling a laugh as Rebecca's broom came up and hit her in the head.
"Oh yes. Her lessons really taught her a lot." Remus snorted.
"Now class. Mount your broom and on my whistle, take off, lean forward slightly, hover, and come back down. 5.4.3.2.1." A shrill whistle sounded through the air. Everyone did as they were told, or as well as they could at least. Peter didn't even take off, which didn't please Madam Elsis very much. "Potter, Black, Sears, Santino, Lupin, Malfoy, Schivor, and Snape. Come over here please." She barked.
The eight of them did as they were told, and walked over to Madam Elsis. "If any of you are interested in playing Quidditch next year, then please meet me here on Saturdays at six in the afternoon. We will be served dinner here and this will give you some extra practice time for next year. Now everyone may head back to the castle."
With hurried thanks, the three Slytherins headed off to the school, while the five Gryffindors joined Katie and Lily first.
"What should we do today?" Lily asked.
"Well. We could skip lunch and raid the kitchens." Hannah said with a big grin.
"Sounds good to me!" James said "How about you guys?"
"I'm for it." Remus said.
"Me too!" Katie said with glee.
"Same here." Lily said.
"Alright. Kitchen Raid!" Sirius exclaimed.
"Er.I'm not very hungry, so I think I'll just head to the library." Allison said turning in the opposite direction.
Remus turned to Hannah. "Hexes Forest?" He asked.
"Hexes Forest." Hannah confirmed.
"I'll go." Katie said. She started walking after Allison, when Sirius grabbed her wrist. "No, let me go."
"But those are our secret places. You can't go in there!" Lily exclaimed.
Sirius looked at the three of them. "Please." He said calmly.
"Alright." The three sighed in disappointment and defeat.
"But I'm going with you." Katie said.
"Fine. Let's just go." He said.
"See you later, or at dinner if not." Katie said before turning off towards the library with Sirius.
"Hello Miss Sears!" a stern brunette said from behind a bookshelf.
"Hello Madam Pince." Allison replied, as she entered the unusually full library.
"You sure are spending a lot of time here." Madam Pince said.
"I like to keep up on my studies." Allison said, before continuing on to the corner. 'Twelve up and three to the left,' she counted, pulling out her wand. "There we go." Allison said, tapping the brick and entering the room. She sealed the door behind her, and sat down in her armchair. She didn't even hear the door open behind her.
"Hey Twinky!" Hannah exclaimed, entering the kitchens.
"Miss Hannah! You didn't come to see Twinky yesterday." Twinky said hugging Hannah around the waist.
"Oh, I'm sorry about that. Allison fell asleep in Hexes Forest yesterday, and we had to go get her instead." Hannah replied.
"It is okay Miss Hannah. Will you be staying for lunch?" Twinky asked.
"Yes, the four of us will, and can you send three lunches to the Animagi Room for Allison, Katie, and Sirius?" Hannah asked.
"Of coarse Miss Hannah." Twinky curtsied and left.
The four friends seated them selves at the same table but the fireplace. They talked for a good ten minutes, before the house-elves brought their food and butterbeer. They all spent the next hour eating, talking, and laughing about everything.
"There she goes." Katie whispered quietly. She and Sirius had followed Allison to the library and were hiding behind a row of books. "Come on."
Katie led Sirius and tapped the same brick as Allison with her wand. When the door appeared, they quietly slipped in and resealed it.
"Allison?" Katie asked.
"Hey Kat. I'll move to the couch so we can talk." Allison replied without looking up.
"Actually." Sirius said, sitting in the armchair across from Allison, only to have it shock him. "OW! What did it do that for?"
"They're charmed to allow one and only one person to sit there. Anyone else gets shocked until they get up." Katie said, before collapsing in a fit of giggles.
"Well anyways, I'm here as well." Sirius said while rubbing his rear end.
"Katie! We agreed we wouldn't tell them!" Allison whined.
"I know, I know, but he insisted, and someone has to get you out of this room." Katie replied.
"Fine! Then I'll go to Hexes Forest instead." Allison said standing up.
"Well, I go where you go." Sirius said, not hiding his smirk.
"Whatever. After I walk through, tap the discolored brick three times. Wait for the wall to flash white, and walk through." Allison said and then disappeared through the wall herself.
"I'll just stick around here." Katie said.
"Alright." Then Sirius walked through the wall himself. "Allison?" he said coming out on the other side.
"Over here." She waved from over by the pond.
When he got close enough, he could see that she had a puppy in her lap and was scratching its ears.
"You like dogs?" She asked.
"Nope. I love them." He said.
"Good." She said smiling. "Sir! Come here boy!"
As soon as she called, a small brown dog came bounding up to her and she handed it to Sirius. "It's the mini you." She said and smiled again.
"Ha! I got you to smile." He said accepting the puppy. "What do you mean the mini me?"
"Oh. We named three of the puppies after you, James, and Remus. We used the first three letters of your names. This is Jam," she said holding up the little Golden Retriever, "and over there is the sleeping Rem." She said this and pointed over under a bench at a little Dalmatian pup.
"I can see why you like it here. It's amazing."
"Yeah. Plus I love to play with the animals. Especially Sir. Jam is more attached to Lil, and Rem to Hannah, while Sir tends to follow me. Katie likes cats more so she is usually off playing with Quinn, Tarin, and Alyssa." This time she pointed to the left of Sirius where three kittens were rolling in the grass.
"Hey guys!" Katie said, popping out through the stone wall. "I see Sirius met Sir, and Jam. Oh, and Hannah sent Twinky with lunch. Come on."
"Alright. We're coming. Buh bye Jam, Sir." Allison said, petting the puppies that then tackled each other.
"Just like me and James aren't they?" Sirius said laughing. "Come on." And the three of them left back through the wall into the Animagi Room.
The three of them talked, and ate for an hour. Then Twinky appeared and took their plates and left. They just sat on the couch for another fifteen minutes, and then left, figuring the others would be getting worried about them.
"Hey guys." Lily said as she, Hannah, Remus, and James entered through the portrait hole.
"Hey Lil." Allison said. "We expected to come in on you four, but I guess we were wrong."
"I guess." Hannah replied.
"Guess what guys." Sirius said, while looking at James and Remus.
"What?" they both asked.
"The girls have puppies named after us, but the names are shortened to the first three letters of our name!" Sirius practically yelled.
"They what?" James asked, looking at Lily now in surprise.
"Yeah. Mine is a Chocolate Lab named Sir. James, yours is a Golden Retriever named Jam, and Remus's is a Dalmatian named Rem." Sirius said with a huge grin. "And they live in Hexes Forest with tons of other animals."
"Allison Sears!" Hannah yelled. "You let them see the puppies?" she was starting to turn red.
"Aww calm down Han. I think it's neat." Remus said, while walking up to Hannah.
"Really?" she said as she turned to face him.
"Yep!" he said smiling. "Come on. I'll walk you to dinner." He added while holding out his arm.
"Alright. Bye you five!" she said, accepting his arm, and exited the common room with him.
"Yeah, we should probably follow suit." Katie said getting up.
"Wait for us." Lily said jumping up and linking arms with Katie and Allison.
"Oh yes, wait for us! Come on Jamsies." Sirius said, as he and James mockingly linked arms and skipped out ahead of the girls.
The girls just laughed at this, before running to catch up with them.
The Halloween Feast went by with no odd interruptions, and to the first years surprise, candy filled the tables for desert. At the end, just as everyone was about to leave, Dumbledore stood up to make an announcement.
"May I have your attention please?" The hall was silent. "Thank you. The teachers and I are pleased to announce, that on the last day before the Christmas holidays, we will be having a ball!"