When Science Labs Explode
By Kaitlyn Gainstein and Lily Macleod
Disclaimer: we do not own or claim to own pretty much anything that can be seen to be unoriginal. If what you recognize is from a fanfic, then don't blame us, it's not in here intentionally.
A/N: Once again, many thanx to all who reviewed.
Also, to those of u who read and did not review:
Shame on you! Even if u hate my story, u should at least review and tell me so! Especially if you can tell me how to improve it.
And if anybody has any ultra-special plot ideas, could you please send them in? Jabberwocky and I are being attacked by a vicious case of writer's block.
Chapter 11
The night of the ball found the girls all in Fiona's dorm getting ready. Lily picked up her skirt (the closest she would ever get to wearing an actual dress, as has been stated before, she had an intense aversion to wearing a dress or even something that simply resembled a dress) and top and walked into the bathroom to get changed. The make-up had been hauled out of the bathroom and the girls were helping each other put it on.
Ginny, in robes of deep, emerald green, solid and long-sleeved, with gold Ivy jewelry, and makeup done in warm browns, because she was so obviously an Autumn, looked like Persephone or Demeter in her prime. Her hair was held up by two or three rings of some gold-ish substance (OK, it was golden thread with stiffening charms and gold leaf charms made by Kait on the spot, who adored such things) that seemed to have ivy leaves sprouting from them, like Ginny's necklace and arm band.
Fiona came out draped in loose white robes, that swished along the floor and had no sleeves whatsoever. Her hair was left down, and had been painstakingly curled by Kait and her growing store of self-made aesthetic charms. Upon her head sat a silver tiara, which was really costume jewelry disguised, but no one had to know that. Her evening bag was in the shape of a silver apple. Coiling up her arms she had silver bands, and two on each ring finger. Her arms had shiny paint on them, so when the light hit them properly, they looked gleaming white. Her eye shadow and most makeup was silver, and her pink lipstick had a silver cast. The whole ensemble gave Fiona a queenly air about her, and the silver-blue, sparkling gossamer shawl she wore added to the regal effect. Her face was glowing with youth and vigor.
Siri looked rather rough-and-tumble, as if she'd just been climbing around somewhere (or rolling in grass), and smelt accordingly. Aside from the strategically placed leaf or so in her hair, which was charmed to have more volume than any one person should be allowed and tousled in keeping with the outdoorsiness of her outfit. Her dress was a changeful green, like the leaves in a wooded glen, and strategic lipstick and eye shadow, as well as a well practiced smirk and glimmer to her eyes, gave her an otherworldly, mischievous look about her.
Ariadne was draped in somber black, in robes almost exactly like the normal Hogwarts fare. They were, however, a little more tailored to Adne's tall and thin frame, and had cutouts along the edge of the sleeves. If you looked closely, the cutouts were of little skulls, which is unnerving if you think about it. Upon her head she also wore a tiara, this of a savage sort, all spikes and strange twistings. Her hair was entwined with the tiara. Her lipstick was of a deep and striking red, and her only jewelry was a pendant in the shape of a pomegranate.
Jody was next. Austere, crisp white robes - reminiscent of those of some sort of cleric, made up her garment. With non-existent makeup and a pendant in the shape of an open book crossed with shield, spear and sword, she looked a little tight-laced. Her hair was, as much as possible, also piled on her head - over and around a headpiece oddly like the crest on a battle helm.
When Kait had finally gotten around to letting the others preen her, she looked in the mirror to someone she'd never seen before. Her hair was left flowing in soft curls (which weren't normally there …) to her shoulders, as she'd neglected to keep it properly trimmed. It had been brushed so much it really did shine like the sun (considering her hair was already golden-blonde, it's not that much of a stretch), and charmed to stay that way. They'd charmed the skin on her face so it stayed fresh and new, as if she'd just scrubbed it for half an hour, and because she'd already found ways the rid all the girls of any blemish problems they might've had (through vigorous medi-magical cleaning), she looked like Clean and Clear's poster child for one night (well, everyone did, it was just more of a shock to Kait as she stared at her reflection). The seeming everlasting scrubbing also made her look like she was blushing to death. Or that might've been because she was. She had an oddly low cut (for Kait) set of dress robes, which had a loose, sleeveless top, and a large, glittering-pink rose belt. Then, the dress flared over her hips and trailed to the floor, fading from white at her shoulders to rose at the hem.
All the girls looked stunningly lovely in their various gowns, with their make-up applied in such a way as to bring out their most attractive features (eyes, lips, etc.). The bathroom door opened slightly and Lily called out, "Fiona, could you c'mere and help me with this?"
"Bien sûr, mon ami." (Sure thing, my friend.)
"Ah, tais-toi, Fiona!" (Oh, shut up, Fiona!) Fiona laughed and entered the bathroom. A few minutes later, Fiona exited the bathroom and said simply, "I have created my masterpiece. BEHOLD!"
Lily stepped out of the bathroom, her dark hair brushed to a silky sheen and streaked lightly with cinnamon brown. She was wearing a black wrap-around skirt decorated with gold/tan dragons, a hunter green shirt with a faint gold design on it, and a stone that, from the colours, might have pewter shot through with rust, hung suspended from her neck by a silvery chain. She wore black eye-liner and deep twilight purple-y-blue eye-shadow accented the darkness of her eyes. Kailie looked up then and her eyes widened, her jaw dropped, and she pointed at Lily as she exclaimed, "Omigod, omigod, omigod, omigod!" Lily looked slightly confused.
"What? What? Oh, come on, I don't look that bad, do I?"
"No, you look good!" Lily grinned at her friends.
"Okay, are we ready to go?"
The various dates were all hanging around the entrance to the Great Hall, having found that their dates/girlfriends wanted it that way and weren't going to be swayed in their decision in the slightest. So they hung around and talked amongst themselves about various topics (like Quidditch, their dates, etc.) as the minutes dragged on. And finally the girls appeared around the corner, talking and laughing as they made emerged from behind a tapestry. They spotted the guys and strode towards their respective dates. Well, most of them did, but Hermione, who was going stag, hung back from the throng, feeling somewhat sorry for herself since she didn't have a date and they did. Sensing something was wrong, Lily and Siri turned back to their friend. "C'mon Herm, what's holding you up?"
"Oh, nothing." The other girls looked incredulous.
"No, really, I'm fine. You guys go on ahead." Lily and Siri glanced at each other. "Well, actually, Hermione, we've got a surprise for you. Come on, we'll introduce you."
"Oh, you guys!"
"Come ON, Hermione! Quit being such a wet blanket and LIVE A LITTLE!!!" Hermione laughed slightly at Lily's vehemence, and finally agreed. With the two younger girls tugging on her arms she approached the group cautiously. She passed Kailie and Jason necking under a sprig of mistletoe and sighed inwardly, sort of wishing that it was her and Krum instead. And they stopped. "Hermione Granger, it is my honor to present you your date…" began Lily formally.
"…Viktor Krum, the Quidditch star!" finished Siri triumphantly. Hermione's mouth dropped open as her friends stepped back with a sweeping gesture towards, who else?, Viktor Krum. He smiled at her and held his arms out to her as he said, "Herm-oh-ninny! You are even more beautiful than I remembered!" And even as she blushed furiously to the tips of her ears, she rushed into his arms and hugged him.
"Krum! I missed you so much!"
"And I you, Herm-oh-ninny." The rest of the group cheered as they watched the couple under the mistletoe for a minute. Lily glanced up suddenly as she saw Terry and Fred walk towards her and Siri with weird looks on their faces. Seeing they were underneath a huge clump of mistletoe, she quickly grabbed Siri's arm and hauled her to safety.
"Ow, what the hell was that for Lily???" Lily said nothing in reply, just pointed up at the ceiling. Siri, following the gesture, immediately spotted the clump. "Oh."
"Yeah, 'oh'."
"Thanks, Lily."
"No problemo."
"Well, I guess we'd better get in eh?" suggested Kait.
"I guess."
"Jeez, Lily, you sound like you're about to walk through the gates of hell instead of just the entrance to the Great Hall." Lily muttered something in reply.
"What did you say?" asked Fiona.
"Nothing," Lily quickly replied.
"No, I definitely heard you say something…" urged Airinne.
"Alright already! God, all I said was, 'for all you know it could be'! Happy?"
"Happy enough," was Siri's reply.
"Look, let's just get this over with, 'kay?" with that she grabbed Terry's wrist and dragged him through the doors. Her friends shrugged and did roughly the same thing. Kait and Ron lingered in the hallway, waiting for the crowd to die. As they began to walk into the Great Hall, they stopped dead when the doors were flung open. Kait froze when she saw just who was opening the door. A boy, who looked like a 6th year, was shaking snow out of brown hair, and looking around him out of blue eyes. And Kait turned on her heel and ran upstairs, sobbing all the way. Ron looked from Kait to the boy, who looked very confused himself.
"Who on earth was that?" he asked, too shocked to realize he was talking to the Ronald Weasley.
"Kaitlyn… she was going to the ball with me… I don't know what happened…" Ron sounded about half as confused as he was.
"Kaitlyn … Kaitlyn what …?" the boy got a pensive, chilled look on his face. There's gotta be a million Kaitlyns out there, it's not her.
"Gainstein. Who are you? Why do you care?" then Ron realized the boy had frozen in his tracks too.
"It's her… I can't believe I found her again…" he stood, shocked, for a second, and then ran up the stairs after her. Ron followed catching up to him.
"Now just who do you think you are? Why are you dashing after my date to the Yule ball as if you have some right to go dashing off after her! If tonight goes well, she'll be my girlfriend!" Ron spoke angrily, wondering what on earth he'd just missed. The boy stopped in his tracks.
"Your girlfriend? She's your date? But she… she wouldn't… but she… who are you, anyway?" the boy said, mirroring Kait's look of pain a few weeks earlier.
"Ron Weasley. And I asked the same thing of you, kid, what are you doing here?"
"Dumbledore conducted a magic-scout in Ireland, I was identified and brought here. So Kait's a witch? A real witch, like Hermione? And it's all-it's all real?"
"Yes! Of course it's real. Now why are you charging around after my date like some knight in shining armor? You keep away from Kait, you hear me?"
"Knight in shining armor… I can't, sorry, Ron, but I can't. I've got to get her back. Do you know the password to get into this thing? I think it's a common room…"
Ron hadn't realized it, but they'd followed Kait to the Ravenclaw portal.
"Underthemistletoe, those annoying Ravenclaw prefects make up the stupidest passwords," said Ron, as the portal opened. They could here loud sobs from there. They walked into the common room, at first seeing nothing. Then they spotted Kait, sitting on the floor at the far end of the room, in front of the fire, crying her eyes out. Both boys went rushing towards her. When Ron got near, he hesitated, remembering how she'd shrunk from him before. This Irish-person-seemed to have no such qualms, and threw his arms around her.
"Is it really you? I thought-I thought you'd hate me for leaving…" she choked out.
"Yes… yes, it's me, and I'll never hate you… when I said 'the rest of my life', I meant it… I never thought I'd see you… never talk to you again…" the kid was sobbing into her hair now. "How did you know it was me?" he asked, as an afterthought.
"I just saw you, and I got the-the melt-y feeling again, and I knew it was you… love before sight…"
"I still… I never stopped… I missed you so much…" and as the two people-one Ron thought was going to be his girlfriend in short order, and one who had just waltzed in the door-leaned closer together, tears shining in both pairs of blue eyes, Ron slammed the door and walked out.
A couple seconds later, Kait realized what had just happened. "Ron…" she stood up. "Well, I guess-you wanna go down to the ball? I'm really sorry about Ron… I thought you wouldn't want me to mope… I still loved you, the whole time, but they all said I should move on… so I said I'd go to the ball… but I couldn't be his girlfriend… I love you…"
"I know… I know, I love you too, it's alright… shall we go to this ball, then?"
Ron was sitting with Harry and Ginny at a table.
"And then-this kid had just walked in! See all those uncomfortable looking Irish people? He came with them! And then Kait saw him, froze, and ran upstairs! Just like that! And he muttered something about 'it can't be her' when I told him her name, and off he blots after her! Why must my girl have had a past? I swear they did, cause when we found her, they were looking at each other in 'that way', and I left just before I swear they kissed…" Here, however, Ron was interrupted, as, with an unusually loud creak, the doors to the hall opened. And in walked Kait. And beside her walked a kid no one had ever seen before, except Ron, whose fists clenched and teeth gritted. But Harry, looking over the two, noticed both looked happier than anyone else in the room. Especially Kait, who, Harry'd thought, looked a little sad for her whole stay up to this point at the castle.
"You! You! It's YOU!" Jody screamed, dragging Drake across the room to where Kait and her mysterious friend stood in the center of the room.
"Judo?"
"It is you! Little early, aren't you?"
Ron looked at the small crowd gathering around the two-his lost love and her rediscovered one. He pushed his way through the girls, finally getting to meet this Alan they'd heard so much about, finally coming out of the small crowd just in front of the two.
"What, sir, do you think you are doing?" He asked, in clipped tones, red to the ears and about to breathe fire. Alan took a step forward.
"Ron! You shut the flub up right now!" Kait said, eyes flashing angrily. "You don't know what that was like. You never had to leave someone you love more than life itself. You're a guy! You probably have about ten other girls on your list!"
Ron just stared angrily at Kait. Alan started to pull her away, out to the dance floor, even if he said he couldn't dance, it was better than an all out tizzy. Ron, still fuming, went off a-questing for another girl to spend his time with. Between flirting with Lisa Turpin and glaring idly at Kait and Alan twirling on the dance floor oblivious to the world, he almost didn't notice Judo laughing in a corner inside a semi-circle of her friends, who were all talking to Drake.
Surprisingly enough, they seemed to be getting on well. This was definitely a good sign for Judo, who'd never liked anyone her friends approved of.
When the slow song (which Jody had been trying to dance to) ended, the lead singer of Magiband, the group Dumbledore had hired for the dance, came forward.
"Hi all," the bleached-blond twenty-something man said. "Dumbledore mentioned, when he hired us, that the number of Muggleborn and Muggle-raised students in fourth year and up has about doubled this year, 'cause of all o' them Irish and Canadian kids. Well, we do a lot of touring in North America, and over there's a lot more Muggle and Magical musical integration, so I decided to bring my huge (and no, I'm not kidding) Muggle music collection. So what you all have to do is come up and request your fave songs, Muggle or Magical. 'Til then, how 'bout some seventies' 'I Will Survive'?" He turned back to some turntable-like things back in the dark recesses of the stage, and a moment later, "I Will Survive" came blasting out of what seemed to be the walls. The large circle of GATE kids somewhere near the center of the floor began screaming, singing, and otherwise making a great ruckus.
"At first I was afraid; I was petrified, kept thinking I could never live without you by my side…" the chorus of kids began, moving to the beat of the music in the dimly-lit hall. Several minutes later, the slightly hoarse crowd ended with "I've got all my life to live, I've got all my love to give, and I'll survive; I will survive, I will survive!" Kait slipped away to the stage to make a few (about five) requests with Kailie, who screamed and ran back to the center stage when the lead singer told her something.
"Okay guys, one of our fans, a Muggleborn, owled us with a suggestion for a remake of an eighties Muggle song. Here's our lead female singer, Clistia, with 'Hey Harry'. Harry, never mind the song, it was just a huge lot of fun to write…. Great to be playin' for ya, though!" The drummer struck up and a few guitarists joined in as Clistia moved to center stage. After bobbing her head to the music for a few bars, she began to sing;
"Oh, Harry, you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind, hey Harry! Hey Harry!" she continued with her new version of "Hey Mickey", replacing 'Mickey' with 'Harry'. Harry blushed furiously throughout the entire performance, as did Ginny, his date for the evening. They had been pushed to the middle of the circle, where most of the GATE girls tried to sing along to the new version. When it ended, the first few bars of a slightly unfamiliar (and very old) tune came from the stage. Parvati, Padma, Lavender, and most of the other girls screeched and hauled their dates out for a slow dance, so all the GATEs and Irish kids shrugged, and dragged their own dates (or the closest alternative thereof). There was only one perplexed-looking GATE boy standing to one side, next to a horde of single witches who were watching him out of the corners of their eyes. Sabin just stood there and scratched his head (or he would've, if he hadn't been worried about wrecking the gel in his hair), wondering why he wasn't dancing.
"Blue moon, you saw me standing alone; without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own."
Sabin was the GATE girls' favorite guy, and normally at dances he danced with most of them at least once. But this time all the GATE girls had dates that they seemed to be interested in. It was then that he realized that there were lots more guys than girls generally, and that the only reason that he'd always had someone to dance with before was because not many of the girls had had boyfriends that they could go to dances with. At least previously, anyway. So he watched as each of his normal partners swayed in the arms of other guys, some closer to their respective dates than others. For instance, Airinne was dancing with Neville, and as they were trying to keep from stepping on each others' feet, there was a fair amount of space between them. However, Kait and Alan were dancing so close that if they'd been any closer, they'd have been dancing back to back, through each other. This observation made, Sabin came to the conclusion that he should probably snag a free witch just then, and make sure to get a dance with one or two of his friends for the next slow dances. He wandered in front of the witches a couple times, trying be unobtrusive. He finally stepped in front a curly blonde girl, but by this time the song had ended, so he didn't have to dance with a complete stranger after all. He promptly turned around and shot back to his friends, where he promptly tugged his hoodie on and over his knees, thus becoming… The Whatchamadingle! He then began attacking a group of GATE girls, who promptly poked him back, which caused him to say, "Ah! I've been pokethed!".
To cover holes in the music, another Muggle slow song slipped out. Kait and Alan remained in the same position, with Kait singing along enthusiastically. As yet another Muggle song blasted, the band set up again to the shrieks of various GATE kids. Mostly Airinne, but that's beside the point. Kait screamed and hopped up and down, while Lily began head-banging. The first few lines of the tune rose (sort of) over the deafening din of hoarse voices shouting along; "Hangin' out behind the club on the weekend, acting stupid, getting' drunk with my best friends…" When the punk rock ended, the band began a song with an ultimately different theme.
"Did anyone ever tell you
That the way you look at me
Is just drawing me to you
The way Enthrallment has to be
Flying over lakes and trees,
Wishing you were here
On my Firebolt or Ceres,
Oh, don't you know I care?
I see the sunrise in your eyes,
I see the night sky too,
And I see the fireflies…
What charm do you use?
Flying over lakes and trees,
Wishing you were with me
On my Firebolt or Ceres,
Oh, don't you know I care?
When I was just a little kid,
A student in my prime,
And from your sunny eyes I hid
And giggled in this rhyme
Flying over lakes and trees,
Wishing you were with me
On my Firebolt or Ceres,
Oh, don't you know I care?
Did you ever see…
No, you never did, did you?
Did you ever see…?
Can it be true?
You never did see, did you?
Can this be… can it be…
Can it be true love
What I feel for you, baby…
In all my classes, grades were lost
When in Charms I sat and though
My lovely marks, they were the cost
So I nearly failed the year, never remembered what'd been taught."
Apparently, they'd written it themselves, and it was a pretty good song, all things considered.
After the main dancing thing had gotten boring, not to mention boiling hot, Jody turned to Drake and asked, "Do you want to go out to the garden?"
"Yeah, yeah, that'd be great…" the couple walked out of some hidden French doors in an alcove, into the garden, and down a convenient moonlit path, lit by the occasional fairy.
Meanwhile: a little chat is transpiring between Kailie, and her date, Jason (the Rum Tum Tugger guy). They're in the middle of a good long snog-session, when Jason breaks it off.
"You know… I've been thinking…"
"Hmmm?" inquired Kailie, lazily drifting out of the cloudiness snogging with Jason had left in her mind.
"I really, really, really like you… sod it, I love you." Jason said, getting an uncharacteristic softness in his dazzling blue eyes.
"I love you too…" Kailie began, but Jason cut her off. "I'm going to ask you something… explain it to you. You're really too young to be asked this, and I'm too young to ask, I guess… but I can't let this chance slip away…"
"What are you talking about?" Kailie asked. As much as she seemed to love Jason, this was a conversation she hadn't envisioned having for quite some time.
"I'm not… I'm not a h-human. I haven't told anyone else this, Kailie… but I'm not… I'm… well…."
"Vampires aren't as bad as they make us out to be…"
"What?" asked Kailie, a look of shock and intrigue crossing her features.
"I'm a… a vampire… but let me explain! I can't let it ruin my life. I can't let it push me to the night… we're not vicious… we just need blood to survive… the number of people killed by Vampires hasn't decreased at all, actually, no matter what the ministry says…"
"Jason, you're rambling," Kailie said, pointedly.
"You're right… well… I've put a lot of charms on. I can survive in sun and garlic can't kill me unless I want it to. Why else would I stink so much of magic?"
"I think it's a nice smell…" said Kailie.
"It gets overbearing. Back to the point, while I can survive as a normal wizard, I still need blood every so often. Well, actually, a Vampire only needs to make one kill in their first 25 years to survive. And that's only Born-Vampires. Made-Vampires don't need to kill anyone - they used to have blood, rather than magic, flowing in their veins. I need to have one kill in the next ten years, or I'm as good as dead."
"Most Vamps kill more than one person… most don't find the right one to kill till after they've killed their first. That's why lots of people are still killed by Vamps… numbers stay about the same.
"There's always a right person to kill… for us, you don't really die… you're just not human anymore. Victims become Vamps themselves…"
"And, blood is really powerful… it's something about it… maybe because it's so alive and Vamps aren't alive… but it really turns us on…"
"And I think I'm one of the very few guys who find the girl they wanna kill so quickly. Kailie, can I kill you?"
Kailie, a little shocked, looked around. The moon looked so beautiful, she could hear giggling from all sides, and she could practically feel the youth. She was sitting on the verge of immortality, what had she got to lose?
In answer to Jason's inquiry, she pulled her hair back from her neck, and looked up expectantly. Jason smiled at her, bent his head, and the next thing she felt was a searing, delightful pain. Then everything went black. Jason gathered the limp figure of his deathmate, his first kill, into his arms, and carried her up to his dorm where he could tend her wound. Such bites were definitely not a thing for Madam Pomfrey.
From the hedge separating two alcoves in the garden terrace, a faint giggling could be heard.
"George, what are you doing?"
"Playing it by ear"
"Are you sure you should have your hands there?"
"No, I've never done this before!"
"Me either… is it such a good idea?"
"Well don't you want to? It was your idea!"
"Well yeah… Ooohh, George, OK, but you know-stop it for a second or I won't be able to finish and I'll get-"
"OK, finish then!"
"Shouldn't we… like… get a room or something?"
"But they'll all see my…"
"So we'll run."
"Where to?"
"Your… oh, oh, oh, give me that!" There followed a male snicker. Please note that there's a large shrubbery between you and the unfolding scene.
"Oh, if you must go fully clothed, come on, then."
Two disheveled figures came streaking out of the bushes and ran around the shrubbery and through the terrace, out around the greenhouses and through a side door. Still running up the stairs to the entrance of the Gryffindor common room, where the password "Moon River" was whispered urgently. Inside the common room, which was thankfully empty, they almost didn't make it up to George's dorm. When finally they got to the stairs, George almost broke Fiona's back by kissing her rather harshly and pressing her into the stairs. Fiona didn't mind.
They finally did, however, make it up to bed.
Below, on the dance floor, couples were revolving to What a Wonderful World. Lily was giggling madly in a corner, being kissed with abandon by Terry. Apparently, the punch had been spiked with a little of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey.
Kait and Alan, swirling to the tune, stopped, when, from what must've been floors above, a large thump was heard.
Lily giggled. "I bet I know what that is!"
"What?" asked Terry, detaching himself from her neck for a minute.
"Fiona and George, lying in a…" she broke into out of character giggles, flushed from the punch and Terry.
Terry turned back to her neck, not caring much what Fiona and George did in their spare time. Lily giggled as he moved his hands where he'd normally be killed for touching her (only her hips and waist and arms and face, folks), and she took another long swig from her punch glass.
Meanwhile, Stephanie and her date Ian were 'hiding' behind a bookcase in the library. 'Strange' noises emerged from behind this very bookcase, and, because evidently there was something rather odd about the punch, or the night, that was seriously affecting teenage hormones, we will now leave them to their, uh, business.
The next morning, a flushed Fiona came late to breakfast.
"Guys… it's 12 inches!"
"WHAT?" all the assembled girls exclaimed.
"12 inches! Really!"
"And you would know this…?" Lily prompted, through her hangover and embarrassment at all the thick makeup on her neck (although she'd spent hours trying to get rid of them this morning, there didn't appear to be a way to get rid of a few hickies with magic, to Lily's chagrin).
"Well… I'm… We…"
"Oh. My. God", said Ariadne, who'd also left the dance early with her tall, gangly, dark Slytherin boyfriend, but only to go to the far side of the lake. "Fiona's not a-"
"No, I'm not, OK? And it really, really hurt. Like, it was damned fun, but… well, ouch,"
"So what, you didn't use protection???" asked Kait, incredulous.
"Of course we did! George had a spell."
"Where'd he get that?" asked Siri, who was mildly curious. She'd been playing pranks on the fairies all night, with a couple snog sessions when Fred could get a kiss in edgewise (she, too, had had a little too much punch).
"He said from Lee,"
"So that's why you didn't come back to the dorm last night," Kait said knowingly. She'd come back in around one, after saying goodnight to Alan at the bottom of the stairs for half an hour. If it had been anyone but Kait … well, it was Kait, so there was no need to go into the possibilities.
Just at that moment, George burst into the great hall. Getting giggles from the girls and a number of pats on the back, he came and kissed Fiona confidently.
She evidently didn't know how one should act towards the guy who... Forget it. Suffice it to say that she herself felt great, if not a little sore.
"F*** this headache!" Lily swore. Terry walked over to enfold her in his arms. "You stay the f*** away from me! This is all your fault!"
Terry looked dejected. "My fault?! Well… I guess it was… but you didn't put up much of a fight!"
"Yeah, well, I was f***in' drunk!"
"You're the one who got the d*** punch in the first place!" snapped Terry, finally losing his temper.
"You're the one who got the d*** punch in the first place!" she mimicked. They stood there fuming at each other for a moment, then Terry muttered something to the effect of "Well, if you're going to be like that" and stalked off. Lily snorted in derision and went to class.
Later in the day:
A small white rabbit was seen hopping down the hallways towards the Great Hall. It appeared to be looking for something (or someone). It stopped every once in a while, rose up on its hind legs and sniffed the air a bit, then dropped down and began hopping again. Alan, seeing the (apparently) lost bunny roaming the halls, knelt in front of it and said "Hey there, cutie. What're you doing out here?" At this the rabbit looked up at him for a moment, then reared up and kissed him full on the lips.
"What the-"
"KAIT! There you are!" A black cat skidded around the corner and slid to a stop as it realized there was a human present.
"Oh shit. Uh... Meow?" It looked innocently up at Alan. Then it looked at the rabbit in front of him. It looked, in as much as a cat can, exasperated. It shook its head, spun around and raced off. When it had disappeared from sight, Lily's voice came from around the corner.
"Nice going, Kait! Now you've scarred him for life!" Lily sighed exasperatedly.
"Look, I gotta run, but do you promise that you won't do that anymore?" To his surprise, the rabbit began speaking… and in Kait's voice!
"Oh, come on Lily! He's my boyfriend, for heaven's sake!"
"Yeah, so what's your point? You kissed him as a rabbit!" Alan listened to the whole thing with his jaw down so far as to nearly touch the floor. (^_~)
"Um. 'Scuse me. I'd rather you didn't talk about me as if I wasn't here" he said.
There was a long pause.
"Kait." Lily sounded about ready to kill someone.
"Yes?" Another pause. Lily sighed.
"Oh, screw that. Alan, get your Irish ass over here. Oh, and bring Jabberwocky, please." Alan did as requested. Jabberwocky could only be the bunny - he didn't see anyone else in that hall (though he looked, quite confused). Just before he turned the corner, he heard Lily say "Just follow the cat. Amrei knows where to go." He turned the corner and there was no sign of anybody else, just a single black cat sitting in the middle of the hallway. He blinked. "So, are you Amrei then?" The cat looked at him. Then got up and dashed down the hallway a few yards, stopped, turned to see if he was following, then came back. It looked rather impatient. "Oh, for the love of-" It indicated that he should follow, and set off again. The cat led him up hallways, down hallways, and even through secret passages on a path that twisted and turned fit to break a snake's back, always pausing once in a while to make sure that he was following. Amrei paused at a corner, checked to make sure he was still following, then started forward… straight into Terry's shins. "Ow! Hey, watch where you're going, you stupid- whoops. I mean, uh… Meow" Terry looked blankly at the small black cat at his feet. "Hey, where's your owner, little one?" Lily growled inwardly, frustrated by the delay. Alan rushed up, closely followed by a small white rabbit. "Alan? This cat yours?" Terry asked.
"No, actually I'm, uh, just returning her to her owner. I found her wandering the halls." Terry nodded thoughtfully, then moved aside to let the other boy pass. Just as Alan was walking past though, he reached out an arm and stopped him. The older boy looked at him questioningly. Terry sighed nervously and ran his hand through his hair. "Look, if you see Lily, will you tell her I'm sorry?" Alan looked surprised, and, unbeknownst to the boys, the cat below looked surprised, and also deeply touched. Alan nodded, and Terry released his arm and continued on his way. Alan looked down at the cat, who was watching Terry leave. "Well, how much further?" Amrei growled at him irritatedly, then dashed on down the hall. Half an hour later, Alan was nowhere to be seen and there was a bald eagle flying around the hidden chamber. The eagle disappeared to be replaced by Alan.
"Hey cool!" Everything had been explained to him, and he was now also an animagus.
* * *
Days passed and those concerned grew used to the routine of breakfast, training, lunch, classes, dinner, and HOMEWORK, ALWAYS HOMEWORK!!! Ahem. ANYWAY, Amy, Siri, Airinne, Fiona, Lily and Kait were down in the dungeons one day, working on a project for Advanced Potions when there was a huge explosion, bigger than all the ones before it, from the dungeons, which blew out all of the doors and windows leading into the Potions classroom. The next few minutes saw professors and students rushing towards the potions room, not expecting the worst, but expecting SOMETHING on the bad side, at any rate. What they found was not anywhere near what they expected.
Terry, Fred, George, Ron, Alan, and Professor Dumbledore made it first, having been closer than everyone else. They watched as the smoke cleared, revealing books, pencils, and paper strewn about the room. There was no sign of the six girls.
"They can't have just disappeared. People don't just disappear" Alan said, in complete denial.
"Of course they do - not off the face of the earth, but maybe the cauldron or something they put in was a portkey," Terry reasoned, normally the levelheaded one.
"Yes, that is quite possible, Mr. Boot - I might even go as far to say probable," Dumbledore said, thoughtfully stroking his beard.
"Well where did it take them, then? There aren't random portkeys all over Hogwarts - or at least, not that clear in a poof of smoke in the potions dungeon. What were they doing down there, anyway?" Fred asked, quite disgruntled at the prospect of having a disappearing girlfriend.
"Didn't Amy say something about an extra-credit assignment?" George said - in strict truth, it was Fiona who'd been told about the assignment, but George had, of course, heard.
"But where are they? They've got to be somewhere! Even among wizards, someone has never just ceased to exist completely. Even dead people exist! Have you tried to find them, Professor?" Ron was flying into a big fit.
"Yes, Ron, of course we have, with no results. There are tests I'm not allowed to perform myself, and because the girls don't show up on any magimaps, I think we should get them done." Dumbledore said, still stroking that darned beard of his.
"Well how do we get them done, then?!" Alan was even more distressed than Ron, and though the other boys were less open about it, all of them were floundering in worry and doubt inwardly.
"We must call in the Ministry. I have already owled the Department of Missing Witches and Wizards, they should arrive right about... now"
As Dumbledore finished this sentence, a whole brigade (or three) of Aurors apparated in with a *pop*.
A/N: *ominous music plays* What happened in the Potions lab? Where did the girls go? What happens next?
The only way to save Lily, Kait, Airinne, Amy, Siri, and Fiona from uncertain death is to review!!!
*laughs maniacally*
Tune in next week for the next chapter! Same bat time, same bat channel!