Deflating
Chapter Ten: Out of Order
***
Thursday, 25 January
Mr. Padfoot is of the opinion that Mr. Prongs is royally screwed.
Mr. Moony seconds this opinion and would like to add that, had Mr. Prongs listened to what Mr. Moony said, Mr. Prongs would not be in this situation.
Mr. Wormtail also agrees with Mr. Padfoot, and wishes for Mr. Moony to get off his high horse before it throws him off.
Say, Mr. Moony, would you attempt to give us a detailed transcript of what Mr. Prongs is saying to his Subject, so that we can make fun of him accordingly?
Mr. Moony would be honored to:
As of right now, Mr. Prongs is telling his Subject that he apologizes for doing the following, not necessarily in this order: snogging Subject, professing his love for Subject, and making Subject cry.
Mr. Wormtail is still of the opinion that Mr. Prongs is a horrible kisser, thus causing his Subject to sob because he cannot fulfill her dreams.
Mr. Padfoot wholeheartedly agrees. Carry on, Mr. Moony.
Mr. Prongs is adding that he cannot deal with crying girls, and that his boggart is most likely a crying Subject.
Mr. Padfoot is of the opinion that Mr. Prongs is a full-fledged liar. Mr. Prongs's boggart is a chicken.
Seriously?
Yeah, bad childhood experience; I'll tell you later.
Anyway, as we just saw, Mr. Prongs and Miss Subject were just berated by the imperial Professor McGonagall, and Mr. Prongs is explaining to Miss Subject that he indeed meant everything he said.
Wonder if he really does, though?
Who knows? Li--Subject apparently doesn't believe him, which I guess we will be hearing about later.
Yeah…Mr. Wormtail wishes to announce that he will be out of the dormitory at the time Mr. Prongs decides to take out all of his frustrations out, lest he start to take them out on Mr. Wormtail again.
Oh, come off it, Wormtail, you stopped singing eventually. And the boils are clearing up nicely.
Think Mr. Prongs'll be upset that we're writing in his precious Stalking-Subject-Journal?
Mr. Padfoot is of the opinion that Mr. Prongs will be thrilled.
***
"Okay, what the hell was that?" Charlotte demanded, following Lily closely as they headed towards Herbology.
"What was what?" Lily mumbled, watching the floor very closely.
"Um, shall we act it out for you?" Emily chimed in.
"That might help," Lily replied coolly, "as I have no idea what you're talking about."
Charlotte sighed exasperatedly. "Something is going on between you and James Potter, Lily," she said gently, softening her tone, "and we would just like to be aware of what it is."
"There's nothing going on," Lily insisted. "And I thought you were going to act it out?"
Emily flushed. "Well, we would, 'cept we have no clue what you two were saying until he said, 'Well, it's not really a question of whether or not you believe me, I just want--'"
"And then you said, 'What, James? What do you want from me?'" added Charlotte dramatically.
"Right," Emily nodded. "And then McGonagall yelled at you, which also gives us reason to worry for your sanity. So what were you talking about?"
Lily surveyed her friends for a moment, debating whether or not she wanted to tell them. Sighing, she said, "I--I'll tell you eventually, but before I tell anyone, I just want to figure out what this all means, all right?"
Emily and Charlotte exchanged glances, then sighed at exactly the same time. This was what Emily liked to call "Twin Synchronization", something they didn't intend to happen. Even if they didn't do it on purpose, it often irritated Lily to no end. Right now was no different. "All right," Charlotte said softly, the expression of disappointment clear on her face.
***
Dear Mum,
Well, I hope you're happy. I have just figured out what you meant when I told you about my dreams, and let me tell you, it is NOT rewarding. It is horrible.
James Potter is arrogant, pompous, spiteful, cheeky, and…
I hope you know that this is all your fault. YOU made me realize what those stupid dreams really meant…well, that and something James said the other day…
What am I supposed to do? I need to know how to get rid of this. Really. Don't get cryptic on me this time; I don't need any more added stress to my life. Plain English, mother, please.
~Lily
***
James threw his bag onto the floor next to his dresser, stalked over to his bed, and pitched himself forward onto it.
Sirius came in quietly, not really wanting to disturb his friend. James had a good arm, and Sirius really didn't feel like having things thrown at him. "Er, Prongs?" he said carefully.
"What?" came James's muffled voice.
"Erm, Quidditch practice?"
James sat up. "All right."
If there was one way to get out his aggressions, it was by playing Quidditch. James reached for his broom as he stood up and hoisted it over his shoulder, grabbing the bag that held his guards and things as he went out the door. Sirius followed him, and they traipsed out to the pitch, the rest of the team catching them up as they went.
Once on the pitch, James mounted his broom and kicked off, leaving the team behind. James zoomed around the length of the field a total of seven times before slowing down enough for Sirius to catch up to him.
"Are we supposed to be racing?" Sirius called after him.
James tossed a smile over his shoulder at his best friend. "I'd like to see you try to beat me," he yelled back, putting on an extra spurt of speed to prove his point.
"Yeah?"
"Nah," James shouted. "Don't want you to overexert yourself."
Sirius grinned back at his friend, then flew back down to where the rest of the team was waiting impatiently for practice to start. "Yeah," said Sirius, running his hand through his dark hair and smiling, "he won't be down for awhile. You might as well go back up to the castle and do your homework."
***
A/N: Yeah, I hate this chapter. I'm experiencing a bit of a block (oh, the horror!), but hopefully it'll be gone by next chapter.
Massive kudos to Professor Bumblebore for noting that I named the twins after the Brontë sisters. I was surprised no one noticed it, because usually people are only too quick to correct me or point something out to me.
And thanks to everyone who keeps reviewing…they're really great, and the only reason I keep updating so quickly (speaking of which, is there really any need for the death threats if I don't update fast? You know I will anyway, there's no need to resort to violence ;)