By Dimantrien
Chapter 2: You're In!
The Sorting ceremony for the first years was finished rather quickly because the whole of the Zynergrand Academy's student body still needed to be sorted. By the time it was finished, Sirius complained that he was suffering from stomach pains and the Slytherins (now added with more mean-looking recruits) were banging their forks and spoons on the table loudly.
All the Zynergrand-turned-Gryffindor students were introducing themselves and striking up friendly conversation with the original Hogwarts students all around them as they ate. One such student was a pale-blonde-haired, bright blue-eyed girl sitting across from Celeste.
"Hi!" the girl said cheerfully. She was about their age. "My name's Rhiannon Gilchrist."
"Celeste Schoharie," Celeste said, shaking Rhiannon's outstretched hand. "This is my sister Chase," she added, gesturing at Chase.
"And this is our best friend Lily," Chase continued, slapping a hand onto Lily's shoulder.
"This is Remus Lupin," Lily supplied before Remus could speak.
Remus looked at James and pointed a hitch-hiker thumb at him. "James Potter, the Transfiguration genius of the fifth year and the second-highest detention record-holder of all-time Hogwarts history," he deadpanned.
James grinned at Rhiannon. "And here's the filler of the number one spot with 1, 759 detentions to date, currently the most popular boy in Hogwarts…"
"Drum roll please," Sirius requested. James snatched Remus' wand and got out his own, improvising a drum roll with them and a clean plate.
"Sirius Black," James finished. Rhiannon, like all girls did, had an expression on her face that clearly said that she fancied Sirius a lot.
"Thank you, James," Sirius said in a mock-superior tone. "And this is…Peter Pettigrew, resident scaredy-cat of Gryffindor."
James kicked him.
"OW! I mean, one of the most—er—honored and noble people I have ever known," Sirius lied quickly. As they resumed their meal, Sirius fake-coughed loudly before picking up his fork and spoon.
"That was one of the biggest lies I have ever said to anybody," he said fervently, earning a glare from James.
Rhiannon laughed. "Nice to meet all of you. This is Damaris Callypso," she said, pointing to the green-eyed brunette next to her.
Everybody chorused their "Hi's."
"So, how was Zynergrand before it got smashed?" Sirius asked offhandedly. James, Remus, Celeste and Lily glared at him. Chase smirked; Peter merely gulped and looked fearfully from Sirius to the two new girls as if one of them would explode any second.
"It was nice," Damaris said in a soft voice, her deep green eyes showing a hint of sadness. "Though Hogwarts is much bigger, of course," she added in a forced-cheerful tone.
Lily gave Sirius a look that clearly said, "You shouldn't have said that you idiot."
There was a moment of awkward silence. Sirius, aware that he had caused it, said, "So…anything new, you guys?"
Lily smacked the back of her hand on her forehead. "I can't believe I didn't tell you guys yet! It totally slipped from my mind…"
"What is it?" Celeste asked, leaning forward. Lily paused.
"Well? I'm dying of suspense," Chase said sardonically.
"I'm a prefect!" Lily said happily.
Another silence. Then, "WHAT?!!!!!" Sirius yelled. Half the Hall turned around in their seats and stared at him. All their other friends didn't look too happy either. Everyone's faces, including Chase's, was filled with shock and disbelief.
Lily reached into her robes and pulled out a shiny silver badge with "Prefect" engraved in it in bold letters. "See?"
"But-but you can't be a prefect," Sirius sputtered. "You broke almost all the school rules ever listed in the official Hogwarts Student Handbook for the past four years! They can't make you a prefect after that!"
All their other friends were nodding in agreement, still momentarily speechless. Finally, Celeste found her voice.
"You're joking, right? I hear that all the professors of the fourth year had to have a deliberation to consider the candidates, and if they did, then McGonagall and Ridgewood would be the first to oppose your appointment! How can you still be appointed a prefect if your behavioral assessment is below F?"
Lily scowled at her. "You didn't have to make me sound that bad," she accused.
"She's just jealous 'cause after slaving away for four years as a devotee to discipline and rules, she wasn't made a prefect—" Chase started to say with a smirk but halted after receiving another of Celeste's glares.
"But you wouldn't be able to do any pranks," Peter protested.
"So? James, Sirius and Remus are the ones always doing them anyway, I'll just help with the planning and researching."
"But what about the charms—"
"We can't apply most of the pranks without your help—"
"Chill out! There's nothing you should all be so dismayed about, this way we can take loads of points off things that the Slytherins do that escape the teachers' attention," Lily pointed out.
"Fine," Sirius said sulkily. "What now, we've lost one of our best charm-casters…"
Lily rolled her eyes. "You're making too big a deal out of this, Sirius…"
None of them discussed the matter further after that.
After a while, they were served the desserts, then finally permitted to go up to their respective dormitories. As soon as they got there, the boys ran to the direction of their staircase and out of sight.
"Why'd they leave so soon?" Damaris asked, staring after them.
"Off to plan a fresh prank on the newly-sorted Slytherins, I expect," Lily replied. "C'mon, let's go up to the dormitory…"
When they got there, it was magically expanded and five new beds were added. Celeste looked at something at the side of the room and said, "YES!"
"Say what?" Chase asked, looking at her as if she were weird.
Celeste pointed. "The showers! They added nine more!"
Lily whooped. "All right! No more waiting till the crack of dawn for Celeste to finish taking a bath so that we can have a turn!" she exclaimed, slapping high-fives with Chase.
"Yep, no more need to conjure a thousand cockroaches to make her come out," Chase added with a laugh, glancing at Celeste out of the corner of her eye and smirking as Celeste scowled. Celeste hated cockroaches, and Chase had increased her fear in them because of a spell she did last year.
"Whatever Chase. At least now I don't need to take a bath with the fear that you're going to overrun me with those hideous things again."
"Or aren't I?" Chase answered amusedly. "You know, I can still set them on you even if our bathroom has improved—"
Celeste quickly darted into the bathroom, locking the door behind her.
"I think she's improving," Chase remarked as she pulled on her nightgown. "She doesn't scream anymore when I mention roaches."
*****
The next day was as rainy as ever. However, it was a Sunday, so they had no schoolwork to worry about yet. The marauders set off the first full day in the school at breakfast by using Hidden Hair Switch spells on the Slytherins, where the boys exchanged hair with a Slytherin girl as soon as they sat down at the table. Snape looked very hilarious indeed with Bernadette Zabini's blonde hair on his scalp. He looked even more ludicrous because he still kept his shaggy black eyebrows, making for a very queer combination. Bernadette was revolted that she had gotten Snape's greasy hair, of all people's.
No amount of magic could undo the spells, except for the one the countercurse that only the marauders knew. This infuriated the Slytherins a bit too much, since they couldn't reverse the trick for nearly half an hour. The three remaining houses were still laughing themselves sick when the professors arrived, switching back the Slytherins' hair and telling off the marauders loudly. Professor McGonagall gave them a detention.
His stomach aching with laughter, Sirius stopped sniggering and looked up at the High Table. "Somebody's missing," he said, staring at the full table. "There're all the Zynergrand teachers, but—"
"Ridgewood's not there!" James said suddenly, and they exchanged sly grins.
"Alright!!! I knew it, I knew he was going to be sacked…" Sirius proclaimed.
"I really hope they give us a decent Potions teacher this time," Remus said. Ridgewood was last year's Slytherin Head of House and one of the most rotten former-Slytherin teachers they had, save maybe for their third-year Astronomy teacher who already resigned, Professor Witzgromeneirre.
"Yeah. All the Potions teachers we've ever had, even the substitutes, were always Slytherins. That's why I've always hated Potions…" Sirius said disgustedly.
"What are you talking about? You're the top Potions student! Or, at least you would have been, if Ridgewood hadn't favored Snape so much," James trailed off. Snape had gotten top marks in their fourth year exams.
"What's our first subject tomorrow?" Rhiannon asked.
Celeste read her schedule. "Care of Magical Creatures with the Hufflepuffs, then Herbology with the Ravenclaws…"
"Good, I couldn't stand a double Potions with the Slytherins just yet," Chase said with a sigh of relief.
"After lunch is Transfiguration," Celeste finished. "Chase, you did do your over-the-summer Transfiguration homework, didn't you?" she asked sternly.
"Yes I did, sergeant," Chase responded, raising her hand to her forehead in mock salute.. "Ten inches of parchment more than McGonagall asked for, even."
"Good," Celeste said, her face relaxing.
"And Celeste?"
"Yes?"
"Will you stop acting like you're mum's substitute whenever she's not around?"
Celeste threw a handful of bacon bits at her.
"C'mon you guys, we need to look up spells," James told them.
"And a lot of it," Sirius added. "The Slytherins are in for the scare of their lives…"
Peter groaned. "And I thought that we wouldn't jump into school books until tomorrow."
"It's all for a good cause, you know," Remus laughed. It was quite ironic, though, because the teachers certainly didn't think so.
"Are you sure that it's OK to keep playing tricks on the Slytherins?" Damaris asked, her forehead creasing with worry.
"'Course it is. Once you meet them personally you'll see what we're talking about," James explained.
*****
The next day, Care of Magical Creatures commenced just as Celeste said. Professor Kettleburn brought several cages of live gargoyles that looked at them through the metal bars in a vindictive way, flexing their bony fingers and showing two-inch, knife-sharp claws. None of the Hufflepuffs seemed to want to go near them, and some Gryffindors looked a bit skeptical when Kettleburn told them that the gargoyles were "perfectly safe." This didn't turn out to be so because once Kettleburn released one of the monsters, it swooped around them and made a horrible shrieking sort of noise.
A huddle of Hufflepuff girls squealed and hid behind a garden shed. The remaining students tried valiantly to look as if they weren't scared one jolt without much success. Only Sirius, who thrived on chaos almost as much as Peeves did, looked satisfied with the whole incident.
"Yeah! Come here! Are you blind or stupid? I'm over here!" he yelled, jumping up and down like a maniac, waving his arms at the gliding monster.
But the gargoyle must have sensed his boldness, and ignored him. Kettleburn told them before he had opened a cage that gargoyles liked to frighten people who were already scared of them.
Celeste screamed as the gargoyle playfully swooped inches from her head. Chase rolled her eyes.
"It's just a gargoyle, there's nothing to be afraid of," Chase called as Celeste joined the Hufflepuff girls.
Professor Kettleburn was trying to restore the peace. "Students! There is nothing to be frightened of! As long as you remain calm, the gargoyles will not hurt you! Here! Don't run away, I say! The only reason that they're scaring you is because you are afraid!"
But anything he said was futile; the class was in utter chaos and several of them had already run up to the school to get away from the dreaded gargoyle. And, of course, the gargoyle followed.
"STOP!!!" Kettleburn yelled at the top of his lungs. He turned around and saw that the only students who remained were the marauders, Lily, Chase, Damaris, Rhiannon, and a few Hufflepuff boys whose legs knocked together because of shaking too much. Obviously they had stuck to Kettleburn's advice, even though they looked that they would pee into their pants any second.
"Stupefy!" Kettleburn yelled, and the gargoyle doubled over in the air before crashing to the ground.
Kettleburn sighed. "Well, I guess it's no use teaching half a class, and this was supposed to be a double period… Class dismissed."
Sirius whooped. Chaos was definitely better than cancelled classes, but it was a better option than sitting on the grass and listening to Kettleburn drone on and on about the evolution of gargoyles (probably a cross between a bat and a monkey, he thought) and how the Ministry managed to keep them from the Muggle world. He and his friends strolled back to Gryffindor Tower and enjoyed the remaining one and a half hour that Kettleburn had cancelled. After that, Herbology.
Professor Sprout did roll call since there were added students and introduced them to their newest lesson: handling Venemous Tentacula. Even though the sharp-toothed plants were ever-present in the greenhouses they worked in, they had never had a formal lesson on them before. By the end of the class one fourth of the total students were sent to the hospital wing while the remaining ones nearly set fire to greenhouse three by burning the Tentaculas.
Professor Sprout was enraged at them for destroying her precious plants and took 10 points each from every student that joined in the fire-conjuring (20 from Sirius because he was the one who started it), and gave them such a load of homework that not even the cunning marauders could finish in a jiffy.
"Thirty species of Sauctheis with full information on each one! Including footnotes! What the hell is she playing at?!" Sirius ranted furiously as they trudged back to the castle for lunch.
"Well, you did start it Sirius," James reminded him. "Don't forget, if you hadn't thought of fire as the first thing to ward off the Tentaculas then the others wouldn't have panicked enough to do the same—"
"And it's due on Wednesday! Wednesday! That's like the next session of Herbology!" Sirius continued, ignoring James.
"She would've just given us twenty, before you argued with her and made her even madder," Lily said crossly.
"I thought that things were finally looking up when Kettleburn cancelled our double period but this is worse that karma…" Sirius complained.
"Sirius, quit whining and shut up!" Lily practically screamed in his ear. They entered the Great Hall, which was already packed with students.
Lunch slightly lifted Sirius' spirits. They had hidden Aging Enchantments in the Slytherin Table that were triggered as soon as they lifted their spoons. Every Slytherin felt feeble and old as they suddenly sprouted long beards, silver and whitish hair, age spots and wrinkled features. Professor McGonagall once again yelled herself hoarse at the marauders, knowing it was all in vain, since they would just do another prank the next day even though they would face detention. She couldn't expel them either. Being the smartest students in the school definitely had its merits.
This was why McGonagall was in such a foul mood during Transfiguration.
"And I don't want any of those vases with beaks on them at the end of the period!" McGonagall said strictly in a peeved tone. They were given duck-billed platypuses to turn into vases for a practical quiz. The Gryffindors were a bit hesitant in touching the ugliest mammals in the world to date, and only Chase dared to lift one from the enormous cage. A moment later, the platypus swiped at her arm hard with one sharp, poisonous claw and she dropped it abruptly.
"This," she said through gritted teeth and slightly watery eyes, holding out her bloody arm while some girls in the class screeched and looked away, "is what makes Transfiguration such an idiotic, pointless subject—"
"Shhhh!" Celeste shushed her, keeping an eye out for McGonagall. The wound was pretty deep at such short range and she was sent to the hospital wing with Damaris, trailing blood after her.
"I hope she's alright," Lily said worriedly as she watched Chase and Damaris leave.
"Chase wouldn't cry even if her whole arm was on fire, don't worry about it Lil," Celeste assured offhandedly.
"She never cries?" Rhiannon asked in amazement. "Not even once?"
Celeste shifted uncomfortably, glancing at the guys, who were listening in. "Well, there was one incident last year when she—"
Lily gave her a "Shut-up-this-is-not-the-time-to-gossip" expression and she instantly closed her mouth.
"Er, it's not something worth telling, really," she said instead. "Anyway, let's get started on these platypuses…"
By the end of the period, only James, Lily, Sirius and Celeste had successfully turned their platypuses into vases, but McGonagall had taken twenty points from Gryffindor since Sirius had tried to stun his to keep it from attacking him ("Well, how else would I still keep my arm flawless until the end of the period?" he had shouted at McGonagall.). Overall, McGonagall's mood remained the same (if not grew worse) when the bell rang signaling the end of classes for that day. Everyone was in quite a hurry to leave the classroom.
McGonagall held James back and told him that he had to tutor Damaris in Transfiguration.
"But she nearly got the spell right during the period," he said, confused. "Why does she still need tutoring?"
"It was standard in Zynergrand," Professor McGonagall said firmly. "Her parents have requested it since she started her first year. Apparently their family has been renowned for Transfiguration techniques and she was the only one who couldn't perfect it. She needs all the help she could get, Potter, and since you're the best student in Transfiguration, it would be easy to teach her."
"Fine," James said with a shrug. "When do we start?"
"Saturday at a quarter past one in the Charms classroom," Professor McGonagall answered. "Be prompt, Potter. And show them what a Gryffindor is made of," she said, giving him a slight smile. No doubt she was still annoyed at his prank instincts, but she couldn't go not giving her best student credit for his work.
*****
After dinner in the Gryffindor common room, Chase still hadn't shown up. James and Sirius were sitting by the fireplace in their usual chairs, doing their homework.
"Think you can still get her back, Sirius?" James asked him casually as he stared at the flames.
Sirius sighed. His and Chase's breakup wasn't either of their fault, but by a Ravenclaw who had made Sirius drink a Love Potion to fall in love with her. Sirius wasn't over Chase yet and there was no reason to be, since, in his opinion, it wasn't fair that they should have broken up. "I don't know."
A grin spread on James' face. "I bet you don't," he said suddenly.
Sirius looked at him. "And why is that?" he challenged.
"Because," James said with a smirk, "You've never been one to hold a relationship long. Besides, you have to face facts, friend. How many times have you dated somebody and broke up with them, and went with another girl three days later without a second thought?"
"You sure have ways to bring your friends down, don't you?" Sirius said sarcastically. Of course he knew that he had a fixed reputation on him. But that didn't mean that he couldn't change. That was what he liked about Chase. She was totally unpredictable, and didn't act the way all the other girls he had dated. She was different.
James' eyes sparkled. Sirius suspected that his thoughts were probably written all over his face. "I bet that in less than a week, you'll get over her and go out with another girl," he announced.
"What?!" was Sirius' immediate reaction. "Wait a minute," he said, his eyes narrowing. "You're just tricking me. How would you be so sure, anyway? If it took me more than three months and I still haven't gotten over her, why are you so confident that I'll go back to the way I was in days?"
"It's instinct," James answered honestly. "And I have something that'll support my guess too. With the whole of the Zynergrand student body adding to Hogwarts' populace, you'll have plenty of new people to date."
"Whatever James. I'm telling you, you're going to lose that bet."
"Fine with me. If I win, you'll have to do my bidding for the same number of days that takes you to date somebody else. And I decide what days those will be, and they can be on separate months, no matter how long the gap."
"And if you lose, you'll have to be my servant for six whole days with the same conditions as what you just said, since you bet less than a week," Sirius said smugly. "Deal?"
James took Sirius' outstretched hand and shook it. "Deal."
*****
The week flew past and it was Saturday. Sirius found that Rhiannon was as much of a food fan as he was, and every lunch they held eating contests in the Great Hall. He was so happy with the competition that he "officially" confirmed them part of their gang and labels of the title "marauders."
"C'mon," he said, dragging her out of the Hall after lunch. "You gotta know where the kitchen is. There are tons more food in there than here."
"Okay," Rhiannon agreed. "But won't anybody see us? We might get in trouble—"
"Don't worry about that. Let's go!" They disappeared in the crowd going out of the Hall.
James looked at his watch. "We have to go too," he said, addressing Damaris. "McGonagall's a pincher for punctuality. I can't afford another detention next week, since Sirius and I are going to execute a prank in the Slytherin common room and only Wednesday is free…"
"Have fun," Chase called as they left. "Although I wouldn't count on it, as it's Transfiguration we're talking about…"
Damaris laughed and waved goodbye.
"What are we going to do now?" Lily asked the remaining marauders.
"Do another prank?" Remus suggested.
"I can't, I'm a prefect," Lily reminded.
"Oh yeah," Remus said. "Then what?"
"Want to visit Hagrid?" Celeste suggested.
The five stood up and headed for Hagrid's hut.
*****
"You're getting it…just make the 'r' sound longer…" James said.
"Atverte!" Damaris cried, pointing at the silver spoon in front of her. It turned into a snail.
James clapped. "Good job! Since you've already got the hang of it, we'd better blow this joint…" He started packing up his books and all the materials that they had used for the tutorial.
Damaris watched him turn the snail back into a spoon without an effort. "You make it look so easy."
James shrugged. "It's nothing, really. Anybody can do it as long as they concentrate." He went back to the process of putting all his Transfiguration books into his bag.
The chestnut-haired girl just waited silently for him to finish. She couldn't help but notice how handsome James was, after all, he was one of the most good-looking and popular boys in the school. Damaris wondered if he had a girlfriend. She never saw him with one; there were Celeste, Chase and Lily but they never seemed to show a particular display of intimacy for him.
"Hey James?" she asked, almost starting to regret that she did.
"Yep?"
"Er…um…do you…"
James looked up from his bag. "Sorry, what did you say?" he asked apologetically.
Damaris felt herself turning red. "Never mind," she mumbled. "Nothing important."
"OK, if you're sure," James said. "You can tell me if something's bothering you though," he added, his voice filled with concern.
Damaris' heart skipped. He was really different from other boys. Back at Zynergrand they only used to care about taking advantage of her.
"I mean, we're friends, right?" said James, shouldering his backpack.
Friends. Damaris never had a friend that was a boy before. Rhiannon had been her only real friend, but it was much easier because she was a girl too.
"All done!" James announced. "We can go now…wait, I forgot to turn out the lights…" With a wave of his hand, all the lamps in the room were extinguished, making it reasonably dark.
Damaris stood beside him in the gloom. If he really didn't have a girlfriend…there was only one way to find out…
"Are you OK? You look kinda pale all of a sudden," James said. He moved closer to her, his face filled with worry.
Before she could change her mind, Damaris grabbed him by his shoulders and kissed him. James was surprised at first, but she kissed him slowly and softly, waiting for him to respond. Somewhere in her hazed mind, she vaguely noticed the room flooding with light as the door opened, but she couldn't care less…
Until she heard the sound of several books crashing to the floor, causing James to break away from her as fast as she had grabbed him. His face paled.
*****
James was shocked. Damaris had just kissed him, which he never thought she was going to do. He usually knew when girls liked him or not, but Damaris was so impassive that he found it hard to read her expressions. Didn't she know that he already had a girlfriend?
But suddenly the door opened and James pulled away from her. Please don't let it be Lily, please don't let it be Lily…
He looked at the door, but the one who opened it wasn't Lily. His face paled nonetheless.
It was Chase. And the look on her face said it all. It was a look of complete and utter shock; her already large blue eyes looked even bigger, round with disbelief.
As abruptly as she had entered, Chase's face changed again to its normal indifferent expression, and she muttered a spell that sent all her books flying back into her arms. Without saying a single word, she stepped out of the doorway and walked out.
"I'm—I'm so sorry James, I didn't know… I didn't know that she was your-your—" Damaris started to stammer, but James shook his head.
"She's not my girlfriend, Damaris…but I really have to go…" He stepped three paces away.
"But-but why did she look so shocked?" Damaris asked timidly. James almost felt like comforting her. She looked like she might crumble any second if he said the wrong words.
But the damage that she had caused was too great; he couldn't do anything about it. Still, he never was one to put a girl down when she was upset.
"She was just surprised, you know… Chase isn't used to walking into people kissing, maybe that was why…" What the hell am I doing? He wondered. He had to tell the truth; he couldn't afford to lie.
Damaris visibly relaxed. "So, it was okay?" she asked him.
NO! his inner voice screamed. It was not okay. Not if Chase told Lily, not if he would stop acting stupid and just tell her the damned truth…
"James, do you have a girlfriend?" Damaris asked, her look almost hopeful.
"I gotta go," he said suddenly, bolting out the door before he had time to answer. He had to catch up with Chase. He reached the nearest intersection of halls, but Chase was nowhere in sight.
Where had she run off to?
*****
Sirius reached the portrait of the bowl of fruit and tickled the pear. As soon as the passage into the kitchen opened, he said in a mock-gentleman voice, "After you, m'lady."
Rhiannon rolled her eyes but laughed nonetheless. She stepped into the enormous kitchen, her mouth wide open in awe.
"Nice, isn't it?" Sirius said amusedly, taking in her amazed expression. Hundreds of house elves, four long tables that looked suspiciously familiar, and uncountable piles of all foods imaginable.
"Sirius Black! So nice to see yous, sir, so nice indeed! It has been exactly five days since the start of the school year, sir, and still yous haven't visited! Dipelfis was getting worried about yous!" a high-pitched voice said.
Sirius and Rhiannon looked down and saw a male house elf which Sirius had nicknamed "Door-elf Dipelfis." He was the house elf who usually stood by the entrance to the kitchens and greeted the visitor extremely eagerly and asked for anything they wanted in particular.
"Nice to see you again," Sirius said with a grin. "Now, me and my friend are really hungry, so we want a bit of that, and that, and a little bit of this too…" Sirius started walking around the kitchens, pointing at the different foods that the house elves had used their magic on to preserve their heat (they were already made into dishes) and made them taste like newly-cooked food again. Three house elves immediately trailed after Sirius, carrying dishes of the things he wanted. Three more set one of the tables up.
"Perfect!" Sirius said with a clap of his hands as soon as everything was ready.
"This is officially the 14th eating contest we have to date, occurring at the Hogwarts kitchen, on the day of September the seventh, at exactly 1:43 pm. Whoever loses this battle will have to act like a duck in the Gryffindor common room for three hours straight," he announced solemnly. Rhiannon couldn't help it and burst out laughing.
"You're on," Rhiannon said confidently. "Get ready to practice your duck quack, Black, 'cause you are going down."
"Ah, arrogance. Just what I like in a girl," Sirius deadpanned. He smirked as Rhiannon blushed slightly. "On your marks...get set…go!!!"
The "battle" was over in six minutes, fifteen seconds and twenty-one milliseconds, as a very precise house-elf named Accura kindly yelled out when they finished. It took the two fifth years six minutes, fifteen seconds and twenty-one milliseconds to finish ten different dishes in dinner-sized plates, two plates of rice, and fourteen side dishes.
"I beat you!" Sirius said triumphantly.
"No you didn't!" Rhiannon protested. "We tied. I ate that last corn kernel just as you shoved a spoonful of steak in your mouth."
Sirius raised an eyebrow at Accura, who nodded vigorously. He sighed. "You can't argue with an accurate house elf," he said in defeat. "This battle is a draw."
Rhiannon whooped. Sirius looked at her. How could she manage to eat that much food and still keep her table etiquette??? There wasn't a single grain of rice on her robes and her lips were perfectly devoid of any trace of sauce or whipped cream, whereas Sirius looked like a pig. Rhiannon voiced that thought immediately.
"Sirius, you look like a total pig," she giggled.
"But a cute pig," he replied slyly.
"Fine, I'll give you cute," she said. "What time is it? I still have to meet up with Damaris, she promised to help me with History of Magic."
"It's 1:52," Sirius informed, glancing at his watch.
"OK, then let's go." Both of them waited for a minute, but they didn't move.
"Why aren't you standing up?" Rhiannon asked.
"Why aren't you standing up?" Sirius countered. Then they both laughed.
Sirius suddenly stopped laughing and looked straight at Rhiannon's blue eyes. They were almost the same blue as Chase's, only a tad darker. He missed Chase, he really did, and he swore that he would get her back. But how?
He moved closer to Rhiannon without realizing it, until their faces were only an inch apart. Rhiannon's face flushed and she shifted in her seat.
"Is it just me, or are you moving uncomfortably close and staring at me?" Rhiannon said uneasily.
Sirius smirked. "It's just you."
*****
Her footsteps echoed through the empty corridors, but Chase didn't care. After that little run-in with James and Damaris, she went to the library, only to find Remus and Celeste making out at the Restricted Section. What next? Was she going to see Peter mauling some Hufflepuff girl in a broom closet? God! Was it just her, or had everybody gone mad and started a Smooch-Your-Friend campaign? Where was everybody, anyway?
She still couldn't imagine the first thing she had seen though. James and Damaris…Chase was fairly certain that James and Lily weren't mad at each other for some reason, and they didn't even break up yet. She had vowed, ever since the Sirius-and-Maxine Eamon incident that had broken them apart, that she would never do anything to interfere with anybody's love life. But she couldn't just get that scene out of her head. It had been she, after all, who had brought James and Lily together in the first place.
She headed for the kitchens, thinking vaguely that there was a chance that Lily also noticed that nobody was around and had tagged after Sirius and Rhiannon. She tickled the pear and went in, and as soon as she did, another scene met her eyes, and her heart stopped.
Sirius and Rhiannon were snogging each other, right in the middle of the kitchens. Her heartbeat rate suddenly grew faster.
"Miss Chase! Is there anything I can do for yous today?" Dipelfis said brightly. Chase jumped back, surprised.
"Not today, Dipelfis," she murmured, and practically fell out the entrance. She had to get out of there, before Dipelfis' loud voice could break Sirius and Rhiannon apart, before they could notice her and throw her pitying looks…
She hated pity. Moreover, she hated drama and she hated tears. But as she ran as fast as she could through the halls, trying to get as much space between her and the happy couple in the kitchen, she came to one ironic conclusion.
Even cynics cried sometimes.
*****
Lily was reading a thick hardbound book on her bed when Chase suddenly burst in. She headed straight for the shower, which was a very un-Chase-like thing to do.
"Everything OK, Chase?" she called to be heard over the sound of water beating against tile.
"Right. I actually got the urge to take a shower when I'm perfectly clean. That's so warped," Chase retorted sarcastically. Lily chuckled. Yep, everything was under control over there.
"Where are the rest of the guys?" Lily asked her.
Chase didn't respond. Now, that was strange. Lily was pretty sure that Chase didn't answer any questions only when she was upset. Which was extremely rare. And if there was something bothering Chase, Lily had to find out, because few things could perturb the most indifferent cynic Hogwarts had ever known.
Lily grinned. The only thing that she had ever known to bother Chase was the S-factor.
"Oh Cha-ase," she singsonged through the door.
"What?" Chase asked in an echo-like voice in the bathroom with a tone of suspicion.
"I know what made you upset."
"How would you know that I'm upset?" Chase challenged. She turned off the shower.
"It's about Sirius, isn't it?" Lily said with a smirk.
Chase opened the door, clad in a towel and another one wrapped around her hair. She rolled her eyes. "Interesting theory, my dear. But I'm so sorry to break it to you that I don't feel like wallowing in self-pity over something that happened ages ago." She went through her clothes and pulled on a blue t-shirt and white capri pants.
Lily sighed. Why was Chase like this? She couldn't read her expression at all! After four years of friendship, Lily Evans still couldn't figure out if her friend was upset or just her plain old self. But Chase was like that. She was complicated.
"Are you absolutely sure that nothing's bothering you?" she asked again, just to be sure.
"Nope, there's nothing to worry about, Miss Thinks-She's-A-Shrink," Chase said with a smirk.
"OK." Lily flopped onto her bed on her stomach and went back to her book, looking a little disappointed.
"I'm going to take a nap," Chase told her.
Lily waved her hand. "I permit you. Go ahead," she teased.
Chase smirked and lay down on her bed. She turned to a position that faced away from Lily and the rest of the room and exhaled. She was, by far, the most persuasive person on the face of the planet. She actually felt bad for lying to Lily, but there was no other choice.
*****
AN – Thanks to animegirl, Jumpers, Tins, and a person with an e-mail address of choochoochelly@yahoo.com (sorry, don't know the name) for reviewing!