Complications

By Dimantrien

Chapter 9: Quotable Quotes

"But what can we do?" Damaris asked, still looking unconvinced that there was any hope in repairing Lily and James's relationship. "Lily hates me, she's annoyed at you because of me, and she never wants to look at James again because of me—"

"Stop rambling, I just had a brilliant plan in how we're going to bring them back together," Rhiannon admonished, her idea still running through her head.

"I don't think you should get your hopes up, Rhi, anything we do is useless. I can't exactly force her to forgive me, you know," Damaris said, looking extremely disheartened. She buried her face in her hands. "This is all my fault," she said in a muffled voice.

Rhiannon laid a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Keep in mind, Damaris, that the pen is mightier than the sword."

"And what does that have to do with the issue at hand?" Damaris asked, starting to look a little annoyed at Rhiannon's vagueness.

"Well, if you're through with your hopeless woes, I'll tell you."

Damaris sighed. "I suppose this thing can't get any worse…"

And she leaned forward to listen to her friend's self-proclaimed marvelous plan to reunite Lily Evans and James Potter, feeling that she would do anything at this point to help the latter pair get back together if she wanted her spirits to rise anytime in the near future.

*****

Celeste entered their dormitory room after a day in the library. She was a little taken aback to find that the room had only two occupants at ten o'clock in the evening, and the said occupants were looking more than a little irate. "Uh…you two didn't have another fight, did you?" she asked cautiously as she stared at her best friend and her twin, who were both lying down in their respective beds and glaring at the ceiling of their four-poster. She was starting to feel relieved again that the two of them had made up and she didn't know what to do if they started yelling at each other again.

Chase turned to look at her. "No, we're both just contemplating about the attitudes of the idiots in our lives," she said humorlessly, glancing at Lily, whose face softened a little at Chase's remark.

"Would you care to translate that?" Celeste asked, dumping her books on top of her trunk.

"Damaris tried to apologize to Lily," Chase replied.

Celeste brightened. "Well, that's great, isn't it? Everybody's laying down their pride now, first the two of you, now Damaris, so what's there to be mad about—?"

Lily made a snorting noise.

"I said 'tried,' my dear twin," Chase said calmly. "Lily didn't accept her apology."

"But—?"

"Don't ask her why," Chase said quietly so that Lily wouldn't hear. "And frankly, I don't blame her for what she did. Sometimes, in cases when somebody snatches your boyfriend from your grasp, you won't be able to forgive them easily. And perhaps you won't be able to forgive the boyfriend—I mean, James, too."

Celeste had a sneaking suspicion that Chase was not merely talking about Lily alone. "But Damaris didn't 'snatch' James from her like Maxine Eamon did to Sirius in your case!" she pointed out.

Chase's eyes darkened. "Leave me and Sirius out of this," she said, and it was in a slightly bitter tone that she said Sirius' name.

Celeste raised her eyebrows, but didn't comment. "Sorry," she said, staring at her unusually peeved twin. Of course, she already had a highly probable theory concerning the reason of said twin's complete one-eighty in attitude.

"Let's just go to sleep. It's getting late, you know," Chase stated, gesturing at the clock on her nightstand and rolling over in her bed so that her back was to Celeste.

Yeah right, more like, "Let's go to sleep before the Zynergrand boyfriend poachers get back," Celeste thought. Things were really messed up now: Sirius was with Rhiannon, but Celeste was pretty sure that Chase hadn't really gotten over him like she said she did; Damaris caused James and Lily to break up, but despite Lily's rants that she never wanted to get together with a jerk like James again, Celeste knew that she still loved him. She wished that this would all blow over soon. She was tired of seeing her best friend and her sister suffering under emotional stress, and she was annoyed with herself that she couldn't do anything about it. Even if she herself had problems, she still had Remus. Chase and Lily had no one.

It was times like this that she felt bad about having a steady boyfriend.

***** 

A week passed, and the tension between the group of friends was still thick. Remus, Celeste and Peter were the only ones who stayed neutral. Some kind of hope must have kindled inside James, because he was now trying to apologize to Lily every chance he got instead of avoiding her, but Lily was resolutely turning a blind eye and a deaf ear whenever he was around. Chase stopped talking to Sirius and was always conspicuously absent during their free time, and Sirius had been, like James, sapped of all troublemaking energy and was usually seen sulking and grumpy.

He was no less moody when Rhiannon came bouncing up to him after their Wednesday classes.

"Hey, Black, you got a sec?" she asked cheerfully, her blue eyes twinkling.

Sirius sighed. He knew he had, in some crazed state, snogged her before, but he didn't have it in him to try to develop a new relationship anymore. Not when Chase was angry at him, and not when she had favored Snape's company over his…

"—was wondering if you'd like to help, 'cause they're your best friends and all…Sirius! Are you even listening?"

Rhiannon had stopped in the middle of the semi-crowded corridor, waving her hands irritably in front of Sirius' face.

He stared at her. Just looking at her bright and happy mood made him lose heart in telling her that he wasn't interested in her anymore… Besides, he didn't know how good she was at jinxing yet; it wasn't wise to get on her bad side until he was completely sure of her hexing capabilities. "Sorry, I wasn't listening," he mumbled, trying to think of a plausible excuse to get away.

Rhiannon raised an eyebrow. "I can see that. But you can't be spacing out about this, it's way too important! It's about James and Lily—"

"Look, can I talk to you later? I've got a load of homework to do, been holding it up since last week," Sirius interrupted hurriedly, and before Rhiannon could open her mouth, he scurried away and disappeared into the mob of after-school dinner goers.

Rhiannon stared at the throng that had swallowed her maybe-boyfriend. She was pretty sure that he had purple shadows under his eyes and that he was a little pale, quite unlike how he looked when they were in the kitchen the other day… She turned slightly pink at the memory. He seemed happy and energetic then, but why was he suddenly gloomy and irritated when she approached him? Something's wrong, something must be bothering him… She suddenly felt uneasy, as if something bad was going to happen soon.

She went on to the Great Hall, thinking about how Sirius said he had a lot of homework to do, but knowing that he had been lying. The only thing that Sirius could possibly put before food was planning a good prank, and he didn't have the manic glint in his eyes and the mischievous grin that was always planted on his face whenever he was in prankster mode. She felt a twinge of anxiety again.

And she walked on, a cloud of gloom and discomfort hovering above her, unaware that she had now caught the same emotional unease as James, Sirius, Chase and Lily.

***** 

Remus and Celeste ran down numerous corridors, following a small blue orb that was speedily darting through intersections and concealed doors, up staircases and across passageways.

"Are you sure that thing's going to lead us to Chase?" Celeste said breathlessly as they chased after the circular object.

"Positive. I put a Tracking Charm on her when she wasn't paying attention, and unless she recently put a Fidelius Charm on herself so that she can't be found, we're sure to find her soon."

"Where are we anyway?" Celeste panted, her eyes scanning the corridor they were dashing through. Torches with green flames hung on the walls, the only source of light (aside from the luminous blue orb before them) in the otherwise dark passage. The floor was slightly damp, and there were no windows or doors along the stone walls. It was like they were running through an endless tunnel. "This place is really creepy…"

"It's probably one of the lesser used dungeon corridors," Remus assured her before glancing down at the Marauder's Map, which he had nicked from James that morning. It wasn't exactly hard; James hardly paid any attention to anything other than Lily these days. It occurred to him that Chase wasn't anywhere on the map, then again, he assumed that she had put a spell on herself to prevent it from showing where she was. He figured she didn't want to take any chances if Sirius was trying to look for her.

Suddenly the levitating blue orb stopped short, causing Remus to stand still abruptly and Celeste to crash into him, ending the situation into two bodies crashing onto the hard, damp stone floor.

Celeste and Remus both groaned as they picked themselves up, and there was a great deal of profanity-muttering about a stupid blue thing that didn't show the least trace of warning before halting in a place where the ground was not carpeted. This went on for a few moments until Celeste realized that the said orb was gone.

"Hey—where'd the idiot thing go?" she said loudly, surveying the dim surroundings.

"Ah… I suppose it continued on to its pursuit of Chase while we were momentarily distracted," he said apologetically.

"What! After we ran all the way here to this stuffy place to look for my god-knows-where sister, it disappears?!" Celeste exclaimed, looking more than a little disgruntled that her efforts, which had also caused her face to go all red and blotchy, had been completely futile.

Remus brightened. "Wait, I remember—if it stopped, it means that it has already led us to Chase—"

"Yes, and I sure see her right now, d'you think she's hiding under an Invisibility Cloak, smirking at our antics?" Celeste said sarcastically.

"Well, I suppose you're right." Remus winced at her annoyed tone.

Celeste's face softened. "Sorry. It's just that I'm starting to get worried; Chase hasn't been herself these past few days, and she's always with Snape and that makes me wonder what kind of Dark Art he's testing on her…"

Remus' eyes widened in realization. "That must be it! She's probably with Snape right now. After all, Slytherins seem to prefer the dark and gloomy and I just bet this is where he asked Chase to meet him."

"If she was with Snape, then even if Chase was wiped off the map Snape wouldn't be, and he's nowhere around here either," Celeste pointed out, putting her index finger to where the two tiny dots labeled "Remus Lupin" and "Celeste Schoharie" were.

"It's probable that she put the same charm she did on herself on him, as we already know that if she isn't with us, she's with Snape. See, Snape isn't anywhere on the map, either." The young werewolf held the map before her, and sure enough, there was no "Severus Snape" dot milling anywhere on the magical map. "Although, it says here that there's a secret passage right beside us. Want to try it out?"

Celeste shrugged. "Do we have a choice?" She started tapping the right wall of the corridor, trying to see where the trigger to open the passage was. She poked her finger at a particularly crumbly-looking block of stone and for a second the block shuddered, and one by one the stones before them disappeared until they formed a doorway.

Inside they indeed found Chase and Snape, standing on opposite sides of a cauldron bubbling with a bright blue potion and looking utterly surprised to see them.

***** 

"I thought," said Snape coolly, "that we would be ensured privacy in making this potion if we worked here." This statement he addressed to Chase, who was still staring at her friend and her twin.

"What are you two doing here?" Chase asked the two, ignoring Snape, who rolled his eyes and settled for glaring at the intruders.

"Looking for you," Celeste said in businesslike tones, striding forward and taking advantage of her sister's bewilderment by taking her by the arm and pulling her toward the door. "If you don't mind my saying, Severus, I daresay the company you've spent with my sister for almost three hours is quite sufficient already, so we must be going now." She glowered at Snape, who stared balefully back.

"Well, if you don't mind my saying, Schoharie, it isn't your business to decide with who Chase decides to spend her time, and as she was just saying before you and Lupin rudely barged in uninvited, we would complete the potion after another hour. I suppose she's allowed to finish schoolwork, isn't she?" Snape said spitefully.

Celeste could barely contain screaming at him. How could her twin stand the slime ball, let alone befriend him and say that he was decent? Decent! A decent Snape, my ass, I might as well admit that Chase is off her rocker…

Chase stirred beside her. "Yeah, sis, it's just for another hour, after that we can do whatever you want… I suppose you were really desperate to talk to me, seeing the lengths you went through to find me," she said, back to her usual sarcastic self.

"Oh, well, I suppose it won't hurt," Celeste grumbled, superbly irritated with Snape, who gave her a triumphant smirk. "Remus and I will just sit here and wait for you, then," she added in a suddenly sweet tone, wiping the smile off Snape's face. She sat down on the floor Indian-style, smiling saccharinely at Snape.

Remus, who hadn't been talking all this while, nodded. "Yeah, we can wait. I'm sure you don't mind, do you, Chase? Or you, Snape?" he added, smiling slightly at Snape, who looked more than a little irritable at Celeste's sudden proposition.

Snape opened his mouth, most probably to object, but Chase was the one who answered first. "Suit yourself. I'm sure you two'll be awfully bored by the time we're finished, though," she replied, shrugging. She turned back to the cauldron and started poking at the purple flames beneath it.

"Oh, we won't be," Remus answered pleasantly, enjoying getting the rise out of Snape. He smirked as Snape stalked over to Chase and started muttering to her in low tones, glaring at Celeste and him once in a while. He sat down on the cool floor beside Celeste. "Good thinking," he whispered to her. In this way they could keep watch over Snape and anything suspicious he could possibly be planning. And with the added bonus of getting the opportunity to infuriate Snape without his retaliation (Snape's comebacks had to be limited to non-offensive ones, as he couldn't say anything bad about Chase's friends in front of her), he felt that the sixty minutes ahead would be anything but dull.

*****  

Yet another week passed by, and still Damaris and Rhiannon's plan, whatever it was, remained unknown and inactive. Damaris, who was determined to straighten up the mess she had caused, was once again to be found in the library, looking up the "pieces" that they needed for the plan. But currently she was having a particularly hard time looking for them, as she doubted that the magical library was likely to hold a book that contained the information she sought. She was starting to think that she should be looking for the information somewhere else, when Rhiannon appeared beside her, looking terrible: her eyes were bloodshot and her face tearstained; she was trembling as if she would collapse any minute.

"Rhi! What's wrong?" Damaris asked, startled, as she sat her friend down and wrapped an arm around her.

"S-sirius dumped me," Rhiannon sniffed, a tear making its way down her cheek.

"What?" Damaris said loudly, and Madame Pince shot her a glare. "Why? I thought you two were getting along," she whispered, glancing apprehensively at the furious librarian. She reached into her bag and handed Rhiannon a tissue.

"Well, I g-guess he didn't really dump me, I mean, he was really n-nice and p-polite in saying it…"

"You're saying he was nice if he broke up with you?" Damaris said incredulously, giving the table a resounding slap that echoed through the almost deserted library in emphasis. Again, Madame Pince looked at her with daggers in her eyes, but Damaris ignored her.

"N-no, I meant, I meant he said he was really sorry, and that he didn't want to hurt me but he felt that he still—that he still—"

"That he still what?" Damaris prompted gently, handing Rhiannon another tissue.

"He said that he still liked Chase Tarlise," Rhiannon said quietly.

"But—didn't they have that awful row a few weeks ago?" Damaris asked, confused. It didn't seem logical that Sirius would still like Chase after she had yelled at him like that.

"Oh, it wasn't a row," Rhiannon said bitterly, her voice losing its shaky quality, "Chase was the one who did all the shouting, and I still can't figure out what Sirius could see in her after that."

"They used to go out though, didn't they? Maybe the circumstances when they broke up weren't normal, and that's why Sirius is still pining for her…" Damaris trailed off thoughtfully.

"But he knows that Chase doesn't like him anymore!" Rhiannon half-shouted, and this time, Madame Pince had had enough; she stalked straight toward them, white with fury, and screamed, "OUT! OUT!!! I WILL NOT HAVE IMPUDENT STUDENTS DISTURBING THE PEACE! THIS IS A LIBRARY, NOT A COUNSELING OFFICE!!!" And she chased them out, to the shock of several first-year students who were serenely at their work, who clearly thought that Madame Pince was no less peaceful in her own library than the two other girls.

Damaris raced through the library doors, half-dragging Rhiannon behind her, as she was too preoccupied with post-breakup woes. She stopped running only when they were a safe distance away from the library, and that mad librarian.

Rhiannon was still muttering to herself about the irrationality of Sirius still being in love with his ex-girlfriend and the possible bad qualities of said ex. "She must think she's oh-so-perfect, the cynical—"

"I think she's rather nice," Damaris said quietly, effectively cutting short Rhiannon's tirade. She hated when Rhiannon got all angry like this, she was usually so cheerful and carefree.

Rhiannon looked utterly shocked. "What did you say?"

"I think she's OK. She was the one who saw me kissing James and she promised James not to tell anyone and let him sort it all out for himself. She did it out of honor to Lily, who deserved to know it from James and not from anyone else, and to give James time to sort it all out. She got into a fight with Lily because of it, but she never complained to me or James once, that it was our fault."

"Well, I…" the blonde girl was at a loss for words. "Well, that doesn't explain why she blew up at Sirius when he was trying to protect her from Snape!"

"Sirius made her angry because she was Snape's friend and he said she shouldn't be. Sirius has no right to tell her who to befriend," Damaris said, gently but firmly. "That's why she got mad, but she doesn't hate him, really. I just have this feeling that she might also want Sirius back as much as Sirius wants her back."

Rhiannon shook her head. "How would you know all this?" she demanded.

Damaris smiled weakly. "I listen. I haven't been able to sleep all that well for a while now, and I'm pretty sure that if your plan works, I'll get back to normal slumber patterns. I overheard Lily asking Chase if she still loved Sirius and if she was acting weird the past days because Sirius chose to be with you."

"I expect she said yes, didn't she?" Rhiannon said sadly, now seeming a bit more reasonable after hearing Damaris' point of view.

"She didn't say yes outright," Damaris answered slowly, "but it was clear that Lily's suspicions were right. And Lily tried to persuade her that Sirius liked her just the same, 'cause she observed that he's also been acting weird and distant after their fight."

"I guess that's why he wasn't so keen to help us with the plan," said Rhiannon, a pained expression on her face. "But, I suppose if they really do like each other…"

Damaris smiled. "Does that mean that you're over him?"

Rhiannon frowned at her, as if Damaris were being callous on purpose. "I just broke up with him an hour ago."

"Well, there's no use moping over him, is there? If you think that he's better off with Chase?" Damaris asked.

Rhiannon was silent for a while. "So, any luck yet on the research?" she asked, opting for a change of subject.

Damaris sighed as she remembered her previous task, but felt that it was a good idea to talk about it as it would take her friend's mind off Sirius for a while. "None whatsoever. To tell you the truth, I've been thinking a while now, and I'm starting to wonder if your plan will work. It's a little ridiculous, if you don't take it the wrong way or anything," she confessed, half of her hoping that Rhiannon wouldn't be vexed at her remark and the other half wanting her best friend to exclaim her disbelief at her for saying such a thing, if only to break her morose countenance.

Apparently the latter was initiated. "What! How could you say that after two weeks of scouring the library for the necessary information—"

"Fruitless researching, in short," Damaris quipped.

Rhiannon rolled her eyes. "Hey, I never said it was easy. And might I remind you that you were the one who was so raring to take action and participate in the Great Matchmaking Caper."

"I do want to fix the problem! It's just that I'm starting to think that it isn't probable to get them back together by giving them messages in little strips of paper, and we don't even know how to do it without making idiots of ourselves—"

"Do you two have any interest in telling me the password and getting inside the Tower or not?" the Fat Lady interrupted them peevishly.

The two former Zynergrand students stared at her in surprise. "Sorry, we didn't know we were here already," both said in unison.

"I congratulate you on mastering the path to Gryffindor Tower on autopilot, then," the Fat Lady said grumpily. "Now if only you could actually say the password immediately too—"

"Honeydukes," Damaris said hastily, and the Fat Lady was forced to cut her reprimand short as she swung forward to admit them.

"You know, that word sounds familiar…" Rhiannon said thoughtfully.

"It's a shop in that wizarding village, Hogsmeade," Damaris explained. "I heard some younger students mentioning it once."

"Hogsmeade…" Rhiannon muttered, instinctively glancing at the corkboard on the wall of the common room. One of the pieces of parchment pinned on the corkboard contained the date of the first Hogsmeade weekend, and information about a kind of informal fair that would be held on the same day, with many witches and wizards coming from different parts of the country to sell varying magical stuff that would attract the shopping Hogwarts students. The announcement went on to advise the students to be careful with what they bought as there would no doubt be plenty of unlicensed dealers who would attempt to sell dangerous and illegal objects as well as fake items that didn't really work.

"What are you looking at there?" Damaris inquired over her shoulder.

Rhiannon turned to glance at her and grinned. "The date and place where we'll put our plan into action."

***** 

The day of the Hogsmeade weekend drew near, and older students were starting to frequently remind each other of the things they needed to buy there.

"Yep, we're running low on Dungbombs and Filibuster Fireworks, mates…" Sirius informed the other marauders on the Friday before the Hogsmeade trip. He was starting to become a bit more upbeat since the day Chase got mad at him, probably because he would be able to restock on joke stuff and drink butterbeer to his heart's content.

"Yes, we realize that, but whose turn is it to pay up? I did it last time," Peter added, looking around at his three friends as if daring them to force him to pay their expenses again, which was a very un-Peter-like thing to do.

"Calm down, Wormtail, and stop looking at us like we just suggested we'd rob Gringotts for fun. Contrary to your suspicions, we're not going to mug you for the gold," Sirius said, rolling his dark eyes. "Besides, if I remember correctly, it's Prongs' turn to pay out, right, Prongs?"

"Uh…right, Sirius," James said vaguely, staring at Lily who was sitting by the fireplace in the common room, talking to Celeste. Sirius shook his head and took him as a lost case and continued.

"So, anybody else have suggestions on what to buy? We don't want to waste the opportunity to buy the essentials until the next Hogsmeade trip," Sirius bossily reminded them.

It was Remus' turn to roll his eyes. "You know very well that it's all right if we forget to purchase something, we can go to Hogsmeade any old day with the Marauder's Map!" he pointed out exasperatedly to his prank-happy friend.

"Ah, shut up for once, Rem, I'm savoring the moment of being in charge for once, while poor Prongs is still in a catatonic state…" And at Peter's mock-solemn nods and not-quite-concealed snickers, Remus had to agree that Sirius had a point.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, two other people were discussing their Hogsmeade plans.

"Right, you've got your act down pat now, haven't you, Damaris?" Rhiannon asked anxiously while writing on small strips of multicolored paper.

Damaris looked a bit reluctant, fingering the outfit she was to change into once they got into the village. "I suppose, but don't blame me if it doesn't work or if they see right through us, I hate wearing disguises…"

"Ah, have some more faith in yourself, you were born to do this!" Rhiannon encouraged energetically.

"If you were trying to egg me on for tomorrow, you're failing miserably." Damaris sighed. "Although if you wanted to exaggerate, you did an excellent job."

"Don't be so modest. By the time we get back to school from Hogsmeade tomorrow, James and Lily will be walking hand in hand."

***** 

"Come on, Lily, let's go!" Celeste nagged, half-pulling Lily out of her chair in the Great Hall. It was mid-breakfast time, but half the students going to Hogsmeade were already proceeding to the front doors. She suddenly remembered the way Damaris and Rhiannon had eaten at top speed before sprinting out of the Hall before all the other students. She didn't realize they were that excited to see Hogsmeade for the first time.

"Couldn't you have let me finish my cereal first?" Lily said grumpily as she, Celeste and Chase made their way to the village ten minutes later.

"You can buy something to eat later," Celeste said dismissively. "We have a lot of stuff to do."

"I'm surprised you want to come with us at all, seeing as you had the opportunity to spend this whole day on a date with Remus," Chase told her sister as they stepped onto the cobbled path into the village.

"I've agreed to meet up with him later," Celeste answered breezily. "In the meantime, I'm here to help you two take your minds off your problematic love lives—or lack thereof."

"Gee, thanks. I completely forgot all about it for nine hours until you so graciously reminded me right now," Chase said sardonically, causing Lily to smirk. "Doesn't say much for your distracting capabilities, does it?"

"Don't start in on me with your cynical witticisms, dear sister," Celeste warned in a mildly irritated tone.

"Whatever," Chase mumbled, suddenly looking sullen as she spotted the marauders trotting up to Zonko's. Although, she couldn't call James' actions as trotting. Dragging himself as if he were heading for the gallows, more like.

She could see Lily following her line of vision and frowning. "Let's go to the Three Broomsticks," Lily suggested, averting her eyes from the marauders.

Celeste shook her head. "Nah, it's probably too crowded with students right now. Besides, I'm sure that—others—will keep coming after a few minutes or so…"

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what she meant by "others," so Celeste dragged the other two through shop after clothing and accessory shop throughout the next few hours. When Chase started to grumble that she had seen enough dress robes to last her a lifetime, they noticed that many witches and wizards in the village square were conjuring up tables and stools and lagging heavy trunks in various sizes. Some started to lay out their wares on the tables: twinkling stones with magical properties ("Ooh, let's go check that out later," said Celeste), an assortment of normal-looking household objects ("Probably jinxed," Celeste remarked disapprovingly), a set of potted plants with pointy teeth that seemed to want to bite passersby's hands every chance they got ("What idiot would want to buy things that would rather eat human flesh than fertilizer for nutrition?" Celeste scoffed), and items of different sizes and shapes that looked dangerous ("Honestly, the village should really inspect each merchant's goods before approving them to sell to the general public," Celeste sniffed).

Students were starting to flock to the merchandise like pigeons; third year first timers had looks of awe in their faces, as if this were the biggest treat in all their lives. Older students also viewed some of the products with great interest, but seemed wary of the guarantees each merchant assured.

Celeste fussed over the twinkling stones she spotted earlier and Lily and Chase strolled over to a table where the vendor had set up a display case showing small vials filled with different multicolored substances.

"What are these supposed to be?" Chase asked the vendor, a shriveled-up old witch who looked quite scary and vindictive.

"Poisons of varying degrees, dearies," the witch said, her thin mouth curling into an unpleasant sneer. "Perfect to lace into your foes' drinks when they're looking the other way—"

Lily looked startled. "Er, we'll just go and look at some other stuff, thanks," she said quickly, dragging away Chase, whose hand was halfway into her pocket to reach for her money bag.

"What? I was going to buy some to dump into Professor Ridgewood's goblet at dinner…" Chase said in an attempt for explanation as Lily glared at her.

The marauders were at the other end of the series of tables. Sirius was perusing a battered old book entitled The Art of Brewing Curse Potions; Remus was inspecting a small ball about the same size as a Remembrall that showed what phase the moon was currently in (a crescent of silvery smoke formed one side of the ball while the remaining space held black gas of some sort); James was watching a miniature Quidditch field in a glass case with mild interest (complete with fourteen players on brooms, a referee, an audience, six goalposts, and the four Quidditch balls); Peter was being subjected to yet another merchant's exaggerated accounts of how a certain piece of merchandise was essential and valuable to be in one's pocket at all times.

"—and that is why, young man, you should always carry a bottle of bat's eyes concealed within your robes, to protect yourself from evil—"

"Let's go over there," Sirius interrupted loudly, pointing to a spot considerably far from the merchant's stall. They scurried away past some girls who were at a stall that unusually wasn't selling anything; the two cloaked figures manning the table had hoods over their heads, their faces hidden, and they seemed to be setting up a fortune-telling booth, as there were a crystal ball and a rounded glass container that looked more like a fish bowl on the table.

Celeste, being done with the magical stones, hustled Lily and Chase through stall after stall of magical whatnot, and even Lily had taken a page from Chase's book by complaining that they did nothing but shop that day and if Celeste wouldn't stop she'd be bankrupt before the day's end.

"Oh, fine, let's just go ever there," Celeste finally said in annoyed tones, pointing at the fortune-telling booth.

"Why are we going over there, it's just a dumb divination stall, the people manning it are probably frauds like Trelawney," Chase pointed out somewhat impatiently, as she was watching the miniature Quidditch game going on in the glass case James had been viewing earlier and didn't want to be interrupted.

Celeste rolled her eyes at her twin. "There's hardly anyone there now, just half an hour ago students were all over it—"

"Yeah, that was before they found out that the stall owners didn't have an ounce of Seer blood in their veins," Chase muttered to Lily when Celeste wasn't looking. Nevertheless, the two followed Celeste and in minutes they were standing before a tall, silver-haired witch who was speaking to her shorter, hooded companion. It took a few moments for her to notice the trio.

"Is there anything I can help you with, dears?" the old witch said in an unusually clear voice.

"Yes, um…what exactly do you predict here?" Celeste asked the witch brightly, while Chase rolled her eyes behind her and Lily sighed as if thinking that this would take long.

"The subject of predictions has no limit, but for this day we offer to See into the foretelling of love, as it seems so popular with the young ones…" the witch explained, and her companion shifted in his/her seat slightly.

This resulted to different reactions; Lily suddenly took on a sorrowful expression and looked away, Chase appeared cross and Celeste glanced over at the previous two apprehensively. "Well… Lil, Chase, you willing to try it out?"

"No," Chase said automatically, but Lily, with typical feminine curiosity, said hesitantly, "I…well, sure…"

Celeste's eyes lit up. "Great! And you too, Chase, nobody gets left out here…" So Chase, seeing as there was no way out of yet another one of her twin's nags, reluctantly went nearer and sighed.

"How much?" asked Celeste, glancing warily at Chase as if daring her to say that she wouldn't spend a Knut of her money for ridiculous foretelling.

The elderly witch gazed at them for a long time before saying, "It seems to me that two of you are troubled... if it's any consolation to the heartaches you may be feeling, your predictions are…how do you say it? On the house…" Lily and Celeste exchanged glances, both perhaps thinking that maybe the old lady wasn't too much of a fake after all. Chase said nothing of the remark, looking instead at the glass bowl beside the crystal ball. It was full of strips of parchment in varying colors, and there were flowery writings on each one.

"What's that for?" she asked, pointing at the glass bowl.

The hooded person beside the witch spoke. "Something for the customers to ponder after they leave our stall." The voice was unmistakably that of a woman's, a voice that sounded as mysterious as the person who owned it. "Would you like us to do palmistry first or See into the orb?" she inquired in the same quiet but commanding tone.

"Er…palmistry, I guess…" Celeste replied, looking a bit creeped out by the woman. It was a strange and perplexing experience; the two "Seers" were completely accurate in telling the current state of their love lives: the hooded witch told Celeste that her relationship was going well, but in Lily's and Chase's cases she stated that she sensed some hostility and doubt involved.

The silver-haired witch then concluded that Lily would be experiencing better changes in the near future but had to proceed to it with caution, and that Chase would clear up her own problems but had to be wary of past wounds that could possibly affect her relationship if she didn't try to put them behind her.

"What about me?" Celeste asked eagerly, now fully convinced that she was looking at genuine Seers.

The tall witch gave her a small smile. "We believe that you are getting on well enough," she responded, nodding slightly to her partner. "Before you leave, please take something from the glass bowl…we find them very helpful to all the people who come to us, seeking for counsel on these matters…" She gestured, with a wizened hand, at the bowl that Chase had asked about earlier. Lily and Celeste took a strip of paper at once, but Chase was still reluctant as she put her hand into the bowl and extracted a blood red piece of parchment.

"Fair fortune be yours, my dears..." the witch said before the three of them walked away, oddly silent for a few moments.

"What does yours say?" Celeste asked Lily, who had started to unroll her strip of parchment. "Mine says, 'Love is making the one you love happy, even if it means sacrificing your own happiness…' Makes sense, I think…"

Lily read the message on her parchment under the light of the setting sun. Better to lose your pride to the one you love, than to lose the one you love because of pride. She stood straight, staring wide-eyed at the message, and glanced back at where the two Seers' booth had been. But it was gone. The two witches were nowhere in sight.

Chase glanced quizzically at Lily at her reaction before reading her own message. She skimmed her eyes over it and raised her eyebrows. Love is one damned fool after another.

It was as if the piece of parchment sensed the predicament they were in.

"Well? What did you two read? Why do you look so surprised?" Celeste asked again, annoyed at their lack of response. Lily and Chase looked at each other before glancing back t their parchments, and both looked even more surprised as the messages changed before their eyes and formed another.

To err is human, to forgive, divine.

***** 

"Good job, Di," Rhiannon said with a grin, slapping her friend on the back lightly. Damaris had her face scrunched in concentration, and in seconds her silvery curls reverted back to straight vandyke brown, her facial features went back to looking like a 15-year-old, and she visibly shrank a few inches back to her normal height.

"I hate doing that," Damaris said, making a face at her friend.

Rhiannon rolled her eyes. "Jeez, look at you, all ungrateful… If I were a Metamorphmagus, I'd use my talent every opportunity I get… Anyway, who knew that a girl from a long line of Metamorphmagi would suck at Transfiguration? That must be why your mum arranged for you to have tutoring lessons in the first place…"

"Stop reminding me that I'm not good at Transfiguration, I already know that, thanks," Damaris said. "The only way I'd be able to pass is if being able to transform your face counts for anything in class…"

"Right. Anyway, we got through our plan perfectly, don't you think? You should remember the looks on their faces when we told them about their love problems, they must've thought we were real Seers…" Rhiannon said, cracking up.

Damaris shrugged. "I don't know why you were in such a hurry to pack up after they left though."

"'Course we had to do it, it's part of the mysterious fortuneteller act…disappear before they take a second glance, you know." Rhiannon dug out the glass bowl that she had thrown pell-mell along with the other divining items into the trunk.

"Yes, I do know, I was just wondering why you quit the act before James stopped by our booth—"

Rhiannon's slapped a hand to her forehead. "Oh, damn, I forgot all about that part!" she exclaimed, forgetting that the bowl she was holding was made of glass and hurling it to the ground in frustration. As was expected, it broke, and the multicolored strips of paper in it were blown away by the cool night air.

"I don't think destroying our props is going to remedy the situation, Rhi…" Damaris said, watching the pieces of parchment float away in different directions towards the crowd of wizard-fair shoppers.

Busy with muttering incoherent profanities under her breath, Rhiannon ignored her friend.

"I mean, I did tell you just days ago… I don't really know how much help a few scribbled love quotes can do to mend James and Lily's—and maybe Sirius and Chase's too—broken relationships," Damaris continued, just as Rhiannon decided to be content with saying "Stupid, stupid, stupid…" instead of cuss words.

"But it does help," the self-reproaching blonde said suddenly. "Apologies…these don't seem to work in their case. Having other people telling them to do what's right is just useless; they've got to figure it out for themselves, and the quotes are enough to make them ponder that for a while."

"First a fortuneteller, now a psychiatrist… You really don't run out of possible career options and ways of exercising your 'expertise' on them, do you?" Damaris said resignedly.

"I sure don't," said Rhiannon in a lighter tone, seemingly forgetting her previous foul mood. Then her face scrunched up into a look of confusion and she said, "Erm…what's a psychotist again?"

Damaris shook her head. "Psychiatrist. It's a Muggle professional that specializes on human behavior."

Rhiannon nodded. "Uh-huh. C'mon, let's get back to the school and think up another way to make James read one of those quote-thingies…"

"Sure…if I remember where I put the sheet of paper where I compiled all of them, I think I threw it out…" Damaris replied sheepishly.

Rhiannon's "WHAT!!!" reached the far ears of the students on the other side of the quadrangle. Which happened to be the same place that a few pieces of their parchment had chosen to land in.

A student bent over to pick up a silver piece of parchment with gold writing on it. Somebody appeared behind him, watching.

"Whatcha doing, Prongs? Think Lily'd forgive you if you start a save-the-trees-by-recycling campaign?" Sirius commented in an attempt to force some levity into his friend's dark mood.

James didn't answer; in fact, he hadn't taken in a word of what Sirius had said, as he was too busy staring at the thing he picked up…and what was written on it.

If you love something, you'll set it free. If it comes back to you, it is yours. If it does not, it never was... He glanced at the people milling about, as if one of them had been responsible for dropping the parchment he held before him. But there was nobody who looked like they would be the type to carry strips of paper with love quotes on them inside their pockets.

"James! You coming?" Remus called from a few feet away. James stood up and pocketed the strip of paper.

It looked like Rhiannon had executed her plan as she had hoped after all.

*****

A/N – *on the verge of ripping her hair out* please don't kill me if this chappie was so lame… and it was getting so long, I just had to end it (and my agony over it), even though I said this was going to be the last chapter… I won't be surprised if *mutters dark and pessimistic thoughts under her breath*.  I haven't exactly finished writing the ending yet, though I've got a general idea… oh well, that's what I get for opting the plan-things-as-you-go-along tack in writing…and for not having a beta-reader…