Author's Note: Hello children. I've got another chapter for you, be
thankful, my hands are killing me. Stupid carpel tunnel. Anyways, I hope
you like this chapter. It's a bit goofy but there are a lot of important
things that you need to remember in here or many chapters from now you'll
be confused. So remember this chapter. Disclaimer: I own nothing! Most
characters you recognize are J.K. Rowling's and those which you don't
belong to someone else or possibly me. Either way, here are the people to
thank:
Ggal- I know they're overreacting, and PMS seems to be the strong underlying theme in this story, doesn't it? I think you'll find this chapter interesting. *smirks*
MegHarts- Bella is confused. But she'll get straightened out. I liked the James/Lily scene too, probably one of my finer moments of fluff.
Celine- Another Catherine fan, I'm getting so many mixed reviews about her it's hilarious. At least to me because I know what's gonna happen. Welcome back by the way, haven't heard from you in a while. Catherine being Catherine is hard to explain. She's Slytherin and sarcastic, so she's pretty much the exact opposite of Arabella. Oh and thank you for reviewing The Twilight Zone. If I can find the notebook I wrote the plots to the next bits I would update it. I'm glad you thought it funny.
Poetbrit- The tension will probably cool down once people are all settled, I hope. All the answers are in the story. well, sort of. *wonders if she should write a back story about how Catherine and Arabella's dislike of each other started*
I o u a name- Thanks hun, I'm doing my best.
JCtigerwolf4e- I'm glad you liked the twist. I hope you like this chapter and I'm doing my best to keep things going.
Black-cat-on-the-wall- You never thought Bella would throw Lily out eh? Heh. I guess I surprised everyone.
Liz411- I'm glad you like them making up. I'm trying to keep things rolling and I hope you like this chapter as well.
Cassie- We all are glad about L/J making up. You're mad at Bella but you still don't like Catherine? Hmm, well maybe things will change. You can trust her you know. *cackles*
Zebragurl- I've had trouble incorporating Voldie horrors, I keep forgetting and when I do write something with Voldie I think its crap and wind up not including it. *sighs* I'm trying to work Voldie back in, but it's difficult. You're requesting more Snape/Shakespeare stuff? Hmm, well I don't know. The first one was random and I just opened up my great big book of Shakespeare and that bit was there and it fit, so I'm not sure if there will be more Snape/Shakespeare because I'm not exactly a Shakespeare affectionado, mainly because it takes so long to read things, but he might quote other poets or something, I haven't decided yet.
Anarane- Thanks.
Kristatwen- Don't worry about the odd moods, everyone gets them. I'm glad your life's calmed down so you could come back and read again.
Captain Oblivious- I hope that college gets better for you and I will try to update as often as I can.
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Interesting Bed Quarters
Remus came through the grate holding the unconscious Catherine just after Frank had come through the grate himself. Remus shifted and picked Catherine completely up. "Where should we put her?" Frank asked curiously.
"Lily's room would probably do best," Remus said and walked through James' room with the unspoken idea to keep Catherine unconscious until Lily was there to 'control' her.
Peter came scurrying up the stairs. "What's going on? Why's she here?" he asked with wide eyes when he saw Catherine.
"Been a bit of a problem," Frank said as Remus didn't pause but kept going into Lily's room.
Remus set Catherine down gently on the bed and muttered, "What were they thinking?" before turning back to leave Lily's room as James and Sirius were coming up the stairs. "Where's Lily?" Remus asked and raked his fingers through his hair.
"Flooed, she should be here soon," James said and walked into his room to wait for her.
Sirius looked at Remus sadly and sighed. "Bella needs to realize that I don't like Catherine in the same way as I like her. It's getting so annoying to think about Bella getting jealous," he said quietly and sighed again, he felt like everything he wanted was falling apart.
"Don't worry Padfoot, when Bella realizes that you only care about her and that anything with Catherine at Hogwarts was fleeting, she'll apologize to you and Lily for being unreasonable," Remus said throwing an arm over Sirius' shoulders.
"Yeah, I know, it's just rather frustrating," Sirius said with a sigh as they walked into James' room to wait for Lily.
Lily arrived a few moments later and dusted her cloak off which was now a pale sort of gray. "Where'd you put Catherine?" Lily asked as soon as she stepped out of the grate.
"Your room," Remus replied and Lily nodded.
"Now I understand what Madam Malkin said," Sirius muttered and prodded Lily's cloak still draped over her shoulder.
"What's that?" Lily asked curiously as she looked at where Sirius had poked with his finger.
"Your cloak changes colors," Sirius said brightly.
"Really? I didn't notice," Lily said and looked down at her cloak as she took it off. "We should go wake Catherine and hope that she doesn't head to Bella's to maim or injure her," Lily said throwing her cloak over the arm that held her diary.
They all walked down the hall to Lily's room and James whispered, "Enerverate," as they got to the bedside.
Catherine groaned and opened her eyes. "That hurt," she said and sat up looking at all the faces around her. Lily was sitting on the bed looking anxious. James was standing just beside Lily still holding his wand with an apprehensive look about him. Remus and Sirius were standing at the foot of the bed; Remus looking vaguely amused and Sirius rather sad. Frank and Peter stood near the door; Frank looked tired and Peter, well he looked almost nervous.
"Catherine, are you okay?" Lily asked quickly.
"I'm wonderful," Catherine said sarcastically. "Except for the whole being knocked unconscious thing that is," she said with a grim smile before she looked around. "I'm guessing this isn't Figgs' house, so where am I?" she asked even though she suspected that she already knew.
"You're in my house Catherine, so please be respectful," James said eyeing her cautiously.
"Don't worry, I'll be a perfect little angel Potter," Catherine said lightly and rolled her eyes.
"What are you going to do to Arabella?" Sirius asked knowing that Catherine tended to get revenge on anyone that messed with her.
Catherine looked at Sirius with a grimace. "What do you think I'm going to do to her Sirius? Drive her insane slowly and when I tire of her kill her? I'm not nearly that kind," she said sarcastically and chucked.
Lily knew Catherine wouldn't mortally injure Arabella but she did wonder what exactly the girl would do, but the others were slight nervous at this declaration and didn't know what to think. "Alright, everyone out. Catherine and I need to talk," Lily said in a firm tone of voice and all of the guys muttered under their breaths as they walked out of the room.
"Am I in for a heart to heart of a lecture Lily?" Catherine asked and made herself comfortable on Lily's bed.
"What do you think Catherine?" Lily said lightly and raised an eyebrow at the dark haired girl.
"Shucks, I was hoping for the lecture," Catherine remarked and closed her eyes.
"It's not funny Catherine. You never know when something you say might come back to haunt you," Lily said seriously and watched Catherine for any sighs of comprehension.
"Oh don't worry. I wouldn't kill Figg, I don't have the heart. About all I would do is turn her into a ferret and sell her at my shop," Catherine said laxly and sighed before opening her eyes to watch Lily carefully.
Lily groaned loudly. "You are so bloody frustrating Cat," she said and fell back on the bed longing for sleep.
Catherine snapped up to a sitting position. "Don't call me Cat, Tiger Lily," she said with a quiet kind of malice.
"How about we just forget the nicknames and the revenge plots and move on," Lily muttered in an annoyed tone and looked over at Catherine who was smirking. "Don't even think of acting on your ferret plans or I will make sure you never live it down," Lily muttered before yawning lengthily.
"A girl can dream can't she?" Catherine said lightly and laughed quietly.
"I swear that sometimes you are completely insane," Lily said and laughed as well.
"No, not completely, just extremely," Catherine said with a smirk and they both busted up into hysterical laughter.
The guys went down to the kitchen where Frank bit everyone goodnight and apparated home. "I'm so tired," Remus said and yawned loudly.
"Don't talk about it, we're all exhausted," Jams said and yawned as well.
Sirius yawned too and looked up at the ceiling. "Do you think Catherine meant what she said?" he asked quietly of his friends.
"She might," Peter said quietly as well and everyone looked at him. "What? You always said that anything is possible from a Slytherin," Peter said nervously.
"Anything is possible from a lot of people but that doesn't mean that Catherine will ever act on sarcasm," Remus said lightly and rolled his eyes at the pudgy young man.
"Catherine's gift is sarcasm," Sirius muttered just as peels of hysterical laughter came from above them.
"What do you think they're talking about?" Peter asked quietly.
"Well, I honestly doubt that they are planning Bella's demise so it's probably girl stuff," James muttered and wondered how long the girls were going to act like girls.
"Does James desire some 'alone with Lily' time?" Sirius said with a sweetly innocent smile.
"Padfoot, it might be good if you were to start running now," Remus said with a laugh and Sirius bolted up the backstairs barging into Lily's room.
"Help me!" Sirius said and dove over the bed where the girls were laughing to hide behind the bed jus t as James flew into the room followed by the curious looking Remus and Peter.
"Why on earth are you chasing Sirius this time James?" Lily asked eyeing James curiously.
James' only audible reply was a growl. "He said James wanted some alone time with you Lily," Remus said with a smirk as Sirius could be heard whimpering.
"Just a friendly little joke," Sirius said looking up at Lily from the edge of the bed with pleading eyes.
"Why did I even ask?" Lily sighed and rolled her eyes at them both. "Will either of you ever grow up? I swear when you weren't pranking Snape you were chasing Sirius around the common room as if trying to capture a wild animal," Lily said with a sigh.
Catherine laughed. "And you said I was insane. I think those two take the cake," she said and gestured to James and Sirius before falling backwards on the bed and cackling.
Sirius looked at Catherine and then at James. "And we're the insane ones, honestly," he said and stood up tiring of his position crouching on the floor.
James came around one side of the bed trying to get Sirius but he climbed over the bed and James followed. Unlike Sirius who made it over the bed, James tripped and fell on Lily. "Oaf," Lily said when James landed on her.
Catherine sat up, still laughing and said, "Looks like your getting your alone time with Lily, without the alone part that is," and she kept laughing, her eyes closed tightly as she fell backward again.
Lily pushed James off of her, laughing as she said, "Catherine, you might want to start running," and dove across the bed proceeding to tickle Catherine who laughed even louder with squeaks thrown in periodically until Catherine grabbed the pillow near her head and beat Lily with it.
James and Sirius watched as Lily picked up a pillow herself and proceeded to hit Catherine while laughing both girls flushed and their hair and clothes untidy. "Pillow fight," Remus said and made to join as Peter hid in a corner, but Sirius and James threw out an arm each to block him.
"Wait, this is actually rather intriguing," Sirius said and James nodded as the two girls stopped, grinned at each other and climbed off the bed.
"Really Sirius, you find this intriguing eh?" Catherine said and looked at Lily through a fall of her dark hair.
"Yes, quite," Sirius said with a large smirk on his face.
"Well do you want to know what we find intriguing?" Lily asked tightening her grip on the pillow in her hand and walking forward.
"Ah, Padfoot, I think we're in trouble," James said smiling brightly and trying to walk backward.
"I do believe you're right Prongs," Sirius said and Catherine and Lily swung the pillows they were holding at the exact same time hitting James and Sirius as Remus pushed the two forward and shouted, "Pillow fight!!"
The boys, minus Peter, conjured pillows from thin air and the fight began. They swung at each other and laughed loudly with each hit or miss. Remus noticed that Peter was sitting in the corner watching as Lily and James seemed to be trying to decapitate each other and Catherine had somehow gotten Sirius' pillow and was now chasing him around the room. Remus walked over to Peter, conjured another pillow, threw it at Peter and said, "Can't leave Wormtail to sit all by his lonesome," and then hit Peter with his own pillow forcing Peter into the fight.
Lily and James noted Peter's sudden participation, dodged Sirius and Catherine who were fighting over the pillows and made to help Remus. Lily cackled menacingly and started hitting Peter, Remus and James furiously as she was also being hit. Sirius and Catherine paused in their private fight upon seeing the bombardment of Peter and mutually decided without a word to go help. Soon though at least two of the pillows tore open sending feathers every which way and the pillow fight to unceremoniously end as all involved fell to the floor in a fit of giggles. "That was fun," Lily said when she finally got her breath back and she was laying between James and Catherine who were both breathing heavy like everyone else.
"Yes it was," Catherine said and was sorely tempted to hit Sirius just one more time but refrained. "I should go. It's getting late," she said with a yawn; pillow fights are rather tiring.
"You should stop by again sometime," James said very quietly and Lily smiled at him before yawning herself.
"Perhaps I will," Catherine said lightly, "But until that time I will be around. See you Lily," Catherine said the feathers that had landed on her after the community collapse floated to the ground when she disapparated.
Peter proceeded to climb to his feet and bit them goodnight before walking out of the feather strewn room slowly. "That was definitely intriguing," Sirius said with a laugh and rolled over on his side looking at Lily with a smirk.
"I'd say," Lily said and yawned again stretching out her arms above her head and arching her back.
James gazed at her out of the corner of his eye and found himself wishing that Sirius and Remus would disappear because he did indeed want some time alone with Lily. He yawned tiredly and attempted to sit up but was pushed back down when Remus got to his feet. "C'mon Padfoot, we should leave the two love birds alone," Remus said and moved quickly out of James' reach.
"Moony, you're looking for trouble aren't you," Sirius said with a smirk as he too climbed to his feet, following Remus to the door. "Have fun with this mess," he said and they disappeared behind the door with a snap.
James looked from the now closed door to Lily who had turned on her side to look at him. Her cheeks were pink with exertion and her hair had feathers imbedded in it. "We should go to sleep," he said trying with all his might not to think about how gorgeous Lily looked with feathers in her hair.
"Probably. Especially you," Lily said and wondered if James would even fall asleep if they tried to go to sleep at that moment.
"Why me?" James asked quietly and watched Lily lay there looking ravishing.
"Because you probably haven't slept more then two hours in the past two days," Lily said and proceeded to sit up.
James just grunted and sat up himself. He reached over and pulled a feather from her hair, mainly just as an excuse to tough her. "You're beautiful," he said quietly and touched her cheek gently.
Lily just shook her head and said, "You're delusional," before she climbed to her feet. "I'm going to take a shower and go to sleep," she said and walked toward the bathroom slowly.
"I'm not delusional Lily," James said as he also climbed to his feet.
"Goodnight James," Lily said quietly, not facing him.
James walked over to Lily and touched her shoulder. She turned and looked at him. James slowly pulled Lily closer to him and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. "You're beautiful to me Lily, don't forget that," he said and kissed her forehead before pulling away. "Goodnight," he said and walked out of her room and down the hall to his own.
Lily sighed as James closed the door behind him. She headed into the bathroom and removed her clothes for her shower and looked into the mirror. Her hair was full of feathers and she pulled them out quickly and jumped into the shower. As she was showering she got to thinking: It was true that she liked James but she didn't was to set herself up to get hurt. She didn't know what the difference between like and love was, she'd never known anyone who she could love in a romantic way. It was true that her dreams were full of people that she loved and who loved her, but she was different, they were different. Everything was different but also the same.
What she wanted was a way to know that James really cared for her considering the fact that he kept calling her beautiful and she didn't believe him. Standing underneath the spray of the shower Lily wondered how he could think her beautiful or gorgeous and she looked down at her body. She wasn't that pretty, she was slightly interesting facially but she only though that because of her eyes, the only part of her body that she actually liked. The rest of her was boring. Lily sighed, her train of thought becoming quite depression and so she quickly finished her shower and toweled herself dry.
Lily dressed in a pair of gray shorts and a green tee shirt and then walked back into her room. It was rather disastrous with all the feathers strewn about and her bed was covered in them, not to mention it was unmade. The scene made Lily's inner neat freak cringe knowing she wouldn't be able to clean it up without passing out because she didn't know the right spell to clean up the room. She decided to see if one of the guys would do it for her.
Lily knew Peter would be worthless to ask and she turned to Remus' room; his door was slightly ajar and some light snores could be heard from inside. Lily sighed and headed to Sirius' room. His door was locked and there was no light on underneath. Lily continued on to James' room and knocked lightly on the door hoping that he was still awake.
James had left Lily's room wondering why Lily felt that he as deluded when he attempted to compliment her. She was the most beautiful creature on the planet to him and he didn't know how she couldn't see it. He sighed and took a ten minute shower, considered sleeping in the buff and then ruled it out. Who knew if Sirius planned to prank him the next morning to wake him up as Sirius could always be expected to be unpredictable in his timing. He threw on a pair of plaid flannel boxers and climbed into bed before shutting off the light.
For once James was utterly exhausted and knew he would be able to sleep that night as he closed his eyes and got comfortable. Just as he was about to drop off a knock revived him from his almost slumber. Too lazy and drowsy to climb out of bed he called, "Come in," and watched as Lily walked slowly into the dark room. "Lily," James said quietly. He hadn't expected her to come knocking on his door that night.
"Hi, could you help me with the feathers in my room?" Lily asked quickly and tried desperately not to notice that James was shirtless.
James groaned. "I'm lazy and I can't think of the spell," James muttered honestly. "I'm currently brain dead," he said and yawned.
Lily looked annoyed, "Then where am I supposed to sleep James?" she asked not really thinking straight herself. Neither of them had slept in over twenty four hours.
"You could sleep here if you want," James said without really thinking about what he'd said.
"I don't think so James, just get out of bed and come help me," Lily said and yawned leaning against the banister at the foot of the bed.
"I'll pass out walking down the hall. Just sleep here, this bed is big enough for about five people to sleep comfortably," James muttered, reached over to the side of the bed he wasn't on and pulled back the covers.
Seeing that James wasn't going to budge and not wanting to wake up Remus, Lily found herself muttering under her breath as she climbed into James' bed. "Try anything funny or even touch me and you're gonna get it," Lily said tiredly and pulled the blankets over her.
"You have my word I won't lay a finger on you," James said with a yawn before closing his eyes and dropping off to sleep within moments.
Lily closed her eyes as well and fell into a peaceful sleep full of quiet normal dreams about quiet normal things.
A/N: Whaha! I hope you liked this chapter. I think it was interesting and shows another side of Catherine so that people who don't like her might begin to. Let me know what you think alright, I need reviews to sustain my writing!! ~Frankie~
Ggal- I know they're overreacting, and PMS seems to be the strong underlying theme in this story, doesn't it? I think you'll find this chapter interesting. *smirks*
MegHarts- Bella is confused. But she'll get straightened out. I liked the James/Lily scene too, probably one of my finer moments of fluff.
Celine- Another Catherine fan, I'm getting so many mixed reviews about her it's hilarious. At least to me because I know what's gonna happen. Welcome back by the way, haven't heard from you in a while. Catherine being Catherine is hard to explain. She's Slytherin and sarcastic, so she's pretty much the exact opposite of Arabella. Oh and thank you for reviewing The Twilight Zone. If I can find the notebook I wrote the plots to the next bits I would update it. I'm glad you thought it funny.
Poetbrit- The tension will probably cool down once people are all settled, I hope. All the answers are in the story. well, sort of. *wonders if she should write a back story about how Catherine and Arabella's dislike of each other started*
I o u a name- Thanks hun, I'm doing my best.
JCtigerwolf4e- I'm glad you liked the twist. I hope you like this chapter and I'm doing my best to keep things going.
Black-cat-on-the-wall- You never thought Bella would throw Lily out eh? Heh. I guess I surprised everyone.
Liz411- I'm glad you like them making up. I'm trying to keep things rolling and I hope you like this chapter as well.
Cassie- We all are glad about L/J making up. You're mad at Bella but you still don't like Catherine? Hmm, well maybe things will change. You can trust her you know. *cackles*
Zebragurl- I've had trouble incorporating Voldie horrors, I keep forgetting and when I do write something with Voldie I think its crap and wind up not including it. *sighs* I'm trying to work Voldie back in, but it's difficult. You're requesting more Snape/Shakespeare stuff? Hmm, well I don't know. The first one was random and I just opened up my great big book of Shakespeare and that bit was there and it fit, so I'm not sure if there will be more Snape/Shakespeare because I'm not exactly a Shakespeare affectionado, mainly because it takes so long to read things, but he might quote other poets or something, I haven't decided yet.
Anarane- Thanks.
Kristatwen- Don't worry about the odd moods, everyone gets them. I'm glad your life's calmed down so you could come back and read again.
Captain Oblivious- I hope that college gets better for you and I will try to update as often as I can.
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Interesting Bed Quarters
Remus came through the grate holding the unconscious Catherine just after Frank had come through the grate himself. Remus shifted and picked Catherine completely up. "Where should we put her?" Frank asked curiously.
"Lily's room would probably do best," Remus said and walked through James' room with the unspoken idea to keep Catherine unconscious until Lily was there to 'control' her.
Peter came scurrying up the stairs. "What's going on? Why's she here?" he asked with wide eyes when he saw Catherine.
"Been a bit of a problem," Frank said as Remus didn't pause but kept going into Lily's room.
Remus set Catherine down gently on the bed and muttered, "What were they thinking?" before turning back to leave Lily's room as James and Sirius were coming up the stairs. "Where's Lily?" Remus asked and raked his fingers through his hair.
"Flooed, she should be here soon," James said and walked into his room to wait for her.
Sirius looked at Remus sadly and sighed. "Bella needs to realize that I don't like Catherine in the same way as I like her. It's getting so annoying to think about Bella getting jealous," he said quietly and sighed again, he felt like everything he wanted was falling apart.
"Don't worry Padfoot, when Bella realizes that you only care about her and that anything with Catherine at Hogwarts was fleeting, she'll apologize to you and Lily for being unreasonable," Remus said throwing an arm over Sirius' shoulders.
"Yeah, I know, it's just rather frustrating," Sirius said with a sigh as they walked into James' room to wait for Lily.
Lily arrived a few moments later and dusted her cloak off which was now a pale sort of gray. "Where'd you put Catherine?" Lily asked as soon as she stepped out of the grate.
"Your room," Remus replied and Lily nodded.
"Now I understand what Madam Malkin said," Sirius muttered and prodded Lily's cloak still draped over her shoulder.
"What's that?" Lily asked curiously as she looked at where Sirius had poked with his finger.
"Your cloak changes colors," Sirius said brightly.
"Really? I didn't notice," Lily said and looked down at her cloak as she took it off. "We should go wake Catherine and hope that she doesn't head to Bella's to maim or injure her," Lily said throwing her cloak over the arm that held her diary.
They all walked down the hall to Lily's room and James whispered, "Enerverate," as they got to the bedside.
Catherine groaned and opened her eyes. "That hurt," she said and sat up looking at all the faces around her. Lily was sitting on the bed looking anxious. James was standing just beside Lily still holding his wand with an apprehensive look about him. Remus and Sirius were standing at the foot of the bed; Remus looking vaguely amused and Sirius rather sad. Frank and Peter stood near the door; Frank looked tired and Peter, well he looked almost nervous.
"Catherine, are you okay?" Lily asked quickly.
"I'm wonderful," Catherine said sarcastically. "Except for the whole being knocked unconscious thing that is," she said with a grim smile before she looked around. "I'm guessing this isn't Figgs' house, so where am I?" she asked even though she suspected that she already knew.
"You're in my house Catherine, so please be respectful," James said eyeing her cautiously.
"Don't worry, I'll be a perfect little angel Potter," Catherine said lightly and rolled her eyes.
"What are you going to do to Arabella?" Sirius asked knowing that Catherine tended to get revenge on anyone that messed with her.
Catherine looked at Sirius with a grimace. "What do you think I'm going to do to her Sirius? Drive her insane slowly and when I tire of her kill her? I'm not nearly that kind," she said sarcastically and chucked.
Lily knew Catherine wouldn't mortally injure Arabella but she did wonder what exactly the girl would do, but the others were slight nervous at this declaration and didn't know what to think. "Alright, everyone out. Catherine and I need to talk," Lily said in a firm tone of voice and all of the guys muttered under their breaths as they walked out of the room.
"Am I in for a heart to heart of a lecture Lily?" Catherine asked and made herself comfortable on Lily's bed.
"What do you think Catherine?" Lily said lightly and raised an eyebrow at the dark haired girl.
"Shucks, I was hoping for the lecture," Catherine remarked and closed her eyes.
"It's not funny Catherine. You never know when something you say might come back to haunt you," Lily said seriously and watched Catherine for any sighs of comprehension.
"Oh don't worry. I wouldn't kill Figg, I don't have the heart. About all I would do is turn her into a ferret and sell her at my shop," Catherine said laxly and sighed before opening her eyes to watch Lily carefully.
Lily groaned loudly. "You are so bloody frustrating Cat," she said and fell back on the bed longing for sleep.
Catherine snapped up to a sitting position. "Don't call me Cat, Tiger Lily," she said with a quiet kind of malice.
"How about we just forget the nicknames and the revenge plots and move on," Lily muttered in an annoyed tone and looked over at Catherine who was smirking. "Don't even think of acting on your ferret plans or I will make sure you never live it down," Lily muttered before yawning lengthily.
"A girl can dream can't she?" Catherine said lightly and laughed quietly.
"I swear that sometimes you are completely insane," Lily said and laughed as well.
"No, not completely, just extremely," Catherine said with a smirk and they both busted up into hysterical laughter.
The guys went down to the kitchen where Frank bit everyone goodnight and apparated home. "I'm so tired," Remus said and yawned loudly.
"Don't talk about it, we're all exhausted," Jams said and yawned as well.
Sirius yawned too and looked up at the ceiling. "Do you think Catherine meant what she said?" he asked quietly of his friends.
"She might," Peter said quietly as well and everyone looked at him. "What? You always said that anything is possible from a Slytherin," Peter said nervously.
"Anything is possible from a lot of people but that doesn't mean that Catherine will ever act on sarcasm," Remus said lightly and rolled his eyes at the pudgy young man.
"Catherine's gift is sarcasm," Sirius muttered just as peels of hysterical laughter came from above them.
"What do you think they're talking about?" Peter asked quietly.
"Well, I honestly doubt that they are planning Bella's demise so it's probably girl stuff," James muttered and wondered how long the girls were going to act like girls.
"Does James desire some 'alone with Lily' time?" Sirius said with a sweetly innocent smile.
"Padfoot, it might be good if you were to start running now," Remus said with a laugh and Sirius bolted up the backstairs barging into Lily's room.
"Help me!" Sirius said and dove over the bed where the girls were laughing to hide behind the bed jus t as James flew into the room followed by the curious looking Remus and Peter.
"Why on earth are you chasing Sirius this time James?" Lily asked eyeing James curiously.
James' only audible reply was a growl. "He said James wanted some alone time with you Lily," Remus said with a smirk as Sirius could be heard whimpering.
"Just a friendly little joke," Sirius said looking up at Lily from the edge of the bed with pleading eyes.
"Why did I even ask?" Lily sighed and rolled her eyes at them both. "Will either of you ever grow up? I swear when you weren't pranking Snape you were chasing Sirius around the common room as if trying to capture a wild animal," Lily said with a sigh.
Catherine laughed. "And you said I was insane. I think those two take the cake," she said and gestured to James and Sirius before falling backwards on the bed and cackling.
Sirius looked at Catherine and then at James. "And we're the insane ones, honestly," he said and stood up tiring of his position crouching on the floor.
James came around one side of the bed trying to get Sirius but he climbed over the bed and James followed. Unlike Sirius who made it over the bed, James tripped and fell on Lily. "Oaf," Lily said when James landed on her.
Catherine sat up, still laughing and said, "Looks like your getting your alone time with Lily, without the alone part that is," and she kept laughing, her eyes closed tightly as she fell backward again.
Lily pushed James off of her, laughing as she said, "Catherine, you might want to start running," and dove across the bed proceeding to tickle Catherine who laughed even louder with squeaks thrown in periodically until Catherine grabbed the pillow near her head and beat Lily with it.
James and Sirius watched as Lily picked up a pillow herself and proceeded to hit Catherine while laughing both girls flushed and their hair and clothes untidy. "Pillow fight," Remus said and made to join as Peter hid in a corner, but Sirius and James threw out an arm each to block him.
"Wait, this is actually rather intriguing," Sirius said and James nodded as the two girls stopped, grinned at each other and climbed off the bed.
"Really Sirius, you find this intriguing eh?" Catherine said and looked at Lily through a fall of her dark hair.
"Yes, quite," Sirius said with a large smirk on his face.
"Well do you want to know what we find intriguing?" Lily asked tightening her grip on the pillow in her hand and walking forward.
"Ah, Padfoot, I think we're in trouble," James said smiling brightly and trying to walk backward.
"I do believe you're right Prongs," Sirius said and Catherine and Lily swung the pillows they were holding at the exact same time hitting James and Sirius as Remus pushed the two forward and shouted, "Pillow fight!!"
The boys, minus Peter, conjured pillows from thin air and the fight began. They swung at each other and laughed loudly with each hit or miss. Remus noticed that Peter was sitting in the corner watching as Lily and James seemed to be trying to decapitate each other and Catherine had somehow gotten Sirius' pillow and was now chasing him around the room. Remus walked over to Peter, conjured another pillow, threw it at Peter and said, "Can't leave Wormtail to sit all by his lonesome," and then hit Peter with his own pillow forcing Peter into the fight.
Lily and James noted Peter's sudden participation, dodged Sirius and Catherine who were fighting over the pillows and made to help Remus. Lily cackled menacingly and started hitting Peter, Remus and James furiously as she was also being hit. Sirius and Catherine paused in their private fight upon seeing the bombardment of Peter and mutually decided without a word to go help. Soon though at least two of the pillows tore open sending feathers every which way and the pillow fight to unceremoniously end as all involved fell to the floor in a fit of giggles. "That was fun," Lily said when she finally got her breath back and she was laying between James and Catherine who were both breathing heavy like everyone else.
"Yes it was," Catherine said and was sorely tempted to hit Sirius just one more time but refrained. "I should go. It's getting late," she said with a yawn; pillow fights are rather tiring.
"You should stop by again sometime," James said very quietly and Lily smiled at him before yawning herself.
"Perhaps I will," Catherine said lightly, "But until that time I will be around. See you Lily," Catherine said the feathers that had landed on her after the community collapse floated to the ground when she disapparated.
Peter proceeded to climb to his feet and bit them goodnight before walking out of the feather strewn room slowly. "That was definitely intriguing," Sirius said with a laugh and rolled over on his side looking at Lily with a smirk.
"I'd say," Lily said and yawned again stretching out her arms above her head and arching her back.
James gazed at her out of the corner of his eye and found himself wishing that Sirius and Remus would disappear because he did indeed want some time alone with Lily. He yawned tiredly and attempted to sit up but was pushed back down when Remus got to his feet. "C'mon Padfoot, we should leave the two love birds alone," Remus said and moved quickly out of James' reach.
"Moony, you're looking for trouble aren't you," Sirius said with a smirk as he too climbed to his feet, following Remus to the door. "Have fun with this mess," he said and they disappeared behind the door with a snap.
James looked from the now closed door to Lily who had turned on her side to look at him. Her cheeks were pink with exertion and her hair had feathers imbedded in it. "We should go to sleep," he said trying with all his might not to think about how gorgeous Lily looked with feathers in her hair.
"Probably. Especially you," Lily said and wondered if James would even fall asleep if they tried to go to sleep at that moment.
"Why me?" James asked quietly and watched Lily lay there looking ravishing.
"Because you probably haven't slept more then two hours in the past two days," Lily said and proceeded to sit up.
James just grunted and sat up himself. He reached over and pulled a feather from her hair, mainly just as an excuse to tough her. "You're beautiful," he said quietly and touched her cheek gently.
Lily just shook her head and said, "You're delusional," before she climbed to her feet. "I'm going to take a shower and go to sleep," she said and walked toward the bathroom slowly.
"I'm not delusional Lily," James said as he also climbed to his feet.
"Goodnight James," Lily said quietly, not facing him.
James walked over to Lily and touched her shoulder. She turned and looked at him. James slowly pulled Lily closer to him and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. "You're beautiful to me Lily, don't forget that," he said and kissed her forehead before pulling away. "Goodnight," he said and walked out of her room and down the hall to his own.
Lily sighed as James closed the door behind him. She headed into the bathroom and removed her clothes for her shower and looked into the mirror. Her hair was full of feathers and she pulled them out quickly and jumped into the shower. As she was showering she got to thinking: It was true that she liked James but she didn't was to set herself up to get hurt. She didn't know what the difference between like and love was, she'd never known anyone who she could love in a romantic way. It was true that her dreams were full of people that she loved and who loved her, but she was different, they were different. Everything was different but also the same.
What she wanted was a way to know that James really cared for her considering the fact that he kept calling her beautiful and she didn't believe him. Standing underneath the spray of the shower Lily wondered how he could think her beautiful or gorgeous and she looked down at her body. She wasn't that pretty, she was slightly interesting facially but she only though that because of her eyes, the only part of her body that she actually liked. The rest of her was boring. Lily sighed, her train of thought becoming quite depression and so she quickly finished her shower and toweled herself dry.
Lily dressed in a pair of gray shorts and a green tee shirt and then walked back into her room. It was rather disastrous with all the feathers strewn about and her bed was covered in them, not to mention it was unmade. The scene made Lily's inner neat freak cringe knowing she wouldn't be able to clean it up without passing out because she didn't know the right spell to clean up the room. She decided to see if one of the guys would do it for her.
Lily knew Peter would be worthless to ask and she turned to Remus' room; his door was slightly ajar and some light snores could be heard from inside. Lily sighed and headed to Sirius' room. His door was locked and there was no light on underneath. Lily continued on to James' room and knocked lightly on the door hoping that he was still awake.
James had left Lily's room wondering why Lily felt that he as deluded when he attempted to compliment her. She was the most beautiful creature on the planet to him and he didn't know how she couldn't see it. He sighed and took a ten minute shower, considered sleeping in the buff and then ruled it out. Who knew if Sirius planned to prank him the next morning to wake him up as Sirius could always be expected to be unpredictable in his timing. He threw on a pair of plaid flannel boxers and climbed into bed before shutting off the light.
For once James was utterly exhausted and knew he would be able to sleep that night as he closed his eyes and got comfortable. Just as he was about to drop off a knock revived him from his almost slumber. Too lazy and drowsy to climb out of bed he called, "Come in," and watched as Lily walked slowly into the dark room. "Lily," James said quietly. He hadn't expected her to come knocking on his door that night.
"Hi, could you help me with the feathers in my room?" Lily asked quickly and tried desperately not to notice that James was shirtless.
James groaned. "I'm lazy and I can't think of the spell," James muttered honestly. "I'm currently brain dead," he said and yawned.
Lily looked annoyed, "Then where am I supposed to sleep James?" she asked not really thinking straight herself. Neither of them had slept in over twenty four hours.
"You could sleep here if you want," James said without really thinking about what he'd said.
"I don't think so James, just get out of bed and come help me," Lily said and yawned leaning against the banister at the foot of the bed.
"I'll pass out walking down the hall. Just sleep here, this bed is big enough for about five people to sleep comfortably," James muttered, reached over to the side of the bed he wasn't on and pulled back the covers.
Seeing that James wasn't going to budge and not wanting to wake up Remus, Lily found herself muttering under her breath as she climbed into James' bed. "Try anything funny or even touch me and you're gonna get it," Lily said tiredly and pulled the blankets over her.
"You have my word I won't lay a finger on you," James said with a yawn before closing his eyes and dropping off to sleep within moments.
Lily closed her eyes as well and fell into a peaceful sleep full of quiet normal dreams about quiet normal things.
A/N: Whaha! I hope you liked this chapter. I think it was interesting and shows another side of Catherine so that people who don't like her might begin to. Let me know what you think alright, I need reviews to sustain my writing!! ~Frankie~