A/n: Hey! Thanks for all of the positive reviews. Very much appreciated. As for the negative ones, all I can say is thank you for adding more reviews. J Shout out to Lex, who's been my first reviewer since my first story. (You keep snagging that first bump/review. Totally grateful!) Another shout out plus shrieks of glee to those of you who've popped over to this site after reading my first story. You guys are the best! I'm really sorry for have taken forever to update, but I've been extremely busy. So thanks for waiting! Anyway, this chapter will be in Lily's POV. Hope you like, and please review!
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Chapter Two: Back to School
God, why the hell did I have to do that? Jesus, every time I think that something's actually going well with James, I just have to go and ruin it. Maybe I have some weird sort of interaction complex or something. If I hurry, maybe I can still catch him…
"James!" I said, running up to him, as he left the study.
He didn't say anything, but he stopped. Hey, at least he's acknowledging my presence, even if his back's facing me.
"Look, I'm really not that great at apologies, but I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so harsh. It's just… I don't… ugh." I stopped to take a breath and compose my thoughts and myself. "What I'm trying to say is that I really don't mean to be so unfriendly, and I honestly don't try to push you away. I want to be your friend, I do. I just want you to realize the fact that I have some boundaries that I'm just not ready to have some people cross yet," I said, rubbing my nose.
"Okay."
"I'm sorry?"
"Okay. I forgive you. Because that's what friends do," said James, turning around. He had a glimmer of a smile playing on his lips.
I relaxed and let out a smile. "Thanks. So, how about dinner?"
"Yeah, let's go. I think that I could do with a bit of food," said James.
"James, what I said back in my room-" I started.
He waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. What's been done has been done. You can't change the past."
"Yeah I know, but hear me out. When I said that you're self-centered and always focused on yourself, I didn't mean it. Especially since I know that it isn't true. I've witnessed first hand what you can do for your friends." I dropped my voice to a low conspiratorial tone. "More specifically, what you've done for Remus. I think that it's the best thing that a person can do in that kind of situation."
"Yeah well, as much as I would love to take credit for it, it wasn't exactly my idea…" said James. "It was Sirius's."
"Really? I never would have expected that." Wow, that was really clever of him.
"He read something about Animagi while he was researching for something, and he thought that it would be a brilliant idea if we taught ourselves how to do it so that we can help Remus. Honestly, it's the best thing that the bloke has ever thought of," said James.
"He can come up with things like that if he puts his mind to it, yeah?" I said.
"You'd be surprised with what he can come up with if he's really intent on getting something done."
"The sad truth about that is that most of those powers are bent towards making Snape's life bloody miserable," I said.
James chuckled. "Can't say that he doesn't deserve it… And you can't disapprove of me for saying that. You've seen the way he reacts. You can only fight fire with fire. It's only fair for both parties involved."
"What about stopping the 'fire'?" I said.
"Well, I guess that it's more of a male dominance thing than some school grudge. We could've ended this feud years ago. But if we did that, then we wouldn't be following the traditional Gryffindor/Slytherin arguments, and one of us would be shown as the weaker person," said James.
"Yes, but at the same time, you could be regarded as the stronger person by backing down and calling it quits," I said. I'm actually having a slightly intellectual conversation with him, and I'm enjoying it.
"The sad thing is that none of us are mature enough to do so," said James. "It's okay though. I'm not tiring of it, and Sirius will never back down. You saw what he did last year. Even if it was entirely a misunderstanding," I snorted, "it was still stupid and fueled by hate. I have a feeling that sometime in the future, one of them is going to need something from the other, and it's going to be something where they'll have to forget their hate for this one, earth shattering favor."
"What makes you think that?"
"Just the fact that most people who've hated each other for years and years eventually have to end it at some point to help the other out. Sirius is a good sport, and he'll definitely give Snape a chance when it's needed. He may be hot headed sometimes, but he knows where the boundaries are," said James.
"I guess that Snape would have enough respect to do the same. I know that neither of us have had prolonged contact with him, but we know enough about his habits and personality to know that he would never do something so outrageously unfair out of pure spite," I said.
"Exactly," said James.
"Wait, did we just give Snape credit for actually having an ounce of decency and normality in him?" I ask, stopping in my tracks.
James stopped, and looked thoughtful for a second. "Yes," he said, nodding. "Yes, I think we did. And you know what? I don't feel like I need to back that up with some snide remark about his nose or make a comment about his strange hygiene habits, or lack thereof."
"You know, you just made them," I pointed out, snickering a bit.
"Yes, but I didn't embellish as I usually would," said James.
I shrugged. "True."
* * *
"Welcome to the second day of N.E.W.T. level Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Professor Aiden Knight. As usual, he started the class off by sitting on his desk after everyone was settled. One of the things that I love about his classes is that he has the room set up with the individual desks in a circle so that we can see everyone when they're saying something. It's also a lot easier to understand a certain wand/wrist movement if you can see it close up without having to crane your neck over someone's head to see properly.
"Yesterday, we did the brainless task of reacquainting ourselves with one another after spending about three months apart. Yesterday, none of my expectations or plans for the lot of you was mentioned, and I certainly didn't mention what you will be learning throughout the course of this year. I have known all of you for 4 years, since I started teaching here when you were all in your 3rd year of Hogwarts. I have seen you grow academically, physically, socially, and most importantly, mentally. I know what you are capable of, and I'm proud to have you in this year's class. I am also proud to note that in the 4 years of my teaching in Hogwarts, this is the first time that I've ever taught a class of this caliber with members of all four Houses. To this, I truly commend all of you," said Professor Knight.
"Is this the part where you bring out a bottle of champagne and we get to skive off lessons for at least another day?" piped up Sirius.
I rolled my eyes. Sirius can be such an idiot sometimes. The fact that he can be so moronic most of the time, yet still be one of the top five students of this school truly astonishes me.
"No, Sirius, but this is the part where I have to become a lot more serious, excuse the pun, than I have ever been," said Knight.
"Well," said Sirius, giving a nonchalant laugh, "I always knew that you favored me over some, Professor, but-"
"Which means that some things will not be tolerated any more," continued Knight.
Sirius shut up and the two Slytherins present chuckled.
"My expectations of this class are very high. I will have you writing an essay at least once a week, every week, and you will have either group or individual projects assigned to you twice a month. The lessons will be more practical than theoretical, so prepare to be roughened up a little. If you have any problems with this, now is the time to excuse yourself before you decide to proceed with this demanding class," said Knight, pausing to look at us.
No one moved. No one breathed. I didn't breathe. It's so quiet in the classroom, that you could hear Sirius, James, and Remus's stomachs rumbling from hunger.
"Excellent. If you will take out your timetables, you will see that we will not be meeting on Wednesdays. While technically the timetables are correct, they are simultaneously wrong. We will be meeting Wednesday nights, when we, as a class, will be entering the Forest. We will go quite deeply into the forest," Sirius and James sniggered quietly, "but we will not go into the very heart."
"That would be too penetrating, wouldn't it?" said James with a straight face.
"Sometimes they scare me," I said to Remus, referring to their sexual innuendo.
"Yeah, well, you're not alone," he said in a bored tone.
"Yes, it would. Miss Spencer, I saw that you had your hand up. Did you have a question?" asked Knight, nodding towards a girl with brown hair.
Sirius sighed audibly, rolled his eyes and whispered something to James. James shook his head in response. He turned his head and winked at me when he caught my eye. If only I could read their minds…
Molly, a 7th year Hufflepuff is one of those girls who always tries so hard to, how shall I put this, 'blend in'. She tends to copy the styles of various people, like yours truly.
She cast a glance in Sirius's direction, most likely to see if she had his attention, and then proceeded with her question. "Yes, um, I was wondering if you actually have permission to do so. I mean, I wouldn't want any of my peers to get hurt," said Spencer, giving Sirius a flirty smile.
He smiled back in an I'm-not-interested-but-just-being-polite-don't-you-get-the-hint kind of way.
"Trying too hard," said James under his breath, disguising it as a grunt as he shifted positions in his chair.
Lucy, a good friend of mine from Ravenclaw, and I giggled.
"Yes, of course I do. I've been taking my 7th years into the Forest since I first started teaching. I believe that your old Professor Smeath did so as well during his days. Professor Dumbledore, the Minister of Magic and I believe that anyone who was accepted into this class is intelligent enough to handle himself or herself in the Forbidden Forest. We also think that it is a good learning experience for those of you who intend on becoming Aurors, since it would show you first hand what type of creatures you might be dealing with, should they become a problem. Bringing you into the Forest is also a test of responsibility. You will all be responsible for watching each other's backs and making sure that no one is ever left behind and that everyone is safe at all times."
"How long will we stay in the Forest for?" I ask.
"Well, we will be entering soon after dinner, so at about 7:45. I will have you back in your dorms by 11:30. That will give us enough time to explore parts of the Forest and learn more about it in depth. Now, this is my lesson plan for the rest of the year. For these first two months, we will be studying the history of Dark Magic in more detail than you have ever learnt it. That means that there will be some aspects of it that will make your insides squirm. That does not, however, mean that we will not be fully exploring the subject matter. For the three months after that, I will be teaching you how to protect yourself against some of the more powerful curses and jinxes. I will have an assistant from the Ministry come to aid me during the said months. Along with teaching you defense, we will also be teaching you curses, jinxes and charms that will prove helpful if you're stuck in a bad situation or if you're in a duel. From the second week of February until your Spring Holidays, we will cover different types of Dark creatures. These will not be simple grindylows or boggarts, which you tackled in your fourth year. We will discuss and actually take on creatures like vampires, trolls and banshees. During this time, we will have two assistants to keep the creatures at bay, should the need arise. For those last three months of the term, well, that will be a surprise," finished Knight, with a glint in his eye.
"Will the Thursday night lessons be related to what we're learning during the day?" asked James.
"No, those night classes will be geared towards acquainting yourselves with what lurks in the Forest and learning some basic survival skills. Some of the subjects of the evening classes will be related to what we will be learning when we study Dark creatures," said Knight.
"Will we ever have duels?" asked Lucy.
"We will have some practice duels during that section of the year, so yes," said Knight. "Well, we've covered everything that I wanted to today, so I'll dismiss you 15 minutes earlier than usual. If you have any questions, please stay behind to have them addressed."
I picked up my bag and stood. "So we have a free now, right?" I said, checking with Lucy.
"Yeah. What are you gonna do?"
I shrugged. "Probably just take a nap or something. I'm really tired for some reason."
"Okay. Anyway, what do you think about the whole going into the Forest thing?" asked Lucy.
"I'm okay with it. To be honest, I've been in the Forest several times, not counting detentions. Plus it'll be sort of relieving to actually be in there with permission, even if we're with other people," I said.
"Lily, are you going to the Tower?" asked Remus.
"Yeah, why?" I asked over my shoulder.
"No reason," he said, shrugging.
"Whatever." I turned back to Lucy. "So are you okay with going into the Forest?"
"I don't know. I guess I'm sort of excited, but a part of me has this nagging feeling that we shouldn't really be going. It's hard to explain," said Lucy.
"Well, the worst thing that can happen is that someone would get attacked or kidnapped or something like that, and the odds of that happening should be very low. We're supposed to be on guard, no? It would be our own fault if something happened," I said.
"Yeah I guess so, but I still have that feeling in the pit of my stomach. Whatever, we don't have to think about it for a week. Anyway, I'll see you later," said Lucy.
"See you," I said, and turned the corner.
* * *
"Hey, how was class?" I asked Emily, the only other person in the dorm. I kicked off my shoes, dropped my bag into my desk chair and flopped onto my bed.
"Same old, same old," she shrugged. "How was yours?"
"Not exciting in the least bit. He just told us what we're going to be doing this year," I said, staring up at the burgundy canopy of my bed.
"Anything out of the ordinary?"
"Not really. Except for evening classes in the Forest. But it's not like we've never been there, you know?"
"Yeah… Listen, what do you think of William Corley?" asked Emily.
I turned over onto my stomach and looked at Emily. "Will from Hufflepuff?"
"Mmhm."
"Well, I don't have anything bad to say about him. He's never done anything terrible, and he's a gentleman, as corny as that may sound. If he changed his hairstyle, he'd be a right looker too," I said. "Why do you ask?"
"Oh, nothing," said Emily, looking down and tracing patterns on her duvet.
"Oh come on, you can tell me. I won't tell anyone anything," I said, sitting up.
"No, really, it's okay. You have enough things to worry about, being Head Girl and all," said Emily.
"Em, tell me! My friends are always first before my schoolwork. And besides, maybe I can even help you in this predicament," I said.
"Well, if you're sure that it won't be a burden of any sort…"
"Dung. You know that I love hearing about our friends' latest endeavors in romance."
"Okay. Well, I think that I sort of fancy Will, but I'm not quite sure. So I don't really know what to do. Should I flirt with him? Should I subtly tell him that I might be interested? I really don't want to do anything too drastic either, since it might muck up any chances that I would have with him if I really do fancy him," said Emily.
"Okay. So what you're saying is that there's a little feeling that's been brought to your attention recently, and that feeling's towards Will. Do you feel any… different when you're around him?" I asked.
"No, not really. Well, I sort of feel more self-conscious, but that's sort of normal, you know?" said Emily.
"Right. Well, I think that you should just take the next couple of days, or however long you need, to figure out what you really feel. The worst thing that you could do is rush into a relationship and not think about what that might do to the other person involved. It wouldn't be fair if it was all one-sided. It wouldn't be fair to you, and it wouldn't be fair to Will," I said.
"Yeah, I see your logic in all of this. Thanks, Lil," said Emily.
"Any time," I said.
Emily yawned. "I wonder what time I went to bed last night… I'm really tired."
"Yeah, I'm exhausted too. It feels like we've been back at school for at least two months, but it's barely been a week," I said.
"Oh, shit. I'm supposed to meet Lana for a Runes assignment. Bugger, I gotta go. I'll catch you later. Thanks again!" said Emily, grabbing her bag and running out the door.
Emily needs to open up more. She hasn't been her usual perky self recently. I stared at her side of the dorm and smiled. As usual, there are pictures of cities all around the world all over all of her things. There are postcards from New York, Paris, Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, and tons more surrounding the corkboard that she tacked up over her desk. There's also a small pile of post from her aunt who has spent the past two years traveling abroad after retiring early.
Which reminds me, I should write Mum and Dad an owl…
I crawled to the edge of my bed and pulled out a couple of sheets of blank stationary, pretty ink, and my favorite quill from my trunk.
Okay, here we go. I loaded up my quill with ink and poised it over the parchment. Right. Let's get to it. Got to get moving. Whoops, that can't do. I waved my wand and the ink that fell from my quill disappeared. Okay, getting started. Let's see…
Dear Mum,
Okay, that's off to a good start. What the hell should I say to her? I guess that there's the usual "I made it back to school okay, everything's fine" and all that jazz, but what else? That isn't enough to impress her in a way. Oooh, I could mention the winter party! Okay. Here we go. Writing now…
Dear Mum,
Hi! I hope that this letter finds you well, as I hope you are. I'm just writing to let you know that everyone got to Hogwarts safely and without any mishaps or anything like that. I'm enjoying all of my classes, and I'm definitely enjoying my position as Head Girl. James and I haven't been asked to do anything too demanding yet, but we're thinking about having a Winter Ball, so I guess that I won't be coming home for Christmas. In all honesty, I wasn't really planning on going home for Christmas anyway since I wanted to savor my last winter holidays at Hogwarts. We haven't started making any plans for the party though, since we still have to bring it up in the Prefects meeting tomorrow (Friday). Professor Dumbledore is all for it, of course, but we just need to see if the idea would be a good one, judging on how the Prefects will all respond. Anyway, I have to write a letter to Dad before my next class, so I have to go. Write back soon!
Love,
Lily
I read and re-read my letter over and over until I was sure that nothing sounded too stupid or unnecessary. Once it was deemed as decent, I took another sheet of parchment, loaded my quill, and started writing my letter to Dad.
Dear Dad,
Hi! How are you? I'm okay, and nothing uneventful, except for a rousing game of Exploding Snap occurred on the way to school. I've loved every minute of 7th year so far, but that's expected, I guess. You know how much I love it here. In fact, I love it so much, that I've decided not to come home. Ever. Haha, just kidding. But I won't be coming home for the Christmas and most likely spring holidays because I want to spend as much time at Hogwarts as I can before I have to leave it for a very long time. James and I (if you don't remember, James is Head Boy with me) are planning on having a Winter Ball to make winter holidays more exciting than usual. I was thinking about having it two days after classes are finished so that we can all settle down into our holidays routines, and then have the party. And since I prefer the castle when it's emptier than usual, I'm going to talk to Professor Dumbledore and try to suggest something to him—I was hoping that we could have a second train ride scheduled for the day after the ball so that people can go home after the party if they wanted to. What do you think? The ball isn't definite yet since it still has to be pitched to the Prefects on Friday, but it's most likely going to happen. After all, when have the students of Hogwarts not been up to a party? And a planned one at that.
Meanwhile, how are things at home? Mum isn't all stressed out for the September issue, is she? I hope not. And how are things at the bank? Anything out of the ordinary or something worth mentioning to your favorite daughter? J Oh crap, I have to go. If I don't stop writing now, I know that I'll lose track of time and be late for class. I better go and find someone. Write back soon!
Love,
Rie (A/n: pronounced 'ree')I re-read it once, decided that it was perfect, and folded up both letters. I'll go to the Owlry after dinner. I put them on my desk and gathered my books for my next class. Once that I was sure that I have everything that I need, I headed downstairs.
"Hey babe. Where's everyone else?" I asked, sitting down on the armchair opposite the one that Sirius is sitting on.
He's writing something that looked like a letter on a piece of parchment. "Um, Lana and Emily are in the Library, Lexi's meeting with one of her professors, Remus is raiding the kitchens with Peter, and James… I don't know where he is," said Sirius.
"Ah, okay. And we have Transfiguration next, right?" I asked.
"Yeah. Anyway, I have to go send this to the Owlry. I'll see you at class," said Sirius.
"Okay. Oh wait, can you send my letters too? I was planning on going after dinner, but since you're going now…"
"Sure. Your owl's name is Paris, no?" said Sirius.
"Mmhm. If you call for her, she'll come to you. Anyway, just give me a second to get my owls," I said. I flicked my wand and muttered a spell under my breath and the letters appeared on the table that's in front of us.
"Hey cool. Where did you learn that?" asked Sirius.
"I made it myself. Over the summer, I was really bored sometimes, so I would write down spells that I thought would work and what they would do. That was the first one that I thought of," I said proudly.
"You're too bloody clever, Lil. It's quite frightening sometimes. It really is," said Sirius, shaking his head. He picked up the letters and made his way out of the common room.
Great. Now what am I supposed to do?
* * *
I raised my hand on knocked on the massive door.
"Comin'," came a grunt from inside the hut.
The door swung open and the extremely massive form of Hagrid appeared on the threshold.
"Well hello there, Lily! It's good teh see yeh," said Hagrid, enveloping me in a bone-crushing hug.
"Hi Hagrid," I said, smiling, once he released me from his death grip. "How was your summer?"
"It was great. I wen' teh Bulgaria teh see some dragons. I've always found 'em int'r'sting," said Hagrid, leading me inside. "Would yeh like a cup o' tea, Lily?
"Yes, thank you. And your summer sounds fascinating. Did you spend all of it in Bulgaria?"
Hagrid nodded. "I had teh come back early teh help Professor Boon with 'is lessons fer 'is fourth years. They have a great lesson comin' up this year."
"Are they going to do hippogriffs?" I asked, taking a sip of tea. I picked up a scone but then thought better of it, remembering the first and last time I tried a substance that's supposed to be food, the first time I visited Hagrid.
"Yeah. I caugh' some real beauties this time," said Hagrid, beaming proudly.
"I remember my hippogriff lesson… The entire class was getting on really well with them, even the Slytherins, as strange as that may be, until James decided to tell his hippogriff that 'there's no way that you would ever beat me at Quidditch' or something like that," I said, shaking my head. "If it weren't for the bloke's quick reflexes, he wouldn't have an arm today."
"Blimey. I forgot abou' that incident," chuckled Hagrid. He looked at me through his big bushy black eyebrows. "Are yeh two getting along all righ'?"
I shrugged. "We've had some differences of opinion and misunderstandings, but nothing too drastic or damaging."
"Tha's good," said Hagrid, nodding approvingly.
"We're actually planning on having a party this winter. I'm really excited for it," I said.
"A winter party, eh? Haven' had one o' those in years. Yeh're the firs' Head Boy and Girl teh do that in a while," said Hagrid.
"Well, I'm just hoping that it will go off without a hitch. I've planned big parties before, so it shouldn't be that big of a deal," I said. "The only thing that I'll need to worry about is keeping on top of all of my schoolwork while planning this thing."
"I'm sure that yeh'll do all righ', Lily. Yeh always have," said Hagrid.
I smiled. "Thanks, Hagrid. Well, I better get going. I don't want to be late for McGonagall's class."
Hagrid chuckled. "Best be off, then."
"Well, bye Hagrid. Thank you for the tea," I said, opening the door.
"No problem. Come back soon, and bring James with yeh," said Hagrid.
"Okay, I will. Bye!"
* * *
I sprinted up the corridor and skidded to a halt in front of the door of the Transfiguration classroom. I straightened my robes, caught my breath and stepped inside. McGonagall was taking attendance as people walked into class. I glanced at the clock on the wall and relaxed. I have 2 minutes to spare. Thank god.
"Where were you?" asked Lexi, as I got into the seat next to her.
"I couldn't find anyone earlier so I went to visit Hagrid," I said, putting my books on my desk.
"I was in the common room the entire time, you moron," said Lexi, rolling her eyes.
"You obviously weren't since I went straight to the dorms after class and then went downstairs after I spoke to Em and wrote a couple of letters," I said.
"Lil, what are you talking about. I was there the entire time," said Lexi.
"Sirius said that you were meeting with a teacher about something, and I would've noticed if you were there in the common room," I said, rolling my eyes.
James slid into the seat next to Sirius behind us.
"Where were you," whispered Sirius.
"Not now," whispered James back.
Just as the words left his mouth, the doors of the room slammed shut as McGonagall stood up. The latecomers would later have to explain why they were tardy.
"Good afternoon, everyone. I've had all of you long enough to know what you are capable of, and I expect no less," started McGonagall.
I sighed and leaned back in my chair. This is the same speech that Knight gave us in Defense. If every class is going to be like this, I'm going to fall asleep.
McGonagall droned on for a couple of minutes, and I could feel my eyelids drooping.
I turned my head to the right and watched Lexi as she tapped her wand on the desk over and over again, changing its colors, its material and it's style.
I kept my eyes focused on McGonagall's face but flicked my wand. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Lexi's wand suddenly turned into a hissing snake. I discreetly stuffed my wand back up my sleeve and suppressed a grin. Lexi immediately dropped her wand and uttered a little scream.
"Is there a problem, Miss Lieberman?" asked McGonagall, stopping mid-speech and glancing at us.
I quickly waved my wand and Lexi's wand returned back to normal.
Lexi shook her head. "No, just a little wand trouble," she squeaked.
"Well if that is the case, please try to contain yourself and not disrupt the class. Now, as I was saying, you will be transfiguring swords…"
"Bitch," Lexi whispered to me.
I turned my head and winked at her. "It's not my fault that you can't control your magic," I whispered.
"Girls, please contain yourself. One more time and I will have you leave the class. Both of you. Now, I can see that your attentions are wandering, so we will begin today's lesson. Find a partner and get a mirror from the back of the classroom. You will look in the mirror and then transfigure the image that is shown into an oil painting. Please begin. And Miss Evans and Miss Lieberman, I suggest that the two of you do not work together today."
"Alrighty. So which of you fine gentlemen will do me the honor of working with me on this very fine day?" I asked, turning around and looking at Remus, James, Sirius, and Ian Coleman, one of the Ravenclaws in the class.
"If I may, I would love to collaborate with you on this particular assignment," said Sirius, bowing.
I laughed. "Okay, cool. I'll go get the mirror and you find a table."
I walked to the back of the class and looked at the wide array of mirrors.
"This project's harder than usual," said Lucy Adler, who I have all of my classes with.
"I know. Talk about starting the year off on a good note, eh?" I said. I reached for a long mirror with wavy sides. "Well, I'll see you later. I gotta start this bugger."
"Yep," said Lucy.
"I think I got us a good one," I said, putting the mirror down on the desk that Sirius chose for us.
Sirius shrugged. "I don't care what kind of mirror we got, as long as I get to work with you," he said, grinning.
"Aw, thanks. You're so sweet, Black," I said, sitting down.
"What can I say? I'm smooth with the ladies."
I burst out laughing. "Okay, I'm sorry, but that was the worst line that I have ever heard in my entire life."
Sirius shrugged as he began to work on the mirror. "I thought that I'd give it a try."
I leaned forward and put my face in my hands as I continued to shake with silent laughter. Oh my, that was really pathetic. Hmm, how come I suddenly feel all cool and calm?
"I had to put a calming spell on you. McGonagall was coming around to check on everyone and it wouldn't do to have her see you laughing, now would it?" said Sirius.
"I suppose not. And wow, you've done a lot in the past like two minutes," I said.
Sirius had already transfigured the edges of the mirror into a gilded frame with intricate patterns carved into it. He's working from the top down, and already you can see our images being turned into a very finely detailed piece of art.
"I try," said Sirius nonchalantly.
"You know, if it weren't for the whole Snape escapade last year, you definitely would've made Head Boy," I said.
"Well, I'm sort of glad that it happened. I mean, can you imagine me, Sirius Black, Head Boy of Hogwarts? I'd be the role model to all the little boys in the school, I'd have lots of responsibility, and I would have to take things seriously. As nice as it would have been or looked on my transcript, it's not my cup of tea," said Sirius.
"I think that you would've been perfect," I said.
"What about James?" asked Sirius, looking at me from the corner of his eye.
"James is fine, but I feel like I can connect with you better," I said.
"What's the difference? We're basically the same person, except that I'm better looking."
I rolled my eyes. "You are not the same person, and you know that. Sure, you share many of the same ideas and opinions, but you two are completely different from each other."
"Completely different?"
"Completely."
"I don't really see what you mean, but I'll just take that as a compliment."
All of a sudden, McGonagall held up our mirror.
"May I have your attention please," said McGonagall, about to present Sirius's handiwork to the class.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to face her.
"I want you all to notice the care that Mr. Black has taken into transfiguring this image into a painting. Notice the details, the shadows, and the reality of the painting. I want all of you to be able to transfigure an image like this one by the end of the period. Well done, Mr. Black. 20 points to Gryffindor," said McGonagall.
"Thanks, Professor," said an astonished Sirius. "Never saw that one coming," he said, as soon as McGonagall left us to go and check on a group over by the windows.
"Well, it is really good," I said, picking up the fully transfigured painting.
"Jesus, Sirius. This is amazing. It could surpass the Mona Lisa," I said.
"The Mona Whatta?" said Sirius.
"One of the most famous Muggle paintings of all time. I'm basically just saying that it's really good," I said.
"Well, it has to go bye-bye. It's your turn," said Sirius. And with a wave of his wand, the painting was transfigured back into a mirror.
"So anyway, what's it like to be Head Girl?"
"Eh, there's not much to say. We haven't really done anything yet, so it hasn't really kicked in. James and I have to chair our first Prefects meeting tomorrow, so I'm sort of looking forward to that. But other than Prefect meetings, there isn't much to do as of yet," I said.
"What about James? Have the two of you gotten into a tiff yet?" asked Sirius, grinning slyly.
"I'm assuming that you already know the answer to that question, but I'll humor you. Yes, we've had a row, but it's over and done with, sealed with apologies and everything," I said.
"So you kissed and made up?" said Sirius, his grin getting as wide as one that would make the Cheshire cat proud.
"In essence, yes," I said. I pointed my wand at him and his entire body disappeared except for his mouth.
"What'd you do that for?" asked Sirius's lips.
"You just reminded me of a character from a Muggle play, so I turned you into him," I said. I kissed my fingers and touched his lips with them. "Now shut up as I tweak this thing."
* * *
"Welcome to the first Prefects meeting of the year. There isn't much that we need to do today, so this will probably end relatively early," I said.
James and I are seated at the head of a long table in a conference room that's set up for meetings—faculty and student alike.
"First we'd like to say that being Head Students kicks ass, and this is going to be one hell of a year," said James.
Shouts of approval came from the Prefects.
"The first major thing that we've decided on having is a winter ball. We thought that we could have it two days after the end of classes so that we can have time to prep for it," I said.
"Then we're hoping to get a second train ride back to King's Cross the day after the party to kick the other people out of the castle. It's more fun with less people," said James.
"So are there any oppositions to this proposal?" I asked.
Everyone shook their heads.
"Alrighty then. We'll start planning this party next week. In the meantime, are there any issues that need to be addressed within your Houses?" I asked.
"Persephone," said James, motioning to the 6th year Ravenclaw girl.
"Yeah, there's a problem in one of the girls' bathrooms for the first years. Whenever you open one of the doors, tampons and condoms shoot out at you," she said.
Everyone burst out laughing.
"How the hell did that happen?" I asked, struggling between giggles.
"I don't know! One of the girls just came to me the other day and said that weird things keep on hitting her in the face whenever she tries to get soap out from under the sink," said Persephone.
"Poor, ignorant, little girl," laughed Gary Winston, one of the Hufflepuff Prefects.
"Okay, well, I'll tell the house-elves to do something about that," I said, shaking my head as I wrote it down in my notebook.
"Anything else? Hopefully it'll be sex and hygiene related as well," said James. "Yeah, shoot," said James, pointing to Adam Bailey, one of the Gryffindor Prefects. Hey, James and I can't be doing everything, you know.
"Just wanted to remind you guys about the lack of hot water for all of the fourth years," he said.
"Oh, right. Shit, that must suck ass," said James, shaking his head as he wrote down the complaint as I did.
"Well, if that's all, see you around," I said, standing up and gathering my stuff.
The sound of chairs scraping the floor filled the room as I put my notebook back into my bag and got ready to leave.
"Lil, do you guys want to go to dinner with us? Me and the guys want to take advantage of this new 7th year privilege and legally go into Hogsmeade," said James, as we left the conference room.
"Yeah, sure," I said. Now that we're in 7th year, we get to go into Hogsmeade whenever we want on Friday nights and during the weekends. "What time is it, anyway?"
"Almost 7," said James.
We went up a flight of stairs and through a couple of tapestries.
"If I remember correctly, our curfew's at 2?" I asked.
"Yeah. The gates to the school close and lock themselves at 2:01. So basically, if we get back too late, we're fucked," said James.
"Damn, that's harsh," I said, shaking my head. "And there's absolutely no way to get back in until morning."
"Yeah. Warm fuzzies," said James to the Fat Lady. The portrait swung open, revealing the crowded common room.
"Oy, why are there so many people here? Shouldn't they all be down at the lake or torturing small animals or something?" said James, as we threaded our way through the crowd to get to the side of the common room that we've established as the 7th year side.
"I have no idea. Maybe they're all about to go to dinner or something," I said.
We finally got to the couches where our friends were sitting. Lexi's having a heated discussion with Emily, which is probably something about why Thumbelina lived on lily pads instead of mushrooms or something. Lana and Remus are snuggling on the couch, and Sirius is boredly poking the side of Peter's head as Peter attempted to read a book or something.
"We leave you for less than half an hour and this is what you're all reduced to? This is pathetic," said James, sadly shaking his head.
"You're finally back! I've been bored out of my bloody mind. If you hadn't come sooner, Peter probably would've had a hole on the side of his head," said Sirius. He patted the seat next to him and I plopped down beside him.
"As if you couldn't poke something else," I said.
"There's nothing to poke without you around, love," said Sirius, playfully putting his arm around me and kissing the top of my head.
"She didn't live on mushrooms because she lived near a pond, not a forest, you moron!" shouted Emily.
"What's that about?" James asked Sirius, pointing at Lex and Em.
Sirius shrugged. "They were arguing about this Thumbelina person when I got here. Don't look at me, I don't have a fucking idea about what it is."
"Thumbelina's this little fairy or whatever who was about the size of a thumb or something like that. It's a Muggle fairy tale," I explained.
"Whatever. Forget I asked," said James. "Anyway, let's get ready for dinner."
No one moved. I doubt that Lexi and Emily heard what James said.
"You guys, are we going out or not?" said James.
Again, no one moved. Sirius and I blinked at him as everyone else continued what they were doing.
"Holy shit, Sirius don't touch me like that!" shouted James.
That got everyone's attention. Emily stopped mid-sentence and Remus stopped stroking Lana's thigh. Well they've been getting cozy…
"Finally! Anyway, everyone go and get ready to go out tonight. We're going to Hogsmeade, no matter what," said James.
"Aw, I was hoping to see some guy/guy action," said Lexi disappointedly.
"Sorry, you won't be seeing that here," said Sirius.
"Meet back here in one and a half hours," said James.
We all left to go to our respective dorms.
Well, we're definitely back to school.
* * *
A/n: Okay, that wasn't such a great ending for the chapter, but I wanted to finish it by tonight so that I can finally post. Again, I'm extremely sorry for updating like 5 years after the first chapter, but I've been attacked by my homework. Anyway, hope that you enjoyed. The next chapter will hopefully be out by the end of this month. I'm thinking that unless I'll have a lot of free time all of a sudden, there'll be at least one update every month. Hopefully that'll change, but you never know.
I Dare You to MoveBy Switchfoot
Welcome to the planet
Welcome to existence
Everyone's here, everyone's here
Everybody's watching you now
Everybody waits for you now
What happens next? What happens next?
I dare you to move, I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move, I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened before
Welcome to the fallout
Welcome to resistance
The tension is here, the tension is here
Between who you are and who you could be
Between how it is and how it should be
I dare you to move, I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move, I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened before
Maybe redemption has stories to tell
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell
Where can you run to escape from yourself?
Where you gonna go? Where you gonna go?
Salvation is here
I dare you to move, I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move, I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened before
Today never happened
Today never happened
Today never happened before