CHAPTER 3 – Detention
By: Sweet 16 Movie Buff!
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Angrily, Jillian kicked at a pinecone set in her path, as she tried to vent some of the seething anger still bubbling and brewing in her. A fierce recklessness had whelmed her when she had reached the edge of the forest and feeling bold and furious, she had plunged into the Forbidden Forest.
He's just a stupid boy, she thought savagely, Just a silly, arrogant, pompous . . .
The list of Sirius's unsavory traits grew steadily longer and more outlandish as she continued to prowl through the forest. She cared not that the forest had turned ominously murky nor that she had just snapped at a teacher. She was still aching with hurt at Sirius's words that had come back to echo in her mind, tumbling over and over one another:
"This was your problem with dueling. You'd start slow . . ."
"You're so wrapped up in blood, McKee, that I'm beginning to wonder whether its you with the problem . . ."
"I don't need this . . ."
"I don't need this . . ."
"I don't need this . . ."
"I don't need you."
Jillian leaned weightily onto the trunk of a wide tree and clamped her lower lip between her teeth. She gnawed it determinedly raw, but remained, thankfully, dry-eyed. Slowly she took deep even breaths, trying to remember the times when he had been different. When the fact her mum and dad were Muggles hadn't mattered to him. When they hadn't seen one another and felt the urge to scream at the sight of the other. Her mind wandered aimlessly to the first floor corridor of the previous year . . .
Jillian McKee, very out of breath and very frustrated, trotted down the corridor yet again to find herself no other place but back at the top of the marble staircase. A muffled scream escaped her and she stamped her foot in annoyance. How was she ever going to find Professor Stuttard if he was in neither the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom nor in his office?
"Bloody, forking hell . . ." she muttered darkly as she stalked away from the stairwell and back down the corridor towards Professor McGonagall's office. She might know where Professor Stuttard was or perhaps she could teach Jillian this dratted shielding spell herself.
She rapped on the door, "Professor?"
There was no answer. Jillian was out of options. She needed help and she couldn't find the teacher who might be able to help her. She was getting desperate.
Politely she knocked on the door again, pushing the ajar door open slowly, "Professor McGonagall?"
Professor McGonagall was not in her office. But reclining against the professor's massive oak desk was a student polishing water goblets. He seemed to be a boy in his fifth year, like Jillian, and quite good-looking but rather haughty-looking as well.
The boy looked up from his polishing at the sound of the creaking door, eyeing her with cool gray eyes.
"Where did Professor McGonagall go?" she asked him.
"I think maybe the teacher's lounge," he remarked as he returned to the water goblets, "Though that was almost half an hour ago."
"And I've already checked there," Jillian groaned, slumping against the door. "I guess I'll just wait."
They sat in silence, the handsome young man and Jillian. When at last Jillian got to her feet and came to stand over him, "There's an easier way to do that, you know."
The handsome young man glanced up at her through his eyelashes, still scrubbing at the silver. "I can't use magic. Detention you know."
"No," Jillian picked up a goblet and then the polish. She slathered an extra rag in the polish and presently wiped it across the surface of the goblet before dropping the finished piece into the bucket of water. "Like that."
His brows arched high, clearly impressed. With a sigh, she picked up another goblet, "Here, I'll help you. It'll go faster."
"Thanks."
"My name's Jillian McKee, by the way."
"Sirius Black," said the youth, flashing her a charming grin.
"So why do you have detention?" she asked after whisking another goblet clean.
He shrugged, "Putting a Furnunculus curse on Snivellus."
"Who?"
"Severus Snape. He's a Slytherin fifth-year, real slimy mangy git. He hates all Muggle-borns."
"Oh," Jillian's face blackened in what Sirius assumed was an unpleasant memory, "Yeah, I had Potions with him my first year. I believe the first word he ever said to me was 'Mudblood.'"
"Yeah, that's him."
Jillian grinned, "Did he deserve it?"
"For calling you a . . . you know . . . yes, he did."
"Well, I'm glad you justified it in my honor," she laughed. She stooped in a makeshift bow; "I'm touched."
"So why are you looking for McGonagall anyway?" Sirius asked, dumping another goblet in the bucket.
"I'll start drying," she drew the bucket over to her and took another rag from beside Sirius, "Well, I thought perhaps she would know where Professor Stuttard was. I was hoping he could teach me how to do a Shield Charm properly."
"You're that terrible?"
Jillian laughed bitterly and nodded, "I'm that bloody terrible. Toby Williams, she's a friend of mine from my house, she tells me she's tired of practicing her counter-jinxes."
Sirius chuckled at that and after a thoughtful pause added, "I could help you."
"Are you any good at Defense Against the Dark Arts?" she asked incredulously, then blushed at his reproachful glance, "Sorry, I forgot that was the reason you're in here."
"If I can jinx Snivellus, then I can just as easily jinx you. Come on," abruptly he stood and jerked his head toward the center of the office.
"If you insist . . ."
Jillian got to her feet and strode to the center of the office, placing herself across from Sirius.
"Ready?" Sirius asked, as he resettled his stance, "I'm going to throw a Stunning Spell at you on the count of three. One . . . two . . . three!"
"STUPEFY!"
"Protego!"
His Stunning Spell shot through her weak shield and hit her square in the stomach. She stumbled back and crumbled to the floor, well aware that she couldn't move. Her head contacted with a resounding crack on the stone floor and her vision swam. Slowly, when her vision had swum back into place, she was aware of the very interesting pattern of stones on the ceiling.
"Ennervate." He murmured and Jillian felt her fingers grasping her wand again.
"Are you all right?" Sirius asked, his hand on the small of her back as he helped her to sit. "You took a nasty fall there."
Jillian's head snapped in his direction. She had meant to say 'fine' but it came out instead as, "That was ruddy brilliant."
Sirius barked out a short laugh of disbelief, "Are you okay though?"
She waved away his worries as she got to her feet, "Yes! Shall we do that again?"
For the next hour Sirius and Jillian spent their time practicing hexes, jinxes and shielding spells. Jillian had showed signs of improvement, yet Sirius was still able to break through her spell and send her tumbling to the ground.
"Impedimenta!" Sirius shouted.
"Protego!"
Jillian concentrated hard on her shield, bracing herself for the hex to hit her square in the stomach, waiting for it to throw her back against the wall, but none came. She opened a wary eye to see a triumphant smirk crawling across Sirius's face.
"I did it?" she asked and he nodded.
"MR. BLACK WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" thundered a voice from the doorway, "YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE POLISHING THOSE WATER GOBLETS!"
Professor McGonagall stood in the dim light emitted from the corridor, looking furious. Jillian blanched and Sirius gave a little wince as he turned around to face the furious Transfiguration teacher.
She raised an inquisitive brow, "Well?"
"It's my fault, Professor," Jillian cut in as Sirius opened his mouth to reply.
"Ms. McKee?" Professor McGonagall frowned.
"I was waiting for you to return so I could ask you how to do a proper Shield Charm and I told Sirius here as much and he was helping tutor me."
"Is this true, Mr. Black?" she snapped, sharp eyes turning to Sirius.
"Yes."
She blinked, for an instant losing her footing. Then her trim, cool mask returned and she said, "Then you will be joining Mr. Black in detention tomorrow, Ms. McKee, for feeling the necessity to practice dueling in my office. You may go."
"Thanks," Sirius muttered under his breath as she passed.
"No problem. See you tomorrow."
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THANK YOU TO MY REVIEWERS!madderthanyou – Okay, I'll humor you . . . NO I'M NEVER GONNA GIVE UP ON THIS FIC!!!!!!!! And seriously, because it's all already written. The ending is written (though it may need some tweaking), thank you so much again for reviewing.
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