Thought I'd actually take the time to address some of my wonderful
reviewers. It's so much more personal isn't it? Especially when I really
want to have little convo's w/ each of you! These are my responses to the
last chapter's reviewers! Nine reviews, nine responses! Thanks for all
the support, guys!!!
Annoriel: Hell, yeah! Girl power all the way! LOL! Sirius doesn't know what he's gotten into! *giggles* Joey is sooo in control.
Jenstarz: Hehehe! I know, I can barely picture her playing quidditch either! But you know, Weald was *coaxed* into putting her on the team . . . However, we will find out pretty soon that it wasn't just that that got Catrina on the team . . . *wink* Hehehe! (OH! And I totally love legally blonde, too! Have you seen the second one yet? I thought it was adorable!)
DPhoenix: Thanks so much for the support! I love it when I actually get people wanting to read my next chapter! Hehehe! Hope you enjoy this next one, too!
Emmah-Leah: Yup! I was wondering how obvious I had made it as to who was going to be the new chaser! *grin* You're catching on to me! Wonder what else you'll predict.
Angel: Yes, yes! 'Squirm' is a perfect word to use! Bwahahaha!
Greenfairie: No worries! More Remus and you to come! LOL. Any suggestions, just let me know what's on your mind! *wink* After all, It's your relationship! Hahaha! But I'm serious about the suggestion thing . . . I do have some ideas up my sleeve, but I'm curious to hear what you think too . . . maybe they'll work together!
Mercury: Thanks for the awesome support! I definitely felt that was a mile stone too! And judging by your little *prediction* (Whether you knew it was a prediction or not) about 'you-know-what' . . . I can definitely tell you'd do well in divination class with Trelawney!
Casco: I'm glad you're enjoying my work! I really hope that you'll find this next chapter to your enjoyment, too!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Para mi amiga nueva, Sakura:
Sportzjunkie: Hola Chica! Que tal? Ojala que te gusta este capitula! JaJaJaJaJa! *winks*
Sakura: *shakes head and laughs* Callate, Por favor. Tu eres loca en la cabeza!
Sportzjunkie: Yo soy muy intelegente, no?
Sakura: *stifles laugh* Si, tu eres *muy* intelegente! [insert Spanish sarcasm here]
Sportzjunkie: LOL. I've created my own version of talking in Spanish for those of us who really can't: Just do your best to get the point across, then cross your fingers and hope that Spanish speaking people can understand you! I like to call it 'Espanol para idiotas!' = ]
Thanks for the help Sakura! My mistakes on the last chapter have been corrected. *grin* You are my new Spanish speakin' buddy! Let's just say I blame Senora Malone (my Spanish teacher) for making me so damn incomprehensible when it comes to the language! Anywayz, Hope you like this new chapter!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* And to all of you:
Okay . . . so this chapter has a lot of emotions running through it, and I won't lie to you . . . most of the emotions are pretty frustrating for Joey. I'm sorry, but I just had to write this chapter! It was important to me, and hit me deeper than I really thought it would . . . yes, I'm serious . . . I was actually feeling what Joey was feeling as she went through this stuff. It's just amazing how stories affect you when you write or read them! Hope you guys can understand what I mean when you read this chapter, too! ; }
Anywayz, to stop boring you, here is the chapter, and I hope you all enjoy it! = ]
"Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit."
Kahlil Gibran
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Joey suddenly became very aware of the fact that her mouth was hanging open in shock. She quickly snapped it shut as Catrina Strumpet flashed her a very self-righteous looking sneer. Joey glared daggers back at the little whore in front of her. How could Weald do this to the team?! This girl was not only an inevitable shit-load of trouble, but Joey just had an odd little suspicion that this girl would not be able to play quidditch for beans!
Weald began introducing Catrina to the team, spending a little time telling everyone about her and how she had just transferred to Hogwarts . . . blah, blah, blah. Joey wasn't paying attention. She was too busy to listen, because now she was giving Weald an uncontrollable, fuming look. Some of the nicknames that were running through her head right now were nothing short of a soap-worthy mouth cleansing.
Suddenly, a quick, but, to some extent, mild elbow was found at the side of her rib cage. She looked up at her guilty assailant and found James sitting next to her on the bench. He looked livid. This made Joey feel somewhat better, knowing that she wasn't the only one who was angry about this. James leaned over and began whispering into her ear, completely to the ignorance of Weald, as he buzzed on about the *fabulous* Catrina.
"Can you believe this?!" he callously groaned under his breath. "This is ridiculous!"
"I know," Joey whispered back.
"I mean, the guy fucks bunches of girls each week . . . why on earth would he put this girl on the team just because she gave it up?" Joey shrugged at James' thoughts. The situation was a little too suspicious to ignore.
"Maybe we should ask him about it," Joey suggested. James nodded and then was quiet.
They waited for Weald to finish his rambling, and, finally, when everyone was walking out to the quidditch pitch for practice to begin, James and Joey held Weald back. He looked a little puzzled at the expressions on their faces.
"What's up, guys?" he asked with a bit of a worried tone. The locker room was now empty except for the three of them.
"Weald, what the hell is that floozy doing on our team? You can't be serious about having her as one of our chasers . . . even if you did get into her pants for the deal!" James looked too angry to really care about what he had just said to his captain. He was lucky that Weald seemed more proud of himself for having people aware of his *relations,* than he was angry about James' disrespectful tone.
"It's more than that, Potter," he said quietly, as if he didn't want anyone else to hear him. Joey just stood there, wondering if she should leave before she had to hear any more about Weald's sex life. "It was Dumbledore and McGonagall who came to me to talk about Catrina being on the quidditch team." He paused for a moment to let his comment settle in.
"What did they say?"
"Well, apparently, when Catrina transferred here, her parents had a talk with Dumbledore, and told him about why she was relocated to a new school . . . It seems that she had a few . . . *problems* at her old school." Weald gave the two listeners a very knowing look as he continued. "And since the Strumpets are extremely, powerfully rich people in the Wizarding world, they decided to send Catrina here, *bribe* Dumbledore with some huge funding, and hope for her to turn her life around . . . so to speak. "Of course, knowing how understanding and trusting Dumbledore is, he took Catrina in, and promised to try his best to help her out some. This is where the subject of quidditch came in . . . Dumbledore thought since we were still down a player, it would be best for her to be on the team to 'help get her into the house spirit'" Weald said, imitating Dumbledore's voice with his last little quote.
"And that's why she's on the team?!" Joey snapped. "Because Dumbledore felt bad for her?!!" Weald nodded sadly.
"And that's not the worst of it. This girl has absolutely NO TALENT on a broomstick! It's pathetic to even watch!" Both James and Joey groaned. This season was really going to suck.
"So what are we going to do about it?" James asked with a worried tone. A sick little smirk appeared on Weald's face.
"Make the best of a bad situation, of course!" He said, sounding quite a bit more cheerful than he had a few moments before.
"I see you've already taken to that suggestion," Joey said with a disgusted tone, as she got another whiff of the 'rubbed-off' perfume that was clinging to Weald's scent.
"Well, what can I say?" Weald grinned, the smudge of red lipstick more prominent on his mouth that ever before. "I had to make her think she got on the team some other way besides pity. Dumbledore forbade me to tell her about the little conversation that went on between him and her parents . . . my idea just seemed to be a little more. . ."
"Repulsive? Sick? Deceitful? Take your pick!" Joey spat out in his face. James elbowed her sharply in the side again, and his eyes flashed as if warning her not to get on Weald's bad side. Joey wasn't one for sticking up for sluts like Catrina, but there are just some situations where girls need to stick up for one another.
But Weald just laughed. He seemed so proud of himself for what he had *accomplished.*
"For your information, *Joe* . . ." He said her name with extra emphasis, almost like he was mocking her, ". . . she came onto me more than I came onto her . . . just like all the other girls do." He cocked an eyebrow and flashed her a suggestive smirk. Joey felt like throwing up. Sensing the tension, James quickly stepped in.
"Yeah . . . you keep telling yourself that, Weald," he gave a fake laugh as the other boy glared at him. Then he quickly grabbed Joey's arm and hauled her after him, out towards the quidditch pitch. "You coming to practice, Captain?"
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That evening's practice was excruciatingly tiring . . . at least for some people. Weald had split everyone up, so that everyone got to practice working with moves corresponding to their own particular positions. James spent the time practicing with releasing and catching the snitch. Robert, the keeper, spent the time blocking the shots that the chasers, Nick, Joseph, and Catrina, were throwing at him. (Though, Catrina took about one shot and gave up immediately because she had broken a nail. All of the boys rolled their eyes at her over reaction to the small mishap, but, nevertheless, she was now frantically filing it down to prevent further breakage. This did NOT please Weald.) And the person who was being worked the hardest of all, was Joey.
She was working with Weald because he was the other beater. They were positioned about twenty feet from each other, and were continuously hitting a bludger back and forward between themselves. This match-up would have been fine considering that Joey could have easily held her own against the big bloke, but the fact that Weald's broom was MUCH faster than Joey's old school one, and the fact that his club was MUCH stronger than Joey's grubby school one, caused Joey to be working about ten times harder than he was.
Weald soon realized the difference in their equipment levels, and thought it would be best to take advantage of the situation. He would purposely keep hitting the bludger far to the sides of Joey, causing her to have to dive her broom downward. The stupid old Dust-hop broom she was on was no match for Weald's Cleansweep 260, so she nearly always missed his cheap, low shots.
Not only was her broom a piece of shit, but the wooden club she was using was too old and rotten-stricken, that she couldn't even pack a punch when she *did* make contact with the bludger. Weald's steel club would smack the pieces out of the bludger, and have it barreling back towards Joey before she could even regain her balance from the effort she had to put into her club to even return his last hit!
Overall, Joey found that quidditch practice was a living hell if you didn't have the right equipment. She spent the entire time wishing she had the stuff she had mail-ordered already, but never once did she open her mouth and complain. She simply kept her cool, and went and retrieved the bludger every time it spun off into another direction after she had whiffed it.
She couldn't help, however, when the utter frustration crept over her face when Weald decided to sharpen the rules. He said that if she kept playing as bad as she was, he was going to make her do three pushups and run a lap around the quidditch field for every time she missed it. Yes. You heard me right: RUN, not fly. Joey found herself descending to the ground before you could say 'fuck this,' just so she could sprint a lap around the pitch, complete three push-ups, and ascend back up into the flying hell of doom.
The main problem with this routine, however, was that the more running and push-ups she did, the more tired she would get, and the more shots she would miss. It was a never ending cycle of running, 'push-up'ing, whiffing, and, most of all, cursing. Even when Weald missed a few shots, he wouldn't have to do anything extra besides go and retrieve the ball! Joey was pissed. This was utterly unfair in every way.
By the end of the practice, she had hit sad a total of fifteen shots made at her, missed a total of forty-five shots made at her, sprinted a total of thirty-five times around the quidditch pitch, and done a grand total of 105 pushups. There was no justice. No one could believe the torture Weald was putting her through. They all felt bad for Joey, but no one could say anything to Weald, because they were afraid that he would put them through the same thing.
When the team entered the locker room after practice that night, she was talking to no one. There was an expression of pure loathing across her face, and all she wanted to do was scream her throat hoarse. Joey stumbled over to the girls' side of the locker room, grabbed a towel, and headed for the girls' showers.
Catrina said that she refused to change in such a 'repulsive' environment, and left to go shower up in her dorm. It didn't matter anyways. The little 'Barbie by-product' hadn't done a single thing to physically exert herself in practice, anyways! That is, unless you consider filing your nail down frantically and spending time flying 'side-saddle' on you broom, tiring.
Joey climbed into the hot shower in the locker room and just let the hot water poor down her face. The warm, steamy water pattered down onto her cheeks, and began rinsing the dirt away from her wind-whipped skin. Her tonsils felt swollen. It was like there was a huge, stinging lump caught in the back of her throat, and she couldn't swallow it away.
She knew what it was. It was all the emotions she had been storing up inside of her, trying to leak out from her aching body. She pressed her eyes tightly together as her face scrunched up, and finally gave into the emotions her worn-out and exhausted body was fighting. The painful tears began pouring from her eyes, and she held her breath as all of the anger welled up into her head.
The warm water was now mixing with the salty tears on her face as she slightly opened her mouth to exhale. The shuttering breath came out as a quiet sob, and she put her hands to her face to muffle the sound. Though the boys were on the other side of the locker room, they would still be able to hear someone bawling their eyes out, and that was exactly what she didn't want.
She just stood there, smothering her sobbing into the shower, under the hot jet. She tried multiple times to get a hold of herself, but it was no use. She absolutely HATED feeling bad for herself, but the frustration that had built up in her all throughout that practice was now finding an outlet through her tears. There was no other way.
After she heard a few more people leave the locker room, she finally stopped crying and decided to start washing her hair. The aroma of the shampoo caught hold of the steam rising off the water, and gently wafted all around the girls' showering hall. The scent was therapeutic to Joey as her breathing finally returned to normal, and her depression subsided. Sometimes, all it takes to feel a bit better is a good cry.
Joey heard the locker room door open and close a few more times, and when she was almost positive that she was the only person left in the locker room, she finally turned off the shower. Joey listened carefully for a moment, and when she heard silence, she decided that she was finally alone. That was how she wanted it.
She had been under the water jet for about twenty-five minutes, and most of that time she had spent weeping. Practice had gone on for two hours, and it was now almost eight-thirty. Lucky for her, she had already eaten dinner, so now she only had to go up to her dorm and get a start on that evening's homework before she turned in for the night. *Goodie.*
Seventh years' common-room curfew wasn't until ten o'clock, so Joey took her sweet-ass time wringing out her hair. She trudged over to her towel, wrapped it around her body and tucked a flap in so she wouldn't have to hold it up with her arms. She exhaustedly gathered up her practice robes and stumbled out from the steamy showering hall, into the icy-cold air of the locker room.
She shivered as she walked bare-footed around the locker room, over to where her locker was situated. When she turned the corner into her section, she found none other than James Potter lying on his back, stretched out along the bench. When he saw her, he sat up and gave her a weak smile. It didn't really bother him that she was wearing nothing but a towel . . . to him, Joey was more like a close sister than someone who really turned him on.
She returned his smile with an even weaker one, and strode over to her locker, opened it and started pulling out some clothes.
"Hey, Joey," he whispered. "You okay?" She nodded silently. He didn't need to get her crying again.
"I'm fine," she croaked, her voice betraying her obvious lie.
"Listen. I don't know what was up with Weald tonight . . . I tried talking to him . . . told him he needed to lighten up until you got some real equipment . . . It's just-"
"Thanks," she said flatly, cutting him off before he could say anything else. James had a hurt look in his eyes.
"You know, you've got some real talent . . . I just wish that Weald would get off his high-horse and make an effort to really train you . . . not kill you!" he paused for a moment. "It'll get better, Joey. I promise . . . please don't quit."
Joey stopped rummaging through her locker for a moment at his last comment. She couldn't deny the fact that the option of quitting had run through her mind so many times that evening.
"So what if I do?!" she spat. "Who would care?" James looked almost hysterical at her comment. He was shocked that she would even ask such a thing.
"Joey! The whole team would! Everyone on the team is really eager to see what kind of a player you'll develop into! We were all angry with how Weald treated you, and we all made sure he realized that. We haven't had a second beater on this team as good as you in . . . a REALLY long time! Please don't quit!" James grabbed one of Joey's hands that had been dangling limply by her side. His voice was soothing again. "I promise that Weald will come around eventually and accept the fact that a girl, who's never seriously played quidditch in her life, might be as good as him. His ego is just a little too at jeopardy here! He can't handle it now . . . but he will! Promise me you won't quit!"
Joey was silent for a moment. She looked down at James' pleading face, and a small, half-hearted smirk turned up at the left side of her mouth. She nodded slowly. "Alright," she whispered, sounding very unenthusiastic, "I promise."
James grinned and pulled her into a hug. "Good!" he laughed. "Now I'll let you get dressed, and we can walk up to the common-room together."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Joey and James made their way up to the Gryffindor common room in better spirits than they had been in all through practice. Joey didn't feel so emotionally exhausted, and she was actually looking forward to a practice where she would have her real equipment with her. Weald will pay the day she gets her new equipment. She would work him ragged.
They arrived at the fat lady, gave her the pass-word, and Joey climbed in the portrait hole, just behind James. When they were about to enter the dimly lit common room, James stopped flat in his tracks, causing Joey to slam sharply into his back.
"Owww, James! Can't you go a single day without causing me to crash into you?!"
"Shhh! Joey, look at Remus! What the hell is he doing . . . with her?!!"
Joey glanced over James shoulder, looking for Remus. She spotted him sitting at the common room's homework table with a potions book in front of him, and, suddenly, memories of McShailty's punishment flooded into her brain. She cursed silently to herself. Remus and she had decided to take turns each night to tutor McShailty's Gryffindor students who needed it, and tonight was Remus' turn because tomorrow was his detention. Right now, however, it appeared that Remus was getting the full blast of torture from his punishment. Sitting right next to him, hovering over a potions book, was none other than a freshly showered, Catrina Strumpet.
"Poor Remus," she whispered in James' ear. "This is our punishment for hugging in class today."
"What do you mean by *your* punishment. It looks like Remus is the only one who's suffering!" James laughed under his breath. Joey elbowed him.
"We're taking turns each night. I'm not sure how long it'll go for, but it will go on for a while . . ."
"Wonder who you'll get stuck with," James teased. Joey's suddenly stopped in her train of thought. Oh SHIT! Who was she going to get stuck with?! She hadn't thought about that. Surely there wouldn't be that many students who needed help with potions . . . she'd be stuck with her person for a very, very long time.
"Omigod," Joey whispered. "What will I do if it's somebody I totally despise?!"
"Well, at least you know it won't be Catrina!" he laughed. James accidentally said this a little too loud, and Remus and the 'Barbie look- alike,' sitting next to him, looked up.
"Hey guys!" Remus called. He looked extremely enthusiastic to have someone interrupt his little 'alone time' with Catrina. "How was practice?!"
"Oh . . ." Joey began with a very unenthusiastic tone. ". . . it was-"
"Just peachy!" Catrina scoffed arrogantly. "Though, I think Madam Suck over there has missed more balls than she's hit . . ." she paused for a moment as a rather bitchy smile crept up her cheek. ". . .hmmmm . . . kind of like real life I imagine."
Joey glared at Catrina like she was about to lunge at her and slit her throat. But then, eventually, Joey smiled too . . . though, it looked more like the evil smirk she got when she was thinking something really evil.
"Yes . . . well I have to admit it was pretty amusing to watch you, too . . . sitting side-saddle . . . refusing to even straddle you broom. Though that confuses me a bit . . ." Joey paused for a moment as she purposely scrunched up her face and cocked her head to the side like she was really pondering something. ". . . why would you bother keeping your legs together during practice, when you don't seem to implement that principle off the field very much?" There was a very loud snort of laughter, and everyone in the room soon became very aware of the fact the James had busted up laughing at Joey's remark.
Catrina shot up out of her chair, and stomped over to the spot right in front of Joey. The girls were mere inches apart, and the ear-splitting silence that had settled in the room now seemed very uncomfortable.
The silence was broken in a split second as the skin on the palm of Catrina's hand made stinging contact with the flawless skin of Joey's face. Owwww . . .
Joey's eyes snapped shut as she refused to flinch from the bitch slapping she had just received. Catrina looked half-way between the emotions of rage and pride as she felt smug for slapping Joey, but angry at the girl's lack of response to it. This would not do for her. There had to be some other way to get under Joey's skin. As Joey's eyes remained pasted shut, refusing to open as they might betray her by watering from the stinging, Catrina leaned in so that she was now whispering into her enemy's ear.
"You know it's inevitable . . . I've stolen your man once . . . and I sure as hell am going to do it again." Joey's eyes snapped open in fury, and Catrina pulled away, a little scared at the flames that were now raging in her enemy's eyes. It took a split second for Joey to wind up, and before anyone knew it, Catrina found herself lying flat on her back on the common room's stone floor, clutching her nose that was now trickling with blood. Her eyes were clamped shut, and tons of tears were running down her face.
Suddenly, the girl could feel a very tight pulling on her long blond hair that was sprawled out, fanning all around her. She winced as she opened her eyes and looked up to see Joey's tall frame glaring down at her from full height. Joey was still wearing her muddy quidditch boots, and now one of them was pinning down Catrina's head by her blond locks, and mucking up her once freshly-washed hair.
"If you EVER say anything like that to me again . . ." Joey was seething with anger, ". . . I will see to it that I make your life a living hell . . . do you understand me?!" Catrina just stared up at Joey refusing to do or say anything. This was not okay. Joey pressed her shoe down harder on Catrina's hair, causing the girl to grimace as her hair was pulled tighter to the boot. "Well?!"
Catrina nodded frantically, only worried about how much it hurt to have her hair being slowly yanked out of her head by a boot. This seemed to be good enough for Joey, because she drew back her shoe and grabbed her book bag that she had left on the table from earlier. She glanced over at Remus when he spoke.
"Sirius is in his dorm," he said, looking at Joey. Then he turned his gaze to James and said, "Lily's in her dorm."
Both Joey and James nodded at Remus, and then exchanged understanding glances at each other. Then they head up in opposite directions: James towards the girls' dorms, and Joey towards the boys'. This night was too hectic for their own good, and all either one of them wanted to do was curl up with the ones they loved.
Phew!!! Got a little intense for a minute, there! *grin* ( ( ( That's the way [uh-huh, uh-huh] I *like* it [uh-huh, uh-huh] ) ) ) Alrighty!!! . . . so I hope you guys enjoyed that, and there's much more Sirius/Joey mush to come . . . You didn't forget that she's on her way up to his dorm, did you?! *giddy laughter* And James is on his way to Lily's dorm . . . but do you guys really want me to write about that at all? I'm not sure if I really want to get into the whole "what do Lily and James do behind the curtain?" thing . . . but I guess it's up to you guys! Just hit that review button, and send me your opinions! They really do matter!!! *wink* Thank y'all much! And much luv to all who review! = ]
-Sara (a.k.a Sportzjunkie)
Annoriel: Hell, yeah! Girl power all the way! LOL! Sirius doesn't know what he's gotten into! *giggles* Joey is sooo in control.
Jenstarz: Hehehe! I know, I can barely picture her playing quidditch either! But you know, Weald was *coaxed* into putting her on the team . . . However, we will find out pretty soon that it wasn't just that that got Catrina on the team . . . *wink* Hehehe! (OH! And I totally love legally blonde, too! Have you seen the second one yet? I thought it was adorable!)
DPhoenix: Thanks so much for the support! I love it when I actually get people wanting to read my next chapter! Hehehe! Hope you enjoy this next one, too!
Emmah-Leah: Yup! I was wondering how obvious I had made it as to who was going to be the new chaser! *grin* You're catching on to me! Wonder what else you'll predict.
Angel: Yes, yes! 'Squirm' is a perfect word to use! Bwahahaha!
Greenfairie: No worries! More Remus and you to come! LOL. Any suggestions, just let me know what's on your mind! *wink* After all, It's your relationship! Hahaha! But I'm serious about the suggestion thing . . . I do have some ideas up my sleeve, but I'm curious to hear what you think too . . . maybe they'll work together!
Mercury: Thanks for the awesome support! I definitely felt that was a mile stone too! And judging by your little *prediction* (Whether you knew it was a prediction or not) about 'you-know-what' . . . I can definitely tell you'd do well in divination class with Trelawney!
Casco: I'm glad you're enjoying my work! I really hope that you'll find this next chapter to your enjoyment, too!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Para mi amiga nueva, Sakura:
Sportzjunkie: Hola Chica! Que tal? Ojala que te gusta este capitula! JaJaJaJaJa! *winks*
Sakura: *shakes head and laughs* Callate, Por favor. Tu eres loca en la cabeza!
Sportzjunkie: Yo soy muy intelegente, no?
Sakura: *stifles laugh* Si, tu eres *muy* intelegente! [insert Spanish sarcasm here]
Sportzjunkie: LOL. I've created my own version of talking in Spanish for those of us who really can't: Just do your best to get the point across, then cross your fingers and hope that Spanish speaking people can understand you! I like to call it 'Espanol para idiotas!' = ]
Thanks for the help Sakura! My mistakes on the last chapter have been corrected. *grin* You are my new Spanish speakin' buddy! Let's just say I blame Senora Malone (my Spanish teacher) for making me so damn incomprehensible when it comes to the language! Anywayz, Hope you like this new chapter!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* And to all of you:
Okay . . . so this chapter has a lot of emotions running through it, and I won't lie to you . . . most of the emotions are pretty frustrating for Joey. I'm sorry, but I just had to write this chapter! It was important to me, and hit me deeper than I really thought it would . . . yes, I'm serious . . . I was actually feeling what Joey was feeling as she went through this stuff. It's just amazing how stories affect you when you write or read them! Hope you guys can understand what I mean when you read this chapter, too! ; }
Anywayz, to stop boring you, here is the chapter, and I hope you all enjoy it! = ]
"Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit."
Kahlil Gibran
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Joey suddenly became very aware of the fact that her mouth was hanging open in shock. She quickly snapped it shut as Catrina Strumpet flashed her a very self-righteous looking sneer. Joey glared daggers back at the little whore in front of her. How could Weald do this to the team?! This girl was not only an inevitable shit-load of trouble, but Joey just had an odd little suspicion that this girl would not be able to play quidditch for beans!
Weald began introducing Catrina to the team, spending a little time telling everyone about her and how she had just transferred to Hogwarts . . . blah, blah, blah. Joey wasn't paying attention. She was too busy to listen, because now she was giving Weald an uncontrollable, fuming look. Some of the nicknames that were running through her head right now were nothing short of a soap-worthy mouth cleansing.
Suddenly, a quick, but, to some extent, mild elbow was found at the side of her rib cage. She looked up at her guilty assailant and found James sitting next to her on the bench. He looked livid. This made Joey feel somewhat better, knowing that she wasn't the only one who was angry about this. James leaned over and began whispering into her ear, completely to the ignorance of Weald, as he buzzed on about the *fabulous* Catrina.
"Can you believe this?!" he callously groaned under his breath. "This is ridiculous!"
"I know," Joey whispered back.
"I mean, the guy fucks bunches of girls each week . . . why on earth would he put this girl on the team just because she gave it up?" Joey shrugged at James' thoughts. The situation was a little too suspicious to ignore.
"Maybe we should ask him about it," Joey suggested. James nodded and then was quiet.
They waited for Weald to finish his rambling, and, finally, when everyone was walking out to the quidditch pitch for practice to begin, James and Joey held Weald back. He looked a little puzzled at the expressions on their faces.
"What's up, guys?" he asked with a bit of a worried tone. The locker room was now empty except for the three of them.
"Weald, what the hell is that floozy doing on our team? You can't be serious about having her as one of our chasers . . . even if you did get into her pants for the deal!" James looked too angry to really care about what he had just said to his captain. He was lucky that Weald seemed more proud of himself for having people aware of his *relations,* than he was angry about James' disrespectful tone.
"It's more than that, Potter," he said quietly, as if he didn't want anyone else to hear him. Joey just stood there, wondering if she should leave before she had to hear any more about Weald's sex life. "It was Dumbledore and McGonagall who came to me to talk about Catrina being on the quidditch team." He paused for a moment to let his comment settle in.
"What did they say?"
"Well, apparently, when Catrina transferred here, her parents had a talk with Dumbledore, and told him about why she was relocated to a new school . . . It seems that she had a few . . . *problems* at her old school." Weald gave the two listeners a very knowing look as he continued. "And since the Strumpets are extremely, powerfully rich people in the Wizarding world, they decided to send Catrina here, *bribe* Dumbledore with some huge funding, and hope for her to turn her life around . . . so to speak. "Of course, knowing how understanding and trusting Dumbledore is, he took Catrina in, and promised to try his best to help her out some. This is where the subject of quidditch came in . . . Dumbledore thought since we were still down a player, it would be best for her to be on the team to 'help get her into the house spirit'" Weald said, imitating Dumbledore's voice with his last little quote.
"And that's why she's on the team?!" Joey snapped. "Because Dumbledore felt bad for her?!!" Weald nodded sadly.
"And that's not the worst of it. This girl has absolutely NO TALENT on a broomstick! It's pathetic to even watch!" Both James and Joey groaned. This season was really going to suck.
"So what are we going to do about it?" James asked with a worried tone. A sick little smirk appeared on Weald's face.
"Make the best of a bad situation, of course!" He said, sounding quite a bit more cheerful than he had a few moments before.
"I see you've already taken to that suggestion," Joey said with a disgusted tone, as she got another whiff of the 'rubbed-off' perfume that was clinging to Weald's scent.
"Well, what can I say?" Weald grinned, the smudge of red lipstick more prominent on his mouth that ever before. "I had to make her think she got on the team some other way besides pity. Dumbledore forbade me to tell her about the little conversation that went on between him and her parents . . . my idea just seemed to be a little more. . ."
"Repulsive? Sick? Deceitful? Take your pick!" Joey spat out in his face. James elbowed her sharply in the side again, and his eyes flashed as if warning her not to get on Weald's bad side. Joey wasn't one for sticking up for sluts like Catrina, but there are just some situations where girls need to stick up for one another.
But Weald just laughed. He seemed so proud of himself for what he had *accomplished.*
"For your information, *Joe* . . ." He said her name with extra emphasis, almost like he was mocking her, ". . . she came onto me more than I came onto her . . . just like all the other girls do." He cocked an eyebrow and flashed her a suggestive smirk. Joey felt like throwing up. Sensing the tension, James quickly stepped in.
"Yeah . . . you keep telling yourself that, Weald," he gave a fake laugh as the other boy glared at him. Then he quickly grabbed Joey's arm and hauled her after him, out towards the quidditch pitch. "You coming to practice, Captain?"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
That evening's practice was excruciatingly tiring . . . at least for some people. Weald had split everyone up, so that everyone got to practice working with moves corresponding to their own particular positions. James spent the time practicing with releasing and catching the snitch. Robert, the keeper, spent the time blocking the shots that the chasers, Nick, Joseph, and Catrina, were throwing at him. (Though, Catrina took about one shot and gave up immediately because she had broken a nail. All of the boys rolled their eyes at her over reaction to the small mishap, but, nevertheless, she was now frantically filing it down to prevent further breakage. This did NOT please Weald.) And the person who was being worked the hardest of all, was Joey.
She was working with Weald because he was the other beater. They were positioned about twenty feet from each other, and were continuously hitting a bludger back and forward between themselves. This match-up would have been fine considering that Joey could have easily held her own against the big bloke, but the fact that Weald's broom was MUCH faster than Joey's old school one, and the fact that his club was MUCH stronger than Joey's grubby school one, caused Joey to be working about ten times harder than he was.
Weald soon realized the difference in their equipment levels, and thought it would be best to take advantage of the situation. He would purposely keep hitting the bludger far to the sides of Joey, causing her to have to dive her broom downward. The stupid old Dust-hop broom she was on was no match for Weald's Cleansweep 260, so she nearly always missed his cheap, low shots.
Not only was her broom a piece of shit, but the wooden club she was using was too old and rotten-stricken, that she couldn't even pack a punch when she *did* make contact with the bludger. Weald's steel club would smack the pieces out of the bludger, and have it barreling back towards Joey before she could even regain her balance from the effort she had to put into her club to even return his last hit!
Overall, Joey found that quidditch practice was a living hell if you didn't have the right equipment. She spent the entire time wishing she had the stuff she had mail-ordered already, but never once did she open her mouth and complain. She simply kept her cool, and went and retrieved the bludger every time it spun off into another direction after she had whiffed it.
She couldn't help, however, when the utter frustration crept over her face when Weald decided to sharpen the rules. He said that if she kept playing as bad as she was, he was going to make her do three pushups and run a lap around the quidditch field for every time she missed it. Yes. You heard me right: RUN, not fly. Joey found herself descending to the ground before you could say 'fuck this,' just so she could sprint a lap around the pitch, complete three push-ups, and ascend back up into the flying hell of doom.
The main problem with this routine, however, was that the more running and push-ups she did, the more tired she would get, and the more shots she would miss. It was a never ending cycle of running, 'push-up'ing, whiffing, and, most of all, cursing. Even when Weald missed a few shots, he wouldn't have to do anything extra besides go and retrieve the ball! Joey was pissed. This was utterly unfair in every way.
By the end of the practice, she had hit sad a total of fifteen shots made at her, missed a total of forty-five shots made at her, sprinted a total of thirty-five times around the quidditch pitch, and done a grand total of 105 pushups. There was no justice. No one could believe the torture Weald was putting her through. They all felt bad for Joey, but no one could say anything to Weald, because they were afraid that he would put them through the same thing.
When the team entered the locker room after practice that night, she was talking to no one. There was an expression of pure loathing across her face, and all she wanted to do was scream her throat hoarse. Joey stumbled over to the girls' side of the locker room, grabbed a towel, and headed for the girls' showers.
Catrina said that she refused to change in such a 'repulsive' environment, and left to go shower up in her dorm. It didn't matter anyways. The little 'Barbie by-product' hadn't done a single thing to physically exert herself in practice, anyways! That is, unless you consider filing your nail down frantically and spending time flying 'side-saddle' on you broom, tiring.
Joey climbed into the hot shower in the locker room and just let the hot water poor down her face. The warm, steamy water pattered down onto her cheeks, and began rinsing the dirt away from her wind-whipped skin. Her tonsils felt swollen. It was like there was a huge, stinging lump caught in the back of her throat, and she couldn't swallow it away.
She knew what it was. It was all the emotions she had been storing up inside of her, trying to leak out from her aching body. She pressed her eyes tightly together as her face scrunched up, and finally gave into the emotions her worn-out and exhausted body was fighting. The painful tears began pouring from her eyes, and she held her breath as all of the anger welled up into her head.
The warm water was now mixing with the salty tears on her face as she slightly opened her mouth to exhale. The shuttering breath came out as a quiet sob, and she put her hands to her face to muffle the sound. Though the boys were on the other side of the locker room, they would still be able to hear someone bawling their eyes out, and that was exactly what she didn't want.
She just stood there, smothering her sobbing into the shower, under the hot jet. She tried multiple times to get a hold of herself, but it was no use. She absolutely HATED feeling bad for herself, but the frustration that had built up in her all throughout that practice was now finding an outlet through her tears. There was no other way.
After she heard a few more people leave the locker room, she finally stopped crying and decided to start washing her hair. The aroma of the shampoo caught hold of the steam rising off the water, and gently wafted all around the girls' showering hall. The scent was therapeutic to Joey as her breathing finally returned to normal, and her depression subsided. Sometimes, all it takes to feel a bit better is a good cry.
Joey heard the locker room door open and close a few more times, and when she was almost positive that she was the only person left in the locker room, she finally turned off the shower. Joey listened carefully for a moment, and when she heard silence, she decided that she was finally alone. That was how she wanted it.
She had been under the water jet for about twenty-five minutes, and most of that time she had spent weeping. Practice had gone on for two hours, and it was now almost eight-thirty. Lucky for her, she had already eaten dinner, so now she only had to go up to her dorm and get a start on that evening's homework before she turned in for the night. *Goodie.*
Seventh years' common-room curfew wasn't until ten o'clock, so Joey took her sweet-ass time wringing out her hair. She trudged over to her towel, wrapped it around her body and tucked a flap in so she wouldn't have to hold it up with her arms. She exhaustedly gathered up her practice robes and stumbled out from the steamy showering hall, into the icy-cold air of the locker room.
She shivered as she walked bare-footed around the locker room, over to where her locker was situated. When she turned the corner into her section, she found none other than James Potter lying on his back, stretched out along the bench. When he saw her, he sat up and gave her a weak smile. It didn't really bother him that she was wearing nothing but a towel . . . to him, Joey was more like a close sister than someone who really turned him on.
She returned his smile with an even weaker one, and strode over to her locker, opened it and started pulling out some clothes.
"Hey, Joey," he whispered. "You okay?" She nodded silently. He didn't need to get her crying again.
"I'm fine," she croaked, her voice betraying her obvious lie.
"Listen. I don't know what was up with Weald tonight . . . I tried talking to him . . . told him he needed to lighten up until you got some real equipment . . . It's just-"
"Thanks," she said flatly, cutting him off before he could say anything else. James had a hurt look in his eyes.
"You know, you've got some real talent . . . I just wish that Weald would get off his high-horse and make an effort to really train you . . . not kill you!" he paused for a moment. "It'll get better, Joey. I promise . . . please don't quit."
Joey stopped rummaging through her locker for a moment at his last comment. She couldn't deny the fact that the option of quitting had run through her mind so many times that evening.
"So what if I do?!" she spat. "Who would care?" James looked almost hysterical at her comment. He was shocked that she would even ask such a thing.
"Joey! The whole team would! Everyone on the team is really eager to see what kind of a player you'll develop into! We were all angry with how Weald treated you, and we all made sure he realized that. We haven't had a second beater on this team as good as you in . . . a REALLY long time! Please don't quit!" James grabbed one of Joey's hands that had been dangling limply by her side. His voice was soothing again. "I promise that Weald will come around eventually and accept the fact that a girl, who's never seriously played quidditch in her life, might be as good as him. His ego is just a little too at jeopardy here! He can't handle it now . . . but he will! Promise me you won't quit!"
Joey was silent for a moment. She looked down at James' pleading face, and a small, half-hearted smirk turned up at the left side of her mouth. She nodded slowly. "Alright," she whispered, sounding very unenthusiastic, "I promise."
James grinned and pulled her into a hug. "Good!" he laughed. "Now I'll let you get dressed, and we can walk up to the common-room together."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Joey and James made their way up to the Gryffindor common room in better spirits than they had been in all through practice. Joey didn't feel so emotionally exhausted, and she was actually looking forward to a practice where she would have her real equipment with her. Weald will pay the day she gets her new equipment. She would work him ragged.
They arrived at the fat lady, gave her the pass-word, and Joey climbed in the portrait hole, just behind James. When they were about to enter the dimly lit common room, James stopped flat in his tracks, causing Joey to slam sharply into his back.
"Owww, James! Can't you go a single day without causing me to crash into you?!"
"Shhh! Joey, look at Remus! What the hell is he doing . . . with her?!!"
Joey glanced over James shoulder, looking for Remus. She spotted him sitting at the common room's homework table with a potions book in front of him, and, suddenly, memories of McShailty's punishment flooded into her brain. She cursed silently to herself. Remus and she had decided to take turns each night to tutor McShailty's Gryffindor students who needed it, and tonight was Remus' turn because tomorrow was his detention. Right now, however, it appeared that Remus was getting the full blast of torture from his punishment. Sitting right next to him, hovering over a potions book, was none other than a freshly showered, Catrina Strumpet.
"Poor Remus," she whispered in James' ear. "This is our punishment for hugging in class today."
"What do you mean by *your* punishment. It looks like Remus is the only one who's suffering!" James laughed under his breath. Joey elbowed him.
"We're taking turns each night. I'm not sure how long it'll go for, but it will go on for a while . . ."
"Wonder who you'll get stuck with," James teased. Joey's suddenly stopped in her train of thought. Oh SHIT! Who was she going to get stuck with?! She hadn't thought about that. Surely there wouldn't be that many students who needed help with potions . . . she'd be stuck with her person for a very, very long time.
"Omigod," Joey whispered. "What will I do if it's somebody I totally despise?!"
"Well, at least you know it won't be Catrina!" he laughed. James accidentally said this a little too loud, and Remus and the 'Barbie look- alike,' sitting next to him, looked up.
"Hey guys!" Remus called. He looked extremely enthusiastic to have someone interrupt his little 'alone time' with Catrina. "How was practice?!"
"Oh . . ." Joey began with a very unenthusiastic tone. ". . . it was-"
"Just peachy!" Catrina scoffed arrogantly. "Though, I think Madam Suck over there has missed more balls than she's hit . . ." she paused for a moment as a rather bitchy smile crept up her cheek. ". . .hmmmm . . . kind of like real life I imagine."
Joey glared at Catrina like she was about to lunge at her and slit her throat. But then, eventually, Joey smiled too . . . though, it looked more like the evil smirk she got when she was thinking something really evil.
"Yes . . . well I have to admit it was pretty amusing to watch you, too . . . sitting side-saddle . . . refusing to even straddle you broom. Though that confuses me a bit . . ." Joey paused for a moment as she purposely scrunched up her face and cocked her head to the side like she was really pondering something. ". . . why would you bother keeping your legs together during practice, when you don't seem to implement that principle off the field very much?" There was a very loud snort of laughter, and everyone in the room soon became very aware of the fact the James had busted up laughing at Joey's remark.
Catrina shot up out of her chair, and stomped over to the spot right in front of Joey. The girls were mere inches apart, and the ear-splitting silence that had settled in the room now seemed very uncomfortable.
The silence was broken in a split second as the skin on the palm of Catrina's hand made stinging contact with the flawless skin of Joey's face. Owwww . . .
Joey's eyes snapped shut as she refused to flinch from the bitch slapping she had just received. Catrina looked half-way between the emotions of rage and pride as she felt smug for slapping Joey, but angry at the girl's lack of response to it. This would not do for her. There had to be some other way to get under Joey's skin. As Joey's eyes remained pasted shut, refusing to open as they might betray her by watering from the stinging, Catrina leaned in so that she was now whispering into her enemy's ear.
"You know it's inevitable . . . I've stolen your man once . . . and I sure as hell am going to do it again." Joey's eyes snapped open in fury, and Catrina pulled away, a little scared at the flames that were now raging in her enemy's eyes. It took a split second for Joey to wind up, and before anyone knew it, Catrina found herself lying flat on her back on the common room's stone floor, clutching her nose that was now trickling with blood. Her eyes were clamped shut, and tons of tears were running down her face.
Suddenly, the girl could feel a very tight pulling on her long blond hair that was sprawled out, fanning all around her. She winced as she opened her eyes and looked up to see Joey's tall frame glaring down at her from full height. Joey was still wearing her muddy quidditch boots, and now one of them was pinning down Catrina's head by her blond locks, and mucking up her once freshly-washed hair.
"If you EVER say anything like that to me again . . ." Joey was seething with anger, ". . . I will see to it that I make your life a living hell . . . do you understand me?!" Catrina just stared up at Joey refusing to do or say anything. This was not okay. Joey pressed her shoe down harder on Catrina's hair, causing the girl to grimace as her hair was pulled tighter to the boot. "Well?!"
Catrina nodded frantically, only worried about how much it hurt to have her hair being slowly yanked out of her head by a boot. This seemed to be good enough for Joey, because she drew back her shoe and grabbed her book bag that she had left on the table from earlier. She glanced over at Remus when he spoke.
"Sirius is in his dorm," he said, looking at Joey. Then he turned his gaze to James and said, "Lily's in her dorm."
Both Joey and James nodded at Remus, and then exchanged understanding glances at each other. Then they head up in opposite directions: James towards the girls' dorms, and Joey towards the boys'. This night was too hectic for their own good, and all either one of them wanted to do was curl up with the ones they loved.
Phew!!! Got a little intense for a minute, there! *grin* ( ( ( That's the way [uh-huh, uh-huh] I *like* it [uh-huh, uh-huh] ) ) ) Alrighty!!! . . . so I hope you guys enjoyed that, and there's much more Sirius/Joey mush to come . . . You didn't forget that she's on her way up to his dorm, did you?! *giddy laughter* And James is on his way to Lily's dorm . . . but do you guys really want me to write about that at all? I'm not sure if I really want to get into the whole "what do Lily and James do behind the curtain?" thing . . . but I guess it's up to you guys! Just hit that review button, and send me your opinions! They really do matter!!! *wink* Thank y'all much! And much luv to all who review! = ]
-Sara (a.k.a Sportzjunkie)