Mercury15: Hey! Thanks for being so patient and sending me a review
despite the problems the site was throwing at you! You're an awesome
reviewer for sending me feedback and telling me what you're thinking while
you're reading this stuff! Thanx so much!
Lj: *giggles* You're too sweet! And, yes, of course I will continue! I'm too addicted to writing this story to NOT continue! Hehehehe! Thanks for the support!
J-chan8: Thanks a bundle for the compliment! I hope you continue to enjoy reading my chapters!
Panny Savage: Hey! It's so good to hear from you again! I'm glad you've taken back up to reading and reviewing my story! Thanx much for your continuing support!
Blonded: Omigod! I'm sooo sorry you came to that observation. I meant in NO way to have this seem like blonds are bitches or ANYTHING like that! My reasons for making Catrina blond were simply to offer a contrast to Joey being brunette and Lily being a red-head. Made more sense to have her be an opposite! If I had her be a brunette just like Joey, then she'd be too similar to my main character and I'd have difficulties trying to create a *unique* mental picture of her for my readers. It's a similar concept with people even like Laura. I made her a dirty-blond because a) it matches Remus, and b) it is a unique color to any of the other girls in the story so far. Does that make sense? I truly hope so, because I don't want to insult ANY of my readers. Much luv!
Sakura: *giggles* Chapter 22 wasn't *that* bad! LOL! This fic. *is* PG- 13, and I didn't really think I even came close to going any higher than the rating! Hehehehe! But I do know how over-protective some parents are, so I'll just simply give you a pat on the back and say: "Yes; you are lucky as hell!" LOL! Thanks for reading and reviewing my story, and I sincerely hope that you'll find the time to continue to grace me with your wonderful words of encouragement! *grin*
Emmah-Leah: Hehehehe! Yes, yes . . . spanking James would be a very interesting concept to get over! *giggles uncontrollably* Your review was sooo nice! Omigod! I was like totally inspired! Hehehehe! You're an awesome chica, and I totally hope that you continue w/ your wonderful stories as well! Much luv!
Siriuslvr: That's totally funny that you live right near Disneyland! Hehehehe! To think that I could have been right around you . . . LOL. So do you see the fireworks *every* night when they go off in the park? That'd be hella cool and, yet, hella annoying at the same time! *giggles* Anywayz, thanks so much for your review! Totally made me believe that you guys are actually feeling what I'm trying to make realistic through my writing! Thanks a bundle! Hope you continue to read and review my work!
Dana Whelks: Hahahahaha! Alright! Enough with the pounding! Here it is! *wink* LOL! Hope you like this one too! Thanx so much for the feed back! I'm glad to get some reviewers who aren't completely partial to the OC thing, but then tell me I'm giving a pretty good effort of pulling it off! Makes me feel really appreciated! *grin*
Greenfairie: Yeah! Go Pluto! Hehehehe! I got this adorable little stuffed animal of him . . . *giggles* Omigod, it's just too cut for words! He's sitting right here on my desk with me and is staring up at me while I type this. Hehehehe! *reviewers start cracking up as author begins to make little cooing noises at the stuffed creature* Right! So Remus WILL be coming up! I promise! But I don't think I'll be able to show their whole ordeal in detention . . . my story's been kind of 'third person limited,' meaning I don't stretch far away from Joey even though the story isn't her POV, so it'd be kinda random for me to suddenly focus in on *just* Remus all of the sudden. Hope you understand. But NO WORRIES . . . your time WILL come! Mark my words! BWAHAHAHAHA! You're just gonna hafta trust me first . . . there's gonna kinda be something happening before that, so just take it easy and try not to send me any flames or something. *nervous laughter* It WILL be okay! THanx again for all your support! Hope you'll continue to read and review!
Jenstarz: Well I'm glad somebody appreciated the fact that I gave some info on Joey's background . . . because it's CERTAINLY going to come up again. I'll tell you that much! (*coughwinterbreakcough*) *grin* Thanks soo much for all the feedback! I really feel like you were covering a lot of the main points in the chapter when you were telling me what you thought. Hehehehe! And the snaps for a great chapter thing . . . OMIGOD! . . . had me in pieces! LOL!
Kiwi: Hahahaha! Your lovely rendition of your Iowa trip had me cracking up. "nothing but corn and bugs" LOL! And I'm totally glad you like the mush in that last chapter! I totally know how you feel about needing a guy like Sirius! Hehehehe! Too bad I don't have enough time for a boyfriend . . . I'd totally go Sirius-guy hunting. *author starts cracking up* But, hey . . . hope you like this next chapter! And yes, dogs are the best! *grin*
Fantasy4: Glad you enjoyed it so far! And I hope you take pleasure in reading what I have for the future as well! *grin* Please continue to read and review! I appreciate your contributions! *grin*
KATE: *phew* That was a lot of reviews you sent me . . . and a lot of judgment as well. I respect your opinions, but I have to say that I was a bit surprised when some of them simply left me hanging: "um . . . enough with the carrying already. It's sweet, but . . . yah." (ch. 6) I am not quite sure what you were implying with some of your . . . "comments," but I will try to take it as a compliment that you took the time to continue to voice your opinions on so many of my chapters. You certainly did have a lot of problems with certain *details* of my story, and I am sorry that you feel that way. I only find it unfavorable that you did not take the time to sign in . . . seems you must have found it uncomfortable to criticize me and receive any response in return. If that is the case, that is quite unfortunate . . . but I will continue to hope that you will take the time to *constructively* criticize my work . . . not *just* send complaints. Thank you.
Casco/Sneaky Girl who snuck onto my account: You are such a little cat turd! LOL! I can't believe you did that! Hahahaha! What will my reviewers think when they see that "I" wrote myself a review, you big bobo! (As for anyone who is confused by reading this, I DID NOT write that one review that says was posted by "Sportzjunkie" That happens to have been my sneaky, older (yet quite less mature) sister who thought it'd be comical to do that!) Needless to say I was surprised as hell, but then found it rather funny in the long run. Please stick to your OWN account, Cassie! After all, I DO KNOW WHERE YOU SLEEP!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
And to everybody:
Hello, hello!!! Feels soo good to be back and writing to ya'll again!!! Missed you guys sooo much, and I can't even tell you HOW NICE it was to return home to all of your very nice and very loonnngg reviews! I love long reviews! *grin* So anywayz . . . Hope this chapter is up to standards! And I'm sooo sorry for the wait! I'll have to hurry my butt up and do a lot of writing before school starts again . . . then I'll have, like, NO time to write! *shivers* My teachers show no mercy when it comes to homework. What can I say? School starts Sept. 3 and volleyball takes over as well! I'll get cracking on the writing though . . . make up for it ahead of time. Hope you guys continue to R & R. Much luv from your one and only Sportzjunkie!!!
-Sara
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Joey was walking down the stone steps of the boys' dormitories with a smile that evening. When she entered the warm atmosphere of the empty Gryffindor common room, she let out an exhausted sigh and made her way across the room to the girls' dormitory stairs. Before she reached the stairs, however, the brilliant heat that was radiating from the fireplace caused her to give a once-over towards the blaze, curious as to why it would burn so bright for an empty room.
To her surprise, the common room wasn't completely empty, as she had originally suspected it was. Sitting on the red Gryffindor couch, oblivious to anything or anyone who happened to be in the room, was no other than Remus Lupin. He was staring, clearly lost in thought, at the intense flames in front of him. Joey found it odd for her werewolf friend to be sitting all alone like he was on a Monday night, doing absolutely nothing but brooding over something that was clearly bothering him. She felt such a sudden urge to comfort her good buddy that her feet were carrying her over to the couch to join him before she was even aware of it.
"Remus?" Joey spoke out hesitantly. Remus' eyes abruptly snapped away from the inferno, and his head cleared out of his trance-like state.
"Joey!" he voiced aloud without really knowing why; he didn't really know what else to say. He looked back at the fire and continued to be devoured in contemplation. Joey hesitated for a moment before sliding down onto the couch cushion next to her blue-eyed friend.
"Something bothering you?" she asked feeling a little ridiculous for being so blunt. He slowly pulled his eyes away from the blaze and allowed his gaze to meet Joey's. She couldn't sense anything about his feelings from looking into his eyes, and this was a bad sign. It made her feel a little edgy. She was *always* able to read what Remus was feeling through his eyes . . . but now . . . those big sapphire orbs, once so bursting of emotion and disposition, told her nothing. Something was REALLY bothering him, but he didn't seem to want her to know. What could he have been hiding?
"Do you want to talk about it?" She found this question much more to her own liking . . . it wasn't so blunt, yet it still allowed for the ball to land in his court. Now it was his decision if the rally should continue. The sandy-blond boy in front of her now opened his mouth to speak, but then quickly shut it again. He gave her a pained look and shut shook his head sadly. Joey made her way to say something, but was surprised when Remus cut her off.
"She knows . . ." was all he managed to croak out. Joey thought it wise for her to try and analyze the statement before showering him with a whole bunch of 'who/what/when/where' questions, which could cause him to back up into reserve again.
"She knows." She simply repeated his words in hopes that he would understand how vague that declaration really was. Remus nodded sadly. Joey hadn't seen the poor blue eyes look that sad in a *very* long time. But at any rate, she now felt comforted by the fact that she was getting through to him . . . at least now he wouldn't have to suffer through these pains alone.
" . . . my secret," he whispered hoarsely so it was barely audible to even Joey, who was right next to him. Though she knew what 'secret' he was talking about within the split second that he voiced the words, she waited a few moments before pushing for more info.
"She knows your secret . . ." Joey winced at the sound of her quaking voice. But she only managed to get out one more word before Remus cut her off again. "Laura-?"
"-Catrina!" he spout out, angrily. Joey was silent for a long time after this. So many things were running through her mind at that moment that she thought she might have passed out, had she not been sitting down. This was BAD!!! It was bad enough that someone could have possibly found out about Remus' secret . . . but the fact that it was *Catrina,* of all bloody people to find out . . . Joey just couldn't even get herself to think of the terrible things that could arise from this.
Without realizing it, Joey had slipped off into a whirl of thoughts while allowing her eyes to be absorbed into the alluring beauty of the fiery inferno in front of her. As her mind began to return back to reality however, she became very aware of the fact that Remus was looking straight at her with a look that said he was trying to figure out what she was thinking. "Say something," he pleaded under his breath, just loud enough to be heard over the crackling flames.
"Catrina knows about . . . about-?" she couldn't bring herself to finish. Perhaps she had misinterpreted his statement earlier, and the secret he was talking about had nothing to do with his secret lycanthropy issues.
"-about Moony? Yes," he said, finishing her question and then confirming it with the painful reality.
"But how-"
"She saw me last month . . ." he groaned, sounding completely exhausted by the whole ordeal. "You know she transferred here about one week before the ball?"
"Yeah . . . Lily told me. But you didn't transform until-"
"-that Tuesday before the ball . . ." he trailed off miserably. "*Apparently,* Catrina had seen us four boys leaving the castle that evening, and she just so happened to be curious as to what we were doing . . . so she followed us."
"But did you know at the time?"
"No!!! We had no idea that anyone had seen us! And we had been so careful too . . ." Remus shook his head slowly. "There were no people around who could have seen us . . ."
Joey held his gaze for a moment as she pondered thoughtfully and sympathetically at what he was saying. But then it hit her like a ton of bricks. Her eyes got wide, and even Remus could tell she had figured something out.
"Remus . . . did you see any animals around you while you were on your way out? Like . . . a cat, perhaps?!"
"Uhhh . . . well, I dunno. I guess there could have been one . . . like Mrs. Norris or whatever . . . but I doubt that she would-" He was cut off:
"Any *Siamese* cats, perhaps?!!"
"Well . . . no I don't think . . . but then . . ." suddenly Remus stopped talking and his eyes got *really* large. "OH MY GOD, JOEY! There WAS that one cat that Sirius said was looking at him funny . . . and I'm pretty sure it was a Siamese one, too!!!" He looked down at his lap as his mind tried to remember better. "How could I have forgotten that?! . . . Granted, I *was* about to turn into a blood thirsting, ravenous werewolf at the time. . . so I wasn't exactly in the mood to stop and smell the roses . . . but, STILL!!!" His eyes caught hold of Joey's knowing gaze. "Joey, what does this mean?"
"It means that Catrina is, in fact, an animagus," Joey said. "But that doesn't get down to the root of your problem . . . Remus, did she threaten you in any way?"
"Not specifically . . . but she did say that I should be careful or else who knew where my 'juicy little secret' could get slipped to . . ."
"Uhhh . . . that sounds like blackmail to me!" Joey retorted angrily. "That good for nothing little-"
"Joey! I couldn't care less if half the school knew . . . just as long as a *certain* person didn't find out . . ."
"You mean Laura?" Joey whispered so it was barely even audible to Remus over the popping of the fire. Remus nodded urgently.
"Joey . . . if she finds out . . . oh, God . . . she'd never even look at me again, let alone give me a chance to get to know her better. . ." he trailed off with a depressing groan. "Why me?" he moaned under his breath. Joey leaned in and rubbed the side of his arm.
"It's okay, Remus," Joey comforted. "We just can't let Catrina find out about Laura. Just act like Catrina doesn't have anything against you, and I'm sure eventually she'll get bored with the fact that she isn't getting under your skin."
"But what if she *does* find out about Laura and how I'd just die is she found out?! Then I'll have no choice but to become . . . her man slave! Oh, God, Joey . . . what would I do?" Joey was surprised at the amount of fear she could see shining through her friend's eyes. He must have really liked this girl to be in such a spasm over this situation.
"Don't worry, Remus," Joey cooed. "I'll keep an eye on her, and you keep an eye on Laura. If you see Catrina talking to Laura- or anyone else for that matter- don't hesitate to say that one little word . . ." Remus gave her a confused look.
"Stop?" he suggested.
"I was thinking more along the lines of 'obliviate' . . . but we don't want to be too hasty unless your cover is really at jeopardy. Lord knows if that spell backfires . . . it's a difficult repair job at Saint Mungo's for the recipient. . ." Remus managed to crack a smile at this.
"So do you think I'll still be able to ask her out tomorrow at detention?" he asked hopefully.
"Hey," Joey laughed, "if you can manage to ask her out in the middle of detention with out McShailty stopping you . . . than I highly doubt that some hooch is going to get in your way!" Remus nodded appreciatively.
"Yeah . . . you're right. Thanks, Joey." Joey smiled and leaned in to hug him.
"Hey . . . Don't mention it! Any job where the chance may arise to do some kind of hex on Catrina is totally my thing!" She gave him a friendly pat on the back as she stood up. "Now I'm going to bed . . . I have a long day of school tomorrow, and then I have to go tutor some potion-ly challenged Gryffindor."
"Do you know who you've got, yet?" Joey shook her head.
"And I won't lie to you . . . knowing *my* luck when it comes to people . . . I'm as scared as hell about who it's going to be!" Remus gave her an understanding shrug along with a laugh, as he stood up and walked over towards the boy's dormitory stairs.
"Goodnight, Joey."
"G'nite, Moony."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The next day's classes seemed to crawl by for Joey. It felt like she was in a never ending haze of boredom until lunch finally rolled around. She was happy to finally get to spend some time with her friends, but was a little annoyed when Remus reminded her that she had to make a trip over to McShailty's classroom to pick up that day's lesson plan. Professor McShailty decided to provide Joey and Remus each day with the lesson plan he had taught to that day's remedial potions class. It would come in handy during their evening tutoring sessions, so they could know what the students were learning ahead of time.
So she left the great hall a little early before lunch was over, and started heading over towards the dungeons. Just as she neared the corner that would turn onto the corridor that would lead her to the potions classroom, Joey could hears some muffled slobbering and moaning noises coming from around the turn. Her face scrunched up into what looked to be a vomit-induced expression and proceeded cautiously down the rest of the way towards the bend.
As she turned the corner, she suddenly did feel a sudden urge to loose the lovely lunch she had just consumed minutes before. The sight down the corridor in front of her made her want to cover her eyes and run for shelter. The source of the noise was exactly what she had dreaded, and the two guilty parties were still at the sickening snog session even with Joey present in the same hallway. Not only were the offenders so bold as to mack on each other so close to McShailty's company, but they were accomplishing it up against his classroom door, no less!
"Great!" Joey mumbled under her breath. As she hesitantly made her way over to the blocked door. At first, Joey was trying to keep her gaze on the floor, making a great effort to not recognize either one of the snoggers. But as she got close enough to try and perhaps sneak around them into the classroom, it was impossible to not realize who they were. She didn't suppress the gasp when she recognized the familiar Barbie-wannabe and the freakishly muscular man-whore attached to its face.
But before Joey had much time to try and restrain the urge to thrust her boot up Weald's ass just to get him out of the door way she needed to pass through, the very same door suddenly flung open from the inside. Professor McShailty seemed to wrench that door open with all of the strength possessed in his cantankerous, old self.
"WHAT is going on out here?!" he bellowed, eyes staring pointedly at the two students who had landed on the floor after the support of the door had been yanked from behind them. Joey found herself thinking she'd never been so glad in her life to see the crotchety old man. "Mr. Weald and Miss Strumpet!!! Get off the floor at once and do me a *grand* favor by staying the hell away from my classroom when on any of your other little hormone frenzies!!!"
The two students hopped off the floor and hurried down the corridor . . . both stopping just long enough to shoot Joey a scornful glance of loathing. She simply glared back and rolled her eyes once the two were out of sight.
"Atramentous . . . in!" he commanded as he pointed into his classroom. She shot him a look of defiance, causing him to annoyingly drawl out the word, "*Please* . . ."
As her glare softened into simply a distasteful scowl, she walked into the classroom and stopped before the teacher's desk. McShailty slithered his way over to his desk and hunched over it, picking up a small folder filled will a few sheets of parchment. He picked up the folder and handed it over to Joey.
"I've spoken with Madam Pince and she has agreed to reserve a small booth in the library so you and Remus will be able to do your tutoring in there. I assume you'll find it much quieter than your common room, and I think it will be much more of a suitable environment for trying to drill information into such unintelligent people." Joey couldn't help but give him a shocked look. She couldn't believe that her potions Professor would have gone to the trouble of making sure she was in a comfortable learning environment to teach!
Noticing the uncomfortably appreciative expression coming across Joey's face, the Professor continued on before he might actually have to suffer through 'thank you.' "Your tutoring session will start at seven o'clock this evening and go on for as long as you think need be. Although, with Mr. Weald . . . I'm sure it could go on all night knowing what a stupid idiot he is."
Joey choked on her own spit. "What?!" she barked. "Please don't tell me you just said Mr. Weald?! You've got to be kidding me! There's NO WAY I'm going to be tutoring . . ." she trailed off as she noticed the positively sinister smile climbing up the Professors face. It was useless. 'Son of a Bitch!' she thought angrily to herself. 'That stupid son of a bitch!' He knew that she had a problem with Weald! She didn't know HOW he knew, but judging by the creepy-ass smirk crawling up his face, the punk had to have known something. There was just NO BLOODY WAY that she could be able to handle tutoring Weald for hours at a time . . . not to mention ALONE!!! 'Oh, God!' her head screamed as she suddenly realized what was *really* going on. McShailty had given her the ultimate punishment. No wonder he had arranged for them to have a *private* tutoring booth! He was totally looking to torture her by shoving her into a booth with a loathed enemy! Joey didn't know what else to do besides glare at the cruel professor.
"Oh, yes you will be tutoring him, Miss Atramentous. You are one of my best students aside from Mr. Lupin, and Mr. Weald is one of my worst students aside from Miss Strumpet. Therefore I see no better pair for the job." He paused for moment as Joey continued to glare. It was just too much for him to try and contain a bout of evil laughter. "You may leave now," was all he said. But as Joey turned around, she could see him smirk deviously . . . she hated that man more than anything at that moment.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Now that Joey suddenly found herself dreading the evening to come, the rest of the day seemed to go by so much quicker. In fact, it seemed only minutes later that she found herself sitting in the Gryffindor common room, waiting for Remus so she could talk to him before he left for his detention.
She didn't think it wise to inform Sirius of who her new "study- buddy" was, so when he asked her where she was going, she simply reminded him of McShailty's punishment and told him she'd be back before ten. But that was at dinner that she had spoken to him, and now she was feeling rather bored at the fact that she now had no one to talk to. Where was Remus?!
Flam was on her shoulder chattering noisily to himself, and Joey felt a much more comfortable with the fact that she was taking the bird with her to the tutoring session. At least she could be reassured that if Weald did try anything . . . *cough, cough* . . . he' definitely be wearing an eye patch for a while.
Joey was jerked from her reverie as she heard footsteps coming down the boys' dormitory steps. She rolled her eyes and jumped off the couch without even seeing who the footsteps belonged to, knowing all to well who it was, taking their sweet-ass time sauntering down the steps.
"God, Remus! Took you long enough! I thought you had-" she stopped mid sentence as her eyes fell on the dirty-blond, blue-eyed boy as he came trotting down the last few steps into the common room. Her lips parted slightly and her mouth suddenly went dry as her jaw dropped noticeably downward. His eyes didn't meet her right away, as they scanned around the common room, taking in the surroundings.
"Sorry, Joey. I was just trying to- What's wrong?!" he asked abruptly when his eyes finally met hers. He thought she looked like she was disgusted with how he looked.
"Remus . . . you look-" she couldn't even finish her sentence. Granted, she wasn't attracted to the guy like that, but even she couldn't refuse to accept the fact that he looked . . . if nothing else . . . extremely *HOT.*
His hair didn't seem as 'tame' as it usually did. In fact, it looked like someone had found a way to liquefy and bottle-up silk just to rub it wildly through his hair . . . giving it a really sexy, unkempt look. While the front of his hair was shorter than the back, it was parted down the middle, allowing a few strands hang free to frame his temple. At the back, it cuffed away from his ears and curled adorably at the nape of his neck. He was wearing a navy blue, collared shirt, with loosely fitting khaki pants.
"Sirius did it," he stated matter-of-factly. Joey had to choke back a laugh. The poor guy was self-conscious about it! "I told him the hair was too much! God . . . I knew I shouldn't have trusted him. And then when he refused to give me my hair brush . . ." He would have continued on if Joey hadn't suddenly come to her senses and told him what she really thought of his new look.
"HOT!!! Remus! You look really . . . REALLY good . . . believe me!" she said sounding exasperated. Both of Remus' eyebrows shot up on his head, and a smiled started playing across his smooth lips.
"really . . . you think so?" he asked sounding quite surprised.
"To the point where Laura won't be able to take her eyes off you . . . yes!" she laughed. Remus shrugged and didn't bother to suppress a grin as the two continued out of the common room together. They continued in the general direction away from the Gryffindor tower as Joey quizzed him on what he was planning on saying and how he was going to ask her out.
"And above all," she concluded as they reached the corridor junction where they would have to split up; him heading towards the dungeon, she towards the library, "just be yourself and smile a lot."
"Well, that's kind of hard considering I don't *feel* like myself," he said quietly as he ran a hand through his silky locks. Joey bit her bottom lip and grinned.
"And make sure you do that!" she laughed.
"Do what?" he asked confusedly.
"Run a hand through your hair!" she laughed. "If you do that every time you get stuck in a conversation, she'll be asking you out by the end of the night!" Remus chuckled in amusement.
"Like this?" he said almost mockingly as he over-exaggeratedly ran his hand through his hair again. Joey started laughing too.
"Yeah . . . something like that!" she giggled. "And good luck!" she called over her shoulder as she continued down the corridor to the library.
"You too!" he called back, on his way towards the dungeons.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Joey tiptoed quietly into the library. She always did her best not to make a sound every time she was in there . . . she knew it was a bad idea to get on the wrong side of Madam Pince. Joey eyes soon locked onto the old woman as she was leaning back in her chair, nose buried deep in Witch Weekly's magazine. As Joey crept over towards the desk, she woman's eyes snapped away from the reading material and now focused on the young woman in front of her.
"Ummm . . . I'm Professor McShailty's student-tutor," she said quietly, yet clearly. Madam Pince cocked an eyebrow at Joey, and Joey couldn't help notice how much the woman reminded her of a vulture. Without saying a word, the bird-like hag pointed a long, wrinkly finger in the direction towards the back of the library. Joey nodded in understanding, hiked her book bag up farther on her shoulder, and made her way to the back of the library.
Noticing how completely empty the library seemed, Joey found herself trying to think of a time she had ever seen it crowded in there. And, if she knew her quidditch captain well enough, he probably had never even been in the library before. Just her luck, and Weald probably wouldn't even show up, claiming he couldn't find the library or something. She almost caught herself laughing when she turned the very last corner of book shelves and stopped in her tracks at the sll too familiar sight in front of her.
"God! What is this?! Make out in front of Joey day or something?!" she spat out at the two guilty people in front of her. Needless to say, they didn't bother to turn around, but instead just kept on going about their business.
She would have left them alone, except for the fact that the give- away blond hair in front of her told her that one of these people was definitely Catrina, and the other one, who she couldn't quite see, had to have been the boy she was supposedly going to be tutoring that evening.
"I swear, Weald," she began again in a very menacing tone, "if you don't get your face off that Barbie and shove it in a book in two seconds, I'm just going to have to go to Professor McShailty and tell him that-"
"Joey?" came a voice from behind her. She spun around on her heels at the freakishly familiar voice. "What are you doing over her-"
Joey's mouth dropped open at the sight of the guy behind her. "Weald? But I thought you were. . . then who is-" she whipped back around as Weald began to stare around her at the couple, too. The pair was now giving their lips a break as they confusedly looked over at the babbling spectators in front of them. "Omigod . . ." was all Joey voiced as she turned around and shoved past a shocked Weald and headed into a different, but still just as out-of-sight library booth.
Weald just stood there staring at the duo in front of him, eyes wide in shock and jaw hitting the floor. "Catrina?! But I thought we were . . ." For once in his life, Weald looked hurt. He had never been cheated on by a girl before . . . surely *he* had cheated on numerous, but he had never been with a girl who had the nerve to cheat on *him.*
But suddenly his eyes narrowed, and all form of anguish left his face as he focused on the guys she had cheated on him with. "Amos?" he growled out the other boy's name forebodingly enough to sound like he was ready to attack. But then he just righted himself, huffed loudly, spun around, and headed after Joey towards the library booth without looking back.
ARGGG!!! All will be explained next chapter!!! I want to keep going . . . but I have conditioning tomorrow for volleyball and I have to get up at six in the morning! *growl* Please forgive me! I don't even have time to proof-read my work, so please allow all serious typos to go unnoticed. *wink*
This wasn't nearly as good as I wanted it to be considering I made you guys wait so long, but the next one will come out in a few days . . . REALLY!!! As long as I get some reviews and know you guys are still with me and reading what I'm writing, I'll pump out the next chapter *really* soon and have it updated by the middle of this week! Thanks so much!
And I sincerely hope that you Remus lovers (*coughGreenfairieCough* like how I'm bringing him into the story a bit . . . *purrr* I found this REALLY hot picture of Remus on Google that somebody drew! It looks sooo realistic. (it's not anime) Omigod! Really you guys . . . some people are such good artists, and they make it so much easier for the rest of us to really visualize the marauders! *giggles*
Right! So I hope you guys somewhat enjoyed this chapter, and the next one should be better . . . and will come out sooner!
-Sara (a.k.a Sportzjunkie)
Lj: *giggles* You're too sweet! And, yes, of course I will continue! I'm too addicted to writing this story to NOT continue! Hehehehe! Thanks for the support!
J-chan8: Thanks a bundle for the compliment! I hope you continue to enjoy reading my chapters!
Panny Savage: Hey! It's so good to hear from you again! I'm glad you've taken back up to reading and reviewing my story! Thanx much for your continuing support!
Blonded: Omigod! I'm sooo sorry you came to that observation. I meant in NO way to have this seem like blonds are bitches or ANYTHING like that! My reasons for making Catrina blond were simply to offer a contrast to Joey being brunette and Lily being a red-head. Made more sense to have her be an opposite! If I had her be a brunette just like Joey, then she'd be too similar to my main character and I'd have difficulties trying to create a *unique* mental picture of her for my readers. It's a similar concept with people even like Laura. I made her a dirty-blond because a) it matches Remus, and b) it is a unique color to any of the other girls in the story so far. Does that make sense? I truly hope so, because I don't want to insult ANY of my readers. Much luv!
Sakura: *giggles* Chapter 22 wasn't *that* bad! LOL! This fic. *is* PG- 13, and I didn't really think I even came close to going any higher than the rating! Hehehehe! But I do know how over-protective some parents are, so I'll just simply give you a pat on the back and say: "Yes; you are lucky as hell!" LOL! Thanks for reading and reviewing my story, and I sincerely hope that you'll find the time to continue to grace me with your wonderful words of encouragement! *grin*
Emmah-Leah: Hehehehe! Yes, yes . . . spanking James would be a very interesting concept to get over! *giggles uncontrollably* Your review was sooo nice! Omigod! I was like totally inspired! Hehehehe! You're an awesome chica, and I totally hope that you continue w/ your wonderful stories as well! Much luv!
Siriuslvr: That's totally funny that you live right near Disneyland! Hehehehe! To think that I could have been right around you . . . LOL. So do you see the fireworks *every* night when they go off in the park? That'd be hella cool and, yet, hella annoying at the same time! *giggles* Anywayz, thanks so much for your review! Totally made me believe that you guys are actually feeling what I'm trying to make realistic through my writing! Thanks a bundle! Hope you continue to read and review my work!
Dana Whelks: Hahahahaha! Alright! Enough with the pounding! Here it is! *wink* LOL! Hope you like this one too! Thanx so much for the feed back! I'm glad to get some reviewers who aren't completely partial to the OC thing, but then tell me I'm giving a pretty good effort of pulling it off! Makes me feel really appreciated! *grin*
Greenfairie: Yeah! Go Pluto! Hehehehe! I got this adorable little stuffed animal of him . . . *giggles* Omigod, it's just too cut for words! He's sitting right here on my desk with me and is staring up at me while I type this. Hehehehe! *reviewers start cracking up as author begins to make little cooing noises at the stuffed creature* Right! So Remus WILL be coming up! I promise! But I don't think I'll be able to show their whole ordeal in detention . . . my story's been kind of 'third person limited,' meaning I don't stretch far away from Joey even though the story isn't her POV, so it'd be kinda random for me to suddenly focus in on *just* Remus all of the sudden. Hope you understand. But NO WORRIES . . . your time WILL come! Mark my words! BWAHAHAHAHA! You're just gonna hafta trust me first . . . there's gonna kinda be something happening before that, so just take it easy and try not to send me any flames or something. *nervous laughter* It WILL be okay! THanx again for all your support! Hope you'll continue to read and review!
Jenstarz: Well I'm glad somebody appreciated the fact that I gave some info on Joey's background . . . because it's CERTAINLY going to come up again. I'll tell you that much! (*coughwinterbreakcough*) *grin* Thanks soo much for all the feedback! I really feel like you were covering a lot of the main points in the chapter when you were telling me what you thought. Hehehehe! And the snaps for a great chapter thing . . . OMIGOD! . . . had me in pieces! LOL!
Kiwi: Hahahaha! Your lovely rendition of your Iowa trip had me cracking up. "nothing but corn and bugs" LOL! And I'm totally glad you like the mush in that last chapter! I totally know how you feel about needing a guy like Sirius! Hehehehe! Too bad I don't have enough time for a boyfriend . . . I'd totally go Sirius-guy hunting. *author starts cracking up* But, hey . . . hope you like this next chapter! And yes, dogs are the best! *grin*
Fantasy4: Glad you enjoyed it so far! And I hope you take pleasure in reading what I have for the future as well! *grin* Please continue to read and review! I appreciate your contributions! *grin*
KATE: *phew* That was a lot of reviews you sent me . . . and a lot of judgment as well. I respect your opinions, but I have to say that I was a bit surprised when some of them simply left me hanging: "um . . . enough with the carrying already. It's sweet, but . . . yah." (ch. 6) I am not quite sure what you were implying with some of your . . . "comments," but I will try to take it as a compliment that you took the time to continue to voice your opinions on so many of my chapters. You certainly did have a lot of problems with certain *details* of my story, and I am sorry that you feel that way. I only find it unfavorable that you did not take the time to sign in . . . seems you must have found it uncomfortable to criticize me and receive any response in return. If that is the case, that is quite unfortunate . . . but I will continue to hope that you will take the time to *constructively* criticize my work . . . not *just* send complaints. Thank you.
Casco/Sneaky Girl who snuck onto my account: You are such a little cat turd! LOL! I can't believe you did that! Hahahaha! What will my reviewers think when they see that "I" wrote myself a review, you big bobo! (As for anyone who is confused by reading this, I DID NOT write that one review that says was posted by "Sportzjunkie" That happens to have been my sneaky, older (yet quite less mature) sister who thought it'd be comical to do that!) Needless to say I was surprised as hell, but then found it rather funny in the long run. Please stick to your OWN account, Cassie! After all, I DO KNOW WHERE YOU SLEEP!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
And to everybody:
Hello, hello!!! Feels soo good to be back and writing to ya'll again!!! Missed you guys sooo much, and I can't even tell you HOW NICE it was to return home to all of your very nice and very loonnngg reviews! I love long reviews! *grin* So anywayz . . . Hope this chapter is up to standards! And I'm sooo sorry for the wait! I'll have to hurry my butt up and do a lot of writing before school starts again . . . then I'll have, like, NO time to write! *shivers* My teachers show no mercy when it comes to homework. What can I say? School starts Sept. 3 and volleyball takes over as well! I'll get cracking on the writing though . . . make up for it ahead of time. Hope you guys continue to R & R. Much luv from your one and only Sportzjunkie!!!
-Sara
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Joey was walking down the stone steps of the boys' dormitories with a smile that evening. When she entered the warm atmosphere of the empty Gryffindor common room, she let out an exhausted sigh and made her way across the room to the girls' dormitory stairs. Before she reached the stairs, however, the brilliant heat that was radiating from the fireplace caused her to give a once-over towards the blaze, curious as to why it would burn so bright for an empty room.
To her surprise, the common room wasn't completely empty, as she had originally suspected it was. Sitting on the red Gryffindor couch, oblivious to anything or anyone who happened to be in the room, was no other than Remus Lupin. He was staring, clearly lost in thought, at the intense flames in front of him. Joey found it odd for her werewolf friend to be sitting all alone like he was on a Monday night, doing absolutely nothing but brooding over something that was clearly bothering him. She felt such a sudden urge to comfort her good buddy that her feet were carrying her over to the couch to join him before she was even aware of it.
"Remus?" Joey spoke out hesitantly. Remus' eyes abruptly snapped away from the inferno, and his head cleared out of his trance-like state.
"Joey!" he voiced aloud without really knowing why; he didn't really know what else to say. He looked back at the fire and continued to be devoured in contemplation. Joey hesitated for a moment before sliding down onto the couch cushion next to her blue-eyed friend.
"Something bothering you?" she asked feeling a little ridiculous for being so blunt. He slowly pulled his eyes away from the blaze and allowed his gaze to meet Joey's. She couldn't sense anything about his feelings from looking into his eyes, and this was a bad sign. It made her feel a little edgy. She was *always* able to read what Remus was feeling through his eyes . . . but now . . . those big sapphire orbs, once so bursting of emotion and disposition, told her nothing. Something was REALLY bothering him, but he didn't seem to want her to know. What could he have been hiding?
"Do you want to talk about it?" She found this question much more to her own liking . . . it wasn't so blunt, yet it still allowed for the ball to land in his court. Now it was his decision if the rally should continue. The sandy-blond boy in front of her now opened his mouth to speak, but then quickly shut it again. He gave her a pained look and shut shook his head sadly. Joey made her way to say something, but was surprised when Remus cut her off.
"She knows . . ." was all he managed to croak out. Joey thought it wise for her to try and analyze the statement before showering him with a whole bunch of 'who/what/when/where' questions, which could cause him to back up into reserve again.
"She knows." She simply repeated his words in hopes that he would understand how vague that declaration really was. Remus nodded sadly. Joey hadn't seen the poor blue eyes look that sad in a *very* long time. But at any rate, she now felt comforted by the fact that she was getting through to him . . . at least now he wouldn't have to suffer through these pains alone.
" . . . my secret," he whispered hoarsely so it was barely audible to even Joey, who was right next to him. Though she knew what 'secret' he was talking about within the split second that he voiced the words, she waited a few moments before pushing for more info.
"She knows your secret . . ." Joey winced at the sound of her quaking voice. But she only managed to get out one more word before Remus cut her off again. "Laura-?"
"-Catrina!" he spout out, angrily. Joey was silent for a long time after this. So many things were running through her mind at that moment that she thought she might have passed out, had she not been sitting down. This was BAD!!! It was bad enough that someone could have possibly found out about Remus' secret . . . but the fact that it was *Catrina,* of all bloody people to find out . . . Joey just couldn't even get herself to think of the terrible things that could arise from this.
Without realizing it, Joey had slipped off into a whirl of thoughts while allowing her eyes to be absorbed into the alluring beauty of the fiery inferno in front of her. As her mind began to return back to reality however, she became very aware of the fact that Remus was looking straight at her with a look that said he was trying to figure out what she was thinking. "Say something," he pleaded under his breath, just loud enough to be heard over the crackling flames.
"Catrina knows about . . . about-?" she couldn't bring herself to finish. Perhaps she had misinterpreted his statement earlier, and the secret he was talking about had nothing to do with his secret lycanthropy issues.
"-about Moony? Yes," he said, finishing her question and then confirming it with the painful reality.
"But how-"
"She saw me last month . . ." he groaned, sounding completely exhausted by the whole ordeal. "You know she transferred here about one week before the ball?"
"Yeah . . . Lily told me. But you didn't transform until-"
"-that Tuesday before the ball . . ." he trailed off miserably. "*Apparently,* Catrina had seen us four boys leaving the castle that evening, and she just so happened to be curious as to what we were doing . . . so she followed us."
"But did you know at the time?"
"No!!! We had no idea that anyone had seen us! And we had been so careful too . . ." Remus shook his head slowly. "There were no people around who could have seen us . . ."
Joey held his gaze for a moment as she pondered thoughtfully and sympathetically at what he was saying. But then it hit her like a ton of bricks. Her eyes got wide, and even Remus could tell she had figured something out.
"Remus . . . did you see any animals around you while you were on your way out? Like . . . a cat, perhaps?!"
"Uhhh . . . well, I dunno. I guess there could have been one . . . like Mrs. Norris or whatever . . . but I doubt that she would-" He was cut off:
"Any *Siamese* cats, perhaps?!!"
"Well . . . no I don't think . . . but then . . ." suddenly Remus stopped talking and his eyes got *really* large. "OH MY GOD, JOEY! There WAS that one cat that Sirius said was looking at him funny . . . and I'm pretty sure it was a Siamese one, too!!!" He looked down at his lap as his mind tried to remember better. "How could I have forgotten that?! . . . Granted, I *was* about to turn into a blood thirsting, ravenous werewolf at the time. . . so I wasn't exactly in the mood to stop and smell the roses . . . but, STILL!!!" His eyes caught hold of Joey's knowing gaze. "Joey, what does this mean?"
"It means that Catrina is, in fact, an animagus," Joey said. "But that doesn't get down to the root of your problem . . . Remus, did she threaten you in any way?"
"Not specifically . . . but she did say that I should be careful or else who knew where my 'juicy little secret' could get slipped to . . ."
"Uhhh . . . that sounds like blackmail to me!" Joey retorted angrily. "That good for nothing little-"
"Joey! I couldn't care less if half the school knew . . . just as long as a *certain* person didn't find out . . ."
"You mean Laura?" Joey whispered so it was barely even audible to Remus over the popping of the fire. Remus nodded urgently.
"Joey . . . if she finds out . . . oh, God . . . she'd never even look at me again, let alone give me a chance to get to know her better. . ." he trailed off with a depressing groan. "Why me?" he moaned under his breath. Joey leaned in and rubbed the side of his arm.
"It's okay, Remus," Joey comforted. "We just can't let Catrina find out about Laura. Just act like Catrina doesn't have anything against you, and I'm sure eventually she'll get bored with the fact that she isn't getting under your skin."
"But what if she *does* find out about Laura and how I'd just die is she found out?! Then I'll have no choice but to become . . . her man slave! Oh, God, Joey . . . what would I do?" Joey was surprised at the amount of fear she could see shining through her friend's eyes. He must have really liked this girl to be in such a spasm over this situation.
"Don't worry, Remus," Joey cooed. "I'll keep an eye on her, and you keep an eye on Laura. If you see Catrina talking to Laura- or anyone else for that matter- don't hesitate to say that one little word . . ." Remus gave her a confused look.
"Stop?" he suggested.
"I was thinking more along the lines of 'obliviate' . . . but we don't want to be too hasty unless your cover is really at jeopardy. Lord knows if that spell backfires . . . it's a difficult repair job at Saint Mungo's for the recipient. . ." Remus managed to crack a smile at this.
"So do you think I'll still be able to ask her out tomorrow at detention?" he asked hopefully.
"Hey," Joey laughed, "if you can manage to ask her out in the middle of detention with out McShailty stopping you . . . than I highly doubt that some hooch is going to get in your way!" Remus nodded appreciatively.
"Yeah . . . you're right. Thanks, Joey." Joey smiled and leaned in to hug him.
"Hey . . . Don't mention it! Any job where the chance may arise to do some kind of hex on Catrina is totally my thing!" She gave him a friendly pat on the back as she stood up. "Now I'm going to bed . . . I have a long day of school tomorrow, and then I have to go tutor some potion-ly challenged Gryffindor."
"Do you know who you've got, yet?" Joey shook her head.
"And I won't lie to you . . . knowing *my* luck when it comes to people . . . I'm as scared as hell about who it's going to be!" Remus gave her an understanding shrug along with a laugh, as he stood up and walked over towards the boy's dormitory stairs.
"Goodnight, Joey."
"G'nite, Moony."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The next day's classes seemed to crawl by for Joey. It felt like she was in a never ending haze of boredom until lunch finally rolled around. She was happy to finally get to spend some time with her friends, but was a little annoyed when Remus reminded her that she had to make a trip over to McShailty's classroom to pick up that day's lesson plan. Professor McShailty decided to provide Joey and Remus each day with the lesson plan he had taught to that day's remedial potions class. It would come in handy during their evening tutoring sessions, so they could know what the students were learning ahead of time.
So she left the great hall a little early before lunch was over, and started heading over towards the dungeons. Just as she neared the corner that would turn onto the corridor that would lead her to the potions classroom, Joey could hears some muffled slobbering and moaning noises coming from around the turn. Her face scrunched up into what looked to be a vomit-induced expression and proceeded cautiously down the rest of the way towards the bend.
As she turned the corner, she suddenly did feel a sudden urge to loose the lovely lunch she had just consumed minutes before. The sight down the corridor in front of her made her want to cover her eyes and run for shelter. The source of the noise was exactly what she had dreaded, and the two guilty parties were still at the sickening snog session even with Joey present in the same hallway. Not only were the offenders so bold as to mack on each other so close to McShailty's company, but they were accomplishing it up against his classroom door, no less!
"Great!" Joey mumbled under her breath. As she hesitantly made her way over to the blocked door. At first, Joey was trying to keep her gaze on the floor, making a great effort to not recognize either one of the snoggers. But as she got close enough to try and perhaps sneak around them into the classroom, it was impossible to not realize who they were. She didn't suppress the gasp when she recognized the familiar Barbie-wannabe and the freakishly muscular man-whore attached to its face.
But before Joey had much time to try and restrain the urge to thrust her boot up Weald's ass just to get him out of the door way she needed to pass through, the very same door suddenly flung open from the inside. Professor McShailty seemed to wrench that door open with all of the strength possessed in his cantankerous, old self.
"WHAT is going on out here?!" he bellowed, eyes staring pointedly at the two students who had landed on the floor after the support of the door had been yanked from behind them. Joey found herself thinking she'd never been so glad in her life to see the crotchety old man. "Mr. Weald and Miss Strumpet!!! Get off the floor at once and do me a *grand* favor by staying the hell away from my classroom when on any of your other little hormone frenzies!!!"
The two students hopped off the floor and hurried down the corridor . . . both stopping just long enough to shoot Joey a scornful glance of loathing. She simply glared back and rolled her eyes once the two were out of sight.
"Atramentous . . . in!" he commanded as he pointed into his classroom. She shot him a look of defiance, causing him to annoyingly drawl out the word, "*Please* . . ."
As her glare softened into simply a distasteful scowl, she walked into the classroom and stopped before the teacher's desk. McShailty slithered his way over to his desk and hunched over it, picking up a small folder filled will a few sheets of parchment. He picked up the folder and handed it over to Joey.
"I've spoken with Madam Pince and she has agreed to reserve a small booth in the library so you and Remus will be able to do your tutoring in there. I assume you'll find it much quieter than your common room, and I think it will be much more of a suitable environment for trying to drill information into such unintelligent people." Joey couldn't help but give him a shocked look. She couldn't believe that her potions Professor would have gone to the trouble of making sure she was in a comfortable learning environment to teach!
Noticing the uncomfortably appreciative expression coming across Joey's face, the Professor continued on before he might actually have to suffer through 'thank you.' "Your tutoring session will start at seven o'clock this evening and go on for as long as you think need be. Although, with Mr. Weald . . . I'm sure it could go on all night knowing what a stupid idiot he is."
Joey choked on her own spit. "What?!" she barked. "Please don't tell me you just said Mr. Weald?! You've got to be kidding me! There's NO WAY I'm going to be tutoring . . ." she trailed off as she noticed the positively sinister smile climbing up the Professors face. It was useless. 'Son of a Bitch!' she thought angrily to herself. 'That stupid son of a bitch!' He knew that she had a problem with Weald! She didn't know HOW he knew, but judging by the creepy-ass smirk crawling up his face, the punk had to have known something. There was just NO BLOODY WAY that she could be able to handle tutoring Weald for hours at a time . . . not to mention ALONE!!! 'Oh, God!' her head screamed as she suddenly realized what was *really* going on. McShailty had given her the ultimate punishment. No wonder he had arranged for them to have a *private* tutoring booth! He was totally looking to torture her by shoving her into a booth with a loathed enemy! Joey didn't know what else to do besides glare at the cruel professor.
"Oh, yes you will be tutoring him, Miss Atramentous. You are one of my best students aside from Mr. Lupin, and Mr. Weald is one of my worst students aside from Miss Strumpet. Therefore I see no better pair for the job." He paused for moment as Joey continued to glare. It was just too much for him to try and contain a bout of evil laughter. "You may leave now," was all he said. But as Joey turned around, she could see him smirk deviously . . . she hated that man more than anything at that moment.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Now that Joey suddenly found herself dreading the evening to come, the rest of the day seemed to go by so much quicker. In fact, it seemed only minutes later that she found herself sitting in the Gryffindor common room, waiting for Remus so she could talk to him before he left for his detention.
She didn't think it wise to inform Sirius of who her new "study- buddy" was, so when he asked her where she was going, she simply reminded him of McShailty's punishment and told him she'd be back before ten. But that was at dinner that she had spoken to him, and now she was feeling rather bored at the fact that she now had no one to talk to. Where was Remus?!
Flam was on her shoulder chattering noisily to himself, and Joey felt a much more comfortable with the fact that she was taking the bird with her to the tutoring session. At least she could be reassured that if Weald did try anything . . . *cough, cough* . . . he' definitely be wearing an eye patch for a while.
Joey was jerked from her reverie as she heard footsteps coming down the boys' dormitory steps. She rolled her eyes and jumped off the couch without even seeing who the footsteps belonged to, knowing all to well who it was, taking their sweet-ass time sauntering down the steps.
"God, Remus! Took you long enough! I thought you had-" she stopped mid sentence as her eyes fell on the dirty-blond, blue-eyed boy as he came trotting down the last few steps into the common room. Her lips parted slightly and her mouth suddenly went dry as her jaw dropped noticeably downward. His eyes didn't meet her right away, as they scanned around the common room, taking in the surroundings.
"Sorry, Joey. I was just trying to- What's wrong?!" he asked abruptly when his eyes finally met hers. He thought she looked like she was disgusted with how he looked.
"Remus . . . you look-" she couldn't even finish her sentence. Granted, she wasn't attracted to the guy like that, but even she couldn't refuse to accept the fact that he looked . . . if nothing else . . . extremely *HOT.*
His hair didn't seem as 'tame' as it usually did. In fact, it looked like someone had found a way to liquefy and bottle-up silk just to rub it wildly through his hair . . . giving it a really sexy, unkempt look. While the front of his hair was shorter than the back, it was parted down the middle, allowing a few strands hang free to frame his temple. At the back, it cuffed away from his ears and curled adorably at the nape of his neck. He was wearing a navy blue, collared shirt, with loosely fitting khaki pants.
"Sirius did it," he stated matter-of-factly. Joey had to choke back a laugh. The poor guy was self-conscious about it! "I told him the hair was too much! God . . . I knew I shouldn't have trusted him. And then when he refused to give me my hair brush . . ." He would have continued on if Joey hadn't suddenly come to her senses and told him what she really thought of his new look.
"HOT!!! Remus! You look really . . . REALLY good . . . believe me!" she said sounding exasperated. Both of Remus' eyebrows shot up on his head, and a smiled started playing across his smooth lips.
"really . . . you think so?" he asked sounding quite surprised.
"To the point where Laura won't be able to take her eyes off you . . . yes!" she laughed. Remus shrugged and didn't bother to suppress a grin as the two continued out of the common room together. They continued in the general direction away from the Gryffindor tower as Joey quizzed him on what he was planning on saying and how he was going to ask her out.
"And above all," she concluded as they reached the corridor junction where they would have to split up; him heading towards the dungeon, she towards the library, "just be yourself and smile a lot."
"Well, that's kind of hard considering I don't *feel* like myself," he said quietly as he ran a hand through his silky locks. Joey bit her bottom lip and grinned.
"And make sure you do that!" she laughed.
"Do what?" he asked confusedly.
"Run a hand through your hair!" she laughed. "If you do that every time you get stuck in a conversation, she'll be asking you out by the end of the night!" Remus chuckled in amusement.
"Like this?" he said almost mockingly as he over-exaggeratedly ran his hand through his hair again. Joey started laughing too.
"Yeah . . . something like that!" she giggled. "And good luck!" she called over her shoulder as she continued down the corridor to the library.
"You too!" he called back, on his way towards the dungeons.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Joey tiptoed quietly into the library. She always did her best not to make a sound every time she was in there . . . she knew it was a bad idea to get on the wrong side of Madam Pince. Joey eyes soon locked onto the old woman as she was leaning back in her chair, nose buried deep in Witch Weekly's magazine. As Joey crept over towards the desk, she woman's eyes snapped away from the reading material and now focused on the young woman in front of her.
"Ummm . . . I'm Professor McShailty's student-tutor," she said quietly, yet clearly. Madam Pince cocked an eyebrow at Joey, and Joey couldn't help notice how much the woman reminded her of a vulture. Without saying a word, the bird-like hag pointed a long, wrinkly finger in the direction towards the back of the library. Joey nodded in understanding, hiked her book bag up farther on her shoulder, and made her way to the back of the library.
Noticing how completely empty the library seemed, Joey found herself trying to think of a time she had ever seen it crowded in there. And, if she knew her quidditch captain well enough, he probably had never even been in the library before. Just her luck, and Weald probably wouldn't even show up, claiming he couldn't find the library or something. She almost caught herself laughing when she turned the very last corner of book shelves and stopped in her tracks at the sll too familiar sight in front of her.
"God! What is this?! Make out in front of Joey day or something?!" she spat out at the two guilty people in front of her. Needless to say, they didn't bother to turn around, but instead just kept on going about their business.
She would have left them alone, except for the fact that the give- away blond hair in front of her told her that one of these people was definitely Catrina, and the other one, who she couldn't quite see, had to have been the boy she was supposedly going to be tutoring that evening.
"I swear, Weald," she began again in a very menacing tone, "if you don't get your face off that Barbie and shove it in a book in two seconds, I'm just going to have to go to Professor McShailty and tell him that-"
"Joey?" came a voice from behind her. She spun around on her heels at the freakishly familiar voice. "What are you doing over her-"
Joey's mouth dropped open at the sight of the guy behind her. "Weald? But I thought you were. . . then who is-" she whipped back around as Weald began to stare around her at the couple, too. The pair was now giving their lips a break as they confusedly looked over at the babbling spectators in front of them. "Omigod . . ." was all Joey voiced as she turned around and shoved past a shocked Weald and headed into a different, but still just as out-of-sight library booth.
Weald just stood there staring at the duo in front of him, eyes wide in shock and jaw hitting the floor. "Catrina?! But I thought we were . . ." For once in his life, Weald looked hurt. He had never been cheated on by a girl before . . . surely *he* had cheated on numerous, but he had never been with a girl who had the nerve to cheat on *him.*
But suddenly his eyes narrowed, and all form of anguish left his face as he focused on the guys she had cheated on him with. "Amos?" he growled out the other boy's name forebodingly enough to sound like he was ready to attack. But then he just righted himself, huffed loudly, spun around, and headed after Joey towards the library booth without looking back.
ARGGG!!! All will be explained next chapter!!! I want to keep going . . . but I have conditioning tomorrow for volleyball and I have to get up at six in the morning! *growl* Please forgive me! I don't even have time to proof-read my work, so please allow all serious typos to go unnoticed. *wink*
This wasn't nearly as good as I wanted it to be considering I made you guys wait so long, but the next one will come out in a few days . . . REALLY!!! As long as I get some reviews and know you guys are still with me and reading what I'm writing, I'll pump out the next chapter *really* soon and have it updated by the middle of this week! Thanks so much!
And I sincerely hope that you Remus lovers (*coughGreenfairieCough* like how I'm bringing him into the story a bit . . . *purrr* I found this REALLY hot picture of Remus on Google that somebody drew! It looks sooo realistic. (it's not anime) Omigod! Really you guys . . . some people are such good artists, and they make it so much easier for the rest of us to really visualize the marauders! *giggles*
Right! So I hope you guys somewhat enjoyed this chapter, and the next one should be better . . . and will come out sooner!
-Sara (a.k.a Sportzjunkie)