Emmah-leah: OMIGOD! I can't believe someone would delete your stories!
That's so freakin' wrong! *shakes head sadly* But I can't wait to read
your next chappie in Fireblown! *grin* K! thanx for the review! Much
luv!!!
Jenstarz: Hey hey!!! Glad you liked the chapter! And, yes, I couldn't resist bringing Remus more into the story for long . . . his character is just too lovable! Anywho, I hope you like this next one as well! Thanx for the support!!!
Dana Whelks: Scarlet woman!!! LOL! That's pretty good! Thank you so much for your reviews and tons of support! Yes, yes . . . more Sirius/ Joey! I've heard the plea from enough people . . . and YES, I will heed to all your requests . . . eventually!
Taraancaiel: Thank you so, so much! And I hope this update has arrived soon enough for you! *grin*
Annoriel: Hehehehe! Hope you enjoyed yourself! And you don't have to apologize for not reviewing right away!!! LOL! I'm just psyched that you actually take the time to review my fic!!! Thanx so much!
Matthea: Thanx so much! Hope you like this next one!
Sakura: Hey!!! Yup yup . . . High school is pretty tiring, but I found my freshman year to be a lot of fun as well as exhausting!!! It's Junior year that I hear is supposed to be the real bitch . . . hmmm . . . can't wait! LOL! Thanx so much for the review! I'm honored you'd take the time out of your busy schedule for some reading/reviewing time w/ my fic!!! Thanx so much!
Kiwi: *grin* It was so much fun talking and exchanging pictures w/ you!!! Hehehe! Guess it was a blessing in disguise that you didn't understand that one piece in my last chapter . . . it was hella cool getting to learn more about one of my most loyal reviewers [and you aren't boring! lol]!!! *wink* Glad you've been so sweet to continue to review so many of my new updates! It means so much!
Casco: Hey Suga! Calm down! Just breathe! LOL! Goodness . . . take a chill pill, babe!!! *grin* I don't exactly want to cause anyone to go into cardiac arrest because my story freaked them out . . . but perhaps it's a good thing that you found an element of surprise in my story!!! *wink* But really . . . I'd have to say that you are on to me to some degree . . . but I won't go there and give anything away!!! [at least not yet . . . ] You'll just have to keep reading, I guess!!!
Mercury15: Hahahaha! Well . . . I'll have to consider the Slytherin thing . . . maybe in a chapter later from now, we'll just have to see. *grin* Anywayz, yes . . . the last chapter was a bit of an explaining chapter . . . and I wanted to keep going because I felt like I stopped mid-thought at the end of it. You know how that is?! LOL! Anywayz, just wanted to thank you so much for your continuing support on this story. It means so very much to me! p.s. You are SUCH an awesome chica for sending those other pics to me! Omigod! LOL! thanx a bundle!!! *wink*
Sugarcoatedcandy: *blush* Thanx so much!!! Gosh . . .LOL! I can barely handle compliments like that . . . I turn red just reading it! Hehehe! It totally inspires me and thank you SO MUCH for the support!!! Ahhh! Your words are too nice! Much luv!!!
Kate: I had that very issue in mind the moment I decided to create Catrina's character . . . You need to realize that even people who just seem like one thing on the outside, still do have specific strengths in certain areas. I am a *firm* believer that everyone in this world is good at something (example: Neville w/ herbology), and you have yet to find out what the exact something is with Catrina. But I'm certainly glad you brought it up! You've just prompted me to bring that into this very chapter! And I'm pretty sure that by this update, many of the blurry things will soon start to clear themselves up and start making much more sense.
Sweet intentionz: *grin* So happy you like that I'm bringing more Remus into the story! I was aching for more of him too! He'll show up again soon, if not in this chapter (I promise)!!! LOL! And hold your horses! I know a lot of you guys are just itching for Hogwarts winter break because it is just around the corner . . . but I'm not ready for it to be here yet, so I'd estimate at least one more chapter after this one before it really is here. K! Thanx so much for the review! I love the inspiring words!
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And to everyone:
Hello, all!!! I certainly hope this chapter is up to standards! *grin* I kind of hurried through it so I could get it out by today . . . but mind you . . . there was *still* a lot of time and love that went into this little piece of update thingie, and I hope you appreciate it! *wink* And if you are reading this, and have never written me a review before . . . I encourage you to! I'll welcome your opinions, but I just hope that you bring into consideration how it may come off when I read them. [In other words, try not to just bash the little petty details . . . instead express your opinions on the main chunks. Make sense?] Much luv to all who review!!!
-sportzjunkie
Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.
-Robert A. Heinlein
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Joey quickly stormed over towards an unoccupied library booth that was completely out of view of the snogging couple . . . *and* of Madam Pince. The last thing she needed right now was to be carefully surveyed by the creepy old vulture.
All Joey could concentrate on was the anger that was running through her blood stream at this moment. And the only reason why her anger kept building up, was the fact that she was so affected emotionally by the sight she had just witnessed. She wasn't so emotionally affected earlier when she had seen Catrina making out with Weald . . . so why was she so upset now, when she had just observed the same tramp making out with Amos?
Joey knew why. And she also knew that it had absolutely NOTHING to do with the fact that Amos used to be her boyfriend . . . *or* with the fact that the sight she just saw was a perfect reminder of the night Amos had cheated on her. Nope. The *real* reason that she was so bothered by the spectacle, was because there was ABSOLUTELY no explanation for the fact that Catrina *just so happened* to keep showing up with a make-out partner RIGHT in front of Joey. This was already the second time in a single day, and both times Joey had witnessed it, Catrina and her 'partner' were *always* in a place that was completely, uncoincidentally at a location that Joey was scheduled to be at. Not to mention the fact that the places where she ran into the tramp's 'sessions' were obviously not the *registered* make-out areas of the school. ( Pretty much *all* of students at Hogwarts knew that the 'acknowledged' snog-section of the library was located in the SOUTH side of the library near the "History of Muggle and Wizard interactions" section . . . *not* the NORTH side of the library where Joey had caught Catrina with Amos. And it was also well known that *every* student at Hogwarts is aware that you are NOT supposed to make-out within even three hallways from McShailty's classroom . . . and Joey had caught Catrina at it with Weald right UP AGAINST THE DOOR!!! )
In Joey's mind, this could only mean one thing. Catrina was trying desperately to get under her skin . . . but Joey just couldn't quite figure out why. I mean, *sure* the girls didn't exactly like each other . . . but Joey just couldn't put her finger on the reason why Catrina would go to such trouble to make her jealous! Shouldn't it have been Joey who would have harbored the bad feelings for Catrina? . . . not the other way around? After all, Catrina *was* the one who had "stolen" Joey's boyfriend when Joey had done absolutely nothing to her . . . why wasn't Joey trying to get Catrina back instead of Catrina acting like she was trying to get some kind of revenge on Joey?
As all of these thoughts swam through Joey's confused mind, she progressively got angrier and angrier. In fact, she was so wrapped up in her emotions, that when she entered the empty library booth, she didn't even realize that Weald had finally caught up to right behind her . . . so she slammed the heavy door back in his face, accidentally. She walked a few steps across the tiny room and collapsed into a chair, retrieving her potions book out of her book bag and slamming it onto the table. Flam was so shaken up by all of the bangs and slams that were now echoing through the room, that he flew over to a chair in the very corner of the booth, curled up on the back of it, and cowered to himself.
When Weald finally recovered from the mouthful of wood he had just received, he wrenched the heavy door open and smashed it shut behind himself. After forcefully chucking his book bag to the floor in front of the desk, he stormed over to the chair next to Joey, and flung himself into it. He shot a nasty glare at Joey, that clearly showed he was not in the mood to talk.
Joey was now clearly aware of the fact that Weald did NOT want to even talk to her, so before they could ruin the tutoring session when it hadn't even started yet, she decided that she was going to have to say something to ease the tension. But she never got a chance to once Weald decided to cut her off before she even started talking.
"Why do girls have to be so . . . so malicious?!" he snapped at her. It didn't really sound like a question that needed an answer, but Joey was just pissed that he would even generalize the female species like that . . . based *solely* on Catrina's actions. Oh, but that was *definitely* not the worst of what he said. He wasn't quite finished yet . . . he still had to piss Joey off a little further. "Maybe, *Joe*, if you could have just held onto Amos, Cat would still be mine right now!" he spat out. Joey stood up from her chair so fast, that it got thrown backwards into the wall behind her. Flam shied away even further into the corner of the booth and began to tremble hysterically.
Joey was almost positive her eyes were now bugging out of her head at this point, and she was so furious, that she wasn't even sure that she'd be able to respond to him. But she soon decided that she was DEFINITELY not too angry to bitch at him since he deserved it so much.
"Don't you DARE take this out on me, Weald!!! DON'T YOU DARE!!!" she barked back, though it sounded more like a threat than anything else. "Catrina would have cheated on you whether Amos was single or not! That's just the kind of slut she is!!! She would have cheated on you with *anybody*! In fact, I bet you Amos is not the only other guy she's been with since you two got together!!!"
Jason jumped out of his chair at this point, as well, and, as he took a step forward so that he was towering over Joey, he grabbed her upper arm and tightened his grip threateningly. All the muscles in his body were seriously clenched and bulging through his shirt in rage.
"She would NOT have cheated on me with *anybody*!!! And Cat is not a slut, *Joe*," he drawled Joey's name out slowly as if in disgust. " . . . she *will* eventually come crawling back to me!" he shouted in anger. "And I'm going to take this out on WHOEVER THE HELL I FEEL LIKE TAKING THIS OUT ON!" Joey thought her hair was getting blown backwards as he shouted in her face. But she made sure her expression remained blank. It was her perfect poker face, and she knew that it was the one thing that could get under his skin the worst if she seemed to be unaffected by his tirade and maddening grasp on her arm.
Though she was still practically shaking with a mix fury and adrenaline, she wanted to completely piss him off without forcing him to do her any bodily harm . . . so in a perfectly calm voice, she spoke up into his face. "If you insist on remaining in denial, *Weald*, I would highly appreciate it if you could return to your chair so that we could start our tutoring session without anymore of your pointless temper tantrums. You happen to be scaring my bird."
A rigid crease was now planted permanently between Weald's eyebrows, and Joey was almost certain that she could see his left eye start to twitch. She had to contain her laughter as further signs of his 'cracking' became more and more apparent. It was all too sweet a revenge for someone that she disliked so much.
"God! Why do you just . . . *act* like that sometimes?! At times . . . I just . . . *hate* you!" he spat out pathetically as he backed away and slouched back into his own chair. Joey cocked an eyebrow at him as she tried harder to contain her mirth. This boy certainly did blow hot and cold.
"Well, you're entitled to," she replied flatly as she lovingly walked over to Flam, helped him back up onto her shoulder, and too took her seat.
"Why?" he asked plainly, as if the one worded question was enough to explain his confusion.
"Why what?" she spat back, sounding a little annoyed.
"Why do you treat me like that? Like you're so much better than I am?" Joey gave him a look that said she thought he'd gone mental.
"Excuse me?!" she practically yelled back in his face, causing Flam to recoil again. When she realized her outburst, she tried to calm her voice down to simply an annoyed tenor. "Weald, *I* should be the one asking *you* that very question! If you would just get off your stupid high horse long enough to stand on the same ground as the rest of us, you'd realize how badly you've treated people . . . how badly you've treated *me*!" she trailed of hoarsely and her gaze drifted from his face to the desktop as the feelings of last night's quidditch practice resurfaced. But then her eyes hardened once again and she met his gaze with a bit more resentment than was there previously. ". . . Or have you *already* forgotten about last night's quidditch practice?"
Weald gave her, what she thought, looked to be a pained expression. She didn't want to jump to conclusions, however, knowing how it was practically impossible to get someone as egotistical as Weald to feel bad about how they've treated people in the past. She was about to say something else, but was cut off by Weald before she could.
"Joey . . ." he began with an unexpected tone of kindness. It was a surprise to both of them that he had accidentally used her preferred nickname over the usual 'Joe' that he had always addressed her with. "I know that last night I treated you pretty . . ."
"Cruelly? Unfairly? Maliciously? Take your pick!" she snapped, but her eyes contained the hurt appearance that disproved the validity of her painted-on emotions. Weald's eyebrows furrowed with concern as she subconsciously began to stroke her bird, as a source of comfort.
"I know . . . I know," he admitted awkwardly as he broke eye contact and instead began focusing on the cover of the potions book on the desk. "But you have to realize . . . that as Captain and Beater for the Gryffindor team, I have to . . . I mean . . . I felt that . . . er . . . that my position . . . or my status was . . ." he trailed off trying to find the right words. But he didn't need to when Joey found one for him.
" . . . threatened?" she practically whispered. Weald flinched at the word, but brought his gaze up to meet her face again. He had to use all the will power in himself just to hold her gaze as he nodded yes. Joey's eyebrows crinkled together in apprehension. She knew how hard it was for him to admit that to her, and she was surprised to hear his voice break the awkward silence, once again.
"It's just kind of hard, is all . . . I don't know . . . but sometimes I think . . . 'Why would a *girl* be considered my equivalent' . . . you know? . . . Why should I be forced to have someone who is so much smaller and so much less . . . *experienced* than me, be my right-hand beater?" Joey nodded as he expressed his emotions. Though she found herself a bit offended by his sexist opinions on things, she had to give him credit for finally getting over himself and spilling how he really felt.
"I know it's hard, Jason," she comforted; only cringing slightly from the fact that she forced herself to use his first name . . . she hoped it would be taken as almost a piece offering. "But you *have* to realize that WE ARE A TEAM . . . we are on the SAME SIDE, therefore we *need* to work together . . . NOT against each other. The way you treated me last practice, made me want to quit . . . and at the time, I'm sure that's what you're intensions were. However, judging by the fact that you are trying to explain yourself to me, I'm sure that you, as well as myself, are willing to give this another shot." He nodded in agreement.
"Truce?" he asked, and leaned forward while opening up his arms in an effort to offer her a hug. Joey cocked an eyebrow at him and simply held her hand out in an effort to substitute the hug for a handshake. Weald looked down at her hand and a funny smirk crept up his face. He dropped his hug-poised arms and gregariously seized her outstretched hand and shook it as he started to laugh.
"What?" she asked a little exasperated as he continued to chuckle. She felt like he was laughing at her.
"You can trust me, Joe," he said, going back to the original nickname he always used for her. "Now that we've come to a quidditch truce . . . I'll *just* treat you like my friend . . . 'one of the guys' if you will. I won't hit on you anymore."
"Oh, is that what you call it?" she said as she began to laugh. "I wouldn't exactly call how you were treating me 'hitting on me!'"
"Oh, come on! You know that you were attracted to my sexy charm!" Joey rolled her eyes blatantly, and Weald gave her a playful bat on the arm. "Well, you know *most* girls can't resist it!"
"Yeah . . . until they talk to you!" she laughed sarcastically.
"Ouch . . ." he said loosing the playful ness in his tone. " . . . very ouch."
"Well, it's a known fact that you're a player, Weald. You definitely have to get over that reputation before you start calling yourself charming!" He nodded, knowingly.
"But it's so much easier to just get with whatever girls I want whenever I want them!" he griped, sounding a lot like a whiny child.
Oh, pulease!" she scoffed. "And here I was thinking that you just learned a lesson by getting a taste of your own medicine!"
"But this isn't the way it's supposed to work! I'm supposed to be able to treat a girl like shit, still have her put up with me, and then ditch her whenever I see fit!" He sounded so pathetically serious, that Joey couldn't help to give a derisive laugh. She couldn't listen to him continue to tell her his theories on relationships any longer, so she tried to bring the subject back to Catrina.
"So why do you care so much that she dumped you? You guys never *really* were even together, were you?"
"uhhh . . . *I* thought we were! But apparently people have different opinions when it comes to being 'with' someone . . ."
"Apparently," Joey responded in a slightly mock tone that Weald didn't happen to catch. "But, Weald . . . you could do so much better than Catrina. If you *really* decided to start treating girls with a little more respect, you could have a *lot* going for you! Catrina was just a stupid, boy-obsessed floozy, that simply used you to-" she hesitated for a moment before letting out a sigh and finishing her thought, ". . . I *think* . . . piss me off," she said with half a laugh at the ridiculousness of her own statement.
"Come on, Joe! That's ridiculous! Why would she personally want to piss you off?"
"You think I know?!" she snapped. "SHE'S the one who helped Amos cheat on me, SHE'S the one who's threatened my friends . . . not to mention threatened *me*. And, most blatant of all, she keeps "coincidentally" showing up in these areas where I've been scheduled to be at, and she's always making-out with some new guy that she has just recently hooked onto a leash! I *think* it's safe to say, Weald, that she is DEFINITELY trying her hardest to get under my skin!!!"
"Oh shit," he said more to himself than aloud.
"what?"
"That would definitely explain a few things . . ." he said quietly. "Joey . . . you know earlier today . . . when you saw Catrina and I . . . you know-"
"YES, I know! . . . go on," she prompted, thoroughly hoping to avoid his description of what she had seen earlier.
"Well, I had gone to Professor McShailty to find out the information about my tutoring this evening, and she followed me there. I didn't see her until I had come out of the classroom and closed the door behind me . . . that's when she practically lounged at me." he said shaking his head trying to recall the situation more clearly. "I was so shocked by it, that she even had to pin me up against the door to keep me on her. I just figured she hadn't gotten enough of me from the other night, you know?" he inquired, and got a deliberate roll of the eyes from Joey.
"Okay . . . but tell me why you think that had anything to do with her problem with me?"
"Well, like I said . . . I *thought* that she hadn't gotten enough of me, but when I questioned her about it she mumbled something about YOU coming down the hall. Before I had even a chance to respond, I was pinned up against the wall again and just decided to not question a good thing!" he rationalized as though it made perfect sense. Joey didn't pay any attention to his arrogant comment, though, because she was concentrating greatly on trying to figure out the information he had just fed her.
"But none of this explains any of the 'why' questions!" she said frustratedly. "WHY does she want to make me so damn angry? I haven't done *anything* to her!!!"
"On the contrary Joe, just being you is a big enough aggravation for her! You realize this is all just because she's horribly jealous of you, right?" Joey quirked an eyebrow at his comment.
"Why would she be jealous of me?" she voiced, shaking her head bewildered. Weald was giving her a very odd expression when she said this. "What?" she snapped.
"Must I explain?" he scoffed. "You really aren't that smart, are you?" By the look Joey was giving him, he decided that maybe she really did need an explanation. "Joe . . . let me explain this to you as simply as possible . . . You're *easily* the smartest girl in our grade, you are extremely attractive, you are athletic, you have a *rockin'* body . . ." he started trailing off as he noticed the death glare she was shooting him as he subconsciously scanned her up and down as he said that last part.
"The point is . . ." he said, clearing his head from the daze he was beginning to yield to. " . . .there are *very* few things that she can outdo you in . . . one of those things is being a slut . . . she can't hold onto a single guy, and from what I hear, one of the guys she's been eyeing lately happens to be *your* boy, Sirius . . . consequently, giving her another reason to hate you more! The only thing I think of that she has to be 'proud' of, is the fact that she's *extremely* good at transfiguration, and what's special about that? What I'm basically trying to say, is that she has every reason to be jealous of you, and I'm sure that deep down you knew that . . . you just refused to admit it because you're too damn modest."
After the shit-load of complements Weald had just put across to Joey, he was certain that a simple 'thank you' would be in store. Needless to say, he *definitely* was not expecting her to respond so plainly by asking the question she did.
"Catrina is good at transfiguration?" she inquired, trying to sound as casual about it as possible. If this were true, it would definitely explain a few things about her ability to transform into a cat at will.
"Well . . . yes, as a matter of fact, she has top marks in the class," he replied, not being able to suppress the suspicion in his voice caused by the bizarreness of her question. "She was actually placed into Gryffindor because of McGonagall being the transfiguration teacher . . . apparently Catrina's mum was the transfiguration professor at her old school . . . you've heard of The Salem Witch Academy in America? . . . I believe that's what it's called . . ." he waited for Joey to nod before he continued on. "Well, I already explained to you the whole issue with her getting 'relocated' from her old school . . . needless to say her parents were pretty angry with her . . . but like I said before, her family is *very* powerful and wealthy, and they made sure she was exactly where they wanted her when she got shipped off to Hogwarts. Now that I think about it, she probably would have been stuck in Slytherin if her parents hadn't interceded . . . at least *now* I think that, knowing what a bitch she is . . ." he trailed off as he started laughing miserably to himself.
"How do you know all of this?" she asked with a tone of interest. Weald gave her a split-second sideways glance, but it was still long enough for her to notice his look of offense.
"You really think I'm bigheaded enough to shag a girl and not find out *anything* about her?!" Joey raised both of her eyebrows and gave him a surprised look. "Alright . . . I admit she did talk a lot. How could I have NOT caught on to at least a *few* things she blabbed on about?" Joey scoffed at his remark.
"You're sick," she said flatly.
"And this is news to you?" he smirked. Joey rolled her eyes. She didn't have a moment to respond, though, because all of the sudden, the library booth's door was flung open, smacking loudly into the wall as it did. Flam screeched loudly, and Joey jumped in her seat at the unexpected crash. But she couldn't suppress her feelings of anger when she realized who it was who had just entered in such a noisy fashion.
"Catrina!" Weald burst out as he leapt out of his seat. He immediately regretted his reaction to seeing her, and tried his best to 'play it cool' from there on out. "so . . . uhhh . . . what're you doing here?" His voice was so forcefully calmed, that Joey would have laughed if she wasn't so distracted by the unexpected whore that had suddenly showed up in front of her just moments before.
"Oh, Weald!" Catrina cried dramatically as she ran over to him and wrapped her delicate little arms around his neck. "I can't believe you walked away like that!"
"Oh, no?" he asked sardonically. "So you wanted me to stay and watch you get it on with that dick weed, Amos?" he managed to growl out through his blind wave of anger.
"Don't be silly, Jason . . ." she said with an extremely counterfeit tone. "Amos means nothing to me . . . it was a stupid little thing . . . you shouldn't get all worked up about it!"
"But-" was all he got out before Cat pressed her overly-glossed lips up to his mouth and hung on to the cuff of his collar so he couldn't pull away. Weald was slowly leaning back farther and farther away from Catrina, obviously trying to pull out of the kiss . . . but the relentless Barbie doll continued to lean farther and farther forward into him. Eventually, Catrina even began making little moaning noises, trying to cover up what sounded like whimpers from Weald as he tried to draw away without hurting her. Even Flam began making shuddering motions on Joey's shoulder as though he was disgusted by the sight. Joey thought she was going to hurl as she just gaped at them in nausea. She was waiting for Weald to do something to stop it as the kiss went on. Joey soon found herself practically tapping her foot when Catrina *finally* pulled away.
The stupid tart even had the nerve to flash a priggish smirk over at Joey as she began to straighten out the collar of Jason's shirt that she herself, messed up. "That was nice," Cat breathed out sultrily. Joey couldn't help but roll her eyes, and when Weald glanced over at her and received one of her famous 'what are you waiting for' looks, he soon straightened himself out and glared down at Catrina.
"Shouldn't you *be* somewhere right now?" he snapped out callously. Catrina shrugged indifferently. "I thought you had detention tonight," he said, still not losing the insensitive tone.
"I do," she snapped. "But McShailty doesn't want me there until 7:45, and I've still got five minutes until then." Joey suddenly found herself glancing over at the clock on the wall. She hadn't realized that she'd been sitting there talking to Weald for forty-five minutes already.
"I think you should go," he barked at Cat. "And I don't think you should talk to me again . . . at least not outside of quidditch."
"What are you trying to say?" she squeaked out in a forcedly sweet voice [one that would have put Umbridge to shame, no doubt].
"I *mean* that I want you to LEAVE . . . ME . . . ALONE!" he said slowly, enunciating each syllable clearly as though he were talking to a partially deaf person. "You can't just cheat on me and then expect me to take you back! What kind of drongo do you take me for?!" Catrina's eyes flared in rage as Weald's mocking tone soaked into her head. Her jaw was clenched, and her lips were a thin line across her face as she glared up into his eyes.
"How dare you?!" She snapped. "Mark my words, Weald . . . you *will* pay for this. There is no way that you're gonna get away with treating *me* like this without having it come back to bite you in the ass. . . I am *so* going to get you back in the best way in know how!" and with that, she turned to Joey, flashed her one more threatening glare, and stomped out of the library booth. Flam hooted loudly in support of her decision to finally leave.
"Don't trip in those heels on your way out!" Joey called after her. Without turning around, Cat held her middle finger up over her shoulder and continued out towards the exit of the library; Joey and Weald cracking up in the background of the library booth.
"Good God, she's pure evil!" Joey laughed. Weald nodded in agreement.
"And what was with that threat she gave me?" he asked sounding both apprehensive and contemptuous at the same time.
"I'm not sure . . . but all I know is that that girl gives out more threats than she could possibly keep track of! Between my friends and I, we are already scheduled for two paybacks and a stolen boyfriend," Joey laughed.
"Damn! I almost feel bad for Professor McShailty . . . he has to deal with her for the next two hours!"
"Yeah . . ." Joey agreed. "So does my- . . . OMIGOD!" she bellowed out, causing Jason to take a step back in surprise.
"What?!"
"Oh, God!" she said again. "Remus and Laura . . . and now Catrina is- . . . Oh no! Weald, are you ABSOLUTELY SURE that she has detention with McShailty right now?" Joey asked frantically.
"I'm more sure about that than I am that my name is Jason Weald," he said confidently. By the look on Joey's face, he could tell that something was really out of place. "Why? What's wrong?" Joey just shook her head.
"Nothing . . . nothing," she whispered more to herself than aloud. "We'll just have to hope that Remus has made his move in the past forty-five minutes of detention that he's had so far . . . because I'm pretty sure he's going to have a really hard time trying to do it any other time tonight now that Catrina's joining the party," she said dejectedly as Weald's face continued to look bewildered.
Joey noticed his expression, and before she had to get into explaining anything she changed the subject. "So! Let's get started on this potions work, shall we?"
Weald didn't bother to protest as Joey flipped open the potions book and retrieved McShailty's planner from her backpack. They began working diligently on helping Weald think through some of his critical thinking problems on his potions homework.
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It was 9:30 by the time Joey and Weald had completely finished their potions work, and since they were both getting too restless to do any other homework, they decided to head back to the Gryffindor tower.
They were making their way up the final staircase towards the Gryffindor portrait hole, when, suddenly, a big brown barn owl came swooping in through one of the high windows of the castle walls. Flam saw the bird first, and began hooting excitedly as the barn owl came swooping down towards Joey. Without landing anywhere, the owl dropped its letter down into Joey's outstretched arms, and turned around and flew right back out the window again, no doubt on its way for an evening of hunting.
Joey laughed to herself a bit and glanced over towards Weald who was looking at her amusedly as she began to chuckle. "Leave it to my mum to not wait until the breakfast mail delivery to send me my letter!" Joey was really excited to hear back from her mom about the plans for that year's winter break. She decided to wait for Sirius to open the letter since it was most likely for the both of them.
"Oddsbodkins!" Weald said the new password to the picture of the fat lady, and she swung open, allowing them entrance to the warmly-lit common room. As the pair entered the Gryffindor quarters, they immediately spotted three people lounged on the furniture in front of the fire.
James was sitting in the big, squishy red chair with Lily sitting across his lap. The dark haired boy was obviously whispering little words of flattery in the red heads ear, because she kept leaning back and laughing as they exchanged little pecks on the lips.
"I think I 'm going to be sick," Weald mumbled quietly so that only Joey could hear. "there's no way I'll ever be able to stomach seeing Potter make little smoochy faces at his girlfriend." Joey choked back laughter as she began to notice how ridiculous James really did look. He was presently cooing in Lily's ear, and he lips were all puckered up as his eyes and eyebrows were all scrunched together. He looked like how a grandmother does when seeing her grandchildren at Christmas time.
"I think it's sweet," she giggled. Weald, of course, rolled his eyes. As they got a bit closer to the group, they noticed that James wasn't wearing his glasses, and that they were, in fact, up on top of Lily's head. ['That would explain the squinting,' Joey mused to herself.]
The third party of the group was Sirius, who was sitting, rather alone, on the large red Gryffindor couch. He was stretched out so that he feet were resting on the brown coffee table in front of him, and he had a rather large book sitting up on his lap as he thumbed through the pages. Sirius looked up from his book as the two approached, and a huge grin applied itself to his attractive features when he saw Joey. As his eye lingered over towards Weald, however, his smile faded a bit, once he realized the situation at hand.
"Hey, Sirius," Weald greeted him warmly as he stuck his hand out for a friendly hand shake. Sirius looked down at the hand out in front of him and then back up towards Joey's face. When she gave him a reassuring smile, he proceeded to grasp Weald's hand sociably and acknowledged the guys peace offering.
"So how was your guys' tutoring session?" Sirius forced himself to be friendly. James had told him the story of what had happened the evening before with Joey and the whole quidditch thing, and Sirius would have liked nothing more than to rip the Captain's heart out once he had heard that he had made Joey cry.
When Weald finally left up to the dorms and Joey and Sirius were left down in the common room alone except for the snuggly couple over by the fire, they, too, decided to curl up in front of the flames on the couch. Flam found a cozy spot on the back of the couch, and he curled up as the fires heat caused him to doze off quickly. Sirius plopped himself down at the edge of the couch he had been sitting on before, and opened his arms up, inviting Joey to curl up on his lap. Kicking her shoes off and stuffing her mother's letter in her pocket, she gladly accepted his summons and wrapped herself up in the warmth that he offered.
"So how did your tutoring session *really* go?" Sirius asked as he wrapped his arms around her slender waste and hugged her close.
"It *actually* went okay . . . I think Weald and I have really come to an understanding, and quidditch practice should not be so hellish from now on." She said with a tone of relief apparent in her voice. "And besides . . . we definitely have one major thing in common that's really gonna help us get along . . . Now we *both* have reason to despise Catrina with a passion."
"I see," Sirius said calmly. "He just better not be making you still feel uncomfortable, is all . . . I know how he can be with some girls, and there's no way in hell I'd let him treat you like that . . ." Joey smiled appreciatively at her boyfriend and planted a small kiss on his cheek.
"He's actually gotten a lot better now that we've come to a truce . . . and I think the tutoring sessions are really going to help him bring his grades in potions up."
"I think I'm considering getting bad marks in potions, now, just so I can have you as my wonderful tutor," Sirius teased. Joey smiled warmly.
"Do I detect a hint of jealousy from the fact that Weald is stealing away some of my attention?" she questioned playfully.
"Maybe I am jealous," Sirius grinned good-humoredly as he leaned his face in towards hers. A smile barely played across her lips before she pressed her mouth up to his in a sweet, affectionate kiss. She pulled away for half a second and her smile spread all the way across her cheeks before he pulled her into his lips once more. The kiss became more passionate, and Sirius' tongue ran slowly along her bottom lip before drawing her lips apart and entering her mouth.
Joey ran her hands through Sirius' silky dark hair, and sent tingles down his neck as she teased his scalp. Sirius' hands, which had been affectionately wrapped around her waist, were now moving up under her shirt, along her back. He was lightly massaging her lower back with his fingertips as he pressed her farther into him. Sirius was about to let out a loud moan as Joey began massaging the back of his neck, but before he could, they were both suddenly startled out of their reveries by a loud choking noise that sounded like smothered laughter. They grudgingly, yet promptly, pulled away from each other enough to each get a good look over in the direction of Lily and James. The two chair-occupants continued to flash their Chesire cat smiles at Joey and Sirius, as the couch-occupants flashed them death glares.
"What?" Sirius asked callously.
"Hmmm? Oh . . . nothing," James said nonchalantly. "Do carry on . . ."
"uhhh . . . do you mind?" Joey asked awkwardly as James and Lily continued to survey them.
"Oh, no! We don't mind at all!" Lily said casually. "Please, do continue."
Joey and Sirius exchanged looks between each other before looking back at the chair-occupants and giving them almost identical, 'this is not funny' glares. James and Lily smirked for a moment longer before James finally caved in.
"Oh, alright . . ." he said with false exasperation; the amusement was too apparent in his tone to be believable. "We'll let you guys be *alone*. . ." he laughed as both he and Lily stood up, grabbed their stuff and headed over towards the girls' dorm rooms.
Both Sirius and Joey couldn't help to laugh as the comical pair made their way up the stairs, and out of sight.
"Oh! I forgot to tell you!" she exclaimed happily. "I got a letter back from my mum regarding our winter vacation!"
"Great!" Sirius said excitedly. Joey tore open the letter and held it out for both of them to read at the same time.
Dear Joanne (and Sirius, if you read this),
It's so wonderful to hear from you, dear! Your father and I were so excited to receive mail from our little baby girl! Daddy does say hello, by the way, sweetheart. (He's busy right now with a patient that he will be giving surgery to next week.) But he told me to send his love and that he can't wait to see you at Christmas.
I think it's a wonderful idea for Sirius to join us this Holiday! The entire family would be delighted to see him join us! Your father and I have discussed the situation, and we've decided that, as a family, we'll go up to our cabin in America after we spend a few days at home and get your things packed up and ready. We'd love to have Sirius accompany us! I've already given Josh, Brian, and Sam the heads up, and they've already cleared it with their work, so they'll be able to come for certain.
We know that Sirius has never been to the United States before, but we're sure it will be a wonderful experience for him, and that he'll love Lake Tahoe, California. I'm sure you kids will have a ball skiing, and I know that you will have fun teaching Sirius how to ski for his first time.
So, please tell Sirius that we will hope to see him join us for the holidays, and that we will look forward to his company on our trip to the U.S.! I hope you have a wonderful time left in this semester of school, sweetie, and I'll see you in about a month and a half! Send my love to all your friends!
love you much! - Mum
p.s. Joey, dear . . . even if you don't let Sirius read this message, I just have to ask you one question before I seal this letter up. Are you two finally a couple yet?! Your father and I are dying to know! It's about time you two started admitting how crazy you are for each other . . . Well, I don't know. I'll just have to wait for your response, I guess. And give Flam a treat for me.
So, I totally think I deserve a certificate for the most abrupt ending award. What do you guys think?! LOL! I think that's two in a row that I've left in an awkward spot . . . Oh well!!! Hehehe! So I hoped you guys thought that was up to standards, and I'm sorry if it was too short or too messy or not all-together grammatically correct. I just hope you guys enjoyed it, and I'll try to update the next one as soon as I have time!!! Please review! I love you guys so much for every single review, and I eat them up! Okie-dokie . . . so I totally am about to go to bed right now . . . it's really, *really* late, and I don't have anymore time to type this! Please forgive . . . *collapses on desk and falls asleep* LOL! I guess it's not that bad, but still, I'm gonna update this really fast and jump in bed . . . but I think in order to do that I need to stop rambling! So buh- bye!!!
-Sara (your one and only Sportzjunkie)
Jenstarz: Hey hey!!! Glad you liked the chapter! And, yes, I couldn't resist bringing Remus more into the story for long . . . his character is just too lovable! Anywho, I hope you like this next one as well! Thanx for the support!!!
Dana Whelks: Scarlet woman!!! LOL! That's pretty good! Thank you so much for your reviews and tons of support! Yes, yes . . . more Sirius/ Joey! I've heard the plea from enough people . . . and YES, I will heed to all your requests . . . eventually!
Taraancaiel: Thank you so, so much! And I hope this update has arrived soon enough for you! *grin*
Annoriel: Hehehehe! Hope you enjoyed yourself! And you don't have to apologize for not reviewing right away!!! LOL! I'm just psyched that you actually take the time to review my fic!!! Thanx so much!
Matthea: Thanx so much! Hope you like this next one!
Sakura: Hey!!! Yup yup . . . High school is pretty tiring, but I found my freshman year to be a lot of fun as well as exhausting!!! It's Junior year that I hear is supposed to be the real bitch . . . hmmm . . . can't wait! LOL! Thanx so much for the review! I'm honored you'd take the time out of your busy schedule for some reading/reviewing time w/ my fic!!! Thanx so much!
Kiwi: *grin* It was so much fun talking and exchanging pictures w/ you!!! Hehehe! Guess it was a blessing in disguise that you didn't understand that one piece in my last chapter . . . it was hella cool getting to learn more about one of my most loyal reviewers [and you aren't boring! lol]!!! *wink* Glad you've been so sweet to continue to review so many of my new updates! It means so much!
Casco: Hey Suga! Calm down! Just breathe! LOL! Goodness . . . take a chill pill, babe!!! *grin* I don't exactly want to cause anyone to go into cardiac arrest because my story freaked them out . . . but perhaps it's a good thing that you found an element of surprise in my story!!! *wink* But really . . . I'd have to say that you are on to me to some degree . . . but I won't go there and give anything away!!! [at least not yet . . . ] You'll just have to keep reading, I guess!!!
Mercury15: Hahahaha! Well . . . I'll have to consider the Slytherin thing . . . maybe in a chapter later from now, we'll just have to see. *grin* Anywayz, yes . . . the last chapter was a bit of an explaining chapter . . . and I wanted to keep going because I felt like I stopped mid-thought at the end of it. You know how that is?! LOL! Anywayz, just wanted to thank you so much for your continuing support on this story. It means so very much to me! p.s. You are SUCH an awesome chica for sending those other pics to me! Omigod! LOL! thanx a bundle!!! *wink*
Sugarcoatedcandy: *blush* Thanx so much!!! Gosh . . .LOL! I can barely handle compliments like that . . . I turn red just reading it! Hehehe! It totally inspires me and thank you SO MUCH for the support!!! Ahhh! Your words are too nice! Much luv!!!
Kate: I had that very issue in mind the moment I decided to create Catrina's character . . . You need to realize that even people who just seem like one thing on the outside, still do have specific strengths in certain areas. I am a *firm* believer that everyone in this world is good at something (example: Neville w/ herbology), and you have yet to find out what the exact something is with Catrina. But I'm certainly glad you brought it up! You've just prompted me to bring that into this very chapter! And I'm pretty sure that by this update, many of the blurry things will soon start to clear themselves up and start making much more sense.
Sweet intentionz: *grin* So happy you like that I'm bringing more Remus into the story! I was aching for more of him too! He'll show up again soon, if not in this chapter (I promise)!!! LOL! And hold your horses! I know a lot of you guys are just itching for Hogwarts winter break because it is just around the corner . . . but I'm not ready for it to be here yet, so I'd estimate at least one more chapter after this one before it really is here. K! Thanx so much for the review! I love the inspiring words!
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And to everyone:
Hello, all!!! I certainly hope this chapter is up to standards! *grin* I kind of hurried through it so I could get it out by today . . . but mind you . . . there was *still* a lot of time and love that went into this little piece of update thingie, and I hope you appreciate it! *wink* And if you are reading this, and have never written me a review before . . . I encourage you to! I'll welcome your opinions, but I just hope that you bring into consideration how it may come off when I read them. [In other words, try not to just bash the little petty details . . . instead express your opinions on the main chunks. Make sense?] Much luv to all who review!!!
-sportzjunkie
Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.
-Robert A. Heinlein
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Joey quickly stormed over towards an unoccupied library booth that was completely out of view of the snogging couple . . . *and* of Madam Pince. The last thing she needed right now was to be carefully surveyed by the creepy old vulture.
All Joey could concentrate on was the anger that was running through her blood stream at this moment. And the only reason why her anger kept building up, was the fact that she was so affected emotionally by the sight she had just witnessed. She wasn't so emotionally affected earlier when she had seen Catrina making out with Weald . . . so why was she so upset now, when she had just observed the same tramp making out with Amos?
Joey knew why. And she also knew that it had absolutely NOTHING to do with the fact that Amos used to be her boyfriend . . . *or* with the fact that the sight she just saw was a perfect reminder of the night Amos had cheated on her. Nope. The *real* reason that she was so bothered by the spectacle, was because there was ABSOLUTELY no explanation for the fact that Catrina *just so happened* to keep showing up with a make-out partner RIGHT in front of Joey. This was already the second time in a single day, and both times Joey had witnessed it, Catrina and her 'partner' were *always* in a place that was completely, uncoincidentally at a location that Joey was scheduled to be at. Not to mention the fact that the places where she ran into the tramp's 'sessions' were obviously not the *registered* make-out areas of the school. ( Pretty much *all* of students at Hogwarts knew that the 'acknowledged' snog-section of the library was located in the SOUTH side of the library near the "History of Muggle and Wizard interactions" section . . . *not* the NORTH side of the library where Joey had caught Catrina with Amos. And it was also well known that *every* student at Hogwarts is aware that you are NOT supposed to make-out within even three hallways from McShailty's classroom . . . and Joey had caught Catrina at it with Weald right UP AGAINST THE DOOR!!! )
In Joey's mind, this could only mean one thing. Catrina was trying desperately to get under her skin . . . but Joey just couldn't quite figure out why. I mean, *sure* the girls didn't exactly like each other . . . but Joey just couldn't put her finger on the reason why Catrina would go to such trouble to make her jealous! Shouldn't it have been Joey who would have harbored the bad feelings for Catrina? . . . not the other way around? After all, Catrina *was* the one who had "stolen" Joey's boyfriend when Joey had done absolutely nothing to her . . . why wasn't Joey trying to get Catrina back instead of Catrina acting like she was trying to get some kind of revenge on Joey?
As all of these thoughts swam through Joey's confused mind, she progressively got angrier and angrier. In fact, she was so wrapped up in her emotions, that when she entered the empty library booth, she didn't even realize that Weald had finally caught up to right behind her . . . so she slammed the heavy door back in his face, accidentally. She walked a few steps across the tiny room and collapsed into a chair, retrieving her potions book out of her book bag and slamming it onto the table. Flam was so shaken up by all of the bangs and slams that were now echoing through the room, that he flew over to a chair in the very corner of the booth, curled up on the back of it, and cowered to himself.
When Weald finally recovered from the mouthful of wood he had just received, he wrenched the heavy door open and smashed it shut behind himself. After forcefully chucking his book bag to the floor in front of the desk, he stormed over to the chair next to Joey, and flung himself into it. He shot a nasty glare at Joey, that clearly showed he was not in the mood to talk.
Joey was now clearly aware of the fact that Weald did NOT want to even talk to her, so before they could ruin the tutoring session when it hadn't even started yet, she decided that she was going to have to say something to ease the tension. But she never got a chance to once Weald decided to cut her off before she even started talking.
"Why do girls have to be so . . . so malicious?!" he snapped at her. It didn't really sound like a question that needed an answer, but Joey was just pissed that he would even generalize the female species like that . . . based *solely* on Catrina's actions. Oh, but that was *definitely* not the worst of what he said. He wasn't quite finished yet . . . he still had to piss Joey off a little further. "Maybe, *Joe*, if you could have just held onto Amos, Cat would still be mine right now!" he spat out. Joey stood up from her chair so fast, that it got thrown backwards into the wall behind her. Flam shied away even further into the corner of the booth and began to tremble hysterically.
Joey was almost positive her eyes were now bugging out of her head at this point, and she was so furious, that she wasn't even sure that she'd be able to respond to him. But she soon decided that she was DEFINITELY not too angry to bitch at him since he deserved it so much.
"Don't you DARE take this out on me, Weald!!! DON'T YOU DARE!!!" she barked back, though it sounded more like a threat than anything else. "Catrina would have cheated on you whether Amos was single or not! That's just the kind of slut she is!!! She would have cheated on you with *anybody*! In fact, I bet you Amos is not the only other guy she's been with since you two got together!!!"
Jason jumped out of his chair at this point, as well, and, as he took a step forward so that he was towering over Joey, he grabbed her upper arm and tightened his grip threateningly. All the muscles in his body were seriously clenched and bulging through his shirt in rage.
"She would NOT have cheated on me with *anybody*!!! And Cat is not a slut, *Joe*," he drawled Joey's name out slowly as if in disgust. " . . . she *will* eventually come crawling back to me!" he shouted in anger. "And I'm going to take this out on WHOEVER THE HELL I FEEL LIKE TAKING THIS OUT ON!" Joey thought her hair was getting blown backwards as he shouted in her face. But she made sure her expression remained blank. It was her perfect poker face, and she knew that it was the one thing that could get under his skin the worst if she seemed to be unaffected by his tirade and maddening grasp on her arm.
Though she was still practically shaking with a mix fury and adrenaline, she wanted to completely piss him off without forcing him to do her any bodily harm . . . so in a perfectly calm voice, she spoke up into his face. "If you insist on remaining in denial, *Weald*, I would highly appreciate it if you could return to your chair so that we could start our tutoring session without anymore of your pointless temper tantrums. You happen to be scaring my bird."
A rigid crease was now planted permanently between Weald's eyebrows, and Joey was almost certain that she could see his left eye start to twitch. She had to contain her laughter as further signs of his 'cracking' became more and more apparent. It was all too sweet a revenge for someone that she disliked so much.
"God! Why do you just . . . *act* like that sometimes?! At times . . . I just . . . *hate* you!" he spat out pathetically as he backed away and slouched back into his own chair. Joey cocked an eyebrow at him as she tried harder to contain her mirth. This boy certainly did blow hot and cold.
"Well, you're entitled to," she replied flatly as she lovingly walked over to Flam, helped him back up onto her shoulder, and too took her seat.
"Why?" he asked plainly, as if the one worded question was enough to explain his confusion.
"Why what?" she spat back, sounding a little annoyed.
"Why do you treat me like that? Like you're so much better than I am?" Joey gave him a look that said she thought he'd gone mental.
"Excuse me?!" she practically yelled back in his face, causing Flam to recoil again. When she realized her outburst, she tried to calm her voice down to simply an annoyed tenor. "Weald, *I* should be the one asking *you* that very question! If you would just get off your stupid high horse long enough to stand on the same ground as the rest of us, you'd realize how badly you've treated people . . . how badly you've treated *me*!" she trailed of hoarsely and her gaze drifted from his face to the desktop as the feelings of last night's quidditch practice resurfaced. But then her eyes hardened once again and she met his gaze with a bit more resentment than was there previously. ". . . Or have you *already* forgotten about last night's quidditch practice?"
Weald gave her, what she thought, looked to be a pained expression. She didn't want to jump to conclusions, however, knowing how it was practically impossible to get someone as egotistical as Weald to feel bad about how they've treated people in the past. She was about to say something else, but was cut off by Weald before she could.
"Joey . . ." he began with an unexpected tone of kindness. It was a surprise to both of them that he had accidentally used her preferred nickname over the usual 'Joe' that he had always addressed her with. "I know that last night I treated you pretty . . ."
"Cruelly? Unfairly? Maliciously? Take your pick!" she snapped, but her eyes contained the hurt appearance that disproved the validity of her painted-on emotions. Weald's eyebrows furrowed with concern as she subconsciously began to stroke her bird, as a source of comfort.
"I know . . . I know," he admitted awkwardly as he broke eye contact and instead began focusing on the cover of the potions book on the desk. "But you have to realize . . . that as Captain and Beater for the Gryffindor team, I have to . . . I mean . . . I felt that . . . er . . . that my position . . . or my status was . . ." he trailed off trying to find the right words. But he didn't need to when Joey found one for him.
" . . . threatened?" she practically whispered. Weald flinched at the word, but brought his gaze up to meet her face again. He had to use all the will power in himself just to hold her gaze as he nodded yes. Joey's eyebrows crinkled together in apprehension. She knew how hard it was for him to admit that to her, and she was surprised to hear his voice break the awkward silence, once again.
"It's just kind of hard, is all . . . I don't know . . . but sometimes I think . . . 'Why would a *girl* be considered my equivalent' . . . you know? . . . Why should I be forced to have someone who is so much smaller and so much less . . . *experienced* than me, be my right-hand beater?" Joey nodded as he expressed his emotions. Though she found herself a bit offended by his sexist opinions on things, she had to give him credit for finally getting over himself and spilling how he really felt.
"I know it's hard, Jason," she comforted; only cringing slightly from the fact that she forced herself to use his first name . . . she hoped it would be taken as almost a piece offering. "But you *have* to realize that WE ARE A TEAM . . . we are on the SAME SIDE, therefore we *need* to work together . . . NOT against each other. The way you treated me last practice, made me want to quit . . . and at the time, I'm sure that's what you're intensions were. However, judging by the fact that you are trying to explain yourself to me, I'm sure that you, as well as myself, are willing to give this another shot." He nodded in agreement.
"Truce?" he asked, and leaned forward while opening up his arms in an effort to offer her a hug. Joey cocked an eyebrow at him and simply held her hand out in an effort to substitute the hug for a handshake. Weald looked down at her hand and a funny smirk crept up his face. He dropped his hug-poised arms and gregariously seized her outstretched hand and shook it as he started to laugh.
"What?" she asked a little exasperated as he continued to chuckle. She felt like he was laughing at her.
"You can trust me, Joe," he said, going back to the original nickname he always used for her. "Now that we've come to a quidditch truce . . . I'll *just* treat you like my friend . . . 'one of the guys' if you will. I won't hit on you anymore."
"Oh, is that what you call it?" she said as she began to laugh. "I wouldn't exactly call how you were treating me 'hitting on me!'"
"Oh, come on! You know that you were attracted to my sexy charm!" Joey rolled her eyes blatantly, and Weald gave her a playful bat on the arm. "Well, you know *most* girls can't resist it!"
"Yeah . . . until they talk to you!" she laughed sarcastically.
"Ouch . . ." he said loosing the playful ness in his tone. " . . . very ouch."
"Well, it's a known fact that you're a player, Weald. You definitely have to get over that reputation before you start calling yourself charming!" He nodded, knowingly.
"But it's so much easier to just get with whatever girls I want whenever I want them!" he griped, sounding a lot like a whiny child.
Oh, pulease!" she scoffed. "And here I was thinking that you just learned a lesson by getting a taste of your own medicine!"
"But this isn't the way it's supposed to work! I'm supposed to be able to treat a girl like shit, still have her put up with me, and then ditch her whenever I see fit!" He sounded so pathetically serious, that Joey couldn't help to give a derisive laugh. She couldn't listen to him continue to tell her his theories on relationships any longer, so she tried to bring the subject back to Catrina.
"So why do you care so much that she dumped you? You guys never *really* were even together, were you?"
"uhhh . . . *I* thought we were! But apparently people have different opinions when it comes to being 'with' someone . . ."
"Apparently," Joey responded in a slightly mock tone that Weald didn't happen to catch. "But, Weald . . . you could do so much better than Catrina. If you *really* decided to start treating girls with a little more respect, you could have a *lot* going for you! Catrina was just a stupid, boy-obsessed floozy, that simply used you to-" she hesitated for a moment before letting out a sigh and finishing her thought, ". . . I *think* . . . piss me off," she said with half a laugh at the ridiculousness of her own statement.
"Come on, Joe! That's ridiculous! Why would she personally want to piss you off?"
"You think I know?!" she snapped. "SHE'S the one who helped Amos cheat on me, SHE'S the one who's threatened my friends . . . not to mention threatened *me*. And, most blatant of all, she keeps "coincidentally" showing up in these areas where I've been scheduled to be at, and she's always making-out with some new guy that she has just recently hooked onto a leash! I *think* it's safe to say, Weald, that she is DEFINITELY trying her hardest to get under my skin!!!"
"Oh shit," he said more to himself than aloud.
"what?"
"That would definitely explain a few things . . ." he said quietly. "Joey . . . you know earlier today . . . when you saw Catrina and I . . . you know-"
"YES, I know! . . . go on," she prompted, thoroughly hoping to avoid his description of what she had seen earlier.
"Well, I had gone to Professor McShailty to find out the information about my tutoring this evening, and she followed me there. I didn't see her until I had come out of the classroom and closed the door behind me . . . that's when she practically lounged at me." he said shaking his head trying to recall the situation more clearly. "I was so shocked by it, that she even had to pin me up against the door to keep me on her. I just figured she hadn't gotten enough of me from the other night, you know?" he inquired, and got a deliberate roll of the eyes from Joey.
"Okay . . . but tell me why you think that had anything to do with her problem with me?"
"Well, like I said . . . I *thought* that she hadn't gotten enough of me, but when I questioned her about it she mumbled something about YOU coming down the hall. Before I had even a chance to respond, I was pinned up against the wall again and just decided to not question a good thing!" he rationalized as though it made perfect sense. Joey didn't pay any attention to his arrogant comment, though, because she was concentrating greatly on trying to figure out the information he had just fed her.
"But none of this explains any of the 'why' questions!" she said frustratedly. "WHY does she want to make me so damn angry? I haven't done *anything* to her!!!"
"On the contrary Joe, just being you is a big enough aggravation for her! You realize this is all just because she's horribly jealous of you, right?" Joey quirked an eyebrow at his comment.
"Why would she be jealous of me?" she voiced, shaking her head bewildered. Weald was giving her a very odd expression when she said this. "What?" she snapped.
"Must I explain?" he scoffed. "You really aren't that smart, are you?" By the look Joey was giving him, he decided that maybe she really did need an explanation. "Joe . . . let me explain this to you as simply as possible . . . You're *easily* the smartest girl in our grade, you are extremely attractive, you are athletic, you have a *rockin'* body . . ." he started trailing off as he noticed the death glare she was shooting him as he subconsciously scanned her up and down as he said that last part.
"The point is . . ." he said, clearing his head from the daze he was beginning to yield to. " . . .there are *very* few things that she can outdo you in . . . one of those things is being a slut . . . she can't hold onto a single guy, and from what I hear, one of the guys she's been eyeing lately happens to be *your* boy, Sirius . . . consequently, giving her another reason to hate you more! The only thing I think of that she has to be 'proud' of, is the fact that she's *extremely* good at transfiguration, and what's special about that? What I'm basically trying to say, is that she has every reason to be jealous of you, and I'm sure that deep down you knew that . . . you just refused to admit it because you're too damn modest."
After the shit-load of complements Weald had just put across to Joey, he was certain that a simple 'thank you' would be in store. Needless to say, he *definitely* was not expecting her to respond so plainly by asking the question she did.
"Catrina is good at transfiguration?" she inquired, trying to sound as casual about it as possible. If this were true, it would definitely explain a few things about her ability to transform into a cat at will.
"Well . . . yes, as a matter of fact, she has top marks in the class," he replied, not being able to suppress the suspicion in his voice caused by the bizarreness of her question. "She was actually placed into Gryffindor because of McGonagall being the transfiguration teacher . . . apparently Catrina's mum was the transfiguration professor at her old school . . . you've heard of The Salem Witch Academy in America? . . . I believe that's what it's called . . ." he waited for Joey to nod before he continued on. "Well, I already explained to you the whole issue with her getting 'relocated' from her old school . . . needless to say her parents were pretty angry with her . . . but like I said before, her family is *very* powerful and wealthy, and they made sure she was exactly where they wanted her when she got shipped off to Hogwarts. Now that I think about it, she probably would have been stuck in Slytherin if her parents hadn't interceded . . . at least *now* I think that, knowing what a bitch she is . . ." he trailed off as he started laughing miserably to himself.
"How do you know all of this?" she asked with a tone of interest. Weald gave her a split-second sideways glance, but it was still long enough for her to notice his look of offense.
"You really think I'm bigheaded enough to shag a girl and not find out *anything* about her?!" Joey raised both of her eyebrows and gave him a surprised look. "Alright . . . I admit she did talk a lot. How could I have NOT caught on to at least a *few* things she blabbed on about?" Joey scoffed at his remark.
"You're sick," she said flatly.
"And this is news to you?" he smirked. Joey rolled her eyes. She didn't have a moment to respond, though, because all of the sudden, the library booth's door was flung open, smacking loudly into the wall as it did. Flam screeched loudly, and Joey jumped in her seat at the unexpected crash. But she couldn't suppress her feelings of anger when she realized who it was who had just entered in such a noisy fashion.
"Catrina!" Weald burst out as he leapt out of his seat. He immediately regretted his reaction to seeing her, and tried his best to 'play it cool' from there on out. "so . . . uhhh . . . what're you doing here?" His voice was so forcefully calmed, that Joey would have laughed if she wasn't so distracted by the unexpected whore that had suddenly showed up in front of her just moments before.
"Oh, Weald!" Catrina cried dramatically as she ran over to him and wrapped her delicate little arms around his neck. "I can't believe you walked away like that!"
"Oh, no?" he asked sardonically. "So you wanted me to stay and watch you get it on with that dick weed, Amos?" he managed to growl out through his blind wave of anger.
"Don't be silly, Jason . . ." she said with an extremely counterfeit tone. "Amos means nothing to me . . . it was a stupid little thing . . . you shouldn't get all worked up about it!"
"But-" was all he got out before Cat pressed her overly-glossed lips up to his mouth and hung on to the cuff of his collar so he couldn't pull away. Weald was slowly leaning back farther and farther away from Catrina, obviously trying to pull out of the kiss . . . but the relentless Barbie doll continued to lean farther and farther forward into him. Eventually, Catrina even began making little moaning noises, trying to cover up what sounded like whimpers from Weald as he tried to draw away without hurting her. Even Flam began making shuddering motions on Joey's shoulder as though he was disgusted by the sight. Joey thought she was going to hurl as she just gaped at them in nausea. She was waiting for Weald to do something to stop it as the kiss went on. Joey soon found herself practically tapping her foot when Catrina *finally* pulled away.
The stupid tart even had the nerve to flash a priggish smirk over at Joey as she began to straighten out the collar of Jason's shirt that she herself, messed up. "That was nice," Cat breathed out sultrily. Joey couldn't help but roll her eyes, and when Weald glanced over at her and received one of her famous 'what are you waiting for' looks, he soon straightened himself out and glared down at Catrina.
"Shouldn't you *be* somewhere right now?" he snapped out callously. Catrina shrugged indifferently. "I thought you had detention tonight," he said, still not losing the insensitive tone.
"I do," she snapped. "But McShailty doesn't want me there until 7:45, and I've still got five minutes until then." Joey suddenly found herself glancing over at the clock on the wall. She hadn't realized that she'd been sitting there talking to Weald for forty-five minutes already.
"I think you should go," he barked at Cat. "And I don't think you should talk to me again . . . at least not outside of quidditch."
"What are you trying to say?" she squeaked out in a forcedly sweet voice [one that would have put Umbridge to shame, no doubt].
"I *mean* that I want you to LEAVE . . . ME . . . ALONE!" he said slowly, enunciating each syllable clearly as though he were talking to a partially deaf person. "You can't just cheat on me and then expect me to take you back! What kind of drongo do you take me for?!" Catrina's eyes flared in rage as Weald's mocking tone soaked into her head. Her jaw was clenched, and her lips were a thin line across her face as she glared up into his eyes.
"How dare you?!" She snapped. "Mark my words, Weald . . . you *will* pay for this. There is no way that you're gonna get away with treating *me* like this without having it come back to bite you in the ass. . . I am *so* going to get you back in the best way in know how!" and with that, she turned to Joey, flashed her one more threatening glare, and stomped out of the library booth. Flam hooted loudly in support of her decision to finally leave.
"Don't trip in those heels on your way out!" Joey called after her. Without turning around, Cat held her middle finger up over her shoulder and continued out towards the exit of the library; Joey and Weald cracking up in the background of the library booth.
"Good God, she's pure evil!" Joey laughed. Weald nodded in agreement.
"And what was with that threat she gave me?" he asked sounding both apprehensive and contemptuous at the same time.
"I'm not sure . . . but all I know is that that girl gives out more threats than she could possibly keep track of! Between my friends and I, we are already scheduled for two paybacks and a stolen boyfriend," Joey laughed.
"Damn! I almost feel bad for Professor McShailty . . . he has to deal with her for the next two hours!"
"Yeah . . ." Joey agreed. "So does my- . . . OMIGOD!" she bellowed out, causing Jason to take a step back in surprise.
"What?!"
"Oh, God!" she said again. "Remus and Laura . . . and now Catrina is- . . . Oh no! Weald, are you ABSOLUTELY SURE that she has detention with McShailty right now?" Joey asked frantically.
"I'm more sure about that than I am that my name is Jason Weald," he said confidently. By the look on Joey's face, he could tell that something was really out of place. "Why? What's wrong?" Joey just shook her head.
"Nothing . . . nothing," she whispered more to herself than aloud. "We'll just have to hope that Remus has made his move in the past forty-five minutes of detention that he's had so far . . . because I'm pretty sure he's going to have a really hard time trying to do it any other time tonight now that Catrina's joining the party," she said dejectedly as Weald's face continued to look bewildered.
Joey noticed his expression, and before she had to get into explaining anything she changed the subject. "So! Let's get started on this potions work, shall we?"
Weald didn't bother to protest as Joey flipped open the potions book and retrieved McShailty's planner from her backpack. They began working diligently on helping Weald think through some of his critical thinking problems on his potions homework.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was 9:30 by the time Joey and Weald had completely finished their potions work, and since they were both getting too restless to do any other homework, they decided to head back to the Gryffindor tower.
They were making their way up the final staircase towards the Gryffindor portrait hole, when, suddenly, a big brown barn owl came swooping in through one of the high windows of the castle walls. Flam saw the bird first, and began hooting excitedly as the barn owl came swooping down towards Joey. Without landing anywhere, the owl dropped its letter down into Joey's outstretched arms, and turned around and flew right back out the window again, no doubt on its way for an evening of hunting.
Joey laughed to herself a bit and glanced over towards Weald who was looking at her amusedly as she began to chuckle. "Leave it to my mum to not wait until the breakfast mail delivery to send me my letter!" Joey was really excited to hear back from her mom about the plans for that year's winter break. She decided to wait for Sirius to open the letter since it was most likely for the both of them.
"Oddsbodkins!" Weald said the new password to the picture of the fat lady, and she swung open, allowing them entrance to the warmly-lit common room. As the pair entered the Gryffindor quarters, they immediately spotted three people lounged on the furniture in front of the fire.
James was sitting in the big, squishy red chair with Lily sitting across his lap. The dark haired boy was obviously whispering little words of flattery in the red heads ear, because she kept leaning back and laughing as they exchanged little pecks on the lips.
"I think I 'm going to be sick," Weald mumbled quietly so that only Joey could hear. "there's no way I'll ever be able to stomach seeing Potter make little smoochy faces at his girlfriend." Joey choked back laughter as she began to notice how ridiculous James really did look. He was presently cooing in Lily's ear, and he lips were all puckered up as his eyes and eyebrows were all scrunched together. He looked like how a grandmother does when seeing her grandchildren at Christmas time.
"I think it's sweet," she giggled. Weald, of course, rolled his eyes. As they got a bit closer to the group, they noticed that James wasn't wearing his glasses, and that they were, in fact, up on top of Lily's head. ['That would explain the squinting,' Joey mused to herself.]
The third party of the group was Sirius, who was sitting, rather alone, on the large red Gryffindor couch. He was stretched out so that he feet were resting on the brown coffee table in front of him, and he had a rather large book sitting up on his lap as he thumbed through the pages. Sirius looked up from his book as the two approached, and a huge grin applied itself to his attractive features when he saw Joey. As his eye lingered over towards Weald, however, his smile faded a bit, once he realized the situation at hand.
"Hey, Sirius," Weald greeted him warmly as he stuck his hand out for a friendly hand shake. Sirius looked down at the hand out in front of him and then back up towards Joey's face. When she gave him a reassuring smile, he proceeded to grasp Weald's hand sociably and acknowledged the guys peace offering.
"So how was your guys' tutoring session?" Sirius forced himself to be friendly. James had told him the story of what had happened the evening before with Joey and the whole quidditch thing, and Sirius would have liked nothing more than to rip the Captain's heart out once he had heard that he had made Joey cry.
When Weald finally left up to the dorms and Joey and Sirius were left down in the common room alone except for the snuggly couple over by the fire, they, too, decided to curl up in front of the flames on the couch. Flam found a cozy spot on the back of the couch, and he curled up as the fires heat caused him to doze off quickly. Sirius plopped himself down at the edge of the couch he had been sitting on before, and opened his arms up, inviting Joey to curl up on his lap. Kicking her shoes off and stuffing her mother's letter in her pocket, she gladly accepted his summons and wrapped herself up in the warmth that he offered.
"So how did your tutoring session *really* go?" Sirius asked as he wrapped his arms around her slender waste and hugged her close.
"It *actually* went okay . . . I think Weald and I have really come to an understanding, and quidditch practice should not be so hellish from now on." She said with a tone of relief apparent in her voice. "And besides . . . we definitely have one major thing in common that's really gonna help us get along . . . Now we *both* have reason to despise Catrina with a passion."
"I see," Sirius said calmly. "He just better not be making you still feel uncomfortable, is all . . . I know how he can be with some girls, and there's no way in hell I'd let him treat you like that . . ." Joey smiled appreciatively at her boyfriend and planted a small kiss on his cheek.
"He's actually gotten a lot better now that we've come to a truce . . . and I think the tutoring sessions are really going to help him bring his grades in potions up."
"I think I'm considering getting bad marks in potions, now, just so I can have you as my wonderful tutor," Sirius teased. Joey smiled warmly.
"Do I detect a hint of jealousy from the fact that Weald is stealing away some of my attention?" she questioned playfully.
"Maybe I am jealous," Sirius grinned good-humoredly as he leaned his face in towards hers. A smile barely played across her lips before she pressed her mouth up to his in a sweet, affectionate kiss. She pulled away for half a second and her smile spread all the way across her cheeks before he pulled her into his lips once more. The kiss became more passionate, and Sirius' tongue ran slowly along her bottom lip before drawing her lips apart and entering her mouth.
Joey ran her hands through Sirius' silky dark hair, and sent tingles down his neck as she teased his scalp. Sirius' hands, which had been affectionately wrapped around her waist, were now moving up under her shirt, along her back. He was lightly massaging her lower back with his fingertips as he pressed her farther into him. Sirius was about to let out a loud moan as Joey began massaging the back of his neck, but before he could, they were both suddenly startled out of their reveries by a loud choking noise that sounded like smothered laughter. They grudgingly, yet promptly, pulled away from each other enough to each get a good look over in the direction of Lily and James. The two chair-occupants continued to flash their Chesire cat smiles at Joey and Sirius, as the couch-occupants flashed them death glares.
"What?" Sirius asked callously.
"Hmmm? Oh . . . nothing," James said nonchalantly. "Do carry on . . ."
"uhhh . . . do you mind?" Joey asked awkwardly as James and Lily continued to survey them.
"Oh, no! We don't mind at all!" Lily said casually. "Please, do continue."
Joey and Sirius exchanged looks between each other before looking back at the chair-occupants and giving them almost identical, 'this is not funny' glares. James and Lily smirked for a moment longer before James finally caved in.
"Oh, alright . . ." he said with false exasperation; the amusement was too apparent in his tone to be believable. "We'll let you guys be *alone*. . ." he laughed as both he and Lily stood up, grabbed their stuff and headed over towards the girls' dorm rooms.
Both Sirius and Joey couldn't help to laugh as the comical pair made their way up the stairs, and out of sight.
"Oh! I forgot to tell you!" she exclaimed happily. "I got a letter back from my mum regarding our winter vacation!"
"Great!" Sirius said excitedly. Joey tore open the letter and held it out for both of them to read at the same time.
Dear Joanne (and Sirius, if you read this),
It's so wonderful to hear from you, dear! Your father and I were so excited to receive mail from our little baby girl! Daddy does say hello, by the way, sweetheart. (He's busy right now with a patient that he will be giving surgery to next week.) But he told me to send his love and that he can't wait to see you at Christmas.
I think it's a wonderful idea for Sirius to join us this Holiday! The entire family would be delighted to see him join us! Your father and I have discussed the situation, and we've decided that, as a family, we'll go up to our cabin in America after we spend a few days at home and get your things packed up and ready. We'd love to have Sirius accompany us! I've already given Josh, Brian, and Sam the heads up, and they've already cleared it with their work, so they'll be able to come for certain.
We know that Sirius has never been to the United States before, but we're sure it will be a wonderful experience for him, and that he'll love Lake Tahoe, California. I'm sure you kids will have a ball skiing, and I know that you will have fun teaching Sirius how to ski for his first time.
So, please tell Sirius that we will hope to see him join us for the holidays, and that we will look forward to his company on our trip to the U.S.! I hope you have a wonderful time left in this semester of school, sweetie, and I'll see you in about a month and a half! Send my love to all your friends!
love you much! - Mum
p.s. Joey, dear . . . even if you don't let Sirius read this message, I just have to ask you one question before I seal this letter up. Are you two finally a couple yet?! Your father and I are dying to know! It's about time you two started admitting how crazy you are for each other . . . Well, I don't know. I'll just have to wait for your response, I guess. And give Flam a treat for me.
So, I totally think I deserve a certificate for the most abrupt ending award. What do you guys think?! LOL! I think that's two in a row that I've left in an awkward spot . . . Oh well!!! Hehehe! So I hoped you guys thought that was up to standards, and I'm sorry if it was too short or too messy or not all-together grammatically correct. I just hope you guys enjoyed it, and I'll try to update the next one as soon as I have time!!! Please review! I love you guys so much for every single review, and I eat them up! Okie-dokie . . . so I totally am about to go to bed right now . . . it's really, *really* late, and I don't have anymore time to type this! Please forgive . . . *collapses on desk and falls asleep* LOL! I guess it's not that bad, but still, I'm gonna update this really fast and jump in bed . . . but I think in order to do that I need to stop rambling! So buh- bye!!!
-Sara (your one and only Sportzjunkie)