CHAPTER 3 – The Eviction Party
By Sweet 16 Movie Buff!
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September the first came sooner than the girls had expected and before they could even blink they were wheeling their trolleys, packed with books and clothes, through the barrier between Platforms nine and ten.
Jillian blinked rapidly against the bright sunlight, her eyes adjusting to the engine smoke and the blinding beams of sunlight. Witches, wizards and Muggles alike were packed on Platform nine and three-quarters, saying hasty good-byes to their children before they boarded the Hogwarts Express. Jillian ignored them.
A heavy burden lifted from her chest as she took in the length of the bright red train and it's long team of boxcars. She had a whole year to wait and find another flat. Suddenly the prospect of leaving London for a year was far more appealing and seemed much less of a grievance.
"Let me take your trunks and I'll go find us a seat!" Toby shouted over the din.
"Thanks," Jillian said. "Are you sure you don't want help, though?"
"I wouldn't have offered if I had needed help Miss Perfect," Toby rapped her knuckles on Jillian's head with a wild grin. "Come on, start using those wonderful brains of yours!"
"Okay, okay," Jillian rubbed the crown of her head, "Bugger, that hurt!"
Toby shot Carly a questioning glance that Carly answered with a shake of her head.
"Whatever, floats your boat," Toby turned and trotted away with the two trolleys.
Jillian eyed Carly oddly, "What was that about?"
"Oh, nothing," she replied offhandedly, scanning the platform for a familiar face. "Hey isn't that Sirius over there? Yeah . . . HEY SIRIUS!"
The boy in context looked up suddenly at the mention of his name. He broke away from a group of girls and strode over to them, "Hello, Carly."
"Aren't you gonna say hello to me?" Jillian asked with a playful frown that made Sirius laugh.
"Oh, hello, Jillian," he replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm. It was Jillian's turn to laugh, one that also awarded Sirius a smack on the shoulder. Carly, quite content with her methods of diversion, slowly pushed her trolley towards the train.
"Thanks for coming to the funeral," Jillian mumbled so softly Sirius could have sworn she hadn't said anything, "It meant a lot to me."
"It was nothing," Sirius raked his fingers through his hair, suddenly running out of things to say.
"Did you have a good holiday?" Jillian asked after a beat of awkward silence.
He shrugged, determinedly studying his feet, "Fair enough of one."
"Sirius," she sighed, "You don't have to be weird about it. I'm okay, I'm not gonna get weepy on you at a second's notice. We're still friends, aren't we?"
"Bloody hell yes!" he snapped, sounding shocked at the mention of the question. Then he blinked once, and his cool, mischievous demeanor returned, "Who else would help me pass Arithmancy this year?"
"Oh, is that all I'm good for?" she asked wryly.
He nodded curtly in agreement, "That's all you're good for."
"Lovely," she drawled.
"Sirius! There you are," purred a silky voice from behind them.
Sirius turned about startled, revealing a fifth-year girl standing behind them. She was a tall girl, close to Sirius's own height, and quite leggy and slender. She had a pretty face, framed by strong brows, with a bone structure that strongly reminded Jillian of an ancient Greek vase. The girl's skin was a coppery almond, a rich color, accented by ebony curls that she had pulled back in a ponytail.
Sirius smiled at her as the girl came over and curled her arms around his neck. She met him in a light playful kiss that he eagerly returned. "No, it's okay, Mitra. This is Jillian, the friend I was telling you about. Jillian, this is Mitra Sudha."
"His girlfriend," Mitra added, smiling at Jillian, but not releasing her hold on Sirius.
Jillian felt her balance slip a little at the word 'girlfriend', but, ever swayed by good manners, she smiled back, "Nice to meet you."
Mitra studied Jillian for a moment, then a thought dawn on her. "Oh, yes! Jillian McKee, I remember now. You're the girl that Sirius rushed off to save a few weeks ago, right?"
"Yeah," she eyed Sirius out of the corner of her eye. "How many people did you tell, Black? You're getting to be almost as bad as a girl."
"I was over at his flat that night," Mitra explained. "I told him he was daft to go joyriding out in the middle of the night, but you know how he is, I'm sure."
"Oh," Well, that explained why he had smelled of flowery perfume that night. "Aren't you a little young to be, well . . .sleeping over?"
She shrugged, apparently unscathed by the comment; "Nothing happened."
Sirius turned a laugh into a fit of coughing when Jillian shot him a reproving glance.
"Sirius, I don't suppose I could borrow Jillian for a moment?" Mitra asked suddenly, already dragging Jillian away towards the red engine.
"I need her back before the train leaves!" he called after them.
Mitra laughed and waved good-bye to her boyfriend. "He's such a sweetie. Don't you think?"
"Yeah, I guess," Jillian agreed half-heartedly as they climbed into one of the boxcars.
Mitra looped her arm through Jillian's and led her down the aisle, "So didn't you two date last year?"
"Yeah. Just for five months."
"I remember. You two were quite the pair there for some time. Why'd you break up?"
"Well," Her cheeks reddened a little at the memory. "He made me an offer that I simply had to refuse."
"Oh," Mitra nodded wisely.
"Well, it wasn't just that," she was really blushing now, "I sort of felt strangled, like there were certain things I couldn't do anymore. Sirius had different reasons and we mutually decided to see other people."
"Do you have a boyfriend now, though?" Mitra asked, then hastily added, "I mean, I know it's none of my business or anything, but do you . . . need some one to hook you up? My friend's real good at playing matchmaker. She got one of my other friends, Rebecca – have you heard of her? No, I suppose not, she's a Gryffindor third-year – well, she got Rebecca and this other boy together and they've been together ever since."
Jillian laughed uneasily, and slipped out of Mitra's grasp, "Nah, no I'm fine. I'm enjoying being single at the moment."
She shrugged, a hand on a compartment door, "I guess. I never really liked being single, it was so dull."
"Yeah, erm, sure," she mumbled, her face flaming with embarrassment. Had she just talked about snogging with someone she hardly knew? She flashed Mitra a smile. "Look, it was nice talking to you, but I've got to go find Toby and Carly. Thanks again."
"No problem. See ya around." And with a nod of her head, Mitra disappeared into the compartment.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Jillian went in search of Toby and Carly, ducking into compartments from time to time, apologizing, and then moving on. After the sixth compartment, Jillian was beginning to get frustrated.
"Sorry," she apologized to the occupants. "I was just looking for someone."
She backed out of the compartment, straight into a warm presence at her back. Abruptly she spun about, an apology on her lips, "Oh, I'm sorry . . ."
Sirius grinned down at her gaping mouth and tapped her chin up, causing her teeth to clack together painfully. "Stop gawping, McKee, it's rude."
She glowered up at him, albeit playfully, "You could have warned me you were standing right there."
"You looking for Toby and Carly?" he asked.
"Of course," she rolled her eyes and Sirius grinned.
He jerked his head towards the back of the train, "Come on, I think I saw them down this way."
He led her down the aisle at a trot, then down to the end of the second boxcar. He stopped before the compartment on the right, which was amazingly quiet. Jillian frowned, "Sirius, are you sure this is where . . ."
Abruptly the door slid open and there was a whiz of party horns being blown and a chorus of, "SURPRISE!"
Jillian's mouth dropped open. Crammed into the compartment sat Toby and Carly along with Sirius's three other friends, James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. The space was decorated with blinking magical signs reading 'congratulations' or 'best wishes' and balloons. All those inside were wearing party hats of different assortments.
She looked at them all, not quite understanding what was going on, "What's all this for?"
Toby stumbled out from the compartment and plopped a brightly striped top hat onto Jillian's head, "For your Independence Day celebration of course."
"Independence Day celebration?" she echoed.
It was James that answered (he had become more welcoming towards her after she and Sirius had broken up. Apparently the incident in the dungeons was all ready forgotten and forgiven), "Yeah, Spocker and Williams thought to celebrate your eviction with a little party."
Carly draped an arm around Jillian's shoulders, "You know, as a sort of 'who needs them' momento."
At this Jillian laughed and settled for shaking her head as she was at a loss for words. Sirius leaned close to her ear, "You didn't honestly think we were going to let you handle it all on your own, did you?"
She looked up at him to see warmth reflecting in his eyes; laughter and amusement mixed in their misty depths at her surprise. She glanced at them all again, touched deeply by their act of kindness.
Peter held out a bottle of a fizzing yellow brew, "We have butterbeer."
Jillian smiled at him and excepted the drink, signaling the beginning of the party. There was a great deal of food; all of which Sirius and James had nicked before the train had left the station. Chocoballs (Jillian's particular favorite), Pumpkin Patsies, Licorice Wands, and Cauldron Cakes . . . the selection was endless. After one too many butterbeers, James had dared Toby to eat an entire pack of Fizzing Whizbees in one mouthful, a dare that had resulted in Toby rolling in hysterics on the ceiling.
Once the gifts, many of them gags and none to be taken seriously, had been opened, the compartment had settled down for a game of spin the bottle. The most memorable kiss for Jillian had had to be James and Sirius's own (she and Toby both declared that there had been a definite use of tongue). The trip to Hogwarts was thoroughly enjoyable.
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WELCOME BACK, REVIEWERS! HERE ARE YOUR THANK YOUS . . .
blagh – Yay! First reviewer, yay! Thanks for telling me that your sequel was up, by the way.
Moon Burst – Glad you've liked it so far! I had to have that bit of action there in the beginning to hook you guys in, because, I hate to say it, it will be the last bit of dramatic action until the end. These next couple of chapters are for building up a minor teenage-high-school-plot and relationships between characters. And you'll just have to read to see if there's any more romance between Jillian and Sirius :P
Practical Magic is a good movie isn't it? There'll be a couple more references to other movies in here, I think. Yeah, there's a room in the fun house from The Haunting with Liam Neeson and Katherine Zeta Jones (that movie was terrible in my opinion). Then in Chapter 12 there might possibly be a reference to Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves but I'll have to edit it in. You see, this is why my pen name is Sweet 16 Movie Buff, I have no bloody life!
Whimsical Firefly – Yeah, I probably meant the other form of 'boos' (booze), I'm so sorry. I read it over a million times and I still make mistakes, oh well. Thank you, though for pointing that out.
When I first wrote the characterization for Toby, I hadn't really based her on anyone I knew, but now that I look back over her character she is sort of loosely based on a friend of mine. Both Toby and my friend are people that like to have a good laugh and both are real tough and don't get wishy-washy real fast. So I guess subconsciously I write characters based on people I know, or more so, I pick and choose from people I know and use characteristics that I think make a character appealing.
Hey, not to push you, but will you PLEASE update your Sirius's Choice fic, I'm having withdrawals ::Eye twitches::
Wheres-the-rum-gone?-2004 – Super Sirius to the rescue! I love it! I always wanted to write a piece with him on that flying motorcycle, so I thought it would be a good way to save Jillian's tush. Thanks for reading.