By: Sweet 16 Movie Buff!
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Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had not changed. It was still the towering castle the students had always known it as. The stairs still changed their minds and positions. The portraits still chatted with one another. The Sorting Hat sorted, the Great Hall served three square meals a day, and classes were held five days a week for at least an hour apiece.
There was a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher; Professor Subramani had strangely disappeared during his trip into what was known as 'vampire country' and a new teacher had taken his place. Professor Derbyshire was almost incomprehensible. He was a brisk man who spoke quickly, but his heavy baroque made hardly a word cipherable.
After two months of desperate translation, resulting in only being able to make out words such as 'the' versus 'there', Jillian was relying wholly on Sirius for help with the new jinxes and spells they were being taught. As they had done before, they would meet in the library so that Jillian might help Sirius with his Arithmancy and History of Magic (a class that had remained as dull as ever), before wandering into a vacant classroom to practice dueling.
It was a cold November evening, a Thursday, when Jillian huffed up the stairs to the third floor with her books slung over her shoulder. She was bundled up in a scarf with her navy wool hoodie thrown over her school uniform, the one that was her savior in the colder months. She was in a foul mood, and stewing, as she climbed.
The entire Potions class Jillian had spent exchanging insults with Severus Snape as she failed three times to brew a proper Truth Serum. The class had ended in detention the following Saturday and a deduction of five points from Ravenclaw. Still angry when she had gone to History of Magic, she had dazed and missed half of the discussion on dragon scares during the medieval ages. It had been a bad day, a horrible, horrible day, and all Jillian wanted to do was see Sirius so that he could make her smile and forget it all.
She stomped into the library, unwinding the scarf from around her neck, and threw her pack onto the table where Sirius was sitting.
He raised an inquisitive brow at her books, "Bad day?"
"The worst," she huffed as she slumped into the chair beside him. She took out her Arithmancy book and then also her incomplete History of Magic notes. "I'm sorry, but I didn't quite get all the notes on dragon scares in History of Magic, so maybe you can fill in some of the gaps."
"Um, yeah," Sirius rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, still reclining in his chair.
She grinned at him, knowing very well what the answer was; "You didn't get any notes, did you?"
"Well, no." He was really uncomfortable now, alternating between raking his fingers through his hair and rubbing his neck. "Jillian . . ."
"Yeah?" He was acting so strangely, so awkward and cryptic. What was going on?
"Arithmancy's been pretty easy this year," he began and Jillian frowned. "I think I can handle it on my own."
"Great," she said, eyeing him oddly. "Then you can help me with those Undermining Spells - "
"You mean the Undeterminable Spells? I didn't get those either, sorry." Abruptly he stood, shouldering his books, "Guess that means we're done, huh?"
Jillian stared at him, confused. Arithmancy was 'pretty easy'? Only two days ago he was complaining that Professor Vector was determined to confuse him into oblivion. Had five years of numbers and meanings just come to him in his sleep? And what was this about not knowing the Undeterminable Spells after correcting her about the proper name?
Time to test a theory, "Well, why don't we go ask Professor Derbyshire then, he probably could help - "
"Nah, that's okay, Miss Perfect," he barked a weak sort of laugh. "If you want to spend your free time chasing after professors, then be my guest."
"Do you want to meet again tomorrow?" she asked as she stood, following him to the door.
"Sorry, Mitra wants me to come to her Quidditch practice and watch her fly."
"What about Saturday?"
"Can't. James and I have some atrocities to bestow on Ms. Norris," he hesitated, something on the tip of his tongue, but whatever it might have been, he didn't say. "See ya round, McKee."
He strode briskly out of the library, leaving a very confused Jillian standing on the threshold of the library. Did Sirius Black, one of her closest friends, just tell her off?
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"THAT FORKING, SUSPICIOUS, CALLOW BITCH!"
Toby stormed into the Ravenclaw common room, tearing off her Quidditch practice robes and tossing them, along with her Beater stick, angrily onto the unoccupied armchair by the fire. Jillian and Carly glanced at one another concernedly, and hurried over to the fireplace where Toby sat drumming her fingers on the arm.
She was trembling with fury. Neither had seen Toby this angry since the time Wilhelm Quiltz, a Slytherin second-year at the time, had been so bold as to call Carly a Mudblood in their first year at Hogwarts. Toby had been quick to come to her friend's aid. She'd called Quiltz more than a dictionary's worth of foul names and had been quick to point out that he had used it in the wrong context since Carly's parents were both wizards.
"Um," Carly pursed her lips together, uncertain how to address the Beater in this state, "Bad practice?"
"Oh, it was by the end," Toby nodded vigorously, still shaking. She seemed like she couldn't sit still; abruptly she rose from her seat and began to pace around the room. "Do you want to know what I heard today in the locker rooms?"
"Do we want to?" Jillian asked Carly.
"Oh, you're gonna want to know this, Miss Perfect," Toby snapped in response. "Unless you're content with Sirius ignoring you point blank."
That got Jillian's attention. Despite her distaste for gossip, she did often wonder why Sirius didn't wave or smile greeting to her in the halls. Or why he had abruptly ended their study sessions more than three weeks ago.
Toby squatted before Jillian and Carly and plunged on, "Okay, I was talking with Dria and Gwen at the end of practice. About our game against Gryffindor here in two weeks. Well you know that Sirius's girlfriend is one of the Chasers, right? Well, that's how I found out about this. Apparently Mitra and Sirius have been going pretty heavy since you two broke up."
"That's hardly a surprise," Carly reminded Toby slowly, treading carefully, "Everyone knows that the only thing Sirius likes about Mitra is the fact she's one of the easiest girls in school."
"And a half-way decent Chaser," Jillian added, trying to be fair.
"Buttocks and codswallop is all she is," Toby snorted then sharply shook her head, "Anyway, apparently when you and Sirius started going to the library all the time together, she got real suspicious and started spreading some vicious rumors."
"What? The usual slut and blighter routine?" Jillian joked. "If it's that, she's a little late. Lucius started calling me that our third year, remember?"
"You'd think so, but no. From what Dria heard from Audrey Yvonne who heard it from some Hufflepuff, she was saying you were still in love with Sirius and were using the Imperious Curse to make him . . . well . . . do sexual favors for you."
Jillian stood, "In the library?!"
"No one said she was intelligent enough to make up a decent lie. But oh," Toby let an evil chuckle escape her. Her steepled fingers and the malice gleaming in her eyes made her look very much like she'd sprout horns and tote a pitchfork at any moment. "Just wait 'til I get her within wand distance. Sirius won't be able to tell the difference between her and the Womping Willow."
"Toby." Carly reprimanded though her heart didn't seem to be in. "Is there an end to this story?"
"Oh, oh, yeah," she shook her head to clear away the plots of revenge brewing within. "Anywho, Sirius cornered her and told her to stop spreading those lies. She put on the charm and told him if he stopped seeing Jillian, she'd know he loved her and she'd stop spreading the rumors. He refused."
Jillian supposed she could guess the rest of this story, but Toby was one that had to cross all her T's and dot her I's before she considered anything done. "She didn't speak to him for a week, or . . . well, shag him."
"So he stopped talking to Jillian and was rewarded with a steamy evening in a broom closet," Carly finished. "Why didn't he just dump her like he did all those other girls that got too clingy?"
"Maybe she was the last one on the list," Toby shrugged, not really caring, "Maybe he just wanted to avoid the same fate Jillian had at her . . ." she took a deep breath, "lovely imagination. No one's really figured that one out yet. Maybe I'll knock her off her broom at the match. Nah, that would be sinking to Slytherin tactics . . ."
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Toby had narrowed down the possible courses of vengeance to three, all perfectly terrible and worth, at the very least, a deduction in house points when Jillian wandered into the library in search of an extra Defense Against the Dark Arts volume to study from.
"Second aisle from the window," directed Madame Pince with an absentminded wave towards the window in question. She then eyed Jillian over the rim of her glasses. "Looking for another Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook are you?"
Jillian nodded, "Yes, mam."
Madame Pince nodded and returned to reading her newspaper, "You're the third one this week. I suggest Hexes, Jinxes, and Everyday Countercurses by Quentin Uberwitsch, it has most of the spells the seventh-years cover."
"Thanks." Jillian turned away from the crone's desk, muttering under her breath, "Hexes, Jinxes, and Everyday Countercurses. Hexes, Jinxes, and Everyday Countercurses. Hexes, Jinxes, and Everyday Countercurses . . ."
She turned down the row the librarian had pointed out to her and stopped dead as she heard a flirtatious coo from the alcove of the window.
"Sirius . . .Sirius, hun wait until later. What if she catches us?"
Shaking her head, Jillian scanned the shelves. Hexes, Jinxes, and Everyday Countercurses . . . Hexes, Jinxes, and Everyday Countercurses . . .
"Then I'll die a happy man." Jillian heard him kissing her collarbone and slowly progressing up her neck.
Aubrey . . . Brambones . . .Bedraham. She trailed her finger along the spines of the books, titles blurring as she tried to find the one that was going to save her grade. Hexes, Jinxes, and Everyday Countercurses . . .
"You're so bad, Sirius," Mitra breathed, her voice dripping with amusement.
Hexes, Jinxes, and Everyday Countercurses . . . Hexes, Jinxes, and Everyday Countercurses . . . Tabershall. Ah, here we are. Jillian crouched before the shelves looking for Uberwitsch among the volumes.
"Ah-hum."
She couldn't take any more of this. With a sigh, she poked her head around the edge of the shelf. Mitra was seated in Sirius's lap, the first two buttons of her blouse undone and her blouse slightly askew. Sirius was pecking seductively up her neck, Mitra waiting patiently with her lips parted obediently.
"Excuse me," Jillian drawled politely, startling the girl to leap off Sirius's lap. "Do you mind? There are others that are actually trying to study here. And keep their lunches down as well, for that matter."
Sirius laughed, "I didn't know your lunch was a matter at hand."
"Well the Imperious Curse will do that to you, Black. You forget certain things like it is well after lunchtime for instance," beneath the conversational tone, her voice seeped with sarcasm.
That made the mischievous spark in his eye go out like a candle flame.
But it was Mitra that tried to appeal to her, "Jillian . . ."
"You know," Jillian remarked coolly, ignoring Mitra. She rose from her crouch behind the bookshelf, "I'd never thought I'd see the day Sirius Black was horse-whipped by his own greed."
She didn't wait for his retort, because she all ready knew what it was going to be. And had it not been for the satisfaction of a successful barb, Jillian knew she'd probably be storming away with tears stinging her eyes at the very thought of it.
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THANK YOU TO ALL MY REVIEWERS!Kirie Himuro – Thanks! Toby does get back at Mitra in Chapter 8, you'll just have to wait and see how. Jillian's not exactly one who gets into revenge but creative vengeance is Toby's forte, so you'll just have to see.
Whimsical Firefly – Your thank you is down at the bottom, and I cannot say it enough.
Moon Burst – YES!!!! Next two chapters of She Will Be Loved are coming? SHA-WEET! I cannot believe I just said that ::authoress's turn to look sheepish::. But I did have to add that kiss in there, I had this weird dream one night that the Marauders were playing spin the bottle with Snape (which comes into play in the next chapter) and James and Sirius kissed!
Nicky Black – Glad your back! Hey that rhymes! Sorry, I'm just getting over those drugs they give you when you get your wisdom teeth pulled, so I'm a little spacey. Thanks for taking some time to read my fic!
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A SPECIAL NOTE TO WHIMSICAL FIREFLY . . .
At my school, when we have finals our parents can pitch in five bucks for a free movie ticket, so here you go ::hands author free movie ticket::, use it well. :)
Anyway the reason I'm calling this a 'special note' is because I wanted to assure you that despite the way this chapter makes Mitra look like a bitch, it will not be for long! Thanks to your review, I'm sidestepping a major-ly overused maxim. You'll see what I mean at the end of Chapter 8.
Thank you so much again, your review really helped me realize I could make Mitra's characterization stronger.