WATER AND WINE

Chapter Seven –Frank's Strategy

I shouldn't had let Potter do that with me. HE shouldn't have dared to do that with me. How could I allow that to happen? The guy that I most hated in the world was kissing me! His arms were around of me, his lips united with mine...

Oh, darn it all, I did it again! That's for this reason that Potter did what he DID. He has some kind of charm inside him, which madden people... That's why so many people love him, that's why this guy is so well-liked. But I wasn't either a little bit inclined to get into his sordid list. Finally I recovered my good sense and pulled him away from me, as farther as I could.

When I did so, I saw a little strange expression on his face, but at the following moment I got sure that I had imagined that; right there was that full of himself and disdainful face.

-Did you see, Evans? I kiss better off than I fight. I mean, I guess that now you are for me just... Lily.

The return of that pretentious way of speak made my anger back as well.

-Lily??? You'll NEVER get the right of call me for my first name! I prefer a THOUSAND times to have a fight with you, because you're a great bastard and vain of a lady-killer! Now get off in front of me, I don't want to look at your nauseating face for a great deal of time!

Yes, I know that I'm always expelling Potter of nearby me, but I can't avoid it. I need to be always doing so. He's so stupid and so ridiculous and... Ah, you understand what I mean.

Potter kept looking at me quietly, seeming to get already used to be expelled for me, passed his hand through his hair (someday I'll toss dragon shit on his head!!) and walked until the door, after take his wand from the floor.

-That's you who say, Evans. For me, you may call me James every time you want to. By the way, I'm sure that this wasn't our last kiss.

And he stepped out, while I kept screaming all the revilements that I could.

-But what scandal is this here? – a more ironical voice than mine one said, from behind a door in front of me.

Snape, that ingrate and implicating Slytherin.

Ah, I know, you shall have thought that I don't like anyone. Well, it's not quite true, I like Alice a lot, she's my friend since the first year, I'm Remus' and Frank's friend...

-Nothing that may on your account, Snape. – I answered. But my words didn't have the effect I wanted to. He stretched out his neck and saw Potter walking idly to that corridor's end.

-Ah, yes – he kept speaking, very slowly. – It seems that I was right again.

-What are you talking about? – I didn't resist to question.

-Don't you remember? – his voice was too irritant to listen. – You just have so many fights with Potter because after all... Well, forget it. A Mud Blood like you would never understand. You're scoria.

-Well, tell this to all the people who watched my O.W.L.s, Snape. – I retorted. – They wouldn't grade me as Exceed the Expectancies, Optimum and Acceptable for some stupid who's scoria of the wizarding world, would they?

I spent the rest of the travel at prefect's flatcar, in a meeting, and this way I got free of any extra boring that wouldn't be that new Head Prefect, who was so alike Mussolini, Hitler or anyone else of these muggle dictators.

I was already used to the years' beginnings at Hogwarts, after all that was my sixth one. When I sat at my usual place at Gryffindor's table, Frank rapidly sat in front of me.

-Good holiday? – he asked.

I swallowed dryly at the remembrance.

-Reasonable. What about yours?

-Not so good too. I was talking to Sirius a little, and... - but Frank stopped talking at my expression. Which didn't take too long, soon he returned talking again, even in a different tone. – Lily, he isn't going out with Alice anymore. He himself told me that.

-And...?

-He told me that he can help me with her. We built a plan.

-Frank, where did you take this idea that you can trust in Black? Neither Remus trust him this way, and you know that they're best friends.

-Lily, he's persecuting that third year girl...

-Third year? – I couldn't avoid to repeat. – What is he thinking now, persecuting younger girls... Black never used to do this.

-But we are talking about that girl who's always changing her hair, Lily, Tonks. I guess he's trying to convince her to go out with someone, you know, she's his cousin.

-Ahhh... - I muttered, remembering of the girl. Tonks was always calling our attention, not voluntarily of course, nor for being a metamorph, it was just because that so clumsy way of be of hers. She was always dropping everything she saw in front of her. If someone would get her free in a field with only one stone, she'd stumble over it. But – and this I have to assume – she was very beautiful, above the standard of her age.

I can say this because I remember perfectly when I was thirteen. I was a egghead brat, unsocial and neurotic, with a damn persecution mania. After all, since the first time I stepped into the school, Snape, Malfoy and his friends loved to call me Mud Blood, every time, everywhere I went to. And at that tide, I didn't know how to handle with that. Fortunately, a little while after it I learned. Too bad that to can do so, Potter had to seize them inside a wardrobe with a Silence Charm for twelve hours, with no food and no water. Potter was almost expelled of Hogwarts because of it. Almost, unfortunately.

Dumbledore made a too boring lecture for the new year, at least that's how it seemed to me, until the point he did a little mention to You-Know-Who, which just a few people noticed. Actually, I think that I'm the only Gryffindor who caught it. Potter would be also able to do so, but this mind is too short for this kind of subtlety.

And then, during the dinner, I clearly noticed a sort of reunion among the three pests plus Remus. Probably they were planning some graceless joke, which in the end Pettigrew would get to scared to get in and Remus would give up for pity of the victim. So, just Potter and Black would consummate it. Generally it was this way, except when the joke wasn't on anyone and they wouldn't get the risk of dyeing or being expelled.

And this was too rare to be normal.

Do not dare to ask me how was my first day of classes.

Because it was horrible.

Firstly, two times of Charms, which deceived me and made me think that the day was going to be good. The Professor reviewed what we had seen at fifth year, probably just to leave us a little optimist for that new year.

Right then, I began to loose my hope, when we entered the greenhouse at the two following times of Herbology. Professor Hoffman simply decided to divide the class in quartets, that should be always together, in all her classes of that year. She said that this way our spirit of work in group, which what we were supposed to face frequently after school. And I, that was far away of thinking about a group profession, again had to refrain from the fact of having been put in the same group than Remus, Peter McFisher, and Potter, of course.

It was like everyone did it purposely. I felt the target of a conspiracy whose objective was to make me have a fit of nerves and to kill Potter right then. Fortunately, after what I sad him before, still on the Hogwarts Express, he found prudent don't to open this mouth nearby me, talking only to Remus and rarely to McFisher.

To finally put and end at this, after lunch and during nearly the whole afternoon, classes of Potions, in which I was even good at O.W.L.s, but it was really a subject that I didn't like. After all, we had to stay closed in that dungeons, fighting with a cauldron just to later see that ingrate Snape doing a three times better potion than mine. I wasn't so bookish as I was before, but I still kept some traces, understand?

The result was that at dinner I was angry, annoyed, tired and full of homework, everything at the same time. Just when Ii saw Potter and Black plotting something I remembered that night might be of some distraction. Therefore, I decided to eat fast and go upstairs until the common room. It wasn't my fault having gone upstairs before all the confusion, even being a prefect. After all, Remus would have to wait for his friends, and he was able to handle with any fight alone. And after ALL, to be selfish just a once wouldn't kill anyone.

I rose and took my way. I was thinking about the Potions homework when I was going through the biggest corridor of that way. Since there I was going to have only stairs to cross, and it was THERE where I saw one of the most bizarre things I ever saw.

Frank was there, but in no way alone. He was... argh, how repulsive... Frank was kissing Narcisa Knoll, one of the worst Slytherin girls.

Suddenly, I understood what was that plan he told me about, I did understand he whispers of Black and Potter. Certainly, they had told Frank he might make Alice feel jealous of him, call her attention for him, and they would avail to laugh of the poor boy kissing a girl so... Well, you understand me... a anybody... For their own fun.

Frank opened his eyes and saw me. Indeed, he didn't seem to like that, not even a little bit, but I knew that wasn't it he was going to show when Alice would pass through that corridor. What he still didn't know was that Alice was with Black yet, according of what she told me, smiling, during the dinner.

N/A - sorry if I took too long to continue this story! I thank your reviews!