Lauralie Black and the Dragons of Yorkshire (YEAR 2)
Chapter 14: A Woman's Scorn
The next day, the snow had increased to a near blizzard. So much so that all Herbology classes had been moved to an unused classroom in the Dungeons.
Not, of course, that it improved things a lot. Despite the fires that Professor Hornby had lit in the grate, the atmosphere was frigid at best.
Remus' breath clung to the air, a cloud of white haze, as he scribbled the proper ways to prune wand trees.
He was still relieved because he'd managed to skate by the guys with minimal questioning about his new standing with Lauralie. It had been a surprise really, he'd expected at least a side comment or a casual jab from Sirius.
He was sure the silence would not last forever. If he was going to help Lauralie with the mystery of the diary he was sure more than one head would turn in their direction.
Remus was pulled from his thoughts when a balled up piece of parchment soared over his shoulder and landed square in the middle of his desk. He un-crumpled it to discover that it was a note from James.
'Lindsay has come up with the perfect prank, are you in or are you too scared of angering your Slytherin Queen?
-James
PS- I'm joking of course.'
Remus chuckled before scrawling out his response.
'I won't lie and say that Her Majesty has nothing to do with my decision, but I'd like to add that it also seems like a nice idea to sit back and watch the fireworks with out having to worry about getting singed by the backfire.
-Remus
PS- When the good queen and her ruthless band of Slytherins retaliate I'll bring you snacks in the hospital wing.'
Then he wadded the note back up and tossed it over his shoulder to James, who had to stifle a laugh when he read it.
And that was the last he'd heard about it, at least directly. Which was fine with him, he had plenty to think about without keeping track of prank plans he wasn't involved in.
Lauralie had not gotten off quite so easily, Rita cornered her in the common room that afternoon.
"So, you and Lupin are speaking again?" she asked.
"Not that it is any of your business, but yes, we are," Lauralie answered.
"How sweet. When's the wedding?"
"Buzz off, Rita!"
Severus, who was sitting next to her during this, was the only person whom had not mentioned the situation yet. She supposed that was because he felt their friendship could not withstand another fight.
"What's wrong? Ashamed of your new boyfriend?" Rita asked.
Severus clenched his hand into a fist, digging his fingernails into his palm to keep himself silent.
"He's not my boyfriend," Lauralie snapped. "Don't you have something better to do?"
But Rita wasn't even looking at Lauralie anymore. She was watching Severus with a pleased expression on her face. Her round, insect-like, eyes were glittering with malice.
"Actually, I do. But I just thought I'd tell you that I think you and Lupin make a cute couple. I've heard the talk that's been going around, but I honestly think you suit each other. The Golden Gryffindor and the Gryffindor in denial."
Lauralie heard Severus whisper something and then there was a flash of purple light. Rita squealed, covering her face with her hands. She cowered on the floor squealing, but between her fingers you could see that her skin was being consumed by boils.
Severus stood, his wand still in his hand. He watched Rita panic for a moment, his face calm and unreadable.
"Severus," Lauralie said.
He silently put his wand away and walked out of the common room with out so much as glancing at Lauralie. Rita had vanished also, no doubt to go tell on him.
Lauralie was left alone with her thoughts and an unsettling feeling that slowly but surely she was losing Severus.
Severus didn't show up for dinner that night, neither did Rita, so the table was filled with whispers of where he may be and how much trouble he could be in.
No one in Lauralie's little group commented on it until they were safely in their common room.
"You don't think they would expel him, do you?" Narcissa asked.
"No, but I'm sure he's going to get a serious punishment," Lucius said.
"I can't stand the suspense, where is he?" Lauralie asked.
As if on cue, the stone door scraped open and Severus walked in. His face was unreadable, but he looked directly at them and nodded towards the door before stepping back outside.
They followed him out into the corridor and into an abandoned class room.
"What happened?" Narcissa asked.
"The little snitch ran to McGonagall," he hissed. "I had to go to Dumbledore's office and he made me apologize to her."
"That's all you had to do? Apologize?" Lauralie asked.
"Well, no. I got punished as well," he said.
"So, how many weeks worth of detentions will you be serving?" Lucius asked. "You know that Ludo's going to flip if you have to miss any practices."
"Ludo's probably going to destroy me," Severus answered. "I didn't get detention, my punishment is that I have to sit out the Quidditch game against Hufflepuff."
There was a stunned silence.
"You can't be serious," Lauralie finally spoke.
"I wish I was joking."
"Can they do that?" Narcissa asked.
"Well, they just did."
"We're going to lose with out you."
"And do you know what that means?" he asked, he had a slight grin on his face.
Lauralie's mouth dropped open. "If we lose against Hufflepuff we'll have to play Gryffindor again to with the cup."
Severus nodded.
"You're right, Ludo is going to kill you."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU AREN'T ALLOWED TO PLAY IN THE HUFFLEPUFF MATCH?"
Ludo's face was very red and the vein in his forehead was throbbing uncomfortably.
"Who are we going to get to replace you? The game is next weekend, I can't train a new Keeper in a week and three days," he babbled. He was pacing in front of the common room fire, the entire Quidditch team was sitting in chair around him.
"There's no way to overturn this?" Bulstrode asked.
"Doubtful," Severus said.
The odd thing was that no one other than Ludo appeared angry at Severus. In fact, they almost seemed impressed.
"Well folks, I hope you weren't planning on having a social life this week," Ludo said. "I'm going to set up an impromptu try out for after dinner tomorrow and after we pick a temporary keeper we'll have to practice every day between now and the game."
There was a collective groan.
"And we should probably keep this quiet," Ludo added.
"Please!" Lauralie laughed. "Rita will have this all over school by sun up."
She was wrong, it wasn't quite all over school, but by lunchtime the news had reached the ears of the Gryffindor Golden Gang.
"You will never believe what I just heard," Bridget said, plopping down next to Sirius at the Gryffindor table.
"Um, Dumbledore belching Twist and Shout in the shower?" he asked.
"No. Ew," she said with an exaggerated shudder.
"McGonagall and Lestrange talking about their sex lives in the ladies' room?" James piped up.
"NO! It's the Slytherin 'in crowd' as you like to call it," she said.
That not only got the attention of James and Sirius but everyone else within earshot.
"Don't just wind us up, tell us," Duncan proclaimed.
"Fine. Apparently, Snape lost his temper with Rita Skeeter and cursed her," she said.
There was a round of laughter.
"I'm sure she deserved it," Peter said.
"It gets better," she said, pausing to look around at all the eager faces listening. "As punishment, Snake has to sit out at the Slytherin versus Hufflepuff game."
There was a surprised silence following this.
James was smiling broadly.
"Looks like w really might have another chance at the Quidditch cup," he said. "And, looks like I was also right about this being the perfect time for our prank."
Remus, who'd been listening on the outskirts, laughed to himself. James would use any line of logic necessary to make the Slytherins look like fools.
"Speaking of, we have to find a way to get…"
"They are going to end up injured," Lily said. "If Snape cursed his own house mate, what do you think he'll do to them after this prank?"
"Depends on how bad the stunt is," Remus said.
"I think we should try to talk them out of it," she said.
Magdalene looked skeptical. "How do you plan on doing that?" she asked.
"I'll appeal to their common sense. They must have some of that, right?"
"I wouldn't be so sure," Remus said.
When Remus arrived in the library during dinner, he found Lauralie's bag sitting on the back table but no Lauralie. So he sat down his bag and headed into the bookshelves.
He wandered down three different rows before he found her. She was standing on her toes attempting to reach a book on the top shelf.
Remus didn't say anything, he simply reached up and grabbed Do You Remember? by Raymond DelArrante.
"Thanks," she said, adding it to the pile in her arms. "How was your day?" She walked back towards the table and he followed.
"Boring," he said.
"Mine, too," she said. "Well, I figure these general books about Memories, and Pensieves, and book spells would be a good place to start. Hopefully it will give us an idea of a new direction to branch off in."
Remus nodded. He had another back of sandwiches that he opened and divided up for them.
They read in silence for a while, and ate their food. Lauralie was enthralled in The Science of Pensieves when she realized what time it was.
"Unfortunately, I have to go soon," she said. "I have this Quidditch… thing."
"I heard what happened with Snape and Rita," he said.
Lauralie's shoulder sagged. "Yeah, that little bint was verbally baiting him, and he just snapped."
"Is Dumbledore really making him stay out of the next match?"
She nodded. "We have to train a sub in a week."
She stood, flinging her bag over her shoulder.
"I think I'm going to stay here, and continue research," he said. "That is if you don't mind me working on my own for a while."
"You are great," she said. "I'll take a couple with me, and we'll pow wow about what we find later."
"I had an idea about this whole 'meet during dinner' plan," he said. "Why don't we just set days and meet up at the tower at night?"
"You're worried your house mates will start asking questions."
"Exactly, and when I don't give them answers they'll try to find them on their own."
She nodded. "See you up there Friday night, then."
There was already a small crowd of people milling around the snowy Quidditch stands when Lauralie arrived on the pitch, her broom in hand. Among them, much to her annoyance, were Evan Rosier and Richard Wilkes. She always had an uneasy feeling around them ever since the previous year when they'd known more about her Cloak than she had.
Lucius waved for her to join him and Narcissa, who had her books with her so she could work during the try outs. They looked so fitting next to one another. He sat straight up, almost regally, with his white blond hair slicked back. He was always well groomed, with freshly pressed clothes and polished shoes. Narcissa always looked beautiful next to him. Her long, blond hair braided down her back and tied with a silver ribbon, she looked nearly as high class as he did. She sat with her legs crossed beneath her pleated uniform skirt, one foot bouncing as she talked.
"Where've you been?" she asked.
"The library," Lauralie answered. "Where's Sev?"
"He may be in the locker room," Lucius suggested.
"I'm going to go check." She proper her broom up next to Lucius and turned to walk to the locker room.
He wasn't there. The locker room was completely empty. She let out a sigh as she looked at her reflection in the full length mirror that hung on the left wall. She was pleased to see that the concealer she had made was working perfectly. The bags that had become a regular feature under her eyes had vanished.. She smiled for the first time in a while.
She spun around to leave, only to find that Rosier and Wilkes were standing in the doorway.
Her smile was long gone.
Remus was engrossed in Do You Remember when Lindsay McConaugha walked into the library.
Lindsay was a pretty girl, with her wavy, shoulder length, dirty blond hair and sky blue eyes. She was more physically fit than most girls, a product of weeks upon weeks of practicing with her twin brother, a Beater on the Gryffindor team.
She didn't see him at first. She made it all the way to the book she was looking for. She flipped through the pages and located the information she was looking for. In fact, she was getting ready to leave when she saw him. He had turned a page at the right moment to draw her attention.
She paused, having an inner debate about whether she should go talk to him or not.
Lauralie's manner had turned icy. She took in the two boys with calculating eyes.
"Evan," she said. "Richard."
"Hello, Miss Black," Rosier greeted. "How have you been?"
"Very well, and yourselves?"
Neither of them bothered to acknowledge this question. Lauralie had began to straighten up, pulling herself to her fullest height and glaring down on the younger boys with a hatred that would shake most normal people.
"We've noticed that there's something odd going on with you, Lauralie," Wilkes said. "Something a bit… off."
"You've been tired lately. Stressed," Rosier elaborated. "You've started to push away your friends, starting with Severus."
"Is there a point to this?" she snapped.
"Only to replace them with odd bits of filth, like Remus Lupin," Wilkes said.
"So there it is," Lauralie said. "Tell me boys, don't you have better things to concern yourselves with. I would think that my choice in friends would be the bottom of most peoples list."
"But it isn't at the bottom of ours," Rosier said. "You see, you're embarrassing the house of Slytherin."
"We wouldn't want people to start talking that you are disloyal," Wilkes said. "Although Rita's already started saying it."
"Rita is a know it all weasel," Lauralie interjected.
"This is true," Rosier agreed. "But, she has a point. How could anyone throw out Severus Snape, a loyal and true Slytherin, and replace him with Gryffindor slop like Lupin?"
That was the final straw, in Lauralie's opinion. Her cloak flared brightly for a moment as her anger rose.
"That's enough." She strode up to them and grabbed them both by the collar. "Listen to me closely now, you won't want to miss this. I do not care what grand service you think you are providing me or the Slytherin house by dispensing this unwanted commentary, but I suggest you keep your noses firmly out of my business."
She released them.
"Unless, of course, you would like me to curse them off of your faces."
And on that note, she walked past them and back into the snow.
"Hi, Remus."
He looked up from his book and Lindsay smiled. She tucked her book under her arm.
"Hullo, Lindsay," he said. "How was dinner?"
"Boring, I suppose," she said. There was a moment where she fumbled for something to say, wondering why she'd decided to come over here. "What are you reading?"
She reached down and picked up a book from the pile next to him.
"Crawford's Encyclopedia of Book Enchantments," she read from the cover. "Interesting, what's this for?"
"A project," he answered. He knew that the only way to deflect suspicion was to be normal. And he knew exactly what he would normally do if he had a cool new project.
"Actually, it's really quite fascinating," he said. "I'm working on an advanced charms project related to pensieves and the storage of memories in full form."
"That is pretty cool," she said. Then, she decided to get to the point of why she'd really wanted to talk to him in the first place. "Can I ask you something?"
"I guess so."
"Why did you decide not to help with the prank? I always thought that you, Peter, James and Sirius were always in on it, together."
Remus paused. "I just didn't want to have to worry about Slytherin retribution. I received enough of Lauralie's scorn last term, I was looking forward to a term with out it."
She looked surprised.
"I didn't expect such an… honest answer."
"Perhaps you expected I had something to hide."
"I'm glad you don't," she said. "Well, I better get going."
Remus glanced at her book and then back to her face.
"Good luck with your potions work," he said.
She faltered only a moment, before turning and leaving.
Lauralie always got a bit adrenaline height when she was playing. The wind blowing through her hair. The world rushing away beneath her.
The exhilaration of trying to be the best.
Still, when Ludo shouted up to her that she could have a break, she took the opportunity gratefully.
The snow made for a soft landing. She loved the way it crunched under her feet as she walked towards Ludo and Severus.
Severus looked away from the players in the sky to look at her.
Am I losing him? Or, maybe, I'm pushing him away.
She leaned on his shoulder and the corners of his mouth curled up for a brief moment in what she had come to fondly call a Snape Smile.
"So, what do you think?" he asked.
"Well, this girl, Ivy Centaury is it? She's pretty good," Lauralie answered.
"No," Ludo said, finally drawn from the events transpiring in the sky. "We don't need another girl on the team, besides, Rosier is pretty good as well."
"I don't like Rosier," Severus said. "He's weak on blocking all three hoops, he favors the right two."
"Only a bit."
"So you are going to choose him over a girl that's better?" Lauralie asked indignantly, her head popping up off of Severus' shoulder.
"No, I'm going to pick the player whom I believe will perform better under pressure," he said. "I can't trust that Centaury won't fall apart when it comes down to the line."
Lauralie took a deep breath and turned to Severus.
"I'm going to go talk to 'Cissa."
That, Severus supposed as he watched her walk away, was the closest thing to an agreement Ludo was likely to get from her.
"So, how did try-outs go?" Remus asked Friday night when she arrived at the tower.
Lauralie grunted and sat down.
"That good, eh?"
"Did you find anything worthwhile?" she asked. "Because I didn't find anything. Mind you, I didn't have as much time as I'd expected to.
"I found a handful of interesting charms and enchantments to check for," he said. "It could take a while."
"Unfortunately, with Quidditch practice every night this week I'm going to be worn a bit ragged," she said. "So…"
"So you aren't going to have time to meet every night and run tests on the diary."
"Precisely."
There was a pause. Remus seemed on the verge of saying something, but he appeared to be reconsidering it.
"What?" Lauralie asked.
"I was just going to offer that I run the tests for you," he said. "While you are running around preparing for your game, then when your hell of a week is over you may at least have some sort of answer to the Diary mystery."
"You mean give you the Diary?" she asked.
"I guess, yeah."
This had not been quite what Lauralie was bargaining for. The Diary had only left her presence once, and then it had ended up open in front of Rita Skeeter.
"Nothing bad will happen to it, right?"
"I promise you I will keep it safe."
She handed it to him and felt oddly relieved.
Remus could worry about it for one week, she had enough on her plate.
When Remus returned to the common room, the Diary safely tucked into his school bag, he found that the only students left were Sirius and Remus. And he had hardly made two steps towards them when he realized that they were arguing.
"And what if she gets caught?"
"She won't. You are worrying too much."
Lily crossed her arms. "Even Remus thinks this prank is a bad idea, don't you Remus?"
"Hey, leave me out of this," Remus said.
"Of course you do," she said. "Of course he does. Why else would he have chosen not to participate?"
Sirius laughed.
"Don't be silly, Lil," he said. He walked over to Remus, draping an arm over his shoulder. "Remus doesn't care about the prank itself. We all know he's warming the bench on this one because he doesn't want to piss off my sister."
Remus shrugged. "He's right, really."
"And, who can blame him?" Sirius asked. "She only just started talking to him again, and she was being a bit of a wench last term."
Lily frowned.
"I'm supposed to sit back and let you do this?"
"Pretty much," he said. "Stop fretting about it, we all know what we're doing, or in Remus' case not doing."
She furrowed her brow for a moment.
"I suppose I could always go tell your sister what you're planning."
"NO!" The boys cried in unison.
"Lily that would be horrendous," Remus said.
"You'd get him in trouble," Sirius said, jabbing a finger at Remus. "For doing nothing. Just let it go."
"Whatever. Don't listen to me." She threw her bag over her shoulder and stormed up the stairs to the girls' dormitories.
"Women," Sirius said, with a sigh.
"Can't keep them happy majority of the time, I've discovered," Remus said.
"And nothing hurts more than a woman's scorn."
"Speaking of, how angry is Lauralie going to be with you after this prank?"
Sirius grinned.
"Never mind, I don't want to know."
For Lauralie, the next week faded away in a haze of school work and stressful Quidditch practices. So by the time she trudged into the common room after their final practice Friday night, she was pretty much beat.
Severus was waiting by the fire, their chess game for the evening already set up.
"How'd it go?" he asked.
She made a face and sat down in front of the board, her lengthy hair was windswept, toppling messily down her back like a golden waterfall.
"Are we in that much trouble?"
"I just want to survive tomorrow with my dignity in tact."
The week had been a busy one for Remus as well, ducking his friends to work with the Diary had proven trickier than he had expected, but he'd managed it. By dinnertime Saturday he'd done all the tests he had needed and was ready to report to Lauralie that evening.
He was arriving late for the meal, but as he stepped into the Entrance Hall he realized he was not the only one. Lindsay and Duncan McConaugha emerged from the passage the Hufflepuff's normally took.
Remus followed them in. They sat down near Bridget Corrigan and show a thumbs up to Sirius and James, who smiled.
Remus' heart sank as he sat down. "Did they just…"
"It's going to be a grand day," James said.
Lauralie was playing with her food, as she always did when she was nervous. She took a sip of her pumpkin juice, then speared a carrot and moved it to the other side of her plate.
"It will be fine," Narcissa said for like the tenth time. "What's the worst that could happen?"
"We lose the Quidditch Cup," Lauralie offered.
"Yeah, but you guys can beat Gryffindor again," she said. "You'll have Sev back next game."
"I'm just tired."
Severus was listening quietly, he drank his juice and made a slight face before taking another sip.
"Does this taste a bit weird to you?"
Lauralie took another sip. "Dunno."
Lucius drank his. "Maybe an over-ripened pumpkin made it in the batch?"
Before anyone could respond to this, a very odd thing happened.
Ludo Bagman stood up on the bench and cleared his throat loudly. Then, without warning or preamble, he began to sing.
"I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts.
There they are all standing in a row," he sang.
"What's going on?" Lauralie asked.
Slowly, the students in the great hall started to turn and watch, until all eyes were on him as he sang.
"Give them a twist, a flick of the wrist.
That's what the showman said!
Oh, I've got a lovely bunch…"
Lucius stood. He walked purposefully over to Ludo and jerked him down.
"You fool, what are you doing?" he asked, loudly. "That isn't the proper song for a gathering such as this!"
Then, much to the surprise of everyone watching, he stepped up onto the table itself, toppling over a couple students plates.
"The tune I'd like to sing for you is one my father taught to me," he said. And then, he sang:
"Oooooooooh.
The chimneys were dirty at Mrs. McFry's
And I'll grant they were worse down at Molly O'Clue's
But the chimney sweep said, with a gleam in his eye
'I've got a great tool her for cleaning the flues'
For I maybe a tiny chimney sweep
With a tiny grimy face
But I'm carrying a broom that makes strong girls weep,
Won't you let me up, up, up your fireplace?"
Giggles were spreading through out the great hall, and they were fueled even more when Narcissa stood and began to dance and spin to Lucius' song, shooting silver streamers from her wand.
"A Chimney sweep's job can be boring and dirty,
A chimney sweep ain't drawn the best lot in life
But who else could manage, without getting flirty,
To clean out the smokestack on the mayor's young wife?
For I maybe a tiny chimney sweep
With a tiny grimy face…"
Lauralie sniffed her goblet.
"Sev, there's something in this," she said. "What do you reckon…"
Suddenly her eyes shifted out of focus, and her face morphed into a broad smile.
"Lauralie?"
"The butterflies are so beautiful," she said. She was gazing up in awe, but there was nothing there.
Over at the Gryffindor table, Remus watched in silence as the Slytherins descended into chaos.
"The difference between a good prank and a great prank is timing," Sirius explained, laughing.
Lauralie was now darting around the Hufflepuff table, trying to catch butterflies only she could see. Katia and Anastasia were rallying people to catch the Heffalumps and Woozles they said were invading the school. Rosier and Wilkes were playing leapfrog between the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables.
"What, exactly, did you do to cause this?"
"Two words: confusing concoction," James said.
"More specifically, confusing concoction slipped in precise amounts into every pitch of pumpkin juice at the Slytherin table," Sirius said.
Lauralie was climbing on the end of their table now. She made a jump for an imaginary butterfly. She tipped over a first years goblet and splattered food and drink everywhere.
Remus had half considered going to get her down when Bridget squealed: "Look at Snape!"
Severus was down on one knee in front of McGonagall. He was holding one of her hands and reciting a poem.
"Come, madam, come, all rest my powers defy;
Until I labour, I in labour lie.
The foe ofttimes, having the foe in sight,
Is tired with standing, though he never fight.
Off with that girdle, like heaven's zone glittering,
But a far fairer world encompassing.
Unpin that spangled breast-plate, which you wear,
That the eyes of busy fools may be stopped there.
Unlace yourself, for that harmonious chime
Tells me from you that now it is bed-time."
Minerva was looking horror struck, trying to gently pull her hand away.
Professor Lestrange came marching in with two large jugs of potion. In all of the mayhem, no one had even noticed her leaving in the first place.
She went straight for Severus. Perhaps to spare him, or perhaps even to spare Minerva. She nabbed Dumbledore's spoon and filled it with potion. She managed to pour it into Severus' open mouth just after he recited the line: "Full nakedness! All Joys are due to thee!"
He choked. He looked around for a moment before realizing what he was doing. Thrusting Minerva's hand away from him, he stumbled back looking disgusted.
Professor Lestrange was holding one of the jugs out to him and another spoon.
"Quickly, we have to help them," she said.
That's when he finally took in the insanity taking place around them. Slytherins playing tag. Slytherins dancing on tables. Slytherins hallucinating. There were Slytherins everywhere making complete and utter fools of themselves.
And, on the edge of all this, was Lauralie, teetering on the edge of the Gryffindor table snatching at the air.
He felt his stomach twist. He took the potion and spoon.
She fought him when he tried to pull her down. He had to pull her down by her waist, and still she squirmed in his arms.
"No, Arthur!" she yelled. "My butterflies are getting away."
He forced the spoon in her mouth and she sagged against him. He held her as she blinked back into awareness. She looked up at him, then around them.
"Antidote?" she asked, pointing to the bottle.
He nodded, so she reached for the nearest goblet.
In the process she came face to face with Remus, it was his goblet she'd picked up.
She swallowed hard. She'd probably been acting like a complete fool right in front of him. All of his friends were laughing.
She backed away, pouring potion into the goblet. She handed the bottle back to Severus before fleeing.
She dosed Meredith Binx, who was regaling a pack of Ravenclaws with her tale of Dragon slaying in which she managed to incapacitate the creature with her bra.
She dosed Ludo, who was now doing cartwheels in front of the head table.
She dosed Cassandra Templeton, who'd taken an unusual liking to hair. Lauralie had to pull her off of Severus, who's hair she had grabbed when he was passing by to dose another student.
She dosed Slytherin after Slytherin. And then sent them to dose more. Until all had regained their heads, with the exception of Lucius.
He was trotting around the hall, singing his song. He seemed determined to finish.
"Since I was a lad, this man trained me to sweep
A good man, a kind man, as you'll all agree
But I'm telling you now, my dear friends, please don't weep,
For his trade will be continued, girls -- he left his broom to me!"
He finished with a grand bow and then opened his mouth so that Narcissa could give him the antidote.
The Slytherin common room was filled with students all trying to complain at once.
"Those maggots!"
"Whoever did this better watch out!"
"Even Dumbledore was laughing at us…"
"We should force them to reschedule the Quidditch game."
Lauralie had sunk dejectedly into an arm chair.
"Everyone shut up," Lucius shouted.
The room went silent, Lucius already demanded respect in the wizarding world.
"The important thing now is not to panic," he said.
"What do we do, then?" someone asked.
"We hold our heads high. We go out to the Quidditch game. We show a little solidarity. Make them think they haven't gotten to us."
"And then we find our revenge," Severus added.
"How?" a first year girl asked.
"Leave them to us," Lauralie said. She stood and suddenly seemed more formidable than usual. Her cloak was glowing with unusual intensity.
"Lucius is right," she said. "Ignore them. No matter what they say or do, pretend they aren't there."
"And we'll handle the rest," Severus said.
It felt weird to Severus that he was walking into the stands instead of the locker room. This whole day had been wrong in his opinion.
"Hey, Snape, have you and McGonagall set a wedding date?"
"Ignore them," Narcissa hissed, jerking him down into the nearest seats.
"Nice moves, VanBuren. Do you want to be a ballerina when you grow up?"
Narcissa was digging through her bag as if she hadn't heard a thing.
"Pumpkin Pastie?" she asked.
"No, thanks."
Remus and Magdalene were climbing the stands right next to them. They said nothing, but Remus nodded to acknowledge them.
Unfortunately, Sirius, James, Bridget and the McConaugha twins followed close behind, and they still seemed to be laughing.
James stopped to quote Severus' poem, which turned out to be Elegy XX by Donne.
"License my roving hands, and let them go. Before, behind, between, above, below."
Severus made no response to this, he didn't even flinch and eventually the Gryffindors moved on.
"It was them," Severus said. "I'm sure of it, I just need confirmation."
"Shh, here come the teams."
Lauralie had never seen the team less pumped about a game. The prank seemed to have broken them all, even Ludo.
"Just… play," he said. "And… yeah."
Lucius had to take over. He straightened his Quidditch uniform.
"Let's kick their asses for laughing at us," he said. "And no matter what, don't listen to them."
"Good evening, ladies and germs, to cap off an interesting day, we have a very unusual game. Today's game will decide the Slytherin team's rout to the cup. If they win, they have one more game against Ravenclaw, but if they lose they'll have to play a second match against Gryffindor," Max Jordan said over the magical megaphone.
"Playing for Hufflepuff today we have Ashcroft, Hapshat, Worthington, Crawford, Sommers, Thomas, and Anderson."
The Hufflepuff team sped into the air to cheers.
"Playing for Slytherin today we have Bagman, Crabbe, Goyle, Bulstrode, Black, Malfoy, and, subbing for Severus Snape, Evan Rosier."
There was applause mixed with laughter.
"Here's the toss, and their off, Hufflepuff in possession."
The game progressed far quicker than Lauralie was prepared for. The Hufflepuffs were hitting them hard and fast.
"Slytherin down, 50 to 0."
Rosier had only blocked one shot, while Anderson, the Keeper for the other side, had guarded the hoops flawlessly.
Their only hope was that Lucius would catch the snitch before the Hufflepuff seeker did.
"Crawford to Sommers, Sommers shoots and it slides by Rosier. Hufflepuff leads 60 to 0."
Lauralie groaned as she caught the rebound, she tossed it up field to Parkinson who made a beautiful shot for the left hand goal.
"Blocked! Slytherin team is denied another point."
This was insulting. She couldn't let this stand. She blocked Worthington hard and snatched the ball from his fumbling hands.
"Black intercepts Worthington. She's got the Quaffle. She dodges a Bludger, a Beater and shoots. SCORE!"
There was scattered cheers through the crowd. Fueled by this, she managed to score three more times before Lucius spotted the snitch.
It was fluttering above Rosier's head. Both seekers were in the same spot on opposite sides of the pitch. There was no choice but to race for it.
And, just as Lucius took off, the stands were filled with the sound of students singing.
"He may be a tiny chimney sweep
With a tiny grimy face
But he's got a broom that makes strong girls weep,
Won't you let him up, up, up your fireplace?"
He didn't seem to react this at all, he didn't really have a chance, a Bludger surfaced out of nowhere and clipped his broom.
For a moment he went into a spin, but it was just long enough.
"Thomas gets the snitch! Hufflepuff defeats Slytherin 200 to 40!"
The Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were storming the field, cheering and shouting.
Lauralie landed on the outskirts, next to Narcissa.
"Where's Severus?" she asked.
"I don't know," Narcissa answered. "He wandered away. Where's Lucius?"
"I don't know, you try to find him, I need to find Sev."
They split up. There were people everywhere, pushing her in every direction. People were starting to yell things that no longer sounded like cheers.
It seemed as if the Slytherins had had their fill.
She ran into Ludo. He was pulling Goyle out of a fight.
"Have you seen Severus?"
"No," he answered.
She pushed through more people and found Remus.
"There you are," he said. He pressed a folded up piece of paper into her hand. "You might want to get out of here, this could get ugly."
He walked off towards his friends and she continued her search.
She asked Lucius, and Rita. Evan Rosier and Wilkes.
He wasn't out there.
She forced her way to the edge of the crowd for air. She realized she was still clenching the parchment from Remus.
She opened it.
'I think I figured it out. Meet me tonight.
-R'
Great, she thought.
A seventh year Gryffindor and his friends stopped on their way out of the fray.
"What's wrong, Black? All your butterflies got away?"
All three boys took on a falsetto voice and squealed: "Noooooooo, my butterflies!"
She growled and turned on them, her wand out.
"Silencio."
Their laughter suddenly went silent.
"What was that, I couldn't hear you?"
They looked both surprised and scared as she advanced towards them, her wand out in front of her, her cloak glimmering in power. She began to mutter any curse she could think of. She'd reached her limit. She wanted them to suffer.
"Densaugio! Engorgio!"
And they only got worse.
And to end this chapter I have bad news. In light of how... infrequent my postings have been I've realized that I've fractured myself over too many projects. So none of them are getting done in any sort of timely manner. Therefore all projects OTHER than LB are hereby suspended for a while. I would like to update this more.
ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF LAURALIE BLACK:
- Lauralie gets strange advice from a teacher
- Severus and Lucius concoct plans for revenge on the Gryffindors.
- Remus and Lauralie finally unlock the Diary, but what will they find once they get in?
- The Slytherin Quidditch team attempts to pull itself back together in time.