Title: The Extreme Dangers of Mistle Toe
Rating: Probably PG, perhaps PG-13, who knows? Some where in-between there, at most PG-13 just to be safe. God knows what this mindless authoress would write...x]
Disclaimer: I, sadly, own nothing of J.K. Rowling's, and nothing in the HP universe. If I did, do you think _____ would have died?!?! OF COURSE NOT!
Summary: Well, its Christmas time! And of course there is mistle toe in Hogwarts. Toss in a few hormonal teenagers, add a pinch the total stupidity of boys, flavor lightly with the giddy-ness of girls, and boil under high flames of gossip. Stir, repeat. Makes a chapter of ultimate plotless-ness.
Author's Note: Ah, I am back from camping. I forgot what a key board feels like. But, lucky you, I have tons of inspiration and no more writers block. And also coffee at ten o clock at night.
* This story I am going to dedicate to Laura (el) because she loves it so much, and she was my cure for writer's block. Laurel, my muse! LOL, happy reading - R&R please.
~*~
The ball, as it turned out, had been incredibly successful. In fact, students were still talking about it well into December.
Quidditch season had started, and the Gryffindor team had been holding practice four nights a week. Although they had been champions since before Lily and Treasure had come to Hogwarts, the Captain, a seven year named Jason Ether, was determined to work his team into the ground (or rather, the mud, as the weather had been increasingly nasty as of late,).
The first match was Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor had won narrowly by some skillful flying on James's part. The winners had gone on to play Hufflepuff, who had surprisingly slaughtered Slytherin three days before. Treasure took every opportunity she could get to remind Eva of this. Eva was the Keeper for Slytherin, and had done fantastically bad. Laurel practically pranced with glee every time Eva came her way.
And so scheduled after Christmas break, Hufflepuff would play Gryffindor as the last of the first round of tournaments. Sirius had taken to teasing Remus about where his loyalties would lie now that he was dating Laurel, the Hufflepuff Chaser/Keeper.
"Holidays are nearly here!" Lily said happily one morning, while munching on a slice of French toast. Treasure sighed, "And they cant come too bloody fast either, we are going to have loads of homework, and I can barely keep up as it is!" she moaned. Sirius and James nodded sympathetically, although all were very good students (even Treasure) the workload was huge, due to the upcoming O.W.L.s. It didn't help that the Quidditch practice and game schedule was insane as well.
Lily, however, pursed her lips. Since the Ball, Treasure and Sirius seemed to have grown noticeably closer, (Quidditch was no help) and this resulted in Lily having to hang out with James and the Marauders more and more often. Lily wouldn't have minded if James magically made himself disappear, or at leased ceased his obvious attempts of impressing her; he flirted shamelessly and showed off incessantly, never seeming to tire of splitting open the bags of helpless first years, or Levitating hats and books from thirds years.
James was arrogant, and showing of was deemed mostly by strutting around and jinxing others without warning, for the sheer fact that he could. More often than not his victim was Severus Snape who, try as he might, could never fully wreak his revenge.
Lily mentioned this to Treasure, who shrugged. "Boys are just idiots like that," she said. "I suppose they find it amusing. Morons, the lot of them," she explained, uninterested. "Just ignore him, maybe then he'll get it through his fat head that you don't care,"
"But I have been ignoring him," Lily said angrily. Treasure sighed again, "Maybe you should just hex him and get it over with," she suggested. Lily groaned, Treasure was no help. "That's what I would do," Treasure said, shrugging again. Lily smiled ironically, "And why would I do what you would?" she asked. Treasure glared at her, and they let the subject of James drop for a while.
Remus and Laurel were now an official recognized item, and so Laurel was often among Lily and Treasure. In fact, they were so often together that Sirius had started calling them the Marauder's Groupies. He stopped when Treasure threatened to Curse him.
Laurel, Lily, and Treasure were all sitting in the library one rainy December afternoon, trying to get through (or at least make a dent in) the ton of homework they'd been given. It was December the twentieth, the last day before the break. Treasure sighed wearily, having just finished her Potions homework. "And I actually put some effort into it, seeing as how Athach hates me, and exams are coming up all too fast," she muttered darkly.
"Well, if you'd done that all year, you wouldn't have a problem now would you?" Lily said. Treasure ignored her, pulling out more parchment and starting her essay for Divination. She scribbled, "Tea Leaves for Dummies, and Those Who Do Not Possess Sight In Their Inner Eye, and Are Otherwise Looking For Mystical Contact Lenses". "For…all…of you whose…inner eye has…less than 20/20 vision…" Treasure started, rolling her eyes. Laurel snorted.
"Treasure, is this all your Tranfig homework?" she asked incredulously. Treasure nodded. "Yup, and I finished Potions and those sketches for Care of Magical Creatures too," she said proudly. Lily's mouth fell open. "Are you aiming for a Prefect badge?" she asked.
"What? No," Treasure said disgustedly, grinning at the affronted look on Lily's face. "I just don't want to have to work over the break," she said. They worked in silence for a while until Laurel slammed the book she was reading closed with a snap; Lily and Treasure jumped.
"What?" Treasure said, recovering from near heart failure. "I can't concentrate! Too much is going on!" Laurel moaned. "Such as?" Lily prompted dully. Laurel rolled her eyes, "Such as vacation starts tomorrow, trips to Hogsmeade, the Gryffindor/Hufflepuff match, and the Ball!" Laurel said.
"Another Ball?" Treasure asked dumbly. Lily rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"The Ball was almost two months ago!" she said.
"I know! But was it not the best experience of your life?" Laurel asked, tossing her silvery hair, her eyes changing rapidly from green to silver and back again.
"Actually, yeah, it was one of the higher points in my life," Treasure said, warming to the subject. "That's because Sirius dances with you the whole night," Lily said smugly.
Treasure had the nerve to look bored, "No he didn't," she said, turning back to her homework. When there was no smart reply, Treasure looked up, looking a bit harassed. "What?" she said irritably.
Laurel and Lily were wearing identical infuriating complacent grins. "What?!" Treasure yelped, earning a stern glare from Madam Pince, the librarian, who had recently succumbed to getting a name tag.
"You know," Laurel said slowly, a mischievous glint in her eyes, "Sirius didn't really dance with everyone else," Treasure bit her lips. "Anyone else," Lily said helpfully. Treasure rolled her eyes, "Your point?"
"And," Laurel said, "He glared daggers when you danced with Ramon and Dylan, and Jason, and even James," she said. "You little wench," Lily teased, who had become a bit more laid back since the Ball.
Treasure said nothing, just looked down, her dark hair falling like a curtain in front of her face as she scribbled more of her Divination essay.
"He is so whipped," Laurel said finally, yawning widely. Treasure head shot up at that, her cheeks tinged pink and her eyes bright. Her lips were twitching as if she was trying very hard not to grin.
"Don't say that," she said, aiming for reproachful. Laurel and Lily shrugged, each getting back to their homework. Neither the blonde nor the red head spoke again, for which the brunette was extremely grateful. As for Madam Pince, she looked up from Anti-Aging Spells Volume II, as it had never been quite so quiet in the library before.
~*~
Christmas dawned early the next morning; James and Sirius woke early, and scrambled to the foot of their respective beds, digging through the loot of gifts. It was the second night of the full moon that month, and Remus was still in the Shack under the Whomping Willow. He wouldn't be back until late in the day; and the Marauders would have their own Christmas party that night in the forms of their different animals.
Sirius scanned hastily through his pile of presents, and looked a bit crestfallen. "Nothing from her, mate?" James asked. Sirius knew full well who his best friend was referring to.
"Wasn't expecting anything anyway," Sirius said. James chuckled, "Me neither," he said. Sirius tossed A Purebloods Guide To Avoiding Muggle Borns and Halfbreeds (a "gift" from his family) at James, who picked it up and flipped through it in revulsion. "This rubbish is from your mum, I expect," James said. Sirius glared at the book.
"Chuck it into the fire," he said disgustedly. James complied, and Sirius glared still as the book was consumed by the flames. They went back to opening gifts. Sirius had given James a box of Filibuster Fireworks, and a tiny model of a Quidditch field that had two complete teams. James gave Sirius a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and a book on Beater techniques. They were comparing so loudly that Peter's snores ceased and he went through his gifts with them, until it was time for Christmas brunch.
~*~
Lily woke up first in the Fifth Year girls dormitory, throwing a pillow on Treasure, who sat up cursing. "Merry Christmas to you too," Lily snapped. Treasure's eyes brightened as she dove to the foot of her bed, nearly falling off in her excitement.
"Presents!" she cried joyfully, ripping into her pile. Lily did very much the same, with gusto. Treasure looked at the book Jinxes and Counter-jinxes, A Book for the Dueling Witch. "I thought you didn't want me to duel," Treasure said. Lily grinned and opened her gift from Treasure.
"Oh, Tres," she said breathlessly. Treasure had given her the complete leather bound set of Charms, all three volumes, first edition. In it contained all the charms currently in existence. Treasure knew that Lily had been longing for this book ever since she had come to Hogwarts, and it had taken Treasure nearly that long to save up for it.
"How did you afford this?" Lily asked.
"Well, now you know why all your other Christmas gifts were so crappy," she said.
Suddenly Laurel burst into the dorm, careening into Treasure's bed and nearly flipping over. "Graceful," Lily remarked. Treasure nodded, "Very veela-ish," she quipped. Laurel glared. "Merry Christmas," she said sarcastically. Treasure held up her hands innocently, "Every body says that to me like they want to kill me afterwards," she said.
"What are you doing here?" Lily asked.
"The Hufflepuffians are boring," explained Laurel with a grin, tearing into her gifts. Lily gave her a tiny locket, identical to the one that she and Treasure had. Treasure, whose gift was also the locket, also gave Laurel an assortment of colored hair nets.
"Its for the Quidditch match, so your long blonde hair doesn't blind you or something," Treasure explained. She held up a packet of her own. "I have them too!" she said triumphantly.
"Hey, what's this?" Laurel asked, tossing Treasure a tiny box made of dark wood. Treasure looked confused, "Are you sure its not yours?" she asked Laurel. Laurel shook her head, holding up her wrist and showing her friends a charm bracelet with the phases of the moon. "Its from Remus," she said happily. Lily cooed, drawing closer to inspect the jewelry and showing Laurel the earrings that James had given her (while pretending not to care, but Laurel and Treasure saw through that faster than a speeding Bludger), while Treasure studied the tiny box in her hand.
"It says T.B. on the box," Lily said, pointing to the intricate engravings. Treasure felt her heart start to pound in her ears as she opened the box. Inside was an old looking necklace with a "T" hanging, made of tiny aqua colored gems. Treasure gasped, it was beautiful and most likely very, very expensive, if not a family heirloom. Laurel and Lily sighed, "He must really like you," Laurel said.
"Who?" Treasure asked automatically, though she knew who they were talking about.
"Don't be stupid, Treasure!" Lily practically screamed. "Besides, look, there's a note! It probably says who its from," Laurel said, trying hard not to laugh at the look of extreme frustration on Lily's face.
Treasure picked up the not and turned it over. All it said was -S.
~*~
"Didja get my gift?" Laurel asked excitedly, running up to Remus as he came down the stairs from the Gryffindor Common Room, headed to the Great Hall. Remus put an arm about Laurel's shoulders and kissed her on the cheek, saying "Merry Christmas" very quietly in her ear. She glowed.
"Didja like my gift?" she asked, her cheeks flushed with pink. He nodded, "Yes, but I didn't expect to be wriggling around so much. I just go to see it now," he said. She had bought him a niffler, a tiny black puppy shaped creature that was really good at finding shiny objects. When she bought it, it tried to attack her hair
Laurel's face clouded over, "How was last night?" she asked quietly, seeing how tired Remus seemed this morning. He sighed wearily, "The usual," he said, a bit depressed. Laurel drew closer to him and as he turned to her she kissed him full on the lips. He smiled, and neither were aware of how Lily, Treasure, Sirius, James, Peter, and the rest of the students heading to the Great Hall all smiled a bit.
Laurel returned his smile, and pointed up. "Mistle toe," she whispered, oblivious to the stares of their fellow students as they headed to the Great Hall for the Christmas brunch feast.
~*~
"Sirius, wait!" Treasure called, leaning on the banister that was sculpted in the shape of the Hogwarts crest. He paused, and she walked up to him. She pulled the necklace out of her robes, where she was wearing it. "Was this…from you?" she asked, a bit awkwardly. She took a deep breath and held it, trying to figure out a reason for why she was so nervous that wasn't because she actually liked Sirius. Seriously liked him. Because she didn't. Right?
She was so busy trying to figure out why she felt like throwing up and laughing at the same time (not a particularly attractive combination to be sure), that she nearly missed his answer. "Yeah, it was from me…its been in the family. When I found it, I thought of you…so it's yours," he said. Treasure cocked her head to the side, "But wont your mum be angry?" she asked. Sirius laughed, "She's always angry anyway, makes no difference," he said bitterly.
Treasure did quite know what to say. "Thank you," she mumbled quietly, looking down, a blush creeping onto her cheeks. Sirius smiled and turned to go to the Great Hall. He walked a few step but Treasure, on sudden impulse, grabbed his arm. There was no one left by the staircase.
Treasure looked up, Sirius followed her gaze. He when he looked back, she was staring with a hard to read expression on her face. Suddenly she leaned up and kissed him softly, and very quickly, on the lips.
"Mistle toe," she said, smiling a little, hurrying into the Great Hall.
~*~
"What took you so long?" Laurel complained, sitting next to Remus and stealing food from him. He looked at her oddly, "You know, there is enough food for you too," he said. She shrugged, and turned back to Treasure. "Well?" she asked. Treasure flushed, "I was just saying thanks for the necklace," she muttered.
Lily stared at her best friend for a long moment. Treasure grew pinker. "WHAT?!" she yelped. Lily and Laurel grinned. Treasure felt like she was going to collapse, or explode. "STOP! What are you looking at?" she bellowed, drawing the gaze of many students. She glared at them. "Mind your own damn business," she snapped to a group of first years, who looked terrified and looked away quickly. Treasure sighed.
"You need to calm down," James informed her. Treasure looked as if she was going to attack him, so he backed away nearly on top of Lily. "Geroff' you big lug," Lily squealed. James grinned and pulled out his wand out from behind his back, and conjured up (what else?) some mistle toe.
"Look up, Evans," he said. Lily glared evilly at him, and looked up; she paled when she realized what he had done. "You cheated," she snarled at him. James shrugged, "C'mon Evans, just one kiss," he said. Treasure and Laurel were watching avidly, Remus looked amused and Peter was sniggering uncontrollably.
"Aww, go on Lils, just give 'im a kiss," Treasure crowed. Laurel nodded. Lily looked like a deer caught in headlights. She shook her head, her long red hair whipping unsuspecting students in the face.
Something seemed to push Lily forward, into James. The ice pixies that were decorating the room were behind her shoved her forward a bit, where she toppled unceremoniously into James, who kissed her. Treasure and Laurel cheered.
Lily yanked herself away and glared sourly at them, her entire face flushed pink. James was grinning stupidly, rumpling his hair so it stood up. Sirius sat down in the space that had been made by the pixies, and caught Treasure's eye with a smile. She flushed and smiled back. Remus and Laurel were talking quietly amongst themselves now.
Lily took out her wand and lit the mistle toe on fire.
~*~
A/N: What didja think? R&R please!!!
Laura(el): I am so sorry school started for you. I'll try to update every day, just for you! Blegh…school starts for me in…15 days. Highschool! The horror! The utter torment! Gah! *faints*