Title: The Young Order
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: Just read and find out…
Author's Note: To Alianne/Sandraline and Aldariel: Perfect assessment of the plot….you get a free (enter name of favorite HP or HP-TYO character) life size robot! AND a magic wand!
"I dunno, maybe he bought that new cologne that's supposed to attracted all the broads," James said. Of the remaining three Marauder's, he was the least distressed. Seeing Lily fawn over someone as pathetic as Peter was irritating, especially when she had so consistently rejected James himself. It had been a full day's worth of the girls' strange behavior, and now everyone had congregated in the Great Hall for lunch. Snape regarded James with a smirk as he walked by. "Funny how Lily'd rather be in Peter's company than yours, eh, Potter? Right slight to your fat ego, isn't it?" he said airily.
Sirius stood up and was about to pull out his wand, but Remus coughed loudly and nodded his head over to the teachers' table. Professor Dumbledore was watching with a rather amused smile on his lips - although from this distance it might have been the way his long silvery beard was arranged. Sirius wasn't a fool enough to hex Snape right under the Headmaster's eyes but he did say, "I don't see your hag of a girlfriend anywhere, Snivellus."
Snape's smile faded slowly off his sallow face. "Indeed." he whispered coldly. Then, casting a glance over at where Treasure sat, he said, "Well, at least Eva is not throwing herself over a little worm like Pettigrew."
Sirius turned his head so quickly that he felt a crick in his neck, and Snape laughed nastily before stalked away. Treasure did seem to be throwing herself over Pettigrew. She and Lily were sitting on either side of Peter, taking the time to select the best pieces of whatever food was in front of them and adding it to his plate. Lily glared at a third year boy who attempted to take the piece of chicken she was eyeing, and Treasure actually pulled her wand on a fourth year girl who was in the middle of taking a piece of cake. Laurel was sitting at the Hufflepuff table looking miserable and glaring at Lily and Treasure. Remus saw this and frowned, but didn't get up.
After Peter had finished his lunch the girls got up and, without another glance over their shoulders, left the Great Hall. This time, Laurel was with them. James scowled at their backs, taking in the hurt disbelieving look on Remus's face and trying not to laugh at the infuriated and indignant look on Sirius's.
"Wormtail put a spell on them." Sirius said decisively. James blinked. "Come again?" he asked. Sirius was still glaring in the direction that Treasure had left, without so much as a wave. "Think about it - why would a girl like Treasure, or a girl like Laurel for that matter, or even Lily - go for a little git like Peter?" he said, none too kindly. Remus looked unsure.
"Peter's our friend though, he wouldn't do that." he said.
"And even if he wanted to put a spell or a love potion on the girls, he wouldn't have the power to. It took us so long to -" James lowered his voice. "To become Animagi, mostly because Peter couldn't manage to turn himself into a rat."
"Not that it was too much of a stretch for him, the prat." Sirius grumbled. Remus, however, still looked unconvinced. "James is right, Sirius, he wouldn't have been able to pull off some kind of love charm or potion - that's really advanced magic, not to mention dangerous, if it misfires. I don't even think we could pull off that kind of thing."
"Not that we'd need to." Sirius scoffed, looking very arrogant.
"Maybe the Laurel and Treasure just got tired of you blokes, eh, d'you reckon?" James said with a sly grin. Remus looked upset but Sirius said, "Say that again, Prongs, and you'll be reckoning my fist in your nose." James held up his hands in surrender, "I'm not the one who charmed your girl, mate."
Remus was quiet. "Love potion." he murmured, and the shook his head. "James is probably right, Sirius, maybe they did get tired of us." he said. Sirius looked disgruntled.
"That's ridiculous."
"Hey, it is possible, Padfoot, as much of a catch as you are…" James taunted.
"What did you say about love potions, Moony?" Sirius said abruptly, turning his attention instead to the Slytherin table. Remus's brow furrowed. "They're potentially dangerous, and extremely advance…"
"And who would be up to such a potion?" James asked, also looking in the direction of the Slytherin table. Remus turned around and saw that Sirius and James were both glaring at Snape, who sat eating quietly with his nose in a book with a black cover entitled Dark Arts for Dark Wizards. Sirius narrowed his eyes.
"But why would Snape do it?" Remus asked, sitting in an armchair in the empty Gryffindor common room. Nearly everyone had gone out as it was a beautiful May day, and all the fifth years were in dire need of a break from studying for their O.W.L.s, the first of which was due in two weeks.
"I mean, he hates Gryffindor - why would he do something to help someone in Gryffindor?" Remus continued, watching Sirius as he paced back and forth in front of the fire. James was building a tower out of Exploding Snap cards with extreme care, and didn't seem to be as bothered about any of this.
"Ha, I wonder. Maybe because he loathes us nearly as much as we loathe him." Sirius was saying. James looked up. "So, what do you suppose we do about it?" he asked. "We have to fix the girls!" Sirius burst out angrily. James rolled his eyes.
"First, I think, we have to find out what kind of spell or potion he did." Remus said, leaning forward a bit. "If that's even what he did." he added uncertainly.
"What else could it be?" Sirius barked. James coughed quickly to hide his snickering.
"And its obviously a potion, what else would that little slimeball be good for?" Sirius ranted on. Remus nodded. "Okay, well, we have to find out how he did it, how powerful the spell is, what the effects are - shut up, Sirius" (Sirius had opened his mouth to say "Well, it's a bit obvious what the bloody effects are!") "- and how to counter the potion."
James sighed, looking longing out the window at the few people who had decided to play a scrimmage Quidditch match. "So I guess that means we're off to the library, then?" he asked heavily.
"Don't sound so reluctant, Prongs - Lily is the only one without a boyfriend to think about, she might be the most willing to do whatever Peter asks." Sirius growled. James jumped up and led the way to the library.
"Well, it says 'the effects of the potion make the victim -' oh, that's nice, 'victim',"
"Just read it, Black."
"'make the victim fall helplessly in love with the alchemist -' but Snape mixed the potion…"
"Try reading the whole text, Sirius."
"'- or the drinker of the love potion."
"See the value of reading, Padfoot, my friend?"
"Shut up. 'Among several various ingredients that include but are not limited to rose oil, powdered seed of ellateria cardamomum, wings of a lavender sprite. Necessary ingredients include the a possession of the intended lover, and the dearer the possession to said lover, the deeper the spell shall become. The potion must be mixed above a fire in which fire salamanders live among rose quartz crystals at midnight on a Friday under the new moon.'
"I am going to kill Wormtail for this!" Sirius said angrily, throwing the book down.
"Uh, guys?" James asked, looking up from another book with a look of worry on his face. "What?" Sirius snarled. "It says here that if more than one person's possession is added to the potion…they can get a bit competitive."
"Competitive over what?" Remus asked.
"In this case…over Peter." James answered. Sirius swore.
"And you know how bad it can get when two witches get competitive, don't you?" he said. James swallowed, looking as if whatever he was going to say was something that he really wished he needn't.
"In this case it's three witches."
"Petey, wanna come for a walk around the grounds with me?" Treasure asked, fluttering her eyelashes flirtatiously, an action that she would otherwise never do. Lily scowled, "He doesn't want to, Tres, he said that he'd be coming up to the Astronomy tower with me as I'm going to tutor him, isn't that right Peter?" she said, smiling at him. Peter swallowed.
"Yes - but that doesn't mean that I can't go for a short walk first, does it?" he said hastily, seeing Treasure's dismayed expression. Lily's expression soured. "Oh, but I had planned on showing you the positions of all the stars and how they affect the romantic lives of -"
"Lils, he doesn't want a book-freakin-flobberworm like you. He wants to have fun. If you truly cared about him, you'd see that already. Are we going, Petey?" she asked, holding her hand out to him and tossing her hair. Peter looked torn.
"Lily, will you wait for me here. I wont be long, I promise." he said. Lily looked like she might cry.
"Don't cry, Lily, I promise you'll have me tonight." Peter said, and Treasure got a very nasty look on her face but said nothing. Lily smiled. "Okay, Peter. I'll be waiting right here." she said sweetly, her face shining with triumph. Treasure made a very rude hand gesture over Peter's head but Lily said nothing, still silently gloating.
"Come on," Treasure said sullenly, walking out the portrait hole. Lily grinned, dashing up to the girls' dorm when they were safely out of the common room. She pulled out her mermaid dress from Halloween and made sure that it was in perfect condition. She pulled it on quickly and put her hair in an elegant up-do with a few red strands hanging around her face. She rummaged through Treasure's trunk and found Tinkerbell's TangerineBody Mist and considered spraying it on liberally. But, she decided, she didn't want to smell like her best friend as she spent the night with Peter. With a nasty smile she poured out all the body mist onto the floor and sprayed on her own lily scented perfume. Satisfied, she pulled on her robes so that not an inch of her dress was visible - she wanted Peter to be surprised.
Laurel was prowling the grounds in search of Peter. She knew that he'd probably be with Treasure - the nasty backstabbing little twit was going to pay for stealing her man. What did Treasure want with Peter anyway? She had Sirius. Granted, Laurel was indeed Remus's girl, but sometimes she had to admit that she just wasn't satisfied. Treasure should be happy with Sirius and leave Laurel alone - not the Sirius could hold a candle to Peter Pettigrew, Laurel reflected with a blissful smile.
She saw a light blinking closer and closer and realized that it must be Treasure and Peter. Laurel frowned, pulling out her own wand and standing with her hand on her hip and her wand at ready. She wouldn't curse Treasure without warning - that wouldn't be fair and if she was going to win over Peter, it was going to be in all fairness, for now at least.
"Belle." Laurel said coldly as Treasure and Peter stopped in front of her, arm in arm. Treasure held her wand up higher, and its bar of light fell right on Laurel's face. Treasure let go of Peter's arm and he walked off meekly (not meekly, responsibly. This was Laurel and Treasure's fight, after all.) to the side of the path.
"Lovegood." Treasure replied with equal ice. Laurel grinned. "Are you up to a challenge, Belle?" she asked. Treasure's lips turned up unpleasantly. "I would be, if I saw one anywhere." she said, shrugging and inspecting her nails as if she was bored. Laurel narrowed her eyes. Peter watched nervously, his eyes switching back and forth between the girls.
"Fancy a duel, Belle?" Laurel said. Treasure laughed. "If you want to be beaten that badly, then sure - why not?" Laurel said nothing, only bowed very slightly. Treasure returned the bow, rather sarcastically.
"Ready?" Laurel asked stiffly. Treasure smiled.
"Ready if you are."
"They'll tear each other to pieces!" Remus said worriedly, thinking of Laurel. She was part veela, and if provoked she could get very nasty. He was worried more for the other girls.
"Don't worry about it." Sirius said grimly. He was greeted with questioning looks from James and Remus. "Treasure's practically memorized all the jinxes in that stupid dueling book Lily gave her for Christmas - you'd be better off worrying for your girl, Moony." Sirius said, and there was a distinct note of pride in his voice.
Remus glowered.
"Well, I'll go check the dungeons to see if that's where Snape's keeping the potion…I bet old Athach set it up real nice for his prize student - never mind that there's a huge penalty for someone who's merely planning a love potion." James said nastily of the Potions Master. Sirius grinned sardonically. "And when have you ever been worried about a penalty, Prongs?" he asked.
"Just go find the girls." James said, dashing through the library door.
Remus and Sirius first went to the Gryffindor common room, but met only Lily, who stared at them indifferently.
"Where's Treasure?" Sirius demanded. Lily glared. "She went for a walk." she muttered dejectedly. "With Peter?" Remus asked. Lily sighed, and Sirius rolled his eyes, heading out through the portrait hole, Remus following after a few seconds.
"We have to find them." he said. Sirius was walking fast, out of the castle. It would be getting dark soon and if they didn't find the girls it was quite possible that the next morning both would be in a state of disarray. Sirius didn't want to know how many tentacles would have sprouted out of Laurel's head, or how many noses Treasure would have scattered across her face.
The girls were surprisingly easy to find. The bright flashes of blue and red light came from the path that lead down to the Forest. Sirius started jogging over, and the closer they got the clearer they could here the obscene words that the girls were screaming at each other over the incantations and jinxes.
"Fununcula!" Treasure screamed, and Laurel narrowly missed the beam of silver light. This was possibly because she was hobbling around uncontrollably, the result of a Jelly-Legs jinx. Treasure seemed to be fine, except that she would shriek with laughter in between shouts of hexes and obscenities. Whether or not she did this willingly, Sirius did not want to know.
Remus caught up with Sirius and was about to run in the midst of the dueling witches, but Sirius held his arm out. "Just watch for a minute, mate." he said with an odd grin on his face. Remus rolled his eyes and made to lunge forward again but Sirius hissed. "If you run up their, you'll be creamed. Just wait a minute - they're not really hurting each other."
"Yet." Remus said darkly, and nodded over to where Peter sat huddled in the grass, looking apprehensively between the girls. Sirius frowned and snuck over there without the girls seeing.
"Hey, Wormtail." he said coldly. Peter looked up, now real fear written across his face.
"Sirius - you have to help me. You have to stop them!" he squeaked, flinching as a beam of red light ricocheted off in their direction. "You want our help, Wormtail?" it was not Sirius but Remus who spoke, looking at Peter with ill-hidden disgust.
"Not the brightest git, are you, Peter?" Sirius said coldly. Peter looked confused. "They're in love with you - unwillingly, yes, but still in love. A false, manufactured love." Remus spat. Peter didn't look like he understood.
"You could have told them to stop - mostly likely, they would have listened." Sirius snapped. Comprehension dawned on Peter's face, and he made to get up but Sirius, feeling particularly vindictive, shoved him back down and spun around with his wand out.
"Stupefy!" Treasure and Laurel both shouted, distracted long enough to see Sirius pushing Peter around. Sirius flung himself onto the ground and felt the spell brush the top of his head. He snarled in Treasure's general direction, but she had turned back to Laurel and had repeated the spell.
Laurel, caught off guard, was hit with a beam of read light in the chest and fell backwards, Stunned.
"Petrificus totalus!" Sirius bellowed, his wand aimed at Treasure. Her arms snapped to her side and she was as stiff and straight as a soldier called to attention. Unfortunately, her balance was off and she fell like a plank to the ground.
"Black you bastard!" she shrieked, her eyes darting back and forth and her voice box clearly the only other part of her that was not paralyzed. Sirius grimaced and walked over to her as Remus rushed over to Laurel and whispered "Ennervate." She woke up groggily and put a hand to her head. When she spotted Treasure stiff as a board on the ground, she started to laugh.
"So I won, then?" she asked, grinning cheekily at Peter, who sat watching with wide eyes.
"No, you didn't." Sirius called nastily over his shoulder, having finally succumbed to putting a Silencing Charm on Treasure, her words so offensive that they made even Sirius flustered.
He lifted the Petrificus Totalus spell and was knocked over and Treasure tackled him angrily, hissing like a cat. She was mouthing soundlessly, looking enraged. Laurel laughed and made to get to Peter, but Remus grabbed her and held her arms behind her back. It was dark now and Remus would not allow Laurel to go walking around with Peter at night, not wanting to have to rescue her from Lily. He steered Laurel forcefully back towards the castle, asking Sirius to Silence her first so she wouldn't wake everyone up. She was howling loud enough to make even the loudest banshee run away in fear.
Sirius had barely managed to pin down in order to Silence Laurel, but he wouldn't leave it up to Peter, who could make even the simplest spells disastrous. Peter hung back, watching as Sirius held down a struggling Treasure to perform the spell, then tuck his wand and Treasure's safely in his back pocket and finally managing to hurl himself and Treasure up to their feet.
Treasure snarled at him silently.
Sirius snarled right back, the effect more readily achieved as he could make noise. "You're under a spell, Tres, don't you know that?" he said angrily as she kicked him in the shin.
You're just jealous, Sirius, she mouthed to him.
Sirius rolled his eyes, holding her in front of him with his wand poking ominously in the crook of her back. He didn't intend to use it, but even as she was disarmed and silent he was still loathe underestimate her.
Please let James have found that ruddy potion. Sirius thought, glaring sideways at Peter. Who knew how long Sirius would be able to keep his temper with the little rat?
A/N: There…chapter 21. sighs sadly My best friend is moving to California tomorrow. Today was the last day that I'll see her in God knows how long…lucky for ya'll, it just so happens that writing helps me cope and you can probably expect a good few updates soon.