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…
A/N: Yay for chapter 22!
"Well, its not anywhere in the dungeons - you should be glad that I'm a bloody good friend, Professor Athach threatened to give me detention if he caught me 'sneaking around' down there anymore." James muttered darkly, back in the Gryffindor Common Room.
The Marauders - Peter included - had taken as many books as they could and were searching for an antidote to the love potion. James, Remus, and Sirius were forcing Peter to help.
Laurel had been walked to the Hufflepuff Common Room and Remus stayed outside the portrait hole until she had gone in. She wouldn't be able to get into the Gryffindor Common Room without someone from Gryffindor helping her - and as Lily and Treasure viewed Laurel as nothing but competition, they were not at all willing to help her enter.
"Wormtail, you've really gone and done it this time. If it weren't for the fact that Moony here could have me put in detention, I'd curse you into next year." Sirius snarled, baring his teeth at Peter. Peter's eyes widened and he put hid his face in the book that he was searching through.
"You never had any qualms about being in detention before, Padfoot, my friend." James said smugly. Sirius said nothing, only flipped a few pages hastily and refusing to look up.
"Or is it that you are afraid that Treasure will be the one to curse you into oblivion?" James asked, laughing as Sirius looked frustrated. "That's not it at all - shall I remind you that the only reason she and Lily are not here fawning over this idiot" he jerked a thumb in Peter's general direction, "is because I told them to go to bed."
James snorted. "If you say so, Sirius." Obviously Sirius didn't know that while he was ranting to the girls, Peter was nodding and mouthing to them to go to bed over his shoulder.
Remus sighed tiredly. "Peter, are you quite sure that you didn't look up the antidote while preparing the potion?" he asked. Peter shook his head.
"It - it was hard enough preparing the potion itself. I'm surprised that I succeeded." he stammered, an unpleasant flush coloring his face and neck in blotchy red spots.
"And you are quite sure that you didn't have an help?" Sirius asked darkly, glaring at Peter. Peter swallowed. "No, Sirius, no help at all. Who - who would I ask? Old Snivelly?" Peter uttered a high pitched laugh. "He w-wouldn't help me even if I did ask him. Which I didn't. And wouldn't."
"I'll bet." Sirius muttered.
"Aha!" James said triumphantly some minutes later. By now it was dark, most of the Gryffindor students had gone to bed and the Marauder's were left with the stragglers, the few who were studying for the upcoming O.W.L.s (less than a week and half away) because they'd neglected to study until now.
"Here they are, the ingredients - and they don't seem pleasant, do they? Too bad you'll be drinking them in two nights time, Wormy." Sirius sneered, pulling the book closer so he could read them. James pulled out a quill and began jotting down the list of ingredients on a spare piece of parchment.
"A draught to be made under the light of three red candles, in a cauldron heated by a white flame…the possessions of those ensnar'd must be bathed in fire newt oile and turned three times counter-clockwise in a stew containing the herb tanacetum vulgaris. The potion must be allowed to simmer for exactly thirty-three minutes and then served to the culprit -"
"- that would be you, Wormtail."
"as he stands facing the west and chants: 'Thy heart is free from this binding spell. Go from me hence and fine thee another.'
"Got that, Peter?" Remus asked nastily, looking exhausted. James watched him worriedly. "Go to bed, Moony. Sirius and I are going to wing it to Hogsmeade and get these ingredients so we can prepare the spell by tomorrow night. You'll have your girl back in before you can stay 'You're a dead man, Peter Pettigrew'."
Remus nodded wearily and headed to the boys' dormitory, Peter following like a rat with a tail between his legs only moments later.
1
Lily Evans was not happy, not happy at all. It was entirely unfair that Treasure and Laurel got to be out and about and with Peter while she, Lily, was stuck in the wretched common room the whole time, alone.
And all dressed up with nowhere to go. At least Treasure had been able to demonstrate how much she truly cared for Peter by dueling with Laurel. And from what Lily had heard, Treasure came out the winner in that duel, Stunning Laurel. Too bad Treasure's glory had been stolen somewhat when Sirius intervened.
Lily grinned wickedly to herself. Perhaps Peter would not place Treasure in such high esteem, then. Treasure had been mumbling about how Sirius dared to pin her to the ground - something she would not have been so upset about if she had kept Sirius to herself instead of opting to copy Lily in her affections for Peter.
It wasn't fair! Laurel and Treasure should mind their own business, they each had their own boyfriends. Laurel had Remus and who would say that Remus was anything but a great boyfriend?
He was sweet to her, in the winter he would offer her his cloak as they went out for a walk around the grounds. Laurel should have been completely satisfied and left Lily and Peter alone.
And Treasure - she had Sirius, who was indisputably the most handsome boy in Hogwarts! Of course, Lily would not admit that. To her, Peter Pettigrew was more handsome than Sirius could ever hope to be. Who could possibly choose tall, dark and handsome over short, round and mousy, right?
Peter's dreamy blue eyes were what had Lily so enthralled, so what if they were watery and red-rimmed from stress nearly all the time? And his beautiful golden hair, Lily thought she would go into ecstasies if she were just allowed to touch his fabulous hair.
It did seem a bit odd to her that Treasure and Laurel were both infatuated with Peter too, and at the same time. But their love was obviously not as pure as Lily's. Good heavens, no. How could it be, when Lily thought of Peter every second of every day? Why had she not noticed it before, how his twitchy, rat-like manner betrayed a strong and gallant man underneath?
Lily sighed, sitting up on her bed. She shrugged out of her school robes, the robes that she had not taken off to go to bed. Underneath her green dress glimmered and her smooth white skin was kissed by the moonlight streaming in from the open window. It was a cool night.
Lily wondered if the girl's were so restricted from the boys' dormitory, as the boys were obviously restricted from the girls'. Lily reached, pondering this, for a brush on her night table and started to brush through her long red hair.
"Oy, hurry up, mate! Og will have heard us by now!" James hissed, walking forward hurriedly. Og was the aging caretaker of Hogwarts, and nearly as foul as what students thought his eight thousand forty-nine years should portray.
"Yeah, well, if you hadn't tripped me on the way out of the portrait hole, I wouldn't have -" Sirius snapped.
"Wouldn't have what? Yelped like a woman?"
"You yelped like a woman, Black, admit it."
"Shut your fat mouth - dissendium." Sirius muttered. James tore off the Invisibility Cloak and both boys whispered "Lumos." They made their way quickly through the tunnel leading to Honeydukes cellar. "Let's hope they don't have a guard gnome," James muttered miserably, pushing the trap door up and pulling himself into the room containing all of Honeydukes' fabulous inventory. Sirius looked around appreciatively, tucking a bag of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum into his pocket. James rolled his eyes and tossed a Sickle into a corner - Sirius may have thought nothing of nicking candy, but James at least had a conscience. Sometimes.
"Lucky that we don't need too many bloody ingredients. I bet once Treasure's got her head on straight, she'll attack Wormtail." Sirius said, popping a piece of gum into his mouth. "Shh!" James hissed, throwing the cloak over them again, the vision of Treasure attacking Peter highly amusing.
They made their way out of Honeydukes easily enough and wandered through Hogsmeade purposefully. There was not a soul about in Hogsmeade, luckily enough, and James tugged the cloak off after looking around. Sirius strode past him, heading straight for the Herbology Hut located on the opposite side of the village, and reaching for the door. James caught up as Sirius was about to turn the doorknob, smacking his friend's hand away anxiously. He threw the cloak over them once again and muttered, "Alohomora". Nothing happened. James groaned.
"Move over you stupid sod."
"What - do you have a better idea -"
Sirius had pulled a knife out of his pocket and slid it into the doorknob where the keyhole would have been. Not that wizards needed to use keys, of course, most just put a charm on the door to open only by a certain charm from a certain wand. Sirius twisted the knife slowly and James heard a click. Sirius grinned.
"After you, maestro," he said. James glared at his best friend and walked in faster than he had too, forcing Sirius to step lively to keep up or else risk having the cloak pulled off him. The two looked around the room they were in with wide eyes. For a hut, it was as big as the Hogwarts library and with nearly as many shelves. There were books on some of the shelves, up against the walls and nearly out of sight. But on the other shelves there were jars upon jars of herbs, big jars, small jars, fat jars and thin. Jars that look like vases for flowers and jars painted black whatever they held was kept from being seen. One would have to trust the label as to what was inside. It was in one of these jars, unfortunately, that the tanacetum vulgaris was stored.
"I am going to enjoy feeding that to Peter." Sirius was eyeing the black jar with a rather nasty look on his face. James said nothing, only pulled a smaller jar from his pocket and holding his wand up.
"Wingardium leviosa." The black jar hovered in the air and started to make its way to them, eerily suspended by invisible strings.
"Who's in here?" James started so badly that his wand hand wrenched away and the jar began to fall. Only a quickly whispered "Impedimenta!" from Sirius kept it from shattering on the floor. Both boys looked up to have a bright wand light hit their eyes. Sirius and James kept quiet and still, knowing that the creaking floor board would give them away. It seemed that both had stopped breathing.
The wand light lowered revealing a woman in a jet black nightgown that was very nearly transparent from the dull glow of the waning moon coming from the window. James gave a startled gasp and Sirius made a sort of strangled sound in his throat halfway between amusement and embarrassment. Maybe even appreciation. James glanced at his friend with a grin faltering on his face.
"Who's here?" the woman asked again sharply, the light from her wand dimming a bit as if she wasn't afraid to be left in the dark. Her face came into view and both boys under the Invisibility Cloak felt their jaws drop.
It was Kathrynn Sabre, Snape's cousin. From the looks of it, it was she who had come to own the Herbology Hut. Her skin was porcelain pale and her violet eyes seemed closer to black in the diminished light. Her hair was long and straight down her back, in an intricate braid with tendrils of night-black hair framing her face. Both boys made a choked sound, and elbowed each other accusingly, glaring at each other to shut up.
"I know someone's here." Kathrynn was peering around, her eyes sliding over where James and Sirius were. The black jar on the floor caught her eye and she bent over to pick it up. James didn't miss the rather crude grin that graced his best friend's face and knew that there must be one of the same on his face. Kathrynn straightened with a touch of a smile on her lips.
"Tanacetum vulgaris," Kathrynn mused, a slender white finger touching her lips thoughtfully. A lithe black panther slinked its way over, standing beside the tall figure in the black nightgown. Kathrynn smiled slightly, just a tug at the corners of her full lips that left even James wanting to pull off the Invisibility Cloak and do something impressive in her presence. Both the panther and its master were staring straight ahead, directly at where Sirius and James stood huddled.
"I told Severus not to get involved with that little twitchy boy." Kathrynn reached up and placed the black jar on its shelf slowly, seemingly aware of the audience that was watching as she stood on tip-toes and stretched. James and Sirius stood as if they were made of stone. A smile graced Kathrynn's lips once again.
"Kat?" a man's voice came from somewhere else in the shop and all but the panther started. Kathrynn recovered smoothly, pulling her braid over her shoulder and playing with the ends of it idly. "Over here," she called, her smile widening. Sirius would have snarled if he had any breath.
The owner of the voice stepped into the light, revealing himself to be none other than Lucius Malfoy. Kathrynn's smile became less coy, and reached her eyes that seemed darker than ever now. Lucius favored her with a tight-lipped smirk of his own, as if he was proud of being with such a woman at this hour of the night. James frowned.
In Kathrynn's eyes, however, she seemed to enjoy being a possession, in fact she seemed to favor Lucius with very much the same smirk. Lucius Malfoy was undoubtedly a handsome man, with white-blond hair to his shoulders and cold gray eyes. James felt his face curl up into a sneer as Malfoy put a hand on Kathrynn's back - very much of it exposed in her strange excuse for a night gown. "What woke you, my dear?" he asked. Kathrynn turned her head gracefully and James was sure she met his eyes. The panther gave a low purr. Sirius held his breath once again.
"Nothing, Lucius." She had a predatory smile on her lips this time, looking up at Malfoy. She ushered him forward and James could swear she winked at them as she turned to leave.
"The red candles are by the door." she whispered, a twinkle in those violet eyes. "What was that, dearest?" Lucius asked, his voice still snide even to Kathrynn. She was out of sight now but both Sirius and James heard her reply that it was nothing, and to get back to bed.
"Get back to bed? She sleeps with that block of ice?" Sirius spat. James grinned, "I doubt very much its any of your business." He walked over to the black jar and pulled it down, taking the amount of the herb he needed. He left a Galleon on the top of the jar and walked back out, grabbing three candles with him. The Galleon would be enough to cover the cost of that too.
1
"Peter," Lily said softly, sitting on the edge of Pettigrew's bed. He started away and stared up at her, taking in her attire. Her strapless green dress seemed to be pulled lower than it had been on Halloween, her hair in gentle red waves like soft flames. Peter Pettigrew shook himself and sat up, edging as far away from Lily as he could get, albeit reluctantly. Remus was asleep, completely beat.
"Lily, what are you doing here?" Peter demanded hoarsely. Lily smiled, her emerald green eyes going a few shades darker. "You promised me a night at the Astronomy tower, Peter. You went with Treasure for a walk, and Laurel got to see you as well, but you've neglected me." She sounded hurt. Peter swallowed.
"I'm sorry Lily. I'll walk with you tomorrow, I promise, but I'm awfully t-tired now." He forced a yawn. Lily's smile widened, her eyes half closed and her lips forming a sultry pout. Peter wouldn't have thought that bookworm-Lily could be so seductive, but evidently she could. Peter swallowed again.
"I wouldn't mind staying here." Lily traced a pattern lightly on the covers. Peter stared at her as she leaned in. "I wouldn't mind at all," she whispered. She leaned closer.
"Can you believe what she was wearing - maybe I should buy something like that for Tres, do you reckon?" Sirius voice came from outside the dormitory. Peter bolted out of his bed with a frightened look at Lily. If James saw her…
"I think Treasure would roast you alive if you even suggested it." James's voice now.
"You never know, mate - the way she looks at me sometimes, I could swear -"
The door to the dorms opened and Sirius and James came face to face with Lily, sitting unconcernedly on Peter's bed. James's jaw dropped open disbelievingly. Sirius looked like he was struggling between laughter and rage, on behalf of James. Laughter seemed to be winning.
"Speaking of nighties, eh, Prongs?" he said. James walked over to Lily and hoisted her up by her arm. "Get off me, Potter!" she hissed angrily, trying to pull away.
"I swear to you, Wormtail, if you've done anything to her…!" James snarled ignoring as a Lily tried to pry his hand open. "I h-haven't done anything, James! She was sitting on my bed when I woke up, that's all!" James glared at Peter, who was backing away towards the window. Sirius suddenly looked shell-shocked.
"Wormtail - Treasure didn't come to you like this, did she?" Now it was James's turn to look amused, but also angry, for Treasure as well as Sirius.
"No, she didn't." Lily spat, trying without avail to get James to let go of her. Instead, James pulled her to the door and shoved her out, slamming the door behind him. Remus awoke with a snort. "What happened?" he asked groggily. Sirius and James wore identical scowls, and Remus sat up straighter.
"Consider yourself lucky that we found all the ingredients, Wormtail." Sirius threw them angrily onto his bed.
"Consider yourself very lucky." James added. Remus looked perplexed.
"Right, then. We'll make the potion tomorrow?"
A/N: Sorry it took so long, Luna.