-mystikalolo-
Author's Note: Okay, please do not throw anything at me. I'm already disgusted with myself. When was the last time I updated? I know it wasn't this year. And I'm almost positive it wasn't even last. And that's really bad, I know. But it was because I was so busy, and also because I've lost my muse. Is that the right word? I don't know, I just had no idea where this story was possibly going. I think I may be getting a bit of an idea now, so maybe my muse is coming back and was just on vacation in Majorca. (Is muse what I mean? I don't know. I'm so confused.)
Okay, I know this is not a good chapter. It's just a chapter to get me started back on track a little. So please read and review. Now, don't ask me when I'll get the next chapter up because you should know by now that I just don't update quickly. I take a long time, obviously, but I want you to know, that as of now, at least, I am not giving up on this story. But only God knows when it will be finished. (Oh and by the way, I really hope my reviewers know how much I love them and how they are the reasons I continue.) And I hope that all the readers review the stories they read. And not just mine. Anyone's because authors appreciate reviews so much, like you wouldn't believe. Okay I'll stop chattering now. I talk too much I'm sorry.
Writing Style: Chapters
Genre: Romance/Humour/(sometimes) Angst
Characters: Main – Marauders, Lily, Naina, and Belle
Secondary – a lot of Hogwartians
Setting: French ministry, Beauxbatons, and Hogwarts so far, I think. Feel free to point out others…
Spoilers: Nothing beyond Prisoner of Azkaban I think. Feel free to point out others…
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The story of the redhead. Her world is practically picture perfect. When something goes wrong, she makes her decision. A life-changing one. The decision doesn't turn out properly though. In fact, it causes chaos one wouldn't even imagine.
Disclaimer: The wonderful, magical world of Harry Potter belongs only to J.K. Rowling, with her delightful imagination and exceedingly talented writing skills that lets us depart from this world and takes us into another world far more enchanting and dangerous
Chapter 11(In Which There is a Door)
Lacie screamed in frustration. "AAHHHHHHAHHH!"
Ahem.
And this caught James by surprise, "Holy Shite!" He looked at the door, expecting to see something. However, obviously, he did not see anything except an ugly metallic door. "Errata! What are you doing?"
He heard something very much like a growl come from the other side. Thank God I'm not on the same side of the door as she is. She would've probably blasted me to pieces by now. Lacie answered him, "What does it look like I'm doing, Potter?"
"I don't know, Errata, I can't see you, you dumb."
"What? What? You DUMB?" she sounded a little…
"YOU DUMB?! Holy mother fucking Goddess of Hell and beyond and all the arseholes of the underworlds who live to make my life a fucking miserable hell from the damn centre of the twilight zone! Oh Good Merlin, and all the Gods of the Upper World, why did you send him?"
…mad.
James winced. Ow. "You know what, Errata, you swear a bit too much for your own good."
He could hear Lacie grumble. "mmhph er pum-swearmphle bumgl-deed!"
"Er what was that, Errata? I couldn't exactly make out."
"I swear Potter? I swear too much? What about you? Your mouth is dirtier than the sewage drains of France."
"Well I'm a man and—" Lacie groaned. "What?"
"You're a man? Of course you're a man. Actually no, you're not a man because you definitely act more like a boy. A bloody idiot boy."
"Well—"
"No, don't be offended. I should be offended. We should be offended. Every female in Europe should be offended."
"What are you talking about? Why?"
"Because you treat all your girls like trash. You think we're just little dolls built by God to let all you men tinker with us and throw us away. You actually think you're better than us."
"I do not—"
"Yes you do! Your whole fight with Peter…"
"Don't talk about that bloody—"
"And the way you actually have a club…"
"I didn't make that club!"
""And the way you let any good-looking girl drip all over you and then you throw them away like a bloody tissue."
"I don't throw—"
"And how you act so domineering and how you think girls are just so helpless and you always feel that you need to help them and better them and you always think you're doing them a favour and you acting like you're God's gift to women and—"
"But—"
"No wonder your girlfriend's dead! You probably drove her to it!"
"LACIE!"
Lacie put her hand over her mouth and gasped. Oh Gods, she really hadn't meant to do that. She really, really, really had not meant to say that.
James was furious. How dare that bloody, no good piece of disgusting French scum say that? He felt himself radiating with something that he thought was every little piece of his anger. But it wasn't. It was something else.
Lacie gasped on the other side when she saw the door. It wasn't acting like it's usual, ugly, metallish self. It was… why, it was glowing. Lacie looked curiously at it. Why was it glowing all those different colours, and why, why—
Lacie's eyes widened. Oh Gods, that door, that scary, weird, unpredictable door. It was going to fall down! Lacie screamed and covered her hands with her face and ran as fast as she could to the other side of the dungeon and the door shattered to the floor. When the door made no more sound, she hesitantly parted her fingers and looked between them to see a very surprised and still radiating James Potter. "Oh my Lord, James!" and then she stopped. She suddenly remembered what had happened before the door fell.
James closed his eyes and could still feel the burning heat coming out of him. He put his arm to his forehead but pulled away quickly for fear of burning himself. His hands were hot. Or was it his forehead? He opened his eyes widely and looked at his arms, then his legs, and then he gasped. He was glowing. Red. He opened his mouth to utter words of surprise, but his voice croaked. And suddenly his red glow died. And he felt dizzy. And he fell.
"Oomph"
"Oh my Goddess! Potter!" Lacie hurried over to James, quickly avoiding the dust and wreckage caused by the door. She looked down at him, but he did not budge. His eyes were closed. She sat down on the floor next to him and gingerly touched his forehead, where the markings of a burn were beginning to take place. His forehead was very hot and she let her cool fingers run down the sides of his face, curiously, to see if the rest of it was hot too. It was.
She was confused and could not think properly. There was something she should be doing right now. But she had no idea what it was. She racked her head trying to think. Potter—lying—unconscious—not awake—pale—not breathing—not—That was it! Oh Gods she needed to check to see if he was still alive. His heartbeat! Was it still beating? She quickly put her head down to his chest to hear his thump, thump. She listened with all her might and could hear a faint beat. She breathed a sign of relief.
Lacie knew what one should do to an unconscious person to help them regain their consciousness. But she could not bring herself to kiss him. She frowned. Don't be a dolt head! This wasn't kissing, it was mouth to mouth resuscitation. There wasn't even a question about not doing it. So quickly, before she could lose her nerve, she bent down and breathed into his mouth. When she became breathless herself, she took a huge breath and started again. Lacie, herself, was feeling a bit dizzy now and knew she could only do it one more time before she would be drawn into her exhaustion. But when she finished, it was obvious she would not have to try again. James was regaining consciousness.
He opened his eyes and tried to lift his head, which thumped back down and made him breathe in exhaustion. His eyes opened wide. What was Errata doing, leaning next to him with her head so close to his? He opened his mouth to ask this, but only vague mutterings came out. Lacie frowned, "What?"
James tried to ask again, but decided to ask something else. "What happened?" And then he had to take a deep breath again.
Lacie rolled her eyes, "You collapsed from exertion, Potter, that's what happened. You glowed red and brought down the door so it ruined everything in this dungeon, which by the way, deserves a quick congrats, and then you just collapsed." And then she collapsed onto the floor beside him. And they both stared up at the ceiling, breathing. Lacie added, "I really hope you never take it into your head to do that again. It's obviously very bad for you."
James clenched his teeth, "Well I wouldn't have done it if somebody hadn't said something, would I?" His tone was frightening.
Lacie twisted her head and looked at him unhappily. "Oh Merlin, I'm so terribly sorry about that, Potter. Ugh, I have the most disgusting temper in the world and it turns me into a tiny, idiotic, damnistic arsehole! And I have the bloodiest time trying to control the monster."
James said nothing and Lacie bit her lip. Normally, people could never stay angry at Lacie. She was just too exciting and interesting, a personality, to waste time being angry at. And she knew this and used it to her advantage. And whenever she apologized (which didn't even happen once in a blue moon, but maybe a lime green moon, that was how rare it was) there was absolutely no one she knew who could resist accepting. But maybe now she had met someone who could.
James still said nothing, and there was what seemed to be an awkward silence. And then, suddenly breaking it, "Damnistic?"
Lacie looked with surprise at James. His mouth was twisting and he was biting his lip. It looked as if, could it be? No! Really? Was James Potter actually going to laugh at something she, Lacie Errata, had said? Lacie smiled, "I told you I had some odd sayings."
James smiled, "Have people ever told you that it's kind of hard to stay angry at you?"
"No, but I kind of guessed."
"Huh. Well, your charm's worked on me too. Not that this changes anything. I'm still mad. Why did you say that?"
Lacie blushed. "Er what?"
James sighed and looked at Lacie. "Errata, don't play dumb with me. You know what I'm talking about. Am I really that horrible?" He frowned and looked at the ceiling. "You don't even know what happened."
Lacie looked at the ceiling too. "No, I don't. So it was really stupid of me to say it. I didn't know her. I don't know you. And I'd have no right to talk like that even if I was your best friend."
"Which won't be happening anytime soon, just so you know."
Lacie smiled. She knew that no matter what, things between them would not be as bad as they were before. "I know. But I'm not saying sorry anymore. There are only so many times I can say sorry. I'm not the type of person who says sorry more than once in three years. So twice in the same hour is a bit overwhelming and now I'm ready to stop. If you know that I'm sorry then I think it's bollocks to keep saying it. It's just a waste of breath."
James sighed. "You know what Lily said was a waste of breath?"
Lacie closed her eyes. He was talking about his girlfriend. Naina had told her that he never even mentioned her. "What?"
"Swearing. Cussing, bad words." Lacie opened her eyes and glanced at James thoughtfully. He looked at her, "Do you reckon she's right?"
"Yeah. Yeah, she's definitely right. Swearing's a big bloody waste of time."
"Well then."
"Yeah."
"Well why do you do it then?"
"I'd have to say it's because it serves as a form of stress relief for me. And when I'm livid (which happens a bit too often for my liking), it's the perfect way to lash out at them."
"Who?"
"Whoever I'm disgusted with. Profanities are a bit like firewhiskey, I'd have to say."
James looked at her with surprise, "You drink?"
"Only butterbeer."
James sat up, "Well then what are you talking about?"
Lacie sat up, "Just because I don't drink doesn't mean I don't know what I'm talking about."
"I never said you didn't know what you were talking about."
"You just asked me."
"I asked you what!"
"What, what?"
"What?"
"WHAT?"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Why the are you yelling?"
"I'm not yelling, damn it, I'm asking."
"Oh, bull shite, That's not asking."
"That's asking."
"It's not."
"It is."
"It's NOT."
"IT IS."
"IT IS NOT!"
They both thumped back down and breathed heavily. Lacie looked confused. "What were we fighting about?"
James shook his head wearily. " I don't know, but we sounded like Naina and Sirius. And I have been brought up to believe that this is not a good sign. Whatsoever."
Lacie raised her eyebrows. "You're strange."
"I'm strange?"
"Yeah, you are very strange. Your group is strange. The whole marauder thing is strange."
"Wow, you really don't believe in niceties, do you?"
Lacie laughed. "Don't misunderstand me. I like them all. And yes, I'd have to say I can even bear you."
"Oh boy, I feel so honoured."
She smiled at him. "And so you should."
James smiled back and then sat up again. "Okay, so what the hell are we doing?"
"What do you mean?"
Well, it just struck me as kind of shite-ful that we're just sitting here."
"What are you talking about? What are we supposed to do? Get out? Like you said, you dumb! It's not like we can just open the damn door! It's not like we can push it with our fucking fingers! It's not like we have a wand and that we can just leave whenever we want to. It's not like—oh. I have a wand."
James raised his eyebrows. "I think you need some sleep. But first we need to get out of here."
Lacie sighed. "I do need sleep. Now tell me how we're going to get out. I'm spinning in circles."
"Are you?"
"No, but that's what it feels like. And my head feels like a bloody sledgehammer smashed into it."
"Ouch. That's not very fun."
"No it isn't."
"Well then here's what we're going to do," he lifted himself up and then helped Lacie up, "We are going to take your wand, go through the doorway, you know the one, where the door just fell? And we're going to walk in there, because magic isn't bounded in that dungeon. And you are going to "Alohamora" us out of here. Have you understood?"
"Yeah, I think," she moved and then fell into James. James gently caught her and put his arm around her shoulder.
"I think you need a little help."
"Huh, you think?"
"Yeah."
"Okay yeah. But I don't understand how that door fell down in the first place."
James frowned. "I have no idea what happened. I just—glowed red. I really hope I never do that again. It's exhausting."
"But you feel better now?"
"Much. It looks like I'm better than you."
"You got to lie down on the floor longer. That's why. I'm strong."
James laughed. "Of course you are."
"I am."
"You're a poor little girl who can't do anything. You need a man."
"POTTER."
"I'm joking!"
"You had better be. Let's go."
"We are." They were walking to the other dungeon and Lily took out her wand. She opened her mouth but nothing came out. James bent his head down at her curiously, and she suddenly whirled around. "AH!" The back of her head had smashed into his chin.
"Oh Gods I'm sorry, but I just thought of something!"
James stood, rubbing his chin furiously, "What?"
"You know how you said Lily didn't like swearing?"
James stiffened. "Yeah."
"And you know how we swear non-stop?"
"More you than me."
Lacie scoffed. "Oh okay, Potter."
"Well, what about it?"
"Well how about we stop?"
"Right, like it's so easy, Errata. Don't you think we all tried that? It actually just made us worse."
"No I don't mean just completely stop it, you feather-brain! Swearing is almost addictive. You can't just stop like that. Think of it as cocaine."
"Er, no, I'd rather not."
"Suit yourself, but all I'm saying is that we should lessen it. By a lot. And you should swear it."
"Swear to stop swearing?"
"It sounds hypocritical when you say it."
James laughed. Lacie looked just like Lily, but she acted just nothing like her. It was almost hilarious. "I'm sorry."
"Well, will you do it?"
"Sure."
"Okay, repeat after me; I solemnly swear,"
"I solemnly swear,"
"That I will not swear,"
"That I will not swear,"
"More than Belle,"
"More than—wait!"
"What?!"
"How much does Belle swear? I don't even know her, how can I possibly swear to swear only as much as a girl I hardly know swears?"
"This is so confusing! I swear!" At this, James looked at Lacie and they both burst out laughing. "Potter! Just say it! I promise it's good enough."
"Ugh. Okay. I solemnly swear that I will not swear more than Belle."
"Now shake hands." They did so. "Okay, yay, alohomora!"
And the door opened.