Sweet Misery
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After Remus returned to school and much spying on Abigail's part, the girls finally knew where, when, and what. It was the night before the first day of exams and Lily, Lauren, and Gwynn were sitting in their dorm trying to find a way to stop them.
"How can we stop them from draining the lake, during class?" Lauren said pacing back and forth. "Draining the lake…" she mumbled. Gwynn and Lily sat back watching her pace back and forth. She'd occasionally stop and mutter something to herself, then resume pacing.
"She's been doing that for an hour," stated Lily. "Should we stop her?"
"We should," replied Gwynn, "but we won't."
"That's it!" Lauren shouted.
"What?" Gwynn and Lily asked.
"We just have to distract them from the prank!" Lauren said.
"And how do you propose we do that?" inquired Lily.
Lauren opened her mouth to reply, but shut it when nothing came to mind. She then resumed pacing.
"Thought so," said Gwynn.
"Hey, Ren, how bout we just do whatever comes to mind when we see one of them performing the spell?" suggested Lily.
Lauren abruptly stopped pacing. "Brilliant. Why didn't I think of that?"
"Well, I think it's because it was a brilliant plan," said Gwynn.
"Oh shut up," snapped Lauren.
"It's so hard being the brilliant one in this group," sighed Lily.
"You?" said Gwynn. "The brilliant one? Please! I'm the brilliant one!"
"Excuse me but who comes up with all the pranks?" Lauren asked.
"Yes, and who's the one that gets lost around the school?" retorted Lily. Lauren crossed her arms and looked down. "I thought that much."
"What makes you the brilliant one?" asked Gwynn.
"I come up with ways to get the guys blamed when you guys screw up on a prank," replied Lily.
"When we screw up?" said Lauren.
"If I do remember correctly," Gwynn said, "it was you who knocked over that glass goblet in Turc's office, nearly getting us caught."
"But I got it pinned on the guys didn't I?" Lily said.
"No, Filch just assumed it was the guys," replied Lauren.
"Okay then, Gwynn and I are both the brilliant ones," said Lily.
"Lauren, you're semi-brilliant," added Gwynn. Lauren rolled her eyes and sat down on her bed. She sighed loudly and fell back.
"Well, with luck, Lily's idea will work," Lauren said staring up at the ceiling.
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The next day at breakfast, nearly everyone was doing some last minute cramming for the exams, with the exception for some true blue Ravenclaws who had practically memorized the textbooks. The girls sat in their normal places at the Gryffindor table, and waited for the Marauders to join them. When the Marauders entered, instead of sitting with the girls, they took seats at a deserted end of the table.
"They must be perfecting their plans," Gwynn said.
"Too bad we're going to destroy them," said Lauren.
"If we can," stated Lily.
"Lily—" started Lauren but was cut off by Gwynn.
"We'd better get going," she said looking down at her watch. "Don't want to be late for potions."
The girls gathered up their stuff and walked down to the potions classroom, with some of the other Gryffindors. As it got closer to the start of class, more students filed in. Just as the bell rang, the Marauders ran in.
"You're late," Professor Turco said sneering.
"Technically, we're not," said James.
"He's right, you know," agreed Sirius.
"Yes, because the bell had not finished ringing, you see," explained Remus. "Therefore, class had not officially started. We can't very well get a detention for being on time for class."
Professor Turco glowered at them as she motioned for them to take their seats. She gave them all the assignment for their exams and set them to work. The girls occasionally glanced over at the Marauders to see if they were up to something. They always seemed to be working diligently on their potions. Lily caught Lauren's eye and gave her a look that said, "Guess they're not doing it." Professor Turco got up from her desk and walked into her office. The Marauders grinned. Sirius pulled out his wand and prepared to say the spell when he was hit with some of flobberworm mucus. He quickly wiped it off his forehead and looked in the direction from which it came. There was Gwynn smiling and waving. Sirius grinned maliciously and grabbed some salamander eyes and whipped them at her. Gwynn ducked causing the eyes to hit Snape's ear. Snape yelped and immediately began wiping at his ear to get the eyes off him. Lily giggled. Snape whirled around and glared at Lily, who instantly stopped. Snape picked up some of his mandrake root and hurled it over at her. The root didn't go too far, for it hit Narcissa Black. She shrieked as some of the root went down the back of her robes. Professor Turco ran out from her office.
"What is going on here?" she asked looking around.
Lindsey Sommers' hand shot up. "I can tell you Professor!"
"Yes, Miss Sommers?"
"Well, right after you left, Sirius took out his wand, most likely to hex one of us Slytherins, then his sister flung some flobberworm mucus at him." Gwynn and Sirius clenched their fists, and used every ounce of self-restraint to keep from pounding her. "Then, Sirius took some salamander eyes and threw them at Snape."
"Why was Miss Narcissa Black screaming then, Miss Sommers?"
"I don't know, Professor. I returned to making my potion."
"Liar," muttered James.
Lauren shot up her hand.
"What is it Miss Fonseca?" asked Professor Turco.
"I can tell you why Narcissa was screaming," Lauren replied.
"And why is that?"
"Because Snape tried to throw some Mandrake root at Lily."
"Can anyone verify Miss Fonseca's story?" All the Gryffindors' hands shot up, while the Slytherins shook their heads. "Well with out any proof, I can't hold Snape liable."
"No proof!" said James, standing up so quickly, his chair crashed to the ground. "Half the class admits to seeing it while the other half is lying! They just don't want one of their own to get in trouble!"
"Ten points from Gryffindor for your out burst," snapped Professor Turco. "Now does anyone know why Miss Narcissa Black was screaming?" Aivlei Daniels rose his hand. "Yes Mr. Daniels?"
"I saw the entire thing," he said. "After Snape was hit with the salamander eyes, Lily and Lauren started whispering and Lily picked up some mandrake root and threw it at Narcissa."
"You lying little git!" Lily yelled.
"Miss Evans! Fifteen points from Gryffindor!" Professor Turco said.
"This isn't fair!" shouted Remus.
"Ten points from Gryffindor!" Anybody else?" The class sat silently, all the Gryffindors outraged at Professor Turco. "Good. Miss Evans, Miss Gwyneth Black, and Mr. Black, you'll all be receiving a week's worth of detentions for the little stunts you've pulled. Now get back to work on your potions." Professor Turco sat down at her desk at the front of the room and watched the students complete their potions.
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"She's horrible!" Lauren said.
"Hey, consider yourself lucky," said Lily. "You didn't get stuck with a detentions for something you didn't even think about doing."
"We should've just let the guys do their prank," Gwynn said.
"You knew?" Sirius asked.
"Yeah," replied Lily. "It wasn't that hard to find out."
"How did you?" James inquired, looking at them quizzically.
"We have our ways," said Lauren.
Remus took a quick glance outside. "I've got to go…"
"Your father sick again?" asked Lily.
"Huh? Oh yeah, Mum wants me home for a little while," replied Remus.
"Well, I hope he your father gets better," said Lauren.
"It must be hard on you Remus," said Gwynn. "First your brother and now your father. Try to stay healthy, kay?"
"Sure thing," replied Remus. "Bye." Remus left the common room.
"Isn't it odd that his father always getting sick for three days out of every month?" James said.
"Illnesses work in odd ways," replied Lauren.
"Well, I have to agree with James on this one," said Lily. "What's makes this even stranger is that his family members only get during the school year."
"I think something's up with him," Sirius stated.
"I think we should respect his privacy," said Lauren. "He must have a good reason for not telling us."
Gwynn left the group to leave them to debate on the situation and walked over to a window. Looking out, she saw Remus and Madam Pommedeterr walking towards the forest. He's been lying to us… Gwynn thought.
"Hey!" Gwynn said to her friends, but they didn't seem to hear her. She sighed and left Gryffindor tower to see where Remus was heading. She quickly ran through the corridors and sprinted across the grounds till she spotted them heading towards the Whomping Willow. She crept closer and hid behind a shrub not too far away. She saw the nurse pick up a long stick and use it to poke a knob on the tree. Gwynn watched amazed as the tree froze and a passageway opened. Madam Pommedeterr watched Remus enter and went back to the castle once the door had closed. Gwynn made sure that no one was around before picking up the stick that Madam Pommedeterr had used to open the door. She quickly slipped in and pulled out her wand.
"Lumos," she muttered, and walked down the passageway. "Remus?" she called out. She got no answer. Determined to find out why Remus had been lying to her and the others, she pressed on.
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"Hey, where'd Gwynn go?" Lily asked, noticing her absence.
"Oh great, she's probably out losing more points for Gryffindor," replied Sirius, getting up from his chair.
"She could've just went up to her dorm," suggested Lauren. "I'll go check." Lauren ran up the steps to the girls' dorm. She came right back down a minute later. "Nope."
"Well, let's go find her then," said James.
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Gwynn was just about to turn back when the tunnel finally came to an end. She climbed out of it and into an old shack.
"Where am I?" she asked softly. She peered through a space in the boarded up windows and saw the faint lights of Hogsmeade against the quickly setting sun. "The Shrieking Shack… Why would Remus come here?"
"Gwynn!" she heard Remus shout from behind her. She jumped and turned towards him. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I should be asking you that," replied Gwynn. "Why have you been lying to us?"
"I'll tell you when I get back to school, but you have to go now."
"Remus, what's wrong?"
"Just go!"
"Re—"
Remus gave a yelp of pain. He dropped to his knees, and through clenched teeth he forced out, "Leave now!" Gwynn reached out to him, but gasped when she saw him starting to change. Where Remus once was, was a wolf. Gwynn stumbled backwards against a wall. She felt along the wall for the passageway. Remus growled and Gwynn could hear him stalking closer. She looked into his glowing eyes and froze with fear. Remus let out a howl and rushed at her. She screamed and turned to run, but tripped over a loose floorboard. She scrambled across the floor to escape. She looked over her shoulder and saw the werewolf leap at her. She quickly rolled to her left. The werewolf hit the floor where she had been and slid a few feet and ran into the wall.
Gwynn quickly looked around for the opening to passage way back to the castle. It was too dark for her to see anything. She heard the beast stirring. She quickly jumped up and ran blindly through the shack. She found herself in a bedroom. She turned to try to find another way out, when she saw the wolf running at her. She slammed the bedroom door shut and looked for some where to hide. As the wolf slammed in to the door, Gwynn slid under the bed. She screamed when its claws caught her school robes. She kicked out and hit it on the snout. It backed of for a second, giving her a chance to run. She ran back to the main room and felt along the way for the passage. The beast skidded into the room just as she found it. She jumped in and bolted down the passage. She could hear it right behind her. She reached the exit to the grounds and began pounding on and around the door trying to get it to open. With every second, the werewolf drew closer. The door finally opened and she scrambled to get out. She turned to hit the knob on the tree to shut the door, and…
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A/n: Well that's it for updates now. Excuse me while I do so some major rewritings.
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