Sweet Misery

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Time had past and it was now the Easter Holidays. The library was filled with students researching items for papers due and freshening up on things for the exams. Lily and Lauren were seated in the back of the library taking over an entire table with their books. Lauren's half was a complete mess while Lily's was carefully sorted in to piles. Lauren dug through her heap of parchment and books looking for her divination book.

'I hate divination,' Lauren muttered.

'Funny hearing that from a seer,' replied Lily.

'No, not divination itself, but the class,' said Lauren. 'The professor thinks she knows all. If one of my visions contradicts one of her 'visions', mine are always wrong.'

'She probably made a lucky guess one day and began to believe she had an inner eye.'

'Of course.' Lauren picked up her divination book and turned to the section on crystal ball reading.

'Hello beautiful ladies,' James said walking up to their table.

'Hey sexy, what do you need?' Lauren asked.

'I'm looking for my quill,' he replied.

'Well, neither of us borrowed it,' said Lily.

'I know, but I seem to have lost it,' James said, beginning to dig through Lauren's papers. 'It's kinda long, white, pointy at one end, kinda soft and feathery at the other end.' He moved over to Lily's papers and moved things around much to Lily's dislike.

'James stop! We haven't seen your quill!' Lily said trying to stop him from ruining her carefully sorted stacks.

'Are you sure?' James asked. 'Should I describe it again?'

'No!' replied Lily.

'James, I found it,' Remus said, holding up a quill. James turned towards Remus, sweeping his arm across the table mixing Lily's papers.

'Oh good,' said James. 'Sorry to disturb you two.' Lily was glaring at him with pursed lips. James flashed a quick smile and walked off.

'He did that purposely,' said Lily.

'Well of course he did,' replied Lauren as she began writing something on a piece of parchment. Lily quickly straightened up her papers and reached for her quill to start an Arithmancy paper when she found it missing.

'Excuse me while I go retrieve my quill and shove it down James's throat,' said Lily, standing up.

'Have fun,' replied Lauren, waving good bye. Lauren continued to scribble notes on her piece of parchment, ignoring the fact that James gave a yelp of surprise when Lily did who knows what to him. James's yells were soon joined by the other Marauders. Lauren looked up from her parchment and thought aloud, 'Did she say she was going to go get her quill and ask for some help or shove it down his throat?' She shrugged and continued with her paper as Madam Strife strode across the library towards where Lily and the Marauders were. A few moments later, Lily came back to the table and began piling up her stuff and placing all she could in her bag.

'Leaving so soon?' Lauren asked looking up.

'I kinda have to,' replied Lily. 'I was kicked out.'

'I'll come with you, I can't concentrate in this environment.' Lauren gathered up her stuff as Lily rolled her eyes. The Marauders passed by them, laughing the entire way out of the Library, receiving disapproving looks from Madam Strife.

'So what exactly did you do?' Lauren asked as she and Lily left the library.

'Pretty much what I said I was going to do,' said Lily.

'So you tried to shove your quill down James's throat,' Lauren said.

'Yup, surprised him, it did.'

'Well, it was you.'

'Yep. Sweet, innocent, little ol' me.' Lauren snorted at this.

'Innocent, yeah.'

'Okay so I lied, no big deal.'

'Lillian Evans… Lying!' said James in mock disappointment, coming from behind them throwing his arm around Lily's shoulders. 'I'm so disappointed in you, young lady! You are grounded missy!'

'Miss Evans, for lying and nearly killing a fellow Gryffindor, fifty points,' said Remus in an authoritative tone, mimicking Colin Howard, one of the resident Gryffindor prefects, 'awarded to you.'

'We've all been after James for years now,' said Sirius. 'For his money of course.'

'W-we n-never a-act-tually n-needed-d him-m b-bef-fore,' stammered Peter.

'And I thought you three actually cared!' shouted James, pretending to cry on Lily's shoulder.

'Oh they do care, James,' said Lauren. 'Just not about your well being as long as we all get the money.'

'Well, that's too bad,' replied James. 'My will specifically states that all of it goes to Lily because she's the only one who hasn't tried to kill me for my money.'

'Oh that's not fair,' said Sirius.

'W-wait, wh-what a-about b-back in th-the l-l-library?' stuttered Peter.

'Yeah, what about that vicious attack with a quill?' James asked, glaring skeptically at Lily.

'You've caught me,' replied Lily. 'I've been trying to get rid of you for four years now. I'm not in on it with them. I was going to knock you off, take the money, and tell you all I was going to Switzerland.'

'Switzerland?' the others echoed.

'Yes, when I'd actually be in Brazil,' said Lily.

'Ah, you've got to love well-thought out plans,' Remus said.

'And people after you for your money,' added Lauren.

'And people you actually think have money but they don't really have that much,' said James.

'Well, we've been trying to kill the wrong person then,' Lily stated.

'Yup, we should actually be after Sirius,' Lauren said leaning on Sirius's shoulder.

'What is this thing you call money?' Sirius said.

'You know, we have no one good to get rid of for money,' said Remus.

'What would we use the money for any way?' asked James.

'D-don't kn-know,' said Peter.

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Lauren ran down the corridors to Divination, determined not to be late for her exams. Her horrible sense of direction didn't help a bit.

'It's been four years,' she mumbled as she climbed the steps up to some floor, she couldn't remember which after taking numerous secret passages. She looked around trying to figure out where she was. She walked down the corridor looking into open classrooms for some idea.

'Lauren!' someone shouted from behind her. Lauren turned quickly, her book bag slamming into a suit of armour. Lauren clapped her hand over her mouth holding back laughter. Sirius came running up.

'Nice work,' he said. 'You should repair it.'

'I should, shouldn't I?' she said picking up the gauntlets. Sirius pulled off his robes and placed the cuirass, fauld and tassets on.

'Pretty snazzy, eh?' he said.

'You look so pretty,' replied Lauren, placing the brassards, cubitieres, and gauntlets on. Lauren grabbed the gorget and placed it around her neck. Sirius grabbed the tabard and pulled it on over his head. Lauren flipped off her shoes and placed the sabatons on her feet before placing her shoes in her book bag. Sirius picked up the helmet and placed it on his head. He lifted the visor and turned to Lauren.

'Let's get to Divination,' replied Sirius. 'I'm sure the tarot reading will be truly fascinating.'

'Right,' agreed Lauren, picking up the shield and sword. The two of them received odd looks from students they passed as they ran towards the North Tower. When they reached the trap door, they found their classmates sitting beneath the trap door reading up on tarot. They looked up when they heard the metal beating up the stone steps to the tower. Most of them held back laughs while the others just rolled their eyes. Sirius and Lauren sat down next to James and Peter. Sirius lifted the visor, which had fallen down while they were running up to divination.

'Has she started exams yet?' Sirius asked.

'Not yet,' replied James, shutting the visor.

'W-what's w-w-with th-the a-a-armour?' Peter asked.

'Well, after Divination, Sirius and I were planning on going to go slay that sodding dragon on the seventh floor,' said Lauren.

'Care to join us?' Sirius said, his voice muffled by the metal. 'We can go get you some armour from the supply cabinet.'

'By which he means the corridors,' added Lauren.

'Well, I'll come when the dragon has you two cornered in a position you can't possibly get out of then come and save the damsel in distress,' said James.

'You think I can't handle myself?' Lauren asked.

'I wasn't talking about you, I meant Sirius,' replied James.

'Yeah,' agreed Sirius.

'Anyway, you have a sword,' said James.

'But what about when the dragon eats my sword?' inquired Lauren.

'Sir Peter the Valiant will ride to your rescue,' said Sirius, giving Peter a hit on the back. Peter nearly fell forward off the step he was sitting on by the force of the hit.

'Can I be the damsel in distress instead?' Lauren asked.

'Better yet, Peter can be the damsel in distress!' said James.

'B-b-but—' Peter started.

'Thanks for volunteering Peter!' Sirius said.

'You'll make a great damsel in distress,' said Lauren. Peter was interrupted by the trap door opening and Professor Oleassi calling up the first pair of students.

'Nicole Anderson and Dirk Stevens.'

Dirk and Nicole shut their books and climbed up the ladder in to the room. The rest of the students sat patiently, studying the lines of the hand and trying to remember what each card meant. Dirk and Nicole came down a little while later and Professor Oleassi called for Amanda Dahms and Jason Ricci. Lauren soon lost interest in studying and pulled the sword from its sheath.

'I don't think this sword is that impressive,' said Lauren, rotating it around.

'It doesn't matter how impressive it is, just that you can take someone's head off with it,' replied Sirius, lifting the visor after it had fallen for the millionth time.

'True,' said Lauren. Lauren looked over towards Peter who had fallen asleep over his book. He had apparently stayed up too late the previous night freaking out about forgetting all he knew and was cramming for the day's exams. She reached over and slowly pulled his copy of 'Unfogging the Future' off his lap. She closed the book and set it up on the top stair and lifted the sword above her head. James looked up towards her and grinned when he realized what she was going to do. Some of the other students looked over curiously.

'DIE SCUM!' she shouted as she brought down the sword slicing Peter's book in half. Her shout and the clang of metal woke Peter up and caught the attention of the other students.

'M-m-my b-b-book!' Peter shouted picking up the binding of the book. Lauren placed the sword back in its sheath. 'H-h-how am-m I-I g-g-going t-to st-study n-now? Wh-why c-c-couldn't-t y-you k-k-kill y-y-your o-own b-book?'

'It's just not as much fun.'

'James Potter and Lauren Fonseca,' announced Professor Oleassi.

'I hope your cards say terrible things,' joked James.

'Aw, thanks,' replied Lauren. 'I hope yours do too!'

'Thank you,' said James.

Professor Oleassi was waiting for them in her normal corner of the room with a table set before her. She gave a questioning look when Lauren came in with her armour.

'Miss Fonseca, I suggest you return that armour to its proper place after this exams,' said Professor Oleassi.

'Do you see me returning the armour?' Lauren asked in a slight mocking tone.

'With an attitude towards divination like that, you shall never truly develop an inner eye,' replied Professor Oleassi.

'I'll try to get a better attitude, Professor,' said Lauren, sitting down at the table, James taking the seat across from her. Professor Oleassi pulled out a deck of tarot cards and handed them to James.

'You first Mr. Potter,' she said. 'Miss Fonseca, give him a question to answer.'

'Alright then,' replied Lauren. 'What might happen in my future love life, James? I'm dying to know.' James gave the cards a quick shuffle.

'I'm going to take the long approach to answering your question,' stated James as he flipped the first card over. 'This represents your past experiences in this part of you life. A reversed five of cups, interesting. Taken any false "projects," if you will, in your past?'

'I guess you could put it that way,' said Lauren, shrugging. 'The occasional meaningless relationship never hurt anyone.'

'Well of course they don't,' replied James. Professor Oleassi cleared her throat. 'Oh, that's right, we're here for a reason.' James flipped over the next card. 'Three of wands in the personal growth area… Well, three of wands means discovery… so maybe you need to discover more thing to grow? That makes no sense. Anyway, moving on to your future,' he flipped over the next card. 'Reversed four of cups… that means new relations.'

'Well I would hope so!' said Lauren.

'Imagine, poor Lauren going without another guy in her life!' James said, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye. James and Lauren quickly became somber again with a "look" from Professor Oleassi. James flipped the next card.

'And the summery of this wonderful spread is the two of cups reversed,' said James. 'I do believe that represents a misunderstanding. I'm guessing that there will be a misunderstanding in at least one of your relationships. Fun yes? Well, now for the clarity card. Oh… reversed lovers. Failure is I'm guessing how this all ends.'

'Well, it's just cards right?' said Lauren. 'It's not like it's set in stone or anything.'

'Ah well, Miss Fonseca, it's quite hard to change the future,' said Professor Oleassi.

'Well, my turn is it?' Lauren said, scooping up the tarot deck from the table and shuffling them, waiting for James to ask a question.

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Later that night as they all were sitting in the common room relieved that the day's exams were over.

'Lauren, how many times are you going to play with those cards?' Lily asked, watching Lauren pick up the five cards she had on the table.

'You know, the past few times I've dealt these cards, I have gotten the same five?' replied Lauren, sticking the five cards in random places in the deck.

'Lauren, you don't believe James's horrible reading, do you?' Sirius said. 'He was probably interpreting things wrong.'

'But isn't it odd that those same five cards keep appearing?' asked Lauren, not paying attention as she flipped over five cards; the five of cups (reversed), the three of wands, the four of cups (reversed), two of cups (reversed), and the Lovers (reversed). She looked back and rolled her eyes as she set the tarot deck down.

'It's a full moon right?' Lauren said.

'Y-y-yeah,' stammered Peter.

'I hope Remus is doing okay without her," said Lily.

'It's not like it's his first transformation without her,' stated Sirius.

'I know, but still…' Lily said, trailing off.

'You know, Remus always does seem depressed when he returns,' said James.

'Which is often hidden beneath that tired and sick look,' added Lauren.

'Are you guys still working on that Animagus thing?' Lily inquired.

'We stopped after Christmas,' replied Sirius.

'Maybe you should start that up again,' suggested Lily.

'Yeah,' agreed Lauren. 'It might make him feel better, not being alone and all.'

'W-why h-h-hasn't-t h-he said-d anyth-thing?' Peter stuttered.

'Maybe he doesn't want to,' said Lily. 'Guys don't always say when something's bothering them.'

'Too true,' Lauren said.

'That's actually a good idea,' said Sirius. 'Do you two want to join us in this wonderful adventure in how long we can last reading nothing but spell books?'

'No thanks,' replied Lily. 'Breaking school rules is one thing, but the law? No.' The Marauders looked towards Lauren.

'I might,' answered Lauren. 'It'll depend on my mood when you guys figure out how to do it.' Lauren put her tarot cards back into their case and tossed them on the floor.

'You take the time to put them away but not to put them in your bag?' Lily said.

'Putting them in my bag is a waste of time,' replied Lauren. 'Putting them in the case saves me time from picking them up off the floor.'

'Makes perfect sense to me,' said Sirius.

'Anything makes sense to you,' commented James. 'Especially nonsense.'

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The end of the year had arrived and the students were waiting by the castle for the carriages that would take them to the train station to arrive. They didn't need to wait too long, as the horse-less carriages clambered up the path. It was like any other year, but Peter saw something that startled him. No longer were the carriages horse-less, but large winged horses with skeletal bodies and heads like dragons were situated in front of each carriage.

'W-w-what a-a-are th-those?' he managed to stutter, pointing at the large creatures.

'What are what, Peter?' Lily asked, looking towards the carriages.

'D-d-don't y-you s-see th-those cr-creat-t-tures?' Peter looked at his friends and saw the puzzled looks on their faces.

'I see nothing,' said Lauren.

'Same here,' replied Remus.

'I see some Slytherin-like creatures, but that's about it,' Sirius said.

'You must be seeing things mate,' James said, patting Peter on the head as he and the others walked towards the carriages. Peter stared confused at the creatures before running to catch up with the rest of his group, not taking his eyes off the odd horses hitched to the carriages. He ran into a few people, leading to the valiant rescues performed by Sirius and James, who could tell off a seventh year Slytherin without faltering. Once in the carriage, they set off for the station to board the train.

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A/n: Blaaaaaaaaaaah…it's Dead Tori Month. The poor kitty (AKA me) has almost died from an overdose of school, late nights, and waking up early. I swear I nearly collapsed a few days ago that's how tired I was. Didn't help that it was picture day too… Am so getting retakes. Will also kill the public school system for making high school start so early.

Anywho, posts are going to slow down. Majorly. Not just cuz of school, but also because I insist on actually doing school related clubs. I'm one of the programmers for Anime Club and I'm joining Science Olympiad and Science Bowl. Then there's the possibility of a job and then there's Tae Kwon Do. Funz funz funz. I think the only time I may have to write will be in those precious hours of sleep that I get or lack, whatever it is. Well, there's also lunch, but that's for studying for math tests.

Thank you for understanding. Oh yeah, there's a small new bit added to 23 that I had forgotten when I first posted it. And now, it's about 9 PM now, and I'm exhausted. Night-night.

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