Wow thanks so much for the reviews! Another 2 part-chapter thingy!
Some replies:
James and Lily 4eva- Thanks so much! Lol
Legallyred- lol yes, Sirius likes things his way and he wanted to be warm lol. Thanks for reviewin!
Kessanch- Thanks for reviewing!! She is extremely stubborn. Lol jk. Lol good job thinking ahead. Keep thinking along those same lines that you were talking about (The France thing) ;-)
Carm- Thanks! I wasn't sure if I was going to end up liking the last chapters but I think they turned out pretty good. Thanks for reviewing!!
Away with the faires4- Thanks so much!! I love the name Riley too :-D Lol yeah u described the characters pretty well! :-D lol
Mgirl- Thanks so much! I try to make my stores as original as possible so it means a lot to me when people say that they are original! J Thanks bunches!
Welp, thanks so much for all the reviews! They mean so much to me!!
Anyway, this chapter and the next one should all really be posted together but it would be way too long. So I had to split it up. Look for the next chapter soon!
Disclaimer: Nada!
Chapter 29: Cheaters Part 1
The students soon found themselves in the middle of December with tons of work and no time to do it all. There was less than two weeks until Christmas break and every student was counting down the days. Everyone was tired from all the last minute essay's the Professor's were assigning and their homework pile looked like a mini version of Mount Everest.
Lily found herself quite busy with all her homework, patrol duties, Head Girl duties, and Prefect meetings. Also, the winter ball was nearing and she and the Prefects were trying to do as much last minute planning they can do. She was also finding it harder to work in peace now that she had two stalkers. Not only was James constantly popping up out of no where and trying to kiss her or trick her into saying yes to date him, but Bethany had now began to tail her. Lily wasn't annoyed with Bethany and she thought she was a smart, sweet person, but she was everywhere Lily looked now and she was getting quite annoyed. She often thought that she was James' sidekick and they were trying to beat a world record of how many times they can run into her.
Bethany had taken quite a liking to Lily and her friends and tried to sit with them at every meal or do her homework with them. Lily felt honored that someone wanted to look up to her, but she'd rather have her look up to her on the other side of the common room every night instead of three inches away from her, watching her every move.
James also found himself extremely busy. Being Head Boy, most popular guy, star Quidditch player, and being a Marauder was certainly tiring for him. And he definitely showed it. He'd slump into the common room after practice and insist that Lily give him a back rub. And when she would object, he would say that when they are old and wrinkly and when she wanted a back rub he'd be there for her so he should be there for him now. Of course, the only type of contact that Lily's hands came close to him was across his face.
With midterms coming around the corner even the Quidditch team was getting worn out. That meant that Bree, Sirius, and James was out late at least six nights out of seven. Which only left one night for their homework.
Professors were trying to cram as much last minute details and information into the students minds as much as they possibly can. Lets just say, that everyone was excited for mid-terms to come so the work load would lighten a bit.
"Thirteen more days." Bree said one day in the common room,
Bree, Riley, Ashley, and Lily were all working late (with the rest of Gryfinndor) to get their homework done. The four of them were sitting at a table in the corner near the fireplace to keep warm. Each one of them took up so much space with all their papers and books that you couldn't even see the oak wood underneath.
"Thirteen days, four hours, twenty-six minutes, and thirty-seven seconds." Ashley corrected with a sigh, "I have a special count down in my back pack."
"I don't know about you guys," Riley said throwing her quill down, "But I'm tired."
"Me too." Lily agreed, "But we have to keep working. Only History of Magic essay left and then we are done."
"Can't we do it in the morning?" Bree whined.
"I wish we could." Riley replied, "But we have it first thing tomorrow."
"You mean," Ashley started, "That instead of doing History of Magic first, we did it last? I could've done that one, gone to bed, then do the rest at breakfast and lunch!"
"That's it." Bree stated, "Lily is no longer allowed to pick the order."
"Potions was the longest one." Lily said, "So I thought we'd do it first."
"Oh well," Riley sighed, "Nothing we can do now."
"You're right." Ashley agreed, "No use arguing over it."
"Oh boy," Bree said looking over Lily's shoulder, "Here comes Lily's clone.."
"Hello, Lily!" Bethany said coming up from behind Lily.
"Hey, Beth." Lily said not turning around.
"How are you all?" she asked, "Getting some homework done, I see?"
"No, we're just doing a bit of extra because we love it so much." Bree replied sarcastically.
"That's great! I've already done my extra work!" Beth beamed. The rest of them looked at her oddly but she continued anyway, "Have you guys seen Sirius? I needed to ask him something."
They all smirked. Everyone knew that Bethany had a major crush on Sirius. She has been following him everywhere ever since Lily invited her to breakfast. She stalked him almost as much as she stalked Lily.
"He's over there." Bree pointed to the other end of the common room. She grinned, glad to see that she was the cause of Sirius' annoyance.
"Thanks!" Bethany skipped in the opposite direction of the common room.
"You are so evil." Riley grinned, shaking her head.
"He deserves it." Bree shrugged her shoulders. Bethany was talking to Sirius and he seemed to be smiling, but anyone can tell he wanted to run away.
"I'm done." Ashley said putting her papers in her bag, "I'll finish the last one at breakfast."
"Andrew!" Bree yelled, coming up from behind Andrew, who was sitting next to a pretty Ravenclaw and [I]obviously[/I] flirting.
"B-bree?" he asked turning around, his face going pale.
"What are you doing?" she said, glaring at Paige Howard.
Andrew seemed to have got his 'cool' back because he sat up with a bit of arrogant attitude, "What do you mean, Bree? I'm talking to Paige about the Astronomy lesson last night."
"I better get going," Paige said standing up, "See you later, Bree. Bye, Andrew, see you tomorrow."
"You're going to see her tomorrow!?" Bree cried.
"Yes," he sighed, "She needs help with her Astronomy homework."
"Help with her astronomy homework?" she glared, "Out of all things…astronomy homework?"
"Breanne," he sighed, "Don't start with me."
"Don't start with you!" she yelled, "You're the one who is flirting with another girl!"
"And like you don't flirt with Black!" he yelled back.
"Don't even bring him into this." She sighed, "You know for a damn fact that I hate that guy. How dare you make this seem like this is my fault!"
"You're the one who is getting all jealous!" he cried.
"Wait one minute!" she yelled back, "I'm not jealous of Paige!"
"Bree," he sighed, "Nothing is going to happen."
Bree hung her head, "Promise?"
"I promise." He said giving her a hug, "Why would I do something that would make me loose you?"
Bree hugged him back and smiled at him.
"Come on, let's go to dinner." Andrew said, heading towards the Great Hall, "You'll need your energy for Quidditch practice."
"Okay, everything sounds great." Lily said looking around the room at the Prefects, "It seems like we have everything pretty much prepared. All the decorations are being stored in a closet. I have already talked to Professor Dumbledore and he agrees with me that on the day of the dance all of the Prefects, James, and myself are allowed to miss their last two classes to help decorate and prepare for the dance."
All the Prefects looked at each other and grinned. The best part of having a dance…getting to skip class.
"But," Lilly added, "You are still responsible to make up any work missed."
And that's the terrible part.
"Ah, Lils," James whined with the rest of the Prefects, "We've worked so hard! We should not have to do the work from those classes."
"Potter." Lily glared, "You are supposed to set an example."
"I am!" he said sitting up and puffing out his chest.
"Anyway…" Lily said continuing with the meeting, "I think that's about it for tonight. Make sure you know when your patrol dates are."
"Great, we're done!" James cried jumping from his seat, "I've got to catch the last bit of Quidditch practice."
The Quidditch captain ran out of the empty classroom and headed out towards the Quidditch pitch where the rest of his team was practicing.
"Finally, Prongs!" Sirius called from the air.
"I had a Prefect meeting." James rolled his eyes as he mounted his broom, "Lily would feed me to dragons if I didn't go."
"He's right, you know." Bree laughed.
"So what did we get done tonight, team?" James asked as the team flew closer.
"Nothing." Sirius shrugged, "We all came late then decided to go to sleep on our brooms."
James ignored Sirius' remark and continued with his speech, "The first three games of the season went pretty well. I would've liked if it was better."
"We won!" Sirius cried, "What more do you want?"
"I want you all to play better, harder, and faster." James replied.
(A/N: Quidditch try outs have already occurred. It makes me mad because I had a funny scene planned for it, but I forgot to write about it and I skipped right to November/December and forgot to write it. Erg. Lol, so they already have their new teammates.)
"Alright," James said, getting down to business before it got dark, "Beaters, I need you to be able to protect our Seeker and Keeper. And continue to hit those bludgers at the opposing team, you're good at that." Bree and Sirius beamed, "We're playing Slytherin next, and they seem to tail the Seeker. Their goal is to always knock out the Keeper or distract him. Make sure no bludgers go near Jonathan. Not like anything can get past him anyway." Jonathan grinned.
Everyone nodded in understanding as James continued, "Now, Jessica and Michael," James said staring at the two newest additions to the Gryfinndor team. Jessica and Michael Tyler, are sixth year twins and chasers, "You guys did great your first three games. But I still need you to score more. Bell will be helping you since she is a little more experienced," James said looking at Laura.
"Now, you all know what Slytherins are like." James said, "We need to strategize so they can't beat us. If they do beat us, we will no longer be in first running for the cup. We've never lost, and I don't expect to start now. Don't cause any problems with the Slytherins before the game," James said grinning at Sirius, "Understood?"
"Great," they all replied.
"Alright," James said looking at his watch, "Let's practice for the last half hour then head up so you guys can finish homework and shower."
"Sounds good, captain." Bree said as they all stood up and mounted their brooms.
They practiced for a strong half hour. By the end everyone's muscles had strengthened and everyone's spirit for the upcoming game had grown.
"I think we need to start doing conditioning." James said flying near Sirius, "We need stronger muscles."
"Slow down, Prongs." Sirius laughed, "If you overwork everyone then they will all get mad, plus no one will be able to play on game day."
"I guess your right." James sighed, "I just…don't want to loose the cup on our last year."
"Don't worry." Sirius sighed, "We have a great team. Besides, when have we ever lost?"
"You're right." James replied, "But I'm just worried about next year's team."
"Me too." Sirius added, "Maybe at the end of the year we can all get together and pick out possible new team mates."
"Sounds great!" James said, feeling happy again.
"Hey, Black." Bree flew over, "Your girlfriend is here."
"My girlfriend?" Sirius asked confused, "Wait, I broke up with Becky three days ago."
"No," she grinned, "I mean your other girlfriend."
"My other girlfriend?" Sirius mumbled to himself. He turned around and spotted Bethany in the stands.
"Hey, Beth!" Bree called waving and smiling, "Practice is almost over if you want to wait for Sirius outside of the locker rooms!"
"Bree!" Sirius spat.
"Okay!" Beth called back happily, "Thanks! See you soon!"
Sirius smiled weakly and waved to Bethany who was already descending down the stairs and heading towards the exit of the locker rooms.
Sirius sighed and rubbed his eyes, "I've been avoiding that girl all day and thanks to you, Livingston, I have to go and avoid her again."
"Ah, Sirius." Bree grinned, "Why don't you just talk to her and be her friend?"
"She doesn't want to be my friend." Sirius mumbled, "She wants to be my girlfriend."
"Aw!" Bree giggled, "That's so sweet!"
"Sweet!?" Sirius asked looking at James for a bit of support.
James shrugged, "Come on," he said, "Let's go hit the showers."
The team flew down and headed towards the locker room to take a hot steamy shower before heading up to the castle to finish their homework.
"You are so mean." Jessica laughed as Bree rummaged threw her locker for her change of clothes.
"What do you mean?" Bree said tucking her towel around herself tighter.
"Sirius." Laura replied, "You are so mean to him."
"And he isn't mean to me?" Bree smiled as she pushed some things aside in her locker.
Both girls laughed at Bree.
"Who's this?" Jessica asked pointing to pictures taped to Bree's locker door.
"Oh," Bree grinned, looking at her pictures, "That's me with my best friend Riley last year. That is Riley and my other two best friends, Lily and Ashley. And that is my boyfriend, Andrew, and I."
"Aw, you guys make a cute couple." Jessica said smiling at Bree's pictures.
"Thanks." Bree sighed, looking at the picture of her and Andrew in her hands.
"What's wrong?" Laura asked, "Something happen between you and Andrew?"
"We've been arguing a lot lately." Bree sighed, sitting down on the bench, "I don't know what happened. He started getting all jealous that I was hanging out with Sirius, who I don't hang out with. Then earlier we got into an argument over this one girl he was flirting with."
"He was flirting with another girl!?" Laura asked. Laura, who was also in seventh year, knew Bree very well, and was also friends with Andrew.
"Yeah." Bree replied, "He denied it though."
"That is so mean." Jessica frowned, "I've never had a boyfriend before."
"Really?" Bree asked. She had just met Jessica this year. She knew mostly everyone in Gryfinndor but she wasn't really best friends with the younger years, "Do you plan on asking anyone to the dance?"
"I don't know." Jessica replied, "I don't think anyone will ask me."
"Of course someone will!" Laura put a comforting arm around Jessica's shoulders, "You're beautiful!"
"Thanks." Jessica blushed, "Will you guys help me get a date? You two are popular and you both know all the cute guys."
"Well," Bree said looking at Laura, "We are fabulously wonderful aren't we?"
"Oh, yes, indeed." Laura replied, flipping her hair over her shoulder.
"Of course we'll help you." Bree giggled, "You just hang with us and we'll help you find the perfect guy."
"And the perfect dress!" Laura added, "Meet up with us at Hogsmede this weekend!"
"Really?" Jessica asked hopefully, "That would be great."
"No problem," Bree smiled, "Besides, I don't think I'll be going with Andrew anyway."
"Don't worry." Laura said, putting her other free arm around Bree's shoulder, "Everything will work out fine. He's crazy about you."
Bree smiled weakly, "Hopefully."
"Alright, let's finish getting dressed and get out of here." Jessica said grabbing her clothes and heading towards a changing cubicle, "I don't fancy walking into the common room in a towel."
All three of the girls giggled and headed to their own cubicles. Bree took one last look at the picture lying in her hands. She sighed as she watched Andrew kiss her on the cheek. She put the picture back on the door and straightened it.
[I]Everything will work out find. He's crazy about you![/I! Laura's voice rang into her head.
[I]She's right,[/I] Bree thought to herself, [I]everything will work out fine.[/I]
Bree headed into a cubicle and got dressed. Once all three girls were dressed, they headed out of the locker rooms. Bree spotted Bethany sitting on a bench outside of the boys' locker room and stopped her two friends.
"Hey, Bethany." Bree smiled warmly, "Sirius hasn't come out yet?"
"No," she sighed sadly, "No one has. I feel like Sirius is avoiding me."
"No!?" Bree asked surprised, "If you want, I can go and see if he's in there."
"You can do that?" She questioned, her face lightening up, "But only boys' are allowed in there."
"I can do anything I want." Bree grinned, "You just wait here with Jess and Laura and I'll go see what I can do."
"Thanks, Bree." Bethany smiled.
"No problem." Bree replied, "Laur? Jess? Will you guys mind waiting here with Bethany until I get back?"
"Sure." They said sitting down on the bench next to Bethany.
"Great," She grinned, "I'll be right back."
"Oh, Sirius hunny!" Bree called into the locker room once the door was closed, "Where are you darling?"
Bree heard something drop and saw four heads pop out from behind lockers. She laughed as all four of them seemed uncomfortable. Michael and Jonathan were only in towels and James and Sirius, who have obviously been done with their shower for awhile, were in their boxers.
"What the hell are you doing in here, Livingston?" Sirius asked, "You're not allowed in here."
Bree rolled her eyes and walked towards them, "I have come to deliver a message."
"Yeah? What is it?" Michael asked, holding his towel around his waist tighter.
"Well, I was walking up to the castle," she said sitting down on the bench, "When I saw poor little Bethany sitting all by herself, waiting for you Sirius."
"She's out there?" he asked, trying to look out a tall window.
"Yes, she is." Bree smiled, "And she's waiting for you, Black."
"Tell her I'm not here." He begged, "Please, tell her I already left."
"No." she laughed, "I think it's cute that she fancies you."
"But, you've gotta help me!" he cried.
"No, I always have to help you, Black." She glared, "And whenever I do I usually get into trouble for it."
"When has that happened?"
Bree just looked at him, as if daring him to say that again.
"Okay, your right." He sighed, running his hands threw his hair, "But what am I supposed to do?"
"I do have a small idea." She smirked, "Go to the ball with her. Make her evening wonderful. Then, do what you always do, leave the girl hanging."
"No way." He said kicking a locker, "I'm not dating her."
"Fine." Bree smiled, "Well, I best be off. I'll tell Bethany that if you're not out in five minutes then just to come in."
"Ugh." Sirius said, sitting down on the bench and trying to think of a back-up plan.
"See ya later!" she said, patting Sirius on the cheek, "Oh, and I suggest you ask Beth to the dance before she gets another date."
"That would be my luck." Sirius growled.
"Bye, boys!" she waved and left the locker room.
"Well, any luck?" Beth asked once Bree came out of the locker.
"I saw him in there." She replied, "But he wasn't dressed."
"He…he wasn't dressed?" Bethany smiled; her face was glowing as if she was off in another world.
"Yeah," Bree shrugged, "I can go and get him if you want."
"Oh, no!" Bethany blushed, "I think I'll just wait here for another minute. But, if he doesn't come soon I'll just see him in the common room because I have a lot of homework."
"Alright," Bree smiled, "See you later."
"Bye, Beth." Laura and Jessica both smiled and waved.
"Bye." She grinned back.
The three girls linked arms and walked up to the castle in a fit of giggles.
"You are bloody brilliant." Laura laughed, once Bree told them what happened.
"A complete genius!" Jessica smiled.
"Thank you very much!" Bree said, stopping and pretending to bow, "I'd like to thank my family and friends and…"
The girls continued to laugh as they finished making their way up to the common room where they finished their homework.
Please review!
