I'm back! No, I'm not dead!
This was not as long as I would have liked this to be, but that's what chapters are for.
Tea Time
"There are some moments that just don't deserve quotes, because they are simply that boring."
Sirius Black
It was so dark. Dark enough that even the shadows couldn't be told apart from the things they were mimicking, nor what was five feet in front of anyone. But for the two figures, they could see perfectly fine.
The clouds were twisting and churning above them. The rain, pattering harshly against their strong scale-plated skin, was hardly felt as they dodged lightning bolts while enjoying the sharp and delightful tingling whenever they were hit. It was a game. It had to be. Why else would they fly around like that if it weren't?
Though still. Neither one had mentioned that it was a game. They almost never spoke to one another during their 'meetings,' enjoying the silent understanding with one another, but tonight it was different when one coated in white sped towards the other in silver and motioned for her to listen.
'Was it you? Were you the one who set the task?'
Silvery-blue eyes met violet and the bolts of energy surging around them were forgotten. Their leathery wings beat in synchronization. 'We all agreed that you should try. Something happened, but it ended, so why continue?'
'My very own words,' she thought to her friend, not blinking once.
'The response?'
'Didn't understand, thus we continue to argue.'
'When will it end,' the other gave a great sigh and muttered a thank you.
She laughed, 'What for?'
'For remembering to wake me up,' her tail twitched with sarcasm, making the first laugh once more.
'I already said I was sorry!' she imagined her friend raising an eyebrow and continued with haste, 'I thought I could get some work done tonight or something and then noticed the rain, which of course reminded me of what it would look like if it were clear, which reminded me of the day it was and of our meeting,' she paused in realization and smirked. 'Now that I think about it, you didn't remember either… and you're blaming it on me!' She shook her head away of rain, which in the end didn't prove to very useful. Her friend's massive body rumbled with laughter.
'I love sleeping-'
'-yet you are very athletic-'
'-which you aren't.'
She tried to glare ferociously, 'I am very athletic! I enjoy flying with you!'
'Right… and I'm over a hundred years old.'
Another funny chance, 'Well, aren't you?'
'I'm not quite- hey! When did your personality change?'
'When I became all bubbly with excitement. You have to admit it's nice to fly out in the open. It's hard to hide dragons with their size.'
"Not you. What are you, some sort of iguana, pepper-breath? You need to be more athletic to be my size.'
"First of all, my mind is more athletic than yours, and I prefer my size. I can breathe just as much fire as you can as well.'
She snorted, 'Right.'
'Fine! So I'll admit your more used to this than I am, but I'm doing pretty well.' She was given another mental image of her friend rolling her eyes. 'We don't talk like this often and your asking me about personality changes? Though that snort there was familiar.'
'So is your textbook grammar.'
'Let's not start on that.'
She pranced out of the portrait hole after changing into fresh new clothes, leaving her water-soaked ones to dry on a rack upstairs. It had poured last night, regardless of how clear the morning had been and as much as she loved rain, being stuck in a storm like that – even if purposely – was no laughing matter. How ironic it was, she had thought, that the sky would cloud the instant she came out and then clear once she returned into the dry castle, dripping puddles onto the stone floor. She had felt wetter than the Giant Squid.
"Filch won't be happy, but it's not in my power to control the weather," the girl said with a large smile.
The Fat Lady rubbed her eyes and gave an exaggerated yawn, "You waking up so early doesn't help the sane people in this castle to sleep, so do stop jabbering! It's only a quarter past six!"
"It's not that early!" she began to fidget with too much energy; never the type of needing that much sleep.
"Yes it is! I bet you're the only one up, besides those boys," the woman in the portrait was clearly becoming irritated, but that didn't phase Luna's unexplainable happiness.
"Boys?" This could be a perfect way to test her newly given Prefect abilities once more. It was up to her, as a fifth year Gryffindor Prefect, to live up to her duties and prevent mischief-makers from… well, making mischief. That is, if these 'boys' were doing something awful. They could be – she reminded herself – just be taking a stroll, but who does that with their friends in the morning? They could do that at lunch or whenever.
"Yes, a small group of them just left to visit the kitchens. Now go! Leave me some time to sleep!"
To the kitchens? Ah… the Marauders. They'll definitely be up to something. No Prefect had ever gone against them before; too scared of the consequences, but Luna could be a first. At least… maybe she could catch Sirius at something and give him a run for his money. She wasn't in need of worrying like anybody else, for she had a large advantage over him: she knew how his mind worked. His nasty, sick, twisted, maraudering,… creative, funny, energetic mind. He was a great guy overall, just needed to work on his timing and attitude a bit more, but everyone had flaws.
"-And he tends to not notice his," Luna muttered cheerfully, and unaware that she had voiced it aloud. The odd bubbling in her stomach spread to her throat, feet and hands, making her just another giddy teenager. There was no reason for her glee, just the urge to spring around the castle like some sort of bouncing Hinkypunk. "Even I'll admit, I'm curious as to what they could be doing…" she took off down a couple of hallways where she could see dust particles floating serenely in the sun's gentle morning rays that shown through the window. The Fat Lady had called madly after her.
"Curiosity killed the cat!"
The girl grinned joyously, "Ah, I have nine lives to spare…"
The trip to the kitchens seemed too short for her liking. Today she felt like taking a long walk, but resided to tickling the pear in the painting of the fruit dish before her. What was she going to say to the boys if they were there? She hadn't really thought about it.
"Good morning, Ms. Moonglade!" the entire kitchen crew of house elves chanted and separated her from her thoughts.
"And a good morning to you all!" Even through all of the questions of 'Does Miss want something to eat?', 'Would Miss like some tea?' or 'Miss Moonglade isn't going to cook, is she,' Luna could sense movement near the back of the kitchen, "Um, tea would be fine, thank you."
The hustling and bustling around her pushed her to where she wanted to go. Reaching the back, where there were a few chairs and tables, she could see the signs of people leaving in haste. Sandwiches and pancakes were half eaten, utensils thrown carelessly onto plates and into bowls, cups hardly been drunk out of and were still steaming…
"Mr. Potter and his friends seem to have left. Let Tolley clean up for Miss." Tolley. She was Luna's house-elf from home, but Luna always had one of her elves working at Hogwarts so that they could learn new things and of course, so they could do something useful. She only needed one at home to make sure that not too much dust settled. 'I mean, besides from feeding my pets – most of them usually to find it themselves – there isn't much for you to do when no-one's home,' she pointed out to them. 'That's why I will be taking one of you to Hogwarts each year.'
"Oh, no Tolley. No need to clean anything up. I'm sure they'll be back soon," a cup was pressed into her hands. Saying 'thank you,' she sat down where the messy table had not been used and took a nice warm sip of tea.
Her house-elf blinked her round eyes, "May Tolley ask Miss Moonglade if she knows where they is? Should Tolley keep their food warm?"
"No, it's ok. You already have enough to do and plus, I'm playing a game with them," Luna smiled. Her own game that they had no clue they were apart of.
"The game you and I used to play?"
"That's right," she flexed her impatient feet that wanted so badly to use up their energy, "we are playing Hide and Seek and I'm the Seeker," she laughed. "The only time I can play this role is in this game. I'm not exactly the Qudditch type, am I Tolley?"
"That you isn't."
Luna scanned the room while leisurely taking sips of her steaming drink. She had a feeling about where the boys were, but if she waited long enough, they'd give up on their own and she could tell, they were definitely still in the kitchens.
Spotting a couple of elves that were piling cook books on the floor – books that were supposed to be on their shelves – she kindly asked them to knock once on each of the twelve doors that were supposed to be containing the reading materials. Befuddled, one did so and she thanked him.
Five, ten… fifteen minutes past. Luna was tired of waiting, even though the tea seemed to give her a warm feeling throughout her body and an odd, comfortable prickling on the back of her neck. How odd…
She had her cup refilled and with a swift swishing of her wand, four of the book cupboards swung open to reveal four boys crammed inside. The Marauders.
"So nice of you to join me. I've been keeping your food warm," she said flatly, taking another sip of tea. A grin spread across her face almost saying, 'you-were-caught!'
Sirius looked pretty bad; to have chosen the stuffiest cupboard wasn't exactly pleasant. He had taken one of the top six ones and forgot that heat rises.
When he fell out, along with Peter, James stepped out of his bottom-shelved hiding place and Luna exclaimed, " I know I'm not that repulsive and I'm in too good of a mood to be dangerous," she winked at them. Poor Remus seemingly couldn't move, as he was bound by his hands and feet and had his mouth magically charmed shut. James immediately helped him while explaining how he truthfully didn't know how it had happened.
"The point is, you can be dangerous," Sirius muttered, sitting down across from her.
She grinned and set her teacup on the table, "So you finally admit it. I can so be scary!"
"I said dangerous, not-"
"I know, but danger is a horrific thing."
The other three marauders – stunned that he had actually sat near her without them both blowing up – edged closer to their own seats as well, until they too sat comfortably down.
James chuckled, gave her an odd look, and ruffled his hair, "So why are you so bubbly today?" The boys were staring strangely at her shoulder-length tresses, but she shrugged it off.
"Truthfully, I'm not sure."
He looked around the table, "Could it be that Remus looks so snoggable this morning to you?" Sirius gagged.
Luna, ignoring Mr. Black's action, exclaimed, "Of course! But he's always like that." From the corner of her eye she could see her boyfriend blush lightly and squirm slightly in his chair. He still rubbed his wrists slightly from the ropes that had been there earlier.
"Or maybe," Peter said, "it's because no-one's yelling at each other."
They all nodded and Remus said, "We are all acting quite civilized. It's a strange feeling…" he trailed off and they agreed.
"Moony's right," said James. "It feels almost…"
"-like the old days?" Sirius drawled, looking annoyed and like he was forming a headache. Luna was only thinking about one thing though: Moony?
James frowned, "Lighten up, Padfoot. This conversation isn't that horrible." Padfoot? She had heard them use these nicknames before, but how did they come up with them? "So Luna?" she snapped her head up to James again, feeling a tug on the back of it.
"Mmm?" she asked. The boys seemed to be staring distractedly at something behind her.
"What is that house-elf doing to your hair?"
That explained the sharp tug and the prickling and warmth from earlier, "Oh, Tolley's drying it. She replied, not having to look to understand it was the elf.
"Not able to dry it on your own?"
"Oh, I can," she laughed, "I just must have forgotten this morning!"
Sirius' annoyed look softened and he joked, "Who forgets to dry their hair after a bath?"
"I certainly don't forget," the girl confused them.
"But-"
"Sirius, I didn't have a bath. I was caught in the storm last night and got soaked," Luna explained. Se had the urge to start bouncing in her seat, but restrained herself not to. No more tea for her… well, after this cup.
Remus' and James' eyes widened, but not with fear or shock; worry, "What were you doing outside! You could have gotten a cold!" they yelled at her and she tried to scoot away from the two boys on either side of her, but it was like they had caged her in. So, she slid lower in her chair until they backed away.
"Well?" Sirius urged when she wasn't answering, "What were you doing? You're like one of the guys. We wouldn't want you hurt."
Everyone silenced and stared at him. It wasn't quiet with all of the house-elves cooking, but the aura around the table was certainly different.
Luna frowned and said softly, "Besides from the fact that I'm one-hundred percent female, I haven't been 'one of the guys' since last year, but thank you anyways." She had meant it, truly. Sirius thought about what she had said and he seemed to have realized his mistake.
"Oh, right," he murmured and the two of them nodded, both giving a quick glance at Remus. They all knew what that was about. This was turning into a weird conversation, because she felt as if she really was one of them again. Luna had always had her friends, but these guys had been her home away from home, until – like she had said – last year.
Luna looked at Sirius and watched his face begin to turn red, but she couldn't tell from what. Like her, he must have been thinking about the incident and no one dared to interrupt his or her thoughts. James was crossing his fingers and mouthing the word 'please' over and over with a hopeful expression on his face, Peter was copying him like usual and Remus was silently looking downwards. She turned her head back to Sirius, who looked angrier every second. He was thinking about it too intently and she could tell something was coming.
"Quit staring!" he said sharply, and startled the others. "I'm surprised you haven't apologized yet!"
The bubbliness inside her died down and was replaced with venomous anger, "Apologize? For what? It's not my fault you don't care about your friends!"
"I care about them more than you'd ever know!" he pushed his chair back and stood up.
"Seeing as you've lost one of yours, that doesn't seem likely," she copied his movement and Tolley fell off her stool behind her. Luna helped her up, told her she could leave and used the brush (that was lying on the floor) to go through her hair one more time. "I'd bet if I hadn't been there, then – then…" she trailed off. Luna couldn't finish. "And if it were me who was in trouble, then I wouldn't be surprised if it almost happened to me too! You didn't even notice him," she screamed.
"It's not like you were the real hero anyway! You had someone else do it for you!"
This had touched a nerve, "How little you know!"
Sirius eyed her and gave a funny smirk, "I know a lot about you. More then I'd ever need to know, even. I, of course being the loyal friend that I am, haven't told anyone about your… weird… ness."
"Are you trying to threaten me?" Luna spoke coldly and sharply, and Sirius just shrugged. "You aren't exactly ordinary either. I haven't told a soul about you and you haven't about me. It was our deal."
James looked surprised, "You mean, you've made a deal with him? But you always said 'no' to bets and things like that. Why-"
"Because it was important. That," she pointed to Sirius with obvious disgust, "thing-that-can't-possibly-be-human oncefound me in a uncomfortable dilemma at a time when he wasn't exactly… normal. And that's a lot to say for someone who's meaning of being normal is transforming the Christmas decorations in second year into red and green striped knickers. So we made a deal."
"I only made one mistake with that! I realized red and green shouldn't ever be mixed together… it made it look like Slytherins and Gryffindors were united, but that's besides the point!"
The prefect rolled her eyes, "And what is the point?"
"That one, you have nothing to use against me if I tell these three about your freakiness, because they already know about me, and two, only people who have a social life may use the word 'knickers."
"What did you catch him doing?" James asked slyly, "Snogging three girls at once or maybe dancing in his old clown suite with Peeves?"
She smiled with amusement, "You mean there are times when he doesn't dress like a carnival entertainer?"
"Can we leave my obviously fashionable clothing choices for a different conversation?"
"Sure, why not. We can talk about your obvious future cooking career for then too."
"We already agreed that cauldron cakes should be black."
"Black's cauldron cakes… Well, at least we know that all of your recipes will have something in common with your name. It will be loads easier to figure out which plates you created, so… thank you for making the… future world a better place."
Sirius just laughed, "Get out."
"You cannot order me around like one of your lovesick snogfests," she made a fuss of going to a sink to wash her teacup. And despite the protests of the busy house elves, used some of the soap instead of just cleaning it up with magic.
"Yet," Sirius followed her over to sink, "once your angry you start cleaning. Like a servant." This only made her grab a cloth and scrub the tea stains as rough as it were possible. The elves started to move their chores and dishes to the farther side of the room and away from the possible chaos that was soon to take place.
"I do not have to deal with you," Luna said. More to herself than him.
He grabbed the cloth from her hands trying to get her to even glance at him, making her fumble and grasp the cup harder until it broke. She broke the cup… "What… How did you do that?"
"I don't believe it matters." She dropped the pieces from her hand while staring at the red blood trickling in a line around it.
"Of course it matters." What she would do to strangle the boy in front of her at that moment.
Remus had come over after hearing the porcelain crack and seeing the damage, immediately cleaned the hand with the running water. "Sirius, give me that towel."
"You don't have to do this Remus. It doesn't even hurt," Luna mentioned gently. She glared at Sirius who handed her boyfriend the towel anyway.
Remus tied it around her hand after taking the ring off, "Luna, the cut is deep and across most of your hand. It must hurt."
"I guess it stings a little."
"A lot. It stings a lot."
"Not really."
The boys looked at her as if she were insane. Except Sirius. He voiced it a loud.
Luna watched the cloth turn red, "I was joking. Of course it hurts… a lot." She added the last part so that they'd relax and then start worrying again, but the strange thing was, was that she didn't feel a thing. No pain. None at all. "I better get going."
Hurriedly, she put off the water and turned around to leave and once she escaped from the room, rested against the wall by the portrait. All she thought was, I need to walk this off. And off she went to wander aimlessly. Just like she'd planned to earlier. It annoyed her having Sirius on the planet. And then it hit her. He had taken that cloth away from her on purpose, but not for the reason she had thought at first. No. He was trying to get her to prove the secret that he and her shared first hand so that the rest would see. Forget walking away from the situation like she just did. She was going to show him exactly what it was like to be in a feud with her. Even if it hurt him the way he had to her right then. Sirius Black, there is no way you can win when you're against me.
---
"Wouldn't someone scream if their hand was almost cut off?" Sirius asked the other three. They just nodded and shrugged. James because he agreed, Peter because James did, and Remus… well he was a bit distracted and did so, pretending he was listening. Truthfully at that moment, he received a letter from an owl that morning in reply to the one he sent last night.
… We are sorry Mr. Lupin, but we cannot go with your request. After looking at the amount of money you are holding at this present moment, my employees and I all agree that you cannot possibly afford the item you wish us to sell. Unless you find enough, the most we can do is hold it in the store for a limited amount of time (two weeks is the longest for this item). Please send us a letter if you wish to do so…
Remus finished in time, though still frowning, to give Sirius a nod to some other question he had asked.
"Great Moony! I didn't expect this of you, so I'll be sure to give you my first batch of cauldron cakes free of charge! How much do you think I should sell them for?"…
Now what had he gotten himself into? It didn't matter. It just gave him an idea.
"Padfoot," he interrupted, "I'd like to um.. advertise a few of your baked goods, but I might need a few samples to get people to really understand the um.. taste of your genius."
Sirius grinned, "They have me themselves for that."
"Right. But actually having food might help them become… err… more addicted." Nice and smooth. Some of the house elves giggled in the background in agreement. Luckily, their growing laughter was shut out as the boys exited into the hall and shut the portrait door.
"I think I see your point, Moony!" he patted him on the back. "How many do you need?"
"Enough for most of the school."
He stopped smiling, "You're advertising, right? Not opening a bloody market."
"I'll give you a duplicating charm," Remus pleaded he'd take the bate. Sirius refused anyway, saying that the food wouldn't be worth as much. Who knew that he knew about the quality of items and that charm?
Then Padfoot said, "I'll still give you that amount, but you're going to help me bake."
He sighed with relief and shook his friend's outstretched hand, "Sounds fare. Shall we start tonight?"
Shocked, Sirius nodded and watched Remus run away along the hall, "Hey Moony! Where are you going?"
"To send a letter!"
…
Not as exciting as the last chapter maybe, but at least it's posted. It was supposed to be called Butter and Ice but I didn't have enough time to fit the part that it's based on in so yah… I'm sorry about my lack of updates, but high school is so different than my old one. And I'm trying to write a novel.
Ooh! I'll try to update Muggle Studies next. Don't kill me, please, for my lack of motivation. I just have no time! CAN'T WAIT FOR SUMMER!
Violet and the little girl are next so I need lots of reviews! Really, it helps to get me writing!
LOVE YOU ALL OUT THERE!
Luna
